Edinburgh Marathon Training Stats

2028 BST - I pulled down some statistics from my Edinburgh Marathon Training regimen:
Dates:                   11 Jan 2011 - 21 May 2011
Training Runs:     85
Total Distance:     672.04 miles
Calories Burned:  79,954
Avg Speed:          7.4 mph
Avg Heart Rate:   144 bpm (~70%)
Elevation Gain:    29,060 ft
That was a lot of work!!

I took about 2 weeks off after the marathon and didn't run at all. I then started running again doing 5 miles easy. I did that 4 times before beginning my training regimen for my next race. Initially I wasn't sure what I was going to do, but I needed something to work towards, otherwise I'd just get stagnant again. I had signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon in October back in Feb. After giving it quite a bit of thought, I decided I would rather run a race here in the UK. I can run the MCM anytime. And it's too big. 30,000 runners is way to crowded. Maybe a misconception, but I think it might be difficult running for time in a crowd that big.

I decided on the Chester Marathon 9 Oct 2011:  http://www.chestermarathon.co.uk. It's limited to 6500 runners so much smaller than the MCM. I think it will be more enjoyable. We're going to make a weekend of it again and do a little sightseeing. I'm also doing the Bristol Half Marathon 11 Sept. I started my new training regimen this week. It's tougher than my last one...and it needs to be to meet my goal time!

My goal for my next marathon is 3:15. I want to run a Boston Qualifying (BQ) time. Since I didn't get it at Edinburgh, I won't qualify for 2012; the cutoff is September sometime. They're changing the qualifying times for 2013, and for my age group that's 3:15. I may not actually run Boston, but I want to know I was good enough! My goal for the half marathon is 1:30, but that's completely secondary to my marathon goal and training. I just want to run it because it's the big race where I live.

I haven't decided how I'm going to chronicle my training from here on out. I do know it will not be daily updates on this blog...too much work. I upload my workouts and make some comments on daily mile which are then posted on facebook, if you are a facebook user. You can follow me here: http://www.dailymile.com/people/PatrickB8#ref=tophd. Daily mile is free. You can join and we can be "friends"! Of course I still use Garmin Connect. If you are interested in that let me know we can work something out i'm sure. Don't abandon the blog though! I will make periodic updates.

Post Marathon

I promised some photos. Click the link at the bottom. I'm taking a couple weeks off. I haven't run since the marathon and I have to admit it feels pretty good to take a break. I'm going to run another marathon in October, I just need to decide which one. I'm also planning on doing the Bristol Half Marathon on 11 Sept.

I am enjoying my time off...training for October starts soon. Will be working towards a 3:15 or better.

Edinburgh Marathon Festival Photo Slide Show

Edinburgh Marathon 22 May

The big day. It was indeed the experience of a lifetime. Not knowing really what to expect, it was everything I thought it would be with some unexpected surprises thrown in, both good and bad.

Overall the weekend was fantastic. Tanya, the kids, and I flew up to Edinburgh early Friday morning. We started out very early, leaving the house at 0430 for a 0630 flight! After dropping the luggage off at the hotel and contending with a lost shoe, we had lunch at a local pub and visited the Edinburgh Castle. Afterwards we walked around town a bit looking around and taking in some local color.

Saturday was Tanya's race. She ran her very first 5K. She came in under 40 minutes at 37:38. The kids & I cheered her on as she ran to the finish line. We were very proud of her. We celebrated her achievement with lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. We went back to the hotel early so I could get ready for my big day and get a good night's rest.

I was up early to make sure I had enough time to get everything done and get to the race in plenty of time. I  didn't leave myself enough time at my last race and it was a bit stressful, something I wanted to avoid. I had a little breakfast before leaving the hotel and I arrived at the start in plenty of time. I walked around a bit and sat down for a cup of coffee. After finishing the coffee I headed back to the start and stopped at some mall type place that was open to finish getting ready. It was cool, windy, and raining so it was nice to be able to finish getting ready inside. I turned in my shortly after 0900 and got in line for the toilet. I wanted to do everything I could not to have to stop during the race! I warmed up and stretched and went to the starting pen. The start was pretty organized I thought. Runners lined up in order of predicted finish so it wasn't too bad at the start...everybody around you would be running at about the same pace (theoretically).

I was very excited, anxious, and nervous in the minutes leading up to the start. Excited and anxious because it was my first time, I had prepared and trained well, and I was ready to go! Nervous because it was my first time and I didn't know what to expect. 26 miles over more than 3 hours...impossible to predict conditions 2 1/2 hours into it at mile 18 for example!

The gun went off pretty much on schedule and off I went on my first marathon adventure. I had 4 gels with me and no water. I studied the route previously and there were plenty of water stations. I also made sure I was hydrated prior to starting. Not something I did very well while training. Based on water station locations, I planned to eat the gels at miles 5, 11, 16, and 22. Based on previous training runs, I figured that was adequate.

I was overcome by excitement at the start so I had to remind myself not to start out too fast. I ran just like always had during my training (good advice from my trainer, Paul) and stuck to my planned intensity, 75-80%...since I was so well prepared, I knew that would have me finishing right when I wanted...unforeseen circumstances notwithstanding.

The first few miles went great. I got water at almost all the water stations, actually stopping at the planned intervals to eat the gels. I hadn't practiced "eating on the run" and I didn't want to do it for the first time during the race, although by the end I wished I had.... The gels are quite thick and I didn't want to gag, choke, or trip and fall because I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. I was pretty quick and although I didn't actually time the stops, I'm sure they were less than a minute each.

The weather was pretty good for running. about 10 degrees C at the start, windy (more on that later), partly cloudy with some intermittent showers and a few sunny spells. I wore my long sleeve shirt and during the course of the race I both wished I had worn my short sleeve shirt and was glad I wore long sleeves.  The course took us along the beach which was very nice. the view was fantastic. For most of the route there were cheering supporters along the way. The numbers varied from very few to hundreds along the route.

As I reached the halfway mark I was feeling great...better than I had at the same point during my long training runs. Starting at about mile 10 though I did have to pee. Not too bad, but the urge did get worse as the miles wore on. I debated whether or not to stop. I thought for a while that I could just wait until the finish. Worst case I could just "pull over" and go on the side of the road...several other runners did! When I stopped to eat at mile 16, I figured I'd better go. Unfortunately the toilets were all in use and I didn't wan to waste time waiting, so off I went. I'll stop later or just wait until the end.

At about mile 18 the course turned around to double back to the finish. Up to this point we had been running with the wind and it seemed to be getting worse as the race wore on. When we turned around, we were then going into the wind and it was pretty bad. 18-20 knots sustained, gusting higher. Ugh. Like I said though, I was feeling quite good and I had been running at about 85% for a couple miles and I figured I could sustain that level to help make up for the wind. Seemed to be a good strategy. My legs were starting to get sore, but it wasn't too bad...after all less than 8 miles to go! I did make an extra stop to use the toilet. I figured it was prudent to do so. with the wind and fatigue starting to set in, I didn't want to have to contend with having to pee.

The course took a little detour out of the wind but at about mile 20 we made another turn into the wind and were running directly into the wind the rest of the way. It was brutal. Starting to get sore and fatigued but only 6 miles to go. I'll run at 85% as long as I can. I stopped for my last get at mile 22. Fatigue and soreness was really starting to set in, but I was still in good spirits...only 4 miles to go...less than 30 minutes.

At mile 23 the unexpected happened. I got a horrible cramp in my left hamstring. It was very mild at first and I hoped it would pass...but it was not to be. It cramped up so bad I had to stop running and walk. The first thought I had was oh no, I'm not going to finish...I could hardly walk. I didn't know what to do. I was so close to the end!! Ugh! After a few seconds I had to stop walking it was so bad. I stretched it out and massaged it as best I could. That seemed to work...it stopped hurting and I was able to run again. But for how long? I hoped and prayed it would hold out for the remaining 3 miles! As I ran along I could feel little twinges of pain, but they were brief so I kept going. I wasn't sure how hard I could push it so I decided to run at 75-80% where I had trained. Better to finish with a decent time rather than have to walk the last couple miles or not finish at all because I pushed too hard. Even without the hamstring problem, my legs were pretty darn sore!

My hamstring held out and I was able to go the last 3 miles at my desired intensity. Those last three miles were really a struggle! When the finish line came into view I almost started crying! I almost couldn't believe I was going to finish! Crossing the finish line was exhilarating for sure. The sense of relief and accomplishment are almost indescribable. I have to say though...I was in alot of pain. My legs hurt so bad. It was a struggle to keep walking.

I walked through the finish area (unfortunately spectators weren't allowed at the finish area so Tanya & the kids were waiting at the reunion area) and picked up my medal, posed for a picture, picked up my goodie bag, t-shirt, water and banana, and finally my bag, which I dropped at the start. Somewhere along that line there was a girl passing out flyers for another marathon. I said no thanks.

I was overjoyed at finishing the marathon, but I was also in a lot of pain. my whole body hurt. My arms were cramping up a little but my legs hurt the worst. It certainly didn't help that I had to walk 1/4 mile or what ever it was to the reunion area. I certainly wasn't walking very fast! I made it though and I was very happy to see the kids and Tanya. I slowly made my way to the changing area. I was going to shower too but decided against it when I learned the water was cold. It was already cold enough outside with the wind and all. I had gotten a chill during the last rain shower during the race...the rain was cold and as I already mentioned, very windy. I really never warmed up again after that. After changing my clothes I had a beer and then we had to make our way back home.

