3 Mile on TM in Jax

It's Tuesday night and I'm sitting in my room at the Comfort Suites in Jacksonville. In a few minutes, The Biggest Loser will come on, and after that it will be time for bed. Getting up at 5:00am each day means getting to bed early, something that I have not been very good at doing lately.

After getting back to the hotel this afternoon, I started thinking about my current training compared to my training at this time last year. I reviewed my training log on Buckeye Outdoors. It wasn't perfect, but it was enjoyable and fit into my work schedule. I was consistently getting in 20+ mile weeks. That was the Hal Higdon Novice 1 Training Plan.

I pulled Hal Higdon up, looked at the plan and it felt like an old friend. Running 4 days a week works for me, but somehow I slipped into this once a week long run routine, kidding myself that it was working. It's not.

The more I looked, the more I knew that it was right. And it inspired me to get my running gear on and head downstairs to the treadmill. I had a nice run, starting at 11:00 pace and finishing about 9:00. It was a good start. I need to gradually add some shorter runs each week until my body gets used to the increased number of runs and mileage. Too much too fast equals injury and that does nobody any good.

Kiawah, Tybee and Shamrock.

Weekend postscript. Another great weekend in Bama, although a bit "cooler" than usual. Our Alabama Crimson Tide won another game, knocking off Mississippi State and moving to 11-0 while retaining the #1 ranking. The tailgate and game were cold, windy and rainy. It was even colder because our core temperatures had not fully recovered from the 12 mile run in the cold, wind and rain. Did I mention that we had a great time!

Coming Soon

Okay I'll admit that I was a slacker in October. A bad slacker. I only got in three runs, that right THREE runs. A 12 miler, an 8 miler and a Half Marathon. No wonder it was so hard! I got in a similar number of blogs, maybe 1 or 2 more. I find neither of these acceptable, so November is kick myself in the butt month.

I already have an 8 mile run in, and although short, my first blog of the month. I'm going to attempt 3-4 runs and blogs each week. Assuming I'm successful I'll have a written record of my life (warts and all) and will hopefully be better prepared for the next Half Marathon on Dec 6th. I 'm hoping Kiawah will be a better run and my training leading up to it will provide an initial base on which to begin building my Marathon training.

Did I mention that Alabama Football is the #1 team in the country? Bama has not been ranked #1 in the regular season since 1980, although we were ranked #1 at the end of the 1992 season when we whipped Miami to win the National Championship. With Bama back on top, life seems to have returned to normal.

So 1 run in the books and now 1 blog. Today was a long travel day to Jacksonville, but I'm planning on getting in a few runs this week while I'm on the road. Feel free to kick me in the pants if I fall short this month.

Jacksonville Track Workout

The title might seem a little confusing. I'm not aware of some fancy new training program called the Jacksonville track workout. I'm in Jacksonville, FL for work and I did a track workout.

I drove to Jacksonville yesterday afternoon after having lunch with Gerri. It was a pleasant ride and gave me a chance to listen to some of my favorite podcasts. I got my three restaurant night visits in before getting to my hotel around 10:00pm.

Had a good visit today, then an early dinner (Greek Salad, Spaghetti and Bread). Came back to the hotel and relaxed for a few hours, allowing the heat of the day, the rain and lightning to subside. About 7:45pm I drove over to the Fleming Island High School track in Orange Park. I had the track all to myself while summer football workouts were going on nearby.

I started with a fast warm up mile, something under 10:00. I then began my first ever interval workout. I decided to do 800's because in the future I would really like to incorporate Yasso 800's into my routine.

After the mile I walked a 1/4 mile, then did an 1/2 mile in 3:58. Another 1/4 mile walk and then the 2nd 1/2 mile in 4:23. After another 1/4 mile walk I did my 3rd 800 in 4:17. I did another 1/4 mile walk/jog but then had to stop because the area was being closed and I did not want to risk being locked in or the only one around. I would have liked to do one more 800 followed by a mile cool down run.

Overall I was pleased with the workout considering it was my first track workout, the heat and humidity were a bit unpleasant and my early dinner was not sitting well on my stomach. Another run done on the marathon recovery as well as getting ready for the upcoming races on my schedule.