dedication, perseverance, self-discipline

I ran an easy 10 miles this morning in 1:19:09.  Average HR for the run was 129, which is good considering temps were in the low to mid 80's.  I ran a quick pick up of about 200m in 34-35 seconds just past the 6 mile mark of my run just to shake my legs out.

PM: I ran 5 more miles alone in the evening. 

I ran to the mall loop this morning, and at the 2.5 mile mark of my run I ran 3 x 400m with 1/2 mile recovery between each 400.  I ran the 400's pretty close to all out, and based on the times I wonder if this loop may be a little longer than 1.25 miles.  400 splits were: 63 (slight headwind, but downhill), 67 (first 200 up then second 200 down, plus some crosswind), and 66 (uphill for about 50 meters, then a slight downhill but mostly flat to the finish, net loss/gain almost zero).  After the third repeat I ran easy for 2 miles and then ran 3 x 400m again at the same places, in the same order.  400 splits were: 64.5 (the wind shifted some, so it was more like a strong crosswind this time), 69 (strong headwind this time), 64 (maybe a high 63, but also may have had some tailwind).  After I finished the last 400, I ran home and then finished up the last 5 miles by going out and back on the Pittman Wash.  Total time of 1:54:40 for 15 miles.

I ran 11 miles this morning in 1:27:04.  At the end of the run I went over to the track and ran 3 100s in 16s 15s and 14s, in that order.  I just wanted to get a better feel for what 4:00 pace feels like.

PM: I ran 6 more miles in 47:07.  The temperature felt cooler tonight than it has recently in the evenings.

I ran 13 miles this morning, running out to the end of the Pittman Wash and back, before heading over to the track to run a few 200 repeats.  While on the Pittman Wash, I ran 4 x 0.5 mile repeats with about a half mile recovery between each.  The goal wasn't really to have a super hard speed workout, but to get a better feel for running a faster pace, as despite the 3200 race I ran last Tuesday I have been feeling kind of slow ever since I got sick about a month ago.  Split times were 2:30, 2:24, 2:23, 2:22.  The first repeat actually felt harder than the others for some reason.  When I went over to the track at the end of my run, I ran 4 x 200m repeats with 600m recovery, running them in 30, 30, 30, 29.  The 200's felt strange as 30 second splits did not feel that difficult, but I did not feel like I could really go faster than that.  It could simply be that I have not done much short speed work in a long time and my body just needs to get used to it again.  Total time of 1:35:20 for 13 miles.

PM: 5 miles in 36:42. 

I ran 11 miles this morning with Anita in the running stroller.  She did awesome, as it was hot outside, and I had not run with her in a few months, yet she did not whine or fuss at all during the run.  I think that she actually really enjoyed being out with me, as she was looking around and babbling quite a bit, and she drank almost all of the water from her water bottle.  Total time for the run was 1:27:10.

PM: 4 miles in 30:16.  My legs have been feeling kind of dead all week, but felt surprisingly good this evening.

I was dreading this run all week long, as the temperatures are starting to get hotter, and the hotter it gets, the easier it is to overheat while out on a long run.  I was originally planning on running at 5:00am and was hoping that I could get in a good chunk of my daily mileage before the sun really started beating down on me.  Unfortunately (or fortunately) I slept horribly last night, waking up nearly every 30 minutes while having trouble falling asleep as well (you would think with the mileage I have been running lately that sleep would not be a problem).  Due to the sleep issues I decided to sleep in a bit and go to plan B, which was to drive to UNLV and run on the treadmill indoors where I would not have to deal with the heat or the sun.

I got to UNLV and it was 79 degrees inside, a temperature at which I actually find it quite comfortable to run.  However, due to the workout I had planned I turned on the a/c to cool the place down to 70 degrees (I don't know how long it took, but the thermometer was reading 70 by the time I finished my run).  I then started my run, with the plan to run an 8 mile warm-up, followed by a 2 x 5 mile tempo with a 2 mile recovery between repeats.

The workout started according to plan, as I made it through the first 7.5 miles in 53:40.  I then paused my workout so that I could grab some water before starting the first 5 mile tempo at the 8 mile mark of the run.  I also turned on a fan, which I placed directly in front of me to provide some wind to make up for the lack of air resistance that exists when running in place on a treadmill.  The goal for the first tempo was to average 5:30 pace, which would give me 27:30 for 5 miles.  The goal for the second repeat was to average 5:20 pace, for a time of 26:40.  I sped up slowly at the beginning of the first repeat, going through 1 mile in 5:34, followed by a 5:30.  At 2.5 miles I decided that I felt good and wanted to speed up a little, so I sped up to finish the third mile in 5:29, followed by a 5:24 and a 5:22 to finish with a time of 27:19 for 5 miles.  This was followed by 2 miles at 7:30 pace (plus I stopped briefly to get some more water) before starting the final 5 mile tempo at the 15 mile mark of the run.

When I started this repeat I decided to shoot for the OTQ pace of 5:18 instead of 5:20, which would give me a 26:30 if I did it (vs. 26:40).  I started out right on pace this time (no warming into the pace at all) and it felt harder than I thought it would.  I think that the first 5 mile tempo had taken more out of me than I realized.  I was not sure if I would be able to hold pace for the entire tempo, so I just focused on relaxing at that pace.  I also decided that if I could hang on for 4 miles and if I still had anything left in the tank I would make an attempt at speeding up the final mile.  The pace never really started to feel easier than it did at the beginning of this tempo, but luckily it never started to feel harder either, and I made it through 4 miles right at 5:18 pace (21:12).  I then sped up progressively over the final mile, finishing with a final mile split of 4:56 for a total time of 26:08 for 5 miles.

After I finished the final tempo I felt like I should run one final mile to cool down a bit.  The final mile kind of hurt, but I think it was good for me since I had to drive home right after finishing.  I finished the final tempo to make it through 20 miles with a total time of 2:05:52, and 2:13:48 for 21 miles.  This finishes off my second consecutive 100 mile week.  I think that I am going to back off just a bit next week, plus once the baby comes I am going to take a fairly easy week as well (which may end up being next week anyways).