Long time since last post

BLOG I have been negligent to you.

Since my last post training has gone well, and I have a new HM PR 1:18:27. . . .

Going to keep on trucking.

Last 2 weeks training:

This week:
Planned down week for me:
M- OFF
T- 10 w/ 15x200 hill workout
W- 12 + strides
Th- 11.5 w/ 4mile tempo (22:30) + 8 x 100 strides
F – 9
S – 11 EZ
S – 15.5 6:50ish pace felt very easy. Ran the last 3 miles of the course of my last marathon (San Diego) and realized I have completely blocked the experience from my memory.

Total – 69

Tempo this week was 1000 times better than last week, it helped that it was on a beautiful track overlooking the Pacific ocean (Point Loma Nazarene University). Kept a 5:40 pace fairly easily. Hoping to get some 90 mile weeks in during the rest of September before a minor taper for the Long Beach Half Marathon. The 3 weeks up 1 week down cycle seems to be working fairly well.

Last week

M-11
T-AM 6 PM 11 (10 x 500 in 90-93 seconds, 3 minute cycles)
W- 11
T- 12 (4 tempo @ 5:43 pace + 8 x 200 strides)
F- 11 + strides
S-9
S- 15 w/ 2x 4 mile + 1 x 2 mile w/ mile recovery at Long Run Pace. (6:40 for first 4mile rep, 6:11 for second 4 mile rep, 6:20 for 2 mile rep).

total - 86

3 hard days for me that week and things are feeling good although I have been feeling pretty sluggish/irritable in my day to day pursuits (probably more work related than anything else though). Wanted to get 5 miles at 5:40 pace for my Tempo on thursday and completely failed. Something to work on. I have a terrible time staying focused along the way. Fortunately the next weeks run would be much better.

Last two weeks.

Two more weeks of training down, and things are going very well. After backing off of things the week before and after my brother's wedding, I was concerned that I had fallen off of the training volume I was hoping for going into October, but the past two weeks have gone very well.

2 weeks ago I hit 85ish miles, with a killer mile repeats workout (4 in 5:23 5:19 5:12 5:XX (didn't start my watch but it was definitely the fastest), and a great tempo on sunday (1 up then 4 miles around 6:35 pace up to 5 miles at sub 6:10 pace with 5 down easy). I hadn't had a week like that ever, and I think that doubling made it possible to keep things fast and quality.

This week was a 90 miler for me, my first ever, and I only ran 1 double. 83 miles on singles was a lot but I definitely kept it relaxed and easy all week. Today's 20 miler went excellently - I ran with friends and we all ran pretty well. A 7:30 average for the whole run, including some good climbing leads me to believe that I am on my way to being in good shape.

I put about 150 miles on my NB890s the past two weeks, and 20 0r so on my Kinvaras, both are holding up fine.

Belated Update/ 5k PR.

Here is a picture of my 5k two weeks ago (wherein I ran a PR 16:51)

It was the first 5k where I started easy and was able to kick down the stretch. I did not wear a watch, and thus did not get my splits. In general I was ecstatic about the results. I think that assuming I stay healthy I will be able to drop some more time off of that 5k over the fall (especially because I am gunning for a half marathon and not a marathon OCT 9).

For the week I got in 63 miles (two off days - an easy week after a 3 straight 80 mile weeks)

The next week I did not get in as much volume as I wanted (0nly one double and one 0 day) but still managed 72-73 miles. The highlight of that week was a solid 7 mile tempo at 6:06 pace. I ran it on the roads after a 15 mile long run the day before, and was very satisfied with how the effort felt.

My brother got married this week and that combined with being pretty beat up in the legs led me to only run 6 on friday and 0 on saturday. The 18 mile long run I did on sunday did feel good though (although I kept it very VERY slow.

This week I decided to scrap the plan for a Marathon Oct 9 and am going instead for a half at the 1st ever 5 cities marathon (same week). Hopefully this will leave me free to run some shorter races this fall. 2 mile XC race possible this weekend, and road mile coming up next weekend. All of this is exciting, and I am glad to get experience racing.

87miles6days5k4thPlace3rdfivek2runsaday1stweekwithoutalongrun

On that unintelligible attempt at being clever I will start the past weeks blog.

I hit 87 miles, my second biggest week ever, and everything felt pretty good. I doubled on Tues, Thurs and Sun and took monday off. My general plan for getting ready for an october marathon is going to be based on 4 week cycles, including 3 weeks of increasing mileage followed by a 4th down week (ideally with a race that weekend).

I have been doing my tuesday workouts barefoot on grass, which has been surprisingly pleasant. I think that it is easier to run barefoot when you are really running hard versus just doing a general aerobic run with no shoes. This is probably because at 2 mile or 1 mile race pace my form/leg turnover is much closer to an optimal stride than my general 7:15 minute mile shuffle. Who knows.

I have been trying to pick my coaches brain at the workouts to try and figure out how to be faster for the 5k, and his response is that it takes time, focus and specific hard work. Because I haven't met any of those criteria with my training since the San Diego marathon, it has been pointed out that I am not going to be running fast this time of year. The discussion I had with him reminded me that I am totally naive to effective training, and that I need to adjust my standards for myself. I know now that I am not going to set a PR every week for the rest of the year, especially with sluggish marathon training legs.

