QualifyGrampyQualify III 06/29/10

Lets do some calculations. Max speed 7.5 mph, distance up to 30 miles


Hmmmmmmm I wonder??


NO NO I just couldn't!

Good news, my ribs are finally improving. I am still being cautious with upper body work but at least I can breath deeply without significant pain.

My weight is down a bit more than 4 pounds and about a 6% drop in body fat. That will begin to stabilize and drop more slowly now that I am in running mode. Keeping properly fueled is vital for the number of miles that I will be covering.

Saturday was the first day of fall marathon training. It was a warm and humid morning, 76 degrees and 80% humidity at 5:30 in the morning! We did a great 7 mile run that included hills, so we had the full 3H treatment, Heat, Humidity & Hills! There were 71 runners signed up and this run was to determine which pace group each would be in. I am coaching a group paced at 10:30 for long runs which should translate into a 9:30-9:45 race pace (4hrs 9min to 4hr15min marathon).

Moving around visiting with different runners I can tell it's going to be a fun group. My group will only have 4 runners to begin with altho some shuffling will occur over the first few weeks as the distances (and temperatures) begin to climb. One of my runners was featured along with his wife in USA TODAY because they made a significant change in their lifestyle and he lost over 120 pounds (and his wife over 40 pounds).

Tonight is speed work night at the track, the hardest of all the workouts. We do a "step-downs" tonight: 2-1200 yard; 2-800 yards; and 2-400 yard runs. Total mileage tonight is to be 7 miles. Because of the difficulty of the speed work and my ribs I took last night off to get some extra rest and recovery.

That's all for this week.

Eric

aka RunGrampy Run

Qualify Grampy Qualify II 06/02/10

Last Saturday the Runners Club sponsered a trail run followed by pancakes. Running and pancakes, what more could you ask for? I went thinking it was an 8 mile run, turned out that it was over 10. I learned a few lessons: First, trail running is tougher than one might think. Second, trail running technique is different, you really have to pick up your feet more or you will stumble on a rock and fall. Third, when you fall, rolling can really protect you from broken wrists etc, however when you roll over a big ol'rock you can put a hurt on your ribs. And lastly, repeating a fall is not as difficult as having to run 6 more miles with a lot of hurt going on! Now you might think that doesn't sound like fun, but except for the falling part, it really was. It was a new challenge and nice to do a different kind of run. Yes, I will do another trail run as some point when I feel I can afford a bit of down time for sore ribs :))


Unfortunately the rib situation has forced me to take a couple of days off training. This evening I will go for a run to see how it goes. It would not be wise for me to do any upper body cross training for at least the rest of the week. I'd rather lose a couple of days now than weeks later.


Tomorrow, Thursday is the start of Speed Training. It is an amazing weekly workout. This week we will be doing 800 yard runs every 7 minutes, the faster you run the longer you have to recover, but then the faster you run the longer you need to recover :)), we'll be doing 6 repeats. In 2007, the fastest I have ever been, I cut 45 seconds off my mile time in the 14 week program. I hope to run a sub-7 minute mile this year........ I'll let you know in early Sept how I did.

Saturday training for the fall marathon begins. Our goal race is the Lewis & Clark Marathon here in StL scheduled for October 3rd, altho some will be targeting the Chicago Marathon on October 10th. I am anxious to see who and how many I will be coaching. This is always a fun time, getting to meet and learn about new runners, some who have never done a marathon before. Saturday is an orientation meeting followed by a 7 mile pace determination run, which will finalize what pace group each runner will be in. I will be leading a 10-1/2 min/mile group. This is the long run pace, which means that the race pace will be approximately 10 minutes or a 4 hr. 20 min marathon time.