Hansons Marathon Method - Review in Progress - Day 64 and 65 of 123

And we've got another installment of "Do as I say, not as I do!" for your reading pleasure!

So after another horrible tempo day on Thursday, I went out Friday with a bit of a bad temper. So even though the official Hansons plan called for 6 miles at an easy pace, no faster than 8:50 per mile, I couldn't stop myself from pushing it pretty much all the way through. I won't tell you the things I said to myself during the run, but they weren't complimentary. So even though it was another warm day, the pace looked pretty good for an easy day.



Take out the stoplights on the route and it was even faster.



Not a single mile even close to the pace I was supposed to be running.

BAD SCOTT! NO COOKIE!

Obviously, the reason that you don't want to push it on the easy days is that you'll have nothing in the tank for the next few days.

And so...Saturday.



Strangely enough, I felt pretty good today. The Hansons workout for today was 10 miles easy. Again, my pace was supposed to be in the 8:50 to 9:50 range. I had no problem keeping that pace today.



Well, until the last two miles. Around mile 8, I suddenly got a severe case of the Newports. I had to seriously tighten it up over the last two miles. My stomach just went south in a hurry.



My legs felt pretty good though, so luckily my stupidity from yesterday didn't hurt my run today.

But don't be like the R's! Follow the plan!

See you tomorrow.

Go buy the book:

Northwest Running and Triathlon Calendar - August 2013

If you like to run your trail runs in the stinking hot middle of summer...well, there's a whole bunch of them to choose from right here! Seems odd to me - I'd rather do a trail run in May or September or October - but to each their own. I suppose on a few of these, they might actually be worried about snow except in the middle of summer...

Let's race!

-Green Text for Trail Runs
-Red Text for Marathons and Half Marathons
-Blue Text for Triathlons and Duathlons
-Orange Text for everything else, the normal 5k, 10k, etc

RACES FOR WEEK OF AUGUST 5th to AUGUST 11th

August 10th / Squirrels in the Headlamp Trail 5k / Great Falls, MT (Night Race!)

August 10th / Mt. Ashland Hillclimb Run 13.3m / Ashland, OR

August 10th / CCC Trail Runs 25k, 10m and 5m / Umatilla, OR

August 10th / Ed Anacker Bridger Ridge Run Trail 20m / Bozeman, MT

August 10th / Dogathon Trail Run 5k / Portland, OR

August 10th / Rock the Green Trail Run 10k and 5k / Auburn, WA

August 10th / Cougar Mountain Trail Run Series 25m and 13m / Newcastle, WA

August 10th / Breathe Deep Seattle Trail Run 5k / Seattle, WA

August 11th / Angel's Staircase 60k and 35k / Carlton, WA

August 11th / Timberline Mt Run Trail 6.97m / Mt Hood, OR

August 11th / Haulin' Aspen Trail Run Marathon and Half Marathon / Bend, OR

August 11th / XTERRA PDX Trail Half Marathon and 10k / Hagg Lake, OR

August 10th / Huckleberry Half Half Marathon and 10k / Welches, OR

August 10th / Race the Reserve Half Marathon, 10k and 5k / Coupeville, WA

August 10th / Crater Lake Rim Runs Marathon, Half Marathon and 6.7m / Crater Lake, OR

August 10th / Magnuson Series Summer Fitness Day Half Marathon, 15k, 10k and 5k / Seattle, WA

August 10th / Run with the Guys! Half Marathon, 10k and 5k / Soap Lake, WA

August 11th / Mud and Chocolate Half Marathon and 4.5m / Sammamish, WA

August 11th / Transcendence Ultra Endurance Run 12hr / Olympia, WA

August 10th / Emmett's Most Excellent Triathlon Olympic and Sprint / Emmett, ID

August 10th / Lake Tye Triathlon Olympic and Sprint / Monroe, WA

August 10th / XTERRA PDX Triathlon and Duathlon Sprint / Hagg Lake, OR

August 10th / Coeur d'Alene Triathlon and Duathlon Olympic / Coeur d'Alene, ID

August 10th / Wild Hare Triathlon Sprint / Allyn, WA

August 10th / RAT Race Triathlon and Duathlon Sprint / Redmond, OR

August 10th / Seeley Lake Challenge Triathlon and Duathlon Sprint / Seeley Lake, MT

August 10th / Zootown Triathlon Sprint / Missoula, MT

August 9th / Friday Night Stampede 5k / Auburn, WA (Friday Night Race!)

