michigandering
saturday i took the day off from running to travel to michigan and play golf with my family.
sunday morning i went with my dad to stoney creek metropark for a long run. the park has a large lake in the middle of it with a paved path running around it. every quarter mile is marked and the path is heavily traveled by walkers, runners and cyclists.
initially, my dad and i ran a 2 mile out and back effort then did some stretching. we then headed counterclockwise around the lake at slightly slower than 10 minute pace. after our first six mile lap around the lake, i opted to run the next two laps on my own and headed clockwise back out with my ipod. by this time the sun was up and the temps were rising. i downed a gel at roughly 12 miles and the pace on my second six mile loop was around 7:45-ish.
i quickly downed another gel, refilled my water bottle and headed out counterclockwise on my third six mile loop. on my way out i was able to say hello to my dad as he was rolling in to finish his second lap. i picked up the pace a bit over my second lap and averaged 7:20-ish pace during the third lap around the lake.
after finishing my 20 miles, and walking a bit, i grabbed a mountain dew from the vending machine. i parked myself on a bench in the shade near the boat launch and watched folks putting their boats in the water. my dad finished his 20 miles and we waded into the lake up to our knees to cool down the legs a bit.
monday morning i got up early so i could get in some miles before heading back home. my route ended up to be an out and back effort that was a bit hillier than what i really wanted the day after running 20 miles. regardless, i mustered 7 miles in a few ticks over an hour and hit the shower.
this morning i rolled myself down comanche and pointed myself west down the glacial drumlin trail. on the outbound segment, i covered 3.5 miles in just under 31 minutes. inbound, i mustered the same 3.5 miles in a little over 28 minutes. with 7 miles covered, i hit the shower.
August – 239 miles
MTD – 14 miles
YTD – 1,378 miles
Odometer – 27,716 miles
train traffic & mental math
i geared up this morning, headed down comanche and turned east on the glacial drumlin headed toward town. as i made my way closer to town, i heard the horn from an approaching train just as i was approaching the intersection of the railroad tracks and the trail. i picked up the pace but the first few segments of the train were already through the intersection i needed to cross. i wasn’t real thrilled with just standing there waiting for the train to pass so i doubled back on my route.
i did some mental math and figured out that if i went west along the trail until my watch read 6 miles, i could double back on the route and have 9 miles on my watch by the time i got home. as it turned out, i was pretty accurate and rolled 9.00 about a block from home. i was a bit surprised that the effort only took 1:14:20 this morning, which translates to 8:16 average pace. after walking that extra block to my house, i opened the garage and carried the trash to the curb.
BTW…upon further review…my best August was back in 2004 when i rolled 300 miles en route to my 2nd BQ
MTD – 219 miles
YTD – 1,344 miles
Odometer – 27,682 miles
since i won’t be running on saturday, my week ends today. therefore, here’s an update of my weekly mileage breakdown in preparation for marathon #20…
wk 1 – 52 miles
wk 2 – 50 miles
wk 3 – 46.5 miles
wk 4 – 54 miles
wk 5 – 57 miles
wk 6 – 56.25 miles
wk 7 – 45 miles
i did find a neat article titled Grand party awaits Wanjiru which describes the men’s olympic gold medalist’s homecoming in keyna. my favorite quote was "His wife, Triza Kamau, could not hide her joy saying she would brew special porridge for her husband as his first treat at the airport." i know if i brought home a gold medal my wife would have a cold heineken waiting for me at the airport…
a few hills this morning
for me, a good sign that i’m getting enough sleep is that i wake up a few minutes before the alarm sounds. the past few days i’ve been doing just that. today i opted to run down comanche then up university to 94 then double back on my route. i ended up covering 9 miles in 1:17:20 which translates to an average of 8:36 per mile.
i came across an article titled Bolt could have run 9.52 in Olympics, coach says which is mind-boggling to consider. he’ll be racing this weekend in zurich so perhaps he’ll be able to run the full 100 meters this time.
up and at ’em
my morning constitutional was a bit zippier than usual today. my route took me down comanche then west along the glacial drumlin trail. after 4 miles i turned around with 34:40 elapsed, which translates to 8:40 pace.
on the way back the sun started to rise and i could see a bit better. as i approached my house i opted to do a quick half mile out and back on a side street to add another mile to the effort. it’s a wicked little spur as it’s essentially all uphill for that first half mile then downhill back home. regardless, i stopped my watch with 1:13:50 elapsed after covering 9 miles and hit the shower. overall, it averaged out to 8:12 per mile pace and the last 5 miles averaged 7:50 per mile.
i’m now over 200 miles for the month. august is only the 3rd month in 2008 that i’ve been able to put in that amount of effort.
here’s some ANALysis regarding the twelve week window before a marathon. looking at the volume of training in the first six weeks of that window – for my top 10 marathon efforts – and my resulting finishing time.
1st 6 wks result
291 miles 3:08 (10/2006)
374 miles 3:08 (10/2001)
382 miles 3:09 (10/2004)
256 miles 3:18 (10/2000)
324 miles 3:24 (4/2002)
324 miles 3:27 (4/2007)
229 miles 3:27 (4/1995)
225 miles 3:28 (10/1997)
326 miles 3:32 (10/2002)
218 miles 3:32 (10/1996)
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
315 miles ?:?? (10/2008)
conclusion: training volume is only one piece of the puzzle. also to be considered would be training intensity, weight, terrain and weather conditions. all that being said, i would say that the more miles i have piled on the better i performed.
counterclockwise
this morning’s effort was pretty comfortable with temps in the 50’s and a bit of fog. my route ended up being a counterclockwise loop around town which brought me home on the glacial drumlin trail. overall, i covered 9 miles in a few ticks north of 1:16 which translates to just a bit faster than 8:30 per mile average pace.
my plan for the remainder of the month is to run in the AM on Wed, Thu and Fri. saturday will be an off day as i’ll be in michigan for a family golf outing. sunday i’ll do a 20 miler at stoney creek metro park with my dad and his friends. monday morning i’ll either hit the treadmill at the hotel or run on a nearby trail before heading back home. if all goes to plan, i could be over 240 230 miles for the month. (my best August was back in 2001 when i rolled 300 miles en route to my 1st BQ)
i did spot a neat article on Usain Bolt and the 100M WR progression titled
Bolt Is Freaky Fast, But Nowhere Near Human Limits. i’d love to find some analysis of the effort that was put out by the kenyan who won the men’s marathon under those weather circumstances.