Cool Runnings!

Ran 7 miles on the treadmill this evening.  Did not have the opportunity to run in the morning, as I had to get up super early.  The run felt good, no soreness in my legs.  Started off easy at 8:34 pace, then increased to 8:00 pace.  Decided to make a tempo run of it to spice things up, after 2 miles, increased the pace to 7:30/mile.  Still felt good, I felt like I could have kept the pace for quite a while.  After a mile, increased to about 7:04 pace for one mile, then slowed back down to 7:30 pace for 2 miles, then slowed down for the last mile.  Total time was 54 and change (don't remember the exact time, too lazy to go look at the treadmill).  I am super excited that things are going so well for me and that I continue to remain healthy.

Ran 7 miles this morning outside.  It was warm and humid.  Monsoon season is starting soon, which will make it miserable to run outside, even in the morning.  Tried to keep the pace nice and easy, but I found myself drifting towards 8:00 pace and had to keep correcting myself to slow down.  Total time for the run was 58:39 (I think), average pace was 8:23/mile.  The effort felt harder than the pace, probably due to the heat and humidity.  I think that tomorrow I need to focus on running based on perceived effort instead of focusing on a specific pace.  This may help me to slow down a bit and just take it easy.

Ran 7 miles this evening.  It was still pretty hot - in the upper 90's, and it has been getting more humid here due to monsoon season arriving.  In spite of the weather, I decided to try an experiment on Lybi's words (he he), and consciously focused on a shorter, quicker stride, with a light footstrike.  I also focused on a more compact form today, with my shoulders lower and more relaxed, and my hands down by my hips.  The combination felt very good.  I just wanted to do a nice easy run, but found myself in a groove just over 8:00/mile.  I decided, what the heck, I'll go with it, it feels good.  I decided to put in a MP mile on the third mile, and ended up with a 7:17 - exactly what I would need to run if I decide to do a BQ at St. George (which I am still undecided about).  Slowed back down, hit the next three miles in about 8:12.  Then sped up a bit at the end of the run to bring it in hard, finished in 55:46, average pace of 7:58/mile.  This was one of those runs where everything seemed to click, and my body felt good right from the start.  Hope to have more of these. 

Ran 7 miles in the evening.  Decided to do a test, and ran with my HRM instead of with the Garmin, since I knew the distance of the route.  With the increase in fitness, I was expecting my HR to be much lower than the last time I had measured it.  Surprise - it was actually about the same, although my pace has increased since then.  Total time for the run was 57:53, average pace of 8:16/mile.  Average HR for the run was 163.  This was surprising to me, but then I talked with my wife about it and we agreed that this was probably due to the heat.  It was still about 100 degrees out, which means my body had to work harder.  I may do another HR test in the morning when it is a bit cooler to see what, if any, difference there is in my HR.

AM - ran 5 miles outside.  The weather was a bit cooler, but not much better than last night.  I was up a bit late, so I set my alarm to wake me up a bit later.  Therefore I did not have enough time in the morning to do the whole 7 mile run.  Ran with the Garmin (sorry - HAL) this morning.  Total time for the 5 mile run was around 39:25 (don't have HAL with me to confirm), average pace of 7:53/mile.  This run felt good, although it was a bit hard to find my rhythm.  I kept finding my pace increasing to about 7:30-7:40/mile without intending to, and would have to conciously slow down.  I plan on runnng a couple more miles this evening to get the entire 7 miles in today, then I have a 14-miler scheduled for tomorrow.  I think I will do a nice warmup to the HS track (3.5 miles), then do a 7 mile tempo run on the track, and then a nice easy run back to the house.  I will have to make sure I get up nice and early to avoid the heat.

PM - ran another 2 miles outside.  Knowing this was going to be a short run, my body said "lets get it over with".  Ran both miles at or below MP (factoring in the heat), 1st mile was 7:27, 2nd mile was 6:56 (oops - a bit too fast).  I could tell at the end I was running a bit hard - the breathing was more labored than normal.  Total time was 14:24, average pace of 7:12/mile.  We'll see what I do tomorrow on my long run.

Ran 13 miles this morning.  Got up early (4:00 am), ran to the track (2.71 miles) at a nice, easy pace, about 8:45/mile.  Stretched, drank some gatorade, had a powergel, then started my tempo run.  Ended up only doing 4 MP miles - I think my legs were still feeling the effects of my run last night, and I didn't want to push it too hard.  MP miles were as follows:

Mile 1: 7:44 (just getting into a rhythm)

Mile 2: 7:20

Mile 3: 7:16

Mile 4: 7:18

Took a break, drank some more gatorade, then finished up at a nice easy pace at the track.  Average pace of about 8:25/mile.  Then headed home, still averaging about 8:20/mile or so.  Total time was 1:46:20, average pace of 8:10/mile.  I was shooting for 14 this morning, but my legs and body just said no more.  I will try to get in one more mile later today to hit my goal.