The Next Step

Well the new year sure got kicked off on a tough day. It was 17 degrees with windy gusting to 40 mph. I ran on the local HS XC course thinking that the trees would block some of the wind. It worked a little but we also had snow so the footing was not very good. This was one of those days that I am just glad to get the run in and head to the house. It does make me feel good to get out on days like this knowing that it would be easy just to stay in.

So now some goals for the New Year.

I want to continue to keep my mileage up consistently. If so, I think it will be possible to run 2400 miles this year. As far as races go I feel like I am in the best shape of my life so I would like to set PRs at pretty much at all distances. The two that I am most interested in are the 10k and the half marathon. I want to run sub 40 in the 10k and break 1:30 in the half. As far as the marathon goes I am planning to run a fall marathon. My first marathon didn't go very well and I wasn't really in very good shape. I feel that after about a 1 1/2 years of consistent running I should be ready to give it a go. I don't even want to write down a goal time right now. Once I get half way through the year and have a couple of half marathons under my belt I should be able to set a better goal time. So there you have it...

66:30

Got up to -13 WC outside this morning so decided to hit the treadmill. I did an easy run. My legs were tired after yesterday's run. I think the slick uneven footing along with the high winds took more out of me than I thought. I felt like I had ran a long run yesterday instead of just 8 miles. The easy run on the treadmill seemed to help since I felt better at the end. I am hoping to be able to get back outside tomorrow since it should be a little bit warmer and not as windy.

64:29

The weather is still pretty cold. Single digit wind chill today but at least is was sunny. I did an easy 8 miles outside with 10 x 100m strides at the end. I didn't run the strides real fast because I didn't feel real loose in the cold weather. I was pretty cold for the first 3 miles mainly my feet and hands but got better after that. Looking forward to warmer temps this weekend.

63:03

Back on the treadmill today. Not that the weather was bad but my wife had an early appointment and I had to stay with the kids. Everything went fine but I have noticed the last few days that I have some aches and pains that are not normal. I have some soreness in my left foot and my ITB seems to be acting up a little. I will have to monitor these over the next few days to see how it goes. I will also do some specific stretching for these areas, ice, etc. I hope I can stay healthy while I continue to build up the mileage.

65:08

The weather warmed up today and I wanted to take advantage of it for my long run so I added 5 miles at marathon pace. My leg and foot felt much better today. I still have a little issue in my left ITB I think but it was barely noticeable. It was pretty windy out but luckily it was mostly coming from the side on my run since I went out and back. The marathon pace miles went good. I got off to a slow start but the last 4 miles were much better. I had planned on running them @ 7:20 so overall it was good. Here is the breakdown on the marathon pace miles...

1 - 7:44

2 - 7:14

3 - 7:13

4 - 7:23

5 - 7:09

Overall

1:50:47, 7:55 avg

It was an unbelieveablely warm day for Jan (60 degrees and windy). It was great to be able to get out in shorts no gloves, hat, etc. I was hoping to a good run but instead felt very sluggish today. I am not sure why but this is the case often on Mondays. I usually do a long run on Sat and then have a rest day on Sun. I am not sure if it results from the day off or effects from the long run but Monday I ususally don't feel very sharp. I finished with no real issues still a few minor aches and pains but nothing to be to concerned about right now.

64:50

It was actually raining and thunderstroming outside this morning (strange weather for Jan) so I ran on the treadmill. Just like yesterday I didn't feel that great. Just felt a little tired. The last couple of days it is not like I have been sore or really tired it is just when I start running I don't have it. I am not sure if I am just run down a little or could be diet, sleep, etc. Anyway, I am going to try to stay on the same schedule and just work through it. I really thought about quitting today after 6 miles and resting but decided not to. I will just take it day to day.

64:02

Today I planned a tempo run. It was nice out (38 but windy). I wanted to do 4 miles at 6:45 pace. As I started out I felt tired again like the last couple of days. I felt a little better after a couple of miles so started my tempo after 3 mile warmup. The first mile went fine but it was down wind so no problem. I turned around and was running back into the wind so the effort got a lot harder. I felt like I was really pushing it to stay at the pace. It felt faster than tempo effort (probably due to being tired the last few days). Also, I probably should have adjusted my tempo pace to the wind. Probably should have been running around 6:55. Anyway, I shut the tempo down after 3 miles and then just cooled down for 2 miles. I will just run easy for the rest of the week and hopefully get my bounce back. Here is the breakdown on the tempo...

1st - 6:38 (downwind)

2nd - 6:41 (into the wind)

3rd - 6:51 (into the wind)

Had a good run today. I felt much better than I have the last few days. Not sure why I was feeling run down but glad the running is easier. Today it was around 40 and very windy. I ran out into the wind and then came back with the wind so that last half felt real easy. It was good to just get out there and be able to run comfortably. Added another mile onto my normal 8 mile run and will try to do this more often in the coming weeks.

1:12:49

Today the winds were 30+ mph outside and I didn't feel much like fighting the wind so I just ran inside on the treadmill. I wanted to do a real easy recovery run today before my long run tomorrow so it worked out ok. Nothing much special today just trying to continue to log the miles. I am starting to look for some upcoming races to see how my fitness is progressing. I am going to just do them pretty much based on the weather. I don't have any desire to sign up for a race weeks in advance only to find we have a big snow or frezzing temps that day. So I will pick out several races and see if I can catch some good weather this winter.

65:04

Another nice day to run outside. It was around 38 with light wind. Today I did my long run which I have been holding around 14 miles for the last few weeks. The run went smoothly with no issues. I did feel a little tired the last couple of miles. Could be just my body trying to get adjusted to the higher mileage. This week I hit 55 miles in 6 sessions which is the most weekly mileage I have ever done. Hopefully, if I can keep hitting these mileage totals it will payoff in the spring. I feel very fortunate with the weather we have had so far this winter. Getting outside sure makes getting the mileage in easier. Another thing that has worked in my favor is no travel but that will change next week. It is always a challenge to get my running in when I am traveling. Next week will be a good test to see if I can stay on schedule.

1:53:45

I had to travel to Washington DC this morning and then had meetings all day.  I was able to squezze in 5 miles between meetings and another dinner meeting.  I ran on the treadmill and felt really good.  I was a little upset that I had to cut the run short but travel days are hard to get in longer runs.  I hope to get back on schedule tomorrow.  On another note, I was totally bummed out that the Colts lost in the playoffs.  I didn't know if we could beat the Patroits but I sure wanted to see them give it a try.  Oh well, win some lose some.

40:14

Still in Washington. It was around 30 degrees with some wind today. I took it easy and felt good today. I have been feeling much better this week as compared to last week. Not sure why but thankful for it. It is also good to get a chance to run some hills while I am here. That is something that I don't get much of in Indiana. Hopefully I can keep on schedule this week during my travel. It is hard to get out in a strange place early in the morning to run but it is also a good chance to explore the area as well. Luckly I have been to DC so many times that I am very familar with the area.

64:30

Still in DC.  Today it was cool (28) and windy.  I was a little sore down the side of my left leg.  I am not sure what caused this.  The only idea that I have is the road I ran on yesterday was really crowned and this could have caused me to be running a little differently.  I loosened up after a couple of miles and felt pretty good the rest of the way.  Tonight I fly to Huntsville, AL for more meetings so I will have to find a safe route I can run early in the morning or I will be on the treadmill.

64:08

Today I am in Huntsville, AL and I had some early meetings so stayed in on the treadmill. I started off real easy but my legs felt real tired. I kept picking up the pace but didn't really feel like. I noticed that for the pace on the treadmill my HR was much higher than normal. The last couple of miles my HR was closer to tempo pace than for a easy run. I am not sure if I felt that bad or the treadmill was off. Several times I felt like cutting the run short but I stuck with it for as long as I could. Glad I got the run in but it wasn't a good one.

57:07

Another day in Huntsville and another day on the treadmill. After yesterday's blow up I decided today to just run by feel and pay attention to my HR instead of the pace on the treadmill. This worked out much better. I still didn't feel crisp but at least it felt like a normal easy run. I was only able to get in 7 miles due to my schedule but at least it was close to what I wanted. Overall, I guess I am satisified with my running this week. It is very hard to stay on schedule when traveling. For example, yesterday I was in meetings from 8 to 6 then had a dinner that went from 7 to 10. Doesn't leave a whole lot of time in the schedule to get other things done and get in my running. I will be glad to be at home next week again.

57:30

It was about 10 degrees and a -4 wind chill today so I decided to just stay in and run on the treadmill. Part of my decision was based on the fact that I have felt pretty beat up the last few days. I am not sure if the travel got to me or something to do with my running. I have been a little sore in the legs and just felt tired while running. So today I thought I would stay inside and just cut back my normal long run to make this kind of a cut back week. I will get back at it next week and see how it goes. I felt better today on the treadmill and will take a day of rest tomorrow.

1:21:20

I was finally able to get outside today. It was really nice and sunny. Around 30 degrees and windy but the sun made it feel much better. I felt pretty good today. I think cutting back last week was a good idea. Hopefully, this week will be much better. We might get some snow in the morning so that might make things slick and sloppy so I will have to wait and see if I can get out again. Hope so!!

63:45

Back on the treadmill today! Yea! Not really. I wanted to do some tempo work today and it was snowy and slushy. Not the best footing for running fast. I did a couple of miles on the treadmill and then just bumped up the speed gradually until I was around 6:50. I ran this for a couple of miles and then ran the last mile around 6:40. I didn't want to over do it but wanted to get the legs used to some faster running. Overall, I felt like it was a good workout. It also made running on the treadmill better since I had to concentrate more on what I was doing. The weather all this week doesn't look good so I will have to wait to see how it goes.

61:00

Snowy, windy and cold this morning so I stayed inside on the treadmill. I probably could have went out today but maybe I am getting soft. Anyway, today was just an easy run after yesterday's tempo. I have been feeling much better this week compared to last week's problems. On the non-running side I was excited that the Kentucky Wildcats finally won a big basketball game this year. They beat 5th ranked Tennessee last night. Probably will still be a long year but you have to take the good times when they come.

65:41

Woke up to -10 wind chill this morning which didn't sound to inviting to me so headed to the treadmill. I wanted to do something different today so I added in 6 x 1 min hill repeats at 5% incline. I am planning on doing some hill work in the coming weeks so I wanted to add it in slowly. I don't get a chance to do much hill work in this area so actually the treadmill is a good option for this. Also, as I continue to work on my strength I thought it would be a good addition. The weather is supposed to warm up over the next few days so looking forward to getting outside.

Going to see "Spirit of the Marathon" tonight. Looking forward to it. I will give my thoughts on the movie tomorrow.

