Weekly Summary: May 28 - Jun 3

Mon: 8.5M easy
Tue: 9.5M easy including 10 x 1' hard/easy fartlek
Wed: 8.5M easy
Thu: 6.5M easy
Fri: 4M easy including 6 x strides
Sat: AM - Hospital Hill Half-Marathon - 1:13:59, 27th; PM - 4.2M very easy; 20M total
Sun: 10M easy

Weekly Total: 67 miles on 8 runs/7 days; 1 race
The highlight of the week was obviously the Hospital Hill half-marathon.  Despite being a race week, I still ended up with some decent mileage.  I headed into the race at 37 miles, and then put in a total of 30 miles over the weekend, including the race.  On the afternoon of Hospital Hill, I went out a short 4M shakeout run.  The shakeout run really helped in flushing out the waste in the legs and contributed to me having a nice easy 10-mile run on Sunday.

Weekly Summary: May 21-27

Mon: 8.5M easy
Tue: 10M easy
Wed: 9.5M easy
Thu: 12M including 12x400 w/ 200 rec + 4x200 w/ 200 rec
Fri: AM - 6M easy; PM - 9M easy
Sat: 9M easy
Sun: 16M LR; 3M easy, 2x2M tempo w/ .5M easy, 8.5 easy

Weekly Total: 80 miles on 8 runs/7 days

I took 3 days very easy following the half-marathon to ensure my legs had enough recovery. There was some soreness in the quads, but it disappeared by Thursday allowing me to do a workout. On Thursday, I did repeats of 400s followed by some 200s. I ran the 400s slightly faster than 5k pace, but not too hard that I'll need a full recovery, and the 200s at a fast but controlled pace. The workout went well and I hit splits of 73-74s for the 400s and 33-34s for the 200s. On Sunday I did a long run which included 2x2M tempo. I ran the 2M tempos in 11:25 (5:43, 5:42) and 10:56 (5:29, 5:27). It seemed like the legs finally woke up after the first 2M tempo. This coming Saturday is the Hospital Hill half-marathon, so I will be taking it easy and decreasing the volume to freshen up the legs. It will be another tough half-marathon course, but I'm sure I'll be ready for it.

Apr 30 - May 6

Mon: 6.2M easy
Tue: 8.8M easy
Wed: 9M easy
Thu: 9M including track workout: 4 x (2x200 + 1x400)
Fri: 8.7M easy
Sat: 6.3M easy
Sun: 14M steady easy

Weekly Total: 62 miles
This week completed my 3-week post-marathon recovery from the Boston Marathon.  With the exception of the track workout on Thursday, I ran at normal easy pace for each of my runs.  This morning's run was my first run of over 9 miles since Boston.  I did 14 miles on the Trolley Trail.  

Wrapping up Boston Recovery

It's been a pretty good week of recovery.  Easy runs on Mon-Tue, a rest day on Wed, followed by easy runs yesterday and today.  I did 5 x 20 seconds strides toward the end of my run today to remind the legs how to run fast and keep them from being lazy.

On Sunday, I will run the Trolley Run, a "fast" point-to-point 4-miler in Kansas City.  Check out last year's results, the winner ran sub-18 minutes with 14 runners going sub-20 minutes.   The legs feel good and recovered (whether they really are may be a different story), so I'm looking forward to putting in a good effort and hopefully, a good time.

Last week the Fort Leavenworth Lamp newspaper interviewed me after my accomplishment at Boston.  Below is a picture of the article.  You can read the article here or click on the picture.

Here are some photos from the marathon.  

Go ARMY!!!

CITGO sign = almost to the finish!

Louder!!!

Boston crowd is AMAZING!!!

I beat the Boston heat!

