M'kay

Started with 3 miles Easy in 24:18 (8:06/mi, avg HR 148) as a warmup. Warmed up by running the 5k route as a recon, since I've never run a race in this neck of the woods before, and there were more than a couple turns. Fortunately, the course was well marked, and mostly flat, except for the initial climb from the start on a track. Out and back course.

Crowded field for the start (many more folks than I'd anticipated, plus a combined 5k/5mile start) but me a few seconds off the starting line. At 9am, we were off. It took about .25 miles to get up to speed due to the crowds, but eventually I got into a good rhythm. Pace was actually on the fast side initially, but felt pretty relaxed and easy (which I knew wouldn't last). My left foot and leg were still giving me some problems, so I vowed to ease off if they got any worse than troublesome, but they didn't. Started reeling several other runners in almost immediately.

Mile 2 still felt pretty easy. Breathing rhythm was still at 3-3 (although a fast 3-3), which was surprising, since my legs felt like they were pretty much at max speed without losing form rapidly. So I kept that pace knowing the O2 debt would come. At the Mile 2 marker, I was finally starting to feel it.....the breathing dropped down to 2-2 and I struggled to keep my breathing relatively deep in the belly and to stay on pace, but I tried to steer away from looking at my watch (garmin) often, running rather on effort I felt was sustainable. I was still reeling some folks in, but far fewer now. I did try to strategize a bit here......when I did pass someone, I added a little extra for a few seconds to make them "stay passed", and it seemed to work. I had one guy try to keep up when I went by him, but the extra speed I added briefly quickly dropped him, which felt good. No .1 marker, but the end of the race was the downhill followed by a half track lap. The downhill which I normally eat up was tough, and I could tell the pace had taken it's toll on my legs. I did manage a bit of extra speed for the final bit of the race, but nothing resembling a sprint....seemed like my legs had locked in at max speed and that was it. Crossed the line at 19:05 (unofficial....times to be posted in the next couple of days) feeling pretty spent, but strangely not quite as "wasted" as my only other 5k.

Interestingly, in this 5k, my leg speed appeared to be the limiting factor. Granted, I was chewing up O2 in the last mile, but in my last 5k, I was in a 2-2 breathing pattern by mile 1, where this race my 3-3 lasted until mile 2. Since I'm in a base phase now and have done no real speedwork recently, perhaps that's why my top-end was the limiting factor? I certainly didn't feel like I was in "puke gear" at the end, unlike my last 5k. In any event, a good way to kickoff '08, with a 16th place overall, 13th in the mens category, and 3rd in my age group. I later found out that the race was stacked in the 40-60 age groups, so my AG finish is a bit less impressive (3 of 12) and many ran the 5 mile race, but still I managed to drop my 5K PR by over 1 minute. All in all, a happy new years.

Of course, that's excluding my car saga. My 10 year old Saab decided that I wasn't authorized to drive it. Rather, my remote unlocker decided to stop working. Unfortunately, I'd armed the alarm, so while I could unlock the door with the key, the alarm would sound. On top of that, my wallet, money, and more importantly, cell phone were all in the car. So I waited until the least amount of folks were around, and set it off to retrieve my cell and call my wife for help (whom I'd thankfully *not* drug along with me to the race but instead let sleep in). Needless to say, it was embarrasing. Later, after some chow and the awards ceremony, I discovered my car remote decided to start working again, so I managed to get my rescuer to turn around 30 minutes into her trip to save me. Guess it's at least time for a new remote!

5K Race in 19:05 (6:09/mi, avg HR 177). Splits according to Garmin (3.17 mi total) 6:04, 5:59, 6:04, :56.

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 135 miles.

Off day.

2 miles Easy in 15:59 (7:59/mi, avg HR 159) warmup.
6.5 miles Steady State (2.5 up, 2.5 down, 1.25 up, 1.25 down) in 45:28 (6:59/mi, avg HR 178) with splits: 6:54, 7:34, 7:11, 6:28, 6:37, 7:17, 3:21

Decided to take yesterday completely off in order to rest after Tuesday's race and to celebrate my (step) daughter's 20th birthday, which we did by going to the Point Defiance Aquarium and Zoo. I guess it wasn't completely off, since we did quite a bit of walking, which I normally don't do having a desk (computer) job. As it turned out, I was completely wiped out and wound up taking a 1.5 hr nap once we got home (passed out is more like it), in time to get up, eat, watch a bit of football, and go back to bed. All in all, a good day.

Unfortunately, that didn't presage a good workout today. Supposed to be a 10 mile Steady State workout today, but things went south quickly. I went out a bit fast in my warmup, trying out my new pace ranges and overdoing it a bit. Today's temps hit 50 today, quite a bit warmer than normal. Once I started the Steady State portion, I could immediately tell the effort was substantially harder than it should've been. I'd decided on a 2-loop out and back course, in order to break up the uphill and downhill portions a bit more than my usual 5 uphill out, 5 downhill back. Some uphill headwinds during mile 2 made it especially hard to stay anywhere near my pace and I struggled mightily while my HR soared to near my max. I could also feel my leg muscles start the familiar burn and knew this wasn't going to be sustainable. I tried to focus and eliminate the bad thoughts, and decided to mentally focus on getting to the 2.5 mile mark, where I knew the turn-around and downhill section would be a mental boost. I managed to make it there, and quickly discovered the downhill stretch wasn't all that much easier, confirming my suspicion that today's run was not going well. To make this long story shorter, I did make the halfway point, and continued onto the second loop, only to be reduced to a short walk at around 5.5 miles, so I decided to turn around and pack it in shortly after that point to finish off a total of 6.5 SS miles, slightly slower than my new SS range (but still within the tolerance of my previous range).

I'm going to speculate that this is simply a case of too much too soon. With the race, walking around yesterday, winds, warmer temps, etc. I obviously wasn't recovered enough to properly execute this workout. Instead of giving into the "end of the world" feeling I've got right now, I'm going to chalk it up to learning, try to avoid as much of the inevitable muscle soreness I *know* I'm going to have following today, and to try to get back on track for Saturday's Progression Run.

6.5 miles Easy in 52:10 (8:01/mi, avg HR 157).

Bad math on my part extended this 50 minute run to 52 minutes. A bit worn down from yesterday's fiasco, but not as bad as I'd feared. I'm in a house full of sicko's, so I'm desperate to ward off whatever it is they're passing around. Will get some good sleep tonite for tomorrow's progression run.

Brooks Trance - 285.5 miles.

90 minute Thirds Progression run (11.46 mi, 7:51/mi avg pace, avg HR 145). First third 3.41 mi (8:48/mi avg pace), second third 3.77 (7:57/mi avg pace, avg HR 150), last third 4.28 mi (7:00/mi avg pace, avg HR 169).

Ran three out and back segments (uphill outbound, downhill return) with gradually increasing pace throughout each. Aimed for recovery pace first third, easy pace second third, and marathon/threshold pace final third. Felt like I nailed it. Started coming down with the same sore throat everyone else in the household has had last night, so I pushed the fluids last evening and this morning, so it didn't affect me during the run. Plus, got some extra sleep last night.

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 146.46 miles.

6 miles Easy in 47:52 (7:58/mi, avg HR 156).

Definitely caught the cold being passed around the house, but the extra sleep and hydration helped keep it's effects relatively minor. Nice and easy today, especially with the additional snow overnight making the roads a bit slick.  Got back to core exercises & stretching afterwards.

Brooks Trance - 291.5 miles.

7 miles Easy in 55:27 (7:55/mi, avg HR 155).

Overnight snow, so the roads were messy and slippery.  Still managed a decent easy run pace.  Trip to the chiro this morning went well....much improved over initial visit.  Still some nagging pain in left hip/hamstring area when running.  Lessens after time and not enough to affect gait.  Perhaps residual from chiro adjustments (corrections)?  Perhaps muscles straining to correct splay feet while running (I noticed I correct more when running, less when walking)?  Light core exercises and stretching after run.

Brooks Trance - 298.5 miles.

13 miles Medium-Long in 1:43:49 (7:59/mi, avg HR 158).

Despite dire predictions of additional snow, temps around 40 managed to melt most of the snow and slush on the road and I was back to running in the rain. Felt tired this morning; a bit zonked by my cold that's lingering. Felt uncoordinated and clompy during the run, but managed to keep effort medium and trudge through. Left bunion bugging me after 11 miles, so perhaps a revisit to the podiatrist is called for, although not sure what else he can do. Already starting to wonder about Thursday's Steady State.

Brooks Adrenaline (Blue) - 414.5 miles.

7 miles Easy in 59:13 (8:27/mi, avg HR 148).

Legs felt worn out and still a bit tired from the cold that's lingering, so I kept the pace very easy today.  Fortunately, the snow has almost completely melted off the roadway, and today I was spared from the rain and only encountered a bit of winds.  Core exercises and stretching followed the run.

Brooks Trance - 305.5 miles.

2 miles Recovery in 17:03 (8:31/mi, avg HR 144) warmup. 10 miles Steady State in 1:09:38 (6:57/mi, avg HR 175) with splits: 6:37 (down), 7:10 (up), 7:18 (up), 7:24 (up), 7:29 (up), 7:26 (up), 6:29 (down), 6:29 (down), 6:34 (down), 6:37 (down). 2 miles Recovery in 17:38 (8:49/mi, avg HR 146).

Kept pace very easy in warmup, just enough to get legs moving and muscles warmed up. Brief pit-stop following warmup miles. Began SS run on a downhill mile for a change. which helped get into the groove without going out too fast. Weather turned downright foul at mile 3 with a drenching cold rain complete with headwinds. Headwinds faded after about a mile, but the rain continued for another 5. Still, despite the conditions, felt pretty good and managed to stick with the pace. Legs started to turn around mile 7 and by the time I hit the last mile, they were jello. Managed to complete the run 1 second slower than slow end of my Steady State range, but given the conditions, the cold I'm still fighting, and the hilly course, I felt like it was probably a solid SS effort throughout. Plus, my first 10 mile SS run. Finished off with a recovery effort (which was about all I had left) 2 mile cooldown.

Analyzing my splits themselves doesn't say much, but since it's an out and back course, the uphill and downhill miles pair up. I averaged the pace for mile pairs to get the results below:

• miles 1/2         6:53.5/mi
• miles 3/10       6:57.5/mi
• miles 4/9         6:55/mi
• miles 5/8         6:59/mi
• miles 6/7         6:57.5/mi

So aside from being a tad aggressive the first two miles, which is the flattest part of the course by far, I'd say the effort was pretty darn even. The run was hard, but one I'm sure will pay off. Plus, I shouldn't have any trouble sleeping tonight!

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 160.5 miles.

6 miles Easy in 47:29 (7:55/mi, avg HR 153).

Predictions of good sleep last night did *not* pan out.....I often find that after hard workouts, it's difficult for me to sleep soundly.  It's been a fairly consistent phenomena, but I'm not sure what's behind it.  In any event, it certainly happened again last night, when I found it tough to get to sleep, and then to stay asleep.

I also managed to lose ground to the cold I'm fighting.  I'm sure the effort put forth yesterday did me in, but the good news is that the ground I've lost, while present, is minor and didn't really affect me too much today.  Feels like I should have gotten rid of this thing completely in a couple of days.

Which made it surprising that I felt good on today's run.  Perhaps another lesson I re-learned today helped....start slow (something I understand the Kenyan runners do consistently as well).  I seem to have much better runs when I start out at Recovery pace and gradually warm-up into my scheduled pace for the day.  Some days it only takes 1/2 a mile, others 2 or 3.  Today, it was about 1 and I was feeling good, effort light, but speed well inside the Easy zone, something that's been tough for me lately.  So even with a mile in the Recovery pace zone, my average pace was in the middle of my Easy range, and the effort was easy throughout.  I need to remember this for all my runs in the future, and I'm sure things will go much more smoothly.

Speaking of smoothly, my form felt much more fluid today.  Not exactly prime, but much better than it's been the last week or two.  My chiro visit early this morning revealed significant progress over the past week alone, which may contribute to getting me back on track.  Whatever the case, I'm hopeful it'll stay this way.

Finished up with some core exercises and stretching.

Brooks Trance - 311.5 miles.

20 miles Long in 2:41:10 (8:03/mi, avg HR 152).

A wonderful nice and easy long run.  Temps in the mid-40s, clouds, and intermittent light rain made for ideal conditions.  Originally intended on running 18 miles today, but felt so good thru 18 that I decided to tack on an extra 2 to make myself work for it.  Leg muscles started to tire at 16, form started to break down at 18, but overall effort light and easy for the results.  I'll take runs like this any day of the week.

1st half in 1:25:55 (8:35.5/mi avg, HR avg 146), 2nd half in 1:15:15 (7:31.5, HR avg 158), so a nice negative split as well.

Brooks Adrenaline (Blue) - 434.5 miles.

6 miles Easy in 49:22 (8:13/mi, avg HR 145).

A bit sluggish today.  Yesterday evening was Dianna's end-of-year WA State Hunter/Jumper Equestrian Awards banquet, so we wound up departing mid-day for the 2 hour drive there, attended the banquet for the evening, then drove back home.  Unfortunately, the sandwich and the 2 slices of pizza I had before I left, coupled with the appetizers and salmon dinner was not enough food to recover from yesterday's long run.  I've no one to blame but myself, since I knew this would be an issue. 

Dianna won 4 championships and 2 3rd place finishes in the 6 state divisions where she was competitive, so I'd say she did pretty darned well (again).  I think she secretly enjoys the recognition as I know she's the hardest working rider at her barn, despite protesting that she really doesn't care so much about the awards.  Definitely her evening and I think she enjoyed it.

I also wound up having a few beers throughout the evening, which I rarely do anymore, so after getting to bed until after my normal bedtime and waking up to a (rare) sunny day, I was *not* feeling it today.  But the warm, dry, sunny day made me think better about skipping it, and I managed a slowish easy run and felt better afterwards (probably the sandwich I ate afterwards too)!

Brooks Trance - 317.5 miles.

7 miles Easy in 56:22 (8:03/mi, avg HR 152).