I did do OK at the 5k I ran this weekend however, as it was on trails and I had my highest overall finish ever (4th). I ran without a watch, and stayed pretty close to the leader for the first mile, and then fell off the pace a little bit and ended up battling for 2nd place for most of the race. I got passed with about 400 meters to go, and had no answer left. I came in at 17:29, which is about what I expected. I have another 5k this weekend that I will be more rested for, but it is in the 90's where the race is, so it will be a tough one.

BALDY and the slowest 15 miles of my life.

I had a real good week this week. I did not get in any doubles as planned, but did hit the 80 mile mark. My sunday run ended up being a beastly trail run up to the top of mount baldy.

It was an awesome experience, filled with gasping/rasping/power hiking etc. I have never really ran anywhere where hiking is mandatory and more efficient than running, so this was quite a surprise. Everything about running to the peak of Baldy was just awesome. I have never ran a 15 mile run so slow, but because of altitude, climbing and general exhaustion it was one of the toughest runs of my life.

The stats fats:

M-11 @ 7:00
T- 11.5 w XC type workout - 8 X .4 miles on grass with .1 jogging recovery. pace between 5:05 and 4:55. Finished on track with 200 m strides with 100 recovery for 1.5 miles. Felt great.
W-11 easy
T- 10.5 w/ 3 @ 6:10 and 3 @ 6:30 on sand (tempo fail, was just too beat)
F- 11.5 w/ 6 hard (no watch, felt much better) + strides
S-10.5 EZ
S- 15 from 6k to 10k elevation out and back. Very slow up mountain and faster down.

Read more: http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=4142138#ixzz1SQHNjCE9
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(re)Building the Base

Very happy to report my first seriously good training week since before San Diego. After 75 miles and a bad race on monday, I am feeling optimistic about the direction my training is headed. I have been feeling anxious about coming back too soon since my last marathon, and in short, I did. I placed unrealistic expectations for myself for monday's race, and was let down when I didn't get to where I wanted to be. But the pressure is off! I have felt less stressed about pace since monday's race, and have been able to concentrate more on beefing up volume and working on my general aerobic conditioning. I know that the sharpness will not come overnight - a point drilled into me by Mr. Dave Fier. It is hard to grapple with the fact that I will not be sharp and fit 365 days a year, but after talking with him on tuesday I realized that I dont have to beat myself up about it.

Thank goodness.

Hopefully with 2 doubles this week I will get mileage into the 80's where I will try to keep it for most of the next 3 months. If I can do that, I may be able to PR in Long Beach.

sh*tty race . . .

Well I could have predicted it as soon as I finished running 15 on saturday, and probably even earlier in the week. I was neither destined nor prepared to run a fast time at today's surf city run 5k. I was sore on saturday, felt worse on sunday and did not feel much improvement this morning as I warmed up. The temperatures were in the mid - high seventies, I ate a crappy dinner last night and etc. etc. etc. excuses excuses excuses. The bottom line is that I went out today and failed to meet any of the goals I had for the race, aside from finishing.

I wanted to go out in 5:18 and negative split, and what ended up happening was comically far from that. I think I ran the first mile in something like 5:32 and at that point felt so miserable that I pretty much gave up the fight. I looked down at my watch during the third mile and read something about a 6:05 mile while I felt like I was running all out. The end result was a 5k time that was slower than my goal 10k pace. Oh well. I know I have to get over it, but it just sucked because it was the first time I have run wearing my A Snails Pace uniform, and because I feel like I am in really good shape.

Regardless though, training proper was good last week.

I got in 64 something miles and had a nice 15-16 on saturday. I did run most of my runs this week at a quicker rate than I should have, and that might have contributed in part to me feeling pretty crappy at the start line today.

The moral of the story for the week is that there is no cheating when it comes to performing your best. If running well at a certain race is a priority, than it needs to be treated as such. I chose to think that because it was only 5k, it did not particularly matter what I did leading into the race, because, after all, I am a marathon runner, and 5k should be no problem - even running all out. That is not how it works. The 5k is a brutal race, and it is something I have only begin to wrestle with. I now know that I have got to take a serious look at scheduling my long run more than 48 hours away from a short race. I will work with coach Fier and try to develop some strategies so that come the Pride of the Valley 5k this august I will get to the line in good form, health and fitness.

The recovery trail, 1 workout too many, etc.

Howdy world!

I realized (and was made to realize by Coach Dave Fier) this past tuesday (AFTER running a workout of course) that 16 days is not ample time to recover from a marathon and get back to full training. Based on that newfound knowledge I kept things very easy for the remainder of the week. No long run, not much other running, just a run down to the beach for an 11 mile total on saturday. All in all I ended up getting just under 40 miles in, so probably enough to preserve some of my fitness. I am nervous that by running a 2x 2mile and 2x 1mile workout at just under 5k pace that I may have retarded my bodies recovery. Hopefully not, As I am planning on racing the 4th of July 5k this coming monday. Among things, I would love to break 17 minutes, and come as close to 16 as possible. My plan: go out in 5:18 and negative split. Likely? No idea. A fast workout tonight (I am assuming) and a chat with coach fier will probably help me to better understand my chances of doing that. My watch put me through 5k in 16:54 in my last race - which was very hilly. I know I have the strength to run hard for 3.1 miles, I am just not sure how my leg speed is. Another update this sunday.

