step by step, mile by mile

PM - 3 on hilton, 6:22 pace. felt easy, but conditions were terrible.

AM - 11 on sokol, 6:10 pace. felt way easier than the two sokol runs i did earlier this week. long run should be fun tomorrow if i'm feeling good. ready to hurt!

AM - 18-mile LR at mural, 6:12 pace. last 13 in 1:19:39.

quick complaint; this run definitely would have been faster at sokol or hilton, maybe even sandy. temperatures went below freezing last night, so at 6:30 the grass was wet and mushy which isn't the best surface for running fast. otherwise, perfect conditions. no wind, 36 degrees at the start and 48 by the end. also might be worth mentioning i went to the gym 30 minutes prior to bike on the stationary for a few minutes and do a bunch of dynamics and drills to warm up, mainly because it was cold out and i wanted to keep the pace honest from the start. might be worth doing even after it warms up. great run!

pictured below: why i immediately regret getting cool color schemes for running shoes 

PM - weights after work. mostly upper body and core, along with sled pushes and farmers walks. went heavy on the sleds and they killed

AM - 8 easy from northridge to sokol and back, 6:50 pace. then jogged to the track, did some drills, changed shoes and ran 6 x 100m strides with a 200m stride to finish it off. only timed the 200, that was a 30.0.

legs felt fine but i came up about 2k calories short of replenishing what i burned yesterday, and it bit me in the ass by giving me some serious hunger pangs during the run. strides felt great

also calling it now, i am 100% gonna lose at least one toenail this week. my middle 3 on my left foot have been on the precipace of falling off for about a month after a lot of trail running, and running in flats on a track isn't doing them any favors. onycholysis: a runner's best friend

AM - 4 w/u + drills and strides, then 4 x k w/ 2:45 rec in 2:59, 3:03, 3:04, 3:04. 5 c/d

nothing crazy on my first workout, but even the tower of babel started from the ground, right? botched that second k by coming through the first 200 in 31, surprised that didn't end up hurting me more but i guess calling 6:20's easy pace had to be good for something. kept the total work short since i knew my legs were gonna get shocked from actual hard running, but never tightened up or went over the red line, plus i felt pretty good on the cooldown, so i think i ran the times i was supposed to. happy with it all things considered! RIP to my index toenail

PM - 6 at hilton, 6:06 pace. obviously, i was still reeling from this morning ;)

AM - 6 on sokol, 6:24 pace. legs felt tired, but weren't hurting and really weren't all that sore either. however, what i said about not eating enough on sunday and it biting me in the ass, multiply it by 10 for this run. it's tough being a poor college student when you're burning over 5000 calories more days than you aren't, lol. ended up calling it at 6 because i was straight up starving, but also it's probably for the best i cut the 12 short this morning considering yesterday was basically all quality and i can't be getting greedy so early in training.

PM - 6, 6:18 pace. ankles felt a little stiff, i think that's more because of it being on hilton than anything else though

sotd: reptilia - the strokes

PM - 7 on mural, 6:17 pace. felt stiff at first, but the last 15 minutes or so i started feeling good. last 2 miles in 6:03 and 5:36. not too often that i'll dip under 5:40 to close out a run! hope to change that soon; bought myself an early birthday present in the form of a whole bunch of supplements after reading a book on them for endurance athletes. once i can add spirulina, beet root, and tart cherry extract to my pre-run shakes, it's over!

anyone else unable to comment on blogs? or am i being silenced for speaking the truth

AM - 4-mile shakeout, 6:43 pace. TERRIBLE run! i wore sweatpants for some reason despite it being 70 degrees out with full humidity, and by 10 minutes in my legs had overheated to the point they were completely lifeless. normally i'd be wearing running tights under, but i wasn't today, and couldn't strip the pants off and just run around in my briefs, so i was stuck in my own little slice of hell. those last two miles i just kept feeling crappier so i called it at 4.

AM - 8 on sokol, 5:59 pace. would have been longer(and probably faster considering the last 6 miles were 5:55 pace), but during that last mile my stomach was NOT having it. oh well, at least it felt a lot easier than 11 at the same pace last week.

AM - 4 miles on sokol, 6:11 pace. couldn't run this last weekend, isn't important why. felt good on this run(was already at 5-minute pace by ~10 minutes in), but since i hadn't run in 72 hours i cut it short since i could tell my legs needed a run to loosen up before i do anything else. in theory it should be back to the usual by tonight

AM - 8 miles on sokol, 6:07 pace. would have gone a few miles longer, but same issue as last friday where i really needed a bathroom but the park rangers hadn't unlocked them yet. it's kind of terrifying how controlled 6:00-6:15 pace has become for me lol

AM - 10 miles on hilton, 5:58 pace. kept it honest, but still relaxed. good run, hopefully 23-year-old me has a LOT more like it coming down the pipe :)

AM - 4 on sokol, 6:13 pace. watched the al davis 30 for 30 last night, it's a pretty good watch

AM - 10 on sokol, 5:58 pace. spent most of the run trying to recall where joe flacco signed this offseason; not that i'm a fan, it just bugged me that i knew i knew but still couldn't remember(spoiler: it's philly)

AM - 10 miles on mural, 5:57 pace. last 4 miles in 23:00.

this was supposed to be a long run, with the plan being to make the first 6-7 miles a little uncomfortable, but relaxed enough that i could drop the pace after that and still try and go for 20. legs felt good, conditions were perfect... but after 6 miles started having some rough GI issues. once that happened i said screw it and tried to run the last 4 miles in 22:59 or faster(so close). wish i could have gotten 20 in under 2 hours like i hoped, but in the last 72 hours i've done three 10-milers on three different courses all under 59:45, which is pretty sick.

