The Next Step

Today I did a kind of fartlek workout. I did a couple miles for a warmup then did 10 x 1 min at approximately 5k pace with a 1 min rest. This turned out to be a pretty good workout. On paper it sounded pretty easy but by the 10th one I was starting to fell it. I have been trying to do small amounts of speed work mixed in with the longer stuff. Overall it felt like a good workout.

I am looking forward to getting back home. It is definitely easier on the running schedule at home than on the road plus I get to see my family!

6 miles, 49:06

Last day in Washington and really glad to be going home. I was out early this morning for an easy 6 mile run. Nice cool morning and I felt good the whole way. Felt like I could have pushed the pace but I kept it nice and easy. Hope to do a long run tomorrow and watch the Olympic Trails Marathon. That should get me pumped up for the long run.

6 miles, 49:20

Great to be back in Indy. Today I did a long run and it was another great morning. It was around 40 degrees with very little wind and a beautiful sunrise. I felt good from the start today and settled into a nice pace around 8:15 per mile. After about 4 miles my pace was closer to 8:00 and still was felling good. My HR was staying below 70% max and the effort didn't seem hard. This was my first longer run since I did the half a few weeks ago so I wasn't sure how I would feel. Since I still felt good after 9 miles I decided to pick up the pace a little for a strong finish. I would estimate the last 4 miles were between 7:30 and 7:45. I ended up averaging 7:56 for the run so I was really happy with the run. It felt good to go longer again.

Sunday will be a planned rest day for me. The big thing for Sunday will be the Colts vs. Patriots game. We are having some friends over for the game and I hope the Colts can find a way to stop the Patriots. I really want to see them win this game!!

13 miles, 1:43:9, 7:56

Just an easy run today. Weather was windy and around 40. Felt ok throughout the run. I have been having a little pain in my calf but seems to get better as I go along.

8 miles, 64:08, 8:01

It has been a long time since I have been on the track so today I wanted to do an interval workout to see how my body has been responding to the training. I planned on doing 5 x 1000 in 3:57 with around 2:00 recovery. It was very windy and cool today (32) so not the greatest day for the workout but after a 2 mile warm up I got into the intervals. The first one seemed a little tough as my legs were still getting loosened up and adjusting to the faster pace. I finished it in 3:55. The rest of the intervals went by without much problem. The forth and fifth I started feeling like I was pushing a little but not to the point of struggling. Here are the splits:

3:55, 3:55, 3:54, 3:53: 3:52

I was happy that each one went faster and that the total for the 5k was 19:29. This is a much better result than a similar workout that I did a couple of months ago. I was faster and didn't feel like I struggled as much.

7 miles, 56:05

Today was the first run of the fall below freezing (27 degrees). Even though I don't mind the cold much I am wondering why I complained so much about the summer heat. I guess I still perfer the cold over those hot and humid days.

I did an easy 10 mile run on my normal route so not much to report. Only thing I noticed is that my heart rate was about 6 or 7 beats higher than normal for the pace I was running. I am not sure if this is a result of the cold or maybe just a little tired.

10 miles, 1:21:30, 8:09

Today I did an easy run with some strides at the end. I think I am going to run a local 10k on Sat if the weather stays good and my schedule stays open. I didn't want to push it to much today if I am going to race on Sat. I did pickup the pace for about a mile in the middle of the run just to see how the legs would respond. Everything felt good so hopefully I will be able to make it on Sat. If I get a chance to run I am not planning anything big. I will probably treat it more like a workout. So tomorrow I will probably keep it easy as well and then see how Sat goes.

7 miles, 55:08, 5 x 20 sec strides

Today I did an easy run on the local XC course. It was a good change to get away from the road, cars and into the woods. I should do this more often but usually it is faster and easier to just head out the door and run on the road.

Tomorrow I am running a 10k so I didn't want to do to much today. I am keeping the 10k low key. I want to treat it more like a tempo training run. I have not run many 10ks so my PR is pretty weak. I have actually ran faster in a half marathon than I did in my 10k PR so unless I am totally off tomorrow I should be able to manage a PR. I want to see how I am progressing on my fitness but other than that don't have any real goals for the race. I think I will be for something around 43:00. We will see how it goes.

6.2 miles, 52:39, 8:30

Today I ran in the Forest Park 10k. It was a beautiful morning driving to the race. The temperature was 38 degrees and there was very little wind. I have not done this race before so I wasn't sure what to expect from the course but I noticed a few hills as I was driving into the park but nothing bad.

