Keep Moving Forward: A Training Log (Comments Welcome)

Great consistency on those paces!

I’m glad the Hokas seem to be working for you. I know a lot of people who swear by them but I do think most havecsaid there’s a definite adjustment period.

I’d agree with that. I had a lot of frustrations early on, but after some adjustments, they’ve actually been great.
 
I've never tried Hokas ... but it sounds like they're working out great for you. I'm glad you were able to make them work.

Also ... great job on the tempo run!
 
So...after all of that talk about physically feeling great, I went to bed last night with a sore ankle and had an achy back all day today. Lesson learned: don't jinx my health by talking about it!

Anyway, today was 6 miles at EA (9:46/mile) and ... I'm just looking at strava for the first time since my run 4.5 hours ago and it says I ran 5.9 miles. Ugh. I definitely got an alert for running six miles.

Well, either way, my times were so-so. A few in the 9:32-9:33 range and the rest in the 9:40s. I don't know if it was coming off the tempo run yesterday, but EA felt really, really slow today. Like, I could've walked it. So, that was a little bit of a struggle, but what are you going to do except slow down and try to hit your goals?

Today's Distance: 6 miles
Avg. Pace: 9:37/mile
Time: 57:43
 
I don't know what the deal is between Garmin and Strava, but Strava almost always shorts my distance, so I've started always making sure my Garmin is reading X.01 or X.02 before I stop it. I know it's stupid and shouldn't matter, but it really bugs me when Strava does that!
 


I don't know what the deal is between Garmin and Strava, but Strava almost always shorts my distance, so I've started always making sure my Garmin is reading X.01 or X.02 before I stop it. I know it's stupid and shouldn't matter, but it really bugs me when Strava does that!

It’s only happened a couple times recently, so it’s bearable. RunKeeper used to go waaaay off the rails sometimes.
 
All right, I’m posting from my phone while waiting for my daughter to get out of ballet, so today’s post might be a little brief.

Covering two runs today...Friday was 6 miles @ EA and today was 10 miles @ EB.

Friday felt good, but nothing out of the ordinary. I have to try harder on Fridays to stick to the plan because I’m so eager to kick off the weekend. My pace ranged from 9:31 to 9:40. So, on the fast side, but not terribly so.

With the marathon in 7 weeks, I’m trying to start my long runs earlier. It’s a little hard to get out the door when it’s 26 degrees at 7 am and you see it will be 36 degrees at 10, or whatever. Today, I was out the door shortly after 9. Not bad, but I’ve got to get going earlier. I won’t have a choice next month.

My mile times today varied from 8:50 to 9:09. Again, a little on the last side, but I was mostly within range. I also varied my route a bit and checked out some areas of the city I’ve never seen before. So, that was fun.

Tomorrow is 15 miles @ LR. 31 miles in 48 hours this weekend. Feels good to be building up the mileage.

Friday’s Distance: 6 miles
Avg. Pace: 9:39/mile
Time: 58 minutes

Today’s Distance: 10 miles
Avg. Pace: 8:59/mile
Time: 1:29:49
 


After a rainy/sleety/snowy Monday and a snowy Tuesday morning and early afternoon, the skies cleared up *just* enough for my run. Today's work out called for a 1 mile warmup, 7 miles @ Tempo (8:05/mile) (I double-checked, DopeyBadger!) and a half mile cool down.

It was a drag to have to layer up again today, but it's still March in Iowa and frankly, I was just happy the sidewalks were relatively clear after all of the precipitation and considering it was only a few degrees above freezing. I definitely lucked out.

After my warmup mile, I kicked it into Tempo gear and ... ran way too fast, 7:39. The next six miles were mostly better:

- 8:05
- 8:16
- 7:56
- 7:46 (oops)
- 8:05
- 8:05

So, a surprisingly consistent tempo run considering it felt a little all over the place and that's not a pace that I'm super used to. Huzzah for tempo runs.

Sidebar: I think I need to say something about my Hoka shoes. Anyone who has followed this log from the beginning (all six pages of it!) will recall I was pretty hard on my shoes early on. Well, I've now put more than 300 miles on these shoes and I'm pretty happy with the results. Ever since my stress fracture 2-3 years ago I've had seemingly every foot, knee, ankle and leg pain imaginable. I suspect a lot of it is because I'm a heel striker and I supinate quite a bit. I burn through shoes in seemingly record time and feel aches and pains pretty quickly. Well, that hasn't happened with these shoes. I'm really pleased with the results.

