Step by step, mile by mile

AM - dynamics and drills on the turf. was gonna do an early 6-mile shakeout but my foot wasn't feeling up to the challenge. i wore old pegs that had stability insoles in and i can't tell if it helped or hurt me

AM2 - 6 on sokol, 6:07 pace. would have been a really good run if it weren't already a bright 80 and humid by 9am(i hope to experience this "fall weather" some day). ran the first 4 at 6-flat pace before i started burning up so tried easing off the gas to get more mileage but i'd already redlined. something something global warming something something environmental awareness tangent 

AM - 5 on sokol before work, 6:16 pace

AM - 5 on the treadmill before work. i don't distinctly remember it a couple days later but i think i was pretty close to 10 mph by the end

AM - 5 on hilton, 6:35 pace. didn't even look at my watch and was running this on grass in the dark, surprised it was that quick

AM2 - 5 on sokol, 6:04 pace. it felt like a sauna out there.

AM - 4 on hilton, 6:15 pace. then dynamics, drills and strides at the turf field.

AM2 - 10 on sokol, 6:09 pace. i've done plenty of AM doubles but on 99% of them both runs were easy jogging, and the exceptions always had the other run be a jog. never tried keeping all the mileage quick, it was interesting. probably a little out of my depth with the last few weeks of trying to let my ankle heal up, but if i try this again it won't be for another few weeks. it was fun though, i felt tired but not like i exerted any more effort than usual. 

AM - 6 on the treadmill. spent a solid portion a couple ticks over 10 mph

AM - 4 on sokol, 6:15 pace. brutal conditions; extremely slick grass, 100% humidity, and enough fog that i don't think i was ever able to see more than 100 yards out. very annoyed because i woke up before my alarm and nearly ran at the gym instead of waiting an extra 45 minutes for it to get bright enough out to be able to run. oh well. did the normal dynamics and strides on the turf before the run and it's probably the first time in 3 weeks my ankle/foot have felt 100%, so silver lining i guess.

AM - 6 on the treadmill. started at 9.0 mph then upped it 2 ticks every mile until i was at 10 mph for the last mile. aerobically it felt easy, my ankle felt stiff again though. just like i hoped

PM - 3 on hilton, 5:52 pace. ran right after work on an empty stomach in a bright 84 degrees. so, ideal conditions

AM - 4 on hilton, 6:04 pace. plus a half-mile of strides and dynamics.

AM2 - 10 on mural, 5:46 pace. course was disgustingly wet, plus with work at 11 i was only able to get a bit less than 2 hours of recovery between runs. hence the run being so slow ;)

really though, no idea where that came from. first 30 minutes were the usual, then towards the end of mile 5 i just took off, and i mean really took off. last 6 miles in 5:44, 5:46, 5:33, 5:34, 5:15, 5:18. i've never ran under 59 for 10 miles so to buck that and get under 58 too, it's sick. half-mile jog after to hit 15 miles by 7:30am.

AM - 8 on the treadmill. woke up just before 2am and felt awake enough i figured i'd get some mileage in and afford myself some more sleep between the run and work today. started at 9.0 mph for the first mile, then upped it two ticks every mile until the last one was 10.4 mph. did this a few days ago but stopped at 10.0, it honestly felt easier today. i'm hoping in a month or two i can be strong enough to do this but get up to 11 miles with the last one at 11.0 mph. 

lots of quality mileage the last 24 hours. 

AM - 6 on sokol, 6:13 pace. felt terrible. 

PM - 4 on sokol just past noon, 5:46 pace. ego had me compensating for this morning.

AM - 3 on hilton, 6:04 pace. ankle felt bummy.

PM - 2 on sokol just past noon in a few ticks under 12-flat. too hot out to get real running in.

PM2 - 4 on mural, 6:02 pace. felt a little out of shape

AM - couple of miles on sokol, then about 40 minutes exploring the golf course across the street. i'm so familiar with sokol that running it borders on tedium, so it was nice to see some new sights today. 6:15 pace for 10 miles 

AM - 3 on the treadmill, about 6:30 pace

AM - dynamics and strides on the turf farm. no run. my knee was tight and my ankles stiff

PM - 5 on mural, 6:05 pace. knee felt better, ankles not as much but i think the run loosened them up. we've got a cold front hitting so i was able to run at 2pm and have it be just 70 degrees out. beautiful.

