The Next Step

I am in Hawaii on business.  I know yes Hawaii on business.  I got out real early this morning since the time change is working for me and was able to get a little longer run in before my meetings.  It was a nice morning around 70 and a good breeze.  I ran along Wakiiki Beach, around Diamond Head then up to the entrance of the Diamond Head crater.  Even though it was dark it was nice to hear the waves coming in.  Also, running around Diamond Head gave me some long hills which I rarely get the chance to run.  I felt like I kept a pretty honest pace and this was a much better run than last Sat.

1:23:28

Still in Honolulu.  I ran pretty much the same route as yesterday.  I am trying to get as much hill running in as I can while I am here.  It was a nice morning about 70 and windy.  I felt good today with no problems.  About half way in the run it started raining and rained the rest of the way in.  It was actually pretty nice since it cooled things down.  I am just running based on time so not sure of the actual distance but I felt like the pace was good.  I will try to measure it tonight on the computer.  I did 8 x 100m strides at the end.

66:03

Another day in Honolulu and ran the same route around Diamond Head.  Nice day about the same as the last couple (70, windy).  I felt good running today.  Just took it easy.  My foot was sore for some reason.  It started last night and I think it was actually from walking around in my dress shoes yesterday.  Hopefully, it will feel better today.

64:34

Last day on travel so I am heading home today and will be glad to get back.  This has seemed like a really long trip.  It has been very hard to keep in touch with the 6 hour time change. 

I felt kind of beat up this morning.  Muscles were stiff, my foot is still hurting and my left knee was bothering me.  Anyway got going and after a mile or so starting feeling better.  My knee also stopped hurting so the only thing that stayed with me was the foot problems.  Will have to start icing it.  I did a tempo run on the same route as I have been running this week.  I don't have an accurate measurement for it but should be close to 4 miles.  I did around 30 minutes at tempo pace.  It felt good but was a little tough on the hills.  I am not used to charging up the hills at a decent pace but it made for a good workout.  All in all this has been a good week of running while I have been traveling.  I am sure that when I get home I will have a ton of things to do so hopefully I can finish out the week strong.

59:23

Took the red eye home from HI and didn't get hardly any sleep so felt pretty rough when I got home. The weather here was 90 degrees, humid, sunny and very windy. Probably about the worse day possible for a run. I felt real tired when I started. Not sure if it was from the jet lag, yesterdays tempo run or a little of both. It didn't get any better as I went. I am just not used to weather this hot/humid yet. In the past I probably wouldn't have ran and just took a zero but accountability from the blog helped push me out the door. Hope the weather is better tomorrow for my long run.

50:40

This morning is was thunderstorms and heavy rain so I decided to run in the afternoon. My daughter had a church program out of town so we didn't get back until around 6:00. By this time it had cleared off and was 80 degrees with 80% humidity another rough day to run. I felt rough from the start and it didn't really get any better. Could be the jet leg or yesterday's run but I felt sluggish all the way through the run. Also, I didn't have much time between dinner and the run so my stomach was not feeling the best either. I ended up having to stop around 8 miles because of a side stitch. It got a little better after stopping, stretching and taking some deep breaths. This was just one of those run you try to get through. I guess they help but at the time it seems like it might have been better not even running. Anyway tomorrow is a rest day and I really need it. Hopefully, Monday will be a totally different story.

1:26:02

I guess I will just have to get used to the summer weather it looks like it is here to stay. It seemed like a short spring but I did have a couple of great weeks of running so can't complain. Today was pretty much the same as the last few days (75, sunny, humid and windy).  I think I need to start getting out before sunrise to try to beat this heat.  I felt much better today running.  Even though I could feel the effects of the warmer weather I just took it easy and it was a smooth run.  I plan to do some faster runs this week so we will see how that goes in the warmer weather.

65:21

Today was a better day (67, cloudy) for running and I felt much better.  I was able to run at a faster pace without much effort.  Amazing how much impact the weather has on running.  I did 8 x 100m strides at the end.  Felt good throughout the run and wished I could have went a few more miles but had to get to work.

64:50

PM

It was such a beautiful day outside that I went out with a friend for a 20 mile bike ride.  Nothing too hard just rode at a good pace and talked along the way.

