The Next Step

This is my first entry on the fastrunning blog. I have been blogging for several months and got pretty discouraged with the feedback from the blog. I am a middle of the pack runner and would like to get faster so I started the blog hoping to get some serious feedback about my running. What I found was that most bloggers stop by say a few encourging words and move on. The other thing that I am looking for is feedback from people that have experience and know something about training. I have read a fair amount on training but want to learn from other experience. I hope that this blog site is more geared for this kind of discussion. So here goes...

Today I did a very easy 4 miles. I just ran a half marathon last Saturday (1:34) and wanted to take a few recovery days before jumping back into my training. I did 5 miles yesterday and my legs were a little sore. Today they felt much better so hopefully I am on the way to recovery. I am planning a couple of more falls races (5k & 10k) before I go into the winter base building phase. So my plan is recovery this week and then back into training for the 10k next week.

4 miles, 32:32

Keeping with the recovery plan for this week, I did an easy 8 miler today. It was a great morning to run (around 48 degrees) and I felt really good. It was one of those days when you feel like you can really push the pace without any problem. Even though I wanted to run fast I tried to stick with my plan and keep it easy. Hopefully, what this is telling me is that I am recovering from the race last Sat and will be ready to go next week when I start working on my 10k speed.

Tomorrow will be a rest day since we are planning a day with the kids for their fall break.

8 miles, 64:39, 8:05 pace, 148 avg HR

My kids are on fall break from school so we are out of town and trying to spend some quality family time. I was able to squeeze in 4 miles today on the treadmill at the hotel. It was very easy with nothing much to report on. Just looking forward to getting back into serious training next week.

Today I did my first long run since the half marathon and it felt really good. I started out at a pretty easy pace and it seemed like each mile was faster as I went along. I settled into around 7:45 pace after about 4 miles and heart rate was staying below 70% which is what I wanted to do. This pace is faster than my normal easy pace but my heart rate is the same as it has been for other long runs. I think this is a result of two things: 1. better conditioning 2. better weather. Here in the midwest we have had very hot and humid fall so we are just starting to benefit from better running weather. Today it was 50 degrees and a misty rain.

I feel like I have done a good job of recovering from the half marathon so I am going to get back into normal training. I am going to try to increase my mileage and sprinkle in some faster runs. I am looking at two more races this fall before the winter sits in. I am planning a 10k in early Nov and a 5k in early Dec. I ran my PRs in these races a couple of years ago and I want to compare my conditioning now to what it was when I set the PRs.

10 miles, 1:18:49, 7:53 avg, HR avg 151

I normally don't run on Sunday but since I missed a couple of days this week due to vacation I decided to go out for a easy run. Only thing to note is that it was the first time this fall I had to break out the hat, gloves, tights, etc. It was cool (about 30 degrees) with a light wind. I felt I little stiff and tired during the run. Probably due to running 10 yesterday.

Today I wanted to do a few repeats to get the legs moving again. It was a great day around 50 degrees and sunny with some wind. I did a little over 2 miles for the warm up and then did 6 x 600 with a couple of minutes recovery. I did the 600s in around 2:20 each. Also, these were done on the road so the distance could be off a little.

I felt pretty good in the warm up but my legs are still feeling a little heavy just like yesterday. I am not sure what this is from because I felt great at the end of last week and have not done anything hard since then. Anyway, the repeats went fine but I could tell it has been awhile since I have ran this fast so the body was taking some time to adjust. Finished up with a couple of miles for the cool down.

Today I traveled to Washington, DC for business so I did an easy 6 miles. It was a beautiful fall day and the run went very smooth. I felt better than I have for the last few days. It is always nice when I run in DC I get to run more hills than normal. This is something that I don't get very often in Indiana so it feels like an extra benefit.

6 miles, 50:56

Still in DC and went out for an early morning run. It was a cool morning but great day for running. A little rough running in DC in the dark but luckily I am familiar with the area. I started off at a easy pace and didn't really pick it up any throughout the run. It felt good just to run at a comfortable pace without pushing it. I am hoping that this week I can pretty much duplicate the training that I was doing prior to the half marathon. I had been doing a long run and then one medium long run a week. Today was typical of the medium long run that I have been doing the last couple of months.

