Doing What I Can

First run of the year and boy am i out of shape! Just got back in the country a few days ago--finally able to make it out for 2 miles today in 14:26 or 7:13's for each mile. felt very bad though. Will take a while to get back into form.

3 easy today. The first one was 6:43, so technically marathon pace.

Same as yesterday.

3.3 very cold miles today in 25:10, 7:38 pace. The wind was steady at 35 mph with gusts up to 50, very bad weather.

3.5 very cold miles today. Splits were very even:

1- 7:13.8

2- 7:12.8

3- 7:12.7

last .5- 3:35.7 (7:11 pace)

TOTAL-- 25:15 (7:13 pace)

3 easy cold ones today. Splits:

1- 7:27.2

2- 7:15.3

3- 7:20.2

TOTAL-- 22:02 (7:21 avg)

Very cold run today. splits:

1- 7:06.1

2- 7:12.8

3- 7:26.3

4- 7:21.2

TOTAL-- 29:06, 7:16.5 avg

a very easy 3 today in 22:14, which translates to around 7:25 pace. My splits were very even, 7:26, 7:27, 7:20. Very cold again

Felt very cold today although temperature wise it was a  little warmer. 5 miles for my first "long run" of this hopefully marathon cycle. Wasnt sure of the exact splits as I am out of town but i am sure it was 5 miles and my time was 37:52, which averages to 7:34 per mile. swimming tomorrow.

first day of the new month, still very cold outside. 4 miles in 29:44, 7:26 avg pace.

tempo today. just two miles but it was bitterly cold and slick--made it hard to run fast. hit first mile in 6:15 and 2nd in 6:20. definitely had some beardcicles after the run.

pretty cold 5 tonight. tried to be nice and relaxed.

1- 7:28.5

2- 7:16.0

3- 7:33.2 (22:17, 7:26 pace)

4- 7:08.2

5- 7:14.1

TOTAL-- 36:40, 7:20 avg pace

i did manage to fall on my butt during my strides, gotta love the ice!

Ran in the freezing rain today. 2.5 mile tempo. I didnt really have much. morning quick turn around and it being slick didnt help, but overall, im still not even close to bein in shape.

1- 6:14.8

2- 6:32.8

last .5- 3:11.8 (6:22-23 pace)

TOTAL-- 15:59, 6:24 pace

Overall, not great, i didnt feel super good running, just felt sluggish.

3 easy today. a little warmer than it has been of late, so i wore shorts. 22:30 total time, avg of 7:30. Felt pretty good today. There is hope

felt very good today, a more uptempo "long" run. 6 miles in 42:35, 7:06 pace, with mile 4 in 6:45, a GMP mile.

easy easy 3 shakeout, 23:38, 7:53 avg. Slipped and fell twice, but thats what happens when running at night!

Today's 5 felt like a marathon. It was very cold, 5 degrees with winchill at -15 to -20. Wore the bavaclava but that gave me some problems. Anyways, I think i over dressed because while I was indeed warm, i sweat a ton--not good in the freezing cold. Completely exhausted by the end of just the 5 miles...cant wait for winter to be done. Splits:

1- 7:17.4

2- 7:19.0

3- 7:25.0 (22:01, 7:20 pace)

4- 7:24.0

5- 7:27.4

TOTAL-- 36:52, 7:22 avg. pace

Fartlek today. 3 min on, 2 min off, did 5 sets of that and then did around 2 min on for the last one so that I could get a decent cool down for the last part of the 5 miles. estimated 2.75 hard miles.

4 miles, very cold.

1- 7:20.2

2- 7:14.3

3- 7:26.5 (22:00, 7:20 avg)

4- 7:17.3

TOTAL-- 29:18, 7:20 avg.

Mile repeats today. First repeats of the year. Actually did pretty well, was hoping for them all to be around 6 flat and all were below. A pretty nice day, around 30 degrees with light winds. Was actually able to focus on running for once instead of the weather. Did 3 repeats with 3-3:15 break between each. Here is each mile split:

1- 5:57.6

2- 5:55.4

3- 5:57.9

Overall, very even repeats. I felt pretty good during them, although at this point in my fitness, 5:55's felt pretty maxed out effort wise. Nice to know that by this summer, i should be hitting 5:20s with the same perceived effort.

3 very easy, slow morning miles today. 3 in 23:36, 7:52 avg.

7 miles today. "long run" for the week. Felt very tired and sluggish. THe weather was brutal also, cold and very very windy--made it very difficult in certain stretches. Splits:

1- 7:24.0

2- 7:18.8 (14:42, 7:21 avg)

3- 7:15.4

4- 7:12.6 (29:10, 7:17 avg)

5- 7:18.4

6- 7:12.5

7- 7:28.0

TOTAL-- 51:09, 7:18 avg pace

5 anything but easy miles today. the wind was blowing with a fury and it was freezing cold. Definitely made for a tough go. I hate winter. 36:53, 7:22-7:23 avg.

6 today. Felt really good. It was still pretty cold, but I had a little hop in my step. Splits:

1- 7:31.2

2- 7:05.2

3- 7:08.8 (21:45, 7:15 avg)

4- 7:03.5

5- 7:31.0

6- 7:23.1

TOTAL-- 43:42, 7:17 avg

3.5 mile tempo today. It was a little slick with the melting snow and slush and ice in places. made it difficult to hit my splits, but still came close to my goal of 21:30 for the 3.5. Splits:

1- 6:01.0

2- 6:14.6

3- 6:15.0 (18:30, 6:10 pace)

last .5-- 3.10.7 (6:20 pace)

TOTAL-- 21:41, 6:12 pace

Broke out the new shoes today. It was a little sloppy out with some of the snow melting but figured id break them out anyways. 6 miles, relatively easy.

1- 7:26.4

2- 7:02.6 (14:29, 7:15 avg)

3- 7:25.2

4- 7:09.0 (29:03, 7:16 avg)

5- 7:26.7

6- 7:18.2

TOTAL-- 43:48, 7:18 avg

Overall, My splits were a little erratic. I didnt feel super great on this run, my legs were a little sore.

3 easy slugglish miles today, 23:30, 7:50 pace.

very uneven, slick footing today for my "long run" of 8 miles. Ran out on the country highway and every time a car went by I had to hit the shoulder where it was a few inches of loose unpacked snow, some of the other side roads i took were very uneven too. Very hard to find footing, made it tough to get in the zone. Otherwise, I did feel pretty good so that is always a plus.

