Doing What I Can

Today was a tempo day. 7 miles in  43:10 or 6:10 min/mi pace, which is right about goal half pace. I felt really good today til the end when i had some stomach issues, probably cuz of the afternoon run. It was also quite windy. I had to stop for about a minute at 2.75 miles because a stupid dog ran after me. He ended up getting hit by a car actually..i felt bad, but he was okay, he just limped off. That kind of sucked cuz i was in the zone til that stop, but i found it again and ended up putting in a very nice workout. Im really happy with my pace. 1.5 warmup and cooldown total.

Today was a recovery day. It was the 5 miles that would seemingly never end. My legs were just tired and the run just dragged on, not a fun one, especially in the morning since i dont have any time today to run otherwise. Very slow pace--7:35 per mile, but very much needed as my legs were sore and tired from yesterday's extended tempo.

Today was the farthest i have ever run. A tad over 14 miles, in 7:02 pace! 1:38:30, i was at 1:31:50 at the half, so a very good run today. Im super pumped up about it! The weather was just absolutely perfect and my legs felt great. What an awesome day!

Recovery 3.25 today, ran about 7:11's. Very windy and getting colder. Blizzard moving in tonight. Nothing planned for tomorrow. 46 mile week is the longest on the year for me, im pretty happy! 

Nothing for me today. Blizzard outside. Scheduled rest day anyway. My goal half is next weekend. I'm getting pumped. Early forecasts have it at 60 degrees and just gorgeous! I think sub 1:20 is a definite possibility!

Today's run sucked. I couldn't get my legs going for the life of me and i just felt rotten the whole run. 30 mile an hour north wind in my face didnt help either, and made it pretty darn cold too. Oh well, still got my 7 in, just had to slow the pace to around 7:30's. Got a speedwork session tomorrow to sharpen my legs up before this weekend's half. Shooting for sub 1:20!!!

Interval's today. did 14x400 at 1:18-1:22. Felt really easy and I felt really good. Just seemed to be gliding. Today's goal was to use these 400s as sharpeners to make my legs ready for the half this weekend. Perfect weather today, actually pretty similar to what they are predicting for race time saturday! 6 total with w/u and c/d.

easy 6 today, ended up going at about 7:08 pace. Beautiful weather and a nice workout. strides, core, and ice bath after.

Rest day for me as the half is two days out. Got up and got a real ice bath this morning from the training room. My attempt at a homemade ice bath last night didnt work, it wasnt even cold, so I got a real one today. My legs should be ready to go come saturday!

Easy systems check 2.25 miles today just to get the blood circulating before tomorrows 1/2. Im getting pumped. The fiance and I are heading down to abilene, kansas in about an hour...nice 5-6 hour drive. That's where the race is, the Eisenhower Full and Half. Got a pasta dinner tonight then off to bed. Starting gun goes off at 7 tomorrow morning. SHould be great weather, im looking forward to hopefully setting a new half PR.

Today's race had awesome weather. It was 38 at the start, which is a little cold, but there was no wind whatsoever, so that made it nice. The people at this marathon were super friendly. The fiance and I enjoyed a spaghetti dinner the night before and the townspeople were just as cool as could be and were one of the major things I liked about this race. I also liked the course, uphill the first half (not by much though) and downhill on the back. Overall a flat and fast course. Ended up setting a PR at 1:21:14. 56 seconds faster than my first half. One part I need to work on is miles 9-13.1. I hit the 10-mile mark at 1:01:40, i needed to be around 1:01:00. I need to close better too. I ended up 3rd overall and made $75 for that so I was pretty stoked!!

Easy shakeout this morning. Still super sore. 

6 miles in wintry mix today. Very cold, windy day with wintry mix of sleet, snow, and rain. Not fun.

Perfect weather today, 70 degrees and sunny. I actually sweated quite a bit during my 7 miler today. I pushed it a little and managed 7:02's for the entire way, i think I negative split the run actually. Either way, it was a nice day and hopefully i got the last of the soreness out of my legs. Repeat miles tomorrow, should be another gorgeous day.

Repeat miles today. 6x1600 to be exact, and it was no picnic. This was as hard of workout as ive had in a long while. Splits are as follows:

1- 5:39

2- 6:07 (straight into 20 mph winds, changed up my course after this so as to avoid wind and run through town, seemed to help)

3- 5:42

4- 5:44

5- 5:38

6- 5:42

2 mile warmup and cooldown. Total workout time was 34:32 for 6 miles which is 5:45 pace. Overall, very happy with that and the effort i put in today. Like i said, this one was a tough one and I'm glad i fought through and completed it. Nice weather too, 70 degrees again! spring is here!

Recovery 5 this morning. Legs were pretty dead after the repeats yesterday. I've been pushing myself pretty hard lately, like today for instance, i had a pretty hefty negative split on my 5 miles. First 2.5 was 19:10 and the last 2.5 was 18:00. No reason in particular, maybe my legs just loosened up. either way, a nice easy 7:26 pace average for the whole thing and it will help get my legs ready for my saturday 15 long run.

