Marathon Monkey's Training Blog

I ran with Lucy in the stroller again.  This time, I stayed flat and ran around Ala Moana Beach Park.  Again, Lucy started yelling out, "faster!".  She enjoyed it a lot.  We both enjoyed running near the water's edge.  It's such a pretty view.  I think running with the stroller works my legs more than I thought it would.  Although I keep my breathing pretty mellow, pushing the stroller seems to work my legs a lot, especially because my arms arent' moving much at all.  My calves feel like they need to push off more, which works them too.  Good workout.  After the workout, Lucy and I hung out at the beach for a while.  It felt so good to get into the cool water.  I've heard that sitting in the ocean for 15-30 minutes is good for recovery, similar to ice baths.  It was 80 degrees when I ran, so it was pretty hot.  But the beach cooled us off nicely.  Maybe I'll keep taking the kiddos out for a stroll once a week or so.  It would be a fun tradition to start.  Start 'em when they're young! 

Easy run with Lucy in the stroller.  She fell asleep about 20 minutes into it.  It was too far into the run to head to the track.  A fun run still.

Another 6 miler with Lucy in the stroller.  We went up and through UH, and faculty housing, and then through the neighborhood a bit.  I was tempted not to run.  Not feeling particularly well.  I didn't sleep well last night.  But, I'm glad I went.  Lucy was so much fun.  She kept yelling out where the "castles" were at, and saying "ooh, ahhh, look at the castle daddy!"  When I would spit, she would try to spit.  After the run, I did some Kaluhiokalani strength building stuff.  Lucy would start trying to copy each excerise I would do.  She's a natural.  Lot's of fun today.  I've been pretty lazy lately, watching lots of movies.  Trying to make the best of my Christmas break from school.  But, I have some research stuff  to do.  Better start soon.  I'm meeting with the committee soon.  I suppose the laziness contributes to my motivation to get out and run.  I better do something more constructive tonight. 

This coming week, when Courtney gets back from Utah, I start picking up the mileage.  Two days of doubles for the next three weeks.  Then, in February, I'll do doubles every day.  Gotta start getting in the miles.  Newport is only 20 training weeks from now!  

Ran with Lucy again.  Today's one liner from Lucy came when she saw a man riding his bike in front of us: "Daddy, he's a boy, I'm a girl!"  Priceless.  Just did the UH route.  Courtney told me last night that she is actually getting back on Wednesday, not Tuesday.  I guess she forgot.  I'm getting a crazy itch to run fast.  Gonna start meeting with Brandon for early morning runs on Thursday.   

Easy run with Lucy again.

Unfortunately, I missed my workout on Wednesday.  Busy day with Courtney and Willie getting back home and all.  It's great to have them back.  I missed them so much.  Today's workout was excellent, considering it's only my third speed session. 

One mile warm-up, 2 mile cool down, and 6 x 800's with equal rest.  The splits were: 2:31, 2:32, 2:33, 2:34, 2:36, 2:37.  Although I slowed considerablely in the last three, part of this could probably be contributed to the wind.  For the first three, there was a headwind and a tailwind.  On the last three, it seemed the wind was blowing strongly in all directions, no tailwind.  So, I really think those were faster than they look.  The workout felt good, but I was definitely tired afterwords.  I'm slowly coming back though.  My flexibility is almost back, which is a good sign.  One more month and I'll be back in full training mode again. 

The purpose of this workout was to push sub-marathon pace, approximately 5k pace.  I've gotta start working some faster splits so my tempo workouts can be more comfortable and the 5:20 pace won't feel as hard over longer periods of time.  The weather was crazy, it was hot and windy, and of course humid.  Funny though, the clouds came in for a decent cloud cover only 5 minutes after my last 800.      

My goal by April 1, 2009 (for this workout) is to be able to run 10 x 800's equal rest at 2:20 pace.  I don't think that's out of my reach.  Dong these regularly ought to contribute to successful tempo runs leading up to the Marathon as well.

