I didn't have a core routine in my last training cycle and I think it cost me. As I've mentioned in this thread recently, my downhill running has been shit and that has a lot to do with core weakness and the lost of agility that has resulted from that weakness.

I didn't do much core work because my goal races where road half marathons and mountain 50Ks with lots of climbing. There's nothing in road races that really needs a strong core and the climbing I was doing in the mountain 50Ks would be so steep and slow that it wouldn't require jumping over roots and dodging branches. Problem is both 50Ks had a lot more downhill running than there profiles would suggest and I ate shit in both races because my agility was fucking garbage.

I'll go back to my "vanity" workout in my next cycle, which generally involves 500 crunches and 10 minutes of regular and side planks before and after a 10-miler (or mile or 2-mile repeats) on a treadmill two or three days a week.

I don't do ANY stretching unless I get tight Achilles or calves from ramping up mileage or a random strained muscle.

Managed to hit the 60 mile mark last week, but hardly put in any quality miles and felt depressed. Then yesterday I ran with a college kid I used to coach. We did 11.5 miles - easy pace for him, but I was working. Wound up with a 7:30 pace, which is only 10 seconds off my goal pace. It was such a mental boost I did 8.5 more in the evening at 7:28.

We're taking a 2 week road trip starting on Friday. I have no idea if I'll be able to even run half the miles I'd like to. This may derail the whole thing.

I'm a weirdo, but I typically run more on vacation. I always see it as an opportunity to run someplace different and justify high calorie vacation food.

It helps that I'm an early riser and the rest of the family will sleep until noon if left unattended.

Yeah I'm heading to Tennessee on Monday. I am going to eat garbage all week long so I'm hoping I can get some treadmill miles in at the hotels. We are going to be doing long days of hiking. I doubt I run at all those days. I will have the time to do it but I am not a morning person so we will see.

We're road tripping in a couple of weeks, through Des Moines, Omaha, KC, and back to WI. Hoping to be able to run at least a couple of times on the road. One of the places we're staying is a tiny house on a farm, so that might be a challenge.

Ran my first 10k since 2013 on Saturday. Pretty happy with how it went. Foot was feeling great until mile 4 when the PF started to creep in, but I survived. Finished in 51 minutes, smack in the middle of the entire field, the men, and men 30-39. I've been running ~9:30/mile in "training," so at 8:19 I felt like I was flying. Also did the quarter mile fun run with my daughter. She got her first medal and thought that was pretty cool. Nice little Saturday morning.

I joined a "challenge" to break 60 minutes for 10 miles. The people who can do it, will then have a road race on Labor Day weekend. The qualifying run has to be Strava'd and witness by another runner. Elites and local elites can't join the challenge so it'll likely be a bunch of age groupers.

It's a bit of a stretch for me. My 10-mile PR is 61:45. I ended up doing 7 sub-6s on the TM yesterday with the incline set to 1 percent and thought I was gonna die. Zero chance in hell I could have done that on the road by myself.

Just run country roads or does the tiny house not have a shower?

You know...that's a good question. Pretty sure it does.

5.4 miles in 46:50 tonight.

I'm actually the same. Despite the heat, I loved running in Myrtle last summer. With this vacation, though, we'll be constantly on the move. I'll get up early, but to be able to drive for a few hours while the family sleeps. We'll hike a ton. If I eat smart and get in a few evening runs, I think I'll be okay, but those are big ifs.

Yeah, no shit. Here's how daft made me feel like a loser last summer:

Me: "you want to meet for a beer?"
Daft: "sure, meet you at 2 p.m."
Me: "cool"

--2 p.m.--

Me: "Hey man, good to see you, how was your day?"
Daft: "Oh, good man, sorry I'm 5 minutes late, I just ran like 10 miles before coming here"
Me: ":/"

That didn't happen. I abhor lateness.
I wish I was vacationing in Myrtle again and having a beer with you. This national parks tour is for the kids. It will be more stressful than anything for me. Beach vacations are the best. I am stressing out about not being able to run regularly for two weeks, but it might be a good thing for my legs. It's Tuesday morning and I've already put 40 miles on this week.

6 x 5:30 repeats tonight with 2-minute breaks on the TM with 2 miles WU and CD.

Two runs in a row this week without a PF flareup. Only 3.5 mi. each, but progress is progress. Plan is to do that 3-4 times a week until this little 5k at the end of July, then start following Hal Higdon's novice 1 HM training plan for the Whistlestop in October. I think not following a plan and increasing my mileage willy nilly this spring is what fucked up my foot.

Higdon's plans are very good and I've recommended them here in the past. But Jack Daniel's plans are the gold standard in my opinion. I'd suggest getting a personalized plan at The Run Smart Project. I think they are $100, but considering the amount of time and effort your putting into your training, that's a steal.

Thanks, I'll check out Jack Daniels. I don't need anything too fancy at this point, just something to keep me from ramping up the mileage too quickly, which I tend to do.

I think maybe this vacation couldn't have come at a better time. I don't know how much I'll get to run, but I am going to do my best not to worry about it. I got in 60 miles again this week, but I feel pretty burnt out.

10 miles in 64 minutes tonight.

Tomorrow is my last day of freedom. My off-cycle debauchery reach 3 beers a night and ~4K calories. Hit 160 pounds and 13% body fat this morning.

A glorious time was had by all.

Got the shits around mile 6 tonight

I've been working on a prototype for a running diaper for a few years now.

Maybe you'd like to be a wear-tester?