Entry 9: June 25, 2007
Last week was a much better week of training. I was able to follow my plan and complete my miles relatively pain free.
On Monday, I decided to give my knee another day free from pavement pounding so I decided to workout hard on an elliptical machine for the equivalent time of 5 easy miles. The first time I stepped on an elliptical, when I was still well over 250 pounds, I barely survived 10 minutes. Over time I improved, and 9-10 months ago when the elliptical was my aerobic exercise of choice, I was able to consistently maintain 170 strides/min for 30-40 minutes. It's amazing how much 6 months of running can improve one's cross-training. This week I was able to maintain 205 strides/min for the full 50 minutes or 10,250 strides. It was my first time ever topping 10,000 strides!
Tuesday's speed work consisted of a mile warm-up, 2x800 (3:38, 3:38), 3x400 (1:38, 1:39, 1:41), 3x200 (:49, :47, :46) and a 1.6 mile cool-down. It's exciting to see my times drop 4-5 seconds in just 3 weeks. This speed training really works.
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On Saturday, my son rode his bike with me during my long run. We started at 5:30 AM and saw a beautiful sunrise. I've never seen one like it before. It looked like an aurora borealis of fire in the sky. My son took a picture of it with his cell phone.
I was determined to do better this Saturday than last, so I stayed off the uneven trails and stayed on the smooth pavement. I was able to maintain a 10:54 pace for the first 11 miles before my knee started to ache again. At mile 12, my course went down a small hill and the knee really started to hurt. (I'm glad The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon is a relatively flat course). I needed to walk .5 mile and I finished jogging the last 1.5 miles at a 13:30 pace. It wasn't a perfect run but much better than last week.
I too want to say "Hi" to my fellow online diary writers. I check the site 3-4 times a week looking forward to the next post. There are many times I'm out running and think about the 6 others that I know are seriously training for this race and remember that there are 44,993 others also giving it their best. There are 15 weeks to go before the big day, and if you're like me, the enormity of the race and training for it are starting to sink in. It's so good to know that we're not doing this alone. Take heart and keep going !!
One step at a time,
Dave
On Monday, I decided to give my knee another day free from pavement pounding so I decided to workout hard on an elliptical machine for the equivalent time of 5 easy miles. The first time I stepped on an elliptical, when I was still well over 250 pounds, I barely survived 10 minutes. Over time I improved, and 9-10 months ago when the elliptical was my aerobic exercise of choice, I was able to consistently maintain 170 strides/min for 30-40 minutes. It's amazing how much 6 months of running can improve one's cross-training. This week I was able to maintain 205 strides/min for the full 50 minutes or 10,250 strides. It was my first time ever topping 10,000 strides!
Tuesday's speed work consisted of a mile warm-up, 2x800 (3:38, 3:38), 3x400 (1:38, 1:39, 1:41), 3x200 (:49, :47, :46) and a 1.6 mile cool-down. It's exciting to see my times drop 4-5 seconds in just 3 weeks. This speed training really works.
.jpg)
On Saturday, my son rode his bike with me during my long run. We started at 5:30 AM and saw a beautiful sunrise. I've never seen one like it before. It looked like an aurora borealis of fire in the sky. My son took a picture of it with his cell phone.I was determined to do better this Saturday than last, so I stayed off the uneven trails and stayed on the smooth pavement. I was able to maintain a 10:54 pace for the first 11 miles before my knee started to ache again. At mile 12, my course went down a small hill and the knee really started to hurt. (I'm glad The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon is a relatively flat course). I needed to walk .5 mile and I finished jogging the last 1.5 miles at a 13:30 pace. It wasn't a perfect run but much better than last week.
I too want to say "Hi" to my fellow online diary writers. I check the site 3-4 times a week looking forward to the next post. There are many times I'm out running and think about the 6 others that I know are seriously training for this race and remember that there are 44,993 others also giving it their best. There are 15 weeks to go before the big day, and if you're like me, the enormity of the race and training for it are starting to sink in. It's so good to know that we're not doing this alone. Take heart and keep going !!
One step at a time,
Dave
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