Step by step, mile by mile

5 at 5:50AM. Took it about 20 seconds a mile slower but felt 10 times better than on yesterday's morning run.

10 at 9:50AM. Wasn't sure if I'd do 3 runs today with my final but some stressful stuff occurred and I needed to run the bad juju off before the test to clear my mind. Gonna be sleeping in my car tonight. Such is life.

5 at 9:10PM. got my lease cleared at 5pm, so no sleeping in the car but i had to spend the next 6+ hours moving with a short running break near the end. super psyched to finally live alone after 21 years... the place is really nice for $450 a month. listened to “the love below” on the run, the album i became a man to(with late registration being the album i became 3/4ths of a man to). love that album, “she lives in my lap” is probably a top 2 favorite song of mine. walked nearly 8 miles with moving and finals today, plus the 20 miles i ran, so i’m exhausted enough now that maybe falling asleep on a hardwood floor won’t be too bad.

5 at 8AM. i think i’m gonna skip the 10 miler today, normally i’d be fine to do it and i believe i still am but my body is semi-wrecked from yesterday and i think i’d break my body down more than i’d make it stronger. plus my car is packed full of my belongings and it’ll take a fair amount of time and energy to move that. i’m taking this weekend easier... with respect to mileage at least, since i will be working my first two shifts at the hospital and they’re both 13 hours. still, very happy i covered 60 miles in 3 days, that’s a ton of running, even for me. 

5 at 2:30PM. i think the vomeros strained my achilles a little more than the pegs would but otherwise fine.

4 at 5:15AM. overslept so all i had time for.

6 in the PM. despite running 7 or so straight 100+ mile weeks, still haven’t beat my highest mileage week from when i was 18. next week that should change hopefully.

typed out a big entry on my running plan but i thought it’d be more exciting to be revealed in my running than through my words. should be a fun read over the next few months, body perservering of course :)

5 at 8:20AM. sore from this weekend; didn’t run yesterday because i was tired and considering how i felt this morning i’m glad i didn’t. looks like i’m running a mormon week of mileage.

10 at 12:10PM. felt alright, probably better than any of the second runs of the triples last week, marginally faster too. i’ve has a knot in my right calf since i woke up, but i don’t feel it while running and it feels like every run loosens it up a bit. got my deposit back from my last place, so no more sleeping on hardwood floors for eugene!

5 at 8:30PM. first 3 miles my left calf was tight, i was confused but then remembered it is my third run of the day, crazy how that’s already lost it’s significance. stopped and stretched after 3 miles and didn’t feel it again.

5 at 6:50AM. calves didn’t have anything to say.

10 miles at 10:00AM. felt good so sped up the last 4 miles. last half mile my stride really opened up and it felt really easy! finished my 15 before noon so great start to the day. working a shift this afternoon, hopefully since it’s only 4-ish hours running 5 after won’t be hard.

5 after my shift(8:15PM). felt pretty good.

5 at 7:50AM. slept in. slightly faster last mile trying to catch the marine trainees that started running about 300m ahead of me, caught all but one.

10 at 11:10AM. would have gone earlier if i had woken up earlier/hadn’t done laundry. picked it up to about 5-flat pace for the last half mile. felt natural. i think to ease into fast running when i’ve been at full mileage for a bit(probably late september) i should introduce fast running by doing faster closes on my second runs for a couple weeks before real workouts cross my mind, since i’ve already been running for a while it’s hard to go fast enough to break down muscles.

5 at 6:30PM. a bit earlier than usual; i’m trying to move all my runs earlier in the day to account for school and i figured i can’t wake up at 5AM until i finish my third run before 9PM. first triple with all three runs 7-minute pace. not trying for it, just been feeling good today. listened to droptopwop by gucci mane and metro boomin, that tape was basically all i listened to fall 2017. still thumps, would recommend

5 at 6:40. a bit slower but felt good.

10 at 9:40. hot out towards the end but still felt pretty good.

5 at 6:50pm. drank too much water beforehand.

5 at 6:30am. legs felt beat. glad i get a “break” from high mileage with the shifts this weekend.

10 at 9:30am. ran out of clif bars so all i had between the two runs was a sip of juice for calories. those last 3 miles were really hard mentally because of it.

5 after my shift around 8pm i think.

4 before my shift at 5:00am.

100 miles in 5 days... not bad :-)

6 after my shift at around 8pm.

3 before my shift

7 after.

5 at 8:30am. slept in. body felt like crap from this weekend.

10 at 11:10am. felt much better than this morning, better than the past few days. guess this morning was just shaking off the weekend.

8 miles around 7pm.

Might have to condense my morning 5 and 10 to a early-morning 15 soon to account for classes on MWF, T&R I'm still good for triples, that's probably when I'll do my harder running, but I'm getting ahead of myself. That, or start waking up at 4AM. I'm not sure which sounds worse.

5 at 7:50am. slept in again.