Effort felt a bit higher than it should have and had an overall uncoordinated feel to the run, but good nonetheless.  Faced some headwinds uphill that probably contributed to the effort.  Still getting occasional twinges from hamstring/glutes....feels like a stabilizing muscle towards the outer/back part of the left leg.  Some substantial core exercises and stretching afterwards. 

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 167.5 miles.

2 miles Easy in 16:20 (8:10/mi, avg HR 141) warmup. 2 miles Strides in 15:33 (10 x :15 sec Stride, 1:00 rest, cooldown to 2 miles, 7:46/mi, avg HR 157). 2 miles Easy in 15:34 (7:47/mi, avg HR 152).

Icy roads without the courtesy of a snowy shoulder made today's workout especially difficult. Limited top-end on the Strides due to sciatic pain in left piriformis area at higher (mile race pace) speeds, but tough to even get there with the ice. Good cooldown run at a faster pace than normal with lower effort....legs just wanted to go.

Adding a few piriformis stretches to the routine. Finally isolated the pain area yesterday in a stretch, so it seems like I've got the classic signs of a tight piriformis muscle on the left side. Stretches seem to have aggravated it today, which means I'm in the right area at least. I'll go a bit gentler on the stretches, add some icing and massage in and hopefully resolve this issue shortly. Thankfully, this week is a recovery week with lower mileage, although it doesn't seem to bug me at 10k + speeds.

Brooks Adrenaline (Blue) - 440.5 miles.

7 miles Easy in 55:45 (7:58/mi, avg HR 153).

Nice and easy today.  Near freezing temps made the run slick at best and traction was an issue in several spots.  Road in sun == good.  Road in shade == bad.  

My piriformis stretching has evidently aggravated it, but not bad enough to terminate the run.  Despite some moderate discomfort early on, after a few miles things loosened up enough to fade to just minor.  I'll keep a close eye on things, but hope that a lower-mileage week and stretching will help resolve this issue. 

Brooks Trance - 324.5 miles.

2 miles Easy in 16:46 (8:23/mi, avg HR 146) warmup.  10 miles Steady State in 1:09:52 (6:59/mi, avg HR 174) with splits: 7:23(up), 7:17(up), 6:58(up/down), 7:19(up), 7:27(up), 6:54(flat), 6:37(down), 6:31(down), 6:38(down), 6:43(down).  2 miles Easy in 16:48 (8:24/mi, avg HR 147) cooldown.

A pleasant day (finally) for my SS run.  Sunshine, 35 deg temps, and what little headwind there was occurred on the downhill for once.  I tried to keep the pace a bit lighter than last week, but I must be a slave to the watch since my overall pace was only 2 seconds slower.  Effort felt a bit easier, but I still wound up starting to lose form around the 8 mile mark, and by 9 was working pretty hard.  A not-so-brief pit stop after the SS before the cooldown meant I was a bit cold and stiff already during the cooldown run, but I managed to warm back up and get the muscles loose for stretching.

Virtually no leg/glutes pain, so it appears moderating the new stretch and doing it several times a day appears to be working.  Keeping my fingers crossed.

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 181.5 miles.

6 miles Easy in 46:33 (7:45/mi, avg HR 154).

Started off feeling tired and sore from yesterday. Once I got warmed up, I noticed I seemed to be going a bit faster than normal, so I decided to avoid watch monitoring and just run easy. Stride rate was a bit slower today too, so perhaps that allowed me to stretch out a bit more than normal. In any event, a good 15 seconds faster than my normal Easy pace while at an easy effort marked a good day. So did the sunshine, scant road ice, and calm winds. Marred only by the fact that my nemesis dog was on the loose today, so I wound up calling Animal Control once again, who advised me to take pictures.....I guess I can take pics over my shoulder as I'm getting out of dodge!

Core exercises and stretching afterwards.

Brooks Trance - 330.5 miles.

18 miles Long Run in 2:22:43 (7:55/mi, avg HR 151).

A hilly long run today.  Ran portions on some logging roads in the area, with plenty of ups and downs, such that by mile 13 my legs were feeling more worn out that they were at mile 18 last week.  Decided to avoid clock watching again, and went by feel, which meant that my early pace was somewhat more aggressive than normal, making it a bit harder to hold when my legs started straining.  Still, it was pleasant, with some mild rain ensuring the roads were wet, not icy; an elk herd encounter where I had them running alongside for a good 500 m or so before they decided to cross the trail ahead of me (a brief pause on my part to let them and not get trampled); and exploring some countryside I hadn't seen recently, including the back half of our property on the other side of the little river that runs through our property.  All in all, a good running day.

Brooks Adrenaline (Blue) - 458.5 miles.

6 miles Easy in 49.08 (8:11/mi, avg HR 150).

Lousy sleep last night; felt stiff and sore today.  Slow pace for first 1.5 miles until I got loosened up and settled into normal pace for the effort.  Some new snow overnight means slush on the road, which should freeze nicely come tomorrow when the temps drop below freezing.  Sigh... 

Brooks Trance - 336.5 miles.

7 miles Easy in 55:36 (7:56/mi, avg HR 155). Run interruped by .01 ice skating a couple of times, otherwise nice run.

13 miles Easy in 1:43:16 (7:56/mi, avg HR 154).

Ran early today since our internet was out since yesterday, then the power went out this morning, so unable to work.  Felt tired, legs especially.  Later miles legs felt very tired, but managed.  Startled from a loud screeching sound at miles 11.5, which I came to discover was a decrepit van towing a more decrepit trailer which had somehow spilled some of its load and come off it's rear axle.  Ouch.  Helped the driver put the camper shell he'd been dragging back on, but he refused other help, so I finished the run, in time to get back to more lack of power.  Finally back online this afternoon!

Brooks Adrenaline (Blue) - 471.5 miles.

7 miles Easy in 55.28 (7:56/mi, avg HR 149).

Felt pretty easy today; not much leg fatigue. Overall, easy runs seem to be getting easier for the pace.  Followed with core exercises.

Decided to try the Virtual Training Partner functionality of my Garmin Forerunner 305. Immediately decided it was a bad idea to do on an Easy Run day, when I should be running by feel rather than trying to match a previous performance, but thankfully I felt good today and was shortly ahead of my virtual partner, allowing me to ignore those competitive urges. Neat function, but I can't think of many time I should be using it instead of just running by feel.....perhaps some harder workouts? Something to think about, I guess.

2 miles Easy in 16:38 (8:19/mi, avg HR 142) warmup. 10 miles Steady State in 1:09:14 (6:55/mi, avg HR 171) with splits: 7:02(up), 7:13(up), 6:56(up/down), 6:33(down), 6:42(down), 7:13(up), 7:19(up), 6:58(up/down), 6:39(down), 6:35(down). 2 miles Easy in 16:26 (8:13/mi, avg HR 150) cooldown.

Decided on an out-and-back course, 2.5 miles uphill, 2.5 miles downhill, times 2, for the Steady State portion. This was partially to avoid the more icy sections of the road, but it's also about time for me to get over my trepidation of loop-style courses. There is something about loops that is difficult for me mentally, so better start dealing with this in practice.

Today's effort seemed much more reasonable for the pace and distance. Kept a good 3-3 breathing rhythm for all of the 1st half, and only found myself in a 2-2 for steeper uphill sections of the 2nd half. My first half split was 34:29 and my second half was 34:45, so I slowed a bit but not horribly. Plus, my legs were *not* complete jello by the end of the run, a bonus. Unfortunately, my streak of needing a restroom (desperately) at the end of the SS portion continues, and the last mile of the SS was a bit uncomfortable due to some gastro-distress. All in all, a good run for a workout I tend to find harder than most.

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 202.5 miles.

6 miles Easy in 47.14 (7:52/mi, avg HR 154).

Run was very needed after a confounding problem at work, so pace was probably a bit more aggressive than normal, but effort felt the same.  Nothing else special.

Brooks Trance - 349.5 miles.

90 minute Thirds Progression run (11.62 mi, 7:44/mi avg pace, avg HR 155). First third 3.53 mi (8:30/mi avg pace), second third 3.83 (7:49/mi avg pace, avg HR 153), last third 4.26 mi (7:02/mi avg pace, avg HR 169), followed by 2 Miles Easy cooldown in 15:41 (7:51/mi avg pace, avg HR 156).

Ran three out and back segments (uphill outbound, downhill return) with gradually increasing pace throughout each.  I thought the return of rain would bring wetter but better traction but instead I encountered slippery conditions throughout.  I'm sure pace would been better on the second and last third without having to deal with treacherous footing, but it was what it was.  Overall, felt like a great run, and finished feeling like form was fantastic and I could kept going.  Decided to cool down with an easy 2 miles after the progression run was done.  Both progression runs so far have been workouts where I've felt great and have been real confidence boosters, although I do feel a bit guilty about the mileage not being high enough on long run day. 

Brooks Adrenaline (Blue) - 485 miles.

6 miles Easy in 47.54 (7:59/mi, avg HR 152).

Started out very sluggish today...slower than normal on uphill half. Ice covered by a dusting of snow, so at least traction was better than yesterday.  Once downhills hit, regained normal energy in legs and actually went a bit harder to push average pace back in to normal range. Core exercises and stretching afterwards. Focused on stretching as left leg again troublesome overnight, probably due to sitting in car for a few hours yesterday.

7.5 miles Easy in 58:27 (7:47/mi, avg HR 156).

Warmed up quite a bit faster today. After reading some more of "Brain Training For Runners", decided to focus on activation of core muscles by pulling belly button towards spine while running. Tough to do, but seemed to cause a pace and a tad bit of effort increase (mostly to do with keeping those muscles "activated") which resulted in a pretty fast easy run, despite the fresh snow conditions which made things very slick.

Running in the snow may actually be helping me, since it certainly helps prevent overstride...the only way I've managed to stay upright so far is to keep my CG under me and to pay close attention to balance. Also curious that my easy run pace has increased without a large effort increase over the past couple of weeks, coinciding with all this snow and ice.

Followed up with core exercises and stretching.

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 210 miles.

3.75 miles Easy in 31:29 (8:24/mi, avg HR 155) uphill warmup.  10x20 second Strides w/ 1:00 rest (2 miles, 16:42, 8:21/mi, avg HR 159).  3.75 miles Easy in 27:51 (7:25/mi, avg HR 155) downhill cooldown.

Well, today was eventful.  Snow covered most of my route, significant enough to make footing an issue when attempting speed greater than slow easy paced running.  Interrupted by a work phone call 3 miles into my warmup.  Strides were run at the appropriate effort, and my legs/feet were moving quickly, but as a whole, my body didn't move much due to a high slippage factor.  Not sure if I met the intent of the Strides workout, but it was definitely a moderately intense workout today.  By the time I made it back home, my legs were Tired 

Brooks Adrenaline (Blue) - 494.5 miles.

7.5 miles Easy in 59:16, 7:54/mi, HR 156.

Tired and heavy legs today. Sudden spike in work related software trouble reports is definitely impacting my recovery cycle. Need to get to sleep early tonite to recharge for tomorrow. Hoping the snow melt continues so I'm not forced into a treadmill Steady State tomorrow, as half the road is still covered. Core exercises and stretching after the run.

Brooks Trance - 363 miles.

6.25 miles easy in 49:52, 7:59/mi, avg HR 149.

Today was supposed to be 14 miles, 10 Steady State. Body was not willing to cooperate. Some serious work issues this week raised my stress level pretty significantly the last couple of days. Combined with the slog thru some serious (for these parts) snow on the ground the last couple of days and my body was just plain worn out. Thankfully, I realized it after one SS mile that took way too much effort and was slow to boot. Decided to bail on the scheduled workout and run tomorrows today.

If I feel better tomorrow, I'll run the SS workout tomorrow and push my long run to Sunday, which will give me an easy day between harder efforts. If not, I'll likely just freelance tomorrow and get back on schedule Saturday. If I'm still pretty tired, I may try to convince myself just to take tomorrow off completely. Hopefully the work stress is coming to an end as I seem to have fixed the things that have been causing problems.

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 216.25 miles.

2 miles warmup in 17:02, 8:31/mi, avg HR 141.  5 miles Steady State in 35:27, 7:05/mi, avg HR 170.  2 miles cooldown in 16:21, 8:10/mi, avg HR 151.

Today I tried to make up (some) of the Steady State workout I aborted yesterday.  Unfortunately, the roads got worse overnight, so I was stuck running on my treadmill (which I haven't used in months).  The digital readouts on the treadmill quit about 5 seconds into the warmup, leaving me with Garmin and my footpod for time, speed, and distance info.  My footpod accuracy has never been good, so I'm really not sure how far I truly went, but if it errors, it always errors on the conservative side, so I'm pretty certain I went at least 9 miles total, perhaps more.

Treadmill running for me is more work that outdoor running.  My breathing is usually more labored, my HR elevated, and my legs just feel like they have to work harder, so I went into the workout feeling like I'd take what I could get today.  As it turns out, I got 5 SS miles on a bit slower pace (maybe?), which is only half what I'd scheduled for yesterday, but its 5 miles more than nothing.  I did take 3 mini-breaks during the session, when I could tell I was crossing my threshold, but kept them to 15 seconds or less.  All in all, not ideal, but better than nothing.

Depending on how I feel, I'll either push the long run to Sunday, or execute tomorrow and keep the pace slower initially. 

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 225.25 miles.

18 miles in 2:23:47, 7:59/mi, HR 149.  

Tried to take it nice and easy today.  Seemed to be working, except somehow the overall pace seems high in retrospect.  Did stop at around 7.5 for a few minutes to talk with a neighbor, which made starting again a bit tough (got a bit cold and stiff), but felt pretty good throughout.

Decided if I felt up to it to go run a race tomorrow, either a 10k or a 1/2 marathon.  It'll be an early rising time for me (~ 5am), but I'm feeling the need to let the horses loose.  I just hope after 2 moderately difficult workouts I have something left.  Probably not PR material, and probably not my smartest move, but I'm just feeling like I need to go run a race, so I think I will.

Time to retire this pair of shoes.

Brooks Adrenaline (Blue) - 512.5 miles. 