AM - 3 on treadmill @ 10 mph

PM - 3 on mural just past noon, 5:58 pace. had to stop quick bc i strained my calf a bit

AM - 4 on sokol, 6:07 pace. calf felt meh.

PM - 4 on hilton just past noon, 5:51 pace. felt better!

4 miles on hilton, 6:02 pace i think

AM - 8 on sokol. kept the pace honest to begin with but i could tell after pretty weak training the last 10-ish days the legs couldn't handle ~60 minutes at that effort on those hills, so after running 5.5 miles at 5:47 pace i restarted my watch and jogged another 2.5(6:24 pace, that's jogging right?)

PM - 2 on mural, 5:50 pace. tried easing up but my legs weren't slowing down, so i stopped earlier than i wanted. just need a couple good mileage days to get the legs at equilibrium.

AM - 3 on hilton, 6:10 pace. just a shakeout to loosen up after a couple days off.

PM - drove to the track in the afternoon as soon as i got off work. mid 70's with low-ish humidity, it's uncommon but there's some really nice running weather to be found in the south. did a couple miles warmup, some strides and dynamics, then got into my flats and ran a set of 400, 300, 200 with 100m rec in like 50". ran 65, 47, 29. pretty decent, 29 and 47 took some effort with the short recovery but that 65 felt easy.

AM - 3 on hilton, 6:25 pace. ran early and was still a little impaired from celebrating my BRAVES making their first world series of the millennium last night 

PM - a bit over 2 on mural. first mile in 5:48, second in 5:29, and i wasn't gonna let me ego drop the pace any more than that for the 3rd split(and i wasn't confident i could run more without giving in to said ego either). short but sweet

AM - 6 on sokol, 6:04 pace. pace would indicate a good run usually but in reality got my ass handed to me(the analogy i thought of mid-run was "two dead fish hooked to a car battery" for how my legs felt). sokol is a tough course, but still. this weekend showed i retained most of my speed after a couple wack weeks, but my strength took a hit. i can usually get it back quick so i'm not worried, just probably means i've got a few mental slogs on the docket

AM - 6 on the dreadmill. first 3 at 9.0, then 1.5 at 9.5, then 1.5 at 10.0. last 10 minutes felt easier than the first 10

another treadmill run. mile at 9.0 mph, 9.2, and so on until mile 6 at 10.0

AM - same as yesterday. left knee was quite sore most of yesterday, i think it's from all this treadmill mileage, the extra impact is felt on a pair of legs still getting whipped back into shape(even at an incline on the 'mill). going to the gym(forced due to rain unlike the last two days) i planned on just doing stationary but that's even more boring than treadmill running and my knee loosened up after some stretching so got the run in anyway. might lift in a few hours if i have the chance

AM2 - 30 minutes hard at high resistance on the stationary + just under an hour of lifting. avoided things like squats and lunges that might irritate the knee, mostly upper-body and core. did do some sled pushes/pulls that were tough. good session!

rain. treadmill. same as the last few days.

go braves. 2-1 world series lead with arguably 5 of our top 10 players out for the year with injuries, including our best pitcher breaking his leg 30 minutes into the first game of the series

AM - 4 on hilton, 6:05 pace. after a couple of days of rain we had a cold front hit us so went from mid 70's the last few weeks to a gray 50 with a wind chill. couldn't run on grass from the rain and i'm going treadmill crazy so ran on the asphalt at hilton.

AM2 - 7 on mural. wanted to do like an hour hard, but conditions were against me. deep wet grass means bad traction and absorbing my stride more than returning it. also cold and very windy, so that's fun. ran the first 5 at 5:45 pace(5:58, 5:54, 5:48, 5:36, 5:24), but by the end of mile 5 the first run and the wind and the rain that started after mile 1 had me run out of gas earlier than i'd have like. did another 2 miles a bit easier to hit 11 for the morning; i didn't realize until after but those easy miles were still under 6-minute pace.

AM - 6 on the treadmill working up from 9.0 mph to 10 mph