Still Recovering

The second week of post race recovery has come to a close with things feeling good not great. The only lingering issue to report is some pain in the joint of my right big toe. I cannot remember if this is something I have encountered before after a race, but I am going to at least stick with some fairly stiff shoes as I begin my buildup of summer mileage/5k/10k training in advance of an October marathon (Long Beach most likely).

The exercise in mental discipline of not running is often more difficult for me than the rigors of training. It boils down to the fact that I am dependent on the endorphins I get from running, and without them I start to go nuts. Fortunately for me I was able to get in 30 miles this week, on top of about 17 or 18 last week.

Regarding the pain in my big toe, I doubt it is anything overly serious, just something to watch as pain always is. I went to Las Vegas this week, won money, and got to run on a treadmill with a fairly scenic view of the strip. Good god I hate treadmills - I think my gait is ill fit to the challenge of running on a gigantic rubber-band. Regardless I got 5 miles in and ended up meeting a guy who I think runs with a club somewhat attached to speed river up in canada. I also got to get some new shoes with my earnings (alden Indy boots and loafers)

Through and through it was a great trip!

Look forward to reporting next week,

Sam

Race Report!

2:53:12 in San Diego, 3rd in Age Group, 48th overall and 37th Man to finish.

WOOHOO thats a 10 minute plus PR, and I hit every one of my previously listed goals besides breaking 2:50.

Here is the report: RocknRoll San Diego was, as I expected, a challenging course to set a really fast PR. With 30,000 people at the start, a June running and a course that leaves a lot to be desired, I knew that running 2:50 was possible, but that I would need to run a smart race. I did not. Came through the half in 1:23:30, feeling pretty easy, but by the time I got to mile 16 I begin to feel a ton of discomfort in my stomach. Not bad enough to make me spew, but just felt like I was not getting any benefit from the shot blocks I had been eating.

From there, I hung in at my 6:30 goal pace up until about mile 20, where I was feeling really discouraged. I ran the entire way alone, and I begin to battle with the mental demons inherent to the marathon "why are you doing this" "drop out DROP OUT" and "Just Walk it in." I have DNF'ed once before because of a Hamstring issue, but this was about as close as I have ever been to just calling it a race. Fortunately though, I got it together enough to just commit to not walking until "the end of the next mile."

The last 10k is along one a bay a little bit inland, and it was brutal. Not a lot of air, fairly warm weather and direct sunlight, combined with my glycogen depleted legs really demoralized me, but after seeing some of the people in front of me dropping out/spewing I figured I was actually hurting a lot less than plenty of others. My parents handed me a bottle of blue gatorade at mile 21 That I credit with helping me hand in and finish up. :

I ended up coming in very slowly – ran the last 10k in about 42-43 mins, but the most brutal part of the race came at the end, when I got confused about where the finish line was. I sprinted through what I thought was the line, then slowed down, only to hear people yelling “keep going” then I did the same thing a second time. It was a pretty difficult race to be sure, but I definitely felt gratified by hanging in there and still making it a positive experience and a big PR. I am not hurting too bad today, and I jumped in the ocean and soaked in a tub with Epsom salt, so hopefully with some quality rest I will be back at it soon.

This is what I looked like after finishing:

Tapering and Pre-race anxiety

Its that time again! The weekend of the my 6th marathon (one was a DNF) has arrived, and I am feeling the mental 'angst' brought on by decreased training, increased energy levels and apprehensiveness. So goes the taper. This is, to my memory, different than I have ever felt before. I am less nervous about finishing this time, and more secure in the amount of training behind me, but I am dealing with the fear associated with shooting for a true breakout performance and big PR. In my mind though, I know that I am more prepared than ever for this run, with a rock solid base, speed work, long runs etc etc etc. . . . It is hard to believe in ones self sometimes, but I think that I have done what I need to do to have a good performance The day after tomorrow.

Over the past two weeks sans posting (whoops!), I recorded one 70 and one 50 mile week (3 and 2 weeks ago respectively), and at this point in my week am about 22 miles in. I had a great mile repeat workout last tuesday, where all of my miles were less than 5:30, most well under that and increasing to the end of the workout. I had a good last 20 miler at 7 minute pace a few days before that, and I am feeling strong as I write this.

I am down in San Diego staying with my parents, and I made it to the Marathon Expo today, and managed to ding my Accord up in the parking lot (sh*t). Aside from that it was a cool experience, especially because I held a door open for who I THINK was Meb as I was leaving. I am bib number 1020 (kind of scary to be starting in the first wave!!!!)

I bought into the Pfitzinger pre-race eating model of short slow runs + carb heavy diet (90%) in order to load my liver and muscles with enough glycogen to keep me going through what I am guessing will be mile 23, after which point the challenge is on. I will not be drinking at every aid station as Advanced Marathoning suggests though, as I feel that drinking to thirst is the better strategy. I am going to take water on the course, along with Cliff energy blocks, which have been my go to fuel of the past few months.

As far as pacing, I think I have the legs to run an average pace of about 6:24 min/mile, but I am looking to run the first half at as close to a relaxed 6:30 pace as possible, but by running 1 mile at a time. I am hoping that things go well, and that I am able to accelerate through the last 10k of the race, but I am looking for a strong performance, and not a put-it-all-on-the-line-and-maybe-blowup type of performance. I want to negative split, and I think that I can do it.

I have had so much support from all of the people in my life to get here, and I know that they all just want me to do my best. This is the best thing about being a rec-runner: you set your own expectations! Regardless, I am going to break down my multi-teered goal structure:

1: finish: finishing any marathon is an accomplishment.

