Bret

AM - easy core/plyos routine for 40 mins.  Quite sore this morning - could be from yesterday's workouts or could be because we played kickball on Monday at a Memorial Day barbeque.  Yes - kickball.  Doesn't seem strenous but I suppose when we reach our 40's, if it involves using muscles in a different way than we are used to, then it can have an effect.   Delayed onset of muscle soreness.  Had not played the game in years, but it was good time and just about anyone can play.  Anyway, it kept me from getting out of bed early enough to do a run and core work.

PM - lunchtime run outside around Carillon office park.  Summertime thunderstorm built up rather quickly and cut my run short at 4.5 miles with high winds, lightning and rain.  But it was fun too. 

Will try to get another run in later after work today.

AM - 4.0 miles easy around the PHU loop from my house.  Then 40 mins of core/plyos.  Quads are still sore - so I did not do the second run yesterday evening. 

PM - 6 miles easy around Carillon and Feathersound. Much hotter today than yesterday when it rained.  Pretty heavy legged again today.

Hard to call this a race report as it really was more of a training workout - where I just wanted to see how much I would be able to push through without really being rested for a race.  I have been putting in miles and daily core/strength work over the last two weeks and did not take any time off to rest for this workout.   I was indeed pretty fatigued and sore before the race.

This is a series of 4 races over the summer on Clearwater Beach.  They have been doing these races for years.  Generally pretty fun, but tough to run very fast due to holes, water, soft sand, other non-racing beach patrons wandering into your path etc.  Not to mention the Florida heat at 7 pm.  Every now and then if a storm blows through to cool things off and hardens the sand well, I can get a decent time. 

Anyway, I arrived a little later than expected, but ran 3 miles to warm up which with the temps in the upper 80's with high humidity did not take long.  I sort of mistimed the warm up such that I began to be concerned that I would not get back to the starting line on time, so had to run at a pretty quick pace to get lined up.  As it turned out, the "kid's mile" took a little longer than expected so I ended having about 4 minutes to spare at the start. Several high school runners jumped out into a pretty stiff headwind of about 10 miles per hour -(oh to be so young and strong) and for some reason I thought I was feeling ok and never glanced at my watch except one time just before the mile marker.  I was surprised to see that my heartrate was nearly maxed and I was only running about a 6:16 mile pace.  I could tell I was blowing up, so I just held on to the turn around with my HR in uncharted territory (mid 180's) - and decided to see what I could do to bring it down and still not lose too much on pace.  Well,  with the wind now at my back at just about the pace I was running, it only made my body temp feel higher and so the HR stayed up and I just slowed to about MP for the rest of the way in.  Pretty sure the race conditions did me in, having just done a treadmill workout at 6:18 pace for three miles earlier in the week. 

I find it remarkable how profound an effect the heat has on my performance as I get older. 

Did an easy 3 mile cool down and stopped to see my daughter at the Palm Pavillon where she has a summer job as a hostess.  Saw an old friend Dave Batten who works there - he and I ran together in high school.  He told me his older brother Keith just ran 16:35 last week in Tampa - He's going to give me his contact information - to maybe do a run together.  

Planning to do road 5k next Friday and then back on the beach the week after - will be interesting to compare times over the next couple of weeks.

PM - plan was to do a long run today - but my morning would not permit for it.  Friends of ours have a son in the Marines who returned from a tour in Afghanistan and we had a surprise breakfast at Cracker Barrel to welcome him home safe and sound. 

Got busy with some household repairs with good intentions to do a run of about 20, but I waited until it was cooler out, around 7:30 and by then I think my legs were a bit over stressed from the workload this week.  My Garmin quit on me around an hour into the run, and I finished in about 2 hours - so I am calling it 15 miles, more or less. 

AM - 3 miles easy with 30 mins of core/plyo work.  Feeling a bit weak and sluggish this morning.

PM -- 7 miles on the treadmill at an easy to moderate pace.  Felt much better than this morning.

AM - early start due to an early morning meeting at work.  3.0 miles easy with core/plyos for 30 mins. 

