Last few days running off 5 hours of sleep and being forced to run in the dark in minus 5 to minus 9C in Europe before work. Not fun, but unless I run before work, it is not happening, as the rest of the day is wall to wall meetings and evening business dinners etc. Managed to run 1:15 every morning....by sacrificing sleep. Not a sustainable thing in the long run, but willing to do it for a few days. As running is the only form of exercise I have access to right now, it is not hard to get motivated to run. Once I am home and have many options, then the running gets harder to do.

Dev

Ok here is a picture of my 7:30 , 12 degree track run last night :0)
Enjoy it was very scenic :0)

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4. and change recovery run this morning w/ similar scenery ( i.e. dark ) It was relatively balmy at 11F.

I broke the 250 mile barrier w/ this morning's run ( # 33 for me ). Comparing to last year where I did a straight up 100/100 I am down by about 60 miles.

I have noticed about a 20-30 sec/mile pace drop at a fixed HR over the past couple of weeks for my long run pace. The faster pace feels pretty good as well, I am not feeling over-trained which also drops my HR at a given pace.


~13 miles scheduled for tomorrow,

Damn index finger...
I was aiming for 80+ run with running six times a week. Now I have to have a surgery on my right hand that gonna stop me from running for 9 days. I've been running with a healing broken finger for the last two months but and I need to get to chips of bone which are stuck inside my index finger joint.

I'll be counting 9 days of down time from feb 6th.

Doubled up dreadmill run at work. Broke the 250 mile mark also with this mornings run. This run breaks me into the top ten at number 7 I think. This run felt very easy and smooth. Crossing my fingers that I can stay healthy and keep up fitness level. Probably lay off the doubles for a bit.

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Run 50 in the books watch did not pick signal up till .30 -.35 of a mile from house. I know cause I run here all the time :0) just in case I estimated on the low side and added only a .25 mile. Last 2 miles were at a decent clip of a 7:20 mile. Sweet sixteen party tonight for one of my daughters friends so I had to rush the run

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13 miles and change this morning. The bulk of the run was into a really cold/cutting wind, I just about bailed on it 4 or 5 times. Right after I finished, I had an hour of ice skating w/ my daughter as a warmdown. I am gonna sleep well tonight, especially after a snort or two of some way too good 15yo single malt...

It was minus 22C when we started this morning but after we got going it was not too bad. 16K with some hill repeats in 90 minutes. I tacked on 10k of speedskating on each side of the run as the Rideau Canal is frozen and open for skating (all 8 kilometers). It sure is a lot easier dealing with jetlag coming west than going east.

Yesterday's run was in pitch dark outside Amsterdam airport. I hate running from airport hotels because it usually involves running around a lot of concrete, and traffic with no where to really run safely without being hit. Not so in Holland. There is an entire network of bike paths going in an out of the airport and I beat the morning bike commute crowd as I was running between 6:15 and 7:30 or so.

Keeping up with a run a day. Just logged the latest run and it took my total mileage to 209.99! Thanks for setting this up Dev! Sorry no picture tonight...do you really want to see a black trail with no lights?

100/100 Challenge Tip of the Week :
Over the next few days I want to step back a bit think about what you are trying to learn from this 100/100 experience and how to carry the plan over after the challenge. This will have you focus on what works and what does not work. Learning these skills will not only help you to self coach yourself but your awareness will help those that do work with coaches to provide information for an effective plan and maximize performance.

The reason learning your body is so crucial is each athlete is unique . If everyone responded the same way to training there would be no reason to pay attention to ones body. Some runners respond well to high mileage while some respond to quality. There is no way of judging how your body will respond to individual workouts let alone a year long training plan. Improvement happens when you have the ability to makes assessments and make the proper adjustments.

At the end of a season or training block look back and determine where things went right and wrong. I will discuss over the next few days different things to assess and how to correct them during a training block if possible or for the next training block Keep an accurate training log and over time you will be able to spot trends where the training pointed toward the positive or negative.









http://futrmultisport.com/.

11.10 miles on dreadmill In 1:20:30. I Started off with a 7:50 mile and increased every mile until the last three miles where I did the last three in 19:58.
Was supposed to do the last 20 minutes moderate. I hope my coach does not mind the 2 seconds of slacking .0)

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View from the start/finish line of the Surfside Shuffle 10k @ Surfside Beach, TX. 70 degrees and sunny. A little early in the year for such nice weather.

