For the First Time Since March

I’m pretty sure for the first time since March I put in a whole weekend of running per the plan.

ETP Day 13 (Saturday): 16 miles around the lower Back Bay. I successfully kept my pace in my long run range. Everything was fine right up through about mile 14. At that point the humidity started conspiring against me and I wilted pretty quickly once the sun started breaking through the marine layer. I toughed it out though and completed on target.

Calorie wise – BMR of 2012 plus exercise allowance of 2280 for a total of 4292 calories. Total consumed of 3818 for a deficit of 474 calories.

ETP Day 14 (Sunday): Things got a little interesting here. I woke up absolutely *exhausted* from Saturday’s run. Muscles that I didn’t even know about were sore. I wanted to hit at least 40 miles for the week, so I needed to put in at least 4 miles. It was also our monthly Trailheadz meeting*, so I rolled out of bed and headed up to Ridge Park. I decided to keep it easy on my body and stick to the ridge tops (reducing the amount of hill climbing) and to go out 2 miles, see how I felt, and then decide whether to finish the 2 additional miles. Long story short, 2 miles became 3 miles became 4 miles before I turned and headed back to the trailhead. Eight miles in the books.

Calories – 2012 BMR plus exercise allowance of 1204. Total consumed 0f 3140 for a deficit of 75.

• Training variance week to date: 1 mile less than plan. Total mileage for the week: 44.
• Calorie variance week to date: 530 less than plan. Should equate to about a pound of weight lost. I will be up on the scale this evening to check.

* And it’s a good thing I went! I ended up winning a some sweet socks during the raffle!

Failure to Fuel is Not Good!

I received a rude reminder yesterday. Failure to fuel properly is not good. Especially on long run day. But, I'll start at the beginning....

The weather this time of year in Southern California can be difficult to dress for. If it's 20 degrees outside, you can layer up for a run. But how do you dress when it's mid 40's to start and mid 70's by the time you're done? What I do is delay my start so that I don't have to worry about carrying discarded layers. So, I didn't make my way out the door until 10:30AM. The problem? No breakfast. I would find out later what a huge FAIL this would be.

On the plan was a 16 miler. It was an absolutely stunning day, so I decided to try a new route - a beach run:


I think a lot of other people had the same idea:

I started on the boardwalk (well, we call it a boardwalk) in Newport Beach. Did I say it was a spectacular day?

My run went to the north for 8 miles. By mile 4 I had left the confines of Newport Beach for the paved paths of Huntington Beach. It will be along this route that my next race (Surf City Half) will make it's way:

The start/finish line without it's bunting:

I slowed at mile 6 to pop a couple Endurolytes and a Hammer Gel. I was already starting to feel spent. Not a good sign with 10 miles left to go. As I pushed on I tried to use the sights to get my mind off my ever slowing pace:

I turned around at mile 8. I was physically hurting, which was real interesting because on Saturday I whipped out an 8 miler with no problem. The difference? Look at the second paragraph above. No breakfast. No fuel. No go.

I stopped at mile 11 to quaff a couple more Endurolytes and another gel. But I also had to rest. If there is a good place to stop on this route, it's the world famous Huntington Beach pier. They don't call it "Surf City USA" for nothing:

These folks are missing Woodstock something fierce:

From there it was *still* five more miles. Another mile down the trail my calves started cramping. Man. This is less than a half marathon and I'm in pain and cramping. Jeesh. If I was less experienced I'm sure I'd be pretty down in the mouth today. But instead, I pushed on the best I could, part shuffle, part walk, part stop and eventually made it back to the car. Final stats: 11:34 pace, at a heart rate of 75% MHR. That pace *is* a little skewed since everything after mile 9 was slower than 12 minutes. Ooooof.

All of you experienced runners know what I'm going to say next, but I'm going to say it anyways. There are three lessons here:

1. Fuel fuel fuel. If the tank is empty at the start, it ain't getting full along the way! I should've had my apple fritter.
2. Bad runs are as important to your training as good ones are. If nothing else, the bad runs will remind you of what you should be doing.
3. You should be living in Southern California.

