Random Inspirational Quote

About a minute slower than last year's time in this race.  I was okay for the first mile in 6:05, or so.  For some reason I decided to start doing cross training for legs and core this week - mostly lunges, 1-leg squats, etc.  Only 2 days this week, with one 10 minutes worth yesterday...

I guess this was the culprit of the horrible lactic-type buildup that I felt in my quads in this race.  I could barely hold on to what was MP (and slower) a month ago.  8k - 32:10 :(   Whatever

easy 2 mi. with the dog.  Sore and tight quads.  ??  What is going on...  

XT today - 40 minutes biking on the old clunker - very windy, but 70 degrees today! :)

20 min. on the elliptical,

10 min. core/circuit/legs

PM Group Grandview Run

Our group is growing - we had 5 today.  Headlamps on the whole run now with a 5:30p start.

We ran this faster than we ever have before, but the nasty climb between 7 mi. and 8.5 mi. felt awful and I really had to slow down.  The hamstrings tightened up... alot :(  We kept it around 7:10 the whole way, which felt relaxed until that last hill.

9.3mi. - 1:05:40

I've been tracking calories and everything I eat for a whole week, now!  :)  I think its helping me limit my bad food intake.  Last Series run - Crossroads 5k this weekend.  Also, hopefully the start of base building for spring within the next couple of weeks.

PM - 4 mi. easy - 2 mi. with dog, 2mi. all alone.  Its cooled off here in Indiana - its about 45 degrees at 5p now. 

4 mi. - 31:40.

Chipotle Burrito and then Matrix blue ray and 3 miles on the treadmill at easy pace:

3mi. - 25:45 

10 minutes of core and legs during the most irritating movie I have seen in a while - "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close".   The kid was too much... 

PM run:  broke out the Racing Flats for 5.12 mi. w/ strides/intervals @ 5k pace: 6x400 (72,75,75,76,76,78) - 36:45    

Changed in to the old faithful Ravenna 3s for:  3.3mi. easy w/ dog - 25:52

Sub 18 would be nice on Saturday...

PM - easy 4 mi. on the treadmill with the new Dark Knight Blue Ray to keep me company.

35:22 

Protein shakes have become a new dietary development - they seem to cut down on the soreness. 

1 mi. walking after dinner

Last CR Series Race of the year.  Standard result.  Thinking I'll be stuck around 18:30 range until some higher intensity training and strength conditioning over a longer period of time.  About a month without racing would help, too :) Gotta get that first mile under control!

5:40, 6:09, 6:10, 0.1 - 0:39 

AM: easy 4.1 mi. around county road loop

PM:

Mag  7 Race Series 5k at 2pm today.  Hilly, but great weather - 55 deg. and overcast.

Felt good today - tough course with downhill 1st mile, and I'm not in that great of shape right now to be honest. 

Splits: 5:45, 6:16, 6:23, 0:35

jogged a mile after the race, and then a mile later on the treadmill.  Been walking about 20-30 minutes a day additionally, and protein shakes after runs to keep soreness at bay (and hopefully strengthen these weak legs at some point)

PM - Strength training/circuits:

1 mi. jog WU, 

4 X mountain climbers, 0.5 mi. @ 9mph (MP),

4 X legs/core (pushups, crunches...), 0.5 mi. - 9.2 mph (HMP),  

4 X higher intensity legs/core (burpees, pike press...), 0.5 mi. - 9.5 mph (15k/10mi. pace),

4 X legs/core (pushups, crunches...), 0.5 mi. - 10 mph (8k/10k pace).

0.5 mi. CD

High intensity/low mileage day - going to start doing this 2-3 times a week throughout the winter for some strength building.  I really want to be able to jack up the mileage this spring without getting as beat up as I did this fall...  I'm really digging the Kenyan workouts Jake found and posted for everybody :)

Can't wait to see what 2 X the hilly 15k group run course feels like tomorrow :) 

group run moved to Thursday.  Easy 8 mi. PM Terrace Lake course - 64:40.  Brrrrr... it was 55-60 deg. this weekend.  Today it was 35. :)  Tight left hammie and knee.  Easy does it tomorrow, too.

PM Track workout - 40 degrees and sunny:

7 mi. w/ 6x0.5 mi. (2:57,2:53,2:50,2:49,2:46,2:44), 0.25 mi. in 70.  All with 0.25 mi. rec. jogs.

Got to a watch a work friend coach his 5th/6th grade b-ball team at the school where I ran's track.  They are currently 0-6... :) 

PM group run around Grandview.  3 of us tonight and cold getting colder at 5:30p.  tough to get the legs going:   9.32mi. - 1:08:08 

PM easy 3.34 mi. around the neighborhood - 26:10.  55 degrees again

PM after dinner - easy 2 mi. on the TM - 17:10

Super slow 2.75 on the treadmill in the new shoes.  Brooks Glycerin 10 - Kentucky Blue and White.  "Softer" than the Ravennas, with that already broken in feel, they are going to see some action tomorrow when "Hustle" a half up in Indy.  Watch out Rudolph, tomorrow, I'm gonna "beat" Santa.

Started at what I thought would have been a manageable pace - wrong.  The legs are fatigued, and just not wanting to move like they were a month ago.  Solid first 4 miles, and at this point I felt the usual pains - left hamstring, knee, blah, blah... Nobody wants to hear somebody whine about injuries.  I kept it at around a little slower than MP the rest of the way, and finished.

