NYC Marathon 2011- Still the best marathon ever!

RACE WEEK I had a good week going into the marathon. Was really focused on the marathon itself and tapered quite well.  Monday I ran 6.6miles 9mm pace over the Williamsburg and Manhattan bridges.  Tuesday I did an easy spin for 30 min indoors.  Wednesday was 6 miles flat with some marathon pace intervals.  Thursday off.  Friday did 3 miles and a massage, which was a great call. Saturday ran 2.3 miles.  I was anxious and nervous until Friday and then settled into a good mindset on Saturday once I started packing up my gear.

Saturday was indoors all day feeling really good.  Went out for a 6pm dinner, pasta but not too much food.  Can’t remember what I had for desert but know I had something.  Was in bed by 10pm with wake up time of 4:45 plus an extra hour of sleep for daylight savings.  That would give me almost 8 hours.  I slept well the first 5 then tossed a lot the rest of the night.

RACE GOALS, EQPT, PLANS

The ultimate goal is to run 3:30 or better which requires an 8:00 pace. This was my goal in Rome and Paris and I really feel by race morning, that with these perfect conditions  I can do this.  The weather is sunny, high of 53 and no wind.  My body feels great, my equipment and clothing feel good, and I’ve been training for a 8mm pace and think its totally doable.  The secondary goal is to have fun.

I changed some settings on my Garmin so on the first page I have current pace, current HR, average pace, and current time.  The wrist band I am wearing will guide me with the current time so I don’t have to rely so much on the GPS working properly.  My HR goal is 176 average, although I expect that to go up the last 3 miles.  I’m not using the garmin mileage except to check on it occasionally.  I’m using the lap button at each mile marker to get a sense of my average pace per mile, although not totally accurate, think will be more accurate than using the garmin’s preset mile splits.

I have 8 scoops of my Infinit Nutrition amongst two flasks attached to my trim wallet.  That is about 800 calories.  I also have 2 gels for back up and can pick up gel at the 21 mile or thereabout if I need it.  I plan to stop every 2 miles for water, carry a flask in my hand at all times so can have a little nutrition at a time throughout.  Start taking nutrition at mile 3 and finish first flask by 13-mile mark.

I know the course pretty well.  No substantial hills until 12.5.  I’m taking the first half on average 10 seconds per mile faster then my planned 8mm so I’m looking for a 7:50 pace.  That means look for down hills and pick up pace there, not to run a consistent 7:50 for the first half.

GETTING THERE

Woke up with plenty of time to have coffee and gather up my things.  David drove me to the ferry which took at max 25 minutes.  Approaching ferry terminal getting nervous.  Working on drinking my 32 oz of water with want more energy electrolytes and not hungry at all.  Took the 6am ferry, should be eating around 6:30 for a 3 hour lead time but I’m in transit and feel I wont digest the food well so will wait until I get there.  The bus took longer than I remembered.

MARATHON VILLAGE

Once I got to marathon village I looked for the robin hood tent where I have an invite to hang out from a friend racing with them.  This was the only good part about the morning. The rest of the village is cold and damp (probably 45 degrees out and no wind) and the tent is heated.  Ate right away (probably 7:15 by not) but slowly and chewed all my food well.  My regular race formula, which was cherry yogurt soaked overnight in ¾ cup rolled oats, topped with frozen berries.  Still not hungry but totally hit the spot.  Spent about 15 minutes on the foam roller and surprised at how good everything feels.  Got all the gear together, placed on my 3:30 goal bracelet which I will use to pace myself as opposed to the mileage on my garmin which can go through spots of inaccuracy.  Used the flushing porta pottie before I left at 8:10 to find my green area to congregate.  Also had a banana around this time too.

Found the green area, this village is huge and confusing but signs are everywhere to help you out.  I’m alone, none of my friends are here.  They are all on the 7am ferry and start later than I do.  Put on my disposable pants along with a long sleeve shirt and disposable jacket too.  I love these.  Bought them at the expo, they are light-weight, warmer than a sweatshirt and waterproof which is ideal for sitting on the wet ground.  I also have gardening gloves ($2.99) to throw away en route.  Handed over my bag and heading to the coral but stop for the bathroom again.  Feeling rushed and hearing announcements that the first wave should be lining up.  I made it to this corral area which is new to me.  Now we are in another fenced off area just for the #17 starting group.  There are porta potties here too which I wasn’t expecting.  Its still 1:10 min before race start and I’m not liking this standing business.  I find a small patch of ground to sit on amongst everyone else.  People are not really talking to each other and I’m just wanting this thing to get started so I turn on some tunes.

About half hour before start they move us along to the actual race start on the Verrizano bridge ramp.  I’m confused because before I was on the upper deck and now we are on the lower deck.  I didn’t realize there was a group that ran down here.  I find a place along the wall to hang out.  I take off the pants which are kind of restrictive and do a bunch of dynamic warm ups for upper and lower body for about 15 minutes.  I turn off my phone because my battery is draining and I’ll never make it through without tunes.

RACE MILE BY MILE

We started about 5 min late, which is going to cause some confusion with my friends on the route who are trying to follow me.  I know I started out too fast but everyone was too fast.  Many were passing me and I just held back a bit.  Because I’m on the lower portion of the bridge my Garmin is not picking up satellite and without the sun I cant see my HR either.  Just going with my gut and having fun.  Wish I were on the top level, much better view.

Throughout the whole race I was happy with the group of runners around me.  We were definitely assigned well, the pace was consistent, there were very few dodgers and very few people dropping back.  Nobody running in groups.  There were a few handicapped running with leaders, which was tricky at points.  This was the BEST paced group run I have ever experienced.  I noticed in my corral that a lot of people around me were international runners. Absolutely no rediculous costumes.

Miles 1-8 were fun and felt great.  Mostly flat if not downhill.  Average pace was about 7:40 so I was building up some extra minutes to use later.  My HR was high, in the mid 180’s, yikes, need to reel that one in.  But my breathing was not labored so I didn’t freak about it, took it as adrenaline.  Started my nutrition at mile 3 as planned with water.  This was probably the most crowded part of the route.  Had to pull over around mile 4 to tie my shoe.  Sun feels good and temp is great.  Got rid of the gloves around mile 5.

Mile 8-13 were still good although I was now 3 min over my goal and decided to taper back a bit and be mindful and get it into cruise control.  Now my average is more like 7:50 so I’m still adding to the bank and my HR is dropping from between lower 180’s to upper 170’s.  Temp still feels great and happy to see David along with other friends between 11 and 13.  Running through my neighborhood was a good spot, smelled something fresh baked and reminded me of the pizza I was going to be enjoying post race.  I’m doing well with my nutrition.  I’m stopping for water more than planned because I’m concerned I’m not getting enough in each cup.  Because the flask is in one hand I have only the other free to grab water.  Kind of wishing I had a third hand.

Pulasky bridge was a bit of a reality check.  I know there are plenty of other bridges ahead and I slowed quite a bit, everybody did.  So it’s not like I’m worried at this point because I’m not falling back, but I’m recapping all the hills ahead and know my average pace per mile is going to drop at every bridge/hill and there are at least 5 more.

Long Island City was not very memorable.  More turns than I remembered and my body felt real hot for a short while there but I knew the Queensboro bridge was coming up and we would be shaded and likely windy and cool.  I stuck to a pace that was consistent with the people around me.  In the shade with my sunglasses I cannot read my Garmin.  Picked up the pace more than others on the down side of the briged although it is quite steep so I didn’t over stride and was cautious.  Mile 15 was 9:02 ave pace (I never saw this till after the race) and 16 was 8:42.  I didn’t realize I slowed that much.  It was quite cold and a nasty cross wind, in my mind I felt I should go with the flow of traffic considering I could not read my Garmin.

First Avenue felt pretty good.  I should have been more focused on running a straight path.  Looking at my time I see I’m still ahead about 3 minutes.  Now I can’t see the seconds though so its easy to slip (the frame is not large enough to show seconds and I didn’t realize that).  First Ave were miles 17-19 and average pace there was about 7:48, so making up for time lost on the last two bridges.

Although the Willis bridge is short, it is pretty steep, and we got a bit bunched up there.  This is also the point in the race (20 mile mark) where I started to feel pain.  My HR is still really high at 181 bpm average for the race and pretty consistent average mile to mile.  I feel I’m getting enough nutrition, but maybe could have used more at this point.  I do know that my stomach felt good, I didn’t feel slushy from too much water, wasn’t thirsty, and wasn’t hungry, so maybe this is just what it feels like to run really hard even when your well fueled.  Regardless I didn’t like how it felt and the Bronx is barren, lots of turns, and not much to look forward too.

Aside from the 15-17 miles of Queensborough bridge I am still running all miles better than 8mm until now.  20 was 8:17, 21 was 8:08 and 22 and 23 I picked it up again.  Those were the 5^th avenue miles in Harlem where the sun was in my face, I wanted to see my friends and family but just had to push on and stay really focused.  Also there were two songs that came up on my play list during this time that were not motivating me but didn’t want to take the time to pull it out of my pouch and fuss with it.  Good call on that.  Had a falling out with a guy at a water station who came up from behind to pass me, then cut in front of me at a water table just to stop dead in his tracks where I almost fell on top of him.  ASSHOLE.  I’m starting to worry a bit about finishing in 3:30 now because central park is getting close and I have some hills to address.

I remember seeing the 22 mile marker and thinking I only had 3 miles to go.  Somehow I missed something and I lost my nerve a bit when I realized I had 4.2 miles left.  The 5^th ave portion along Central Park was terrible.  I could see all the runners in front of me but I couldn’t even focus on the crowd.  I just kept my chin up and trudged up that long hill.  Even though I ran this portion of the course about 5 weeks ago, I don’t recall this being such a long hill.  Today this hill felt worse than heartbreak hill in Boston,  Ran 8:32 for mile 24 which is the 5^th ave portion to around the entry point into CP.  Mile 25 is when my quads really hurt and I was concerned about pushing though the pain.  Felt like they had grown by 1/3 their size and were big water balloons ready to burst off the bone.  Not a good feeling.  I had seen an injured runner around the 22 mile mark and It always gives me a reality check when I see someone in that much pain.  So the CP portion I didn’t push too hard and mile 25 was 8:22 pace.  This is all what I’m expecting, but not looking at the total running time on my Garmin any longer.  My wrist band which would tell me whether I am on target is twisted in such a way that I cant see the 24-26 mile times and it doesn’t really matter at this point anyway.  I can’t run any faster,  We leave CP for a flat portion of 59^th street and I’m doing OK again.  I’m not feeling emotional as usual when finishing the last mile.  Its sunny, the crowd is a blur to me, I hate that some people are passing me now because its usually me who’s passing others and me finishing strong…not today.  I’m just holding on.  Miles 25-26.2 were run at 8:00.  I crossed the finish, pressed stop and was not surprised to see I missed my goal time.  It read 3:31:25.

