Bret

AM - easy 3.0 mile recovery run in the cold and rain.  Needed a shake out run from the workout last night.  Hoping to get a second run later in the day.

Lunchtime run - 6.0 miles on the treadmill at 7:08 pace.  I would call that a steady state run rather than "easy."  A work colleague hopped on the treadmill next to me and we chatted the whole time.  Enjoyable run. 

My gym has begun offering VO2 Max testing for a fee.  I was their first customer today. 

I have not ever had VO2 Max testing done before - but was curious about what my score would be and interested to see what type of "prescription" they provide to me for training to improve performance. 

It was fairly straight forward - They had me in a private room with a Woodway treadmill (nice) - had me do a warm up and then attached a mask to my face which had some tubes connected to a device connected to a computer - and they had a blood pressure cuff on one arm and a heartrate monitor strap.  I started at 7 mph and every 2 mins they increased the incline or grade by 2% until I could go no further.  The tech checked my bp every two minutes and asked me to point on a sheet on a scale of 6-20 (20 being worst) how I was feeling.  When I got to 13 mins I was over 180 on my heartrate and knew I had only a limited amount of time left.  I thought the test was for 16 mins so I felt like I sucked when I had to call it quits just after 14 mins.

I then cooled down and they continued to monitor my HR and BP and then they went over the data.  Much to my surprise my VO2 Max was 72. 

I have an appointment next week with the guy who will run the data into a report with a prescription for improving the VO2 max and my performance. 

Lunchtime run 5.0 miles - cool but comfortable day in the upper 50's and breezey.  I ran really easy - but probably faster per mile than I wanted with a race tomorrow morning.  But it felt good. 

Had a good race this morning. Race was around a mall parking lot - several hills and many turns. It was two laps which was problematic on the second lap because of an abundance of walkers. Similar to the video game Frogger I was forced to weave in and around folks. Richie had a great race - with a 17:51 finish time and 9th overall. I ran through the first mile with him at 5:49 but he was feeling very strong and I told him to go. Another friend Brian Darrow who has his own blog www.arunnersblog.com was with us as well. He ran a PR of 18:55 today. Another friend - Justin came to the race too. We had a great time and had breakfast together afterwards. I was pleased with the race - I ran 6:01 and 6:05 for miles 2 and 3 - so I was consistent. It was the best time I have run for a 5k in at least 5 years.

* Officially I was first in my age group - but Richie actually won the age.  However they recorded his age as 71 instead of 41 on his registration - so they awarded him the Grand Masters trophy - astounded at the speed of his race at 71 years of age.  :)

Recovery run of 10 miles on the treadmill - I used the treadmill to keep my pace even and to assure that I did not begin to run too quickly as is my tendency. I kept my heartrate mostly below 150 for this run which was about 7:45 pace.

Lunchtime run - on the treadmill - it is actually about 51 degrees outside and very windy - so because I forgot to pack any long sleeve shirts, I stayed indoors. 7:15 pace on 2% incline for most of the run. Really was planning a day off today, but thought the run may help as a stress reliever. Not sure why I pushed the pace more than casual except that I did run really slowly yesterday and did not want to do it two days in a row. Planning to do a quality workout tomorrow - schedule permitting.

PM run - Cruise interval workout on treadmill. 5 x 1 mile at 6:19 with 1 min rest at 1.5% grade.  Two mile warm up and 1 mile cool down.  This was a tough workout for me today.  I selected the pace based on Daniel's VDOT formula.  I started to suffer near the end of the 4th mile and cut it short at just over 5 mins - then resumed the last one at a slightly slower pace of 6:30 hoping to just do 800 meters, but I pushed through and completed the full mile.  Pleased that I was able to work through rough part of the work out.

Lunchtime run - easy 5 miles. Chilly still in low 50's and windy - but a nice run to shake out yesterday's workout. Surprised how quick my pace was when I was just really running easy/to feel.

PM -  tempo workout on the treadmill.  20 min warm up at moderate pace; 20 mins at 6:26 pace 1.5% - then 20 min cool down.  This was a challenging workout to maintain the pace especially the last 5 mins.  Not sure why the treadmill seems more difficult this week - even more so than races - except that I have been using 1.5% grade instead of 1%.

Planned day off.

AM - 3.0 easy miles with Delaney with some striders afterwards.  Doing a half marathon tomorrow so wanted to be fresh.  Nice chat with Delaney about her plans for track and cross country next year.

After much trepidation about this race regarding the time on a Sunday morning and needing to get to church by 10 am - I went ahead with it on a tight schedule. 

Not a spectacular time - though faster than I did this race two years ago - this was a very good competitive effort for me today.  The conditions which were not terrible - low 60's with 85% humidity and windy just did not permit my heartrate to maintain the 6:30 pace or better pace I had hoped to run today. 

I made a conscious choice to keep my heart rate below AT for at least the first 8 miles - so that meant when it approached 167, I had to keep my pace in check - which resulted in a number of miles in the low 6:40 pace. 

Richie and I started together and ran until the 2 mile mark where after we had just run two consecutive 6:38's Richie decided to have a go at 6:30's for himself - and I bid him good luck.  Ironically, I actually ran the next mile at 6:30 - but then as we climbed a bridge over the intra costal waterway to the mainland - my pace slowed to 6:47 and my heart rate spiked up to 172.  So, I smoothed things out on the downhill side and kept Richie in my sights - though he was pulling away. 

