Week Eight: All Hell Doesn't Break Loose

So I sort of blew it on the whole training plan thing for week eight. Impending (and then receding) holidays and end-of-semester woes are the official scapegoats, but I think I was also pretty tired (see the second of the scapegoats). Anyways, here's the damage

Monday: Plan said off

Tuesday: Plan said Six 1K intervals--I took it off

Wednesday: Plan said off or run easy for thirty minutes. Usually I've been opting for the east thirty. This time I took it off.

Thursday: Plan said a hard thirty-five minute tempo run. I took it off.

Friday: Plan called for an easy thirty minutes, and that's what I did.

Saturday: I was supposed to run twelve miles--six easy and six at race pace +30. I made the six at race pace +00, but started feeling a little pain in my left knee (I know, very convenient) and cut it to nine. I did the whole nine at race +02.

Sunday: The plan called for an easy thirty minutes, but I was feeling a little guilty about the week so I did the same nine I did on Saturday and finished at 1:09:49, which is 7:45/mile or race pace -15. If I can do that for the 13.1 in two weeks I'll finish at around 1:41.

I'm going to try very hard to get back on the plan for the last two weeks. There's only one set of intervals and one long day left so it should be a little easier to put it all together.

When I got back today and bragged to one of the cats this was his reaction. I guess I'll have to go this one on my own.

Root Soup

It strikes me suddenly that in the throes of 13.1 training I haven't really been talking about what I'm eating. Not only does this knock off the blog's Feng Shui, but it makes me seem a lot more two dimensional than I hope I am.

With all this in mind I present a new soup recipe that I think is just the thing for fall.

 Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup cooking oil
• half an onion, chopped
• about a pound of peeled, chopped carrots
• half a cup of peeled, chopped jicima (substitute with potatoes or parsnips if you prefer)
• 1 cup lentils

 Directions:

• warm to high medium heat about 1/4 cup of cooking oil in a  six quart stock pot
• Once the oil sizzles a little when you flick a drop of water into it add onions, carrots, and jicima and let brown for ten or fifteen minutes
• Add lentils, stir to make sure everything get a good coating of oil, and let cook for another five minutes or so
• add enough water to cover the ingredients plus a couple inches
• let cook at a high simmer or soft boil until all the ingredients are soft. (30 minutes to an hour)
• use a slotted spoon to move the solid ingredients to a blender, add enough of the liquid stock (or cream) to allow you blend into a smooth puree.
• pour the contents of the blender back into the stock, season according to taste (I like to add salt, pepper, curry, chile powder, smoked paprika, lots of garlic, and fresh basil if I have it), and serve.

When you're all done it should look a little bit like this:

The ball park nutritional information I got by entering the main ingredients into a recipe calculator is below.

The main thing about soup, though, is that it's soothing and comfortable. Add a little wheat toast or corn bread and you've got a pretty good carb-up meal for cool fall evenings and if you make enough for leftovers you've got the fixings for a really great lunch or two later.

Calories		180.4
Total Fat		11.2 g
	Saturated Fat	0.8 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	3.4 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	6.5 g
Cholesterol		0.0 mg
Sodium		42.3 mg
Potassium		377.4 mg
Total Carbohydrate		16.9 g
	Dietary Fiber	5.8 g
	Sugars	2.5 g
Protein		4.5 g

Vitamin A	123.5 %
Vitamin B-12	0.0 %
Vitamin B-6	9.2 %
Vitamin C	14.1 %
Vitamin D	0.0 %
Vitamin E	13.1 %
Calcium	3.3 %
Copper	7.2 %
Folate	22.3 %
Iron	8.7 %
Magnesium	6.1 %
Manganese	15.9 %
Niacin	4.9 %
Pantothenic Acid	4.4 %
Phosphorus	10.1 %
Riboflavin	4.0 %
Selenium	2.0 %
Thiamin	7.8 %
Zinc	4.6 %

Lucky Number Seven

It's odd, but I actually got a little flutter of nerves when I typed the seven in the title. That means I'm something like three weeks from the race. I think I'm ready, but I suppose one isn't sure until the proverbial rubber meets the long, uphill, and oh so real road.

Monday: The plan said off, but I had make ups from the weekend so I ran for thirty-five minutes and probably covered around 3.5 miles.

Tuesday: The plan called for intervals like thus: .75miles @ 5:15 (1/4 interval rest) .75 miles @5:05 (1/4 rest) .75 5:05 (1/4) .75 DNF .75 DNF. It's a lame excuse, but after about a twelve-hour day at work I was just used up Tuesday night and couldn't finish all my intervals.

Wednesday: Easy run--3.75 in thirty minutes

Thursday: Fantastic tempo day--1 mile warm up and then 5.25 miles @ 41.46.

Friday: Soft Tempo--.5 mile warm up and then 5 miles @38.10.

Saturday: Off

Sunday: Long Run--Fifteen miles (longest single day of the plan) @2:23:47. I went out a little slow on this one and never quite felt the urge to speed up much. Today was really about putting miles on my knees and jacking up my metabolism a bit.

