The Dreadmill!!!!

Today I hopped on the treadmill for an easy run. The temps in Northern Michigan are now low teens during the day falling into single digits at night. I am not a cold weather runner, that I have discovered over the past 9 years.

The Dreadmill is aptly named. Boring runs to nowhere that even music cannot alleviate. I typically will find a movie that can catch my attention to make the boredom go away. I also tend to mix it up quite a bit on the mill by coming up with my own User routine. I have a Sole treadmill, so set up User1 as me. I will vary not only the run time, but also will speed up and slow down the whole routine and in addition, I will vary the angle as I have that option too. (it is like running uphill) Even though I ran at a slow "post broken leg" pace of around a 12:00 minute mile, the changing up of the routine from walk to 10:00 pace and changing the angle really got my heart pumping. With a goal of 20 lbs to lose, right now, heart rate elevation and calorie burn are my primary goals. I love to run....but the added weight has made me heavy footed (or at least that's what it feels like) and has cut some of the run out of it.

So, any other goals for myself other then the weight loss? I started this blog with the intent of finishing my first marathon. So why change things? Because of timing, I did have to delay my marathon, but my plan is to still do it, but smart. I will continue to train and will see where I'm at this summer. I want to first try and finish a half to gauge my progress. If my progress is satisfactory by the June time frame, then just maybe this year. With now a weaker leg though, I'm not going to push it. My feeling of invulnerability took a hit with my first broken bone. :) I realize when I was close last time, 13-15 mile runs while not easy, were something I actually looked forward to. The feeling of "I just did that" made my week. 3 mile runs were a warm up unless paced runs, and 8 mile runs were normal every day runs.

Ill keep it up this time. The 20 pounds was a wake up call, and I'm not getting any younger. (that's for sure) Run safe and have fun while doing it everyone!!

Back Again!!

Its been a long time....I know! Well, I broke my lower leg last year down by the ankle which pretty much killed 2011 and part of 2012. A surprise yet amicable divorce followed....so what has changed now?

Today, I tentatively got onto the treadmill. The fracture site to this day is tender still when overworked. The leg is noticeably weaker then the other one....rehab non-withstanding. So how did it go? I went very easy on myself, and kept the walk/run to 30 minutes....I didnt even care about the mileage. The 15-20 lbs I gained in the time not running has certainly changed much.

There's not much to add right now except for that. Ill try and keep on year as much as I can. Hopefully, this time, no broken bones or other interruptions. Lol

I Know! I suck at Posting Updates!

Well, I had a doctors appointment this week. I turned 40 years old this month, and scheduled the works. Of course, my blood tests came back in one day. For the past 40 years I have ate what I wanted when I wanted and carried a total cholesterol of 180 with usually slightly elevated triglycerides, but nothing to be worried about. Now I have high cholesterol and more troubling high triglycerides. Time for a diet change and more consistent exercising. This was yet another push I needed to keep up at exercising. I'm not going to go into detail what I missed in posts over the past month or so. Needless to say I have been pretty much keeping up with around 15-20 miles per week at a slow pace to get back into the groove. No smoking for the past three-four months (I lost track) and am starting to feel a little more human again. Will I be ready for the GR Marathon in the fall? Hopefully so....at this rate likely because I have something else to run for now...not just because I enjoy it.

It'll be a short post tonight. Ill be sure to post more often and with much more interesting content. I just wanted to pop in with an update.

A Much Better Start to the Week!

Last week sucked...lets just be honest! I was out of town and using the hotel treadmill and elliptical. It was hard....mostly because I have been out of it for so long. Every exercise seemed like it was going to be my last....hard, hard, hard!!

This week, I started off with a run on Sunday for 3 miles, and then an elliptical workout today that was a little more challenging....level 7 on my Horizon Elliptical. The run went well; I ran it at around a 10:00 pace. The elliptical workout also went well, although I sweated more then I think I ever have before.

