Doing What I Can

Off-day today. Legs kind of need the rest. Would have been a cold run today anyways. nice 6 tomorrow morning to get the week started off right.

Today was a challenge. A lot colder than the temp (21 degrees). The wind was brutal out of the south and right in my face on the first 2 miles and the last 1.5, so i battled it a lot (wind chill of 6). Most of the run was on broken up, but still solid ice, which was a really hard surface to run on and my legs took a beating. Really tore them up, it was like running on uneven bricks. So not a fun run, but got it done, ran the last 4 miles a lot faster than the first two which were a struggle.

Today was a great tempo run. I did 5 miles in 31:00. Felt fluid and good despite 25 mph winds in my face at times, so i could have ran faster. This 6:12 pace is very close to my HMGP of 6:07, which would put me under 1:20. Overall a great day for a workout and a great result. Felt smooth.

Beautiful day for 7 miles at 7:06 pace. Felt very good and went a little faster than i should have. 55 degrees will do that to ya. A little windy on the way back and very very muddy, legs and clothes were covered in mud afterwards. all in all, a good workout and i felt very good. You could smell spring in the air.

What to say about today's fiasco. Started off was gonna do 3xmile at 5:30-5:45. Hit the first one in 5:45, but i was struggling big time. Legs were just tired, probably from the short turnaround from last nights run, i hate the wed afternoon then early thursday morning runs because they are so close together, i may start moving my recovery up to today and speed on fridays. Anyways at the 3/4 mile mark of the 2nd mile repeat, i stepped on something, rock, branch, something, and rolled my ankle. Stopped immediately cuz of the pain, so this set became a 1200 in 4:35. Now i would be concerned about this ankle, but i messed it up in hs and i roll it quite often, so i just took an extended rep break and sure enough, it came back to me. Ran the last mile in 5:50, but was struggling still. So, not a great day, but it'll be beneficial in the long run to be able to run on tired legs. Side note- ankle will be sore in the morning, its going to be beautiful today, high 60s! wish i could have run this afternoon in that weather.

absolutely gorgeous weather this morning. Near 50 and no wind, just perfect race day weather--to bad i had no race! Recovery day so a very slow, easy 3 miles today (22:35). Felt good to slow it down and just enjoy the beautiful Iowa morning. Thats what running is all about.

Had a long run of 10 miles today. Felt very good! Finally felt good on a long run, i think the tights had been bothering me cuz without them today i felt great. Ran the 10 in 1:11:15, so 7:08 m/m pace. A great workout to close a great week. Definitely a good stepping stone to where i need to get.

Off day for me today as it is sunday! 

7.25 today in freezing fog and high winds. Definitely didnt feel that great running it either. I was going to go 8, but ended it just a tad early. Either way, I'm still happy I gutted it out as far as I could in these conditions. Speed work tomorrow and my first 5k of the season this saturday. Im pumped! shooting for around 17:30.

Horrible weather today. Everything was coated in ice from freezing rain this morning. During my run this afternoon it was 15 degrees, with 40 mph winds and sleet and snow, windchills at or below 0. I had to get out in it and do speedwork though. 13x400 at 1:16-1:20--total time of 17:00 for 3.25 miles translates to 5:14's, overall a good workout in such bad weather. 6 miles total.

7 today in freezing cold wind chills and high winds, not a fun run, but it was good to get the mileage in. Now for a "mini-taper" before my 5k this weekend. 

Nice easy paced 5 today (7:11's). Felt really good, although it was pretty cold, wind chill down near 0. Overall though, a nice good 5. Nice to get a small cutback in mileage today and tomorrow before the 5k saturday.

Easy pre-race-day 2 miles today. Typical routine, just get out and make sure the legs are fresh for tomorrow and that I've got all the kinks worked out from the week. 

Today was a fiasco. The race started well, but my legs were burning cuz of the cold weather. However, about half a mile in I was settling into a good groove and really though I could hold on to 2nd place the whole race. However, the lead pack i was with got lost as the course was terribly marked. We ended up running ABOUT 2.5 miles, not for sure on that. My official race time was 13:55 but like i said that was about 2.5 miles. After we had to stop and turn around and find different ways back to the finish, I was demoralized and dropped a few places back to 4th where i ended up--totally took me out of my rythym. The organizers were friendly and nice people, so im not mad, just wish I could have got a legit 5k time to see where I stand as far as training goes. O well, at least the racing season is off and going!

