First 3 Weeks of Training; a bumpy road

Week 1 November 17 to 23

Monday PM- road 8,54mins, in cold rain, than 4 strides tot. 9
XT- rubber band exercises for shoulders

Tuesday AM Bear Hill 4+ loop with Melissa and Uta-31:20 tot.4+
PM 3+ warm up,21mins, skipping warm up, light drills and strides 10k tempo around Phillips Academy neighbor hood- lightly rolling at
95 to 100%mp, got caught in the dark on this one with no light and no vest, almost got run over in the first 500m- screeching
tires and a pretty decent ninja jump to avoid disaster. ran 32:50 focus on holding shoulders back was a struggle coordination was
going by the end. No cool down. tot. 10
XT rubber band exercises, drills referenced above and ankle drills

Wednesday PM same 8.2 mile loop as monday, 51:57, strides, wore shoulders back harness on a run for first time have been wearing it for
stretches during the day. tot. tot. 9
XT rubber band exercises for shoulders/back

Thursday AM 3 miles with dog, she revolted against running in the dark in the morning without Melissa and we had to head back early so only 3
miles tot. 3
PM 3+ warm up,21:40, drills, strides, two mile tempo on road- 9:57, bathroom break in a briar patch. Seriously it was dark it looked
like a likely spot I was at one point so ensnared I couldn't move I got all scrapped up. It was very not fun. But when nature
calls.. 3x55s hill repeats just under 3 mile cool down tot. 11ish
XT rubber band exercises for shoulders/back, ankle drills

Friday- scheduled off day did all cross training per usual.

Saturday AM Bear hill 4+ with Melissa and Uta, 28:44 tot. 4+
PM 2 warm up, 13:25, light drills, strides, regular 20k loop as fundamental pace tempo, wore shoulders back harness and focused on
keeping shoulders back and down, VERY HARD to hold. coordination on the edge of 'going' for much of second half but each time I
got shoulders where they belonged it would get better, 1:11:36 for 20k tot. 15+
XT ankle drills, rubber band stuff, added YTI's on bosu ball.

Sunday AM green 6 loop with Melissa and Uta, 42mins, my hamstring on the right is shredded.
PM bikram yoga, for those who don't know this is a 90min hot yoga designed for healing. I like it because it keeps me healthy and they
do the same things in the same order every time. I am a complete creature of habit.
XT yoga, rubberband, yti

Week 2 November 24 to 30

Monday PM regular 10, 65mins, strides hammy pretty much good to go.
XT rubberbands, yti

Tuesday scheduled off day did all cross training per usual.

Wednesday PM- half day of school so this was in the light! road 10, first 5 with Uta, 33mins- with a break for strides on a field at 3 miles,
2nd 5 in 31mins solo tot. 10.5
XT rubberbands and yti had wanted to go to yoga but too much prep work in the kitchen for hosting Thanksgiving.

Thursday AM 3 warmup, skipping warm up, light drills, strides, race Maudslay Turkey Trot, 5k cross country in 4 to 5 inches of fresh snow,
1st place 17:48. 20min cool down tot. around 10 miles
XT rubberbands, drills and yti

Friday AM 10.5 first 5.5 with Melissa and Uta then 5 solo in 31mins then strides, 74mins total, tot. 11 miles
PM bikram yoga
XT yoga, yti

Saturday AM 2 warm up, skipping warm up, light drills, strides 24km fundamental paced tempo(1:24:53), started on regular 10k loop-1:10:24.
Really a war to keep shoulders in good position the last 10k or so but coordination held and was noticeably better than on 20k
last weekend. tot. ~18 miles
XT yti ankle drills, drills mentioned above.
Sunday AM regular 10, 63mins, hamstring tight but 100 times better than it was last sunday after the first fundamental tempo. strides
tot.10.5 miles
PM bikram yoga
XT yti,yoga

Week 3 December 1 to 7

Monday AM bear hill 4+ with Melissa and Uta, 31:29, tot. 4+
PM regular 20k, 1:19:20, strides tot. 13ish
XT ankle drills, yti

