You tickle me

Is an expression Dad used when you did something contrary/different than he would.  If my brother and I had to weed the garden and Dad saw us doing it in the middle of the day, he would walk over and say, "You guys tickle me."  If he saw me skinning out an animal with gloves on he would say, "You tickle me."  I sort of forgot about this until this week I saw a guy coming in the do not enter direction at a McDonald's and I said out loud, "You tickle me."  Good stuff.

I chipped away at another week of marathon training.  I tend to zone in and stay focused so apologies to those I typically make time to run with.  If possible I'll bang out almost all of my runs in the early morning since I am up anyway.  I hate to admit it, but I have fell asleep before 8pm the last two evenings.  Weight is down to 170.5 and it really hasn't been much of a hassle.  I keep track through My Fitness Pal.  I'm fairly dedicated to using it as calorie/cardio tracking tool.  I basically live on cereal, sandwiches, soup, yogurt, banana's, and chips.  I'll eat some pasta and salads as well. 

I've been watching the heart rate.  Pretty steady.  Better than I thought.  When I was a teen I could get it down into the 30s, but after the Graves disease in '89 it rarely goes below 50.  What really stresses the body for me is the humidity.  That stuff just drains me.  Probably the same with others.  At least the early hours are much cooler.  The HR is taken when I first awake, so the number you see below is what it was before I ran that day.

7/19 - 10.5 (8:20) moderate HR59
7/20 - 11.0 w/ 7.0 tempo (7:06) HR 58
7/21 - 6.0 (10:02) easy HR 53
7/22 - 10.0 (7:52) moderate felt good HR 50
7/23 - 22.0 (8:00) moderate HR 50
7/24 - 6.0 (9:36) easy HR 55
7/25 - 8.0 (9:44) easy HR 51

Halfway to Memphis

The marathon training has started.  I will dial it up with what seems to have worked in the past and do the best I can.  It has been over 10 years since I specifically trained for a marathon.  There is no doubt the speed has diminished.  I should not be shocked by this, but my brain acts dumb at times.  I tend to not focus on a lot of long runs.  I am happy to get several in otherwise I am just spent.  I am going back to the old standard of checking the resting heart rate first thing in the morning.  I hope I have the courage to understand what it means.  In a nutshell I try and do the easier runs about 40-80 seconds slower than marathon pace, do a fair amount of running at marathon pace, run 5-10% below marathon pace, and rest.  It can be a balancing act because you have to mimic marathon racing, but not get to carried away at times.  Was a time I could go bonkers-Zulu, but not too much these days.

Part of me thinks I let myself get slow, but this isn't true.  I am always in pretty good shape and I'll admit I have leaned towards more pedestrian efforts in training.  I believe that will bring longevity.  I am slowly focusing on my weight.  I ran Madison in 3:15:58 this past November at 179 pounds.  I vowed I would not run my next marathon that big and I am glad to report this morning I am 172 pounds.  That has always been a good weight for me, but my PR at Boston in 2002 had me at 162 pounds.  I would like to get and hold at around 165.

7/11 - 10.3 (7:52)
7/11 - 4.8 (9:25)
7/12 - 4.7 (9:37)
7/13 - 4.0 (9:59) HR 58
7/14 - 6.0 (9:23) HR 56
7/15 - 8.0 (9:16) HR 55
7/16 - 10.0 (8:11) HR 57
7/17 - 8.0 w/ 4 x 1 mile w/ 1 lap jog in 6:34, 6:33, 6:29, 6:35 HR 58
7/18 - 11.5 (8:27) HR 57, I died at 7 miles, extremely humid

I will need to average 7:14 per mile to slip under 3:10.  Lakefront is October 4th.  I found out you can submit another time to Boston after you are registered.  Not sure it will be beneficial, but if I run a faster time perhaps I will try and move up.  I have not decided at this point if I will race Boston, or "take it all in."  For now I want to stay fit and get to the starting line.

No matter...twern't no grizz anyway

3:17:18

That's my predicted marathon time after a sub stellar 7/4 10k I ran in 42:54.  I honestly thought I would run around 40 minutes.  Well it looks like I have a bit of running to do.  I ran 10.3 today at 7:52 pace at the build-up run.  First time there.  Think I will become a regular.  I also learned a group does track work at 6:30am on Tuesday.  Always better to share the misery.  It sounds like a couple others are shooting for 3:10.  I think I will fall in.  Twelve weeks to go.  The Cudahy 10 mile is in 2 weeks.  I going to go spin that bad boy.

Open the bay doors

To the six people who read my blog regularly (as if there is much to read), I feel it is necessary to offer up an apology.  Yes...I plan to race Lakefront.  What methology and time goal I will have is not relevant.  I've come to the realization I can only bring to the day whatever the juice levels are reading.  I read a stat that 2% of current marathoners break 3 hours.  It dawned on me that an over the hill man born in Butler, PA will probably will not be one of them.  I'm going to work the balls in the machine as hard as Nick Perry did, but may not be as successful. 

