I only run on days that end in a "y."

Met up with the group at the annex.  They were doing circuit and I initially thought about skipping and doing something else.  I am glad I tagged along.  

2.7 miles warm-up followed by circuit:

4 x (15 step ups per leg, 15 lunges per leg, 30 squats) 

200m run to the other side of the track:

3 x (15 push ups, 15 supermans, 15 crunches)

200m run to the other side of the track, repeat.  W

We only had 15 minutes to complete as many as we could, I got to 4 times the first set and only 3 times the second set before we ran out of time.

Then 15 minutes of various plyometric stuff, and then core.

2.7 miles back.  I decided to run 30 seconds hard and 30 seconds slower to the end. I got 15 of these in with burst up into the 5:00's.  Once back I went out for an easy recovery mile out and back. 

8 around the trail at 9 am - mid 70's and sunny during parts, 7:50 AP.

Legs are incredibly sore from yesterday.   Just goes to show you that lots of miles does not strengthen the legs.  I need to start doing more resistance training like I used to do.  I definitely felt stronger during those times.

Nice dip in the springs afterward. 

74 degrees and humid at 5:45 am. I still had significant DOMS from Tuesday's workout. Met up with the group for a 4 mile progressive run on the trail.  The coach told us to start at 10k pace and finish the last mile at 5k pace.  I am not sure what he was on.  The temp alone was going to make that nearly impossible and we were running on the trail which is a 15 second handicap.  

I decided to run more like 1/2 marathon pace effort and progress down from there.  I actually wanted to finish this workout and not die with one mile to go.  Turns out most of the runners either slowed down considerably or quit at mile 3.  This was a good mental test just to push through and finish.

I was happy that I stuck to the intent and finished strong: 6:43, 6:35, 6:25, 6:10.

Ran a cool down mile out and back, doing 4 bursts on strides on the half mile coming back in.

5 easy miles at the gym followed by some rolling, hot tub and steam room.  Not a bad way to start the day.

This is my annual 5k race.  I was really unsure how this would all turn out.  Though I shoved a bit of speed in to my week last week I really have not been training for the distance.  When I was filling out the registration this morning I really thought about not doing it at all.  It was 75 at 7 am, so by race start it was probably 78, super high humidity, and strong winds - enough to straighten out the flags.  In the end I decided why not, I could turn it into a workout.

I met up with a couple buddies from the running club.  We did a couple warm up miles and then some strides.  I was already hot and the heart rate was high.  Not a good sign I thought.  We ended up standing around for a long time, I thought the race started at 7:45 but it was 8:15.  The kid's K was 7:45.  Anyway, I did some more bursts 5 minutes before the race.

Anyway, the gun went off and I was passing people left and right.  5:45 for the first mile - it flew by.  I did not know whether I would blow up or not but I had ideas of greatness in breaking 18:00.  The next mile has a slight hill - 5:52 - definitely going to PR I thought.  The last mile was hard, no doubt.  By this time the heat is catching up with me and my legs are screaming for me to stop.  I lost a few here - 5:58.  I turned the corner and started picking it up a bit and pushing - .1 @ 5:43.  I saw the clock and was really disappointed.  I thought for sure I had a PR but the clock said 18:30 but I was not sure what my chip time would be.  It turned out to only be 4 seconds. 

I finished 22 out of over 936 timed runners and won my AG, which entitled me to an nice wooden fish award and a free meal for 2 at Chuy's.  So all and all I am pretty happy.  On a cooler day I feel like could have PR'd, and with training I will get that elusive sub 18:00.

Met up with Mike and Dan at the annex for 12 miles - Scenic route out and back.  Gentle rain the entire run which was great.

4.25 miles easy on the trail - 7:30's - followed by circuit and core - followed by 3.8 with last 2 miles 30 sec hard and 30 sec recovery.

I started my new job on Monday and it is downtown.  The good news is that it is 3 blocks away from the Town Lake trail!  I went out at lunchtime for a 7.5 mile run.  It was low 70's but the humidity must have been at 100%.  Otherwise a nice run.  Yes, we have showers at the office. :-)

70 degrees - high humidity.

Met up at the annex - the main group did Fartleks and a sub group of us went to Austin High to run 400's.  Why?  Well, we are planning on running the Congress Avenue Mile race next week.  I have never run a mile all out before so it should be fun.  I have not trained properly for it but we will see what I can do.  The calculators say around 5:15 and I think that might be doable if I can tolerate the pain.

1.7 mile warm up followed by 10 x 400. 

5 x 400m with 200m active recovery followed by 3 minute rest (1:23-1:20's)

5 x 400m with 200m active recovery followed by 2 minute rest (1:17-1:20's)

5 x 200 m with 100m walking recoveries.  (:35-:33's)

1.7 mile cool down followed by stretching, a few lunges, pull ups and pushups.

6 miles on the townlake trail at lunchtime - it was warm out but nice.  8:10 AP.

I had to run in the neighborhood this morning as my wife had somewhere to go to early.  I ran the same route I normally do for my progressive runs - 5 miles out and back.  7:20 AP.  Felt pretty good although the humidity got to me a bit at the end.  

