cheryl

My quad was still just a little sore today, so I mainly just power walked with a few short bursts of running thrown in.  I'm giving myself two miles for this workout.

The group met at the church at 40th West and 9800 So. today.  I did not come for early miles because I wasn't sure how my quad would feel and I didn't want to overdo things.  When I got there, Melanie was just arriving also, so we ran a short distance up 9800 So. then back to meet the rest of the group.  The workout consisted of two tempo runs from 4800 W. up around the neighborhood and back down.  The first time we ran north and then up, that took 10:22, with an avg. pace of  7:35 for 1.37 miles.  The next time we started south, then up; that took 10:06, avg. pace 7:11 for 1.41 miles.  I was happy with that effort, I felt pretty strong on it.  Then it was hill sprints on the big Glenmoor hill.  We did 4 of them, I did not catch speeds or anything like that, I kept forgetting to hit the lap button.  I did like doing those hill sprints, though, I think sometime we should come and just concentrate on doing those for half the workout.  Then it was back to the car.  I guess the idea was to cool down, but I still had some energy left, so tried to feel more like tempo pace.  It was a fun workout.  Not as many miles as usual because I missed the early miles, but I liked how I felt all during the workout.  Maybe that goes to show  there is something to tapering.  I really hadn't run since Friday and I felt like I had lots of energy today.  My quad felt good, so I'd give this workout a solid "A" grade.  Later I power walked on the treadmill for 30 minutes, and then pool ran for 30 minutes.  Love that pool running, it's really rejuvenating.

Did some power walking on the treadmill, some hill sprints, and pool running.  I figure five miles for all that is probably somewhat accurate.

Well, what can you say?  Some days of running are good, some days (most days?) not so good.  I've had about a year and a half of not so good days, frustrating days, days when I've wondered if my best days are well behind me.  Finally, today, I had one of those good days.  I finally hit some times on the track that I was able to hit fairly consistently two or three years ago, but just haven't been able to do recently.  We ran 800's and after the second one, I decided to try and pace off of Cheris and Michelle.  That's when I was able to run some fast times (for me).  Here are the times, and in parantheses are my times from two weeks ago, just to compare between then and now:  3:25 (3:35); 3:24 (3:27); 3:13 (3:29); 3:17 (3:29); 3:14 (3:30); 3:18 (3:29) and 3:10 (only ran six last time).  That 3:10 is my fastest time in about two years.  So needless to say, I was happy about this workout.   Now I need to work on endurance.

Light day, just a little treadmill running, some hill sprints.

I woke up early, like 5:10, but didn't feel like I had enough time to get ready and meet some of the group at Cheris' house, so I just bagged that idea.  I got up, did a few things, then laid back down and slept some more.  Great way to start the day (not!).  Anyway, I finally got going, and this is what I did.  I took Schneider to the canal road and ran for 40 minutes.  Not overly happy with the run, I felt like I was struggling more than I should have for a 9:15 avg. pace.   Then I went home and ran pretty easy on the treadmill for 30 minutes.  Then later this evening during the BYU-FSU game (Ugh!) I ran some more.  I did a 5K in 21:35; that time is deceptive because the treadmill was on a decline so it was easier than if it had been flat or on an incline (obviously).  It was still an enjoyable run; just enough intensity to challenge me, but not too much to wipe me out.  I didn't enjoy the football game, but I did enjoy the run!