That wrapped up a short 29.5 mile week. Travel early in the week and my desire to keep my "I'm not using a hotel treadmill" streak alive, meant my running week became a three day week. Got my hill repeats in on Thursday though, so the week wasn't an entire loss.

On tap this week will be my new modified plan that I discussed yesterday:

• Monday: Ergometer! I'll grab the Concept2 workout of the day and pull the chain for a few kilometers. Stretching and core work.
• Tuesday: 9 mile tempo run. Yikes!
• Wednesday: Erg erg erg erg. Stretching and core work.
• Thursday: 4 mile GA run.
• Friday: Scheduled rest day
• Saturday: 20 miles. Note: grab apple fritter on my way to meet up with the group
• Sunday: 8 miles GA run
• Total planned: 10 kilometers on the rowing machine, 41 miles on the trails

Finally - anyone here follow Penny (@southbaygirl) over at Planet Ynnep Running? (If not, shame on you!) She lives on that hill over there. Did I say it was a spectacular day?

On tap tonight - a date with my rowing machine.

Most Systems Go!

I ran my last long run of this training cycle on Saturday. I found how hard it is to stop for an extended period of time and start back up again after social hour at mile 11. Well okay. More like social half hour (literally). I did end up sucking some serious wind in the last couple miles. But everything else worked per plan. Bottom line was 16.1 miles at an average heart rate of 78% of max and an average pace of 11:07 with the first nine miles at goal pace. I took an Endurolyte before starting, and quaffed a gel/Endurolyte pack with a di-hydrogen monoxide chaser every 30 minutes.

The Endurolyte capsule taped to a gel packet was a gem! Here's how it worked for me:

A picture of the parts (hey - how'd that keyboard sneak in there?):


On B.o.B's advice, I used blue painter's tape. There is less adhesive on the tape, so you don't end up with a capsule that is hopelessly stuck. Also, since the tape is designed to work with latex based paint, it is waterproof and will stand up to the massive amounts of sweat that I generate.

I wrapped the blue painter's tape around the gel packet, then placed an Endurolyte capsule on top of the non-sticky side of the tape:


Then took the remaining tail end of the tape and taped everything down:


Then on my run I just reach into the back pocket of my fuel belt, grab a packet, and I'm ready to fuel up! Thanks again B.o.B!

Bottom line? I'm ready to go. I get to spend the next couple of weeks relaxing now. In fact, I sacked Sunday's eight mile run for a little ten mile hike up in the hills. More on that tomorrow morning!

Week 9 in the Books

Sorry about missing my post on Sunday. I was wrapped up in a project this past weekend. It was pretty much run work run work. I didn't even get the evening off for fireworks. I'll wrap the project up today. Don't feel sorry for me. The money's good, so it was worth it.

I did get my runs in though. Five recovery miles on Saturday and a 16 mile long run on Sunday. Hey - I found out Sunday morning - 16 miles is a long way! I checked out yet another new route that took off from mile 6 of the San Diego Creek trail that headed north toward the hills. It seemed like I kept going forever! Eight miles out into the bowels of Irvine. Past three freeways. Whew. And I lied about doing nothing but run work run work. It was actually run work run nap work. A long run really takes it out of me.

Week 9 wrapped up with 44.25 miles in the books. This is a new weekly record for me. To be sure, I am slowing down, but I feel pretty good this morning - especially after a 16 mile run yesterday. Long runs are still pretty intimidating, but at least I can see that a 20 miler is doable.

But, I don't need to worry about a 20 miler for a couple weeks yet. On the schedule this week (Week 10):

Monday: Rest day. I may get the erg down for an *easy* workout.

Tuesday: 10 miles - 5 miles GA followed by 5 miles at half marathon pace.

Wednesday: 5 recovery miles. Hit the gym for stretching and core work.

Thursday: 11 miles medium long run.

Friday: Rest day.

Saturday: 17 mile long run.

Sunday: 5 recovery miles. Hit the gym.

Total: 48 miles.

I'm tired just thinking about this week. I'll get caught up on everyone's blogs later today. I promise!