breakdown...and pick up!

This week has been up and down. Friday I had to split my workout as I couldn't handle the treadmill. Saturday was a day off and Sunday I ran long: 18miles. It was supposed to be all easy, but I decided to pick up the last half. I was 1:15 out and 1:05 back. Solid. I felt fine afterwards, and hit the pool with Sid. I guess he thought I looked peaked though, as he cut it short. I was soooooo hungry on Monday. I ate everything in sight. I saw the grocery store girl again.

Monday's run was rough. I met Leslie, which was nice, for the first time in a while, and we did a bit of a rough tour of the mid-north of Montreal, stopping by her office and mine (Robillard). At about 6miles though, my right shin started to hurt. I was paranoid that it was a stress fracture. I cut off the last mile, and iced it up.

At practice I showed it to Maryse (with Chrissy and Amé looking on), and she determined that it was probably shin splints, and not at all a stress fracture. Still she said not to run on Tuesday. Well, you know how runners are...but I got up in the morning and I was feeling fine, so I did run on it, and lo and behold, no problems! In fact, I had a great run, hammering 3x10min around Parc Laurier. I'm not even coming close to the per mile paces I'm supposed to be hitting, but it is hard with the wind and snow and all. I am happy with effort-based work for now.

treadmill wars

I hate the treadmill. It's boring and for some reason, it's hard for me to run on it. This morning was the last workout before an off-day, but Robillard was closed for a kid's meet, and it was too cold to go outside for this particular session (8x800 in 2:30). So I thought I would try the new treadmills at EV. I managed 50min, with about 10min total running time at 5min/mile pace--half the required load. I just couldn't bear it on the treadmill. I broke it up into 1min on/1min off (the off being at 8min miles). It's not that it is that cold outside, just too cold for a workout. I suppose it might be this cold on April 16th in Boston, but I doubt it. Anyway, I wanted to get a little turnover in.

Also, I am in love with the grocery store cashier. She has a nice ass that is nicely displayed when she turns around to run my debit card through her interac machine...if only that were a metaphor. Anyway, yeah, she changes her hair every week, it seems, and she wears arm socks with the fingers cut out of them to show off her painted nails. She's got a lip-ring, too, which isn't usually my style, but it suits her. She is also very cute when she says "tank you" in English. Mostly though, she speaks in montrealais, which is hot. This has nothing to do with training for Boston, but in a way, everything. After all, I have to eat, too...

Bostonward

All right, so the marathon didn't kill me. I took a bit of downtime, ran provincial cross country championships, took more downtime, and started back up in early December. I thought I was ready to begin proper marathon training, and I had a pretty good week, but it was a case of too much, too soon, with a hard long run, weight training, LSAT exam, and a highly anticipated (if not ultimately fulfilling) date in the space of 48 hours. So I got sick and was out again for a couple of weeks.

The last two weeks of 2006 were solid. 56 and 61 mpw, and then on the final day of the year, a good 2 hour run, just under 16miles. No quality to speak of, other than a 10mile hilly road race on Dec 26th in Hamilton. It was quite fun, actually. I averaged 5:50 per mile, though more accurately I was running 5:45 and there was one mile that was about 6:15 because it was all uphill. I reeled people in from mile 3, and was not passed. I ended up behind the next pack by a bit though, behind Terry Gehl (rival from MTL) and Scott Stevens (who I coach). So, 2006 ended ok.

2007 started with a well-enjoyed day off, followed by 10 straight days of training. In there I ran a 16:15 indoor 5k at Dartmouth, a solid and accurate test of fitness. The mileage has crept up nicely (71,67,83 so far), but I'm not too concerned with weekly totals. For example, here are two progressions of weekly mileage:

1) 54,64,53,67,53,60,67,69,73
2) 72,64,55,48,72,57,67,71,69

The first looks a little more organised, with an up-down flow at first, then rising for the last four weeks. The second one is kind of hap-hazard. Actually, it is the same person's "weekly" mileage, just taken from a different starting point (Sunday vs Monday).

My point is just that weekly mileage totals only tell you the total volume. They don't say anything about intensity, nor about how the volume was distributed (in 6 days, 7 days, 5 days, doubles, no doubles). I'd rather worry about session volume, make sure there are adequate recovery days (which don't necessarily mean days not running), and let others add up the totals.

That said, there's something nice about a good, round, 100 mile week. I can appreciate that, for sure. But in terms of what it means, well, not much.

The two weeks after the 5k were consistent, with only the 12th completely off. I had a great long run on the 14th in TO with Mario, Sharlene, Ian Reid, and others. 17miles at 6:50 pace. The 20th I did two runs of 5miles each, one in Montreal and one in Derry, New Hampshire. The next day I raced 16 hilly, windy miles. Another good test. It actually didn't feel that long. Another 10? Sure. Here's what it looked like:

So, since then I've been kinda tired, but pushing through. Saturday is my next fully off day. I thought I would try to quickly recap the buildup to Boston so far. I will try to be as consistent with the posts as I am with the runs, but, well, one is obviously more lucrative than the other, if not in monetary terms, at least in terms of how much I care... I will try for a weekly update.