Increased Tempo Run

Daily Quote: "Nurmi said, 'Success in sport, as in almost anything, comes from devotion. The athlete must make a devotion of his specialty.' Having a challenging but reasonable marathon goal provides you with the necessary object of devotion. Intelligent, thorough preparation for that goal provides the confidence needed to attack that goal. Do the right training, and both your body and your mind will benefit." --Pete Pfitzinger and Scott Douglass, from the book "Advanced Marathoning."

I have finally increased the speed of my Tempo Run today!

9:10 a.m. Tempo Run, 8 miles. Life Fitness Treadmill set at a 1% grade. Warm-up: 2 miles at 6.3 mph (9:31 minute miles). Tempo: 4 miles at 7.9 mph (7:36 minute miles). Cool-down: 2 miles at 6.3 mph. Average heart rate: 166 bpm. Cardiac Drift: 185 bpm. (Note: My maximum heart rate is 190 bpm) Extremely Hard Workout!! The last mile of the tempo was a killer, I was panting, huffing, puffing and swearing at myself under my breath...came within beats of my maximum heart rate. I haven't ran this hard in a very long time, I'm going to stay at this tempo speed for a couple of weeks of adaptation before I increase the speed again.

Nice thing about today's workout, I wasn't thinking at all about the possible strike at Checker Cab Company, my only concern was staying on the treadmill's belt for dear life! I left the gym exhausted, but feeling euphoric...did I really run that fast for that long!?!? I have a jaunt in my step today.

Ultra-Marathon Surface

Daily Quote: "One thing I learned over the week-end's marathon on a trail, it's much harder than on paved surface as it takes a lot of concentration for foot placement and you use more muscles, and often little used muscles, for balance. If your ultra runs on trails, I highly suggest some training runs on a similar surface. I also don't think you get the same energy return as you do on pavement." --The Running Bob, his thoughtful comment to my blog yesterday

Bob's excellent suggestion has me wondering! I'm not completely sure what the surface will be for my upcoming ultra-marathon, "The Labor of Love 50k Race," as I have yet to travel to Lovell Mountain to check the route. Today I checked the Calico Racing site for more information, it states:

"The 50K follows the paved Lovell Canyon Road for roughly 11 miles twisting and turning covering rolling and gradually uphill terrain. Just before reaching privately owned Sky Ranch, runners turn left onto the dirt Lovell Summit Road. This section becomes tough as runners climb to the summit at roughly 6805 feet by roughly mile 13. 50K runners continue west of the summit along this same dirt road to their turn around point at mile 15.5. Climbing back up to the summit, runners retrace their steps back along Lovell Summit Road back to the paved Lovell Canyon Road where they return to the finish line. Total paved= 22 miles; Total dirt road= 9 miles. NOTE: IF we have a late snowfall or unusually high precipitation before the race, the dirt road may be too muddy to run, access, and support. IF this is the case, Calico Racing reserves the right to amend the course to ensure everyone's safety. The contingency plan to make up the distance would be to include an out and back section along the paved Lovell Canyon Road. Fingers crossed for Mother Nature to cooperate! 2008 ran the full original course on the dirt road."

So, my current training on paved roads covers most of the surface of the ultra course, but I do need to find some dirt roads to train and at elevation! I also should have plenty of hill training as well...both uphill and downhill.

2:15 a.m. After work. Recovery Run. Out and back on Decatur Boulevard, which has busier traffic and intersections, but is well lighted...I'm a little paranoid about falling again in the dark. Cool, 70 degrees, winds SW at 10 mph. 6 miles. Time, 57:18. Pace, 9:33 minute miles. Average heart rate: 143 bpm. Cardiac Drift: 150 bpm.

Slept 8 hours. Morning heart rate was 43 bpm. Ate a quick breakfast of Cheerios topped with sliced bananas.

11:30 a.m. Recovery Run. 6 miles. Time, 59:00. Out and back on Charleston Boulevard. Warm, 82-83 degrees with winds South at 12 mph. Average heart rate: 141 bpm. Cardiac Drift: 149 bpm. Charleston Boulevard is the main route to Red Rock Canyon. Waved at many cyclists, about 50 riders, who had a convoy heading to the mountains. I really should ride my own bike more often.

Today I'm not even tired and could have gone farther during the second double...maybe next week I'll increase my second run to eight miles.

Longer Run

Daily Quote: "My experience as a runner and coach indicates that long runs greater than 22 miles take much more out of the body than do runs in the range of 20 to 22 miles. I occasionally included runs of 27 to 30 miles in my marathon preparations and believe that I ran slower in my marathons because of those efforts." --Pete Pfitzinger, from the book "Advanced Marathoning," pg 23.