Today was my first double day.  Considering the amount of sleep I've been getting, it felt pretty darn good.  I am trying to address my sleep problems with natural herbal remedies.  Today, I went to the health food store and bought Melatonin and some Valarian Root.  I think that my melatonin cycle and my time clock are way off, due to sleeping in late and not having a regular routine.  So, I'm gonna try to get back on schedule and use this organic/natural stuff to help.  My buddy's father is an herbologist, and he told me that Valarian root is a natural soothing element to take about an hour before bed.  So, after a few days of the Melatonin, if I can get back on a good cycle, I'm gonna start trying that and see if it helps me wind down for bed at an earlier hour.  The main key is that I have to get up early (5:30am), at the same time every day!  No excuses. 

Today's workout:

AM: 7 Miles at 6:15 pace.  It felt quite comfortable and nice.

PM: 3 miles easy with Courtney and kids in the stroller.  I then ran three faster miles and then a mile cool down.  The mile splits were about: 5:50, 5:45, and 5:30.  This felt very relaxed with no stress.  I felt very good.  Tomorrow will be an easy long run AM, and then a recovery jog PM. 

Today was my first long run in a long while.  Though it really wasn't that "long", it was an excellent stepping stone workout.  I ran 12 miles on the treadmill, the first of which was at 8:30 pace and increased speed 15 seconds/mile until I reached 6 minute mile pace on mile 11.  Mile 12 was to cool down.  All the mileage was run at a .5 incline to keep it honest, however, I think this worked my legs more than expected.  Originally, I was hoping to build up to at least 5:30 pace, but my arches were feeling it, so I backed off.  I'm still in base building mode right now, so I'm not pushing the pace too much yet.  Not to mention my sleep has been horrible the last 5 days.  I'm hoping that it gets better soon.  All in all, I'm happy with today's workout.  I really wanted to push a 5:20-5:30 pace for mile 12, but it is more important right now to stay healthy and robust in training.  Gotta start getting some sleep.  Judging by how tired I feel, I think I should be able to fall asleep, finally. 

Today's run felt really good.  Treated it s a recovery run.  My hamstrings feel a little tight and my achilles are slightly fatigued from last week, but overall, I'm happy with how I've recovered.  Today's effort was about a 6.  Just ran on the road, no traffic lights, so that was nice.   

Today's runs were great, except for the stressful bowel problem I had while doing my 3 mile tempo on the treadmill this morning.  It was an awful feeling.  I even had to slow down for about 10 seconds to "regroup" so to speak.  I did some quick stretching, showered and then rushed off to my internship.

AM: 1 mile warm up, 3 mile tempo (5:30 pace), 1 mile cool down.  Besides the aforementioned bowel problem, the workout felt great.  I haven't maintaining that speed over a year, so it took the first couple miles to really get into my groove.  I wish I could've ran another mile or two, but time did not permit such a quest. 

PM: 7.5 mile run (6:30 pace) around Kapolei Park.  Surpisingly enough, I had another need to releive myself on this run too.  Luckily, I was running loops around the park.  After the first loop, I stopped and used the restroom, and that solved that problem.  It was wonderful to run on the grass.  I felt as if 50 pounds of pressure were releived from my legs.  The run reminded me of cross country.  I can't wait to race a couple of those in the fall.  Did some Kaluhiokalani strength drills and some form drills. 

I am very pleased with how my body is recovering from last weeks workouts.  Obviously some slight soreness, but nothing abnormal or over the edge.  Effort level was about an 8 for the tempo run, and a 5 for the evening run.

My legs felt pretty tired, especially the hamstrings and soleus muscles this morning.  Still trying to decide if I'm gonna do an evening run.  Probably not.  Rest is best for today.  I'll hit it moderately hard tomorrow, run an easy double day on Friday, and then get in a solid 1.5 hr long run in the hills on Saturday.  Effort today was around a 4.

I did some core exercises, abs, and push-ups after the run. 

