"You're Crazy"

I had a 14-mile training run last Saturday, and since it was Thanksgiving weekend, I had to do my run in the foreign lands of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. My wife and I were visiting her family down in Iowa, so I had to pack up a separate bag full of running stuff (various outfits so that I could dress for whatever the weather might be).

Because my wife wanted to help cook the Thanksgiving dinner (which we were having at 1 pm on Saturday), that meant I had to be finished with my run fairly early in the day so that I could watch my two lovely children (my 3 year old son and my 18 month old daughter) while she helped with the food. That meant that I had to be up at about 6:30 so that I could finish my run (which I knew would take at least 2 hours and 15 minutes) and be back in time to help out.

I can't even count how many times some member of my wife's family said "You're crazy! You got up at 6:30 to run for 2 hours!" (Her grandmother was the biggest offender, who mentioned it at least a half dozen times).

I guess this is just what we runners go through.

My First Dreadmill Run of the Season

Thanks to the snow over the weekend, I had to suffer through a workout on the treadmill this morning rather than my normal Tuesday track workout. I guess it went better than I could have hoped, and it IS much easier to keep an even pace on the dreadmill. And honestly, I can't really complain since I live in Minnesota and it is November 22... last year my first treadmill workout would have had to have been in early October.

Most of the running paths should have melted off by Thursday, so my Thursday Tempo Run should be able to be outside (unless it is too icy), and Saturday's long run will be down in Iowa, where it won't be snowy (possibly rainey *blech* but no snow)

I'm Back!!!

So I disappeared from this blog for a couple years (and from running for a little while too). But, I want to get back into this.

Here's a quick summary of what I've been up to:
1) I finally got hired on full time at the job I was working at (nice after being laid off during the attorney purge of 2009).
2) I ran the 2009 Monster Dash Half Marathon (2:06:12... not too bad for a first time)
3) I then stopped running (at all) for about 4-5 months (oops)
4) I ran off and on (mostly off) for about a year
5) My wife and I had our second child (a daughter, who is now one and a half and loves chasing after her three-year-old brother)
6) I finally started running again semi-regularly last fall (2010).
7) I transitioned from "normal" cushioned running shoes to minimalist running shoes, and have been running in my Vibram Five Fingers ever since (I hope to write a little more about these later on)
8) I changed jobs to a new patent law firm in Minneapolis (maybe more on that later).
10) I signed up for the Walt Disney World Half Marathon in January 2012, which I will be running with some friends.

I hope to post 2 or 3 times per week. I'm going to quit posting every single workout (which I now realize was a stupid idea), but I may still post a brief weekly summary of my training. My focus will be just on what I'm thinking about running related (plus some random stuff thrown in too). I'll let the blog take shape from there.

Weekly Workout Summary: Monster Dash Week 11, Oct. 5-11

Running Miles: 27.92 miles, Avg. Pace 9:42/mile
Other Miles: 1.6 mile walk
Workouts: 1 Threshold/Tempo Workout, 1 Easy Run, 1 Speed Workout, 1 Long Run, 1 Walk
Total Miles: 29.52 miles

Much better, I would still have liked to have been over 30 miles for the week, but I think this is appropriate based on my earlier weeks so as to avoid injury.

Monday (10/5): Rest day

Tuesday (10/6): 50 Min. Tempo Run, 5.82 miles, 52:20, Avg. Pace 8:59
10 min. warm up: 1.06 miles, Avg. Pace 9:26/mile
1st Interval: 17 min., 2.07 miles, Avg. Pace 8:17/mile
3 min. rest: 0.21 miles, Avg. Pace 14:17/mile
2nd Interval: 15 min., 1.83 miles, Avg. Pace 8:12/mile
Cool Down: 7:22, 0.66 miles, Avg. Pace 11:11/mile

This was the same day that the Twins beat the Tigers in their one-game playoff to win the American League Central Division, so I was all jazzed up after the game and ran an awesome workout. Too bad the Twins are out of the playoffs, I could have really used another amazing win right before the race.

Wednesday (10/7): 1.6 mile walk; 2.89 mile Easy Run, 34:18, Avg. Pace 11:52/mile
The weather was beautiful, so Steph, Andy and I went for what will probably be our last walk outside for 5-6 months... then I had a short, easy, recovery run.