Well, I felt pretty decent this morning (although a bit tired, since it was 5am), so I decided to drive to Olympia, WA, to race today. Cold and frosty, especially at the race site, where the humidity was thick and the air was a frigid 30-something. At registration, decided to go for the 1/2 marathon, deceiving myself into thinking that the slower pace (compared to the 10k) would make the race "easier". Also decided to go out by feel and not worry so much about the target pace. I honestly figured there was no way I'd PR this race, since I ran 18 miles yesterday, and a relatively hard workout Friday (not to mention a somewhat stressful week).

After milling around trying to stay warm and warming up with a quick .5 mile jog, 8:02 am arrived and we were off. First watch check was a few minutes in and my garmin pace was around 6:30.....a bit fast, I thought, but that usually happens right out of the gate, so I wrote it off. I was in a pack of around 7-8 for the first couple of miles but pretty soon the pack dwindled to 4-5 and soon thereafter became an extended line. Seems like my downhill speed is pretty good as I was able to pass most of the pack I went out with and soon was trailing just one individual relatively closely with one more about .2 in front.

I managed to pass the close guy on the steep downhill at 4.5 by running a good tangent. Also managed to hold him off on the steep uphill, so now the chase was on for the final guy I could see. Ahead of him were the gazelles, so I concentrated on not letting my rabbit get away from me. That chase lasted the remainder of the race.

I did see the lead group, college track stars out to try to qualify for the NAIA Marathon Championships as they headed back up the path near the road at around the 6 mile mark. We were headed generally downhill for a while and figured I'd enjoy it while it lasted, paying for it on the return. At this point, my legs did feel pretty worn out, but I was still holding pace under 6:40, which was well into PR territory. Hmmmm....

The return trip uphills went thru some dense forested areas (ah, the beautiful northwest), which completely threw Garmin off. Up to this point, it seemed like the mile marks were coming up .02 short, but in here Garmin lost almost .5 mile and therefore lost track of accurate splits, which as it turns out was a good thing. I focused on pushing as hard as I felt I could sustain (plus a little) and in not letting my rabbit in front of me get away. I was definitely using all the tricks to stay on target....not thinking of the # of miles left, focused belly breathing, concentrating on the next step, etc. The icy patches made turns interesting (downright exciting in a couple of spots), but I managed to negotiate everything safely.

I managed to keep my rabbit on a leash until around the 11 mile turnaround point (last 4 was an out and back stretch) when he started slipping away. Mentally, hitting the turnaround point was helpful and I managed some stronger pushes on the last couple of miles. It wasn't enough to keep up with my rabbit, who seemed to have saved up for a gear I didn't have. Still I kept pushing on until I had the finish in sight, and managed to kick to the end. I knew I was spent when my breathing in the last .2 or so started sounded asthmatic, something that happens to me when I'm about done in.

1:26:15. Huh? That's almost a 5 minute PR from last August! Granted, that's 6 months of training, but 5 minutes? Wow, I was pretty pleased. I'm pretty darned happy with the result considering I was about as unrested as you can get.

My garmin splits, which are probably mostly worthless, were:

* 6:33
* 6:43
* 6:40
* 6:44
* 6:49
* 6:42
* 7:03
* 5:17 (This split was way off, as I manually hit the lap button to help Garmin out. Splits from here on out are pretty good.)
* 5:56 (This split was real since it was right after I got Garmin caught up and corresponded to the mile markers! A sub-6 split??? It wasn't even all a downhill! What was I thinking!!!)
* 6:44
* 6:53
* 6:28
* 6:38
* 1:00

So, one mile slower than 7, which is likely true as that was the all uphill mile. One faster than 6 which I'm still amazed about. Plus, a PR to boot. Good race day!

Of course, my internet was down again all day, so I was forced to suffer in silence and had blogging withheld until today, when it magically restored itself. Argh!

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 239 miles.

7 miles in 58:44, 8:23/mi, HR 142.

Legs dead.  That familiar uncoordinated feeling after a hard race kept my pace very easy today.  First mile around 10:00/mi pace, but did loosen up some.  I have the feeling tomorrow medium-long run will be more of the same.  Some definite tightness in left ITB, hamstring, so some good stretching afterwards. 

Brooks Trance - 370 miles.

13 miles in 1:42:13, 7:51/mi, HR 150.  

Despite not wanting to wake up this morning, felt remarkably good through most of the run, reflected in the pace.  An emergency PB at 8.5 for a brief timeout, but otherwise uneventful.  New shoes!

Asics GT 2120 - 13 miles.
 

7.5 miles in 58:40, 7:49/mi, HR 152.

More snow last night so most of the run was through snow and slush.  Legs still feel a bit tired, but still wanted to move out smartly.  Felt better doing core exercises and stretching afterwards.

Brooks Trance - 377.5 miles.

13.13 miles in 1:40:00, 7:36/mi, HR 154.  30 minute warmup, 40 minute Fartleks (5 x 5 minutes on/3 minutes off), 30 minute cooldown.  Fartleks: .77 (6:31/mi, uphill/flat), .86 (5:49/mi, flat/downhill), .73 (6:52/mi, uphill), .79 (6:21/mi, rolling/flat), .78 (6:27/mi, rolling/flat), avg HR 173.

Tried to keep on portions of Fartlek between 5 & 10K effort...honestly felt more like 5K for much of the session.  Was wanting it to end by repeat 3, but repeats 4 and 5 felt better...perhaps just getting used to speedwork again?  Luckily, the rains had come to wash away much of the snow on the roads.  Unfortunately, during the cooldown on the way back the rains came again, then the hail, then the heavy wet snow so that I was soaked and cold by the time I made it back home.  Oh, and the winds decided to blow periodically, usually in my face as I was running an uphill stretch.  Yippee!

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 252.13 miles.

6.25 miles in 48:17, 7:43/mi, HR 148.

Felt much better than expected after yesterday's Fartlek workout, especially since I didn't sleep well (common for me after a hard workout/race).  Short pause .35 miles and .95 miles into run, as I encountered a stranded motorist in need of water for his radiator, so I took ran back to the house and returned with a gallon of water (which got heavy quickly!).  After ensuring he was okay, continued run in light misty rain (much better than hail from yesterday), feeling pretty good and keeping a faster pace than normal.  I can tell my fitness has improved quite a bit lately, as my pace was usually 15-20 seconds slower at the same effort a short couple of weeks ago.  A good sign.

Had a 6-month checkup with the podiatrist today.  The left foot ball pain I'd been having late last year has almost completely faded, but he was able to find some type of nodule in that area that was suspicious, so foot xrays were take to determine whether it was in the tendon or a bone spur.  Also, its been a year since I was fitted for orthotics, which helped quite a bit.  I've read that you should periodically be re-examined as your gait changes over time (with increased fitness and strengthening), so I asked about it and he agreed.  Lo and behold, even I could tell on the fancy schmancy computer image where you step onto the pressure sensitive pad that things had changed.....last time there were blotches of red (high pressure areas) everywhere and my arches were pretty flat.  This time around, one tiny red spot on my left foot, but everything else was smoothly graduated and my arches seemed higher.  So new orthoes are going to be on the way in 4-6 weeks, which will also provide a bit of lift to take the pressure off my left foot metartarsals (where the nodule he found is located).  I'm encouraged that actively working to correct strength weaknesses in my core and legs has obviously paid off in more ways than just running faster. 

Things are feeling like they're really coming together.  Enough so that I may adjust my goal for the spring marathon downward a bit, but it's still a bit early that take that leap.

Brooks Trance - 383.75 miles.

20 miles in 2:39:23, 7:58/mi.

After dropping our truck off for a service, ran the Puyallup Riverwalk trail, then jumped onto the Foothills trail and headed out towards Orting and back.  Could've done without the winds, but the rains held off and I even got a little sun, so all is forgiven.  Forgot my HR strap in the rush out the door.  Aimed for 8:21/mi pace for the first half, 7:39/mi pace for the second half.  Around 10 miles in, inside of left hamstring started feeling a bit strained and tight.  This progressed until eventually it started cramping (or what I figure is cramping, never having had cramped leg muscles before), so that I was forced to stop and massage it for a few seconds every couple of miles after 14 or so.  Fortunately, it didn't seize completely (a long walk back) nor did it really affect my pace (aside from the quick stops), so I'll chalk this up to experience.  I took no water with me, it was a bit warmer out today than it has been (~52F to start), and I added a new exercise to my core routine that I think worked my poor little hammies more than they're used to, so my left one started crying uncle today.  Otherwise, a good solid run.

The course I ran was pretty flat and subconsciously I found myself doubting my flat-course running skills about halfway through.  Decided enough of that garbage, that I was just *making* myself poor at it, and lo and behold, managed my target pace without too much strain for the last 10.  I really need to get this mental "I can't/I'm not good/This is hard" stuff under control, so I will focus on positive thinking on my hard/long runs from now on to see if it helps.  Afterwards, I reflected on how 10 months after my first marathon, I'd just completed a long run at under the goal pace I'd set for that race easily and afterwards went about the rest of my day.  It certainly helps for generating positive thoughts.

Asics GT 2120 - 33 miles.

6.25 miles in 49:44, 7:57/mi, HR 147.  Afterwards, 1.0 mile with the dogs, 10:43/mi, HR 116.

Still some left hamstring twinges this morning, so I kept the start very easy.  Warmed up nicely and had a nice and easy run.  Tacked on a mile afterwards with the dog, since they've been cooped up with the weather quite a bit lately.

Brooks Trance - 391 miles.

1.0 mile in 9:45, HR 122 with the dogs as a warmup.  7.5 miles in 57:58, 7:43/mi, HR 148.

Iced the left hamstring last night, desperately hoping that the twinges I've been feeling the last two days aren't anything serious.  Mentioned it to the chiro this morning, who had me walk in place, immediately telling me it was my left hamstring.  Wow.  So then came the explanation that unfortunately I wasn't awake enough to remember completely but it had to do with mr left hip being rotated and now allowing my leg to move as it should.  Anyway, an adjustment later with some big pops and I could feel immediate relief.  I got instructions to go ahead and run, but return immediately if I started feeling the twinges again, as it likely indicates a recurrence of me being "outta wack" (my term, not his).

So today's run was nice and easy.  Ran 1 mile with the dogs first, to ensure I started off nice and slow, and got some upper arm work in the first half mile holding them back.  After that brief warmup, I ran my scheduled easy run and it was....easy.  Really easy.  This once again confirms in my mind that I need a nice slow warmup, and if I get it done right, my run goes so much better.  Best of all, no hamstring issues.

Did my core and stretching afterwards, again being careful not to aggravate the hamstring.  The exercise I added that I though might have aggravated it in the first place wasn't too bad, but I didn't push it.  A good workout day with atypical nice weather (45F + no rain) to boot.

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 260.63 miles.
 

9.51 miles in 1:13:20, 7:42/mi, HR 157.  30 minute warmup, 10 x 0:20 Strides w/ 1:00 rest, 30 minute cooldown.

First time in a while the weather cooperated for some good strides.  3 uphill, 4 flat, 3 downhill.  Garmin paces ranged from 5:39/mi for the first to 4:52/mi for the last.  Looking back, I think I was putting too much effort into them in my excitement to be able to do them on a solid surface, but c'est la vie...I'll do better next time.  An enjoyable run in more typical Pacific NW weather (48F & light mist at the end).

Brooks Trance - 400.51 miles.

7.5 miles in 55:33, 7:24/mi, HR 156.  1.0 miles in 9:19, HR 129 with the dogs as a cooldown. 

Legs wanted to go today….no stopping them.  All uphill miles were under 8 min miles, all downhill miles under 7 min miles, both firsts for an Easy run.  No accounting for it, other than the day was gorgeous and I was running in outside shorts for the first time in months.  I hope this didn't take too much out of me for tomorrow, but my legs just wanted to go and wouldn't slow down.  Loved this run.

Asics GT 2120 - 41.5 miles.

12.62 miles in 1:32:00, 7:17/mi, HR 160. 

30 minutes warmup (uphill), 3.78 mi, 7:56/mi, HR 154. 

8 x 2.5 minute Fartlek with 1.5 minute rest.

30 minutes cooldown (downhill),  4.18 mi, 7:11/mi, HR 154.

Fartleks:

• Up/rolling .41 mi, 6:04/mi, HR 173
• Rolling/down .42 mi, 5:56/mi, HR 172
• Down .44 mi, 5:44/mi, HR 171
• Up .38 mi, 6:30/mi, HR 171
• Up .39 mi, 6:25/mi, HR 172
• Up/rolling .41, 6:09/mi, HR 171
• Rolling .41, 6:08/mi, HR 170
  
• Rolling .42 5:57/mi, HR 170

A tad aggressive on the first one (as usual).  Second and third hurt worse than the should've...got a side stitch that was distracting for a while.  Fourth and onwards felt hard but good....like I finally got into the swing of things.  Legs were burning good on the last couple, but a good burn.  Again the warmup and cooldown felt easy but was fast compared to just a week or two ago.

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 273.25 miles.

1.0 mile in 9:02, HR 126 with the dogs as a warmup. 6.5 miles in 48:18, 7:26/mi, HR 154.

Other than hitting the pause button on Garmin accidentally partway into the run and losing about 1 mile worth of data, uneventful run today. Definitely feeling yesterday's workout, which is why I warmed up with the dogs first (they're already improving too, managing to hang in there better for the entire mile).

Core exercises and stretching afterwards.  The new exercise I added last week really works my hamstrings, which are evidently pretty darned weak.  Soon to be corrected. 

Brooks Trance - 408.01 miles.

90 minute Thirds Progression run (12.01 mi, 7:29/mi, HR 152). First third 3.62 mi (8:17/mi, HR 142), second third 3.97 (7:33/mi, HR 150), last third 4.43 mi (6:46/mi, HR 165), followed by 2 miles cooldown in 15:10 (7:35/mi, HR 149).  1 mile in 9:12, HR 132, with the dogs.

Slow start helpful to work out the aches from the previous couple of days.  Once warmed up, settled into some good paces for each third.  Overall effort felt pretty comfortable (even the last third), and compared to last Progression run :15/mi pace increase seems pretty significant.  Cooldown afterwards, followed by a really easy mile with the dogs.

