Day 5: 3 miles

Distance: 3.00
Time: 20:29
Avg Pace: 6:49

Chip trail today. Just git out and git 'er done.

David out

Day 6: rest

David out

Day 7: 5 miles

Testing my leg after a period of rest. No twinges, no soreness, feels fine. But I'm keeping it shorter and slower today and on softer trails.

Distance: 5.06
Time: 35:53
Avg Pace: 7:05

My race is one week out. I've got no concerns about finishing. Finishing fast- well, we'll see. It looks like it's going to be sunny on hot on Sunday...drat. Plus I'm worried that I tapered a bit too drastically. Well, if things turn out well, I'll push for a Boston qualifying time: 3:10. Otherwise, I'd be quite satisfied with <3:30 for my first run.

David out

Day 8: rest

Expect to see a lot of these rest days as I near the end.

David out

Day 9: Cross

Hey, I'm in the single digits for days left!

Swim practice today, various drills and such adding up to about 1700 m. My 50m freestyle time is around 40 s. Felt good.

Hope my shin keeps recovering. Onwards!

David out

Day 10: rest

David out

Day 11: 5 miles

Distance: 5 miles
Time: 33:03
Avg Pace: 6:36

Did campus loop today, pretty fast.
Just a few more training sessions left (which is good, because my shin splints are flaring up a bit again)

david out

Day 12: 4 miles

Did most of campus loop today. 4 miles is just enough to get me warmed up and out there, but really more of an annoyance than anything else. Guess I should run them faster, then.

12 days left! Steady on there...make it through taper.

Distance: 4.01
Time: 27:09
Avg Pace: 6:46

David out

Day 13: Cross training

Distance: 13.23
Time: 58:05
Avg Speed: 13.7

Went out on a (cold) early morning ride with Ron. (Hi Ron!) We did the Arastradero preserve via old page mill and tacked on Golden Oak. That was a good healthy climb in the morning.

David out

Day 14: 10 miles (long?)

Distance: 10.09
Time: 1:08:48
Avg Pace: 6:48

Standard long run. Down Stanford Ave, Old Page Mill, through the preserve, back on Alpine and past the Oval onto Serra. I'm happy that what once counted as a long run is now just a good workout for me. 1185 calories later...

I'm a bit off my training calendar. I'm definitely into taper, but due to my injury pre-taper, I'm a bit off. Oh well.

Did a long-ish run today. Felt great, actually- a little stiff, but otherwise pretty fast. I'm still playing it safe with some reduced mileage, but this was my first long, fast, hard surface run that was pain free. I don't even have a good idea of where to ice now that I'm done! Truly a relief. Now that I'm pain free, I can finally....taper. Oh well.

Two weeks. Two weeks! I'm so ready.

David out

Day 15: Rest

David out

Day 16: 5-6 miles

I ran campus loop (extended) today which is about 5-6 miles. My watch wasn't charged (oops!) so it was completely open loop today. Took about 40 minutes, so roughly 7 minute miles. I think.

Leg felt fine during the run. Still icing and tossing back ibuprofen, but I'm not worried.

David out

Day 17: Cross training

Distance: 28.94
Time: 1:49
Avg Speed: 15.9

A jaunt up Canada and back does the body (and spirit!) good.

David out

Day 18: 10 miles

Distance: 10.00
Time: 1:14:45
Avg Pace: 7:28

Total Ascent: 1428

My first real run in a while. Didn't feel too fast, but then again I blame soft trails, heat, and smog. Oh well.

The run itself was pretty decent. I just strung together lake extended, courthouse, and top of the world. My shin is feeling stronger; it definitely didn't impede my progress. It's been downgraded from "possible injury" to "annoyance" at this point. Feels good to get back into the swing of things.

David out

Day 19: 3 miles

Distance: 3.28
Time: 27:29
Avg Pace: 8:22

Today's workout was with Charles (hi Charles!) along the La Jolla Shores beach. You know how I was complaining about the difficulty of running on soft surfaces? Yeah, the sand is a great energy absorber. Plus I think I stepped in puddles 2-3 times.

My shins, thankfully, feel better. Especially after I upped my ibuprofen dose to 600 mg (which takes me from the realm of painkiller to anti-inflammatory) I'd say right now I'm at 85-90%. Tomorrow I'll do a medium length run on a hard surface....carefully.

David out

Day 20: 4.5 miles

Distance: 4.76
Time: 34:40
Avg Pace: 7:17

I did Delgado today. I was straining to get up those hills, but I blame socal smog.

David out

Day 21: 6.5 miles

Distance: 6.56
Time: 46:13
Avg Pace: 7:02

Lake extended today. Still on reduced running load, though feeling better. It's quite a different beast running on soft surfaces; good for the joints isn't necessarily good for the pace.

David out

Day 22: 4 miles

Home today, so good old Lake Loop.