I nevertheless began to target other runners in front of me after the 5 mile mark and really started to roll after the 7 mile mark to the point where when I came on a runner at mile 9 he declared that my pace was strong and I only had 4 miles left.  I clipped off two 6:30 miles but then was slowed on a bridge/overpass on the next one to 6:42.  So although I was feeling as though I was running pretty quickly, my pace was a bit inconsistent . 

I started to see what I thought was Richie as we approached the turn into Taylor Park just after mile 11 - and I thought he looked like he was coming back to me.  As we rounded the corner a spectator let me know I was the 15th male overall - and I could see two runners in front of me and they were beginning to reel Richie in. 

I really wanted to catch him, but as we made our way around the lake, we turned into a pretty strong headwind, and the course became an undulating and uneven dirt path for most of the last mile.  When we finally hit the road again I simply ran out of race to catch them.  I think he finished 1:26:52 - and I was about a tenth of a mile behind him.  Later he told me that he held the 6:30's until mile 10 and then went into the "hurt locker" where he just hung on to the finish.  We really probably could have run together.

Anyway, so while I was not so thrilled with the time, I took away some positives:  I ran a very controlled and competetive race where I had no one pass me in the race, and was still working to reel in runners in front of me all the way to the end. 

BTW - I ran from the finish to my car and then drove to church 45 mins away  - changed clothes in the parking lot and made it with a few minutes to spare.

Easy recovery run of 6.0 miles on the treadmill at the gym with Richie.  Very cold and windy outside - so this was a nice easy run to chat about the race yesterday.

PM - run on treadmill since the temperature outside believe it or not is colder here in Florida than it is in SLC according to Rob.  6 miles at moderate pace (7:20) then 3 miles at marathon race pace.  Felt pretty comfortable with the pace during the workout.

Rest day

AM - 4.5 easy miles with temps in the mid 30's .... brrr.  Will hopefully get a second workout later day.

Lunchtime run - 5.0 miles.  Richie and I went for a run at lunch - started off very easy and never really went too fast, he said his calf was tweaked and he's had some issues with that off and on for the last few months - so we made it a short 3 mile loop, went back to the gym where I did a couple more miles on the treadmill and he used the stairmaster, which apparently does not aggravate his calf.  The weather turned very nice today, sunny in the low 60's.  We met up with another colleague from my office and had lunch together afterwards - stretching the limits of a lunch "hour" nearly into two. 

Unplanned rest day - was very busy at work and then travel to WVA at the end of the day.

Easy 7.0 miles in cold conditions - 25 degrees with snow and ice and wind.  Supposed to be on vacation but some work related matters kept me tied to the computer and the phone for much of the day - so needed to take a break as a stress reliever in the afternoon.  Unfortunately the very cold wind seemed to add more stress then it relieved.  This Florida boy is not used to the cold.  Ran up a rails to trails path from Moundsville to Glen Dale  and then looped back around on the main room back through town ( which has one stop light on the main street through "business district" in  the town). 

Good to get out, though I feel some discomfort on the top of my left foot over the first metatarsal - having suffered through a stress fracture last year at the second metatarsal on the same foot - I am going to take a few days off from running to give the foot a rest.

Rest Day

In an effort to keep from exacerbating a possible foot injury - I went to the local gym and did 45 mins on a stationary bike followed by some core work.  Really did not like it very much.  Every time someone walked in the front door, cold (20 degrees) air would blow in on my back.  I always have a hard time with staying away from running due to injury.  I have no reason for anxiety over it, there is only some tenderness / discomfort over the top of the foot - which is very slight - and I am not in the middle of training for a major race - so I should just take it easy.  Unfortunately, I always notice how much I enjoy running, when I am unable to do it. 

5.0 Easy miles - early morning crisp 28 degrees - test run on the questionably injured foot.  Felt no pain or discomfort and really enjoyed the run after the first couple of miles after being inside all day yesterday with work. 

Morning run - 9.0 miles - 25 degrees and light snow coming down as I headed out.  Did one of my favorite runs here in WV.  Up Round Bottom Hill (primarily because I just like the name of the road) which is about a 1.5 to 2.0 mile climb up to a ridge that parallels the Ohio River below.  It is quiet steep at 7-8% grade but I take it easy because it is more about enjoying the scenery.   This morning was great, with the snow falling and not a car in sight - I made my way along a cemetary near the top of the climb - quiet and peaceful.  Felt like an early Christmas present to be enjoying a run with nature.   The descent is likewise steep and by the time I finished and my face was thawed out - I really felt my quads got a workout today. 

PM - 10 miles easy in a steady snow in the 20's again today. Ran on the river trail for part of the run which had a good snow accumulation - so I was crunching a slipping a bit. Nice enjoyable Christmas day run after a morning of opening presents and visiting with family.

5.0 miles easy this AM on a treadmill in LA.  Had an unfortunate couple of days.  Following my run on Saturday - later in the evening I got sick, possibly food poisoning, which lasted through the evening and most of Sunday.  Was too dehydrated and tired on Sunday or Monday to run, but then had to make an unexpected trip to LA for business - which turned into a difficult ordeal because I had to fly from my inlaws location near Pittsburgh, through Philadelphia which was hit by the snow storm Sunday evening which caused delays at the airports.  So, instead of arriving in LA around 11 pm Monday night, I arrived at 3:45 am PST Tuesday morning.   Took a short nap, went for a run on the treadmill and headed into my meetings.  Today's run was not so good - but I expected that.  Hopefully, things will improve this week.

AM - managed to squeeze in 6 miles on the treadmill at my hotel early this morning.  Heavy rains in LA - (which I guess is not too common) - so I decided not to venture outside to run.  Looking forward to a trip home late this evening.