I tried one of these once before, but it didn't work out. I've noticed that I seem to skip out on too many of my workouts, which is a bad idea considering that I have a marathon in December coming up.

Tuesday and Thursday mornings I lift, but it's mostly to provide cardiovascular and fat-burning benefits. I haven't done specific strength oriented lifting since powerlifting in high school.

Monday is a nice tempo run, currently around 4.5 miles with goal pace being about 7:21.

Tuesday is intervals, alternating between 10x400m at 95 to 102 seconds, 8x1000m at around 4:32 and 6x600 at around 152 seconds.

Wednesday is a nice rest day, usually a short recovery run, but nothing too strenuous.

Thursday is hill repeats. I don't like Thursdays.

Friday is a choice between an easy rest day or a second tempo run.

Saturday is my long run, but I'm currently doing benchmarking with shorter distances to find my correct training zones.

Today, I did a mile in 6:21, which is a PR. I'll see you Monday!

AND HERE'S THE MONDAY WORKOUT UPDATE!!!

I did my usual tempo run, but totally forgot what pace I was supposed to hold, so I went out pretty easy and went 4.57 in 41:35 at 9:05, nearly two minutes below goal pace.

That much being said, my goal pace is based off my one mile PR, so I don't think it's an accurate representation of my performance level at longer distances.

Furthermore, I had some pretty bad chest pains after I went WAY TOO FAST through some muddy ground (probably dropped into the sub-6 pace there), so I did stop until my heart rate dropped down to around 130* and tried to keep it very easy after that.

*That's 130 ATTG (According To The Garmin), which has placed my max at over 250 BPM, which I'm not entirely sure is possible.

Also, check out part of my results:

Vibram Five Fingers - Now with arch support!

which marathon? you better get cracking!

This morning I did my lifting, which was seventy pounds each:

Bench press
Front squat
Overhead press
Overhead squat
Bent-over rows
Deadlift
Bicep curls

I don't remember the reps, which probably is a bad thing for a log (oops). The reason I use such a low weight is because I don't really have time between sets to switch out the weight on my one barbell, so I'm limited by the curls and overhead stuff.

This afternoon (just now, actually) I did my 400m interval workout. The track was being used at both local high schools, so I went to a park and ran on the trails, using the quarter mile interval option on my Garmin to keep track. I finished the five miles in 50:10; that's a quarter mile "hard" and a quarter mile easy ten times. It was the easiest five miles ever!



I'm planning on doing the Borax marathon in Death Valley, but I'd like to push it back if I can. Registration for Borax closes Friday, so I need to either find a different marathon or seriously step up my training so I can at least finish before the six hour cutoff!

Went for a very nice run 2.33 miles at 26:53 (11:33 pace). I finished at the grocery store and walked out with bananas, bagels, Dave's Killer Bread (haven't tried the spelt before) and rice milk! An excellent day so far!

Lifted yesterday morning, ten reps across the board except only six for curls.

After work yesterday, I got home just two hours before bedtime, but I still managed to head out into the nice Oregon rain to get my hill workout done. I'm thinking of changing it from reps over the hill and standing around resting to a time based on and off blend of running and walking. That should leave my legs screaming.

Today is my second tempo run of the week and I'll try to bring my camera along if the weather looks nice.

Just did my tempo run barefoot. 4.53 in 47:56 (10.34 pace). I've noticed that I seem to run a little slower when I'm not wearing shoes.

Ran over to the next town and back as usual for Mondays, so it's 4.57 miles in 44:20, which is 9:42 per mile.

I felt a lot of pressure in my lower left leg today and that worries me a little. Hopefully it's nothing. I'll try to go easy on it until I know more.

Did my lifting this morning, 70 pounds across the board:

Bench: 11 reps
Front squat: 11 reps
Military press: 10 reps
Overhead squat: 11 reps
Bent rows: 11 reps
Deadlift: 11 reps
Bicep curls: 5 reps

If I can get the curls up to at least 10, I'll up the weight. If I had better facilities or more time, I could actually use a different weight for each lift, but for now that's just an ideal.

Just did 8x.63mi (about 1k) with 3 minutes walking in between. Total of 6.22 miles for 1:11:04, which puts my pace at 11:26 per mile.

It was pretty good, but both my ankles feel rather tight. I think I'll ice them real well tonight.

ALSO, on part of my run, I saw a local cross country team on their way out of the trails, which motivated me to run a little faster and smoother (Hal Higdon calls that the "pretty eyes phenomenon").

Bleah - I'm sick! Thankfully, today's a rest day anyway, but I hope I feel better in time for tomorrow's hill session.