64:57

It was still around -10 wind chill this morning so I did another day on the treadmill. I took it real easy today just getting in the miles. I am looking forward to getting back outside. Tomorrow is supposed to be a lot nicer.

66:21

Well I got outside today for the long run. It was around 30 degrees but pretty windy. I felt good but just took it easy the whole way. Around half of the run was into the wind and it had a bigger impact on me than I thought. It was blowing pretty hard and steady. Also, I ran out of the Body Glide a few days ago and this was not a good thing. I will have to replace that soon if you know what I mean. Overall, this was a good week. I feel like I have established a pretty good base to start building on. I plan on trying to increase my mileage over the next few weeks. I know it will be tough because of time commitments and possible business travel. I would like to get up around 70 mpw by summer but I am not sure if I can manage the time to do it. I have to keep the balance between family, work and running so we will see what happens. This is the most that I have ever run consistently so I am happy with that but I hope I can still take it up another level.

1:54:21, 8:10 avg

Today I planned on doing an easy 8 miler. The weather was pretty nice when I started (40 degrees with some wind). As I started the run I felt pretty good. No effects from the long run on Sat. I am amazed at how my recovery is improving. After a couple of miles I found myself having to hold back from running faster. I am trying to make sure that I either run easy or hard. No in between paces. After about 4.5 miles the wind really picked up and it started to rain. There is nothing I worse than running in cold, windy, rainy conditions. As my clothing got wetter I got cold so I started picking up the pace to get back to the house. I didn't want to run fast today because I was planning a tempo run tomorrow but I just wanted to get out of the rain. I still felt good but was glad to get inside. I will see how I feel tomorrow before I decide if I will continue with the tempo.

62:50

It was raining pretty hard this morning when I got up so with memories of yesterday's run in my head I got on the treadmill. I planned on doing a tempo run today. I wanted to do a couple of mile warmup then use the 3rd mile to build up to tempo pace and try to run 4 miles at around 6:40 pace.

I felt pretty good as I warmed up so after 2 miles I started picking up the pace. The first couple of miles of tempo felt pretty easy but then I started to feel the effort. I was able to hold the pace the rest of the way and felt like I could have went faster if I wanted too. This is a good feeling. I was happy with the run and plan to build these into my program as I start to get closer to the racing season. Here are my splits for the tempo miles....

1st - 7:16

2nd - 6:48

3rd - 6:42

4th - 6:42

5th - 6:42

One thing about a treadmill it is easy to hold your pace!

59:05

It is starting to seem like this is a weather blog instead of a running blog. I know the weather can be a critical part of running but I am looking forward to the average days when there is no weather news to report. Last night we had a strong storm blow through Indiana with winds over 60 mph. Behind the winds was a big cold front so this morning we had 30 mph wind and around 10 degrees. Not a great day to hit the streets. Instead it was down to the basement and onto the treadmill. Just an easy day on tap for today so nothing much to report. I felt good the whole way and so far this week I have been unsuccessful in uping my mileage. It is hard for me to stay on the treadmill much longer than 8 miles but I will have to over come that if the weather stays bad. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

65:15

Got a little break in the weather today so I headed outside. It wasn't a great day (19 and windy) but probably the best I will get for the rest of the week so I wanted to take advantage of it. I started out into the wind so it was a little cool but I just ran easy. It felt good to be back on the road. After turning around and having the wind to my back it seemed like it warmed up 10 degrees. I did 8 x 100 m strides at the end of the run and it felt good to get the legs moving. I haven't done this as much as I would like. It is hard to do on the treadmill and it is hard to do on slick roads but was glad to get in the strides today. We have a big storm moving in tonight so I will probably be back on the treadmill tomorrow.

62:57

On the treadmill today. Nothing exciting just the normal 8 miler. I did want to look back on last month. I ended up with 232 miles for the month which is the highest mileage month for me ever. Before that Dec was my highest mileage month at 216. I am heading in the right direction. I know from here it will get tougher because of time constraints but I want to push on. Hopefully, I can raise the bar higher in Feb but I lose 2 days so we will see how it goes.

64:41

Today was long run day and I decided to take it up a mile. It was nice out (37, windy) and felt good to be off of the treadmill. I have been lucky so far this winter. I only had to do one long run on the treadmill so far. For some reason it seems like it always warms up on the weekends. I started off easy and felt pretty good throughout the run. I did have a little pain in my leg about half way through but it went away after a couple of miles. Not sure what that was about. I tried to push the pace a little the last few miles just to finish strong.

2:02:05

I am so excited and amazed that the Giants beat the Patroits last night. Being an Indianapolis fan, the next best thing to seeing the Colts win is seeing the Patroits lose. Eli had a great game and should take him up to the next level.

Great day outside today (45, calm, fog) to run. I was sore in my right hip and left knee today. Could be left over from the long run on Sat. It felt better as I went but didn't totally go away so I will have to monitor it to see how it goes. This week I am trying to bump up the mileage a little bit so with that goal in mind I did 9 miles this morning instead of my usual 8.

1:12:45

This morning we had thunderstorms with heavy rain (weird for Feb) so I ran on the treadmill. My leg felt much better today so I guess it was just sore from the long run. Not sure why but glad it didn't . Since the leg was feeling good I decided to go ahead with my tempo run. I did a 3 mile warmup and then 4 miles of tempo around 6:45. I felt pretty good on the tempo but was starting to feel the effort the last 1.5 miles. I finished up with a mile warmdown. Here are the splits on the tempo:

1st - 6:48

2nd - 6:44

3rd - 6:43

4th - 6:37

59:49

Another morning of heavy rain and storms so I ran an easy run on the treadmill. Nothing too exciting today. I felt good no problems with the leg or hip so hopefully that is behing me. I wanted to go longer today but had to get going on some work. Maybe I can run further tomorrow.

65:59

It has been a while since I took a day off but I recorded a big 0 yesterday. I just felt a little run down and I had a very busy day so I decided to let the body rest and not get hung up on my mileage. After a day of rest, today I felt great. It is amazing how the body responds to a little rest. It was nice outside (43, windy) and I really wanted to push the pace but I keep it under control. I am really trying to focus on either running easy or fast no in between stuff. I want to make sure that I feel good tomorrow for my long run. I am trying to pump up the endurance so need to get the longer run in.

63:17

I have some catching up to do. I have been crazy busy the last few days and haven't kept up with the blogging. I have also taken a hit on the running as well but I have been getting in as much as possible. Last Saturday I did a 12 mile run. I wanted to do 15 but was running short on time plus I am still having some pain in my hip and it was acting up today so I cut it to 12 miles. I just didn't feel strong today. It seems like I have one good day and then the next day it can go bad. I am not sure what is up with this.

1:37:41

I did an easy 7 miles on the treadmill today. It was unbelievably cold today (around 10 with 30+ mph winds). I didn't want to get out in that mess. My hip felt better today. I got some new shoes so I am hoping that might help. I am keeping a close watch on the pain because I don't want to have a extended down time. I would rather miss a few days now than a few weeks later.

57:02

I had to travel out of town today and then had meetings until around 9:00 when I got in so I didn't get a run in today.

I am in Huntsville, AL today and the weather is great (45 degrees). I missed running yesterday and wanted to get in a tempo run today. I didn't have a measured course to run and I don't have a Garmin so I just ran on time. After a good warmup I was feeling fine (no problems with the hip) so I jumped into the tempo. I had my HR monitor so I got up in the tempo zone and ran for abour 28 minutes which should have easily been 4 miles. I did notice toward the last of the tempo run that I was feeling it in my legs. I feel like Cardio wise I could push harder but my legs don't feel like they could go much faster. I am not sure if this is lack of base or what.

60:30

Had a big weather change in Huntsville. Today it was 23 and very windy. I still was able to get in around 7 miles easy. My hip was acting up a little today so I will have to keep an eye out for tomorrow. At this point I am not sure if I should rest it or not. It is not so painful that I can't run. It just hurts enough to know that something is not right. Also, since some days are good and some bad I am not sure what to make of that.

56:10

I took the last two days off to rest my hip and make sure that I didn't make things worse. I did some exercies for the hip while not running. I wanted to see how it felt today and it was a great day outside so I really wanted to run. I started off a little sluggish from not running the last couple of days but soon felt much better. My hip was not hurting at all which is a good sign. I got through the whole way with no pain so tomorrow will be the next test to see if back-to-back days cause any problems. It was a great day outside and one of those runs that felt great and made me glad I am a runner.

1:2:56

I normally take Sunday off but last week I took off several days off because of some pain in my hip I decided to run today to see how my hip was recovering. I didn't get to do a good test on the hip because I spent all day Sat working around the house and a lot of the work was in awkward positions on the ground so I woke up today sore from that. It was good to get a few miles in and felt good most of the way. Even though I was sore in unusual places my hip felt good. I plan a full week so that will be the real test.

40:30

Today it was colder and crazy windy so I ran on the treadmill. I felt good from the start with a little left over soreness from the weekend projects. I decided to do a progression run and gradually pick up the pace every 1/2 mile. I didn't want to do a full tempo so thought this would be a good way to get the legs turning over without too much stress. I felt good as I continued to up the pace. I worked down to around 6:40 pace for the last 1/2 then did a warmdown. It was a good run and my hip continues to feel good so hopefully that is behind me.

61:49

Another cold and windy day with wind chills around -10 so still on the treadmill. I just did an easy recovery 8 miles today. I didn't feel good at the start. Around 2 miles I felt like stopping but pushed through and then started feeling better around 5 and actually felt good the last 3 miles. Not sure what this was about. Anyway, hip still feels good so all in all a good day.

66:00

I had to squezze in a short run today because of my schedule. Also, I was still on the treadmill since it was snowing this morning and around -10 wind chill. Come on Spring!!

I was feeling good taking it easy on the treadmill so decided to put in some hills to make it more interesting. The first couple were fine and then on the third one I felt the pain in my hip. Now I think I have figured out where that pain came from. I have started doing hill repeats on the treadmill over the last month and could be the reason for the hip problem. Being from Indiana when I run outside it is mostly flat so I am not used to the hills. Could be that I jumped into the hills on the treadmill too fast. I will stict to the flat stuff for a while until I get this hip problem to go away then try a more gradual buildup on the hills.

40:35

I think I am going through a slump. I have not been making running a priority in my schedule and the result has been a big drop in mileage. I have been having a few aches and pains but not to the point that I should be cutting back this much. Today is another example of this I didn't get my run started on schedule and had to cut it real short. Since I didn't have much time I went for quality vs quanity. I did a 2 mile time trail (sort of since I was on a treadmill and the max speed is 6 min miles). I did the first mile around 6:20 then ed it up to 6:00 min pace for the second. It felt good and let me know that the base building is paying off. I just have to get back in the grove and start putting in the miles again. I have a lot of things scheduled travel wise the next few weeks so I am going to have to really push to stay on track. Hopefully I can accomplish that tomorrow.