10 miles, 1:23:06

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

The calendar says it is still fall but it sure felt like winter out there today. It was 30 degrees very windy and started sleeting about half way through my run. I think I am already ready for spring.

I did an easy long run today. I went out into the wind so the first half of the run was pretty tough. I am never sure how much I should slow down to offset the effect of the wind. I kept an eye on my HR and made sure it stayed in the easy range. After I turned around and headed back the run was much better. I started to warm up with the wind to my back and the effort felt much easier. Overall it was a good run and I felt good afterward which I think is a good sign.

13 miles, 1:42:59

Another cold and windy day. I did an easy 7 miles today. Felt good and no problems. The only thing of note is I found a man's wallet/driver's license on the side of the road. Picked it up to turn into the police.

I have signed up for a 5k race this weekend and plan on it being the final race of 2007. I will have to wait and see what the weather will be to set expectations. I would like to close out the year with a PR in the 5k but will have to see if the conditions will be working against me.

7 miles, 56:48

I did a mixed interval session today on the track. The weather was finally better (30 degrees with light wind) so made the speedwork go better. The plan for today was mixed distance intervals just to keep sharp for Saturday's race without over doing it. I planned 1 mile at 10k pace, 1k at 5k pace, 600m at 3k pace and 400m at mile pace. All of these followed by a 200m recovery. I did about 2.5 mile warmup then ran the intervals in the following:

1 mile - 6:29

1k - 3:52

600m - 3:16

400m - 86

The 200m recovery averaged around 1:20. The intervals didn't feel too bad but my legs just kind of felt sluggish. Not sure what this is about but plan on just taking an easy run tomorrow.

7 miles, 54:15

We got about 4 inches of snow overnight so I was forced to the treadmill. I mananged 7 miles at an easy pace. Hopefully, I can get outside tomorrow.

7 miles, 57:34

Still very icy and very foggy this morning so ran on the treadmill. I did a couple of 3:00 pickup to try and keep my legs feeling fresh/active. Otherwise easy run and felt good.

5 miles, 39:47

Another 3 inches of snow last night so back on the treadmill again today. I am going to have to find some places to run outside when the weather is bad. Unfortunately there are not any trails or running paths close to where I live. My only option is country roads which are not very clear and dangerous when cars are passing so for now I guess I am stuck on the treadmill.

Also, I am skipping the 5k race tomorrow. The only reason that I wanted to run it was to see if I could beat my 5k PR. Forecast for tomorrow morning is frezing rain so don't think I could do my best on potentially slick roads. Also, thanks to some feedback from Sasha and Cody I am going to kick it into aerobic base building mode so I might as well start tomorrow.

6 miles, 48:12

Finally got a break in the weather. It rained last night and cleared off a lot of the snow from the roads. Was supposed to be freezing rain but lucky that it missed us.

Started off real easy and tried to settle into a comfortable pace for the run. I didn't feel particually great today. The legs just felt tired and not a lot of energy. I did pick up the pace after the half way point but kept it easy since I wasn't feeling the best. I wanted to go a couple of more miles but had to get back for a family Christmas get together.

On a side note I was excited to see Mike Fout from Indiana win the Footlocker XC Nationals. Very talented kid.

12, 1:39:02, 8:15 avg

Nice easy run today. It was 34 degrees with a very light wind. Nice day for a run. We have had rain for the last couple of days but luckly it stopped sometime in the night and was able to get out this morning with no rain. I felt real good today. It was one of those days where you feel like you could really push the pace but I kept it easy like the plan called for.

7 miles, 55:49

Today it was 42, windy with misty rain.  As I started out my legs felt very weak.  It is amazing to me how I felt so good yesterday but didn't feel good today after an easy 7 yesterday.  Anyway, I got into the run and it seemed to get better after a couple of miles so just settled into a nice easy pace.  I added 8 x 100 m strides on at the end of the run which went good.

8 miles, 64:25

Today I did the exact same run as yesterday. Same distance, same route. The amazing thing is I ran it within 2 seconds of yesterdays run. I was just out running at my normal easy pace and this it the result. The body is an amazing thing!

