VT Dad’s fight vs. inertia & flab

Again my daughter had a morning swim practice, and again I decided to exercise while she was swimming.  It was already 70F, 21C by 7AM, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to go for a run. Today was my hill day, and I chose a loop that was ~1&1/3 miles with some good hills.  I pressed on the hills, both uphill and downhill, while relaxing on the flats.  I ran 3 loops and finished, just as practice was ending.  It felt great to be out running again.

My day started well, I took my bosu ball and medicine ball to my daughter’s 7AM swim practice and did my bosu workout poolside.  It worked out wonderfully.  Later this morning I went to the gym for some basketball, and I was able to get 2 games in before I had to pick up my daughter from camp.  

This evening, after I put my daughter to bed, I took my pliometric shoes and headed up to the top of the hill were there is a basketball hoop.  I began with 3 sets of the "Mikan" drill hit 12 hook shots, then layups, then short shots while keeping the ball above my head. Next I moved out, and focused on jump shots.  Finally I did a set of 10 key jumpers with follows with each hand.  I then put down the ball, and did some running on the tennis court.  I began with slides, then 2 footed hops, grapevine, and skipping, then a "suicide", bounding, high knees, butt kicks, and another "suicide".  Exhausted and sweaty, I called it a night.

I still haven’t gotten into my running routine, but did set a PR in the 5K, so I guess I had a good week.  Here’s my plan for the coming week, July 7-13:
Proprioceptive cue:  Butt Squeeze
Monday:  Basketball, Bosu Ball Routine
Tuesday:  Hill Workout,  Pliometric Shoes
Wednesday:  Basketball, Stability ball
Thursday:  7.5 mile tempo run: 1 mile warm-up and cool down and 5.5 miles @1/2 marathon pace (8:27 miles), Bosu Ball
Friday: Basketball, Pliometric shoes
Saturday:  Long Run 15 miles
Sunday: Basketball

I had a wonderful morning playing basketball.  I played on a game on outdoor courts.  The games started at 10AM, and I played until 12:30.  The temperature was in the mid 80s, and I did something I used to do all sumer long as a kid, play basketball.

This morning the weather conditions were ideal for a race, 62F, 17C with just the hint of a breeze.  I drove the 20 miles to the start of the July 4th 5K on South Hero, VT.  Along the way I saw a runner I recognized trying to fix a flat tire on his bicycle.  I did a u-turn, a went back to check on him, an indeed he was headed to the race.  I gave him a ride, and I discovered that he was now training for triathlons.  

In previous years todays race had been both a 5&10K, but this year there was only a 5K.  There were about 400 runners, and I set my watches timer for 4:48 in hopes of hitting a 24:00 5K.  I reached the 1K mark at exactly 4:48.  I had faltered slightly by the 1 mile point reaching the mile at 7:50.  I hit the second mile point at 15:52, my hopes of a sub24 5K were all but dashed.  I finished strong, setting a new PR by over 20 seconds, 24:07.  Overall I was 139th out of 319 racers, and I was 25th out of 41 in my age group.

Hope everyone has a great 4th of July.

It’s officially summer in Burlington, VT, Ben and Jerry’s free outdoor movies are back, Tuesdays at dusk through August 19th.  Tonight was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.  It’s a fun night, a free movie and an ice cream treat.  Unfortunately, they were unable to get the third reel up and running tonight.  As they sent us away with their apologies, they gave everyone coupons for free cones.

My youngest had a sleepover last night, so  predawn hill repeats were out of the question.  I tried to run in the middle of the day, but even at 74F, 23F I felt overwhelmed by the heat and humidity, so I decided it was time to find the joy of running, and go with Mookie for a run.  We romped through fields and some high grasses on trails for about a mile and a half.  Not the most potent workout for my heart, but it did wonders for my soul.

These 10 day cycles are not working for me.  I need to return to week cycles.  I have 17 weeks until the international marathon.  My normal summer week should look as follows:
Monday/Wednesday/Friday/Sunday Basketball
Tuesday- Hill Repeats
Thursday- 7.5 Mile tempo Run. 1 mile warm-up and col down. 5.5 mile 8:27 or faster
Saturday- Long Run, This week 10 miles at base pace
Monday/Wednesday/Saturday Nights- Bosu Ball
Tuesday/Thursday Afternoons Pliometric workouts.

Today was a gray, overcast day, about 70F, 21C and I had a 10 mile race in Montpelier.  What I feared about my slacking during the month since my marathon, came to fruition, my legs felt dead, I had nothing.  I averaged 9:33 miles for the race, I ran the first 20 miles of my marathon last month at a faster pace.  Although, I’ve been playing basketball, playing tennis, and bicycling, my legs weren’t ready to race.  As the race progressed it soon became apparent that I wouldn’t come close to the time I had hoped for, instead I needed to concentrate on not finishing DFL.  Today my fastest mile was only 8:44, while 2 of my miles were slower than 10:00.  It’s almost as if I’m starting at square 1.  One positive thing came from my poor effort, when some age group winners failed to show, they gave away barbeque sauce to people in reverse order of finish.  My passing 2 people during the last mile almost kept me from the prize, but I was able to snag the last bottle of sauce.

During the summer I’m only planning to run 3X a week. One run will be hill repeats, a second will be a tempo run of ~7.5 miles, with the middle 5.5 miles being fast, and my last run will be a long run between 12-18 miles.  I have another race, a 5K on July 4th. With my abysmal showing today it looks as if my 5K PR is out of my reach.

I’m very lucky, it’s been a wonderful year.  My family and I are all doing well.  Both my wife and I have dropped 30lbs this year.  I completed a marathon, and have another one in the works 4 months from now.  My eldest daughter had an amazing year.  My eldest son is kicking butt and taking names in the classroom, and is full of confidence athletically, challenging himself running, and having a love affair with tennis.  My next eldest son is beginning to blossom as a student, and is spending the summer away at camp.  My youngest is full of life.  She works so hard at swimming and tennis, and is a joy to be around.  Life is good.

I have a big mission that I’d like to shoot for during these next 7 weeks of summer, to try and really improve myself.  Currently, I’m doing what I want and what I love, but I’m not really pushing myself and stretching my limits.  I’ve been playing basketball 4X a week, bicycling, and playing tennis, but I haven’t really been pushing myself.  During these next 7 weeks I want to push myself.  Work my core 4-6X a week with both the bosu ball and the stability ball.  Put my pliometric shoes on 3X a week and really go hard, and test my limits.  Get in 3 running workouts a week: an interval, tempo, and long run.  Time to se what I am made of.  

I’ve been slacking since the marathon 31 days ago.  Saturday I have a 10 mile race, and July 4th I have a 5K.  They will make good bench mark events.  I have a 10K at the end of July, a 5 miler early in September, and a half marathon early in October, 3 weeks before my marathon.  Time to stop making excuses, and see what I’m capable of.  For Saturday’s race, I’d like to control and slow down my first 2 miles, and see how I do from there.  On the 4th of July, I’d like to break my PR of 24:35 set in the snow.

I’d like to thank everyone here for being so supportive.