The Next Step

I stayed up late last night watching the Colts-Patroits game.  Wow that was a really crazy game and I can't believe that the Colts won. I think Bill gave us an early Christmas present with his decision to go for it on 4th down.  After the game I was pretty hyped up so had a hard time going to sleep.  I decided to get some extra sleep this morning and run after work.

It was cool (44) and very windy this afternoon.  I felt really good when I started which is encouraging after the long run on Sat.  It seems like the body is adjusting to the long runs since I am recovering faster.  I just ran easy the whole way.  It did seem to get a lot colder when it got dark and I wish I would have worn gloves because my hands were freezing.  

60:50 (7:36 avg)

We had probably my least favorite type of weather today (cool, raining and windy) so I stayed inside on the TM.  I wanted to do some faster running today on the track so I only ran 6 miles this morning and will try to get to the track this afternoon.  I felt good running this morning and just took it easy so I will be fresh for the faster stuff this afternoon.

6m in 46:40 (7:47 avg)

 PM:  The day didn't work out the way I planned.  First of all I got crazy busy at work and then I only had a short window to get a run in before my daughter had a play tonight.  It was pouring rain at this time so back on the TM.  Since I didn't have much time I did a one mile warmup and then 4 x 3/4 miles @ 6:00 pace with a 1/4 recover.  I felt good during the intervals and could have pushed it faster but that is as fast as my TM will go.  Not a bad run for just squeezing something in but I would have liked to do more.

5m in 35:45 (7:09 avg)

When I got out this morning it had stopped raining but was cool (42). I felt tight and sluggish this morning when I started. It took me about 3 or 4 miles to feel like I was loosened up and running normal.  About 2 miles into the run it started to rain really hard which made it feel a lot colder.  I thought about going back to the house and finish on the TM but it stopped raining soon and I started to warm back up.  I just took it easy the rest of the way and ended the run feeling pretty good.  I am traveling to DC this afternoon so not sure if I will get another run in today or not.

9m in 1:11:41 (7:58 avg)

Fairfax, VA: It was 55, misty rain and windy this morning. I had a hard time getting up and going this morning but once I started moving I felt better. I planned to do 10 miles at MP today and thought it would be a good simulation for the marathon because of the rolling hills up here. I started off with 4 miles easy and then got into the MP miles. I felt pretty good running the MP miles but had to push it some because of the wind and hills. My legs didn't feel the best this morning. I just seemed to be lacking energy. It was a good run and I was glad to get a longer MP run in especially with some hills. Here are the MP splits: 7:02, 7:02, 6:55, 7:05, 6:56, 6:55, 6:54, 7:04, 7:01, 6:52.

1:45:10 (7:20 avg)

My flight got delayed last night so I ended up getting in late so was dragging this morning.  It was 42, with some wind.  I felt better after I got out and got going.  Nothing special today just taking it easy after the MP run yesterday.  I did add 6 x strides at the end.  Hoping for good weather tomorrow for another long run.

1:10:48 (7:52 avg)

Great morning for running (42, calm).  Three weeks until the Huntsville marathon so this is my last 20 miler.  Today I ran out to a loop that has some decent hills and I ran that loop 3 times to get a long run in with more hills to prepare for Huntsville.  Got started early and was sluggish getting going.  I felt like I was running good but I was really slow starting out.  After a few miles I finally got to feeling a little better.  I still just took it easy to around 10 miles because of the way I was feeling.  After 10 I started to pick up the pace and I ran faster each mile from then to the finish.  I ran the last 8 miles all under 7:25 and the last 4 between 7:15 and 7:00.  For starting off kind of bad it turned out to be a good run and I felt pretty good afterward.  My plan is to try to get a pretty good week in this coming week, run med-long next Sat and then do a two week taper for the marathon.  I also need to start figuring out what my plan should be for the race pace wise.  Now off to paint a dining room and put up the outside Christmas lights since it is going to be such a nice day.

2:46:00 (7:41 avg)