Running With Pepper

Down in Virginia Beach giving a training course for a few days and wanted to go for a quick run to maintain some sembelance of fitness. Of course, there is a wildfire in the Old Dismal Swamp to the west that has blanketed the VB area with nasty smoke making the air completely unhealthy. Just being outside in it for 5 minutes during lunch today really bothered my allergies, so I decided to get a quick treadmill run in at the hotel (Oh...the Westin in VB is totally pimped out!). Ran a total of 3.3 miles in 31 minutes. For the third mile, I rant it at a 6:35 pace just to see if I could do it. I had no problem keeping it up and could have ran faster and longer if I wanted to. Lesson learned is that if I do a 5k in the future, I really do have the afterburners to kick it up a notch for a better placing. Time to go get some dinner.

(Brooks Infinitis 164.5 miles)

Ran on the WOD trail from the bridge over Route 7 out west. It has been beautiful all day long, in the mid-70s but at run time, it was in the low 70s, thunderstorming...got cooler as the run progressed.....all that equals perfect running weather. At the beginning, right hip felt rather tight, but I figured the first mile would help work that out.

Mile 1 - 8:30 - warmup

Mile 2 - 16:30 - continued warmup picked up speed (8 min/mil) (long hill up)

Mile 3 - 22:00 - Picked it up to a nice fast run (5:30 min/mile) (downhill & felt great)

Mile 4 -  30:30 - (7:30 min/mile)

Mile 5 - 37:30 (7 min/mile)

Mile 6 - 44:20 (6:50 min/mile) 

Mile 6.2 - 44:52

I decided that I need to pick up my speed work and find what I used to have. Back in the day, when I was in the Marine Corps, I consistently ran 3 miles in 17:00 minutes and my PR for 3 miles was 15:30. The speed is in my body, and I need to harness it and get my butt in gear. That said, all the longer runs and recovery strolls are good also. Although it is a long way off, I think that I can actually get my fall Marathon down to 3:30 or lower. It looks like I have a new goal for the Marine Corps Marathon. If I can drop 5 more pounds and get down to 165, I'll be golden and should be able to fly. I feel great and am going to run at work tomorrow.

(Brooks Infinitis 170.7 miles)

Ran at work and decided to take it easy on the run. My right leg is aching a little near the hip area and my shin/ankle area is a little odd feeling. I'm going to chalk all that up to the fact that I did the faster paces last night in my tempo runs. Today, it was 5 miles in 38:16 up and down the rolling hills of the Custis Trail. No running tonight, yet Pepper may get a few nice walks to help stretch out the legs. Woof!

(Brooks Infinitis 175.7 miles)

Oh what a beautiful day. Temp was in the mid-high 70s and humidity was pretty much non-existent. My legs feel a lot better after the nice 8 hours of sleep I got last night, but they are still a little screwy. Ran down to Georgtown on the Custis Trail and met up with Lucia (Argentine Rocket) and we ran out to the boathouse, got a quick sip, and headed back to the office, parting ways with Lucia at the Key Bridge. The run back up the Custis Trail was a little difficult, but I continued to take it slow until I got back to the office. Finished off the run in 1:12:00. Overall, it was a great recovery run and I would much rather run with someone else than run solo (Thanks Lucia!). Off tomorrow and long run on Sunday.....probably 12 miles at a nice plodding pace.

(Brooks Infinitis 182.7 miles)