As is typical at all marathons we all feel like complete shit.  The only sounds are the voices of the volunteers asking us to move along and congratulating us.  I think this is the first time in recent memory where I looked around at a crowd of people and nobody is looking at, or talking on a cell phone.  We are all toast.  Quickly getting cold.  I cried a bit, not sure why.  I’m not un-happy, I am in pain, I am glad its over.  Woman next to me is sniffling too.  Mostly guys, who are not crying.  I turn my tunes off.  And the texts are coming in from my family and friends.  That made break into a smile and really felt accomplished with what I had done.  This course was much harder than I had remembered.

REACTION TO FINISH

I really don’t know how I lost a whole 1:25 when I was so far ahead of myself for 3/4 of the race and I didn’t fall apart once.  No stopping.  No digestive problems.  Even now analyzing the averages per mile I don’t understand how I ran 18 miles sub 8mm and the other 8 were not terrible 8:04; 9:02; 8:42; 8:17; 8:08; 8:32; 8:22; and 8.  My garmin said I ran 26.51 miles at an average of 7:58.5mm.  SO THERE..Once I saw that I actually ran further than my planned 26.2 I made a concession, gave myself a break and acknowledged that although I did not meet my goal of 3:30 I did run at the required sub 8 mm pace that I had been training for.   it makes sense with all the turns and the weaving along the wide avenues that I would run further then 26.2 but didn't put that into my plan.  Also amazed that I ran at an average HR of 181 BPM and my goal was 176 BPM.  My last marathon was Paris where I ran an average 176 and I really have not trained any of my workouts leading up to the marathon in the 180 range.  All my MP tempo work was 171-176.

I was happy about my starting coral #17 because it was a great group of runners.  We all belonged there and were courteous.  Because of that the pacing went well and I’ve never experienced that in a marathon.  I finished all my nutrition.  My first 400 calories were finished at the 13 mile and the other 400 calories I was working on until the 23 mile mark.  I liked carrying the flask in my hand because it helped me to take small amounts more frequently so I didn’t always need water.  I think I could have used more nutrition though.  Next marathon I  need a belt that allows for bigger flasks.  My fluid consumption was perfect.  I noticed when I got home that my urine was a good color.  I was cautious to drink early and frequently.  Probably stopped at 2/3 of the tables which line the route every mile.  Also thinking maybe I should carry some of my own so not as reliant on race water.  Vary hard to tell how much you are ingesting.  I would have preferred to take 2 cups at a time but was holding on to my flask with one hand. Also don’t like thinking about the action of making that stop for water, much better to be able to just cruise right by and not stress over the slippery areas, which cup to grab, and which runner is likely to cut you off.  I didn’t want to get too wet, especially in the early phases of the race so I probably slowed a lot more than I would  if I had two cups at a time.

I felt very comfortable in my race clothes.  New shorts, tank, hair band, new sunglasses and absolutely loved my new yourbud headphones, which were comfortable and never slipped out of place.  I think my garman was set up well in terms of capturing the most important information on the first page but wish I had seconds for my race time once I passed the hour mark.

I’m very happy that my body felt so good throughout except the last 6 miles of general fatigue.  IT band fine, hamstring insertion/origin good, ankles and feet good, no joint pain at all.  I felt very “balanced”.  Definitely will get a massage before my next marathon.

Sleep could have been better.  5 hours plus 3 restless is not so good.  Also wonder if some of my fatigue had to do with iron loss from my cycle.  Should I have been more thoughtful about iron intake the week before?

Food pre race and days going in were good.  I didn’t follow a carb load diet but did consume less protein and more carbohydrates the 3 days prior.  My appetite during my taper week was manageable and I didn’t restrict calories but was careful to not over eat.  My weight overall should have been less.  I weighed about 5 pounds more than my “comfortable” weight and that was annoying, but I trained with that weight on my frame so I don’t think my performance would have been any different had I lost weight in the last month.

MEETING UP

Picking up my gear at the UPS truck was a breeze.  Had I finished 15 minutes later it would have been a madhouse.  I brought my black, flat Merrill shoes and clean socks to slip into and it felt good for my feet to get out of my sneakers.  Oh, my shoes felt a bit loose at the start of the race.  I wore my most thin socks and was a little worried that my heel was slipping in the beginning.  Also thought my feet would swell shortly and it would all work out.  Well it all worked out.  I didn’t have to walk far to get my gear, maybe 15 minutes (78^th street between CPW and Columbus) and I was meeting David at 77^th and Columbus so that all worked very well.   We walked very gingerly to the subway.  I had to walk down the stairs sideways one step at a time.  My quads are shot.  I was offered a seat on the train and questioned taking it.  Felt good to sit but the rest of the day I could not get out of a seated position without using my hands to assist me.

Of course when I got home and all I wanted was a bath my mom had to call and chat.  So I took time out to do that and then soaked with the bubble mat for about 15 min.  Tub is much better than the pins and needles feeling of water with a shower.  Took a hour nap, cleaned up, and had some friends over to celebrate with Pizza.  I ate 4 slices without an ounce of guilt.

That’s it.  Marathon # 6, 2^nd NYC marathon and my 6^th personal best race.  Every race I’ve gotten faster, every race I’ve learned more to take to the next one.  Writing these recaps is definitely a required component to achieving my goals.  Next marathon will be Barcelona, Spain.  March 25^th 2012.  So I have about 3 weeks off including a aptly timed scuba diving vacation to the Turks and Caicos then back into training.  Should be interesting.

PARIS MARATHON WEEK 2 OF TAPER

Not a terribly exciting week.  As far as tapers go my energy is feeling pretty good.  Dropping from 44 miles to 34 miles this week and started a low carb diet on Friday to initiate carb loading prior to race day.  My new shoes feel great, the weather got better toward the weekend, and I'm getting anxious about leaving my work and business behind but at the same time more exited than ever to go to Paris.  Think this will be a beautiful, flat, fantastic race. MONDAY- today is my moderate distance run and I've cut down to 10 miles at 9:20 pace. It's pretty rank out. About 50 degrees and raining so feels cold and there's nothing you can do about it. Glad one of the new pairs of shoes are black. Hate taking nice new white shoes out in the rain. Going to Prospect Park and decided to take whatever pace felt right for today. Although it's supposed to feel easy, I took it a little harder mostly becaue I just want it to be over with. Stopped at hardware store also to see if they had the brackets we need for the finishing touches on the kitchen and they did not. Other than that I stopped for a gel at 5miles and a bathroom stop and turned around and high tailed it home. Ran average 8:57 pace at ave HR of 156. Still feel my left IT band a bit and will be sure to use foam roller later today when I do my weight training session.

Before my last client I wanted to get in a good back workout but couldn't because my contractor wanted to stop by to discuss some work. Went to basement for a 30 min workout but then was interrupetd on phone with a client. So not much of a workout. Did 4 exercises total, worked either heavy or moderate with little rest.  Supersets of strength and stability. Should have just done yoga and stretching instead. Dreaming about a massage.

TUESDAY- Normally I swim, but this weeks workout is focusing on strokes other than freestyle and decided mid day to skip it. Doing a partial cleanse, it's horrible weather and just want to hunker down and get a lot of work done. After clients at John Street I did all upper body workout of supersets strength followed by stability. Back, then chest, shoulder, biceps and triceps. Moderate intensity to heavy depending on how my shoulder was feeling about the exercise. Bummed that my shoulder is still testy. Tomorrow I just have an easy run and plan to do another partial cleanse, AM until about 5pm before I go to Staten Island to run with TNT. Will see how that goes.

WED- instead of running in the AM I''m holding off till the evening. Had a productive work day then drove to Staten Isalnd and ran 5 plus miles, goal pace 9mm. Going to follow with a workout with TNT so don't want this to feel hard, yet it did for some reason. It is a combination of the fact that I didn't run yesterday, that I'm not used to running late in the day, plus I was fasting until 5:00 at which point I had an isalean shake before driving to SI.  After my 5 mile run I did an easy warm up with the team. They had 25 minutes of hill repeats. I didn' run too many hills with them but did run about 2 miles total. Good group tonight.

THURSDAY- I finished with clients then went to our accountant about taxes. Had time in-between to have a naturally sweetened muffin and banana. Today is my last day to eat a normal amount of carbs. Tomorow go low carbs with goal being 50g per day. yikes. Feeling good going into my run.  Nice day, sunny, about 55 degrees. Ran around battery park up west side. Want to do race pace work but feel instead of specifying distance I will do it more like a fartlek workout. Over 6 miles I did 7 intervals at a RP (ranged between 7:35 and 8:05) with half mile being the goal distance.  I jogged inbetween intervals until feeling recovered enough to do another interval. Was fun to have a free form workout like this . Was planning to do shoulder work but ran out of time. Will add shoulder to Friday workout. Did do abs today though.

FRIDAY- Had an early morning weight training session. In my gym I did back, shoulder, bicep and tricep work. warmed up with elyptical for my shoulder then did supersets of strength and stability. Back, shoulder, back, bicep, shoulder, tricep. Finished with abs. One hour total. Did 3 set all rep range from 10-20. Everything felt good, and change in rep range was actually challenging.  Today is my fist day of reduced carbs.  So far so good.  Lots of protein and almost equal amount of fat.  Carbs throughout this 7 day period consists of leafy greens and green vegetables only.  Not tomato, root vegetables, grains, bread, etc.

SATURDAY- got a late start for my last long run. Had a client in the AM and then went out for my run. By time I left it was around 11am and warming up outside. About 55 out and warmed up throughout the run. Went over the bridge to the west side. Just going with the flow and enjoying my last decent run. Paris is one week from today. Ended up running my plan which was 10 miles at 9:20 pace. HR monitor went crazy again so numbers are off but think my av HR was 156 BPM. Yesterday was first low carb day and because of that my HR did go up after 6 miles. Did not use any gels or energy drinks and althouth my energy was ok was interesting that my Hr went up.