My run today ended up being harder than I thought.  I ran the Round Top/Tantilus Loop.  It climbs 1400 ft and then drops the same amount.  My original goal was to run sub 60 minutes.  I wanted to run this one pretty hard.  I had never had a chance to run miles 4 and 5 on the back side of Tantilus, so I didn't know exactly what to expect.  I soon found out that the longest and sharpest climbs are in those miles!  I think I held up pretty well, but it was definitely much more difficult than I thought it would be.  By the time I hit the peek elevation, my quads were feeling it.  I started to descend at around 46 minutes. It took me three minutes to warm up to the loop, and it took 42:45 to run the first 5 miles uphill, and I ran the last 5 miles in about 25:00.  That was actually maybe a little too fast to be running because the downhill is pretty steep, which creates lots of heavy pounding and pressure.  I think this was a great effort.  The total time to run 10 miles was 107:45.  The overall effort  (not actual pace) probably averaged around 5:45/mile, taking into account the steep inclines/declines.  The effort level was a 9.  This run really challenged me a lot.  I'll go for another easy 5 and stretch out the kinks.  Depending on how I feel, I'll do another double tomorrow, and then a long run in the hills on Saturday morning!

Afternoon workout was great!  I had my first "runner's high" since being back.  I resisted the temptation to go too much faster, but the rush of adrenaline came none the less.   I ran 6 miles around Ala Moana Beach Park.  Beautiful weather.  I was surprised how well I felt because I had ran the Round Top/Tantilus loop earlier this morning.  The pace was between 6:00 and 6:15.  The terrain was flat, some grass, some roads.  This is the most mileage I've ran in a while.  It's exciting to get back into shape. 

I did a 6.5 mile shake out.  My quads and soleus muscles are very sore from yesterday's workouts.  I started with a 2.5 mile warm up, then I did 3 miles on the track alternating 100's.  The straights were surged at about 22-23 seconds.  The turns were jogged at an easy recovery pace.  Then a mile cool down.  This was a workout I often did in high school the day after a tough workout.  It helps me "shakeout" soreness, stretch, and recover more effectively.  Nothing tough, but just enough to break a sweat.  I stretched really well, and did some abs and core work afterwords.  Hopefully I'll feel good for my long run tomorrow.

Well, it appears my shakeout yesterday worked very well.  I awoke this morning after a very good night's sleep (almost too good) feeling great.  My legs quads and soleuses only manifested very mild soreness.  I felt awake, alert and very sharp.  I ran just over 3 miles on the road and caught onto Manoa Falls trail.  When I arrived at the trailhead, I saw quite a few folks around, runners, sponsors, a radio tent, and people ringing a bell.  As I started to jog by people shouted, "we have another!"  At first I was a little stumpted, like, another what?  And then I remember, the HURT 100 miler is here around this time.  So I asked the gentleman with the loud speaker, "Is this the HURT?"  He enthusistically replied, "It sure is!"  I then proceded to check if the trails were open to non-HURT competitors and if it is against the rules to run with the other HURT runners, and he told me, "Sure, go run with who ever you want!".  So, I took off and caught a guy who is a member of the LDS faith, living in Utah, originally from Alaska.  He knew my buddy Golden Harper, who I ran with at BYU-Hawaii.  After about 10 minutes of chating, I said, "You've still got another 3 [25 mile] laps to go, right?"  He responds, "yes".  Short and simple.  I said, "See ya later, and good luck."  I don't know if that was the best way to end our conversation, but, that's how it happened.  I figured he would be going too slow for me, and I'd probably just be pushing him faster than he should be going, so we should just part ways.  My pace then quickened and I found some great ground to tread.  For the longest time, I had a bad outlook on these trails, but, now that I got more deep into them, I found out that they aren't bad at all.  You just have to survive a couple of miles of really rocky and bad trails.  I've been on some tech. trails, but these are pretty crazy.  But once you get past those, things open up a bit, and you can get in a good groove.  The workout was excellent though.  I felt great, even down to the last mile.  Actually, I was tempted to hit another hard 3 miles on the road, but resisted.  I'm still in base building stage.  I'm not quite ready for such workouts, yet.  16 miles in the hills, not bad at all.