PM - workout at lunch was interesting - not so much the workout itself but how it came about.  I have been feeling a bit weak and kinda crappy since late last week.  I attribute that to increased training workload and restricted caloric intake as I am dropping some weight (6-8 lbs) to be race ready by the end of July.  So I was not really motivated to take on a tough quality workout today - mentally or physically.  So, I decided I would try a tempo run of about 60 mins on the treadmill. After a mile or so of a warm up I increased the speed to my tempo pace, but within a few minutes I knew it was going to be a bit of struggle.  I slowed the pace back down slightly, then increased it back again for a few minutes, but that did not help.  So after a mile at tempo pace, I changed the workout to 6 x 800 with 400 recovery. I did the first one at 3 mins and then increased the speed by 4 second the next 800, and steadily dropped the pace per interval until I did the last one at 2:44 followed by a mile cool down.  I did not feel great but I managed them well, even the last one.  Pleased that got a decent quality workout in and was able to adapt to how I was feeling in order to change it  up a bit. 

AM - 60 mins of core/plyos, but no time for a run.

PM - lunchtime run - 7.5 miles from Carillon past the dump and around the lake in front of ValPak twice in the midday heat.  Probably pushed the envelope a little bit as the heat index was 91.  Was trying to avoid three days in a row on the treadmill.  Kept the pace modest so it was manageable, but the shower just wouldn't "take" afterwards.

AM - Core/plyos/stretching for 45 mins, then 3.0 miles with Delaney around the neighborhood.  Her first day of training for the fall cross country season.  She has not run a step since track season ended in April (aside from soccer training and games).  We ran together in the mornings last summer to prepare for cross country last year.  A bit of a struggle last time around to get her going -- but this year she was eager to get started.  She has a plan of running every morning with me and to do runs with her team who will meet 3 times per week in the evenings.  Running camp at Brevard College in Asheville, NC in July for 2 weeks.  We had a nice run, after the first mile which was 9:12 - she ran sub 8:30 miles without too much difficulty.  Her weight is up a bit, (she loves to bake and eat her creations)but she's also grown about a inch since the end of her fall season - so some good training and healthy eating should have her well ready by the end of August.

PM - lunchtime run on the treadmill.  8.0 miles in 62 mins.  Felt a little rough for the first mile or two, but once I got rolling, it was very comfortable run - mostly at 7:15 pace or better.

Evening - did a 1.5 mile walk with Tracy after dinner through the neighborhood.

AM - 3 miles with Delaney this morning.  Felt very sore and did not feel "normal" especially in the first mile or so.  Attribute it to the increased workload of training with the core/plyos and the caloric restrictions.  Weight has dropped well over the last 10 day.  Another 5 days or so of conscious focus on limiting intake and improving quality of foods should have me at my ideal weight.  For now though, I don't feel all that great.  Am planning to race tonight - 5k on the roads.   

PM - Race Report

Had a decent race at the Oldmar Tap House 5k - which is the third time they have done this event.  With lots of free stuff afterward, including the Tap House's specialty, this race attracted over 2000 runners for a Friday evening.

I ran a bit conservatively, this week as compare to last week, making certain to keep an eye on my heartrate - so that I would not blow up.  First mile was a cautious 6:00 on my Garmin though the mile marker had me at 5:47.  Second mile was slightly slower at 6:08 as my HR crept up to 176 so I tried to keep it in check.  Third mile was good until about halfway through it, then I started feeling a little ragged - think that may have been around 6:22.  Finished 33rd overall and got one of the coveted "boots" - which was a plastic mug in the shape of a boot - that were given to the top 50 males and top 50 females.  No age group or masters awards for this event and the focus seems to be on the post race party.

Did a good cool down on a warm evening of near 90 degrees at the start.  Using Daniel's conversion tables for higher temperatures, I am confident at below 60 degrees I would have been in the mid to low 18:00's for this race. 

I saw my friend Ken who I used to train with, who ran with his wife.  Ken used to work for Runner's World many years and pounds ago.  Good to see him. 

PM - core/pylos for 1 hour then 4 miles with Delaney as a recovery run.  Thought I needed a bit of a rest, so I pushed my long run from today to tomorrow.