1- 7:17.2

2- 7:39.2 (14:56, 7:28 avg)

3- 7:15.6

4- 7:17.4 (29:29, 7:22 avg)

5- 7:09.1

6- 7:22.3 (44:00, 7:20 avg)

7- 8:01.8

8- 7:30.3

TOTAL-- 59:32, around 7:26.5 avg.

Overall, a good run, like i said i felt good. Mile 7 sucked, no smooth spots to run at all, but other than that it was a good day.

Today's run was supposed to be a run-of-the-mill 6 miler, but i felt really good and put the hammer down after the 1st mile. kept it at GMP for 2miles and actually hit tempo pace for 1. I dunno what got in to me but those middle miles felt awesome! Splits:

1- 7:32.2

2- 6:54.0 (14:26, 7:13 avg pace)

3- 6:49.5

4- 6:23.9 (27:39, 6:55 avg)

5- 7:18.5

6- 7:20.4

TOTAL-- 42:18, 7:03 avg pace

Man it felt good to open it up today. Those MP and Tempo miles felt super easy too, i just noticed a slight increase in effort, but it felt like a glide.

6 easy ones, cept i was really tight the whole way and didnt really have much energy today. 45:27 total, 7:34.5 avg pace. It was cold too. This winter sucks!

4 mile tempo today. was shooting for 6:10 avg pace and hit exactly that. Although i felt a little tight with the 0 degree windchill. Definitely makes running fast hard.

1- 6:06.6

2- 6:11.7 (12:18, 6:09 avg)

3- 6:12.4

4- 6:09.2

TOTAL-- 24:39.9, technically 24:40, or 6:10 avg pace.

6 miles today. Forgot my watch so just ran by feel. It was actually kind of nice to get away from time constraints. I found it a very liberating feeling to not be held down by splits. might run sans watch more often!

3 sluggish miles as per the norm when I run 15 min after I wake up. At least the pace was nice and easy to allow for recovery, 7:51 avg, 23:23 total.

Long run today. Weather was nice. around 30 degrees and calm. Felt pretty good.

1- 7:20.9

2- 7:11.6 (14:32, 7:16 pace)

3- 7:11.6

4- 7:02.8

5- 7:09.6 (35:56, 7:11 pace)

6- 7:21.8

7 & 8- 14:50, 7:25 avg

9- 7:16.9

10-7:19.4

TOTAL-- 1:12:44, 7:16.5 avg pace

Good run today, im satisfied with it.

6 miles today, turned into a makeshift uptempo run. Hit the middle 4 miles at GMP. 33 degrees and so i wore shorts. Felt very warm!!

1- 7:32.6

2- 6:54.8

3- 6:52.5

4- 6:33.5

5- 6:48.8

6- 7:29.4

TOTAL-- 42:11, 7:02 avg pace. Hit the GMP middle 4 miles in 27:07, which is right near 6:47 pace. Felt pretty good.

7 easy paced today. Weather was "warmer" again, up around 35. Wore shorts. Felt ok, got in a rhythm late in the run, but was pretty stiff early on. Splits:

1- 7:27.2

2- 7:22.4

3- 7:21.8 (22:11, 7:24 pace avg)

4- 7:35.1

5- 7:30.2

6- 7:42.5

7- 7:27.4

TOTAL-- 52:26, right near 7:30 avg pace

today was an awesome workout. 5 miles of tempo. Goal was to stay between 6:00-6:10, and nailed that goal. Warmer today, round 35 again, i wore shorts and flats for the tempo. Splits:

1- 6:00.7

2- 6:08.9

3- 6:05.7 (18:15, 6:05 avg)

4- 6:08.2

5- 6:07.4

TOTAL-- 30:30, 6:06 avg

Im very happy with today's run. I flew for only having around 6 weeks of mileage under my belt.

6 miles today. Should be one of the nicest days of the week. Felt pretty sluggish because of the short turnaround and general tiredness. splits:

1- 7:10.1

2- 7:47.5

3- 7:21.8 (22:19, 7:26 avg)

4- 7:29.9

5- 7:29.6

6- 7:49.9

TOTAL-- 45:08, 7:31 avg pace

3 in 22:20. 7:27 pace.

Felt really bad today running. Legs felt heavy, had GI issues the whole time which made it a very uncomfortable ride, just overall felt like crap. Splits were kind of uneven, i wasnt sure on the mile markers but here is a ROUGH break-down of them.

1- 7:20.4

2- 7:06.8

3- 7:26.8 (21:54, 7:18 avg)

4- 7:46.8

5- 7:53.8

6- 7:33.7 (45:08, 7:31 avg)

7- 7:09.3

8- 7:24.0

9- 7:23.5 (1:07:05, sub 7:30 avg)

10- 7:28.9

11- 7:51.9

last .5- 3:52

TOTAL--1:26:18 (7:29 avg pace)

Overall, I dont think Ive felt this bad for a while running. It was like a death march. Tomorrow is definitely a rest day, then back at it next week to put this one behind me.

5 easy miles today. Still felt a little off. Splits were better tho:

1- 7:18.0

2- 7:26.2

3- 7:26.0 (22:10, 7:23 avg)

4- 7:11.9

5- 7:13.6

TOTAL-- 36:35, 7:19 avg pace

5 fartleking fun miles today. it was cold and rainy, definitely made for a challenge. Did 2 sets of 3,2,1 ons with 1 min off in between each rep and 2 minute set breaks. Added one final set of 3 on 1 on with 1 min in between as I ran out of real estate. 5 miles total in around 36:00, so I estimated the distances to be 2.6 fast miles and 2.4 easy. Good to get a fartlek in to get a nice effort workout.

Today was just sposed to be an easy paced 4.5 miles. I ended up running just about every mile in GMP. It didnt feel hard at all though, I thought I was running easy. Always nice when that happens! Splits:

1- 6:45.6

2- 6:44.8 (13:30, 6:45 avg)

3- 6:51.0

4- 6:49.2

last .5- 3:35 (7:10 pace)

TOTAL-- 30:45, 6:50 avg pace

Mile repeats today. Goal was to stay between 5:30-5:50. Did just that and felt pretty good as well. Took 3 minutes rest between each repeat.

1- 5:43

2- 5:33

3- 5:45

Overall, felt pretty good, especially on the 2nd one. Still managed to close strong on the last one too, so that is a positive.