Today I felt pretty good through out the run. It was very relaxed and easy. I am taking this week to just run easy and establish a base mileage to build off. I plan on keeping the same mileage for a couple of weeks and then increasing from there.

8 miles, 64:23

I normally do my long run for the week on Sat but this weekend we are going out of town to visit family for Christmas and knew I wouldn't be able to get in a long run. I was able to get out this morning for my long run. The weather was 37 degrees, windy and misty rain.

I felt good starting out on the run. I tried to keep a conservitive pace for the first part. Around 8 miles I was heading straight back into the wind which was making me work harder. Around 10 miles my legs started to feel real tired. I am not sure if this was from the increased effort of the wind or the fact that I felt like I was running out of energy and needed some food. Could have been both. Anyway, I kept about the same pace and was glad to get the long run in the books this week.

13 miles, 1:46:17, 8:11 avg

I ran an easy 6 miler today. This is the first time that I have ran the day after a long run in quite awhile. Normally I run my long run on Sat then take Sun off. Since I ran my ran long yesterday I felt kind of stiff and tight the whole way. It was good to do back to back run because after I felt like it really loosened me up. The weather was 32 degrees and windy.

6 miles, 49:28

I was out of town today visiting my family for Christmas so I was very happy to get in the 8 miles today. I wasn't sure if I would be able to run this weekend but brought the running clothes just in case. I was able to get out while everyone was getting ready for the day. It was 37 degrees and windy. Also, since I was out of town I got to run more hills then usual so that made it even a better workout. I felt good today but the legs were a little tired toward the end. Probably the effects of my first 50 mile week in a couple of months!

8 miles, 66:23

6 inches of snow + roads = treadmill

I did an easy 8 miles on the treadmill this morning. I felt good the whole way and really wished I could have been outside. I just don't feel like I can trust my effort on the treadmill as much as I can when I am outside. Anyway, glad to get the week off to a good start with the bad weather.

8 miles, 64:38

I was able to get outside today. Still a few slick spots before the most part everything was clear (32 degrees, light wind). Today I did a 8 mile progression run. After a warmup I tried to run each mile faster with the last couple at tempo pace. I felt good as I got going and the pace felt easy. I had no problem until the last couple of miles and then my legs felt a little tired/sluggish. I haven't done a tempo in awhile so it was good pick up the pace. Here is the breakdown:

1 mile warmup

Mile 2 - 7:42

Mile 3 - 7:34

Mile 4 - 7:08

Mile 5 - 7:01

Mile 6 - 6:50

Mile 7 - 6:38

Mile 8 - warmdown

8 miles, 59:18

Did an easy run today.  Weather was good (32, light wind) and roads much better.  Felt good today.  I thought I would only have time to get in 7 today but was to get out a little early so made it 8 miles.  Looks like the weather is going to get better the rest of the week so I am hoping I can stay on schedule and stay outside.

8 miles, 64:56

Since the last few days have been getting warmer I dressed lighter today without really looking at the weather. I felt pretty cold when I got out but figured I would warm up. What I didn't realize is that the wind was blowing harder today. So I was pretty cold running the first 4 miles into the wind. Coming back I felt ok. Other than that it was a good run and I felt good throughout. I did 8 x 100m strides for the during the last 1.5 miles.

8 miles, 63:02

Great day to run today. It was about 40 degrees with no wind. Definitely a great day in Indiana in Dec. I felt good today and the run went very easy. One thing that I am noticing is that my avg pace is going down and my avg HR is staying the same. So I am running faster with the same effort. A very good sign that the consistancy is starting to pay off. Just have to stick with it through the winter and see the results this spring. I hope to get a long run in tomorrow. The schedule is starting to get very tight with lots of Christmas plans. Hopefully, next week will be better since I am off from work.

7 miles, 55:38

The weather definitely cooporated today for my long run. It was 50 degrees but very windy. I really appreciate every run I can do in the winter without having to bundle up.

