Cool Runnings!

PM - 3 miles with Sparky, untimed.  Felt pretty easy, but had a really little niggle in my calf, which I stretched out when I got back with him.  Then another 4 miles by myself, average pace of 8:05/mile.  Glad I was able to keep the pace nice and easy.  The temperature was still in the 80's, but it felt cooler because the wind was blowing, at times gusting fairly good.  I am aiming for 7 miles every day this week, and then 15-18 miles on Saturday to get me back over 50 miles again for the first time in a while.  This will be my last long run before SGM, so I would like to make it count, and not wimp out on it.

AM - 3 easy miles by myself, average pace o f 7:50/mile.  Temperature outside was pretty nice, although I will be even more excited when the temperatures are in the low 60's or 50's when I run.  Another 3 miles with Sparky, decided to time the run with him to see how fast (or slow) I was actually running with him.  Average pace was actually about 8:07/mile - faster than I thought.  It appears I sped up during the course of the run with him, as I had started out with him at about 8:40 pace.  Legs felt good, other than a little bit of tightness around the point of the insertion of my hamstrings in the back of my right knee.  Worked on stretching that area out this morning, and will do some more stretching later this evening, as well as core exercises.

PM - 1.65 miles with Samuel, average pace of 11:30/mile.  His knee was hurting him during the run, so we stretched out his leg, which seemed to help.

AM - 2 easy miles with Sparky, average pace of 8:20/mile.  Felt good, no soreness, just slept in a little bit because I was still pretty tired when I woke up at 5:00 to go for my run.  Tried to work on pulling in my stomach, which seems to help with my form and how easy it feels to run faster.  I really need to work on my abs - I keep meaning to, but forget to do it.

PM - 5 miles in the evening after the boys were in bed and asleep.  Still in the mid-80's outside, but it felt very pleasant.  Warmed up the first mile, 7:44, then started on a 4-mile tempo run at MP.  First two miles were right on target - average pace of 6:52/mile.  Then I found a good rhythm for the second two miles and took off.  Second two miles of the tempo were at an average pace of 6:26/mile - definitely 1/2 MP.  But they felt good.  Legs did not feel tired at all, more effort cardiovascular-wise.  On the last mile, I could tell my breathing was a bit labored, but not real bad - I probably could have kept up that pace for a 1/2 marathon, but definitely not a full marathon (at least not yet, anyways).

PM - 6 total easy miles.  Started out with 4 miles, average pace 7:55/mile.  Felt nice and easy, which is exactly what I wanted it to be after yesterday's tempo run.  Then came inside and put on the aquasocks for another 2 miles, average pace of 8:05/mile.  Would have been a little slower, but I picked it up the last 1/2 mile to see how it would feel.  Probably won't do that again - my feet are telling me now that it wasn't such a great idea.  Not bruised, but complaining a little bit.  I am extremely excited to have found out today that I will be able to start in the last elite corral instead of with the field.  This will have a few big advantages:  1) I don't have to wade through all the masses who were in the very front when they had no business being there and 2) I will be able to start with the group of the FRB'ers who are going to be trying to break 3:00.  I am going to go ahead and put my goals out there right now (again, if I already did):

Gold:  2:55 - I don't think I am capable of any faster right now with my current level of fitness and mileage.  This would be a 20 minute PR from last year.

Silver:  3:00 - To break 3:00 would be awesome, I would be on top of the world.  This would be a 15 minute PR from last year.

Bronze:  3:10 - this would still be PR by 5 minutes, would be the fastest Boston qualifying time (even though at 35, my BQ time goes up to 3:15).

AM - 2 easy miles with Sparky, untimed.  My feel still felt a little bit sore from running on the aquasocks last night - more because of the last 1/2 mile I ran in them.  Looking forward to running another 4 miles this afternoon/evening, nice and easy.  18 miles planned for tomorrow.

PM - 4 more easy miles, average pace of 7:45/mile (I believe).  It was still fairly warm out, but felt pretty good.  The average pace would have been a little slower, but during the first mile of the run, I got chased by a dog (for a very short distance).  Although it didn't really scare me, it did surprise me, and I got a big jolt of adrenaline rushing through my body, which took a while to dissipate.

AM - I did it! 18 miles, and I actually felt pretty good. First 10 miles outside, average pace of 7:55/mile. Then came inside and ran on the treadmill for the last 8 miles, avearage pace of 8:21/mile. Total time of 2:26:00, average pace of 8:07/mile.  Legs are not too sore, but I did feel kind of depleted afterwards (that was the point of doing this run).  No more long runs before St. George - all next week I will be doing 6 miles/day, total of 36 miles, and the following week I will be dropping down to 4 miles/day.