3 easy today, 22:26, 7:29 avg pace.

long run today of 13 miles. Felt pretty good, except the weather was absolutely horrible for a long run. Cold, windy, and rainy--chafed big time. Had to stop a few times in the late miles to tie my shoes which was kind of frustrating because I had a good rhythm going. Splits:

1- 7:08.0

2- 7:01.9

3- 7:27.8 (21:37, 7:12 avg)

4- 7:08.0

5- 7:14.8

6- 7:08.4 (43:08, 7:11 avg)

7- 7:13.1

8- 7:26.9

9- 7:20.7 (1:05:09, 7:14 avg)

10- 7:00.1

11- 7:18.0

12- 7:25.6

13- 7:46.2

TOTAL-- 1:34:39, 7:17 avg pace

5 easy ones today.

1- 7:47.6

2- 7:39.0

3- 7:26.2 (22:52, 7:37 avg)

4- 7:19.5

5- 7:22.8

TOTAL-- 37:35, 7:31 avg

7 easy miles today. Felt pretty tired though for some reason, was just dragging through the run. Splits:

1- 7:25.6

2- 7:28.0

3- 7:11.4 (22:05, 7:22 avg)

4- 7:21.4

5- 7:21.8

6- 7:40.3

7- 7:29.8

TOTAL-- 51:58, 7:25 avg pace

6 mile tempo today. Tried to stay between 6:00-6:10's. did so and the weather was great! low 50s.

1- 5:57.9

2- 6:05.9 (12:03, 6:01.5avg)

3- 6:05.2

4- 6:05.1 (24:14, 6:03 avg)

5- 6:10.2

6- 6:14.5

TOTAL--36:38, 6:06 avg pace

A very good workout, felt very nice in the middle miles with 6:05s rolling.

7 miles easy. Felt awesome actually which was surprising after yesterdays workout. The weather had that effect, 60 degrees and just gorgeous out. Made for a nice run. splits:

1- 7:14.4

2- 7:16.0

3- 7:05.3 (21:35, 7:12 avg)

4- 7:10.1

5- 7:11.8

6- 7:27.6

7- 7:16.3

TOTAL-- 50:41, 7:14 avg

3 easy miles, 22:30, 7:30 avg pace.

Today was an all-time PR for me for mileage in one run/one day. was gonna get 14-15 for my long run and decided to go for 15, making it my longest run ever by .5. Got a good 2nd wind off of my GU. I have  a nice runner's high right now haha. Splits:

1- 7:31.3

2- 7:24.4

3- 7:21.4 (22:17, 7:26 avg)

4- 7:27.7

5- 7:12.3

6- 7:32.2 (44:29, 7:25 avg)

7- 7:12.6

8- 7:09.6

9- 7:31.2 (1:06:22, 7:22 avg)

10- 7:10.7

11- 7:25.4

12- 7:03.5 (1:28:02, 7:20 avg)

13- 7:24.6

14- 7:24.1

15- 7:33.8

TOTAL-- 1:50:24, 7:22 avg pace

Overall, a great run, longest ever! woot woot!

Was shooting for 5 to 5.5 miles today, took some different turns and ended up going 5.6 according to mapmyrun. My splits got messed up because of some of the new places I ran, but my total was 40:00 on the nose, which for 5.6 miles averages to 7:09 pace. Overall, felt really good and this run felt easy. 60 degrees and sunny helped as well!!

Todays run was terrible. I fell asleep right before I ran on accident, and woke up in a hurry to run. My legs were so stiff, I just had nothing. Throw in major GI issues on top of that and my 7 turned into barely over 5 at 7:46 pace according to my final total time. This day was bad.

2 mile warmup, 2 mile cooldown. In between threw in 5xmile repeats. Goal was to stay within 5:45-6:00. Took 2:30-3:00 breaks between each. Took a toll out of me, but i nailed the pace and had a great workout.

1- 5:55.1

2- 5:52.6

3- 5:46.8

4- 5:45.5

5- 5:39.5

Overall, felt pretty good. I am very happy that my splits got progressively faster with each repeat. Makes me feel like I got better as the workout progressed. Today was the last really hard workout before my 10 mile race next weekend. I will get one more speed day in but it will probably be lighter.

7 today. Felt quite tired actually. Definitely have some wear and tear on the legs. Splits:

1- 7:11.6

2- 7:01.1

3- 7:09.3 (21:22, 7:07 avg)

4- 7:29.7

5- 7:15.2

6- 7:44.8

7- 7:22.9

TOTAL-- 51:14, 7:19 avg

Started losing it towards the end of the run. I dont think those miles are even either because my time fluctuated quite a bit at the end.

easy run today of 3.25 in 23:32, 7:14 avg pace. Felt like I was jogging but still hit my first mile around 7:04. Hopefully Im just getting in good shape. Set up day as tomorrow will be 16 miles.

Was originally slated for 16, but bonked a little early. Also having some pain in my plantar fascia region of my foot. Kind of worrisome, but I am taking today off as an SRD and will ice consistently. Splits:

1- 7:29.0

2- 7:19.4

3- 7:06.6

4- 7:26.7

5- 7:13.4

6- 7:22.5

7- 7:33.9

8- 7:23.6

9- 7:35.2

10- 7:45.4

11- 7:24.6

last 1.2- 8:56

TOTAL-- 1:30:26, 7:25 avg pace

Scaling it back this week for 2 reasons. The first is that I have a 10 mile race scheduled for saturday; the 2nd is that I have been having some foot problems in the plantar fascia region. Iced it all weekend though and am taking ibuprofen. Felt decent today. Hopefully it wont effect me to the point where I have to cancel the race. 

Beautiful outside today, saw 75 degrees on a neon sign downtown. Sposed to be mid 80s on wednesday...crazy stuff for march in the midwest! Splits today:

1- 7:04.5

2- 7:27.3

3- 7:23.3

4- 7:17.6

last .5- 3:27.4 (6:55 pace)

TOTAL-- 32:40, 7:16 avg

3 mile tempo today, was hoping to hit around 18:10, ended up faster than that. my foot actually felt pretty good in the flats, which was surprising--however the rest of me felt a little sluggish, so its ice bath time! Splits:

1- 5:56.3

2- 6:11.4 (30 mph headwind on this mile)

3- 5:56.0

TOTAL-- 18:03, 6:01 avg

6 miles easy today. The taper begins and I will race this weekend! First race of the year, 10 miles is the distance. I would like to be under 1:02, preferably as close to 1:00 as possible. We will see how I feel. Today's splits:

1- 7:12.8

2- 7:20.8

3- 7:17.9 (21:51, 7:17 avg)

4- 7:19.8

5- 7:07.4

6- 7:14.7

TOTAL-- 43:33, 7:15.5 avg pace, a good run today

Wow, didnt have it today. Just felt like crap. Was going 4-5, ended up pulling in at 3.5. Unsure if Im racing this weekend, we will see how I feel tomorrow.

