Cool Runnings!

Ran 1.5 miles with Sam and Sparky at a slow pace, then another 0.5 with Joseph.  After Lybi did her walking, I went out for another 5 miles, felt very good.  Didn't check the Garmin to see how fast I was going, although my speed constantly increased throughout the run.  I ended the run at a pretty good clip.  Total time for the 5 miler was 35:46, average pace of 7:09/mile.  Sasha and I talked last Friday about the need to go easy the first day after a break, but right now I am having a hard time with that - my legs feel so fresh and spunky that it is hard to hold back, even when I start nice and steady.  I had started my run last night at about 7:45 pace, and just slowly increased the pace.  Maybe if I had looked at the Garmin I could have held back.  Oh well - next time.

Easy 1 mile with Samuel (his leg was hurting him), then another 1/2 mile with Joseph.  Then another 2 miles on my own - average pace of 7:23/mile.  I will get in a few more miles after Lybi gets back from her walk.

Ran another 3.5 miles later in the evening - I felt "in the zone" on this run - I started out close to 7:30 pace for the first 1/2 mile, but just found my legs wanting to really lay down the hammer, so I decided to go with it today.  I don't have my splits but my average pace for the 3.5 mile run was 6:36/mile.  Felt awesome during and after the run.  No soreness, no problems.  I feel like my fitness has been improved right now, given how well I was able to crank this run out.  There is no doubt in my mind that if I were to run another 5K, I would be in the low- to mid-18:00 range, and sub-18:00 is not out of the question.  I think I am going to enter a 5K in the next week or two to see what I can do.  Planning on 7 miles/day for the rest of this week, with a 13 miler on Saturday to put me at 48 miles for the week.

Ran 1.5 miles with Samuel and Sparky - he actually did pretty well - something less than 18:00 by my recollection, which would be under 12:00/mile.  Then ran approx. 0.5 miles with Joseph, although probably a little more.

Got my new cell phone and spent over an hour playing with it and configuring it (it is a Smartphone), then thanks to a timely reminder from my wife, managed to make it out the door for another 4 miles before it was time to go to bed.  29:06 for the 4 miles (sans Garmin), average pace of something like 7:14/mile.

Ran 1.5 easy miles with Samuel, then ran another 0.5 with Joseph, and another 0.25 with Adam.  Went to Webelos Scouts - we are making bulletin boards this week as we are working on their craftsman activity badge - then had Roundtable.  Got home around 9:00 pm, went out for another 5 miles.  Changed the Garmin to autolap every 0.5 miles for a change.  This run ended up being a progressive run as well.  Started out around 7:50 pace, then slowly increased my pace as the run continued.  The final mile was at 6:40 pace.  Total time for the run was 36:07, average pace of 7:13/mile.  I have noticed that I tend to run faster whenever I wear my Tangents - maybe because they are lighter, and maybe because they feel better on my feet.  Even with how light they are, I can tell a difference between them and my Adrenalines, which sadly are probably close to the end of their life.

1.5 easy miles with Sparky at about 8:15 pace, then another 5 miles on my own.  The 5 miles were at 7:36 pace.  My legs felt kind of dead today, not sure if it was because of the shoes or just because of the increased miles.  I am feeling more and more that the shoes need to be retired.

I am so frustrated today!  I had plans to do a 13 mile long run today, was feeling really good, but starting at about mile 4, my knee started acting up (the outside of my knee, right around my IT Band).  I stopped to stretch it out and continued.  I had to stop again after another mile and stretch again, then again at the turnaround point (mile 6.5).  I stretched again at mile 8, and was not feeling very confident of my ability to continue.  I decided to push the next mile, which finished on a corner where there was a gas station.  I made the decision to stop there, because it was really hurting me and felt like my knee might lock up (kind of felt like something was catching).  I called Lybi and had her pick me up.  Darn my knee!  Cardiovascularly, I felt excellent.  The first 8 miles felt easy to me.  They were at 7:31 pace.  Everything else felt good, my form, my legs did not feel dead, just this problem with my knee.  My hip was also getting very tight, so I am fairly sure that the origin of the problem is up there (piriformis, IT Band, gluteus minimus, something like that).  I am going to do some good stretching, and if it feels better this evening, I will do a few more miles with the boys.  Otherwise I am shutting it down until next week.  Hopefully it will feel better on Monday.  I am probably going to go see the chiropractor as well.