In case anybody is wondering, I came in second in the Trail Runner Magazine Championship Series. In August, my office announced a promotional exam that required some intense studying. The test was 11/5/05 and I scored a 97%. Unfortunately, I did a lot of sitting during those months. It's too bad there weren't any "Couch Potato" magazines sponsoring a Lethargic Championship Series during that time, because I certainly would have finished well.
This year, I've set some goals for myself: first and foremost I want to break through the 3:20 marathon plateau. My last two races have been 3:20:14, Death Valley Marathon in December 2004 and 3:20:20, Vancouver International Marathon in May 2005. It would also be nice to run a 5K under 20 minutes and get my weekly mileage back up to about 50 miles a week. Some non-running goals include doing more yoga, getting to work on time, and sleep, sleep and more sleep - at least more than 5 hours a night for a change. (Note, I manipulated the clock so the time listed at the bottom is not accurate because let's just say it's really early o'clock A.M. and I have not yet gone to bed!)
In order to achieve these goals, I've begun doing both Track/Speed as well as Core/Pilates workouts twice a week. Fortunately, an angel coach has graciously agreed to take me under his wing for the speed workouts. I still have the same amazing Core trainer and I wisely found a wonderful sports massage therapist. So now that I have the Coaching "Dream Team" in place, all I have to do is follow the Nike slogan and "Just Do It."
Since January 1st, my schedule has looked like this:
SUNDAY: Either hill repeats in sand (see pictures below) or long tempo run.
MONDAY: OFF (unless you count hockey practice in the evening)
TUESDAY: Speed/Interval workout.
WEDNESDAY: easy 4 mile recovery run, and an hour of Core/Pilates.
THURSDAY: Speed/Interval workout.
FRIDAY: easy recovery run, about 4 miles; 1 hour pre-game nap, ice hockey game in the evening.
SATURDAY: Long trail run with the Santa Monica Mountain Goats, then straight to the studio for an hour and a half of Pilates/Core, then a massage.
The part of the plan that isn't quite in place yet is more regular early morning DVD yoga sessions. Hopefully that will work itself out once I start routinely going to bed before today becomes tomorrow!
Since I've been on this schedule, my mile time has dropped from 6:25 to 6:19. Of course, my body has been a bit crankier, but again nothing a little extra sleep can't fix.
That is not a real smile, because I really
didn't feel like smiling at that moment!
100 meters long with an altitude
increase of 100 feet (six repeats).
The smoke coming from my calves is not visible in
the photo, but I'm smiling through the pain.
This year, I've set some goals for myself: first and foremost I want to break through the 3:20 marathon plateau. My last two races have been 3:20:14, Death Valley Marathon in December 2004 and 3:20:20, Vancouver International Marathon in May 2005. It would also be nice to run a 5K under 20 minutes and get my weekly mileage back up to about 50 miles a week. Some non-running goals include doing more yoga, getting to work on time, and sleep, sleep and more sleep - at least more than 5 hours a night for a change. (Note, I manipulated the clock so the time listed at the bottom is not accurate because let's just say it's really early o'clock A.M. and I have not yet gone to bed!)
In order to achieve these goals, I've begun doing both Track/Speed as well as Core/Pilates workouts twice a week. Fortunately, an angel coach has graciously agreed to take me under his wing for the speed workouts. I still have the same amazing Core trainer and I wisely found a wonderful sports massage therapist. So now that I have the Coaching "Dream Team" in place, all I have to do is follow the Nike slogan and "Just Do It."
Since January 1st, my schedule has looked like this:
SUNDAY: Either hill repeats in sand (see pictures below) or long tempo run.
MONDAY: OFF (unless you count hockey practice in the evening)
TUESDAY: Speed/Interval workout.
WEDNESDAY: easy 4 mile recovery run, and an hour of Core/Pilates.
THURSDAY: Speed/Interval workout.
FRIDAY: easy recovery run, about 4 miles; 1 hour pre-game nap, ice hockey game in the evening.
SATURDAY: Long trail run with the Santa Monica Mountain Goats, then straight to the studio for an hour and a half of Pilates/Core, then a massage.
The part of the plan that isn't quite in place yet is more regular early morning DVD yoga sessions. Hopefully that will work itself out once I start routinely going to bed before today becomes tomorrow!
Since I've been on this schedule, my mile time has dropped from 6:25 to 6:19. Of course, my body has been a bit crankier, but again nothing a little extra sleep can't fix.
That is not a real smile, because I really
didn't feel like smiling at that moment!
100 meters long with an altitude
increase of 100 feet (six repeats).
The smoke coming from my calves is not visible in
the photo, but I'm smiling through the pain.