SUNDAY- easy day on my indoor trainer. It's nice enough out to ride outside so took the trainer to the back courtyard. Did a new Endurance program from my book. Warm up 15 minutes including easy pedal at 90rmp, alternating 30 seconds standing and 30 sec sitting for 5 min, and alternating single leg work for 1 min each leg x3. Set 1 was 6x2min at 70rpm in zone 1-2 with 1 min rest high rpm. Rest 3 min then 3x3 min 70 rpm or slightly slower in zone 2 again 1 min rest. This was supposed to be 6 sets not 3, but was feeling like too much work for my legs so I cut the session short. Tomorrow is some running at race pace and I need to be taking it all easy. This all felt good. Looking forward to a massage later today.

Totals:  7:40 min of training (way down from last month and i'm totally ok with that), 34 miles running, 1:45 in weights over 3 days and 50 minutes on my bike.  All is well yet still feeling some pain in left IT band.

Paris Marathon- last week of sharpening

MONDAY- Today is the 3rd day in a row of rain. Pretty much no sun in three days and today is just an easy run, but i'm not feeling it at all. Contractor is in my apt again, so using it as an excuse to push myself out the door and run, in the rain, again. Was supposed to be 6 miles.. Legs are fatigued from 22 miles yesterday. I'm running below a 10mm at points, so figure, even as a recovery run, this is really not worth my time. As I was approachiing the Brooklyn Bridge decided to cut it short. Have lots of work to do today, the contractor should be gone soon, so will have a productive work day and save tomorrow for a good training day. Ran 4 miles 9:30 pace av HR 144bpm or about 73% max. later in the afternoon before my last client I had a quick short workout in the basement before my last client. Just did shoulders and abs. 30 min total. Wanted to do shoulders right after my AM run but due to contractor activities I had to wait till later. Flexibilty not great today so kept the workout light.

TUESDAY- I'm in the city with clients. New schedule starting this week since I added a client. Have a 1/2 hour break at 9am for breakfast and had a natural sweetened muffin, hard boiled egg and a banana. Then had a run aroun 11:00. My mid length run goal pace is 9:20, and today i'm doing 11 miles all flat and feeling like my pace will be a bit faster. Feeling energetic, but very conscious of my IT band tension. Wouldn't call it pain at this point. Will order new shoes later today. Ran flat up Hudson River Park for 12 miles total. It was a bit windy, but the first sunny day in 3 days and in the mid 50's. Ran into the wind on the way uptown at a 9:00 pace, ave HR 155 and 8:51 pace on the way back at HR 155. I'm feeling really confident with my increase in pace and lower HR over the last couple of week. I know I can run Paris under 8:00 average, it's now a question of traffic.

After my 12.5 mile run I wasn't feeling very energetic but got in a weight training session. Did legs and back, basically alternating between upper and lower body after each exercise. Couldn't do legs at the weight I wanted so did 4 sets at lower weight. Forgot to log this the day immediately, so don't recall specific exercises. Recall leg press (have not done that in a long time), leg extensions and the rest was back work.  NOrmally would swim Tuesday night but have other plans, so no swimming this week.

THURSDAY- Wednesday was a complete day off so on Thursday as the weather had shifted I was really in the mood for a good run. The weather has changed dramatically and it's spring! I'm running from John Street up the Hudson River Parkway for my last interval/tempo run before my race. It's warm enough to wear shorts and a sleeeless top, probably high 50's and the sun is in full force and there's a nice breeze. Warmed up 1.5 miles then 4x100 (goal 27sec) with faster pace than planned by 2-3 seconds. Then 4x200 (goal 54 sec) again faster at 51 seconds each. Feeling my IT band at times, but not really effecting my run. Took a break for about half mile at easy jog and then set my mind on MP of under 8:00 for 8 miles but wanted to focus on HR goal of 173-175. Problem was my HR montior was wacky, said my max hr was 248 and average 188 for the whole run. So not sure what HR average was but held my pace pretty steady for the 8 miles and average pace was 7:52. Had no trouble with breathing, more focus was on form and muscle fatigue. Feeling like new sneakers and 3 weeks of tapering will take care of any uncertaimty.

At John street after my run I had an apple and a shower. Fairly tired from the run so not going to do an hour of weights as planned. Doing supersets of shoulder and back. Fairly heavy for back and lighter on shoulders. Did 4 exercises each- all were 8-12 reps for 3 sets. Shoulder feels good.

FRIDAY- Today is an easy day and was going to ride indoor trainer but it's much to nice out so switching my Sunday and Friday workouts and running 6 miles easy over the brooklyn bridge. It's 70 degrees out and sunny. Supposed to be excellent weather tomorrow then get cloudy and colder so taking advantage of this perfect running weather. Wish my new shoes were here. It band was hurting a bit on the run. Mostly right in the middle, not in the glute like before. Warmed up easy 1 mile then went over the bridge and back. Not sure what my average HR was because my HR monitor went nuts again, but guessing around 158bpm and pace Average was 9:05.

SATURDAY- my traqining plan calls for the last really long run to be 3 weeks from my tace, and that's today. Next week I taper. Doing 20 miles in prospect park and the plan was to do a progressive run but not comfortable with that in these old shoes with my IT band showing me that I should have replaced these shoes about a month ago. Warmed up real easy to prospect park, about 2 miles. My goal pace for this distance is 9:48, but I've been running all my long runs quite a bit faster than that. Today is 20 degrees above normal, so about 70 out and it feels fantastic, but i'm going to just look at my HR and keep it well below 80% max throughout. I found that with this plan it was easy to follow, but at the same time the slower I go, the harder it is to hold that pace. Meaning, if i set my goal at 9:25 for the whole run I would have felt better than going slower than what is typical for this distance. In anycase, I felt i needed to take this run easy, the real training is over, I know what i'm capable of, and should just enjoy the weather. It felt more heated than expected for the last 6 miles and noticed my HR increased even though my pace did not. Ended up running the main set of 16 miles at 9:27 pace and AV HR of 148. Most of my steady state long runs have been at at least an average of 153, so was nice to see that if i focused that I can run long and easy. Max HR even with 6 major hills was only 164bpm, about 83% of my max.  Cant wait for new shoes.  The soles of my feet hurt.

SUNDAY- Today is a recovery bike ride. Got on my indoor trainer with a dvd that a friend lent me. Never done this and thought it would be nice for a recovery ride. When I have "work" I like to have my ride planned out, but thought a tour of Italy would be fun. Well I was totally bored. Thankfully it was a recovery ride because I never got out of zone 2 and after 20 minutes I decided to cut my 1 hour ride short to 30 minutes. Yes I'm fatigued, and yes it a sunny day that really deserves a run, but im just not into this workout. I felt today it was OK to just let it go.

Best news of the week was my tempo run with intervals plus MP for 8 miles.  Felt fantastic.  Bad news for week is that I really need new shoes and my IT band is hurting a bit.  Only at the beginning or a run or when I stop and then start again, but this isn't good!  No knee pain though.

Total miles for week was 53 (somehow i was short 2-3 miles from early in the week when I felt lousy).  I did weights 3 days for 1:30 min total, none of them particularly difficult.  No swimming this week and only a 30 min recovery ride on my bike on Sunday.  Next week starts my Taper and ned to really focus on Nutrition.  I'm about 5 pounds heavier than I'd like for race day.

Paris Marathon- week 9 of Sharpening Phase

MONDAY- I had a super easy run today, combining training wieh business.  Lots of  stop and go as I ran around brooklyn visiting businesses sharing information about Isagenix.  4.75 miles total.

Later in the day I wanted to put in more time for weights and yoga  but ran out of time. In my gym basement before my last client I got in 40 min of weights and 10 min of abs. Since i'm running tempo tomorrow and swimming i'm focusing just back and shoulder. Did sets of 4. Sometimes first set was light, but in anycase worked on increasing weights or shortening rest for each set. Did straight sets alternating between back and chest exercises. Lat Pd supinated, BB OHP, BB bent over Row, DB cg shoulder press, Ca bent over rev fly (light 4x10), Ca sa should horiz extension (light), DB lateral raises. Left shoulder was a little problematic on the reverse fly. Noticing shoulder work is much better after running.

TUESDAY- it's marathon pace day. I'm increasing the mileage at marathon pace from 6.5 from 2 weeks ago to 10. I'm fortunate to be in the city already so have the advantage of avoiding hills and traffic lights for a good chunk of the run. Did a two mile warm up over to the Hudson River Park and ran north. Had no problam hitting 7:54 pace and at first my HR was quite low.  Monitoring both my pace and HR with goal of running 10 out of 14 miles at 7:54 and HR 173. Today is the warmest day of the year so far. about 50 degrees by time time i was in the middle of the run. Wore shorts and tee shirt and felt great to not be wearing a lot. Had eaten a bran muffin, banana, and hard boiled egg about 2 hours before the run and stomach and energy was great. Also very little wind. A bit more wind the first half then the second. Had a gel 3 miles into the MP set and another 4 miles later. No stops for bathroom or water. Jogged briefly for gels and water and picked up the pace again with no problem. I ended up running the 10 miles at 7:52 pace and HR ave 175. I feel I could hold this HR during a marathon as long as I get the fluids and gels frequently enough. Average pace including warm up and cool down was 8:04! Great day for running. Best day of the year so far and this was my last mid distance marathon pace run so I'm really pleased.

I  intended to get in a leg workout but was dependant on how I was feeling and after my fantastic run.  After the run I just wanted to ea, so I had an apple then did Squats and leg extensions and thats it. 3x12. Will adjust my workout schedule so I can do a more thorough leg workout on Thursday.

It's been a real busy day. My kitchen is being demolished for renovation today so trying to stay away from home and it's not a problem with all the clients, calls, and errands I have today. Around 4:00 I felt a drop in my energy and wasn't looking forward to going to the pool. Made a dish of yogurt mixed with isa pro pure protein and that did the trick. Went to Roosevelt pool to swim with tritons. Today is tempo day but I'm not going to take it too hard. Focusing on form, flutter kick, glide, and putting just enough energy in to not sink basically. Did warm up and drills for 15 minutes. The rest is supposed to be at time trial pace which for me is 2:00 for 100yards. The test was from a few weeks back and I know I should be able to do under 2:00 but i'm just working at that level for today considering all the running and weight training i've done. Did 5x100@T with 15 sec rest followed by 5 sets of 150@T (30sec) 50 easy. 100's went well pretty much. Time was good but stroke rate not great. First 150 didn't feel great but time was OK. Feel like i'm working too hard so started to focus in on just being quiet in the water and a real een flutter kick. This did the trick, felt like a lot less effort and although my time wa off by 5-10 sec I was happy that I was able to make the adjustment. Not happy with stroke rate today. Most were between 22 and 25. Really want to get down to 20 soon. Will start to reduce running training soon and hope to see improvements in my swimming at that time. Did about 2300 yards total over 1:10.  Considering all the volume I did today, happy with the results of the day overall.