Easy 3 today. Ran it in 22:30, exactly 7:30 avg pace. Tomorrow will be a LR of 17 miles or at least that is my goal. I havent had a good week of workouts so I dont feel like wasting 30 bucks on a 10 mile race when my real goal is the marathon in a month and two weeks. Thinking this is the best course of action.

Longest run ever for me today, a PR distance of 17 miles! I dont know where to begin. I slowed the pace way down to make sure I didnt bonk and I made it, but I sure got tired near the end. Splits:

1- 7:43.5

2- 7:35.4

3- 7:38.6

4- 7:50.4

5- 7:45.6

6- 7:55.9

7- 7:39.0

8- 7:34.3

9- 7:42.7

10- 7:53.3

11- 7:43.0

12- 7:40.1

13- 7:33.6

14- 7:46.2

15- 7:39.8

16- 7:45.4

17- 7:36.6

TOTAL--2:11:03, 7:43 avg pace

Overall, Im VERY happy with todays workout. This marathon may just be a possiblity after all! I still cant believe I ran that far.

easy paced 4.5 today, still felt rather tight from saturday's long run. ran 33:43, or 7:30 avg for today's run.

mid-40s, downpouring rain, 30 mph north winds made today's run a joy...6.5 miles. Ended up with negative splits although I was just goin easy today. Splits:

1- 7:27.7

2- 7:36.8

3- 7:28.8 (22:33, 7:31 avg)

4- 7:19.5

5- 7:19.4

6- 7:19.7

last .5-- 3:37.4 (7:15 pace)

TOTAL-- 48:09. 7:24 avg pace

Overall, felt pretty good minus the inclement weather. Pretty cool how my last 3 miles were all right at 7:19, i guess i kind of just locked in.

9 mile continuous run today, however, I ramped it up a little for the middle 7 miles to hit GMP, 6:40-7:00. Was gonna do 10 with 8 and GMP but had some GI issues late in the run. Overall, felt pretty easy to stay at the pace I wanted. Wind sucked, but thats how it goes.

1- 7:20.9

2- 6:50.6

3- 6:40.2

4- 6:44.0

5- 6:53.7

6- 6:45.2

7- 7:00.5

8- 6:42.3

9- 7:19.1

TOTAL-- 1:02:16, 6:55 avg (including the w/u and c/d miles)

felt like crap.7:30 avg exactly.

3 about as slow as you can get miles.

Finally got back after it today. Had some problems with how Ive been running lately, just havent been feeling real great, so decided to scale it back. Shootin for some fast 5ks this summer. Hoping to build off my mileage base. Today felt good. Splits:

1- 7:27.5

2- 7:19.0

3- 7:09.3

4- 7:01.4

last .5- 3:28.4 (6:57 pace)

TOTAL 32:25, 7:12 avg

Nice negative split day.

Easy 6 today, with 4 technically at GMP, although I was not trying to run hard. just felt good so went with it. Splits:

1- 6:47.4

2- 7:00.6

3- 7:11.6

4- 6:57.7

5- 6:50.0

6- 7:02.6

TOTAL--41:49, 6:58 avg pace

Humid run today, 5.5 miles, with one technically at GMP, once again just felt good, not trying to run a goal pace. Splits:

1- 7:08.6

2- 7:11.9

3- 6:53.0

4- 7:17.6

5- 7:05.2

last .5--3:28.5, 6:57 pace

TOTAL--39:04, 7:06 avg pace

7x800 meter repeats today. went something like 2:49, 2:51, 2:50, 2:49, 2:47, 2:45, 2:40. Not exactly sure on those splits cuz I hadn't recorded them before now. took 2 min rest between the first 5 and 2:30 between the last two.

9 easy ones today. 1:06:30, 7:23 avg pace. Tried to keep it pretty slow and easy.

I guess my run today was technically GMP for pretty much all of it. 5.5 miles, splits:

1- 6:59.0

2- 6:56.5

3- 7:02.2

4- 6:50.3

5- 6:55.2

last .5-- 3:25, 6:50 pace

TOTAL--38:08, 6:56 avg

Wasn't trying to push the pace or anything, just felt really good.

4 x  mile repeats today. wanted to be within 5:40-5:55 for all of the repeats and I was. However, I felt a little sluggish. Maybe that means my training is working? took 3 minutes between each rep until the last one where i took around 3:20. Splits:

1- 5:38.5

2- 5:50.9

3- 5:44.3

4- 5:49.0

Overall, a good workout regardless of feeling tired. I feel like I'm gonna keep improving with more speed work.

6 easy miles today. Probably the most perfect weather of the year so far. Absolutely gorgeous, 73, sunny, light wind. Splits:

1- 7:22.1

2- 7:37.2

3- 7:14.8 (22:14, 7:25 avg)

4- 7:20.6

5- 7:19.6

6- 7:15.4

TOTAL-- 44:09, 7:21.5 avg pace

Felt pretty good, and felt rather easy

Today was a tough workout, both mentally and physically, but I tackled it and pretty much rocked it. 16x400 all between 1:18-1:20,except for the very first rep which was 1:21. Total time added up was 4 miles in  21:11, or 5:18 avg per  mile/ 1:19.5 avg per 400. Started off taking equal recovery, but quickly started taking less, typically around 1:15 between each rep. A good workout and I will be plenty tired tomorrow.

tough 5.5 today. Was sore and tight plus it was rainy and windy--just made for a lovely run, ran 41:31, which i believe is somewhere around 7:33 avg pace. 

