The Next Step

Philly:  It was warm and humid this morning.  Around 70 degrees.  I stayed downtown in the historic district so it was about 2 miles to get to the trail by the river.  I used the 2 miles through town to get warmed up and then the 2 miles back as a warmdown.  Along the river I did 5 miles at around MP.  I felt kind of sluggish on the warmup and during the first MP mile but started feeling better as I went along and finished off the MP miles pretty good.  Here are my splits: 7:28, 7:22, 7:08, 6:57, 7:01.  I would have liked this to be more even but had a hard time getting going this morning.  The last 3 MP miles felt good and didn't feel like I was pushing at all.  Only issue is I have been having some pain in my achilles. Nothing that will keep me from running but enough to notice.  I need to take better care of this so it doesn't get worse.  Been going on for a couple of weeks now.

68:03 (7:34 avg)

Philly: Hot and humid this morning.  I just did an easy 7 miles and again ran out to the river and along the trail.  A lot of people out this morning biking, running and rowing.  Very nice to see a lot of people out exercising.  That is something I don't get to see as often in Indiana.  I felt ok today nothing special just trying to stay consistent and get in the miles.

56:06 (8:01 avg)

Back in Indiana and it was a nice morning but extremely windy.  I felt good this morning other than my achilles was sore and tight.  I have started icing it and hope it doesn't get any worse.  It did loosen pretty quickly and didn't bother me the rest of the way.  I added in 6 x 100 m strides toward the end of the run and those felt good.  As long as the achilles is good tomorrow I will try to go longer.

62:50 (7:52 avg)

Beautiful morning today with temps in the mid 50's but still very windy. I am still trying to build up my long runs and today did 14 which is the longest I have went in awhile.  I felt good this morning and the running came easy.  I really enjoyed the cooler temps to and that probably made the run feel easier.  I came back the last half into the wind but still ran a faster pace coming back.  Now some yard work and then a baseball game tonight.  Everyone have a great Labor Day weekend.

1:50:20 (7:53 avg)

Had a good day at church then hanging out with the family.  Went on a 20 mile bike ride right before dark.  Pushed it pretty good and averaged 20 mph for the ride.  Felt good after.

Nice morning for running with temps around 60.  I felt pretty good today but still had some pain with the achilles.  After a mile or so the pain went away and felt ok the rest of the way.  Just took it easy today and enjoy the great morning.  Now going to do some things with the family and enjoy the day off.

1:19:13 (7:56 avg)

Nice day this morning with light wind and around 60.  I went to the track today to do some 800s.  I haven't been to the track in probably around 6 months so didn't know what to expect.  Today I planned to do 6 x 800 with 400 jog recovery.  I thought I would target 3:00 to see if I could hold that pace.  I did a 2 mile warmup and felt pretty good.  My achilles was still a little twingy but felt ok after the warmup.  After that I started the 800's.  Here are my splits:

1st - 3:02

2nd - 2:58

3rd - 2:58

4th - 2:57

5th - 2:56

6th - 2:56

These turned out a lot better than I expected.  I felt pretty good throughout but my legs were getting heavy on the last two and I could tell my form was starting to break.  Otherwise, it was a good workout and a good surprise concerning my fitness.  Did a 1 1/2 warm down.

61:33 (7:42 avg)

Huntsville, AL: Traveled down yesterday for a short trip.  I got out real early today and the weather was OK.  It was warm and humid.  I felt a little sluggish this morning and just took it real easy.  Nothing real special but did get to see a beautiful sunrise on the way back.  

65:21 (8:10 avg)

Had a busy morning so ran during lunch today.  It was warmer then and sunny with a pretty good wind.  Today I wanted to do some MP miles and planned to run 4 miles at MP around 7:00 pace.  I am not sure what MP really is right now but just figured I would run controlled without pushing too hard.  I ran 3.5 miles and then picked it up to the MP pace.  I ran the next half around 7:00 pace then ran the next 4 miles in 6:53, 6:52, 6:53, 6:45.  This is certainly faster than MP for me but slower than tempo but it felt pretty good.  Figured that it was good just getting in some faster miles.