10 at 11:00am. very very hot. need to start waking up way earlier.

8 at 7:10am on intramural after my shift. lot on the body. 

5 at 6:50am on Hilton. 

10 at 10:00am on intramurals. went by WAY faster than the other 10-milers this week; not sure if it was the weather(mid-80’s, overcast, AND a breeze! gets me VERY excited for fall weather) or just my body getting used to the mileage. either way felt good aside from a sore left arch that’s been on my case since my shift yesterday - wore sneakers with no support - but nothing bad enough to hinder form or stop mileage. when i hit a quarter mile to go i hit the lap button and just took off without thinking, 5:05 pace. felt good.

8 at 7:00pm on intramurals. foot ached but felt better!

5 at 6:40am on Hilton. faster last mile. 

10 at 9:20am on intramurals! felt good! it’s starting to trend to cooler temps. def still warm but with the wind it wasn’t even that hot compared to earlier this week. fall is 100% my favorite time of the year so these runs get me really elated. light at the end of the tunnel for a huge week!

8 at 6:20. all three runs @ 7-minute pace today!

5 at 7:40am on Hilton. slept in despite going to bed the earliest so far this week.

10 at 9:20am. felt pretty good. love being able to do these first two runs so close together.

8 at 7:20pm after my shift. sort of wanted to do 10 to feel next week’s mileage out(highest i’m going for the next year... seriously this time!), but I hit 135 miles from Saturday-Friday by doing 8. i couldn’t ask for anything better, A++ goal, and i did it on the first try!

2.5 during my lunch break

10 after my shift at 7pm on intramurals. by the end i couldn’t even tell i’d been working since 6am. forgot to mention i fell down some stairs on thursday, i hurt my right ankle a bit but i only feel it occasionally when running and running doesn’t make it any worse so i’m just trying to take advil and run through it.

what a week!

2.5 before work at 5am.

10 after my shift at 7pm.

been slacking on finding new music lately, gonna check out a new album every week. this week’s album is “Dare Iz A Darkside” by Redman.

5 at 9:00am.

10 at 11:20am. slept in so it was very warm for my first 15 today.

10 at 6:40pm. last half mile at around 6-flat pace since a real nasty storm was on the verge of hitting. bought a yoga mat for the new apartment so stretching and staying limber will be much more convenient.

5 miles at 6:30am. didn’t wake up as early as i wanted to but still not bad, progress at least.

10 miles at 8:20am... on Sandy Rd! i haven’t ran it in about a month, it’s my favorite course out there but it’s brutal so it’s nice to get in better shape and come back and see how the tough parts get easier. nothing better for peace of mind than driving into the forest to run in the serene and secluded nature, plan on doing all of my second runs that aren’t track/grass workouts here. 40 miles in just a smidge over the last 24 hours!! i feel fine so that’s good. finished my 15 before 10AM.

10 after my shift at 7pm. the last few miles it was storming hard all around, but barely drizzling on intramurals. it was cool to be running in the dark and see the lightning illuminating the ground as it tore through the black sky.

5 at 5:30am. one of the best things about my new apartment is it’s less than a third of a mile from a track; ran to it, on it, and back for 5. glad i finally woke up at 5, i may have to wake up a bit earlier or just get better at running as soon as i wake up, 30 minutes of boondoggling before the run isn’t time efficient. liked running in the dark; life is made up of little moments and sweating in the dark to “Careless Whisper” by George Michael are the type of moments to make it worth living.

10 at 8:20am. felt a little nauseous but besides that good. a good bit faster than yesterday.

10 at 6:30pm. ate too much lunch and felt sluggish, pace wasn’t though.

5 at 5:30am.

10 at 7:20am. started off a bit quicker, and then during the second mile a bug flew at me in the opposite direction and hit me right under my right eye. it felt like i’d been shot point blank with a bb gun, i think it got it’s stinger imbedded because it took me a few seconds to realize it hadn’t flown away or moved at all, i had to pluck it off. still stings something awful, but i’m way too obsessed with my mileage to have let that stop me. took it easier because getting past the pain from that was enough effort. still ended up being a bit faster than yesterday. in better news getting gas set up in my apartment today so i can cook soon and get into a better diet.

10 miles at 5:50pm. fastest third run of the day so far! can’t believe i’m already at 400 for the month.

5 miles at 5:20am. tired and slow. could be from mileage, but more likely from sleep. i’ve been barely averaging 7 hours a night if that. i need to sleep more but balancing engineering classes, work, and running is tough, plus i need to find time to study for the MCAT. i’ll figure out a way to balance everything over the next week or two, but any semblance of free time is out the window.

10 miles at 7:20am. kept it honest on miles 3-9, especially on the uphills. last uphill(about 1.2 miles left) i felt my right achilles ache for a second so i stopped and stretched and took it easier for the rest. didn’t feel it again.