The plan is to keep running at around a 10:00 pace until I am completely comfortable with it. I will then start increasing mileage at specific runs during the week; and then start implementing a long run during the weekend at a slower pace. I plan on still using an elliptical workout during the week....likely one or two days per week. I find that this workout helps with muscle groups I'm not used to using or that are weak.

Another item that is going to change is outside running. I made the mistake last year of completely going from treadmill to outside running. I have learned from past mistakes and will slowly start implementing that....outside running is way different then treadmill running...I dont care what anyone says.

Anyway, just a short post for updates. Still running, still loving it and a great stress reliever lately! Will update later on this weekend.

Still Blahhh....butttt Better!

Its a slow but sure progression that is for sure. For those that don't know or haven't gone through my posts, a year and half ago I ran a half marathon with my wife in the two hour plus range. (I can't remember the exact time...2:27 maybe?) Anyway, I could have run sub 2:00 by myself for sure at that point...I had trained and trained all spring/summer and was intent on doing it last year. I fell off the wagon in a big way, and after much sputtering, starting and stopping am finally back in it.

So what has happened the past two weeks? I have slowly gotten back into what I used to enjoy so much and am finding the joy in it again! I have been promoted in my career, and find myself traveling a lot and spending more time then anyone should in hotels. The only good thing about that is most of them have pretty decent treadmills, or if its in the country, I can find a route to run. I have been baby-stepping my way on the treadmill for the most part though. I'm on Daily Mile to track my runs and Cardio when on the Elliptical, and have been starting out in the 11:00/mile range. This was a real hard thing for me, as I was running three miles at my advanced age of near 40 at 7:00-8:00 pace when my running fell off. I know Ill be back there again....the trick is not to push so hard that I get hurt.

Starting back off again now, I have to deal with the pain of shin-splints and lower back pain. I always have these issues when starting off my running again. When the shin-splints start, I just start compensating with elliptical or bike work until it goes away. For the lower back pain, I found that outside actual running helps with that. Treadmill running seems to aggravate that and I suspect it has something to do with the way I'm running on it. (must be different...no surprise)

I don't share much of my personal life on here for my own reasons. Two other reasons I have wanted and needed to get back into running and exercise in general again are personal and they are stress and body-image. (oh no...not that...and a guy can have that?) I have a great deal of stress in my life that frankly, got out of control. No use in hashing out with everyone in the world what that entailed, but it got pretty bad. (and I can deal with a lot of sh*#) As for the body-image thing, well, I think I have gained too much weight. Yea, I'm still under 200 lbs for someone 5'11, so it cant be that bad...right? For me, it is...now I'm not looking at dropping 50 lbs to be a bean-pole...just 15 or so lbs to be back into that healthy runner physique! (I do miss that!) Anyway, that's the two personal reasons in a nutshell...probably two of the reasons many of us get into this (although they really shouldn't be the most important reasons)

Just wanted to give an update....I haven't fallen off the face of the earth....just chillin in Milwaukee right this exact moment after my run this afternoon. (the fine after-glow of knowing and feeling you did the right thing...I love that post-exercise glow!)

Blahhhh!

Got on a treadmill today for a 30-minute run. It has been three weeks since I have completely cut-off cigarettes, and thought a quick 3 miles @ 10:00 pace would be achievable. Well.....it would have been, but it would have been way too hard a push in the shape I'm in. I have gained a staggering 15 pounds since I last ran, and it was too much. 1.5 miles into the run, I slowed way down but I was intent on finishing 30 minutes total exercise. I will likely try my next run at (gasp) 11:00/mile and see where it goes. It feels slow, so that's probably right for now until I get in a little better shape. (max heart rate was in the 190's) Way, way too high. (although I dont train by heart-rate, I know anything above 175 means I'm starting to push it)

So what sparked the sudden need to run? No smoking...that's primary. Secondary have been some personal issues that have caused more stress then usual. I needed something to push this stress out of the way...running always does that. Lastly....I missed it! I know most people think "runners" are crazy for actually enjoying something that yes...does cause some discomfort often, but it is something I do enjoy.