It was a beautiful morning today (62, calm) and I got out earlier than normal so decided to go a few extra miles.  I felt good from the start and kept an honest pace throughout the run.  I would like to start adding a medium long run like this in once a week if possible.  This is something I read about in Pfitzinger's Marathon book and it sounds like a good idea to help buildup for the marathon.  It was nice getting out earlier since today is my daughter's Birthday it will be a busy day.

1:29:09 (8:06 avg)

Pretty nice morning but the temp is starting to creep back up again.  I felt a little stiff sluggish at the start probably from the longer than normal run yesterday.  After a couple of miles I got loosened up and felt real good.  After 4 miles I picked it up to around marathon pace (7:20) for the next 3 miles.  This felt good and didn't seem like I was pushing.  I am starting to feel better/stronger on my runs I just hope it translates into faster times.

63:26

Pretty nice morning but a little more humid today.  There was a thunderstorm moving in so I was trying to see if I could get my normal run in before it got bad.  I felt sluggish and tight this morning.  I played golf last night in the heat so that might have had something to do with it.  I didn't really feel very sharp the entire way.  I had to cut the run a little short as the storms rolled in a little earlier than expected.

59:40

Nice morning but a little warm.  I got out later than I wanted to because I was up late last night and slept in a little.  It was around 68 when I started and mid 70's when I finished but the humidity was low.  I started out the first couple of mile slow just kind of easing into it then settled into a nice pace.  I felt good throughout the run and didn't feel very much fatigue toward the end.  This is only the 2nd time this year that I have ran 15 miles so need to continue to build up.  I can tell the weekly mileage increase is having an effect because it didn't seem to take much out of me.

2:05:20 (8:20)

It was a nice morning (65, cloudy) for running.  I started off easy and was stiff/tight.  I quickly loosened up and started to feel really good.  Today was one of those days where everything clicks and you feel great.  It would have been a great day for a race or speed work but stuck to the plan and did my normal run.  Hopefully this is a sign that the consistent training is starting to pay off.  I need to get some races on the calendar so that I can get a better test of where I am at fitness wise. 

Hope everyone had a great Father's day yesterday.  I have been truly blessed with a great family and we had a great day just spending time together.

63:05

Great day (60, sunny)!  I have to enjoy days like today because I know hot and humid will be here soon.  Today I planned a 4 mile tempo run at around 6:50 pace.  I felt good this morning especially after I had warmed up a few miles.  I haven't done a tempo run on a know route since before I ran the half marathon so wasn't sure what to expect.  Recently most of my tempos have just been based on time/effort due to travel.  I started off a little fast on the first mile but felt good.  The second mile I got it back to the pace I wanted.  I slowed a little on the third then picked it up for the last mile.  Overall I felt good and I didn't feel like I had to strain to hold the pace.  I need to work on keeping a more consistent pace but since I haven't been doing a lot of these workouts I guess that is to be expected.  Here are the splits:

1st - 6:39

2nd - 6:52

3rd - 6:58

4th - 6:45

Overall: 59:33

Another great day (58, sunny)!  This has to be the best week we have had this year.  Today I did my medium long run and felt real good.  I had a friend pass away yesterday from cancer so I spent most of the run just reflecting on how blessed I am to be healthy and be able to enjoy beautiful days like this.  I don't want to ever take my health for granted! 

87:55

The string of beautiful mornings continues (60, sunny).  I felt a little sluggish/stiff this morning as I started and I didn't really feel very sharp the whole way.  I also had some soreness in my right quad (not sure where that came from) but otherwise pretty good run.  I am going to have to scout out some different routes.  Because of the way I am doing my mileage right now I end up doing the same route 3 sometimes 4 times a week which is getting kind of boring.  Probably map some stuff online then try them out next week.  I did tack on 8 x 100m strides at the end of the run.  Those felt pretty good.

65:19

A little warmer today but still beautiful morning to run.  Today I just took it real easy.  I have gotten in a pretty good week of running and I wanted to be ready for tomorrow's long run.  It was a nice run just cruising along.  Sometimes it is refreshing just to run and not be concerned about time, splits, etc.  This was one of those runs where you can clear your head and really feel better when you get back. 

67:15

My wife was having a yard sale today and I agreed to help her get everything setup and help with the early morning crowd.  Because of this I got out much later than I wanted to for my run.  It was about 72 when I started and almost 80 when I finished so it was getting pretty warm.  Even with the heat I felt pretty good and stayed consistent with my pace throughout the run.  I did pick it up just a little bit (maybe 15 seconds per mile) the last 4 miles to practice strong finishes. 