57:56 (7:14 avg)

Awesome morning for running.  It was low 50's with some light wind.  These kind of days really make me look forward to fall.  I was sluggish getting going this morning.  I haven't slept well the last few days.  A lot of stress at work right now so that probably has something to do with it.  Anyway, just ran easy today but was kind of out of it the whole way.  I ran over to the park and did a lap around there to get some time on a softer surface.  It was good to get a recovery run in and hopefully will have some more energy tomorrow.

64:54 (8:08 avg)

It was raining this morning so I waited to run until after lunch so it was warmer (70's) and windy.  I felt pretty good today and the running seemed pretty easy.  I didn't really pay attention to my pace but just ran how I felt.  It ended up being a good run.  I had wanted to go longer today but since I ran later in the day I had too much going on and had to get back home.  It still turned out to be a good week.  

1:33:24 (7:47 avg)

Nice morning today but it is starting to warm up again.  It was around 60 today with some wind.  I was sluggish getting going this morning.  I had a good rest day yesterday with the family but was just dragging this morning.  I started off easy and never really got going today.  I did add in 6 x 100m strides which went well and seemed to wake up the legs a little.  Another week of travel so will be heading to Norfolk later today.

54:20 (7:47 avg)

Virginia Beach, VA:  I had a hard time sleeping last night and then early morning meetings so I didn't get out until have work today.  It was hot (88) but luckily had some brezze off of the ocean.  I ran along the boardwalk which is nice seeing the waves, etc.  I was stiff and tight for some reason today so I just took it easy.  Also, the heat kind of took it out of me.  I am hoping to feel better in the morning and maybe get in a few tempo miles.  I feel bad having a couple of shorter runs to start the week.  Not what I was planning but will be glad when all of the travel clams down.

54:41 (7:49 avg)

Virginia Beach, VA:  I had early morning meetings again today so got out early but had to cut the run short.  I wanted to get some faster stuff in but because of the shorter run only got in 3 miles.  I was dragging a little this morning and didn't feel the best getting going.  Because of that I did 3 miles easy before I jumped into the tempo.  The first mile of the tempo was a struggle but I started to feel better as I went along.  Ended up pretty good.  Here are my splits for the 3 miles: 6:51, 6:41, 6:31.  Kind of weird that each mile was 10 seconds faster.  After this I did a 1 mile warmdown.  Pretty good run considering the lack of time.

52:28 (7:29 avg)

Back in Indiana and it was a nice morning with temps around 60 and pretty good wind.  I was tired this morning.  I think all the travel and work stress is catching up with me.  I just took easy and started off real slow.  The first 3 or 4 miles I was dragging but felt better after that.  It ended up being a good run and I felt much better when I finished.  I was glad to get a longer run in during the week.  

1:28:40 (8:03 avg)

It was an absolutely awesome day for running this morning.  Temps in the mid 50's and no wind.  I felt ok today nothing special.  Today I planned on getting in some MP miles just to get some extra faster miles for the week.  I ran a few miles warmup and was sluggish starting but felt better as I went along.  My goal was to run the MP miles at around 7:10 pace.  Not really sure what MP is these days but seemed like a decent target.  I did the 4 MP miles with the following splits: 7:13, 7:08, 7:06, 7:02.  It was good to run a little faster as I went along and the miles felt very controlled.  I didn't feel like I had to push to keep the pace.  Actually a few times I looked down at the watch and was running faster than I wanted so had to back off.  Overall a good run and if I can get in a long run tomorrow will cap off a good week.  I have had about 3 weeks of solid training and I can feel the body starting to respond.  It is a good feeling and one that I haven't had in awhile.  

60:45 (7:36 avg)

Well the weekend was a bust for running but was great for time with the family.  I will take a great time with the family any day.  Back at it again this morning.  It was warmer (68) but calm.  I felt good after the two days off but just ran easy to kind of get back in the groove.  I did add in 6 x 100 m strides at the end and ran them pretty hard. Trying to get my legs used to running faster.  Hoping for a good week of running as I travel down to Huntsville.

