December 15 - 21 Training

Mon: 4.1 miles easy with 2x30s pick-ups (7:14)

Tue: APFT: push-ups - 105, sit-ups - 103, 2-mile - 10:35; 3.1 miles easy (7:40). 
It was a scheduled day off from running but I had my semi-annual Army Physical Fitness Test. I haven't done much push-ups and sit-ups over the last couple months, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm glad it went well and I still broke 100 reps. The 2-mile run felt like a good hard tempo. Ran 5:23 and 5:12 splits.

Wed: 7 miles easy (7:02)

Thu: 8.1 miles easy with 4x30s pick-ups (7:02). Felt good and smooth.

Fri: Did no run. Scheduled day off as part of recovery. Massage. 

Sat: 12.2 miles long run (6:50). Felt nice and easy

Sun: 5 miles easy (7:15)

Weekly Total: 41.5 miles on 6 runs/6 days

It was a good week of recovery. I should be ready to transition to some moderate workouts over the next couple weeks.

December 8 - 14 Training

Mon: Did not run (DNR); Marathon recovery. Legs are a little sore and tight, but not nearly as bad as I felt after previous marathons.

Tue: DNR

Wed: DNR

Thu: 4 miles very easy (7:44). Legs still a little sore and tight, but other than that I felt good.

Fri: 7 miles easy (7:10). Still on recovery. Felt good and smooth. 

Sat: 6.6 miles easy (7:11). Happy with how the legs felt.  

Sun: 10.1 miles easy (6:50)

Weekly Total: 27.7 miles on 4 runs/4 days

I'll use the next few weeks to recover and then transition to some moderate workouts and start getting ready for Boston.  

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.  

Apr 23 - 29

Here's last week's summary.

Mon: 5M easy
Tue: 7.5 easy
Wed: DNR
Thu: 8M easy w/ 5 strides after the run.
Fri: 7.5M easy w/ 5 x 20sec strides toward the end of the run.
Sat: 5.2M easy
Sun: Trolley Run 4M - 20:55 (PR), 19th Place; 7M total

Weekly Total: 40 miles on 6 runs/6 days
This was the 2nd week of recovery from Boston Marathon. The week consisted of easy running, one rest day and a 4-mile race that resulted in a PR.  My legs feel recovered from the marathon; however, I will take this coming week as the 3rd and final marathon recovery week.

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