Getting the Groove Back
I just went through my blog entries from the last 6 weeks and updated my log. My log is a basic Excel spreadsheet that I made a few years back and it, like most of my other stuff, was held hostage by a failed hard drive for which I had to cough up a ransom and now am going about gradually reinstalling and rearranging stuff on my PC.
So while my training was less than stellar I also felt like I was training through a fog, as I lacked a big picture in which to fit my everyday workouts (or lack thereof). So today I went back and did the depressing task of filling in all the DNRs that accumulated, esp. in July. For once I won't bore you with numbers, but see that I have accumulated half a mile less this year than I had at this point in '04, and actually have about 15 miles more accumulated than in '03, which is the year in which I had run the most miles. If I remember correctly, last year around this time I started lapsing into IT band problems which, while not disabling, led me to cut down in mileage for fear that it would get worse, which it never did. So if I stay healthy this fall and train regularly, I should still have a good year mileage wise.
Considering I have about the same training as I did last year also gives me hope for the PDR this year. I managed to go sub 1:16 last year, and I'd be thrilled to do that again this year. But this year is different in several respects, and I also have several races in between to both gauge my fitness and to potentially wear me out. I'll take them one at a time, first being Tuesday's track meet, in which I'm ready to do a bit better and incur some revenge after last week.
All this blather and I haven't even gotten to today's run. I hooked up with IC and his friend J this morning to do 18. IC was torn between me, whom he felt he was slowing down and J, who consistently lagged behind us although we were at about a 9 minute pace. This made for an interesting workout. The pace was nice in the beginning as my legs are pretty beat up from this week's mileage. Easing into a pace that was just that, ease-y, was very relaxing and let me do start this run out in a very comfortable zone as we chugged up Kelly Drive. After awhile it did get slow and I figured I'd go 81 for 9 miles and then turn around and see how much faster I could do the back 9. We went up Kelly, through Manayunk and up the towpath past Shawmont and the trailer homes along the Schuylkill and I turned around about 5 minutes after IC and J at the base of some industrial park. I started the back part at what felt like about 8 minute pace and gradually upped the pace. When I got back to the marked Kelly miles I hammered it but alas, the hammer was a bit muted as the last 3 miles went by in 19:51. No way I was gonna get it down to marathon pace this morning. Ran into (literally) RL during the cooldown, who I used to run with before he moved out of Philly. . . and now he's back.
God I'm blabbing on today. The run was challenging in that, in the spirit of a long run, I was on my feet for a long time and, at the same time, I pushed the pace pace a bit. I'm coming back. The log, too, brought back that training feeling.
So while my training was less than stellar I also felt like I was training through a fog, as I lacked a big picture in which to fit my everyday workouts (or lack thereof). So today I went back and did the depressing task of filling in all the DNRs that accumulated, esp. in July. For once I won't bore you with numbers, but see that I have accumulated half a mile less this year than I had at this point in '04, and actually have about 15 miles more accumulated than in '03, which is the year in which I had run the most miles. If I remember correctly, last year around this time I started lapsing into IT band problems which, while not disabling, led me to cut down in mileage for fear that it would get worse, which it never did. So if I stay healthy this fall and train regularly, I should still have a good year mileage wise.
Considering I have about the same training as I did last year also gives me hope for the PDR this year. I managed to go sub 1:16 last year, and I'd be thrilled to do that again this year. But this year is different in several respects, and I also have several races in between to both gauge my fitness and to potentially wear me out. I'll take them one at a time, first being Tuesday's track meet, in which I'm ready to do a bit better and incur some revenge after last week.
All this blather and I haven't even gotten to today's run. I hooked up with IC and his friend J this morning to do 18. IC was torn between me, whom he felt he was slowing down and J, who consistently lagged behind us although we were at about a 9 minute pace. This made for an interesting workout. The pace was nice in the beginning as my legs are pretty beat up from this week's mileage. Easing into a pace that was just that, ease-y, was very relaxing and let me do start this run out in a very comfortable zone as we chugged up Kelly Drive. After awhile it did get slow and I figured I'd go 81 for 9 miles and then turn around and see how much faster I could do the back 9. We went up Kelly, through Manayunk and up the towpath past Shawmont and the trailer homes along the Schuylkill and I turned around about 5 minutes after IC and J at the base of some industrial park. I started the back part at what felt like about 8 minute pace and gradually upped the pace. When I got back to the marked Kelly miles I hammered it but alas, the hammer was a bit muted as the last 3 miles went by in 19:51. No way I was gonna get it down to marathon pace this morning. Ran into (literally) RL during the cooldown, who I used to run with before he moved out of Philly. . . and now he's back.
God I'm blabbing on today. The run was challenging in that, in the spirit of a long run, I was on my feet for a long time and, at the same time, I pushed the pace pace a bit. I'm coming back. The log, too, brought back that training feeling.
posted by seebo | 5:56 PM
1 Comments:
Thanks for the company on Saturday. Encouragingly, JR actually picked it up on the way back (at least until the last 3 miles). I tried to throw in a low six mile or two...nothin' doin. Next week, doppler nippler?
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