The Next Step

Stayed up late last night bringing in the New Year with some friends at our house so sleep in today.  Not the best way to start the New Year but just felt lazy all day.  I finally got on the TM and ran 6 miles while watching football.  It was 10 degrees out and 20 mph wind so couldn't get excited about going outside.  Hopefully, tomorrow I will have more motivation after getting some rest.  I am going to lay out my running goals for the year over the next few days so maybe that will get me fired up.

47:20 (7:54 avg)

It was cold today (10) with a wind chill around 0.  I ran today so that I wouldn't have to run much against the wind.  My wife dropped me off so I could do this and it really helped.  Otherwise I would have had to go out with the wind and then turn around and finish against the wind.  I felt really good today.  I started off faster than normal to get some heat built up and just kind of stayed with the pace.  I finished off a full week of running so next week I will try to build backup to normal mileage.

1:16:10 (7:28 avg)

It was my first day back at work in over a week so wanted to get started and try to get organized so I thought I would run at lunch but the day got away from me and I didn't end up running until around 6pm.  Stayed inside on the TM and was only able to get in 6 miles before dinner.  I have to get started early in the morning and get back on schedule.  I felt good running but I have to take it back up a few notches.  I was hopeful for a good mileage week but I am not off to a good start.

46:01 (7:40 avg)

Getting off to a rough start this year.  My wife had an early morning meeting at school so I stayed with the kids then took them to school.  After that I had meetings for work so didn't get to run until after work.  I squeezed in a few miles between dinner and helping the kids with some school work.  I have to get back into the early morning routine.

I felt good running and wanted to make the most of the short time that I had on the TM.  I did 10 x 1 min at 5% grade followed by 1 min recovery.  After that I kicked up the pace and ran a 1/2 mile around 6:25 pace.  It was good to get in a little work in the short time.

45:10 (7:32 avg)

It was cold this morning (12) and windy.  I ran the 1 mile loop around our neighborhood because it was dark and I didn't want to do an out and back route because of the wind.  The way the wind was blowing I would have been out with the wind and then had to run back into the wind on the way back.  This is not much fun when you get all sweaty running with the wind then turn around and run back into the freezing wind.  The loop let me stay more regulated since it varied between with the wind and into the wind. I felt pretty good and just ran easy.  I stayed pretty warm even though the wind chill was around -5.

62:24 (7:48 avg)

We had a snow storm move in lat night so the roads were in rough shape this morning and didn't want to risk getting out with the crazy drivers so stayed in on the TM.  I just ran easy today.  I felt tired this morning for some reason.  I still have not got back into a good sleep routine from the Christmas break so that could be it.  Running wise it was good no problems.  I wanted to get in a second run today but just couldn't work it in.  

54:20 (7:46 avg)

Yesterday was a total blowoff day.  I stayed up late watching the football game than had a busy day at work and with the family.  I probably could have found some time to squeeze in a run but was just lacking on motivation.  Need to get going again.

 Today there was more snow and the roads are still a mess so I stayed inside on the TM.  I felt good and ran easy.  As I went along I gradually increased the pace and finished at around 7:10 pace.  It was a good run and nice to finally get in a decent run.  Hopefully, this will be something that I can build on.

1:30:59 (7:35 avg)

Scottsdale, AZ: I traveled out here yesterday so didn't get a run in.  I was able to get out early this morning but didn't really know the area that well so ended up doing some explorering and a lot of back tracking.  I just ran easy and controlled.  It was cooler than I expected (around 43) and I just packed shorts and short sleeve shirts so it was a cool run.  It is still 100% better than the weather in Indy so I won't complain.  I am at a sales meeting so our days are packed and no chance for a second run.

62:24 (7:48 avg)

Scottsdale, AZ:  It was warmer this morning around 50.  A great morning for running.  I ran some unstructured intervals this morning.  I did 6 intervals just on feel for what I thought would be around a 1/2 mile.  I did check my pace and was running them between 6:00 and 6:30 pace.  I did about an equal time recovery after each interval.  It was dark so I only checked my pace as I went under a light.  The goal was to just get the legs used to some faster running before doing some more structured intervals later.  I felt pretty good but was feeling tried on the last one.

68:35 (7:38 avg)

Scottsdale, AZ:  I really had a hard time getting out of the bed this morning.  We have had some really long days out here and not sleeping great.  It was a nice morning in the high 40's with light wind.  I felt sluggish running as well and just took it real easy today.  I did feel a little better toward the end. 

55:44 (7:58 avg)

Scottsdale, AZ:  It was a nice morning today around 50.  I felt much better today so planned to do some MP miles.  I did a few miles easy and then ran 4 miles at MP.  I felt good during these miles and felt like I could have pushed it more.  Here are the splits for the MP miles: 7:02, 6:53, 6:55, 6:40.  I didn't get as many miles in as I wanted while down here but I am glad I got a run in every day.  We were extremely busy and these are the kinds of weeks where I have missed days in the past.  I can't afford to do that this year with Boston looming.

50:11 (7:09 avg)

Back home after a long week on the road.  I was really tired this morning since I got in pretty late last night and then had trouble going to sleep.  I slept in a little because of this so had to wait to run after work.  I didn't have a lot of time because of family activities so only got in 7 miles.  I felt good today and the weather was nice for here (40 and windy).  Hopefully, I can get a long run in tomorrow.

52:56 (7:33 avg)

It was cool 32, misty and some wind this morning.  I wanted to stretch out my distance today and start getting back to the long runs.  I want to get back to the 20 range as soon as I can so that I can incorporate some long MP runs into my training before Boston.  I felt ok this morning and ran a few easy miles before getting into a good pace.  I felt good up until around 12 miles and ran out of gas a little.  I didn't take anything to drink or any gels with me so I think I was just running out of energy.  Even though I didn't feel the best I stayed at the same pace the rest of the way.  I was glad to get a longer run in now I hope I can get my overall mileage up next week and get back into a good routine. 