Asics GT 2120 - 56.51 miles. 

6.5 miles in 49:00, 7:32/mi, HR 149.  1.0 miles in 8:56, HR 127 with the dogs.

Easy afternoon jaunt after stressful day filled with doing taxes and getting calls from our bank and QVC discovering someone had stolen our credit card numbers and were trying to ring up purchases.  Luckily, the bank and QVC both sniffed out the fradulent charges and so everything was pretty much prevented, but it requires paperwork and new card #s.  Second time in two years this has happened to us.  So the run was a good stress reliever.  Now back to the taxes!

Brooks Trance - 415.51 miles.

13.5 miles in 1:43:29, 7:40/mi, HR 155.

Moved up medium-long run to take advantage of the holiday and use my new forest pass to run some new trails nearby. Nice new scenery shared with a few logging and occasional pickup trucks. Hills were a bit more than I'd anticipated with the monster starting at mile 3 gaining about 850' over 1.5 miles. Time doesn't reflect my "lung stops" where I had to pause for a few seconds to allow my lung to catch up on the steeper sections. Some nice views and I snapped a couple of shots with my phone for posterity (and for the search and rescue team if my navigation skills had failed). A fine run on a fine day (although my body is in desperate need of my chiropractic appt tomorrow).

Starting up the hill...

This looks like the top....NOT!!!

I was there...the road right of center...

A better perspective....the road on the left side of the picture....and this wasn't the top!

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 286.75 miles.

8 miles in 59:42, 7:27/mi, HR 153. 1 mile in 9:14, HR 129 with the dogs.

Easy day to recover from pounding legs took off-road yesterday. No soreness yet but I can can hear my quads whining already. Still trying to figure out when this speed became easy....

Felt like a bit of a head cold the last couple of days....suspect it's this false spring we're having releasing pollens into the area.  

Decided to recheck my resting heart rate the other morning and discovered a new low....40 (used to be 43).  A good sign. 

Brooks Trance - 424.51 miles.

13.51 miles in 1:40:00, 7:24/mi, HR 160. 30 minute warmup, 40 minute Fartleks (5 x 5 minutes on/3 minutes off), 30 minute cooldown.

Fartlek	Distance (miles)	Pace (min/mi)	HR (avg/max)	Terrain
1	.82	6:06	177/182	1/4 up - 3/4 flat
2	.81	6:10	175/180	rolling
3	.79	6:18	173/179	1/4 up - 3/4 flat
4	.81	6:12	172/180	rolling
5	.80	6:14	173/179	rolling

Decided to stay one day ahead on my schedule and to do my Fartlek workout for the week today while the weather was still nice (no guarantees tomorrow.) A bit tired and a touch of sore throat the last couple of days had me rethinking that decision all the way to the first iteration, but decided to just go for it. Over-exuberance in the beginning of the first one left me hurting halfway thru the first one....uh oh. Managed to recover and knock out all 5, although the last 15 seconds or so of the last one I was in serious O2 debt, gasping to get enough air in, and about to completely shutdown, which I guess was good timing. Considering the terrain differences, iterations 2-5 were all pretty evenly paced, sitting between my 5k and 10k race paces. My right quad was noticeably tired during the cooldown, but otherwise none the worse for wear.

Asics GT 2120 - 70.02 miles.

1.0 miles in 8:38/mi, HR 133 with the dogs.  6.5 miles in 49:27, 7:36/mi, HR 152.

Dogs were feeling frisky today, reflected in their pace.  After yesterday's Fartlek workout, I was most decidedly not....kept the pace easy and made a mental note to repeat this tomorrow.  Sleep was not wonderful; result of hard workout yesterday I'm sure.  At least the weather held...beautiful sunny day in the high 40s again.  Rain scheduled for tomorrow.

Brooks Trance - 432.01 miles.

8.0 miles in 59:02, 7:22/mi, HR 156.  1.5 miles in 13:22, 8:54/mi, HR 137 with the dogs.

Felt oh so tired this morning, but managed to wake up and come run time felt pretty good, especially since the promised rain had not manifested yet and I was treated to another sunny day in the 50s.  Right calf muscle had a knot in it on waking this morning, but it worked itself out a couple of miles in and I felt pretty good throughout the run.  I've been winding up on the fast side of my Easy run pace, so it's probably time for another race to baseline fitness.

The dogs were in rare form today, so I decided to keep going as long as they were in the mood to pull me along.  Shy of the 3/4 mile mark they finally slowed, so we rounded it off to a nice 1.5 mile jaunt out and back.

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 296.25 miles.

22 miles in 2:52:11, 7:49/mi, HR 153.

Over the hills and through the woods and back over the hills and through more woods and....

Another fantastic day in the Pacific NW, Sunny, starting temp ~ 40F, ending temp ~ 49F. Decided to make this another trail/hilly long run today. All went according to plan until about 1/3 of the way in my path turned from dirt to icy and frozen snow. Since this was the start of the middle hill I'd intended and there was no way I was going to be able to keep footing, I went with Plan B....take the next stretch as a nice long downhill at a faster pace and leave a punishing hill for later in the run.

Got some true cross-country miles in, complete with muddy shoes, stream crossings, thorn bushes, and a 9:38 mile which was blazing fast given the terrain. Tackled a long 3+ mile hill that I'd not run for many months that previously reduced me to intermittent walking in order to get to the top, managing to keep around an 8:00/mi avg. Decided late in the run to extend the run from 20 to 22 miles, giving myself a nice 2.5 mile downhill to the finish as a reward, so the last miles were 7:17, 7:08, and 7:08. A solid enjoyable long run.

Some happy snaps from my run:

Asics GT 2120 - 92.02 miles.

6.5 miles in 48:55, 7:31/mi, HR 152. 1 mile in 9:49/mi, HR 126 with the dogs.

Some residual soreness from yesterday's long run that got worked out on warmup. Runs today sandwiched between laying concrete backer-board in bathroom floor and more chainsaw work in the yard.

Brooks Trance - 439.51 miles.

8 miles in 58:55, 7:22/mi, HR 151.  1 mile in 9:46, HR 131 with the dogs.

Easy miles today that went by pretty quickly.  Pace is still on the fast side of my easy range.  Legs were tired today, which was pretty much how I felt all morning until the run finally got me going.  Oh, and the clouds and light rain have returned.

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 305.25 miles.

10.81 miles in 1:20:00, 7:24/mi, HR 160. 30 minute warmup, 20 minute Fartleks (10 x 1 minute on/1 minute off), 30 minute cooldown.  Average fartlek "on" pace was 5:39/mi.

Fartlek	Distance (miles)	Pace (min/mi)	HR (avg/max)	Terrain
1	.17	5:49	170/176	up
2	.18	5:34	170/177	rolling
3	.18	5:37	171/177	rolling
4	.19	5:19	171/177	down
5	.17	5:50	170/178	up
6	.18	5:30	171/176	down
7	.17	5:45	171/178	up
8	.18	5:39	169/178	rolling
9	.17	5:45	173/179	rolling
10	.18	5:41	173/178	rolling

Good sleep but minor sore throat/draining sinuses lingers.  Felt pretty tired all morning again but the warmup helped get me going.  Felt my left quad muscle during the warmup....not pain but just felt it, so I'm not sure what that means.  Feeling went away 15 minutes or so into the workout. 

Fartleks felt pretty good...a lot less painful than the longer ones I've been doing.  Was aiming to keep pace below 5K pace (6:00/mi) but wound up averaging under my 3K pace (5:44/mi).  Good workout...I only hope I can repeat the performance on the longer 5 on/3 off Fartlek workout on Thursday.  Tomorrow will need to be easy.

Asics GT 2120 - 102.83 miles.

8 miles in 59:13, 7:24/mi, HR 155.  1 mile in 9:35, HR 133 with the dogs.

Felt like I was pool running today but somehow the pace was quick at an easy effort again.  Hopefully easy enough so that tomorrow's Fartlek session goes according to plan.

Brooks Trance - 448.51 miles.

12.56 miles in 1:32:00, 7:19/mi, HR 159. 30 minute warmup, 32 minute Fartleks (8 x 2.5 minute on/1.5 minute off), 30 minute cooldown. Average fartlek "on" pace was 6:05/mi.

My trend of feeling crappy in the morning continued today, with the added bonus of a nosebleed to boot.  Not sure where all this is coming from, but true to form, gradually felt better until it was time to run.  Noticed right away that my legs were tired....uh oh.   Decided on a slightly different course that would start my fartleks with four uphill segments, two relatively flat one, and finish with some fast running on two downhill segments.  Forced to take a quick PB after segment 3.  Legs felt like anchors by segment 5.  The rest just hurt.....bad.  There was no brisk pace between fast segments, only slow jogging and some walking.  But I got it done and looking back on my pacing, it wasn't too bad considering this is my second hard workout of the week and the first four segments were uphill killers.  Another workout in the bank.

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 317.81 miles.

6.5 miles in 49:20, 7:35/mi, HR 151. 1 mile in 9:18, HR 130 with the dogs.

Tried my best to keep my pace very easy today, made easier because I'm worn out from yesterday. Some headwinds for a couple of uphill miles, but otherwise uneventful. Gorgeous weather though....60F temps!

Interesting. My Garmin Forerunner 305 has a Leap Day bug that seems to have lost my first mile on my run. I know it's a software bug because MotionBased has a record of the entire time and distance, but is also missing that lap's details.

Record month for mileage for me! 

Brooks Trance - 456.01 miles.

20 miles in 2:30:53, 7:32/mi, HR 151.

Clouds and sun and rain and sleet and cold, oh my. Foul weather has returned, displacing our sunny 60F days with more typical winter craziness. Fortunately, it didn't impact my run much. Decided to run my normal route twice, keeping the first out and back easy and letting loose a bit on the second. Felt pretty good the entire time, only feeling a lack of energy in the last few miles (only one powerade stop at mi 11). Since this closes another fairly high mileage week for me and one with two tough workouts, I feel pretty darned good about this effort and feel like the sub-3 is well within reach.

New orthotics I got yesterday definitely helping with the left foot (ball of foot) pain issue I've had for a while now.  Evidently keeping the weight off my 3rd metatarsal is a good thing. 

Congrats to the Del Sol team! Smokin' fast time and win!

Asics GT 2120 - 122.83 miles.

6.5 miles in 48:54, 7:31/mi, HR 150.  1.5 miles in 13:52, 9:14/mi, HR 126 with the dogs.

Nice sunny, mild day.  Felt fatigued from yesterday and likely the past week, still with a touch of this head-cold/allergies/whatever.  Decided to *not* look at my Garmin for any reason until the run was done, going on an easy effort alone, thinking perhaps by watching my watch I was pushing the pace too much.  Kept the first couple of miles right on the ragged edge of a 3-3/4-4 breathing pattern, which I know is borderline recovery pace for me.  Well, the pace tells the story...fast end of Easy zone so I'm not pushing the pace watching my watch.  I did find it hard not to sneak a peek though....so I spent the time daydreaming about having a HUD that would display all my pertinent data without having to look down at my wrist.  Followed up with a nice slow jog with the dogs, who had energy to burn today.

Brooks Trance - 464.01 miles.

8.0 miles in 59:28, 7:26/mi, HR 151.  1.0 mile in 9:35, HR 130 with the dogs.

4+ hours of chainsaw work left me with two presents.  A solid 8 hours sleep instead of my recent restless nights and definite stiffness in my back this morning.  A visit to the Chiro this AM elicited confirmation of what I felt....definite stiffness and a recommendation not to run today.

So I ran.  I told myself I'd take it easy and it didn't affect much.  I almost managed to talk myself out of it since the weather turned cold and rainy again, but I kept thinking of the marathon in a couple of months and decided I'd regret not giving it a go.  Here's me hoping I don't pay for it tomorrow...

Asics GT 2120 - 131.83 miles.

14 miles in 1:42:40, 7:20/mi, HR 153.  1 mile in 9:53, HR 126 with the dogs.

A solid medium-long run today in a mix of weather (sun, rain, wind, etc.).  Still, managed with shorts so not too bad.  Legs felt a bit tired and my hammies were crying from being worked yesterday in core exercises, plus my back is still a bit stiff and sore, but overall pretty friendly miles.  Dogs got a mile in as well, interrupted by as many potty-breaks as they could manage.

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 332.81 miles.

8 miles in 58:33, 7:19/mi, HR 154.

Easy run again today, until the back of my right knee/hamstring decided to "twinge" on me today at about mile 7.  To be honest, it felt a bit strange yesterday and today, but I figured it was the hamstring specific exercise I'd done on Tuesday that pushed it.  Maybe that was it, but in any event at mile 7 it decided to get serious.  I stopped, stretched and massaged it, and it let me finish my run, but I'll need to ice and watch it closely.  At this point, I'm thinking the speedwork scheduled for tomorrow may need to get pushed back a day.  Dang it!

Brooks Trance - 472.01 miles.

I'm restraining myself from running today because of my hamstring tweak yesterday.  Last night after feeling but being unable to locate "the spot", I asked my wife if she saw or could feel a lump in the affected area.  After about 0.02 seconds I let out a yelp.  So obviously I strained something, but fortunately not too badly yet.  Since today was supposed to be a set of cruise intervals, I figured that attempting the workout would likely make things much much worse.

So despite looking out at a sunny, warm day and looking forward to my run I'm stuck inside trying not to talk myself out of my decision.  And trying to figure out why I've had similar problems with both hamstrings now inside of 1 month.  Ideas appreciated. 

14.78 miles in 1:48:08, 7:19/mi, HR 161. 30 minute warmup, 8x1K Cruise Intervals w/ 200m rest, 3x200m Intervals w/ 200m rest, 30 minute cooldown.