29:09

Had to squezze another run in on the treadmill today. I had a crazy day at work and my parents are coming up for the weekend so had some projects I had to get finished. I sure hope I can get back on track next week.

40:19

Did 8 on the treadmill. I finally got a decent run in. It felt so easy and relaxed today. Probably because I have cut back so much the last two weeks. It is kind of like a taper. Too bad I don't have any races to run. I am going to try to get back in the 55 mile range this week but I have a two day trip with my daughter on a church trip so I will probably only be able to get in 5 days this week. Maybe I will try some two a days.

64:19

I planned a tempo run and since the roads are still icy I thought it would be best to run fast on the treadmill. Started off with a 2 mile warmup which went good then ran 5 mile tempo. I increased the pace a little each mile and felt good throughout. Only problem was I felt a little bit upset in my stomach from eating too soon prior to the run. Other than that felt great. Here are the splits:

1st - 6:58

2nd - 6:49

3rd - 6:46

4th - 6:42

5th - 6:38

This is a much better start to this week than the last couple. I hope I can keep it up.

58:21

Snowing and windy today so another day on the treadmill. Boy am I ready for spring. I do have a trip south coming up in a week so at least that will give me a taste of spring. Today's run went good. No problems just an easy run after yesterday's tempo. I will try to work some speed in to tomorrow's run.

65:15

Today I did a fartlik type workout just to get the legs moving a little faster. I did some 1 minute pickups with a couple minutes recovery. I felt good during the run and on the pickups.

63:32

Today it was just an easy day. Nothing to exciting which is good because that means there were no problems! Today I am heading on a trip with my daughter's church group for a couple of days. I am not sure if I will get the chance to run but at least I brought my stuff.

65:17

Well I didn't get any runs in the last two days that I was on the trip with my church. I thought it would be a long shot. I did however spend two days in a water pack with around 100 teenagers so that should be good for some kind of workout. Climbed a lot of stairs, played some basketball in the water and tried indoor surfing. The indoor surfing left me a little sore. It was a good time and I didn't miss the running but I did miss my normal amount of sleep!

Today was a great day (55 and sunny). It has been awhile since I have been outside and today was one of those awesome days of running. I felt good and I felt the touch of spring that makes you feel alive again. It was great just being out in God's creation running effortless with a warm breze in my hair. It is days like these that I am glad I am a runner. Just clearly the mind and enjoying being in shape to be able to do things like this. Hopefully I can keep the good feeling going and get the mileage back up. Feb was a down month and I have a very busy March so we will see what happens. Reguardless, I am going to try to enjoy it.

63:58

Another great day (55 but very windy) to run outside. Legs felt a little tired and sluggish but otherwise I felt good. It is definitely nice to be out in shorts again without gloves, hat and a jacket. I did 8 x 100m strides at the end just to shake out the legs and get some turnover. We have a storm moving in tonight so we will see what if I can get out in the morning.

63:34

More snow and ice so back on the treadmill. I have felt a little under the weather the last couple of days so took off yesterday and only went 5 miles today. Hope to be back on schedule tomorrow. Felt good during the run just a little drained.

40:28

I have been sick the last few days and just couldn't get the energy to run. We are also are on vacation so kind of planning on taking it easy the next few days. We are in St. Kitts and it is beautiful. It is around 80 today with strong winds and some humidity. Also, it is very hilly which I am not use to. So with the warm weather and hills the 5 miles turned into a pretty good workout.

40:37

Still on vacation and today I decided to go exploring a little. There is a pretty long steep hill next to our hotel that takes you out to a undeveloped part of the Island. I ran up the hill and was really feeling it but once I got to the top the views were unbelieveable. I had to stop and take it all in for a few minutes. I went down the other side and into a valley where I saw some some monkeys along the side of the road. There were about 10 of them and they just sit there as I ran by. I wish I would have had my camera to get there pictures. I ran on up and down some more large hills and just enjoyed the views. It was a good hill workout for me.

42:05

I didn't really run today but I went on a 3 hour hike in the mountains on the Island. The way I felt when I got back I felt like it ought to at least be good for a 6 mile run.

Just did another easy run on the Island. I could really get used to this but have to leave tomorrow. It will be back to the cold. I have enjoyed the vacation but my running has really suffered. I am really going to have to get with it when I get back. I feel like I am loosing the good base I built over the last few months.

40:25

Back home and it was raining today so I just stayed on the treadmill. This is the first 8 miler I have done in awhile. I felt good the whole way and plan on getting back to where I was before being sick and then being on vacation. I am really off of my plan right now and time will tell how much this has set me back.

63:47

I had a lot going on with the family today but I was able to squeeze in a 5 miler. It was pretty nice out (40 with some wind) and I felt good the whole way. I am hoping that this week I will be able to get back on my plan without too much of a problem.

38:43

It has been awhile since I ran some faster paced workouts so today I wanted to do some tempo miles. It was not the best day for tempo running (40 but very windy). I don't like running on days where it is this windy. It is hard for me to judge effort and pace but wanted to stick with the plan. Since I have done any tempo in awhile and because of the wind I decided to do only 3 miles of tempo. So ran 4 miles easy then did the 3 tempo miles as detailed below:

1st - 6:43

2nd - 6:44

3rd - 6:38

I was satisfied with the run. I thought the pace was good without too much effort and I didn't know how the drop off in mileage recently would effect me. I am looking for to some nicer weather (hopefully).

60:10

I am taking some advice from Jeff as I ramp my mileage back up. I thought of doing 8 miles today but my main goal this week is to get a full week in this week then back to normal mileage next week. This was a good idea as I felt a few aches and pains from the last few days so I don't want to over do it. Looking back at my log I realized that I went about 4 weeks with pretty inconsistent training. My mileage went from a normal in the mid 50's to more like mid 30's and there were several times where I missed a couple of days in a row. I hope that this week and next week will get me back on track. Today I took it real easy after yesterday's tempo and then plan on a longer run tomorrow. I will this long/short pattern this week and then plan on normal mileage next week.

40:27

Pouring rain out this morning so I hit the treadmill. I felt much better today than I did yesterday and it was just a good easy run. I really wanted to get outside today but did really want to slosh around in the rain. This week is going good so far as I get back to the normal schedule. Hopefully, everything will stay on track. On a side note it is a exciting time as the NCAA Basketball tourney starts. Make sure you get your picks in.

64:32

It was a pretty nice day out around 40 but pretty windy. I did the cut back today and only did 5 miles so I wanted to mix it up a little so I ran 3 miles of it at a faster pace. It was probably a little faster than marathon pace but slower than tempo pace. I felt really good the whole way and didn't feel like I was pushing at all. I hope the weather holds out this weekend I really need to get a long run in.

One problem I have had is lack of racing this spring. I haven't run a race since early Nov. It seems like every weekend I have a conflict with potential races. I was thinking that since I won't be able to do much racing this spring what about doing either a 3 mile or 6 miles time trial on the track (only for sure distance I know of). Any thoughts out there???

36:17

Nice day today around 50 but very windy. Just ran an easy 6 miles. I had a pretty busy day so didn't have the time to go longer plus I want to get in a long run tomorrow. This week has went pretty good. I was concerned with having about 4 straight down weeks that if I pushed the mileage back higher that I might not feel as good. Actually I have felt real good. Just hope it continues.

46:59

Well I struck out on my long run for the weekend. Saturday was crazy busy with family activities and Sunday being Easter was pretty packed as well. At least I got in the 8 miler today. I have really been struggling to get in a long run this spring. I don't think this is good for the half-marathon in May. I am going to try to work in a long run during the week this week to see if that will work any better. Felt good today no issues.

64:22

Pretty nice day out this morning (36, light wind). It is still below normal for this time of year. Hopefully, Spring will come soon. Today's run went well. I felt good and was glad to get 2 8 milers back to back. I have to go out of town early in the morning so not sure how much I will be able to get in tomorrow. With travel I just have to take what the schedule will allow and not get to worried about it. I just need to make sure that I get in a long run this week and right now I am targeting that for Thurs.

62:22

Trying to catch up on the blogging after a lot of travel. 

Was in Portsmouth, NH and ran on the treadmill.  I did a 2 mile warmup then did 4 miles at tempo pace.  Here is the breakdown:

6:58, 6:50, 6:45, 6:43

Felt good the whole way.  It was pretty hot in the fitness room so I was feeling that toward the last part of the run.

52:06

Still in Portsmouth, NH.  I didn't bring any cold weather gear so back to the treadmill.  Problem was that all the treadmills were taken so I ended up doing 25 minutes on the bike waiting for the treadmill to free up.  Then I only had time to do 4 miles.

Just ran easy today.  Felt good through out.

56:48

I am in Gulf Shores, AL today.  My kids are on spring break and we are getting away for a few days.  It has been a crazy few weeks for me with business travel, vacation and family commitments.  The running has kind of taken a back burner.  I feel like I am just barely holding on to my fitness.  I am hoping that I can get back into the routine but I feel some of my spring goals slipping away.  I really need to get in a race to see where I am at and maybe I can get the consistency back.  I had a great run this morning.  It was a beautiful day and I felt good.  I have been feeling good on all of my runs lately I am mainly concerned about endurance and speed.  If I could get one solid week back I think I would feel a lot better. 

It was around 65 and very windy.

66:02

Still in Gulf Shores and boy was it a windy morning today.  Probably around 30 mph sustained.  It made for tough going into the wind but I sure got a push downwind.  I felt good today so picked up the pace for about 3 miles to around marathon pace.  It is certainly a lot more fun running in the warm weather even if I do have to put up with the wind.  These distances are just estimated while I am down here are just estimated since I have not measured them and I don't have GPS.

66:06

Still in Gulf Shores on vacation. Ran an easy 8 miles today. It was a nice day and the wind was not too bad. I felt good the whole way. I didn't run the last couple of days just been spending time with the family. I did play about 1 hour of football on the beach which had me sweating and breathing pretty hard.

66:06

Back at home and it was a great day outside (63, light wind). Felt real good today no problems just need to get into some kind of routine. I am planning a long run tomorrow which is way past due.

55:34

I finally got in a long run today. I was wondering how I would feel since it has been about 6 weeks since I ran over 10 miles (can't believe that). I ended up feeling good the whole way. I just settled into a nice easy pace and my legs felt good. I thought I might start to feel tired later in the run but it didn't happen. I am curious how I will feel tomorrow. Hopefully, no soreness. I am for a normal week this week so don't want any setbacks. It was another beautiful day (60, light wind). Oh how I love Spring!!

