A Nedlo Family Christmas Run

My dad, John Nedlo, henceforth referred to as J-Ned, had but one meager wish this Christmas: to rewrite, make that rerun, history. You see, J-Ned has undertaken the famed Boston Marathon two times with, shall we say, unsatisfactory results. He unwittingly picked two of the hottest years on record, '03 and '05 (not quite as steamy as '12, but close enough), and as a result ended up semi-coherently Gallowalking his way straight into the medical tent...

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Down in the Valley

I've attempted to write a long-overdue blog update at several different points during the past few weeks. First, I wanted to post about my final days of training and tapering (otherwise known as "running a little, eating a lot and drinking even more wine") leading up to CIM. After comfortably securing my 2016 Trials qualifier, I planned to summarize my experience and emotions as I've done after my other marathons and significant finishes. Lastly,...

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Week in Review

101 miles 5 doubles 20-mile long run 3 successful workouts 14 days until CIM Wow, what a week. Though it wasn't originally intended as such, this was by far my most intense, high-quality block of the training cycle...and I crushed it! Balancing and adapting to the weather proved to be the most challenging hurdle, but I think I did a pretty good job of rolling with it and maintaining my equanimity. From here there is little left to do but rest up,...

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Winter Weather Workout(s): Part Two

See Part One here PM: 1/2 mile w/u Target: 10 miles @6-6:10 pace Actual: 15k @58:30 (6:15 pace) My route 1/2 mile c/d Total: 11 miles Daily total: 20 miles When I last left you, I was eating a donut and drinking chocolate milk in bed with my cat whilst wearing compression socks, all in an effort to recover from Part One of today's workout. Part Two, a 10-mile steady tempo, would take place later in the afternoon...but where? It was still sub-freezing with ridiculous gusting winds outside and no improvement on the horizon. Upon returning home...

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Winter Weather Workout(s): Part One

AM: 2 mile w/u + strides Target: 10k tempo @ 35:45-36:30 Actual: 36:21 (5:51 pace); 18:18/18:03 1 mile c/d Total: 9 miles Last year, two and a half weeks out from Philly, I executed arguably my most difficult (and most impressive) workout(s) ever, consisting of a morning 10k tempo followed by an evening 10-miler at MP. Jordan, fresh off an injury, joined me for both efforts--and I dropped him on both. Having never outrun Jordan once in my life,...

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Beverly High School Benchmark, v3.0

3 mile w/u + strides Target: 10x3 mins. @3:23-3:25/k pace w/2 mins. rest Actual: Above 2 mile c/d Total: 11 miles As all my devoted readers know, this is a core benchmark workout that I'm fond of doing sporadically throughout the course of every training cycle regardless of what specific distance I'm training for. Most recently, I've done this twice during my buildup for CIM. The second session, done almost exactly one month ago, was a breakthrough for me as I ran two more intervals than ever before and with shorter rest. Today, running without...

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Solo 20-Mile Success...Which Is Weird

This long run can best be summarized by the email I sent to my friend Brett shortly after finishing it. Brett is a Boston expat (now living out west) and accomplished marathoner who also has the good fortune of being my upcoming roomie at CIM. We've been keeping each other abreast of our recent training, by which I mean commiserating about how out of shape we feel and how frustrated we are that things aren't going as smoothly as we'd hoped. But recently we both seem to have rounded a metaphorical corner, an unexpected phenomenon no better exemplified...

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Week in Review

100 miles 5 doubles 3x20 minute workout 2xmedium long run (12 and 13) 4 AFDs Things are finally starting to come together. The only missing piece this week was a true long run, but I aspire to knock that out tomorrow morning. I could've/should've done it today, but my legs were just too fatigued from yesterday afternoon's lengthy workout. Instead I did an easy 13 with my boss and devoted the rest of the day to recovery (read: eating pizza in my underwear). I'm nervous and excited to tackle 20 tomorrow--SOLO, no less--and I think the way I feel...

