Doing What I Can

first run of 2011 and the weather was absolutely brutal. temp was 10, but windchill was -10. 25 mph winds out of the west hurt. splits:

1- 7:24.2

2- 7:23.6

last .5--3:45 (7:30 pace)

TOTAL--18:33, 7:25 avg

second "long run" of the year. All the way up to 5.5 miles. temp was 22, wc was 15, not too bad for a night run this time of the year. Felt really smooth throughout and conciously picked up the effort on the 4th mile to GMP. Splits:

1- 7:12.1

2- 7:21.3

3- 7:21.2

4- 6:54.1

5- 7:22.9

last .5--3:42, 7:24 pace

TOTAL-- 39:54, 7:15 avg

easy 4 this morning. Not too bad outside, 15 with light winds. Splits:

1- 7:23.2

2- 7:09.4

3- 7:13.1

4- 7:11.3

TOTAL-- 28:57, 7:14 avg

2 mile tempo today. Much better than last week's tempo. temps were near 40, so felt good weather wise. Legs wise, i was a bit tight, but still managed even splits:

1- 6:00.6

2- 6:05.8

TOTAL-- 12:06, 6:03 avg

plus weights

broke out the old shoes for a run today. 4.5, sposed to be recovery pace but my splits were pretty normal. I felt really easy and like i slowed it down, just had a little more today i guess. No worries, splits:

1- 7:17.7

2- 7:08.8

3- 7:12.7

4- 7:11.0

last .5-- 3:41 (7:22 pace)

TOTAL-- 32:31, 7:13 avg

5 x 800 today. The footing sucked as it had snowed about 2-3 inches overnight and the streets were still pretty covered. I made do tho, temps were mid 20s with winchills around 15 at the start of the workout and 10 by the end. The wind was really picking up out of the north. Took 2 min recovery for the first 3 800s and 2:30 on the last two. Splits:

1- 2:46.7

2- 2:44.2

3- 2:45.5

4- 2:44.6

5- 2:43.9

Overall, I was very happy with this workout. I was hoping to be between 2:50-3:00 honestly. I figured on no speed work I'd be in trouble. Although I was gassed by the 5th rep, the splits were very even and not too bad for 3 weeks of running.

Afterwards, did weights and took some protein.

super easy 2.5 today. was pretty sore and had just rolled outta bed. 19:55 total time, or 7:58 avg. i was happy to slow it down. bout 8 degrees with windchill of -6.

cold run today, temps around 10, windchill near or just below 0. felt the wind everytime i turned east, so i was pretty frozen at the end of the run. 6 mile "long run" as i continue to work my way up in mileage. Splits:

1- 7:13.9

2- 7:21.8

3- 7:07.9

4- 7:20.4

5- 7:19.3

6- 7:05.7

TOTAL-- 43:29, 7:15 avg

did 6 x strides + protein shake after

Absolutely terrible running conditions today. Got 9 inches of snow from yesterday and overnight and although some was plowed, the footing was horrible everywhere. I slid all over the place and had to slow it way down and be cautious. On top of it all, I have a sore throat and stuffed up head. All told, 4.7 (kind of got off track with all the snow) in 34:51, 7:25 avg pace.

very cold outside today, winchills below 0 so i went to the indoor track facility at iowa state and did some repeat miles. Struggled a little bit, but it was nice to get 3 reps in. Splits:

1- 5:54.9

2- 5:50.6

3- 5:51.6

Took 3 min break between each. had a decent cooldown and warmup. Did weights and took protein afterwards.

4 tough miles today. 10 degrees with windchill at -5. definitely not fun weather to run in. trudged through 4 miles in 30:31, 7:38 pace. footing was terrible throughout still and i am battling sickness.

Great workout today. Went inside on the indoor track and did a 3 mile tempo run, 16 laps on that lil 300 meter track. Definitely had to push through the last 1200, but still nailed my pace each lap and was quite steady throughout the workout. Not only were my GHMP miles very even, my warmup and cooldown mileage was done in 7:11 pace. splits:

1- 6:04.7

2- 6:04.9

3- 6:05.6

TOTAL-- 18:15, 6:05 pace; note that all my miles were within 1 second of each other, definitely an encouraging sign going forward.

after the workout took protein and hit the weights

almost jumbo jet day, not only did it feel like I had one on my back, but my first two mile splits were 7:47 and 7:37--a 7:27 or 7:57 on the last mile and I'd of had the airplane trifecta, instead my last one was 7:31 for a total time of 22:56, 7:39 avg. I  needed slow today and thats what I got, so i should be good to go on tomorrow's long-ish run of 7. Around 14 degrees with wc around 2 today.

