Back from vacation

When I take a vacation, I really take a vacation. After my fantastic week hitting all my mileage goals we set off to the UK visiting family and despite fully intending to run 7 times during the trip I managed to run just the once! It was a nice run though, in central London alongside Hyde Park! I hadn't run in the city for many years and it bought back fond memories of a 'OOCL' lunchtime running group I had been a member of.

Since returning from the trip however I have quickly got back on track. Although not as many miles as due per my training schedule I managed to total 28 miles this week with my long run being 12 miles. The long run was very strong, with an average pace of 7m37s for the mile.

Rather than jumping back into my full schedule I felt it was better to ease into it to hopefully avoid injury. I will build up next weekend again and then slip back into the schedule thereafter. I am now reaching the heavy mileage stage of the training, my longer runs are 20 miles hereon. We're under 8 weeks away from the marathon now and, assuming I stay healthy I am very confident of beating my previous time.

My Sunday running partner Trevor completed his Ironman today beating his goal by 5 minutes which is a fantastic achievement. Trevor hopes to continue to join me on my long runs at least through to early May which would be a great help. 20 miles with just your mind for company can be taxing!

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That's more like it!

Wow, what a week. It's been a long time since I hit all my mileage and this was a strong one; 40 miles covered which was a staggering 24 miles more than covered last week!

After the recent disappointing weeks with runs missed to due work or sickness I was determined to get a full week of training behind me. Despite starting the week with a tight right calf muscle I pushed through and set some strong times throughout including an 8 mile run at 7m30s pace which is dead on 1 hour. That was an anomaly, we're getting into the serious mileage now so I need be careful. My long run this week was 16 miles which is not something you can afford to mess with!

The 'Norterra Running Club' is started to gain some steam; we are now three! I am delighted to say that 'Brett' is our newest member, we met yesterday at a community event.

A Trade Show for local residents was held on Saturday in which residents displayed a variety of home businesses and services. My wife in fact debuted her new business Lemonade Events and had some positive feedback which is exciting. Whilst my wife worked the stand I walked between the other displays with our daughter and right opposite was a stand for a local race which I naturally made a bee line for...

TriPhx is run by a Brett and Kristin, a Connecticut family who moved to the area around 1 year ago. They set up the company as a side business and are organizing an adventure trail run within our community.

Brett is a serious athlete; he has completed over 40 triathlon, 5 marathons (including an Ultra) and many shorter races. Although currently on the recovery stage after the Ragnar Relay in which he ran 33 miles of a 200 mile relay he joined us for a period of today's long run. Ironically, whist out on our long run two weeks ago Trevor and I caught the tail end of this race but had no idea what it is! I am hopeful that Brett and Trevor will continue to meet up for long runs in the next two weeks whilst my family and I are visiting the UK.

My training is going to be challenging these next two weeks. We travel to London on Thursday, and stay for 10 days. I have some serious mileage scheduled during the trip. Naturally I will aim to do as much as possible but it's obvious I will miss runs. That's another reason why hitting my mileage this week was so important!

The last 3 weeks

Those who know me well will not be surprised to hear that I am starting to have some aches and pains. As of writing, I have a sprain on my right calf. Not too severe however it's annoying. This is the same injury that caused me to worry about the 2007 New York Half Marathon however, history shows how it didn't bother me!

More annoying however is the cold I have had for the last 2-3 weeks. I just can't shake it. I've had various moments of hot/cold flushes, nights of waking bathed in sweat, aching bones and joints, sore throats and the latest is a runny nose. All this together has made the last 3 weeks a challenge!

I have kept up with my training to a degree however am starting to miss important runs. This last week I will have missed my two 7 miles runs and only complete my long run of 10 miles and two short runs of 3 miles. That means I am 14 miles down on my weekly goal. The previous two weeks run similar stories; 3 miles missed here and there, and one long run being cut short due to an inability to breathe easy with the cold.

Aside from the calf strain I am physically feeling OK which is good. My long runs are mostly going well. This upcoming week will however be a challenge as all my midweek runs increase mileage and my long run is 16 miles.

My long run partner Trevor is getting close to his event (a half Ironman in California) and this will be last time we run together before then. His race is actually in three weeks however I am travelling with the family to the UK and will have two long runs scheduled whilst over there.

There is still a long way to go, 11 weeks to be precise, so these little set backs in the last 3 weeks are not of concern. Being strong here on out is the key!

I like new stuff

Despite the global economy being in the toilet, Mrs Cookie and myself are trying our hardest to keep things afloat. As a result, and despite my constant claims of needing to 'cut back' I managed to drop $200 on some shiny toys this weekend. I justify these as required for my continued training of course.