Thursday (10/8): Rest Day

Friday (10/9): 10x400m Speed Intervals, 7.10 miles, 1:14:13, Avg. Pace 10:27/mile
Warm up: 12:21, 1.12 miles (about 1 mile jog + stride drills), Avg. Pace 11:03
Intervals (400m w/ about 400m rest walk/jog between each):
1. 1:30 (6:01/mile)
2. 1:35 (6:21/mile)
3. 1:36 (6:25/mile)
4. 1:38 (6:35/mile)
5. 1:39 (6:39/mile)
6. 1:35 (6:24/mile)
7. 1:38 (6:35/mile)
8. 1:36 (6:26/mile)
9. 1:38 (6:32/mile)
10. 1:28 (5:55/mile)

Last speed interval workout before the race. I wasn't very good about these during my training, but these weren't as important for the Half Marathon as the Tempo workouts and Long Runs, so I don't feel too bad about it.


Saturday (10/10): Rest Day

Sunday (10/11): 12.11 mile Long Run, 2:00:09 (Avg. Pace 9:55/mile)
Tough long run, but I was able to keep it under 10 min./mile. Longest training run for the Monster Dash, it's all downhill from here.

Weekly Workout Summary: Monster Dash Week 10, Sept. 28-Oct. 4

Running Miles:14.61 miles, Avg. Pace 9:28/mile
Workouts: 1 Threshold/Tempo Workout, 1 Long Run

A terrible week. I need to stop this crap and just start running.

Monday (9/28): Rest day

Tuesday (9/29): Rest day

Wednesday (9/30): Rest Day

Thursday (10/1): 50 min. Tempo Run, 5.36 miles, 49:02 (Avg. Pace 9:08)
Two intervals (15 mins. each) with 3 min. rest between. A little better overall than last weeks tempo run, but still not as good as I'd like.

Workout Breakdown:
10 min. warm up, 1.09 miles, Avg. Pace 9:10/mile
Interval #1: 15 min., 1.78 miles, Avg. Pace 8:24/mile
3 min. rest walk/jog
Interval #2: 15 min., 1.76 miles, Avg. Pace 8:31/mile
6 min. cool down, 0.5 miles, Avg. Pace 12:05

Friday (10/2): Rest day

Saturday (10/3): Rest Day

Sunday (10/4): 9.25 mile Long Run, 1:29:23 (Avg. Pace 9:39/mile)
I was so lazy this week (only two workouts total), so I tried to push the pace a little (9:10-9:30). I didn't quite make it thanks to a couple 10-minute-plus miles, but I did alright.

Weekly Workout Summary: Monster Dash Week 9, Sept. 21-27

Running Miles:19.25 miles, Avg. Pace 10:09/mile
Workouts: 1 Threshold/Tempo Workout, 1 Easy Run, 1 Long Run

Another disappointing week with only three workouts. I have been really lazy the past few weeks, and I need to pick it up.

Monday (9/21): Rest day

Tuesday (9/22): Rest day (unplanned)

Wednesday (9/23): 45 Min. Tempo Run, 4.85 miles, 44:55 (Avg. Pace 9:16/mile)
Two tempo intervals (15 min. and 14 min.) with 3 min. rest walk/jog between. Still not quite as fast as I'd like for these (I'd prefer around 8:10-8:15), but I have to go with what the heart rate monitor says

Workout Breakdown:
10 min. warm up (gradually increasing pace), 1.11 miles, Avg. Pace 9:01 (a little fast for warm up, oops)
Interval #1: 15 min., 1.77 miles, Avg. Pace 8:27/mile
3 min rest walk/jog, 0.21 miles, Avg. Pace 14:03/mile
Interval #2: 14 min., 1.6 miles, Avg. Pace 8:44/mile
~3 min. cool down (I was in a hurry), 0.16 miles, 18:33/mile

Thursday (9/24): 3.3 mile Easy Run, 36:49 (Avg. Pace 11:08)

Friday (9/25): Rest day

Saturday (9/26): Rest Day

Sunday (9/27): 11.1 mile Long Run, 1:53:35 (Avg. Pace 10:13/mile)
New record for longest run ever. Man these 10+ mile runs are long. Felt pretty good though.