August 9th / Striders Benefit Run 5k / Asotin, WA (Friday Night Race!)

August 10th / Cosmo Women's 7k / Vancouver, WA

August 10th / Stilly Fun Run 5k / Arlington, WA

August 10th / Scandia Run 10k and 5k / Junction City, OR

August 10th / Foam Fest 5k / Portland, OR

August 10th / Ladybug Run for CDH Awareness 10k and 5k / Tigard, OR

August 10th / Crawfish Crawl 5k / Tualatin, OR

August 10th / Hoquiam Summer Run 10k and 5k / Hoquiam, WA

August 10th / Loggers' Jubilee Run 10k / Morton, WA

August 10th / Miracle Run 5k / Port Orchard, WA

August 10th / Ucon Founder's Day 10k and 5k / Ucon, ID

August 10th / Park to Pint 5k / Tacoma, WA

August 10th / Run 4 the Light 5m / Westport, WA

August 10th / Glendive Badlander Road Race 10k / Glendive, MT

August 10th / United Way 5k / Ellensburg, WA

August 10th / Island Park Blues Cruz 10k and 5k / Springfield, OR

August 10th / ORRC Garlic Festival Run 10k / North Plains, OR

August 10th / Aurora Colony Days 5k / Aurora, OR

August 10th / The Bite of East County Fun Run 8k and 5k / Fairview, OR

August 10th / An Ri Ra Irish Festival 10k and 5k / Butte, MT

August 10th / Walt's 5k / Woodburn, OR

August 10th / Celebrate Life Run 5k / Sandpoint, ID

August 10th / Color Vibe 5k / Idaho Falls, ID

August 11th / Shriners Run for a Child 5k / Bend, OR

August 11th / Cedar Creek Beach Challenge 10k and 5k / Pacific City, OR

August 11th / The Great Kilted Run 5k / Seattle, WA

August 11th / The Dirty Dash 10k / Boise, ID

August 11th / Portland Parks $5 5k / Portland, OR

August 11th / Mt. Tabor Doggie Dash 8k and 5k / Portland, OR

Hansons Marathon Method - Review in Progress - Day 63 of 123

So when was the last time I actually had a decent tempo day? It's been a while, I can tell you. And today's run continued the streak of suck.

So Thursday's workout was supposed to be an 8 mile tempo run at my marathon pace of 7:50. Add in a half-mile to a mile warmup and cooldown and you've got about a 10 mile total run.

So I took off from the OSU campus and headed north on my usual tempo route. I think this will be the first thing to go. I've got to find a new route. It was hot, in the low 80's, which was fine at first, but definitely hit me toward the end.

So I should have had one slow mile, eight fast miles, then one more slow mile. Of course, because of the route, I knew going in that my third "fast" mile would be slow because of the large hill, but other than that, there was the plan.

Instead, it looked something like this:

-Mile 1, warmup: fine. Although after speed work on Tuesday and an off day on Wednesday, my legs are never quite happy on Thursday. I'm wondering if I should shift an easy day to Thursday and my tempo day to Friday. Maybe.
-Mile 2: 7:55. Good enough. I felt OK. Not great, but I wasn't struggling either.
-Mile 3: 7:56. Good. Had to push a little on this mile. It finished going on a slight uphill.
-Mile 4: 9:45. Yeah, I admit, I stopped and walked through some shade on this mile.
-Mile 5: 7:37. Had to check my speed back here. Going downhill and felt fast.
-Mile 6: 7:39. Still mostly downhill. I was getting pretty hot at this point. Not much shade through this part of the route.
-Mile 7: 7:47. Probably my best mile. Basically flat, heading back toward campus. Should have been carrying water. I was dying.
-Mile 8: 9:30. Apparently, I was done. Stopped to get a drink of water from the fountain by Legacy Park, and never really could pick it back up after that.
-Mile 9: 9:15. Struggling. Just trying to get home at this point.
-Mile 10: 9:50. Cooldown. Brutal.
-Mile 11: 8:40. Actually, this was just .40 of a mile. Why did I speed up? I don't know. Just ready to get home, inside and out of the sun, I guess.

So that's that. I've got to change some things up the next couple Thursdays and see if I can get in a couple good tempo days. I mean, if I can't keep this pace for 8 or 9 miles, I'm not keeping it for 26.2.

I'm thinking of trying to run on Friday. Maybe a new course, which has shade and is mainly flat, not up nor down. Skagit Flats is pretty darn flat, so I don't really need to work much on hills. Even though it's only an hour and a half, maybe take water and a gel, so I can keep the pace longer.

