It's over, man. Let her go.

4mi Bellevue Run

Wonderful Pittsburgh weather - 19 degrees and 3" of new snow last night/today. Had to hit the treadmill:

Warmed up with a slow walk/jog for 6 mins. Ran a pre-programmed 5k "race" on the treadmills at our gym at work. Incline varies between 0 and 4%. Ran at the prescribed 10:00 pace throughout. Cooled down with some easy jogging and static stretches.

Weather - 20 degrees with 3" of new snow.  Looks like another TM day.  Plus, this is my speed workout day, so the track isn't accessible anyways with the snow.  Incline on TM set at 1%

Workout:

• Warmed up with brisk walking for 5 mins
• Ran 1 mi at 9:30 pace
• Ran 1 mi sprint/slow recovery jog, alternating at 0.1mi sets.  Sprint run at 7:30 pace and jog run at 12:00 pace
• Ran 2x800 @ 8:00 pace, 2x500 @ 8:00 pace with 90 sec slow recovery jog in between
• Finished with ~ 0.75 mi jog @ 11:00 pace
• Brisk walk for 7-8 mins to cool down

Ran a pretty easy 2.5 mi on the TM @ 10:00 pace.

Hopefully the snow has stopped for 12+ hours so I can run outside tomorrow!

Unplanned rest day.  Work and family life just didn't cooperate...

Looking forward to my long run tomorrow since I'll be tied up all day Saturday and Sunday.

I had planned on running 10mi today for my long run @ 10:00 pace, but I was struggling to finish the 5mi on the TM.  I've done some longer runs (max has been 8mi) on the TM, but this was a tough one.  Normally, the 10:00 pace is one I can keep up for seemingly forever.  Today?  Endurance has left the building!  :-(  As I was running, I kept thinking, "how in the world did I keep up a 9:49 pace for 13.1 miles?  My body's ready to stop at 4mi!!"  It didn't help when I thought I'd have another hour+ before my wife would catch a bus home.  We both decided to take the bus (aka Ghetto Sleigh) due to the weather.  She got done an hour early from her internship and so it gave me the excuse to cut my run short in order to shower and catch the bus she was on as it came through the city.

Yes, I know...I was weak!  Argh!  So disappointing...

Training class all day.  Went out with friends for dinner then our family watched their 4 kids while they went to a play.

Planned rest day.  Another great day of Suicide Prevention training.  Feeling great, got some new cold weather running shirts this weekend so I'm ready to tackle the cold next week.  No more running on the TM unless my life depends on it.  LOL  (That's laugh out loud, for Cara)  ;-)

19 degrees (11 with wind chill) and snowing.  There once was a wise man that said "there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing."  I didn't believe that man's wisdom until today.  I questioned myself on a core technical long sleeved shirt under a long sleeved tee, about whether that would be enough.  But then I reflected on something a wise woman told me prior to my first Half when it was going to be about 38 degrees at the start - you'll warm up quickly, so don't over dress.  So I warmed up on the TM for about 5, threw on the gloves and hat and headed out the doors!

My target was to run 3mi @ 10:00 pace.  I was so excited to be outside again and despite the 3 hrs of sleep last night, I was ready to roll!  I was trying to hold back, but I wasn't too successful.  Splits:  8:54, 9:11, 9:35 (1.1mi) 

After last week, the two days off (although not all that restful) apparently did the trick.  Feeling much better today, and felt like I could have kept up that pace for another 10 miles or so.  ;-)

TM workout - 1% incline

Warmed up with 2 miles outside - first mile was a slow mile - target:  10:00 pace - actual: 9:47.  Second mile, intervals @ 100 m.

Workout:  6x400m @ 2:00 pace with 90 second very slow recovery jog inbetween

Slower 1 mile recovery

Completed as expected.  Decided to do my warm up miles outside, then stripped some extra clothes for the workout and recover mile at the end since it was done on the TM.

Overall, felt good.  Enjoyed the workout.

Planned was a 3 mi Easy Run @ 10:00

Warmed up for 5min walking.  Ran 3.1 with splits 9:32, 9:34, 10:18 (1.1mi)

Nice easy run, warmed up to a balmy 31 degrees today with sun!  I could have done without the warm gloves and went for the lighter cotton ones.  Must have left my running socks in my work bag since they weren't with my other clothes in my gym bag.  Ran in my dress socks.  No problem, but I'm glad I had sweats on.  Not a fan of dark socks with running shoes.

I hope to get decent sleep tonight in prep for tomorrow's hard workout!

41 degrees, sunny - beautiful day compared to the last few weeks!