What did I buy you ask? Well, a new pair of strides and an iPod Shuffle! Honestly, I needed the shoes. I needed to retire 2 pairs of shoes and so purchased a new pair of Brooks Defyance 2 as a replacement. I ran in them on Sunday night and they felt great, ironically during that run my knees felt the best they had all day! Yay for spongy shoes! The iPod however is a little less easy to justify but I'll find a way.

This week I ran a total of 23 miles. I missed my Thursday night 3 miler due to work however met all my other goals including a Wii Fit cross training workout on Monday. The week was due to be easier but the drop down in mileage from last week which was disappointing.

I have a BIG leap coming up now; 31 miles are scheduled for the coming week with the Saturday long run being 13 miles. For that, Trevor will join me and this is the first of only 2 weeks when our individual training schedules mesh perfectly. Until now, he has been running on after I stop, this is where we cross paths and his mileages holds or declines whilst mine increases.

Over the next few weeks my mileage will slowly increase towards a max of 50 miles a week, I anticipate having a running mate for no more than 15 of that. See, I already justified the iPod...

Week 2

Not great but, a good week. I missed one run of 3 miles but aside from that I hit all my goals. As a result I actually ran 2 miles less than last week for a total of 24 miles run.

My long run of 11 miles this week was good, completed in a time of just over 1h30m which equates to a 8m11s pace. If I can keep that kind of pace going as my distance increases I will be delighted.

For next week, my midweek and Sunday runs increase to 6 miles but my 'long' run is a modest 8 miles only. This is a rest week on my long run, this step back will occur every 3 weeks and is a nice respite from the long runs. Unfortunately, the week after I bump up 5 miles to 13 miles! I will already be half marathon ready!

The time has come for some new shoes. Two pairs that I purchased in mid 2008 are approaching 300 miles so it's time to retire them. I will be getting another pair of Brooks but, I am not sure whether to go for a paid of Defyance 2 (I will be retiring a pair of Defyance 1 so am familiar with them) or a pair of 'Summon'. This is a new shoe for Brooks, I plan on a visit to Runners Den this coming weekend for a test run.

I am enjoying being back in training mode.
The commitment is challenging, it takes
me away from my girls more than I want
but I hope they understand how much I
enjoy this.

A great week

My first week back in training and I met all my goals. A total of 26 miles ran and 10 miles biked.

My long run of 10 miles was very strong this week, completed in just over 1hr20m, that's an 8min/mile pace which translates into a into a sub 3h30 marathon! That's definitely a little pie in the sky, it would be a 25 minute improvement on my NYC marathon time but it's nice to think about!

Next weeks total mileage increase by only 1 mile, and that's on my long run so I'll be doing 11 miles next weekend. I'll be doing that with Trevor, my Saturday running partner. I was pleased to hear this weekend that Trevor is planning on running through the end of April with me which is a great help. I sometimes question if I would be motivated to run 10+ miles alone and he feels the same way, those long runs can get a little dull.

As I get more into the mileage I need to make a
decision on some accompaniments.

My previous iPod died during the NYC Marathon
training so, I am overdue a replacement. This
time I will not be worrying about having the Nike+
distance/pace training system however as I am also
trying to decide whether to purchase a GPS running watch.

The Garmin 405 is rated as being excellent
but, has a hefty price tag. Every month I say I need
be less 'spendy', buying iPod's and GPS watches is
not going to help!

Here we go again

I can hear Mrs. Cookie sigh. Today is day 1 of my new 18 week Marathon training schedule. I have signed up for the San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon on May 31st. Last time I did this Mrs. Cookie got a weekend in New York for my endeavours, this time she gets a weekend on the beach, that's a pretty good trade I think?!


Once again I'll be following the Hal Higdon Marathon guide, but this time stepping up to Intermediate II level. I've been base building for the last 4 weeks and have quickly built up to being comfortable for 7-8 miles.


This last week was my final 'base' week and it was a good one. To ensure good mileage I went longer on Tue/Thu than I usually would (5 miles both times) with a 3 miler sandwiched in between. Then on Saturday I ran 10 miles with the Norterra Running Club (read Trevor).


We didn't actually plan on running 10 miles but, we took a wrong turn. I spent the last couple of miles trying to work out why our pace was so slow, a quick visit to MapQuest solved that; we'd done 1 mile more than planned! A bad run suddenly turned into a great one, 10 miles at 8m20s pace. If I can keep that up for 20+ miles in May I will be delighted.


My schedule this week calls for a total of 26 miles. At the peak of my training I will be running 50 miles a week.

Sorry Mrs. Cookie, think of the beach!