Tuesday, July 14, 2009

sucking wind

So today was the first attempt at speedwork I have made in several weeks. I was running a lot of hill repeats in preparation for the Mt Washington race but no real speedwork to speak of.

Since I missed yesterday (work BS) I opted to stretch today's run from my 'scheduled' 5 miles to 8 miles and for the hell of it, I was going to shoot for a few tempo miles, just a few, mixed in. I figured my tempo pace would be ~7:30 +/-. As I was mushing along, my breathing was heavy and my level of effort was pretty significant, but I felt strong. Turns out my tempo pace was between 7:08 and 7:12 for 3 miles. Nice! It's definitely a lot more work hauling around ~9Lbs more than I have been for the past 2 years but I'm psyched that the pace was there. Gives me a good place to start.
And the last 3 miles I ran as recovery felt fairly effortless - except the last 200 yards. My form was good, my breathing didn't feel labored and the miles just melted away.

This was the first run in 2 weeks that I can say I feel okay about. Progress I guess.
I have to get some of these projects off my plate at work to free up some time. It's really cramping my style.

And I have to find a fall race. Damn, OBX looks fun.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

drawing a blank

I guess I'm just drawing a blank and don't have much to write about. I have been pretty busy with that necessary evil - work but that's not a good enough excuse. It just seems to suck the life and creativity out of me.

I have been pondering a lot lately - mostly about 'where do I go from here'? Not in life but in running/exercise. I have managed to pack on some padding over the past few months - and boy was it evident on the Mt Washington race. I faded so fast and so dramatically and near passed out after mile 5 it was pretty frightening. My time doesn't really reflect my crappy level of fitness but I really felt like a pile of sh!t during the race. I need a goal.

I am debating on a fall marathon but haven't really picked one out. I suppose I should make a choice and draft up a plan. The possibilities and time remaining:
TCM - 12 weeks
Mohawk Hudson = 13 weeks
MCM = 17 weeks
OBX = 18 weeks
Richmond = 19 weeks
Philly = 20 weeks
I'm guessing that I'd get to make one trip so I have to make it count.

The other question is to try and bq or not. I'm not off to a very good start to even make this a remote possiblity.

We'll see what the next few weeks bring.