Distance: 4.11
Time: 28:43
Pace: 6:59

You may have noticed, gentle reader, that my mileage has dropped precipitously recently. That is because being injured really is no fun at all. After my long run on Saturday I felt...relatively fine. But during my speed workout I could feel a twinge below my right knee. Eventually, it developed to the point where I would notice it when I was walking up stairs, or sometimes just walking. I'm sure it's shin splints; classic symptoms. I've been keeping an eye on it the last few days and resting/biking. Today was the first time I got out (not feeling 100%, but a lot better) and stuck to soft trails. Strangely, it felt a lot better after I got back (and no pain during the run)

More reduced mileage, but I'm on the mend. Feels strange to be training back up to taper.

David out

Day 23: Rest

David out

Day 24: Cross training

Distance: 30.14
Time: 1:49
Avg Speed: 16.6

A nice ride out canada today.

I'm worried about shin splints. My right leg is still not feeling significantly better. This is actually not too catastrophic...it's almost time to taper, anyway. And I can maintain cardio fitness with cross training. Just...crap.

David out

Day 25: rest

David out

Day 26: Cross

Distance: 15.19
Time: 56:56
Avg Speed: 16.0

A nice morning ride, even with traffic. Did the Portola Loop with Jon and Andy today

Leg feels fine today.

David out

Day 27: Track

Running in circles by myself today.

4x 200 R pace (200 recovery between each) (34-36)
2 x 400 R pace (400 recovery) (77)
1 x 1600 T pace (1 minute rest) (6:17)
2 x 400 R pace (400 recovery) (77)
4x200 R pace (200 recovery) (34-36)

The creepy thing is that I ran all of my 400's right on the dot. Flashbacks to school and 400's with Bryson Igarta, Philip Bliss, Kridner, and Jason. Ah...memories.

I sure hope I'm not getting shin splints. It's intermittent soreness beneath my kneecap. Oh well, ice it, ibuprofen, and cycling tomorrow and I should be just fine. SO CLOSE TO TAPER.

David out

Day 28: Rest

Rest (and pastries and ice cream and whiskey and burritos the size of your forearm)

A very good day.

David out!

Day 29: 20 miles (long)

Distance: 20 miles
Time: 2:34
Avg Pace: 7:42
Calories: 2390
Total Ascent: 2590 ft

Ouch. Just...ouch. That was the hardest physical thing I've ever done. So much more difficult than 18 miles. Not sure if I hit the wall, but I faced down cramps (right calf, left hamstring) and general fatigue. Need more glycogen.

Two laps around the Arastradero preserve. Highlight was a "Good job" from a passing cyclist at about mile 15.

It is now 83 degrees. Not scorching, but hotter than I'm used to. At least I took the 30 seconds in the middle to refill my water and cytomax...heat exhaustion/stroke is no laughing matter. 2 much needed gels- one at 8 miles, the other at 16. I think egels are the winner; cherry bomb is the least offensive way to get 150 calories of maltodextrin and electrolytes.

Mistakes (and rebuttals)
1. Old La Honda, The Dish, 20 miles (have to learn to run tired...)
2. Starting late in the heat (Sac might be hotter than I'm used to)

Tomorrow is recovery day.

David out

Day 30: 8 miles

Distance: 8.00
Time: 58:01
Avg Pace: 7:15
Total Ascent: 1100


Took it easy today, after OLH yesterday. Well, easy on the time, anyway. Did the back of the Dish and came back on page mill. Felt very, very tired in the legs...need more glycogen!

Tomorrow is my 20 miler. One month to go- just gotta push it until taper!


David out

Day 31: Cross

Went out riding with the Willow Garage Peloton today!

Hot, hot, hot at noon...perfect time to ride OLH, right?

Distance: 19.96 miles
Time: 1:29:53
Avg Speed: 13.3
Max Speed: 37.4
Total Ascent: 2451

Ken wasn't feeling to well, so we went up and back on OLH.

Stats for riding up:
Distance: 3.25 miles
Time: 24:42
Avg Speed: 7.9 mph
Total Ascent: 1512

I remember when it was such a hassle to get to the top. Now it's still a huge hassle, but at least it takes less time!

David out

Day 32: Track

A repeat of an old goodie:

3x800, I pace
90 seconds rest in between

200 R pace
200 recovery

Repeat this set.

My 800's were clustered between 2:38 and 2:45...pretty consistent! I got some extra rest on the last 200 and Tim was pushing in the lane next to me (hi Tim!) so I poured it on on the last 100m. Result? My first 200 was at 33-35 territory, and my last 200 was at a 29. Haven't sprinted like that since high school!

David out

Day 33: Rest

David out

Day 34: 4 miles

Vacation time!

Today I ran around Pacific Grove. Beach run! Quite pleasant; would love to do it again, A++++. The triathlon sounds like loads of fun, but I'll be long gone.

Distance: 4.01
Time: 27:28
Avg Pace: 6:51