Not really having a better plan we walked to find a taxi. We stopped and talked to a police officer who gave us directions. Traffic of course was terrible so we kept walking (ugh!) looking for a taxi. Not sure how far we walked, maybe a mile or so. We got lucky and found a taxi not already booked. The nice driver picked us up, took us by the hotel to pick up our luggage and then to the train station to pick up the airport bus. The rest of the journey home was pretty much uneventful except that our flight was late almost an hour because of the windy conditions (see I told you the wind was bad!). That and I was pretty  uncomfortable as my legs kept cramping up. Did I mention how sore my legs were?

It was good to get home and sleep in my own bed, but I was in bed 5 minutes and I got horrible cramps in both my thighs. I didn't think I would be able to sleep! I eventually fell asleep though.

So now for what everyone wants to know (if you haven't looked it up already)...My official time was 3:23:55. I beat my goal of 3:30! I was really hoping to run a qualifying time for Boston (3:20) but with the windy conditions and leg cramp I guess it wasn't to be. Maybe next time. I'm elated with my achievement...not bad for the first time I think.

My Garmin data is at the link below. The Garmin time is a little faster than the official because I stopped the timer 4 out the 6 times I stopped (4 gels, 1 pee, 1 cramp...left it running the last gel stop and the cramp stop). You can see the last split into the wind with the cramp I was almost a minute slower than the previous 5 miles. If I hadn't cramped up perhaps I'd be thinking of Boston! Oh well. Now I have something new to work on. In the mean time I am enjoying revelling in my first marathon success. Overall I finished 887 out of 9960 and 259 out of 1912 in my age group (over 40). Finishing in the top 10% overall isn't too shabby. I have included some photos. I'll post some more race photos when I get them.

Posing with Marshall after the race

Celebrating my new achievement

My legs are still pretty sore today (Monday) but at least I'm not experiencing anymore cramps. I'm already thinking about my next marathon....

Edinburgh Marathon

21 May

2103 BST - So it has been some time since I last posted. I have been very busy at work, at home, and training. Tomorrow is the big day. I've worked hard and prepared well so things should go fine. It is quite windy here this weekend and probably will be tomorrow. I hope it doesn't affect me too much! With any luck I'll be preparing for Boston next April! I'll post full race details on Monday.

03 May - Session 113

2015 BST - Tough outing today getting back into it after my LSD on Sunday. The program for today was a 6 mile fartlek. I did a 1.5 mile warm up followed by 3.5 miles of fartlek, then a cool down. I varied the bursts, from 45 to 90 sec. For some reason I felt very fatigued. Of course it didn't help that I really don't like these kinds of work outs (only two more interval days left...not that I'm counting). I did the best I could although I was really sucking on the last interval, which I did for two minutes. Overall a pretty good workout though.

My arm/shoulder (not sure exactly how to pinpoint or describe) still was pretty sore all day today, and it's pretty sore right now, although less than before. It was bothering me a little as I began my run, but the longer I ran, the less it bothered me. I wonder if it's sore from me clenching the muscles when I'm doing the interval training. I noticed I was doing that when I first started the program. The last two weeks have been pretty intense so maybe I've been doing something with my arm that I'm not realizing. We'll see how it goes. I probably will skip my SnC tomorrow so I can be ready for Friday.

Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 113

2 May - Session 111

1121 BST - I reached another milestone yesterday...21 miles. I liked running at the Downs so much that I went back for Sunday's LSD. Running around and around for 21 miles did get a little monotonous, but it was better in many ways than where I usually do my LSDs. The toilet came in handy too!

Overall my run was fantastic. My conditioning is right where in needs to be. I have commented on this many times before, but I am very surprised at how well this program has worked. I almost can't believe how fast I was yesterday. I have to admit though the last 2 or 3 miles were pretty tough and I could feel that I laboring more to maintain the same intensity. My legs were sore and I was really getting tired. And to think on race day I will have 5 more miles to go!! I have a good idea now though how it will be for me at the race. I do feel like I could have done the additional 5 miles without too much difficulty. I ate 3 gels along the way at 6, 12 and 18 miles. I would have eaten another one I think If I were to do the last 5 miles. I need to figure out how I am going to carry them. With my little set up have been using recently I can only carry 3.

Ironically, the body part the hurt the most when I was done (and still really hurts today) was my arm/shoulder. I have no idea what I did to it, but I can't even lift my arm above my head without pain. My legs were sore of course, but didn't hurt as much as my arm. They (legs)  are feeling much better today. My ankle is getting better too. It still bothers me a little, but it is definitely getting better.

The race is 3 weeks away. I have about a week of high intensity workouts left then the program starts to taper. My Wednesday runs have already been tapering the last couple of weeks. Next Sunday is my last LSD...a "dress rehearsal" for the race of sorts: 20 miles at marathon pace, 75-80%. I was at the low end of marathon pace yesterday so I have a pretty good idea how that feels over the long haul so there shouldn't be any surprises.

I'm resting today. It's a public holiday here in Britain. The family and I are going to check out a local carnival.


Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 111

30 April - Sessions 108 - 110

1945 BST - Thursday (session 108) was interval day. 12x90 seconds with 90 second recoveries. I wasn't able to use the track yet again. This time I had a partner, but the track was already booked and they were using all the lanes. Oh well. decided to run the loop around Axa again. I actually like it. It's more challenging than the track because it isn't flat. Since it's all on the same side of the road, traffic isn't too much of a concern. You just have to watch the two car park exits. At this time of day it was fine.

It was a little warm, but not as warm as last week so that was good. When I started off and did the first couple of intervals, I didn't think I quite had it. I felt like I was really struggling. I kept going though as best I could. On the first two or three laps my heart rate barely reached 90%. After that I reached >90% no problem and it wasn't coming down so fast...and I was getting fatigued. I did 6 intervals without walking. After that I walked a little bit after each interval to get my HR down. I still felt I wasn't doing that well.

When I reviewed the data I was pretty surprised when I saw I ran every fast split at less than 6 min/mile. The first thought I had was "who is this fast guy wearing my Garmin!" This is just amazing. I couldn't believe it. Needless to say I was more than pleased with my performance. I really never thought I would be doing this well. Well worth the frustration and effort.

Friday was my routine SnC day. 30 minute warm up in the pool followed by my standard TRX workout. And no I didn't go to the royal wedding nor did I receive an invitation. I watched it on TV like most of us common folk!

Saturday I ran another 3 mile aerobic test to see how I have been progressing. All 4 of us climbed in the car and we drove by our friends Tim and Heather's house. They live next to the Clifton Downs (I think that's what it's called)  which is a rather large park that is great for running. Tim is training for an upcoming 10K. He and Tanya ran together while I ran my test. They did quite well. It was good for both of them to run together...they helped each other in different ways. I ran my test...20 minute warm up @ 65% followed by the 3 miles @ 70% and a cool down at the end. I thoroughly enjoyed running at this park. I liked it so much I am going back tomorrow morning for my LSD. I ran 3 laps today and I figure 21 miles (tomorrow's session) is not quite 10 laps. I liked it so much the prospect of doing 10 laps doesn't bother me a bit. That's how nice it is. And they have a toilet :) I'm not sure if it will be open tomorrow morning, but even if it isn't there are a lot of secluded bushes!

Anyway, when I reviewed the data I was a little bit disappointed. My 70% pace was the same as 4 weeks ago ~7:40. I thought it might have been 5 or 10 seconds better. It was a little more difficult finding a "groove" this morning. The route around the park wasn't flat and the breeze was fairly brisk. It probably wouldn't have mattered though, which is ok. I did  however, make significant improvement at 65%...about 50 sec/mile. Wow. I'm not sure what access you have when looking at my garmin data (if you even look :) ) but if you go to activities you can tick the little boxes on the left hand side and compare activities at the top. It's pretty neat feature and you can easily see my progress. Just in case you don't want to do that, I included the link to my last test (Session 82)

Thursday's Intervals:
Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 108
Saturday's 3 mile aerobic test:
Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 110
3 mile test 4 weeks ago:
Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 82

27 April - Session 107

2034 BST - Good run this morning...8 miles @ 70%. My conditioning has improved quite a bit. On 28 Dec 2010 I ran about the same distance at a 7:44 pace. My average HR was 162 bpm. Wow. I didn't make it to the gym today for my Wed SnC. Picked up my car from the shop and didn't get home until 1700. That really wasn't too late but I didn't want to cut into family dinner time and I also had some work to do afterwards! The time difference between here and Washington DC sometimes requires that I work in the evenings.

Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 107

26 April - Session 106

1943 BST - Another dreaded interval workout today...this time hills. 12x30 sec repeats uphill. Ugh. I definitely like the track better! Weather was ok. Not too warm yet, but the wind picked up about half way through the repeats and I was running into the wind going uphill. Officially the wind was about 10 kts at the Filton observation station a few miles away. I'm sure it was more than that here in Frampton.