During slower points, I did my Lydiard drills for added benefits.     

11 miles at 7:00 pace in the hills in Laie with Dan Skousen.  Effort level was a 5-6.  Tomorrow will probably be easy too.  I'm still trying to recover from last week's Round Top/Tantilus run.  If I feel good in the morning, I might do 1/2 mile repeats on the road tomorrow.   

AM: Just four easy miles on the road.  I woke up a little late this morning and didn't have much time to adequately prepare.  My stomach was bothering me again due to this.  I've gotta start waking up earlier!  I felt pretty good this morning, so I'm gonna go ahead with the 800 repeats this afternoon.

PM: The workout was 2 mile warm-up, 6x800 meters equal rest, 3 mile cool down.  I was happy with this workout.  My goal was to hit each 800m at 2:30 or below, which I did.  The splits were: 2:26, 2:28, 2:30, 2:28, 2:28, 2:28.So, three good things out of this workout: 1. The splits were all quite a bit faster than two weeks ago, and 2. The splits are closer together, more even., and 3. After hitting a slightly slower 2:30, I bounced back with three 2:28's in row. That's always a good feeling.  Getting closer to the 2:18-2:20 marks I want to be hitting.  I'm going to start adding an afternoon of 200's to help with my turnover.  I'm still a little sluggish.  My body held up great today.  I'm recovering well.         

Just an easy 6 recovery run today.  My right thigh is pretty sore.  I better take it easy today.  No afternoon run.  I might attempt 10 x 200's (33-35) tomorrow afternoon.  We'll see.  Today's effort was a 5.  Hopefully I can get some good sleep tonight.

My right thigh felt better today than yesterday, which is a relief.  I still felt it slightly on the cool am down.

AM: 2 mile warm up, 10 X 200m, 3 mile cool down.  Splits were: 39, 38, 38, 37, 37, 36, 36, 36, 36, 36.  The first three were pretty slow.  I wanted to make sure I warmed up really well.  Ran the workout in my regular trainers to save my legs.  I've gotta buy a light weight trainer soon.

PM: 6 mile jaunt with the kiddos in the stroller. 7 minute pace.

Friday will be easy am/pm, and then Saturday will be a solid 14 mile breakdown.   

6.5 miles Ala Moana Beach Park loop from home and back.  About 4 of the miles were at 6:15 pace, the rest were around 7:00 pace.  Effort level was a 5-6.  Nothing too much.  Taking the afternoon off to make sure I'm healthy for Saturday. 

Today was a fabulous, yet tough workout.  14 miles total.  I started at a very modest 8:30 pace to make sure my hamstring was warmed up properly.  For the first 5 miles, I quickened the pace 15 sec/mile at each half mile split.  Once I reached 6:58 pace, I held it for a couple of miles.  On mile 8, I slowly increased until at mile 9, I reached my goal marathon pace (5:32).  I decided to speed up to 5:22 mile pace (2:22 marathon pace), to see how it felt at this stage of the game.  To be quite honest, it felt pretty awful.  After a mile of that, I knew I would not make three miles, so I backed it back down to 5:32 mile pace (2:25 marathon pace).  I sustained that for another two miles, afterwhich I cooled down for another two miles.  The good things about this workout are: 1. After creating substantial oxygen debt for myself after the first hard mile, I was able to recover myself and complete the workout at my goal pace.  This demonstrates good promise for a 2:24-2:25 marathon at Newport.  2.  I did this workout in regular trainers, which definitely add some weight to my legs.  Racers will be much more comfortable when I start doing workout in them.  3.  It's still early in training.  I have improved leaps and bounds in the month and a half I've been back.  4.  This was really two workouts in one; a breakdown in pace, but also a hard tempo run.  So, my fitness is improving dramatically.  The bad thing is that a 2:22 does not look to be too realistic at this point in time for Newport.  I've got a lot of work to do if I want to hit that in May.  It's not impossible, I'm sure, but perhaps not probable.  Overall, I'm thrilled with this workout.  It was an excellent similation of marathon pace, and gave me a good idea of the intensity of marathon training.  It was a lot of fun!   