10 miles after my shift at 7:30pm. as i finished mile 10 i sank to my knees and pounded the grass in triumph. not something i’d do normally, but 125 miles in 4 and a half days... i don’t even know what to say. i’m beyond blessed to have such a capability for mileage.

12.5 miles after my shift at 7:30pm to end a 10-week 100+ mile week streak with a 150 mile week. no big deal.

back by popular demand! the song of the day is “Nina Cried Power” by Hozier.

12.5 easy after my shift at 7:40pm. stayed later than normal. rained hard all day and on the run so my post-work intramural run was basically running in one giant grassy puddle(more like a lake). that kind of surface doesn’t take it easy on the achilles; feel alright though. 

SOTD: Ask Yourself - Foster The People

10 at around 4:30pm. it’s been raining hard constantly since Saturday, and it’s set to continue until tomorrow night. hard to do 25 when a lot of the places i like to run are unusable(back when i was 18 i ran almost entirely on asphalt and sidewalks, but i don’t like the feeling of it anymore), so i’m gonna ease up today and tomorrow, run a few more 25 mile days before the weekend and then pick the mileage back up for september. it’s been nice to have a day of recovery where recovery doesn’t mean ~13 hours on my feet going up and down the hospital.

SOTD: 30 - Danny Brown. one of my absolute favorite songs. the instrumental sounds like Dr. Seuss ODing on heroin and the lyrics speak to my very being

5 at 7:30am and 10 at 9:20am. pretty uneventful, nothing felt bad though.

SOTD: Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite! - The Beatles

5 at 5:10am. one day waking up at 4:45am and running will be a breeze... not today! listened to TLOP by kanye during. wasn’t a huge fan when it came out, but relistened to it on a few road trips in the summer of 2018 and it clicked. my running blog also doubles as a one-man music opinion forum lol

10 right before 7am. my achilles and ankle have been on and off very slightly bugging me the past few days and i’m pretty sure i figured it out. for the past few days after running 4.2 miles into Sandy i run off it down this rocky and overgrown path. i tell myself it’s because i want to explore the area but i know it’s to avoid the killer hill after 4.2. my achilles would protest for a second or two every minute or so after 5, and when i got off the detour it stopped so that confirmed it. guess when i get to tempos they’ll be hilly. pretty sure a 9 mile tempo under 6 minute pace on Sandy would be more impressive than a sub-4 mile repeat.

SOTD: Lost Ones - her excellence herself, Lauren Hill

5 at 6:20am. slept in, but went to bed at 8pm so not that much “in”. nice out, wore a shirt and it wasn’t even 5 lbs soaking wet by the end!

10 at about 8am. ran about 4.5 out on Sandy and explored a new trail for a half mile, it’s got a national park sign with it’s name on it so you know it’s legit. i forgot the name, it was super nice though. i’m gonna shorten the shakeout and lengthen this run soon and i’ll have to alternate between the hills past the gun range and this trail whenever i run Sandy. someone was flattening out new fresh dirt with a bulldozer at the start of Sandy when i got back to my car so i did a couple strides on it; it was super soft and the strides felt good. probably would have picked up the pace towards the end if i hadn’t rushed out the door before the run and forgot the bathroom break. probably gonna jog some miles tonight; i think my legs have been getting a little tight at night from not having a chance to get loosened up, and now that the intramurals are dry again i can hit them up.

12 at 5:30pm. after a looong day of studying, by the first few steps of the run my legs were begging me to let them rip, i figured since the past few days have been easy it wasn’t too risky :-) ran the first 4 progression style in 7:15, 6:44, then my legs said “let’s go already” and i ran 5:55 and 5:30. 12 miles @ 7:14 avg pace. i haven’t ran a run in under mid-7:40’s pace for so long i was beginning to wonder if i even could!

SOTD: Christian Dior Denim Flow - Kanye West

3 mile shakeout at 5:15am. i like doing 3 much more than 5; the only purpose of this run is to loosen up the legs for the second run/workout, when workouts come around. 5 feels like it actually takes a bit of effort, although i’m sure over time it would have gotten effortless.

15 at 6:45am. it felt really good. long and hilly, but good considering. just loved being out there and getting work in. did strides after.

12 after my shift at 7:20pm. legs were surprisingly fine with a 30 mile day; only protesting from the body was some GI issues the last 5 miles.

SOTD: Wildflower - Hank Crawford

3 before my shift. might be bringing the long run back in rotation on fridays; it’ll be the day after a workout when i’m doing workouts, but i think that’d be the perfect way to end the brutal stretch of training each week, body allowing. also bring back sprint saturday, moving it to sprint sunday though.

3 after my shift. was so used to looong runs after my shift that it felt really weird stopping at 3.

said at the end of July that 476 miles was good but i could have done more. 553.5 miles for August and same thing, but you have to progress to do it right and i’d say this was a good month, 550-ish miles seems like a lot less when you actually run it but i know it’s a lot. excited to see how september goes. a 116 mile week being a down week is wild.

SOTD: Stay the Night - The Internet