Getting ready to leave for Pittsburgh, oh and I changed my mind with my family told them they are coming, don't care if they come watch me run or not but I need company on the drive there and will prefer not to be the one driving back.

The goal is really to break 2 hours, did 2:03 on a very hilly course in Mentor but not sure my training has gone as I would have like and I have also been under more stress at work but none the less I know I can do it and will try at it. Just set the Garmin virtual partner for 1:58:00 which is a 9 mins pace.

Fun easy workout today, 20 mins on the elliptical and then Core Performance Stability Ball workout with Mark Verstegen, love this workout actually I have the whole series which he did for Gofit/Target and I have loved using them the last couple of weeks. Since strength in my core from all the directional and rotational workout.

Really getting anxious for my race but know that somewhere someone will be runing a ful.

Final run before the race today and it felt great.

Dynamic Flexibility
1 mile @ recovery pace
2 miles @ HM pace
1 mile @ base pace with 3 striders at 1 mile pace
Barry's Bootcamp Lower Body Advanced-12 mins
Steve Cotter Kettlebell Core/Standing Abs - 10mins

Well, I guess you just can never pick a good time for an out of town race, it seems like everybody in the house got invited to a function this weekend, didn't even think about the fact that Saturday was Halloween since we do not celebrate (okay so we have the light On and give out candy) it, I have to pick up my race packet Saturday and the best part of a race is the expo regardless of how small it is, just meeting like minded people is great. I gave everyone a get out of jail card, their choice if they want to come either way I will be fine with it.

I reschedule the MRI for my right foot for next Monday, it is getting better but not 100% so I really need to know what is going on, figure out any problem should show up quite nicely after the race and the 2 hour drive back is not going to help.

Woke hope feeling better today, after skipping my 5 miles run yesterday due to my feet hurting quite bad, so decided to go ahead and do the scheduled mixed interval for today, form was perfect and no excess stress needed and was able to stick with the pace

Dynamic Felxibility

1 mile @ recovery pace
2k @ HM pace/3 mins recovery pace
1 mile @ 10k pace / 3 mins recovery pace
1k @ 5 k pace
finish up to 5 miles @ base pace

Barry Bootcamp Mission Specialist Lower Body Beginners and Advanced, this workout is just such a wonderful complement to running and I think I gained the best strength in my leg when I was doing it regularly, short and to the point, 12 mins each and you are done, each exercise goes for 1 min then about 30 sec rest while Cindy explains the next move, trust me you feel it and know you are working your legs and butt muscle.