I hope everybody's week is off to a good start. 8 and change miles this morning w/ hill repeats ( Scot, thanks for the tips )

Recovery run + trainer ride scheduled for tomorrow.


I am starting to break in some new shoes on my recovery runs. I usually get 500-600 miles out of my newtons, with the increased millage associated with that challenge I am hitting that mark much earlier in time than normal.

Thanks for the picture....that gives us hope. Yesterday I did a 40k XC ski....temperature in the parking lot was minus 24C which is minus 11F. I finished the ski and could not feel my feet, but reluctantly put on my running shoes and did a 16 minute transition run. At that point I could have gone the full 30 minutes, but i was late for a family lunch, so I packed it in....later in the day, I topped up the rest of my run with a shuffle on the treadmill...that second short "top up run" was way harder than the entire ski+transition run in the morning. I'm not sure that I gained any value from that second outing.....this morning I was sore and cripple from the 9 hours of training this weekend....got on the treadmill for 32 minute run on the treadmill @4-10% grade in the 6-7 mph range....all uphill so easy on the sore legs.

that is some good spreadsheet chasing right there Dev ;-)

But what will happen to those last two runs when you "change" the 30min run threshold to 33min for one day, gone! :-)

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Ewan

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Yeah, they would evaporate, but I better not mess with anything.

As for the spreadsheet chasing, yes, I decided that I have the basic run fitness to risk the spreadsheet chasing and I also have a desire to race St. Croix or Wildflower or perhaps Galveston this spring, so those are good reason to jack up the running.

Last year, I did 2600K + of running injury free, with the tail end of the year more like 70K per week, so trying to target 70k per week over the challenge (goal of 1000K) is probably safe....so far, so good and we are at day number 45. That 4:07 run at IM Tremblant 2012 needs to be obliterated....I know I have a zillion excuses from last year (like not being able to even walk without losing control over my leg this time last year due to nerve damage), but excuses are a dime a dozen...everyone has their own, and mine are no different....doing some spreadsheet when I don't feel like running to jack up my HTFU factor will hopefully help in the second half of the marathon when the 500 lbs gorilla decides to hitch a ride on my back. And that 500 lb gorilla always hitches a ride. I keep telling him to pick someone else, but he always decides to jump on my back....or maybe there are 2000 500 lb gorillas at every Ironman that WTC issues and they just jump out of the woods at some point and choose their assigned athlete. I don't know what the deal is, but I know I always get one issued. Hopefully, my personal gorilla can wait until mile 22 versus mile 14.....could you send him a note to take a nap so he misses me on the "out part" and only catches me on the "back part"?

Dev

are you doing any xc skiing races? all that skiing milage should be put to good use, no!?!

Dev, no need to justify your spreadsheet chasing (especially to me, I was one of the worst ones!!!)
I think you said it best, if the spreadsheet chasing is forcing you to HTFU and get out there and run, then that is all good!
I thought I would be missing the Challenge this year but luckily I have found another obsession to OCD over... trainerroad.com!!!!! Oh and it is not like I am not running anyways (368km in december and 350km so far in January). All too get rid of my gorilla at the 1/2 marathon in may!

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Ewan

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Run 50 in the books! Mainly short runs with a paltry 205 miles at the halfway point. Main thing is that's about 150 miles more than I would have done without this challenge to obsess over. Done a bunch of doubles in the last week to get ahead of the game in time to relax for the next 6 days in Florida - see you next week!

I've been running but haven't been putting it in the log. Too lazy :-)

I nailed a race this weekend. I'm still slower than molasses but at least I'm faster than I was 8 weeks ago. I trimmed 15 minutes off my half marathon time. Lots of work to go but that is a healthy start.

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce

Define slow as molasses.... because that probably makes me molasses at subzero temperatures. I do have 31 or so runs in the book, and it is helping.

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You will remain the same person, before, during and after the race. So the result, no matter how important, will not define you. The journey is what matters. ~ Chrissie W.

Dev,

love the challenge! thanks for putting it together. I am not posting anything but have made every day since the start. doing 40 mile weeks for the past 3 weeks. my goal is to do 50 miles this week and 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 miles in corresponding run numbers.

thanks again for the push!

Fun facts from my race:

I got progressively faster over the last 3 miles.
Last 2 miles were faster than first mile.
Last mile was second fastest.

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce

Lightened the running load in the last 10 days because of slippery sidewalks and snow. The rest seemed to have pay off because I did a sub 30min 7k for the first time! (29:32) I've never run as consistently as I have since the start of this challenge.