2: PR: obvious reasons, but I would love to run under 3:03:57

3:Top 50 finish: not sure what I would have to run but this would be awesome

4: sub 3 (I will be happy)

5:sub 2:55 (I will be elated)

6: sub 2:50 (I will be the happiest)

7: Age group award: This would be a nice cherry on top of the rest of everything.

Until Sunday afternoon when I update again!

Missing a week of blogging but not of training.

My goal with this blog has been to narrate my training so I can look back on it as a training tool in the future, and share it with people at some point down the road. It has remained private up to this point because a) I haven't asked my mom to read it and b) there aren't a ton of folks interested in another training blog, especially one written by a 2:50 hopeful! That being said though, I do imagine that one day the training info in here might help me help someone else get ready for a marathon, at least because it is comprehensive in its description of the long run - perhaps the biggest mental challenge in getting excited about preparing for a marathon. Why write this? Because I skipped a week and that is exactly the type inconsistency that dooms all good things. So, from here on out I will try to be weekly with the updates.

Two weeks ago I had a great week culminating in a good-feeling marathon specific long run. After my mother's day brunch with my family, I took off with the intention of running from my parents house in Point Loma (san diego) to what is approximately the 17 mile mark of the Rock'n'Roll marathon, and then back home. The goal was to head out for 10 miles at 7:30 pace, and run the last 10-11 at goal marathon pace - 6:30 minute miles. I felt a little bit rocky on the run out- it was cold and drizzling in San Diego and I had eaten a sandwich about an hour earlier, so I was not sure which way things were going to head as soon as I picked the pace up. To my surprise, after hitting the turn around in Mission Bay and speeding up to 2:50:00 marathon pace I felt great. I did not have to labor too hard to hang on for the last 11 miles of the run, and the final mile did not feel significantly harder than the 1st had. It is this run and the long run from this sunday that I will focus on the nights before San Diego, because they confirm that my dream of 2:50 is possible. That run's program was loosely taken from Greg McMillan's coaching discussion on www.mcmillanrunning.com. A total of 85 miles for the week - my third consecutive 80+ week.

I was definitely a little bit fatigued after the aforementioned run, and after talking to a friend about his scare with overtraining before the Saint George Iron-Man (which he ultimately finished in less than 12 hours - an amazing feet!) I decided to take it VERY easy on monday with a light 2.5 - 3 miles on grass in trainers in a park near my house. I felt good the next day and ran my AM run at 6:35 pace and then had a great Marathon type track workout (8X1000 on 7 min cycle at 5k race pace - ran 1200 for the last two reps and ran easy during the recovery for a total of like 11 miles including warmup and cooldown). I took it out hard-ish for the rest of the week as well, and as a result took saturday completely off. This was a tough choice but I knew needed to give myself a true rest day in order to reap the maximum benefit from my last hard 20+ miler before San Diego. It panned out great. I got to the location of the run early and squeezed in 5 7:00 - ish miles before getting going on a run up crystal cove with the snails pace crew (minus Dave Parsel). The three of us struggled to stay on our feet in the mud and rain as we ran the 2k or so of vertical to the "top of the world" aka newport coast, but we still held things together and kept the pace good considering all factors. Once at the top we decided to take roads, instead of trails, down to the start of the run. I kicked in a fast finish type effort, running the last 5 miles home at a 6:25 pace (the miles were downhill, but still, it was hard!).

20.5 for the run and 75/76 for the week. Not quite 80, but I ran a ton of stuff at marathon pace this week and that was good!

Onwards and upwards - one more week of true training and then off to the taper. . . . yikes.

80 mile weeks

I have been feeling well over the past two weeks, running well on both the track and on my long runs (one of which was a 3.5 hour 28 mile affair. . . .)

My new Balance 890's have held up well, although today I started to feel uncomfortable in them, although that may just be a result of how I was feeling in the heat. I hit 82 miles two weeks ago, 83 last week, although I have already forgotten how many miles I had 3 weeks ago.

I have been crunched for time, but also found out that I have been accepted into UC Irvine as a senior. I am not sure how realistic it would be for me to make a cross country team there, but I think that if I dedicate the time and effort it takes to get stronger and faster, I will be able to walk on. Weather I would rather do that or continue working on my marathon/ultra training is yet to be determined. I love road racing, and the thought of trading that up for a shot at toeing the line in a collegiate race is a little unattractive. That being said I am sure that by getting faster at shorter distances and taking advantage of the coaching and training resources available I would ultimately enhance my ability to really take it out over 26.2. I think my performance in San Diego will determine that. If I break 2:55 I think I will stick with the marathon, and if not I will try and put my fitness to work getting in some fast 5/10k training done.

I am excited for San Diego, but watching how 'slow' the weather got for the OC marathon this weekend, I realize that my ability to reach my goal will hinge on a ton of factors, and that it will take me a few shots to get where I want probably.