I did a 2 mile warm up before the race and felt pretty good. I was thinking about what to shoot for in the race since I didn't have a lot of plans for this race. I thought if I could hit something between 6:45 and 6:50 pace I would be happy. I have not run a lot of 10ks but ran one about 3 months ago in 44:12 which was not long after I had started training seriously again. So a PR seemed inevitable but I really wanted to see how my training has been progressing since I have consistent picked up my training.

There are a 5k and a 10k race and it seemed most people were doing the 5k. It seemed like there was around 200 runners doing the 10k. We started right at 9:00 and I tried to settle into a comfortable pace. I was trying to hold myself back but I felt easy and smooth. Part of the first mile was down a hill so I expected it to be quicker. I hit the first mile in 6:17 which was a real wake up. This was much faster than I had planned. I thought don't worry to try to settle into a comfortable pace and see where it would take me. I latched on to a couple of runners and tried to run with them for a while. One of the guys amazed me because he was breathing so hard it sounded like he was coming in for a sprint finish instead of just going by the first mile. Anyway the second mile felt good and I didn't feel any real strain at this point so I calmed down after the fast first mile. I came through the second mile in 6:31 which was better but still faster than I had planned. I was now running closer to 5k pace than 10k. I tried to just stayed focused on the pace on not panic. I still felt good so I thought I would see if I could hold it. The 3rd mile was pretty much the same. I didn't feel like I was pushing but it was getting harder. I came through the 3rd mile in 6:33. Now I started thinking about a big PR and wanted to see if I could hold the pace to the finish. I got my answer about a half mile later as I really started feeling the strain of the pace. I was able to hold it together pretty good and came through the 4th mile in 6:41. I didn't feel like I was crashing but I knew that I couldn't run anymore 6:30's at this point so I focused on trying to stay in the 6:45 range to the finish. The 5th mile was the hardest mile so far and I was starting to struggle some. It was also more difficult since the field had strung out and I was running by myself. I tried to focus on the runners ahead of my to see if I could make up some distance. Even with these issues I managed a 6:48 for the 5th mile. Now I was focusing on the finish and wanted to see if I could hold my pace and not slow down anymore. Another runner passed my just after the 5 mile mark and he looked pretty strong so I just focused on trying to go with him. He was pulling away a little from me but we were also passing some other runners which lifted my spirits. I knew at this point that I was paying for the fast early pace but I also knew that if I could keep it together it would be a good time for me. I was really glad to see the 6 mile mark and more glad to see that I came through in 6:36. The last .2 was up a decent hill and I wanted to push in as fast as I could. I got back in the park and rounded a curve to the finish. This was the first time I got a chance to see the clock. It was getting very close to 41:00 minutes and I thought if I can sprint I might be able to get under 41. I started pushing hard (I can't say sprinting because it was definitely not sprinting) but it was looking like I would lose the battle. I hit the line right as the clock switched over to 41.

Regardless I was very happy when I finished. This was much better than anything that I imagined and much better than all the predictor calculators that I played around with last week. It was very satisfying to see the results of sticking with a consistent training plan. This really pumps me up to stay with the plan and see where it takes me. I never kept my mileage consistent through the winter. I have always cut way back and it shows in the spring. I really want to focus on building a good base this winter that I can build from.

Today I wanted to see how I felt after running the race on Saturday so I just planned an easy run. As I started the legs felt pretty fresh and I didn't have any soreness so this was a good sign. I settled into my normal easy pace and after about 3 or 4 miles I was actually having to hold my pace back because I felt like going faster. So from here I just plan on getting back into my program and try to keep consistent while slowly building the mileage base.

8 miles, 64:43, 8:05

Today I flew to Washington DC on business. It is always hard to get a run in on travel days but I was able to squeeze in an unstructured interval workout. I did a couple of miles warm up then I did 6 x 3:00 at around 5k pace with 1:30 recovery. It felt pretty good but the legs didn't fell quite as fresh today. I am just trying to continue to mix in some speed with the consistent mileage that I have been doing.

7 miles, 53:50

Still in DC and went out earlier for an easy 10 mile run. Nothing too exciting to report. Felt ok and only issue was it was dark and foggy this morning so that made running in DC a little difficult. The only good thing is that I have been here enough to know some good routes.

10 miles, 81:30, 8:09

I woke up this morning to pouring rain and high winds. I thought about going out but it was pretty rough plus my hotel didn't have a treadmill. I will need to make sure I have a better backup plan next time. So today turned into an unplanned rest day. The good thing is I am heading back home tonight.

I normally do my long run on Saturday but this weekend my parents are coming to town so I thought I better get the long run in today. My week is already kind of messed up from not running on Thursday so now with the long run on Fri it is really off schedule. Oh well, I have learned to just take what I can and not worry about it.

