Run/Walk plan

I walk plenty when I run, especially long distances like the marathon, but I've never tried to do a structured run/walk ala Galloway.

I know I'm going to have to employ run/walk at 20in24 so I thought last night was as good a time as any to test the plan. Thinking of my run as a science experiment helped me get out there because I was really not at all motivated to run last night despite the fabulous weather.

I was at Valley Forge and faced with the hilly loop trail. I jumped right in and started running up the hideously long first hill. Amazingly, I finished my four minutes without keeling over! The minute of walking was a nice recovery and I was surprised how well the walking/running segments worked out with the hills at the park. It wasn't perfect and I found myself walking uphill a few times during the run portions and continuing to run on a downhill if it was part of a walk segment, but overall I tried to stick to the plan.

I hated listening to the beeps from the Garmin, and I'm not sure if I'll like that over a long, long period of time, but I think the system did help me with my overall speed. It seems strange but I found that was able to push harder on the run segments knowing that they weren't very long and I'm guessing that the walk segments were shorter and at a better pace than usual.

I'm hoping to do some long runs this weekend and will be testing out the intervals on a flat trail to see how it works out.

Experimenting is fun!

Delaware Half Marathon

Yesterday I ran the Delaware Half Marathon. It was the first time for this race (prior years they had a 10 mile run) on a new course that took in all different parts of Wilmington. I had no idea that there were so manu beautiful sections of town!

This course was more challenging than the loop used when then DE marathon was 4 loops but less challenging than the Caesar Rodney Half-Marathon in March. I really liked the course a lot. There are a lot of twists and turns to navigate but over all it's just beautiful and while it's hilly, there is enough flat and downhill to make it all even out.

I was really, super undertrained for this race and the weather wasn't so great yesterday and I wasn't sure it was such a great idea to be running. During the first 3-4 miles, when it was pouring rain and cold and windy I thought I should just quit when we ran past the finish line. But I kept going, and as it turned out, I had a pretty decent run. I walked the uphills, since I knew I didn't have the fitness level I needed to run up them, and then I ran most of the rest. My legs felt great, my mental game was just fine, and I felt awesome at the end of the race -- probably because of the long downhill finish!

I also used Roctane gel for the first time yesterday and it tasted OK and my legs feel great today. Not sure if that's related to the roctane or just a coincidence.

This gives me hope that I can get my act together for the marathon in Seattle without being a miserable wretch by the end of the run.

Hmonkey Runs Again

So it's been awhile, huh!

The new season for USA Fit is about to start so it's about time for me to shake off the horrible funk I've been since the Philadelphia Marathon. I've been exceptionally lazy this winter since I didn't have any races on the schedule so I allowed myself to completely slack off on my training.

I managed to finish the MORE half marathon in late April on the first blazingly hot day of the year and that sort of jump started my enthusiasm. Since then I've been trying to get back on track and salvage what I can of the training weeks before Rock'N'Roll Seattle in late June. That race is going to stink because I'm so undertrained, but I'm determined to complete it just to log some miles so I can survive the 20in24 race in July. I think 50 miles is a complete pipe dream at that event but I want to try to beat my previous personal best of 34.9 miles in a single day. We'll see...

This Sunday is the Half marathon at Delaware and I'll be there "running" as best I can. I'm really looking forward to it so here's hoping the rain holds off and it's not a completly awful day. The weather looks good as far as temperture so it has to be an improvement over MORE.

I'm hoping that my efforts to talk up USA Fit have been working and that we get a good turnout this weekend. I really want the group to prosper.

I'm going to try to be good about blogging this summer.