First Time I've Done LSD in a while . . . and a true tempo

This Easter Sunday I completed the longest run of my life/training cycle (in terms of distance, although I have ran for longer time periods a few times, but much more slowly than the 7:30 average pace I kept the run at yesterday). I ran 3.5 hours at right around 7:30 pace, completing just about 28 miles of running. I put myself through the marathon in just about 3:18/3:19 on the dot, which is my second fastest marathon of all time! Combine that with the fact that that effort came at the end of an 80 mile week, and did not include any refueling (just hydration) and I am feeling good about my fitness! The super long run is always a psychological barrier for me in getting ready for any race, especially the marathon, because in the past it has been the most difficult training run I have completed. With the progression of my fitness however, I find it less challenging and more relaxing, because I can feel totally justified in running slowly and enjoying myself. Also it just isn't as hard as it once was because I am in better shape. Makes sense. The notion to go for a 3.5 hour run came mostly from a McMillangRunning.com article about the two types of long run, the LSD and the fast finish. Mcmillan suggests completing a couple of runs 30mins-1hour longer than projected marathon finish time. I am shooting for the 2:50, so I tacked 40 minutes on to that and ran at 1 minute per mile slower than goal marathon pace with no refueling. Result: nearly a 50km at a comfortable pace. I feel good today although my knee is a little bit tender, I suppose some discomfort is always to be expected when you push your body past the 3 hour/20 mile mark.

ALSO THIS WEEK:

3 x 5 minutes + 2 x 1 mile on the track. This felt great as well, because my body has a much easier time with longer intervals, probably because my turnover really sucks too much for a fast 1200. I kept the first three 5:00 intervals right around target 10k pace (5:35) and then let it out on the last two miles, running a 5:12 and a 5:10.

First True Tempo Ever? Another McMillan type of workout, this was a classic 4 mile tempo at 5:45 pace (I cheated and did do it on the track). I felt smooth for the first 2.5 miles, and last .5 miles but between there I felt a bit ragged, although I got as close to consistent as I could hope recording the last and first miles at the same split.

I had originally planned to race this saturday in a local 5k - but I had a grueling week, and decided to cruise home to San Diego early. I then sought to register to run a 10k saturday morning, and mistakenly registered for its 2012 edition. With that in mind, I need to start my 10km training today in order to be fully prepared for next earth day - 363 days to go!

Weekly totals: 81 miles (Saturday off)

I will exchange the 3 week blocks I have been doing - high 60's mid 70's 80's for the past 6 weeks (off of about a month of 70 mpw base after Surf City) for my peak mileage over the next 3 weeks before a Taper for San Diego.

Faltering Confidence on the Track (but feeling great on the roads)

When Tuesday night track workouts with A Snails Pace rolled around this week I felt that I was in a good place to go out and improve on the 6 X 1200 repeats I had done the previous week. I wanted to keep things close to 4:04 as possible if not faster. Because I was coming off of a 65 mile week, I assumed that I would feel fast on the track – but this just didn’t happen. I got out to the OCC track a bit late, and didn’t have as much time as I like to complete drills/warm-up run etc. . . so that wasn’t so hot, but I still got basically everything in. I also didn’t double on Tuesday which I usually do – so I figured that that might change how I felt. When it came time to run, I felt myself struggling to push 80 second quarters the first rep and coming through the first 1200 in closer to 4:02 – but with more effort than I had wanted. I slowed down on the second, third and fourth finishing around 4:06 but feeling ragged, I ran a faster fifth without my watch and came through decently, but then ran a 4:07 final 1200. I got burned on the last one by a guy I am usually faster than (although he told me had ran all of 15 miles the week before as the 2^nd week of his recovery from a half Ironman). I felt somewhat disappointed after the last repeat, but when I went for my cool-down I felt my fitness because 6:40 miles seemed like nothing even after 8 (5 hard) of a workout. Conclusion: I am not very fast! At the same time though, I have been averaging around 75 miles a week – more than for my last marathon – and have also upped the intensity significantly, so it is only to be expected that fatigue detract from the speed at which I could be running a track workout if I was a)fully adjusted to a 75 mile week schedule or b) running less miles per week. Fortunately though, I had a very solid showing at the Ragnar So-Cal relay – which I am going to call a long run in my training schema. Here’s how it went:

Race Report Ragnar So-Cal

First Leg: 96 degree heat, 7.4 miles , +200 feet of climbing1:30 in the afternoon approximate 6:31 pace , but my Garmin was slow to get going at the start and I got in about +/- half a mile before it registered so I think closer to 6:25.

This was absolutely brutal. I was hoping for cool weather and received nothing of the sort. I wanted to run at a tempo pace closer to 6 mins but ultimately that was not an option. I was totally satisfied to get as close to a 6:20 pace in the heat and along tarmac that only increased how hot it felt. No shade either. I passed a ton of people. On the Van Leg my teammates all did well for themselves considering the brutal heat and hills, and we probably got a team pace of close to 9:30.

Food: Leftover pizza/Biscuits and Gravy and Farmer Boys mmmmmmm

Second Leg: 55 degrees 8.7 miles 1:30 AM +1000 feet of vertical 6:42 pace. I felt awesome here, I probably passed 50 people along the course of the race. I rolled out 7:40 and 7:10 mile up the 1 1000 foot vertical hill of the course and all of the rest of my miles were cruising close to a 6:20 pace under a full moon. I felt amazing here and my fitness and legs were feeling awesome. I ended up getting 2 hours of sleet under the stars and an amazing full moon, and my team also did well on this section. I was the first runner of my Van’s 6 runner cycle. We ran 6 legs and then rested while out other Van took over.