I started real easy today and worked up to my long run pace after a couple of miles. I felt good throughout the run and enjoyed just having time to relax and think. With all of the busy activities of this month it is good to break away for awhile and not worry about all that needs to be done. Today I did plan to do 4 miles at marathon pace so after 9 miles I started picking up the pace. I felt pretty good on these miles but this is not something that I have done a lot so I was trying to judge my pace and effort. I ran the first mile in 7:27 which was good but probably got a little carried away on the second mile because I ran it in 7:02. I settled down on the third and ran it in 7:19 then finished strong on the last mile in 7:07. I would have liked these to be better paced but not having done very many of these tempos on tired legs I was having a harder time judging my effort. Anyway, it was a good workout and finished up a good week of training.

14 miles, 1:50:42, 7:54 avg

Cold and very windy today. It was an easy 8 miles but I ran about 3 miles straight into the wind. It felt like I was standing still. This was a big change from my run on Saturday in shorts. Glad to get in the run on a really raw day. I will take tomorrow off for Christmas then get back into my normal schedule.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!!

8 miles, 65:07

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. My family certainly did. It makes me realize how blessed I truly am.

Today was an absolute great day to run. It was 42 degrees, sunny and no wind. This is one of those days that I feel like I am smiling the whole way through the run. I just chugged along and enjoyed being outside in the beautiful surroundings. I did notice a ache in my thigh the last couple of miles but it was nothing too bad. Hopefully, it is just a tight muscle or something.

10 miles, 1:19:50

One day can sure make a big difference in Indiana. Yesterday's weather was great today it was snowy, cold and the wind was back.

I did a 4 mile tempo run today. After looking back at my training over the last 6 months the tempo runs is an area that I need to work on. Today I wanted to run the tempo around 6:45 pace. After a warmup I started the tempo effort. My legs felt heavy and didn't want to respond but the pace was good and I ended up running the first mile in 6:37 (this mile was downwind). I turned around on my route so the next 3 miles were into the wind. I was starting to feel better and the 2nd mile went much easier in 6:51 so I slowed down more than I wanted to. Mile 3 went good in 6:44 petty much on pace and I started feeling the effort on the 4th mile but held it together good to finish off the last mile in 6:42. I felt really good with the run. This is probably one of my best tempo runs ever. I just haven't been doing many so it is hard to compare since it was so long ago. I will use this run as a baseline and see how it goes over the next few weeks.

8 miles, 59:34

4 mile tempo

1 - 6:37

2 - 6:51

3 - 6:44

4 - 6:42

After yesterday's tempo run I took my daughter's ice staking for 2 hours. As I started my run today I could tell that I used a few muscles ice skating that I don't running. I was a little sore and stiff but after a few miles I felt better. Only other issue was that it was 38 and raining. Not my favorite running weather. Anyway the run went off with no problems.

8 miles, 63:54

Long run today. It was 32 light wind. Just took it easy the whole way today and felt good. I took water with me today and ended up having to stop twice in the woods. I guess I am not sweating as much in the cold.

This turned out to be a pretty good week. I ended up with 48 miles on only 5 days of running since I took Christmas day off. I am looking forward to the New Year to see if I can keep up and even increase my current level.

1:54:10, 8:09 pace

Today I wanted to take a look back at my running in 2007. Tomorrow I will talk about goals for 2008. Here is a look back....

I ran a total of 1716 miles for the year. This is the most I have ever ran in a year. When I look back it is more impressive to me since I only avg 91 miles per month for the first 6 months of the year. I avg 196 miles per month the last 6 months of the year. I finished off the year in Dec with my highest mileage month ever with 216 miles. This increase in mileage had a big impact on my times for the year. I ran a PR in the 10k and close to a PR in the half marathon. The half marathon was in Oct so I was still in the middle of the mileage build up and am looking forward to my next race to see the results of consistently running more miles. One thing I have noticed is the increase in pace of my easy and long runs. I monitor these on with my heart rate monitor and I am running 30 sec per mile faster at the same HP then I was in June. So all in all I am please with the results of the year. Now I must continue to remain consistent in my mileage. This has always been my problem I get in good shape and then drop off for awhile. I want to see where I can go if I put together a year like I did the last 6 months.

Today's run was an easy 8 miles.

63:24