Run Freddie Run

What a beautiful Saturday morning!  I ran with the Varsity Sports Mandeville training group today and the conditions were perfect…cool, sunny, minimal wind.  As nice as the day was, I really struggled…I made the  18-mile distance but I had to muscle my way through.  It didn’t help that I forgot my water bottle belt with the all-important energy gels, but I did have a little pre-run breakfast and one of the VS group fronted me a gel packet at the 5-mile mark (Thanks Philip!).  Anyway, it was one of those character-building mornings.

My Garmin stats:

• Total distance – 18.13 miles
• Total time – 2:27.49
• Avg pace – 8:09 per mile
• Avg heart rate – 139
• Max heart rate – 160
• Total calories – 1,859

Big thunder storms early this morning nixed my usual Thursday morning training session.  The front moved through around noon and I enjoyed much cooler and dryer conditions late this afternoon.  That being said, I’m still feeling achy and sore.  I’m wearing brand new training shoes, but it seems I feel sore all through my legs with every foot strike – not sure what’s going on.  Due to time constraints, today’s run was five miles as opposed to my scheduled nine.  I have an 18-miler on the docket for Saturday morning, so no big deal cutting it a bit short this afternoon.

Here are my Garmin stats for today:

• Total distance – 5.03 miles
• Total time – 39:39
• Avg pace – 7:53 per mile
• Avg heart rate – 142 bpm
• Max heart rate – 154 bpm

Back to warm and windy this morning – almost 70 degrees at 7 a.m. as I started my functional training workout. This morning’s session was short but intense – intense mainly due to a non-TRX circuit segment.  I’m still feeling less than 100% but there seems to be a little improvement with each new day.  No problem, as long as I’m trending in the right direction.

One workout today and here’s the scoop:

• TRX Squats – 3 sets @ 30 sec
• TRX Suspended Lunges – 4 sets @ 30 sec
• TRX Hamstring Runners – 2 sets @ 30 sec
• TRX Pike – 2 sets @ 30 sec
• TRX Single-leg Plank – 4 sets @ 20 sec

CIRCUIT SEGMENT: (4 rounds, 30 second exercise segments):

1. Medicine Ball Lift
2. Push-ups
3. Strength Band Lat/Front Raises

• TRX Chest Press – 2 sets @ 30 sec
• TRX Bent-leg Low Row – 2 sets @ 30 sec
• TRX Hip Press – 2 sets @ 30 sec

A nice, cool morning for a 9-mile run today.  I felt tired/sore and I’m hoping it was a result of the functional training workout I did yesterday afternoon…only 12 hours of rest between workouts.  I wore a new pair of Asics Gel-Neo33 shoes – it’s the new Asics minimalist shoe.  Not thrilled about the Gel-Neo so far, but I’ll give them a few more runs before passing final judgement.

Here are my Garmin stats from this morning:

• Total distance – 9.24 miles
• Total time – 1:13.19
• Avg pace – 7:56 per mile
• Avg heart rate – 138 bpm
• Max heart rate – 154
• Total calories – 896

It’s been a while since I’ve tackled an afternoon functional training workout.  I headed out the door today around 4 pm and knocked out a TRX session.  The temperature was close to 80 degrees and it was Louisiana balmy – it felt good to sweat!  Here’s today’s TRX low-down:

• Balance Lunge – 4 sets @ 30 sec
• Hamstring Push – 2 sets @ 30 sec
• Squats with Hop – 2 sets @ 30 sec
• Sprinter’s Start – 4 sets @ 30 sec
• Pike – 2 sets @ 30 sec
• TY Delt Fly – 2 sets @ 30 sec
• Overhead Squat – 2 sets @ 30 secs
• Corkscrew – 4 sets @ 30 sec
• Chest Press – 3 sets @ 30 sec
• Supine Hip Abduct – 2 sets @ 30 sec
• Single-leg Plank – 4 sets @ 20 sec

It felt like the middle of summer on a January morning today!  I ran 14 miles and the conditions were warm, humid, with a breeze from gulf south.  No problems…the more warm, humid runs the better.  My target marathon is on March 4th in New Orleans and there’s a good chance we’ll have similar warm, humid conditions. I didn’t feel great this morning, but I think I’m working my way through the crud/virus I’ve been battling the past four weeks.  I was definitely ready to stop after 14 miles, but I did drop the final four miles down below 7:30 pace.  My quads feel sore after this particular run!

My Garmin stats:

• Total distance – 14.07 miles
• Total time – 1:51.36
• Avg heart rate – 146 bpm
• Max heart rate – 172 bpm
• Total calories – 1,545

Increased my distance this morning, back up to my usual Tues/Thur 9 miles.  Still feeling pretty tired from being sick, so I did my best to throttle back on the pace today.  The weather was absolutely perfect – 38 degrees, clear, calm conditions.  Still not feeling 100% and I’ll definitely keep a conservative pace until I get some spring back in my stride.  Here are my Garmin stats for today’s run:

• Total distance – 9.19 miles
• Total time – 1:12.40
• Avg pace – 7:55 per mile
• Avg heart rate – 142 bpm
• Max heart rate – 158 bpm
• Total calories – 974

Easing my way back into the training groove.  It was a warm, balmy morning with the temperature at 62 degrees.  I ran an easy five miles, still not feeling 100% back to health – I’m getting there, but still have a ways to go.  I felt sluggish, but felt comfortable maintaining around an 8-minute per mile pace for most of the run. Here are my Garmin stats for the morning:

• Total distance – 4.96 miles
• Total time – 40:33
• Avg pace – 8:11
• Avg heart rate – 137 bpm
• Max heart rate – 153 bpm
• Total calories – 537

Well, it’s time for me to re-group and re-focus!  As luck would have it, I caught a bad cold 10 days ago and decided it wouldn’t be smart to run the Louisiana Marathon in Baton Rouge yesterday.  A deep, painful cough lingered through last Friday and I knew I would have to forego the marathon.  Word has it the inaugural Louisiana Marathon, 1/2 Marathon, & Marathon Relay events were a huge success on a picture perfect weather morning in Louisiana – cool, sunny, and light winds.  Congratulations to all my friends who participated and a special thanks to Rocket Racing, the talented race management team (Craig Sweeney, Susan Hayden, Pat Fellows) who delivered an awesome event.

I’m feeling better today so I decided to register for the upcoming Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon on March 4th.  That’s a short seven weeks away, so I’ll ease my way back into training this week and plan four weekend long runs of 14, 18, 14, and 20 miles, ending with a three-week taper.  I plan on keeping my Tuesday/Thursday 9-mile training runs, as well as my MWF morning functional training workouts.  I should be good to go with a solid fall training season under my belt.

I started things off easy this morning with a basic TRX workout.  The weather was awesome – 60 degrees and balmy.  I’m still hacking, sneezing, and coughing a bit, but it felt good to exercise after two low activity weeks.

Here’s the scoop on this morning’s TRX functional training session:

• Squats – 3 sets @ 30 sec
• Suspended Lunges – 4 set s@ 30 sec
• Hamstring Push – 2 sets @ 30 sec
• Overhead Squat – 2 sets @ 30 sec
• Sprinter’s Start – 4 sets @ 30 sec
• Chest Press – 3 sets @ 30 sec
• Low Row Progression – 3 sets @ 30 sec
• Supine Hip Abduction – 2 sets @ 30 sec
• Prone Crunch – 2 sets @ 30 sec