track fan

2:12:59.  Ran on the Rillito trail -- I actually started at the turn-around point when I did my 20 milers last year.  Kind of weird running it backwards!  My legs were pretty sore today, the downhill really did a little damage.  Since I ran harder than I generally do, and this close to the race there is not anything to gain, I decided to take it a bit easy today, I still ran a little harder the last 20' - but ran slightly faster than MP rather that the 1/2 marathon pace I usually do ... I have one more little speed session this week, mainly just to keep my legs "snappy", but this week is all about recovery recovery recovery.

I got a really late start because I was live-streaming and tracking two different races this morning.  First off was the Houston 1/2 and marathon.  Brett Gotcher of McMillanElite ran an awesome 2:10:36 in his first marathon! I am not positive, but this might have been either the 3rd or 4th fastest debut ever for an US runner (he was 7th overall, with 5 guys coming in sub-2:10! wow).  Paige Higgens, another McMillanElite runner, was 4th in the womens race with a 2:33:32.  Shalane Flannagan got the course record in the 1/2 and ran her first 1/2 marathon in 1:09:41.  Meanwhile, here in Arizona, Alvina Begay (another McMilllan Elite runner, was 6th in the marathon with a 2:37:low.  Deena Kastor shows us all that she still has it going on with a stunning 1:09:low win in the 1/2 marathon. 

What a great morning for road racing!  Meanwhile, on the track, Alan Webb is getting ready for some fast track times this spring with a 3:45 time trial!! It will be so good to seem him back this year!  World Champs are going to be good!!

Happy Sunday bloggers.

AM:(7 miles easy, 1:03:48.  Raining but nice morning.  My leg hurts, but less than it did on Sunday.  I have been trigger point balling it and rolling it for 2 days.  Dean said, "it doesn't matter if it hurts, you just have to run fast".  I also have been using my "salonpas" patches (a mixture of menthol, camphor and methyl salicylate - they work wonders for my PF, well that and using Birkenstocks).  I told Dean last night, "I feel like I am being held together by scotchtape and menthol" -- he said, "you are ready to race" ;-).

PM: 3.5 miles easy (~30`)

We are hopefully moving back into our house tonight - the contractors won't be finished fixing things until late next week, but they think they will be able to remove the equipment tonight so at least we will have 1 room to live in (just like the hotel).  Very busy day at work ... I hope I can get out in time to meet the insurance adjustor tonight ...

I hope you are all having a great running week bloggers!!

11 miles, 1:29:48.  28:20 wu/29:06 cd.  Cruise interval workout: 5 x 1000m w/200 recovery (4:18-4:22/K pace, 6:56-7:05/mile) + 3 x 200m w/200 recovery.  I call this my "internal garmin calibration" workout.  Greg *always* has me run this workout 4-5 days before a race.  I had to teach this morning, and had some meetings in the early part of the afternoon, so I actually did this about 2PM ... not an ideal time because I can't eat before I run, so was kind of hungry around lunchtime ... but skipped lunch.  Good news was that I was able to run down to the track a little quicker than I usually do, because my legs were more warmed up, just from walking around for 8 hours.  I usually do my "track workout" warm up, where I jog to the track (~3 miles) and then run 800-1600 meters worth of strides before the workout.  Today I did more of my "pre-race" warm-up where I run easy for 1.5 miles and then run hard for 1.5-2.0 miles instead of doing strides.

Splits: 4:22, 4:18, 4:22, 4:20, 4:20 w/average 1:10 recovery + :46, :47, :46 w/average 1:07 recovery (man do I suck at these or what???  A mediocre 400m runner could run 400m by the time I run my 200's - and I was running hard!!).   It was windy, not quite as bad as last week, but these were slower than last week so it did not really have much of an effect.  I was really trying to remind myself - you need to run 6.2 miles at this pace (twice as long as today) with no 200 m breaks ... seems a little intimidating to me. 

I hope you are doing well, very busy day today with work, so I will read you blogs later.  Happy running!

AM: (5 miles easy, 45:04).  My internal garmin is calibrated ... I ran 23:12 out and 21:51 back - I knew the out portion was going to be a little slower because it is uphill and hard on the rocky parts, so I guessed when to turn around that would get me closest to 45` ... pretty funny.

PM: (2 miles easy).  Just keeping the routine.  No PM run per PT - not a bad choice since all heck is breaking loose at work today.  There will be some long workdays in my future for the next few days.

Happy Thursday bloggers.

I am meeting a new PT today ... to see if she can help me with my leg -- that still hurts after Saturday. 

43:12.  A little longer than 4.5 miles ... very very easy.  I got worked over pretty good.  My leg is still sore, but more from the therapist than the big ole' knot that was in the belly of my quad.  She said to take it really easy today, and no hills, so I did.  It was a mudfest, but fun as long as I kept it pretty slow.

Happy Friday bloggers.

Had some errands to run before I got to work so I ran near my old neighborhood (~30`).   Because of the rain and snow the past couple of days the Rillito River was flowing!! Pretty cool, it was always a dry wash when we lived there ... Snow on most of the mountain tops ... very pretty.  The wind is still blowing (a couple of days ago they measured 56 mph at the airport) -- I really hope it dies down by tomorrow.  It is supposed to be ~35F at the start ... I am thinking it will be warmer than that.  My leg is sore most of the time, but did not bother me too much while I was running (jogging really).  

Happy Weekend bloggers!  Looks like Painter's was exciting, I can't wait to see all of the race reports come in!