1:38:36

I traveled to DC today so had to fit a run into the schedule. I did an easy 6 miles and felt pretty good. My legs were a little tight/stiff from the long run yesterday but overall I felt better than I expected.  I have a busy week of meeting/dinners etc so we will see what happens on the schedule.

48:36

I have been crazy busy while in DC. I should be getting out early and run but have not been to exciting about running in DC in the dark and hotel doesn't have a treadmill. So ran 6 miles in between meeting. It was nice and easy felt pretty good.

48:30

Got out early before meetings and was able to squezze in 5 miles. Nice morning and felt really good.

40:26

Rainy cold and windy outside today so ran on the treadmill. It had the added benefit of being able to watch the Masters. Felt good and no problems.

48:24

Been having a hard time keeping up with the blogging but hoping I can do the better in the future. I have had a lot going on with work and the running is what seems to be dropping off the schedule. Today I was able to get in 5 miles after meetings and before commiments with the kids. Felt good today so decided to do some tempo work. I just ran the tempo on time not distance so I did 20 minutes at tempo pace which should have been around 3 miles.

38:16

Tax day! It was a really nice day here in Indiana. Around 50 degrees, sunny and light wind. I felt good today other than a little soreness in my hamstring that has been bothering me for about a week. Nothing too bad just sore enough to make me worry a little. I have been really disappointed with my running this spring. I had such a good winter and then Feb and Mar were horrible. I have spent some time thinking about it and it basically boils down to running is too low of a priority in my life right now. If things get tight schedule wise running is what drops off. I have a new position in my company this year and always busy with family so I end up cutting back on the running. It seems like I go through cycles where I have more time and feel like I can take my running up to a higher level then things get tight and I fall back. I guess I have to realize that I am a recreational running and be happy with the time that I have and the runs that I can get in. I need to not worry about it and just enjoy what time I do have for running.

56:40

It was a great morning today (50, sunny, light wind). My left hamstring felt better but is still a litte sore. I started off real easy to give my leg a chance to warm/loosen up which I think helped. After a couple of miles I felt real good and picked the pace back up. It was a great day to be out running. Hoping to get a long run in tomorrow which I really need to do to prepare for my half-marathon the first week of May. I will start to come up with a plan for the race. Not sure what to shoot for after weak last couple of months of training. I will do a longer tempo run next week and that should tell me more.

63:50

Finally got a long run in today. It was a bit unusal. I started out easy to get the legs loosened up and started picking the pace back up after a couple of miles. Around 3 miles it started pouring rain and the wind picked up. After getting soaked and with the wind I started to get cold so I decided to head back to the house and finish up on the treadmill instead of fighting rain/wind. I ended up with 8 miles outside and 6 miles on the treadmill. Overall felt real good and I thought the pace was ok since I haven't run a lot of longer runs lately.

1:53:24 (8:05)

I got to see the finish of the Boston Marathon. It was pretty incrediable finish for the women and a great race for the men.

I was able to get the week off with a solid run. After the ups and downs the last few weeks it is good to get the week started right. I hope to keep it that way. Today I felt a little stiff/tired when I started but got going better after a couple of miles. I ran in the afternoon today so it was pretty warm (70 and sunny). I am not use to this so I was feeling the hotter weather the last couple of miles. Still a great day to be outside running.

64:42

It was a great morning today (55, sunny) for a run. As I started out my right hamstring was still a little tight/sore but it has been loosening up after 1/2 mile or so. Because of this I have not been too concerned about it. Just took it real easy today. I am working on getting back in the normal routine so just doing some easy mileage plus tomorrow I will be doing a tempo run.

66:26

Because of my up and down training over the last couple of months, I am not really sure of my level of fitness and what pace I should plan on for my upcoming half marathon. Today I hoped to sort some of this out with a tempo run on the track. This is my only way to get exact times since my normal road routes are rough measurements. Today I wanted to see what it felt like to hold 6:50 pace. I planned on running 5 miles at this tempo pace.

It was a very nice morning (60, light wind) and I started off with a two mile warmup. After this I jumped into the tempo run and immediately felt like I had to push to hold this pace. I was slow the first half mile so picked it up to get back on my target pace. I came through the first mile in 7:00 but was already starting to feel like this was faster than I could hold for 13 miles. The 2nd mile was not to bad and stayed on pace. As I got into the 3rd mile I was starting to really feel the effort and the effects of the lost mileage over the last two months. On the 4th mile I started to realize I wasn't going to hold this pace for 5 miles unless I wanted it to feel more like a race and less like a tempo run. Because of this I cut the tempo at 4 miles.

Here are my splits:

1st - 7:00

2nd - 6:50

3rd - 6:54

4th - 6:51

So what did I learn today. Probably no sub 1:30 half-marathon for me next week. Based on the way I felt today there is no way I can hold that pace for 13 miles. I will run another tempo early next week and target 7:05 to 7:10 pace to see how that feels. I have to realize that based on my recent training I have probably slid back instead moving forward. There are shortcomings in this game!

Another nice morning to run but it was very windy today. I started off easy as usual to get my hamstring loosened up. Today I just wanted an easy run after yesterday's tempo. I ran out into the wind so took it real easy. It was much more fun coming back with the wind at my back and naturally picked up the pace. Felt very good this morning with no issues from the tempo yesterday.

65:07

Man the weather has been great this week! I really love this time of year. It would be awesome to have this all the time. Today it was around 60 but windy and I really felt good today. I am starting to feel like I am getting back into the groove. It is a little to late for my race next Sat but feels good none the less. Today I just ran easy but I did 8 x 100 m strides at the end of the run. Just wanted to get the legs turning over a little faster and hopefully work on my running economy a little.

64:07

My string of nice morning came to an end. It was still not bad around 48 but very windy. I felt good this morning but was a little sore from a lot of yard work the last few days. After a mile or so I felt much better and settled into a nice easy pace. I felt good throughout and picked up the pace the last 3 miles. This turned out to be a good solid week for me. It is the first full week of running that I have had in about 2 months. Not good for my race next week but just have to make the best of it. I will do another tempo workout this week to try to figure out what pace to shoot for in the half. This is the first time that I have ran a race this long without having a few shorter races to judge my fitness level. So I will probably just have to go by feel and adjust accordingly.

1:38:41

Very nice morning for running (45, light wind). I felt very sluggish at the start and this continued for about 4 miles. I started feeling better after 4 miles and picked the pace up some and actually starting feeling good around 6 miles. It was a good run to shake the legs out.

63:20

I had an early morning meeting then was busy when I got home so ran 4.5 miles while my daughter was at soccer practice. Not exactly what I was hoping for today but better than nothing. I am going to try my tempo run tomorrow then take it easy before the half marathon on Saturday.

34:50

Today I wanted to do one last tempo run before my race on Sat to get an idea of pace for the race. Last week I tried a tempo run at 6:50 pace and that seemed to hard to maintain for 13 miles so this week I thought I would drop back and try a 5 mile tempo at 7:10 pace to see how I would feel.

Started off with a warmup then jumped into the tempo run. I hit the first mile right on pace in 7:11. It felt pretty easy so I picked it up a little. Here are the splits from the other miles:

1st - 7:11

2nd - 7:06

3rd - 7:04

4th - 6:57

5th - 6:47

All of the miles felt pretty comfortable except the last which I pushed too hard. Based on this I am thinking I should plan on going out around 7:05 pace and then make adjustments based on how I feel. I hoped to be a lot better than this but my training in Feb/Mar really suffered so not sure I should expect more. So now I will just to a couple of easy runs on Thur and Fri so I hopefully will be ready to go on Sat.

51:48

Today I just did an easy 4 miles tapering down for my race on Sat. It was a nice day and I felt pretty good. The first mile I was a little stiff and felt run down but started feeling better after that. I finished felling much better.

33:17

Today I just wanted to go out and get loose before my race tomorrow so just ran a couple of miles then stretched out.

As far as the plan for the race tomorrow, the weather looks a little unsure. Could be storms/winds. Hopefully that will hold off and we will get a good day to run. In setting my goals for tomorrow I recently read an article in Running Times that said you should have two goals (A goal and B goal). The A goal is what you think you can run if everything goes to plan. Good weather, feel good, etc. The B goal is what you think you can run if things are not perfect. They said that anything other then these two would be a missed goal and create a need to reevaluate your running plans. So with that in mind here are my A and B goals.

A goal: 1:33

B goal: 1:36

As much as I would like to PR in this race I don't think my fitness is there. I will still give it my best shot but looking at my workouts I am not where I was when I set my PR. So I will hope for a good day give it my best and see where the chips fall!

16:15

Today I ran the Indy 500 half marathon. At the start of the year I set this as a goal race to try to break 1:30 for the half. However, two sub-par months of training leading up the this race caused me to reevaluate my goals. So today I wanted to have a respectable race and use it as something to build on. I thought something between 1:33 and 1:36 would be good.

1- I started out pretty easy since there are 35,000 runners in this race and I didn't want to waste a lot of energy dodging other runners. I came through the first mile in 7:21 which was slower than I wanted but not bad in the traffic.

2 - After this I was able to pick up that pace a little as the runners thinned out. Felt good and tried to settle into my pace and came through in 7:01 probaly a little faster than planned.

3 - Still was feeling good and just keep going at the same pace. Had a lot more running room now so it was easier to settle into the pace. 7:01 again.

4 - More of the same. No problems yet but I was starting to get the sinking feeling that I would pay for this pace latter but I felt good and just went with it. 7:00

5 - I started to have some mild stomach cramps and the pace started to feel harder so I was getting concerned that I would not be able to maintain this pace. I slowed down some in 7:08.

6 - Still not feeling very good. I felt like I was working way harder than the pace indicated. I actually thought I had picked the pace back up but actually came in slower in 7:18.

7 - I am definitely in a rough patch now. Still didn't feel very good it showed in 7:25.

8 - At this point I got mad at myself. I was not feeling the best but I knew that I could do better than this. This was one of those points where I could have just slowed down and ran 8:00's in or I could try to get myself back on pace. I decided to just push it some and see how it worked out. Not really anything to lose at this point. I was able to pick up the pace and ran 7:09.

9 - Now I was actually feeling better even though I was running faster. I felt like this was a pace that I could maintain to the finish. 7:12.

10 - I was passing a lot of people and feeling like I got a second wind. Each mile was coming much easier than just a few miles back. I had a few other runners that I was working with to try to keep my pace up. I could definitely feel the extra effort but felt good to be back on pace. 7:02

11 - At this point I was just thinking 5k to the finish. See if you can run it strong. I wanted to try to hold the 7:00 pace to the finish which would put me pretty close to my goal. This mile was fastest so far in 6:59.

