Sunday, February 11, 2007

Eugene Training - Week 6

Like a kid!

I snuck my run in on Friday by taking a half day vacation. I'm very lucky to have a large vacation balance. I stopped off at the Santa Fe Dam before going home. My intent was to keep the pace up, but not as crazy as Thursday's. I could feel the effect on my legs already from that effort. I was able to put in the 6 miles in 49:13. I took the rest of the afternoon as a chance to get the checkbook updated. Now that's some fun use of vacation time!

Saturday morning I was scheduled to meet the CA Cruiser at Rio Java for a jaunt along the Santa Ana River Bike Path. Our group was me, Dorothy, Renee, Kathleen and two of their friends. Dorothy was fresh from her 3rd place AG finish at the Pacific Shoreline Marathon last weekend. John was missing as he had arthroscopic surgery on a torn meniscus in this knee on Thursday after having also run Pacific Shoreline. He is supposed to be out for 6 to 8 weeks, but being a doctor himself, I'm not sure he'll be the most compliant patient. Pacific Shoreline was his 110th marathon.

After having a couple of hard efforts the last couple of days I decided to enjoy an easy start to Saturday's long run and ran with the "girls" for the first three miles. Our pace was nearing 12:00 per mile. I would have made it 4 with them except for having to stop at the bathroom. The girls turned back at that point.

On my own, I dropped down to around 9:00. I ended up having to stop twice more during this run for bowel related issues. I'm not sure what the exact problem was but I was able to run comfortably after the final stop. My route took me east along the trail for 5 miles and back, then west for 4 miles and back for a total of 18. This is the first loooong run of 5 for Eugene. There are 2-20's and 2-22's yet to come.

During the week I had thought about trying to run the last 4 miles at marathon pace, or 8:00 miles. This is something I was borrowing from Jeff. I completely forgot about doing it when I was out there running until I only had one mile left. I tried to kick up the pace, but soon realized that this was probably not the best mile to do so as there are a couple of little whoopty dos in this mile. I probably let that get to me too much, besides my legs were definitely feeling Thursday and Friday's efforts. My pace had stayed steady for the last 15 miles but there was not speeding up to be had. Mile 18 was faster than 17 but just in line with the rest of the run.

The final time for the run was 2:52:39, an overall pace of 9:35, which is just on the upper limit of my recommended long run pace. The pace for the 15 on my own was 9:12.

And finally the kid part. Sunday's forecast called for rain. My schedule called for 5 miles, so you know where I was headed; B-O-N-E-L-L-I. The rain was going to make it all the more fun. I awoke Sunday morning to the sound of rain. I was a happy camper. I made breakfast for the family as usual and planned my run for immediately after church. It was still raining nicely when we walked into church, but by the time we walked out the sky was clearing. I pulled out the 500 mile shoes I had worn at Tecumseh and Otter Creek. I wasn't ready to christen the newer ones. So although I didn't get wet, I did have plenty of mud to play in on the trails. There's something about running in the mud that brings out the kid in me.

Miles for the week: 47

M: Rest
T: 6 miles, speed with 3x400 and 2x800
W: 6 miles, 57:29 (9:35 pace)
H: 6 miles, 45:32 (7:35 pace)
F: 6 miles, 49:13 (8:12 pace)
S: 18 miles, 2:52:39 (9:35 pace)
S: 5 miles, 50:12 (10:02 pace)

I've got a story about a boy and bike, I'll tell you next time.

15 comments:

Backofpack said...

Darrell,
I thought about you and wondered if you had Idaho yet! That'd be cool if you decided to do CD'A. I have a friend who's bugging me to do 9 states in 9 months for the extra maniac star - but after CD'A I'll only have three states, then CA next fall for four. Five more seems like a lot!

Anonymous said...

110 marathons?!

and playing in the mud, woo hoo!!!

Sarah said...

Mud can be so much fun! You had a nice week. : )

Wes said...

Awww. To bad the sun came out :-) At least it was muddy! What would Sunday be like without B-O-N-E-L-L-I? I really like those paces. The 7:35 is especially impressive!!

Anonymous said...

First of all, I can't believe you actually discuss "bowel problems" on your blog (and I can't believe I am, either!!!) but let me just say---Canyon City BBQ is not a good idea the night before a long run!

Ah, the boy and the bike... I know the story. You and your boys have expensive habits!

Anne said...

Hey, I have "mud-approved" shoes too! I didn't need them Sunday, though, since I stayed on asphalt and just got soaked instead.

Joe said...

Ahaaaaa, so Lisa enlightens us about the cause of the intestinal distress. But BBQ is so very good!!!

Solid week, Darrell. Good variation, and some good speed work. Those long runs will serve you well.

David said...

You had a full week of running. If you can fit it all in I commend you.

Mud around here is more like quicksand.

Anonymous said...

You talk about potty time. TMI. don't you think. Your tough. You'll get over it. Ha Ha

SoberMommie said...

Playing in the mud! Sounds like a fun run! Waiting for the boy and the bike story....

Phil said...

Sorry to read about your bowel issues. Believe me, I feel your pain!

Lowering your pace to MP on the last mile probably didn't do you much good; however, I find that it does me much more good to do the MP tempo over the last 4 to 6 miles of the medium-long run instead of the beginning.

Anonymous said...

I think I just found your son's blog, is it "The Start of Something New?"

Way to be inspirational!

Journey to a Centum said...

Glad to see you have some speed work in your training schedule. That's where your 8 min pace is going to come from for Eugene. I look forward to meeting you there! I'll be the slug at the back of the pack having just run a 50 miler the previous day. Who knows perhaps I'll be able to keep an 8 min pace but I'm not counting on it.

Eric

Anonymous said...

bwaahaahaahaahaaaaa. looks like your "evil" plan to get the whole family running is working. HA HA HA HA!

Donald said...

Running in the rain is very cool - as long as it's not day after day. This winter has been pretty mild up here, though.

Nice job with the long run. I agree with Jeff's advice to push the last miles. It doesn't feel great, but it will pay off on race day.