This is the last long run before the race on Nov 1, definitely do not feel ready and this run today actually confirms it, did not feel like getting up to run, when I finally got out of bed did every thing before finally dragging myself out. I had 11 miles on schedule 1 mile warmup, 9 miles @ marathon pace and then 1 mile cool down, mentally I was no where near my marathon pace not sure if it was the stress from work, the very busy day or if I am coming down with something, my legs were incredible heavy and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't move any faster and just gave up and just ran regardless of how slow it was, so get the miles in forget about the pace. Had 2 pieces of Gu Chomps (didn't realize they have no caffeine) and water before leaving the house and I forgot to take a packet a GU with me, so for the long run I didn't refuel which also didn't help the situation, I had intended on stopping at a friends house which was on the way for water but when I got there at mile 6 she was out so I kept on going. Ended up with an 11:12 pace when I was suppose to be running a 9:20 pace and not once did I hit the pace, which was quite pitiful. I came back home after 10 miles since I really had to use the restroom and needed water, I also switch shoes to the Newton and did 2 miles seem pointless to go back out just for 1 mile. Ended up with 12 very very slow miles but it is done. I have the coming week to pull myself together, I know I can run the pace but unlike the last time I didn't do tune up races to keep myself in check. Did a yoga routine from the runner's world magazine to finish things off. Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 1028 ft Location: Solon, OH Elev. Gain: -6 ft Date: 10/24/09 Up/Downhill: [+259/-265] Time: 10:48 AM Difficulty: 3.0 / 5.0 Weather: Overcast 59 F temp; 59% humidity 59 F heat index; winds SW 13 G 23 Performance Distance: 10.00 miles Time: 1:51:56 Speed: 5.4 mph Pace: 11' 12 /mi Heart Rate: 142 bpm (Avg) Calories: 1233 150 bpm (Peak) Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Heart Rate (bpm) Heart Rate Zones Zone Range (bpm) Time In Zone Distance In Zone Zone 5 184 - 204 0h 00m 0% 0.00 mi Zone 4 163 - 184 0h 00m 0% 0.00 mi Zone 3 143 - 163 1h 01m 54% 5.31 mi Zone 2 122 - 143 1h 06m 59% 5.96 mi Zone 1 102 - 122 0h 03m 3% 0.13 mi (none) out of range 0h 00m 0% 0.01 mi Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Heart Rate Elev Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 10' 52 -0' 20 5.5 +0.2 135 -3 ft 2 11' 09 -0' 03 5.4 +0.0 140 -6 ft 3 11' 02 -0' 10 5.4 +0.1 145 +10 ft 4 11' 01 -0' 11 5.4 +0.1 144 -3 ft 5 10' 53 -0' 19 5.5 +0.2 146 0 ft 6 14' 07 +2' 55 4.2 -1.1 139 +10 ft 7 11' 44 +0' 32 5.1 -0.2 141 +10 ft 8 11' 39 +0' 27 5.2 -0.2 143 -10 ft 9 11' 20 +0' 08 5.3 -0.1 143 -10 ft end 11' 23 +0' 11 5.3 -0.1 142 -7 ft Versus average of 11' 12 min/mile

Posted from bimlog.com

I realize today that I can run a lot faster than I do If I can get through the mental block. The schedule calls for 1 mile warmup, 6 miles at HM pace and then 1 mile cooldown, when I looked at the schedule last night, I was already wondering how I was going to keep a 9:02 pace for 6 miles although that or less is what I am planning on running in less than 2 weeks for 13.1 miles so what is wrong with this picture.
After talking to a couple of people in the last week or so, I realize I do not fuel properly for my weekday hard training runs, in most cases all I have is just water since I run so early in the morning but today I had a quarter Power Bar Harvest Double Chocolate Crisp and 1 Gu Roctane-Blueberry Pomegranate about 15 mins before my run.
I did the 1 mile warmup, stop and stretch, then did 1 mile @ 9.02 pace then stopped again and stretch, I decided I will go at least 1.5miles before stopping again but when I got there, I evaluate my body for pain or fatigue and I was fine so not sure why I was stopping decided to press on and before I knew it I had done 5 straight miles at HM pace and was fine, did the last cooldown mile at the top of the base pace with 2 burst of speed work thrown in. Did dynamic flexibility before and Yogamazing: Yoga for tight Hamstring after, it felt good to get this done before 7am.
So 8 miles @ 10:06 pace with rest, 9:24 pace without rest, avaerage HR= 147.

Matt Fitzgerald - Dynamic Flexibility

Mixed Interval
1 mile @ 5.3mph Warmup
2k @ 6.6mph / recovery
1mile @7.0mph/recovery
1k @ 7.2mph/recovery
800m @ 7.5mph
1 mile @ 6.0 cooldown
Recovery was suppose to be 3 mins but I only stayed on until my heartrate drop to 130bpm then started the next interval so it was anywhere from 2 mins to 45 sec. Average pace 9:55