Ran yesterday's scheduled workout today. Took it real easy in the warmup around town (30 minutes @ 7:39/mi pace) to test the hamstring. Felt pretty good....no stiffness or pain. Decided to try the Cruise Interval workout and bail if things got dicey. Aimed for 3:50-3:55 1K intervals. Stretched a bit before jumping into the intervals. First 4 intervals difficult...haven't run on a track in a while and mentally tough. Plus, I moved through my 200m rest two quickly. Got smarter (read slower) after #4 and interval 5 felt better. Started getting tired around 6, considered stopping after 7 but wouldn't let myself and finished out all 8. Last 3x200m not too bad. Short enough not to hurt much, although I could feel the right hamstring tightening. After intervals, got some powerade in me and stretched the hammie, then ran the 30 minute cooldown. Slow to start as my hammie started to stiffen up some, but it got loose again and finished with a 30 minute 7:42/mi pace.

I'll play tomorrow by ear. Best case: feels good enough to run my long run tomorrow. Worst case: feels bad enough that I need to take it easy and push back the long run a day.

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 347.59 miles.

6.5 miles in 49:35, 7:37/mi, HR 145.

Family outing today cause me to rearrange weekend run schedule, so today's long run was postponed until tomorrow.  Helpful, as it gives my hamstring an extra day to recover from yesterday's Cruise Intervals.  I'd thought my fitness had improved way beyond my workout times as my easy run day's got much quicker, but yesterday's Cruise Interval targets seemed tough enough, so I redoubled efforts to keep the easy run truly easy.  Did much better today.

Brooks Trance - 478.51 miles.

18 miles in 2:23:33, 7:58/mi, HR 157.

A grand trail running adventure today. Goal was to run the hill route I'd tried last week when I was stymied by snow in order to discover the long lost great circle route that would loop back and intercept my road up in the state forest area. Armed with my trusty Forerunner and a refilled bottle of Powerade, I set off. Encountered hostiles at mile 1 but managed to escape, only to be trailed for another 5 miles by one of the hostile's buddies.
Hit the hill where I'd been forced to turn around last weekend and this time the way was clear. Up 400' elevation gain in 0.5 miles, it was rough going. Some level spots let me catch my breath on the way up a total of 1000', with some drops and climbs sprinkled in along the way, most of them pretty steep. Forced into walk mode in a couple of particularly long climbs, but keep my pace reasonable given the terrain.

Of course, in this grand adventure, all I had navigation-wise was a mental image of some poor overhead imagery that was dated, plus some topographic maps that did *not* show a connection between the two trail systems. But I knew there *had* to be a way to get there. At mile 10, I wasn't so sure. At mile 11, I was dreading turning around and retracing my steps, my legs pretty well trashed, running because I knew if I was right, most of the rest of my run would be a nice long gradual downhill. I hit the retrace route button, then decided to go for another mile before turning around. Mile 11.5, eureka! I found that the trail I was on was in fact the forest road as I'd hoped, and that I'd managed to find a new (but tough) long running route. Unfortunately, hitting the retrace route button on Garmin messed with my record of the workout, but at least I got the splits and distance, if not the elevation past the 12 mile mark. 16.3 miles total, with an extra 1.7 at the end of the loop to round things up to 18. Felt more like a 24-26 mile effort given some of the slopes I tackled, but truly a fun adventure today in our beautiful countryside on a wonderful day.

Asics GT 2120 - 149.83 miles.

8 miles in 1:01:44, 7:43/mi, HR 154.

Legs felt oh so tired today.  Last few miles seemed to drag on forever.  Got it done though.  Strange pain on inside of right ankle....had it yesterday for a while on some of the trails but wrote it off to using stability muscles not used to working.  Need to watch.

Brooks Trance - 486.51 miles.

Yasso 800s workout today. 30 minute 3.99 mi warmup (7:31/mi, HR 149). 18 minute 2.25 mi cooldown (8:01/mi, HR 135). 8x800s w/ 2:50 rest.

Sleep was pretty fitful last night.....dogs had me up twice for their midnight potty runs.  Original plan was 30 minute warmup, 10x800s in the 2:50-2:55 pace range, and 30 minute cooldown. Warmup went as planed but could tell right away that the weather wasn't going to cooperate....overcast, intermittent light rain, and worse, intermittent wind gusts. Decided to take the workout as far as I could.

First one wasn't too bad, but saw right away that the fast end of the target pace range was not going to be doable. #2-#4 were painful....I'm sure the gusts were hitting here, but I can't recall when/where....at most one 100m stretch at a time in the face. #5-8 I kept telling myself each was the last one, knowing I'd be lying each time of course. #8 felt like all I had to give and with a race on Saturday, some small hail the last repeat, some distinct stomach cramping, and a high school team descending on the track, I decided to pack it in. Went off on my cooldown run and decided to cut myself even more slack when I started suffering from the cold wind more in my now soaked clothes.

I'm glad I got this workout in but these speed workouts all hurt. Focusing on the one at hand is about the only way I can get through them successfully. I wonder how much easier they'd be if I had some running partners for these workouts? Ah well, at least I'm building mental toughness, right?

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 356.7 miles.

8 miles in 1:01:12, 7:39/mi, HR 147.  1 mile in 8:58, HR 127.

Fitful sleep again last night.  Easy effort today in an attempt to recover from 800s yesterday and prepare for Fartlek session tomorrow.  Dogs practically drug me their whole mile...obvious energy from having close to a week off.

Brooks Trance - 495.51 miles.

10.02 miles in 1:16:00, 7:34/mi, HR 155. 30 min warmup, 3.62 mi, 8:17/mi, HR 150. 8 x 1 min on/1 min off Fartleks. 30 min cooldown, 4.15, 7:13/mi, HR 152.

Good workout. These shorter intervals are much easier for me to do (duh!). Aside from the first where I was evidently just getting up my head of steam, they were all pretty quick (for me) and I managed to keep the pace between intervals at a slow jog as a minimum.

The real action was when I returned home. The vacant (wooded) lot next door had company. Now the last time folks decided to camp out there, the sheriff found a mobile meth lab, so I was a bit more cautious this time around. After approaching the car that was pulled into the lot, the male driver occupant announced they were stuck. I asked what they were doing there and he said camping. Then I asked the tough question....."Do you know the property owner?" at which point he punted and pointed to his passenger, a young female, who said Michael. I said "Ah, well then that's okay." and walked off, quickly taking a picture of the license plate on the way out, and jogged up the road to call the *real* owner, right after I summoned the police. Long story short, the young lady evidently took a trip to jail for some outstanding warrants and the young man was read some type of riot act but let go since someone has torn down the "No Tresspassing" signs again. I plan to have a long chat with the property owner (who lives about an hour away) about policing up some of the stuff that invites these people next door. But at least I got to practice my emergency action procedures, like securing the family inside, breaking out the home defense equipment, etc. Now if I could just bottle this adrenaline boost and use it at the races on Saturday.....

Asics GT 2120 - 159.85 miles.

6.5 miles in 49:45, 7:39/mi, HR 153.  1 mile in 9:15, HR 128 with the dogs.

Ah, finally good solid sleep...it's been a few days.  Unfortunately, not enough.  Run felt a bit tougher than it should've but got it done.  Got the dogs some needed exercise afterwards.  15K tomorrow!

Brooks Trance - 503.01 miles.  RETIRED.

2 miles warmup with 0.5 at Threshold in 15:36, 7:48/mi, HR 150. 15K race in 59:02, 6:20/mi, HR 174. Garmin splits: 6:20, 6:21, 6:28, 6:29, 6:22, 6:15, 6:23, 6:21, 6:15, 1:45. 9 miles in 1:11:22, 7:55/mi, HR 153.

Woke up to cold and rainy conditions at 6am after not so sound sleep. Got prepared and drove to Orting, WA to run in their 15K race today. Goals for myself were to PR, which was easy since I'd never run a 15K before, try to finish in under an hour, and to keep as close to a 6:20/mi pace or under as possible. About 400 runners total for the three races (5K, 10K, 15K) which was more than I'd expected. Since this is the first time they'd offered a 15K, I guessed that the field would not be too large.

The course was an out and back on the Foothills trail, a former rail right-of-way converted to an asphalt trail that I'd run on several times in the past. It's not quite flat-as-a-pancake but relative to where I normally run it sure feels like it. The route departs the middle-school west of town and actually runs back through town with several 90 degree turns, pops out the other side and straightens out to run along stretches of the Puyallup river, farm fields (including an ostrich farm), and some roads. The 5/10/15K races all start together in a mass start and proceed along the same course.

About 35 minutes before the start, I went out on a 2 mile warmup. I decided to throw in a 0.5 mile stretch at a 6:15-6:20 pace in an attempt to get my body used to running at that speed. Since Tempo pace is supposed to be the pace you could hold for an hour, and I was trying to run the 15K in about an hour, and knowing that the first stretch of tempo runs are usually hard for me, I wanted to give my body a taste of what was to come. Great plan somewhat spoiled by a late start, as they didn't begin the race until around 9:11 (9:00 scheduled start).

Since the three races all started together, I really didn't have a good idea who the competition was. There was one guy who I believe I'd run in a race with in the past and who'd finished quite a bit faster than me that I knew was running the 15K, so I added another goal of making sure I at least kept him in sight. The call went out for the "elite" runners, defined by the announcer as those running sub 7-minute miles, to make their way to the front. The very first time in my life I've ever fit anyone's definition of "elite".

So finally at 9:11 we were off. Miraculously, the rain quit about 30 minutes before the race so the weather was fairly nice. I was in a long sleeve shirt, gloves and my CW-X tights fearing I might have overdressed a bit (I didn't). There's a guy in the area that must run every single 5K race there is as I see him at all of them who shot to the lead, and I started about 12-15 folks back. Quickly settled into a good 6:20 pace that felt tempo-like. During my 0.5 tempo warmup, my legs felt tired but for now the magic of race-gear had me feeling good as I got into a good rhythm. Worked my way through town and passed a few folks on the way to hit the 1 mile mark in 6:20. Perfect. At the 5K turnaround, several of the folks ahead of me made the turn, which left two or three folks ahead of me. The guy I'd remembered from a previous race had the lead and I noticed I was gaining on him ever so slightly, so I tried to stay loose and to keep the effort as hard as I felt I could sustain. Second mile in 6:21, still feeling pretty good by my breathing was starting to transition out of my comfortable 3-3 into a 3-2 rhythm. I decided not to panic and to find out if 2-2 was really sustainable for a longer race and kept after the leader. I was able to reel him in to within a couple of feet by the 3 mile mark despite a slower split (6:28). Hmmm, it really felt like I was running sub-6:20s at the time, but I wasn't paying much attention to Garmin but rather was pushing by effort.

About the same time I managed to pass the other runner, I got passed! I was not happy about that, especially since I could tell he was trying to put me away with an unsustainable acceleration (I hoped), so I hung on his shoulder to the 10K turnaround in around 19:38. He made the turn and I found myself in uncharted territory, in the lead of the 15K. After a brief mental celebration, I realized now I was in the unenviable position of having to push myself without daring to look back to see if my pursuers were gaining or falling behind. It was definitely hard going now and my breathing had just transitioned to 2-2, so I knew I was at my max sustainable velocity for the distance. Mile four came in 6:29 which seems a bit slow, but it did have a small uphill section to deal with leading to a bridge. Hit the 15K turnaround in about 29:37ish, so I knew I had a small cushion to hit a sub-60 minute race, but not much.

I had two pursuers within about 20-30 seconds of me I got to see at the turn point, so I put on my best "I feel good despite laboring for air" face as they passed. Fortunately that didn't have to last long as I was really working to maintain speed. Mile 5s split was 6:22 and mile 6s split was 6:15, getting better and taking advantage of the smaller downhill section. I hit 10K in around 39:33 I believe, and I knew I just had 5K left so I started doling out the little bit of energy I had in reserve. Coming back upon some of the other runners running the 5/10K helped mentally and I hit mile 7 in 6:23 and mile 8 in 6:21.

With about a mile and a half to go, I could feel my form starting to get away from me. It was mentally difficult to stay focused and to keep on pushing but I kept comparing the distance in my mind to a familiar stretch of road on my street, which helped. Mile 9 came in 6:16 but I was starting to really lose focus and could tell I was about spent. The last .3 went by mercifully fast in 1:45 and I crossed the finish in 59:06 according to my watch (official times to be posted sometime in the coming week).

I'd won! Not just my age group but the race itself. Wow, I really didn't expect that. Now I know the competition was exactly world class but I had not expected to win a race yet for some time so I was (and am) ecstatic! I'm sure the finish line photo will have a nicely frame view of my grimace when its ready, but I managed to hang on and meet my sub-60 minute goal. I was even pretty darned close to maintaining a 6:20 pace the whole way.

Even without winning, the race schwag was decent. Now maybe I'm a cheap date, but any race that gives away a free 24oz Emerald City Smoothie is tops in my book. Plus, I don't know the yogurt brand they had after the race, but it was the best darned yogurt I've ever tasted in my entire life. Really. Plus, for winning I got a nice ribbon, a free entry to next year's race ($20 was this year's fee) plus a gift certificate for South Sound Running (a local shoe store) for a free pair of shoes. Woo hoo! And I got a free giant chocolate candy bar of some sort. I must have found heaven on earth!

After all the the festivities and awards, I went out for another 9 miles to finish the day a little about 20 miles (since this was long run day *and* I was on top of the world, the last 9 felt great too!). I'm really happy with my time since the McMillan predictor now shows I've got a sub-3 hour marathon in me and I still have a couple of months before the marathon. Plus, the bonus of actually winning a race is a huge lift that have me impossible to live with for at least the rest of the day! My only regret is that I foolishly hadn't ordered a FRB singlet early enough before the ran out of stock, and just talked to Steve the other day about when they'd be in. Frankly, I was a bit embarrassed to wear one unless I felt like I was doing well in races and I never guessed that I'd be in the position I found myself in today. Other than that, a great running day!

Oh, and I almost forgot. I went to claim my smoothie and talked for quite a while with the store owner (new owner actually). She's a runner too that'd wanted to run today but had to work. In any event, after talking for quite some time about Seattle and Portland (which she's run too), she starts heaping product samples into a bag for me to try. Now normally I'm all over anything free, but I really felt like she was giving away too much (3 doses of Accelerade and a handful of their gel shots) and I tried to protest, but she'd have none of it. Needless to say, that store is now officially my favorite post-Foothills Trail run pit-stop from here on out. I tend to run the trail more often in the summer on long run days, so I'll be sure to repay the favor and buy as many smoothies as I can handle!

