Recreation Runs

Taking it easy while knee is recovering, but did manage to do a couple of recreation runs - slow runs of four or five miles - with friends. Friday Chris, Raminder and I went down to the Schuylkill river path and did a little over five miles. The weather was beautiful. Saturday Paul and I jogged from his place to the summit of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, which connects Philadelphia to Camden, NJ over the Delaware River. I had never been over the bridge on foot before. There is a pedestrian path about 20 or 30 feet above the roadway, so it is very scenic and pleasant - the traffic isn't rushing right by you. The bridge is nearly two miles across (9,650 feet, or 1.8 miles) so it might be a good place to train for hills. Outside of a few places in Fairmount Park, there aren't that many places to run hills around here.

Going to try a regular sprint workout at the track today. Been icing and doing the stretches assigned by the physical therapist faithfully. Getting MRI tonight and seeing both the physical therapist and the doctor tomorrow. As long as the MRI shows no stress fracture, I think the doc is going to give me a cortisone shot, which he thinks will take the inflammation right down. I am anxious to get back on track with the regular training schedule - already lost three weeks.

Sidelined

It's been nearly three weeks since my last post. The knee problem came back with a vengeance on that last 20-miler, and did not go away as quickly as I had hoped. With a schedule to keep, I decided to see a sports doctor. He says - barring a stress fracture - he's going to get me to the marathon. He thinks it is irritation of the IT band, that runs from the outside of the knee up to the hip. Won't get an MRI to eliminate the stress fracture possibility until next week, but in the mean time, I've gotten a little running in. Did a six-miler at about an 8:00 pace with Chris on Friday, but it left me so that I couldn't finish a mile jogging with Paul on Saturday. Didn't try again until yesterday, and was able to do 3 miles at a 7:19 pace with little pain. Saw the physical therapist today - he pulled and twisted, and taught me a bunch of stretching exercises. Immediately after, I did four miles at the track at a 7:01 pace and felt very little pain except at the 1.5 mile point. Will do my stretches again tonight and tomorrow morning and if still in no pain will do a 5 or 6-miler at a slower pace tomorrow.

Week Minus 9 - Distance (20 miles)

20.02 miles
Garmin Link
Target: 18 miles @ 8:30/mile
Actual: 20 miles @ 7:57/mile

Got my fifth Friday 20-miler in a row done, but it might not have been such a good idea. Left knee has been hurting ever since, and it looks like I'll have to take a few more days off. Did my usual route; Chris came along for about 5 miles, then I continued on the river path and turned around after 10. Knee didn't really start hurting until after mile 15, and there wasn't much I could do about it then short of walking back. Been icing it since - couldn't run with Paul on Saturday. I think this is an IT band problem so I've read up on some stretching exercises, and I'm going to be better about warming up.

On the positive side, I'm really glad to have had a stretch of 20-milers over the past five weeks. Three of the five, including this one, were at or under the Boston qualifying pace, which is a good sign, as long as the knee recovers soon. There are eight weeks left of the 16-week program, and nine weeks until Boston, so maybe it is a good time to take a break, then be more careful for the second half of the training.

Week Minus 9 - Tempo (10 miles)

10.16 miles (7:39/mile overall pace)
Garmin Link
Target: 2 miles easy, 3 miles @ 7:14/mile, 1 mile easy
Actual: 2 miles easy, 3 miles @ 6:41/mile, 5 miles easy

Skipped my first workout of the program Monday. Got out on the street, but after about a quarter mile my left knee was hurting. Probably could have run through it, but decided it would be wiser to skip the workout and give it a chance to heal properly. I was paying the price for overdoing the the Friday workout last week.

Felt much better on Wednesday. After the two-mile warmup to get down to the river trail, was able to keep a good pace of 6:41 average for the three tempo miles. Turned around and did the five miles back all within a few seconds of 8:00 pace. Had to stop at the post office and stand in line for 15 minutes with about a mile to go, so was a bit stiff for the last mile.

A few hours later Doug and I went out, grabbed some good burgers and saw a sneak preview of Cedar Rapids. I think he enjoyed it a lot, but after a lot of walking in the cold, standing in line for nearly and hour, and two hours sitting in the theater, the knee was really throbbing on the way home. Feels better this morning - hope it will be OK for the 18-20 miler tomorrow.

Week Minus 10 - Distance (20 miles)

20.12 miles
Garmin Link
Target: 13 miles @ 8:15 pace
Actual: 20 miles @ 7:36 pace

Got this picture of my running buddies at work - Team SOMIS - just before leaving for the run this afternoon. That's me, Raminder, Chris, and Susan. Chris went with me; Raminder and Susan had gone out earlier.