Gotta try something new.

Here we go.

Go buy the book:

Nike Free Toy Claw Game with Ashton Eaton and Allyson Felix

I've never been a huge fan of the Nike Free, but how can you not like an ad that combines Ashton Eaton with the greatest game of all time!?!

I'll just leave this here...



"Beeeeee the crane..."

Hansons Marathon Method - Review in Progress - Day 60 and 61 of 123

And just like that, we're in week ten. Week Ten!

Almost over the hump and closer to the end than the start. Amazing.

But not so fast. Let's check out the last two days. It's been hotter than hades here lately - over 90 again today - so I've done the last two days on the treadmill. Because I was on the treadmill, the Nike+ numbers above are totally wonky. But look! Pretty colors... It's supposed to cool down...a little...over the next few days. I have an off day tomorrow and will definitely be on the roads for my tempo day on Thursday, hot or not.

Let's see what the last two days looked like.

Monday:

-6 miles easy

Tuesday:

-1 mile warmup
-3 x 1 mile at 7:15 pace
-3 x .35 mile at 9:50 pace, recovery between the miles
-1 mile cooldown

I don't know what that works out to exactly, but I just kept running during my cooldown until I was at 6.50 miles total.

Well-deserved day off tomorrow.

Go buy the book:

Northwest Running and Triathlon Calendar - August 2013

Good batch of races here. I can't believe we're already into the August schedules. Man, the summer is flying by - get out there and sign up for a few races while you still can.

Let's race!

-Green Text for Trail Runs
-Red Text for Marathons and Half Marathons
-Blue Text for Triathlons and Duathlons
-Orange Text for everything else, the normal 5k, 10k, etc

RACES FOR WEEK OF JULY 29th to AUGUST 4th

August 1st / Bush Park Cross Country Series 5k and 3k / Salem, OR (Thursday Night Race!)

August 3rd / Beast of Big Creek Trail Run 20k and 10k / Hoodsport, WA

August 3rd / HURL Elkhorn Trail Runs 50m, 50k and 23k / Montana City, MT

August 3rd / Wild Idaho Endurance Trail Run 50m and 50k / Crouch, ID

August 3rd / Steens Rim Run Trail Run 10k / Frenchglen, OR

August 3rd / Grand Ridge Trail Run 50k, Marathon, Half Marathon and 5m / Issaquah, WA

August 3rd / Toaster Splash 8k and 5k / Deer Park, WA

August 3rd / XC12K Trail Run 12k / Boise, ID

August 4th / Whine on the Vine Trail Run 5m / Hillsboro, OR

August 4th / Port Gamble Trail Marathon and Half Marathon / Port Gamble, WA

August 3rd / Moses Lake Marathon, Half Marathon, 10k and 5k / Moses Lake, WA

August 3rd / Tacoma Narrows Half Marathon / Tacoma, WA

August 3rd / Catherine Creek Classic Run Half Marathon and 5k / Union, OR

August 3rd / Call of the Wild Run 50k, Marathon and Half Marathon / Bothell, WA

August 3rd / John Colter Races Marathon, Half Marathon, 10k and 5k / Driggs, ID

August 3rd / Greater Portland Half Marathon and 5k / Forest Grove, OR

August 3rd / Lake Samish Tri Sprint / Bellingham, WA

August 3rd / Power of Pasco Triathlon Sprint / Pasco, WA

August 3rd / Whidbey Island Triathlon Sprint / Langley, WA

August 3rd / Wahine All Women's Triathlon and Duathlon Sprint / Fairview, OR

August 3rd / The Great Snake Triathlon Sprint / Idaho Falls, ID

August 3rd / Sidney Duathlon Sprint / Sidney, MT

August 4th / Race Montana Triathlon Sprint / Great Falls, MT

August 4th / Mid-Summer Triathlon and Duathlon Olympic and Sprint / Fairview, OR

August 4th / XTERRA Black Diamond Triathlon Sprint+ and Sprint / Black Diamond, WA