THURSDAY- Yesterday I did not train at all, except for 40 min jog/walk with TNT, and yet my legs are a little sore. Have not had time for Yoga much this week and I think that is one of the reasons i'm feeling tight. Had a good breakfast about 1.5 hours before my 10 mile run. I ran from John street along battery park city up to the Intrepid and turned around. There was some wind against me on the way up and quite a bit easier on the way back. Focused on HR instead of pace, although pace for this run was suppposed to be 9:20mm. I didn't take any gels and drank pure water. Wanted to see how my muscles would feel if I kept my HR below 80% most of the time. Really didn't feel the need for gels even at the end. The main set was 8.5 miles at HR of 152bpm and pace 9:07. This is a pretty good HR for me for this pace, so the bit of fatigue i'm feeling is not due to over use or inadequate recovery. My legs feel fine when i'm running, just a bit tired when standing and left ITband is still tight.

Following my run I had an apple right away to restore some carbs, stretched and showered. Then I did 30 minutes of weights focusing on shoulders. 5 shoulder exercises, 2 triceps, and light (180#) leg presses. No pain or discomfort in my left shoulder. Seems to be significantly better after running as the joint and surrounding muscles are warmed up and relaxed. Will continue working shoulders after my runs and not before them.

FRIDAY- in the basement gym between clients I put in a quick workout focusing on back and biceps. Not feeling energetic today. It's not so much physical as emotionally drained. Did 5 for back and 2 for biceps. Rps 8-12 and 3 sets each. Supersets of strength and stability. Also did some ab work. Will get on bike later today.

I'm not really into this ride.  I'm annoyed and distracted from getting my work done by the kitchen renovation but will do my best to get in a decent ride. Going to try something new today. 5 minute intervals at about the intensity i would ride a half ironman. My last race HR was average 161, but i dont't hink i'll be hitting that today. Just focusing on 75 or so cadence and moderately hard resistance for 5 min, then 5 min easy pace. Repeat 4 times. Found that a hr of about 142-148 was all I could sustain at the appropriate intensity. A bit disappointed as I don't know if that is more an indicator of fatigue from all the running i'm doing or if I have a lot of work ahead of me on the bike. Rode for 1 hour, did 4 ot those intervals, was fairly bored. Average cadenct for the work sets was between 74 and 80 for the most part.

SUNDAY- I was supposed to run a long 22 miles yesterday but it rained to flood levels and I didn't even run the 6 miles to finish off my week. So yesterday I took the whole day off. Went to bed late, was working on putting items back into kitchen now that the cabinets are installed. Plus clocks were set forward last night, so I got up late, still feeling lazy because it's still raining. Eventually set out for 22 miles flat in the city. Warmed up 1 mile to brooklyn bridge, went down fulton street and around battery pack city up the west side. Was not raining hard at first and run was quite pleasant except for the wind. Around mile 5 it started to rain hard, against the wind, skin soaked and cold...not fun. Rain slowed a bit and the return run was much more enjoyable. My long run pace is supposed to be 9:48 but that's never the case once I get out there, and today was no exception. In general used HR instead of pace for the run. Kept HR average at about 154 bpm, and took some of the hills on the way home a bit hard, but otherwise kept HR no higher than 83% max. Legs felt good, everything felt good, except my skin. Took a gel at 4 mile, 8, 12 and 16 and that worked fine. Walked briefly for each gel and had a bathroom/water stop around 13 mile mark. Aside from the rain I'm happy with the run. One of my better average paces, considering conditions, and my breathing and HR were totally under control. Think it helped to have two easy days prior (friday was bike and Saturday was off). Cooled down completely for a mile. Average pace for the 20 mile main set was 9:11 and AV hr was 154. Of all my long runs this was the fastest at the lowest HR.

Week totals wer 11 hrs 45 in with 50 miles of running.  1 hout on indoor trainer.  1:15 mi swim and 2 hours of weights over 4 workouts.  Good week.  Ordered new shoes after realizing i had run 750 mies in these.  OOPS>

Paris Marathon- Week 8- Sharpening

My week started out a bit slow.  Feeling a bit overworked and taking extra vitamin C just to make sure I don't get sick.  Feeling my mood, energy, and general lethargic body is partially due to my difficult 24 mile progressive run from Saturday.  With that said, I modified the beginning of my weeks training to be really light on running and leg training. MONDAY- I'm still feeling a bit battered. Mostly tired, a little sore, just know I'm not recovered from the 24 mile run on Saturday so am taking it easy today. I also plan on running again this evening with a client, but will be at a real leisurely pace. Today I went over the Brooklyn Bridge and back. Quite a bit of wind but the air temp was nice. Didn't really pay attention to pace or HR, just took the hills easy and picked up the pace a bit on the down side. Average pace was 9:20 and AV hr was 156. Was also planning on doing weights this morning, but I skipped it. Wasn't feeling like doing legs and shoulders as planned.

TUESDAY- Today is pretty high volume but low intensity in all 3 activities.  Started with weights in the am.  Between clients I had time for breakfast and weight training. I wanted to train legs today, but still a bit sore. Also adapted my running to this as today was supposed to be speed work. At John Street I focused mostly on back, some shoulders (keeping in mind im swimming tonight) and some chest. Back was all strength, 8-10 reps, followed by either shoulder or chest stabilization work. Also did some internal and external shoulder rotation band work. Felt like a good session even though it wasn't well planned. Later today I will do abs and some yoga before going to the pool.

I switched my Tuesday and Thursday run workouts because my legs are not feeling up to a 12 mile run including sprints and tempo work, so will go moderate length of 12 miles at goal pace 9:20. Went from John street to Battery Park and up the west side, so all of it was flat. Warmed up 1 mile easy. There is some wind, but temps are in the low 40s and it feels really warm so I took off my fleece and ran in long sleeve shirt. My HR monitor battery died at mile 6.5 and at that point my average speed was 9:04 and HR 149 (a really low HR for this pace). I know when I turned around to go back, now the wind is against my back, that I picked up the pace 10-20 seconds per mile, but I think I slowed down for the last 3 miles. I'm guessing my average pace was 9:00 and average HR 151. Run felt pretty good, especially my breathing, considering my legs felt tired just standing. Will be sure to stretch well today as well as eat well.

I swam in the evening at Roosevelt pool with the tritons. I'ts a big group today and we are using 4 lanes, so well spread out. Only 2 other people in my lane. Started with a warm up and drills for about 20 minutes. For drills on my side I need to work on my flutter kick and keeping my hand real high in the water. Today's workout was set up as a ladder. Each set to be swum at Moderate Easy pace so that the first 100 and last 100 are at equal speed. 100-200-300-400-300-200-100 yards with rest of 20-25-30-40-30-25-20. I was leading the pace for my lane and felt I was taking it a bit too hard so slowed down a little when we hit the 300s. My stroke rate was really consistent 23-25 per lap. The first 100 and last 100 were at 1:05, so I managed to not fall apart at the end. Felt the rest periods were short,  guess that was the point. Talked to Claudia about my goals and she wants me to focus on getting stroke rate to 21-23 by end of April. Good goal. Noticed during cool down that my first lap was only 21, so I know if i relax more and don't use my strength so much and I can succeed in my goal. Good session.

WEDNESDAY- Today is my Off day. I'm glad it's in the middle of the week, i really need it. Unforniutately I do have to run with team in training tonight, but that won't be more than three miles. I did some weight training and abs in the basement between clients. Need to get in a good shoulder workout, and since the swimming is over for the week, today is the day. Did 35 minutes of just shoulders and triceps. Supersets of strength followed by stability. Strength sets were 3x8-10 reps and stability was 3x10-12reps. Everything felt good!. Did one superset for triceps and didn't go very heavy. Finished with abs on the bosu for 10 minutes, exercises I had not done in a while.

THURSDAY- after clients i did weight training followed by a run. Feeling pretty good today, but still not 100%. At john street I did back and chest work. Supersets for strength followed by stability, effort moderate/hard, reps 10-12 for most. Order was back, back, chest, back. Followed with good stretching so I'm not all tight for my run. Did 35 minutes total.

I had breakfast, high in carbs, about hour and a half before the run. Felt good going into the run, but a bit of cramping the last few miles. Seems I do better with my Isalean shake than higher carbs prior to a heavy run. Doing 12 miles including intervals and MP training. Start from John street and across Chambers to the Hudson River Parkway which is just over a mile for the warm up. Did 4x100 in 26-28 sec (goal 27) then 4x200 in 50-55 sec (goal 54) followed by easy jog and some walking for 10 minutes and included a bathroom stop. I'm running into the wind and it's a steady 10mph at least with higher gusts. Next step is 7 miles at MP goal pace 7:56 and the first few are tough because I"m going into the wind for 2.5 miles. Then I turn around and feels great until about mile 5 where I'm running out of steam. Should have taken a gel then but kept going. Finished the 7 miles at 7:53 pace at 177 average HR. This was feeling really good. Data very similar to last time but this was a mile longer with virtually no stopping. I took a gel about 3.5 mile before starting the MP portion and should have taken another about 3.5 miles into the MP portion. Will remember that for my next attempt, which will be my last attempt with my taper right around the corner. Would like to see my HR at 173 instead of 177.

FRIDAY- I had a half hour between clients and spent that working on shoulders. Super sets of strength and stability. 6 exercises total. Kept it light to moderate in weight, but short rests. Left shoulder feels good, even with the overhead movements. That's it for the day. I had planned a bike ride today but want to get in two full days off  this week since I was feeling a bit overworked earlier this week. Also did yoga and ab work today.