Tried for 11 today but ran outta gas at 9--seems like thats all the farther i can get lately. Probably the early start, i never do good on an empty stomach running right when i get up. 1:07:45, 7:31.5 avg pace. Pretty humid.

poured rain for the entire run. Got soaked. It was cold and windy, a pretty BA day to run! Splits:

1- 7:15.1

2- 7:04.8

3- 7:03.9 (21:23, 7:08 avg)

4- 6:56.6

5- 7:01.8

6- 7:12.7

last .5--3:34.2, 7:08 pace

TOTAL-- 46:09, 7:06 pace

4 mile tempo today. Felt kinda sluggish, but my splits were good. Makes me think that when I drop my mileage down starting next week, I should be able to fly in my races. Splits:

1- 5:55.8

2- 6:04.4 (12:00, 6:00 pace)

3- 6:01.7

4- 6:00.8

TOTAL-- 24:02, 6:00.5 avg pace

Overall, very good splits given how not awesome I felt while running. Like I said, hopefully that is a positive thing.

6 easy miles today, i felt very relaxed and comfortable. Kind of a nice change of pace on a more or less shakeout run. Total time was 44:24, 7:24 avg pace.

Vo2 max miles doesnt come close to describing the torture i put myself through today. Today's would classify as unbearable pain miles. did a 1/4 mile loop up the biggest, steepest hill in town today. did 8 ups hard, about 1:30 per 400 up the monster hill, with a jog down between each. so 4 miles of workout with 2 miles of intense uphill speed. So not too impressive to say 2 miles hard, but i probably got more out of that 2 miles uphill than most of my longer tempos.

I was very sore today from yesterday's hill workout. Really tired me out. Ran 5 miles today in 38:24, 7:41 pace, very slow, but couldnt go much faster. Maybe that'll help the legs recover too.

Technically 2 of my 5 miles today were at GMP. Felt a little sluggish though, still having some GI issues as of late. First 5k of 2010 slated for this coming sunday. Splits:

1- 7:12.3

2- 7:26.8

3- 7:01.0

4- 7:00.1

5- 6:48.1

TOTAL-- 35:28, 7:05.5 avg pace

5 uneventful, easy paced miles today.

1- 7:28.5

2- 7:36.2

3- 7:10.6

4- 7:08.6

5- 7:02.3

TOTAL-- 36:26, 7:17 avg pace

today was sposed to be 13x400 at around 80 seconds per. The wind was terrible though, 30-40 mph steady, it was unreal. On the exposed track, i was no match for it and ended up only getting in 10 x 400, still managed right near 80 seconds per. I figured It'd be smart not to wear myself out the week of a race, that wind was equivalent to the hills I did last week, or at least thats how i feel now. 

Colder and rainy today, ran 3 of the 5 miles at GMP. felt pretty good, two days of shakeouts to follow as I prep for my first race of the season! Splits:

1- 6:58.2

2- 7:08.8

3- 7:04.2

4- 6:50.0

5- 6:52.2

TOTAL-- 34:53, 6:59 avg pace

4 miles in the wind and relative cold. Still had some good flow though. Splits:

1- 7:21.2

2- 7:19.8

3- 7:26.6

4- 7:29.1

TOTAL-- 29:36,7:24 avg

pre-race systems check. 2 miles, 15:06, 7:33 avg.

Sioux City Race for the Cure today. My first race of 2010, i cant believe its been 6 months since I last raced. Had a good warmup of around 12 minutes and strides. Started off the first mile easier than some of the sprinter-types. Hit mile 1 in 5:32.6. Started the race in about 5th, but by mile 1 it was a two man race, me and the leader, who had about 15 seconds on me, i clocked him around 5:16 for his first mile. Hit the 2nd mile in 5:54.5 (11:27), I had gained a lot of ground on the leader, he maybe had 5 seconds on me by the 2nd mile. From the halfway point through the 2nd mile I noticed he kept looking back to see where I was. From the first time he did this, I knew I had the race won. You dont look back unless you can feel something slipping, ive been there before unfortunately. I ended up passing him with around 600 to go for the lead. I felt good throughout the race, and really had more than enough to solidly close the race. Took the 3rd mile in 5:41.6, a 13 second negative split from mile 2. Finished up the last .1 in 39 seconds. Ended up pulling away to win the race by 6 seconds. Pretty exciting, I love winning races, its a great feeling. Got nice recognition at the awards ceremony, even was handed the microphone on stage to answer a few questions in front of a large audience...kind of caught me off guard. The main thing that today was about though was the cause--racing for breast cancer, I love doing races for such good causes and to be able to win today I felt like was a tribute to those who aren't so fortunate and aren't able to enjoy a weekend road race like I am. Pretty cool all around.

Cooled down for about 2 miles and some light static stretching. Next decision, whether to race 5k or 10k this coming saturday...prolly shoot for the 5k again.

6 mile run today, with 3 miles right at or under 7 min pace making them GMP miles. Felt really good, had a lot of pop in my legs. Splits:

1- 7:12.2

2- 7:26.5

3- 6:58.2 (21:36, 7:12 avg)

4- 6:52.6

5- 7:00.0

6- 7:09.5

TOTAL-- 42:39, 7:06.5 avg pace

6 soaking wet and cold miles today total. 3 miles total w/u and c/d with 12x400 repeats on the track with 1:15 rep breaks. Hit each between 1:18-1:20, total time was 15:48 for 3 miles or 5:16 avg pace. Felt pretty good given the conditions and felt like I was flowing. leaning towards 5k this weekend.

 4 easy today in 29:35, or 7:24 avg pace. I am going to run the 10k this weekend, shooting for somewhere in the 36's.

pre race 2 today, felt a little sluggish, not too concerned because I always feel bad running first thing in the mornings. 14:56, 7:28 avg for the run. Just a nice easy shakeout with 6 strides afterwards to boot.