Third Leg: 55 Degrees 5.5 miles 5:30 AM +250 feet of climbing 6:39 pace (another adjustment based on a messed up Garmin start). I was not expecting to run this leg at all, but the other Van on our team failed to make it to the transition, and had a sick runner so I got elected to fill in. I kept on feeling great to my surprise, and rolled out a nice comfortable 6:40 pace to the finish of the leg at sunrise through the flower beds of northern San Diego. At this point I had to stop at my first stoplight, something that drives me absolutely crazy! I was really surprised at how fresh I felt, again managing to pass lots of fit folks.

4^th Leg: 70 degrees 9.7 miles 11:50 AM +500 feet of climbing along a beautiful route on the coast of La Jolla. I expected to feel completely brutal on this leg, expecting to run 7:30s or more and to hit a wall. Happily this did not happen, and again I felt myself cruising easily at a 6:40 pace. I ran on some awesome trails along the cliffs of La Jolla. Blisters were formed on the balls of my feet at that point though . . Here I am at the last exchange . . .

Summary- I had and awesome experience that made me feel really good about where my fitness is at the moment. I did not have to put forth a full blown race effort in order to hit a pace that would give me a close to 2:55 marathon, and at the end of 87 miles in the past 7 days I feel fantastic about where I am at in my training. Couple that with an awesome experience with 5 total strangers, and I had a tremendously rewarding 24 hours! I recommend going for this type of event (especially if you have willing/motivated runners to do it with) and I want to compete with an ultra team in the coming year. Basically I wrapped this week up a marathon confidence boosting workout. God willing with a couple of fast finish long runs and some LSD runs over the next month, I will get myself prepared to really go for it in San Diego. I finally registered last night, and feel like I have been punched in the balls by the price – Next year I will plan better and focus on a cheaper race ( I will also probably register MUCH earlier).

God

Good week to report - between one thing and another I ended up missing a couple of runs this week (weds and sat) but with a solid double on tuesday, some treadmill garbage running and a nice long run this sunday I was still able to log 65 miles. I am not super bummed about missing the 70 mile mark this week - I put in quality work on the track and especially on my long run this sunday that have me feeling good. I would like to use a more rested body to my advantage in this sunday's Ragnar relay race from Huntington Beach to San Diego by trying to post some fast leg times. I have no idea how things will work out - but I am scheduled to get 25 miles of racing in on some steep terrain.

I am just now beginning to get excited to hammer out some fast miles at night and in San Diego - I cannot wait to see how things turn out.

I am going to try to get in at least 40 miles before friday then get in a few on sunday to make it 70 for the week.

Not much else to report besides the beautiful long run I went on yesterday at crystal cove/el morro canyon. Approximately 1,800 feet of climbing and 16 miles in just over two hours. The effort was high but my body feels great today.

Just off for a 10 now, and then on to the next thing tonight.

First 20 & Moving & Keeping On Walking

Last week I made a last minute move from the Balboa Peninsula to Costa Mesa, and ended up only doubling once and missing a run on wednesday. That is OK though because I had a great track workout and a good 20 miler so I got to 76 miles for the week all the same - close to my goal.

Miles were as follows (monday: 10 tues: 9 (16 x 400 w/ Dave Parsel pretty much the whole way weds: OFF thurs: am:10 pm: 7-treadmill fri: 10 sat: 10 sun: 20 for a total of 76)

I feel fortunate to have gotten into a new house that is very close to fairview park and the Santa Ana River Trail (pictured below).

I like running these trails on account of the gravel/dirt surface and semi-interesting industrial scenery. I had grown tired of concrete/Newport Beach after running a couple thousand miles on the boardwalk between the wedge and Huntington Beach. The novelty had worn off. Fairview park also has a great 1 mile loop (I think OCC/Estancia HS cross country teams train there) that is good for repeats and progression runs. I also live right by the OCC track (site of my tuesday night track workouts).

Going for my first 20 on sunday was interesting - as the first marathon based long run always is. I was very pleased to find that my nagging issues started to fade as the run went on. I ran the first 13 in about 6:55 miles and slowed down to about 7:15's for the rest of the way. My body felt great aside from being fatigued by the duration of the run and the higher mileage weeks leading up to it. My average over the past three weeks (52/89/76) puts me right where I want to be in terms of average miles per cycle. All in all it was a solid week of running.

Haile Gebreselaisse talks about both running and walking in this Johnny Walker Advertisement, and boy did I walk this week.

I didn't run 10 miles each way to school this week, but I walked about 20-25 miles too and from the bus to get to work in my new place. I don't mind it too much, but it will be nice to have a car in the upcoming months!

Finally I have a good running pic taken by the brightroom folks in my most recent 5k:

Clearly I am hurting! I hope to get in another solid 75+ miles this week with a tempo included.

Racing and a monster week

Two new personal records this week and I feel great.

Record 1: Most miles per week (89-yikes). The benefits of doubling availed to me this week. I doubled on monday, tuesday and today (sunday). Today's double was probably the least advisable, as I set out for a long run to cap off a race week, but I am feeling damn good. On monday I took the first run easy and ran the second at around 6:15 miles for a harder effort, and on tues I jogged an easy 6 before going for it on the track. Both days I felt fresh enough the whole day and did not have serious soreness issues the next day.