I started walking down the hill after 6 repeats to get my HR down. I think I walked part way down on 4 of the last 6 repeats. I walked a little ways after the last one too. I ran the repeats as hard as I could and I think I had a good workout. I am expecting sore glutes tomorrow.

A friend of mine gave me a hard time for only trying out the camelbak for 30 seconds. Accused me of having some sort of mental issue! Maybe so, but I really didn't like how it felt and I think it would have drove me crazy after a mile or two. I am certain it would have. I think he's the one with the mental issue. He's visiting the UK in June and has signed up for the "Hardest Marathon in Britain" Check it out here: 2011 Picnic Marathon. Funny they call it The Picnic. I gave some serious thought to entering myself...can't really back down from a challenge now can I? I ultimately decided against it. With all the problems with my lower legs I have been having recently, my first priority after my race is to figure out why and fix myself. Also, I haven't done any trail running to speak of and I didn't want "The  Picnic" to be my first go at it. All that considered I thought it best not to enter. Maybe 2013.

Anyway, Garmin data from today below.

Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 106

25 April - Sessions 103-105

2040 BST - Four weeks to go and the training has been going great. Short, easy run on Saturday. I tried out the camelbak and I made it about 30 seconds before I turned around to drop it off back home. I didn't like how it felt, weighed, moved and sloshed around. I guess I'll have to use the aid stations and perhaps carry some gels along with me on the race. No problem. I'll just have to do some prior planning.

Sunday was fantastic. The weather was perfect for running...10 deg and a little bit of wind, 13 kts. The sunrise was nice and it got cloudy about half way through so it stayed cool. I took along my water bottle which turned out to be enough water this time and 2 gels. I ate one gel before leaving, one at 6 miles and the third at 12 miles. I used the toilet before I left too so that wasn't a problem this time :) All the conditions were right and I had a great run. Overall I averaged just about 7:30 min/mi. I figure if I would have kept going and ran another 8 miles (for a total of 26.2!) I could have finished around 3:15. My legs were sore, but overall I felt pretty good when I was done. We'll see how the next 2 LSDs go, but I'm feeling pretty good about the race right now. Neither my calves nor my ankle bothered me much. I finally feel like my ankle might be getting better. We'll see.

I rested today. I had been looking forward to today for a while too: No session, no work (bank holiday - day off), and Marshall didn't have school. It was wonderful to sleep in and then get up and have a morning with no schedule. This afternoon I put together our new BBQ and we grilled brats for dinner. Been quite a while now since we grilled out and the brats were pretty tasty.

Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 103
Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 104

22 Apr - Sessions 101-102

1658 BST - Interval training yesterday. Program called for 18x200m (or 45 sec) with 200m (or 60 sec) recoveries. AS I mentioned in my last blog I trained in the afternoon to help prepare for warmer temps on race day. According to weather.com, average high in Edinburgh on that day is 14 deg C. Of course it could be cooler, but it could also be warmer...and that's what I want to be prepared for. For the most part so far I have been training in much cooler weather.

Anyway, I stopped by the track to see if I could run there but I was turned away because I was by myself. Can't use the track alone due to health and safety regulations. Here's a bit of irony...During my warm up while running out to where I was going to run the intervals, I was almost run over by a car! Admittedly completely my fault, (they could have yielded though) but that wouldn't have happened on the track! Seems to me the track is the safer alternative to dealing with the traffic! Once I crossed that particular road though traffic wasn't too much of a concern. There weren't any busy roads to cross which is why I chose that particular location and route.

As usual I had trouble doing the miles-to-meters conversion (which is one reason I wanted to run on the track!) and I figured 200m = 1/4 mile. Off I went. After the third interval I noticed my split time was 1:22 or something like that which seemed a bit long and got me thinking...maybe I miscalculated. After thinking about it during the next interval, I was sure I was running 400m! I remembered that 1 lap around the track is 400m so 4 laps is 1600m which is 1 mile (close enough anyway) so 1 lap is 1/4 mile which is 400m! AFter only 4 intervals I was at more than 3 1/2 miles and I was starting to doubt whether I could do 14 more 1/4 mile intervals. It's not so easy to measure 1/8 mile on the Garmin so I switched to 45 sec intervals with 60 sec recoveries.

In all I did 4 400m intervals and 14 45 sec timed (approx 200m) intervals. Pretty good considering it was so warm (23 deg C). About halfway through I started walking a bit during the recoveries to help get my HR down. Overall I thought it was a good workout and I felt pretty good when it was over. I reached maximum  HR (180 bpm) on the final interval, which I stretched out to 60 sec for good measure.

Today I did some solo SnC work after swimming for 30 min.

Easy 4 miles tomorrow. I'm going to wear my camelbak and see how that goes. I probably should be drinking more water on my long runs (especially since it's getting warmer). Twice I emptied my little water bottle before finishing. I don't like to wear anything while running, but I'll "test run" the camelbak tomorrow. Since it's a short distance, if I find it bothersome, it will only be for a short while. If it isn't too bad, I'll wear it Sunday on my LSD. If that works out ok, then I'll consider wearing it for the race, so I won't be dependent on the aid stations.

Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 101

20 Apr - Session 100

2104 BST - Wow...my 100th training session today. Been doing this for over three months! I'm not really getting tired of it, but I am ready to get on with the race. My body is starting to really feel the effects of the program, both good and bad!

9 miles @ 65% today. Pace was pretty good. My conditioning and fitness has really improved...that's the good. Between my ankle on on leg and my calf on the other, both my lower legs are bothering me a bit. Ankle is better after 2 day res earlier in the week, but not better completely. Neither problem really bothers me while running, but I do feel the effects afterward.

Tomorrow is a killer interval workout...18x200m! I'm going to workout in the afternoon too. The forecast is for 22 deg C. Quite warm for this type of workout, especially considering I'm not really accustomed to running in warmer temps. Which is exactly why I am doing it. Having spent the last 3 months running in the cold, and even now it is still cool in the morning (was a little chilly this morning...I was cold) I am certainly not used to warmer temps. I need to practice in warmer weather though because it could be warm in Edinburgh on race day and I want to be prepared for any weather condition. There is a big difference between 8 and 16 deg believe it or not. Particularly if it is sunny. I'm also going to try to get on the track. We'll see how that goes.


Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 100

19 April - Sessions 96-99

2041 BST - Busy weekend. I started out with an easy 4 miles on Saturday. Unremarkable. Afterwards I took the family up to RAF Lakenheath and Mildenhall, two of the larger US Air Force Bases here in the UK. They're practically collocated about 200 miles from Bristol. We had a nice time. Of course I ate way too much...Taco Bell, Cinnabon (yummy),  prime rib dinner, big breakfast, more Cinnabon and snacks on the way home. I finished off the weekend with dinner at one of our favorite pubs. The weather was beautiful all weekend.

The worst part about the weekend is I skipped my LSD on Sunday. I was supposed to run 20 miles but when the alarm went off Sunday morning, I just didn't feel like it. I was very tired from not sleeping well on the pull out couch, which was not comfortable at all...the floor would have been better! I didn't have much of an opportunity to scope out a route. Normally it isn't a big deal but since I was running a long way, I wanted to have some idea where I was going. This was a rural area and some of the roads didn't have sidewalks. Plus you can exit the base where we were staying fairly close to the lodging facility, but you can enter there. I really didn't want to be running around aimlessly unsure of where I was going. Even so, I almost got up to run. What kept me in bed was my ankle. I thought it might be getting better, but it really hasn't. It was actually bothering me quite a bit on Friday and some also on Saturday, although not so much when I'm running. It's weird actually. I figured since I was tired anyway giving my ankle two days rest would be good. Perhaps by Tuesday it would be better. Besides, it would have taken close to 3 hours to run the 20 miles. I wanted make sure we were all packed up and ready to go so we could get to breakfast  when they opened at 1000. I wanted to do what we needed to do so we could get home at a decent hour, which fortunately we did. I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. I was glad I rested the extra day, but at the same time I feel like I missed out on some important race preparation. 26 miles is a long way and I want to make sure I'm up to the task.

After resting again Monday, I was back to training Tuesday. I did 6 miles: warm up, 11x1 min repeats, with a cool down at the end. I was warm and sunny this morning. Well, 16 deg (Celsius) but it felt warmer with the sun blazing down. It was actually nice. I ran the repeats as hard as I could and reached 176 bpm on some of them. The first two are always the easiest and then I start to fatigue. The last few were pretty tough, some being uphill. I put forth maximum effort though. As much as I dislike these kinds of workouts, I know it's what makes me faster and it really works!! I started out doing 1 min slow, 1 min recovery, but after 3 or 4 repeats, I had to increase the recovery time. I alternated between 1:30, 2:00, and 1:00 depending on how I felt. After some of the repeats I walked a little to get my HR down. After 4 repeats with only a minute recovery, it wasn't going down fast enough.