I have wanted to run this race for the past 3 years, and I finally got my chance today. ended up choosing to run the 10k. 100 people ran the 10k, 300 some odd ran the 5k. Today was my first race win in a distance longer than 5k, felt very good. I started things off very well and dropped the rest of the field with a 5:39 opening mile. I was all alone from there. Right off the start this kid ran with me for around 400 meters, and we were kind of chatting when all of a sudden he turns to me and says "I'm just one of those stupid kids that starts out fast, I can't hold this pace forever" and with that dropped off significantly. I got a good chuckle out of it because people don't usually say stuff like that, pretty awesome! Here are my splits:

1- 5:39.3

2- 5:58.0 

3- 6:08.3

4- 6:05.3 (23:50, 5:57.5 pace through 4 miles)

5- 6:09.9 (30:00, 6:00 exactly through 5 miles, pretty cool to hit 30 exactly)

last 1.2- 7:41.9 (around 6:10-6:15 pace)

TOTAL-- 37:43, 6:05 pace

Overall, I actually am not happy with that time at all. I felt like I easily should have been under 37. I was disappointed to see my finish time when I came across the line. I just got tired late in the race, probably because all of my speed work has been shorter and quicker lately as I have been 5k prepping. It shows that I had it through 4 miles then kind of went downhill. Another reason I slowed after that first 5k (which was 18:30 and right on 37 pace), was that I had no one to run with. I won the race by 3 minutes so I had no one pushing me, i always feel like others help push me to run faster. I did catch a lot of the 5k people, so that helped a little, but overall, i just lost some steam and got tired. Need some more training for these longer runs. Oh well, i cant complain, I won and got $40 cash for the win! Plus they are sending me a custom tulip time mug in the mail. It was a great day, awesome weather, great people, well organized, i thoroughly enjoyed myself.

lovely day for an 8 mile bike ride, almost went all the way to the missouri river and back. Felt good to get in a nice long spin.

6 easy ones today. Had some GI issues otherwise I'd of gone 7. Splits:

1- 6:52.0

2- 7:16.9

3- 7:04.3

4- 7:04.8

5- 6:59.1

6- 7:13.9

TOTAL-- 42:31, 7:05 avg pace

Today's workout was a killer cuz it is getting much warmer out. 3 x mile and my goal was to be under 5:30s. Really trying to push my speedwork these next 2 weeks. My splits were:

1- 5:24.1

2- 5:29.2

3- 5:36.6

I took 3:05 and 3:04 rest between the reps. Overall, I am very happy with how I ran today with this workout. My next race is in 3 weeks and one of the nice things about this race is there is a $50 prize if you can break the course record, which is 17:16. I have gone well faster than this before obviously, but it's a matter of dialing my speed back in to that level because I haven't been there yet this year. Today's speedwork adds up (with the predicted last .1) to right around 17:16, so that is a great sign! Gonna keep working hard to make sure I can run sub 17:16...that is assuming I win the race in the first place! Gotta have high goals tho!

6 miles today, felt pretty tight and uncomfortable the whole time. Could definitely feel yesterday's speedwork. Splits:

1- 7:16.2

2- 7:40.3

3- 7:14.7

4- 7:25.5

5- 7:22.0

6- 7:12.4

TOTAL-- 44:11, 7:22 avg pace

Another killer workout today. did the 400 uphill beast workout again. Went 8 sets up hard, averaged between 1:26-1:30 per 400 straight uphill, so pretty decent. Then jogged down for recovery. Will be sore tomorrow, but this workout is good for getting better.

Hot and humid even early in the morning. Kept a solid pace throughout, 1:14:39, 7:28 avg.

no comment...

Got out and did some work today. It was very hot and humid, heat index near 90. Still went out fast and kept a good tempo throughout. Splits:

1- 6:54.0

2- 6:57.2

3- 7:03.3

4- 6:46.7

5- 7:03.3 (5 miles through 34:44, 6:57 avg, GMP)

6- 7:21.6

TOTAL-- 42:06, 7:01 avg pace

really got after it today. Did 12x400 while running repeatedly faster each set. The first set my goals were 80, 78, 76, 74, then 2nd set goals were 78, 76, 74, 72, then 3rd set, 76, 74, 72, 70. I was very close each time and hit all of my reps with an average of 74-76. Total time added up was 15:04 for 3 miles which translates to 5:01 pace. Each set ended up like this:

1- 5:09

2- 5:01

3- 4:54

So, all totaled, I hit my reps in the times I wanted.took around 1:15 walking recovery between each rep and around 1:45 between the set (mile) breaks. Felt really good about today's workout and hope that it translates to some fast race times.

5 easy miles today in 36:50, 7:22 avg pace. 1 mile was around 6:50, so GMP.

Mile repeats today. then 2x800. Splits:

1- 5:11!

2- 5:24

.5-- 2.38

.5--2:46

Overall felt great, Happy with the 5:11 on the opener. Felt good moving that fast.

Got new shoes today, wasn't planning on breaking them in on this long of run but I did. Went no watch or real clue of my distance, kind of nice to just run free. Didnt really have a choice though, out at the fiance's for the weekend. ended up mapping my run and found it was 10.3, not sure on total time of the run, but over 1:15:00 im sure.

5 slow miles today, didnt feel real great. 36:50, 7:22 avg. 

continued not feeling well today during my 12x400, just felt super sluggish. I started missing my goal of 80s per 400 after about halfway, it wasn't pretty. 1:15 recovery between reps, total mile time for each:

1- 5:17

2- 5:21

3- 5:25

TOTAL--16:03 for 3 miles, not a good progression as I felt continually worse throughout the workout. Did the 12x400 on the track so I wore my spikes which I don't record in my shoe manager on here.

Decided an ice bath was in order especially after all the speed training ive been doing, so I made it extra cold and sat in there for 12 minutes.

Felt much better today, i can already feel the benefits from that ice bath, hopefully my legs will continue to recover as I taper for my 5k this weekend. Today's workout was in 36:03, so 7:12.5 avg pace. Hit the first two miles in a combined 13:30 (6:45 pace), had to consciously slow down to not push too hard today. Felt decent throughout.

This weekend's 5k should be fun. There is a $50 cash prize for anyone who can break the course record--which is 17:16. 17:16 is very doable, and I have been under there and under 17 several times in the recent past, so if my race goes as my training has been going, especially last week, then I should break that record and 17 minutes for the first time this year. Gonna have to also win it, but hopefully I have a good challenge to ensure a fast pace. Should be fun and I'm looking forward to it.

Easy run today, 3.5 in 25:18, 7:14 avg. 

2 miles in 15:04, nice and easy pre race systems check. Felt pretty good. Ready to go fast tomorrow!

Won my 3rd race in as many tries this year. Pretty good way to start off the year. However, that being said, I am disappointed with my time here today. I wanted the course record (17:16)...however, upon finishing, a few people thought the course was long and the guy who got 2nd said his garmin read 3.2..thus adding nearly 30-35 seconds to the run. That being said, the course record is a little deceiving...since the course appears a tad long, it would seem that 17:16 was actually around 16:50 or so. Now to the actual race.

