Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Training Review: February 4-10th

This blog isn't going to be too detailed or exciting because I didn't decided that I was going to do this until the end of the week so my notes are non-existant.

January 4th and 5th- 6 miles each day at an average pace around 7 minutes per mile.  Nothing too exciting, just getting out the door.

January 6th- Didn't run

January 7th- 5 miles in 34, a little quicker today.  Had a few home made hard ciders after with the training partner, Alex.

January 8th- Ironically, the same day that I decide to get in shape I don't run.  I have had a weird pain in my upper hamstring.  Whenever I bend down it pulls a lot and I have been trying to stretch it out a lot and it hasn't gotten much looser.  It doesn't hurt much when I run but is of some concern.  The other reason I didn't run is that I had to clean up the apartment before Danielle got back from her conference.

January 9th- First long run of the marathon cycle- 10 miles.  I expect to increase this a few miles per week until 26 is an afterthought.  It was a nicer day than expected and I overdressed.

January 10th- I try to take advantage of the days that I don't work to get a few extra miles in.  Got 7 in today.

34 miles this week with a goal of 45 for next week.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Weekly Goals: February 11-17

With last week nearly in the books, it is time to look at next week. 
Last week:
Total Miles: Mid-30s
Long Run: 10
Push-Ups: N/A (didn't keep track)
Weight: Too Much

Next week goals:
Mileage: 45
Long Run: 11-12
Push-Ups: 500 for the week.
Weight: <160 consistantly

Long Term Goals:
Weekly Miles: I want to run in the 70s in singles and see how that feels.  Morning runs probably aren't going to happen on the 4 days that I work, at least not until there is more light and heat.
Long Run: I want to run an ultra (probably 50k to 50 mile) within a year-ish.  Ideally, I want to make the 26.2 distance something I can accomplish often on weekends.
Push-Ups: I am getting quite good at these.  I don't think doing a certain amount of these is going to make me any faster but overall they are good.
Weight: I have thought my ideal race weight is 152 so I will get there and see what happens.

Overall, I don't want to structure out my weeks too much.  They vary based on which days I work, the weather, etc.  I might do some kind of workout just to test my fitness a little but I am mostly in the base stage for now and am working on getting the long run above 26.2 within a couple months here.

My first real race goal is a marathon.  I am going to sign up for Deadwood (DNF with bronchitis last year) or the Wyoming Marathon outside Laramie.  They are both run on gravel at altitude and as a result are quite slow courses.  The marathons are back to back weekends at the end of May/beginning of June so preparation is going to be very similar.

There are a lot of races within Laramie and the Northern Colorado area so I will have no trouble finding a tune up or two.  For workouts, I want to do a lot of effort based workouts instead of time/distance based.  Living and training at 7200 feet or higher can make track workouts depressing.  I will do a few time/distance workouts just to affirm that I actually am gaining fitness, maybe once every couple weeks.

Look for my last week's recap, most likely out tomorrow!