Long run today, wanted to go 15 but intestinal distress caused me to stop at 13. I just couldnt keep fighting it. Ended up running 1:31:26 for 13 miles so thats 7:02 min per mile. I think my problem was that I was under 7 minute pace through 10 miles, so maybe thats why my stomach gave out. Just felt so good today though in the 72 degree weather that I couldnt help but pick up the tempo. I'll get out for 4 or 5 tomorrow to shake out the legs. Overall a great workout, and I should be more happy about it than i am. Just really wanted to get 15 today.

Not fun 6 miler shakeout today. Legs didnt feel too bad, just a muddy mess outside and was having "bear attack" troubles yet again today..makes for an uncomfortable run. Overall, a great week of mileage though, my highest week this year so far! SRD tomorrow as i desperately need a day off.

SRD for me. Really need it as I haven't taken a day off in a little while. I've been racking up a lot of sleep lately, I always like to have a "surplus" of sleep just in case I get a night where I get shorted.

8 miles today. Very windy the whole way. It seemed like I was always battling 35 mph winds in my face. Still managed 7:07's. 2nd half marathon of the season on saturday. Not really too worried about place or if I bonk, just wanna go out at 6:05's and break 1:20. That is my only goal for this half. Just break 1:20!

14x400 sharpeners today. All within 1:17-1:21. I like to do faster speed work the week of a race because i feel like by getting my legs turning over at a rate much faster than i actually have to run on race day will pay big dividends because my pace on race day will feel a lot easier. It also helps to get the rust off, which today's definitely did--felt tough for the first several. Ended up totalling the times of the 14 400s and it came out at 5:17 pace. overall a good workout!

6 today in 7:05 pace. My breathing felt labored for some reason. Anyways, I needed to ice bath and they arent letting me in to the training room for some reason, so I just jumped into storm lake because i read online that it was about 50 degrees which is about right for an ice bath. The crazy things runners will do....im not even sure if it worked though because it was cold, but not super cold like most ice baths. SRD tomorrow as i taper for this weekends half (sub 1:20 or bust!)

SRD for me today. Presenting at a history conference in South Dakota, plus it was 90 degrees almost!! Can't wait for this weekend!!! 

Easy pre-race tuneup 2.5 miles today. Systems check if you will. Everything felt really good and I am ready to run fast tomorrow! Going out in 6:05 and holding it as long as possible, gonna get my sub 1:20. Only problem is it could be windy the first 4 and last 2 miles. Maybe need to find someone to draft off. It was already 75 this morning and humid, I sweat like summer! Tomorrow its sposed to be 62 and rainy at the start. Should be a fun race!

Not a great race for me today time wise. But I did have a blast, the people were in great spirits despite the cold, wind, and rain. I went out fast like I wanted to try to get my sub 1:20, but a downhill 4th mile hurt because I opened it up (5:55) and never recovered. Just goes to show downhills will hurt you more than uphills. Still, happy to have run 1:22, only my 3rd half ever, just didnt have it today. Not too bummed though, like I said, it was fun!

Shakeout 4 miles today. Everything felt pretty good, although I was still sore from yesterday. It was good to get the kinks out and get the blood flowing again though. Pretty humid weatherwise, I did manage to sneak my run in during the 30 minutes where it hasnt been raining today though.

Slow, cold 6 today. Still sore from Saturday so I took it really slow and easy.

9.1 miles today. Was thinking 11 was possible, but had some GI issues late in the run. I'm more than happy with what I did today, 7:09 min/mile. During my strides afterwards, i tweaked my knee somehow. I had some pain every time i planted. I hope its nothing too serious, and I dont think it is, maybe just sore from the pounding and high mileage lately. Anyways, got a compression sock on it the rest of the night, hopefully itll feel way better tomorrow!

Uh oh...My knee is done. I cant even run on it anymore. Today's workout was going great. I felt fine during my first 2 mile repeats, even the 3rd one was good (splits: 5:33, 5:32, &5:35). On that 3rd and last one, my knee really started hurting. I finished the repeat and began my cool down. However, on the cool down, I couldn't run without intense pain on the outside of my left knee. I had to walk home. Each time I tried to jog, it hurt bad. I am out of action for the next 2 days indefinitely and most likely the weekend, which sucks because I had a special 5k race planned which I was running for a kid in my fiance's family who has cerebral palsey, not much I can do if I cant even run though. Very depressing day for sure, and Im not happy about how things transpired. I hope its just minor ITBS and not a ligament tear or something. A doctor visit is in my future i think. Hopefully it'll heal wiht some rest and ice.

Went to the trainer today, they said the knee was probably an IT band issue and would be resolved with rest, a cutback in mileage, and ice. So thats the plan. No 5k this weekend, not sure about 5 mile race next weekend. I have a goal 10k three weeks out (May 16) that I will most likely shoot for. In the mean time, i need to do everything possible to help heal this leg.