Recovering From Microfracture Surgery

Total of 10 miles today. A tough workout but I think one that is valuable. We ran 1.5 mile warm-up and then did 1 mile on track then 4min rest and did a 5 mile steady state tempo. When we got back to track we took 4min rest and finished with another mile on the track. Finished with 1.5 mile cool down. Splits below.

1 mile = 5:25

5 mile steady = 6:12, 6:13, 6:14, 6:13, 6:10

1 mile = 5:30

Another workout in the books.

Relaxed run of 12 miles today with somewhat tired and sore legs from yesterday. Average pace of 7:17 today even with tired legs. Another track workout tomorrow so we will see how it goes. Have been fighting some upper respiratory issues still.

Track work this morning. We ran 5x800 then 6x400 with 2min rest between repeats. It was pretty chilly this morning at 38'F. I don't know why but the first 800 and the first 400 felt the hardest. Overall not a bad workout. Tried to stay as relaxed as possible. For the times I was hitting the legs felt a little heavier than I would have liked but I will take what I can get right now. Splits below:

800s = 2:40 / 2:45 / 2:43 / 2:43 / 2:40

400s = 78 / 77 / 77 / 76 / 76 / 73

Will add some more miles tonight. Added 3.7 miles with one mile on track with 8 year old son. They run a track race for high schoolers and then a kids race as well afterwards. James (Senior in HS) ran a PR tonight running 4:28. Not bad for middle of cross country season. Jordan (8 yr old) then ran his PR, 6:38. He ran 3:25 first 1/2 and then a 3:13 second half. Pretty good for 8 yrs old.

10 miles this morning. Was planned for an easy run but turned into more of a moderate run. Legs were tired from the hard work lately but did not feel too bad cardio wise. First five was closer to 7:15 or so average and then second five was about 6:45 average or slightly faster. Last couple miles were 6:30s. Average overall pace was 6:59.

Easy, or I guess better put, relaxed run today. The group I am training is really starting to get in great shape. Instructions were to run relaxed pace today and stay conversational. I ended up averaging 6:55 pace for the 8 miles and was slowest of our group of 12 runners. The top three of our group averaged about 6:10 pace today. Of course I am the old man of the group as well and as the coach I expected that as our training progressed the younger runners would start to improve a bunch. Our race is the Army Ten Miler on OCT 21st and we have a pretty strong team. With about two weeks left things are looking good. I am still hoping to be sub 58 and if I have a really good day maybe sub 57. When we started training about three months ago I was the 5th fastest on the team and it is looking like even if I run 57 minutes I will be about number 7 or so for the team, which is a good thing. Most of the guys I am training were only running about 30 miles a week three months ago and now they are up to 70+ miles a week and it is clearly starting to pay off. I think our top runner will be around 52-53 with our next two under 54 minutes. They score top four runners and I think our fourth will be under 55. If that is the case we have a great shot of winning the team title.

Added 5 more easy miles this afternoon.

8 easy miles today. 5k race tomorrow. First truly easy recovery run this week.

Total of 10 miles this morning. Jumped in a local 5K as a good chance to run a tempo. Felt decent the first mile but during second up hill mile I started hacking and coughing like crazy. The course ended up long. Everyone's GPS readings were between 3.16 and 3.20. The course was not certified so I was not surprised it was off. I assume for an accurate course I would have been 17:30s which is not what I was hoping for but again I will take it for now. Just hoping to get 100% healthy soon as I have not felt like I have been 100% healthy for awhile now.

10 miles today at relaxed pace on rolling hills. Average pace was 7:07 with last three miles at 6:50, 6:40, 6:30. Felt decent, still a little coughing.

8 miles today at avg of 7:00 pace with last four sub 7:00.

Cold weather track workout this morning, below freezing. Still having health issues but made it through workout.

2 miles - 11:29 (5:48/5:41)

4min rest

2xmile - 5:41/5:42 with 2min rest

2 miles - 11:45 (5:55/5:50)

Not pleased with last 2 miles. Started having stomach and coughing issues. At least I held on somewhat.

Relaxed 6 mile run at average pace of 7:07 last three miles at sub 7:00.

Felt decent today for once. Ran 9 miles at 7:07 avg. pace. Ran a hilly route and did 10x2minute fast 1 min steady in the middle. 2 minute fast portions were at about 5:20-30 pace and steady 1 minute between was between 6:30-7:00 pace.

Easy hilly 12.5 mile run at average pace of 7:09. Felt ok today. Last 2 miles were pretty much uphill and I could start to feel tiredness in legs at sub 7 pace uphill. Last long run before Army 10 Miler in DC next weekend.

Easy 8 miles today at 7:20 avg. Recovery run and felt good to rest legs. One week until 10 mile race.

Last real hard workout before Sunday race. We ran 1.6 mile tempo with 2min rest and then 3x1000s with .3 mile jog rest. All done on dirt trail in the dark.

Easy 6 miles today.