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 377 miles.

Official results posted today (3/17) had my time at 59:02, probably more accurate since I didn't hit my watch right at the finish. 

5 miles in 38:57, 7:47/mi, HR 142.  

A gentle easy run on some weary legs.  I can feel my quads and calves today and they needed kindness and compassion.  Fortunately, no more speedwork until Thursday.  New Adrenaline 8s now in the shoe rotation.

Adrenaline 8 - 5 miles.

8 miles in 1:01:30, 7:41/mi, HR 151.  1 mile in 8:44, HR 130 with the dogs.

Legs still feeling a bit beat-up...sore right quad and stiff left calf the worst of the bunch, so easy miles again today.  Uphill stretch difficult as my legs really didn't want me going up but much better on the return downhill.  No speedwork until Thursday so I still have time to recover.

Asics GT 2120 - 168.85 miles.

14 miles in 1:44:39, 7:28/mi, HR 151.

No motivation to get going today and legs still felt tired for the first 5-6 miles. Started feeling better and got into the groove. Started feeling a bit spacey and disconnected around 12 or so which I attribute to not eating much after breakfast early this morning (noon time run). Overall a good solid run at a nice pace.  Did core exercises afterwards....I'm going to try doing core work on hard days in an effort to keep easy days easy.  Wondering if perhaps that contributed to my hamstring cramps/strains.

Adrenaline 8 - 19 miles.

9 miles in 1:07:41, 7:31/mi, HR 151.  1 mile in 8:54, HR 128 with the dogs.

Another tough morning to wake up.  Been feeling tired the last few days and my legs felt it again today.  Still, settled into a good leg-turnover pace today and stuck with it.  The downhill stretch was nice and felt like I got some nice fast and easy running in.  Hoping I'm recovered enough for tomorrow's Tempo Intervals.....speedwork dread is starting already! 

Got my SGRC order today....now all I need is for the singlets to come in and I'll be set!  Thanks Steve!

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 387 miles.

14.26 miles in 1:57:12, 7:07/mi, HR 160.  30 minute warmup, 3.93 mi, 7:37/mi, HR 151.  5 x 2K Tempo Intervals w/ 2:30 rest.  3 x 200m Intervals w/ 200m rest.  30 minute cooldown, 3.89, 7:42/mi, HR 150.

New goal pace for the Tempo Intervals based on Saturday's race was 6:07 to 6:20/mi.  Figured on aiming for the slow end since it's a new pace range, which means I was looking to hit under 7:52 for each 2K interval.  I was only under the goal time for the first one, but there was a significant headwind in my face down the straightaway and part of the curve for half of each lap.  I think under less windy conditions, all of my Intervals (except perhaps the last where I died a bit) would've been under my goal time so I'm pretty happy with this workout.  First couple were pretty rough but I seemed to settle in around the 3rd iteration.  Last 2K my left calf started getting stiff on me...felt it the rest of the session and through the cooldown.  Good workout.

Limited core work afterwards.  When I got to the hamstring exercise, I realized immediately that I would strain the muscle if I continued so I bailed.  Also need to remember not to wear my thin socks with these Asics.....my shoes felt clompy and I didn't figure out why until later when I remembered which socks I was wearing.

Asics GT 2120 - 185.31 miles.

6.5 miles in 48:26, 7:27/mi, HR 148. 1 mile in 8:49, HR 134 with the dogs.

So much for Spring. First snow in weeks fell overnight but wound up melting (mostly) by noon.  Definitely felt yesterday's workout in my legs today and need to care for my left calf and right hamstring today.  Looking forward to tomorrow's long run.

Adrenaline 8 - 26.5 miles.

22 miles in 2:43:45, 7:26/mi, HR 155.

Two lap long run up and down the road today.  Sunny and warm with starting temps around 50 but quickly climbed to 75F in the sun.  First lap easy but wound up with 11 miles in 1:22:27, 7:29/mi average pace...probably a tad aggressive.  Got some Ultima at the 11 mi and 13 mi mark as I headed back up the street for lap 2.  Started feeling a bit dehydrated on the return leg and got a tad bit spacey but managed to maintain speed and most of form finishing the second 11 mile lap in 1:21:18, 7:23/mi pace.  Felt good about this run because I think I could've held my pace thru the last 4.2 and finished in around 3:13 or so which is only about 1 minute off my PR (not that that was my goal for the run, but...).  Plus, this is my second 80+ mile week in a row, a record for me.  May marathon here I come!!!

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 409 miles.

 

6.5 miles in 49:30, 7:37/mi, HR 147.  1 mile in 8:32, HR 126 with the dogs.

Yesterday sunny and warm.  Today cloudy, windy, rainy...and warm.  Felt better than expected after yesterday's effort.  Aimed for recovery effort but pace still wound up fairly quick.  Guess I won't complain too loudly.

Adrenaline 8 - 34 miles.

8 miles in 1:01:02, 7:37/mi, HR 147. 1 mile in 8:55, HR 129 with the dogs.

Back to nice but cool weather. Felt a bit tired but kept pace easy. HR monitor went on the fritz early on but settled down. Resting up for tomorrow's Fartlek session.  Core workout after run today.

Asics GT 2120 - 194.31 miles.

11.33 miles in 1:24:00, 7:25/mi, HR 157. 30 minutes warmup, 3.68 mi, 8:10/mi, HR 153. 12x1 minute on/1 minute off Fartleks. 30 minutes cooldown, 4.22 mi, 7:06/mi, HR 150.

Good workout despite the bad winds and flurries that greeted me today. Most of the "on" sections were somewhat shielded by the winds by surrounding hills. Effort felt good throughout. Goal pace was in the 5:38-5:45 range and I hit that pretty consistently. Dealt with a bad side-stitch beginning around #5 and was gasping for air towards the end of #12 but otherwise uneventful. Tired legs carried me back home.

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 420.33 miles.

Completely unrelated to running, but boy, I love my new home office.  My industrious wife finished converting our formal dining room (which we never used) into a beautiful study for me to work from a few months ago. It has two nice big windows that look out onto the front and side of our property. Tonight the special treat was being able to sit and watch a momma and her baby (deer) feed on our grass. The baby was about 10 feet away from where I sat so I really got an up close viewing. Nothing like working on a tough work problem (aren't they all?) that's had my blood pressure up for a couple of days now and getting treated to some of nature's stress relief! Plus, less grass for me to mow! Bonus!!!

9 miles in 1:10:13, 7:48/mi, HR 148. 

Tough to make myself get out the door today...didn't get started until mid-afternoon.  Wanted to turn around and go home even after I warmed up.  Legs felt tired, heavy and clumsy.  Overnight snow had mostly melted but cold and depressing nonetheless.  Couldn't even bring myself to roust the dogs for their mile.  Bailed on core exercises today too.  Hoping tomorrow is better.

Adrenaline 8 - 43 miles.

12.87 miles in 1:32:17, 7:10/mi, HR 155. 30 minutes warmup, 3.72 miles, 8:04/mi, HR 144. 5 Tempo miles with splits 6:27, 6:28, 6:28, 6:27, 6:27, HR 170. 30 minutes cooldown, 4.15 miles, 7:14/mi, HR 144.

More snow and it was on the roads this morning, not ideal Tempo Run weather. Fortunately I managed to wait until much had melted from the roads and only had to deal with a couple of intermittent mini-blizzards. Tempo segments were hard but right in my range especially considering I was running on some rolling terrain. Garmin tried messing with my head today....Training Center wouldn't download my workout, history view froze the watch, and Motion Based/Sport Tracks both showed me 1 tempo lap short. Fortunately I can do basic math and the total times/lap splits didn't make sense without the missing lap so I was able to reconstruct it, but not before wondering if I'd lost it and only did 4 tempo miles. A resounding no...it was 5. My only question is why were these 5 so hard when I just ran a 15K (9.3) at a faster pace and it didn't seem this hard. Anyone? My only answer is race gear.

Asics GT 2120 - 207.18 miles.

6.5 miles in 49:42, 7:38/mi, HR 149.

This week of snow is getting old. The season's shouldn't be able to go in reverse. An easy effort trudging thru a mini-blizzard and a slush filled road. Feet wet immediately and just cold enough to be uncomfortable when wet. Whaaa!!!

Core exercises afterwards. 

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 426.83 miles.

Fast finish long run 20 miles in 2:24:14, 7:12/mi, HR 151. 2.58 mi cooldown run/trudge to the car in 21:19, 8:16/mi, HR 145.

Goal for today was FF Long run including 12 miles at ~:45-1:00 slower than MP, 6 miles MP, and 2 miles 10K race pace. Decided to run a couple of paved trails and meet my wife in Olympia for some follow-on errands afterwards so I was a bit out of my normal element for logistics. Wound up carrying one 24oz bottle of powerade with me.

First few miles were rough because of winds. Then the rain started but I managed to settle into a good rhythm and the pace (7:30-7:45) seemed pretty easy. Then the first set of hail arrived with more winds and I was carrying a few extra pounds of water in my clothes. Next the stomach cramps started and next thing I knew I was taking not one but two unscheduled pit stops in the middle of the woods. Resumed my trek passing thru intermittent rain and hail storms with occasional sun breaks that switched from very cold to almost unbearably hot and humid.

Increased speed at mile 12 to start hitting 6:40-6:50 miles. Found it a bit tough to keep that kind of speed and having difficulty mentally but refocused on the task and hand and settled in. Next six miles were 6:50, 6:50, 6:42, 6:46, 6:39, 6:45. Somewhere around this time the trail dumped me out in the middle of a road and disappeared. Uh oh. Took my best guess now worried about how to link up with Dianna afterwards if I didn't know where I was and pressed on. Bad encounter with a bus who decided to pull into a pedistrian crossing right in front of me. I expressed my displeasure with a loud slap on the bus rear which evidently startled the driver but I was more than a tad bit mad. Ran out of sidewalk, realized I'd lost the trail and turned around to try to find it. At this point, the last 2 of the fast finish miles kicked in and I did my best 10K race speed impression, which at this point was closer to 15K race speed.

Wound up backtracking and finding the trail again and hit the last two miles in 6:27 and 6:25 but couldn't have run at that pace much longer. This was really a tough run on so many levels but I felt good afterwards. Takeaways are that I need to reproduce my rehydration/fueling plan better on these runs, that tough paces are maintainable if I just focus on the task at hand instead of thinking about how much distance is left, and that it's better to know your route.

Due to my detour, I was now a couple of miles away from my pickup point, so I wound up running another 2.58 miles to complete the course. Probably a good thing as my calves were very tight from the short walk I did immediately after the initial run while calling my wife to let her know I was alive. Fed ourselves at the local IHOP afterwards and I consumed the entire plate.

One of the other tasks at hand for the day was my marathon course recon. Decided to drive the route with my Garmin on the dash. First, I'm glad we did as the course has many twists and turns in some sections that are good to know about in advance. It's also nice to have a bit of a clue where the course goes in case the signage is poor. But mostly all I'll remember is thinking "how did they manage to put some many hills in this thing!" The course is definitely hilly and will be challenging. I was pretty depressed after driving it thinking the sub-3 will be tough. After I uploaded the garmin results, I realized that although it looked bad and definitely had some steeper climbs/descents, the overall profile of the course is no worse than my normal run route x 2 which is about 22 miles total. I'll have to remind myself of that several times over the next few weeks as final preparations are made.

Adrenaline 8 - 65.58 miles.

6.5 miles in 50:12, 7:43/mi, HR 142.

Felt surprisingly good after yesterday's hard effort. Some pain on top of my left foot and my bunion is giving me some grief but otherwise not too bad. Actually felt like and did core exercises afterwards. HR below 140 for the last 3 miles. Oh and my two personal deer friends are back to hanging out just outside my window. They brought along three other buddies and they all look pretty young.

Asics GT 2120 - 213.68 miles.

8 miles in 1:01:02, 7:37/mi, HR 145. 1 mile in 9:18, HR 133 with the dogs.

Some stiffness from yesterday's exercises but quickly loosened up. Stomach woes again on the return almost forced an unscheduled pit stop. It's been tough getting out the door the last several days motivation-wise, which I'm attributing to the nasty weather....but I'll keep in mind it could be overtraining and will be wary. Dogs were feeling the effects of not running for several day.

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 440 miles.

14 miles in 1:44:56, 7:29/mi, HR 149. 

An enjoyable medium-long run on a beautiful sunny day.  Left foot still bugging me a bit....think the laces were too tight on Saturday and it irritated the top a bit.  Otherwise no complaints.

Adrenaline 8 - 79.58 miles.

9 miles in 1:08:42, 7:38/mi, HR 145.  1 mile in 9:40, HR 131 with the dogs.

Warm sunny day, great for running.  Motivation issue from last week gone so it was definitely weather related.  Top of left ankle/foot still a bit stiff but seems to be holding steady/improving slightly.  This feels familiar...believe I used to have this happen after tough long runs but not for a while.  Will continue to monitor but okay for now.  Core exercises after runs.

Asics GT 2120 - 223.68 miles.
 

15.27 miles in 1:51:30, 7:18/mi, HR 160. 30 minute warmup, 3.75 mi, 8:00/mi, HR 151. Fartleks: 3 x 12 minutes on, 3.5 minutes off @ Tempo Interval Effort. 3 x :40 on, :60 off @ Hills. 30 minute cooldown, 4.19 mi, 7:10/mi, HR 154.

Fartlek	Distance (miles)	Pace (min/mi)	HR avg	HR max	Terrain
1	1.81	6:38	173	178	up
2	1.96	6:07	173	176	up/flat/down
3	1.86	6:26	173	176	60/40 up/down
4	.11	6:08	156	168	up
5	.11	6:12	161	169	up
6	.11	5:51	163	170	up

Decided on running a 3x3000m Tempo Interval workout today as a Fartlek workout so I could incorporate some hills into the mix, to better simulate my upcoming marathon course. Also decided to make the last 3x200m intervals (:40 sec intervals) hill repeats once I was good a tired at the end.

