Five down, thirteen to go

That would be weeks in the training program for the October 9 2011 Mohawk Hudson Marathon.  At almost one third into the training cycle, there's some reason for optimism, but not too much.  I really struggled to complete today's 14-mile run - and my average pace dropped from around 10 minutes/mile (first few miles) all the way to 10:30 average overall, with the last 4 miles at a snail's pace of over 11 minutes each.  Clearly it was not just because of my poor conditioning or lack of training to date.  To put it mildy, running conditions were hugely unfavorable with the temperature at about 78F when I set off just after 0630A - and humidity at 91% - and heating up quickly to about 85F by 0930A.

Apparently there is now some scientific evidence that running when it is very hot like this is akin to speed training or hill work, it makes you stronger.  Duh!  

Even so, with 'just' 13 weeks left before the marathon, I am really starting to doubt whether a 3:45 time is a realistic goal.  Right now I can't even hold an 8:35 pace for 6 miles, never mind 10, 15 or 26.2...

On the positive side, I have 5 weeks of pretty sold training in the bag, without any major mishaps, illnesses or injuries.  Left heel still presenting plantar fasciitis symptoms, but not getting worse. Yet.  Will have to do more stretching and foam rolling.

Who knew maple syrup is good for you!

Day 3 is never quite as much fun as Day 1.  At least I started the day off with a good helping of oats - prepared a big batch of steel-cut oats in the pressure cooker  so all I had to do was measure out 1 cup, add about a half cup light vanilla soy and a tablespoon of maple syrup.  I never knew that maple syrup is positively  good for you until I saw a reference to some recent research in an article a few days ago.

In a new study conducted by the University of Rhode Island, Dr. Navindra Seeram discovered that pure Canadian maple syrup contains more than 20 compounds linked to human health. Several of these antioxidant compounds are reported to contain anti-cancer, anti-bacterial and anti-diabetic properties.

So goodbye to the articificial sweetener which I've enjoyed with breakfast until yesterday.  Maple syrup it will be from now on.

Getting back into both a workout program and back into running have turned out to be quite challenging.  My abs are sore (from some situps and related exercises), my shoulders are aching (lat pulldowns) and my calves remain borderline at best (run-walk) despite regular foam rolling.  Physically I am probably in the worst shape right now than I have been in nearly 10 years. There's a lot of work to be done. 

Even so, my thoughts have turned to running another marathon, likely the Mohawk-Hudson in upper NY State in October.  It will be a long journey from where I am now to being able to comfortably finish a 26.2 mile race, never mind trying to race it.  To get the process going I will follow Sally Edwards' half-marathon training plan in her new book 'Be a Better Runner'.  I have always been intrigued with the relationship between training/racing and heart rate training zones.  Edwards' plan makes extensive use of heart rate data to figure out how easy or hard one's running efforts should be.  So from this afternoon I will be strapping on the Polar HR Monitor to establish some benchmarks.