Easy 6 miles again, for some reason legs are tired and heavy even though I am resting and tapering.

7 miles with one mile at 5:45 pace and then 4x1min fast 1min slow. Travel to DC tomorrow and race on Sunday!

Easy 5.2 miles in DC after flight.

Pre-race easy day.

Army Ten Mile race in Washington DC. Overall a little slower than goal of sub 58. I thought I was in shape to run 57:30 but I guess not on this day. First three miles felt sluggish but tried to stay relaxed and hoped legs would feel better second half. Hit 5 miles in 28:45 so right on pace for goal. However at this point legs were really heavy and sluggish and I lost focus/intensity for the next 3 miles. I settle for running 6min miles from 5-8 and then picked it up a little the last two miles to make sure I was under 59 at least. More important was that our team finished third place. We actually had the fastest team time in the past 8 years but the competition was very fast this year and we ended up third. Our top runners ran 52 / 54 / 56 / 57 / 57 and I ended up our sixth runner. Big improvements across the board for everyone I was coaching the past three months. In three months our runners improved as follows:

July 15th to October 21st Time Improvements:

54:21 - 52:09 = 2:12 improvement

57:30 - 54:14 = 3:16 improvement

62:37 - 56:21 = 6:16 improvement

62:27 - 57:17 = 5:10 improvement

65:47 - 57:37 = 8:10 improvement

62:35 - 58:29 = 4:06 improvement

So for 3 months the results of the training I put together turned out very good so I can at least be happy about that.

Day after race easy run. Except for right hamstring everything feels ok.

Easy run after two days of flights to get back to Kansas.

Was planning an easy run today but a couple of the guys started to pick things up and ended up turning into a thre mile tempo of sorts. Felt ok, right hamstring still a bit sore from race. Feels like a slight pull. Probably will schedule a deep tissue massage soon.

Six miles in AM at following splits : 7:20, 7:00, 6:25, 6:15, 6:05, 6:45 (backed off lastt mile to cool down). It was about 70 degrees out and very windy this morning so overall pleased with run only three days after race. Will possibly get in some more miles tonight after work.

8 miles this morning in frigid, wet weather. It was about 42'F with 20-30mph winds and light rain. Quite the contrast with yesterday's run when it was 72'F at 6:00am. Even with the wind and cold I averaged 6:49 pace for 8 miles. Last two days have been decent runs so I think I am pretty much recovered from 10 mile race.

Big temperature swing that last couple days. Went from low of 72'F two mornings ago to a low of 32'F this morning. Did a hilly run today and ended up moving along at a decent pace. Averaged 6:40 pace for 9 miles with last 7 miles at 6:30 pace average and last couple miles at about 6:15 pace. felt ok, a little tired but 6:00-6:15 pace is starting to feel like marathon pace effort.

Another cold, cold day as it was 25'F this morning (Brrrr). Went to run on some country roads with one of the guys I am coaching, happens to be the one that ran 52 minutes at the 10 miler, so I should have known that the pace would end up being faster than normal. Plan was to run 8-10 miles at relaxed pace today but that quickly changed. When we started running partner said he knew a good, hilly 8 mile loop. He was not joking about the hilly part as right from the start it was nothing but some pretty long and steep hills. Pretty much no flat at all the entire run. I knew the pace was going to be quick when the first mile was 6:55. After the second mile at 6:15 I let running partner pull ahead and just tried to focus on running relaxed but steady. I decided to not look at watch or GPS and just run and try and keep partner in sight since I did not know the course. Caught up to training partner when he stopped at a big intersection to wait for me. When I asked him which way we go to get back he said we were just turning around and going back same way we came. Then I looked at the GPS for first time and it said we had gone 7 miles already, which was a surprise as I was thinking maybe we were at 5 miles. He said he felt good and just decided to keep going. So we ended up getting 15 miles in total and when I looked at  my splits at the end I was pleasantly surprised as I averaged 6:29 pace and ran the last 13.1 (1/2 marathon) of the run in 1:23:50. So, guess I should be pleased with that in 25'F weather on super hilly dirt roads. Overall been some good runs the last three days average pace wise. Onward and upward!

10 miles today on flat terrain for once. Averaged 6:35 pace overall. Legs tired but ok.

Back to a hilly course today. Ran pretty hilly course today and tried to stay rlaxed and not look at mile splits. Effort was what I consider meidum hard as I was not trying to hammer but at same time it was not really easy. I was guessing that I would end up somewhere around 70-72 minutes but was surprised when i looked at GPS at the end. Ended up with 67:40 for hilly ten miles so average pace of 6:46 overall with last eight miles at 6:35 average.

Today was another fun filled hilly day. Today's run featured 2 major hills, the first one was 1.5 miles long with a 3% grade and was followed by a 1 mile long stretch at 2% grade. Overall average for the run was 6:41 with second half 1 minute faster than first half. Legs feel ok considering all of the hills and faster paces as of late.

Added 2.4 more miles after work.