PM - due to a number of unexpected scheduling events today I had to delay my long run until this evening.  Using a method I have seen Rob use a few times, I planned my run where I was dropped off about 20 miles away from my house and had my daughter stash a gatorade at about the halfway mark.  Following evening worship service, I changed clothes at the church building and began my run home from Erlich Road about 1.5 miles west of Dale Mabry in Tampa.  I headed west to Gunn Hwy.  When I got to the Citrus Park area I made a turn onto the Upper Tampa Bay Trail - which I had never been on before.  Since I started the run at about 6:30 pm and the "feels like" temperature was still 95 degrees - the well shaded trail was a happy discovery about 2.5 miles into my run.  I stayed on it for about 3.5 miles until it intersected with Limbaugh and then headed west through West Chase and then through Oldsmar on Forest Lakes to Tampa Rd and back to my house.  Had to add a short loop to the end.  Felt reasonable good for most of the run - but after I got the gatorade (all of which I drank at once) I felt a little off for the rest of the run and was pretty tired at the end. 

AM - 3 miles easy with Delaney.  I probably would have foregone this morning's run after yesterday evening's long run, but am trying to keep Delaney consistent with her training, so we got the run in around 6:15 this morning.  I was a bit envious as she snoozed on the couch after breakfast and I had to head off to work.  Summer time life of a teenager...

PM  - decided to go to the gym to do a few miles on the treadmill - ended up with 5.0 at 7:30 pace.  Felt reasonably recovered from a cardio and soreness standpoint.  I may need to take tomorrow off as I have a busy workday and evening plans too.  Left foot is a bit sore on the top of the first metatarsal - new development / location.  Day off may be in order anyway.

AM - was planning to take the day off, but Delaney was up and ready to run this morning, so I went for a run with her - easy 3  miles.  She had her first summer cross country practice last evening - 33 runners showed up for a very easy night of training.  She was eager to chat about it this morning on our run - so I was happy I went with her.  My foot which was achey yesterday afternoon/evening, was fine this morning. 

Full day of meetings at work, I will take the rest of the day off from training.

AM - 1 hour of core/plyo work before a dentist appointment - which limited my time for a morning run with Delaney - so she went to the gym instead.  Good idea, the heat index at 6 am was 90 degrees.  Steamy morning.  Will do a noon workout and if time, one after work.

PM - lunchtime workout.  Did the Murphy treadmill workout - after a 20 min warm up; 2 mins @ 7 mph; 2 mins @ 8 mph; 2 mins @ 9 mph then 4 mins @ 10 mph - repeat  5 times.  10 min cool down.  I was not as fresh as I have been when I have done this workout in the past.  I had to kind of grind through the last two when it came to the 4 mins at 10 mph.  But, I did not bail and felt that the workout was good physically and mentally. 

AM - 4.0 miles easy recovery run.  Had a storm over night that pushed the temperature down a bit from yesterday when the heat index before sunrise was 90 degrees.  Feeling pretty fatigued from training lately - first mile or so was slow before I got into a rhythm.  Core/ab work following for about 20 mins.

PM - 6.0 miles on the treadmill at the gym at lunch.  First mile was very rough getting up to speed.  Ran the rest of the miles at 7:30 or better but was generally fatigued and not really enjoying the experience.  Though not that I am training that hard, and I don't put myself in this category, I am reminded of the phase of training described in the book "Once a Runner" described as 'breaking down'.  Accumulation of steady mileage and training takes its toll where the runner is basically not fully recovered between workouts and finds himself in a constant state of fatigue-depression.

AM - Delaney and I are doing a beach race 5k this evening - so she slept in, but Riley decided since her swim team practice was cancelled for the morning, that she wanted to to go for a run.  So we did an easy 2 miles which was a good shake out run for me and was just about right for her because she has not done any running in months - and only just started swimming for the summer about 2 weeks ago. 