Anyways, that's it...hopefully this time it sticks. I have a new position where I travel alot now, so many runs are going to be on hotel treadmills or trails if I can find them in other cities. Cant wait! Bayshore is this month, and if I run it, it will of course be a slow long training run. No under two hour half attempt for me.

I know....its been a longgg time!

I have to admit, I fell off the wagon in a hard way, but in a different way then before that really threw me for a loop. I have struggled with smoking for many many years, and typically when running season emerges from the blanket of snow in Michigan I quit. I usually start up around November because that is hunting season in Michigan.

Every year its much harder to quit. This year, and I wont mention the manufacture because I'm not on here to peddle "replacement therapy" wares, I started using an electronic cigarette. The gist is they use heated vapor with or without nicotine to simulate the smoking habit. That has always been the hardest part for me. I travel for work quite a bit, the job is stressful and I find myself in a great many establishments that happen to serve alcohol which for me is a cigarettes best friend. I just want that cigarette in my hand and yes, the nicotine helps. The very first day I used this thing, I knew I wasn't buying another pack of cigarettes. Now...there are some that will argue that nicotine is a poison and while I may be better off with no tar and the other 4000 chemicals hitting my lungs, its still harming me. I look at it right now like getting hit by a bike or a car. I'm going to walk away getting hit by a bicycle, probably not a car.

Anyway, this whole smoking thing and some stressful situations and problems at home have put my running on hiatus. I do have the Bayshore Half Marathon at the end of May that I now plan on doing as a hybrid training run. I know I cant get a sub 2:00 time, which I easily could have achieved last year, but its not the end of the world.

Anyways, I had to give an update. Broken toes and throwing cigarettes to the wayside I'm back and looking forward to every mile of my journey now.

Got Back On It!

Well, yesterday as a tribute to the upcoming New Year, I ran 2.5 miles on the treadmill and cooled down for .5 miles. It felt great, and since breaking my toes, was the first time I realized I actually missed running. (I also did gain about 13 pounds....that kinda was a motivator too)

Now this year I'm also training with a different sort of issue. While I don't want to get into any detail on the exact problem, I have a condition that tends to raise my resting heart-rate at times dramatically above the norm. Yesterdays run, my rate was at 140 before the start and I had to wait until it got into at least the 90's before I started. Of course, it stayed in the 180's the whole time caused both by my lack of exercise to date and the condition I referenced. I am taking medication for the condition (just started) and hopefully will keep the heart-rate down. My doctor also told me that the mere act of exercising will lower the resting heart-rate anyways. I just have to watch out for chest pains, weakness or any other sign of heart distress. I'm not supposed to push myself too hard!

Anyways, with Bayshore around the corner, you'll see more posts from me in the future. Not surprisingly, I'm just a little sore today in the legs but that will pass as I get more accustomed to running again!

Post Injury Post!

Well, from the absence of my posts, one would guess that maybe I've run into some problems! Well....this year I broke two toes on two different occasions. Unfortunantly, the second broken toe wiped out my chances of running the GR Half or Full Marathon.

To be brutally honest with myself as well, the broken toes gave me the "excuse" to fall off the wagon as far as exercise. This past week was week 6 since the second toe, so now I can start running again, which I really need to do to feel like I'm accomplishing something in my exercise routine.

This coming week, I will be restarting my exercise routine (Now come on...its hunting season in Michigan right now!) and signing up for the first spring half marathon December 1st in Traverse City. (it reaches its limit early...the Bayshore)

Ill post more later as my routine starts to form! Thanks!

And My First Injury!

