Ever have one of those 'real' moments where you know that 'shit is about to go down'? I had one of those yesterday when I receive a text message from my Nutritionist stating that we needed to soon discuss my nutrition plan for Boston. Cold chills covered my body as if I was standing at the start line ready to race. With every day that passes, I get more excited. The workouts are getting tougher, but I believe that I am as well.
I missed out on writing this past week because things have been extremely hectic. Baseball season is fully under way and as I learn better each year, Baseball Coaches like to play Weather Man too. Not a good idea. Stick to what you know, or in some cases, don't know.
Running in South Florida definitely has advantages. As an Ice Storm hit Nashville on Monday the 16th, I was in sunny and 75 degree Naples. That day's run was to be a tempo run. I've openly admitted that I'm not very good at the execution of a tempo pace. I've searched for and read every definition. I've asked runner friends about how they execute these runs and still I struggle with this. That said, I like how this run turned out. After a warmup mile, I dropped below 7:00 pace, leveling off at just below 6:40 pace for 3 miles and then knocking down the last mile at 6:24. A good, hard, 7 mile effort with enough energy in the tank to finish strong.
The next day was an easy 7 miles to shake off the sting of a fast prior day. I feel like I'm getting better at this kind of running as well. I tend to keep dropping the pace until I find myself putting out a significant effort on an easy day. I didn't do that on this day. I'm also finding that my 'easy' pace is dropping down to about 7:30. I like very much!
Wednesday of that week was scheduled for 6 miles with no particular pace assigned to it. I'm not really sure why I didn't assign a pace, but I've been trying Wednesday runs at or near marathon pace, so I went out with the intent of going faster. After a couple of warm-up miles, I put down 4 averaging 6:46. I'm beginning to enjoy this 'fast' running.
Back home on Friday (and for the next week) and things get complicated. Snow, and mostly Ice, still blanket Middle Tennessee and baseball for the day was already cancelled. Friday was to be 11 miles at marathon pace. It turned into 11 miles at 'just don't bust your ass' pace. A 50 degree temperature change definitely makes me better understand the 'Snow Bird' mentality. I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't try the distance/pace, but please that I got out on a 25 degree, icy day and got the miles. Saturday's baseball was cancelled early as it was 40 and pouring rain. Not even a chance to get outside to run so I went to the Y for an hour in the pool and then back home for an hour on the bike. Missing a long run is near disaster in my mind. I hate situations like this.
Sunday was to be a 10 mile 'recovery' pace run. I was able to talk Jenifer and Alex into 13+ instead. We had planned on doing a 'Tom King' like route, but decided that if the Shelby Bottoms Greenway was still covered in ice, that we'd improvise and make it up as we go. And we did. 13+ miles at 7:53 pace, while not busting my ass is a success. All this before heading to the ballpark for a double header. This turned out to be a very, very long day.
Monday would be another day of baseball and running while dodging ice. The paths still aren't clear and with a temperature of only 28, it wasn't going to happen then either. 9 miles @ 7:47 pace is a win for this day. Monday is typically a 'speed workout' day for me, but I changed this up because of the previous day and the remaining ice.
Tuesday. Hill Repeats. Oh how I've missed you! You suck! Yes, those are exact thoughts that went through my head on this day. I felt sluggish. Legs were tired. 3 baseball games in two days, on top of the mileage, was taking a toll. 8 x Hill Repeats, 4 x Down Hill Repeats. A total of 8 miles and I didn't hit my paces a single time. Either my feeling of sluggishness was dead on or I grossly miscalculated my paces for this workout, which is highly likely. Did I mention another baseball game? Yep.
On Wednesday, I would have yet another baseball game and needed 9 miles. I knew that I wouldn't be able to do this one fast, but still went out with 'good intentions.' 9.3 @ 7:34 on this day was a very good run.
By Friday I knew that Baseball Coaches turned Weather Men are shitty Weather Men! On Tuesday of this week, a decision had been made to cancel due to impending bad weather. By Friday, it was gorgeous. Thank goodness. This weekend was a high mileage weekend. 11 Friday, 22 Saturday and 11 Sunday. I really didn't know how I was going to pull that off and work baseball at the same time. Luckily I didn't have to worry about it. Friday was 11 quick miles @ 7:12 pace. Saturday's long run was miserable, in part because I hadn't gone long in a couple of weeks, other part because it was still freakin' cold. 22 miles at 8:09 pace. Not bad, but I really struggled in the last 4+ miles. Sunday's 11 miles were the first time in 10 days that I had run with the temp above freezing. Break out the shorts!!! Woo Hoo!!! Those 11 miles wrapped up a 71 mile week. My highest mileage week since October. The body is feeling it, but its also a nice accomplishment.
Even with all of the improvisation of the past week or so, training appears to still be going well. The miles are adding up and I'm becoming more comfortable with those faster paces. It feels really good to execute some of these longer distances at faster paces, something I haven't tried regularly in prior training plans. I'm also ahead of pace on my 2500 mile goal for the year and expect that gap to increase through April. Soon I'll get to work on some of the other running goals for the year.