SATURDAY- woke up tired today.  Went to see Muse last night and got home late. Had 6 1/2 hours sleep and could have used more. Have a lot to do today, so got going pretty quickly after having a shake and set out for my 20 mile long run which i'm doing on hilly terrain in Prospect Park. I've been running flat a lot, so this will feel more challenging but i'm going to take it real easy. Not feeling as recovered as I usually do before a long run, so will focus in on HR and not speed. Goal is to keep my HR average in low 150 range (abt 80% max). Warmed up 1 mile then continued to the park and went clockwise for 10 miles, turn around and go counter-clockwise. Had honey stinger gels at 4,8,12, and 15 miles, also bathroom and water stop at 12. Paused my Garmin and walked briefly for each gel. Felt really good until around 11 mile. Don't know if i'm just board of going around in circles or what. My HR is staying really low, mostly in mid 150's and into mid 160s on the hills. Seems I do better energetically when I use honey stinger and power gels, also when I'm more focused on pace instead of taking it easy. The 18 mile main set was at 9:30 pace and ave HR was 159 which is probably the lowest average for all my long runs. Temperature was really nice in the mid 40's but was a bit windy. Almost warm enough for shorts and short sleeve shirt if not for the wind.

SUNDAY- Today I was planning to get on my bike as it's the last day of my training week to do so, but I can't stand to be inside. Doing a lot of work around the apartment this weekend and it's sunny and 45 degrees outside, so i'm running! Did an easy run over the brooklyn bridge and back. Pace 9:05 and Ave HR 160. Left ITband feel a bit tight and will do some foam rolling over te next few days to correct that.

Week totals:  13 hours.  Run 61 miles (over my plan by 5 miles), 9 hrs 30 min; 2:15 mi weights over 4 days; 1:15 min swim.

Race Etiquette

Regardless of the size or importance of a particular race, safety and manners matter. Whether you are training in a heavily congested area, racing a small local road race, or a big city marathon these rules should be followed.

General Rules for Running in an Event

• Follow the rules of the race outlined on the race entry form! All runners have a collective responsibility to keep the event safe. Races generally discourage running with dogs, headphones, cell phones, and jogging strollers.
• Pre-register even if same day registration is offered. This will help ease the registration process for everyone involved.
• Arrive early for the event, especially if you are picking up your number on race day. Check your registration information carefully, especially if you are racing with a club, for an award, or prize money.
• Use the facilities before the race start to lessen the need once on course, and help keep the facilities clean for the person in line after you.  Plan to do this well in advance, as the lines get longer the closer it gets to race start.  Also facities near the race corrals are usually the longest.
• Pin your race number on the front of your shirt/shorts. This is where it is most visible for photographers and race officials.  Using a race belt is a great option if you don't want holes in your clothing.  The key is to have your number on your front.
• Line up according to how fast you plan to run or walk the event. Slower runners and walkers should move to the back of the race pack. Just because you arrived early does not mean you should be at the front of the starting line.
• Pay attention to the pre-race instructions. This is not the time to be blaring your favorite song on your personal music device, which really should be locked in your car or at home.

Race Etiquette on Course

• If you drop something as the race starts, don’t stop and pick it up! Wait until almost everyone has crossed the starting line then retrieve it.
• Don’t drop clothing on the course after you warm-up. If you must shed layers of clothing, tie them around your waist or place them on the side of the road where no one will trip over them. If you drop it; don’t expect to get it back.
• Run or walk no more than two abreast.
• Do not block runners coming up behind you by swerving needlessly back and forth across the course.
• If you are walking in a group, stay to the back of the pack and follow the two abreast rule.
• Bodily functions are a fact of life during a race. If you need to spit, blow your nose or throw-up, move to the side of the road and do it there. If nature calls, check for a port-a-potty, an open business, a kind neighbor along the course, or as a last resort, a discreet clump of bushes before relieving yourself.  Again, follow the rules from the race entry form.  In some races you will be disqualified if you relieve yourself anywhere other than a port-a-potty.
• Move to the side if someone behind you says, “Excuse me” or “on your right/left”. The person behind you is giving you a heads up before passing. It’s proper race etiquette to let that person pass you without blocking their effort.
• If someone in front of you is wearing headphones, and they are blocking, gently touch their elbow or shoulder as you pass to alert them to your presence.
• If you need to tie your shoe or stop for any reason (phone call, nose blow, etc) move to the side of the road and step off the course.
• Pay attention to your surroundings. The course may or may not be closed to traffic. It is your responsibility to watch for oncoming traffic!
• Yield the right of way to all police and emergency vehicles. Yield the course to wheel chair athletes, you can change direction or stop more quickly then they can, especially on a downhill.
• Don’t cheat! Don’t cut the course or run with someone else’s number.
• Enjoy your race!

Aid Station Etiquette

• When approaching an aid station to hydrate or re-fuel,  move in and grab your fluid/nutritional needs from the volunteers or the aid tables then continue forward away from the volunteers or aid table.  Do not stop in front of the tables.
• If you need to stop at an aid station step to the side of the road and proceed to the aid station, but do not block others from accessing the aid tables or volunteers handing out fluids.
• Throw your used cup to the far right or left side away from the course and as close to an aid station as possible.
• Say thank you to the volunteers manning the aid station!
• If you see someone in distress on the course, report their number to the aid station and try to recall the approximate mile maker where you saw them.

Finish Line Etiquette

• If you neglected to leave your personal music device at home,  now would be the most important time to remove your headphones.
• Follow the instructions of the race officials at the finish.
• If a friend or family member is running the last stretch with you and isn’t in the race, he/she should move off the course before the finish chute starts.
• Once you have crossed the finish line, keep moving forward until the end of the finish chute.  If the event is not electronically timed,  stay in finishing order so the finish line volunteers can remove the pull tags from your number for scoring.
• If the event is electronically timed,  be sure to return the timing tag/chip before leaving the finishers chute.
• Exit the chute and wait for friends or family in a central location.
• Enjoy the post-race refreshments, but remember it is not an all you can eat buffet for you and your family.
• Stay around for the awards ceremony to cheer on the overall winners along with the age group winners.  Running is one of the few sports where the participants get to mingle closely with the event winners.
• Be proud of your accomplishment!

Remember no event is perfect and people work hard to make them safe and enjoyable.  Primarily volunteers staff most events, but there is always a race director or race committee that is responsible for an event.  If you have ideas for improving an event or concerns you would like to address, share them with the race director or race committee in a positive and productive manner.

Paris Marathon- Week 6- Sharpening phase

This was a really good week training wise and weather wise.  I have two mid distanct runs each week and I worked those pretty hard.  My weekend run was a bit shorter (compared to last week) at 20 miles, and I changed the days of the week that I did particular workouts but made sure all hard workouts were followed by easy or off.  As well I got in a number of days at the gym on weights, one speed workout at the pool and a solid interval session on the indoor trainer.  My body feels great, recovering well, a little tight in my left piriformis, but that's my only complaint. MONDAY- I had about 2 hours between clients this morning so got in a workout in my basement gym. Spent 45 minutes on legs and shouders. Legs were power and stability and shoulders were mostly strength exercises. Start with light shoulder internal and external rotation, then KB swings superset with box jump, Shouder PNF, Single leg squat with 10# bi curls, Arnold shoulder press super set with Bosu Transverse lunge, shoulder flexion super set with shoulder extension. Followed up with about 5 minutes of abs. Then did 30 minutes of mat yoga work and meditation. Good way to start my day. Went to bed a bit late but slept really well. For my morning just had 4 oz of cleanse for life for the first 3 hours of the day.

After my morning clients and the weight sesion I had a quick pick me up drink. I mixed 1 scoop of chocolate isalean shake with hot water and a little almond milk and a spot of peppermint extract for a hot chocolate drink before my run (only about 90 calories). Easy run today, 6 miles over the Brooklyn Bridge and back. Temps are about 22 degress but felt much warmer and had to take off a layer. Almost no wind today and it's pleasantly sunny. Enjoyed the easy run. Took the hills up at moderate effort, and down hill a little faster than normal. If this were a flat run would have aimed for 9mm, never know how an easy run is going to actually turn out when going over the bridge so I just focus on my breathing and keep my HR fairly low. Average pace wasw 9:09 and HR 157. Felt light and easy. Nice to not wear a lot of clothing or carry water.

TUESDAY at John street after clients I got in a farily intense back and chest workout. Did 2 back exercises followed by 1 chest. All were 3 sets, reps 8-12. Chest work was lighter than back. Think I did 9 exercises total.  It's raining in the city, but snowing in Brooklyn, so i'm heading home for my run after clients.

It was nice fluffy snow. I had eaten about 2 hours previous and feel energised and ready to go. Warmed up 2 miles to Prospect Park and took the park loop clockwise. I'm feeling really strong today. Normally a 13 mile run would be at 9:20 pace but I worked it a little harder, and focused in on my breathing and watched my HR to average around 160. I stopped at 6.5 miles, stop for bathroom and a gel and took a little video on my ipod of the beautiful winter scenery. Changed directions and kept the same pace no problem. Snow isn't sticking much so surface was totally fine. Over the 10 miles of the main set I ran 8:54 pace at av HR 161. I worked the hills farily hard getting to 170bpm or about 90% max HR.

Wait, I'm not done for the day yet.  I still have a swim this evening.  I Had a great swim at Roosevelt Pool with the Tritons. Again swam with 2 other guys who pushed me quite a bit. Had 20 minutes of warm up and drills and about 10 minutes of cool down including a little work on flip turns. The main set was 45 minutes. Did 5x100, 5x150, 5x50, All sets included a combination of moderate/hard/easy 25-50 yard portions. Interesting way to test strength and was difficult to keep form by the end. Last 50 was moderate 25/hard 25. The last 50 I was starting to loose it. Worked on full follow through and high elbow for much of the workout. Kept all sets at between 24 and 25 strokes per length. Did my 50's in 50s! Quite happy with that considering this time last year I was swimming 50's in 60 seconds, even in the beginning of a workout. Did 2500 yards or so total.  Day is over and I feel good!

WEDNESDAY-Extremely boring easy run. The slushy snow from yeasterday froze overnight and much of the sidewalk and street is very slippery. Glad I'm not doing a tempo run today. Just wandered around Brooklyn searching for surfaces that were not slippery. Pace was very slow 9:50mm pace HR 150.

