Log #34: Speedy McPoop-Pants... almost.

Here's a math formula for you: Indian Food + 6 hour flight + 5 glasses of wine + Speed Workout = Ninja Turtle.

Actually, today's Ninja Turtle wasn't so bad. I was pretty tired considering I'd just gotten back in town, but I managed to make it down to the track for my speed workout. Today's workout was supposed to look like this:

10-20 minute warmup
1200m @ 4:55
1000m @ 4:03
800m @ 3:13
600m @ 2:24
400m @ 1:35
10 minute cool down

I jogged down to the track, so there's my 10 minute warmup. I then cranked up the devil music on my iPod and started hoofing. I did the first 1200m in 4:45. Not bad.

The next 1000m was a little tougher, but I still hit 3:54 for my time. On the 800m run, I got about 2/3 of the way through when that old familiar feeling hit my stomach. It was my intestines, screaming "STOP, OR WE'LL START MAKING THE WALK HOME VERY AWKWARD!!!:

I stopped for a minute, and the feeling passed. It's funny, but at moments like that I am very grateful for having some experience with marathon training. Like my brother, I am generally very stubborn and don't like quitting in the middle of something, but had I pushed my self I very likely would have had to find a bathroom to go be miserable in for a half-hour.

I walked back about 100m, and restarted the run, finishing the 800m in 3:10. I then did the 600m in 2:15, and then absolutely decided to see how fast I could run the 400m. I pretty much ran all out for one lap, getting REALLY tired towards the end. My 400m time was 1:20, the equivalent of a 5:20 mile pace. There is absolutely NO possibility of me running a 5:20 mile in the near future, but at least I know my legs are capable of going that fast.

So, all in all, a great workout. I am feeling really light on my feet, and my turnover rate has improved so much through these speed workouts. I'm also finding that I seem to have a better sense of how hard I can push my body. In the middle of the 1000m run today, I felt like I was going about 5 seconds per lap too fast, so I just made a little mental adjustment and my legs followed... I slowed down ever so slightly, but my perceived effort was decreased by quite a bit.

Training is going amazingly well so far, but I have 2 BRUTAL runs ahead of me this week. On Thursday, a 7 mile LT run with 5 miles at a 7:44 pace... I'm treadmilling that one... and a 17 mile long run. Good lord.

Log #33: Bloody Amazing Run!!!

The title of this post does not refer to any blood that managed to come out during my run, but is in a fact an homage to London, where I did my 15 miler. I actually ran it yesterday, as today's schedule was pretty crazy and I didn't want to try to just "squeeze in" an enormous run like that.

I woke up at 5:00 am, drank my Red Bull from the minibar, got dressed and hit the hotel lobby. I got directions to the Thames River, only about .75 miles away. At first my GPS couldn't lock on to a signal since I was around a bunch of buildings, so I jogged a little bit and it finally started working. Here were some highlights of this ridiculous run.

1. Running along the Thames River
2. Seeing the sun rise over London
3. Running around the Tower of London
4. Crossing London Bridge
5. Running past the Parliament and Westminster Abbey
6. Absolutely perfect weather

My pace was supposed to be 8:45, but I felt so amazingly good that I ran an 8:30 pace. Booyeah.

The weather was perfect, the scenery was amazing, and I was feeling very motivated. I've been eating better this week, and getting sleep, which has definitely helped my performance. I'm down in the 160's weight-wise (2 years ago I was 194 pounds) and I'm hoping to drop another 5-6 pounds by December 2. My confidence is through the roof as far as running goes.

Today I walked about 6 miles from Arsenal Stadium back to the hotel, so I think that makes up for my missed cross-training on Wednesday. Friday my buddy who I am here with made me do some ridiculous weight-lifting workout that nearly destroyed me. I'm glad I have a friend who is also obsessed with working out, it makes the trip a healthier one.

I fly back to Boston tomorrow, and begin week 3 of training. I'm feeling great so far!!!

Log #32: Jet Lagged BIG TIME....

I woke up around 5:30 am to go to work early, worked until about 2:30, ran over to my old apartment to get the last of my belongings out of there, did 100 other assorted chores, hopped on a plane at 7:00, drank several glasses of wine, flew to London, slept MAYBE 2 hours on the flight, arrived at 6:30am London time, ate a huge plate of eggs benedict, took a 2 hour nap, then decided to do my LT run.

Do these sound like ideal conditions?

It's not surprising that my run kind of sucked. I had no energy, even Red Bull couldn't wake me up. I managed 6 out of 7 miles I wanted to do, and I was definitely slower than I should have been. It's very hard to judge what my splits actually were, since the treadmill worked in kilometers, but I'd guess I did something like this for splits:

9:00
8:00
8:00
8:30
8:25
8:20

Considering how tired and crappy I felt, I think I actually got a decent workout. I didn't cross-train yesterday since it was such a hectic day, but I'll make up for it by cross-training Saturday, which is normally my day off. I'm excited to explore London, and on Sunday I'll be running all over this damn town. Limey Bastards!!! Bloody hell!!!