12 - Now is the payback time for the poor training leading up to this race. I really started to feel rough like I was totally out of fuel. There are no shortcuts in running and the lack of mileage/long runs the last couple of months was having its effects. I was able to hold it together pretty good in 7:22.

13 - Now it was just trying to get myself to the finish line without giving back too much time. It was pretty discouraging to watch some of the runners I had just passed come back around me. I felt like I was running 9:00 miles but actually came by the last mile in 7:25 which was better than I expected.

13.1 - Glad to see the finish! 1:34:01

Overall, I was pretty pleased with the race. I ran about what I expected. I wasn't as prepared as I should have been and I was kicking myself for letting my training slip the last few months. I had such a good Nov, Dec, and Jan but then lost it. It does give me hope that if I can keep the training going I will see the expected results. This was only a couple in minutes off of my PR and I probably had the worst two months of training that I have ever had leading up to a race this long. Hopefully this will give me some resolve to keep up the training through the Summer and see if I can run a good marathon in the fall and some PRs in shorted distances.

I really did something stupid over the weekend. I was helping out at a church youth group cookout and some of the kids asked if I would play basketball with them. So you probably know where this is going. I ended up playing and after playing for about an I came down on someone's foot and sprained my ankle. It is puffed up pretty good and it was hard to walk on but is feeling better today. I am not sure how long it will take to get back to running but I want to make sure that I let it heal right. If anyone has any experience with this I would love to hear how long before you were able to start running again. This comes at a really bad time because I was pumped up after running the half on Sat then to have this setup back. I am hoping that I can do some biking and strength training soon so I don't slip back to far. So for now it is just following the RICE program and see how it goes.

My sprained ankle is doing much better.  I didn't actually get out and run but did 35 minutes on the bike so I figure that ought to be worth about 4 miles since I don't have any other way to report bike miles.  I have been really suprised at how quickly my ankle is healing.  Today I was able to walk around on it pretty much like normal.  It still hurts a little going down stairs but other than that I think I could actually run on it.  I am still going to wait a couple of days to before I run to be sure it has healed but I am feeling more positive now than I was a couple of days ago.

35 minutes on the bike

I did another day on the bike to give my ankle some more rest. It is feeling pretty good as long as I am walking straight ahead. Any unusual movement and it still hurts. I had a real good bike ride. I pushed it pretty hard and felt good even though I haven't been on the bike much. I did around 10 or 11 miles and it started raining on me with about 3 miles to go or I would have gone further. I think I will try to run tomorrow to see how the ankle feels. Probably just a mile or two.

I tried running this morning but the ankle was pretty sore so I quickly turned around and quit. I don't want to do more damage to it than I already have. So after bagging the run I got on the bike for another ride. I am did around 14/15 miles on the bike and the ankle feels pretty good riding. It hurts some if I have to go over any rough surfaces on the road. Just the vibration from the road. Today I rode at a good steady pace nothing too hard. I will probably rest the ankle tomorrow and then try it again on Monday.

It was a rainy gloomy day here in Indiana for Mother's Day so with everyone just taking it easy around the house I decided to try out the ankle again. Since it was rainy outside I tried it on the treadmill which I thought might be easy on my ankle anyway. Today it felt much better than yesterday. It still hurt every once in awhile if I landed on it funny but overall it was good. I think I could have went further but I didn't want to over do it. I will try to go further tomorrow.

I didn't try to run on the ankle today. It is still sore but doesn't hurt when I ride the bike. I figured that I could get a better workout going hard on the bike rather than shuffling along running plus it gives my ankle another day of rest. I feel like in a couple of more days I should be able to run easy. I am starting to get to the frustrating point with the injury but a least I feel like I am getting some workout on the bike. Today I went for around 46 minutes on the bike and about 30 of it was pretty hard. About like a tempo run. It felt good to push the body again. I will probably go a couple of more days on the bike and then try to resume running. Maybe with the cross training I might give a triathlon a try.

I woke up today the ankle feet much better than the last few days. I had planned on riding the bike today but since my ankle was feeling better I decided to try to run on it. My daughter had soccer practice tonight so I thought I would try the run while she was practicing. I started off super easy and it felt good so thought I would go for it. After a mile or so it actually started to feel better. The only problems that I had is it started hurting on a long gradual downhill. However, it was fine coming back up the hill. So ended up with 4 miles and doesn't seem like any problems afterward. I will continue the ice and see how it feels tomorrow. I am cauiously optimistic that I can get back to normal soon.

35:30

My ankle felt good today after running 4 miles on it yesterday. I decided to keep today's run the same rather then push it higher. I started off a little sore and stiff in my ankle but as with yesterday it felt better after about a mile. I really felt like I could have kept going but I thought I had better still take it easy on the ankle and not try to over do it. Based on the last two days I feel like I should be able to get back to my normal schedule but will probably have to slowly add the distance. It is great to be back on the roads again!!

33:49

It was a nice morning today(50, cloudy) and felt good. My ankle didn't cause me any problems and felt good from the start. It is still a little swollen but doesn't hurt to run. I just have to be very careful and watch my footing. Any uneven places in the road still causes it to hurt.

Good run this morning. I feel slow for some reason. Not sure if it is the week layoff or maybe I am running differently favoring my foot. Anyway it is good to be back in the routine.

41:19

After yesterday's run I thought my ankle sprain problems were behind me and I would be back to normal running. What a difference a day makes. I went out this morning planning on running 6 miles and as soon as I started my ankle was very painful. Every stride hurt. I thought maybe it was stiff and I would give it some time to warm up. After around a mile I decided to call it quits and give the ankle some rest for the day. I did go back out during lunch just to see if it felt better and it did but still not good enough to run on. I will rest today and ice it then see what happens tomorrow.

After yesterday's rough day with the ankle it felt much better today. Starting out the ankle was a little stiff but it quickly loosened up and after around a 1 and half it felt pretty normal. I am still very aware of it and watch my footing very closely. I am still taking it easy pace wise and hopefully can get back up to speed next week. I will continue to ice and rest it as much as possible but will really be glad to get back to normal. It was a great day to run (60, windy).

50:36

It was a beautiful day outside but unfortunately I had to run on the treadmill. My wife had a meeting after church and I had the s so squezzed in a run before the soccer games this afternoon. I felt really good. Probably the best my ankle has felt since I hurt it. I think it is easier on the treadmill since it has some cushioning. I am really hoping that I can get a full week in this week but I do have some business travel so that is always a challenge.

39:49

I had to head out of town today on a business trip to Huntsville, AL. I was able to run few miles today after my meetings in the fitness center.  I went to the fitness center because it was 86 degrees outside and I didn't think I was ready for the heat.  I felt good running and my ankle was fine.  I am getting a little concerned about it because the swelling is not going down.  I am not sure if running on it is causing it to remain swollen or if it is just part of the process. Anyway it feels good while I am running so I guess I will keep it up unless it gets worse.

40:19

Still in Huntsville.  It was a nice morning to run (66, light wind) and I felt good.  Still no problems with the ankle so I stretched it out to 7 miles today.  I am going to try a full week this week to see how my ankle responds.  Still doing the ice and rest as much as possible so hopefully it will respond.  Big news today is I signed up for the Chicago Marathon today so definitely have something to shoot for now.  I am looking at several shorter races for the summer so I can finalize my schedule.  The plan right now for Chicago is to get a Boston Qualifier so we will see how the training goes.

57:14

Another day in Huntsville and it is a beautiful one (56, light wind).  I felt real good this morning and my ankle seems to be getting better each day.  I did notice some pain when I went down a steep hill but other than that it was great.  I really felt like running fast today but thought I should continue the conservitive path to recovery.  I know I will get a chance to run fast again soon.  This is my fifth day in a row running which is the best I have done since I sprained my ankle.  So hopefully I am now able to train normally.

64:44

Last day in Huntsville and I am more than ready to go home.  It was another great morning around 60 and no wind.  I can really get used to days like these.  I felt good this morning.  Started off kind of slow since I felt stiff and a little tired.  After a couple of miles felt much better.  I decided to do a couple of miles at faster pace to shake the legs out and get used to running fast again.  This went well and it felt good to run a little faster.  So far this is turning out to be a good week so hopefully I can finish it off well.

64:01

Great to be back home! Woke up this morning it was raining but luckly it stopped before I started my run. It turned out to be a nice morning (56, light wind). Pretty much the same as normal. Started off slow because I was a little stiff but loosened up and got to feeling good after a couple of miles. I decided to go a couple of extra miles today since tomorrow I am doing a church fun run 5k tomorrow so probably won't get in as many miles as I would like. Even with a down day tomorrow this has shaped up to be a great week for me since I hurt my ankle. I hope next week I can get back up into the 50's for the week.

1:22:14

Today my church had a fun run/walk 5k to raise money for charity. I had planned to just take it easy but I couldn't stop myself from trying to chase down a couple of the younger guys that went out fast. I started off kind of easy but then picked it up and ran the last 2.5 miles like a tempo run. I felt good and it was nice to be running fast again. It stirred me up to get back into some 5k/10ks to see where I am at speed wise. It was a great day (60, sunny) and a fun day.

It was a beautiful day today and spent most of the day with the family outside at the park. I had some free time late in the evening so went for a 15 mile bike ride. I felt good and it was just nice to be outside. I went at what would probably be the same HR as a easy run pace.

Since today is Memorial Day and I didn't have to work I added a few miles to my normal run. It was a nice morning probably in the high 60's, cloudy and windy when I started. As I started out my right calf was very tight I had to stop after about a half mile and stretch it out. It started loosening up and felt fine after a couple of miles. I felt good most of the way but around 8 miles the sun came out and the temperature went up. I started feeling the effects of the heat and probably since I didn't eat anything before going out I was kind of low on energy at the end. But overall it was a good run and it was nice to get a little longer run in to start the week.

1:39:06

It was warm and humid this morning which is the first time I have been able to say that this year. When I started off this morning I felt really tired with not much energy. My legs were tight and stiff so I just took it easy for a few miles. I did feel better later in the run but never did get back to what I would call normal. It did start light raining about 5 miles in which actually felt pretty good. It is days like this that I just need to push through and look forward to the better days to come.

66:03

I had a bunch of things going with the kids today (last day of school) so I ended up running in the afternoon. It was warm (70) and windy but was sunny and beautiful. I felt a little stiff getting started but that worked itself out after awhile. I did notice some pain in my shin that bothered me for a couple miles. Hopefully, this is not a potential problem. Otherwise, it was a great run.

