Bob, a runner in training

So it turns out I now have Runner's knee due to a drastic / sudden increase in miles run. Luckily it appears that it's something that can be easily addressed and fixed and won't take me out of training for more then a week.

I need to do more quad strength training in order to prevent this from happening again and relax a little, ice and Ibuprofen to get through it now.

So with having previously been a Half Marathon runner I've never done more then really 13.1 miles. Once previously I had done around 15 miles. Today I was scheduled to do 15 miles and I did. Felt OK as well, though my right knee is quite sore now, but it had been for a couple days. Next Sunday though is a 17 miler. Running in Prospect Park means multiple loops of that park with 1.5 miles to and from the park. So today was 3.75 loops next week will probably be a full 4, if not 4.5. I'm off to California tomorrow for really only 32 hours, and my next run is not until Wednesday which is speed work on the treadmill, so I don't get to run in Sonoma County, oh well.

Wednesday was 800 Meter sprint day. Prescribed at 6:30 per mile, with a 1 mile warm up, 1/4 mile recovery and 1 mile cool down (4 x 800 meter sprints). The training run went well, since I'm just getting back in to it I did the sprints at 6:39 per mile. The 1/4 mile recovery was at about 9:15 per mile. Got through the run, minus the hickup of accidently pulling the emergency stop on the treadmill. They slow down pretty quick when you do that, and don't pause, so I had to reset the program on the treadmill, luckily I had my Nike+ watch on tracking pace and distance also.

Tonight 1 mile warm up with 5 miles at 7:49 per and a 1 mile cool down.

Well my first long run of this seasons training run is done. Today was a 13 miler, which I've not done since my last Half Marathon in October, to be honest I don't think I've done a double digit run since then either. This run was completed with an average of 8:33 per mile, about 15 seconds per mile off the prescribed but for me today it was about doing the distance and only doing the distance.

Some new items to contest with which did make it rough, I have only just started running with compressions gear on my upper body, I also have run with a balaclava in the cold to not aggravate cold/exercise induced Asthma, I also ran for the first time with a hydration backpack. Then the snow, New York does not have the best snow clearing, so crossing streets and some sidewalks to get to Prospect Park where a little difficult.

The park itself was nice, 2 and a half loops of the park, plus the trip back and form took me to my 13 miles. I did stop at mile 12 and thought I was done, but hydrated, took a minute and then ran the last mile.

Tonight is a special HASH, tomorrow is my day off, and then back at it Wednesday after work.

Well it was my first tempo training run back from a 2+ month layoff. This one felt good. 2 mile warm up @ 8:57 per mile, 2 mile tempo at 7:18 per mile, and 2 mile cool down back at 8:57 per. Done as prescribed, and it felt good, wasn't too difficult. I think a key was the fact that I was hydrated properly and fueled right. I have difficulty with fueling right for anything other then race day or long runs. Speed days and tempo days, I tend to not focus on fueling, as they are work days and I'm having lunch with co-workers and tend to not focus on eating what is best for performance as opposed to what we as a group would like to have. I worked from home yesterday so that became a non issue and focused on eating what I needed to perform correctly on the tread mill at the gym

Tomorrow is my first long run of the season, and it's a 13 miler, which is a distance I'm use to being that I do Half Marathons but it's basically the shortest distance for long run days of this training program, so they will become a test very quickly.

Was last night, it was set to be a 1 mile warm up (8:57 per mile) with 3 1 mile sprints @ 6:44 per mile with a 2 min rest in between, and then a 1 mile cool down. Well since it was my first training run back, I only managed two 1 mile sprints before switching to the final mile cool down. My cardio is not quite what it was almost 3 months ago when I took a break from training, hopefully over the next 3 months it comes back...

OK, so Mondays I'm supposed to do weights and then go run with the Brooklyn HASH House Harriers. Well I when I opened the door to my apartment (even through my dark sunglasses) I could see feathers floating everywhere. Our guest bed and it's pillows and linens had been left out all day. Hopper (our dog) loves her stuffed toys and rips them apart, well feather stuffed pillows and a duvet that she'd never seen before and told not to touch, to her, was fair game.

Needless to say it took just under an hour for me to clean up everything, which means no weights but I did run 3 miles to the start of the HASH trail, which was 3.5 miles, so in total a 6.5 mile run before the beer and 2 slices of pizza. All in all not a bad start to the first day of training.

Well this week signifies the beginning of my Marathon training. Last year I did 6 Half Marathons and this year my goal is 2 full Marathons.

My first official run for this program is Wednesday, though I will work out tonight and then run 3 miles to the start of my HASH, run the trail, and then have some beer.

I will no longer be drinking on Tuesdays, Thursdays or Saturdays as they are the nights before each of my training runs and I need to make sure I feel OK to try and get what will be some difficult first weeks done and under my belt.

We'll see. Race date is May 31st, Ottawa, Canada.