On a side note German Fernandez  ran 8:34.4 in the 2 mile to break the national high school record.  If you are interested you can watch the race here: http://www.dyestat.com//?pg=videos&vid=D8CECA5EF13F6D7A&PHPSESSID=94cb6f176d3e44b865bcadb11889ba7f.  Pretty cool stuff!

2:01:42 (8:07 avg)

Sunday is normally my day off but I we are going to be going out of town later in the week and will miss at least one day so wanted to front load the training this week.  I went to the local cross country course to run today.  It had just rained so I got to run through some mud along the course which brought back some memories from high school cross races.  It was pretty fun.  I took it real easy as a recovery run from yesterday's long run.  I ran the 5k course twice then did some barefoot running in the grass after that.  Felt pretty good overall just a little stiff/tight from yesterday.

60:19

Very nice morning for running (58, sunny).  I felt pretty tired/stiff this morning so started off kind of easy.  I did start to feel better after 2 miles so gradually picked up the pace.  After 5 or 6 felt pretty much normal.  I have been noticing some pain in my right hip.  I have tired some extra stretching but not going away or getting worse.  Got some new shoes over the weekend so tired them out today and loved them (Saucony Wave).

64:23

Another great day (57, sunny) to run.  Today I planned on doing my medium long run but wanted to add a twist by doing the last 4 miles at marathon pace.  I want to practice running faster with tired legs.  I felt pretty good starting today just the normal stiffness.  It takes awhile to get the old body going.  After a couple of miles I was feeling pretty good and on a day like today you can't help but enjoy running.  After about 6 miles I started slowly picking up the pace and by mile 7 I was comfortably into marathon pace (7:10).  It felt comfortable running at this pace.  I didn't feel like I had to push very hard to maintain it but started to feel tiredness in my legs the last 1/2 mile to mile.  I ran the 4 MP miles in 7:12, 7:15, 7:13, 7:05.

85:04 (7:44 avg)

Nice morning (62, cloudy).  Just did an easy recovery run today.  Felt pretty good the whole way but wanted to make sure that I took it easy since I have had a few aches and pains lately.  Also, since we are going on vacation Fri I am planning on doing my long run tomorrow. 

65:36 (8:12 avg)

Since we are leaving on vacation tomorrow I decided to do my long run today since I know that I wouldn't be able to do it otherwise.  We have had some great days for running over the last couple of weeks.  Today was not one of them.  The heat and humidity is starting to come back.  I got out early but it was still 75 and humid when I finished.  The first 2/3 was not too bad but the last 4 or 5 miles felt pretty warm.  I still felt pretty good running today and the warmer weather didn't really slow my pace a whole lot.  I took it real easy the first 5 miles knowing that the humidity was up and that I should be conserative.  I actually picked up the pace some over that last 5 miles.  I am going to try to get in as much running as I can during vacation but it will probably still be a lower mileage week.  This actually comes at a pretty good time since I have had 4 weeks pretty solid weeks in a row and probably need a little recovery before taking the mileage higher.

2:12:56 (8:18 avg)

In Hershey, PA today and it was warm and humid this morning.  I did an easy run and felt pretty good the whole way. Got is a few hills along the route which was good.  Will spend the rest of the day touring Hershey.

57:40

In New York City today.  It was a pretty nice morning around 68 with some humidity.  I went for a easy run in Central Park.  It a little bit of a challenge getting there just waiting on lights and dodging people.  Luckily I only had about 1/2 mile to get to the park.  Once I got to the park it was pretty neat.  There were hundreds of people running, biking and roller blading.  It is amazing that this place exists inside this crazy busy city.  I can see why so many people go there for a little bit of a chance to get away from it all.  I did the outer loop of the park and added a few smaller loops to it.  One thing that suprised me is there are some pretty good hills in the park.  This is the same route they did for the Olympic Trials Marathon so I am even more impressed with Ryan Hall's performance.  Another thing that I wasn't expecting is that if you get off on some of the side paths you can get turned around since it is hard to see out of the park where you are at.  Hopefully I can squeeze another run in there tomorrow now that I got my bearings.

68:23