Weekly Workout Summary: Monster Dash Week 8, Sept. 14-20

Running Miles: 27.23 miles, Avg. Pace 9:54/mile
Workouts: 1 Pace Run, 1 Threshold/Tempo, 1 5K Race

I was able to get my mileage back up, although I still only had 4 total runs. Next week I need to have a full 5 runs because this is the last week where I can really pour it on without having a potential detrimental effect on Race Day, Oct. 31. Here is how the workouts broke down:

Monday (9/14): Rest day

Tuesday (9/15): 50 Min. Tempo Run: 5.59 miles, 53:28 (Avg. Pace 9:34)
I cut the tempo intervals down from 3 intervals to 2 and increased the time of each. This was much tougher than I thought it would be (I really expected after two full days of rest and after being able to run in a tempo HR zone for the entire 5K I ran on Saturday that this would seem kind of easy). Good workout.

Workout breakdown:
10 min. warm up, 1.13 miles, Avg. Pace 8:51/mile (a little fast for the warmup, but partly I was building up to the increased speed of the tempo interval and I didn't want my heart and legs to be in shock)
15 min. tempo interval, 1.77 miles, Avg. Pace 8:27
3 min. recovery walk/jog, 0.18 miles, Avg. Pace 16:50/mile
12 min. tempo interval, 1.36 miles, 8:49/mile
13:28 cool down, 1.15 miles, Avg. Pace 11:43/mile

Wednesday (9/16): Rest Day

Thursday (9/17): Rest Day - I was planning on shifting around my rest day from Friday to either Wednesday or Thursday. Turns out I rested on both days.

Friday (9/18): 9x400m Speed Intervals, 7.21 miles, 1:14:02, Avg. Pace10:16/mile
My first speed intervals in a couple weeks, but they went great. I also thought I was supposed to do 9 speed intervals, but it turns out I was only supposed to do 8. Oops, extra work should payoff at the Monster Dash.
15:06 min. warm up - 1.42 miles, Avg. Pace 10:38
Interval Times:
1. 1:33 (6:15/mile pace)
2. 1:42 (6:52 pace)
3. 1:40 (6:41 pace)
4. 1:38 (6:33 pace)
5. 1:41 (6:44 pace)
6. 1:41 (6:45 pace)
7. 1:38 (6:34 pace)
8. 1:41 (6:47 pace)
9. 1:33 (6:13 pace)
12:56 cool down, 1.14 miles, Avg. Pace 11:21/mile

Saturday (9/19): 4.18 Mile easy run, 44:45, Avg. Pace 10:42/mile

Sunday (9/20): 10.25 Mile Long Run, 1:37:07, Avg. Pace 9:28 mile
My first time ever running for double digits. I felt good, but no matter how you slice it, 10 miles is a looooooooo...........ooooooong way. I tried to go at my half-marathon pace for the middle few miles. I had originally planned on trying to go at half-marathon pace for the middle 6 miles, but the hills on my LSD days are brutal, so I ended up scraping that idea partway through. Even though I didn't keep going at this increased pace, I was still able to have every single mile split be below 10 min./mile, and only one split was above 9:40 (Mile 9, which is toward the end and includes the steepest and one of the longest hills of the entire route with very little downhill to compensate). Most splits were around the 9:30 mark, with a few down near the 9:00 mark.

I still don't know about maintaining a 9:00-9:10/mile pace (which is what I need to do to hit my goal of a 2 hour half marathon), but thankfully the Monster Dash won't have anywhere near the size of hills that I run on during my LSD training days.

Weekly Workout Summary: Monster Dash Week 7, Sept. 7-13

Running Miles: 13.75 miles, Avg. Pace 8:56/mile
Workouts: 1 Pace Run, 1 Threshold/Tempo, 1 5K Race
Total Miles: 13.75 miles

This was a planned rest week, so there was a big drop in miles. Even so, I only had three workouts, so this was an especially short mileage week. My PF is still pretty delicate, so I don't feel this was a problem. I'll pick it back up next week. Here is how the workouts broke down:

Monday (9/7): Rest day

Tuesday (9/8): 4.75 Mile Pace Run: 4.75 miles, 42:11 (Avg. Pace 8:52/mile)
A much needed pace run to see where I stand. It had been a couple weeks since my last pace run. Today's run was 3/4 miles farther than that run, and I was able to keep a good average pace.

Wednesday (9/9): Rest Day (unplanned) - life got in the way, so no run

Thursday (9/10): 55 Min. Tempo Run, 5.75 miles, 54:31 (Avg. Pace 9:28)
I didn't technically do a tempo run on Tuesday (my normal tempo day), so I substituted Thursday's speed intervals for another tempo workout. My main reason for this is that I feel running at the lactate threshold is the weakest part of my running, so I need to work on it more than my speed.