Decent training run I guess :)  Oh well, at least I didn't pay for the race :)  Sorry, Indy, but, one hr long drive is enough for a half I haven't trained for... Yeah, no race day packet pickup for a 9am race.

6:16, 6:22, 6:16, 6:21, 6:27, 6:37, 6:35, 6:52, 6:56, 6:48, 6:50, 6:54, 6:51, 0:46

13.12 - 1:26:58

Very sore from yesterday.   Super easy 2 mi. on the treadmill

5:30 pm Grand View Group Run.  Tim showed up today, so we had 4.  Faster pace than ever before (because of Tim).  Kept it under 7:00/mi. for the whole 15k, even the last climb.  Felt manageable until the final climb.  45 degrees and clear - running under the stars around the lake - nice :)

9.31 - 1:03:57

PM - 4 mi. w/ dog with some strides at the end: 4.1 - 30:37, 2 mi. easy on the treadmill

AM treadmill - light interval workout: WU, 5x0.25 @ 10 mph, CD.  4mi.-29:26

PM outside:  Its Snowing!!  The wind was gusting (about 30 mph) and the snow was starting to fall.  Couldn't miss it - 2 mi. w/ 0.5 mi. stride (~6:00/mi.) - 14:07.

Brooks Glycerin 10 - for soft and the usual already broken-in feel that Brooks has had for me.  Nice training/long run shoes

AM: easy 2 miles outside with the dog.  Snowy, slick roads and feels like 20 degrees here in Indiana.  Not as bad as some places in the country, but far from comfortable running conditions.

Maybe a couple more later on the treadmill.  Looking for about 50 miles this week, about 60 next week.

PM: 2.5 miles on the treadmill - nice and easy

No 5k this morning - its an hour drive, the roads are icy, and my sister and best friend both had babies this weekend.  AM: Easy 7 mi. on the treadmill - 1 hr.  Off to home - Lexington, KY for the next couple days - through Christmas.  Will get to visit with two different newborns.  It'll be nice to get some miles in on the old routes down by my dad's house.  Merry Christmas everybody!

6 miles around the old neighborhood in Lexington, KY.  Dad's house to my high school and back.  Running mostly through a neighborhood where I thought I might see some old buddies from high school really helped to make me run faster than I would have at home in IN (pathetic). 

40:40 on some hills and only the first mile in less than MP - happy with effort, but sore.  This whole week needs to be a recovery week. Building up nice and slow with previous weekly mileages: 32, 38, 45, 50... I'l shoot for 40 this week.  Then up to 55-60 next week. 

4 mi. easy in the AM, Lexington still.  - 31:00.

2 mi. moderate - Dad's house over to Firebrook neighborhood.  This brought back alot of memories, since this used to be where I would do easy runs during off season for high school track - 14:30

Merry Christmas - AM: easy mile with the dog and easy 2 miles on my own.  A full daywith both Tiff and I's families.

A little winter storm has brought in a good deal of snow for this area - no work today :) maybe a run later...

PM: Strength/Circuits for 30 minutes -- abs, legs mostly

PM: Weak treadmill intervals at A.F. -- Free 7 day pass to Anytime Fitness - I will never pay for it, please stop calling me AF employee :)

2 mi. WU w/ strides,

2x1mi. w/ 0.25 rec. -- 5:50, 6:00,

2x0.25mi. -- 76, 81

6 total - 41:25

Anytime Fit. PM treadmill run - 8 mi. @ 8mph most of the way.  mile 6 @ MP, which equates to 9.2mph for me, and 0.25mi. @ 10k (~10mph) ?? The 10k-vs.-MP paces don't seem comparable?

8 mi. total - 59:40

~30 min. of strength stuff after run:

lunges with weights, squat press with light weight on machine, some ab stuff, some hip reps, mostly legs and core, you get the idea.

While working out, I am reminded of why the gym is not for me - some random dude I don't know has been eying me the whole time (prolly cause of my short shorts) while running and going through my light strengthening work.  Then I'm in the middle of a set of abs on the floor next to a machine I have just hopped off of, and he struts up and loudly says, "you mind if a work in a cycle?"  I'm like, "Sure, I'm done, pant, pant (in between situps)"  -- HE then rips the weight assist bar out that I had been using and loads on some weight to resist - clearly for much "stronger men", very loudly grunts out about 5 reps and slams the weight down and struts off...

wow - he showed me. :)

easy 2 mi. - 15:25 -- rest and recovery.  Stepping it up this next week.

2pm Grandview group run - 3 of us today.  We've had about a 16" of snow in the last four or five days, but the roads were clear enough to run around the lake today.  A couple slick spots in the shady parts, but almost dry pavement most of the way.  The lake had the lonely Godfather Part 2 (When he kills Fredo) feel to it today.  :)  It was quiet, but surprisingly busy.  There were several walkers, one other runner, and a bunch of sledders on the dam.  

Anyway - good to get outside and run - 9.31 in 1:05:03.  The first mile is always slow - its a decent climb and especially challenging on cold legs and a couple of ice patches.  Except for the climb between 7.5 and 8.5, we kept it under 7min./mi.

PM treadmill workout out Anytime:

1.5 WU, 4x0.5 mi. @ 10.6mph w/ 0.25 mi. rec. - hard to believe that I once did 10 of these outside.  These were very hard today.  6 mi. - about 45 min.

30 minutes of strength training - core and legs with some upper body.

No crazy meatheads today :)