In my past marathon training my longest run was always 20 miles as I'm pretty slow and the time would exceed over three hours. This fall is different, as I'm not only training for the marathon, but also preparing my body for the vigor's of my first ultra-marathon in April, hence today will be a 21-miler. I'm not sure what will be my longest training run will be this fall, maybe 25 miles, it all depends on how my body reacts and adapts to the training.

8:30 a.m. Long Run. 21 miles. Time, 3:13. Overall pace: 9:11 minute miles. Out and back to Bonanza Road, which consisted of 17.2 miles on the "2008 Las Vegas Marathon" course. Sunny, 79-87 degrees, with little wind. Average heart rate 149 bpm. Cardiac Drift: 157 bpm. My pace should become faster once the fall season gets cooler. Just a small blister on my left pinkie toe, otherwise my body feels pretty good considering the heat and the distance. I'm fairly pleased with my effort today.

Checker Cab Company will be having a meeting this Wednesday as to present the last and final offer of the contract. I'm pretty nervous as the Union has recommended we go on strike as the contract is a 7% decrease in our overall wage. What a time to go on strike with the economy heading into the dumpster, I guess their is no "good" time to go on strike.

10 Weeks Until the Marathon

Daily Quote: "Know how much fluid you will need for a long run before you start, and create a plan to ensure you have access to enough. If you will need more fluid than your hydration system will hold, put a five-dollar bill in your pocket and buy a bottle of liquid form a convenience store midway through your route, or return home for a refill." --Dean Karnazes, from his excellent book, "50/50 Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days and How You Too Can Achieve Super Endurance!"

I've learned the hard way in past years of not carrying enough fluids, nowadays I carry more fluids than I would need as a precaution against dehydration. During long runs I find that drinking a small swallow every two miles works for me, any runs under an hour I'll carry a large bottle of water and drink when thirsty.

Yesterday did my typical six miler on the roads and today ran a General Aerobic Run of ten miles. A nice restful weekend, went to see the movie, "Burn After Reading," which is subtle, dark humor at its best....if you liked "Fargo" you will love "Burn After Reading." Our bowling team, "One Wonders" tonight won two games out of four. Slept late on Saturday and Sunday. Ate well throughout the weekend. Life is good!

SUMMARY FOR SEPTEMBER 22-28, 2008

I have 10 weeks left until the 2008 Las Vegas Marathon! I ran a total of 84 miles, which is the highest weekly mileage this year!! I also completed my transition from the treadmill to the roads, which wasn't easy as Vegas was suffering a small heat wave with daily highs of 104-106 degrees. I'll continue to do speedwork on the treadmill so I can control all the variables, but until next summer most of my runs will be on the roads.

My weight has remained stable at 172 pounds on a six foot frame. My body feels very comfortable at this current weight, but I'm still striving to reach my race weight of 165 pounds. I need to keep a close eye on my consumption of junk food.

Only two weight circuit training sessions this week, and finding it very difficult to maintain weight training as I continue to increase my mileage. Running is my priority, I'll just do my best with the weights.

My sleeping patterns have been erratic, for example, due to Vegas' heat wave I decided to awake early on Friday at 7:00 a.m. with only four hours of sleep, ran 16 miles, than returned to bed for another three hours of sleep. Not exactly a sound way of sleeping! I hope the temperatures will be cooler this week so I can return to my normal sleeping patterns.

A short recap of last week's mileage:
Monday: Long Run, 20 miles.
Tuesday: Doubles, AM: Recovery Run, 6 miles. PM: 6 miles.
Wednesday: Tempo Run, 8 miles.
Thursday: Doubles, AM: Recovery Run, 6 miles. PM: 6 miles.
Friday: Medium-Long Runs, 16 miles.
Saturday: Recovery Run, 6 miles.
Sunday: General Aerobic Run, 10 miles.
Total Weekly Mileage: 84 miles.

Medium-Long Run On the ROADS!

Daily Quote: "Contemplating such numbers made my confidence plummet, so I trained myself not to look too far ahead. Instead, I celebrated each completed marathon as a baby step towards my final destination and looked no farther ahead than the next one--the next baby step. Would I be able to finish all fifty? I had no idea. I thought that I had trained and prepared adequately, but this was largely a step into the unknown. Every morning, I awoke with the same commitment: 'TODAY I will do the best that I can. TODAY I will try my hardest.'" --Dean Karnazes, from his excellent book, "50/50 Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days and How You Too Can Achieve Super Endurance!"

Today is my first Medium-Long Run on the roads and now my transition from the treadmill to the roads is complete! The only run this week on the treadmill was my Tempo Run...I'll continue doing speed work on the treadmill as I can control all the variables.

I decided not to increase my Medium-Long Run from the previous week, but ease into the road run by repeating the distance of 16 miles.