Workout breakdown:
10 min. warm up, 1.07 miles, Avg. Pace 9:21/mile
10 min. tempo interval, 1.22 miles, Avg. Pace 8:11
3 min. walk/jog, 0.21 miles, Avg. Pace 14:26/mile
7 min. tempo interval, 0.86 miles, 8:06/mile
3 min. walk/jog, 0.2 miles, 14:54/mile
7 min. tempo interval, 0.87 miles, 8:00/mile
14:31 cool down, 1.31 miles, Avg. Pace 11:03/mile

Friday (9/11): Rest day

Saturday (9/12): James Page Blubber Run 5K, 3.25 miles (I know 5K is actually 3.1, but my Garmin said 3.25 and I look at the GPS track and it is what I ran, so I'm going with 3.25), 26:08, Avg. Pace 8:02/mile

My goal was to get 25 min. or less, and I missed it by quite a bit. I got excited by the crowd and went out way too fast (somewhere around a 6 min. pace for at least the first quarter to half mile) and this killed me later in the race. I knew this already, but I need to force myself to slow down at the start of races. Still not a bad pace and a really good tempo workout.

Sunday (9/13): Rest Day (unplanned) again, life got in the way

Weekly Workout Summary: Monster Dash Week 6 - Aug. 31-Sept. 6

Running Miles: 28.35 miles, Avg. Pace 10:34/mile
Other: 2 Walks, 4.2 miles
Workouts: 1 Threshold/Tempo, 1 Long Run, 1 speed workout, 2 easy/recovery runs, 2 Walks
Total Miles: 32.55 miles

A big increase in running miles (83.9 %) and total mileage (65.9 %) from last week, but that's because last week ended up being an injury recovery week. It was only a 16.9% increase from my last full week of workouts back in early/mid August. Here is how the workouts broke down:

Monday (8/31): Rest day

Tuesday (9/1): Two Workouts
Tempo intervals + 1 mile Time Trial: 5.51 miles, 55:13 (Avg. Pace 10:01/mile)
10 min. warm up (1.05 miles, Avg. pace 9:31/mile)
1 Mile TT - 7:04 (slower than last time trial, but not by enough to be statistical), Avg. HR 184 (Max HR 188, very close to my supposed Max HR)
3 min. recovery walk (0.15 miles, Avg. Pace 8:11/mile)
2:43 min tempo interval (cut short from 5 min. b/c way too tired from Mile TT): 0.34 miles, Avg. Pace 7:58/mil, Avg. HR 162
3 min. recovery walk/jog (0.18 miles, Avg. Pace 16:45/mile)
7 min. tempo interval - 0.8 miles, Avg. Pace 8:47/mile, Avg. HR 169
3 min. recovery walk/jog (0.18 miles, Avg. Pace 16:17/mile)
7 min. tempo interval - 0.81 miles, Avg. Pace 8:37/mile, Avg. HR 172
12:25 cool down (0.99 miles, Avg. Pace 12:31/mile)

The mile time trial seemed very difficult, even though I was trying to use my Garmin to keep my pace right around the 7 min./mile mark to avoid going out way too fast, as I have done in my prior time trials. Also, because of the mile Time Trial I was totally wiped for the other tempo intervals, so they were not nearly as intense as last weeks. I think next week's tempo workout is actually going to be a 5K, so I will have another sustained tempo workout instead of shorter tempo intervals.

2.9 Mile Walk @ the Minnesota State Fair
Just walking around and eating lots of really fattening foods with Steph at the Fair. Nice break in the middle of the work week.

