La Luz Trail Race & Week 5

Not the most miles logged, but another week completed with an annual trip up the Sandia Mountain along the La Luz Trail.

My only workout this week was on Wednesday, and that was a nice little track session with some of the guys. After that track workout, I seemed to gain a little more confidence in my training, as well as my speed. I know there are only about 68 days left and I have enough time to be race ready, but I need to be in 2:17 shape for all this to pay off. It can be defeating just thinking about a time, which is why I enjoy feeling stronger and faster throughout this marathon segment. Things are going in the right direction. 

La Luz Trail Race

The Guys at the Start. You can almost see the finish - it's at the top...

As an annual sacrifice to the mountain running Gods, I force myself up the Sandias in the La Luz Trail Race. This year, I finished 3rd overall, which was great compared to last years awful 26th place finish - granted that was the furthest I ran post stress fracture. So, this years race was much better in comparison. I started off kinda quick going up the road in 3rd place, but then got passed by Sal and another dude. Once we hit the trailhead and after a few switchbacks, I got passed by Solomon and another dude. I actually felt pretty good, so I stayed with them until the second water station. At that point, I got my second wind and passed Solomon and left those guys. I believe I was in 5th place at that point and slowly caught one more guy and then Sal just before the rock slide. Now, the rock slide sucks, so I probably lost some time going through that segment, but whatever. Once you get to the staircase; and all the cheering dukes, the finish is within reach. I was hoping to get a pr on that course, but a 3rd place finish and second fastest time for me was good enough, and a good sign to me how I'm getting stronger compared to other attempts at this dreadful race.

Up, Up, Up, The Staircase

Dukes that Ran

Our amazing Team!!!

Week 5 Training

Mon - am. 11 miles
Tues - pm. 9 miles
Wed - am. 4x1000m + 4x400m w/200m jog recovery 1000m's(3:08, 3:04, 3:06, 3:05) 400's (69, 68, 68, 65) Total: 9 miles / pm. 6 miles
Thur - am 10.5 miles / pm. 9 miles
Fri - am. 11 miles
Sat - Off
Sun - am. La Luz Trail Run. 9 miles 1:32:55.  Total w/warm-up & cool down: 13 miles

Total: 78.5 miles

I need to be running more!

Week 4 of Marathon Training

Another solid week in the log. After all that traveling last week, this week felt great. It's always a good feeling to be back in a routine and sleeping in your own bed. 

As for training, I felt that things are starting to pick up, and that my fitness is slowly coming around. I had two workouts this week; one tempo run on Wednesday, and a long run workout on Sunday. That Sunday run was a little intimidating at first, and I was really nervous beforehand. It was another Jack Daniels workout, but it was a pretty big one, with longer bouts of recovery, which to me can be difficult since we'll be on our feet for so long. Nevertheless, it went well. And it was great to have so many guys at this past Sundays long run. 

So if you're wondering what torturous workouts I did, here they are: Wednesday was a 3 mile, 2 mile & 1 mile tempo repeat. Sunday's long run was a 4 mile warm-up followed by 2 mile tempo, 3 mile tempo, 2 mile tempo & 1 mile tempo with 1 mile recovery in between. Interesting and tough! Well, it went well and the week was great! Onward to the next week. 

Week 4

Monday - 11 miles

Tuesday - 12 miles

Wednesday - am.w/u 2.5 miles (5:21, 5:28, 5:25) (5:28, 5:21) (5:15) c/d 3.5 miles. Pm. 6 miles. Total: 18 miles

Thursday - off

Friday - am. 11 miles pm. 6 miles

Saturday - am. 11.5 miles

Sunday - 4 easy, (5:28, 5:24) 1 mile easy, (5:25, 5:25, 5:27) 1 mile easy (5:21, 5:28) 1 mile easy (5:18) 5 cool down. Total: 20 miles

Total: 89.5 miles

Week 2 & 3 of Training

After writing my first version of this post, and finding it erased/not saved, I'll make these last 2 weeks short and quick. 

Week 2 was just shy of my 100 mile goal by 2 miles. I was happy to get some quality workouts in, but my paces are no where near where I would like them to be. I know it's a "long process" and consistancy is key. But after not really having any solid training under my belt in the last year, it's going to be a hard reality. I feel that my body needs to get toned down again, and much stronger. I don't really have much time, so I'm not going to squander any of it fooling around until after Chicago. Which probably means, a huge limit on my delicious beer consumption. That makes my taste buds sad. 

