2/2 - 2/8

Mon- snow storm, tried to wait it out. Tried to go to the gym for a run but was closed.

Tues - 5:30pm - 8m (track workout) joined a few guys at the indoor track and tagged alone for portions of their workout. Ended up with 1x1k(3:10), 3x400(75), 4x200(33) - had extended rest on all sets. Was nice to get a workout in, was a huge shock to the system. 

Wed- 8:45am - 7m (50:54) legs were pretty sore this morning. Thankfully working a split shift and got a little extra sleep and a day light run. Hoping it's not to cold tonight and I can sneak in a 2nd run.

8pm - 3+ (25:38) was surprisingly warm out around 30. Legs felt pretty good, this was a nice way to end the day. 

Thurs - 6:15pm - 8m (65:30) met up with the group in Albany for a run. Was a tad chilly out. Always nice to get these recovery runs in with a large group.

Fri- 8:30am - 5m (35:43) waited as long as I could for the temps to come above freezing. No dice!

8:45pm - 5m (36:30) had to work late and was lucky Derrick also was working late, met up for an easy 2nd run. No rest for the wicked!

Sat - 10am - 10m (hill repeats) headed over to Hill rd (ironic huh?) for some hill repeats. The hill itself has a short steep start then quickly changes to a gradual climb with a short section into a neighborhood to finish out. The plan was 4x 1/2m repeats. Had some confidence going into this workout from Tuesday. Felt strong and smooth on the climbs, was able to increase the pace slightly each rep and had minimal soreness in my hip flexor.

Splits - 3:02/2:59/2:58/2:56

Sun - 11:30am - 13m (1:37:05) had mapped out a 17m loop last night with the intention to run said loop. Checked the weather and it didn't look to bad. The first 4-5m I thought I might have over dressed was breaking a sweat. Once I made the turn for Ballston Spa that changed quickly, the next 5m were into a head wind and getting blasted with snow. By the time I made my turn on outlet road I was frozen and had enough, the roads were now covered and I was slipping every where. Decided to pull the plug and head home.

Summary: Total 59m (6days) not the best week of miles, had 2 good harder effect days and my hip flexor seems to be getting better. Still acts up on the long runs. Will most likely push my start to the racing season out a bit. Starting to think with the leg not 100% the Jones 10m might do more harm then good.

1/27 - 2/1

Injury update, clearly I can run with my leg the way it is and not make it worse. I'm hoping it will be fully healed soon to begin some workouts.

Mon - off - legs felt pretty good today, had a massage scheduled for 6pm which was going to cause for a rushed run. Decided to take a recovery day instead of rushing.

Tues - 6:15pm - 10m (82:37) - ran down to Jessy's house to pick her up for a snowy night run. Looped thru the neighborhoods and a few out and backs in the complex to get the distance. Wasn't to bad other then a few "knuckleheads" out playing in the snow, could always hear them before swing them as they where out drifting on the snowy roads. 

Wed -6:15pm - 7+ (50:23) waited for Macknight to get home, said some nonsense like out the door by 5? Hit up a nice quite loop and scoped out a new possible place for next year. Legs felt good. 

Thurs- 6pm - 9m (1:01:21) met up with a crew at UA we didn't a couple campus loops, myself and Macknight added on a state office loop to get the full planned time. Afterwards changed up in the parking lot and headed to the pour house for some brews and loaded Mac & cheese.

Fri - unplanned day off w/traveling home

Sat - 9:30am - 18m (2:09:45) met up with Alex for a run from his place. Wasn't to bad when the wind wasn't a factor. Was nice to get a good long run in and have someone to run with. Month total - 251m

Sun- Off - hip flexor pretty sore - travel day

Total - 44m 

1/19-1/25

With last week being a wash I'm trying to get back into a rythym. I will say my left leg is 80-85% still some tightness in certain areas but only getting better not worse.

Mon -4pm- 7m (48:26) cardio wise I felt great the rest of my body felt like a fish outta water today. Never really felt right, the more I focused on form the more out of place I felt. I've had plenty of days like this prior nothing to concerning just a bit annoying.