56:47

It was a perfect day this morning to run (55, sunny, no wind). I wanted to do a tempo run today but decided to do it as cruise intervals (mile hard with a couple of minutes easy running) at around 6:30 pace. I ran a couple of miles for a warmup and as has been typical this week my legs just felt kind of heavy/tired. The first couple of miles went ok but it felt harder than I thought it should be. The third mile was a struggle and the last mile I just had to kind of push through. It was not exactly what I was looking for from the workout but I did hit my time goals. This will be a good gauge to see how I progress over the next few weeks of training. Here are the mile splits:

1st - 6:26

2nd - 6:29

3rd - 6:28

4th - 6:32

Ran a mile cool down and didn't have any problems with my leg today.

61:56

PM

A friend asked me to go for a bike ride and it was such a great day I couldn't refuse. We ended up going 18 miles and it was a beautiful evening. Then walked a couple of miles with my daughter when I got home. It was one of those days you want to be outside all day and that you don't want end.

Another great morning but more wind. Felt pretty good today after yesterday's workout. Just took it easy and cruised along nothing exciting to report. I guess it is a good thing to not have anything exciting to talk about like injuries, weather, travel, etc. It is kind of nice to just have some normal days.

This week has week good so far and I am planning a longer run tomorrow. I hope the weather cooperates. We are expecting severe storms.

64:38

All the storms went through in the night so was able to get out this morning for a long run. It was warm (70), humid and very windy. When I started out I didn't feel the best. Just felt a little run down. After a few miles it was pretty obvious that the warm humid weather and strong wind this was not going to make for a very fast run. I settled into a slower than normal pace and this seemed to work out pretty good. I felt pretty good through around 10 miles but I think the warm humid weather got the best of me the last few miles. This was the first day I have run in this type of weather and I could tell that I was not used to it. However, the objective was to get in the miles and I got in the miles in so I guess I will claim success.

1:59:28 (8:30 pace)

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

Ran in Central Park again but did around a 4 mile tempo run.  I didn't have an exact distance so just based it off of time.  The weather was pretty nice around 70 with some humidity.  It felt good to be running fast in Central Park.  There were a lot of people running and it is good when running fast to have people to chase so I just set my eyes on someone ahead and focused on catching them and passing them.  This made for a very nice tempo effort.  My legs did feel a little tired.  Probably from walking the streets of New York all day yesterday.

60:08

Just an easy run on the same route through Central Park.  It was a little cooler today (68, less humid) and a nice morning for a run.  Legs still feel heavy but have been doing a ton of walking around the city so no suprise about that.  This is our last day in New York and I am ready to get back to the slower pace in Indiana.  It is fun seeing all of the people out running in Central Park but I will take the back roads of Indiana over this any day. 

66:15

We stopped on the way back home and spent the night in a hotel on PA so just got up and did a quick 5 miles on the treadmill.  I wanted to get an early start home so I was glad to be able to get in some running.  Overall I am pretty happy with my running during vacation.  I really was hoping to just maintain my fitness and not miss many days.  Hopefully, when I get back home I can pick up the mileage and the training.

40:10

Good to be back home.  Woke up to hard rain this morning put off the run until later.  Ended up not running until late afternoon since it was my daughter's Birthday and had lots of activities going.  I felt very sluggish starting off and was very suprised when my first mile was around 8:00 because it felt like I was hardly moving.  This was pretty much the story for the rest of the run.  I didn't feel very good but the pace was good.  It was really just my legs that felt tired.  My breathing was real easy.  Kind of a strange run.  I threw in 6 x 100 m strides at the end to see if it would make the legs feel better.

63:03

Nice morning for a long run (64, very overcast).  I felt a little stiff and sluggish this morning starting out sort of like yesterday.  However, today after a couple of miles started to feel better.  Because of this the first couple of miles were very slow.  I settled into a good pace after loosening up and felt pretty good.  Since I was feeling good I picked up the pace over the last 6 miles and ran the last 4 between 7:30 and 7:45.  Ending up being a good run.  I am starting to feel stronger on these long runs so I will try to stretch them out over the next few weeks.

2:11:06 (8:12 avg)

PM

Went for a 20 mile bike ride with a friend.  It was a pretty easy pace but my legs felt the effects from this mornings run.

All the s were out this afternoon so I went for an easy recovery run.  It was late afternoon and pretty hot (85, sunny) so just took it real easy.  My legs felt very tired and sluggish but a little better toward the end of the run.  Hopefully, tomorrow they will feel much better.

68:34

I had planned on doing a tempo run today but have had sinus/allergy problems and didn't sleep much last night and didn't feel good this morning.  I thought I would just take it easy and try to get over the sickness.  It was warm (76) and humid today but just ran easily.  My legs felt a little better than yesterday but still tired.  I guess this could be from the sickness or some left over effects from the long run on the weekend.  Hopefully, I will feel better tomorrow and can get in the tempo run but at this point just want to get back to feeling good then take it from there.

66:23

Well the sinus problem has turned into a sinus infection and I feel pretty rough so skipping the run today and will rest so that hopefully tomorrow I will be able to get back out.  I need to make sure I get my long runs in since I am in the building endurance phase of my training plan.

I still haven't kicked the sinus infection but feel better today so did an easy 8 miles.  Felt good running and blew a lot of junk out of my head in the process.  It is frustrating getting sick and missing days running.  Especially when you feel like you are starting to make progress.  This also came at a bad time because I am doing a two day hiking trip to Red River Gorge this weekend so will probably miss a couple of more days this week.  This will definitely be a low mileage week but hopefully I can get some recovery time and be ready next week it back up.

64:45

Was still feeling rough last night so slept in and feel much better today but could only get in 5 miles due to the later starting time.  I felt good running and ended up being a pretty good pace.  I will be heading to Red River Gorge tonight for a couple of days of hiking.  Glad to be feeling better for the trip.

39:33

Hiked about 8 or 9 miles at Red River today.  Saw some unbelievable views and did a lot of up and down on the hills so probably ended up being a pretty good workout.  It was real hot today (90) so that was a factor as well.  Fun day.

Another day of hiking in Red River Gorge.  Did about the same amount of hiking as yesterday but got out a lot earlier so it was much cooler.  Real nice day and a good time.

After a real easy week last week and several days of not running I was ready to get back out there.  It was a nice morning (70) and the humidity was down with some clouds which made for pretty good running weather.  As I started out I was a little stiff from the hiking the last couple of days.  The first couple of miles were very slow but then started to get loosened up and felt real fresh.  I got into a pretty good pace and the miles just seemed to start clicking off.  It never felt difficult the whole time going the extra distance.  I even picked up the pace the last 5 or 6 miles.  This was my longest run since I did my first marathon 3 years ago and it seemed pretty easy.  I think all of the base building has really paid off as I increase the distance on these long runs.

2:28:29 (8:15 avg)

Very nice morning for running today (60, sunny, light wind).  I felt pretty good with just a touch of soreness from yesterday's long run.  I started off easy and picked it up a little after a couple of miles.  It was one of those runs you can put on cruise control, zone out a little and just enjoy the great day.  It was a little different for me since I usually take the day off after a long run so we will see how this week goes.

64:51 

Traveled up to Washington, DC last night for business.  It was a nice morning in DC (around 65 with low humidity).  I felt good this morning but still had a little soreness in the legs from the long run on Sun.  I just took it easy but did do some strides at the end.  Hopefully I will be able to get in a little longer run in tomorrow depending on meetings.

66:23

Still in DC and it was a nice morning but glad I got out early because it is going to be hot today.  I did a med-long run this morning and felt better today than I have the last couple of days.  Just took it easy and maintained a pretty even pace but did try to pick it up a little the last couple of miles.  It is a good change of pace running up here since most of the routes are rolling hills which I don't get at home.

1:40:11

Last day in DC and it was warmer and more humid this morning.  Just did an easy run.  Felt pretty good and just took it easy.  This has been a pretty good week considering the business trip.  Luckily my schedule has allowed me to stay on schedule with the running.  Really glad to be heading home tonight.

66:14

Back home and a warm/humid day (76, sunny).  Today I planned a 4 mile tempo run.  I felt kind of tired with lack of energy starting.  After a 2 mile warmup I was feeling a little better.  The goal for the tempo was 4 miles at 6:50 pace.  I started the tempo and increased the pace to what I thought was goal pace but came through the first mile in 7:17 way off pace.  I picked it up a little too much for the second mile and ran it in 6:37.  I settled back down to target pace but the effort felt way harder than what I thought it should for this pace.  I am not sure if it is just being tired from the extra miles this week, the heat or maybe a combination on both.  Anyway, I expected that I would be able to run this pace and not feel like I was pushing.  I thought it would be comfortablely hard.  I will give this workout another shot next week and see how it goes.  Here are the splits:

1st - 7:17

2nd - 6:37

3rd - 6:51

4th - 6:54

Overall 61:27

Went down to my wife's family for the weekend and spent some time on the lake and golfing.  I was able to squeeze in 5 miles between activities.  This wrapped up a pretty good week for me mileage wise.  Since we were visiting the family I couldn't do my long run for the weekend so I will hopefully be able to do it Monday morning.

41:21

Kinda unusal to do a long run on Monday but glad I was able to get it in.  Not the best day weather wise.  It was 80 degrees when I finished the run and fairly humid.  When I started off I felt good and ran along easily.  I felt good all the way to around 14 miles and then the heat started taking it's toll.  I probably should have started off slower knowing it was going to be so warm but it felt very comfortable at the time.  Also, I probably needed to get out about an hour early because once the sun was up I started the melt down.  I had planned on going 20 today but once the heat kicked in I took the shortest route back and was only able to cut off a mile.  Glad I stuck it out but looking forward to cooler days.

2:38:8 (8:19 avg)

I am on a business trip to Huntsville, AL and since the forecast today is for 100 degrees and humid I got out real early and only had to deal with a temp of around 76.  I thought my legs might be a little beat up after the long run yesterday but they felt pretty decent.  I started off easy and after a few miles actually felt pretty good.  Since I was feeling good I picked up the last couple of miles to around marathon pace.  Turned out to be a good run.

64:58

Still in Huntsville and had a better day this morning around 74 but felt like lower humidity. I wanted to do 12 miles but had some early meetings so was only able to get in 10 miles. I felt pretty good starting out and felt better as I went along. Turned out to be a good run and was treated with a beautiful sunrise as I ran.

83:45

It was a pretty nice day for Huntsville in July (68, lower humidity). I felt tired this morning when I got out. The legs just didn't feel very fresh. I did an easy 4 miles to get going and then wanted to throw in a couple of miles at tempo pace in preparation for Sat's race. I didn't want to do a longer tempo run just because of the way I felt and being this close to the race on Sat. The tempo miles went ok. Still didn't feel very strong but the pace was ok. I did a rough measurement of the distance so not totally sure on the times but ran the 1st mile in 6:40 and 2nd mile in 6:47. After this did a couple of miles for a cooldown.