AM - 10 on mural, ~6:10 pace. yesterday i tried to run the last 4 miles of my run in under 23 minutes and came up a few decimals short. today i ran the first 4 miles in 22:47. definitely could have held that pace a while longer, but i'm planning on doing a workout tomorrow so after 4 i ran another 6 a lot easier, about 6:35 pace(watch died near the end). i've been running for over 10 years now and i still have no idea how i got this fit over the past month or so(okay, i do, i just didn't think nudging my easy pace down would work out this well!)

AM - stretching, core, and weights. did front squats + step-ups and i think it gave me carpal tunnel syndrome lol

AM - 6 at sokol, 6:07 pace. legs were grateful to have yesterday off, and the DOMS from weights yesterday didn't kick in until after the run, so double positive.

PM - 5 miles on mural, 5:59 pace. was planning on going a LOT longer but my calves were still a bit raw from yesterday, so 5:59 was playing it conservative

AM - 7 lighthearted miles on sokol, 6:26 pace. it's supposed to storm bad friday night, and we have a cold front precipitating it, so even though i started at 9:30 it was mid-40's and gray out(in late april. in central alabama). would have been great conditions if it weren't ludicrously windy. spent a few miles in the middle exploring the golf course next to sokol; i'll probably run it again, just not when i have to constantly have my head on a swivel for someone yelling "fore"

AM - 3 shakeout on hilton, 6:32 pace.

PM - 23 miles on mural, 6:13 pace. 30 minutes later and i'm still delirious, but i'll try to give a quick summary. ran the first 19 miles in an amazing groove, then not having any caloric intake during this run bit me in the ass and those last 4 miles i was just trying not to pass out. wanted to go for 27, but i thought i'd be lucky to get that far going 6:40 per mile so i'm fine with this. threw up after, first time i've ever ran hard enough to do that. great freaking run. shoutout to connor baller for calling me immediately after to gas me up lol

kinda pissed that i didn't just jog another 3.3 to run what probably would have been a mid-2:40 marathon, but i really didn't have anything left at the end there. next time.

AM - 6 very easy on hilton, no watch. legs had no life to them, but weren't hurting or even really sore, which was a surprise because i was pressing through a lot of pain last night. very windy, you could definitely tell a bad storm is hitting tonight.

AM - 10 at the gym with a 3-mile tempo in 15:55. felt uncomfortable from the start, but not any more uncomfortable as the run went on, which i think is the indicator i ran it correctly. not too shabby, considering i had a hard run just 36 hours prior. could have fooled me!

AM - 4 on sokol, 6:15 pace. put off the run until 9:30 and found out the hard way that's probably not gonna be an option again until september, barring another cold front. got to 4 before the heat cramps broke me. looks like it's that time of the year where the alarms go from absurdly early to ludicrously early.

AM - 12 x 400m w/ 200m jogging recovery in 60". w/u and c/d for 12. was already a mile into the cooldown by 6:30am so suffice to say i woke up early for this one.

splits: 72, 71, 72, 70, 68, 71, 70, 72, 71, 72, 72

average of 71.6. good session. i'd like to do 16 or 20 400's when the cycle brings this workout back around in the future, but given that i haven't done much running on the track i didn't want to throw too many turns on the ankles/knees too fast. never really done this workout before, i really liked it. felt like one of those workouts you can't fake.

PM - 5 on mural, 6:09 pace. 5:48 last mile.

AM - 3 miles on sokol, 6:10 pace. might do another long run tonight, depends on if i can handle the heat and if my legs are recovered from yesterday(mainly the former)

AM - 3 on sokol, 6:26 pace. won't mince words; felt god-awful. it's either the humidity or karma for putting off training yesterday. hopefully the latter, since i'm giving the long run another shot tonight. it's gonna be hot, and it's gonna be hell. luckily i have an addictive personality and i'm definitely fiending for the euphoria i got from the LR last week

PM - 7 miles on mural, 5:58 pace. did everything possible to offset the heat and it still won in the end. it's a damn shame, those last couple miles i was really starting to relax and get into it. just couldn't get through the chest cramps. it's supposed to rain tomorrow night so i might give this week's long run one more shot tomorrow if the incoming storm means slightly cooler conditions. 

AM - 5 on sokol, 5:53 pace. couldn't run in the AM yesterday and my knee got pretty sore for the rest of the day, so took the day off. usually the run right after an off day i feel lethargic, but the legs felt absolutely juiced. first 4 miles in 5:42, 6:02, 5:51, and 5:35 with some decent hills, then remembered i took yesterday off for a reason and ran an easier 5th mile then drove home. knee felt fine at least, and i have the peace of mind to get something slower and longer tomorrow knowing i did something faster today.