I think I need to re-evaluate my Seattle Half Marathon goal. It feels just a bit aggressive given everything else I have going on at the moment...

Upper Weights @ 00:30:00
Core Class @ 00:30:00

Got in a 4 mile tempo run on the treadmill during lunch. It would not give me my pace but the club manager figured out for me that I needed to run it at 7.7 mph. I set it at that and off I went... It was pretty hard the entire time and I even lowered the last mile to a 7.6 pace as I thought that 7.7 was a 7:43 rather than 7:47 pace. Oops....

5.5 Mile (4 Tempo) Run @ 00:50:00
4 Mile Tempo @ 00:31:59
163a, 171m

Went for my long run today from home and down and around Lake Union and back. I felt tired and sore 85% of the run. Especially the last few uphill miles.

13 Mile Run @ 02:10:00

Slept in until 6 this morning and went directly to work. Got in a recovery run before lunch and took it super easy.

4 Miles @ 00:40:00

Finished with some plank.

CORE @ 00:05:00

Got up this morning and went to 24 to swim in the pool. Still feeling a bit tired so my swim was pretty aerobic.

1750 Lap Swim @ 00:40:00

After work, I ran down to the track from home for an interval workout where I whined a bit to Cheryl who had her group there. She mentioned that she knows I don't want to hear it but now that I am in my 40's, it is going to take me longer to recover. She was right, I did not want to hear it. She also suggested that I do not go anaerobic on my intervals today but I wanted to do them in the time I am supposed to. I did talk her down from 1600's to 800's. But 5 of them :(

6 Mile Interval Run @ 00:57:42

Interval 1 @ 03:26
163a, 172m

Interval 2 @ 03:27
166a, 175m

Interval 3 @ 03:30
165a, 177m

Interval 4 @ 03:28
164a, 177m

Interval 5 @ 03:27
165a, 178m

Feeling pretty tired again today. Woke up last night at 11:30 and could not fall back asleep so I got up and watched some Law and Order until 1AM until I tried to get back to sleep again.

Got a roller workout before work.

12 Mile Rollers @ 00:50:00

Then weights in the afternoon but I definitely was not feeling super strong.

15 Minutes Core
30 Minutes Upper Weights

Last night's tempo run wiped me out. I slept in a bit and went right into work. After work and before my board meeting, I got in an aerobic run.

5.5 Mile Run @ 00:55:00

Today was the first day of my new job and I was pretty excited this morning about it :)

Got up super early (4:45) because I did not pack my stuff the night before and caught the bus to my new building -- and gym. I sure like the facility and got in my weight session before catching the core class at 7 AM.

Upper Weights @ 00:30:00
Core @ 00:30:00

Then the day took off and I did not get my run in at lunch. Instead, I took the bus home and changed quickly into my running gear and set off for a run -- talking myself into doing a tempo run when I hit Greenlake.

When I hit the path, I figured that it was about 3.1 miles and I needed to come in under 24 minutes to keep my tempo pace of 7:43-7:45. And I took off. And it hurt the entire freaking time. I had to talk myself into running the entire thing, promising that I would not have to run another step once I hit the light pole where I started. I made it around the lake at 23:46 -- a 7:25 pace because that loop is actually 3.2 miles. No wonder I felt like I was going to DIE. On the way home, I did lunges up the bridge on 5th where it crossed over I5. I looked like an idiot but I was too oxygen deprived to care. I am also not sure how to rate my tiredness. I hurt too badly to even think about being tired but I guess I was okay because I made it.

Tempo Run @ 00:45:00
7:25 Mile Pace (3.2 miles)

Lower Lunges @ 00:05:00

Today was a long run day (8-10 Miles) and for some reason (completely unrelated to being way over-served last night) my hamstrings were especially tight. We stretched before driving to UW and then took separate routes for our long run.

I created a very very hilly route for myself -- maybe trying to force the booze out of my body and ran up 24th to Madison and down that to MLK. Up MLK to the I90 bridge and rather than circling back, I went a bit further south and down the S Curves and then back up Massachusetts and climbing again to descend into Leschi before heading back. There was a lot of ascending and I was tired and I do ascribe that to last night's partying.

10 Mile Run @ 01:40:00
147a

Lower Weights
2 x 12 Lunges

Finally caught up on my training today. Opted to skip swim practice and tried to fall back asleep to no avail. Ended up running from here down and around Greenlake and back. It was a slow, messy sloppy run...

5.5 Mile Run @ 00:53:00

Then met with Cheryl and put together my training plan for hitting a PR (going for a 1:42 finish to beat my PR in 2004 of 1:44:07) at the Seattle Half Marathon. After that, got in some core and weights and called it good.

Core @ 00:15:00
Upper Weights @ 00:30:00


SEATTLE HALF MARATHON TRAINING PLAN
Paces:
1/2 Marathon 1:42:00, race pace 7:47, tempo pace 7:43-7:45 average, intervals 1:45 per 400 meters

Week Oct. 22-28
Interval workout 800-1600 meter with recovery =/- time (HR) or 2 minutes per 400 meter (total interval time 25-35 minutes). Add drills to warm-up
3 mile tempo - add a good mile warm-up, cool-down afterwards
13 mile long distance
1-2 times aerobic 3-4 miles

Week Oct. 29- Nov. 4
Hill workout (30 minutes of hill repeat of different lengths/recovery)
4 mile tempo - add a good mile warm-up, cool-down afterwards
14 mile long distance
1-2 times aerobic 3-4 miles

Week Nov. 5-11
Interval workout 800-1600 meter with recovery =/- time (HR) or 2 minutes per 400 meter (total interval time 25-35 minutes). Add drills to warm-up
15 mile long distance
1-2 times aerobic 3-4 miles

Week Nov. 12-18
Hill workout (30 minutes of hill repeat of different lengths/recovery)
6 mile tempo - add a good mile warm-up, cool-down afterwards
8-10 mile recovery long distance
1-2 times aerobic 3-4 miles

Week Nov. 19-25
Interval workout (5 x 400)
2 mile tempo - add a good mile warm-up, cool-down afterwards

Still feeling a bit tired at swim practice but made it through. Ended up being my only workout of the day because of plans during lunch (my team took me out for a farewell meal) and after work.