Tues- 6pm - 8.5m (59:50) Did some more house shopping after work. Met up with Gavs for a run at UAlbany, ended up doing a mix of running. Some outdoors then popped into the indoor track before heading back out. Was nice to change it up and seeing people on the track got me excited to start working out soon.

Wed - 5:30pm - 7m (44:06) this run might have been a bit short but was still the quickest pace I have run since returning from last week. Starting to gain some confidence in my leg.

Thurs - 4pm - 3+ (22:46) right after work missed my morning run. Decided to get some mile and core work prior to the trek down to Albany.

6:15pm - 9.5m (71:51) with a large group from Michelle's. The plan was 7-8 mile but we made a few wrong turns. Legs felt good and it's always motivating to run with a group.

Fri - 6pm - 7m (46:26) reverse hills rd loop. First run with zero discomfort in my leg.

Sat - 8am - 13m (1:45:25) ran first 3 solo as I was early for the 830 run. 10m with the group, roads were a bit sloppy but was still a fun time. The slipping made for a few twinges here and there from the leg but overall no issues.

Sun- 10am - 30k (18.6) 2:08:25 - up at 5am to head into work yet again. Shot over to UA after and hung out till it was time for the winter series. Cruised thru the run with Sweeny. Leg felt good majority of the way. Afterwards we hit up Madison café for some food.

Summary - 74 miles not to bad considering not being 100%. Today was a good sign my fitness is there but also that I can't go that far on my leg at and honest pace. Have a massage scheduled for tomorrow to hopefully work some kinks out.

1/12 - 1/18

Mon - 3m - if you can even count it. As per norm of any distance runner 1 partial day of my leg feeling a little better sure I think I can run. Made it maybe a mile before all the pain came back. Note to self don't be a dumb ass.

Rehab

                     

Tues- 0m continued with the rehab of the leg, pretty sore all day. Yesterdays run was a bad idea.

Wed- 0m feeling much better, did some more rehab but able to move around majority of the day with no discomfort.

Thurs- 0m this morning was the first time all week I've been able to get up with no soreness and get dressed with no issue. Will continue with rehab tonight and hope to run either tomorrow or Saturday!

Fri- 3.5m (23:30) 4:30pm - got in 2 new pairs of trainers and legs were feeling really good. Happy to be running.

Sat - 7.5m (53:33) 8:30am went down to albany for the pancake run. Ran with Gavs for the loop, legs felt good.

Sun - 7m (9am) ran the Thacher park trails with Michelle, trails were fairly packed down from all the snowshoers and XC-skiers. Made for a nice relaxing run. Followed it up with some breakfast before meeting with the realtor to look at some houses.

Summary - kind of a bummer week only was able to run 21m with the minor injury. Glad that seems to be in the rearv view now and can get back to training.

1/5 - 1/11

Week 2 of scheduled training, this is where the true test/work begins. Anyone can string a week or 2 together! Consistancy is the true test!

Mon - 4:30pm - 7m (53:03) roads were pretty sloppy, to add to this it was pretty chilly out. Had to battle the elements solo today. Went for a reverse neighborhood 7, in hindsight bad choice. Has that nice climb but coming down the steep side with slick roads wasn't fun. 

7:30pm do to back in balance for a 1hr massage, overall feeling good still some tightness on my right side.

Tues - 5:20am - 3m (23:36) treadmill - I like to use these as a small progression in the morning and usually work down to 7min pace by the last mile. Good way to wake the body up.

5:15 pm - 7m (44:30) treadmill. Had all intentions of running outside this afternoon. Was home by 3:45, sent a quick text to Eric plan was he was out at 4. Boom! Someone to run with, or so I thought. Work happens haha. Needed to be outta the house by 620 for dinner. Treadmill was best option allows me to get the miles and watch the clock to ensure i wasn't late.

Wed- 5:20pm - 7m (51:29) treadmill. Man it was chilly out today, decided to stick indoors and keep it easy.

