Doug's Running Thingy

Bit of a chilly run this morning around the neighborhood - yes, 35 is chilly for me.  Will need all my will power and warm gear for the next few mornings as well - sub 30!  I will think of all you northerners who scoff at such balmy temps while pounding out the miles.

Too cold for my testes tastes this morning, so did 45 minutes of plyometrics in the house - ouch - been a while.

Ran 2.5 this evening (when it was a toasty 44 degrees) followed by 4 100M striders and then another half mile.

I'm thinking something like today will be my routine for the winter.  My trouble last year at this time was that I tried to keep doing 5-6 mile runs but lost motivation due to my unhealthy distaste for cold weather.  Short fast stuff is best for me, combined with working out inside in the morning.

Targeting the 400 meter indoor old fogies' race at the Jimmy Carnes Meet in Gainesville at the end of January... its good to have a goal.

Did a chest and back workout this morning for the first time in a long time - will have to ease into that one a little slower - pull ups were not at all impressive.

Ran my usual 4 miler this evening.  Gonna be a late night working on slideshow for the XC banquet on Sunday. 

Routine dumb bell workout in the morning before final preparations for the XC banquet.  As usual, the banquet was well attended and well received.  Even though this is probably my 10th or so track or XC banquet with Coach Droze, he always makes it interesting and entertaining and makes each kid on the team feel special.  Travis received his 2nd year varsity letter pin and a challenge from coach to make the top 10 all-time list for the school - just needs to drop another 15 seconds over the next 2 years.

This evening I did 2.5 miles hard and then 4 striders and a half-mile warm down.  Looking forward to earlier bedtimes now that I am finished with my XC website and photo/slideshow duties.

Gnite 

My knee (the bad, offensive right knee) has been tweaky since running around on Saturday shooting pics at the Senior All-Star Meet, so bailed on plyos this morning, and no running.  Did dumb bell circuit and core work.

Plyometrics this morning - no real issues with the knee.  Will run 3 hard this evening followed by 6-8 fast striders... unless the knee complains at some point along the way.

In the evening, I did just over 2 miles at a bit under 7 min/mile and then 2 X 180 meter hills and 4 striders, followed by an easy half mile.  This was a good day.  With a few degrees more warmth, I would probably do 3-3.5 hard before the hills/sprints.

40 minutes of core work in the morning and 30 minutes of upper body in the evening. No running - tomorrow looks nice for a track workout after work.

Forty-five minutes of yoga this morning - been way too long since I've done that.

Was sunny and 45 at lunch, so I traded food for a quick run.  Did 2.8 miles at about 7:15 pace, followed by 4X150 striders and then a half mile warm down.  The striders felt good - not good=fast, but controlled and strong for slightly longer sprints. 

Impromptu trip to the coast with the wife yesterday for one night.  Ran 2 miles easy down to Mashes Sands Beach this morning, and on the way back did 1 min on 1 min off with the "on" at about mile pace.  Then did 4 striders.  Chilly but lovely down by Ocklockonee Bay.

Went to the school and did the Ravine Trail plus North Loop for warm up... didn't work too well on the warming up front.  Legs never really felt loose, so when I got back to the track I just ran 4X200 controlled at 34-36 with 100 meter jog between. Wanted to run more and faster today, but chose to not push it with cold legs - chilly and wind was blowing and just never really got warmed up.  Did 2 laps cool down for right at 4.25 miles total.

Sunny and 45 degrees at lunchtime, so squeezed in a 4-miler before wolfing a ham sandwich and tomato soup - nearly warmed me up enough to not mind heading back to work.  Upon arrival back at the office, the bossman is gone for the day and the Christmas music is blaring - that'll work.

AM core and dumbbell workout.  Lunchtime plyometrics in front of the fire.  Slight warming trend for next few days, so should be able to get out for some runs.  I so admire you folks who can throw on thermal socks and gloves and hats and tights and under armor this and under armor that and go out for a run when its sub freezing.  If it goes under 50 degrees for me, I don't even think about reaching for my running shoes.

Four miler with the middle 2 miles going 1 minute on and 1 minute off at a bit better than 5K pace.  No time to tack on a few striders, so will try to do that tonight.

Dumbbell resistance workout in the morning, and squeezed in 4 miles around the neighborhood at lunch in light chilly rain.

