running for my mind

Today was another scheduled rest day. Felt good to be off of my feet, but I was itching to go on a run. I am early in my training for Ogden so I need to continue to be disciplined and stick to my plan.

Iced my knees and ankle/foot tonight just for preventetive measures mostly. I need to get back in the habit of icing. I was good about that last training cycle.

My goal for this week is to hit 40 total miles and to get in a speed workout with some 400 meter repeats. I might also try and squeeze in a 2 mile tempo at marathon pace like last week in the middle of one of my runs depending on what day the repeats fall on. I will probably shoot for 11-12 miles on Saturday.

I skipped this morning's run because of the storm and because I wanted to give my wife a break so I fed Grey for her so she could sleep in a bit. (Grey is our 10 month old daughter-FYI)

PM - 5.85 - Headed out late afternoon down some pretty snowy/slushy roads with Brayden and his wife Ashley. I also brought Grey along in her stroller. She is a trooper! I felt like a was pushing a shopping cart through sand at times. (not that I have experience with that, but I could imagine it would be difficult) Needless to say, the snow and the "shopping cart" made for some slower miles, but it was a great workout.

5 miles - Pretty good run this morning with Adam. It was a little snowy and slushy in places which slowed us down a little, but it was a good easy pace. Started to snow more by the end of our run and once again I had an hour and 45 minute commute. Wondering how I am going to get in my speed workouts this week if the snow keeps up. Might try and hit up the indoor track or maybe just the roads if they dry up enough.

7 mile treadmill run this morning. This was my first time on the treadmill this year. Adam and I had planned to run outside but the storm changed our plans. I wanted to get in a speed workout this week and I thought today would be the best opportunity.

I warmed up for 2 miles and then did the next 3 miles in 1/4 mile repeats of 1/4 on and 1/4 off. I ended up doing 6 1/4 miles on at 6:00 pace and the 6 1/4 miles off at 8:00 pace. I felt pretty good, but was definitely worn out. I ended with another 2 mile cool down. I hope to still work in a couple tempo miles at marathon pace this week.

question for blog readers - would my 1.5 miles at the 6:00 pace be considered Threshold Miles or VO2 Max Miles...or neither?

Split	Time	Distance	Calories
Summary	53:34.0	7.00	0
1	7:57.0	1.00
2	7:47.8	1.00
3	7:00.2	1.00
4	7:00.5	1.00
5	7:00.8	1.00
6	8:26.6	1.00
7	8:20.4	1.00
8	:01.0	0.00

6.2 easy miles. I tried to keep things right around an 8:00 pace, but once again I failed at that. My average pace was right at 8:00 but the 3 in the middle were too fast. AP was a 7:54 if I add in the last .2 that i purposely did a little faster. (the table below shows the AP without that .2)

I headed to the indoor track on campus to give it a shot. I was moderately impressed and moderately disappointed. How is that for vague?

The track is not full size, but is close. 5 laps equals a mile. This was not as bothersome as how hot it was in there. It really needed to be 10+ degrees cooler...or 20+. I wore my typical shorts and a short sleeve shirt and felt way over dressed. I really wanted this track to be a good place for me to go for speed workouts but don't know if I could handle a more intense workout in there. I would just get too hot I think because I even felt a little sluggish because of the heat on this easy run today.

5 easy miles with Adam this morning. It was good to have someone to run with again. Adam's knee has been bothering him, but he said it felt quite a bit better this morning. My quads were feeling a little sore. I think it is just part of a good run week. I am a little worried my long(er) run tomorrow will be more tough than I had hoped. Oh well.

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	40:30.6	5.00	8:06
1	8:40.0	1.00	8:40
2	7:57.4	1.00	7:57
3	7:48.7	1.00	7:49
4	8:09.4	1.00	8:09
5	7:54.2	1.00	7:54
6	:00.9	0.00	7:58

12 miles - From my house past Oly high and back. I wanted to keep things under an 8:00 pace and gradually pick up the pace until the half-way mark. My 5th mile I slipped back on the pace a bit, but I am still happy with it because that mile has the longest hill on the route. I also wanted to run 2 miles at marathon pace so I am stoked that I got those in. The first 1.4 of those 2 miles had a slight downhill so I actually ran them a little faster. Overall I felt good, but was definitely sore by the end. My quads were feeling it which I think is just built up fatigue from this week. The good thing was that my calves didn't hurt at all which made me feel great!

I am glad that I hit my mileage goal this week along with my 400 repeats and the 2 mile tempo. I feel good at where I am in my training so far.