Thurs -5:40pm - 10+ (1:19:44) in Albany with a nice crew of people. Ran a few miles prior then covered a downtown loop. Was a nice and relaxed run.

Fri- 7pm - 10m (1:08:57) hung out till Eric got home and hit up a nice loop of back roads and neighborhoods. Around 36mins had a nice little fall / slide rounding a corner. Was able to catch myself mainly with my elbow, layed there for a minute laughing until a car stopped to make sure I was ok. The little things make for good time.

Sat - 11:30am - 15m (1:54:53) ran with KQ as she was doing 20. Did some loops in the neighborhoods and then a few out and backs. After about 90mins felt my left quad/groin tightening, finished the run and everything felt good.

Sun - Woke up and could hardly lift my leg, decided to take the day off and do some rehab to get my leg feeling better. Did some icing with the electro-stim followed by soaking in some Epsom salt. Seemed to loosen up pretty good, repeated the stim in the PM. Hoping to be feeling good enough to run tomorrow.

Summary - 59.5m slightly disappointed that I missed the run on Sunday. Felling really good with the training, but it was put in prospective while out to brunch with the Sunday crew. My goal race isn't for nearly 5 months, no need to push it at this point. Will hopefully be back to normal training very shortly.

12/29 - 1/3

Mon - 4:30pm (7++) 50:53 - In Spac w/ Megan and Shaun. Took a mile or two before I felt relaxed with the pace, these two can really just jet out at a quicker pace were I've grown accustom to easing into the run.

Tues - 5:15am (3m - 24:34) On the treadmill, this was the first attempt at doubling was able to get the run in and make the 35min drive to work with plenty of time to spare.

6pm (7m - 53:39) From UAlbany did a loop around downtown with Joe, Mulford and Eric. These are good run as the group keeps the pace easy, and we avoid over doing it. Hit up some Chipotle afterwards.

Wed - 5pm (7m - 45:34) started the first 4+ with Eric on a new loop. I have run this a few times in the past month has a good combo of things some nice easy rollers in the start and around 5-6m you get a good 1/2m climb. Happy New Years!!

Thurs - 12pm (17m - 1:59:52) Hang Over half, Paced KQ and Jessy through their workout. We ended up picking up a few others (Dan and James) the goal was 3x3mile over the course of the race. Went very well! Afterwards I ventured back out onto the course to get Joe (who was running his first 1/2) was a good way to start the New Year.

Fri - 6pm (7m - 49:33) Treadmill - slow day at work left at 3pm to make it almost home before being called back in. Was a big shot to my motivation, got home finally around 430pm. Decided for a quick nap before the run. Good choice!!

Sat - 9am (5m - 36:47) went out for a reverse neighbor hood loop. Was decent out with a little wind and a storm making its was into town. 

6pm (5m - 33:43) treadmill run. A day that started out nicely turned shitty pretty quickly. Was called into work around 11am (35-40min drive one way) nothing horrible got me out the door to get stuff done. The horrible part of the day, had a planned 7m with Jessy and Eric (as the plan stated) right before heading out the door I received the 2nd call of needing to come into work. Normally wouldn't bother me except when you screw up my plans. Had to resort to the treadmill as it was nasty out and my motivation was lacking.

Sun - 8am (20m - 2:29:44) with Michelle, Joe, Newman, Aaron, Kyle and a few others. The plan was for 15m did a barn loop (roughly 12m) and decided to head back out to meet the rest of the group and run them in. Unfortunately they finished a different way then I did and I managed to miss the turn they took. This sent me for a tour of Albany, lucky I found a road I knew and tracked back to my car. Oops!! 

