Week 6 CPR Marathon Training - Lost in Translation - I thought she said 16KM!

There are nine weeks left until the Fargo Marathon and our mileage is starting to ramp up. I have to admit, this is starting to become a lot of work. Motivation is still there but it's not as amped up as when I started. Partly due to work and being a dad and the major part, is this weather. 2014 has been the worst winter that I can remember with it warming up a bit then freezing immediately after making the roads and footing very slick. At first I was taking all of the weather in stride using the adversity to mentally toughen myself up and I kept telling myself that I can only get stronger every time I'm out there running in these extremes. But now I'm finding this COLD...just that...cold. I only wear 1 baselayer, 1 cold weather technical long sleeve and my running jacket, so I'm not that cold, even except for those extreme -40 temps when I'll add another layer. But my achilles are my hands. I bought a pair of Saucony cold weather running gloves and they don't protect my hands even when I put on a synthetic underlayer, my poor hands still freeze even in -20C. So I've resorted to wearing leather garbage mitts that were a staple for all Canadian boys growing up playing street hockey in their youth.

First rest stop at Misercordia with Ron, Joshua, Osty and coach Dan lording over us with his ninja mask

Selfie...steam was coming off me

March 11, 2014

Run with Osty and Rob - sans clinic
It was my daughter Madeline's 14th birthday so I didn't run the clinic. Osty told me the workout was cancelled due to the horrible footing to be able to do the speed work so they ran the 5km loop around the park.

But during the day, I ran with Osty and Rob on our lunch break. Weather has been warming but today everything iced over. I didn't run with my spikes and I felt my quads go super tight even though I was mindful of getting that kinetic chain flowing. Felt super awful and tired going over the bridge back to the office.

March 13, 2014

Week 6 CPR Tempo
Nice and warm day and actually ran while the sun was just setting, turned out it was +7C. Of course with the very warm weather, came the melt and it was very wet in a lot of the areas Osty and I were running through, especially down Grant Ave. But regardless, even taking a pee break at the duck pond shelter and walking through major puddles, Osty and I managed to run a 10k in just under an hour. I didn't run in my trail shoes and instead took out my Brooks PureFlows to get my feet used to running in the shoes I plan to race in for this season.

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	57:48.0	10.01	5:47
1	5:42.5	1.00	5:43
2	5:35.2	1.00	5:35
3	5:31.8	1.00	5:32
4	5:33.6	1.00	5:34
5	6:57.7	1.00	6:58
6	5:40.6	1.00	5:41
7	5:52.8	1.00	5:53
8	5:32.8	1.00	5:33
9	5:45.6	1.00	5:46
10	5:23.5	1.00	5:23
11	:07.7	0.02	8:02

March 15, 2014

Week 6 CPR - LSD

Longest and farthest run this year for me. When I got to Misercordia Hospital, I was with Kathryn, one of the speedier runners and asked her how far she planned on going. She told me 16 miles and I think my brain went lost in translation mode thinking 16 kilometers. Osty and I kept up in pace with Kathryn as she's preparing to race the Boston Marathon.But holy crap, her running stride was smooth.

Well, Osty kept up the pace with Kathryn as I was concentrating on my form and that kinetic chain moving so I can at least stay within their range, I was very happy with my cadence as I was in the 178spm range so that proved to me my leg turnover was getting faster and more consistent. The only time I was completely gassed was when we arrived back into the park and we got to the bridge that would lead us back to CPR. Kathryn planned on running a loop around the park to make it 19-20miles, but I hit the wall and had no energy and I was really starting to get cold as the westerly wind was blowing a -34C windchill. Great training run even though I was completely frozen.

Week 5 CPR Marathon Training - Speedier, Stronger and Longer

One of the things I love about the clinic are these factoids that coach Dan includes in our training plans that he sends out before the start of our new training week. I've learned about the benefits of Merino wool, the importance of hydration pre, during and post workouts, a recipe for a tasty post-run snack and for this weeks tidbit was 15 Best foods for Runners. Which I find I'm not eating enough of...I'll have to start looking more into my diet and nutrition.

March 4, 2014

Week 5 CPR Intervals:
6 x 3 minutes - Run 3 minutes at 5k pace followed by 2 minute slow jog or a recovery walk.

I felt great going into this training. The weather was 'warmer' considering the deep freeze we've had since late November. The footing was hard pack snow with a lot of slippery patches, but I was still able to get in great splits below my 5k interval pace I set at 4:50 - 5:10 pace.

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	37:43.0	5.92	6:22
1	9:37.8	0.70	13:43
2	3:00.0	0.62	4:49
3	2:00.0	0.32	6:18
4	3:00.0	0.62	4:48
5	2:00.0	0.32	6:15
6	3:00.0	0.63	4:44
7	2:00.0	0.27	7:32
8	3:00.0	0.63	4:44
9	2:00.0	0.27	7:31
10	3:00.0	0.65	4:38
11	2:00.0	0.21	9:34
12	3:00.0	0.67	4:31
13	:08.0	0.02	8:06

March 6, 2014

Week 5 CPR Tempo

Seriously, WTF is up with this weather? It was actually a very nice evening of -5C, yeah you read that right but then it started to snow. And it wasn't your "Oh look at the snowflakes gracing us with their unique beauty..." But more like holy sh*t, it's coming down and the ground became all mushy and felt like running on sand and the drifts started to form because along with the snow, the wind decided to join in on the party and blow that wet snow everywhere we ran. My legs felt like lead, and with the sandy ground, it made footing very tough. Ran with Tyler the whole way through as Osty had hockey with his son. We just ran laps around the park as the footing was horrible.

March 8, 2014

Week 5 CPR LSD

I don't know why I was having a hard time running this morning. I slept well the night before and I was actually looking forward to running. But when I got out there, my legs were just not co-operating. I got as far as The Forks, with Osty and Tyler wanting to go a bit further, I went back with one of the groups and I kept up with them as far as the Wellington path and they started to pull away. I couldn't match them stride for stride but I made sure I didn't stop to walk. When I got back into Assiniboine park, my body was just exhausted and done but I managed to run right to the bridge and just walk myself back to the store. Not the best run, but I got in the mileage. Longest training run so far, with the exception of the Hypothermic half.

I'm wondering if this is that plateau period in a person's training. I mean, I'm trying to get faster, but my body is just not feeling it. I've kept up my calisthenics, but even my warm ups feel really 'hard.' It's like my body is rejecting my attempts to get to that next level. I don't feel stressed out, I could use a little better sleep regimen, but being a techie you sometimes have to do late night maintenance work which screws up your day and sleep patterns. Do I crank back my training pace or just fight through this?