In previous years I offered a summary of my running in between the 2008 half-marathon and marathon training and included some other tidbits too.  Last Year’s Foto Friday was a picture of a flying monkey.  In 2007 I provided some advice for running with headphones.

Last Year’s Mileage

Run: 29.6 Miles
Bike: 40.0 Miles

Monday I biked to the YWCA for some time in the pool.  I ended up doing 500 meters.  I feel like I’m getting stronger in the water, so maybe soon I’ll actually get a good sustained cardio workout!

Tuesday I realized that I should be starting my training for the marathon this week.  So I’ll be using Hal Higdon’s 18 week Advanced II schedule.   Last year I used Intermediate II with good results. Today that called for a 3 x hill workout.  I ran to the Stone Arch Bridge as my warm-up and then ran from the river bottom to the West River Road bike path on the south side of the bridge.  They were tough.  Hal tries to scare people away with this week 1 day 1 warning:

This Advanced-II Training schedule is the toughest of all my programs! It is for very experienced runners seeking to fine-tune their training by following a program that includes two days of speedwork plus more mileage than the programs leading up to it. Hopefully you arrived at this program with a background of speed training and know what it’s like to do hill repeats, interval training on the track and tempo running in the woods. If not, this is no time to start. You would be much better following one of the Intermediate programs or Advanced-I and saving this program for a later marathon. (You’re not listening; I can tell.) Okay, you read my disclaimer and agreed to the conditions for acceptance into this very tough program. For the next 18 weeks, you will use Monday as a day of comparative rest by running an easy 3 miles, then adjourning to the gym for 15-30 minutes of stretching and strength training. (This might be a good workout to do in a health club, since you can do your 3-miler on a treadmill before heading to the weight room.) Wednesday workouts will be about the same. Fridays are rest days, since even Advanced runners need to rest. On the other days, get ready to bust! Are you up to the challenge? Only a small percentage of runners can benefit from a program this demanding, but let’s give it a try.

Wednesday resulted in a nice easy 3.25 mile run on my Metrodome loop.  I ran it backwards for a little change of pace.  It was 68 and sunny – which felt pretty warm.  It was 2pm when I actually ran and I hadn’t had any lunch yet so I was very hungry.

Thursday was Tempo run day.  I ran it out and back along the Greenway and did a pretty good job of running Higdon’s tempo style.  Slowly pick-up the pace until you hit 10k pace – hold for a few minutes – slowly slow back down.  I think I struggle with the slowly slowing back down thing.  I didn’t quite make the full 30 minutes but 3.8 miles in 27:44 works pretty well.  It was 48 and sunny.

Friday is the day of rest. I didn’t have to go to work, so all I did was bike the 1.5 miles to church.

Saturday was cool and overcast.  I met the guys at the Sibley House for what ended up being almost a 15 mile run along the Minnesota River. Right as we got out of the cars the first drops started falling.  It never really poured, but was a nice soaking rain.  Running under canopy the whole way was nice so we didn’t really start getting wet until we crossed the river and ran in the prairie for a little bit.  The 48 temp made for a cool run, almost reminicent of last year’s TCM – minus the major sustained deluge!  I ran 1:52 for the run, though I got dropped with about 3 miles to go.  After crossing the 494 bridge John and I lot contact with the group so we surged, getting down into the low 6’s to catch back up.  Once we caught them I was spent and couldn’t hold the pace.  The amazing thing was that my pace was still in the 7:30 range.  I was pretty spent.  Except for the first mile and the one with the major hill all of our miles where well under 8 which accounts for the overall 7:30 pace.

Sunday we went to watch a friend do a triathlon – the Buffalo Olympic Triathlon. It was fun to actually spectate and to watch him race and meet his goal on another cold and dreary day.  I also did about 30 minutes of yoga, strength, and balance workouts on our new Wii Fit.  Sam’s Club currently has them for $10 less than anywhere else.  Suprisingly it was actually a little bit of a workout – especially for the core and stabalizer muscles.  After today’s workout my Wii Fit Age is 28 (I’m 27 for now).

Total Mileage

Run: 26.6 Miles
Bike: 36.8 Miles
Swim: 500.0 M