Chris and I started out relatively slow, then sped up after two miles. Chris turned back at 4.5 and I continued along the trail, crossed the Falls Bridge, and turned around at 7.5 as there were some treacherously icy spots on the west side. Passed the 13 mile point back at the start of the path, then turned around again for a few miles so that I would end up twenty. Had originally planned to do only 15 - the two warmup miles, plus the 13 for training, but succumbed to the temptation to overdo it again. I figure that the more 20-milers under my belt before Boston the more confident I'll be.

This was my fastest 20-miler ever - by quite a bit, I think. Even the 2009 Philly marathon pace was only 7:50-something. If I can maintain this pace in Boston, I will be thrilled. Probably my challenge will be to keep from starting at an unsustainable pace. In a race situation, full of adrenalin and surrounded by fast runners, it can be hard to hold back.

Left knee was aching badly afterward; I iced it and took some ibuprofen, and now a couple of hours later it seems fine.

Week Minus 10 - Tempo - 11 miles

11.14 miles
Garmin Link
Target: 1 mile easy, 6 miles @ 7:44/mile, 1 mile easy
Actual: 2 miles easy, 6 miles @ 7:10/mile, 3 miles easy

It was icy and sprinkling early this morning, but the forecast half inch of rain never materialized and by lunch it was foggy with not rain. Decided to take my chances with the river path rather than run 8-10 miles at the track, which is a little tedious. The trail was in pretty good condition for the most part, very wet with a few stretches of ice and packed snow.

I've been aiming to do the tempo and distance runs at 30 seconds/mile below target, so exceeded that goal by a few seconds. Friday's distance run will only be 13 miles (will probably do 15 as that is the distance of the loop out to East Falls from work) but I'll try to pick up the pace to below 8:00/mile.

Week Minus 10 - Intervals - 10 miles

10.13 miles
Garmin Link
Target: 10-20 min warmup; 6X800m @3:13 (1:30 RI); 10 min cooldown
Actual: 2.25 mile warmup; 7X800m @2:55 (1:30 RI); 4 mile cooldown

Sunny and high 20's when I went down to the track at Franklin Field at lunchtime. Got a little confused about the number of reps I had done, so ended up with seven 800m intervals instead of six. Even so, kept the average time below 3:00. Still no pain(!) and closed out the month with 211 miles - a new record for me.

Jog With Paul - 4.75 miles

Drove to my pal Paul's this morning instead of running - biking was out of the question - since I was feeling the long run yesterday. Had to dig the car out, but 15 minutes of shoveling got me clear. The streets in South Philly were still pretty dicey - could feel the car slipping along the tire ruts. As we started our jog, it was clear that conditions had deteriorated since yesterday. It was in the 20's and all the slush and melt from yesterday had frozen and made the shoveled sidewalks and visible asphalt on the streets more icy than the packed snow. Had one scary slide stepping onto the street near Logan Circle, but kept upright.

After the jog, did some shopping at the Italian Market. Bought some beef and vegetables for a stew I'll make Monday. Since I had the car, picked up takeout from Barbara's favorite Mexican restaurant, Tacqueria Veracruzano. A little guilt-free eating is one benefit of running.

Week Minus 11 - Distance (21 miles)

Target: 20 miles @ 8:45/mile
Actual: 21.06 miles @ 8:20/mile
Garmin Link

Left work with old running buddy Chris (at right) early this afternoon. We didn't know what conditions would be like on the river path after Wednesday night's 16-18 inches of wet, heavy snow. The first 3 miles of path (until about the 5-mile mark of the run) weren't too bad, mostly well-packed snow that didn't provide great traction, but wasn't slippery either - very bumpy and lumpy, like running on a mountain trail. Chris turned back at 4.5 - where we stopped briefly for the picture.

It got much worse for miles 6 and 7 - loose, wet, ankle deep snow. Mile 7 split was the slowest at 9:24. After crossing the Falls Bridge over to west side of the river, the condition of the trail was much better, so I stayed on that side instead of turning around at the halfway point. U-turned at mile 11.25 for 3 miles, to add 6 miles to the 15-mile loop and ended up near 21 approaching work.

Made up a lot of time on the second half of the run and was very happy with the 8:20 average pace considering the sloggy conditions and slow splits in the first half. Will break 200 miles for January jogging with Paul tomorrow - that blows away my previous monthly record of 123 miles in April 2008.

