Dixies Dashing Diary

Ran alone this morning. Beautiful day though. Cool & comfortable which is saying a lot for the first day of June in Florida. I'm trying to keep my pace comfortable on these days and focus on form and relaxation. I seem to always pick it up though and I'm wondering if I'm cheating myself or helping. Today, the goal was to get 7 miles in.

I finished March with a 30 mile/week average which was my goal. I want to ramp to 40 m/wk in June and hold that till August when I begin training for a fall marathon. If I can get strong and stay uninjured through the summer, I should have a shot at 3:40'sh to maybe a 3:30 marathon by November.

 I dropped a total of 4 lbs in March brining my total to around 9 lbs since Feb. leaving me at a still healthy (if not hefty) 175 lbs. I don't see the need to drop below 170 but I'll see where the milage and increased intensity take my body at the current calorie intake.

Time: 5:45 am    Total Time: 1:00:01  Temp: 72

Break Down:

• 3 mile: 25:09:62 (8:23/mile)
• 3 mile: 24:19:85 (8:06/mile)
• 1.2 mile (cool down):  10:32 (8:46/mile)

Did 1.5 mile warm up. Ran 800 repeats with 400 jogging recoveries. Ran 1.5 mile cool down.

1. 3:11
2. 3:17
3. 3:11
4. 3:10 
5. 3:06
6. 3:10

Ran Longleaf this morning with Dave G., Rudy, Alex, Craig, Diane, Kesha, and about 12 others. For once, I actually laid back and let Diane, Alex, Craig and Diane lead us out. I have no idea what our paces or total time was but I felt great and aerobic the entire time. This was an excellant recovery to yesterday's intervals (though I did run 4 easy last night...).

I'm feeling good about this week. I'm jumping up to 40 miles this week and though I've not slept well at all, I'm actually feeling pretty good. I'll do 13-15 on Saturday at Starkey Park and celebrate Kesha's last day (she leaves for OT school).

It's a blessing to be able to run with these people. Each one incredible in some small or significant way. I'm thankful to run with them and thankful to be injury free!!!

Ok, so I'm marching toward my first 40 mile week since my peak in preparation for the Snicker Marathon Bar Marathon (Albany, GA; 3/2009). I decided to go out and just put in an easy 3 miler just to loosen the legs and get my day started. Legs felt fine but still felt half asleep. I'm just not sleeping well and this morning I think it caught up with me.

Tomorrow: 13! That will put me at 41 miles for the week. My goal is to maintain 40 throughout the summer and see what that nets me in training prep for marathon season. I've never put in this many miles and felt so good.

Time: 6:00 am   Total Time: 26:33  Temp: 75 degrees

Ran at Starkey Park with the Striders. I was late getting to the park and had to basically tempo to catch the group at the 2.5 mile water station. BIG mistake. I paid for it late in the run. Of course other contributing factors to my Crash & Burn at mile 11 was the fact that the temp was 77 degrees when we started at 6:15 and over 80 by the time we finished our first 5K.

I don't know what the deal is with me and heat. I just shut down. I had such a great training week but when it came to completing a simple, flat, 13 miler, I had to walk on and off for the last 3 miles. I've got to find a way to beat the heat and finish these longer runs.

Ran with Mark, Eudair, Diane, Katie, Keisha, Dave G, Craig, and others who all wisely turned around at the 4.5 mile mark. Bottom line: I covered 13 miles today.

Time: 6:15 am    Total Time: 2:05:11 (had to walk some)   Temp. 77 to 83 degrees