Summery: 79m feeling good about this week. Was a it high on the miles then planned but overall did well with the miles, next week will be the test to maintain those miles and hold to the plan. Some highlight were Thursday's 17m was after a late night of celebrating and Sunday's 20m was on an empty stomach. Nice to know the gas tank is still there, also attacked some of the climbs today (even doubled back on one)

 

VCM Journey

It's been some time since I've used the blog for anything useful. I've decided I will bring it back and track my training leading upto VCM and hopefully the remainder of 2015. A bit of background, since mid November I have been running solely base miles, nothing huge but also nothing structured. The plan was to get a nice base before going into the training cycle, I managed to stay around 50-55 miles a week with days off when I felt like being lazy. The last two weeks I added a long run to prep for training to begin (15,16m) I'm taking a very modest approach to VCM this year with the simple goal to obtain a new PR. In review of last year I believe I put to much on the time I wanted to see and really missed some key point, in the end I ran like shit. This week marks the first portion of scheduled training for VCM. 

Goals:

Stay healthy/hungry

Keep easy days easy

Follow the damn plan!

Lastly sub 2:48:04

The plan:

The plan is simple to build in slowly and do it right no short-cuts

Phase 1 - adjust to scheduled mileage and hold a level of consistancy.

Phase 2 - continue to build the mileage with the addition of hill workouts

Phase 3 - Add tempo's in addition to hills and a slight increase in miles

Phase 4 - replace hills with track work and fine tune 

Update

Haven't done to much running in the past couple weeks. Started to struggle with workouts again and my right leg was bothering me mainly my hip and ankle. After a couple days of iceing and ice baths things were feeling a bit better but not 100%. I decided I would try a massage (never had one before) this was the greatest and most painful decision. I explained to the lady (who's also a runner) what was going on and where I felt tightness. Right away she noted my mid/lower back was extremely inflamed and the main culprate to my discomfort. After some extensive work on my back and legs I was already feeling much better. 

So far this week:

Monday - massage 

Tues. - 3.5m (23:55)

Wed- 5m (33:33)

I decided to hit the restart on the trainjng with no races really planned out. 

10/6 - 10/12

Mon - 8.5m (1:00) went for an hour on the malta trails. Not sure the distance as I doubled back on a few trails. The goal was simple 1hr on the trails.

Tues - 7m (59:44) with Kevin and the two dogs. 

9/29 - 10/5

Mon- 9 (60:53) plus or minus a few. In the pine bush trails with Aaron, Pete, Mackey and Eric. Nice run and hit some sweet trails.

Tues - 7.5m (56:05) with Joe Benny in albany.

Wed - 8m (track) plan was to do 8x4-8x2. Was a bit more ambitious then I originally thought. Did tonight's workout with Kiley (150/40x) Aaron (150/405) and Pete (150/414) and just for shits and giggles Goup (209/434) needless to say when they decided to pick it up I went off the back of the pack..but it was a blast trying to hang.

Actual workout : 7x400 and 2x200

74/71/71/71/71/73/75

30/28

I stopped short on the 400's as I was starting to go backwards. On the 200's I tried to stick with the group on the first one, then got a little head start on Pete and tried to hold him off..he went 25-26 low - no chance on holding off. 

Thurs- 8++ (60:28) nice and easy run

Fri - Off

Sat - 11m (Apple Run 5k)
Shot over to Burnt Hills for the Apple Run 5k, I knew Pete was going to be at the race. Intended to work together ( as we figured we were in similar shape) A bit of a change of plan happened on race day. Tony G showed up (it is only .5m from his house) this was a game changer as I knew he had just run 1601.
We got out in a nice pack and cruised through the first 1/2m together before Tony took over the lead and started to open things up. Myself and Pete continued together trying to keep Tony close, I hit the mile in 5:12 and tried to close the gap up on Tony around 2m Pete pulled up alongside me and was able to open up a nice gap. The last mile was pretty tough I was reeling backwards pretty hard after 1.5m and just wanted to hang on. Finished up in 17:11 which was no what I was hoping for but it is the fastest 5k since I've been back training. Went out for a 5+ cool down with Pete and Tony to pack in some miles.

Sun - 10m (67:07) relaxed medium long run. Was 43 out when I started and about 47 at the finish.

Total - 53m

Overall a good week got the miles up and started to build the long runs into the training.