20.25 minutes on the Elliptical for 1 mile

Circuit 1: 3X

25 squats
15 pushups
50 jumping jacks

Circuit 2: 3X
10 squat thrust
15 forward lunges per leg
20 leg lifts

Circuit 3: 3X
1 minute jumping jack
1 minute plank

Total time 20:21 HR avg = 112, 142 calorie burned.

Feeling much better, still a tired feeling in my legs but nothing hurts so not on the onset of an injury, probably need to schedule a visit to the Chiro Dr. and massage therapist.

I was one of the winners over at Julie's one year giveaway.

Dynamic Felxibility - 10 mins

1 mile at recovery pace

6x400 @ 3k pace with 400 recovery

1 mile @ recovery pace 
so 5 miles @ 10:40 pace, I nailed all the 400s with no problem

Barr's Bootcamp Mission Specialist Lower Body Beginner - 12 mins   Great leg finisher

Week 12 - Recovery Week

 My last 2 long runs has been very hard and I have been unable to keep up with the required pace, just have a very heavy leg feeling, right now I can only attribute it to the races since my legs hasn't been properly trained for the pace I was running.

This is the start of week 12 which is recovery week and the end of build phase 1, so on tap was 4.5 miles at base phase, I was able to get it done after stopping at mile 1 and doing a very thorough stretch of my legs, average pace of 10:20 then Womens Health Ultimate Bootcamp with the hope of losing some pounds this week.

Circuit 1:       3X
25 squats
15 pushups
50 jumping jacks

Circuit 2:     3X
10 squat thrust
15 forward lunges per leg
20 leg lifts


Circuit 3:  3X
1 minute jumping jack
1 minute plank

Total time 23:29  HR avg = 122  152 calorie burned.

Brain Training

I have been training with Matt Fitzgerald's book Brain Training for Runners for about 18 months now, I have done the half marathon program twice and currently using the full marathon program to train for Akron, mind you I have not gone past level one and only run 4 days a week with strength training, yoga and cross training in between or with it.

With last years training, I saw significant improvement in my race times even those I was dealing with some injuries, the program is well structured and quite demanding but fun especially when you met the goal of the day.

Up until last year, I have really never followed a structured program, most program that I followed just said things like run 3 miles or 5 or 10 miles long run, and that was what I did, occasionally a group will get together for a track workout and I will join or someone will talk about tempo run and I will try it out.

With Fitzgerald's program, I actually have my training plan through September when I run the marathon mapped out and this is where the brain training comes in, it is one thing to know that you are going to be running 18, 20 miles in a couple of weeks, am actually okay with it, but is another to know that you are going to be doing 400 repeats @ 3k pace or 1 mile repeats at 10k pace. Wow, that is my 10k pace, am really expected to run my10k that fast to meet my time goal, thank God there is not too many 3k races around.

How do you stop your brain from quitting before you even do the scheduled run or a race at a target goal time?

So I am on week 11, which is basically the end of build 1 phase, next week is recovery week before starting build 2. The training objective for build 1 is to continue to increase aerobic capacity and endurance, increase fatigue resistance at 3k pace and 10k pace.

So on the schedule this week, 6 miles@ base pace, 8x400@ 3k pace, 4x1mile@10k pace and 12miles, on seeing my schedule my mind was already doubting being able to do it, 8x400 and 4x1mile at such a fast pace. The 8x400 was scheduled for Tuesday and it took everything in my power not to quit because my mind kept saying that is a lot of 400s and that is such a fast pace, there is no way you can do that. I think I had to work on my mind before even attempting the run, the good thing is that you start with the Dynamic Flexibility which help warm everything up then 1 mile at recovery pace, going so slow that you are etching to go fast but patience you've got 400s coming up, once the 400 starts it becomes a constant assessment of pain what hurts, what doesn't feel right, ahhhh 1 down, 3 mins recovery over already and on to the second one. I got through the 8x400 but had to keep my mind occupied and distracted.

Soon on to Thursday, 1 mile recovery pace, 4x1 mile@10k pace with 2 mins recovery, woke and nothing I could do could get my brain to even accept to do this, am tired, my head hurts, a mile is long ..... so I gave up did some strength training and went to work.

