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

Training Run

Time: 45 min
Distance: 8 kilometers

Comments: A cool to cold morning that made it difficult to get out the door. Put things off relatively late and, as a result, had to contend with the irritations of Lima morning traffic. Grrr. But out the door I got and to the malencon with me. The mid-week long session was on tap so I got out there and headed to the far end of the sidewalk and then came back. While things weren't as overtly sloppy as yesterday, I wasn't setting any records for good-looking form either.But got through it and felt pretty good after.

Conditions:

Hour: 9:00 a.m.
Surface: concrete/asphalt
Warm-up:none
Weather: overcast
Temperature: 59 degrees
Humidity: 86 percent
Wind: breezy
Location: Miraflores, Peru
Shoes: Brooks Trance
Con Musica

Injury update: Again, this ache on the side of my, right knee is hanging ar

Training Run

Time: 30 min
Distance: 5.5 kilometers
Comments: A pretty good run. It wasn't as misty and miserable which made the outlook better, at least.The worries about the knee had me doing a pretty solid warm-up and stretch beforehand. If nothing else, I've tightened up considerably in my layoff.Started slow and, sure enough the outside of the right knee started feeling achy. It didn't get to the threshold of real pain though so I slowed my stride, focused on my form and ran with it. By the end of the run it had eased considerably (unlike Sunday when it kept growing in intensity).The run itself felt pretty good. I had the tank and the conditioning for the thing but it was sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. Dissociative running at it's ugliest. Yet, despite not being the prettiest thing to behold, it was a very satisfying effort.

Marathon Training Summary: Week 4

Time: 45 min
Distance: 8 kilometers

Comments: Well, it's been a bit uneven over the past few weeks for the training regimen. I took the backup pair of shoes with me but they ended up getting more work on the cobblestones of Cusco than on the pavement for any type of training. That said, I did a TON of walking and a fair bit of climbing as well. Here is a picture of my rather tired feet after I had climbed up Machu Picchu - the mountain, not the ruin itself (which is there right above my left shoe in the picture).The next day I scrambled to the top of Putukusi, the little peak there above my right shoe in the picture. It's at 2,600 meters and Machu Picchu mountain is significantly higher than that but I don't know the actual elevation.I did have every intent of going on

Long Run

Time: 80 min
Distance: 14 kilometers

Comments: After two weeks off I figure I just might as well go out and get the big boy in and see how much pain it would cause me. Although I wasn't 'training' per se, I stayed pretty active over the last 14 days and did a ton of up and down work among various ruins. And the 10,000 feet plus above sea level probably didn't do any harm to my hemoglobin either.So, as a result, I felt conditioned but lacking a bit strength-wise. Whenever the run got iffy I just slowed the pace down a bit. Overall a good effort and a satisfying long run to my old route around to Playa La Herradura and a quick visit to La Bruja. Gonna get a big plate of chifa in me and crash this afternoon.

Marathon Training Summary: Week 3

Off to Cusco.

Marathon Training Summary: Week 2

Off to Cusco.

Training Run

Time: 45 min
Distance: 8 kilometers

Comments: The weather was downright dreary today; chilly, foggy, misty, grey and dank. Oddly, it was just miserable enough to be perfect for running. Yesterday was clearly a better day weather-wise but so much harder for running. Odd that.Anyhow, got out a bit late but the run turned out pretty solid. I decided to turn in an additional 15 minutes given that I've got such a strange week ahead. It's not super likely I'll get any quality miles in when I'm up at 10,000 feet so at least I'll have a semi-solid week of work under my belt before heading off.As for now, it's time for SANCOCHADO!

Training Run

Time: 30 min
Distance: 5.1 kilometers

Comments: Oh my I did not want to go do this one this morning. It's been chilly, I'm feeling tired and the excuses were mounting as the morning grew on. So I finally just put on the shoes an snuck out before I could procrastinate more.And it was cold getting started and my body did not want to get in the groove. It was one of those you are working uphill the whole way even though it's a straight-level track.Got through it tho. And feel better for it.