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

8 miles easy - 8:40 overall average.  Nice cool day as well.  I think my Brooks are shot.

Met up with 2 other runners this morning.  We ran 3.5 miles easy followed by 4 LT miles with .5 mile cool down.  LT pace miles: 6:59, 6:47, 6:45, 6:38.

This is odd - every time I have some minor thing nagging me it goes away with some fast paced miles.  Maybe the turnover helps loosen things up.

5 recovery miles on the soft trail.  No watch or GPS but probably around 9 minute miles.

Nice cool morning.  There were multiple routes so much of the group went separate ways after mile 2.  I got separated at this point and ran the rest alone.  I don't think many were doing more than 14 miles.  The first 10 miles were in the 8:10 - 8:20 range.  Picked up the pace though it was not easy.  My legs did not feel completely up to the task but managed an over all pace of 7:38 on the last 7.5.

5 easy/recovery @ overall pace of 9:00.

2 mile warm up followed by 4 x 2km (1.25 miles per Garmin) with 1.5 cool down afterwards.

Splits for intervals:

1. 8:30 (6:50 pace) (Warm-up)

2. 8:25 (6:47 pace)

3. 8:00 (6:24 pace)

4. 7:42 (6:09 pace)

6.5 recovery miles at lunchtime.  I did some crazy Lance Armstrong workout yesterday at the gym.  I am having hard time walking around the office.  Running was not pleasant but was bearable.  

11 easy on very sore legs!  Average pace around 9:00.  I have worn my Kinvaras 3 days in a row and have come to appreciate them more and more.  I had thought that running too much in them would not be a good idea but I could be wrong.  Really nice light shoe with great transition. I will be wearing them for the 1/2 marathon on Sunday.  

6 easy - STILL sore - hopefully it will all be gone by Sunday.

7 easy - still some lingering soreness - not sure I will do that workout again - completely crazy that it would take this long to recover.  Not sure if the running is helping - but I think it is.

Wonderful and cool morning for a race.  Temps were low 40's but there was a pretty good wind so temps felt like 30's.  This is a very hilly course with quite a few long climbers and some short but steep hills as well.  I actually showed up without any big expectations given the course and some - albeit very little - soreness in the glutes and IT bands.  I ran with a good friend and the plan was to hit 7:00's the first half and try and pick it up in the later half.  I still race a bit conservatively in that I am always afraid that I will run out of juice at the end.  I pretty much held back until mile 10 which came at the end of what seemed like a never ending hill.  The wind was a factor in the first 4 miles and the last 2 miles.  From 11 - 13 it seemed like we ran straight into it.  It was not gale force by any means but enough to know it was there.  I tried to push the last couple miles.  I am pretty happy with my overall time given the course and wind.  I wish I could have run 10 seconds faster so I would get under 1:32.  I didn't do a cool down run after and I will probably pay the price in some soreness.  I did stretch so that should help. I ended up with a negative split. It is pretty easy from my splits to tell where the hills were and the wind at the end.

Splits: 7:00, 7:07, 7:08, 7:01, 7:03, 7:06, 7:00, 6:47, 6:58, 7:00, 7:07, 7:10, 6:55, 6:04. Overall pace 7:02.

 As a side note I ran this 3 years ago when it was a 20k and my overall pace was 9:45. 

6.3 recovery miles on the soft trail.  9:10 overall pace.  No lingering problems from yesterday's run but some minor calf soreness.

Nice cold morning - 30's - still ended up running in my singlet from mile 5 on.  I kept my gloves on though. :-)

I misjudged the out and back distance because I added a loop on to the beginning.  I wanted to get in 12 miles but ended up over 13.  I know what they mean by running on tired legs but felt  good by mile 9-10 when I picked up the pace a bit.  

Overall pace in  the 8:40's. 

I am in love with my Kinvaras - I don't think I can go back to big clunky shoes again. My two nagging injuries have all but disappeared since I switched to these shoes exclusively.

 (40 minutes spinning at lunch to get the blood flowing in the legs.)

2 miles warm up to the track followed by ladder workout.

3k in 13:26 (7:11 pace)

2k in 8:25 (6:46 pace)

1k in 3:58 (6:23 pace)

1k in 4:04 (6:32 pace)

400m in 80 (5:21 pace)

400m in 89 (5:58 pace)

400m in 85 (5:41 pace)

400m in 69 (4:37 pace)

Total of 5 miles quality speed)

Followed by 2 miles cool down.

6 recovery miles.