I set my alarm for 7:00 a.m. this morning as Las Vegas is having a heat wave, today will be a high of 106 degrees! I'll only have four hours of sleep, but plan on returning to bed after my run. Morning heart rate: 41 bpm.

7:30 a.m. Medium-Long Run. 16 miles. Time, 2:32. Overall pace: 9:33 minute miles. Out-and-back to North Las Vegas Airport on Carey Road. Warm, Sunny, 74-80 degrees, light breeze. Average Heart Rate: 144 bpm. Cardiac Drift: 151 bpm. Wore my Camelbak, which had a large bladder of 48 ounces, more than enough fluids, although by the end of the run the water was rather warm. No aches nor pain, but could have slathered more suntan lotion as the back of my neck is burned (forgot that spot!)

It's 10:30 a.m. and I'm now returning to bed for three hours. Nighty-night.

Words to Run By

Daily Quote: "While running a race in Portugal, I noticed that spectators along the course kept shouting the same phrase over and over: 'Quem corre por gosto, nao cansa.' Afterward I asked someone to tell me what it meant. 'Who runs for pleasure never gets tired,' I was told. How true!" --Dean Karnazes, from his excellent book, "50/50 Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days and How You Too Can Achieve Super Endurance!"

The above quote are words to run by!!

2:15 a.m. After work. Recovery Run. Out and back to Lindell Road, which partially traverses the "Las Vegas Marathon" route. Cooler, 72 degrees, winds south at 8 mph. 6 miles. Time, 57:18. Pace, 9:33 minute miles. Average heart rate: 141 bpm. Cardiac Drift: 148 bpm. During a dark patch on the road I fell from a rock the size of a melon, instinctively pushed my hands out to brake the fall; not one of my greatest ideas as my left wrist is very sore and my right palm has been scraped, but thankfully nothing serious. I may need to purchase a head lamp for my early morning runs.

Slept 8 hours. Morning heart rate was 39 bpm. Ate a quick breakfast of Cheerios topped with frozen berries...YUM!

11:40 a.m. Recovery Run. 6 miles. Time, 59:00. Out and back on Charleston Boulevard. Hot! 89-92 degrees with no winds. Average heart rate: 144 bpm. Cardiac Drift: 152 bpm. Charleston Boulevard is the main route to Red Rock Canyon. I need to awake earlier as to avoid the heat!

Rather than taking a nap after my run, I played speed chess on the Internet for an hour. Chess was once a great passion of mine, now it has been replaced by running. I still enjoy playing chess, but my hunger for higher ratings and the need for getting lost in deep, beautiful complications are gone.

Refined Sugars

Daily Quote: "If I could recommend only one dietary change to improve your health, it would be to reduce your consumption of refined sugars. Although fat -- and especially saturated fat -- has typically received the most blame for causing America's weight problem, increasing evidence suggests that sugar might be the true culprit. For example, the rate of obesity is more than three times greater in our country than in France. Yet the French actually eat more fat than we do (42 percent of calories versus 37 percent) -- and more saturated fat as well. --Dean Karnazes, from his excellent book, "50/50 Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days and How You Too Can Achieve Super Endurance!"

I really need to focus on eating less refined sugars, I'm good about reducing saturated fats from my diet, but I simply love sugars. My favorite candy is Jelly Bellys, which I became addicted to during the Reagan years (Ronald was also a Jelly Belly junkie). Funny thing, many years later I'm now eating Jelly Belly Sport Beans for my carb needs during races...go figure!

2:20 a.m. (after work) Warm-up, 10 minutes on the elliptical machine. 35 minutes on Weight Circuit Training. Cool-down, 10 minutes on the upright stationary cycle. Finally able to squeeze in a weight training workout, my shoulders are a tad sore, I'm not surprised as I've been inconsistent with lifting weights.

Slept eight hours. Morning heart rate is 39 bpm. Shoulders are still a little sore, next weight workout I'll take it easier on the Shoulder Press Machine.

I haven't ran a Tempo Run since September 10th as last week was a Recovery Week. I wasn't sure whether to increase my tempo speed, or increasing the distance of the tempo... finally decided it would be wiser to just repeat my last tempo workout and see how my body reacts than next week I can increase one of the variables.

12:10 p.m. Tempo Run, 8 miles. Life Fitness Treadmill set at a 1% grade. Warm-up: 2 miles at 6.3 mph (9:31 minute miles). Tempo: 4 miles at 7.8 mph (7:42 minute miles). Cool-down: 2 miles at 6.3 mph. Average heart rate: 161 bpm. Cardiac Drift: 180 bpm. (Note: My maximum heart rate is 190 bpm) Tough workout, although my heart rate numbers are lower than September 10th! I am improving!! After my run I had a feeling of deep satisfaction of a workout well done.