The Next Step

Back in Indiana and was greeted with a cool (40) fall morning.  I felt pretty good this morning but a little tight/stiff from the race and travel yesterday.  We had a great vacation but it is always good to be home.  I just took it easy this morning.  I was excited coming out to the Disney race and am looking forward to upcoming half and full marathons.

1:10:35 (7:51 avg)

Nice day for running (50) with some light rain.  I went to Southeastway Park and ran 3 loops around the park through the woods then ran 8 x hill sprints.  I felt tired this morning so just ran easy until the hill sprints.  I think the hills actually helped wake my legs up since I felt better after that.  It was nice to get in the woods and enjoy the scenery with all the leaves changing colors.

8m in 68:09 (8:31 avg)

 PM:  It was raining outside so I stayed in and ran on the treadmill.  I did a couple of miles easy then did 3 miles at MP followed by a 1 mile warmdown.  I felt ok but the legs were heavy.  This is my first time on the treadmill in awhile and I missed being able to be outside.  I am not looking forward to winter. 

I did finally get my marathon plans straight for this fall.  I am going to run the half marathon here in Indy on 11/7 then run the Huntsville marathon again on 12/12.  I like having a few more weeks to get ready plus being able to use the half to test my fitness.

45:07 (7:32 avg)

It was a damp but nice morning for running around 50 with light wind.  It was really dark this morning with the clouds so ran a few miles around the neighborhood before heading out on the streets.  I didn't feel the best this morning.  Just tired so I ran easy the whole way.  I did pick up the pace a little as I went along but nothing hard at all.  I was glad to get a little longer run in this morning.  I have been trying to get in one med-long run in every week.  I think it was helped my endurance combining that with a normal long run.

1:42:10 (7:52 avg)

It was a nice day for running (55) but very windy.  Today I planned on doing 8 miles at MP.  I felt good on the warmup and thought it would be a good run.  I was having to hold back on the warmup to keep from going too fast so that was a good sign.  I planned to run aroun 7:10 pace for the MP but just wanted to run relaxed and comfortable.  After the warmup I started the MP miles and it felt real good.  I didn't feel like I was pressing at all.  The miles into the wind were a little slower but just tried to keep the same effort.  Here are the splits for the MP miles:

7:03, 7:07, 7:04, 6:59, 6:52, 6:58, 6:53, 6:47

Real happy with the run and feel like I am starting to make some progress.

1:19:06 (7:11 avg)

Unseasonably warm morning today (64) but was also very windy.  Just an easy run this morning after the MP run yesterday.  I felt sluggish this morning and just had a hard time getting going.  I was glad to get back home and get out of the wind.  This has been a pretty good week of training and hopefully can finish it off tomorrow with a long run.  Supposed to have some rain moving through so I hope it is done by tomorrow.

1:12:38 (8:04 avg)

This morning I went and worked a 5k that our church does to raise money for our inner city kids program.  I didn't get back to the house until around 11 so had some lunch and decided to run later in the day since my wife and daughters are helping with a Fall Festival at the church. 

It warmed up a little this afternoon but only about 50 and it was very windy with gusts up to 25 mph.  Starting off I felt real good and had to hold back from going out too fast.  Settled into a nice pace and tired to keep it steady most of the way.  The wind was really tough.  It felt like it was beating on me all the time.  Just didn't feel like I ever got a break from it.  Not sure if it was the wind or the accumulation of miles this week but I could really feel it in the legs starting around 16 miles.  I didn't slow down any after this.  I actually picked up the pace some but legs just felt really beat.  I was glad to get this one in and felt good about the pace.

2:50:33 (7:45 avg)