Well, it had to happen and I'm glad its earlier in training. My calves (notably the right) has been bothering me on and off the last two weeks. Last night, I had a 5 mile run I had to do on the treadmill. (88+ outside) The run went fantastic.....I ran around a 9:15 pace, and it was very very easy. I could have easily run much further or faster. This morning I woke up and stepped out of bed on my right leg. I almost went down to the ground! Now, I can walk on it but there is moderate pain and discomfort in the ankle/achilles area. I dont know if I strained the tendon or what, but it was enough of a warning sign to lay off the 12 mile long run today. (I wouldnt have made it) Ill see how it goes the next couple days (tomorrow is another off day). Next week my mileage was reducing, so it wont be much lost. Ill try and maintain by elliptical work/bike work to reduce the impact on the area or the swimming pool if that's even too much. Just wanted to leave a note. Wish me Luck!

Week Two Down!

Another week of training down...both weeks I ran all of the runs scheduled although the long runs were run at a slower pace then I would have liked due to the heat. (its been brutal) Here's the breakdown for the week.....

Monday - 4 mile run @ 9:29 pace
Tuesday - 4.5 miles Hills
Thursday - 5 miles @ 9:48 pace
Friday - 5 miles @ 9:45 pace
Saturday - 9.0 miles @ 10:19 pace

This week is going as planned so far. I have been plagued with what started out as moderate calf/shin pain, especially on the right leg. That has pretty much dissipated now, and is only an issue when running on the treadmill or hard surface for an extended period of time. Next week is week 4 anyway, and I am reducing my mileage by a 40-50%. I think Ill do that every 4 weeks to allow my body to adjust to the increased training.

On a sore note, my HRM had to go in for repair. For whatever reason, the button used to start exercises is sticking pretty bad. The repair is pretty simple from what I've heard and doesn't come back, but I had to get it in before the mileage really started piling on. In addition, I was losing HR data 2/3 into my longest runs, but suspect that may have been due to a dying battery in the main unit itself. Ill see when I get it back. (should be next week or so)

Even though its still July and the Crim in Flint is still over a month away, I am really starting to get excited for it. I have reduced my race schedule dramatically this year, with a ramp up starting in August. I am somewhat worried about what the heat will be like in August, but its a 10 miler this time, and I think my wife may be running it too. (although that hasn't been confirmed yet)

Well, that's it for this week....hopefully the weather cools down just a little bit and the injuries stay away! Happy Running All!

Calories!

Now, I am not one that normally counts calories. I run quite a bit during racing season, and assumed I was eating enough and not too much. Just to see where I was at, I signed up on Livestrong.com. This has allowed me to add in everything I eat during the day and get a breakdown of how many calories I'm eating and break it down into categories such as protein, carbs etc. The really cool thing is while setting up your account, it asks you what level of activity your job is. For myself, it is more of a moderate level of activity. This activity does not include your daily exercise routine which is added later. That way, if your job is real physical, then your calorie goal will be higher.

The last two days, I have seriously lacked on the calorie ingesting amount, and frankly was surprised. My normal caloric intake is supposed to be somewhere near the 2200 level. I'm pretty good at keeping that level, but after my exercise burn is figured into it, I'm normally 400-600 calories short. For those people looking to lose weight, I guess that would be good although I think cutting 600 calories might be getting near a max on a 2000 calorie diet, but I'm no expert. Anyway, it really opened my eyes and is keeping me more aware of what I am eating. I've included a link to Livestrong in my list of sites. I don't know how long Ill use it, but for right now, its something I'm interested in following; especially to see how my weight is affected by watching this. (I really only want to lose 10 pounds....15 at the max)

Update of this Week

25 miles down this week! I felt great on every run until today, and that's the reason I'm adding another entry for the week. I woke up early this morning to make sure I got breakfast in (Cin. Life w/2% milk) Right before I took off, I chased down some Sunkist Gummy Snacks for a 100 calorie boost, and brought along a TriFruit GU just in case I needed it. Of course, I brought sportsdrink with me and was running a route that passed water fountains. The forecast today was the 70's up until around 11-12, where the temp would gradually climb to around 85 degrees. (and the humidity is climbing)