So overall the workout was good, but it didn't finish off so well. Towards the end I was crapped on by a bird. At first I thought it was a bee or something that ran into me but it didn't take me too long to realize that wasn't the case. I didn't get hit too bad, just some on my shoulder (coulda been worse) but I was angry nonetheless. What are the odds? It gets better from there...when returned to the locker room and got in the shower, I was mortified when I discovered there was no hot water. Maybe not such a bad thing as I was hot from running out in the sun, but the water wasn't lukewarm or even cool. It was ICE COLD. I was angry yet again...why was there no hot water?? This isn't rocket science! I wasn't sure what to do. I guess I could have went somewhere else, but then I would have had to get dressed and carry all my stuff to another shower, with no guarantee of hot water. I guess I could have not showered but then I would have been sweaty and stinky and I really didn't want to put my uniform back on like that. I didn't see that I had any alternative than to brave the cold water. It was miserable. I got clean though! I'd like to say it ended up being refreshing but that is an understatement.

Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 96
Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 99

15 April - Sessions 92-95

2045 BST - Lazy again I guess...not really. Been pretty busy this week. Training has been continuing well though. After resting Monday I went out Tuesday for some hill running. Getting this deep into my program  the speed workouts are pretty challenging. This was 12 x 30 sec up hill. I wanted something tougher than the hill I usually run, so I picked a new hill. It's pretty short, but steep...8.4% grade. Steep for me anyway. I don't think I reached my 90% target heart rate on any of the reps because of the short distance. I ran as hard as I could but didn't quite get there. I walked down 3 or 4 times towards the end to get my HR back down. Even though I quite get up to my target HR, I still had a good work out. My glutes were sore for 2 days afterwards!

Ten miles @ 70% was on tap for Wed. It was tough getting going because my glutes were so sore from the hill workout! It was a good workout. 7:31 min/mile avg pace over the run at 142 bpm. My fitness really has improved over the past 3 months. Before I started the same pace would have been probably 160-165 bpm. Thinking back, I'm not sure I could have sustained it for 10 miles. I had been running 10 miles at about a 7:50 pace.

Another speed workout for Thursday. 5 x 1 mile repeats. Tough! I would have preferred to do it on the track, but I was travelling to London for a conference, so I had to get up early and just run near the house instead. It was tougher because the course wasn't flat like the track. I didn't sleep well the night before (in part because I was dreading the workout!) so I was tired...not to mention it was 0400! Like Tuesday I didn't quite achieve my target HR, this time 88%. My max for each mile was >88%, but average for each was a few bpm less. Still, I worked hard. There were some mitigating factors, fatigue, hills, and as I was saying before I have to run pretty fast now (< 6 min pace) to reach that intensity.

No running today (Friday) only SnC with Paul. I warm up in the pool swimming laps for about 30 min too. As always, another tough session.

Easy run tomorrow and the family and I are taking a little weekend road trip to Mildenhall. Should be interesting running my LSD on Sunday. 20 miles in a place I'm not familiar with! Will be fun though. I like exploring!

Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 92
Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 93
Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 94

10 April - Sessions 87-90

1309 BST - I have been lazy the last few days, at least as far as the blog goes. Sorry. The last few days my training has gone really well. Read on!

Thursday afternoon I went to the track with my trainer Paul for interval training. The weather has been particularly nice here recently. Officially it was 19 degrees (Celsius). It was sunny, not a cloud in the sky and it felt much warmer. Arizona weather! I was concerned that my performance would suffer a bit as I'm not used to running in warmer conditions. Since I started training for the marathon, most of my sessions have been in less than 10 degrees. I had a few sessions in the mid teens while in California, but this was the warmest day yet.

I certainly sweat a lot more and it was more challenging running in the warm sunshine, but I think my performance was pretty good. 7x800m was pretty tough. About half way through I considered switching to 400m intervals, but decided against it. I was determined to stick with the plan. Anything less would be admitting defeat! Max HR was good. 177 on the last interval. My calf was pretty good too. Paul gave it a quick massage before hand and it seemed to help. In fact, I haven't really had any trouble with it since. Hopefully that problem is past and opening now. My ankle on the other hand, was a different story. It had been aching quite a bit. Seemed to hurt the least while I am actually running (which is why I haven't slowed down or stopped), but it was pretty sore afterwards and has been throughout the day over the past few days. Anyway, it was a great workout, but I was glad when it was over!

Friday is a day off running, SnC only. I had an afternoon session with Paul. First one in about 4 weeks. I warmed up in the pool and then worked my ass off in the gym. It was good though. I worked hard on my own the last 4 weeks, but I work harder (as most of us probably do) when I'm with someone else. It's too easy to cheat a little when I'm by myself and I start to get tired!

Recovery run on Saturday...pretty much unremarkable except that my pace is improving. ~8 min/mile @ 65% HR intensity. Wow!

LSD on Sunday (today)... 15 miles @ 75%. I was a bit concerned at the start because I didn't feel well when I got up this morning. My stomach was very unsettled. I decided to go anyway because if I didn't go first thing, than I wouldn't have went at all. Besides, if it was race day, I would have run without a second though. When I started running I was sure today would be an off day because I felt I was laboring more than usual. It was a struggle to maintain this intensity. I didn't worry about it though and focused on running. I again carried along my water bottle and a gel to eat about half way through. The longer I ran, the better I felt. My stomach troubles came and went in waves. I eventually had to make a pit stop. I thought I might be able to make it home, but I didn't want to find out because if I couldn't it would have been absolutely miserable and today would have been a wash for sure.

After the pit stop, I felt better, but my stomach was still giving me fits. Then I got a bad cramp, or some kind of pain on my left side at about mile 10. I pushed through and it eventually subsided (thankfully) after about a mile or so. I also had to stop and tie my shoe. Ugh! Not a big deal I suppose, but it was just one more nuisance today! My hands were also cold most of the way...especially my right hand, in which I was carrying my water bottle which I filled with cold water from the fridge (lesson learned for next time!) The last couple of miles I just wanted the run to be over! I kept going though...it really wasn't that bad, but I was getting tired and I was a little bit annoyed. For some reason too my ipod stopped shuffling which irked me a bit.

Anyway, the water and the gel was a good idea. The water was almost gone by the time I finished and I ate the gel about half way through the run. When I downloaded the data from the Garmin and review it I sure was surprised. I couldn't believe my times. Not only did I run at ~7 min/mile pace, but I ran a negative split too. I thought for sure I was around 8 minutes. It really made my day. The training program is really working. Seems like magic to me. I never would have believed it back in January.

My ankle seems to be getting better. Yesterday and today it didn't really bother me at all while running and it also has not been as sore either. Definitely a good thing.

So whenever it was about a week ago or so that I was having so many problems with my HR monitor, I cleaned the little metal connections with some rubbing alcohol and that seemed to do the trick. No problems since, which sort of makes sense as I didn't have any problems when I first got it. I did order a new one, the one piece type so I have it as a backup if I have more problems with the soft one and can't resolve them.

Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 87
Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 89
Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 90

06 April - Sessions 85 & 86

2011 BST - Feeling tired tonight and not much like writing a blog. Sorry! But I wanted to get this update in  so as not to fall too far behind. Good couple of days running...you can look at the links. I continue to be pleased with my progress. Almost seems unreal. I'm starting to nagging aches though, which do concern me a little. I've been writing for a couple weeks now about my left calf. It hasn't bothered me so much over the last few days, but it still feels strange (for lack of a better word to describe it) from time to time when I'm running.

Over the last few days by right ankle has really started to bother me. Much like my calf, not enough to keep me from running. In fact that's when it seems to bother me the least - when I'm running. Not sure what to do about it. Maybe I'll try icing it form time to time. Don't bother leaving comments suggesting I stop running...I'm not going to do that!

Going to the track tomorrow for a good speed workout. Looking forward to it. Haven't been to the track in a while and Paul is coming along. It's fun to work out with someone else.

Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 85
Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 86

04 April - Session 83&84

2022 BST -  On LSD Sunday I did 20 miles at 65-70%. Second time at this distance. This time I took along a water bottle and some energy gels. The water bottle has a strap that you stick your hand into so you can easily carry it. I wasn't too keen on it because I don't like carrying things. I'm not too keen on wearing a  canteen belt or anything either though. At least I wouldn't have to stop to drink from the hand carried one. Plus I already had it and didn't have to buy anything new, although I did look for something different at a couple stores. I tucked a couple energy gels into the little pocket on the hand strap.

Seemed to work out ok...I drank all the water and wished I had a little bit more. It wasn't as bad carrying the thing as I thought it would be. I took along 2 gels and ate one at about the 9 mile mark. I would have eaten the second one at about 15 miles (was getting tired!) but I didn't have much water left and wasn't sure there was enough to wash the pasty gel down! I ate about 3/4 of an energy bar I bought before I started. It tasted kind of yucky so I didn't finish it.

The energy bar, gel, and water must have helped because I had a great run. I finished about 10 minutes faster than a couple weeks ago when I did 20 miles the first time. The last 5 miles were just about as fast as the first, and even though I was getting tired, I wasn't as tired as the last time and I wasn't working as hard either. Much easier to maintain pace at the desired intensity. The prescribed intensity was 65-70%. I did want to see how fast I could do the run in so I kept my HR closer to 70%. I think I averaged 139 bpm which is just about midway between.