Today, got up, got dress and told myself to just do 1 mile and see how I feel, am not quite sure why this week was hard, the training program slowly get you to it, you do 2x1mile then 3, move to 4, then 3 again during recovery week. So did the Dynamic flexibility, then the 1 mile warmup @ recovery pace and then started the 1 mile repeats, it felt great nothing hurts and before I knew it, the 4 was done and it was time to cool down. Build phase 2 has me running this pace for a straight 2, 3 and 4 miles next month, oh well, no need to panic now, I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

I really enjoy putting the repeats, tempo, intervals and other types of running into my training but sometimes my brain just have a hard time comprehending the fast pace required but I guess I will keep working at it.

Still working on the weight loss, just really trying to get back to where I was last year but can't stop snacking

Ohio Teamster -Medical Mutual Flag Day 5k

The only reason I ran this race, is because it fell on my birthday, I mean how often does a mid week race falls on your birthday. It is only 10 days from the Lake Health Distance Classic Half Marathon which I wasn't in the best of shape to run and I knew this was also going to be a hilly course, I mean is anything in this part of town even flat.

I left work at 4pm even thou my target time to leave was 3pm but I knew I wasn't going to get to leave, since it was my birthday, I told my family what I want for a present was for them to come to the race to see me run , at least it wasn't 7am so there was no excuse.

We got to the race about 6:30pm and had to pack at the bottom of the hill, walked up the hill to pick my race packet then went back down again to drop it off in the car and to tell my family that a camera was in the car and I was expecting them to get out out of the car to watch me run and take pictures. On my way back to the car I saw espeed and Barb doing their warmup run, both ladies are inspirations to me just because they really work at improve their performance not that it just happens so I love reading about what they are up to.

I jogged  back up the hill for my warmup, did some dynamic flexibility and then contemplate what I want to do at the race, so went through the facts, am over weight, under train, it is only 10 days after a hard HM that I wasn't properly trained for and it is hot and humid, and oh this is not a flat 5k it is quite hilly did I say that already.

I have so far only done 5-5k races, it is not really my favorite race distance but it is a good way for me to test my leg turn over

8/09   25:35 PR pancake flat course
6/09   26:06  flat course
6/08   32:52  really doesn't count, was slightly injured and ran it on a Sunday after a 10k trail run on Saturday.
6/07   30:54 first birthday run, first pm race it was hot and humid, 13 days from my 1st 5k
6/07   29:56 flat course

I know I was in no shape to run or challenge my PR but I was wondering how bad out of shape I was, I did good on the HM, not great but good and recovery went great which means I really didn't push hard. So I settled for 26mins, I know it was a stretch but I was hoping I could come in under 27mins even thou the course is hilly.

They sang the national anthem and we were off, it started on time and it was a pretty good group no timing chip but not sure one was really needed.

I had my virtual training partner on my Garmin set to finish in 26 mins and was surprise that I stayed ahead through mile 1 (yeah me) but I knew the last 2 miles were quite hilly and I was going to loose time and I was having some difficulty breathing for some reason. After mile 2 on the way to the woods, you pass the finish clock/chute and I got a chance to see the first couple of ladies come in including espeed, I love seeing them run so it was nice that we saw them about 3x during the race.

The race went fine, I can't really say I died or had any problem but I knew I was running on tired legs and the hills were going to be a problem since my legs were still recovery from the Lake Health HM hills, I didn't walk any portion except when I had to get the water in my mouth at mile 2 being Styrofoam I couldn't drink and run.

I had some breathing problem when done but I felt fine and no aches or pain in the left glute or right foot, walked  back up the hill to get more water and some food. Waited around for the award ceremony but ended up leaving my family was starving, so left and headed off to Senorita Bonita in Solon.

Am glad I did the race, it was fun and well organize, los to eat and drink at the end, not sure what the official result is around 26:57, my Garmin recorded 26:51, I was really impress with my time based on how little I had trained and I guess I am not as badly out of shape as I thought. I am on a training schedule just need to be more focus with the weight training and yoga, also need to work on cleaning up my meals so I can loose the 10# needed.

