M'kay

LM warmup, 8.4 miles in 1:06:42, 7:57/mi, HR 141 w/ 12 Strides & stretching.

A very wet 8+ miles.  Never really loosened up and had that uncoordinated leg feeling the whole way.  

LM warmup, 8.33 miles in 1:10, 8:25/mi, HR 146 & stretching.

Sunny and warm (67F).  Slogfest.  Unsure why, but legs were lead and stiff, hips were sore, and energy was completely lacking.  Very unsatisfactory. 

25.54 miles in 4:17:47, 10:06/mi, HR 152 & stretching.

Sunny and warm (76F in the shade and the finish).  Ran up into Elbe hills, Memorial Trail East to Upper Elkspur, west to mysterious Diamond trail, turned around and back to Memorial Trail West back home.  Stopped to refill bottles twice at Little Mashell river headwaters....hope they're clean but no choice in the matter because of the heat.  The trails were pretty gnarly....older clearcuts and older forests were okay to rough, but newer clearcuts had logs and residue all over the place.  Trails are in desperate need of some TLC in many spots, so when I return I really need to contact the organization that maintains them to get my trail hours in on them.  Death march return, barely managing 8 minute miles downhill.  Overall about 9 paved miles, 8.5 trail miles, and 8 fire road miles.  I think this might be good prep for the "Trail for Hell" portion of the Cascade Crest 100.  Too bad I'm so beat up after only 25 miles.

Yardwork cross-training all-day warmup.  8.12 miles in 1:03:31, 7:49/mi, HR 150 & stretching.

Warm and muggy (72F).  Poor sleep since the power was out from midnight until about 8 and every little noise kept waking me up.  Spent all day working in the yard, then went for a decent 8 miler.  Now time to finish packing and catch a red-eye to VA.  Good times.

LM warmup, 14.04 miles in 1:51:24, 7:56/mi, HR 150, w/ 20 Strides & stretching.

Hot and humid in VA (85F).  2 total hours sleep on the red-eye so I was very tired.  Went out for 8 but decided running while tired would be good practice for the 100 in August.  The heat and humidity was a bear too. 

LM warmup, 16.12 miles in 2:08:22, 7:58/mi, HR 150 & stretching.

Hot and humid again (87F).  Better rested today but definitely feeling the longer run in my legs from yesterday.  So today I went 2 better.  Now my legs are really tired.  Thank goodness for the water fountain at the pool in the development I ran thru.....at about 11 miles in, my water bottle was empty and I was dehydrated.  Got some water and took a break chatting with the lifeguard on duty.

LM warmup, 8.12 miles in 1:06:55, 8:15/mi, HR 148 & stretching.

Sunny & hot (96F).  A "survive the heat and humidity" run.  I'm actually pretty amazed my pace wasn't slower given the conditions and the fact that my legs are pretty tired.  My only real problem at the moment seems to be some pain in my left foot at the base of the big toe joint.....probably the mileage and the asphalt/concrete around here.  Tomorrow is supposed to be even hotter.  Ugh.

LM warmup, 8.01 miles in 1:09:46, 8:43/mi, HR 147 & stretching.

Scorching hot (97F).  A two water bottle run.  Felt like an oven just stepping outside.  Punted on any form of a hard workout, the initial goal was just to survive for 12 miles.  Even with the slow pace, kept needing to drop to a short walk to catch my breath and cool down.  Went thru the water like it was going out of style.  By 6 miles, started battling some light nausea and knew it was time to pack it in.  8 total. 

LM warmup, 15.04 miles in 1:59:11, 7:56/mi, HR 147, w/ 20 Strides & stretching.

88F & humid.  Cloudy and thunderstorms.  Fortunately, the thunderstorms stayed ringed around my running area but didn't really move over my route.  At times I had to change direction to run away from an encroaching cloud or lightning, but overall the run went well.  Made up for only running 8 of 12 yesterday by running 15 instead of 8 today.   

25.01 trail miles in 3:42:06, 8:53/mi, HR 142 & stretching.

Mostly sunny, hot and humid.  Started run at ~87F and it was 95F at the finish.  Ran mostly on a mix of dirt bike path and single track trails, with a smidgen of pavement in Newport News park.  Fortunately, most of the run had some shade and there was an occasional breeze.  More fortunately, I ran 3 loops total and was able to stop by the car to refill water bottles and rehydrate.  After the first loop, I stopped in the camp store to buy some bug spray so I wouldn't be eaten alive again.....forgot how nasty the bugs and mosquitoes could be around water in VA.  Was feeling pretty tired for today's run and was really ready to pack it in by about the 10 mile mark so I'm very pleased that I persevered for 25 total, pushing my 2 day total to 40 and my weekly total over 90.  I did go down once, tripping on a root....a nice tuck and roll recovery.  