Left foot felt good today....some strange sensations during the warmup initially but back to normal after a few minutes. Good weather and I felt good heading out today, which made for a great workout. All three 12 minute repeats were hard but felt good doing them. Probably had about 250' elevation gain over the three repeats but managed to average 6:24/mi, just outside of my Tempo Interval range but inside my Tempo Run range. Legs definitely tired on the last repeat but on all three felt like I hit my stride and had breathing, legs, everything working at a nice steady rate. Last three short intervals were up a moderate incline (~ 8%), so I also got some hill repeats in. All in all a good workout.

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 455.27 miles.

6.5 miles in 48:34, 7:28/mi, HR 146.

Quick but easy miles today.  Sun gone and replaced by clouds and light rain but at least its too warm for snow.  I've felt pretty fluid the last couple of days...hope that feeling lasts.  My calves have also been feeling worked which is usually the last leg muscle to complain so I got the rolling pin out...much better.  Core exercises afterwards.

Adrenaline 8 - 86.08 miles.

24 miles in 3:01:24, 7:33/mi, HR 153.

Ran 3 out and back 8 mile laps on my road, 4 uphill 4 downhill. Had Powerade available every 2.67 miles (carried out the bottle with me on the first lap and back on the last).

• 1st lap. Felt sluggish and kept things nice and easy: 1:01:16, 7:40/mi, HR 148.
• 2nd lap. Still felt low on energy but settled in: 1:00:52, 7:37/mi, HR 151.
• 3rd lap. Tired and legs sore but pushed the effort a bit more. Took accelerade gel at mi 16 and felt a bit more energy: 59:17, 7:25/mi, HR 159.

This is the first of two 24 milers I plan on running before May 18th. Each lap starts at about 1250' and crests at about 1750', so the total elevation gain/loss here is more than the marathon I'm planning to run. This run felt hard and was a good reminder of what it feels like towards the end of a marathon. I'm pretty sure the lack of energy was due to the pizza feast I had last night in celebration of the return of Battlestar Galactica, Season 4. Yes, I'm a BSG nut and now I must rest.

Asics GT 2120 - 247.68 miles.

6.5 miles in 50:37, 7:47/mi, HR 141.  1 mile in 9:09, HR 123 with the dogs.

Knot in lower left calf, some left ankle stiffness, pain in left shoulderblade....yesterday's 24 miler left its mark.  Almost scratched today but I usually do better with active recovery, so off I went.  First two miles very slow (8:46, 8:22) before finally warming up and settling into a nice easy pace.  Pleasant trot afterwards with the dogs.

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 462.77 miles.

Unscheduled off day today. Left calf definitely not healthy. Deep in the vertical center of my lower leg there is a stiffness/pain that occurs when I move my leg forward while my foot is planted. Pretty much happens just past the 90 degree point. I could probably run today as it seems to get a bit better on warmup but I'm not going to risk further damage....it didn't get any better after yesterday's easy day and I've got too much riding on the next month or so. I'm hoping that its not really serious and just needs an extra day of rest but have broken out the ice and and rolling pin (poor man's "The Stick") just in case. I'd flirted with the idea of cross-training on my recumbent bike instead but decided one day of complete rest won't kill me...plus, I'm not sure if the bike would make it worse. I hope to be back on schedule tomorrow but there's a very real possibility I'll be punting on my Yasso 800s workout.

*******

Boy, I can be a real idiot. I'm glad I married someone clearly smarter than I am to remind me of that fact (politely, of course) periodically.

I bought a pair of Vibram Five Fingers and got them on Friday evening. I've read (and they even warn you) that you should gradually introduce yourself to them so you can build up any missing leg strength. I've also read that folks tend to get sore calves for a couple of weeks. So Mr. Smart Guy (me) decides to wear them after his long run on Saturday. Not that I did anything crazy, but I did putter around the house for a bit *and* drove out to the barn and walked around out there for about an hour or so. All this, of course, completely escaped my attention in trying to figure out what I'd done to deserve my sore left calf. It didn't even register when I noticed my *right* calf was a bit sore today too. Now granted, some of this started before I got the Vibrams, but I'm sure they made it much worse.  And I distinctly recall saying I wouldn't do anything dumb to mess up my last months training before the marathon.  All of which is why I'm so glad my wife is smarter than I am...

15.76 in 1:57:27, 7:27/mi, HR 154. 30 minutes warmup, 3.87 mi, 7:45/mi, HR 143. 10 x Yasso 800s with 2:50 rest. 30 minutes cooldown, 3.78, 7:55/mi, HR 147.

Woke up with no pain in the calves. A rest day well spent. Set goal of keeping all repeats in the 2:50-2:55 range. Averaged just under 2:55 but missed my target on the last two. First four felt very hard. Five and beyond felt like my body had adjusted but looking at the splits I see that I adjusted.....slower. Leg turnover felt like it was the sticking point for running these faster but that doesn't necessarily make it so. I am having more success mentally focusing on the extreme short term instead of thinking about the rest of the repeats or even the remainder of the lap. Now I just need to not fade so much towards the end.

Adrenaline 8 - 101.84 miles.

9 miles in 1:09:19, 7:42/mi, HR 148.

Stiffness and soreness in left adductor muscles, surely from yesterday's workout.  I feel more beat up than I should for having taken Monday off.  Core workout afterwards.

Asics GT 2120 - 256.68 miles.

9.81 miles in 1:13:20, 7:28/mi, HR 157.  30 minute warmup, 10 x :20 Strides with 1:00 rest, 30 minute cooldown.

Ran on the fast end of easy with 10 sets of Strides in the middle over various terrain.  First half of the Strides felt nice and easy with good form seeming to flow effortlessly.  Last half they seemed to get harder and I had to focus on staying relaxed and in good form.  Warmup and cooldown parts were both an a somewhat aggressive pace. 

This week is a "recovery" week with a race at the end so mileage is going to be lighter than normal.  I'm feeling off.....runs are harder than they should feel and the mysterious ache syndrome is in full effect.  Hope this goes away before Sunday.

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 472.58 miles.

 

6.5 miles in 50:48, 7:49/mi, HR 150.

Slog today.  Felt like I was crawling as I tried to keep the pace very easy, yet legs still felt heavy.  Didn't get my typical boost mid-way through the run, either.  Gorgeous day in the 60s.  Believe I confirmed that I'm somewhat lactose intolerant yesterday, which unfortunately meant I was up in the middle of the night a few times.  Hope this feeling passes by Sunday.

Adrenaline 8 - 108.34 miles.
 

4 miles in ~ 32 minutes.

Just a warmup today before tomorrow's HM race.  Garmin died out of the blocks.....hibernating the computer has about a 1 in 15 chance of turning it on which lets the battery drain overnight.  Very annoying.  Still feeling a bit sore and beat-up but better rested today.  I'll spend most of this beautiful day (9:30 am and already near 60F) in a car driving to get my race packet.  Then I'll come back and hopefully have time to mow the lawn before it completely takes over the yard.

Asics GT 2120 - 260.68 miles.

1.25 miles warmup, 8:24/mi, HR 135. 13.1 race in 1:28:28, 8:41/mi, HR 176. Splits: 6:16, 6:30, 6:13, 6:29, 7:55, 6:48, 6:03, 6:57, 6:57, 6:38, 6:26, 6:57, 6:57, 1:20.

*** Fair warning.....this is a long read! ***

Today's story begins yesterday when I had to drive the ~300 miles round-trip to attend the "expo" and pickup my race packet (no day of race registration). A gorgeous day (70+ degrees) equaled horrendous traffic ~ 8.5 hours total and put me into a foul mood. I flirted with the idea of completely bagging the race at some points in the drive but I'd already paid the race fees and, well, I'm cheap. When I arrived to packet pickup, I found the expo to be relatively small (took about 2 minutes to walk through the entire ordeal) and wondered why the race director could not have setup a day-of-race packet pickup? Then I made it home just in time to tackle some lawn mowing before the rains returned and the grass in our backyard became taller than I was.

So race morning started at 3:30 am, about 2.5 hours earlier than I like to wake up. Normal race day jitters + being home alone (Dianna was at Mom's Weekend visiting Ashley) = about 5 hours sleep...not good. But managed to prep the dogs for their day home alone and got out the door by 4 am. Traffic was not nearly as bad at 4 am and I made it to the race location by around 6:45am. Better early than late.

I considered driving the course since I was early but decided not to for two reasons....first, I was enmeshed in race day parking and needed to find a restroom and second, I wasn't sure I wanted to know about all of the hills. I'd specifically selected this race for it's hilly course to better prepare myself mentally and physically for the marathon next month.

So I wound up mistiming some things and only wound up with 1.25 miles warmup but found myself lined up and ready for the 8:30 am start. Unfortunately, it didn'r start until around 8:38 am for some "course maintenance" which turned into "allowing people to get lined up". Evidently no one read the memo to race directors indicating that putting the porta-potties downstream from the start was a bad idea? Oh well.

My pre-race goal was to run a 1:24. I'd no idea how completely stupid this was until later but this meant I was aiming for a 6:25/mi pace. In the back of my mind, I was thinking to run between 6:20 and 6:25 miles, adjusted for the terrain. I figured I'd open things up on the downhills and pay the price on the uphills. Boy, was I right on the second part.

So finally the start. After a short downhill section, we were headed back uphill and this is probably where I made my first mistake. I was trying to keep the lead pack, escorted by a motorcycle and police car, in sight, so after cresting the hill at about 0.5 and heading back down on the gradual downhill, I found myself running at a sub-6 minute pace. No warning bells were ringing yet....I figured I was making up time from the uphill stretch.

The lead group hit the first turn ahead at a T intersection.....the police car turned left while the motorcycle went right. The group minus one runner followed to the left and I watched with some distracted amusement as the other runner took several steps towards the left turn, then backtracked to catch the lead group running right. The importance of this minor event would become clear later.

So mile 1in 6:16 (still no alarm bells), mile 2 in 6:30, mile 3 in 6:13. We're headed down towards the water so much of this is now downhill. I'm wondering the mile markers are all on the left hand side of the road and I can't read them? And why is the aid station setup on the other side of the road? They call out that they'll see us again in a while. This section of the race isn't on closed roads so that makes no sense. Maybe there's a loop that runs us past here I don't remember? Hmmm.....But I continue trying to keep my pace on the flats around the 6:20-6:25 mark. Unfortunately, we're picking up some nasty head/cross-winds coming off the water. Mile 4 in 6:29. A definite headwind component now feels like it's standing me up at times and this part is hard. The runners trailing the lead pack (which is now a few minute ahead) are strung out in a line and there's no one to work with.

It's somewhere along this stretch that I realize we're running the wrong course....the ocean is supposed to be off our left side, not our right. Our route isn't matching up in my mind with the one I downloaded from the race website. Most tellingly, I watch the lead motorcycle do a 180, drive back several hundred feet (the lead pack keeps going thankfully), stop, turn around again, and resume the lead. At this point, several curse words I rarely use are running through my mind as I ask myself how the heck this could happen. Which is what I'm doing until we hit the big hill.

I say big hill not because of the size (250+ feet) but rather because of the incline...it looked like we'd need some rappelling gear to ascend it. Mile 5 came headed up this hill...7:55. Ouch. About this time with the little O2 I had remaining that I was already in bad shape and the wheels were already coming off. Passed here by two runners towards the top of the hill that sounded like they were barely breathing while I'm wondering if I could really transition to a 0.5-0.5 breathing pattern. Passed by another runner who's been shadowing me for some time but I mark him and think I can retake him on the downhill section (we traded leads on a previous uphill/downhill stretch). After finishing the climb we started back down a long gradual downhill. Mile 6 came in 6:48 so I managed to make up some ground lost on the hill. Mile 7 was all downhill in 6:03 as I tried to take as much advantage of the downhill as possible.

I started seeing runners headed in the opposite direction now in singles and pairs. It slowly dawns on me that they are half-marathoners running the correct course and as I pass the runner shadowing me I learn that we're running the course in reverse. What does this mean? Am I going to be DQ'ed for running the wrong way while just following the lead group who was following the lead vehicle? I am in uncharted territory and am simultaneously demoralized and furious. I do my best to get my head together and press on trying desperately to keep the runner ahead of me in sight. Just after the mile 7 marker, we make a turn and start heading back uphill.

Now the other runners are a flood, filling 1/2 of the road. Unfortunately, that is supposed to be the road I'm running on to so it becomes half race/half-dodge person. This road is 1/2 open and there are intermittent cars headed my direction. After a while of this, I decided to move to the right shoulder where at least I'm only worried about the cars instead of both cars and other runners. The uphill is taking its toll...Mile 8 comes in 6:57. I'm getting some cheers from the runners headed downhill, some questioning looks, and a couple of "What race are you running?" but all I have energy for is breathing and moving my legs. I am hurting badly here and thoughts of stopping and walking or quitting altogether are coming regularly now. I push them back as much as possible and keep my head down, focusing on trying to stay as relaxed as possible and chewing up this long long hill. Mile 9 in 6:57 too.

Finally reaching the top of the long gradual hill I try to stretch it out to increase the pace a bit....no response from my body. I try coaxing, cursing, cajoling.....all I can manage is a 6:38 for mile 10. And this is where I get chicked. I heard the runner gaining on me slowly but surely up the hill and frankly didn't care but now I do. She's running well and I can barely tell she's working hard while I feel like I'm completely falling apart. She actually passes me at a turn where I got a bit confused and slowed briefly to question a volunteer on which direction to go having lost sight of the runners ahead on the hill. So part of me is glad to have someone to follow and I try my best to not let her get away from me. Another gradual downhill stretch (6:26, mile 11) followed by a looming uphill and she pulls steadily away. I hit mile 12 in 6:57 and some uphill and downhill components to mile 13 in 6:57 (what's with 6:57s? I don't know) and feel like I'm on the death march.

I see the lead full-marathon runner who looks much better than I trudging alone up a hill and wonder how the heck he can be so far along on this brutal course? Completely in awe of his effort I sacrifice some much needed O2 to call out some inane encouragement his way which elicits a look but not much else, so in retrospect, perhaps he wasn't doing as well as I'd thought? 2:43:37, which on this course seems pretty darned good.

