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

Foggy this morning - DP was 70.  So my slight improvement on my 800's isn't due to weather.

4.5 miles to the track and then 6 x 800m with 400m recovery inbetween.  After my 400m I would take another 15 seconds or so to get some water and let the HR come down a bit - I could feel the heat coming off me.  It was warm.  A slight breeze made it feel a bit better.  No lights on at the track save the school.  When I was running away from the school I couldn't see anything at the distant end due to the fog and darkness.  Kinda strange.

800s - 2:58, 2:50, 2:50, 2:49, 2:48, 2:45.  

I wanted to run some a couple 400's and 200's but I had to get home to help get the kids out the door.  

2 miles easy to the house.

EVENING run - had some extra time after work - got in 4.25 miles on the trail - 38 minutes.

DP 71 - lunchtime recovery run - 8:45 AP I think.

I was really dreading this run due to the temps and humidity.  It was bad.  I had to take a couple 10-20 second breaks in order to get through it.  Hopefully that cool weather they are promising comes next week.  Those miles just feel harder then they should.

2.25 miles warm up and the 8 @ MPG @ 6:53 AP and then 2.25 miles cool (warm) down.

Squeezed in a 4.25 mile run after work on the trail.  Moderate effort - left the gps in the car though.

Hoping this is the last hot day for a while.  At least I have a nice tan.  ha.

5 recovery miles on soft surface during lunchtime.  No watch but it was slow.  Legs a bit sore from yesterday which is good - I like to feel like I am getting my money's worth from my workouts.

9.25 miles - 7:40 AP.  3 x steep hill sprints - wanted to do 8 but my right ankle was complaining so I cut them short.

Great morning - felt like I could keep on running.  I am sure all of us in Texas are enjoying the cold front.  I ran the Lost Horizon/Rain Creek route - added a couple on then came back up Jollyville. I figured it's about time to start running some good hills.

7:30 AP with a couple super easy to start and a couple MGP to finish. 

Decided against the 10k this morning for various reasons - probably none of them good ones. :-)

Chilly morning!  8 out and back from the house - first 2 slow then 7:20's - 7:40's.  Quite a few runners out.

I went for a bike ride yesterday with my two kids and everyone we met was smilling and waving - it's amazing what cool weather will do for people's moods.
 

52 degrees and over 70% humdity.

3.25 miles warm-up followed by a 9.25 MGP tempo run.

Felt pretty good but had some problems with getting the pace down for the first 2-3 miles.  6:56, 6:55, 6:51, 6:51, 6:49, 6:51, 6:44, 6:39, 6:19, .4 @ 6:01. = 6:45 AP.

Overall much better than last week.  What a difference some good weather makes.  Legs a bit sore but no issue on the cardio side of things.

PM - lunchtime run 4 miles in under 32 mins.

Mile repeat day.  I thought about going downtown and running 1200's with the group.  But I am so into my groove now of being home to help with the kids and then taking them to school.  I decided I would run from home instead.  It saves me 30-35 minutes (roundtrip travel time) plus gas.  

Anyway, 5.25 miles easy followed by 3 x 1 mile with 400m recoveries.  

During my second mile they turned on the lights at the track and the middle school kids started to come out to the field for football practice.  I have to give those kids credit for being at school at 6 am.  No way I would have done that at that age.

Anyway, they didn't kick me off the track but I trotted up to the road and finished my final mile - with half on a sidewalk - in the dark - and half on the neighborhood street when I finally turned a corner.  The sidewalk run was fun because of the on coming traffic with the lights on made if very hard to see.  I was lucky that I didn't take a fall.

Happy with my mile times - makes me feel like I could break 5:40s.  I think if I could knock off 3 miles in the 5:30's I would feel pretty confident of being able to run a 17 something 5k.

5:47, 5:42, 5:45

2.25 cool down - 7:20's.

PM - 4 miles easy at lunchtime.

warm an muggy - 7.25 miles in 60 minutes.  

I need to run my LR tomorrow as we are going camping later tomorrow and I probably won't get a run in on Sunday.

90% and almost 80 degrees.  I wanted to run at 8:00 pace to make the run bearable - but after 4-5 miles my legs wouldnt let me, even though I was miserable.  7:40 AP with some slow miles up front.  Glad to be done with it.

I went to ACL fest on Friday night - on my feet for 5 hours, didnt eat much, and got home late and therefoe not much sleep, oh, and almost 80 miles this week - so I wasn't feeling all that strong on this run!

10 easy - first mile 9:00 then dropped the pace down to 7:40's to 7:10's.  A light mist made it somewhat bearable out there.  Pace felt easy.

Read this article over the weekend - not sure what I think about this but there is defintely some truth in it.  Maybe I just need to enjoy every day of running and let the rest take care of itself?  I

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304626104579121813075903866.html

"To put it bluntly, goals are for losers. That's literally true most of the time. For example, if your goal is to lose 10 pounds, you will spend every moment until you reach the goal—if you reach it at all—feeling as if you were short of your goal. In other words, goal-oriented people exist in a state of nearly continuous failure that they hope will be temporary.

If you achieve your goal, you celebrate and feel terrific, but only until you realize that you just lost the thing that gave you purpose and direction. Your options are to feel empty and useless, perhaps enjoying the spoils of your success until they bore you, or to set new goals and re-enter the cycle of permanent presuccess failure."

70's and almost 100% humidity - DP 71.  Not fun!

So this is the part of the plan where the speed/track workouts end and the LT runs begin.  Schedule for today was 4 x 1.5 miles @ LT pace with 400m recovery inbetween.  Next week it's 3 x 2 miles, then 2 x 3 miles, etc.  I like this for a couple reasons - it introduces the pace and distance gradually while still allowing 6 miles and 38 plus minutes of work in the LT zone.  