Runner Core Circuit #1

Went through the usual Monday morning snooze button routine so ended up not getting up to workout and I was extremely busy at work getting ready for an ISO audit so no chance to get outside. So I was pleasantly surprise, when I stepped out after work to a beautiful fall day knew instantly I had to get a run in regardless of how tired I was, it was just to good a day i Ohio to pass up. Got back home, prep some turkey lasagna and stuck it in the oven to slowly cook while I go for a quick run. The run wasn't pretty but I wasn't in any pain so just decided to run and not worry about speed, run for the fun of it, ended up with 6 miles, got back home dinner was ready, ate dinner, check email, turn on TV to exercise TV and did a 14 mins abs routine with Cindy W and 24 mins yoga with Sara I. Looking at my heart rate data, I think this is the first time, I ran more mile in zone 2 than I did in 3, actually except for the last mile, the average for all the miles were in zone 2. Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 994 ft Location: Solon, OH Elev. Gain: -13 ft Date: 10/19/09 Up/Downhill: [+229/-242] Time: 05:57 PM Difficulty: 2.7 / 5.0 Weather: Mostly Cloudy 61 F temp; 40% humidity 61 F heat index; winds S 12 Performance Distance: 6.00 miles Time: 1:03:06 Speed: 5.7 mph Pace: 10' 31 /mi Heart Rate: 141 bpm (Avg) Calories: 731 151 bpm (Peak) Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Heart Rate (bpm) Heart Rate Zones Zone Range (bpm) Time In Zone Distance In Zone Zone 5 184 - 204 0h 00m 0% 0.00 mi Zone 4 163 - 184 0h 00m 0% 0.00 mi Zone 3 143 - 163 0h 26m 41% 2.53 mi Zone 2 122 - 143 0h 41m 65% 3.90 mi Zone 1 102 - 122 0h 01m 1% 0.11 mi (none) out of range 0h 00m 0% 0.00 mi Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Heart Rate Elev Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 10' 19 -0' 12 5.8 +0.1 131 -40 ft 2 10' 25 -0' 06 5.8 +0.1 143 -3 ft 3 10' 48 +0' 17 5.5 -0.2 142 -13 ft 4 11' 05 +0' 34 5.4 -0.3 140 +17 ft 5 10' 32 +0' 01 5.7 -0.0 141 +23 ft end 10' 05 -0' 26 6.0 +0.2 147 +3 ft Versus average of 10' 31 min/mile

Posted from bimlog.com

Ohio Outside 5 miles Trail Run #1

So today was the first of the 3, 5miles trail series by Ohio Outside at the Munroe Falls park, it was cold and wet but fun. My garmin only recorded 4.64 miles since I was loosing signal quite a bit even going down the stairs. My only goal was not to get lap by the lead group since the loop was done twice. Location was nice, pre and post race was okay for a new race, the cider and bread at the end was nice. Came in third for my age group

Split	Hours:Minutes:SecondsTime	Minutes per MileAvg Speed	Minutes per MileMax Speed	Beats per MinuteAvg HR	Beats per MinuteMax HR	CaloriesCalories
Summary	00:48:01	10:20	05:50	162	172	497
1	00:11:55	11:55	06:03	159	172	119
2	00:09:10	09:10	07:04	164	169	98
3	00:11:34	11:34	05:50	163	168	116
4	00:09:00	09:00	06:19	163	169	104
5	00:06:19	09:51	06:49	159	163	60

So in an effort to break the "Monday no run" curse I decided to get up today and do my scheduled run regardless of how slow it was going to be. The usual excuses came up, Am cold, am tired need the rest doesn't recovery happen during rest, my leg hurt, well it always hurt, it's late well do as much as you can. So got up and changed, not quite sure why Monday workout became hard but let's go slay the dragon.
Well, it was an effort to do the first mile, so after it stopped and stretch, then another mile another stretch, 2 miles stretch and finally 2 more miles and then a thorough stretch. So got through 6 miles with about 10 minutes of stretch, so it's not pretty but I got through it and it made my stressful work day so much nicer.

