Monday, April 6, 2009

Week 8 - It's a Wrap!

I wrapped up the 8th week of this 12 week training cycle with an easy 4 mile recovery run yesterday. That means that I have about 3 more weeks of some tough (for me) training. But, I'm pretty satisfied with where I am. I'm running about 35 miles a week and spending a couple days a week in the gym. I've dropped 7 pounds in the last eight weeks. I'm feeling stronger and fitter that when I started. But, I have a bunch of little sore spots and tweaks. The one that concerns me the most right now is a tender IT band. I'm hoping that breaking out the new shoes last Saturday helps.

Speaking of shoes - I did break out some new Asics on Saturday. I think I may have finally found a shoe that fits well and gets decent wear. I had been a big Asics Gel Kayano fan. They fit me feet like gloves and were the *most* comfortable shoe ever. The problem was I was getting about 225 to 250 miles out of a pair. At $140 a pop, that expense quickly became the driving cost of this little hobby of mine. A few months back, I went to a new shoe store - Runner's High in Irvine. The owner put me into a pair of Asics GT2140s. They don't have that glove like feel the Kayanos had, but they are more than adequate. I just retired my first pair of GT 2140's with 400 miles on them!. I actually wore through the soles in a couple spots! Quite a difference from the 225 I got in my last pair of Kayanos. Also - the best part is cost. I purchased this new pair from REI. Using a 20% member discount coupon recently emailed to me, along with my dividend from last year, this new pair cost only $63! Less than half the cost of the Kayanos! And - no shipping cost since I picked up in the local store! Woo hoo!

Back to the business at hand. On tap this week - very similar to last week:

Monday - 4 mile easy run, gym for stretching and core work
Tuesday - Intervals. About 6 miles in total.
Wednesday - 4 mile recovery run, gym for stretching and core work
Thursday - 45 min tempo run - about 5 miles
Friday - Scheduled rest day (yea!)
Saturday - 12 mile long run
Sunday - 4 mile at HM pace

That would put me at 35 miles. Same as this past week. Really the only change is the 4 mile HMP run on Sunday. I'm hoping my groins won't be sore like they were yesterday! We'll find out then!

6 comments:

  1. 400 miles on shoes? Glenn that is so much! Mine break down so much faster. :( I love runner's high in irvine! There is one right by my house in Long Beach that I always go to.

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  2. Asics don't give me enough support. Good job on the runs!

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  3. Great job keeping up with your runs and exercise! Seven pounds, that's awesome. You're going to have to change your blog to "The Running Skinny Guy".

    I'm glad you found some affordable shoes to replace your Kayanos. They ARE too expensive to replace so often.

    I hope your IT band feels better!

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  4. Glenn, congrats on the weight loss. That's awesome.

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  5. Congrats indeed on the lost weight. If only you could just give calories to me, life would be easier for both of us.

    It's interesting that you actually wore through the soles after 400 miles, whereas I'm getting 500 miles on my Adidas without coming anywhere close to wearing through the sole. I wonder if it's Asics vs Adidas, the fact that you do more trails and I do more road running (though I would think my shoes would wear out more on the road), or if it's the difference in our weight.

    In any case, you've been on a roll lately. I hope your little injuries are just that - little and you can continue rocking out the mileage.

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  6. Oh yeah...I used to run on some Kayanos. They were like like butter...

    Bummer about those Padres :-(...LOL... It's going to be along season for us, I fear

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