64:14

I was very lucky with the weather this week in Huntsville.  Another good day with lower humidity, cloudy and around 70.  Again this morning I didn't feel very strong.  Just kind of tired.  I decided to cut the normal run short a couple of miles because of this and the fact that I have a race tomorrow.  I don't have too high of expectations for the race unless I feel much better tomorrow.  Ok run this morning.  Seemed to feel a little better as I went along.  I threw in a few strides at the end just to stretch out the legs.  I think I am just feeling the effects of a long week on the road.  Glad to be heading home.

51:10

This morning it was pretty warm and humid plus the last couple of days I have felt kind of sluggish so I didn't have great expectations for this race.  I wanted to treat it as a good strong tempo effort and get a few extra miles in the process.  I did a 2 mile warm up and it was very warm already (mid 70's, sunny and humid).  Going into the race I was hoping for something around 6:45 pace.  I got started easily but early on I felt like I was putting forth a lot of effort and wasn't going that fast.  I came through the first mile in 6:41 so was pretty close to pace.  Second mile was more of the same.  Just felt like I had no speed in my legs and I knew I was slowing down.  Second mile was 6:52.  The third mile was a long sunny stretch and now I was trying to adjust my effort so I could have enough for the finish and slowed even more.  The 4th and 5th miles I didn't feel like I was losing as much but just didn't have any left to pick up the pace.  Here are the splits: as I remember them.  For some reason when I went back to my watch I couldn't pull them up.

1st - 6:41

2nd - 6:52

3rd - 7:17

4th - 7:07

5th - 6:47

This is a real disappointing result for me.  I just really thought that I would be further along now.  These are the kind of times I was running a couple of years ago on 25 to 30 miles a week.  Now I am running 50 to 60 miles a week and I'm not any faster.  I know the weather wasn't the best but I run in this stuff everyday so don't think I can use that for an excuse.  It is very hard to trust the training when the results are not coming.  Maybe I need to do more tempo work/speed work something because this doesn't seem to be working.  Did a three mile cooldown for a total of 10.

I had to go on a business trip to Fort Knox for the day and didn't get much sleep last night so skipped the morning run and ran in the evening after I got back. It was warm (79) but not too humid. I didn't feel very good. My legs still felt very sluggish and tired so I took it real easy. Probably just left over from the race on Saturday. Hoping for better results in the morning.

51:02

After looking back over the last couple of I noticed that I had a lot of nights with less sleep than normal and wondered if that is contributing to the tiredness I have during my last few runs.  I decided to sleep in today and see if that helped.  I got a good nights sleep but was out later than normal so had to deal with hotter weather (75, humid).  I felt better starting out today but then got a side stitch that stayed with me pretty during the whole run.  It was just enough to be annoying.  I added in 8 x 100m strides at the end and then ran 1 mile with my daughter after I got back.  She is starting to get ready for CC this fall.  She will be in 6th grade and this is the first chance to run for her school.  So far she is doing pretty good but will have to see if she will stick with it.  She is very involved in soccer so have to see if she can handle both time wise.

8 mile: 65:52

1 mile with daughter: 10:45

Still warm and humid but at least it was cloudy today.  I did a med - long run today and wanted to do the last few miles at MP.  I felt pretty good but then got the side stitch again like yesterday after a mile or so.  It wasn't as bad as yesterday and went away around 6 miles.  After 8 miles I started picking up the pace and ended up running a progression run for the next four miles in: 7:41, 7:35, 7:23, 7:23.  These miles were all into a pretty good wind.  This is the first time that I have done this type of run at the end of a longer run on tired legs.  I still feel like something is not quite right because the legs still don't have it like they did a few weeks ago.  I just feel like this pace should be a lot easier than it currently is. 

1:55:50 (8:16 avg)

Pretty nice morning today (cloudy, 70) for running. Just did an easy recovery run today after going longer yesterday. I felt much better today. Hopefully, I am getting out of whatever has been dragging me down. I have been getting more sleep and doing a better job watching my diet/fluid intake. So maybe that is starting to pay off. Anyway I hope this is an indication that I am getting back on track.

49:19

Warm and humid this morning (74, 85%).  Or should I say very sticky?  I planned a tempo run today to get more focus on running faster.  I felt ok starting out today.  At least I didn't have that crazy side stitch I had the last few days.  After a couple of miles I started feeling much better.  I wanted to run my tempo miles in 7:00.  After last week's race and with the heat/humidity I didn't want to set my goals to high. 

I felt good starting the tempo and the first mile went pretty easy in 6:51.  The second mile I didn't feel quite as good and I let the pace slip a little to 7:00 but that was still ok.  The 3rd mile was probably my roughest and I consider shutting it down after the this mile in 7:05 but kept going and I'm glad that I did because I was able to pick up the pace on the last mile and finish in 6:52. 

I did feel better today running the tempo than I did in the race on Sat and the pace was about the same so hope that is a good sign.  Also, after looking back over my log I found out that July was my highest mileage month ever at 237 miles.  If all stays on schedule should go higher in Aug.

61:30

No break in the weather today.  Not sure what the temp was when I started but it was 75, 83% humidity when I finished.  It was pretty sticky from the start but I felt pretty good.  Knowing it was going to be a warm morning, I started off pretty slow and just took it easy for the first half.  At the turn around I was feeling ok so gradually picked up the pace on the way back.  Nothing drastic but it was nice to be able to run the second half faster than the first.  Around 15 miles I felt like I was running out of fuel.  I didn't really have enough to drink with me and I probably could have used a Gu at this point.  I was still able to maintain my pace and actually picked it up a little more the last 3 miles.  All in all a pretty good run in this weather.  Looking forward to doing a long run when it is about 50.

2:47:22 (8:22 avg)

Got a little break in the weather today as it was 68 and lower humidity. I felt good this morning and was just a little stiff from the long run over the weekend. Took it easy the first mile and then got into a comfortable pace for the rest of the run.

63:30

We had some big thunderstorms rip through this morning but I was lucky and caught a window long enough to get my run in without getting soaked or struck by lightning. Today I wanted to do a medium long run with 6 miles at MP toward the end. I felt good starting out but had some soreness and tightness in my right hip. That seemed to work out after 3 or 4 miles. I did 6 miles easy and then started the MP miles. The plan was to run these at 7:20 pace. Here is the breakdown:

1st - 7:18 (into the wind)

2nd - 7:11 (felt pretty good at this point)

3rd - 7:22 (still felt good just trying to stay on pace)

4th - 7:01 (pushed this one a little too much)

5th - 7:27 (still felt ok but slowed too much after previous mile)

6th - 7:18 (legs started to fell it on this one but ok)

7:16 avg

I was pretty happy with the run considering it was very humid (87%, 75 degrees) and not the best conditions for running. I certainly felt stronger today than I did a couple of weeks ago so I am starting to feel like I am turning the corner. Hopefully the body is getting used to the higher mileage.

1:41:08

In Washington DC today. Didn't sleep very good last night. It was one of those nights where you wake up every hour looking at the clock thinking it should be morning. My legs were tired this morning from yesterday's longer MP run. I just took it easy and ran at a real comfortable pace. It was warm and humid up here as well but supposed to get better later in the week.

66:48

Today I wanted to do a workout to develop strength for staying on pace in races or longer tempos. For me the best thing is mile repeats so today I wanted to do 4 x 1 mile at 6:40 pace with a couple minutes recovery. I am still in DC and lucky to have a pretty nice track close by. I did a 3 mile warmup and then did the repeats in:

1st - 6:35 (This one was a struggle as I was trying get the legs awake)

2nd - 6:36 (Felt better on this one)

3rd - 6:34 (Felt ok but feeling it the last lap)

4th - 6:29 (Not bad and wanted to finish strong)

I was pretty happy with the workout and think it turned out good. I am hoping that this will help me stay on pace for some longer tempo workouts to come.

1:14:16

Back home from DC and was treated to a beautiful morning for running (60, low humidity). I just did an easy recovery run this morning. This has been a pretty heavy week for me so for and I want to do another 20 miler tomorrow so just took it real easy today. With the weather being so nice I wanted to keep going but stayed with the plan. Also, I took off the day from work today and taking the kids to the water park so had to get back for that.

49:09

It was an unbelievably beautiful morning for August in Indiana (52, no wind, low humidity). What more could you ask for in the weather? I felt good this morning and give the good weather I wanted to run a little faster pace than normal for my long run. I started off real easy the first mile (8:48) but then picked it up and tried to settle in around 8:00 pace. I went through the half way point at around 8:08 avg pace. I was still feeling good so decided to pick it up over the last half. I ran the second half of the run almost 3 minutes faster than the first which is a good feeling. I noticed some pain in my right knee around 17 miles but it didn't stay with me. Every little ache and pain is a worry because I don't want to breakdown when I feel like I am finally getting used to the higher mileage. I finished feeling good and ran the last two miles about 7:30 pace. This was a real good run for me and gives me a lot of confidence for the marathon since I still have over two months to go.

2:46:21 (7:55 avg)

By the way, watched the Olympic opening last night and it was really impressive. Don't know how London will top that.

Very nice morning to run. I had some pain in my left knee over the weekend so today I wanted to take it easy and stay off the road so I ran on the high school xc course. Just took it real easy and my knee felt good so hopefully this will not turn into a problem. I am going to continue to take it easy on it until it feels normal. Don't want any setbacks at this point.

66:56

Beautiful morning today for running. I still have this weird thing going on with my knee it is not really that painful but just enough to notice it while running. After a couple of miles I just decided to turnaround and rest it to see if I can get it taken care of before it turns into something worse. On the way back I was running along and looked up and saw a skunk on the other side of the road. Too close for comfort for me! After I got back I iced the knee and took some ibprofen. I am not sure if I should run tomorrow or not. I am going to see how it goes today then make a decision.

33:15

PM

Ran a mile with my daughter who is getting ready for xc. My knee was feeling better.

We have had some unbelievable weather the last week. This is not normal for Aug in Inidana. It is usually hot and humid this time of year.

Well after icing and stretching my knee yesterday it felt much better today. As I started out there was still some tightness in the knee but no pain. I stopped a couple of times in the first two miles to stretch it out and that helped. After 3 miles I thought I would pick up the pace and see how it felt running faster on it. Suprisingly, it felt better when I was running faster. I just kept up the pace and decided I would try a tempo run and see how long I could go. If the knee caused any problems I would shut it down. I continued to feel good so made it through 4 miles at tempo pace. Here are the splits (7:01, 7:03, 7:09, 6:54). I didn't really push it hard since I was being careful with the knee. I did a 1 mile cooldown and again my knee felt tighter running slower than when I was doing the tempo. Still not really sure what is going on but hopefully another day of ice/stretching will do the trick.

I am thinking about doing some doubles this week since I figured two shorter runs would be easier on the body than one longer run.

