Cool Runnings!

Ran 1.5 miles with Sparky at about 7:30 pace (yes, we are keeping the dog, we have set some boundaries, and are going to work with him on barking at the neighbors - none of the animal rescue shelters would take him, and the only other option was the pound, which we did not want to do).  Ran another mile with Samuel - worked with him to help him understand he can do much more than he thinks he can - held his hand and had him run faster than he normally does to teach him that his body can handle the faster speed.  Sometimes I think he needs to understand the concept of being less than comfortable when he exercises.  That was the point of this lesson.  He ended up doing the mile about 1 1/2 minutes faster than he ever has before - just slightly more than 11 minutes.  That is with the first 1/4 mile at about 13:00 pace as well.  I was proud of him for hanging in there.  Then another 0.5 miles with Joseph at just over 12:00 pace.  I was proud of him as well for doing a good job.  Then we had family home evening about testimony, played red light/green light, and then got the boys ready for bed with their nightly Harry Potter reading.  We are on the second book right now - I try to make it more entertaining by doing impressions of the voices.  After the boys were done, I headed out for another 3 miles.  I started pushing the tempo shortly after I started, because I remembered I had to go to the bathroom, and I didn't want to turn around and go back.  Was a bit worried after 1 mile, turned around, and really picked up the pace.  First mile was 6:55, second mile was 6:21, and that was with the wind blowing in my face a bit.  Got home just in time to hit the restroom, then went back out for what was supposed to be a cooldown mile, but it ended up being at 6:59.  Oops.  It actually did feel pretty good compared to the second mile.  I guess once my legs get used to a certain pace, it's hard to get them to slow down until they are spent.  Total time for the 3 miles was 20:15, average pace of exactly 6:45/mile.

Ran 1.5 miles with Sparky at about 7:30 pace, then 1 mile with Sam slightly slower than yesterday.  He did not hold my hand once, and did a great job.  He was only about 15 seconds slower than yesterday.  Another 0.6 miles with Joey, then ran another 3.1 miles later in the evening, after Lybi had gone running with Christine, at around 7:30 pace as well.  In between, I was working on putting our new vinyl tile floor in the boys' bathroom.  Not completely done, but it looks pretty darn good.  We're going to try to get it finished tonight so that I can put the toilet back in tomorrow night.  Woohoo!

Ran 1.5 miles with Sparky at about 7:30 pace, then ran 1 mile with Samuel at just under 12:00 pace (the wind was blowing fairly hard), then ran 0.6 with Joseph at about 13:00 pace.  Finally got the toilet put back on the bathroom floor, and made sure everything was working properly (at least it sure seems like it - if something is not working right, we have a few plumbers in our ward that I can call for help), then caulked around the toilet, bathtub and sink cabinets (there were tiny gaps between the bottom of the cabinet and the edge of the vinyl tile that we wanted to seal up).  I don't envy people who work in construction all day - it is not for me.  It is enough that I understand how to do this stuff - we will eventually be remodeling our master bathroom and putting tile in, and that will be a much larger undertaking.  But that won't be until all our debt except the mortgage and car loan are paid off.  Back to running, after all that stuff was done, went out for a quick 3 miles.  First mile in 7:13, second mile in 7:00, final mile in 6:43, average pace of 6:59/mile.  Need to make sure when I run the half that I work on proper form, including popping off my toes - I can really feel an increase in power when I do that.

Big fat zero for today's miles.  My knee was feeling kind of achy below the kneecap, and hurt when I ran, so I stayed home and iced it.  That seems to have helped.  Nothing big, just didn't want to take any risks this close to my race.

4 easy miles today at about 7:48 pace.  Felt very easy, no problems with the knee.  Went to my chiropractor again today to get adjusted before the race, so this was kind of a shake-out run to make sure everything was in working order.  Looking forward to tomorrow.  Here are my goals:

Gold:  1:28

Silver:  1:30

Bronze:  1:32

I feel like if everything goes right, I should be able to break 1:28 - that would be about 6:40/mile.  My current plan is to start out at 6:45/mile and see how that feels.  If it feels good, I will speed up and hold it for as long as I can.
 

London's Run - 1/2 marathon. 14th place overall, 2nd place in my age division. Was doing very well until mile 11, then I DIED! Went from 7th place to 14th place. More to follow later.

Time for more details.  Warmed up about a mile or so, not sure about the distance.  Temperature was a balmy 40 degrees at the start - actually felt very good.  Splits are below, along with explanations:

Mile 1 - 6:30	Went out a little too fast, but felt good.
Mile 2 - 6:42	This was just about perfect for the time, but the surface was absolutely deplorable.  Big huge tire tracks and ruts everywhere.  One of the other runners said his friend stepped in a hole and had to be carried back to the start.  I got lucky, but felt my  ankles turn a couple of times.
Mile 3 - 6:43	Right on time, felt good.  Was running into a slight headwind this mile.
Mile 4 - 6:42	Felt easier than the previous mile.  I was holding steady in 7th place at this point.  Dirt road for the first portion, then onto the only section that was paved road.  When we turned onto the paved road, we turned back into a slight headwind again.
Mile 5 - 6:40	Turned around on the road, the wind was behind us, this was the second fastest mile after the first mile.  Moved into 6th place for a short time, then had another person pass me to put me back into 7th.
Mile 6 - 6:49	Another large portion of this mile was into the wind.  Nothing special about this mile.
Mile 7 - 6:48	Nothing special about this mile.
Mile 8 - 6:47	You can see that my miles have been slowing down a bit, although not too much.
Mile 9 - 6:54	Slowing down a bit more
Mile 10 - 7:00	Slowing down more again.  Feeling tired in my legs.
Mile 11 - 7:20	Feeling more tired.  This is the last mile that was relatively normal.
Mile 12 - 8:25	Fell apart on this mile.  I actually stopped to walk for a bit at the water station until I was done drinking.  Then I started back up again.  Legs were very tired, feet were hurting, lungs were burning.
Mile 13 - 7:34	I honestly don't know how I managed to pull out a 7:34 mile on this mile.  I was really suffering here.
Last 0.31 miles - 2:14	My Garmin measured the course about .20 long.  I was pretty good about hitting tangents well.  In any case, I was absolutely spent when I finished, although Lybi said I didn't look as bad here as I did when finishing SGM.  I suppose that's a good thing.

Total time was 1:33:15.  Didn't meet any of my goals, but still felt good about this run.  I also felt like I did very well for the first 10 or so mile, and can now work on my endurance to improve the last 3 miles.  I have high hopes for Striders in April, and think I will definitely be able to improve on my time.