I felt good at the start, had a great warmup. Hit my first mile in 5:30, but once again, this mile marker seemed long and I felt like I was in the 5:20-5:25 range. 2nd mile was 5:50, probably more accurate. 3rd mile: 5:58, definitely long as I was pushing the whole way. Closed the final .1 in 36 so probably accurate. All told I won the race by 1 second. I passed the leader at the 2 mile mark and he mounted 3 surges to try to pass me during the closing mile and I covered it each time. It hurt to do so, but felt great when he would lose ground and then have to mount another surge. This battle definitely helped me mentally because I know I can win this kind of race and I even had a nice kick to fight off a possible 4th surge at the finish. 

17:56 doesn't look real fast, but I feel the course was long. The whole race I felt like I was pushing it and thought for sure I was in the 17:10s to 17:20s at least. Kind of disappointing to see 17:56, but at the same time, I know I have faster stuff in me cuz like I said, course was probably long and I know the effort I gave was better than my time.

Overall, great event, awesome participants (about 100-150 of them). I will definitely come back to this one..and next time I will get the course record...however long it actually is.

11 miles today in 1:21:57, 7:27 avg pace. Felt pretty decent.

5 humid miles today. Hit two in the high 6:50s. Ran around a half mile with my old high school xc coach, he was out for a training run. 5 miles in 36:39, or 7:20 avg.

Awesome workout today. Did 6x800s, here were my splits:

1- 2:40

2- 2:42

3- 2:38

4- 2:41

5- 2:38

6- 2:39

I felt very good and my times were consistent throughout. 2 minutes active recovery between each rep. Ice bathed afterwards to help heal the legs for this weekends 5k.

Wasn't pretty. Just woke up and ran, didnt have much time to limber up and I definitely felt it as I was sluggish and slow. O well, today was designed to be that way. will get in an easy 2 tomorrow for a pre race.

2

Went in to DSM today to run the Flower Power 5k, a local race that has grown enormously in its 3 years of existence. I actually won the inaugural race in 2008, so I figured I'd give it another shot. Got there and there was a ton of people, prolly between 250-300. About 15 min before the race the skies opened up and it downpoured with lightning and wind. That kept up for over an hour and they eventually cancelled the race due to lightning. Sucks cuz its the first race I've had cancelled on me and I put a lot of training in hoping to run well today, not to mention losing the 15 dollar entry fee...on second thought I did get a pretty sweet moisture wicking shirt, so i guess its ok. Really tho, the race directors probably made the right call for safety so it is what it is. 

All that being said, two other guys and easily the fastest girl there and I decided to run it anyways so we did an improptu 5k on the course. One of the guys parents actually led the way in their car. We ended up only averaging around 6:40s, not very hard at all, but that was Angie's pace so we didnt want to leave her behind. Actually it was a pretty cool thing and I'm glad we did it, I made a few friends out of it too.

After we disbanded after the improptu 5k, I decided I needed more running and went for another 2 - 2.25 miles on the trail To end the day at over 7 miles. I will hit it hard next week as I train for a fast 5k next weekend.

PM- Got home from work and still wasnt satisfied with today's cancelled 5k so I went out and did 3 more miles, except I pounded the first 1.5 cold turkey. Hit 5:37 for the first mile and 2:47 for the remaining half. Total for the 1.5--8:24. Cooled down the last 1.5. I like doing this cold turkey time trial type thing once in a while just to push myself. Ended with decent mileage today.

slowed down a lot late in this one.

36:37, 7:19.5 avg. 1 GMP mile. Kind of felt bored with the same ole route need to mix it up. I have two 5ks planned within the next week, one saturday and one tuesday.

Repeat Quarters today. 13x400 all between 1:18-1:20, most right on 1:19. The added up mileage time for each was:

1- 5:16

2- 5:17

3- 5:16

last .25-- 1:19

TOTAL-- 17:07 added up. Took 1:12-1:15 recovery between reps. ran 1.25 (the first 5 400s with track spikes)

4 easy ones today. Weather was scorching hot, humidity is high, temp is high. I was sweating bullets. Splits:

1- 7:07

2- 7:14

3- 7:15

4- 7:23

Total-- 29:00, 7:15 avg pace

2 miles

Got to the race a little early, it was really foggy, so I figured the race conditions would be ideal, the fog kept it cool and calm. However, 20 minutes before there race the sun had burned off the fog and it got HOT. According to the results, the actual temp at race time was already 70 and the humidity was 97%, so the heat index could have been nearing 80 at just 8 am. I definitely felt it on the run as Im sure everyone did. The heat and humidity cost me probably 20-25 seconds on today's effort. Ran a nice first mile 5:22, I need to keep that pace throughout though, and just didnt do so today. 5:57 second mile, may have been long. 5:47 final mile, with 30 seconds closing the final .1, which clearly was a tad short so one or both of the final 2 mile markers were a little long. According to my watch I clocked 17:38, they had me officially at 17:40, so for the sake of this report, I split the difference and gave myself credit for 17:39! haha. 

Im not super thrilled with my race today, I just think I let up that 2nd mile, I need to train harder for that. Probably doing some drop down repeats to simulate an easier first mile followed by a hard 2nd mile. Im sure my times will start dropping later. One thing I can take from this race was that I had a nice kick and actually outsprinted a guy at the end to get 5th. Next race is on Tuesday, so a short turnaround awaits.

Got out for a nice 5 tonight. Pretty humid still, splits:

1- 7:06.6

2- 7:06.8

3- 7:13.0

4- 7:18.2

5- 7:17.7

TOTAL-- 36:02 (7:12 avg)

Can't wait to run another 5k race here on Tuesday. Hopefully I can get out and fly.

2

No comment on this race other than running in heat indices of 105 or more is not fun nor is it conducive to running.

6 miles in 44:20. 7:23's ish

Had a drop down tempo today. Really working on those later miles. Held that negative split for 3 miles. here were the splits:

1- 6:49.2

2- 6:14.2

3- 5:42.7

Followed with two cooldown miles but still managed to negative split those, with the first being 7:35 and the 2nd being 7:28. All told, pretty good workout, hit that 3 miles in 18:46. Not bad considering the way I approached it, dropping in with a near 7 min mile to start. Felt good to get out and run fast later in a run. My drop down per mile was 35 seconds from 1-2 and from 2-3, 32 seconds. So pretty even effort.

no frills 5 miles tonight. Sweated like crazy in around 100 degree  heat index, and that was at 7:30 at night. So 5 miles felt like 15. Did the 5 in 37:15, so 7:27.5 avg.

