Monday, February 25, 2008

Take it outside


So that picture there is a couple years old now, but the place I stay at every year for spring training looks the same. It's a great little gated community of condos, where a few of the ballplayers live during February and March as well.

One thing I love about the joint is the brick promenade that runs behind the buildings and along the water. It's great for running, though a little hard on the legs when you haven't been running on a real hard outdoor surface in a while.

The only disappointment was finding out that the running path isn't the 1.5 miles that they bill it to be. My handy-dandy Garmin informs me that the path is actually roughly 1.35 miles, so 2.7 when running from end to end. That stinks, because here I always thought I was getting a 3-mile run in and I was being shorted by more than a quarter mile.

No worries, though. I've been down here for 13 days and I've gone running on 7 of those. My legs were killing me after the first few runs -- I think simply making the adjustment to the type of surface, the new winding turns and some light hills here and there -- so I took six days off in a nine-day span there at one point.

My first run here went spectacular. I think I was just so excited to be back in Florida and running on one of my favorite routes that I was hymped up on adrenaline. I logged three miles in 22 minutes flat the day I got here -- splits of 7:15/7:33/7:12. I bested that on Saturday with a three-miler in 21:26 (7:00/7:04/7:22).

I really didn't feel like going today, but I got out there and did three miles in 22:10 with my third clocking in at 6:58 -- my first mile under seven minutes since I came down here. On the seven days I've run, I've logged 30 miles, including an 8-mile run (longest since Dec. 21), completed in 1:08:51 on Feb. 17. I had a few miles over nine minutes on that run, but I was taking it easy and I did finish with a 7:28 split on my last mile that day.

I'm on my feet most of the day at work, so part of me has been resisting the desire to get out there and run each night. I'm trying to work in off-days to incorporate long runs again, but the trick is not falling prey to too many off-days in a row. I've continued my core work each day for the most part and have hit up the nice little gym they have here a couple times, too.

Another issue I'm dealing with is eating out (man, that Thai place tonight was awesome!). It's tempting to head out every night with friends on the company's dime, but I'm trying to talk myself into staying in more often this year. I may come off as being anti-social, but it's for my own good!

Well, that's all for tonight. Again, even I think reading all of this is kind of boring, but hopping on here and writing about it helps keep me keep me in check. So far, I'm pretty happy with how I've stuck with this whole running thing, even though, honestly, I hate running. I was telling someone today -- I can't stand the actual act of running, but I love the idea of competing against yourself.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

300 Spartan


That's right, this Michigan State Spartan has finally reached 300 miles. With that, I'm set to head to Florida for Spring Training. I logged 25 miles this past week -- was aiming for 30, but I listened to my dying legs and took a day off on Sunday. So, I did a 5-miler on Monday to reach the 300 mark. I've averaged roughly 2.7 miles per day this offseason, and 4.5 per day on the days I ran.

Now, I head to Tampa tomorrow morning for six weeks of Spring Training for the Blue Jays and Marathon Training for me. I'm transitioning back into my long-run routine, which consists of runs on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. So I'll log between 3-6 miles for now on the first three days and use Saturday as my long day. I'll probably start with an eight miler this coming Saturday. We'll see.

That's all for now. It's been quite the winter for me. I started off at around 170 pounds and am back down to a lean 160. Ideally, I'll be around 155-160 by October for the marathon in Chicago. Right now, it's all about strenghthening my core, building up my endurance and continuing to get better at that whole mind over matter thing. I like to remind myself of that Patton quote while I'm running: "Never let the body tell the mind what to do."

Thursday, February 7, 2008

I lost, 6-5

Yup, Kelly outlasted me at the gym today, running six miles to my five. OK, five miles was all my routine called for today. But regardless, Kell's showing was the longest continuous run of her life, which is pretty cool for her. She wanted to do six to stick it to me after I gave her a hard time for taking the day off yesterday. Well played.

Since I posted last, I've logged 18 miles in five days, with an off-day on Monday. My goal this week is to run 30 miles, which would give me an even 300 for the offseason only three days shy of departing for Florida. I was hoping to have more by this point, but more than a week off after Christmas and a minor leg injury last month put me back some.

Word is slowly getting out that I'm training to run a marathon. As I'm getting closer to getting back to work, I've run into more fellow scribes and the usual reaction is along the lines of either "Wow, good for you," or "Geez, you're a crazy person." I've also found a couple coworkers who have marathon experience and I plan on hitting them up with questions and for tips in the coming months.

As for my recent runs, my handy dandy watch has all the info. Today I cracked up because my third and fourth miles were identical in time and steps (7:43/1344). I guess I was locked in my zone. I'm typically averaging around 7:30-40 per mile on runs of 5-7 miles. In six of my last seven runs -- ranging between 3-7 miles -- I've also clocked between 6:40-7:02 for my final mile, meaning I'm getting good at stepping it up a notch in the home stretch.

Here are my mile splits for my recent runs around the track:

Jan. 28: 3 miles -- 8:01/7:10/6:50 = 22:01
Jan. 29: 5 miles -- 7:45/7:48/7:44/7:25/7:32 = 38:16
Jan. 31: 7 miles -- 7:57/8:02/7:47/9:01/8:10/7:47/7:02 = 55:48
Feb. 2: 5 miles -- 7:53/7:48/7:31/8:02/6:40 = 37:57
Feb. 3: 3 miles -- 7:23/7:02/6:41 = 21:06
Feb. 5: 5 miles -- 7:59/8:01/7:49/7:54/7:01 = 38:47
Feb. 6: 5 miles -- 7:30/7:41/7:43/7:43/6:57 = 37:36

I'm hoping, in a perfect world, to be able to average around eight minutes per mile during the marathon. So I'm shooting for something around three and a half hours to three hours and 45 minutes. That probably means I'll finish around four hours. We'll see. I'll see how I hold up on some longer runs in the coming weeks.

Friday, February 1, 2008

No turning back now

It's official. As soon as the clock flipped to 1 a.m. here in the East, the online registration opened for the 2008 Chicago Marathon. I waited up, logged on at the first possible moment and am now officially registered to run the 26.2 mile course on Octber 12, 2008. So, what has been a whole lot of talk is now set in stone.

I've paid the non-refundable fee and can now really start mapping out my training for the coming months. The only thing that could derail my part in all this would be if the Blue Jays make the playoffs and then advance to the ALCS. Let's just say the percentages are in my favor that I'll be able to run in the marathon.

As for my latest workout, yesterday I ran seven miles, which is the most I've run at once since Christmas Eve. I had removed long runs from my workouts in order to stick to indoor runs for now. The long runs will return in a couple weeks, when I'm down in the comforts of Florida. The winds have been blowing nearly 60 mph up here in Toronto this week and it's snowing now.

I finished the seven miles in 55:48, so just under eight minutes per mile. According to my handy-dandy Garmin, I took 9,568 steps and burned roughly 886 calories. My legs were aching in the first three miles (splits of 7:57, 8:02 and 7:47). But then I cooled down with a 9:01 on mile 4, suddenly felt refreshed and finished up with splits of 8:10, 7:47 and 7:02 on the last three miles.

It's nice to know that if I do feel some fatigue, I can slow my pace for a mile or so and then pick right back up after that. A lot of times, the fatigue seems more mental than physical. Once I slowed my pace, my legs no longer felt sore and I was able to steadily increase down the stretch. Hopefully I can use a similar approach come October if my body tries to convince me to stop.

Stay tuned for more...