Looking at my splits while I did a lousy job at pace control, I actually ran one of my fastest mile am sure the downhill at the start helped, any time I use the virtual partner bimlog.com does not get the complete data out of my Garmin, below are the splits for the 2 races

                     Flag Day 5k (26:51)                       5k PR (25:35)
mile 1                7:40                                              8:17
mile 2                8:59                                              8:19
mile 3                9:18                                              8:05
.1                      9:10                                              5:34

So I know there is hope in me getting faster if I dedicate the time and effort to it but I really do love to run, just need to work on getting back into race shape.

Now back to training, life is good.

Getting my Mojo back

Monday I felt great when I woke up, but wasn't sure what to expect, when the alarm when off I opened my eyes but decided not to move a muscle since I wasn't sure what was going to hurt, so stayed there for about 5 mins trying to decide which muscle to move first, so went with a full body stretch well nothing, that was nice so swung the legs of the bed and stood up, apart from a slight ache in my right heel I was fine but decided to still take a day off. So Monday rest day.

Tuesday was too lazy to get out of bed so slept in and change my workout to after work. Right after work started Dinner, change clothes and went outside for a 3 mile run, my schedule called for 6 miles but I really know I didn't feel up to it. So 3 miles at an average base pace of 9:59, got back home finish making dinner, serve dinner then went to the basement to do my weight workout, Barry's Bootcamp 5 Day Academy Total Body workout (40 mins), this was hard after the run, I really really prefer to workout in the morning seems like I have more energy.

Wednesday, so the first time ever I actually got out of bed on a workday and decided to run outdoors instead of my basement, I mean there was enough daylight and I will be running around my neighborhood so disregarding the light sprinkle, I got dress went to the basement for some Dynamic flexibility and to put my shoe on. On schedule today was
1 mile warmup @ recovery pace
6*400meters @ 3k pace with 3 mins recovery
1 mile cold down at recovery pace

instead I did
1 mile warmup @ base pace (ran by feel did not push at all)
3*0.25miles @ 3k pace with 2 mins recovery so was targeting 2.00 did 1:54, 2:03, 2:04 not bad
1.8 miles cooldown @ base pace

Got back home and did a quick leg workout using Barry's BootCamp fat Blaster Lower Body beginner. I need to remember to fuel my body before going out for a run, after my warmup mile I felt tired then I remember that I had forgotten to eat the almond vanilla evergy bar like I was suppose to when I was in the basement, but I did feel fine during the run.

Since my birthday is next wednesday, I found out there is actually a 5k race on that day in Mentor so I guess I will be trying my legs at a 5k so instead of doing my speed workout on Tuesday, I do the race instead and hopefully be able to get close to my 5k PR but I know this is probably going to be a hilly course everything in that area is.

Lake Health Distance Classic Half Marathon

This is my second time doing this race and the second time for the race even thou it had a new name last year it was the Concord Half Marathon. I woke up to the sound of thunder and heavy race sure wasn't what you will expect for a June race but none the less that seems to be what we are getting.

This is my first race of the season due to the death of my father and subsequent trip home to Nigeria to bury him, my training has been minimal with low mileage and I was 10 pounds heavier than I was at this time last year, so there was really  no goal for this race it was just a way for me to gauge where I was, I had made some significant training gain last year but realized that with the time of from November to Feb to let my injury heal and the low mileage the rest of the year I had lost so much.

I got up at 6am after limited sleep due to process problem at work, got dress and ate a slice of multi-grain bread with almond butter, was out the door by 6:30am to pick up my neighbor who was running her first half, the weather didn't look promising, it was winding with a light drizzle.

The race start for delay for about 30mins due to flooding on the course and also replacememnt of the mile marker that were blown off by the wind and rain. I think by the time the race started everyone was so anxious, I had already use the porta-porty twice and ate an octane gu 30 mins which was suppose to be 15mins before start.

Something was said that we couldn't hear and off we went, I had the usual first mile aches and pains but felt fine, I was wearing my Adidas Response CS16, I love the way the shoe hug my heel and the extra cushion it also provides since that is my problem area.