Like usual when I started out I was concerned about needing a toilet at some point...to be blunt about it! I wasn't sure what I was going to do if it happened...I figured I could find a good place in the bushes as there aren't many toilets around here. There is one in Chipping Sodbury about 6 miles or so into my route. I always figured it'd be closed early in the morning but the last time I ran past the lights were on. This time I figured I'd stop quick and see if it was indeed open. Didn't matter this time though as it's now under construction. Anyway, I did have the urge to go, but it wasn't bad. I kept going and eventually I got to the point where I couldn't wait any longer. I was lucky and happened across a hotel. Not quite like you find in the city. This was a country hotel. I was concerned that the main area wouldn't be open, but I was even luckier when there was a man standing inside by the door and let me in. Crisis averted thank goodness!

SO over all it was a great run. The weather was beautiful...the temp was about right and it was sunny. The sunrise was nice. Being early in a Sunday there wasn't much traffic to speak of so it was quiet. I enjoy that too. Not to mention it's safer too.

I'm pretty excited about my performance and what I could potentially do in a few weeks time at my first marathon.

I rested today which was good because my legs were still a little sore from the weekend.

Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 83

04 April - Session 82

2009 BST - Good weekend of training. On Saturday I ran a 3 mile aerobic test: 20 min warm up followed by 3 miles @ 70%. I ran a similar test back in January when I embarked on this endeavour. Time to see how the training is really going. I was surprised at the results and even more surprised at the comparison. Saturday I ran the test at a 7:41 pace...pretty good I thought. The training is working. When I compared to the test I ran in Jan, I was shocked. In Jan I ran the test at an 8:28 pace at a higher intensity - 75%. Somewhat of an apple to oranges comparison perhaps, but the bottom line is Saturday I ran 47 sec/mile faster at a lower intensity. Pretty amazing I think.

I included the link to the January test if you want to have a look yourself. To see the data from Saturday, you have to view the splits.


Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 82
3 Mile @ 75% HR Test Jan 2011

31 Mar - Session 80

1934 BST - Speed work today. I was originally going to get up early and train, but I didn't feel like getting up when the alarm went off. I decided on the spot to run before lunch. One of the nice things about my job is that it is flexible enough such that I can train during the day, and since it is a requirement anyway, it worked out nicely!

Today's program called for 10 90 sec bursts @ +90% with 90 sec recoveries. Admittedly I was dreading it a little bit. It should be no secret that I don't like these interval workouts! One reason is 90 seconds isn't very long for recovery when you are running just about as hard as you can. I felt pretty good after the fist couple of splits. The second one was even a bit longer at 120 sec because I lost track of the time. It was very windy today...26 knots sustained, gusts higher. Splits 14, 16, and 18 (intervals 7, 8, & 9) were double whammies because they were uphill AND into the wind. Add that to the fact I was getting fatigued and you have the trifecta! Ugh! Admittedly it was a bit discouraging, but I kept myself motivated and put fort maximum effort. I think I did pretty good. I felt like it was a pretty good workout. My calf hasn't been hurting the last couple of days and didn't bother me today during the run. I expected it to ache afterwards but it didn't. Maybe it's getting better.

One thing I was NOT happy about was my HR monitor. It's pretty safe to say now I hate the thing and it's the worst piece of kit I have ever purchased. I can't wait until the new one arrives. While I was watching it go screwy during my run I was imagining smashing it to bits with a hammer. I have calmed down now so I probably won't. There has to be some kind of problem. It worked so well for so long and just recently started to malfunction. It doesn't make sense. I was looking at it closely and because of the two piece design, with the electrodes and transmitter thingy being separate (new one is one piece), there are two connections that might be dirty, which could interfere with the operation. I'm going to try to clean them up as best I can and we'll see if that helps. Would be nice if it did, it is more comfortable than the more rigid integrated one I used to use (and will again when it arrives!)

No running tomorrow. SnC only.

Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 80

30 March - Session 79

1953 BST - 8 miles this morning at 70% with 2 miles at 85% in the middle. The training is really working. I'm pleased with my progress. 70% intensity in less than 8 min/mile with 7 weeks to go! One thing I am not please with is my HR monitor. I had alot of problems with with it today. it was so bad I had difficulty training at the right intensity. I've had enough. I ordered a new one (different kind) as soon as I got back this morning. Should be here by the end of the week.

The monitor I'm using now is a replacement for the original one that came with the Garmin. I gooned it up when I changed the battery and ever since it chafed me pretty bad. For over a year I had perpetual sores on my chest where it was rubbing. I replaced it with a soft strap type. Much more comfortable but apparently less reliable. I thought I had solved the problem when I started using the gel, but eventually that stopped working too. The original one is more rigid and a little less comfortable (but really not bad) but it was bullet proof. I never had any problems with it. After so many problems with the soft strap type, I decided to go back to what works. Hopefully I won't be disappointed. I was really upset this morning. I can't properly train if I don't have reliable equipment. Nobody can!


Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 79

29 March - Session 78

2036 BST - Interval training today. I got up early and trained before work. Glad I did. I always enjoy early morning work outs. The intervals went pretty good. Last two we a little slower than the previous, but I do get tired toward the end. The HR monitor was giving me fits too, on the last split. I'm not sure what to do about it...it has really got me frustrated.


Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 78

28 March - Sessions 70-76

1940 BST - Long time no write! It has been a busy week! I had a good week in DC at the Navy Yard. Hopefully I was able to drum up some business. I took a stack of about 30 or so business cards and I gave them all away. We'll see what happens.

So Sunday last I did the 20 miler. I wasn't sore at all the following day. I was glad it was a rest day, but I was surprised I wasn't sore. Good news! Back to training on Tuesday. Not much to say about it really, you can look at the Garmin data, links below. Same goes for Wednesday. Tuesday was an easy day, 6 miles @ 65%. Wednesday was quicker 7 miles at 75%. I was up at 0400 both days so I could get my training in and be at the Navy Yard by 0730. I skipped Thursday's interval workout. My week had been pretty busy up to that point, up early (0400 the pervious 2 days!) gone all day and not back at the hotel until 1800 or later. By the time Wednesday evening rolled around, I did not feel like getting up at 0400 again. I figured I could just go when I was done working, even if it was late afternoon/early evening...except I forgot I had made arrangements to go over to a friends house for dinner. I decided that skipping it all together wasn't all bad. after 2 1/2 weeks of this trip, I was pretty tired. And, up to that point I had done a pretty good job sticking to my program. An extra day of rest would be good. I then figured I could do the interval workout on Friday in place of my SnC workout. I had a good SnC session on Wed.

I didn't do a good job of keeping track of time while at my friend's house. I had a good time talking and before I knew it it was 0030! I didn't get back to the hotel and into bed until after 0100. Needless to say I didn't get up to go running. That was ok too as I knew I'd have a long day traveling home and all. My flight left DC at 1700 with a connection in Newark to Heathrow for a 0630 (GMT) arrival. My flight was 3 hours late getting into Newark and I ended up on the 2305 flight to Heathrow arriving at 1015. By the time I got through immigration, baggage claim, etc it was almost 1200. I arrived at home just before 1400. I was pretty wiped out. It was a long journey home after a busy three weeks in the US on both coasts. I had taken 3 extra days off, but I figured that I probably needed it all things considered. It also gave my calf a few extra days rest. That pesky calf is still bothering me.

So my final session of the week was a half marathon at 85%. I was still pretty tired from the trip, but I needed to get back on the wagon! Overall I suppose it was a good run, but I felt it was a less than stellar performance. Even though I was tired, I felt pretty good the first 6 miles or so. I started to get very tired around mile 10 and my stupid calf started bothering me too. When it starts to ache I always wonder if the next step I take will derail my training with a pulled muscle or worse. That didn't happen and it seemed to not be too bad. Usually on runs like this I do two splits: the first and last half. So I could better review my performance, I did another split when I felt myself getting very tired around mile 10. If you look at the data you'll see a significant drop in performance those last 3 miles. That is a trend I have notice the last 3 sessions. If you look at my other runs from earlier in the week, you'll see the second split was much slower than the first. I'm not sure what is going on, but it has me a little concerned. Good thing I still have 9 weeks to go.

It is good to be home. I missed Tanya and the kids and I was very happy to see them. We had a very nice weekend. Interval training tomorrow. I haven't decided if I will get up early or train at lunch time.

Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 71
Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 72
Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 76

20 March - Sessions 66-69

1930 EDT - Washington DC...only 1 week left on this trip. I am looking forward to returning home. I really miss Tanya and the kids. My training has been going pretty good, all things considered. It has been tougher than I anticipated to maintain a good training regimen while on this trip. I have been more tired than usual and I feel like I haven't been working out with the same intensity and effort as I normally would. I have also been eating and drinking more than I normally would  as well. Ugh! Anyway, I have stuck to the program and I continue to be please with the results. Hard to believe I have been doing this for 10 weeks already. 2 months to go!

I was up early (0500) Thursday morning to do my training. Ran to the base track and did 4 x 1 mile repeats with 2 minute recoveries. 2 minutes ended up being less than 400m but I wanted to stick to the 2 min time. They were cooking bacon the the chow hall which was very distracting! This was a pretty tough workout but I pushed as hard as I could. You can look at the data, I think it was a good workout.

