February elapsed before I could...

find time to put words on my blog.

Training for the Boston marathon is going well, even though I'm having to run most of my runs on the treadmill. I've ran 6-8 x 1/2 mile intervals, 3-6 mile tempos, and 18-20 long miles on the treadmill during the last 4 weeks. I still spin on the bike and swim 3 days a week. Also, I try to squeeze in weights, yoga, and stretching once or twice a week.

The most fun I'm having this off season is with yoga and swimming. After a yoga session I definitely feel refreshed. With swimming I'm learning to keep my head in the water longer by lifting it every 5th or 7th stroke and to breathe on both sides.

We spent 6 days in the Vegas and Utah area for my daughters wedding

Father with the beautiful bride.

and a few days hiking Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks.
Beautiful scenery.

I'm hoping for the month of March my training is more outdoors and I reach my peak fitness before the Boston marathon on April 16th.

PR on the Treadmill

Today's weather was a cold 9F with -10F windchill. I was planning on running 20 miles outside but my wife reminded me of running in the past during freezing temps where I would come home after a long run, and I would have one frozen family jewel.
That was enough for me to reconsider my running plans for the day. She suggested I run on the treadmill and run 5 miles at a time throughout the day. I thought I'd get on the thing and see what happens.

After running 10 miles at a 7:30 pace with an incline of 1 %, I was determined to get the run done in one long 20 mile stretch. I knew I'd have to keep things interesting for the last 10 miles so I played with the speed and incline.
The last 10 miles went like this:
2 miles @ 7:00 pace, 0% incline,
1 mile @ 7:30 pace, 0% incline,
1 mile @ 7:30 pace, 6% incline,
1 mile @ 730 pace, 0% incline,
2 miles @ 7:00 pace, 0% incline,
1 mile @ 7:30 pace, 0% incline,
1 mile @ 7:30 pace, 6% incline,
1 mile @ 7:30 pace, 0% incline.

Running 20 miles on the treadmill today was a personal record and I got to see the display time go from 99:59 to 00:00 for the first time, too.

Some other numbers I recorded during my run was:
Listened to Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium - 2 times,
Lost count of watching cartoons on WBKids with no sound,
Ate 2 packets of vanilla Cliff shots, one at 7 miles and the other at 14 miles,
Drank 1 sports bottle of water with 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar and 2 teaspoons of raw honey,
Average heart rate - 127 bps,
Max heart rate - 144 bps,
Total time to run 20 miles - 2:27:41

My legs didn't feel like toast after the run and I was glad to finish a nice run on the treadmill.