Chad's Runs

Didn't have time for the 7 that I wanted to run.  Time was a little tight so I cut the run a little short and ran 6.  I didn't have any focus.  Every time I tried to pick up the pace I found my mind wondering and pace slowed down a few minutes later.  Fighting the wind was fun too.  It wasn't anything like the wind up north, but I still had to fight it.  Average pace 8:50.  12 on Saturday.

Nice run.  Went out around 3 in the afternoon in 30 something degrees and sun.  There was a bit of a north wind but overall very pleasant weather.  I went north on the JRP and took the old detour around the construction.  I missed the mud but the trail was still "closed" past the area of construction where the new bridge is.  For some reason the trail is really ripped up for a half mile or so north of that access point.  I wonder what happened. 

Where was I?

 Oh yeah, I thought that 8:50s would be a good pace to shoot for.  Pace isn't really import on a long run but 12 isn't all that long even if it is one of my longest of the year.  Anyway, I stuck each mile in the 8:50s except for 2 at the end when I bumped it up and put them in the 8:30s.  There was another mile, mile 4 or 5, where the Garmin hic-upped and robbed me of a tenth of a mile or so.  The pace was in the high eights at the begging of the mile and then suddenly in the 10s.  I need to replace this ancient Garmin eventually.  I put the .4 on at the end to make up for my shortcut on Tuesday so I ended up with 30 miles for the week.  Now I just have to double that weekly mileage to prepare for Utah Valley.

Nice run.  My legs didn't feel as fresh as last Monday so I didn't push it but I didn't slack either.  I put the pace at 8:20ish and kept it there, nice and steady.  It was a bit cold out, probably my coldest run this year, but not bad at all.  The worst part of a cold run is a cold face.  I took a mile or so for my face to warm up.  It took my hands about that long too with my thin glove.  After 4 miles my hands were too warm so I took my gloves off.  That didn't last long, the sun had set and the temperature dropped.  I had to stop and put them back on a couple miles later.  The temperature started at 27 and ended at 20!  Quite a drop for an hour.  But still, I wasn't cold and could add more layers for much colder temperatures.  The thermometer is always more intimidating than the actual temperature.

I hope that by not pushing it as hard this week that tomorrow's run will be a bit better than last Tuesday.

Enjoyable  7 miles.  It was a little warmer than yesterday but not much.  There was no wind though, so it felt quite a bit warmer.  I felt better than yesterday, the second day of a back-to-back.  That hasn't happened in a long time.  I'm getting some stamina back.  It was good to see.  I was going to run 8:30s but felt so good after 4 I bumped it up and ran in the low 8s.  Average pace was 8:25, a little faster than yesterday.

Felt sluggish today.  I started of running 8:1?s in miles 2 and 3, planning on keeping that speed but after mile 3 I knew I wasn't going to be able keep that pace.  I kept waiting for it to get easier and it never did so I slowed down.  Mile 5 I started to not feel so good.  I needed to "take a seat" if you know what I mean.  I passed the pop at willow park choosing instead to finish the 1.5 miles until home.  Well it got worse after that and I took the shortcut home, walking at times.  Once home I confirmed my suspicions on why I was sluggish.  I unloaded a significant amount of material.

I wanted to run 13 but there just wasn't time.  I could have started earlier but I was intimidated by the temperature.  I know it would have been fine.  Bright sunny days feel warmer than the actual temperature.  As for the run, everything felt pretty good.  I didn't push the pace at all, I just set it on cruise at 8:30ish.  

On my way back I was getting back on the trail from Olympic Park where it is closed.  I could see three runners a few hundred yards ahead and one of them looked like Smooth and another looked like Wendy.  I picked up the pace to catch up and see if I was right.  I got closer and asked from behind, "Hey Smooth, is that you?"  All three of them jumped out of their shoes.  Apparently they didn't hear me coming at all.  So it was Smooth, Wendy, and Karen.  I don't think I've met Karen before, but now I have.  Wendy and Karen were only running eight and were almost done.  Smooth was running 16.  It's close to 4 miles from the old bridge to my house so I got to run them with Smooth.  It was great fun and the miles flew by.  Wendy and Karen were glad as well because they were a little worried about leaving Smooth to run by herself.

Thanks ladies, for some great company. 

