Training Run

Time: 30 min
Distance: 5 kilometers

Comments: Started pretty late today since I got busy doing actual paying work this morning. That's OK since it meant I was more warmed up before getting into the run.Since I put in a big week and a serious long run last week and I'm planning to replicate that effort over the next seven days I made this a half-hour recovery run. Although I did put it in on the cement surface of the malencon. I figure I need to get some hard-top work in over the course of all this.So it was a casual run. No crazy pace or struggle or nada. Almost a jog, really. And it felt pretty good the whole way.

Marathon Training Summary: Week 7

Time: 4 hours 15 min
Distance: 43 kilometers

Comments: It has been more than a complete calendar month of underachieving for me. Five solid weeks of unfinished workouts and training schedules.So it was nice for the legs to cooperate enough to get in my first solid week of work since the week prior to kicking off formal 'training.' Three decent mid-week runs and one honking long one to cap it off. The concern, obviously, is that I might be pushing too hard given the slackitude of the previous weeks. Doubling my time and distance from last week to this is not the most advisable procedure. And while my pre-training schedule was better than what the last few weeks indicate, this is still a substantial increase from those numbers as well.This week calls for more of the same and then, the week after, I cut back a bit. Getting through this week was critical to make the marathon even a possibility, getting through the next two weeks will ,tell how realistic that h

Long Run

Time: 2 hours
Distance: 20 kilometers

Comments: The first real long run of my training and the first solid week of training since I got this thing going.I hit the road pretty early. The week has been taking its toll. I'm sleeping hard as a rock. I got out early knowing it would be a long long haul for this one. The weather was ideal, a bit chilly and overcast with an intermittent mist. Completely miserable for normal people, in other words.Knowing I wanted to stay on the dirt I headed westerly, up the beach. After getting out of Miraflores it turned into an apocalyptic hellscape out of Mad Max or something. Rubble, burning refuse and shredded plastic bags flapping in the breeze. But it was dirt so my legs were happy and I stuck with it.I got all the way to San Martin, where the main road heads back into the city and turned around. It was a bit shy of the one-hour mark so I made it all the way back to the starting point but ,had to tack on another 2

Training Run

Time: 30 min
Distance: 5 kilometers

Comments: Finally a very good run. Went out pretty late but got into the groove pretty fast. The iPod was working for me and, before I knew it, I was trucking along pretty good. I stretched a bit before leaving the house but, since this was a relatively short run, I kind of went into  it cold. Despite that, there was nary a peep from the trouble spots and I was able to just fucking run! Been awhile since I've done that. Early December, really.So I got to the last few minutes and cranked up the pace. The last minute was a full bore 'stride to the finish' pace. One hundred percent balls out and damn it felt great.

Conditions:
Hour: 10:30 a.m.
Surface: dirt
Warm-up,:none
Weather:

Training Run

Time: 60 min
Distance: 10 kilometers

Comments: Made myself get out there at a halfway decent hour and put the effort in. Did the long walk down to the beach and got down to it.I felt a bit flagged after Tuesday's run so I erred on the side of caution and took yesterday off. Seemed to work since today turned into a really solid run. I felt much more in control of the thing than I have for pretty much any run I've done since getting back into this. Stuck to the dirt and tried to keep my pace consistent. Got blown by the wayside by some dude just before the halfway point. Had to restrain the urge to kick it up a notch and keep him in my sites. GAAAAHHHH!!! This is killin' me!

Training Run

Time: 45 min
Distance: 8 kilometers

Comments: Got out on the road a bit later than I wanted. A bit of laziness, a bit of anxiety, a bit of god knows what.Took the extended walk down to the beachfront and ran the whole session there on the dirt surfaces. It seemed to help in that the 'stabby' feeling in the knee never showed up. But it was still  a long way from an injury-free run (see below).Kept it overslow and plodding. Tried to keep the stress off my knees and ankles as much as possible. Focused on posture but not very successfully. 

Marathon Training Summary: Week 6

Time: 120 min
Distance: 21 kilometers

Comments: A disaster of a week but better than last week only by the slightest. I got in one training run and a long run for the first time since the initial week of training. I'm really getting concerned about this race. I know this is race I'm only running to finish but this is not an auspicious start to training. I need miles. Lots of them. And I'm not getting them in.I'm hoping I can actually get a full week's of runs in for next week. If so, there is a hope in hell I can salvage this thing. But, the bottom line is that next week is week 12. Cut the taper off and that means I have two months to get up to 20-mile long run shape. That's cutting it DAMNED close.Injury update: OK. This right leg horseshit seems to be associated with the running on hard surfaces. It only took 50 yards or so on concrete today for the stabby feeling in the side of the knee to say ""Howdy!"" And t,he malencon I typically do my

Long Run

Time: 75 min
Distance: 13 kilometers

Comments: God what a frickin frustrating week! What a frickin frustrating training! I held off running since Wednesday. Partly to see if a bit more rest would help the leg, partly due to out and out depression.This morning I was determined to get out there and get a full fucking hour in no matter what. If it would mean injuring myself and giving up on the race, so be it. I'm just too pissed off to play around with this shit anymore.So I stretched a bit and gave myself a bit of extra time by starting at the beach level. Got going and tried to keep a slow pace, regular footfalls and good posture. Crank it out. Nothing fancy, just me and the pain, one on one.But it wasn't as bad as I expected. My leg mostly cooperated and it turned into a question of conditioning. Which I'm woefully weak on at the moment - but that's not the same as regular pain. I ain't got a problem pushing myself to collapse on this front.I a

Training Run

Time: 45 min
Distance: 8 kilometers

Comments: And so, a week since my last run, I finally got a workout in. Sickness, deadlines and just flat-out depression have conspired to keep me off the pavement but I wasn't going to let it go one more day. But getting out the door was a trick. It's cold, and wet, and miserable in Lima. I procrastinated rather well most of the morning before getting through the doorway. Of course, once I got into the run it proved one of the things I've long observed about crappy days like this - they are perfect for running. There is something about pushing through the mist in your face and reaching the point you actually break a sweat that is satisfying in a way no other workout is. The run itself was pretty systematic. I just hit an easy pace and dr

Marathon Training Summary: Week 5

Time: 75 min
Distance: 13 kilometers

Comments: A disaster of a week. I struggled through the knee pain and return to mileage as well as I could and even felt I had gotten my caloritic intake back in the range I need to have it for the effort......then the wheels fell off.I knew I was tired Wednesday night and I thought it was a good 'been workin' out' kind of tired. Nope. It turned out to be a for-the-next-three-days-your-ass-is-mine flu kind of tired. Here in Peru it's called the grippe and it sucks to the extreme.I hit the bed Wednesday night and began a run of sleeping 20 hours a day and not being worth squat the four I was actually awake. Didn't leave the house again until last night, for God's sake!Anyhow. I felt much better this morning and considered putting in a run. But I figured an extra day off won't hurt me as much as a relapse to the agony of last week. Thus, here I am again... another wee,k closer to the race and still