Goal workout was a 1 mile warm up, 1 mile with 100m alternating speeds, then 3 miles at 8:45, 8:35 and 8:30 paces.  Then 1 mile cool down.  Here's how it broke out:

Mile 1 - 9:26
Mile 2 - 9:07
Miles 3 - 5 were marked at ~ 0.25, 0.29, 0.46 distances with a 45 sec recovery walk between
Mile 3 - 2:08, 2:22, 3:54  (8:24)
Mile 4 - 2:03, 2:17, 3:50  (8:10)
Mile 5 - 2:01, 2:16, 3:46  (8:03)
Mile 6 - 10:13

So I guess I wasn't exactly on with the 1/4mi markers, but pretty close.  Still, the entire route is perfectly 1mi.  Here's the route:  http://favoriterun.com/299610

I was walking to work today (1.5mi) and was somewhat surprised to feel some tenderness in my right achilles tendon.  I figured it would work it's way out through the day.  It didn't, and so when I warmed up, I specifically warmed up a little longer walking on the TM at about 4-5% grade to try and work the tendon a little and see if it was going to cooperate with me today.  It never really got better, so I went ahead and went for my run.

The route I ran today was perfect for what I needed to do.  From work over to the starting point for my mile runs is exactly 1 mile.  I ran that nice and easy knowing that I had some hard miles to do.  The second mile was just a lap around the square with some intervals of speed then down to a slow jog. 

I immediately went into my first "fast" mile run, taking splits at what I thought were .25 and .50 miles.  I was slightly off, and thought I might have been since I was surprised to see a slightly slower second leg when I actually thought I was speeding up some (which I was).  There is some slight downhill between .25 and .5, about even between .5 and .75 then it's an incline up to 1.0.  The inclines always feel easier for me to run than downhill for some reason.  I always tend to hold back when running downhill even though I know I'm not supposed to.  The inclines aren't extreme or anything, but they're noticeable on the last leg.  So, I was happy that those legs weren't much slower than the other ones.

I did pause for 30-45 sec between the miles.  By about 20-30 seconds, my body felt pretty good and somewhat recovered, so I tried not to stop for very long at all.  I was really happy to see my mile times go down each of the three miles.  Each leg was faster than the mile before, which is what my goal was.  I thought I'd have a harder time hitting my mile goals, but that obviously proved not to be an issue.  :-)

This run felt really good, and I was so glad to enjoy that last mile back to work, nice and easy!

Last night I iced and rested my achilles tendon that was a little angry.  Felt quite a bit better this AM but I knew it wasn't going to be a running day anyways, so I took it easy.  Walked slower in to work and I'll walk slower back to the car tonight.

Plan for today was to cross train 30 minutes if I felt good or rest.

I chose to hit the gym.  I had been sitting at my desk since 9am and so by 3pm I was ready to get up for a potty break and do something active!  I walked about 1/4 mile on the TM to get warmed up and see how my achilles was going to do.  Not too bad, but a little sore.  Then I hit the rowing machine. Put in 15min on that at a pretty good clip - 7800m.  I'll be sore tomorrow, I'm sure.  :-)  Then I did some abs work for about 10mins.  Hit the stationary bike for a hard workout for 15mins.  Walked about 1/2 mi on the TM to cool down. 

Achilles isn't too bad after a shower and walk back to my desk.  I'll put in another hour or so then head for home.  Gotta get to the formal shop to get my tux measurements before they close for my baby bro's wedding next Saturday in Phoenix!  Can't wait to run in the warm sun!

30 degrees, overcast/partly sunny

I slept in a little today.  Planned to get up about 7:45-8am but didn't roll out until about 9:15.  After about 7am I kinda just toss and turn and rest more than actually sleep, but it's rest, right?  :-)

I had planned to start from my house and if I was feeling good, go out 4mi and back, making it 8 miles.  After walking around a little getting ready, I realized my achilles tendon was still slightly sore and I knew running wouldn't help it much.  So I decided to drive up the route about 1/2 miles since from my house to that point is just a big long, steep hill and that wouldn't be good on the achilles to start with out of the gates.  So, I ran out to the 4mi mark (3.4 miles) and back very slowly.  Figuring I had only run about 5.5 - 6.0mi I decided to do another 1mi out and back to get closer to the 8mi I had planned.  It actually made it 8.8 miles - slightly longer than planned, but I took it really slow.