New shoes.  I went a completely different direction.  I've mostly warn support shoes with some neutral cushion shoes mixed in.  I went with a little less this time.  I've been working on my form for that last year or so and as far as I can tell I've improved it a lot.  So with better form I thought I would try something a little less.  So I went to the shoe store and tried several different cushy minimalist shoes.  I'm not a cave man so no non-cushy shoes.  Anyway, after trying out the Altras on the treadmill the thought that came to mind is that these shoes didn't get in the way of running form.  So they're supposed to work your calves pretty good the first few times you wear them because of the zero drop.  They seemed to be doing just that until I realized that I was actually striking on the forefoot instead of midfoot.  Is it weird that I had to lengthen my stride slightly to strike on my midfoot?  Well it worked.  My legs were immediately more relaxed while continuing good posture and increasing speed.  It was noticeably easier to run.  So my first run in these shoes was AWESOME.  I beat my best 7 mile time by 14 seconds per mile.  That's almost a full 2 minutes.  Average pace 7:55.  It wasn't all the shoes.  I was feeling pretty good and only ran 10 on Saturday, but all the same, 7:55.  My legs feel good now but the last time I ran this hard I was a mess on the next day's run.  We'll see.

Recovery run from yesterday's mad dash - avg 9:06.  Went a lot better than the run two weeks ago that followed that mad dash.  It was a lot colder than yesterday.  I should have worn gloves.  The wet asphalt froze and got slick on the way back.  I had to tread lightly.

I couldn't fit in a run yesterday so I had to do it today.  I'm still on 4 runs a week, I'll add another in a few weeks.  I took it nice and easy, avg 9:25, so I'll be able to run 13-14 miles tomorrow with the gang.  My son rode his bike with me.  We got some "dad/son bonding time"  but to be truthful his mom just wanted him out of the house to burn off some steam.

Fun run.  I haven't run this far in well over a year.  Smooth dragged me along for the last for.  Thank you Smooth!  I was getting a bit tired toward the end and was ready to be done.  We actually got back to the cars with a quarter mile or so left but my watch had died almost at that very moment.  I didn't know how far to go and back to get 14 so I said good enough.  Pretty good excuse, eh?  Anyway, it felt good but I was ready to be done.  Smooth went on to get 18 and her friends Wendy and Karen along with Maynard ran the first 10.

It was cold today and with all the smog, the sun actually looked like a full moon.  It was a little creepy.  The smog doesn't bother me as it does some but it does make me cough a little at the end of a hard run.  What I don't like is that it makes it always cold.  The sun can't find its way in to warm things up.

The 34 miles this week is the also the most I've run in well over a year.  I feel really good.  The inside of my ankles are a little soar.  I'm used to some support on the inside of my shoes and the Altras and the high mileage Elixers don't provide that.  The muscles and tendons there on the inside of my feet have to work to provide the support that my shoes have in the past.  It's not a big deal but I don't want it to be.  

7 miles on the JRP in the soup.  I would like to see the sky, even a cloudy sky.  This weather sucks.  My legs are still dead from the 14 on Saturday so I took it easy, 8:25.  My ankles and achilles were tighter than my initial run in the Altras last week.  I'll probably give it another week before I step into 'em again.

Crappy week for miles.  I got ten in on this one with my sister-in-law from Indiana along with Smooth, Karen, Maynard, Beca, and David.  Did I miss anyone?  It started off real cold on the thermometer but it didn't feel that cold and by the end it was beautiful.

I haven't had time to run.  After family time and work there has been nothing left.  This next week doesn't look any better.  I don't know where to find the time either.  I can't drop either of the other two this next week so I suppose it will be another sparse week.  Maybe I'll shoot for 25 for the week starting on Wednesday. 

Another run in the new shoes.  I felt great, wonderful in fact, for the first three miles then my ankles started to hurt again.  It's not bad, I can run through it, but I don't want to get injured so I stopped every half mile or so after that to stretch.  It seemed to work well and I'm hoping that my recovery will be faster.  I was hoping that there would be less transition into these shoes but I'll keep plugging away at them.  My feet will get there.  I love them for the first half of the runs I've had in them so I'm not going to give up.

I set the alarm for 6 but didn't have the motivation to get out in the dark.  I went back to sleep and went at 8 instead.  The trail was empty.  Weird because it was beautiful.  There was a bit of a north wind but not enough to make it uncomfortable.  I can tell I haven't been getting in all the miles I've wanted over the last few weeks because I was a little sluggish.  My ankles felt good however.

The beavers finished their job or at least last nights wind storm finished it for them.  There was a big tree that had been gnawed through on the trail and the wind took it down.  It is blocking the trail and it takes a bit of climbing to get over it.  On the way back I went around.  It is between two access points so I exited the trail just north of the blockage and got back on just to the south.