Recovering from Boston

Week 1 recovery from Boston went very well. The case of DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) settled in on Wednesday morning causing me to walk down my apartment stairs backwards.  I knew that Wednesday would be the day that I'd feel the most soreness in the legs, primarily in the quads.  For week 1 recovery I took the first 3 days after the marathon completely off from running.  I wore my 2XU compression leg sleeves at every opportunity while relaxing at home.  The leg compression sleeves along with nightly foam rolling on The Grid are aiding in the recovery.  Friday afternoon I went for my first run, a 30' slog (slow jog).  I was very anxious to run because my body needed exercise (check out the cool video below).  The run was uneventful and I only felt a little of the quads, nothing too painful.  Saturday was a very easy 5 miles.  I was quite surprise with how my legs felt.  No soreness and just a tad of heaviness in the legs.  It is evident that my legs are recovering well, because my run this morning almost felt like a normal easy run. I will continue to take it very easy over the next week to ensure my legs fully recover.

I do not have any major races planned right now; however, there is a possibility I might run a 4-miler next Sunday.  It will depend on how my legs feel by the end of the work week.

Mon: Boston Marathon - 2:36:35, 56th Overall
Tue: DNR
Wed: DNR
Thu: DNR
Fri: 4M very easy
Sat: 5M very easy
Sun: 6M easy

Weekly Total: 41.2 miles on 4 runs/4 days

4-Week Post-Marathon Recovery

Nov 1-7

Mon: 9.3M easy
Tue: 8M including 10 x 1' hard/easy
Wed: 9.3M easy
Thu: 5.5M very easy
Fri: DNR; 30' bike on spinner
Sat: 10M trail run
Sun: 14.5M steady run w/ last km in 3:40

Weekly Total: 56.3 miles on 6 runs/6 days
Post-marathon recovery complete.

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Oct 25-31

Mon: DNR; biked to/from work.
Tue: AM - 8M easy; PM - 4M very easy
Wed: AM - 7.5M including 10 x 200m w/ 200m rec; PM - 3.5M very easy
Thu: 8M easy
Fri: 9M progression run with miles 7-9 at 6:26 > 6:00 pace
Sat: DNR
Sun: 11.5M easy with last km in 3:28 (5:35 pace)

Weekly Total: 51 miles on 7 runs/5 days
Week 3 post-marathon recovery. Felt good to get in some leg-turnover.
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Oct 18-24

Mon: 5M easy
Tue: 6M easy
Wed: 6.5M including 10 x :30 w/ 1 easy;
Thu: DNR; 30' bike on spinner
Fri: 6M easy
Sat: 8M easy
Sun: 9.5M easy

Weekly Total: 41 mileson 6 runs/6 days
Week 2 post-marathon recovery. Pace for easy runs sort of back to normal.  However, I felt some tenderness in the right shin, same area that was giving me problems the last 2 weeks before the marathon.

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Oct 11-17

Mon: DNR
Tue: DNR
Wed: DNR
Thu: 4M very slow and easy
Fri: 7M easy
Sat: 3M easy
Sun: 6M easy

Weekly Total: 20 miles on 4 runs/4 days
First week post-marathon. Legs sore in the first few days but gone by Thur.  Legs felt heavy during the runs.

Taking it easy

I tried to take 2 complete weeks off from running, but that was easier said than done.  However, I did make it to 10 consecutive days of no running.  On days 11-14 I got in 20-30 minutes of very easy running.   With the exception of some tightness and a knotty feeling in the right hamstring, the legs and body feel great.  The plan for now is to slowly build my base. 

Here are some race photos.

Week 2 Recovery

Week 2 recovery is complete. I'd say I'm about 85% fully recovered. The legs and cardio almost feel like they're back to normal.  I think by the time I toe the line in DC I'll be somewhere close to pre-Berlin race fitness. Here's the last 2 weeks of recovery.

28 Sep - 4 Oct
Mon: 3.2M @ 7:40 pace; lots of core exercises
Tues: 6M @ 7:14 pace
Wed: 8M @ 6:52 pace
Thur: DNR; cross train and core exer.
Fri: 8M @ 6:53 pace
Sat: 5M @ 7:00 pace
Sun: 12M @ 6:53 pace

Weekly Total: 42.2 miles


21-27 Sep
Mon: DNR
Tues: DNR
Wed: DNR
Thur: 4M very easy
Fri: 3.5M very easy
Sat: 5M @ 7:15 pace
Sun: 8.2M @ 7:25 pace

Weekly Total: 20.7 miles