Tuesday Night Track Workouts

Winter is fully here and it is time to move indoors....at least on Tuesday nights. Vertical Runner hosts a group of various runners and provides them with sound workouts and target times for each runner. I on the other hand just follow what Pete tells me to do. Tonight it was mile repeats. I felt pretty good and went a little faster than what the plan said to do. I will probably pay for it in the morning with my 5am group, but so be it. Kent State is a good facility to do track work. Not too many people and a large enough track to make it worth the drive. The end result was 8 x 1 mile repeats. I averaged 5:45 per mile. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Finally.

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On the run

For the second week in a row I have had to make pit stops while running with the Saturday morning group. This is becoming a problem because the pack keeps going and I can't catch them. They are a fast bunch and it is just not very much fun finishing last. I will change my eating habits this coming Friday and see if that fixes it. Otherwise I will have to invest in this British portable 'loo".

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A Mighty Wind

5am run with Damon and Nilesh. Very very windy as I got out of the car. Put my Garmin on top of my car and it quickly blew off. Stepped out to stretch and my hat flew off. The good news is that the wind was not as bad as I expected once we got rolling. We ran our usual 9 mile route through Sand Run Parkway, up Big Bend / Merriman, past Stan Hywet, then on the RRAM course in reverse back to the car. Very sluggish as we started but got into a relaxed groove just before we hit Big Bend. A great day to run.

Also a great movie!

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Frostbite Prediction Run

I had to run 1hr and 30 minutes today. Since we are having freakish weather - 60+ degrees - I ran in a tee shirt and shorts around 11:30am from the Natatorium. I took advantage of the weather and got a good measurement and course charting for the Frostbite Prediction Run. The club has to move the race for this year due to construction at Blossom. The temporary course is at Water Works in Cuyahoga Falls. The course will take advantage of the roads surrounding the park area behind the swimming facility. Runners will have to do the loop twice, but it is very scenic and you can see other runners throughout the race. The only obstacle today were the dozens of geese hanging out in the park.

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Weekly Schedule 1/7 to 1/13

I go through a 3 week build then a recovery week. This pattern seems to work well. Here is what I have in store for the week:

• Monday, 1-7: AM: Run 1:30 hrs easy
• Tuesday, 1-8: AM Run 1 hr easy. PM Run - Track: Warmup 2 miles. Main set is 5x1 mile at 5:35 pace. Easy 400m between
• Wednesday, 1-9: AM Run 1 hr easy. PM Run - Warm up 15 min to marathon pace. Main set is 1:05 at marathon pace
• Thursday, 1-10: Run - 1:30 hrs easy
• Friday, 1-11: Off day
• Saturday, 1-12: Run - 2 hrs total with 1 hour at marathon pace
• Sunday, 1-13: Run - 1:10 hrs with zero hard efforts

The weather looks good early in the week which will help on Tuesday and Wednesday.

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Saturday Group Run

I meet a group of guys on Saturday morning at Fishers in Peninsula. This is a great group because it is large enough where you can run about any pace you want and still have someone to run with. Today was another recovery type day. I felt pretty good and we maintained an even 6:45-ish pace for most of the 12.5 miles. I have a tough week ahead so days like today are appreciated. The photo is an aerial view of Fishers / Winking Lizard on Route 303.

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Boston Marathon 2008

I am 4 weeks into my new Boston Marathon training program. My goals and the program are pretty aggressive for 2008. So far the program has been tough but I can already feel the improvement coming. I think the key will be to do my hard workouts with other people, such as the Saturday morning group that runs from Fishers Cafe in Peninsula and a group that runs at Kent State on Tuesdays. Boston and the Hood to Coast are my two primary goals before I turn 45. I will be using this Blog as a sort of diary for the Boston preparation. More to follow.

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