Well.....the forecast was incorrect. When I arrived at the TART trail, my vehicle read the outside temp as 76 degrees, and where I parked is only about 5 miles from my house. The first 4.5 miles of the run went without problems. It was hot and getting hotter, but I was downing fluid like I should and I took my GU at the halfway point. I went through a Nathans hand bottle of Sportsdrink, and probably 2-2.5 additional bottles of water, although its probably closer to two. I got to the point where I didn't want any more water, and was just putting it in my mouth and spitting it out to keep my mouth and lips wet. (salt crusted everywhere of course!) Granted, my running times were significantly slower then usual on purpose (about 1-1.5 min per mile slower) but I was doing the work. The last 4.5 miles is where problems started. I noticed that the temperature was significantly warmer then was forecast (it ended up around 83 at that point) and no matter how much water I was taking in, I noticed I was feeling worse and worse. I got about a mile from my car and noticed my hands and forearms had started swelling. Now for me, when this starts to happen I'm typically under hydrated or its too hot to really be running. Maybe its an electrolyte imbalance, or something else...all I know is when it starts to happen, I better be about done!

My whole point in the thread is to make sure you listen to your body. If you need to drink, by all means drink. Make sure you have adequate water or fluids along your route, and if your body is hinting to you that you should stop (dizziness, numbness, cessation of sweating, feeling ill etc) its probably a good time to stop or at least severely reduce the intensity of your run. (I would say stop....but of course that isn't what I did today) The difference with me today was I never experienced cessation of sweating or feeling real ill....I just didn't feel very good. Its important to stop before heat exhaustion or heat stroke set in. Once that starts to happen, your looking at a problem if your far from your vehicle or home.

I have included link about heat exhaustion, heat stroke and heat cramps for any ones review. It better to be safe then sorry!

How This for a Hill!!

Here it is...one of the hill runs I implement every week. This one is fun for half of it (the first downhill half!) and the second half is pretty hard, but it works out the muscles. As you can see by my cadence line, I had 4 reductions in cadence (aka walking!) One of them was waiting for traffic, one was the turn around at the half waiting to cross the road, and I will admit.....two of them were slowing down to a fast walk. Those two are pretty evident because they are on the way up the hill! This is a 4 mile route that is right off my house, so its very easy to schedule it in. I have a second run I sometimes do, but it significantly harder, and is 1.5 miles from my house. This adds three miles to my run, so until my hill run's climb to 7 miles (which they unfortunantly do, but not for at least three more weeks) Ill keep on the run I'm doing or do some trail run's I know of that have hills.

This graph also gives a pretty good indication of how this Polar I have works. As you can see, there is a line for HR which is nearer to the top and flatter except for area's where I started walking. The purple line is for elevation changes. I like that the watch gives you the ability to turn off the feature. If you have to run inside on the dreadmill, you can disable it so it doesnt crowd out the graph. Also, the watch has a finite amount of memory, and this helps to ensure you can save more to the watch. (it all uploads to the software eventually, and at that point you can erase the exercise one by one or all at once) The green line is the cadence monitor, or how fast your feet are turning over. The blue line is how fast your running it per mile. (Im sure you can change that per kilometer if you wanted. My FAVORITE part is the ability to pick out specific data (such as speed) and graph that over time. You can then see if your improving on your training. You can also do this for max heart-rate, average heart-rate, calories, energy expenditure, or any one of many other specific set's of data.

I have really decided to lay off of the racing for a little bit. My next race is the Crim 10 mile run in Flint at the end of August. As I've officially started my marathon running schedule, my mileage is going to start to ramp up and I don't feel like its probably very good to race that hard during training. (unless it happens to fall on a high mileage day) The Crim happens to fall on a day where I have a 15 mile long run, so I'm going to adjust my running that day that particular day to make it work.

As for the marathon running schedule, it's going well....better then I expected . I was expecting my legs would be sore but other then residual light quad soreness from the hill running, I feel pretty good. I already run 12 miles this week, and have a 4-mile 9-10:00/mile run today and a 9-mile run on Saturday. The 9-mile run is also supposed to be around the 10:08/mile timeframe, and we will have to see how that goes. I tend to run about a minute faster per mile then I should, so I'm going to have to really work at slowing down on the long runs. Typically, I take off too fast and run half of it about a minute per mile faster. The last half I end up walking in a couple points typically, and even though the run comes in at the goal pace, I don't know how well that is helping me out right now.

