VT Dad’s fight vs. inertia & flab

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.

10 hours in the car Saturday and Tuesday, to go to DC and celebrate as my eldest daughter was recognized as a Presidential Scholar.  I was exhausted in my own right.  My family lives in the DC suburbs, so we were able to spend some quality time with my family on Sunday, and we played tourist on Monday.  I did get a little bit of exercise in on Sunday, but I really don’t think I’ll put a dent in my marathon training until Saturday, when I have a 10 mile race 34 days after completing the VCM.

So on Sunday,  my youngest and I accompanied my dad on is morning walk.   My dad has walked 2 miles each morning at a brisk pace since retiring form work 20 years ago at age 56.  His best 2 mile walk was in the 26 minute range, but now he’s clocking 35 on good days and 37 on slow ones.  He still marvels how 14 years ago I clocked a sub 26 while carrying my son (then nearly 2) on my back.  I got a feel for my dad’s pace, and then tried to ratchet it up a notch, serving as a pacer.  Together the 3 of us all finished in sub 34, my dad’s fasted time of the year.

Afterwards, I ran out to the bike path, hoping to put together 6 Yasso 800’s, but I stopped after my second repeat.  I didn’t have the determination to run any further.  On Monday, we did a fair amount of walking around our nation’s Capital, enough to give my wife a fine case of shin splints.  Even if I don’t run in the morning tomorrow, I should get in some running while playing basketball at lunch time.

Today I had a great day playing basketball, and I really pushed myself.  I ran hard and didn’t slack off on the court.  In addition I scored the last 7 points in my last game of the day, a win.  I’m off to DC for a few days, where we’ll be staying with my parents, as my eldest gets honored as a Presidential Scholar.

I had fun these past 10 days.  I did what I wanted, but I didn’t do as I had planned or what I may have needed.  I played basketball 5 of the 10 days, and got in some other cross training: tennis and basketball, but I didn’t run.  I also did a limited amount of core training and plyometrics, not 3X of each I had scheduled.  Time to regain some focus.

Schedule for the second 10 day cycle:  6/19-6/28:
Proprioceptive cue:  Taught abs
Thursday 6/19: Tempo run: 15 minute warm-up and cool down, 50 minutes 1/2 Marathon pace (8:27 miles)
Friday 6/20: Basketball and bosu
Saturday 6/21:  Rest Day
Sunday 6/22: Speedwork: 1 mile warmup and cool down, 12×400 repeats with 200m recovery
Monday 6/23: 6 Miles Easy
Tuesday 6/24: Bosu and Plyometrics
Wednesday 6/25: Basketball
Thursday 6/26: Birthday celebration after Long Run 15 miles
Friday 6/27: Light Basketball
Saturday 6/28:  10 Mile Race in Montpelier, VT

I don’t play tennis, but my 15 year old has been interested in playing.  Yesterday I bought us some racquets, and today we went to the courts that are up at the top of the hill.  We hit around for 20-30 minutes, and then played 3 sets.  We had a great deal of fun.  It was wonderful to compete with my son.

Today was a glorious morning, and I chose to play basketball.  I went back out to the blacktop and played ball for nearly 2 hours.  I got a good sweat going, and had a blast.  The rest of my day looks primo as well.  Lunch out with the family, a bicycle ride with my youngest, and the late afternoon until nearly midnight watching the golf, followed by the NBA finals.

Today was a day I was looking forward to for sometime, my return to playing in the lunchtime Mon/Wed/Fri game at my health club.  The run is supposed to start at 11:30, but as soon as they get 10 they get started.  I arrived at 11:10, got changed, and headed onto the floor by 11:15, but there were already 11 people in the gym.  I had to wait until the next game, but that didn’t really matter, as I got 8 games in before calling it quits at 1:10.  For the most part I was a non factor, but it felt great to run with the gang again.  My summer has officially begun.  Now I need to find a way to balance all of my summer activities.

I am starting a new running plan working towards my next marathon, the International Marathon running at Niagara Falls from NY to Ontario.  This plan has 3 10 day cycles which are repeated 4 times, and 2 10 day tapers.

Proprioceptive Cue:  Falling Forwards
Monday 6/9:  Tempo Run 15 minute warmup and cool down 40 minutes @ 1/2 marathon pace (8:27 miles)
Tuesday 6/10: Bosu & Plyometrics
Wednesday 6/11: Basketball
Thursday 6/12:  Speedwork: 6 Yasso 800s goal pace 3:50
Friday 6/13: Bosu & Plyometrics
Saturday 6/14: 5 Miles Easy
Sunday 6/15: Basketball
Monday 6/16: Long Slow Distance 12 Miles, basketball??
Tuesday 6/17: Rest
Wednesday 6/18: Basketball & Bosu