Record 2: 5k PR (really first 5k ever) 17:12

Got out for a fun run for the Newport Mesa Schools and ran a big PR. I had only ever ran a training 5k (in questionable fitness) in 17:47, but I have been knocking out some decent workouts so I felt like maybe I could do a sub 17 - 16:30. I got out to a good first mile (5:18 split) but I ended up falling off decent after that, although my watch put me through the 5k in about 17 flat, so I guess I ran a pretty inefficient race. I got out front and tried to drive through alone at first, then I was broken by James Sheremeta, a big deal masters runner. I still hung in okay until the last .3 when I got passed by a duo of high school track guys (humble pie). Still managed to finish 5th in my first ever 5k which I am very happy with. Hopefully times will keep dropping from here.

I had my first track workout (actually on the track) this week with the Snails which turned out to be a great time. I want to get down to Carlsbad for the 5000 next weekend but issues in my housing situation may make that impossible. Regardless I had a big week and I feel like I can keep'em coming if I take care of myself.

My Hyperspeeds are almost completely done for in less than 150 miles, which means I need to head back to ASP to grab some more. . .

My Garmin is acting up as well which is basically totally unacceptable, so hopefully that will clear itself up.

Until next week,

Sam

Blegh, Life got in the way this week, and I ended up missing 2 runs this week, for a total of 53 miles . . .

Between a pretty bad storm (by my wussy so-cal native standards) and my girlfriends 21st birthday celebration all weekend, I skipped my friday and sunday runs. Awful. At least I hit a solid 10 miler on Saturday and had a double on tuesday that let me get 50+ in.

With the two runs I missed 80 miles should have been no problem this week, which is encouraging to me for the weeks to come. I get worried that I am going to let myself get irregular with my training on weeks like this - it calls my discipline into question. I am looking forward to really push it for the next month in anticipation of the OC Half and the Rock'n'Roll San Diego.

1:20/2:55 would be really nice but those are both a stretch. I think that for my 5k indicator time to hold true I need to be hanging in there for 5-6 80+ mile weeks.

I had another good workout with the Snails Pace Folks, and I finally payed my dues so I don't feel like such a freeloader.

Shooting for 75+ this week! Hope I can get it.

New Shoes: My Adizero Manas started to cut/dig into the top of my feet, bruised 'em and really pissed me off. I ended up switching into my old speedstars yesterday, but that did not make things much better. Today I decided to indulge myself and cruise out to A Snail's Pace in Fountain Valley via bus to pay my membership dues and look for a better solution.

BAM Asics HyperSpeed 3:

Light, flexible and including some padding in the mid/forefoot that you can actually see when you take the sole out. My first run in them involved none of the pain I had been struggling with in the Manas, very refreshing. On another positive note, they cost 40 bones.

Another update coming Sunday.

Rest in the mountains

<- me in the half pipe. . . . and not running.

One way take care some nagging pain issues is by resting, and this past week I did just that in the Eastern Sierras. 4 days of snowboarding later and my knee and calf are feeling fantastic, and I am getting primed to getting back to working towards my goal of hitting 4 or 5 80+ mile weeks before my next marathon.

I felt like a week off was what my body has been calling for since ramping mileage up after Surf City in February. I think I jumped the gun a little bit and pounded out a 75 mile week a little bit prematurely. Now I feel rested, fit and prepared to get out on the track over the next two months to build some speed and maximize my fitness for a go at a big marathon PR.

I want to see how realistic the sub 2:55 marathon is based on a half marathon indicator on may 1st at the OC marathon. With the week off, the Rock'n'roll San Diego Marathon is looking like the venue where I will test myself. I ran the race last year, and know that the track is a big pain in the ass, but the Competitor folks made some adjustments, and there is something to be said for the home court advantage/familiarity with a course's ups and downs. After that I want to go ultra this summer, but I may switch things up and try to get in 1500/3k/5k/10k shape to see if I could make my dream of being a college runner come true.

Hills, repeats and some progression

I am happy to report another solid week of training despite some soreness issues in my right knee and left shin. I am still convinced that the knee issue is simply the result of an impact, and not due to an injury per se, and I have experienced similar soreness issues coming and going in the shins/calfs throughout my running. So basically, nothing to worry about (knock on wood, cross fingers, etc. etc.).

It has been my second week of consistent training post Surf City Marathon, and I feel like I am reaching a new level of fitness as a result of adding consistent workouts to my typically uniform slow weekly running. I have started drawing on new training resources for this preparation cycle and I think that it is helping me bring some discipline/focus to aspects of my running that need improvement, eg my form and speed.

The letsrun.com forums have furnished me with some information about quality workouts and training, but I have had to get used to reading through some serious negativity on the message boards. Fortunately I have some experience with keyboard warrior syndrome, so I know that most of the guys talking trash are running 1 hr 10k's or worse, crippled themselves by trying to be all americans 25 years ago. All the same there is a ton of great information on www.letsrun.com.

My Garmin 110 is another training resource that I have incorporated into my daily training. The thing is f*cking awesome, but sometimes it can be a subtle foe, encouraging me to compete with myself when I need to be taking it easy. Nevertheless it is awesome to get accurate real time feedback on pace/altitude/time etc. I do not use the HR monitor because it drives me insane.

Workouts with A Snails Pace running club(Fountain Valley Chapter) have also been an awesome addition to my running regimen, as the coach, Coach Fear (I think) is an awesome, friendly an encouraging dude. Tuesday night track workouts (which are currently tuesday night hill repeats) have also presented a good opportunity to run with a guy who is faster than I am, but who I believe I can train with. He is a 5:30 pace 8k guy who is really encouraging/good to run with. It has been infinitely helpful to have a group of people with whom I can train even if it is just once a week.