THURSDAY- today is feeling like a great day for my intervals and MP workout. Had a farily large breakfast ate 1.5 hours before my run. I was in the city so get to run intervals up Hudson River park instead of the track which is a nice change. The temperature is great, about 35 degrees but a heavy wind at least 10mph as I'm running north from battery park up the west side. Started with 2 mile warm up and then did 4x100 with 100m walk. Goal was 27 sec and I completed them in 23-29 sec (Last time did 23-26sec). Immediately followed by 4x200 with 200 jog. Goal was 54 sec and I completed them in 47-55 sec at 172 av hr, last time was 50-52 sec. So far soo god, especially considering i'm running into the wind. Walked a bit, had a gel then jogged for half mile. Next 6 miles will be at MP 7:56 or better. The first 2 miles were still against the wind and was able to maintain a great pace. Every 2 miles I would walk briefly to drink a little then pick up the pace again. Planning on haveing to do this on race day, so want to keep monitor going and push myself to pick my pace up again immediately following a break. The last 4 miles felt just as hard as the first 2 yet I had the advantage of the wind at my back. Was really happy with results of the 6 miles in that I kept the average pace at 7:48 (faster than my goal) and HR was same as last weeks 5 mile MP at 176 Av HR. Jogged the rest of the run to complete 12 miles total.

After my run I had a quick shower and half an Isalen bar then hit the gym floor for a quick 35 minute workout. Did legs and shoulders in supersets, giving plenty of time to rest between. Had I not just finished a really tough run I would have done straight sets. Did BB squats and lateral raises, BB deadlift and military press with rotation, S/L extensions (a little light) and cable shoulder extension. Reps were between 8 and 12 for 3 sets. Feeling a little pain on the inside of my left knee. Felt it during the cool down of my run too. Will keep an eye on that. Had a half a bar after the workout and then went home for a big lunch. I stretched immediately following the run, but will also do yoga later today.

FRIDAY- Today is a day off running.  In the morning I did some light weights. Don't feel any training stress from yesterday's hard run or leg weights so that's a good sign. Work only back and chest today. Weight was light, intensity moderate and rest periods very short. Only trained for 30 minutes and finished with 10 minutes of core work and about 20 minutes of yoga.

SATURDAY- Woke up a bit tired and maybe should have had one less drink last night. Had an Isalean chocolate shake with a whole banana in it, got dressed, did some light stretching and set out for a 20 mile flat run. Ran over the Brooklyn Bridge up the Hudson River park path for 10 miles and then return. Started with easy 1 mile jog. The sun is out, the temps are nice (maybe high 30"s) but it's windy. Running up the west side had a stiff wind, about 20mph, but at least its not cold and the ground is dry. Goal is to run slow an steady, take short breaks for gels, pick up the pace briefly after the break and enjoy the run with a goal of 9:30 pace. Even though I wsas running into the wind it wasn't too bothersome, but was a bit slow, 9:38 pace with 154 av hr. The run was pretty boring but I had a lot of business ideas to sort out in my mind, so made good use of the three hours for that. Turned around at 10 mile mark and then was able to pick up the pace quite a bit on the way back. The second half of the run was a 9:09 pace and same av HR of 154, so about 30sec faster per minute than when running against the wind. I liked my timing on the gels today. had first at 4mile, then 8, 12 (bathroom stop here) and 15. Took the last couple of miles a little harder starting with the hill going up the brooklyn bridge. Ran into a crowd of Health care reform protestors. I dont' understand why they like to walk across the Brooklyn bridge. There's not much of an audience, most everyone else on the bridge are tourists, half of which are foreign tourists. Why don't they walk around city hall, or times square, or somethwere more visible, and most improtantly somewhere other than where I'm trying to run. Finished the last 1/2 mile at MP and it felt really good. Took the last mile real easy for my cool down.

SUNDAY- Today is indoor bike trainer day. Feel strangely good today aside from feeling a bit bloated and fat. Guess thats what and extra dose of nutrient dense caliroes after a long run will do for you. Thought since I felt tired yesterday after my long run I would not feel up to a decent workout on the bike today. Am doing an hour session of intervals at fairly heavy resistance; call it a strength interval session. I warmed up for 15 minutes then did 4 sets of 6 minutes at a cadence and effort just below race (sub threshold- HR goal 153-162) followed by 4 minutes recovery. Was feeling so good that I didn't take the recovery very easy. Each recovery was a fast cadence, farily low resistance but HR averages were 155bpm and cabence in the mid to upper 80s. During the work intervals Ave HR around 158 and cadence 72. Pleased that I didn't need a full recovery between sets. Was a beautiful day outside, perfect for an easy run but glad I got this strength workout in.

Totals:  13 hrs 20 minutes of training.  56.6 miles running; 1:15 min swimming; 2:25min weight training; 1:00 indoor trainer.

Paris Marathon- Week 5- Sharpening Phase

MONDAY- Between clients I did some weight training in my basement gym in the morning. I've had some tea, ionix supreme, cleanse for life and had an Isadelight right before training. Today will be a light workout. Need to still recover from Saturday's long run but will do leg work, but pretty much body weight. Did a lot of stability work like S/L squats with Stability ball, step up to balance plus shoulders, Lateral lunges, S/L deadlift to overhead reach. Incorporated a lot of shoulder work with the leg movements. When I felt a need to rest my legs I focused for 3 sets of some shoulder exercise. All shoulder work was light as well. After clients I dressed for my run. Had half a isalean shake and put want more energy in my water pack. Went to Prospect Park for a moderate 10 mile run. Warmed up real easy for 2 miles to the park, stopped at a new gym to check it out, but they were not open. Once in the park I set my goal of a 9:20 average pace, but kept in mind that it should feel easy. For the most part the whole run did feel easy. Am getting tired of the cold and the wind though. Also the hills. This is my third day in a row with hills. After 5 miles I turned around, stopped briefly for the bathroom and had a Honey Stinger Gel. They taste so much better than all the other brands. Continued out of the park and down hill all the way home. Main set was 8 miles at 9:20 and Av hr of 155. Even on the hills I kept my HR under control and rarely did it go over 160bpm. Once home I dropped off my water pack and picked up my glasses that need repair and jogged to the glasses shop on Smith street and back. So I added on about another 1.25 miles to the 10 mile run and called that my cool down.

TUESDAY- between clients I got in a very easy 6 mile run in lower Manhattan. Have not eaten yet, but I feel energetic, light, and not hungry so will eat right after my run. Went down Chambers and up the Hudson River park. Feel really good and light. Not carrying any water and that helps, but feel fresh, and enjoyed running flat with virtually no wind. Turned around at 3 miles and returned to John street for a stretch. Average pace including warm up and cool down was my target 9mm, HR was a little low, which is a good sign, at 153bpm.

Tuesday evening I had my main meal of the day and then went to the pool to swim with the Tritons. Today I'm in a lane with 3 other guys. We start with out typical easy swim and drills then go into the main set. First is 5x100 with 30s rest at moderate/hard which should be a little below T time (my t from test last week is 2:00). I was last in line and felt like I was working moderately hard, but maybe a little harder than that as I was falling behind the group and had to push a bit to keep up. I did all 5 at T time (2:00) except one which was about 5sec short. Feel like I should have been swimming all of them about 5-10 sec short. Next set was 5x150 with 45 sec rest starting at same effort as the 100s and progressively getting harder. Goal is for the last set to be not much slower than the first. The guys were all going faster than what I wanted but to keep from falling behind and screwing up their laps I had to push it harder. Really focused on keeping the same number or strokes per length (typically 24 or 25), so not speeding up my stroke, but pushing more water with each set. For Sets 1 & 2 I was still swimming my T time finishing each in 3:00 or slightly better. The 4th one was about 10 seconds slow. The 5th one was in 2:50! I was shocked. I worked it really hard and felt it a bit in my left shoulder, but didn't lose my stroke length. We did about 300 yards more for a cool down and practiced some flip turns at the deep end. I pushed off the wall funny one time and strained my calf a bit. Other than that little mishap I had a fantastic session. Would like to see my stroke rate get below 20. There were 2 other lanes being used and the coaches were mostly helping those swimmers so didn't get any feedback from them today at all. Hope next week to make improvements in my stroke length with some attention from the coaches.

WEDNESDAY- It snowed overnight, but not as much as I expected, and we are expecting 12 inches total today.  So I'm sticking to my plan of running over the bridge and up the Hudson River Park for a Tempo/ Race Pace flat run of 12 miles total. I had an isalean shake with banana and cherries about 20minutes before I left. Wish I had more time to digest that but didn't want to waste any time. I wore my yaktrax and they were totally necessary. Sidewalks and Brooklyn bridge were snowy but had been plowed. Took it real easy for the first 3 miles until I got the Hudson River. There is a bit of wind today, the snow is a mix of wet/fluffy and sleet. For the flat path portions had about 1 inch of wet snow, so like running in wet sand, some was completely dry because of salt, but most was plowed but crunchy, not slippery though. I wanted to do 6 miles here at race pace 7:54 or so. Considering the conditions I'm happy with just planning on a HR of mid 170 range and work at a 90% effort with no stopping. I broke the work interval into two parts; up the river against the wind and down river with the wind. Against the wind was quite uncomfortable at points with the sleet and found it much harder than the return. Going up I ran 8:21 Av HR 173 max 181 and going back I ran 8:12 AV hr 175 max 179. Total for the 5.75 miles was 8:17 pace. Last time I ran this route I did same total mileage, but 6.84 miles (about mile was down hill) at 7:54, av HR 168 and Max 181 but had to stop multiple times for gel, water, bathroom. A little disappointed with my pace, but really did work in the target HR and stopped only once briefly for gel and water. I noticed that even in the areas that were free of snow, i was not running much faster than 8mm. Other observations is that my right calf hurt from the strain in the pool yesterday, I did not sleep well, and i feel heavy, weighed down from my meal and all the clothing. My legs felt OK though. Hamstrings felt a bit tight. Goal for next time is to run total flat part at 7:50 for 6.5 miles, 13 miles total and hope for good weather.

I had to drag myself down to the gym for weight training later in the afternoon. Feel like I have a lot of work yet to do today but will take the time to get in 30 minutes of weights. Focused on Back, some chest and 1 exercise isolated biceps. All were super sets. Used cables, free weights and TRX. Chest focus was on stability. Performed 9 exercises total over 30 minutes. Weight was light to moderate, Reps 8-12, and rest periods were short. Finished with a short ab session using the TRX.