So, I've gone from pretty anti-Hoka to thinking I'll probably get another pair at the end of the month when I'm over 400 miles and in need of fresh shoes for the marathon. Who woulda thunk? Of course, I have to give credit to my wife who suggested re-lacing the shoes, which prevented the tongue from digging into my ankle.

Anyway...

Today's Distance: 8.5 miles
Avg. Pace: 8:13/mile
Time: 1:09:56
Omg the tongue on my Hokas dig into my ankles but I just accept it! There is actually something you can do about it?
 
Omg the tongue on my Hokas dig into my ankles but I just accept it! There is actually something you can do about it?

I’m sorry you’re having issues, but I’m glad I’m not crazy! I thought maybe it was just me.

What I did was take the laces out of the top eyelets (like you’d normally have them) and tied the shoes a step lower. The tongue doesn’t shift around on me anymore - which was the cause of my prior issue.

I can take a pic another time and show you if I did a poor job of explaining.
 
I totally get you on the "difficulty going out early" thing ... it's tough, but you just have to learn to do it. For me, I tried to slowly adjust my time to go out earlier ... it's easier to aim for 7:30 instead of 8 than 6 instead of 8. I also try not to look at the hourly forecast past 7 ... but that doesn't work so well.
 
I totally get you on the "difficulty going out early" thing ... it's tough, but you just have to learn to do it. For me, I tried to slowly adjust my time to go out earlier ... it's easier to aim for 7:30 instead of 8 than 6 instead of 8. I also try not to look at the hourly forecast past 7 ... but that doesn't work so well.

Solid advice. I check the weather to get a sense of what layers I should wear, but otherwise I just need to go. I’m better about it in the summer when I’d rather be cool!
 
Catching up on your journal...I'm thinking of trying Hokas, switching from Asics Nimbus (although I have 2 pairs of Nimbus in storage). I read so many people who love Hokas to those that hate them. I think the Bondi is the one with most cushion I would need. I have tongue slippage in my nimbus at times so that kind of worries me, but the wide toe box felt good when I tried them on. Was it just getting the lacing right then gave you a hard time getting used to them or any other Hoka quirks I should know of?

Thanks & great training journal.
 
Catching up on your journal...I'm thinking of trying Hokas, switching from Asics Nimbus (although I have 2 pairs of Nimbus in storage). I read so many people who love Hokas to those that hate them. I think the Bondi is the one with most cushion I would need. I have tongue slippage in my nimbus at times so that kind of worries me, but the wide toe box felt good when I tried them on. Was it just getting the lacing right then gave you a hard time getting used to them or any other Hoka quirks I should know of?

Thanks & great training journal.

So, you'll notice with the Bondis (not sure if this is the same with all Hokas) that there is a thin, flexible plastic thing on the tongue. I didn't think anything of it until a couple weeks in when I noticed it digging into my ankle a bit. If the tongue is in line with your foot, ankle, leg, I don't think it presents a problem. What kept happening to me is the tongue would shift to either side of my ankle and down into the shoe a bit. That put the bit of plastic at just the right height and angle to dig in a bit.

I tried tying the shoes looser, tighter, tanking the tongue out as far as possible. Nothing worked. But, after moving the laces "down" an eyelet (as described above), I haven't had any issues.

Other than that, all I can really say is you'll notice the difference immediately when you put them on. A lot of arch support and a James Brown level of sole. It's different, but I got used to that aspect quickly. I will say these shoes have held up and seemingly cut down on the wear and tear on my feet and legs.

Good luck! Let me know what you think.
 
Awesome, thanks so much! Yeah I really liked them when I tried them on at marathon weekend expo. I need to just bite the bullet and try a pair in real running, I have 2 pairs of Nimbus in storage though.
 
Awesome, thanks so much! Yeah I really liked them when I tried them on at marathon weekend expo. I need to just bite the bullet and try a pair in real running, I have 2 pairs of Nimbus in storage though.