2500 Swim Practice @ 00:55:00

Today inadvertently turned into a rest day. I was feeling very very tired and slept in rather than go to core and get in weights. My work schedule took off from there...and I declared it an official rest day.

This morning's swim practice was a bit tough. I had a tough time with technique and felt as though I was simply flinging myself from one end of the pool to the other...

2600 Swim Practice @ 00:50:00

I then went to spin class during lunch with the terrible instructor. I managed to ignore her and get in a decent workout.

Spin Practice @ 00:40:00

Was a bit tired this morning and felt it during core class and weights. I guess letting my ego get the best of me yesterday on Mercer Island may not have been the smartest move...

Core Class @ 30 Minutes
Weights (upper) @ 30 Minutes

Did a short recovery run around Greenlake after work. Was definitely tired and kept the pace super easy.

3.1 Mile Run @ 00:29:30

We had a beautiful drive back home and got on the bikes around 3 for a nice spin around Mercer Island with an intended pace defined as "leaf watching".

Partway around the long side, I heard an "on your left" and was dropped by a cyclist who then proceeded to drop Ruth, who was just ahead of me on her aerobars. Ruth said "Were we...?" I replied "Yes, we just were" and then something not quite in the spirit of the ride close to "Stop lounging in your aerobars and MOVE IT". This particular cyclist was a trifecta. She wore a pink jersey, white sneakers in caged flat pedals and a big fat non-aerodynamic mirror waving to us mockingly from the left end of her handlebars.

So much for our leisurely ride. We raced each other to the Bellevue side of the island and had a great ride leaving barely enough after yesterday's race to get back to our car parked at UW.

26 Mile Ride @ 01:43:11
______________________________________________

A big shout out and congratulations to our friend Duncan, who had a great race at the Ironman Hawaii World Championships with a rocking finishing time of 12:12!!!

Leavenworth 1/2 Marathon Race Report

This morning found us shivering at the start line of the Leavenworth Marathon with our coach, training friends and even a small team from Starbucks including my colleagues Laura and Jason. My goal was to have fun and enjoy the scenery and try to come in under 2 hours. I had not been doing any speedwork (well, one 3 mile run with a few fartleks thrown in last week) or any focused training for this race -- and most importantly, I am on my sabbatical. The race started at 9 AM and at 8:58, I was running to the side of a building because I had to pee so badly and there was a line at all the potties.

The run started uphill and I was happily going my own pace until Shane (who mentioned that his goal was to beat me once learning my goal) caught up with me and then paced me a bit harder than I was planning to run up the hill. We had a nice chat and at the turn around, I stopped to get some water and he ran by and dropped my ass for the rest of the run.

I took a look at my split at the 3 mile point (25:13) and figured that I was feeling well and I might as well keep going strong. I then started to mark my splits (Mile 4 @ 7:51, Mile 5 @ 08:27, Mile 6 @ 8:11, Mile 7 @ 8:10) and officially ended my sabbatical about 2 thirds of the way in (Mile 8@ 8:51, Mile 9 @ 8:40). Despite not training for this race, I decided right then I wanted to see what I could do and stepped up the pace a bit for the rest of the race choosing people ahead of me to catch, pace with and then pass (Mile 10 @ 7:43, Mile 11 @ 8:01, Mile 12 @ 8:02). It hurt and my HR was usually around 180. I told myself that 180 was the new 150 and to butch up and keep going.

When I passed the last mile marker, I thought "what the hell" and decided to last mile fast mile it to see what I could do (Mile 13 @ 7:19, Mile 13.1 @ :46). I was pretty happy with my time and came in 3rd in my age group :)

By the end of the race, I decided to train hard for the Seattle Half and try to beat my PR in 2006.

13.1 Mile Leavenworth Half Marathon @ 01:47:17.8
183A

After the race, we went back to our cabin where we were staying with our friends and then hit Octoberfest for some recovery drinks :)

Our friend, who has earned the nickname MJ (for MoJo) met some new friends -- three red haired sisters and their mom and got a group picture of them with our friends who stayed with us the first night where the 5 of us covered lots of important topics and drank way too much wine...

Had a late night last night but still woke up at 5:30 AM. Took the opportunity to get on my rollers and get in a quick 30 minute ride.

7 Mile Spin @ 00:30:00

Went for a long run in the afternoon to Alki from work. I was a bit tired but took it easy.

8 Mile Run @ 01:22:00

Woke up at 5 AM, an half an hour before my alarm was set and decided to head in early to lift weights before my 6:30 core class. After the class, I did a stair workout and did a pyramid workout with the 9 floors (1up, 2 up, 3 up, etc. and back down after hitting the top floor).

Weight Training @ 00:40:00
Core @ 00:30:00
Stairs @ 00:35:00

Got in a good workout at swim practice

2700 Swim Practice @ 01:00:00

Then got in a run along the water

6 Mile Run @ 01:00:00

Finally, got in a spin session after work with Ruth.

8 Mile Ride @ 00:32:00