dedication, perseverance, self-discipline

I felt more rested than I thought I would after yesterday's nasty workout, which was good.  On the negative side I am pretty sore from running the longest tempo run I have ever done, and from running the most overall distance I have ever done other than the marathons.  I am mainly sore in my calves and in my shins, which is to be expected considering the tightness I felt early on in the tempo, so I am not really concerned.  I just need to take it easy this week. 

My calves were still sore this morning, although my shins are feeling a lot better than yesterday.  We kept the pace pretty easy for the most part, and we finished 10.1 miles in 1:22:16.

On a side note, I was looking at some of the times from the Run For Red 5k that was held near where I ran my tempo run on Saturday, and I thought it was somewhat amusing that the last 3 miles of my 20 mile tempo were run at a faster pace than the winning time in that race.  On the women's side there was some good competition, however on the mens side there was nobody.

I ran alone today.  10 miles in 1:16:18.  I felt a pinching sensation in my left knee over the last 3-4 miles.  It is probably nothing, but I am going to pay more attention to it just to be safe.

10.2 miles this morning in 1:08:16.  I ran in the neighborhood of a 1:06:40 for the normal 10.1 that we do every day, plus we added a little more at the beginning.  We had to keep the pace faster today because Sasha needed to leave at 9:00 to go somewhere and we got started late.

PM: 4 more miles.  I haven't actually run them yet, but I am heading out the door as soon as I get this posted.  I will probably run the 4 miles in about 31:00.  Ok, so I just finished and the total time was 30:58.  My estimated time was pretty close (and I wasn't purposefully speeding up or slowing down to hit it either).

This morning I ran with the same group as normal, plus Steve Ashbaker.  We did the normal route to the lake and back.  I threw in a few 400's during the workout; three on the way out to the lake in 1:05, 1:06, 1:05, and two on the way back in 1:08, 1:10.  Total time of 1:23:07 for 10.1 miles.

PM:  4 miles in 32:09.  I kept things really easy and slow today because I want to be careful so that I do not get injured with the little nagging pains that I am having right now.

I ran with Sasha, Mary Ann, and Matt this morning.  I was not sure exactly what time we would start at, and I needed to get back earlier than normal, so I ran around the block a couple of times before we started so that I could make sure that I got my entire run in.  It ended up that I didn't need to do it because everyone showed up on time this morning, so I got in 10.1 miles with the group in 1:15:00 plus an extra .7 miles alone in 5:25 for a total of 10.8 miles in 1:20:25.

I ran with Sasha today and after a short warm up of less than 1.5 miles, we jumped into a 10 mile tempo run.  Sasha was kind of testing himself to see if he is getting better after the ear infection, while I was just wanting to do a shorter tempo than last week. I finished the tempo in 57:44, while Sasha fell back the last couple hundred meters and finished in 57:48.

Mile splits are as follows: 5:47, 5:49, 5:49, 5:50, 5:52, 5:49, 5:47, 5:48, 5:39, 5:34.

2.5 miles splits: 14:30, 14:37, 14:31, 14:06.

5 mile splits: 29:07, 28:37.

After the tempo we finished up with a long cool-down, speeding up near the end and hitting the last half mile in about 2:55.  Total time for 20.1 miles 2:12:12. 

It is interesting to gauge how I felt today compared to how I felt last week.  The pace felt easier last week than it did today (maybe I am still recovering a little?), but today I felt less shin tightness and pain than I did last week, and it went away sooner (from doing less speedwork this week?).  Also, I noticed that my legs felt much more tired last week after I was finished with the run, however I felt like my fuel levels were worse today (did I not eat enough the last few days?).  Anyhow, a nice long run.  I might keep my long run easier next week as well.  I will just have to wait and see.