We loop around the shopping center for the first mile then head off to a near by development, at about mile 1.5 I picked up another runner that was running about my pace and we stayed together till about mile 3.5 when she had to stop to pee. From then on, I basically ran alone and I had also decided to run without music since the road wasn't close and there was really no shoulder.

I felt fine not fast but fine, my right heel was doing fine, so I decided to try for 2:15, I know I did not have the endurance for a 2 hr run at least not on this course, miles 1-5 is easy, 5-8 nasty rolling hills, 8-10 very nasty downhill and an equally uphill 1 mile climb, 10-12 minimal rolling hills and the rest flat. Since I was already pass the easy phase it was a matter of holding on till the end.

I got a kick from listening to conversation between most runners, my favorite was between miles 5-8 every time a runner gets to a nasty hilly portion and then ask is this the nasty hill and most people answer you are not there yet. This course is beautiful, not that much for crowd support and there was the wonderful family at the top of the hill that setup a complete water station since they know we were going to need it.

I came off the hill feeling fine so decided to see if I can hammer back down to a respectable pace, so off I went actually pass 3 people between miles 12 and 13 that were very mad at me especially the guy but he had nothing left in him to chase me down. Prelim result is 2:15:23, I forgot to turn off my Garmin when I cross the finish line.

Walk back on the course to find my neighbor since I know she will be running by herself and to see how she was doing, found her about 12.5 and ran with her back in, she was fine but having some problem with her calf. Okay, I wanted her to finish strong, and that was so easy to do since she had a 50+ speed walker ahead of her, all I had to say was wow she is even walking faster than you at her age, well off she went and she passes her by mile 13 to finish in about 2:36, I was so proud of her.

I know I can break 2 hrs on this course, I guess I will be running it again next year to find out. it is really a well organize race, food was plentiful at the end, I know people said they ran out of gel at the first stop that is probably due to a lot more last min registration am sure and the volunteers were great. Love teh medal and shirt this year.

Couldn't get a massage since they were done, so had some banana, bread and myoplex shake and left as the rain was starting.

Got back home, had an ice bath, put my feet up and spend 2 hours talking to my brother in London.

Race map and stats below.

Lake Health Distance Classic half Marathon

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 905 ft Location: -- Elev. Gain: +33 ft Date: 06/06/10 Up/Downhill: [+941/-908] Time: 08:30 AM Difficulty: 3.7 / 5.0 Performance Distance: 13.30 miles Time: 2:16:24 Speed: 5.9 mph Pace: 10' 15 /mi Heart Rate: 158 bpm (Avg) Calories: 1669 192 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 05m 3%  0.54 mi Zone 4 163 - 184 0h 23m 17%  2.25 mi Zone 3 143 - 163 1h 53m 83%  11.10 mi Zone 2 122 - 143 0h 01m 0%  0.07 mi Zone 1 102 - 122 0h 00m 0%  0.02 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' 19 -0' 56 6.4 +0.6 157 +56 ft 2 9' 28 -0' 47 6.3 +0.5 157 -36 ft 3 9' 25 -0' 50 6.4 +0.5 158 -56 ft 4 10' 07 -0' 08 5.9 +0.1 157 -92 ft 5 9' 46 -0' 29 6.1 +0.3 153 -88 ft 6 10' 26 +0' 11 5.8 -0.1 155 +23 ft 7 10' 44 +0' 29 5.6 -0.3 159 +66 ft 8 10' 38 +0' 23 5.6 -0.2 159 +92 ft 9 10' 50 +0' 35 5.5 -0.3 158 +39 ft 10 12' 10 +1' 55 4.9 -0.9 162 +200 ft 11 10' 09 -0' 06 5.9 +0.1 158 -49 ft 12 9' 50 -0' 25 6.1 +0.2 158 -55 ft 13 9' 36 -0' 39 6.2 +0.4 163 -59 ft end 12' 55 +2' 40 4.6 -1.2 159 -16 ft Versus average of 10' 15 min/mile

Posted from bimlog.com