Cool Runnings!

Well, I was shooting for 7 miles today to start off the week.  Was bothered almost the entire run by severe intestinal cramps (that led to you-know-what, but thankfully not until the end of my run).  The pace felt good, but the cramps forced me to change my running form to be a bit more compact.  Warmed up for a mile in 8:20, then ran a couple miles at about 8:05 pace.  Picked up the tempo a bit more, ran the 4th mile in 7:31 (MP).  Slowed down, decided to cut the run a bit short due to the GI issues.  During the last mile, my left calf (soleus) was complaining a little bit, not much - just a few twinges - but enough to make me glad I was cutting the run short.  Finished the run at the corner gas station about 1/4 mile from our house - just in time.  Walked back home and then stretched out my calves before going inside.  Average pace for the run was 8:08/mile.  I am not sure what caused the GI distress, although it may have been the change in sports drink.  I have been drinking Gatorade Rain, which I really like for the taste and how easy it is on my stomach.  Last nght I had a few gulps of powerade, and I drank more this morning before my run, then finished off the bottle afterwards (32 oz bottle).  It would seem that my stomach and GI tract do not like all the dyes in the powerade I drank.  I honestly can't think of anything else, as I was fasting yesterday, an we made our standard Sunday dinner of 1/2 white, 1/2 wheat pancakes and eggs, plus I had some milk.  I'll see how I feel tomorrow and will make sure to take it easy on my run - no pickups, just nice easy pace.  If I feel better tomorrow, I will get an extra 1/2 mile in on Wednesday.

Felt MUCH better this morning.  When I talked with my wife yesterday, others in our famiyl were experiencing the same issues, so maybe it wasn't the powerade - but I still like the taste of Gatorade Rain better.  7 easy miles this morning, fastest mile was 8:23, average pace was 8:29/mile. Don't have the total time right now but will get that when I get home from work.  All in all, very nice run.  Legs felt good, stomach felt good, weather was warm but not too warm - low 80's - that's pretty good for July weather in Arizona.  Feeling good about my training again, will plan on 7.5 tomorrow.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Ran 7.5 miles this morning.  Woke up a little later than normal, since I didn't have to go to work today, again no pickups or tempos in the middle of the run - just wanted to take it easy again.  Average pace of 8:18/mile, little faster than yesterday, but it felt good.  Fastest mile was 8:13, slowest mile was 8:26 (running into a headwind).  To me that is a pretty consistent pace.  I'm grateful to still be healthy, and feel like everything I'm doing is still helping me to prepare for St. George and beyond.  About the only thing I still need to do is to work on improving my diet a bit more. 

Ran 7.0 miles on the treadmill this evening.  Did not get to bed early enough last night, so I decided to sleep in rather than go through the day sleep deprived.  Warmed up at 7 mph, then did 1.5 miles at 7.5 mph.  Was feeling good, decided to do a little tempo to break things up.  Ran the next 3 miles at 8 mph.  Felt good, definitely could have kept on going at this pace.  Slowed back to 7.5 mph for 1.75 miles, then cooled down the last .25 miles at 7 mph.  Treadmill was at 1.0 incline the entire run.  Total time for the run was 54:57, average pace for the run was 7:51/mile.  I will have to see how I feel tomorrow - my plan is to run in the morning, as my evening is pretty full.

Ran 6.0 miles this morning - decided to cut the run short as I was pressed for time and because I had run yesterday evening at about 8:00.  Took a litte while to get going and find my rhythm, but was able to maintain a pretty steady pace.  Total time was 49:57, average pace of 8:19/mile.  Looking forward to my long run tomorrow morning.

Ran 8 miles in the morning in Los Lunas, NM. The run felt pretty good. Nothing remarkable, although I did run to music this morning just to make the run more enjoyable. I gotta get me a shuffle (or shuffle clone). The last 1/2 mile of the run was up a major hill. Pushed it up the hill, this was the only time during the run when I started breathing harder. Got back to our hotel and met up with Libby to run another 3 easy miles. It was quite enjoyable to run with her, we got to talk, and it made the miles go by pretty fast. Not to mention the enjoyable company . . . :)

Total time for the 8 mile run was 1:06:58, average pace of 8:19/mile. Perhaps a bit faster than I had planned on, but I guess the important thing was that it felt good.

Total time for the 3 mile run was 32:54, average pace of 10:59/mile. Nice and easy, very comfortable conversational pace.

I am excited that I was able to get to up to 45 miles for the week this week.  The plan is to do 7 miles during the week next week, and then run a 14-15 miler on Saturday to get me at 49-50 miles for next week.  It is pretty amazing to see the miles finally getting up there for me.  And the most exciting thing for me is that I still feel great, no injuries.  Woohoo!