Boston Strong

8.59

8.49

8.57

8.36

7.50

7.51

8.10

7:55

9.11

.5 @ 8.19

9.5 total @ 8:28

legs sore

Goal was 10 under 8min pace, stopped a little early, but ran a little faster.  8@ 7:40AP

1 8:15

2 7:44

3 7:42

4 7:37

5 7:27

6 7:33

7 7:40

8 7:26 

8:16

8:32

8:01

8:10

8:40

8:38

8:26

8:08

8:48

8:08

7:48

11 miles @ 8:20 ap

Today I ran 7.2 miles to complete 26.2 over the last 3 days in 3:30:55.  I was not overly concerned with my pace, although I did monitor it and did different random pace workouts such as hill repeats, mid range mile intervals ... and alot of just dialing into a specific pace ... sub 8's on Monday & low 8's with some pickups Tues. & Wed.  

Monday - 8 miles @ 7:40 pace ... To inspire myself, I stopped by Sims Lake Park in my old stomping grounds ... they have a great 1.2 mile paved loop with markers every tenth ... so needless to say I have done many hard workouts there in the past.  I was not overly ambitious, but wanted to do 10 @ a sub 8 pace.  There are always lots of runners out there, and it is fun to make comments to them as I pass ... and of course, you try to look fast every time they see you.  There are a few pretty good sized hills, so you have pick up your cadence going up them if you want to maintain pace.  As my splits were going sub 7:30, I decided I would call it a day @ 8 miles ... knowing a long run was planned for Tuesday.

Tuesday - 11 miles @ 8:20 pace    Yes, some of us still consider 11 miles a long run.  It was a rainy afternoon so I just ran some errands ... 4.5 miles in I visited a friend, miles 7 & 8 in the Park, & a brief stop in a running store at mile 9.5.  So I guess I had a couple 10 minute breaks in there.

Wednesday - 7.2 miles @ 8:03 pace        Overall it was good running conditions, cool but humid misty rain ... which made for a really soft surface on the 0.54 oval track at Piedmont Park ... I always try to includes some paced laps here on my runs ... mixed in some other loops around the park ... my goal was simple, get 7.2 miles in.  There were lots of runners in the park even though it was wet.

Next Up:  I guess run 26.2 in 2 days ... but I can build my base mileage for another 30 days before I attempt that.

10 miles, mixed paces, overall 7:50 ap

7 at 7:50 ap, with 2mile cd, juggled soccer ball

5 @ 7:50 ap in PP with Tim... call it a Pre-Falcons victory run.  Brief warmup, 7:23 mile on oval, then 7:14 mile on Botanical Gardens Hill loop, back to track for 7:42 pace, Hill loop @ 8:00 & cool down half mile @ 8:50 pace ... happy to hit 50 mpw ... 1st time since Boston!  Perhaps I can hit it 10 more times before Boston!

Go Falcons!

* Disclaimer*  Paces listed below are off my garmin, although I ran on a track ... and my watch records a 1/4 mile on track at a little less than 1 lap ... which means the paces are probably 15 seconds faster than I was actually running ... in other words, my total time for 4 miles is more like for 15 laps than 16 & change ... my guess is that it is recording my pace approximately 15-20 seconds faster per mile than I am actually running!  But for the benefit of my ego ... I am recording the mile times my watch gave me, even if they were short of a mile ... cuz that is all I have to work with! 

Regardless, I am very pleased with my workout ... I did not even have faster miles in mind when I started, but when the faster pace feels easy, you just have to roll with it ... I really never felt like I was pushing the pace ... this is by far the most comfortable I have felt at these paces, even if you add the 15-20 seconds per mile.

 1st 4:  7:02, 6:47, 6:44, 6:37  (6:47 ap)

As I hit the 4 mile mark, I figured I better back off or I would not get the miles I was hoping for ... not too mention I was at Alex's soccer tryouts, so if I finished up early, there was going to be lots of standing around.  Took a brief break to grab some gatorade & started back up, thinking I would just run easy.

2nd 4:  7:30, 7:16, 6:52, 6:26  (7:02 ap)

 So much for slowing down, my pace creeped right back up there, with my last mile being my fastest.  I then did a 2 mile cooldown around an 8:00 pace.

 Realistically, my 8 faster miles probably averaged around 7:10 pace ... I'll take it & consider today one of my hard workouts for the week ... but I felt pretty comfortable ... Yea

Ran with local running store group, demo'd some Newtons.  Easy 5 miles followed by beer & pizza ... guess I broke even for the day.

No watch, ran for 75 min around 8 min pace

Sims Lake Park    7:37 ap

12 miles @ 7:43 ap with couple cd miles heading home.

I am very pleased with this run, wanted to keep it around 8:00 or a little under, most times I looked at my watch I consciously slowed a little.  7:45 pace is my goal at Boston as it will qualify me to return in '14 & go sub 3 ... assuming I can stay injury free or at least manage them so they don't blow my base like they did last year.

3 miles to Piedmont Park, 4 2 mile loops (half on oval track & half on the ABG hill loop, then 3 back home.  The 4 miles on the soft surface track are really helpful to me!

1 - 8:06

2 - 7:50

3 - 7:51

4 - 7:29 (track)

5 - 7:48

6 - 7:44 (track)

7 - 7:42

8 - 7:34 (track)

9 - 7:44

10 - 7:35 (track)

11 - 7:32 (track ... decided to bypass last hill loop & stay on track before heading home)

12 - 7:36

13 - 8:29

14 - 8:50

 Watch died at 13.5 ... that is about the life of my battery these days!

Mid 50's & sunny ... supposed to hit 70 on Tuesday!  :)

6 with Tim @ Piedmont Park, 7:45 ap ... a couple 200m strides thrown in ... that left me totally winded!  Completes b2b 50 mile weeks with no real PF discomfort ... pretty psyched about that!!

20 miles on bike & 7 easy @ 8:32 in park

Gotta love running shirtless in January!  8 easy in park @ 8:27  ap.  Been feeling sluggish on my runs lately, I think mostly because I am eating lots of soup & other healthy things trying to get back my racing weight!  Have lost 6 pounds ... 9 more to go.  Can't wait until the afternoon of April 15, when I can once again eat whatever I want!!

def felt stronger after a day of rest, 7:30 ap