M'kay

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.