Achilles was tender most of the way, but I focused on proper form and figured that unless it got really bad, I'd keep going.  When I came back from my first out and back (6.8mi total) I was about 1/4 mi from the car and what comes on the iPod?  None other than Can't Touch This (yes, by MC Hammer - embarrassing I know) but when he sang "Either work hard or you might as well quit," I knew I had to make sure I got a full 8 miles in.  :-)

Here's my splits:

1.0 - 10:43
1.08 - 10:37 (a good down hill section here)
1.34 - 13:36
1.34 - 13:36 (yes, exactly the same split on the way back)
1.08 - 10:55 (uphill here, took it easy)
1.0 - 10:31
1.0 - 10:17
1.0 - 10:20

Overall, I felt really good - jogged the whole way, no stopping or walking.  Glad to get the miles in even though it would have been easy to skip the workout today.  The nice thing about running this route is that it's quite flat and it's through a couple of small communities, so quite a few people out and about, and so it's nice to say hello or good morning to everyone.  Lots of people are surprised.  Maybe because I have my earphones in and they figure I'm not going to be friendly, but it could be my skull & crossbones doorag and goatee, too.  Who knows.  I made sure I was properly dressed so I didn't scare anyone with any bare skin that they wouldn't want to see.  :-)

Anyways, came home and took a nice hot bath, downed 30oz of water, some Ibuprofen, and now I'm off to work on the Honey Do List!  Hope everyone has a great Saturday!

Scheduled rest day...

It's 1:40am EDT and I must note that I am #13 on the Mileage Board.  Check it now because I guarantee I will drop to PAGE 13 in a matter of hours.  LOL

"40 degrees" outside - dressed for 40 degrees, but I didn't notice the "feels like" temp was 33 with the 10mph wind.  So, after the 3mi I was FREEZING!  I kept thinking...this is NOT 40 degrees!

Ran an easy 3 miles - 1.5mi out and back.  Surprisingly fatigued during the first mile, but then started to loosen up some and the run felt very good and very easy.  I tried to run at about a 10:00-10:30 pace, but even trying to hold back as much as possible due to my somewhat still sore achilles, the first mile was about a 9:15.  The second mile was about a .5mi downhill and back up.  This one was slower.  The third was about the same as the first, I think, but I'm not 100% sure since I stopped my watch and didn't start it again.  But, it was very easy and I felt very fluid.

Still feeling some tenderness with the achilles, but yesterday's RICE helped quite a bit.  Although I could have taken the day off and rested it some more, I decided some slow jogging would be OK for it and maybe even good?  I stretched it as best as I could after the run, took a hot bath since I was freezing, and then iced the achilles.

Gotta enjoy and relish the easy runs.  :-)

5:00pm - Debating about what to do.  Achilles tendon is still sore today.  I really don't want to miss a run and so I'm deciding whether to go to the local HS track and do some really slow mile(s) on a softer surface and see how it feels.  Then, as Sasha says, if after 24 hrs I'm worse off, then I know I need to cut it way back or even no running at all for a little while so it can heal more.  I really don't want to lose what I've gained over the last month or so...plus, I'm going to AZ on Thursday and will be able to run in the 60+ degree weather!!  Terrible time for this :-(

Decided to do nothing.  Stuff hit the fan and so even if I was going to go, it wouldn't have happened.

Rest day

Sleepless night before my flight.  Had hoped to get some good sleep on my 5hr non-stop flight but of all the people, had to sit next to the plane drunk who was sick and coughing the entire flight!

Pretty good sleep last night!  Just resting the rest of the weekend.

Nice wedding....no running

Rest day - traveled home

Testing out my achilles...it was feeling ok.  A little stiff in the ankle and still some pain primarily when squatting with my heels on the ground, as well as going down stairs.

Decided I hadn't run for about a week, so I was going to hit the TM for an easy jog.  My daughter decided she wanted to go to the track, so I figured that was even better!  We warmed up walking a lap.  She had decided she wanted to see what she could do the mile in.  Based on our previous runs, a 10:00 pace was going to be pretty good for her, so we started off.  We did three laps at almost exactly 2:30 per lap. She had hit her limit, so she walked some more while I continued to run.  I finished that mile at the 10:00 pace.

Achilles wasn't feeling too bad, so I picked up the pace a little.  Ran 1.5mi at 8:40-8:45 pace.  I had intended to do 2mi, but at the 1.5, I was starting to feel it, so I decided to walk a lap, stretch and head for home to heat and ice it.  

Took my 1.5mi walk to and from work today slow.  No power walk today, just trying to keep the achilles healing.  It was sore on the walk in, but not too bad on the walk out after the workout and stretching:

Warmed up by walking 1/4 mi on TM at slow pace.

Worked out on the eliptical for 15 mins - never done the eliptical before...that was weird feeling.  Even after 15 mins, I still felt really awkward on it and in the first few minutes, I knew I was going to kill my quads.  Good workout though.  Got HR up to about 150+ for most of it.

Rowing machine for 20:00

Walked 1/2 mi on TM at slow pace to warm down

Stretched and called it a workout.

Iced after getting home.