Motivated to Succeed

4:00 PM - Progress is in order - hopped on the treadmill to get in another day of training.  Really getting optimistic that once Mother Nature decides to stop giving us snow so that it can melt a bit that I can get out on the roads. Gorgeous sunny day here and temps in the mid 30s :) Really awesome!  Did walking warmp up, eased into a nice jog. Two miles in 21:51! 10:55 PACE!! Woot! Walking cool down, and stretching. 

Total Time: 41:00 Total Distance: 3.30 Average Pace: 12:25

On the mend! Keep on truckin' FRB >> We'll get there I'm sure of it! One way or another, whether run, bike, swim, hop or waltz we'll get there! Great job everyone, and Happy Spring!

11:00 AM - Freezing rain today. Blah. But tomorrow is supposed to be thunderstorms and temperatures in the 50s, so I am holding out hope that perhaps I might see the lawn again sometime. Felt really good today. No soreness at all.  Did my normal warm up walk, then eased into a jog. Couldn't have asked for anything better. Ran 2.5 miles in 27:00 @ 10:48 / mile pace. This truly shows that all this work is paying off.  I am steadily progressing, and I have no doubt that I'll be able to call myself a runner once again! :).  Did my warm down walk and then stretched.

Total Time: 48:52 Total Distance: 4.00 miles Average Pace: 12:13 / mile

10:00 AM - Happy April everyone! :) Hilight of today was 2.5 miles after warmup in 26:39 @ 10:39 Pace! Total for the day was 4.75 miles in an even hour.  Felt really good. Light stretching to follow.

Total Time: 1:00:00 Total Distance: 4.75 miles Average Pace; 12:37 / mile

8:00 PM - Felt good today. Interesting food for thought. Was still reading Joe Henderson's Running A to Z and found a passage in there that talked about when running the Pikes Peak Marathon it is important to turn around as soon as  you get to the top because if you don't it will take much longer to find your way down the switchbacks; I think this can be extrapolated to the everyday runner, and more importantly those of us that became injured in the last several months.  I think there is a commonality among distance runners to continually improve and always strive to set a PR, or win a race.  Yet I think what I've learned the hard way in the last couple of months is that we can't continually improve. You can log as many miles as you want, but miles are correlated to wear and tear, and there is only so much the human body can take before it says "Hey! Wait a minute! I need a break here!".  I think I lingered too long at the top of the mountain after my November races, and started focusing on more intense training for the 1/2 in January, then jumped right back in to start training for the next race.  What I failed to do, was listen to my body and take some time for recovery.

Did warm up walk, then 2 easy miles of jogging in 21:25 (10:42 pace), cool down.

Total Time: 40:06 Total Distance: 3.25 miles Average Pace: 12:20 / mile

PROGRESS! I have done 11 miles of jogging in the last 5 days! Between 2-2.5 each day! Things are coming along nicely.  I can't wait until I can run 3 or 4 though!

8:00 AM - Went for a nice walk today. No running though, because did 5 days in a row with a jog. Ended up doing 25:00.

Total Time: 25:00  Total Distance: 1.67 Average Pace: 14:58

Had a stressful day today. Had to study for a big EPY 502 Ed Psych test. But it paid off! I got a perfect score and an actual thumbs up from the professor on the way out of the room.

I'm not sure who here has battled or is battling or knows someone who is battling cancer, but each year I do the Relay for Life, and this year I'd like to try to get pledges.  I set a goal of $200, though I know it will be hard to meet this goal by June.  For every $10.00 I collect I plan to run a mile.  If anyone has the ability to support me, or is interested in making a donation for a luminaria in remembrance/honor of anyone, my site is:  http://main.acsevents.org/goto/benngriffin

Many thanks FRBloggers.  Keep on trucking!

- - Benn - -

No run or walk today. Emergency came up at work.  Originally I was supposed to work 8am to 4pm, but one of the guys at work had chest pains and went to the ER so they asked me to stay an extra hour to 5pm, then to come back 9pm to 11:30pm.  They had wanted me to stay if possible all the way through but I had promised one of my brotheres to go to his fundraiser called Galwayopoly where I got to see him and my dad dominate Team Orange! Ugh! So got home around midnight, then my other brother woke me up at 4:30 and told me I had to take him to school for his band trip. Then I came home to sleep and finally fell asleep around 6, alarm when off at 6:42. Now work 8am to 4pm (that I know of).  I really want to do a walk or run tonight, but I might have to wait until after I pass out for a couple hours after work. So tired my eyelids hurt! haha.  Hope everyone else has better luck! As far as I know, Steve's okay though so that's the important part.  You can always catch up on sleep, but you only get one heart!

5:00 PM - Long day, kind of feels like Friday just merged with Saturday into a super day.  But luckily I got through work and was able to muster up the strength to get out there for a nice enjoyable outing. (This on quite possibly the best day of the year so far! 54 degrees and sunny with only a slight wind.  Headed to the track and foudn that I was the only one there except for one other walker.

Mile 1: warm up walk : 14:17. Felt nice and ready to go :)

Mile 2:  eased into a jog.  9:11 [ Yes, I know. That's fast! Though it did not feel fast at all.  I monitored myself and was running at the same effort and cadence that I did on the treadmill.  Felt really good though.

Mile 3: continued to jog. 8:50! [Fastest mile since I hurt myself in January. Don't worry I know that I should not try to PR now that I'm feeling better.  I will continue to keep myself in check and run smart and conservative.  Tomorrow will be a slow easy recovery day.]

Mile 3 - 3.5: 4:23; aka 8:51 / mile pace! This means I maintained an 8:50 pace for 1.5 miles after a 9:11 easy mile before that with no pain. That also equates to progress!

Mile 3.5 - 4.57 - Cool down mile: 14:15 for the first mile, 1:10 for the last .07.

Total Time:  52:07 Total Distance: 4.57 Average Pace: 11:24

JOGGING NOTES FROM THIS WEEK: WHERE I'M AT

• With 5 days including jogging of 6 days total, I had 3 x 2.5 miles of jogging continuously, and 2 x 2 miles of jogging continuously; I feel this shows that my persistence has paid off. It is important for me to continue to gradually increase miles so that I will not risk further injury.
• Total Miles Jogged this past week: 11.5 miles in time of : 1:59:19; Equates to average pace of 10:22, though this is skewed since my "break through" Saturday run.  Overall feel really great about my current level of fitness and looking forward to another good week. To everyone else out there who also continues to wage the war of Comeback 2008 - I think it was Teddy Roosevelt who said something like, "when you get to the end of a rope, tie a knot and hang on";  Wecan and will do this!  Keep on truckin' FRBloggers and thanks for all of your support!

- Benn - Anxiously awaiting the runs still developing over the horizon.