August 3rd / Bridge to Adoption 5k / Bothell, WA

August 3rd / Foam Fest 5k / Issaquah, WA

August 3rd / Moxee Hop Festival 5k / Moxee, WA

August 3rd / Once Around Lake Cavanaugh 7.8m / Lake Cavanaugh, WA

August 3rd / Race for the Homeless 10k and 5k / Vancouver, WA

August 3rd / Run to the Border 5k / Blaine, WA

August 3rd / Running for Shelter 5k / Bremerton, WA

August 3rd / Spartan Race 5k / Washougal, WA

August 3rd / Spokane Distance Classic 20k, 10k and 5k / Spokane, WA

August 3rd / Trout Lake Fair Run 10k and 5k / Trout Lake, WA

August 3rd / SHOC Empowerment Day 10k and 5k / Gladstone, OR

August 3rd / WillaMutt Strut Fun Run 5k / Salem, OR

August 3rd / Agape Run 5k / Bellingham, WA

August 3rd / Feet on the Street Fun Run 5k / Elma, WA

August 3rd / Kilometers for Kids 5k / Edgewood, WA

August 3rd / Orting Summerfest 10k and 5k / Orting, WA

August 3rd / Sole 2 Soul 5k / Wenatchee, WA

August 3rd / Superhero Run 10k and 5k / Portland, OR

August 3rd / Run for Your Life 10k and 5k / Boise, ID

August 3rd / Wind Drinkers Stampede 10k and 5k / Bozeman, MT

August 4th / MLK Dream Run 15k, 10k and 5k / Portland, OR

August 4th / The Color Run 5k / Spokane, WA

August 4th / CRY Seattle 5k / Redmond, WA

August 4th / Mountaindale Sun Resort Bare Buns Fun Run 5k / North Plains, OR

August 4th / Homer's Classic 8k / Silverton, OR

August 4th / Spirit of Bellevue 12k and 5k / Bellevue, WA

August 4th / St. Jude Fun Run 5k / Mt. Vernon, WA

Hansons Marathon Method - Review in Progress - Day 57, 58 and 59 of 123

I was out of town for the weekend, so I'm a little bit behind here. Let's get caught up.

Friday:

-7 miles easy

Saturday:



-8 miles easy

Well, sort of. We were camping over the weekend, so my eight miles easy wasn't really that easy. It had some ups and downs.



A lot of climbing for 8 miles. No way was I going to do the 15 mile Sunday run on that track.

So...

Sunday:



-15 miles at 8:30 pace

But only after a 6 hour car drive home. The ol' legs were not too happy about that, I can assure you. I basically drove six hours, jumped out of the car and took off on a 2+ hour run, so I could finish the run before dark. Oof.

It went OK for about 10 miles, then the weekend caught up with me and I ran the last five miles like I had a mini fridge on my back (I wish I had...I could have grabbed a couple cold ones to make the time go by faster).

It wasn't pretty, but I got it done. It's just not easy to get in 18 straight weeks of training without life intruding once in a while.

Go buy the book:

Hansons Marathon Method - Review in Progress - Day 56 of 123

It was tempo run Thursday and it didn't go swimmingly.

I'm hoping that it was just a fluke bad day - my training has actually been going pretty well - but I just never got into the run today. I really hope that it's not a sign of something going poorly overall, since we're nearly halfway through this thing.

First, the excuses: I'm not a morning runner and I had to wake up and get this one done early to join up with the Fourth of July celebrations going on later in the day. I've still got a bit of a cold and am having trouble getting enough oxygen, especially when I try to turn up the pace. It was hot. And finally, I ran into, literally, a race going the other way while I was stuck on the bike path down Riverside Park.

So basically it went like this.

Hansons plan for today: an 8 mile tempo run at 7:50 pace.

What I actually ran: alternating slow miles with tempo miles. Meaning I only ran four out of the eight total at my pace.



I'm not happy.

Go buy the book:

Hansons Marathon Method - Review in Progress - Days 53 and 54 of 123

Because the temps have been in the 90's both days, I've done the last two workouts on the treadmill. They looked a little something like this:

Monday:

-8 miles easy

Ugh...eight slow miles on a treadmill. Torture.

Tuesday:

Speed work

-1 mile warmup
-6 x .50 mile at 7:10 pace
-6 x .25 mile at 9:50 pace, recovery between the fast .50s
-1 mile cooldown

For a total of 6.50 miles.

Day off on Wednesday and then tempo day on the Fourth of July.

Talk to you then and have a great holiday.

Go buy the book:

A New PR - Most Miles in a Month - 205.10!

Not your usual PR, but still one I'm pretty proud of. For the month of June, I ran 205.10 miles. I'm pretty sure that record will only last until I'm done with July...and July's PR may only last until I'm done with August...but I'm still pretty happy with that record. I believe my previous best was March of 2012, when I logged 190 miles.

Trust in the process, believe in the process...BE the process!