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3x20 Minute Success

AM: 5k shakeout PM: 5k w/u + strides Target: 3x20 mins. (10 mins. hard, 10 mins. @6:00 pace) w/4 mins. rest Actual: 20 mins @5:53 pace (3k @10:58, 5k @18:20), 20 mins @5:54 pace (3k @11:00, 5k @18:23), 20 mins @5:53 pace (3k @11:00, 5k @18:22) 2k c/d Garmin splits Total: 15 miles Daily total: 18 miles There may be hope for me yet. As a reference, I did this exact workout at the exact same time (three weeks out) in December '11 prior to the January '12 Trials. At the time, I would say I was objectively in 2:40-low shape, but ended up running...

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Week in Review

92 miles 4 doubles 4 AFDs Despite today's disastrous race, I'm actually feeling relatively encouraged about my training. I've felt consistently better on runs and workouts the past few weeks than in the months prior, and other than some hamstring tightness and general body fatigue I'm healthy and strong. With four weeks to go, it's critical that I hit a handful of big workouts and longer runs, but I'm confident I can get it do...

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Seacoast Half Marathon: A Lucrative Disaster

3 mile w/u Target: win, run marathon pace-ish (1:18:30-1:19:30) Actual: 1st place female; 1:23:11, $300 Results 1 mile c/d Total: 17 miles To be honest, I don't want to dwell on this race because I know it's not indicative of my fitness and I refuse to let it get me down. The Seacoast Half Marathon was a great local event, very well-run and with excellent crowd support given the small coastal community, and despite the race being long closed the event director was gracious enough to allow me a spot. Regretfully, I wasn't able to capitalize on...

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Fast K's

2.5 mile w/u + strides Target: 5x1k @3:25 (5:30 pace) w/2:30 rest; 5x1 min. faster Actual: 3:25, 3:25, 3:25, 3:22, 3:23; 5x1 min. @5:07-5:17 pace 1 mile c/d Total: 9 miles Yesterday morning I did a light fartlek of 5x(30, 45, 60) to limber up the legs and prepare to run fast today. It must've worked, because I hit the necessary splits just fine despite the cold temps and early hour. Hopefully this workout will benefit me in a few weeks when I try to avenge my second place finish from the 2011 Cincinnati turkey trot!   ...

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Week in Review

99-100 miles 4 doubles 1 night in NJ 1 night in PA 2 nights in NYC I can't be certain that I actually cleared triple digits this week--in reality, 99 is probably more accurate--but regardless I'm darn impressed with myself. Despite a majority of the week spent on the road, a hectic work schedule and far more socializing than usual, I still managed to hit two solid workouts and otherwise squeeze in the miles. I doubt every week of my 31st year will be this eventful, but it's certainly a good one to start with....

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NYCM Birthday Weekend (Oh, and a Workout)

Sunday AM: 3 mile w/u + strides Target: 4-5x3k @11:00 or faster (5:52 pace) w/2 min. jog/rest Actual: 11:18 (into wind), 10:55, 10:57, 10:53 1 mile c/d Total: 12 miles Sunday AM #2: ~4 miles to/from/around marathon course Daily total: 16 miles Wow, what a weekend! It's hard to summarize it all into one cohesive blog post, but since I'm far too lazy to write a handful of separate entries I'm going to attempt just that. So, let's go back to the beginning....

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Wave Tempo

AM: 3 mile w/u Target: 13k/8 mile wave tempo alternating 3:35/4:00 per k (~5:45/6:25 per mile); 4 min. rest/jog; 3k @11:00 Actual: 3:41, 4:02, 3:31, 4:01, 3:33, 3:57, 3:35, 4:00, 3:35, 3:59, 3:33, 3:58, 3:32; 3k @10:50 1 mile c/d Total: 14 miles PM: 3 miles easy Daily total: 17 miles I did this exact same workout at the same relative time (~six weeks out) before Philly last year, to great success. On that occasion I was actually supposed to be alternating half miles, but I was running solo and as a timepiece novice was clearly outsmarted by technology....