Friday was my dedicated SnC day. I learned that in the "Bee Fit" center there is a TRX (Bee is short for Seabee...this is a big Seabee base...get it??!! :) ). I was pretty excited. I didn't know that last Friday. Both my SnC routines use the TRX a lot and I enjoy it so I was looking forward to using it. I did my warm up and non-TRX exercises in the gym and walked across to the Bee Fit center. They were closed. They close at 1300 on Fridays. I guess you can Bee Fit anytime you want as long as it isn't on Friday afternoon. I walked back over to the gym and did several non TRX exercises.

Saturday was my travel day to DC. I was up early to get my short (4 mi) run in. I almost didn't go because I was up late washing clothes. I'm glad I decided to go because as you can imagine I spent most of the day sitting down!

I reached another personal running milestone today...20 miles. I got a decent night's sleep and was up about 0600. I left about 0645. I would have left earlier, but I didn't want to wear my headlamp so I wanted to minimize running in the dark. I couldn't have picked a better morning nor a better place to do this LSD. It was a cold clear morning. Much colder than sunny Southern California! The sun was coming up over the city as I was running along the Potomac River. What a treat. Of course I ran across the river and around the National Mall. I was listening to music on the iPod shuffle (on shuffle mode) and as I came across the bridge behind the Lincoln Memorial "Born in the USA" came. Corny, but absolutely true!! As I was running around the mall past all the monuments I was thinking about how much I am looking forward to teaching my children what it means to be an American. Zetta of course has never lived here in her short life. It will be a while before she is old enough to understand. We will probably have moved back to the US by then. Marshall hasn't lived here since he was 18 months and doesn't remember it. He is aware though that he is from America. We talk about it often though and we read some patriotic books from time to time. I bought some more books and other Americana today. It was fun shopping for that stuff and I'm sure the kids will like it.

Overall I felt pretty good on this run. I did it too without carrying any water (good thing it was cold) or energy source (gel, etc). Probably not a wise choice, but I didn't bring my water bottle along. I didn't bring any gels along because the guy at Road Runner Sports recommend to eat them with water. I ate one before I left and he was right! Water is essential when eating these things. The are very gooey and sweet!. I probably would have been sick and very thirsty had I eaten one along the way without water. My legs started getting pretty sore about mile 12. Unusual for me since I don't usually have problems on the half. Even so, it didn't really bother me until after mile 15. My legs were pretty sore those last 5 miles...not enough to stop though! Overall I was pretty pleased with my performance. I was disappointed  with my pace on the last 5 miles...about 50 sec slower than the first 15. I'm not sure why that happened. Maybe it was because my legs were so sore, but I'm not sure. I could have run faster, but I wanted to keep my HR down at the required intensity (136 bpm) Weird I thought. Nonetheless I was very happy with how things went today. I am confident now that if I stay injury free, I can finish the marathon under 4 hours. I am looking to do much better than that, of course.

I was also happy that I didn't have the urgent need to use the toilet, like has happened previously! Frankly, I thought that would happen. When I left I wasn't overly concerned because there are some porta-potties in the park just north of National Airport ( I have run here before) and I knew there were some public toilets on the mall. As it turned out though, I didn't need them. I did wish I stopped to pee at the aforementioned porta-potties on the way back though.

My HR monitor has been working pretty good since I stopped using the rogue gel I bought at the pharmacy in Bristol. A few spikes here and there, but nothing like before. I think the spikes will go away completely when I get some better gel.

Well that's about it for now. Did you make it down this far? I pontificated a little bit, but this wouldn't be nearly as interesting (for me or for you) if it was all business! Tomorrow is a much needed rest day!

Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 66
Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 68
Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 69

16 March - Sessions 64 & 65

2107 PST - Yesterday was an interval day. I ran in the afternoon after school. The weather was beautiful but it was a warmer (17 deg C) than I have been used to. The prescribed workout was 6 miles, run to a hill and 11 x 30 sec @ 90%, or fartlek 12-15 30 sec bursts @ 90%. Since there are not hills here in Pt Hueneme, CA,  I did the latter, 14 30 sec bursts. I wasn't sure about the recovery time. Mostly I did 30 sec recoveries but this was a pretty tough workout (and it was warm) so 3 or 4 times I did a minute recovery. Once I did 1:30 to avoid a dangerous situation. All in all a good workout I think. I continue to be surprised and amazed at my performance...on average about 5 min/mile pace on the short bursts.

If you look at the garmin data you'll see I had problems with the HR monitor. Second run in a row. I had problems Sunday too. I'm pretty sure it's the gel I have been using. I bought some at a local pharmacy in Bristol and it isn't the same as I have been using and I think it isn't allowing a good "connection". I managed to rub it all off while I was running an it seemed to be fine.

An easy 6 miles for Wednesday. I was pleasantly surprised at my pace. Quicker than I thought. I didn't use the gel and went for the saliva method instead. No problems with the HR monitor today. I'm pretty certain it is the gel. I'll guess I'll continue to use the saliva method and order some more gel when I get home. DOes anyone know where I can buy some?

My calves haven't bothered me too much the last couple of days. Just a little sore on the runs, but not too bad. Perhaps they're getting better.

As part of the class we did a little TRX workout today, so I counted that as my SnC. I'll hit the SnC hard on Friday. We'll be done early so I will have plenty of time!

More intervals tomorrow...4 mile repeats...ugh! I'll have to get up early because I won't have time after class.

Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 64
Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 65

15 March - Session 62

1835 PDT - I visited my parents in Tempe this past weekend and did my LSD as scheduled Sunday morning. I was a bit concerned how it would go because my calves have been bothering me so much this past week. Also at 17 miles, it was the furthest I have ever run!

Turned out it was a great run. My calves didn't bother me too much and the distance wasn't as overwhelming as I thought. It was a bit warmer than I had anticipated, but it didn't bother me until the very end.

Even though my training has been going well up to this point, there has always been just a little nagging doubt in my mind whether or not I could actually go 26.2 miles. That's a long way. I have especially been stressing over that the past week with my hurting calves and all. I finished the 17 miles in 2 1/2 hours. I felt pretty good when I was finished. Tired of course but not injured or sore. I reached a new personal running milestone on this run. I also gained the confidence that I can finish the 26.2 miles and probably do so to meet one of my goal times (more on that another time). The middle 5 miles of this run was at marathon pace and I was pleased with my times...faster than I had ever dreamed of. It was only 5 miles but I felt I could go further. And I'm only half way through the training plan. It is exciting to think of the possibilities.

Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 62

14 March - Sessions 56-61

2057 PDT - So far I have failed at doing better with the daily updates! In my own defense, I am on travel attending a school in beautiful Pt Hueneme, California. I have been busier than anticipated and at the end of the day, the blog updates aren't a priority. It took several days to get over the jet lag too, which didn't help.

I have kept training though. Good thing Monday (7 March) was a rest day. After traveling all day to California, Monday was a much needed rest day.

Not much to say about my training runs this past week. You can look at the data. My interval day on Thursday was tough. Like usual I misjudged my warm up distance and the distance I would cover while doing the intervals, so I ended up doing almost 8 miles instead of the prescribed 6. Also on one of the intervals I miscounted the laps and did an extra 400m. It was good though. I was surprised I averaged less than 6 minute miles on fast portions. Wow!

I did modify my SnC routines though. As part of the class I am taking, we do PT twice a week. This week we did a body conditioning class on Tuesday and some kind of workout in the pool on Thursday, so I skipped the Wednesday SnC session. I went to the gym Friday as usual, but there was no TRX so I modified the routine a bit. I still had a good workout I think.

My calves have been bothering me quite a bit this week. I felt like I needed an extra rest day prior to my LSD on Sunday (more on that later) so I skipped Saturday's workout. I'm not sure what the problem is, but I am a little concerned. They haven't been too bad today as I write this (14 March), so we'll see how this week goes.


Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 57
Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 58
Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 59

6 March - Sessions 53 - 55

1708 GMT - It has been a busy three days getting “back on the wagon” and preparing for my trip to the US. I am currently in flight over northern Canada on my way to Los Angeles. I will be in CA for two weeks attending a school and then on to Washington DC  for a trip to the Navy Yard to do some business there.

As I predicted Paul put me through a ball breaking SnC workout on Friday, which is good because I skipped both of my interval workouts this week. After warming up I went through several circuits working all the major muscle groups. I was spent when it was over...but in a good way. I have to say though my press-ups (push up for the Americans!) were less than impressive....need to work on those and my performance did provide some comic relief during an otherwise intense work out. I started the day off in the pool for 30 minutes to warm up. Perhaps I shouldn’t do that anymore....Nah. I really do enjoy swimming, almost as much as running, and I like the cross training aspect. Besides, someday I might want to do a triathlon...but first things first. I need to get through the marathon and achieve my goals.

Not too much to say about Saturday. Saturdays are easy runs (65% max HR...136 bpm for me) for recovery. This week my program prescribed 4 miles, but I did 5 because I felt guilty for skipping out on two workouts. As I mentioned in my last update, I forgot my HR monitor on my trip to France and based on today’s performance, I was probably under target on Wednesday.