Week 3 was ok. I spent a lot of time driving. 1725 miles from Wednesday to Sunday. My first priority was to get Arlene to Las Vegas, NV. After that I got to spend some time in Flagstaff, AZ with my buddy Nick (Mr. 2:11 Marathoner) and his wife. I loved my time in Flagstaff. The thin air, trails, and people make that town a haven for running. Nick also convinced me to race a 7 mile road race - granted it was all up hill. The Snowbowl Hill Climb was a great race to get your ass kicked in. I believe you start at 6800' and climb to 9300'. It sucked, but was awesome at the same time. After that race on Sunday, Arlene and I drove back to rainy Albuquerque. 

I know I have to be patient with my training and just stay the course as Chicago is on the horizon. Besides, it sure feels good to be training hard, but now I just gotta train harder. 

Week 2

2 workouts

Tue - 8x1000m 3:11 avg. 

Sat - 4 easy, 2x2 miles (5:28, 5:40) (5:28, 5:25), 7 easy 2 mile tempo (5:32, 5:42), 1 mile easy. Total: 18 miles

Week Total: 98 miles

Week 3

1 workout, 1 "race"

Tue - 4x2 miles w/2 min rec. (5:33, 5:28) (5:28, 5:25) (5:28, 5:42) (5:32, 5:23)

Sun - 7 mile hill climb

Week Total: 73 miles

Post Wedding Training - Week 1 of Marathon Training 1

Now that Arlene and I tied the knot, it's time to start focusing on the Chicago Marathon, which is in 13 weeks from today...

WEDDING DAY!!!

Bring on the Miles!

What we did all week...

I have a lot of catching up to do, since after the wedding, Arlene and I only ran a whopping 8 miles over the course of 8 days, and no we didn't run 1 mile a day, it was more like only two days of running.  So because of that, last week was a tough one.  I planned on doing a big workout on Wednesday, but that turned into an epic fail.  I rallied the rest of the week and had a decent long run workout on sunday with the guys; granted, I died the last 2 miles and crawled in, but it was worth it.

This weeks focus is to get the miles back under me and finally hit that "hundo" mark, and keep building from there.  I don't have a whole lot of time, so everyday is important.  I don't want to be in the same situation I was in all fall and spring.  Summer is where it's at, and as a summer theme song, I'll have to refer to Maroon 5's song of, "This Summer's gonna hurt like a mother******"

Week 1

Mon - 3.5 miles in La Jolla (Our last day of our honeymoon)
Tue - 9 miles
Wed - 6 miles w/u 3x1 mile (5:30, 5:27, 5:42) 2 mile c/d
Thur - am. 11 miles. pm. 6 miles total: 17 miles
Fri - am. 9 miles
Sat - am. 11 miles. pm. 5 miles
Sun - 4 miles easy, 4x1 mile w/1min jog (5:44, 5:32, 5:26, 5:10) 8 miles easy. total: 18 miles

Total: 83.5 miles

Getting Back Into Rhythm

After a wonderful school year and countless hours spent thinking about a wonderful wedding, it was time for me to get back into "real" training.  I needed to decide on a marathon that I will do this fall, and come up with a training plan for that race.  And since the window to qualify for the Olympic Trials is slowly closing, I've decided on the Chicago Marathon in October.  I believe there will be a ton of guys looking to run the standard, and that race gives me roughly 4 months of training from after the wedding.

As soon as school got out, I finally got the motivation and energy to build up the miles again.  If I can recall, I was only running about 40 miles per week since the beginning of the year, and hadn't wrote a single mile in my running journal since my stress fractures in March of 2014.  So, I need to get back into a routine and get my act together!  I finally logged some miles in my journal at the end of April to keep myself accountable, and to my surprise, my mileage only stuck around 40/week.  But with school over, things are looking brighter.

I need to keep posting on this blog as well, so this will be the first of many weeks leading up to Chicago, and an OTQ time.  Also, after racing the Rock 'n Roll San Diego half marathon last Sunday, I now have a pretty accurate account of my fitness and where I should be training... (slow), but it's a start.  And in case you're wondering, I ran 1:10:54.  One of my slowest half marathons ever!  It sure is a kick in the ass, and now I have zero excuses to get back out there and train my brains out!

Racing outta shape, and too cheap to buy the photos...

With the Fiance at the finish!

Week 1 of marathon training:

Mon - drove back to ABQ
Tue - pm. 10 miles
Wed - am. 7 miles / pm. 9 miles
Thur - am. 4 miles / pm. 11 miles (bonked in the heat)
Fri - am. 6x1 mile w/3min rest (5:36, 5:30, 5:34, 5:25, 5:26, 5:23) 10 total
Sat - am. 12 miles in the foothills
Sun - am. 18 miles

Total: 81 miles