I'm pretty certain this is the biggest standard mileage week ever, and while the elevation was negligible the heat and humidity was not.  Going to try to get some mid-range mileage tomorrow too, so I can go into the work week with some miles in the bank.

LM warmup, 16.13 miles in 2:21:29, 8:46/mi, HR 142 & stretching.

Sunny and blazing hot.  Started at 87F and crawled back inside at 93F (105F heat index), out of water and completely zapped.  Finished the last 4 miles on the treadmill in blissful 70F air conditioned comfort.  Much worse today as there was little shade and I was running on asphalt or concrete for most of the 12 outdoor miles.  That makes 57+ (slow) miles in 3 days.  I think tomorrow will be at easy day.  Fortunately, the weather is supposed to cool a bit and I only have to survive 4 more runs before I get back home.

LM warmup, 8.43 miles in 1:06:57, 7:57/mi, HR 142 & stretching.

Cooler (78F).  Welcome relief from the heat.  A second run in the MT 101......really like these shoes, but 8 miles is about all my feet can take currently, and that was running on mostly grass/dirt and avoiding pavement/concrete.  Legs felt surprisingly good after 57+ miles over the past 3 days.  Managed to sneak under the 8 min/mi pace by the end. 

LM warmup, 16.05 miles in 2:06:32, 7:53/mi, HR 145 w/ 8 Strides, 8 x 1 min Fartleks, 8 x 30 sec Fartleks.  Stretching afterwards.

Sunny 78F.  A mid-long run.  Starting at mile 3, ran strides every half mile for 4 miles.  Then alternated 1 min/30 sec fartleks every half mile for the next 8 miles.  Then limped the last 2 miles back to the hotel for a cooldown.  Legs feel pretty cooked. 

8.03 miles in 1:05:40, 8:11/mi, HR 140 & stretching.

Sunny (80F).  Still having trouble getting out of first gear.  First 2 miles were 8:30s, next 2 8:20s, last four finally into the 7:45-8:05 range.  Can't seem to stride out, like all the muscles are tense even when not in the active stage of a stride.  I'll try to stretch some more later tonight. 

LM warmup, 2.75 miles in 24:15, 8:50/mi, HR 138.

Today the mileage and workload hit.  Couldn't get out of the 8:30s for the first mile and by the second had slowed to the 9s.  Just plain tired.  Okay, time to get some rest, fly home tomorrow, and absorb the recent training instead of pushing my luck. 

Up early to fly back home today.  Felt like crap by the time I got back home....tired with a travel headache, so even though the weather was beautiful, I took a nap instead of going for a run.

LM warmup, 16.54 miles in 2:23:02, 8:39/mi, HR 142 & stretching.

Traded heat, humidity, and no elevation change for cold, wet, and lots of elevation change.  Managed a semi-long run and 1500+' of climbing before I started getting too cold. The climbing and descending muscles atrophied from the 2 weeks in flat VA.

8.09 miles in 1:05:37, 8:07/mi, HR 144 & stretching.

Cardio fitness is fine.  Muscular fitness is lacking.  At least I think that's my conclusion, since my legs were tired holding an 8+ pace while my HR and respiration rate were low.  When I finally convinced my legs to "go", it was in the low 7s range, my HR and respiration were still down and my legs were working.   

LM warmup, 12.06 miles in 1:35:38, 7:56/mi  HR 155, w/ 3 mile warmup, 2 x Drills, 6 x Strides, 18 x 1 min repeats every 1/2 mile over 9 miles & stretching.

65F.  A real butt kicker today.  Tackling my perceived neuromuscular deficiency and hip tightness with some additional stretching throughout the day and the reintroduction of drills, more strides, and shorter, faster speedwork that focuses on full strides instead of turnover (which I seem to have plenty of).  Legs were already tired after the warmup, the drills/strides helped loosen them up some, then the 1 min repeats really worked them hard.  Its been quite a while since I worked my legs this hard on a workout.  The 1 min repeats didn't really tax me cardiovascularly.....I was breathing hard but in control.....but my legs got tired and I didn't let them slack off any.  I'm sure I'll feel this one in the morning.

LM warmup, 8.04 miles in 1:07:20, 8:22/mi, HR 144, & stretching.

75F & sunny.  Not sure what to make of this run, so I won't make too much of it. Typical first couple of miles where the legs were tight and uncoordinated.  Then they seemed to loosen up some but were very very tired.  Tiredness persisted through the run, but I did manage a decent closing mile given the downhill trend.  Whatever.

LM warmup, 4.54 miles in 37:58, 8:22/mi, HR 138, 2 x Drills, 6 x Strides & stretching.