Today (Sunday) I was up early to get my workout in before leaving for Heathrow airport. I had an 1100 flight so my ride picked me up at 7. I like having a good workout before traveling because then I don’t feel so lethargic sitting on a plane for 10 hours. 13 miles at 85% (161 bpm) was the prescribed workout. I figured it would be tough, but I didn’t realize how tough. I got to bed late and didn’t sleep well, anxious for the trip I suppose, so I was a but tired. Plus my hamstrings were a little sore from the workout on Friday. After warming up a bit once I got going and up to (or at least close) to the right intensity I felt pretty good. But I was unsure how long I would be able to keep it up. To be honest I didn’t think I would be able to maintain for the entire 13 miles. I was disappointed at the thought because if I couldn’t do 13 miles how in the world was I going to do 26??!! I dismissed that thought and just concentrated on doing my best. I figured would maintain for as long as I could and what ever happens happens. One of the “techniques” (for lack of a better word) I use in situations like these is I think of Dori from “Finding Nemo” but instead of “just keep swimming” I keep repeating “just keep running...just keep running”. It seems to work.

Anyway, half way through I was a little surprised that I was able to keep it up that far and I felt like I could perhaps make it the rest of the way. I was on my way home after all. About mile 8 or so I started to focus on how tired I was getting and how sore I was (nothing bad or unusual for me, but enough for me to notice.) I had worked hard up to that point but I thought I might have to slow down. I was so close! I pushed harder and kept on going. The last 2 miles or so were tough but I kept imagining Paul saying “don’t quit” over my shoulder. I wanted to push myself and see if I could maintain the intensity until the end. I finished the run in 1 hour and 31 minutes. I blew away my previous PR by several minutes. A quick review of the data showed that I ran just under a 7 min/mil pace. I never would have believed I could run that fast for so long. I was even under the target HR by a couple bpm. This training program has been amazing so far and I’m only barely half way through. Fantastic. In some ways I’m glad I took it easy this week but my performance today serves as motivation to work hard to stick to the program the rest of the way. I hope you’ll stick with me too!! 

Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 54
Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 55

3 March - Sessions 47-52

1735 GMT - So far this has been a dismal training week...it’s like i’ve fallen off the wagon! I was in Lorient, FRance this week for a conference. I fully intended to continue my training as normal, but the conference got in the way! I skipped 2 days of training and ate & drank way too much!! I’m on my way home now on the ferry crossing the English Channel. I will upload this tomorrow. Internet is available, but it is a but pricey and I’m not sure how good the service is anyway.

Sunday was my LSD...15 miles. It was the longest run I’ve done in over 2 years.  Slowly building up to the marathon distance. I was tired and a bit sore afterwards, but it was good nonetheless. Not too much else to say about it except that I didn’t have a repeat of last week! I might have psyched myself into a repeat episode, because I kept thinking about it, but I didn’t. Sunday night I left for the conference, driving down to Plymouth to catch the overnight ferry to France.

Monday was my rest day, which worked out nice since I was travelling anyway. My legs were a tad sore after Sunday’s run. The ferry docked at 0800 and I drove 2 hours to Lorient where the conference was. That afternoon I scoped out the town for a good place to do my workouts.

I never sleep well when I’m travelling, especially the first night, so I opted not to get up early to train. I figured I’d have plenty of time that afternoon/evening after the conference (mistake number 1). The conference ran about an hour late, but that was ok. I was all set to leave right away (my running shoes were waiting!) But they were offering a tour of the museum where the conference was being held. I decided at the last minute to go along because I had come all this way and I might was well take advantage of the free tour (mistake number 2). After the museum tour was a reception and I stuck around for that too (mistake number 3). By then I was too tired to train and I figured an extra day off was ok after my first long run of the program. Only problem was I ate way too much of the yummy finger foods that were served and drank too much champagne! I had champagne and wine at lunch too (isn’t France great?!)

I did get up and run on Wednesday morning...8 miles. I was so angry though...I forgot my HR monitor! Ugh. I almost didn’t go I was so mad. If I don’t know what my HR is what’s the point?! I have been following this program long enough that I had a pretty good idea of the intensity I should be running at. Only problem is I will never know. I figured running was better than not so I went. Besides, I always enjoy running in new places. I had an enjoyable run but I was afraid i might get lost, which has never happened to me before. The Garmin has a feature that you can use to find your way back to where you started, but it wouldn’t have been much help since I didn’t know how to use it anyway. Perhaps I should learn. Usually in a new place I run straight out to somewhere and turn around and come back the way I came. Here that wasn’t so easy. There weren’t any straight roads! I ended up running in a circle and figured out how to get back. and it worked out perfect...I arrived back at the hotel right at 8 miles. I couldn’t have planned it better if I had tried.

Wednesday is also and SnC day. I almost skipped out on that too, but I did a abbreviated routine in my hotel room that lasted about an hour. Was glad I did. More champagne and wine was served at lunch and I was meeting some of the other delegates for dinner where I knew I would consume copious amounts of food and drink! We met in the hotel lobby at 1930 and I didn’t get back to my room until almost 0100! I had a good time, and a good meal too! 

Needless to say I did not get up early to run. I slept in until about 0900 and I had to be on the road no later than 1100 to make the ferry for a 1400 departure. I am feeling somewhat guilty for blowing my training regimen by skipping sessions and eating and drinking way too much. I’m not setting a good precedent for my upcoming trip to CONUS...and I’ll be gone for almost 3 weeks! I can’t afford to keep this up and essentially lose 4 weeks of training.

That won’t happen. I’ll get 3 good sessions in tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday before I leave, starting with a ball-breaking SnC session with Paul I’m sure. When I am in CA, I’ll  have the facilities to prepare proper meals, so I won’t be eating out all the time. There won’t be so many social engagements either. I’ll also have access to a proper gym and plenty of time to train. Most importantly I’ll have to remember to keep my priorities in order, which shouldn’t be a problem. I figure a little break from training won’t hurt and now that it’s over I’m ready to get back to work.

Anyway, I think I have written enough. Thanks for reading!


Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 48
Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 51

26 Feb - Sessions 46 & 47

1951 GMT - Session 46 was SnC at the gym with Paul. He worked me pretty hard and I'm a little sore today! I started out in the pool for about 30 minutes to warm up. After stretching, I did circuits for about 45 minutes or so. Did various different exercises...walking lunges with the vipr, kettle bell swings, kettle bell clean & press, press ups, bent over rows, and some core exercises. Tough! I'm sure everyone around me was annoyed with my grunting! Oh well, I don't care. I was working hard.

Easy run today. I didn't get up early to run because I didn't feel like it and I almost didn't go at all. Last night was date night and Tanya and I had a very nice dinner. It was good to have a meal and a conversation without being interrupted! I probably had one too many beers. I was feeling better by mid morning, so i decided to go. Glad I did.

Tomorrow is LSD day. 15 miles. Hopefully I can avoid a repeat of last week!

Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 47

24 Feb - Sessions 44&45

2021 GMT - Hectic couple of days here at the Bennett household. Yesterday we had a full day planned. I had to be home by 1000 to watch the kids so Tanya could get to the gym. I was up early, did my run, went straight to the gym for SnC, then on to work for a bit. And yes I was home in time!

Even though I was a bit tired, the run was good. I continue to be amazed at my progress. Average 7:38 pace at 75% (149 bpm). I compared today to two similar runs on 9 Feb and 19 Jan. A significant improvement. I wonder if it is a fluke or something. The first 4 miles and change were really good, the second split, not as good, but still respectable.

After a quick change, I was on to the gym for SnC. I worked through the following routine:
- Skipped the warm up since I had just finished running
- dynamic stretches
   - hip flexors, hamstrings & calf, etc
- clocks, 2 x 12
- single leg TRX squat, 2 x 15
- TRX lunges, 2 x 15
- barbell deadlift, 2 x 15 x 70lbs
- TRX chest press, 2 x 15
- TRX fly, 2 x 15
- TRX row, 2 x 15
- TRX Y, 2 x 12
- TRX "Superman thruster" 2 x 12

- TRX jackknife
- med ball russian twists (9 kg med ball)
- v sits
   - all 3 exercises one after the other no rest, 3 x 12

- press ups, 2 x 20
- chin ups 1x10
- static stretches to cool down
   - hip flexor, hamstring & calf, quadriceps

After having such a good workout day, i feel like I kind of ruined it with the dinner I ate. We took the kids to the zoo in the afternoon and returned home later than planned. We decided it would be easier to go out for dinner rather than cook at home. We were all hungry and going out would probably be faster, If not at least more convenient! Tanya remembered that it was fish & chip night at one of the local pubs. Fish & chips with mushy peas...delicious! That all by itself wouldn't have been so bad, but I also had a bowl of soup to start, a couple pints of beer, and of course dessert 0 sticky toffee pudding with custard. If there is a better dessert, I don't know what it is! And The Globe makes the best I've had so far. Boy was I stuffed. We also ran into some friends of ours we haven't seen in a while. After dinner we sat and chatted for a while and the boys played. I had another beer too. Even though I ate way too much, we had a nice evening. Got home later than I wanted, but that's ok. It was good to sit with friends, and Marshall is off on half term (no school).

I certainly did not feel like getting up early to go running...especially my scheduled interval workout. So I didn't. I slept in. That was nice too. I spent the day with Marshall. We went to the movies, had lunch, and went mini-golfing. We had a good time. I did my interval workout in the afternoon. I went back to the track and I naughty boy! I was by myself (supposed to have 2 people) and I didn't pay! Nobody said anything to me. I'll have to do some investigating to figure out what the real deal is with the track. I really do want to pay if I'm supposed to!