Great, cool morning.  I was on the fence as to run 15-16 or 18.  I decided that since I did not run a long run last week, albeit a quality run at the 1/2 marathon, that I would shoot for 18.  I left the group around mile 7 and continued on alone.  I only had on GU but drank some gatorade at the water stops every 4 miles.  At mile 9 I decided to pick it up and try to finish at MGP.  The last 2 miles were pretty difficult.  I ran Exposition @ miles 14-16 which consists of some significant climbers.  At times I thought I had a 7:20 or so pace but in the end my spits were not that fast.  I ran the first 9 around an 8:00 average and the back 9 at 7:34 average.  I am giving myself some slack due to the 1/2 marathon 6 days ago plus as pretty hard track workout on Thursday.  This week's mileage looks high due to the race last Sunday - normally I would not have run on Sunday.  Heading down to South Pardre Island for the next 6 days.  I should be able to keep up the running while down there.  I do not plan on running on Christmas day but a few of us are meeting up on Sunday for an 18 mile run.  

The Kinvaras held up nicely on the long run today.   I am still not sure that I will run a marathon in them, though.

On the beach at South Padre Island.  The sand is hard packed enough to run on.  I ran 1 mile to the jetty and turned around - 4 miles up the coast and back for a total of 8 miles.  Threw in 100m strides at the end at 5k pace.  Great to be running along the water with the sun coming up. 

Warm and humid - still dark out - a bit strange running on the beach in the dark.  After 3 miles it was dawn so I had some light.  7 miles on the beach - turning back into a strong wind - I got back on the main road at this point hoping there would be some cover from the buildings.  It was a bit of a help but the wind was still pretty stiff.  Easy miles around 8:00-8:10. Dropped the last 2.5 miles to 7:10, 7:05 and 6:47.  Cooled down .5 miles back to the condo.  

6 easy on the beach - watched the sun come up as I ran.

I used the GPS to find a local High School to use the track.  6 am - dark and humid - mid 60's.  Ran 2.5 miles warm up followed by 4 "super sets" of 5 x 400m.  1 minute rest between 400's and 1 recovery lap between super sets.  This was a pretty grueling workout but satisfying.  It took a few laps to find the right pace - I did not use my GPS function - I used the stopwatch instead - so I had to pace of of 100m marks.

Set #1: 1:37 (6:30 pace) 1:35 (6:22 pace), 1:33 (6:14 pace), 1:32 (6:10 pace), 1:33 (6:14 pace)

Set #2: 1:27 (5:50 pace), 1:29 (5:58 pace), 1:28 (5:54 pace), 1:27 (5:50 pace), 1:28 (5:54 pace)

Set #3: 1:27 (5:50 pace), 1:25 (5:41 pace), 1:27 (5:50 pace), 1:28 (5:54 pace), 1:28 (5:54 pace)

Set #4: 1:25 (5:41 pace), 1:24 (5:37 pace), 1:22 (5:29 pace), 1:24 (5:37 pace), 1:18 (5:13 pace)

5 miles of speed work for the day.

Last day on the coast - 6 easy on the beach.

17.5 mile long run - everyone else ran Friday but could not make that one.  Met up with a friend this morning and got our long run in.  Low 8:00's - last couple a bit faster.

Ran the hills today - Lost Horizon/Rain Creek.  It was so much fun that I turned around and ran it back home. :-)  Nice cold morning - 30's - but still ended up in my short sleeve base layer about half way through.

A bit warmer this morning - 48 to start.  A bit misty as well.  Today was lactate threshold run.  Ran 4 easy followed by 5 miles @ overall 6:52 pace with .5 miles cool down @ MGP.  I love it when after faced paced miles MGP feels very easy.  

 Looks like I will miss the 2,500 mile mark for the year by about 50 miles.  Still an improvement over last year by 350 miles.

6.25 recovery on the soft trail. Cloudy, misty morning - wonderful.

Only 7 miles today on the trail.  Ran with the group but ended up running alone in the middle of two groups - not fast enough for the group ahead and too fast for the group behind.  We ran 2 miles warm-up followed by fartleks with 3 sets of  3min hard, 1 min easy, 2 min hard, 1 min easy, 1 min hard, 1 min easy.  I then added a couple more fast minutes during the last mile.  Fast parts run @ 6:10 to 6:38 pace.  Long run tomorrow instead of Saturday.

The plan today was to run 15-16 miles with the last 2.5 hard.  Well, that plan fell apart when the small group I was running with decided to push the pace a bit.  We hit some good hills from mile 2-5.  The other members turned around at 7 and my partner and me continued on to 8 and turned around.  We picked it up and ran the last few at a pretty good clip.  The last mile was hard for me - I was really dizzy at the end and had to sit down for a couple minutes.  Not good.  Only 4 hours of sleep last night and maybe bad nutrition?  Also ended up with a pretty good mileage week so that could have done something.  I was feeling strong up to that point.  Splits: 9:09, 8:53, 7:55, 8:07, 7:44, 8:00, 7:34, 7:42, 7:33, 7:23, 7:23, 7:24, 7:17, 7:18, 7:35, 7:35.