68:45 (7:38 avg)

Huntsville, AL:  Warm and humid morning down here.  Definitely hotter thatn I am used too lately.  Today I planned on doing 4 miles at tempo pace around 6:40.  I did a 3 mile tempo last week so wanted to step it up a notch.  I started off with a couple of easy miles to get warmed up and felt good.  After that ran the 4 tempo miles.  The first mile took me a little while to get going but it still felt good.  I felt a lot more comfortable on the 2nd and 3rd mile and just tried to stay relaxed.  The last mile was good also but started to feel the effort in my legs.  Overall it was a good run and I felt like I had definitely stepped it up a notch.  Here are my spilts for the tempo:  6:40, 6:36, 6:32, 6:29.  It is always good to have each mile go a little bit faster.  This was a lot more consistent than the tempo that I did last week.

50:23 (7:12 avg)

Huntsville, AL:  I had some early morning meetings today so wasn't able to get out early.  I ran after work right before dark.  It was still hot (86) outside but at least the sun was going down so felt a little better.  I just ran an easy recovery run around the work campus.  Felt pretty good.

56:36 (8:05)

Huntsville, AL:  I got early this morning and it was warm (mid 70's) but calm.  I wanted to do some faster running today so decided to do 10 x 1:00 with 1:00 recovery.  I ran 3 miles easy then did the repeats.  I ran them about 5:50 pace so they were pretty good.  I felt good during the repeats but the last couple the recovery time felt short.  I am finding it hard to keep my mileage up while traveling.  I am thinking that I might have more luck running shorter distance but twice a day when I travel to try to work around the meetings.  I might give that a shot on the next trip.

54:15 (7:45 avg)

Back home today and it was a nice morning.  I felt sluggish this morning getting going.  Just didn't have a lot of energy.  I had thought about going long today but the body just felt drained so I thought it would be better to just take it easy and not push it too much.  All the travel and work stress I think is having its toll.  Next week will wrap up our busy time for the year so hopefully things will get better.  It was just nice to get in some mileage today.

1:12:30 (8:03 avg) 

Our church had a 5k today to raise money for an inner city youth program that we support.  It was very low key and I ran it more like a hard tempo.  I went over early and helped them setup and then was able to get in a 2 mile warmup before we started.  It was a nice morning with lower temps (around 60) but still pretty windy.  When we started the run I tried to go out controlled and not push it too much.  I was hoping to run around 6:30 miles but hit the first mile in 6:20.  I felt pretty good but slowed down some on the second mile and came through in 6:25.  I was able to keep the pace pretty consistent finishing up and ran the third mile in 6:21.  I finished in 19:36 which I was happy with since I didn't really treat this like a race.  I think the course was a little short I had it at 3.08 on my Garmin but still a decent result.  I did a little jogging around after but had to leave quickly to go to my daughter's soccer game and then after the game we went to Kentucky for a family reunion.  It was a very busy day and I was glad to get a good workout in and a few miles.

My daughter had to have some medical tests performed this morning so waited to run after work today.  It was a nice day with temps in the upper 60's.  I felt good but just ran easy.  Nothing special just glad to get the run in on a busy day.  

54:47 (7:49 avg) 

It was an awesome morning for running today.  It was right around 50 with no wind.  I had to get back because of meetings and had a very busy day so didn't get to take advantage of the great conditions.  I felt pretty good this morning but just ran easy since didn't have time for much of a workout.

39:31 (7:52 avg) 

It was really feeling like fall this morning with temps in lower 40's.  I had to bring out the long sleeves this morning which was a first.  I was dragging this morning and didn't feel the best.  This was surprising since I haven't done much running in the last couple of days.  I wanted to do some speedwork today but since I didn't feel the best decided to do a progression run.  I ran the first 5 miles easy and then started picking up the pace.  I didn't feel the best running the faster miles but glad to get in more of a workout.  Here are the splits for the last 4 miles: 7:31, 7:12, 6:54, 6:42.

1:16:28 (7:39 avg) 

Another great morning for running.  It was 46 and no wind.  Again today I didn't have a lot of energy.  Just kind of dragging.  I took it easy today and just enjoyed the easy running.  It was especially nice since it was such a beautiful day.  I wish all days were like today weather wise.  This is a great time of year just too bad it only lasts a couple of months.

1:11:42 (7:58 avg)