Wednesday (9/2): 3.67 mile easy run, 38:58, Avg. Pace 10:36/mile
My fastest easy run yet, so maybe I am getting a little fitness improvement. I only forced myself to stay in the low, recovery HR Zone for the first 2.5 miles, so that portion was still pretty slow (around 11:00/mile), and then allowed myself to speed up a little for the last mile+, although still at a fairly low pace (between 9:30 and 9:45/mile)

Thursday (9/3): 7x400m Speed Intervals. 6.22 mi., 1:04:15 (Avg. Pace 10:20)
15 min. warmup (1.42 mile, 14:54, Avg. Pace 10:30)
400m Intervals
1. 1:25 (5:41/mile) 5. 1:39 (6:39/mile)
2. 1:38 (6:32/mile) 6. 1:41 (6:45/mile)
3. 1:33 (6:14/mile) 7. 1:33 (6:16/mile)
4. 1:37 (6:30/mile)

This was my first speed interval workout in 3 weeks (since Aug. 13), so I wasn't expecting that much, but I was able to keep up good paces for each. In fact, I felt like I was going slow in the first interval, but as you can see it was the fastest, and was WAY faster than my goal split of 1:40-1:45. I guess that means I'm getting more fit since I felt slower but was going faster.

Friday (9/4): 1.3 Mile Walk with Steph and Andy (to the park for swinging)

Saturday (9/5): 3.85 Mile Easy Run, 45:41, Avg. Pace 11:51/mile
I finally used the BOB running stroller we bought way back in April as a running stroller (we'd used it tons on walks, but I had never taken Andy running with me yet). It is definitely tougher (you'll notice my average pace is over a minute slower than my last easy run even though I was in the same heart rate zone, and therefore roughly had the same exertion), but it was kind of fun.

Sunday (9/6): 9.1 Mile Long Run, 1:35:16, Avg. Pace 10:28/mile
My longest run ever. It was kind of humid and warm (especially for September), so I wasn't able to go as fast as I would like (and I had to walk a little too), but I made it and that's all I can really ask for.

Workouts: Monster Dash Week 5 - Aug. 24-30

This was supposed to be a normal week, but I aggravated my plantar fasciitis on Wednesday playing touch football with co-workers, so it ended up being an unplanned extra rest week.

Running Miles: 15.42 miles, Avg. Pace 9:44/mile
Other: 2 Walks, 4.2 miles
Workouts: 1 Threshold/Tempo, 1 Long Run, 1 football game (speed), 2 Walks
Total Miles: 19.62 miles

Only a slight increase (2.5%) in total mileage from last week, thanks to my walks, and a big drop in running miles (12% decrease). Oh well, what am I going to do, run on a bum foot? Here is how the workouts broke down:

Monday (8/24): Rest day

Tuesday (8/25): Tempo intervals, 5.33 miles, 50:02 (Avg. Pace 9:23/mile)
10 min. warm up (1.15 miles, Avg. pace 8:41/mile)
10 min. tempo interval (1.22 miles, Avg. Pace 8:11/mile, Avg. HR 174)
3 min. recovery walk/jog (0.22 miles, Avg. Pace 13:44/mile)
7 min. tempo interval (0.84 miles, Avg. Pace 8:19/mile, Avg. HR 173)
3. min. recovery (0.22 miles, Avg. Pace 13:55/mile)
5. min. tempo interval (0.61 miles, Avg. Pace 8:09/mile, Avg. HR 173)
12 min. cool down (1.07 miles, Avg. Pace 11:13/mile)

I felt slower during this tempo workout, and I was a little bit slower than past tempo runs (by about 5-10 seconds per mile), but I have still increased my total time in a "tempo" zone by about 5 minutes since a few weeks ago, and my pace is still in the range I'd like, so I can't really complain.

Wednesday (8/26): Touch football with coworkers, estimated about 2 miles, mostly sprinting.
I had fun, but I reaggravated my PF and I was limping around for two solid days afterward. However, this acted as a decent substitute speed workout, albeit at speeds faster than I really need to run.

Thursday (8/27): 1.8 mile walk (short walk at lunch, and walking with Steph and Andy at the Zoo)

Friday (8/28): Recovery Day (for PF)

Saturday (8/29): Recovery Day (for PF)

Sunday (8/30): Two workouts
8 Mile Long Run: 8.09 miles, 1:20:32 (Avg. Pace 9:57/mile)
A very good long run after several days off and my considerable leg pain and PF pain. Five of my mile splits were under 10 minutes, and 2 were under 9:45 (the 1st and 6th miles were both at 9:34/mile). Only 2 splits were substantially above 10 minutes (Mile 2: 10:15/mile, Mile 5: 10:32/mile), but both of these miles included a HUGE hill that I didn't feel like trying to power up (especially since it had been a couple weeks since I ran anywhere near this far, and since my PF still twinged a little). Overall, I'm very happy with this long run.

2.4 Mile Walk: Walking around the Minnesota State Fair with Steph and Andy