Week Minus 11 - Tempo (12 miles)

12.1 miles
Garmin Link
Target: 6 mile run: 1 mile easy, 5 miles @ 7:29/mile
Actual: 12 mile run: 2 miles easy, 5 miles @ 7:15 pace, 5 miles easy

We had about two inches of snow this morning, with 6 to 10 more expected overnight. Photo at left is the view from my office window about 7:00 this morning while the snow was falling. It let up about lunch time, so I took off for the river path. Started the tempo pace once I got down there, after two miles. The first mile and a half was a slog - the snow was heavy and wet; it was kind of like running through sand. First tempo mile split was 7:30. Once I got past the Philadelphia Museum of Art (below, view from the rear) and onto Boathouse Row, the path was more clear, with about half an inch of slush. Times for tempo splits 2-4 were in the 7-teens and the fifth mile was 7:01. If it had been dry, I think I could have averaged close to 7:00, but who knows. Really hope the path is clear for another 20-miler on Friday.

Week Minus 11 - Intervals (10.5 miles)

10.54 miles
Garmin Link
Target: 10-20 min warmup; 2X1200m @4:55 (2 min RI); 4X800m @3:13 (2 min RI); 10 min cooldown
Actual: 3.5 mile warmup; 2X1200m @4:53 (2 min RI); 4X800 @3:03 (2 min RI); 3 mile cooldown

16 degrees F at 11:30 when I left the office for the track at Franklin Field, up from the single digits when I came in to work on my bike at 6:15 this morning. That is cold for Philly, but with the sun out and no wind, it really wasn't bad as long as I kept moving and kept hands and ears covered.

Kept my interval averages under target, although the first 1200m was 5:08 - 13 seconds slow - so I had to make up for it with the second. The 800m intervals were all good - in fact, the second two were faster than the first two. This is why I like winter training. I guarantee this would not be so much fun if it were August instead of January. I know that because I last did this workout on August 4, 2009 with significantly slower times (5:01 for the 1200m and 3:14 for the 800m).

Jog With Paul - 9 miles

9.28 miles
Jog to Paul's 2.81
Jog Around Town 3.41
Jog Home 3.06

14 degrees F when I left for Paul's. Wore a cap, heavier gloves and a zip up hoodie sweatshirt on top of my normal cold-weather clothes. The hoodie was too much and I had to take it off after the first mile. Otherwise, it was fine - no wind. We cut our normal run a little short and stopped at a coffee shop for a while. By the time I left for home it was about 20 degrees. A little stiff and sore from yesterday's run, but think with a rest day tomorrow I'll be OK for Monday.

Week Minus 12 - Distance - 20 miles

Target: 18 miles @8:45/mile
Actual: 20.02 miles @8:00/mile
Garmin Link

Conditions weren't great for running today - although it was mostly sunny and the temperature was near 30F, it was quite windy, which made it feel much cooler. The half-inch or so of snow that fell last night had melted and re-frozen in many places, and I wasn't able to start the run until about 4:00, which meant that the last hour was in full darkness.

For the first time, I decided it was wise to wear a cap, and kept gloves on for the entire run. Started from home, but otherwise ran the same route as last week, turning around at 10.25. Last 11 miles were all below 8:06, and 16, 17 and 18-mile splits were below 7:30. Slowed down a bit for the last two miles, when I left the trail and was dodging traffic and pedestrians on the city streets, but even the last mile was a respectable 7:42. Feel great about this run, since the conditions were tougher than last week and I managed a better time. I'm thinking that it's not out of the question at this point to aim for a 7:30 pace for Boston, with the goal of breaking 3:20 - the qualifying time for men 40-44. It just depends on whether this is a plateau, or I continue to improve.

Week Minus 12 - Intervals - 10 miles

Target: 10-20 min warmup; 3X1600m @6:41 (1 min RI); 10 min cooldown
Actual: 3 mile warmup; 3X1600m @6:20 (1 min RI); 4 mile cooldown
Garmin Link

Jogged down to the track at Franklin Field and started the 1-mile intervals after a 3-mile warmup. Left knee and calf were bothering me on the way down, but stopped hurting about 1.5 miles into the warmup. Paused the Forerunner after each sprint and estimated the 1-minute RI by counting 60 breaths. I think that was pretty close. Interval times were 6:13, 6:22 and 6:25. Was a tough workout for me, but the 6:20 average was well under the target time of 6:41. I'm definitely in better shape than the last time I did this workout - July 27, 2009. Times that day were 6:18, 6:20 and 7:21 (my notes say that I could barely get through the third mile.) Of course, the temperature probably has a lot to do with. I would rather run in 30-degree weather than at 80-degrees any time.

