A clydesdale no more!

After spending the day in Seattle yesterday doing touristy stuff then flying home I was looking forward to a good nights sleep in my own bed.  Unfortunately my daughter had an ear ache and we had a really rough night.  I wished so badly that I could take the pain away from her but I sat helplessly.  I finally decided to go to the grocery store at 3:00 a.m. to get some Motrin for her.  It seemed to help but I only had an hour before I had to wake up.  I ended up getting 2 hours of sleep (just a little more than during the relay).  

The run was alright.  I seemed to have aggravated my left hamstring.  It usually flares up after I have a race or run hard.  It actually felt better as I got towards the end of the run. 

I was able to make up for some of the lost sleep last night.  I took a decent nap then had a full night's sleep.  My legs feel really heavy.  They are not sore but there is just not a lot of pep to them.

I'm starting to have doubts about my training.  I get in decent mileage but it is not really focused training.  I try to get in a tempo run each week then have races here and there for my speed training.  I'm not sure how much this is going to hurt me going into the last 3 marathons of the grand slam.  I'm starting to feel like I should stop worrying about results and placement and just enjoy the experience.  It's just running, after all.

My legs are starting to wake up. My left achilles has been a little sore after each run. I think that it is from running on dead shoes.

I've been doing some post race analysis of the Northwest Passage Relay and discovered some depressing things.  I knew that I didn't hit my "true" targets.  Three of the legs that I ran had the open slot projected pace in them so even though I was coming in close to the projected time, it really was slower than what I thought I was capable of.  If I plug in a reasonable projected pace for the 5 legs (6:45/mile), I cost the team 4 minutes 12 seconds.  I'm not sure if I just over estimated my running ability and a more reasonable pace was closer to 7:00/mile or if I just had a bad weekend.  Maybe putting in miles without focusing on speed work cost me more than I expected.  I know that 60-70 miles/week isn't super high mileage but I feel as though I would be getting a better return on my investment.  Maybe cutting back to 40-50 with some quality speed work would generate a better overall fitness level.

Felt really good this morning.  I had the normal aches and pains but I finally had a little energy in my legs.

I have figured out that one of my biggest obstacles that I have to overcome is envy.  I sometimes get jealous when I see runners who were once at my level doing very well.  I have to be better about focusing on me and not worrying about those things (this is an issue that goes beyond running as well).  I know that I work hard and given the constraints that I operate under, I put in as much running as possible.

Finished the month with 274 miles which is exactly my average monthly rate this year.

I'm not sure if I am going to be able to run tomorrow because I am taking my son comping for scouts then have a work party so I tried to get as many miles in this morning as time would allow.  Got out the door a little later than I wanted so I could only get in 16.  I may try to go long on Sunday depending on how I feel.