THURSDAY- it snowed all day yesterday and much of the night. My city morning clients cancelled so I slept in. When I awoke I had some cleanse for life and Ionix, read a few emails and dressed carefully for my run. The snowy mix is now frozen, and most sidewalks are in bad shape. It's well below freezing and quite windy, so with these conditions I'm taking this easy 5 mile run extremely slow. I would find a good path, then it would turn bad and I would change my course, so just sort of wandered through Brooklyn Heights. I decided to spend some time on the Brooklyn bridge, because I figured that at least would be plowed. And it was. Average pace for 5 miles was 10:00, ave HR 153.

Went to the basement gym to get in a workout before my last client. A phone call interrupted my workout so only got in 30 minutes of weights and about 10 minutes of abs. Wanted to do heavy legs today but didn't make it into the city so changing the plan to high volume, low weight for legs combined with light weight moderate volume for shoulders. Front Squats, lateral lunges, SA suitcase squats, for shoulders did some ohp with DB but light, scaption, shoulder extension with cables and some internal and external rotation work.

FRIDAY- usually Fridays are an easy day on the indoor trainer but I'm pressed for time and figured it would be good to change things up a little. I have my long run (24 miles) tomorrow, my longest to date so feel today would be a good day to take off and will cycle on Sunday if I'm feeling up to it. I do want to do some weights though so went to my basement gym for a short 35 minute session. Warmed up with the TRX, SA DB rows heavy, supersets of bicep curls including light shoulder presses, BB OHP moderate weight 4x8 (feeling some discomfort in left shoulder today), Supersets for triceps, Kneeling lat pulldown WG (again feeling something in left shoulder) and light seated DB lateral raises 4x8 with only 10#. That's what I call a day off. Will do some yoga later and maybe abs.

SATURDAY- Today is my longest run to date, 24 miles. Got a good 7 hours of sleep, feel rested, had an isalean shake, did some light stretching and left around 8am. Taking a very different route and approach to my long run today. So far I either run mostly flat up Hudson River Park, or all hills in Prospect Park. Today i'm starting first 4 miles with hills by running to prospect park, but then exit the park and take Ocean Avenue all the way to Coney Island which is totally flat. Turn around at 12 mile mark and go back. Want some variety in my long run, but also want to experiment with slowing down and/or stopping (like for a water station) and then picking up the pace about 15-30sec faster than average, then working back down to average pace. Thought my average pace for this run was going to be 9:30 or slower. As I approached Ocean Avenue I saw that my average was 9:20 and my HR was only 151BPM (really low) so I kept that pace as my goal. Slowed or stopped briefly at least 6 times going out Ocean ave. I like the idea of teaching my legs to start quickly after a stop for about 30-60 seconds (basically making up the time I was slow or stopped) and then slowing back down to 9:20 pace. I made it to Coney Island. I've never been there in the winter. Was dreary and dirty like in the summer, but toally empty, and no smells. Kinda creepy. Took a breather for about 2 minutes and soaked it all in while I ate half of a energy bar. Had a moment of reflection and appreciated all that I've accomplished in the years.  About 7 years ago David and I rode our bikes out here for the first time following this same route.  I was not a runner then and I remember the day being tiresom.  Can't believe 7 years later I'm running (not biking) the same distance without a second thought.  I made it all the way to the stadium and the parachute drop and headed back after enjoying the moment.  When I turned around I realized that I had a little wind helping me on the way out there (thus the low HR and a 9:20 pace that felt easy) so I slowed my pace a bit, but kept with the same stop/start fast routine. By about 16 miles I was feeling pretty tired. Had a honey gel at 5,10, 15 and 19 mile mark. Also had half of a bar at 12. Really didn't stop to rest except when I turned around at Coney Island for about 2 minutes. I slowed for taking gels and drinking water (generally as I was approaching a red light) but didn't stop for any rest periods except the 2 minutes to turn around. If I hit a light I would jog in a little circle or in place. So for a long run, this is the first one where I really didn't stop multiple times to refill water, bathroom etc. The lack of rest periods, along with the 12-15 accelerations after traffic lights I think made this a more difficult workout. Cooled down for a good mile. My warm up was 2 miles up hill to prospect park. My main set was 22 miles at 9:24 pace AV hr 152, max HR only 166. This was a good idea, but not executed exactly as I would like. Continuing with other long runs will try to stop less to drink water, have gels etc, and if I do have down time, be conscious of picking up the pace a bit to make up for down time and keep my legs from feeling sluggish from running the same pace for extended periods.

SUNDAY- today is an easy recovery day and I've logged plenty of miles so am getting on my indoor trainer. Definitely not feeling like an intervals session. Just listened to my tunes and changed the resistance and or pace after every song. Yes, quite boring, but not needing anything more strenuous. In terms of HR rode at the low range of my long distance ride HR. Got cadence sensor working again. Average cadence was 76rpm.

Week Totals: 13 hours 32 min in training.  Run: 58 miles, Swim 1:20 min, Bike 45 min, Wts 4days 2:20 total.

Physical note:  Had pain in my right calf after the flip turns from Tuesday.  By friday was not feeling that pain anymore. Sometimes feel a bit of tightness in my left hip only when running.  Will work on foam rolling that area next week.  Snow was definitely an inhibitor in my training this week and hope for clear weather next week.

Paris Marathon- Week 4 Sharpening Phase

Monday- Ideally the day following a long run I should run an easy 6 miles or so, but my schedule is off because my 22 miner was on Sunday instead of Saturday. I'm sticking with my mileage plan of 10 miles but going to go slower than typical 9:20 or better pace. I warmed up 2 miles mostly up hill to prospect park. Took it real slow. I'm feeling real sluggish, but nothing is sore, tight or bothering me. Took the loop counter-clockwise, had a gel at 5 miles when i turned around and continued my easy pace. My HR never got higher than 165bpm which means I took the hills real slow as well. Cooled down 1 mile easy. The main set was for 7 miles. Average pace was 9:38 and average HR was 153bpm. Shows I took it about as easy as i could. Will take the planned 6 miler tomorrow real easy because I have a real tough workout planned for Wednesday. Right before my last client I fit in a workout in the basement gym for 30 minutes. Worked mostly combination movements of upper and lower body with light weights. Leg volume was high, but not much weight. Focused on stability. Finished with 10 min on bosu for abs and a little yoga to finish off.

Tuesday- I have a chunk of time today between clients in the city and have an easy run and weights planned. My easy run was 6 miles down chambers street and up the Hudson river parkway, so mostly flat. My easy pace is 9:00 but today I just used heart rate as a gauge. Really want it to feel easy so i'm for the hard run I have planned for tomorrow. My average pace including the warm up and cool down was 9:09 and average HR was 148bpm. Really low, much lower than I expected it to be. Usually and easy run is about 153bpm. There was almost no wind today and think that was a bit of a factor, but mostly think I played it right yesterday by keeping my mid length run very easy. I have not had anything to eat either accept tea, ionix supreme and 2 ounces of cleanse. Last food was about 10 hours ago. Think the combo of no food, no water being carried on my body and light layers made me feel lighter for the run.

Right after the run I did 30 minutes of weights. Only did back and shoulders but pretty heavy. For back I did NG lat pull down, seated military press, machine delt row, DB shoulder scaption, DB bent over reverse fly, Cable straight arm pull down, and SA cable shoulder extension. For the multi joint exercises I did a warm up of 12-15 reps then continued with 3x8. For the single joint I went a little lighter and did mostly 3-4 sets x10 reps. Felt good to go heavy today. Left shoulder feels great. Did all this in 30 minutes, so rest periods were short as well.

Tuesday evening I went to Roosevelt pool a bit early. I'm swimming with the team but last week they did a threshold test and I want to do that today. Don't know how long it will take, but want to do the test and then jump in to the workout for the day. The test was really hard, and I was pretty spent by the end of the test. First was a warm up 6x50. Then 3 different drills, so another 300 yards total. Then before the time trial you swim 4x50 and count your strokes per 50. The goal is to swim strong and long. Each 50 was 47 or 48 strokes. Then the time trial. 3x100 with 30sec rest. 1:55, 2:00, 2:05 were my times. Average was 2:00. Then 1x200 to see if you are able to maintain the 2:00 average over 200 yards. I finished the 1x200 in 4:05. Les felt It was a good trial. Shows consistency. After that we did 6x100 at T time minus 5-10 sec. By the last one I was short 15 seconds. Felt my left shoulder pulling during the trial, not painful, just not normal.

Wednesday- It snowed overnight and didn't look too bad from my window, but once I got out there I felt it was going to be a difficult speed workout. My goal is to improve over last week in terms of pace and time at MP. I warmed up 2 miles to the track and did 4x100 with 100 walk as rest. Goal was 27 sec and completed them in 23-26 seconds. Happy with that considering the snow covered track. Immediately following I did 4x200 with 200 jog for rest. Goal was 54 sec and completed them in 50-52 seconds. jogged about 2 minutes then set to the streets for 5-6 miles at MP 7:52. I stayed in the streets, wove around red hook on streets with little traffic or need to stop. At 4 miles I was tired and just told myself you can always do one more mile. Pretty pleased that my pace was  consistent. I did 5 miles at 7:50 pace 176bpm HR. Last week I was only able to do 4 miles at 8:05 pace and HR was only a little lower. So quite happy with this improvement. Cooled down, easy jog home for about 1.5 miles, cutting my goal of 11 miles short by about .5 miles. In two weeks will do this again. Want to go over the bridge though. Warm up 3 miles then do intervals along the parkway and then do the tempo work there as well for 6 miles. May have to plan for a longer run (12-13 miles would be a good estimate).

Thursday- Only training on my agenda today is weights. Legs feel fine from hard run yesterday so going to stick with my plan for heavy strength training today. Did supersets for Legs and shoulders. Legs did 4x10 for the most part. Some exercises I increased weight and reduced reps as I progressed. For shoulders mostly 3x10. Did squats, deadlifts, s/l extensions, and BB front squat to cg OHP. For shoulders did DB scaption, seated military press, cable shoulder extension and BB front squat to OHP. Made good progress with the squats today. Finished 4th set with 115#. Shoulder felt good until I worked with the BB for the last exercise.

Friday- Between clients in the morning I had a really good weight training session. My legs are quite sore from yesterday, as are my shoulders. Focusing on Back today, some chest, biceps and triceps. For back I did 6 exercises, all supersets of stability and strength. Was quite tired by the end of the 45 minutes. Did SB push ups and supersets for biceps and triceps as well.