PM - 5k race on Clearwater Beach.  Much better experience this week than two weeks ago.  I ran a much more controlled race for the conditions.  Softer sand and warmer temps - I kept my heartrate at a manageable level through the first mile, a seemingly pedestrian 6:21 but I was gradually making up ground on runners in front of me.  The second mile was on a steep sidehill which was fatiguing and resulted in a 6:42 second mile - but when things levelled out I finished reasonably well with a 6:33 mile just missing a sub 20 min race.  Doesn't seem fast, but this was nearly a minute better than two weeks ago and I finished 15 places higher.  So, it was a good training/race strength building workout and I showed progress if not physically - at least I was wiser this time out.

Delaney ran as well - but she was at the beach the entire day - completely drained from the sun, I told her just to run, not to race and to use it as a training run.  A couple of her teammates were there and ran well. 

We met my wife and Riley at the Palm Pavilion where my other daughter Bradlea was working and enjoyed a meal and a nice sunset.  A very good evening with the family.

AM - easy 4 miles with Delaney.  I dragged her out of bed (she insisted that I do so last night) so that she could get her run out of the way today.  I felt surprisingly good and fresh - but she did not, and so we talked about having those types of days and how to deal with them.  Spent the rest of the day cleaning out the garage and doing general work around the house. 

AM - 3 miles easy with Delaney and then 45 mins of core/strength/plyos.  Felt rested after taking yesterday off for Father's day and eating way too much junk that my girls baked for me.  Planning to do my long run this evening if the timing works out.

PM - 20.00 miles on the treadmill after work at the gym.  Kept the pace at 7:30 for the entire run - only jumped off twice to get water.  Mentally brutal, but with comfortable climates inside as opposed to 90 + degrees with humidity, physically this allowed me to run a more reasonable pace. 

AM - 3.5 miles easy with Delaney this morning.  First mile was slow as I had some stiffness from yesterday evening's long run and noticed some tightness/soreness over the first metatarsal on the left foot.  Nothing serious, it seems, but will keep an eye on it.  Delaney has struggled a bit in the last couple of runs.  It is quite warm and humid though.  Two more weeks and she heads to a running camp.  She's still in the first two weeks of her summer training - I think once she gets a couple more weeks of training and maybe sheds a few pounds, her efforts will be less labored.

PM - lunchtime run outdoors (heat index 98) - 5.0 miles easy.  Wanted to run on heavy tired legs and hot conditions to help prep for the Des News race at the end of July.  Mission accomplished. 

PM - lunchtime run on the treadmill - 10 miles at 7:30 pace.  Was a very comfortable and stress-free effort.  Have some post workout discomfort in the top of the left foot - still keeping an eye on it.  Was going to do a workout this morning, but felt very "off" when I awoke and after about 30 mins of trying to get started (and I never actually started), I went back to bed for about an hour.  In the past I would have pushed ahead, but I am trying to pay more attention to what my body is telling me.  The extra rest seemed to do me right.

Delaney went to the gym to run and workout and hitched a ride with Riley on her way to her morning swim workout.

AM - Core/plyos workout for 45 mins - then started to run with Delaney, but noticed some more serious feeling discomfort on top of my left foot (which I first noticed beginning on Monday) - so after a couple of mins I decided to stop and turn back - fearing a recurrence of a stress fracture I had a couple of years ago.  I recall reading where college trainers will advise a player/athlete to sit out of training for a week or two if they begin having pain on the top their feet, better to allow the foot a rest for a short time than to aggravate and cause a fracture resulting in a prolonged recovery.   I am completely weight bearing with no other symptoms so I think I will give it a day or two before I test it again.  Noticed some discomfort in the foot about a month or so ago, and it subsided after about a week of easy running in proper running shoes.   Optimistic that I may have the same results again (noting that I put some more significant mileage in this week than a month ago). 

So, I took most of Thursday off and all of Friday from running to allow my left foot to have some recovery time in case there is a developing stress fracture there.  About 95% of the discomfort I noticed on Thursday morning was all but gone and though I was tempted to run on Friday, I held off until today. 

We travelled to Tracy's hometown, Moundsville WV, for her annual family reunion on her father's side of the family - the Emery's, late last night.  Some flight delays and logistical issues at the airport had me getting to bed at around 2 am - at which point Delaney begged off of the planned run together in the morning, claiming she would die without getting enough sleep.