WWFR 2009- Zen 10k

My schedule really called for a 10k time trial yesterday and in my mind I just do not feel like running that fast unless it is in a race, I am finally just wrapping my mind around running below 10 for my long run, so I skipped my run yesterday. Woke up today missing running so got dress and just went for a run as part of the World Wide Festival of Races, I didn't run my 10k pace but I ran and had fun Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 1000 ft Location: Solon, OH Elev. Gain: -7 ft Date: 10/11/09 Up/Downhill: [+239/-246] Time: 07:59 AM Difficulty: 2.6 / 5.0 Weather: Mostly Cloudy 46 F temp; 57% humidity 46 F heat index; winds NW 7 Performance Distance: 6.20 miles Time: 1:00:51 Speed: 6.1 mph Pace: 9' 49 /mi Heart Rate: 150 bpm (Avg) Calories: 785 161 bpm (Peak) Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Heart Rate (bpm) Heart Rate Zones Zone Range (bpm) Time In Zone Distance In Zone Zone 5 184 - 204 0h 00m 0% 0.00 mi Zone 4 163 - 184 0h 00m 0% 0.00 mi Zone 3 143 - 163 0h 55m 90% 5.61 mi Zone 2 122 - 143 0h 06m 10% 0.62 mi Zone 1 102 - 122 0h 00m 0% 0.03 mi (none) out of range 0h 00m 0% 0.00 mi Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Heart Rate Elev Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 57 +0' 08 6.0 -0.1 140 -43 ft 2 9' 46 -0' 03 6.1 +0.0 153 0 ft 3 9' 31 -0' 18 6.3 +0.2 152 -13 ft 4 9' 50 +0' 01 6.1 -0.0 153 +37 ft 5 10' 07 +0' 18 5.9 -0.2 151 0 ft 6 9' 43 -0' 06 6.2 +0.1 152 +16 ft end 9' 49 +0' 00 6.1 -0.0 155 -3 ft Versus average of 9' 49 min/mile

Posted from bimlog.com

Nice hilly trail run with the Crooked River Group and Jackie from Church came again so it was a slow and easy run for me since I have to run her pace and she was pretty fatigue today since she did heavy leg workout yesterday. The falls was beautiful with the water cascading down the rocks and the trees were already changing color with lots of leaves also already covering the trail. Just a beautiful trail run. Am always amaze how good my legs feel after a trail run compare to running on asphalt. Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 713 ft Location: Peninsula, OH Elev. Gain: +3 ft Date: 10/08/09 Up/Downhill: [+613/-610] Time: 06:36 PM Difficulty: 2.9 / 5.0 Weather: Light Rain 53 F temp; 83% humidity 53 F heat index; winds S 3 Performance Distance: 4.75 miles Time: 0:58:56 Speed: 4.8 mph Pace: 12' 24 /mi Heart Rate: 146 bpm (Avg) Calories: 472 173 bpm (Peak) Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Heart Rate (bpm) Heart Rate Zones Zone Range (bpm) Time In Zone Distance In Zone Zone 5 184 - 204 0h 00m 0% 0.00 mi Zone 4 163 - 184 0h 05m 8% 0.53 mi Zone 3 143 - 163 0h 34m 58% 2.74 mi Zone 2 122 - 143 0h 20m 33% 1.46 mi Zone 1 102 - 122 0h 04m 7% 0.14 mi (none) out of range 0h 00m 0% 0.01 mi Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Heart Rate Elev Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 10' 28 -1' 56 5.7 +0.9 152 +20 ft 2 15' 32 +3' 08 3.9 -1.0 150 +108 ft 3 16' 48 +4' 24 3.6 -1.3 135 -46 ft 4 10' 40 -1' 44 5.6 +0.8 145 -118 ft end 12' 23 -0' 01 4.8 +0.0 145 +10 ft Versus average of 12' 24 min/mile

Posted from bimlog.com Data from Garmin Connect with the stops taken out. Split Minutes per MileAvg Speed Minutes per MileMax Speed Beats per MinuteAvg HR Beats per MinuteMax HR CaloriesCalories Summary 12:24 05:55 145 174 472 1 09:57 08:02 155 174 111 2 15:05 07:29 149 162 91 3 14:06 09:35 134 155 81 4 11:16 08:11 145 164 108 5 11:24 05:55 146 154 81