Week Minus 12 - Tempo - 12.5 miles

Target: 6 mile run: 2 miles easy, 3 miles @7:14/mile, 1 mile easy
Actual: 12.53 miles: 3 miles easy, 3 miles @6:41/mile, 6.53 easy - 8:00/mile overall
Garmin Link

Decided to do tempo run today since the track was closed for the King holiday. Also put in some extra miles since the weather looks dicey Tuesday-Thursday - snow, rain and ice - and don't want to get behind if I miss a run. Started the 3-mile tempo portion of the run at the three mile mark after getting down to the Schuylkill River Trail and made good time. Average was 6:41 (33 seconds below target) with the third mile fastest at 6:33. Cooled off for an additional half mile before turning back at the Strawberry Mansion Bridge. Ended the run at a Wawa convenience store to get some Gatorade and walked home. Overcast and mid-twenties (F) with no wind - very comfortable as long as I was moving.

Jogging With Paul - 7.65 miles (101 total)

Garmin Link I
Garmin Link II

Broke 100 miles for the month and year today - on track for a record month in terms of mileage, and maybe pace too. Was just a little stiff and sore heading down to South Philly this morning, but nothing serious. Met Paul at his place and we did our loop through South Philly, Old City, Chinatown, past Independence Hall, Reading Terminal Market, City Hall, down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway to Logan Circle and through Rittenhouse Square, past Pennsylvania Hospital, then down to the Old Pine Street Presbyterian Church. We should lead a tour group!

Week Minus 13 - Distance - 21 miles

Target: 20 miles @ 9:00/mile
Actual: 21.03 miles @ 8:09/mile
Garmin Link

Was just a little apprehensive about this run. It was my first 20-miler since the Philly Marathon in November 2009. But the training has been going well, and I was pretty confident. Conditions were good, given the snow. When Chris and I started out, it was 29 degrees and sunny. We did have a pretty good head wind on the way out, which kept it chilly. Chris turned around at 4.35 miles, but his company made the distance seem much shorter. I crossed the Falls Bridge and turned around at 10.3 and retraced my steps back. The trail was in great condition - a little wet in places, but very little ice or snow to worry about. Had to take a short emergency port-a-potty break at mile 9 - was very grateful it was there. Didn't lose energy on the way back - 5 of the last 6 miles were under 8:00, and mile 21 was the fastest split at 7:47. Am very happy to have broken this 20-mile barrier; there are four more 20-milers in the next twelve weeks, the next two weeks from now.

Week Minus 13 - Tempo - 9.5 miles

Target: 6 mile run: 1 mile easy, 4 miles @7:29/mile, 1 mile easy
Actual: 9.51 miles: 2 miles easy, 4 miles @7:09 avg, 3.51 miles easy
Garmin Link

We had about 4 inches of snow Tuesday night, and I had doubts that the Schuylkill River path would be runnable, but the track was closed, so I made my way down to the river. To my happy surprise, the path had been cleared, and was only covered by a light layer of snow where the wind had blown it. The temperature had stayed in the 20s all day, so there was almost no ice. All in all, it was an enjoyable run. Still feeling strong, no sign of shinsplints, and my left knee - that's been painful recently - wasn't even hurting. Tempo run seems to be my best workout - was 20 seconds/mile faster than target pace.

Week Minus 13 - Intervals

15.2 miles

Goal:              Actual 1           Actual 2
10-20 min warmup   4.29 mile warmup   1.4 mile warmup
5X1000m @4:03      2X1000m @4:02 avg  5X1000m @3:54 avg
(400m RI)          (400m RI - walk)   (400m RI - walk)
10 min cooldown    .1 mile cooldown   3.79 mile cooldown

Garmin Link I
Garmin Link II

Ended up doing my interval workout twice today - or at least 1.4 times. Went down to the track with Raminder at lunch and we got involved in a long discussion while we ran the warmup that only left me time to do the first two reps before we had to get back for a meeting. After work I tried again - but the track was closed. Ran down to the river path, and used the Forerunner to keep track of the distance on a long, straight stretch of path. I actually got better times in the afternoon, and was comfortably under the goal time for all the reps but one.

Looks like it will snow again 3-5 inches Tuesday night and into Wednesday, so I'm glad I got the extra miles in today. Don't know whether the conditions will permit my tempo run Wednesday.

Snowy Jog to South Philly - 6.5 miles

6.57 miles

Snow again today. only supposed to be about 2-4 inches, but it was coming down pretty heavily when I left - late - to meet Paul in South Philly. There was about a fresh inch on the ground, so I took it slow across the South Street bridge and downtown. Left knee was hurting a bit, and was generally stiff after yesterday. Paul and I had some coffee, and only ran about a mile together through the snow before stopping for more coffee. Stayed to chat with Paul's visiting nephews, Matt and Will, before jogging back home and shoveling. Stopped by the Farmer's Market at Clark Park - where I took this picture of the Dickens statue - and got some apples and acorn squash. Plan to take it easy tomorrow, and do my tempo run on Monday.