Easy workout.  Felt...not so good.  Still feeling a little sore from Saturday's workout.  Just took it easy.  Didn't run in the evening.

AM: Easy 6 miles.  Felt better than yesterday.  Hamstring felt slightly awkward.

PM: Track workout at Punahou School.  2 mile warm-up, then ran 1200, 1600, 1200, 1600, 1200 all at 5:20 pace and 3:30 rest between each repeat, 2 mile cool down.  Instead of adjusting pace, I decided to keep the pace and rest equal throughout the repeats, including the 1600's.  The splits were: 3:26, 5:23, 3:29, 5:21, 3:25.  Pacing on the mile was challenging because I had to use lane 4.  Can't wait till UH's track is done, then I can run on that more often. 

This workout felt excellent, better than expected.  I felt relaxed, and for the most part, I hit my splits pretty easily.  Good solid workout.  Gradually, I'll work it down to at least 5:00 pace, or even faster!  Patience, the splits will come.  These workouts will make sub 5:30 pace feel easy!!!

Gonna take pretty much the rest of the week for recovery.  I'll probably do a long run on Saturday.  My legs are pretty beat up from the last 3 weeks.  It's probably wise to go really easy for a few days to regroup.

My hamstring felt much better today than it has for the past few days.  I've expericenced this kind of hamstring soreness before.  It hurts more on the outside of my thigh, than in the middle, usually warms up okay, but after workout, it feels really sore.  I've been doing some deep massage on it and hopefully it will be fully recovered by Monday.  I figure that's not good, and will most likely lead to something more serious if I don't treat it right.  I was tempted to run 9 this morning and then do an evening run, but I decided to stick with the rest.     

I decided to take yesterday off to make sure I got some good recovery time in for the workouts from the past 3 weeks.  Although I wasn't happy doing it, I think it helped me recover safely.  Better to be safe than sorry right now.  The most important thing is to hit the starting line healthy at Newport.

Today' workout was a 16 miler with good quality Lydiar Drills in the Makiki Heights trails.  Great workout!  I felt my hamstring, very slightly waming up to the trails (7:15 pace).  By the time I hit the trails I was ready to go.  I completed the 16 miles in 2 hr. 17 minutes.  The avg. overall pace was 8:27/mile, which is pretty good considering the trails I was running.  The effort was more around (6:30-6:45 pace).  At that effort for 2hr. 17 minutes, I would say I'm getting pretty fit right now.  This was a very good quality long run.  I'm very happy with it.  Once I get up to my 3 hr long run in the hills, running long on the road will feel much better!     

A quality 9 miler at Ala Moana Beach Park today.  Didn't push it too much, but I was happy to be feeling good considering the long run on Saturday.  I ran between 6:05 and 6:15 for most of it.  I felt very relaxed throughout, except for a slight tightness in both achilles.  They are still a bit tired from Saturday.  Effort level was a 6.5.  Tomorrow I'll do 1/2 mile repeats on the road.  Bought some new light weight trainers today so I'm excited to get on the road with them.  Until tomorrow... 

AM: 1.5 mile warm-up, 6 X 800 meters on the road, 1.5 mile cool down.  3 slight up-hill,  headwind; 3 slight down-hill, tailwind.

I need to go measure the distance again.  I measured it with my car, but I got the marks mixed up.  I think I ran them long because I was hitting times like 2:47 (up-hill, tailwind), and I felt like I was running pretty hard.  I'm pretty sure the marker was actually at a speed sign, not a no parking sign which is approximately 12 second farther.  The actual times were: 2:46, 2:33, 2:47, 2:29, 2:47, 2:46?.  I don't know what happened on the last one.  I was getting close to oxygen debt on the 5th one, so I must've just been spent.  Anyways, good workout.  It was fun to try out one of the racers I bought.  Tonight, I have another 6-8 miles to do.