Anyway, the final stretch routed us into the local high school stadium once around their track (which was some type of wonderful rubberized surface that was easy on the legs). As I headed towards the stadium (uphill of course) I hear a runner (more like a herd of elephants) closing fast from behind so despite feeling like I was redlined already I surged. The 3/4 track lap nearly turned into a puke run (lets call it a dry-heave run) and I came across the finish in 1:28:28, one second ahead of the other runner who turned out to be the one I traded positions with earlier in the race. Final split was 1:20 (all splits according to Garmin and it recorded the course a 13.22).

So I missed my target (1:24) and missed setting a PR (1:26:15). Combined with my weekend thus far, the "course snafu", lack of sleep, etc. I was in a state. Okay, so now add a helping of "no race medals in sight", "food/beverage station not yet setup", and dropping temps/starting rain, and I was downright POed. Food started slowly showing up but the race medals didn't show up until I was halfway to my car for some warmer clothes. Of course, the race medals were now being given out at the finish line, which was at the start of a one-way flow of bodies as the main half-marathon running force was now finishing, so I had to dodge some suddenly appeared race volunteers who didn't seem to care that I hadn't received my race medal in order to get to the finish (again), show my number and get my medal. I briefly flirted with hanging out for the awards ceremony wondering if I'd perhaps taken an AG award but the increasing rain and cold helped make that decision for me and I started back on my 3 hour return home drive.

After getting some time and distance from the race and letting emotions cool for a while, I've thought about several take-aways from this race:

1. I need to know the race course and should be able to navigate it on my own. Yes, races are responsible for setting up the course, providing support, etc. and there's no excuse for what happened this time around, I should've known better. No reason I shouldn't have recognized the wrong turn for what it was and made the correct turn myself. I've got a choice email I'm going to write to the Race Director but that doesn't absolve me of my responsibility to know where the heck I'm running. Our little detour cost me.....I basically ran on the outside of the loop instead of the inside (left turns instead of right turns) which added small but significant distance to the overall effort. Plus, the monster hill would've been replaced by a more gradual (and longer) uphill if I would've gone the right way. Last, on the windy stretch, it would've been a nice tailwind instead of a brutal headwind.

2. I can't defy the Laws of Physics just because I train on hills. A flat course will always be faster than a hilly course, period. Well, okay, so a *downhill* course might be faster, but if it's a loop course, the flat course wins. You can never regain *all* of the time lost on the uphills on the downhills. Now that I've accepted this, I need to figure out how to better plan races on hilly terrain. I need to figure this out quick since my marathon next month is on a rolling course.

3. Going out too fast is disastrous. How many times must I learn this lesson? To be fair, going out too slow is bad too because you wind up at the finish knowing you probably could run a faster time by just pushing it a bit more earlier, but running too fast too early does not work. The problem is figuring out what too fast is. I see now that the course and weather conditions yesterday were not conducive to the 6:16 mile I ran early in the race.

4. Running/racing needs to be fun. Somewhere along the way I lost that this weekend. I showed up at the starting line depressed, tired, mad...anything but ready to have fun. My only focus was on PRing and running a time that showed my training was paying off, that I'd get my sub-3 next month, everything but enjoyment. And I don't run well if I'm not having fun, so I need to readjust myself and my attitude.

5. People need to be held accountable. I need to hold myself accountable for those things I'm responsible for this weekend. The race staff needs to be held accountable for their small but important glitches. The race medal situation? Come on. Once the gun goes off, you know you've got just over an hour before the medals are needed. Have them at the finish and ready to award to the finishers. Same with the food. I paid $60 to run the race...I expect the race to be well executed. A few minor mistakes, okay. One major mistake, not good but okay. Several big errors? No excuses.

So that's it. Definitely a learning experience. I'm really trying not to be disappointed or upset too badly by this race but I'd be lying if I said I was not unhappy about it. But I need to learn these lessons and move on. And most importantly start enjoying myself again. Which I intend to do with a nice 30 minute recovery run today.

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 486.93 miles.

4 miles in 32:02, 8:00/mi, HR 139.

A hint of soreness in quads and hammies and a blister on right pinky toe but otherwise symptom free from yesterday's race.   Kept the miles light and easy and got some good stretching in afterwards. 

Looking back on yesterday I think early lactic acid accumulation did me in, based on the way I remember feeling then and now.  I need to remember that I do better taking it easy heading uphill, yet another thing I forgot yesterday.  Lesson learned (again).

Adrenaline 8 - 112.34 miles.

6.5 miles in 51:48, 7:58/mi, HR 143.

Kept a nice easy pace through the snow flurries?  From 70+ on Saturday to snow flurries today, how quickly our Pacific NW weather changes.  I had more success keeping my easy pace easy again today, so maybe the race this weekend wasn't completely without benefit in my training.

Asics GT 2120 - 267.18 miles.

9 miles in 1:11:00, 7:53/mi, HR 151.

Warmer today with some headwinds on the return. Legs still feel a bit tired from Sunday so I kept the pace very easy again today, which was a bit of a struggle as my subconscious mind kept speeding me up on the return leg (no such troubles on the outbound/uphill leg). I'm hoping to be fully recovered for tomorrow's Speed workout....Tempo Intervals.

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 495.93 miles.

16.05 miles in 2:00:00, 7:28/mi, HR 159. 30 minute warmup, 3.73 miles, 8:02/mi, HR 148. 5 x 8:00 Fartlek with 3:00 rest. 3 x 0:40 Fartlek with 1:00 rest. 30 minute cooldown, 4:03 mi, 7:26/mi, HR 151.

First hard workout following Sunday's race. I'd been suffering mild stomach cramps since yesterday evening and feared they'd impact my workout but decided to give it a go. Fortunately, the cramps disappeared quickly after I got moving. Converted my 5x2K Tempo Interval workout to a Fartlek session so I could keep teaching my body to run fast on hilly terrain instead of the track. Plus, the track isn't exactly my favorite place to run. Goal time for the repeats was between 6:07 and 6:20 but I really just tried to keep the effort at the high end of Tempo and let the chips fall where they may. As it turned out, the median between my uphill and downhill pace was 6:19.5....I'll take it. Did the last three short repeats on an uphill grade to get some fast hill work in. Workout felt hard but good.

Adrenaline 8 - 128.39 miles.

6.5 miles in 50:36, 7:47/mi, HR 145.

Despite the SNOW FLURRIES managed to get a nice and easy run in today. Forecast calls for drop in temps and snow today and tomorrow so my second 24-miler tomorrow ought be *fun*. Abbreviated core workout after today's run.

Asics GT 2120 - 273.68 miles.

24 miles in 3:02:22, 7:36/mi, HR 157.

Last 20+ miler for this training cycle. Cold and snow on the ground to start. Ran the Scott Turner loop twice with the extension to the cutoff three times, so plenty of elevation change throughout. HR monitor went bonkers for first 4-5 miles before settling down. Water only run today (no carbs). Felt a bit tired and legs heavy the first lap. Wound up making 3 brief pit stops which slowed me down a bit.  Picked up the pace a bit on the second lap and got the proverbial second wind....working harder but felt much better. First half in 1:34:18, 7:52/mi. Second half in 1:28:04, 7:20/mi. Legs didn't feel too stiff/sore afterwards, although left side adductor sore as usual and left ITB tight (pain along outer left hip and outer left knee).

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 523.93 miles.

6.5 miles in 49:48, 7:39/mi, HR 141.

Felt pretty good after yesterday's 24 miler.  Felt even better after I ran today....all the kinks worked out and legs felt good.  Good enough to do my core workout afterwards.  And good enough to overlook the snow on the ground this morning....again.

Adrenaline 8 - 134.89 miles.

8 miles in 1:01:13, 7:39/mi, HR 152.

Perfectly timed run avoided the rain before and hail after so I enjoyed the sun and pleasant temps, albeit with some winds.  Ran the local trails to add some additional hills to my training.   5 total loops with ~ 150' incline in 0.2 miles with some extra mileage after the first along the hillside and the to and from portion.  Not a true hill workout but just getting accustomed to more rolling terrain and frankly to build confidence after my disappointing last race.  Interestingly, the total elevation change for this run is only about 200' short of that for my upcoming marathon, which is reassuring.  Felt really good running today...the kind of day you hope for while racing. 

Asics GT 2120 - 281.68 miles.

9 miles in 1:06:20, 7:22/mi, HR 155.  

Call it a medium run, still in the easy range but a tad more aggressive than normal.  Felt yesterday's hilly route in my legs.  Core exercises afterwards.  Tomorrow must be easy.

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 532.93 miles.

9 miles in 1:07:17, 7:28/mi, HR 155.

Not as easy as I'd like it to have been.  Not sure why I have such trouble holding back sometimes...today my legs just seemed to want to GO, despite my hammies being a bit sore from the past couple of days.  Hope this was easy enough to be ready for my hard workout tomorrow.

Adrenaline 8 - 143.89 miles.

17.47 miles in 2:09:02, 7:23/mi, HR 158. 30 minute warmup, 3.67 miles, 8:09/mi, HR 139. 10 miles @ GMP, 7:54/mi, HR 170. 30 minute cooldown, 3.8 miles, 7:54/mi, HR 151.

First of three workouts changed in order to get more time running at GMP. I felt going in that this would be a hard one. Kept the warmup extremely easy in an effort to conserve energy I knew I'd need in the 10 mile GMP stretch. I was aiming to average 6:50/mi over the GMP portion, which was tricky since the first 3 miles were uphill, next 5 downhill, and last 2 uphill. Splits were 7:11, 7:21, 7:13, 6:30, 6:25, 6:35, 6:43, 6:41, 7:06, 7:13. The mile pairings were 1/6, 2/5, 3/4, 7/10, 8/9, so the averaged paces for each segment were 6:53, 6:49, 6:51.5, 6:58, 6:53.5.

This workout was hard and confirmed my fears.....I sorely need practice running at my GMP. This run was downright hard and I didn't even manage to average my goal pace. We shall see how the next two runs that incorporate MP running go. Tomorrow will *definitely* be an easy day.

Asics GT 2120 - 299.15 miles.

6.5 miles in 51:32, 7:55/mi, HR 142.

Beautiful day to run.  Definitely felt yesterday's run in my legs so an easy pace throughout.  Resting for tomorrow's Fast Finish Long Run.

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 539.43 miles.

20 miles in 2:25:35, 7:16/mi, HR 158. Fast Finish Long Run with first 12 at easy pace and increasing over last 8 to average marathon goal pace. Last 2 aimed for 10K effort and super fast finish. First 12 miles averaged 7:34.5/mi. Last 8 averaged 6:57.6/mi. Last 2 averaged 6:40/mi.

Still feeling the effects of Thursday's long marathon pace run in my legs so I knew today would be difficult. First 12 were up and down Scott Turner so a total of ~ 800' elevation loss & gain. Last 6 were 3 miles uphill (350'), 4 miles downhill (425'), and 1 mile uphill (75'). Tough going first four miles, settled into a decent easy pace and felt okay through 12. Sunny day that got much warmer than usual (55F in the shade by midpoint), so hydrated every 2-3 miles with Powerade or water. Took in a GU at ~ mile 8, which didn't sit well and caused stomach cramps later. Took in a Accelerade Gel at ~ 16 which went down much easier but with previous stomach distress it got a bit worse. Managed to keep close to MP but not quite for 6 of last 8, then managed to get down to 30K race pace for last 2 but just barely. Hard run on the hills still feeling a bit tired and beat-up from Thursday in some warmer weather, so I'm satisfied with the effort.

Adrenaline 8 - 163.89 miles.

6.5 miles in 54:10, 8:20/mi, HR 135.

Today was a slog.  Poor sleep last night after attending a 40th B-day party for acquaintances that had me up 3 hours past my normal bedtime.  Plus, I'm just flat out beat up from last two hard workouts.  Not difficult at all to keep pace easy....I'm amazed it was as fast as it was because it certainly felt like 15 minute miles.  Now I've got to muster the energy to go mow the grass and perform other homestead chores...

Asics GT 2120 - 305.65 miles.

8 miles in 1:00:50, 7:36/mi, HR 149.

Legs felt tired heading uphill the first 4 miles.  ~10 mph headwind didn't help, but it did help later on the downhill when it all felt pretty easy for a decent average pace.

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 543.43 miles.

14 miles in 1:40:37, 7:11/mi, HR 158. 

A moderate easy run where I pushed the pace on the downhills and towards the end a bit more than normal.  Last 1/2 mile was fast to the finish.

Adrenaline 8 - 177.89 miles.

9 miles in 1:07:59, 7:33/mi, HR 151.

Legs tired and a bit sore.  Kept the effort easy and focused on taking nice full strides.  When I run other than easy runs I find my legs tire easily with a fuller stride so I need to work on that.  As a result, the pace was a bit higher but the effort was about the same (except for my poor tired legs). 

Asics GT 2120 - 314.65 miles.

14 miles in 1:39:50, 7:07/mi, HR 160, including 6 miles easy in 45:19, 7:33/mi, HR 150, then 8 miles @ MP in 54:31, 6:49/mi, HR 168. 

First six miles at easy pace, last 8 at GMP.  Decided on running a 2 mile stretch of road that gains or loses (depending on the direction) about 100' per mile to see if this was more doable than the recent GMP runs where I essentially ran similar elevation profiles but longer continuous climbs/descents.  Figured this would mimic the more rolling nature of the marathon course.  My legs were tired from the core workout yesterday and the running recently, but my sleep was a bit better last night.  Weather got a bit warm in the GMP section...could feel the heat coming off the asphalt.

Mile splits were 6:52, 6:39, 6:41, 6:59, 7:04, 6:35, 6:40, 6:58, with the uphill miles slower than the downhill.  The paired segments were 1/2, 3/4, 5/6, & 7/8, so the average pace over the uphill/downhill pairs was 6:45.5, 6:50, 6:49.5, 6:49.  Aside from an aggressive first mile, pretty steady throughout and more importantly felt better throughout.  Still don't know if I can hold 6:50 to get my sub-3 goal in a couple of weeks, but this makes me feel like I should be in the ballpark.

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 557.43 miles.