Anyway the prescribed workout was 6 miles - warm up, 3 x 1 mile (95%) followed by .25 mile recoveries, cool down. To be honest, i really didn't think I would be able to maintain that level of intensity for one mile, let alone three. Each successive mile was more difficult, but on the last one I did find an "extra gear" and pushed myself even harder on the last lap. I felt like I did pretty good. When I downloaded the data, I was very surprised, each mile was sub 6 minutes! Had somebody told me 6 months ago I would be running sub 6 minute miles, I would not have believed it. Wow! I didn't feel so bad about eating so much the night before.

A break from runnning tomorrow. SnC only with Paul.

Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 44
Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 45

22 Feb - Session 43

2027 GMT - Good run today...much better than Sunday :) I compared this run to a similar one I did 2 weeks ago to see my progress. Difficult to compare because I ran a more difficult course today, much more hilly. I know I am getting better, but the lack of obvious improvement served as a reminder to me not get too wrapped up about times right now.

I'm feeling a little guilty...I went on a little "sweet" binge earlier today. I was so hungry this afternoon and I made the mistake of eating a little bit of chocolate. Normally not a big deal except it tasted so good I kept eating more and more! It was so yummy! I didn't actually count but I probably ate in neighborhood of 1000 calories of candy this afternoon....plus a piece of homemade strawberry pie this evening...with whipped cream of course! Ugh. Good thing tomorrow is a "two-a-day".


Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 43

20 Feb - Session 41

1341 GMT - Today was a disaster. My worst fear came true...about halfway through my run, I needed a toilet and there were none to be found! I had to go in the worst way...and I'm not talking about number 1! It was horrible...so bad I had to stop and walk. I thought the feeling would pass...but it didn't. Best I could do was keep walking and hope I could make it back home, but that was more than 3 miles away and would take probably more than an hour! So I kept walking...but I didn't make it. I found a secluded spot (sort of) and went int he bushes. Think what you want, but when you gotta you gotta go! The alternative would have been much worse! As it was it almost happened once or twice. Certainly someone out there can relate. Anyway, once I did that I felt a little better, at least the immediate urge to go subsided, and I finished my run.

One thing I have noticed about Britain..there are very few public toilets. At least around here. There were 2 or 3 along my route I could have perhaps used, but it was so early, they weren't open! One disadvantage to running early in the AM I suppose. I only know of one that is open early in the morning; it's at the Bristol Parkway train station. I have used it a few times! Today I wanted to try a new route, so I didn't run my usual one that goes by parkway...and I wished I had. Perhaps I need to find some more "toilet friendly" routes! Maybe on my long runs I will at least carry some TP with me!

So the other day I made a comment about not ever having a bad workout. Today I did! When I was actually running I was doing pretty good...3:35 - 3:40 marathon time at the pace I was making. The overall experience though was quite unpleasant. my rhythm was off and I was psychologically scarred! Once the ordeal was finally over I didn't care much about training, my heart rate, of what pace I was running. I just wanted to get home. I must say though that I completed the prescribed 13 miles. It was important to me that I did. I'm nothing if not stubborn and persistent!

I debated whether or not to write about my ordeal today. I decided (obviously) to do so, because what's the fun in following a blog if you only read about the good stuff? Everybody knows life gets in the way of things and that's what makes following blogs interesting. Also, if someone was telling me this story, I would be laughing. It certainly wasn't funny at the time, (but probably would have been to the casual observer!) and it's not really funny now, but as time goes by, I will lighten up and perhaps laugh at it.

In my mind, today was a waste and doesn't really count as a training session. I wonder if I should repeat it next week and bump everything back a week, or just move on. I'm inclined to just move on, but I'll see what Paul says.

For those of you who get this by email, you should check out the blog at plbennett70.blogspot.com. I added some nifty widgets. We stopped by Krispy Kreme today so I felt compelled to add the donut widget.

Tomorrow is a rest day (a very welcome rest day). I hope you found some humor in my misery today. It is funny.

Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 41

19 Feb - Session 40

2018 GMT - 5 miles at 75% this morning. The training program is definitely working. I am faster at a lower HR intensity than I was before I started. Today @ 148 bpm average HR, my average pace was 7:46 min/mile. I was surprised it was that fast. I was curious as to the degree of improvement so I went back and compared today to previous outings before I began the program (you can too if you want to take the time and have a look! Link below.) My earlier runs at the same pace were 155/156 bpm. Not a huge gain, but still pretty amazing...and I still have 13 weeks (91 sessions!) left before the race. The key is maintaining that for 26 miles. I was thinking about that during the run this morning and frankly I do have my doubts...but I'm not thinking about it. My focus is on executing my program to the best of my ability. Whatever happens happens. I do have some lofty goals for this race (maybe I'll write more about that Monday) but really what matters is that I become a better runner and I am in better shape than when I started.

I overdressed a bit this morning. When I got up and was getting ready downstairs, I could hear rain on the skylight. It sounded fairly heavy. I decided to wear my jacket for additional warmth and to help protect from the rain. When I was outside running, it really wasn't raining that hard so I didn't need the jacket. I got a little warm midway through my run. I unzipped it a bit and unzipped my shirt, but then I was annoyed by the collars flapping everywhere. I don't know what was worse!

So I found this new site www.dailymile.com. I signed on and it keeps some pretty cool stats. That's where I got the widgets. I only started yesterday so the total miles since I started training isn't accurate, but I thought the widget was cool.  The cheeseburger one is even cooler. They have I donut widget too, but I liked the cheeseburger one better. Maybe I should use the donut one so I can track how many Krispy Kremes I can eat!


Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 40

18 Feb - Session 39

2020 GMT - SnC today with trainer Paul. Another excellent workout. Is there any other kind? I warmed up in the pool swimming for 30 min. Probably not necessary, but I enjoy swimming and it's good to cross train :)
In case you were wondering (and even if you weren't) today's routine consisted of:
Dynamic Warm Up
Dynamic Stretches
Clocks (leg strengthening exercise)
Single Leg Squats using TRX
TRX Lunges
Kettle Bell Swings
Low-Walking Lunges
Kettle Bell Clean & Press
Single Arm/Leg Row
Single Arm/Leg Press
Cable Row
Wide Grip Pull Ups
Dips
Narrow Grip Pull Ups
Vipr Roll Out
Vipr Swings
Static Stretches to cool down
I think there were one or two more...but I don't remember them...I didn't write them down!

Easy run tomorrow...5 miles @ 75% I'm looking forward to comparing my run to last week's!

17 Feb - Session 38

2048 GMT - I'll start by saying I had a great workout today. I went to the track with Paul to do a speed workout. The weather was perfect with the sun peeking through the clouds. I had forgotten to bring my logbook along, which has my program in it, so I guessed on exactly what the workout was. I thought it was 3 x 800m (.5 mi) with 400m jog recoveries. I did 4 x 800 for good measure and when I looked at my program I saw that I should have done 5! Oh well. I was a little disappointed that I didn't complete the prescribed workout, but in reality that's not such a bad thing. Four was enough for my first time. I pushed it pretty hard and if you look at my Garmin data (isn't that a wonderful little gadget??!!) you'll see that each interval was faster than the previous one. i didn't necessarily plan it that way, but on the third, I could hear Paul coming up behind me and I ran my best so not have him pass me (he didn't). The fourth interval I ran alone and I wanted to push myself again and see if I could maintain at least the same level of intensity as the previous one. When I looked at the data, I saw I had actually run a little faster. Cool!

I have mentioned before that I really dislike intervals, and I didn't enjoy them today. I tend to start to get a little sick when I push myself that hard. However, I didn't mind running on the track as much as I thought I would...perhaps because I had a workout partner. With that revelation and the excitement over my results, I am looking forward to the next track workout...maybe next week if my schedule works out. At least I know I will have a partner...funny thing about the track here, you can't use it alone. You must have someone with you...and you have to pay! £3.50! (over $5 for the Americans reading this). Although, we probably could have gotten away without paying today. When we stopped by reception, the girls behind the desk were pretty much clueless about the track (but they did know where it was) and looked at us like we had two heads when we asked about it.

Tomorrow is an SnC only day...another workout with Paul. Probably good that I have the day off from running.

Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 38

16 Feb - Session 37

2027 GMT - Wednesday is my 2-a-day session...an easy run and an SnC workout. The run was good...cold this  morning with the temp at freezing. Calm and clear too with a beautiful moon. There are many benefits to running early in the morning. 6 miles today and the course I ran was pretty hilly. the hills were much steeper on the second half accounting for the much slower pace. I walked two or three times to keep my HR down where it needed to be (target 136 bpm). I finished faster than I thought I would.

I went by the gym on the way home from work for SnC. I worked though the easier of the  two routines I have. Some of the exercises are still pretty challenging though, particularly the ones that require good balance. Either I don't quite have it or my legs aren't quite strong enough to keep me steady. Probably a bit of both. It was a good workout though. Very satisfying.

Tomorrow I am going to the track to do speedwork with Paul. My first time doing this type of workout on a track. We'll see how it goes. Wish me well!

Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 37