After measuring the 800's with my watch again this afternoon, I found that they were in fact long, way long, about 15 sec/mile too long.  So, the times were actually more like 2:31, 2:18, 2:32, 2:14, 2:32, 2:31.  I'd say this was an impressive workout, considering the up-hill and harsh wind conditions.  The rest was equal to the splits.  Now that I know exactly where they finish, they should be even faster next time.  To be sure my watch measured correctly, I went to the track to be sure, and it measured right on the money. 

PM: 7 miles at 7:00 minute pace.  Easy.     

I slept in today to make sure I got good rest after yesterday's workout.  So, I didin't get a morning run in.  I was going to run in the afternoon, but I found out I had class.  I guess I misread the FIS schedule.  So, I ended up having to run when I got home at around 8:30.  It was later than I'm used to.  I was already tired from school, walking, etc.  But, I felt surprisingly good.  I ran most of it at 6:00 pace.  The last mile or so was at 5:45 pace.  It felt great!  This was the first decent quality 6 miler since I've been back.  I feel my aerobic capacity getting much more fit every week.  March and April should be very strong training months.  Hopefully hitting between 80-85 quality miles a week.  Tomorrow's my 200m/100m day to facilitate better leg speed and economy.  Good Stuff!

AM: 3 mile warm-up on the track, 14 X 200m @ 34-36 with 30-33 seconds rest between each one, 2.5 mile cool down.  The point of this workout was to facilitate leg turnover and economy while similtaneously building my aerobic base.  I love doing this workout weekly, when my body is up to it.  It really makes running fast, much easier over time.  I nailed the splits that I wanted to hit, so I'm happy.  These are not all out 200m's by any means.  I did this workout often in High School when I was running sub 15:10 for the 5k.  My 200's were between 31 and 32 back then, so I have some work to do in this area.  It will come back soon though.  The effort level for this workout felt like an 8.

PM: 9 mile threshold run between 5:30 and 5:40 pace at Ala Moana Beach Park.  It actually felt quite comfortable, until I cramped up.  From the beginning of the run, my body felt like it wanted to go, so I didn't hold much back on this one.  I didn't hydrate too well this morning, and the sleep was most defintely a factor with my cramp as well.  This run gave me much more confidence for Newport.  A 2:22 may actaully be within reach.  We'll see how the next 2 and half months of training unfold.  This workout was about an 8.5 effort level.  I definitely felt there was more in the tank, which is encouraging. 

Today's workouts equate to my best day's effort since resuming my training.  I am really motivated and pumped for the marathon.  I felt great considering the amount of sleep I got.  I just could not get to sleep last night.  One of those nights.  It's been almost a month since I've slept this badly.  Gotta get some good sleep tonight to get ready for Saturday's long run effort.      

Easy 10.5 at Kapolei park.  Grassy, hilly fun little 1.25 mile loop.  Just cruised at 6:30-6:45 pace.  After the run, I could tell that tomorrows 16 miler will be tough due to fatigue from other workouts!

Today's workout was excellent, especially considering the week I've put in.  10 miles at 6:30 pace on a hilly course, rolling into 4 consequtive miles between 5:22 and 5:29, just a tad faster than goal marathon pace.  I really wanted to do 5 miles, but at the 3.5 mark, I felt absolutely exhausted, so I kept it at 4 miles.  2 mile cool down at 7:15 pace.  The 9 miler on Thursday really wiped me out.  I'll do another of those next week because I'm only running a long easy in the hills, no hard paced tempo stuff.  In two weeks when I do this workout again, I won't run one of those to make sure my race simulation workout is better quality.

AM: 7.5 easy miles in Manoa Valley residential and back.  Did a couple of laps on Punahou's track just for kicks.  Effort level was a 5.

I'm gonna try to make some time this evening for another 7 or 8 miles.  We'll see if I can, if I do, it'll be at around 8 or 9 o'clock.  I've my alternating 1200/1600 workout tomorrow as well.