62F & humid.  Legs felt tired pretty quickly again, along with the uncoordinated muscle contractions.  Managed to get a set of strides/drills in, but when I launched into the Steady State portion, I (barely) managed a mile before I was through.  Legs are just toasted.  Maybe I need a couple of decent days off where I only stretch and do core work.

Trip to the chiro today.  Leg hip was rotated a bit, so perhaps the adjustment helped.

LM warmup, 8.22 miles in 1:04:39, 7:52/mi, HR 152, w/ last 3 miles moderate, stretching and core work.

Cooler  & cloudy (61F).  The rest day helped some but still 1/2 mile into the run the left leg/hip uncoordination returned.  The hip flex muscles felt weak and seemed to be straining at a 8:45/mi pace.  The adductor muscle was tight....feet kept hitting the opposite (planted) leg on its way back to take a stride.  And my left leg strides didn't seem to have any power.  Muddled through that for a couple of miles, stopping to stretch a couple of times.  It got a bit better around the 4 mile mark and by about 5 miles felt pretty good, so I started pushing a bit.  Last 2 miles downhill were in the mid-upper six minute range so I have some good turnover and strides going.  Seems like once I finally warmed up and shook everything loose, things were decent.

So, focus on stretching, hip and core work, especially the left, and see what happens. 

LM warmup, 24.46 miles in 3:45:11, 9:12/mi, HR 141 & stretching.

Sunny and warm (68F).  Late day run today after spending the morning cleaning carpets.  First 3 miles was out and back to the bathroom, then up Scott Turner into the Elbe Hills for some trails.  The forest road got regraded and some quarry spalls spread......so instead of fairly compact roadway, I was dealing with large loose rocks.  Not so much fun.  Discovered a new trail today....Looking to intersect Memorial East instead I found Snoey.  Snoey to John R. (?) to Anvil Loop to Upper Elkspur to Memorial East and back home.  Ran into the guy who spends all his weekends maintaining the trails, so I stopped and chatted with him for quite a while getting the scoop on the trails, got a map, and got a phone number so I can report trees blocking the trails.  He likes maintaining them, but often has difficulty finding the blowdowns......sounds like the perfect job is for me to report the ones I find while out running.  Almost like its not work at all....

Legs pretty spent after today's effort. 

Spent the day doing trail work on the West Boundary Trail inside Mt. Rainier to fulfill my volunteer trail work requirement for Cascade Crest 100.  Aside from the hike into and out from the work site, most of the work was strength training, not cardio.  

LM warmup, 8 miles in 1:09:08, 8:38/mi & stretching.

Left leg/hip still getting tight after about 1/4 mile.  Didn't really loosen up until about mile 6 today, even with stopping to stretch for the first few miles periodically.  Stretching would help for about 100 meters, then the tightness would return.   I guess the good news is that I can still run and things loosen up eventually, but eventually seems to get farther and farther by the day.  I think I need to reboot my leg.

LM warmup, 12.09 miles in 1:36:15, 7:58/mi, HR 152, w/ 3+ mi warmup, 10 x 1/4 mile hill sprints with walk/jog down recoveries, and 3+ mile cooldown.  Post run-stretching.

Cool (68F) and humid.  Stretching and rolling helped last night.....still got tight around the 1/2 mile mark but managed to keep the warmup (uphill) miles under a 9 min/mi pace.  Stopped to stretch a few times and things were definitely better but also definitely not fixed.  Actually, it seemed like my hip flexors and adductors were quickly tired, which seemed to cause the other muscles to start contracting when they shouldn't normally, so maybe this is also muscle weakness and others are compensating.  Likely a mix of both.

Hill sprints went pretty well.  The first 3 were slower....1:38-1:40.  Next was 1:33, but the last 6 were all 1:29-1:31, so I managed to knock some rust off and get some good work in.  The wheels really felt like they came off for the last 2, but the numbers showed consistent times.  The cooldown was a bit of a death march.  On one hand, my legs were shot.  On the other hand, I wanted to get my overall pace beneath the 8 min/mi mark, so the closing miles were all in the low 7s, which was really tough.  No left hip/leg tightness during that stretch, so evidently its just a warmup thing.

LM warmup, 8.07 miles in 1:07:48, 8:24/mi, HR 146, 10 x 12 sec Hill Sprints & stretching.

Rainy (61F).  Left leg/hip got tight and tired again at 1/2 mile mark, more tired than tight.  Labored through that for the next few miles and it got marginally better, but the tired hip flexor/adductor persisted and the pace showed.

Time to add hill sprints back into the mix.  Boy, were they miserably slow.  Okay, I definitely have a muscular fitness issue I need to fix.