Today I felt good from the start (probably from the extra rest). I decided that since I didn't run yesterday (which would have been a tempo run) I would do about 5 miles at marathon pace toward the end of my run. This is something that I have not done very much of but I picked up on as I was reading about runner's training for the Olympic Trials Marathon. It seemed like all of them did long runs with a good portion of it at marathon pace. So if it is good enough for them....

It was about 37 degrees with enough wind to make it uncomfortable. I did an out and back route and they way back was into the wind. I started my marathon pace at mile 7 and it felt good to run at the faster pace. It was a little harder keeping on pace going back into the wind. I ran the 5 miles at 7:30 pace but by the start of the 4th mile it felt faster due to the wind. I stayed at the pace through the 5th mile and felt good to slow down for a one mile cool down at the end. Overall it was a good workout and seemed to make the best of my weird schedule.

13 miles, 1:43:54

After yesterday's long run, today I just did an easy 5 miles. Nothing special on today's run just felt good to work the legs out. It was around 40 degrees and windy but a good day to be out. I am doing a race on Thanksgiving Day so for the next few days I will backup my schedule to accommodate the Thursday race.

Today I had planned on doing an easy run after church but unfortunately my brother-in-law called and needed some help moving. By the time I got home it was dark and I chose to spend some time with the kids. This week was not great for me. I got in some quality sessions but missed too many days.

Today I went to the track for some speed work. On tab for today was 5 x 1k @ 3:51 with about 1:45 recovery. I have been doing these at goal 5k pace to get the feel of running this pace without much recovery. After a 10 min warm up I took off for the first interval. Right from the start I didn't feel my best. Even after the first 400 it was feeling tough. This happens to me many times that my 1st interval is often the toughest. I was checking my watch to try to settle into the right pace but thought I was behind. When I came through the at 1k I was actually fast at 3:47. After the short rest the second interval felt much better. Number 3 was also good. However the forth interval I was had to push pretty hard at the end to stay on pace. The fifth was pretty much the same story and I am not sure I could have done another one at pace. Here are the splits....

1st - 3:47.6

2nd - 3:50.6

3rd - 3:49.4

4th - 3:50.4

5th - 3:49.5

These all add up to 19:08 which is probably much faster than I can currently run a 5k. I will do this workout a couple of more times before my last 5k of the year the first week of Dec and see how I feel. I will try to keep the pace constant.

After the workout today I went to the NCAA XC Championship. It was a really good race and came down to a battle between Josh McDougal and Galen Rupp. Then ran stride for stride the last 400 meters and Josh was able to out kick him at the end to win by about 1 second. The s race was not as interesting but did result in a new course record. I took some pictures and they can be seen here for anyone that is interested: http://flowersfamily.smugmug.com/gallery/3857167#223299905.

6 miles, 47:46

Ran an easy 8 miles today. It was really warm for this time of year (about 65) but pretty windy. Felt good today with no problems. I did have to get rid of some dogs around 2 miles. Looks like we will have another good day tomorrow and then it will get much colder. Just in time for my race on Thursday.

8 miles, 63:39

Ran an easy 6 miler today. The weather was nice again around 60 degrees and windy. Today for some reason I felt really bad. My legs just felt like lead. My pace was slow and HR elevated for the pace I was running. This is weird to me since I felt so good yesterday. I am running in the Thanksgiving race tomorrow so I will wait until I warm up in the morning to see if I actually run it as a race or just treat it as a tempo run. Right now I am leaning toward just running it as a tempo workout because 1) the weather is supposed to be cold/windy 2) there are over 4,000 people in the race and it will be hard to fight through the traffic 3) because of the way I felt today 4) it is a 4.5 mile race. How many people ask you about your PR for 4.5 miles?? So I will see how I feel tomorrow and just make a judgment call at race time.

6 miles, 49:59

6 miles,

I ran the Thanksgiving race today. This is the first time that I have done a race on Thanksgiving. I was amazed at how many people come out on Thanksgiving day. They had around 2500 finishers plus at least that many walkers so there was a lot of people there. With this many people I wanted to get up front so I didn't have to fight through traffic at the start.

I had thought that going into this race that I would do it as a tempo workout but I guess the race enthusiasm was getting the best of me because I started thinking more about race pace and times. The weather was cool (37 degrees) and pretty windy with a misty rain.

We got off to a fast start and I didn't have any problems since I got positioned so far in the front. The problem was I went out too fast and hit the first mile in 6:03 which was way too fast. I slowed down and tired to get back into the 6:30 range. Even though I went out fast I didn't feel bad and hit the 2nd mile in 6:33 which is closer to what I was hoping for. I started feeling the results of the fast pace on the 3rd mile and came through in 6:39. I wanted to see if I could pick up my pace the last 1.5 miles because I started to feel a little better. I managed a 6:34 on the 4th mile and finished the last half mile in 3:15.

