75F, 96%, NE 3 mph. Drizzly and cloudy this morning, felt pretty comfortable outside. 5.30 miles at LLHR: 121 bpm, 125 max. 11:41/mile. RHR 58, so my body is still trying to build back from Saturday's race.
I decided this morning that I am quite happy with how fast I came back from my injury, though I am not all the way back yet -- but at the same time I need to find my ceiling quickly, never found it before the injury. I am probably going to do something like the following:
(1) Train through SGM -- run hard on race day, maybe even let up a little bit the last week going into it, but basically train through. Definitely going though, there will be several relatives and friends there, so it will just be a fun day. My time for that race is pretty irrelevant at this point, other than getting a qualifying time for Boston 2015 in the next age group up.
(2) Next target race Kingwood on New Years day. Boring 4-loop course but flat as a pancake, almost always cool or cold weather, and measures the correct distance. Between now and then my training is going to involve lots of distance, front-loaded with lots of LHR miles, lots of long, long runs (maybe 24 miles instead of 20) and lots of daytime running. I think I can get started right away, I really believe in LHR running and those miles don't seem to be affected too much by my recent race. I noticed on Saturday that despite minimal speedwork going into the race it was no problem hitting GMP for extended periods of time even on a very hilly course, the problem was maintaining heart rate through the last 10K, maybe even bumping it up, need to get just a little tougher. Every 4 weeks or so do a monster distance or workout week, then back off until I recover.
(3) Pace my son at Woodlands, then possibly run Grandma's or Paavo Nurmi next summer.
(4) Start programs for long-term weight loss and serious long-term core/glute/hams weightlifting. Even though I am 163 right now at 6'0" and look skinny, I am 22% body fat and can barely do a situp. The ceiling is soft in this area, but the trick will be doing both at the same time while avoiding injury. My bodybuilder son is a fountain of knowledge and can help me.
(5) Something in the fall or Kingwood again, maybe both, next target race being Boston 2015. That might be it, but that's a long ways away and could change several times.
(6) Keep my job, I'm going to need it. | 