This has been a somewhat difficult week because since Wednesday I have had a sore throat with a strengthening cold right behind it.  I also had 500ml of blood taken off on Thursday for my Polycythemia Vera.  When I was younger it did not seem like a big deal, but lately I need a bit more rest to feel my jovial self.

Getting out the door is not a big issue for me.  Stepping outside of myself and training me is challenging because the brain has this human highlight reel of me starring in it and doing things of great wunderment.  Butterflies are not free to fly.  Well at least not the Monarchs because it takes like three generations for them to get back down to Mexico.  Well I have managed to not be taken out by a Mack truck like some of them...so I am into this 3rd generation.  Sometimes I feel like the late model my buddies use to work on every week just so they could roll it back to the track for another battle.

But this is all still good.  I have no running complaints.  I have an idea what fuzzy math is, but I appear to suffer from fuzzy running.  Is it me or is this lack of crystal clear clarity in running always felt as if it generated between the space between my two ears.  Is my brain getting tired?  As the brain goes so does the body.  Maybe I am depending too much on coffee.  Yes...this is the best way to explain.  In the days of past my brain basically felt like a coffee buzz and I could go rip a few nice runs.  Now those seem so far in between.

Mon = 6.5 easy (10:04)
Tue = 9.0 w/ 8 x 880y w/ .25 jog
Wed = 10.0 moderate (7:55)
Thu = 6.5 easy (9:59)
Fri = Off
Sat = 13.0 easy (9:28)
Sun = 5.0 easy (10:14)

Commando 100

After thinking about it, I have outlined a marathon plan.  I want a system that includes hard work, but isn't over the top.  I want to get some miles in, but I need to have decent rest.  I want to race a bit and have fun, but not taper for those.  I want to get some long running in, but not enough to always wear me out.  I want to have some flexibility, so I can run with friends occasionally.  I want to incorporate speed, but not over the top.  Here is the draft:

Monday:  4-6 easy
Tuesday:  800m repeats
Wednesday:  9-11 moderate
Thursday:  4-6 easy
Friday:  9-11 moderate
Saturday:  Long run, race, or MP run
Sunday:  Off or 4-6 easy

I may switch Thursday/Friday around at times and probably other days as well.  This will probably net out to a range of 50-70 a week.  I kicked off today with 14.0 at moderate pace averaging 7:53.  I'll probably be shot tomorrow, but sometimes it shakes things loose.

All the Young Dudes

Today I signed up for the Lakefront Marathon.  It is 20 weeks away and I am excited by the challenge of running a good time.  Fresh off my 8:20 at Ice Age last Saturday, it is time to spend 8 weeks working off the rough edges, 9 weeks cracking it down, and a three week taper.  Training ideas can be found everywhere, but rest be assured to run fast in the marathon you have to give up the ultra mind set...at least this is my experience.

Today was a 7 mile run on the flat paved Bugline trail by the residence.  I averaged 9:36 and it felt so much faster.  I saw the HS team go by and they looked so comfortable.  Six to seven guys in the front pack and about 20 way back in the second pack.  It made me think back to a different time when I ran in HS.  There were few distance runners on the team and our workouts basically resembled the guys who ran the quarter/half except we ran an extra 2-3 miles.  By my Junior year I discovered if I was to get any better one needed to train year around.  That's when I became fond of the simple act of movement called running.  I'm not a philosophical guy, but life seemed better served when I was doing it as opposed to not doing it.

I am Woman

I thought of this Helen Reddy classic on a run this week.  Brutal cold, wind, snow, and not much great footing is hard to come by.  I look for the areas where the sidewalks might be plowed and head there.  Another form of life does venture out and I give them credit.  People still take the dog out for a little adventure.  I am that adventure about 20% of the time.  Look...I see you and you see me from a couple hundred yards away.  The sidewalk is narrow and though you don't know it yet I am going to leap into the snow and run around you just to make it easier.  Why do some people think just that act is enough and pay zero attention to their dog leaping/lurching at the last second up into the snow to get a piece of me?

I am strong
(Strong)
I am invisible
(Invisible)
I am runner

I already accept I am invisible to all vehicles.  If you have run any length of time you already know this.

12/29  AM = 6.0 (8:38)
12/29  PM = 6.0  (8:07)
12/30  AM = 6.0 (9:20)
12/30  PM =  6.1 (9:07) Trails, Menomonee Park w/ Dewey/Tim
12/31  AM = 13.3 (9:04)
1/1      AM = 12.6 (10:20) Trails, Funk Road
1/2      OFF
1/3      AM = 31.5 (11:41) Trails, Ice Age Trail, snow covered
1/4      OFF

1/5      AM = 5.3 (10:20)
1/6      AM = 5.3 (10:51)
1/6      PM =  6.6 (10:40) Trails, Men. Park w/ Dewey/Tim
1/7      AM = 6.1 (10:30)
1/7      PM = 6.5  (10:17)
1/8      AM = 6.1 (10:33)
1/8      PM = 6.2  (11:03) Snow Storm
1/9      OFF
1/10    AM = 20.0 (12:19) Trails, Lapham w/Dewey/Steve H-K...brutal
1/11    OFF