I was pretty happy with my time but I have to wonder how much faster I could have ran if I wouldn't have went out so fast. I have not ran many shorter races so I am still not comfortable establishing my early pace. It seems once I get past that first mile that I can settle into a nice pace from that point on and I don't vary that much. I just need to do a better job of getting out at the correct pace and then maybe having the energy to pick it up the last part of the race. Anyway when I ran the comparison calculator on my time this race was actually better than the 10k I did a couple of weeks ago. So I know that I am improving I just need to execute better in these races.

Today I just wanted to do an short easy run after the race yesterday. It was cool (27 degrees) and windy this morning. At the start my legs felt real heavy kind of like they have been all week. After a couple of miles I started to feel better. The pace was better than my run on Wed and my HR was back to normal for an easy run. Hopefully this is a good sign. I hope to get a long run in tomorrow if I can balance with the family activities.

5 miles, 38:55

Today I did an easy long run. I did a race on Thursday so I didn't want to push the pace much but did want to get in a longer run. It was 27 degrees with a slight wind this morning. My legs were a little tired but overall felt ok. We had a beautiful sunrise this morning so it was cool to be out there and see that. I did pick up the pace the last 3 miles just slightly which is something that I have been doing on all my long runs.

12 miles, 1:37:15

I knew this day would come soon but I still was dreading it. The first day this fall on the treadmill! I usually do whatever I can to avoid the treadmill. I it. Today it was around 38 degrees and pouring rain so I gave in and headed for the treadmill. Today I wanted to do an 8 mile run so that meant around an hour on the treadmill. Not fun. In the past I have ended up cutting my runs short on the treadmill so I tried to set my mind on completing the distance. As I got started I settled into a comfortable pace and started counting down the minutes. After a few miles, I noticed that it was not as bad as I had remembered. Maybe this is a sign that I have taken my training to a higher level. I can now endure the treadmill! I even varied the incline so that I could simulate some hills. This is something that I don't get on my normal easy runs. So day one on the treadmill turned out much better than planned. Maybe my bad thoughts of the treadmill go back to the spring when I have went though a whole winter with more indoor sessions than I would like. Hopefully, I will be able to limit my time on the treadmill this winter but it works pretty good instead of missing a run.

8 miles, 1:6:12

Today I did a workout on the track. This is the same workout that I did a week ago and I wanted to see how it compared to last week. I planned on 5 x 1k around 3:50 with a 1:45 recovery. The weather today was 29 and windy.

After warming up I started the first interval and as usually didn't feel that great but hit my target. The second and third intervals felt much better not like I was even working. However, by the forth my legs were starting to feel tired and had to push toward the end to finish on time. The fifth interval my legs were definitely sluggish and I was glad when that one was done. Here are the splits...

1st - 3:48.6

2nd - 3:50

3rd - 3:50.1

4th - 3:49.3

5th - 3:48.2

This adds up to 19:06 for the total 5k which is a couple of seconds faster than last week. I think I felt about the same as last week but was happy that these were more consistent.

7 miles, 55:12

Today it was warmer (46) but very windy. I did an easy 8 miles. I was a little stiff starting out but loosened up pretty quick and felt good throughout the run. I was hoping to get in 10 miles today but the work schedule didn't allow for it.

8 miles, 63:26

Today I planned to do a 4 mile tempo run at 6:50 pace. After getting outside I was not sure how this plan might play out. It was around 30 degrees with 20 to 30 mph winds. Not the best day for a run. Anyway I did a two mile warm up and didn't feel real good. I felt like I had no energy and needed some food. After the two mile warm up I went ahead and jumped into the tempo pace. The first mile was downwind so I tried not to over do it because of the route I was taking the next 3 miles would be into the wind. I hit the first mile in 6:58 which was slower than I had planned. As I turned around and headed back into the wind I knew this was going to be tough. I managed a 7:08 for the second mile and continued to struggle on the third mile again in 7:08. I didn't feel much better the last mile but pushed it to a 6:57. So not what I was for but it was a good workout given the windy conditions. More than anything I probably need to address my eating to make sure I have the fuel for these workouts.

7 miles, 4 mile tempo (6:58, 7:08, 7:08, 6:57) 28:13, 52:09 total

Wind! Wind! Wind! I am already tired of the wind and it is not even Dec yet. Just did an easy run today but 20 mph winds are not fun to run in. I guess if I am going to live in flat Indiana it goes with the terriority. Felt fine today not much else to report.

6 miles, 47:54