Later in the afternoon I did my indoor trainer workout.  Since my  legs feel real sore I'm not going to do intervals today. I would actually take the day off, had i not taken yesterday off. Yesterdays leg training is killing me. I want to be recovered as much as possible for 20 mile run tomorrow so took the indoor trainer ride real easy. Though I was going to stay on for an hour, but cut it to 40 minutes. My HR never got above 154 and I kept the cadence fairly high, around 80rpm. Worked at about the same effort that I would put in for a long endurance ride, minus the hills.

Saturday- Woke up feeling rested and legs feel recovered. Yesterday's easy bike ride was a good choice. It snowed over night and is still snowing. Only a couple inches on the ground, but its quite windy, about 15mph winds. and temps are in the low 20s. Running mixed terrain of hills in prospect park, since I did flat last week. Objective is to warm up 2 miles to the park. Miles 2-9 easy 9:30 or slower pace, then next 3 miles 9:00, next 3 8:30 and last 2-3 8:00 then cool down at least 2 miles. Got to the park and the snow is really coming down. Not a pleasant snow either. Stings my face. Start clockwise and footing is good at first. About 1/3 of the loop has really poor footing because the wind causes drift, therefore the plowing and salting isn't helping in the areas where you also happen to have the wind in your face. Wish I had worn my yaktrax, really would have helped a lot. The first 9 miles were really easy, not including warm up the pace was 9:29 and HR 155 average. I was happy with my energy throughout this run. I planned for gels every 4 miles and that plan worked well. Every time I had a gel I walked, drank (hose froze again) and in many cases had a change of pace after the break. At the 10 mile mark I turned around and went counter-clockwise.  Miles 9-12 were at 8:53 pace HR 164. Miles 12-15 were 8:29 pace HR 170bpm. Last progression was to 7:58 (slightly slower than MP) for 2 miles and HR was 171. I wanted to do 3 miles but the last two were against the wind, in snow and I was having trouble keeping the pace, and a big .4 mile hill was in front of me. So I stopped the work set because I wanted to feel good about this accomplishment, and didn't want to push 100% up that last hill. Took the last mile before my cool down at about the same effort, HR was 169 bpm and pace was 8:45. Did an easy 2 mile cool down.  This was a really hard progressive run.  Will be interesting to see how my body feels tomorrow.  Stretched very lightly after the run, fueled up and did some yoga about an hour later.

SUNDAY- feel totally fine after the long run yesterday. Had a half of an isalean shake and braved the cold again. Weather is much like yesterday. Temps in low 20s, heavy winds, but today it's sunny. Had planned on going flat for a 7 mile easy run, but red hook would be the best choice for that and I already spent  time there ton Wednesday, so will go over the brooklyn bridge and take the hills real easy. I just thought about doing an easy run, not about the typical 9mm pace associated with it. Wind is against me going over the bridge and I'm not pushing it at all. My av HR was about 154 and I don't think I went any faster than 8mm briefly on the down hill side of the bridge. Really happy that nothing hurts today, no twinges anywhere, tightness, all is good.

Week Totals: 13 hours of training.  Run 54 miles, Swim 1hr 20min, Bike indoors 40 min, Weight train 1 hr 45 over 3 days.  Also did Abdominal work and yoga almost daily

Paris Marathon- Week 3 of sharpening phase

Monday- Todays 12 mile run was interesting. It's raining quite hard and we also have 40mph winds. Fortunately it's about 55 degrees out so I wore shorts, shirt and rain jacket with hood and a cap. I stayed comfortably warm and wasn't miserable except at a few points in the run. Warm up was 2 miles to prospect park. Once at the park I went counter clockwise until I hit the 6 mile mark. Pace is not as important (gaol was 9:20) but wanting to keep my HR average under 160. Had a gel at turnaround and walked briefly, also had to stop for the bathroom one other time. The second half of the run felt better than the first. Really enjoyed my ipod genius metal mix. Perfect for this run, gloomy and upbeat. Only saw 3 other runners in the park. The last mile I was able to pick up the pace as it was all down hill and wind was working with me. The main set of 9 miles was 9:23 pace AV HR 158. Cooled down real easy for the last mile. My doorman Ralph gave me tons of credit for taking on this task today. Tuesday- Between clients I had time for breakfast (isalean pudding and a banana) along with a short workout. Having some cramps today and not feeling great so I went fairly light. Did 3 exercises for back, two for shoulders and 1 for chest. No machines. All free weight or cables. Reps 10-15, three sets.

After clients I went for my run. Feeling a bit better than when doing weights. This will be an easy 6 miler with goal pace of 9:00. Found it to be quite windy and worked harder than I planned, but legs feel great and HR is not too high, so sticking with my plan for 9:00 pace. Ran all lower Manhattan around battery park, so really flat, but seemed no matter what my direction I was running against the wind. Not including a short warm up and cool down, my work set of 5.72 miles was at 8:44 pace and ave HR 164.

It evening now and time to join the Tritons at Roosevelt pool. Todays swim session is a recovery workout. We did a long warm up and drills for about 25 minutes. The main set was 5x50, 5x100, 2x100. Each distance increase also involved putting more energy into the stroke but focusing on the glide and keeping the number of strokes per length short. Les was coaching me today and had me work on my extension when entering the water. This was a totally new concept for me. I typically reach right in front of my head and don't really extend my arm until my hand is in the water. Working on just this for the whole session was eye opening. I was able to swim the 50s in 50 seconds. I was able to swim the 100s in 1:50, and after a long rest (at least a minute) was able to swim the 200s in 3:55. This is such a huge improvement for me. I'm elated!

Wednesday- I finished with clients and then went for a 12 mile run. I did this same run two weeks ago and improved in both distance and speed at MP. I warmed up 2 miles to the Brooklyn bridge and then planned for 7:50 pace for 6-7 miles. The first mile was all down hill with lots of stopping for traffic. Used this time to pick up my cadence. Then I ran flat along the Hudson River Park and continued with my MP of 7:55 in mind. I had to stop a number of times during the 6.84 miles at MP. Once for the bathroom, once to have a gel and turn around and once to drink water. Found at this intensity I couldn't drink and run at the same time. The temperature was good, about 32 and the wind was pretty light. I stopped the Tempo pace when I hit chambers street and paused my Garmin and forgot to turn it back on. But the results of the MP pace portion was 6.84 miles at 7:54 pace AV HR 168 and Max 181. I did this same workout two weeks ago, but only 6 miles (it excluded the downhill warm up) and for that one my pace was 8:16 and HR 171 BPM ave. So i'm quite happy with the improvement. Moving forward I want to keep the goal 6 miles but eliminate the rest periods. Once i've succeeded in that will increase the miles at Race Pace. The rest of the run I took really easy. Noticed that climbing hills was very difficult, HR wise and my legs were simply tired. So, I feel I did push the work set as hard as I could.

Thursday- between clients I had a little time for lower body strength training. Ideal because I have an easy run today, biking tomorrow, no training on Saturday and a long 22 miler on Sunday. Plenty of time to recover. Did Squats, same weight each set but increased reps. Same with leg extensions. Did Dead Lifts with same protocol but the weight was only 55# so was higher reps. Finished off with lateral lunges loaded to one side with a KB and made it a compound movement with over head presses. This was at about 8:15 and I had nothing to eat going into this. Had a Isalean Shake pudding and a banana following the workout.

By 10:30 I was done with clients and went for my easy 6 mile run. It's been snowing the last 2 hours and just stopped. Perfect, calm, moist, quiet and not windy. Left John Street gym for a flat run. Noticed the Garmin was not working properly. Said my HR was 223bpm during warm up, the surface was snow covered, I was enjoying the tranquility and just went for an easy run with no training thoughts in mind.

Friday- after morning clients and an Isalean Bar I went back down to the basement for an uper body workout. I had a plan and it was just the intensity of workout I was looking for. Have not worked upper body intensely this week and this was a great 45 minute program. Did supersets of stability followed by strength. Three sets of chest, followed by back, shoulders, then two sets of biceps and triceps. Also 10 min of abs with the TRX.

Immediately following the weight training I got on my indoor trainer for an hour. Doing intervals again today. Legs feel fine from yesterday's weight training, hamstrings a little tight though. I'm off completely tomorrow and have my long 22 mile on Sunday so will put some effort into this one and work at a higher resistance. Each work interval was executed as planned at sub threshold HR of between 153 and 162 bpm. The work intervals were at 65-72rpm and each was followed by 2 min recovery at 90rpm but HR stayed in the 140+ range, so not complete recovery. Intervals were 8-6-4-2-8-6 min. Started with 10 min warm up and had a 5 minute cool down. Thought I worked quite hard, more so than last time I did this program. Will be good to have a full day off and hopefully a fantastic long run on Sunday.

Sunday- Yesterday was a complete off day. have not done that in ages. Had an Isagenix conference and then a party following so no time for anything else which I of course planned into my training schedule. At the party I definitely ate more than I would at home, particularly fat, sugar and carbs, but was ok with that considering I had the 22 mile run planned for today. Had 7 1/2 hours of sleep last night, woke up, had an isalean shake with banana, piece of sprouted bread with humus and did some stretching, mostly for my back, before heading out. It's about 28 degrees out and wind is about 11mph. Headed over the Brooklyn bridge and up the Hudson River parkway for a nice flat run. Building this week to 22 miles, from 20 last week and my goal pace is 9:48. The first 11 miles were nice and easy although was going against the wind and decided to take the first half slower, and pick up the pace for the second half. First 11 were at 9:32 av pace and HR ave 159. I didn't stop at all until the turn around at 11miles. Made it all the way to Fairway in Harlem. Took a break there because my hose to the water pack had frozen. For the rest of the run I had to stop briefly to drink when I wanted a gel. I'm using want more energy in my water and the Honey stinger gels. Had one at 6 mile, at 11mile, at 15 mile, short bathroom stop, last one at 19 mile. Finding these gels not as effective in providing me with energy as the power gels, but they are all natural and taste great, so I think I just need to take them more often. Will try every 4 miles on my next long run. The last half of the run was faster, ended up running 9:16 pace and hr 158bpm. Going over the brooklyn bridge was not hard at all at a 10mm pace so I picked up the pace the last 2 miles. Overall really happy with my longest run to date. Average pace was 9:24 and AV hr 158bpm.

Totals for the week: 58.7 miles over 9:05;  Swim 1:15; Bike 1:00; Weight train 1:45.