So there is a summary of new and quality additions to my training that I hope will help me reach a new level of fitness.

This weeks running included

12x1minute hill repeats w/ 2 minutes recovery

Lots of easy 7:00-7:30 miles

1 session of mile repeats (4x1mile with 45 seconds recovery) miles in: 5:30 5:29 5:32 5:31

11 mile progression run with 4 mile cool down. (this was a great workout)

with splits dropping consistently from a 7 min down to a 6:15 11th mile. Felt great on the cool down and felt comfortable finishing the workout with a 6:29 15th mile.

All in all a great week despite some nagging pain.

Week one of mileage pre-ragnar/march marathon?

I had a very solid week of running for a first week back after the Surf City Marathon (3 weeks ago) culminating in a solid/possibly over the top tempo run yesterday. I can't remember if I posted about bonking my knee into a bike rack during a pre mature post race jog two weeks ago, but that happened, and the soreness in my right knee has not totally gone away. Basically just some mild discomfort. I squeezed in 8 runs (9 if a cool down counts) for a total of just about76 miles.

Highlights included:

running a 12x 1 minute hill repeat with the A Snails Pace running club,

a 9 mile cruise in Mission Bay in the vicinity of San Diego Track Club Runners

a new pair of shoes and a singlet from Movin Shoes in San Diego (Adidas Mana 5's/Nike Singlet)

and a 13.1 mile tempo on Saturday in 1:26:36 on a course with elevation similar to an average marathon(+500 feet) followed by a 4 mile recovery

I wrenched my back at one point and felt super drained on my 7 miler tonight, but my body is feeling good otherwise.

Hopefully I can hold this type of 9-10 hours a week of running and get my mileage up by another 10 per cent.

In the race department, I found out I will be running for a Ragnar Relay Team in mid-April, something I have been wanting to do for a while. I think it will be my last hard workout before a mid may - early june Marathon. . . . Rock'n'Roll? Palos Verdes? Pasadena? Who knows. I want to target a 2:55 if at all possible to get me to the advanced tier of Boston Registration, but that may take a LONG time.

until then I will be out on the trail/pavement/track tryin my damnedest

Blog

My name is Sam Blackmar, and I am a sometimes hobby jogger/sometimes runner from Newport Beach CA. I have taken a few tries at the macroblog in the past, but never with anything I am as passionate about as running. I hope that I will be able to stay consistent and update this bad boy, more so I can look back on a run log/report than anything else. I also want to be able to post comments on the blogs of the Ultra-runners I really look up to, and I have too much goddamn free time on my hands these days.

On to the running: I grew up playing hockey passionately, the trombone less passionately and soccer begrudgingly. I was never a technical whiz at anything but I had a relatively big lung capacity (so said my trombone instructor who I never listened to), good endurance and the ability to stay underwater for a long time. I don't think any of this matters too much, but when I quit smoking in 2009 running seemed like a logical thing to replace cigarettes with, although I initially had no interest in completing even a 5k. I did assume that I would be able to sustain a jog for a reasonable amount of time and that was all I was interested in. TO me running was a hell-of-a-lot more attractive way to keep in shape than being a gym rat. A month or so later buddy of mine who was still smoking told me he was signing up for a half marathon. I figured if he could do it, I SHOULD do it, as I had been enjoying running 3 or for miles 4 or 5 times a week.

So I signed up for the Long Beach half marathon in 2009, which I completed in what now seems like a staggeringly slow time: 1:42 and some change. I loved it. The expo and the crowds and all of the pumped up people, as well as being able t o finish without being to destroyed afterwards compelled me to continue running, and I signed up for a marathon the next day. Since then I have completed 4 marathons (and had one DNF at the OC marathon) a 10k and put what I estimate to be around 2300 miles in last year. After finishing the San Francisco marathon in over 4 hours (30 minutes slower than my PR at that point; a 3:32) I started really working on mileage and changing my stride up so that I could speed things up a little bit. Then I got hit by a car on my bike, broke a foot and was off it for a month and a half (this was a blessing in disguise. After that healed up, I got refocused and started gearing up for a feb marathon (this was in september - october 2010). From the beginning I felt much faster after the rest and at the very beginning of my training I finished the long beach half marathon in 1:35. I still thought that boston was an impossible dream but I started running higher mileage with a solid year of base training under my belt.

In preparation for this years surf city marathon I built up to a 72-78 mile base for about 8 solid weeks of training, and got in a 37:47 10 k in November and then a 17:35 5k in training. I started to have some more faith in my speed, and ultimately settled on targeting 7 min/mile pace for the marathon. After a nerve racking week before the race I got to the start line feeling OK and I ended up putting a 3:03:57 marathon effort in. I was/am elated with that time, mainly because I hit a 7:01 pace, and felt strong through 24 miles of the race (only normal we all grind out those last 2.2 miles).

Going forwards I am looking to improve on my marathon time and go for a 50 miler in the next couple of months. This will be my longest post and I cannot wait to get to the starting line of my next race.

PRs:

5k:17:35

10k:37:47

13.1: 1:31:20 (first half of my last marathon)

26.2: 3:03:57

Goal Races for 2011:

Newport Classic 5k/10k/15k

Carlsbad 5000

June/Late May Ultra