So I got up around 7 am to a pleasant feeling low 60's climate - and eased into a cautious and slow run along a bike trail that parallels the Ohio River.  This past winter this trail was mostly snow covered and a bit harsh - but the nice contrast of today was that it was densely tree covered and full of wildlife and other recreational runners and cyclists.  The foot had some vague twinges of something going on, but nothing like sharp pain or even the discomfort I felt Thursday morning.  I felt pretty heavy legged and clunky for most of the run, not wanting to allow myself to just run as I was ever concerned more intensity would result in injury.  So I kept it easy and enjoyed the scenery.  Ran up through the Narrows to McMechan which is a gradual climb and descent back and forth over a couple of miles. 

So all in all, the run of 10 miles was good, a bit slow and cautious, but no pain or discomfort in the foot during the workout.  I will say there is something going on with the foot but perhaps keeping stressful workouts to a minimum will keep from getting any worse. 

Heading off now to the reunion at Oglebay Park in Wheeling for a day of cover dish meals, cool breezes and volleyball.

PM - 5.5 miles easy with Delaney on the same bike path I ran on yesterday.  This was her longest run of the summer thus far.  It was a nice run with the weather in the low 70's - I did not tell her how far we were going until we finished.  She was well able to handle it - and we will gradually work up her mileage as the summer progresses.

Very little issue with my foot today - will test it again tomorrow on a long run.

AM - had a great long run this morning of 20 miles with lots of hills and comfortable weather conditions.  I ran from my inlaws home in Moundsville up Rte 250 which is about a 6 mile climb (really about 1.5 miles of a sharp 8-10% grade) and then north on Rte 88 toward Bethlehem WV - which is a ridge connecting Marshall and Ohio counties.  Turned west on Rte 86 which has a road side market - where I bought some Gatorade - almost exactly at the halfway point.  Lots of rolling hills which had some significantly steep grades until mile 14.5 when I hit a sharp downhill for about a 1.5 mile steep descent.   The last 4 miles were mostly flat which was actually a tougher transition than I expected after so many ups and downs.   Got a good workout on the quads today.  Met up with my family for breakfast at Bob's Lunch - yum. 

PM - went for a late afternoon run with Delaney after a day of running around the Upper Ohio Valley.  We did a educational/historical tour of a place in Flushing Ohio called the Underground Railroad museum.   My kids really enjoyed the tour and the curator who spent a long time visiting with us and chatting. 

Ran with Delaney around the 12th Street Park trail.  She did about 3 miles and then headed back to my in-laws house for a total of 4 miles and I continued running laps around the park for a total of 9 miles - the last 5 of which were at 7:15 pace.  Felt a little tired and fatigued from the hill running yesterday and was really worn out at the end of this run today - but ended up playing volleyball and corn hole afterwards along the Ohio River - and enjoyed a couple of slices of pizza to end the evening. 

AM - 8.0 easy miles this morning with my girls.  Riley is staying with my niece Brittany in town, so I ran to her place at 7:30 and did 3 miles and then dropped her off back at Brittany's house, then ran to pick up Delaney for a 3 mile run at my other niece, Brianna's house also in town.  Had to run separately with them because they have different things scheduled this morning.  Worked out fine to give me an easy enough run, on a very crisp 59 degree morning with very little humidity.  Left foot was a bit fatigued when I started out this morning but improved as the runs progressed.

PM -  I went up to Wheeling to run the course for what used to be called the Elby's Big Boy 20k Wheeling Classic.  They have changed the name and course to a half marathon this year.  In fact it is called the Ogden News Wheeling Half Marathon.  Anyway, I did not know the exact route for the half - and so ran the course of the 20k from memory - Last time I ran this course was in the actual race in 1992.  Has a steep 8% grade 2 mile climb right after the two mile mark.  Steep 2 mile descent and the rollers until mile 10 which has another steep climb for just under a mile - and a steep descent to the end.  Weather was good at 83 degrees, but less humid than I am used to - which meant I got a bit dehydrated without realizing it until I noticed all of the salt on my face and shorts.  Good workout for me.  Making good use of the hills while I am in WV.