8:52, 7:46, 7:23, 7:18, 7:12, 7:10, 7:13, 7:08, 6:46, 6:38.

Step-ups, squats and lunges after the run.

I actually hit 50 miles for the week. :-)

Out at lunchtime for a quick jaunt around the trail.  Around 80 degrees and sunny.  The first half of the run wasn't too bad because of the shade from the trees, not so much on the second half.  7:35 AP.

Not a good morning.  As soon as I started running the pain in lower leg was intense.  It's not the calf, but a tendon running down the outer side.  I have been dealing with this even before Boston, but it has always been more than a nuisance rather than a big issue.  I guess it finally caught up with me.  I pushed through the first mile since it always feels better after running a few minutes, but it didn't really get better so I decided to cut the run short.  Coming back I picked up the pace and it actually felt better.  I tried one 60 second hill repeat at the end - that's what I wanted to do this morning - and I was fine going up but the injury started to complain coming back down the hill. 

I came inside and rolled it out a bit.  Very painful on one specific spot.

I guess I will take it easy for a few days.  I was told the Congress Avenue mile might not even happen because a couple sponsors pulled out.  Even if it does I will probably skip it with this new developement. 

Met up with the group for a "secret run."  The coach had everyone take off their watches so that people would focus on feel and not let the watch hold them back.  The workout consisted 2.5 easy up into the hills and then progressively picking it up until about mile 3 and then running hard back on a loop course.  I let the first 4 guys go at 2.5 miles, caught and passed one of them a bit down the course and nearly caught another at the finish.  It was a difficult run but good.  Pace was probably in the low 6:00's.

1 mile cool down at the end.

I wore my soft shoes to try and take the blunt off of the lower leg.  It seemed to help but it was tender afterwards.  I will take a couple days off and let it rest up.

Went to the gym for a spinning class and all the bikes were taken.  So I decided to test out the injury.  It was only minor discomfort and really did not bother me too much.  Low 70's and humid at 9 am.  7:30's average pace wise.  It seems like it will be fine as long as I stay away from speed work for a while.

Went out for a lunchtime run - it was hot and my leg was not feeling great.  So when I ran by the Y I went inside and went for the spinning class.  60 minutes with some tough hill work - I think the max level on the bike was 24 and I worked 21-22 for most of the hill work.  Legs felt good afterward.

1 mile warm up and then met up with the group at the annex.  Then long warm up @ 7:20 - 7:30 pace followed by circuit at Austin High.  200m sprint followed by 15 x pushups, supermans, crunches, 200m sprint followed by 15 x 1 leg step - ups per leg, 15 x squats, 15 x lunges per leg - repeat circuit x 4.  Or 5, I kinda lost count how many I did.  Anyway, I definitely feel stronger, so I am sure this is all worthwhile.  2.7 back to the annex - 7:20 down to 6:50 for the last mile or so.

Injury felt much better today though it was a bit uncomfortable during the initial mile.  The every-other-day run seems to be working.  It will be interesting to see how it feels tomorrow.  Sometimes these things just go away.

6.5 on the trail at lunchtime.  Hot and sunny!  7:40's-7:50s.

Met up with the group at 5:45 am - 73 degrees and humid.  2 miles easy followed by 10 x 2 min hard with 1 min easy in between, though some of the easy paces were around 7:00 until we got the group to slow down.  Hard paces were in the low 6:00's.  Don't know why Fartleks are so hard for me.  Well, everyone was struggling a bit.  The coach ran with us for the last 5 so that was cool - he slowed us down a bit and got us to focus on form and not so much on speed. 

Injury was good - I am definitely on the mend.  I thought about going out for another mile or two but decided not to risk it.  Hopefully I can actually get a long run in this Saturday.

6.5 easy in the am.

met up with the group at 6 am.  73 degrees, high humidity.  I opted for 10 miles - I think it is the perfect distance, not too short, not too long.  I just didn't feel like going any further.  A couple narly hills around mile 3-4 and then back down on the trail.  It was a warm up.  7:30's average.

Out and back from the house with a couple hills and some trail.  No watch but 7.5 is about right. 

9 am, already nice and toasty, humid.  Just an out and back from the  house - same as yesterday.  My legs are starting to feel good again.  It is taking a while.  No watch again, guessing 7:30-7:40's.

3 mile warm up to Austin High followed by 4 x circuit with 400m in between.  3 back to Run Tex - fast miles.  No watch but we were hoofing it back.

Around the trail at lunch time.  It was hot and humid, some clouds once in a while.  No watch but I probably ran faster than I should have.

Met up with the group at 5:45 am for a progressive run on the trail. It was 78 degrees already and humid.  3 miles easy followed by 4 progressive.  I have been having a problem staying properly hydrated.  I felt dehydrated to start the run and it only got worse.  I had to make a quick stop at mile 2 into the progressive run to grab a drink at the barrels. I am not sure I could have hung with the lead group any way.  I have been quite mentally weak in these runs lately.  It's a struggle to go out and run these hard with no immediate goal in front of me.  My legs just didn't  feel good either from about mile 4 in. The good news is I finished and finished strong even though I wanted to quit and start walking on several occasions.  The guys that I let go did not fare much better.  It was just miserable out there this morning.