Weight Update

Here's a current view of my Tanita scale this morning.

Diet and fitness plan is right on schedule.

But, I never realized there were so many pizza commercials on television....the Papa John's one with all of the pepperoni on it really gets me drooling.

Success with the FFLR

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the two types of long runs that I will be doing in preparation for Grandma's Marathon on June 20.
This weekend, it was time for the Fast Finish Long Run (FFLR). My goal was to go out for 12 miles @ 8:00 miles and then hit marathon pace for the final 6, finishing as strong as possible.
The run went well, averaging 7:54 for the first 12 miles, keeping the HR right around 140.
The final miles were 6:55, 6:46, 6:48, 6;43, 6:42 and 6:32.
It was tough to dig down for more speed at the end, but this is the type of training that develops both physical and mental toughness.
I write this as I sit in the ice bath, blogging keeps the mind away from the shivering.
Congrats to the Michigan State Spartans who will be representing the Big 10 in the NCAA Final 4!

Spring has sprung long run

It was a beautiful day today in MN. Went for a nice, easy long run. Temps were in the 40s-50's.
Shorts and short sleeve weather!
21.72 miles in 3:00:37 - about 8:20 pace. Took a nice ice bath and now it's time for some yard work with Schmoopie.

Half way to Goal weight

Weighed in this morning.

This is what I saw.

16 days ago, I weighed 155 lbs.

It was at that time, I promised to stick to my diet and fitness plan to reach my goal race weight of 145 lbs. for Grandma's Marathon on June 20.

Looks like I'm a little over half way there.

Long run training for the marathon

For the next three months, I will be focusing my long training runs on two different types. They are called the long steady distance run and the fast finish long run. I've bought into this a bit from Greg McMillan's site. I'm not going to run these exactly as he describes, but I feel that alternating these two types of runs will be beneficial to my marathon training.
With so much of my training focused on ultras last year, most of my miles logged were quite slow and low heart rate. Then, with a stress fracture last fall, running was very slow, just so that the healing of my tibia could complete.
I've got a great aerobic base right now, but don't have the top end speed or the fast efficient stride need to be a better racer at the marathon distance or less.
Long steady distance run:
I ran this type last Saturday. 18.4 miles on rolling hills. I went into it with very low glycogen levels, as I had restricted calories to under 1,500 per day for the prior 3 days.
Ended up averaging 8:38/mile and was totally drained by the end. Total glycogen depletion!
Fast finish long run:
Today was FFLR day. The plan was to go out at 8:00/mile for 12 miles, and then step up to 6:52/mile for the final 5.
Execution of this plan was almost perfect:
12 miles: 7:58/mi.
5 miles: 6:40/mi.
I took a gel at mile 11.5, and that was plenty of fuel to finish the run.

HADD Test Version 4.0

HADD TEST:
It's been a while since I've posted here. Also, another month has passed since my last HADD test.
Training has gone quite well, and I feel that I am in very good running condition right now.
Here are the results from last night's HADD test. I tried to keep every thing consistent from the start of these to see if this measure of fitness will detect any changes in my fitness level.
Int# HR_Avg Pace
1 130 8:43
2 139 7:56
3 148 7:26
4 158 6:59
5 169 6:34
It appears that I might be able to run slightly faster at the lower HR's, but the top end appears to be the same. I felt pretty good at interval #5, and could have gone much longer.
Here are the comparison results from February 9, 2009:
Int# HR_Avg Pace
1 126 9:07
2 138 8:05
3 149 7:29
4 159 7:04
5 170 6:34
New Goal:
I haven't talked much about my running schedule for 2009, as I have spent a lot of time considering my goals for this year. Three years ago, my goals were clear.
1. Break 40 minutes in 10K
2. Break 3 hours in the marathon
3. Run an ultra
4. Run a 100 mile ultra
I've accomplished 3 of these, but the 3 hour marathon goal remains. My PR is 2006 Grandma's (yep, one of those hot and humid years) of 3:07:43.
I've run a lot of races since then, but have never seriously trained for the sub-3 race.
Mary and I are registered for the 2009 version of Grandma's, and I am really thinking that if I focus on my training and lose the appropriate weight - it could be possible.
Here it is: My goal is to break 3 hours at Grandma's marathon on June 20, 2009.
I wrote it down.
Weight Loss:
Last week I started with a serious change in diet.
Now, I am very conscious about the calories that I am consuming. Mary is helping me a lot with this. I have been averaging 1,500-2,000 calories per day.
So far 2 lbs. lost and feeling good.
The toughest part is avoiding the bad sugars. My favorites are Cap'n Crunch, Heath bars, ice cream, Oreo cookies, any cookies, and maple glazed doughnuts. Pizza, broasted chicken, cheeseburgers, french fries also were a large part of my diet.
I've manage to avoid a lot of these, and am eating more fruits, vegetables, lean meat, etc.
My weight is 152 right now, and am hoping to toe the line at Grandma's weighing 145.