Well, that's it for now! Unless something dramatic happens, Ill continue to post about once a week and more during races and hopefully this training keeps going to way it has!

The Marathon Schedule Approaches!

Well, after a week off due to being out of town and enjoying it too much apparently, I have started the week off great. I wanted to post and mention a little about marathon training schedules.

What a maze of schedules to pick from! There are those schedules that a person only runs 3-4 days, and other where I've seen it all the way up to six. I've seen schedules that are as short as 8 weeks and as long as 18 weeks. (I discounted the longer ones then that) I've seen long runs of only 1 or 2 20 milers in a program, and those that go up to 23. So what did I choose? Well, I would love to break 4 hours in my very first marathon, but don't know if Ill be ready for it by October. I could have finished the half last year in certainly 2 hours, and likely 1:50, but not much faster then that. That time doesn't really bode well for a under 4 hour marathon. I have picked the Runner's World schedule to break 4:00 though. I have looked through the schedule, and can keep up the running at the pace desired until probably August. Then again, hopefully my fitness keeps up. Will I be totally devastated should I not break 4:00? Nope, not really. I just hope to finish the thing with hopefully all of my toe-nails and not crawling across the line. Since I've restarted running from the Mexico trip in April, I've already lost about 7 of the pounds I gained, and that's only with a 20-25 mile a week schedule with many easy runs.

I figure if I'm not ready for breaking 4:00, this schedule will definitely get me close to the goal. But you know I'm going to be on that 4:00 pace group!! I'll hang as far as I can, unless the pace is too quick right away.

On a much different note, my son is going to another school this coming year, and they offer track and field along with cross country. If he puts his mind to it, he's actually quite a good runner. (he's 15) He can belt out 6:00 minute miles without barely losing his breath. He wants to run with me this year, and I think Ill take him on my shorter 3 mile runs. I really would like to see what he can do. Personally, I can only run 3 miles between 21-23 minutes if I'm running fast and its flat. He wants to run on the track team, so I figure he can run with me and maybe I can give him some pointers.

That's it for this week! Until next week!

Another Week Down!!!

Much better week as far as training is concerned. Like I mentioned, I bit the bullet and registered for the Metro Health Marathon early, mainly because I didn't want to miss out on it by waiting too long, and secondly, the motivation factor. I have decided to pass on Charlevoix at the end of the month, but for a much different reason. I was going to register, but after checking out the fee's this year backed out. Its the same reason I'm backing out of the National Cherry Festival's races this year. Some races this year have increased there fee's or the fee's for the half and full marathon are significant jumps up from the other races. If the race is well organized, has enough aid stations etc etc....then its worth it. Am I going to pay over $60 for a race where there aren't a lot of aid stations, the only refreshment at the end of the race is water and the expo is non-existent? No....Now don't get me wrong, I don't really run for the perks, but if I'm going to pay near $100 for a race, there better be some perks!! If not....I can just go out and run the same distance on the weekends, or even worse....crash the race, which I don't condone. These races do cost money and that does peeve me off to see people running it and partaking in refreshments at the end who didn't pay.

Anyway, back to this week....

Sunday - 3 Mile run @ 9:26 pace

Monday - 3 Mile run @ 8:55 pace

Thursday - 800m intervals 8:00/mile pace on 800m with 2 min cool down. 3 miles in 800m intervals and 1.4 miles in warm up, cool down and in between.

Friday - 1.5 mile warm up @ 9:15 pace and 1.2 mile Elliptical Workout for about 18 minutes

Saturday - 7.4 mile run @ 11:17 pace....felt pretty beat up the whole run.