Yesterday was a washout, literally because of rain all day, but more because I let time get away from me.  Made it to the track today for 2.5 miles warmup and then a little pyramid that turned into an even littler ladder - 100, 200, 300, 400.  Ran the 300 (49) and 400 (67) a little harder than anticipated, so bagged the back side of the pyramid.  Didn't feel too bad or strain too much on them, but definitely felt it in the quads and calves in the last 50 of the 400.  Was too nice a day to run smart... wanted to run a little bit fast.  Finished up with 2 laps and some stretching while watching a woman put her german shepherd through some obedience drills - very cool.

Have to fit my run around jury duty tomorrow - maybe I will get out early. 

30 minutes of plyometrics early and then 2 miles hard mid-day.

Very humid and 55 degrees this morning, so popped over to the trails -wooo.  Ran 2 miles easy to the start of the North Loop trail (0.8 miles of twisty, rooty single track), then worked that about as hard as I was able to - 5:18.  I've run it in 4:26.  Then an easy mile and a quarter back to the trailhead.  I plan to use this as a once-per-week gauge of my fitness over the next couple months leading into outdoor track.  The distance is certainly longer than what I will race (200, 400 and 800), but its a trail I've run many many times over the years and it is just flat out fun to run fast when I'm fit.  I was thinking I'd be closer to 5 flat today, but its been a long time since I've run the trail hard, and it was still a little dark this morning - sub 5 next week... as long as temps stay moderate.

Morning track workout today - nice to get it out of the way.  Ran 1.75 mile warmup from Maclay Gardens trailhead to the track.  Did 6 X 200 with 90 second jog/walk between the first 4, and then about 3 minutes each before the last 2.  Wanted to take the first 4 down from 35 to 32, and went 36, 35, 33, 32, so not too bad.  Last 2 I wanted to go 30 and 29, and I hit them at 30.25 and 30.10 - worked the turn on the penultimate and felt real strong, worked the straight on the last one and felt a bit rough.  All-in-all, I nearly felt like a sprinter.  Had to run the 1.75 return to the car a bit faster than I would have liked, since I had an 0830 conference call at the office.

Oh - I can report that the moon appears to have recovered nicely following the trauma of the other night.  It was 3/4 of the way to setting in the West this morning, and seems to be waning properly. 

Ravine trail plus north loop from the track (3 miles).  Then 2 400s and a half mile cool down.  The 400s were at 70 and 68.  I did the first and fourth of Travis' 4X400.  He wants to do this workout 2 or 3 times per week until he races the 1600 indoor in Gainesville at the end of January.  He's wanting to go sub-4:40, so he's doing four 400s at 70 or better to lock in the pace.  He did 70, 70, 71, 68 with about 30 seconds between - not bad.  He was satisfied, and he was duly impressed with the old man's effort.

30 minutes of plyometrics plus 20 minutes of pushups, pull ups and dumbbell circuit.

Evening 3 miler with new Garmin 405. Confirmed that my 2.4 mile run in the neighborhood is 2.43 and that my half mile lap around the block is 0.58.  Kinda cool - will have to play with it some more. 

From Maclay Gardens trailhead, ran 2 miles of the ravine trail to start of North Loop trail - did the North Loop (0.8 mi) in 5:06 - not bad... working toward 4:30ish by end of January.  Finished up with an easy mile and a quarter back to the car.

Lovin the whole Garmin thing.  Squeezed in a little workout at lunch.  Warmed up on the ravine trail (2.25 miles) a bit faster than originally intended - 7:20 pace - then did 200, 300, 500 on the track, and finished with 4 barefoot striders and 2 laps on the infield.  Only real goal was to hit the 500 at 90 seconds - ran 1:30.8 - that'll work.

Evening dumb bell workout, plus pushups, and pull ups and dips on the boy child's new workout stand - pretty slick.

Bailed out of the office early this afternoon to put in a "long run" in the gorgeous weather - sunny and 60 degrees.  The Garmin registered 5.28 mi for the combination of ravine trail and overstreet trail that my bike computer measures at 5.4 miles.  I accept both distances as spot on since I usually ride on the right side (outer lane) of the doubletrack and take the tangents when running - very interesting.  Kept the pace right at 8 flat, which was a bit of a struggle the last mile and a half.  Its been a few weeks since I've run more than 4 miles.