FWIW, I'm pushing 350 miles on my Hokas, so I'm getting close to replace them. New Balance has been my ride-or-die for years now, but I'm actually learning toward getting another pair of Hokas. I can't deny the results, though @DopeyBadger deserves the lion's share of the credit for keeping me out there five days a week..
 
So, did daylight saving time mess up anyone else's morning? I didn't sleep great and was slow getting out the door for this morning's run - about 9 a.m. again.

Today, I was supposed to be practicing my nutrition plan. When I got up around 7:30, I had a bagel with cream cheese and a little bit of PowerAde. When I left for my run later, I had about 16 oz of water and a package of Clif Blox energy chews. The plan was to have some water and an energy chew every two miles starting at mile 2.

Today's workout called for 15 miles @ Long Run (8:46/mile). It was a little brisk this morning, but not bad at all. In fact, it'd probably be ideal marathon weather. About 35-36 degrees when I started out. My right knee and shin were a little achy the first few miles, but I don't think it was anything that hampered my performance. Something to keep an eye on though - I checked my shoes last night and they're definitely showing some wear in the heel. I need to find my wedges and I'll probably slip them in. My hope is to prolong the life of the shoes for another two weeks or so and get them past 400 miles.

Anyway, my mile times were a *little* all over the place and more on the fast side, but largely within - or close to - my prescribed pace:

1 - 8:34
2 - 8:39
3 - 8:40
4 - 8:32
5 - 8:44
6 - 8:38
7 - 8:40
8 - 8:20
9 - 8:38
10 - 8:51
11 - 8:30
12 - 8:39
13 - 8:51
14 - 9:01
15 - 8:38

What's interesting to me is that I don't remember ever dialing it back or speeding it up during any segment of this run. Some of those times are obviously a product of elevation changes, but I feel like every mile felt largely consistent. I'm also pretty happy about that 8:38 mile 15. In my first two marathons, I hit the wall a bit right around the half marathon mark. For my first, I think that was a function of injury. For my second, I just think I was undertrained. Whatever the reason, I am excited to see some faster times in the later miles. 15 miles is a far cry from 26.2, but it's giving me confidence for my 4-hour marathon goal.

Today's Distance: 15 miles
Avg. Pace: 8:40/mile
Time: 2:10:12
Miles This Week: 45.5 (PR)
Year To Date: 319
 
After a K-12 career of not being even remotely successful at athletics, I can't believe I'm saying this ... but I'm too darn fast sometimes.

Today was a T run (got it right this week, DB!). The plan called for a two-mile warm up, 5x1 @ T (7:35/mile) w/1 minute resting intervals and a 1 mile cool down. I was a little pressed for time, so I condensed both the warm up and cool down.

This was my first official T run in a few weeks and I wasn't really sure what to expect. The result was, like I said, too fast. My first three miles went 7:00, 7:03 and 7:07. This isn't me trying to be cool and fast, I just have a really hard time gauging my pace at those speeds. I tried to slow down and was marginally successful, but not really. Part of the issue was I tried my best to find a flat six miles, but on my side of the city, avoiding hills is all but impossible. For those most part, they weren't too bad, but trying to be consistent at a speed I'm not familiar with AND compensate for changes in elevation proved to be a challenge.

Mile 4 came in at 7:15. A little better, but still ... fail. Finally, after *kind of* dialing it back the first four miles, I tried even harder on mile 5 and came in at 7:27, my only mile within range. Suffice it to say, a blind T run would probably not go so well!

Anyway, nothing I can do but keep working on it. Focusing on the positives, I'm still healthy enough to go out there and open 'er up a bit. That's a good feeling.

Today's Distance: 6.2 miles
Avg. Pace: 7:35/mile
Time: 47:09
 
No worries. It's a learning process. And Daniels T is a pace that you can run faster, but to reap the benefits you don't want to. Keep up the good work and things will fall in place.
 
All right, after a butt-kicking T run yesterday, it was back to 6 miles at EA (9:47/mile) today. I made a concerted effort to SLOW DOWN. I was largely successful, though I was a little achy today, so it wasn't exactly a hassle to take it easy. Next time, I need to put my wedges in. I think the wear and tear is getting to my right knee and ankle a bit.

Anyway, not much else to report. It was breezy this afternoon, but warm enough to run in shorts! VERA NIIIICE!

Today's Distance: 6 miles
Avg. Pace: 9:38
Time: 57:49
 

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