"long" run today of 7 miles. Footing was still terrible in places. The super cold weather lately has prevented any melting on the roadways and sidewalks so anything left unplowed is now tough sledding. temps around 10, with windchills also 10. Could have been worse with a lot of wind. Splits:

1- 7:20.8

2- 7:20.5

3- 7:12.8

4- 7:21.0

5- 7:24.5

6- 7:27.0

7- 7:07.6

TOTAL-- 51:14, 7:19 pace

overall, a decent run. I have found lately that 7:20 is my long run pace. I can lock in on 7:20's and just stay right around there all day.

very cold today, around 10 degrees with -7 windchill. Going north was rough...footing is still bad too, snow melted yesterday but then we got a ton of ice and now that its cold again, many roads are just a sheet of ice. Splits:

1- 7:28.1

2- 7:02.7

3- 7:13.9

4- 7:10.1

5- 7:20.7

TOTAL-- 36:15, 7:15 avg, splits were all over the place tho

Kind of a makeshift speedworkout today. Went indoors due to the bitter cold. Was gonna try for 3.5 tempo, but stopped abruptly at 3350 meters or 2.1 miles. Then decided to run a mile and an 800 afterwards in repeat fashion with about 3 min break between each. Splits:

2.1- first mile=6:01.6, second= 6:08.3 (12:09, 6:04.5 avg) last .1--:35 total: 12:45

mile- 6:02.0

800- 2:49.1 (5:38 pace)

windchills below 0 today. ran 4.5 in 34:34, 7:41 avg. Felt pretty tired. Overnight tonight the actual temp is going to drop to -12 degrees, while the windchills will be -20, so tomorrow mornings workout will be indoors for sure.

weird but solid workout today. Went indoors as the temp is 0 and the windchill is -15. the main track is preparing for a track meet, so i went upstairs on the elevated track. wanted to do a fartlek, but with so  many people on that track i decided just to run relatively hard. Ended up running faster than GMP, but slower than GHMP, almost exactly right in the middle. did a warmup and then went right into the run without stopping to stretch...almost thought my first mile would count towards the workout, but ended up hittin that in 7:09, still relatively higher end of GMP but too normal of pace to count as anything other than a warmup. Splits:

1- 6:31.4

2- 6:34.5

3- 6:33.8

4- 6:29.9

TOTAL for 4 miles-- 26:09, 6:32 pace

did weights afterwards

heat wave, 17 degrees with 9 windchill...3 miles in 23:36, 7:52 avg.

Side note, this week's total mileage was 2.9 miles more than last week's which was 28.7 or almost 29, which represents an increase of almost exactly 10%, so my buildup is going exactly according to plan! 

8 brutal miles in the bitter cold. temp of 0 with windchills near -10 for the entire run. Definitely froze during the run. splits were pretty good though:

1- 7:05.6

2- 7:12.0

3- 7:11.2

4- 7:14.8

5- 7:09.1

6- 7:31.8 ?

7- 7:12.4

8- 7:11.2

TOTAL-- 57:48, 7:13.5 avg pace

felt like running today so i did. 5 miles in pretty decent pace. Weather was a little better, 25 degrees, wc around 15. Splits:

1- 7:10.0

2- 7:05.0

3- 7:16.2

4- 7:04.6

5- 7:04.3

TOTAL-- 35:40, 7:08 avg

did weights afterwards

horrible run today. Decided to go outside, but the temp was steadily dropping and the winds were picking up. 18 degrees with wc of 5 with flurries by the time i was all done.just felt really sluggish and was battling side cramps. splits:

1- 6:13.6

2- 6:17.5

3- 6:27.8

4- 6:29.6

TOTAL-- 25:28, 6:22 pace

definitely not the tempo i was shooting for, but i gutted it out and finished the workout anyways.

weights

5 sluggish miles today. weather is nice, near 30 degrees. Wore shorts. Splits:

1- 7:14.7

2- 7:09.7

3- 7:22.5

4- 7:14.9

5- 7:14.1

TOTAL--36:15, 7:15 pace

had planned to do 14x400 today but ran short on time so had to just do an effort based workout. Did fartlek for 6.5 miles with 4x3x2x1 on with 1 min off between reps and 2 min between the sets. Did 2 sets of that with a final 5 min on at the end after just a final 1 min set break. Estimated it to be around 4 miles hard. ran for a total of 44 min and 37 seconds for what was measured at 6.5 miles. which amounts to 6:52 pace overall with on and off included. felt pretty sluggish and legs were definitely tired, next week will be a much needed cutback week.weather was great! around 35 with light winds.

3 miles this morning at very easy pace. mid 20s with wc around 15, not too bad of weather for this time of year. Splits:

1- 7:42.8

2- 7:40.9

3- 7:37.0

TOTAL- 23:00, 7:40 avg pace

7.5 today, it was pretty cold compared to last week. temp around 12 with wc at or just below 0. Starting a cutback week, so instead of moving my long run up to 9 or 10, i dropped it back half a mile and just ran easy. will try to keep my mileage below 30 this week. then time to ramp it back up. Splits:

1- 7:08.6

2- 7:14.8

3- 7:20.9

4- 7:10.2

5- 7:19.7

6- 7:11.8

7- 7:11.5

last .5-- 3:43, 7:26 pace

TOTAL-- 54:20, 7:15 avg