THANKS EVERYONE!!!

I just needed to give a quick shout out to a few people:

Danny
Amy@runnerslounge.com
KelsaLynn
Tom
Betsy Wasser
Matteson
Oh 2 Run
Jake to the mutha f----n' B
My bro Adam
My girl Amy

The ones I know for real have been a huge help in this crazy endeavor. And to those of you out there who have written comments, words of encouragement, and advice....

THANK YOU!!!

This little running blog has been such a source of motivation before, during, and after my runs. I hope you guys know that the 2 minutes it takes to post a comment really brightens my day, and gives me one more reason to kick my ass.

I'll be blogging in London starting Thursday. Peace!!!

Joey

Log #31: I Hate Moving!!!

Here is why I hate moving:

I stay up until 12:30 lugging all my belongings from one place to another, and then reassembling my life one piece of furniture at a time. I wake up at 6:00 am, but I'm so tired that my arm unconsciously shuts the alarm off without my brain knowing it. I wake up in a panic at 6:15 wondering if I overslept. I get dressed, then can't find my stopwatch because it's packed somewhere.
I also can't find my Nalgene bottle, so I have to resort to filling up an empty Poland Springs seltzer bottle with water. My iPod is about to die because I couldn't find the charger. By the time I'm out the door, it's 6:45 and I'm falling asleep on my feet.

Ahhhh.... moving.

Anyway, I jogged over to MIT's track near my new pad. This track is WAAAY nicer than the shit-storm near my old apartment. It's that nice bouncy, rubbery material and it's very clean and pretty. I didn't have my stopwatch, so I had to use my iPod's stopwatch feature which is a pain in the ass. Anyway, enough complaining. Here is what I was aiming for:

10 minute warmup
4 x 800m @ 3:13, 2 minutes rest in between
10 minute cooldown

Here's what I got:

10 minute warmup
800m @ 3:05
800m @ 3:02
800m @ 3:03
800m @ 3:04
10 minute cooldown

Except for the 4th interval, I only rested 2 minutes in between each round. I felt really strong today, and to be honest, I was looking forward to this workout. I feel like I'm not as intimidated by the speed workout anymore, and as I get more comfortable with the gross burning sensation in my chest that accompanies these workouts, my confidence will grow even more. I really liked the 800m distance, because it's short enough to allow me to really turn on the afterburners even when I'm feeling really tired. I know that, no matter what, it's only 2 laps.

I'm fired up. So far I'm killing my speed workouts, and they are the workouts I was really worried about before starting this program. I need to work on my stamina during long runs, but hopefully the weather will cooperate this weekend!

Log #30: Sweatiest... Run... Ever.

Yesterday was my first long run of this marvelous training program. It was also about 88 degrees with 70% humidity. I knew I was in trouble after the second mile when the sweat was literally shooting out of my face. I decided to make the run a mental game. How long could I keep my legs moving without passing out?

I knew I'd be slower than I wanted, but having run in all kinds of weather, I knew I shouldn't push it. I think the best weather o run in is slightly cold weather with a breeze. After 10 minutes of running, I'm usually sweating regardless of how cold it is, so I'd rather have a nice breeze than blazing sun. My girlfriend, the best training partner EVER, roller-bladed alongside me with a CamelPak full of water.

Here are the splits, although I took a lot of breaks to cool down and drink water, so even these times are a little fast.

8:37
8:23
8:30
8:43
8:34
8:53
8:43
8:45
8:32
8:45
9:06
9:20
9:50

I just DIED at the end of the run. Ugh...

I'll be in London next weekend for my 15-miler, so I'm sure it will be cooler.

On the run, I was coming up on mile 8, and I saw my brother running the opposite way towards me. He was looking very strong. I think I might have some competition here!

Log #29: The Best Thing About Training

Ooooohhhhhh yeah folks!!!! This morning was my LT workout, and I absolutely crushed it. Let me just start by proudly displaying my magnificent splits. In parentheses I've put the goal time for each split:

8:13 (8:30)
8:00 (8:30)
7:01 (7:14)
7:11 (7:14)
8:00 (8:30)
8:22 (8:30)

Hey, lactic acid.... SUCK IT!!! I don't know what the hell got into me, but I felt absolutely great the entire run. I walked for about 1 minute after the LT part, but then I was golden for the rest of the run. You can see that I was running a lot faster than I needed to, but I just felt great so I let my body dictate the pace.

The best thing about training like this is that almost every week, I find myself doing something that I have never been able to do. I have certainly never run 6 miles at these paces and felt this great, so I know that something is working. I'm REALLY psyched to keep pushing myself to see how fast I end up running on December 2nd.

My little brother seems to be dilligently busting his ass to try and get in shape. He's going for a 3:50, which is 7 minutes better than my PR. If he hits that, and I hit my 3:30, the after-party in Vegas will be EPIC!!!