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Week in Review

80 miles 3 doubles 2 successful workouts 2 chiropractic appointments After two scheduled down weeks--the days before and after Hartford--I'd planned to ramp back up to triple digits beginning this past Monday. Thanks to my hip injury scare, that didn't exactly happen. In fact, I'm actually surprised I hit 80 considering I felt like I did virtually nothing from Wednesday to Friday, and had no long run to speak of unless you count Saturday's workout. Assuming my body continues its quick mending process, I hope to return to full-blown marathon mileage...

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RepliCAITing the Down Ladder (4-3-2-1)

3 mile w/u + strides Target: Mimic Caitlin's workout of 4mi-3mi-2mi-1mi 4 mile @6-6:05 pace; 3 mile @5:55-6 pace; 2 mile @5:50-5:55 pace; 1 mile faster all w/4 min. jog rest Actual: 24:01 (6:00 pace); 18:30 for 5k (5:57 pace); 11:00 for 3k (5:52 pace); 5:35 for 1 mile 2k c/d Total: 16 miles See what I did there in the title...I wanted to repliCAIT the workout...because her name is Caitlin...anyway. So, basically this almost went off the rails before it even happened thanks to the hip situation that abruptly developed in between my workout and...

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Beverly High School Benchmark, v2.0

3 mile w/u + strides Target: 10x3 mins. @3:23-3:25/k pace w/1:45 rest Actual: Above 2k c/d Total: 10.5 miles If you read my blog regularly (and who doesn't), you'll know that I frequently do three-minute intervals around the Beverly High School parking lot just a stone's throw away from our office. Working out in a parking lot may sound silly, but it's actually one of my favorite workout venues, as described here. While I've done variations of this workout at least a half dozen times, I've never done 10 intervals and I've always been afforded...

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Week in Review

77 miles 3 doubles 2 days in MI 1 day in WI 2 days in IL I generally try to be positive in my blog posts. Nobody wants to read about someone else feeling sorry for herself because she missed a few workout splits or had a less than stellar race when that person is clearly dealing with the epitome of first-world problems. And don't get me wrong; there are plenty of times throughout the course of a given week when I feel pretty darn good about myself. But to be completely honest, Dad (and the other nine people who are reading this), I'm fairly discouraged...

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Witch City 5k

AM: 2 mile w/u Target: win, don't get outkicked by old guy Actual: 17:46, first female, second overall (to Jordan, not old guy) Results 1 mile c/d Total: 6 miles PM: 5 miles easy Daily total: 11 miles The 11th of 12 installments of the YMCA North Shore Race Series took place right here in Salem, starting at the Willows and essentially traversing the Thursday night Wicked 5k course. As per usual, Jordan and I were planning to set up the Karhu tent...

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Fast Finish Mile Repeats

2 mile w/u + 1 lap of stride the straights, jog the curves Target: 6-8 xmile w/2 min. rest; first 3 laps at 1/2 marathon/marathon pace, last lap @5k pace Actual: 5:44 (last lap 80), 5:43 (79), 5:44 (79), 5:43 (80), 5:42 (79), 5:40 (80) 1+ mile c/d Total: 9.5-10 miles This workout came about somewhat unexpectedly as I was in the midst of an epic Michigan/Wisconsin/Illinois work trip. (I think I was even in Indiana for a few minutes, although I can't be certain.) On Wednesday morning I did a light fartlek as prescribed by Jordan to wake up the legs...

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Week in Review

72 miles 3 doubles 3 days in Hartford 13.1 miles of misery As I said in my race recap, I've still got a long way to go before I'm ready for CIM. Fortunately, I've got plenty of time! Eight weeks is more than enough to round into shape if I keep plugging away. After yesterday's rough race, I plan to take one more slightly down week before ramping things back up for the bulk of the marathon segment. First things first: a relaxing Sunday and a beautiful...

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ING Hartford Half-Marathon Recap

~2 mile w/u Target: 13.1 miles @1:17:30 or faster; first place New England's Finest division Actual: 1:17:37 (chip), 1:17;40 (gun), first place NEF, fifth place overall Official results; Race day results  Total: 15 miles On paper, this race looks like a success for me, and I suppose it was. My time and place were both respectable, and I can tuck away the fitness gains as a step in the right direction toward a successful marathon in two months'...

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