Tuesday 2:30PM out early because I was observing at a school that has an earlier schedule than mine, 21min warm up with Uta, dropped her off,
drills, skipping warm up, strides. Monaghetti fartlek on pretty darn flat loop. Monaghetti is 2x90seconds, 4x60s, 4x30s, 4x15s
with equal rest after each rep so 20mins total. You focus on the rests being pretty quick. I covered 6540 meters, just over
4 miles for an average pace of 4:55.2 per mile. This is my fastest mona session though this loop is flatter than my normal
loop. I can't use this one at night and when it gets icier because of one busy road and a few very tough turns. 3++ cool down
tot. around 11 miles
PM ~3.5 with Melissa until you sprained her ankle and all with Uta- we ran back to the house to get the car and go get Melissa.
tot.3.5 miles or so
XT ankle drills, drills mentioned above, yti

Wednesday opted for no AM run because I wanted to be awake for parent conferences after school.
PM Ran 12 miles, 1:15:46, in cold rain from my school between when we let out and when conferences started. Not enough time to get
home and run, really just a break so we can eat, I skipped eating to run instead, strides after the run tot. 12.5
XT rubber band and yti

Thursday AM again opted for no run because we had conferences again and I wanted to be awake.
PM schedule a bit different today so we had conferences pretty much right after school when I came home I was just completely zonked
and I did 5 miles with uta in 33mins and called it a day. tot. 5
XT rubber band and yti

Friday AM- just wiped out skipped run for sleep.
PM- 5 miles with Uta, 35mins when I stopped in to drop her before heading out for more off Melissa pointed out we were already late
for the UMass Lowell kick off banquet we were going to and I had forgotten so that was it for the night. tot. 5
XT yti
Got a sore throat before bed

Saturday woke up very congested with sore throat.
AM- test drove a woodway curve treadmill Melissa and I are considering buying. Very awesome but very expensive. She is all about
it. I am cheap and not sure anything is worth that much money. It does help my shoulder position and awareness and a treadmill
you can do strides on is pretty amazing. I only ran about a half mile on it but I did get down to 4:20 mile pace and it didn't
stress the machine in the tiniest way.
PM 3 warm up, skipping warm up, light drills, strides, race Frozen Frolic 3.4 mile in Wakefield, MA- first year race. Really nice.
Fun after party awards in a deli/restaurant. Light rain and cold. I had been invited and signed up but was feeling pretty much
like total crap but if I say I'll be there I do everything I can to live up to that. I ran hard but even on the perfectly flat
course I was not fast- 16:48 for 1st place. 2 mile cool down tot. 10ish with some extra jogging around mixed in.
XT yti

Sunday woke up super sick ear infection and possible sinus infection. This happened last winter and I went with the my body can fight it off
plan, against Melissa's advice, and was sick for 6 weeks with no workouts and only some running. I decided to do as Melissa said this
time and get on an antibiotic. Very frustrating.

Summary not the start I was hoping for in many ways. I think I am close to being quite fit. I ran fairly well this fall and did some pretty
decent workouts. My general plan is to progress my two or three marker base phase marathon workouts while still doing other general
fitness workouts. I have an outline but not a set in stone plan. I will do these until I can manage about 40k at fundamental pace
and around 20k at around 95% marathon pace. At that point I would feel ready to start marathon specific workouts. So my race plans
are dependent on the rate of improvement in the coordination. This past fall I went to Fernado Braz's tuesday night track workouts. I
don't like giving up control but the set time and place to meet a group made sure I got a workout done early in the week and helped
keep the rest of my week on track so I will likely do the same for the winter season when they start meeting up again in january.
Hopefully on the anti b I will back feeling improved tomorrow and running full steam in a couple days. It is a 10 day course and I
don't tend to handle them well, part of why I have only been on them now 3 times since 2003, but hopefully with some extra hydration
and probiotics I'll be good enough to keep building up.