Same Time, Same Channel

Easy run + 10 x 10 sec. hill sprints. Average pace: 9:24. Followed by Shred level 2.

27-32°, 80% humidity, winds calm.

I'm sick. I've got a stuffy head, a sore throat, and a dry hacking cough. I slept in until time to drive to seminary this morning. I'm working from home today because they don't want my germs in the office, so after the seminary drop off, I worked intermittently while I got the other kids off to school. Then I waited until about 9:00 and then went out for my run. I debated whether to run or not and then decided that if I had a fever I wouldn't run. I didn't have a fever, so out I went. I'm hoping that the deep breathing and the sweating will help me get rid of the gunk. I'm feeling pretty beat at the moment, but that's because I just finished the Shred.

Getting up and down for the abs part of the Shred I discovered that I've got some bruises on the outside of my lower left leg. I'm sure it's from my fall during the race last Saturday because that's the part that I fell on.

I wasn't sure how being sick would affect my pace today, so I just ran at a comfortable pace (except for the hill sprints). It turns out that being sick didn't make much of a difference. But I may find that I'm useless the rest of the day now. In any case, my splits on the 6 easy miles were 9:54, 9:31, 9:10, 9:03, 8:52, 8:57. I was a little slow on the first hill sprint but then I got going. My Garmin paces for the hill sprints (so take them with a grain of salt) were 7:05, 6:35, 5:56, 6:19, 5:58, 6:02, 5:42, 5:51, 6:19, 5:30.

When I got home from my run and before I did the Shred I went to get a drink of water and I had no water pressure from my sink. I could hear water running, but the dishwasher, the washing machine, and the sprinklers were all off. I went outside and discovered that a pipe that is part of the sprinkler system but that is right by the outside control and is exposed, was broken and water was gushing out. I was able to turn off the water just to to the sprinkler system and not to the whole house and that took care of it. I guess it's time to get the sprinklers blown out for the winter and I'll have to see if the guy that does that for me can fix the broken pipe as well. This is a minor headache that I didn't need, but not really a big deal.

Fartlek Intervals - 2 miles easy, 8 x 3 min @ 10K pace w/2-min. active recoveries, 2 miles easy.

9:45 am, 37°F, 84% humidity, winds calm, very gray and overcast.

I slept in again this morning (relatively speaking) and worked early in the morning and then went out for a run later. I'm working from home again because I'm still germy. I debated whether to do my prescribed workout or do an easy six and decided that doing the easy six was probably the wiser thing to do, so that was my plan as I headed out the door. I started on my standard six-mile route, but found that I was feeling pretty good. It must have been the magic shoes (pictured here with a heavy SmartWool sock).

So I took a little detour and headed over to the track. I figured if I got feeling too crummy, then I could cut the intervals short, but I made it through them all. Actually, running faster felt good because it was chilly outside and it made me feel warmer. My paces on the 3 min. intervals were 7:35, 7:36, 7;34, 7:37, 7:33, 7:30, 7:28, and 7:14. I intentionally did the last one a little bit faster. My pace for the 2 min. recoveries between intervals was consistently between 9:30 and 9:40. Splits for the 2 warm-up miles were 9:37 and 9:28, while splits for the cool-down miles were 9:18 and 9:09. Average pace for the whole run was 8:44.

I figure I'll get over this cold eventually whether I run or not, so I might as well run. I really think the running helps me keep my lungs clear.

I guess I'll try not running today and see how that works out for me. I think the congestion has moved into my chest. My head is relatively clear. I can breathe through my nose if I really try. But I've still got a cough and I've pretty well lost my voice. I kept whispering at my kids this morning and they would whisper back. But I wasn't trying to be quiet. I just couldn't talk.

It's very foggy today and I think it would be fun to run in the fog, but I guess I better not. That makes me sad.

Taking another sick day today, from running that is. I still have to work.

Easy one-hour run. Average pace: 8:56. Shred level 2.

54°F, 57% humidity, wind 2 S.

I've still got a cough and some congestion but I decided to run today anyway. It felt good to get out and breath some fresh air and sweat. I hope I sweated all the yuckies out of me.

Those shoes really are magic. Or maybe it was the two days off and a week of sleeping in. But I got going faster than I expected today without really trying. Splits were 9:32, 9;23, 8:53, 8:44, 8:43, 8:35, with the last .71 @ 8:34. What really surprised me was that third mile was faster than the second because the third mile is mostly uphill and I often run it slower than the 2nd mile when I do this route.

It was also nice to be able to run later in the day and to be able to wear shorts and a short-sleeved shirt for a change.

I'll continue playing hooky from the sub-6 club next week because my kids have fall break and I'm taking the week off from work. I was thinking about going to Utah next week, but I don't think I will. I think we'll stay home, save the money, and try to get some things done. So next week I'll sleep in and then get up and run whenever I wake up.

Fartlek Run + Progression: 4 miles easy, 4 miles alternating between 90 sec. @ 10K pace and 90 sec. easy, 2 miles easy, 2 miles moderate/hard.

33° at start, 48° at end, humidity starting at 60%, ending at 45%, no wind.

Another Saturday morning on the Highline Canal Trail. I met up with Michelle and Michelle. They were doing 6 today, so we ran three miles together then they turned around and I continued on until the 6 mile marker, then I turned around.

The first 4 miles went by pretty quickly, because I had the Michelles to talk to for the first 3. Then the next 4 went by quickly because it was the fartlek portion and I had to concentrate on changing pace every 90 seconds. Then when I started the first of the last 4 miles I felt like time had come to a stand-still. It was taking forever for a mile to go by. This was not supposed to be a progression workout. I was supposed to do all of the last 4 miles easy, but I was not very comfortable at the slower pace and since I took a couple of days off this week, I decided to turn it into a progression run and do the last 2 miles a little faster.

So here are the stats. Splits for the first four miles were 9;25, 9:13, 9:09, 9:10. Paces on the fast portions of the fartlek intervals were 7:31, 7:44, 7;26, 7:51, 7:32, 7:21, 7;25, 7:31, 7;34, 7:28, 7;24, 7:00. Pace on the easy portions of the fartlek intervals varied between 9:08 and 9:38. I went a little further than 4 miles on the fartlek portion because I had just started the fast portion of the 12th repetition when I completed the 4th mile and I didn't want to cut the interval short. Splits thereafter were 9:27, 9:31, 8:09, 7:46.

I brought my fuel belt and intended to wear it, but then I accidentally left it my my car. I was okay, though, because it was cool and shady and I'm used to not taking much fuel, if any, on my runs.

Two weeks ago I went back to the trail later in the day and took a couple of pictures. So here's a picture from two weeks ago to give you an idea what the Highline Canal Trail looks like. It's much sunnier in this picture than it usually is when I run this trail. Also, it's not quite as green now. Leaves are starting to fall.