Good little run today, hit the first mile in 6:58, so GMP. Total, 32:28, 7:13 avg.

Got after it today. 5 x 800 with 2 min recovery between each. I feel great about how fast I ran these. Splits:

1- 2:37.3

2- 2:37.9

3- 2:36.2

4- 2:37.9

5- 2:33.9

Overall, a very solid workout. I couldnt believe how even those 800s were. Very happy with myself today!

4 after work tonight, almost a 13 hour day, so i was tired and didnt really feel great running, 30:30, so 7:37 avg.

3 easy, 22:16 ish i think.

2 pre race. 14:36. strides today, none yesterday

Today was the annual Carlisle 5k. I have ran this race in 2008 and 2009, and won it each time, so i was in essence the defending champ. Being as such, and knowing the race director (my hs xc coach) he surprised me today and gave me bib number 1, pretty cool! Did a little warmup and felt ready to go.

Got out solid and hit the first mile in 5:21.7. A nice first mile given it was up two decent hills. I had one runner staying with me at this point, but having this as my home course has its advantage, i knew that right after the 1st mile marker it is downhill pretty much all the way to mile 2. So I laid the hammer down and threw in a massive surge. I dropped him quick, and soon it was just me up front. I thought I was gonna win my 3rd straight.

2nd mile rolled by in 5:13.1. Nice negative split, although, I very much believe this mile was short given mile 3 and the fact that the marker was up from its old spot as the course was changed a tad. At mile 2 though, I got passed by a runner I knew from college and local races. I answered his surge for a little while, but I couldn't cover it completely and he gapped me with about .8 to go.

I spent the third mile trying to reel him in but I couldn't do it. He had made a decisive move and today was his day. I ran the last 1.1 in 6:12, so right around 5:32 pace, which i believe was pretty decent and indicates very little slowing if the course markers were all equidistant.

I crossed the tape in 16:46.9, but officially it was 16:47, which is fine, just tiny fractions of a second. That time ties my 2nd best ever and was just 9 seconds off my PR, which ironically enough, the winner ran 16:37, and my pr is 16:38, so if I would have PRed today, I would have probably won. Interesting food for thought.

After the race, there was some talk of a shortened course, as they had changed it from last year. I got on and measured it online and it probably was a little short, more like 3.03-3.06 range. But that being said, I am still happy with my race and my time which I will count as a 5k race. I am just a runner, not a race director or course creator, so who am I to say that the course was off?

Overall, great race, i really enjoy this one, not only is it my hometown race and course, but the people are awesome. Being the first carlisle finisher also netted me a 3 month snap fitness membership valued at over 100 dollars, so thats always nice. Ill prolly give it to my mom as I like to run outside.

10 miles today in pouring rain the entire time. Felt really good after the first 5 miles and ended up running a 56 second negative split between the first and last 5 miles. Splits:

1- 7:03.9

2- 7:07.5

3- 7:27.2

4- 7:30.7

5- 7:29.7 (first 5 miles, 36:39, 7:20 pace)

6- 6:45.1

7- 6:53.6

8- 7:07.2

9- 7:27.8

10- 7:31.6 (last 5 miles, 35:45, 7:09 pace)

Pretty cool run.

5 tonight after work so I was tired coming in, 36:47, 7:21 pace.

Repeat 400s today. Didnt feel that great nor did I run great. 1:20-1:22s.

33:36, 7:28 pace. Didn't feel real awesome.

3 easy.

rare for me to take a day off before a race, but just didnt have time to run 2 miles today. did do 10 strides and stretched right after I woke up though.

Headed up to ankeny today to test my fitness again. I was told this race was flat and so I was looking for another good time. After warmups, my legs felt tight and actually a little sluggish which is weird given the easy last few days. I met up with a good friend who i talked in to running it and so it was good to see him there.

Race started and I knew I had to lay back and pick people off. First mile flew by--5:26.2. Right where I needed to be. Then I started picking off a few of the younger kids who go out fast. But after about 1/4 of mile 2, i was on an island--no one around me. I kept trying to run down the person ahead of me but just wasnt happening, my legs were not turning over that great. 2nd mile was 5:48.3. I tried to pick it up to bring it home. I ended up passing one more high school kid at the end, we battled all the way to the line and I beat him down the stretch, but my last mile was still sluggish--5:49.9, with the last .1 in 31.7 which was a pretty legit .1 so I am happy because I had to kick it to hold onto 6th place. I had a little much in the tank at the end, but I really didnt have much the whole race--kind of weird.

Overall, I clocked a 17:37, not a bad time, but not super fast. I am pretty happy with that time given how I felt after warming up. I think I was sluggish because I didnt run yesteday, I have noticed the few times I have taken the day off before a race I end up with significantly less "pop" in my legs. Cant be too hard on myself though, as there was not much I could have done to avoid not running yesterday--simply no time. Better luck in two weeks, and after all I did place in my age group.

7 today in 52:42, 7:32 pace, felt like crap.

6 out to avon, road finally opened back up. 44:05, 7:21 pace. Felt pretty decent on tired legs.

Woke up early today and got out at 8 am to try and beat the excessive heat and humidity forecasted for today (heat index of 110!). Did some repeat 800s, but I was already sweating like crazy. Hit my splits in 2:44, 2:44, 2:38, 2:39. So I essentially ran a better "second mile" which is where I want to continue to work on. May jump in a local 5k this weekend for cheap.

easy run today. Lot less hot and humid.

2 easy ones today. 14:37, 7:18 avg.

Pretty awesome night workout today. Was gonna race this morning but was traveling late last night and thought it better to save the money and get some extra sleep. Had to wait out the heat of the day to run tonight around 9:30, probably not too many people out doing speedwork on a saturday night. Oh well, I was and it was awesome. I really wanted to hit my first mile in sub-5, but I just missed, ran 5:10.9, second was 5:31.1, then had to take a doubly long break because the trail I was running on was thick with bugs, so I drove back home to do a mile loop by my house, so instead of 3 minutes I took 6 with drive time for this last set. Ran the last one in 5:29.8. Overall, i was super happy with my speed tonight, felt good to get some fast miles in not to mention in still very sticky, hot weather. I believe the heat index was still near 90 at 9:30.

Sposed to be an easy run today, really ramped it up towards the end. Felt good the whole time, even in 90 degree heat of midday. Splits:

1- 6:58.0

2- 7:06.8

3- 7:07.9