Sunday, March 04, 2007

Yet another long run

Or how about "The Long and Winding Road" which was one of the more appropriate song titles that was on my ipod today? Whatever, another 20 miler is now in the books and it's nice to sit now by the fireplace with my glass of Keith's Amber Ale with pizza in the oven for supper. Actually my glass is empty, perhaps I need a refill. Hydration is key to recovery, right?

Marathon and Beyond has a great article in the most recent Jan/Feb issue (see table of contents for articles summary) by Guy Avery on goal setting and training which has got me thinking about the obvious that "you can't do on race day what you haven't trained for". Which comes back to today's long run which was meant to stress and simulate conditions that will occur on April 16th. Namely I will get tired and sore and will dearly want to stop but there will still be 5 or 6 more miles to go. I like to say that the main purpose of the long run is to get to the last few miles where you are (usually) tired. Granted, there are days when it's a slog from the 1st step but what you do in training while tired will pay dividends on race day both mentally and physically.

Today's run was done from home as my usual Boyden Lake route was canceled with Andrew who was away for most of the week and not up to another long one. Maybe next week, I miss the company. However, only about 1/2 mile into the run I ran into a friend from work who I was surprised to see on the roads. Les is just getting into running and is preparing for his very 1st race, a 1/2 marathon at the Bluenose International Marathon in Halifax on May 20th. We ran together for a couple of miles and then continued our separate ways, Les to his warm home and myself for 17 more miles. But it was a nice break; long runs go so much quicker with company.

Back to my music and listening to some podcasts as I did 2 loops of the town for 12 miles before refilling my gatorade and heading out of town on the highway for the real meat of the run. The next 4 miles were at a slightly faster pace (close to 8:00) and into the steady 10mph wind with temps around 34C (felt a bit cool). Finally it was time to turn for home and to see what was left in the tank for the last 4 miles which I hoped to do around marathon pace. There was still a bit of energy left as I managed 7:26, 7:28, 7:19 and 7:08 with heartrate slowly climbing (along with the hills). It was sooo nice to stop! Another one in the books....

Oh yeah, recap for last week was 6 runs for 70 miles and a Parrot Predictor now falling to 3:20. I think there is hope for my goal of 3:10 if I can just make it through the next 3 weeks in one piece and then begin the taper. Time now for some delicious Chocolate Fudge Crackle vanilla ice cream, mmmm! Not good for the diet but the furnace is hot tonite.

Happy running!

12 comments:

MB said...

way to keep plugging along, a 3:10 would be a smash, if you have it in you go fore it!

I like your blog interface updates.

How long of a drive is it to the Nova Scotia Half that you linked to from Boston?

Andrew said...

You should be glad you weren't with me. I definitely wasn't up to a long run. Dead legs had me crawling.

Looks like you are really gearing up for a peak performance. Way to go.

DawnB said...

You'll do great Mike!!this will be your year!!!I'll be rooting you on all the way!!

Michael said...

Nice run today Mike; very solid finish with a 7:08! I laughed when I saw your link to Keith’s, once rested and fed I poured my self a cold, “Old Speckled Hen”, a favourite of mine.

Good luck with this upcoming week!

Thomas said...

Very nice pace on those last few miles. You're in great shape.

MB said...

why is your countdown an hour earlier from mine?

Jamie Anderson said...

Nice job! You're going to rock Boston.

Love2Run said...

Mark, it's about 7-8 hr from Boston to here and then another 5hr to Halifax. And I fixed my clock with the right time zone now. At least I've got the date right!

Thanks all for the nice comments but there is still work to do.

Olga said...

Heck, I can't even run witout a goal...not as much and regulary anyway:) I just re-subscribed to M&B after a 6 months break and am looking forward reading it again! Too bad I missed out on jan issue.
You'll do awesome!!!

UMaine Cooperative Extension said...

How do you say 'you're an animal' in Canadian?

Olga said...

BTW, the similar article came out in march issue of Ultrarunning magazine. I have to agree with this concept:)

Legs and Wings said...

Rich, velvety vanilla ice cream loaded with our own unique Chocolate Fudge Crackle pieces - they crackle when you scoop them out, then magically melt in your mouth...sheesh, sounds pretty good.

My wife is an addict. Me too. Same with Keiths India Pale Ale.