I have been sick today and yesterday with respitory flu. Not fun stuff to have. My temp was up pretty high yesterday, but today I'm feeling better. Maybe get in 3 miles or so tomorrow depending on how i feel.

I could only get in 2 miles before my major coughing attacks started setting in. Probably should have taken more days off. This lung flu is a real blow to my training...

Man this respitory flu has really killed me this week. Its so frustrating to have to stop after 2 miles and start coughing up a lung. 3.5 total today, but definitely wish i could turn this into a decent week. Frustration abounds.

Finally today i broke through with a nice run, 7.5 miles at 7:02 pace, so nice and uptempo, it was good to salvage a nice day and hopefully get some big mileage this weekend to close out a good week. Still a little wheezy today but it will keep getting better i hope.

Pretty hard 6 today, every step felt tough...Probably cuz of the short turnaround between workouts, but its all good. went nice and easy 7:33 pace and still had a little coughing going on. Maybe it will be gone by the end of the weekend.

Today was a great run given the week ive had. 11 miles at 7:14 pace--felt great. Perfect weather to do it too--almost 70 degrees and no wind really, felt really easy and pretty sure my first 5.5 was under 7 minute pace. Even thought i had a slow start to the week, ended up with 30 miles this week and 24.5 in the past 3 days which averages out to 8 and some change each day. Not a bad shape-test.

recovery day today so a slow 3 on tap. 22:30, or 7:30 pace, but even that felt tough as my legs were tired from yesterdays good 11. Probably speed work tomorrow as i gear up for a decently high mileage week and a 10k next sunday.

Tempo today, ended up at 5 miles in about 6:25 per mile pace. Not what i was shooting for, going for 6 in 6:15 and was on that pace til around 3.5 miles in. Lots of hills doomed my pace, but were a godsend because i have been looking for a good hill workout and i got that today. Very windy. Overall a good day. Home made ice bath after the workout, definitely think it was too cold, but i got a good 12 minute soak in so hopefully my tired legs will bounce back for mileage tomorrow.

Very windy, wet 6.5 miles today. Got rained on just about the whole time. Very hilly run again today which is good for training, even being soaked helped me mentally get tough. Kept 7:09 pace and the legs actually felt pretty good after last night's ice bath. Now i get a little more than 24 hours til my next workout which is a nice extended break. Maybe better weather tomorrow. 

Did repeat miles today. Wanted to do 4 of them, but ended up doing 3 (5:49, 5:44, 6:00) and the last one i had to break up into a 600 (2:10), 600 (2:15) and a 400 (1:20) because of intestinal issues. My stomach was just not cooperating and i suffered through that last makeshift mile that i put together. Either way, not a bad workout for windy conditions. Don't quite have the speed i used to have as of now, but my endurance is getting better. 2.5 total warmup and cool down.

Today had a good 7.5, felt smooth, 7 min pace. Good recovery day after  yesterdays speed work, my legs were fresher than i expected.

Nice easy 5 today at 7:09 pace, still felt a little rushed though actually. Mini-taper today and tomorrow before the 10k on sunday. Looking forward to racing again, feeling ready for a longer race, weather looks pretty good, should be around 40 at the start. Ice bath'd tonight cuz the legs were sore.

Easy pre-race 2 mile tune-up as i always do. Felt a little sluggish, probably just cuz of the early run and the fact that its snowing out. Looking forward to the 10k tomorrow, shooting for sub 36 minutes.

10k today. I have never raced a road 10k before. Ive raced longer and shorter and it was difficult to find a good 10k pace. As a result, i didn't run as fast as i wanted, but still ended up near GHMP. Overall, got 7th, got 4th in my age group which stunk because i got passed by the 3rd place guy right at the end. It was good to get a race in though and this one was well organized and had very friendly people. Overall, a fun race, and it let me know that i have a lot to work on.

Rest day! First one in about 2 weeks so definitely a needed break. I will get back at it tomorrow with 7-8 and hopefully get above 40 miles this week! 

I felt real good today, nice 7 miles in 7:07 pace. Weather kind of sucked though, windy, cold, and sleeting in my face. O well, it only makes me more mentally tough. Tomorrow will be hard--7 mile tempo, pretty long, but very necessary with the eisenhower half marathon next weekend.