The Next Step

It was cool (40) and very windy for the run today. I felt good and ran easy after yesterday's rest day. The wind was a factor when running into it but just tried to keep it easy and relaxed. I am trying to get back to normal mileage this week if everything goes well.

62:09

I ran at lunch today in Southeastway Park. It was a pretty sunny day but cool (37) and windy. It was really nice running through the park with all the leaves turning color and it felt good to have the sun shining on me instead of the early morning runs. I felt good today and race ease on the first two loops of the park. The last two loops I picked up the pace some but my legs felt kind of heavy so didn't want to push it too much. On the last lap I did 4 x short hill sprints then about a 1/2 mile jog for a cool down.

65:35

I ran at lunch again today. I guess I am being a wimp and avoiding the colder temps in the morning. I know I will have to face them soon but luckily my schedule this week has allowed me to run later in the day. It was nice today (48) but very windy. I just did an easy run today. The last couple of days I haven't ran hard but they weren't easy runs either so needed a easy day. I am planning a progression run tomorrow so hope to be fresh.

63:15

It was a cold (26) morning and I had planned to do a medium length progression run but went out and way under dressed for the temperature. I didn't check the temp before I went out so was in shorts and a long sleeve shirt. I thought I would warm up but never got warm so decided to cut the run short and then do my progression run this afternoon. I felt ok running just couldn't get warm and didn't feel like I would be able to run fast. I didn't realize it was in the 20's until I got back.

49:05

Well the day got away from me and I never did get back to the second run. Too much going on at work and with the family.

Warm morning (44) with some light wind. Didn't have much time today either so was able to get in 6 miles. With Halloween tonight we have some activities that we are helping with at church so probably all I will get in today. I felt good but just ran easy. Hopefully, next week I can get into some more serious running. The Huntsville Marathon will sneak up on me if I am not careful.

47:43

I decided at the last minute to run this race because I had been wanting to run some faster workouts this week and they never happened so just thought I would jump in this race instead. Another reason is the weather looked perfect. It was around 48 at the start. Since it has only been 3 weeks since my marathon my plan for the race was to go out and run the first 6 miles like a tempo run at around 6:50 pace and if I felt good continue to race to the finish. I did a two mile warm up before the race and was feeling good.

1st mile - 7:09 (it was a big race but there were around 6,000 runners so I had to weave through quite a few runners to get clear)

2nd mile - 6:36 (I over reacted a little here due to the slow first mile)

3rd mile - 6:42 (starting to settle into a good pace)

4th mile - 6:48 (this was pretty close to what I wanted to run)

5th mile - 6:46 (still feeling pretty good)

6th mile - 6:48 (this was my check point and I was still feeling good to decided to keep up the pace)

7th mile - 6:50

8th mile - 6:48 (took a gel here and was starting to feel it a little here but got a pick up from the gel)

9th mile - no marker (I felt like I was able to pick up the pace here some after the gel)

10th mile - 12:11 (for two miles so I know this marker had to be off because I felt like I picked it up some but not that much faster.)

11th mile - 7:27 (I know this was off but avg around 6:40 for 3 miles)

12th mile - 6:53 (here my legs really started feeling the effects of having run a marathon a few weeks ago. I felt like I should be able to go faster but couldn't get the legs to turnover any faster)

13th mile - 6:59 (I felt like I was really slowing down but was glad to see I didn't lose too much time)

13.1 - 1:28:38 (It felt really good to look up and see the 1:28 on the clock as I came to the finish)

It was really good to get under 1:30 and a boost to my confidence after the poor performance at Chicago. This gives me some motivation going to the Huntsville marathon and now feel that the BQ is within reach. Also, I am looking forward to running a half where I can focus on it and see what I can do. I did a 3 mile warm down after the race.