1:56:03 (7:44 avg)

It was 28 with some wind this morning.  I just did an easy run down 300 to 700 and then a lap around the park.  I felt pretty good this morning just a little sluggish from the long run the other day.  I am still trying to get used to getting my mileage back up.  I hope this week will be a good week since I am at home this week with no travel.  Going to do some work today then enjoy the rest of MLK day with the family.

61:38 (7:40 avg)

Ran after work today so it was dark and I stayed inside on the TM.  The plan for today was a tempo run.  I started off with an easy 1.5 miles.  I felt ok warming up but wasn't sure if I would be able to run the tempo as I expected at around 6:15 to 6:20 pace.  After the warm up I kicked it up to MP for about a 1/2 mile to get the legs moving.  Then started the tempo.  I felt good running the tempo so gradually increased the pace as I went.  Here are the mile splits: 6:25, 6:17, 6:13, 6:07.  Turned out to be a good run but I never know what this means when I go outside.  I think I can run faster on the treadmill than outside especially on tempos.  Hopefully, next week I will get to test this out and run a tempo outside to compare.

49:35 (7:05 avg)

It was around 30 this morning but pretty windy.  I just ran easy today and ran the first half of the run into the wind.  This was cold but running back with the wind felt much better.  I felt pretty good today and would have liked to have run further but had to get back for work.  Still trying to ramp up the mileage and not doing a very good job of it so far.  I really need to get some doubles in to help.  It is very hard to run long runs during the week right now with the lack of daylight and I don't really have a good place to run when its dark.  Need to look for some different options.

69:45 (7:45 avg)

We had freezing rain this morning and about fell in the drive way so thought I would wait until later in the day to run when it warmed up.  It did warm up enough to melt the ice but it rained all day and I didn't feel like running in cold rain so ran on the TM after work.  I did an easy couple of miles then did 6 x 2:00 at 5% (did last two at 6%) to get some hill work. The TM is a good way for me to do this since we don't have many hills in IN especially long hills. Felt a little sluggish today but not too bad.

54:30 (7:47 avg)

It was a nice day in the 30's and light wind.  I ran an easy 9 miles down 300S and back. I had a little twing in my achilles when I started but it went away after about a mile and didn't bother me the rest of the way.  Other than that I felt good and just enjoyed being outside on a decent day.  You have to enjoy these days in Jan because you never know when it will turn worse.

68:50 (7:39 avg)

It was a nice morning upper 30's and very light wind.  I wanted to lengthen my long run today so added a couple of extra miles to get up to 17.  I started off feeling kind of sluggish and never did feel real good the whole way but I did feel better as I went along and picked up the pace over the last 5 or 6 miles.  Overall a pretty good run.  I would like to get back up to 20 next weekend.  It is certainly nice to be able to take advantage of this weather.  Not too many days that you get to run in shorts in IN in Jan.

2:12:04 (7:45 avg)

Yesterday I had a really busy day and just didn't get a run in.  I am going to have to start getting out earlier and get into a better routine.  Today I had to get up and traveled to Huntsville.  I didn't get out of meetings until around 7:30 so got in 6 miles before dinner.  I felt good running but that is not surprising since I had two days rest.  Hope to get back to normal tomorrow.

7:44 avg

Huntsville, AL:  It was cool this morning (25) with some light wind.  I had planned on doing some faster stuff this morning (4 m tempo) but I felt sluggish the whole way and decided to just take it easy until I felt better.  I didn't sleep good last night so that might be part of it.  I will give a try again tomorrow to see if I feel better.  After the run this morning had a long day full of meetings and didn't get back to the hotel until around 8:30. 

62:20 (7:48 avg)

Huntsville, AL:  It was a great morning today around 44 with light wind.  I wanted to try the tempo that I had planned yesterday today.   I started out easy for a couple of miles and felt flat again today.  I thought that I would go ahead and do the tempo to see how it went.  After the warmup I started the tempo and was planning around 6:30 pace or faster.  After getting started I felt like I was really having to push to get the pace.  I settled in around 6:45 to see if it got better as I went along.  I was able to get through the first mile in 6:43 and I continued to push it.  I made the second mile in 6:36 but I was pushing too hard for it to be a tempo run.  I backed off at this point and ran easy for about half a mile.  After that I picked it back up and ran at MP for 1.5 miles.  This felt much better and actually finished pretty strong running the last half around 6:30 pace.  I am not sure what happened on the tempo but have just been sluggish all this week.

59:20 (7:25 avg)

Because of the snow storm moving through this morning, I drove back from Huntsville last night.  I didn't get in until 3 am so I was pretty tired this morning.  Just did an easy run on the TM today.  Didn't have much movitation to get outside and fight the cold/wind.  Glad to get some running in and hopefully will be able to go long tomorrow.

46:19 (7:44 avg)

It was below 0 wind chill this morning so I ran on the TM.  I wanted to run a longer run today.  I had planned 15 miles but felt run down today so just cut it short at 12.  I felt really flat and tired.  I did push the last three miles to MP just to fell like I got in a better workout.  This was a pretty horrible week so I need to get back on a better schedule next week.  I am starting to get concerned about Boston and how I will be able to do.  I think the next couple of weeks are crucial for me to get some good training in so that I will have something to build on.  Maybe if I get caught up on sleep and I don't have to travel next week so that might help.

1:30:30 (7:33 avg)