I work close to home for most of the week, but starting Friday, will be in Indiana for a little under a week. Ill likely run all through the week, but keep it real light throughout the week and try to get my long run in Thursday. I wont be running over the weekend, and to be honest, will probably be challenged to run next week at all, but we will see.

After a lot of thought though, I have decided to run the 10 mile run at the Crim in Flint this year. I typically don't run anything in August due to the heat, but I will be in the beginning of transitioning from half marathon to full training, so it will be a good run for the weekend. Ill try and talk by wife into that one as well, but that might be asking too much!!

Metro Health Registration COMPLETE!

Just a small blurb for the week....I bit the bullet and registered today! Better yet, my wife, who said she would never ever ever run a half marathon again is contemplating (and seriously I might add) running the half in GR. Its what I needed to not only stay motivated, but I have mentioned this before.....this race is awesome!

Anyway, training is going better then before....Ill go into detail after the weekend is over, but I have started implementing 800m intervals as well as more elliptical time, as that seems to exercise parts of the legs (and other parts) that don't usually to get as much as a workout.

More later on this weekend!!

Kinda a Slowwww Week!

Welll, this week did not go as planned at all. I had to work out of town, but that is no excuse. I was out of work before 7 pm every night, but two things interferred.....Call of Duty (yes the video game) and MGM Grand in Detroit. I had all intentions this past week of keeping to schedule, but those darn video games! Then, when I had two days of that I end up in the poker room at the MGM Grand. Now, this was my first time in the poker room, and I was a little nervous. I am a fairly good hold em player, and usually cash out when I play with my co-workers or friends....but this was entirely different. (I did cash out though which was good) The hardest part of the whole Poker Room at the casino thing is figuring out all of the players at the table. Ill be doing it again....it was just too much fun!!

Now, for the training. I did end up on a Elliptical three of the days (Monday, Wendsday and Friday) for thirty minutes each time, and I'm probably lucky I got that in. Today, I did do a three mile tempo'ish run in 27 minutes. Now, last year I could hold the 9:00 pace for 10k, and my hope by the end of summer is to be able to hold that for the half. It would be totally AWESOME if I could do it for the full marathon in the fall, but that is expecting too much out of myself. As it is, like I mentioned before, I may not be ready for the Charlevoix Half this month. The only races set entirely in stone are the VASA 5k, the Harvest Stompede 5k and the MetroHealth Marathon. I would love to get some more racing in, but work has been brutal and Ill just have to wait and see.

The next couple weeks I'm working close to home, so will be home mornings and evenings. This will enable me to get back on schedule and see exactly where I'm at as far as long runs are concerned. I did 8.5 and 9.0 in the past month or so and a 6.5 mile last week. Ill probably try either a 9.5 mile flat long run this weekend on the TART trail, or a 8.0 mile run I have mapped out from my house that is surely not flat. Either way, if I can complete those with a minimal amount of issues, I may just try Charlevoix, but certainly as a training run and not a race. If only the weather would cooperate. It was cold for so long, and then all of a sudden, high 80's and low 90's with a crap load of humidity.....miserable!!

Kinda a Slowwww Week!

An All Right Week....

I shouldn't complain about my first full week back since my toe was hurt....but like any other runner out there, if I don't perform to what I perceive as 100%, I'm disappointed. The shorter runs this week went fine, but the long run today was what I wasn't happy with. I look off way too fast, and ended up having to walk some of the route. Although the time was at the slower end of the range I like to run the longer runs at....it didn't go the way I wanted. At least the toe held up fine.

Monday - Elliptical workout - 2.6 miles for 35 minutes
Tuesday - 3 mile run @ 29:15
Thursday - 3 mile run @ 27:07
Friday - 3 mile run @ 28:31
Saturday - 6.7 mile run @ 1:19:16

Ill be out of town this coming week, but the hotel I'm staying at has a pretty good workout room with brand new treadmills. Its supposed to be in the mid 80's to 90's next week, and Ill probably have to run in the morning before work.

Due to having to take time off for healing, Ill probably have to cancel the Charlevoix Half. Ill know more in a couple weeks.