Today's run went pretty well until the last mile when the heat and humidity really started to take affect.  I ran 3.25 miles warm up and then 2 x 1.5 miles out and the other 2 coming back, with 1.5 miles cool down.  

1.52 miles in 9:40 (6:20 pace) with .3 mile recovery

1.52 miles in 9:33 (6:17 pace) with .3 mile recovery

1.54 miles in 9:41 (6:18 pace) with .25 mile recovery

1.5 miles in 9:32 (6:20 pace) 

1.5 miles easy back home.

LUNCH RUN - 4.5 miles around 8:00 pace - hot and muggy so the effort was a higher.

6 recovery miles on a nice and cool lunch break.  Pace unknown....

Perfect running weather - 52 degrees, slight breeze - a bit on the humid side though.  

3.1 miles warm up followed by 10.1 miles @ MGP.  Miles felt pretty good after the first couple as I got into a rhythm.  Legs a bit sore from Tuesday but the breathing was nice and relaxed.  

10.1 miles in 1:08:20 for 6:46 AP.  (6:55, 6:51, 6:46, 6:46, 6:44, 6:48, 6:42, 6:50, 6:45, 6:38)

Starting to get a bit excited for the marathon now. :-)

7 easy/recovery.

Lunchtime run - 4.5 miles - mile down to the small pond and 5 laps (.6 miles each lap) on the trail with 30 pushups between the last 3 laps (total 90) and then a mile badk.

3 and a half, then met up with Kevin and Dan for 12, then 3 more on my own.  Pushed the pace a bit on the last few - but most of the run was relaxed - 7:40 AP.

10.6 miles around Town Lake.  Got a late start - 10:30 am - but the weather was still awesome.  Lots of people out this morning.  I was only going to run 7 but I kept going at the turnoff and went on the 10 mile loop.  Ran at a good clip but it felt good.  7:30's AP.

After 2 solid days it was time for some super easy miles - 9:04 AP.

Daughter woke up at 2 am not feeling good.  She had a fever and was miserable.   Tried liquid Ibuprofen and that came up a few minutes later.  I think enough stayed in though to get her fever down.  She finally feel asleep - not sure what time.  Someone I managed to get some more sleep and it was hard to get up at 4:50.  But I did it. 

Anyway, I was tired!  I could feel my legs today, certainly not 100%, cardio seemed find though.

Today was 3 x 2 mile at LT pace.  I am pretty sure for me that's around 6:20 give or take.

3.1 w/u with 3 x 2 miles at LT pace with .25 mile recovery in between sets.

2 miles @ 6:25, .25 recovery, 2 miles @ 6:19, .25 recovery, 2 miles @ 6:25.

2.5 miles c/d.

I would like to see all of these @ 6:20 or below. 

It's Run For the Water ths Sunday.  Thinking of defending my master's title in the 5k.  I probably should go run the half with IJR - but I don't feel like spending $115 on a half marathon that I would probably use as a training run - even if it is for a good cause. 

PM - I was able to sneak in a quick 4.5 mile run after work.  No watch.

So are company is putting on this big flag football game as part of our holiday party this year.  It was our first practice.  I don't know, I could have pulled a SJ here and done something I knew I shouldn't have.  Anyway - ran 5. mile to the park for practice - ran some crazy stuff for an hour - then ran back and hit the train for 4 easy to get in 5 miles.
 

Yep, legs were pretty trashed from practice - I felt them when I woke up.  Still, I thought I could do my workout.  I had to be downtown early at our main building for a meeting.  This would be a great opportunity to run some MGP on the hills of Enfield and Expo I though.  After 3 w/u sluggish miles I could feel it would be a hard day/bad workout day.  I haven't had one in a while so I was due. 

It was hard on the first couple to get to pace and felt overly hard - here I should have cut my losses and ran easy the rest of the way, but no, the rational mind was put to rest.  So I continued on and the hills took their toll - had a couple quick breaks for water and to fidget with my music - but managed to put in a solid last few miles. 

But when I stopped I could feel the right sciatic nerve that wasn't happy.  Big yellow flag here - as I have had this once before and it was the most painful injury I have suffered through.  So hopefully with some good stretching and rolling it won't turn into much.

Anyway - I am not going to play flag football again - mainly because the game is 3 days after my marathon - I won't be in any condition to play - so why keep going to practice and risking an injury?  It was fun though. 

3.05 w/u

8 @ 6:50 AP with 6 in 6:40's.

.75 c/d

I won't be doing a double today!! :-((

Tried super super easy 3.5 miles on the trail.  Sciatic nerve is not happy.  Nothing to do but take a few days off and hope it gets better.  Not fun!!

No running today but I saw Kip who tortured me with deep tissue massage and stretching.  He also gave me exerciese to complete to do some strengthening.  He did say there should be no problem with being able to run the marathon in December.  I guess this week will determine that.  I need to do some light running the next couple of days and come back to see him on Tuesday.

Since I could not run the Race for the Water I drove down to volunteer.  I got to ride shotgun in the lead vehicle which was pretty cool.  Amazing to watch te leader from the perspective.  He ran a 10 mile hilly course in 49 minutes - phenomenal.  He was all alone after mile 5. 

I then ran super super easy.  Sciatic flared up a bit but it is getting a little better.
 

easy on soft surfaces during lunchtime - went OK but sore as heck after the run when things tightened up.

Actually managed 60 minute spinning class.  Lots of stretching and foam roller.  Nerve issues are tricky (and painful!)  The marathon is off so I will try to come back in a week or two and focus on killing it at the 3M Half Marathon in January and then gear up for Boston.  This marathon plus Boston might have been too much anyway.  My 3,000 mile year goal is probably out the window, too.