Overall, at three weeks out, I feel strong, but not overconfident. There is still a very real chance that I won't make my 1:45:00 goal in the upcoming 13.1. I won't hate myself forever or anything like that if I don't make it, but that will put some more pressure on my 5K schedule in the spring. I do want this season to be the one where I show some meaningful improvement.

Week Six

Week six was a pretty neutral one. I was on schedule at the end of week five and so didn't have to do any make ups. However, the time change and subsequent 11:45 am sunset have still given me trouble and led to more indoor running that I would ordinarily prefer.

Monday: Off

Tuesday: Intervals--two miles at 14:34 (three minutes rest), one mile at 7:01, (one minute rest) one mile at 7:22 (one minute rest), 800m at 3:32 (one minute), and 800m at 3:24. I was definitely done when I finished these.

Wednesday: Off

Thursday: Tempo--one mile warm up, three miles fast (21:56) and one mile cool down.

Friday: Off

Saturday: the plan called for eleven miles at race pace. I did 11.09 miles (measures on Map My Run) at 1:36:53. That's 8:44/mile, but I think I lost two minutes to traffic lights (that would make it 8:33/mile), which isn't great, but isn't that far off either

Sunday : Off

Overall I'm feeling decent about things right now. I'm not eating as well as I should be, but I'm still hovering just below 180 and I think a reasonably disciplined ten days could bring me dangerously close to 175--my goal weight on race day.  In other news, the high school kid who smoked me so badly at my last 5K just finished in the top third at the state cross country meet (he ran a 17:08) so I don't feel so bad that he beat me. I'm still fishing for that sub-22:00 5k, though.

Week Five: Fulcrum

No, not the the evil organization intent on destroying Chuck, but more like the Archimedes, move the world sort of thing. This week falls exactly in the middle of my current training plan and it presented the first real gut check.

Regular readers will see a pattern here. Work has really been putting the screws to me lately and it's seriously affecting my will to run. I know that some of you are thinking, "but exercise helps reduce work-related stress." And you're right. It can't, however, do anything to cure a case of not enough sleep, which is what I've been dealing with for the last two weeks and it really caught up with me in the middle of training week. five. I think I've goten things back under control and am looking forward to some quality training in week six.

Monday: was supposed to be off, but I did the forty-five-minute easy run I was supposed to do on Sunday. 45:22 for 4.1 miles. Easy run: check.

Tuesday: Intervals: the plan called for seven 1K runs with breaks of 1/4 of the interval time. Darkness forced me to do these inside on the treadmill, so an asterisk goes beside all these times: 4:23, 4:18, 4:18, 4:17, 4:12, 4:16, and 4:01. Av HR at the end of each interval: 174.

Wednesday: Easy run on the treadmill again (sigh) thirty minutes for 3 miles.

Thursday: Skip! My first hooky day.

Friday: The plan called for six miles at a moderate pace. I was tired and running behind all day so I ended up only running five on the treadmill in forty-five minutes.

Saturday: Off

Sunday: Plan called for fourteen miles. I ran 13.5 in 2:03:08 (counting three longish stoplights worth four to six minutes of that time). Call this one a win.

Week 4: One Month In

Astute readers will notice that I took more days off than usual this week. Don't worry. I'm not injured or anything, I just had a major project to finish at work that took over everything for a few days there. Now that I'm done with that I'll be free to follow the plan a lot more closely and hopefully see the final bit of my December fitness come into form.

I'm trying to decide whether to race a 5K in a couple weeks. I think I will just to see if I can bring it in under 22:00. That would be a nice bit of encouragement about a month out from the 13.1. I'm feeling pretty strong right now and fairly optimistic about meeting my goals in December. It might be that I'm sticking to the plan (mostly) or I could be the euphoric beginnings of a diabetic coma brought on by a tragic overdose of pumpkin cake.

and as for training. . .

Monday: Off

Tuesday: Long intervals. The plan called for two miles, three-minute break, one mile, one minute break, one mile, one minute break, 800m, one minute break, 800m, done. I did a 15:20 two mile, 7:20 and 7:17 miles, 3:36 and 3:25 800s with all the appropriate breaks. Av HR=170. I'll take it.

Wednesday: Off

Thursday: Tempo Day. The plan called for a fast twenty-five minutes with a one mile warm up and cool down. I was feeling pretty beat, so I planned on a 5K, which I completed in 22:43. I cooled down and called it even.

Friday: Off

Saturday: Off--I was supposed to run ten miles (with four of them at race pace), but work intruded and I put it off.

Sunday: Made up the ten-mile run I skipped on Saturday. I didn't track my splits, but I did finish the whole run in 1:21:07, which the internet tells me works out to about 8:06 per mile. Av HR=165. Max HR=179. I was *very* happy with this.

 Monday: Made up the easy run I was supposed to do on Sunday. I and a buddy went about 4.1 miles in 45 minutes and that was that.