61:01

Another nice day this morning. My knee felt much better this morning so I decided to go back to my normal schedule. Starting off I felt really good and didn't really have any problems with the knee. There were a few times during the run when the knee acted up but for the most part everything was normal. I felt really good during the run but held back since I did some tempo work yesterday. If everything goes well with the knee I am planning a long MP run on the weekend. I will keep with the ice and stretching plus try to do most of my running off road to see if I can get the knee back to 100%.

1:45:17 (8:06 avg)

Another great morning for running (60, calm). My knee was feeling fine this morning but still trying to take it easy on it so went to Southeastway Park so I could run on soft surface. I only noticed the knee a couple of times during the run but for the most part everything felt normal. As far as running goes I felt a little sluggish when I got started but once I woke up and got warmed up the run was good. Just took it easy today since I am planning a long MP run tomorrow. It was nice to not have to deal with cars and just enjoy the beautiful morning.

67:40

Nice morning today (60, light wind). Today I planned to do a 10 mile MP pace run. I planned to do 5 miles easy then the MP run. My knee is still feeling pretty good. It did bother me a little in the first couple of mile but after that felt fine. I felt good starting out today and wanted to run the MP miles around 7:20 pace. Here are the splits for my MP miles:

1st - 7:27

2nd - 7:00 (ran the first too slow picked it up too much)

3rd - 7:15 (finally settled into right pace)

4th - 7:17

5th - 7:14 (into headwind)

6th - 7:19

7th - 7:16 (started feeling the effort here)

8th - 7:06

9th - 7:20

10th - 7:10 (wanted to finish strong)

Avg - 7:14

I was pretty happy with the MP run. The times were on target but seemed like it required more effort than it should have. I don't really think I could hold this pace for a marathon right now. I was really starting to feel the effort the last 3 or 4 miles and I had to push it to the finish. I am going to do a couple of more of these before the marathon so I will see how it goes and make adjustments on pace as necessary. Still a pretty good workout for me.

2:00:58 (7:34 avg)

Beautiful afternoon and went for 28 mile bike ride with a friend. Knee felt pretty good for the ride but still not 100%. However, my legs felt great after the 16 mile run yesterday. If I can just get this knee straight everything else seems to be good.

Left on an early morning flight today to Fort Lauderdale where I was welcomed by Tropical Storm Fay.  My thoughts of running along the beach didn't materialize but was able to squeeze in 7 miles between meetings.  Felt good today and no problems from the knee which is the first time in about a week.  Hopefully, the knee problems are behind me.  The weather here doesn't look too good for in the morning so may be another day on the treadmill.  I may catch a break and all of this will move through during the night and I can get outside in the morning.

55:23

Still heavy rain and wind this morning so back on the treadmill.  In order to shake things up I planned to do 6 x 3:00 at 6:15 pace with 2:00 easy between.  I felt good during the warmup and again the knee seemed to cooperate.  The repeats went good and felt ok for the most part.  I started to feel the effort on the last couple.  It felt good to run fast.  Hopefully, tomorrow I can get outside and enjoy the scenery.

60:40

Still in Ft Lauderdale but finally got a nice morning (78, humid, windy).  I wanted to do a med long run today but didn't have the time since I was wore out last night and needed some sleep plus had an early meeting today.  I decided to break it up into two runs. 

AM

Did an easy 8 miles along the ocean and got to see the sunrise over the ocean which is always cool.  I felt pretty good today but had a little soreness in my legs.  I am not sure if this is from the intervals yesterday or from standing up all day yesterday at this conference.  Anyway it got better as I went along.

67:12

PM

Hot, humid and very windy.  Again still had the soreness in the legs but otherwise felt good.  I ran out and back along the ocean.  One way had a strong tailwind which I ran at around MP and then much harder back into the wind.  Glad to get both runs in.

46:37

Last day in Ft. Lauderdale and it was warm/humid this morning.  My legs really felt trashed this morning.  I think all the running, standing all day at the trade show and poor sleep is starting to catch up with me.  I was going to try to do something faster this morning but thought it would be better just to take easy and save that for a better day.  Turned out to be an ok run.  Just crusied along and enjoyed the scenery but really glad to be heading home tonight.

57:23

I didn't get back home until around 12:30 last night then had trouble getting to sleep so got out later than normal today. It was warm and humid (74). When I started off my legs felt kind of sluggish but then felt better as I got going. Added 8 x 100 strides at the end. I didn't want to do to much today since I am going to do a long run tomorrow. Just glad to be back home.

64:14

Well my running plans changed big time today. I had planned a 20+ mile long run but forgot that I had promised to take my daughter's to a big football game last night. Our local school got to play in the brand new Colts stadium (amazing what you can build for $720 mil) and we didn't get home last night to around 12:30 and I didn't get to sleep until around 1:30 so no way I was going to be able to get up early enough to get the long run in since my daughter had a soccer game this morning as well. So decided to do a shorter tempo run instead. Its times like these that I am reminded that I am a Dad first.

I started out and my legs had no energy. I knew this was not going to be a great run so thought I would just try to make the best of it. When I started the tempo I could feel I was off so thought I would run the first mile at what felt like a good hard tempo pace and then try to hold that. I ran the first mile in 7:01 and wanted to try to run the others around 7:00. I managed to run the next three in 7:03, 7:02, 6:54. I never really felt good but I did take some satisfaction from making the best out of a rough day. I have got to get some sleep/rest to get back on track. Three nights in a row with not enough sleep is taking its toll. Might try to do another easy run tonight if I feel better.

1:10:23

PM

Decided to go back out for an easy run tonight. It was very warm today so even at 8:00 it was in the 80's and humid. When I started out I didn't feel very good getting started and thought about calling it quits but after a couple of miles I started feeling much better. By the 3rd mile I actually felt pretty good so started picking up the pace. I felt good the rest of the way and picked it up each mile. The body is both an amazing and complex thing. After feeling so rough this morning I came back tonight and actually felt good even after being outside all day in 90+ degree weather.

56:08

Since I didn't get to do my long run over the weekend I got up early today to get it in. The weather was much better since it was cooler and the humidity was down (62). I started off real easy the first couple of miles then got into a grove. I felt good but did have some aches in the knee but for the most part it was ok. After about 8 miles I started picking up the pace a little and went faster all the way until I finished. Ran the last couple of miles around 7:40. It was a good run and felt pretty good afterward for running 22 miles.

2:56:35 (8:02 avg)

Beautiful morning for running (58). I had a little soreness from yesterday's long run but actually felt pretty good compared to how I have felt in the past after a long run. I did have some soreness/tightness in the knee again so not sure if I can get through a long run without having some problems. I will just continue the ice/streching to see if I can keep it from getting worse.

I just took it easy today but felt good later in the run so finished with a couple of faster miles.

65:20

Had to travel to Warner Robins, GA last night and didn't get in until very late due to the FAA mess yesterday.  It was a decent day for running considering this far South (78, humid).  I wanted to do a few extra miles today and found a good route through some neighborhoods.  It was however very hilly which provided a good workout for me.  There was hardly any flat ground and was either going up or down all of the time.  This is not normal for me.  My knee felt better today but still felt it several times during the run.  Running wise I felt good today and feel recovered from the long run on Monday.

1:30:40

I had an early meeting today and since I was in an unfamilar place, couldn't find any good routes without a lot of traffic and didn't want to get out on the roads in the dark I decided I would run on the treadmill today in the hotel.  I wanted to do a 5 mile tempo around 6:50 pace and see how I felt. 

I started off with an easy warmup and the legs felt heavy/sluggish from the start so not a good feeling going into the tempo.  I started the tempo and the first mile didn't feel good but I didn't want to back off.  Second mile was a bit better but not much.  The 3rd, 4th and 5th miles I felt a little better but was pushing more on the 5th mile.  Here are the splits:

1st - 6:56

2nd - 6:52

3rd - 6:51

4th - 6:48

5th - 6:40

The good thing about doing this on the treadmill is that it is easy to control the pace.  I probably could have done the first couple of miles faster but I wanted to make sure that I got the full 5 miles in.  Not a bad run but wish I was further along with these tempos.  It is getting better I think.

1:00:23

Still down in South GA today and out real early so the weather was pretty good.  Just did an easy recovery run today.  I felt pretty good and the knee was not too bad.  Only bothered me a couple of times. Looking forward to getting back home today and hopefully get in a long run tomorrow.

58:12

I got up a little later than I wanted so it was warmer (72) then I hoped but still a good day. I felt ok today but the legs were a little tired. I ran comfortable and easy for most of the run but ran 5 miles in the middle at MP (between 7:10 - 7:25). The MP didn't feel the best. I felt like I was pushing too hard for MP. I thought I might run longer at MP but decided I should probably just run the rest easy and try it another day. This is the highest mileage week for me ever so guess it is normal for the legs to not have much zip in them.

2:23:36 (7:59 avg)

Since I had the day off I thought I would take the extra time and go to the track to do some work. It was warm and humid day (76). I planned on doing 8 x 800 at around 3:10 as a strength/speed workout. I did a couple of mile warmup and felt good. The first 800 was a little slow but once I got loosened up the rest felt better and were faster. The last couple I was starting to feel it. Here are the splits:

1st - 3:14

2nd - 3:06

3rd - 3:07

4th - 3:06

5th - 3:04

6th - 3:04

7th - 3:05

8th - 3:03

I was happy with the workout. I haven't done much speed work in a long time so it was good to get the legs moving faster.

1:19:36

I left real early this morning on a business trip to Honolulu.  I had a 3 hour layover in Chicago so went to the fitness center and ran on the treadmill.  Not exactly what I wanted to do but was glad to get the run in.  I will only be in Hawaii for two days so this is going to be a mixed up week.  I hope to get some good runs in while there but it will be tough when I have to travel back.  I know I won't get much sympathy but I would rather have stayed home.

66:23

Made it to Honolulu and got out around 3:00 this morning on a normal day (75, humid, very windy).  I did my normal route for the area up around Diamond Head.  I wanted to a medium long progression run this morning.  Started off easy for the first few miles then started to gradually pick up the pace.  It was nice to hear the ocean as a ran even though I couldn't see much of it at this time in the morning.  I had mapped out a run on the computer but got to one part around 5 miles where there was a seriously steep/long hill (at least 15%) so didn't think this was good for the progression pace so just started heading down random streets.  When I came back and mapped it on the computer it ended up being 11.8 instead of the 12 miles I planned.  Anyway, I hit the turnaround in 48:48 and then started picking up the pace more aggressively.  Felt good running this pace and ran the last couple of miles at what was probably tempo pace.  Ran the last half in 43:07 (7:15 pace) which I felt pretty good about over the hilly course.

1:32:07