Running in Life's Slow Lane

Calves seem to be improving.

walk to start point
1.25 mi in 16:00 (12:48/mi)
walk - stopped to watch a Tiger Swallowtail puddling
1.50 mi in 19:50 (13:13/mi)
walk back to hotel

So I increased the length of my intervals today while decreasing the overall length of the workout. Yesterday's goof in being so far from the hotel and having to cover so many miles just killed my legs. My hips and upper thighs were tired. Calves bothered me a bit in the first mile or so but not so severe as to force me to stop.

Going to continuing adding distance back to each interval as long as the calves don't flare up to the intense pain level.

Today I was very thankful for the strong headwind I had on the last interval. I am soooo not ready for summer running.

Location: Orlando, Fl
Course: Research Run

Walked to the start point
jogged for 3.0 miles
- 1.0 mile in 12:18 (12:18/mi)
- 2.0 mile in 24:44 (12:26/mi)
- 3.0 mile in 37:56 (13:12/mi) avg pace was 12:39/mi

Finally! Made it back to a 3 mile workout without too much distress. Not quite up to the blistering pace I was running before the calf pains but almost there. I fully expect tomorrow to be a shorter workout as I can feel some soreness settling in to my legs this evening.

It was a gorgeous night for a run as well with a cool breeze keeping my company.

Location: Orlando, Fl (just 3 more runs in Fl before going home!)

0.56 mile in  6:00  (10:43/mi) way too fast!
1.00 mile in 11:13 (11:13/mi) still too fast!
2.00 mile in 23:20 (11:40/mi) still too fast but getting better
walked a bit
0.50 mile in  6:06 (12:12/mi) more like it
walked a bit
0.25 mile untimed
walked back to hotel

Well my legs were not terribly sore today but they were tired. I'm not sure if the tiredness is from yesterday's run, weird sleep patterns, a stressful day or all of the above.

Also once I get started running at a fast pace I cannot seems to slow myself down. Today is a perfect example where for some reason I bolted to my first checkpoint at a crazy pace and spent the rest of my workout trying to slow myself down. Finally after I saw where I was at the 2.0 mile mark I made myself stop in an effort to break my rhythm. It seemed to help with the pace but also left me feeling how tired the legs were.

I am so ready to go home to Oklahoma. Really feeling homesick today. Kristoffer's final middle school band concert and choir concert were tonight. My kiddo is growing up.

Location: Orlando, Fl (2 more runs in Florida before I go home)

1.08 mi in 12:43 (11:47/mi)
1.00 mi in 11:53 (11:53/mi)
1.00 mi in 12:23 (12:23/mi) avg pace: 12:01/mi

I had no intentions of running that fast but it feels like my body is trying to find a new gear. Maybe that's a good sign of improvement.

Sleep is fine but Bruce (coworker) and I are feeling the effects of the work environment: seems like we are always tired.

Location: Orlando, Fl (1 more run in Orlando before going home)

Last run in Orlando for a while!

1.00 mi in 10:34
1.00 mi in 11:11
0.25 mi in 02:33 avg pace 10:48/mi

Bruce and I had plans to visit The Greek Flame Taverna tonight and since it is a small place didn't want to risk our usual 8:30-9:00pm dinner time as being too late. We cut out of the lab a bit early, got the workouts done and made it to dinner around 7:45pm. This is the reason for only doing the shorter 2.25 miles tonight.

I pushed the tempo pretty hard tonight since I will have tomorrow off and I was going a shorter distance. I would go hard for 2-3 minutes and then ease back for 5-8 minutes. Not sure I could have managed a full 5K at the faster overall pace but if felt good to try.

Still short of the 18:18 time for 2.0 miles that the Army requires.

Location: Orlando, Florida (going home tomorrow!)

No miles today as I flew home from Orlando.

Looks like I need to get 4 miles tomorrow to meet my weekly goal of 22 miles.

1.06 mi in 12:06 (11:25/mi)
0.94 mi in 11:05 (11:48/mi)
walked a bit to rest the calves
~1.50 miles jogged back towards home
walked home

I messed up and didn't notice the distance mark when I started the third leg but I don't believe it could be less than 1.50 miles. The left calf felt like it had a bit of a knot in it at the 2 mile mark so I went ahead and stopped to stretch it out. Nothing like I have experienced after the last two flights though.

Teresa ran with me and she runs a quicker pace so I worked harder to keep up with her. Tomorrow's run definitely needs to be slower.

Sent an email off to get details about a 5K in Wichita Falls, Tx scheduled for 31 May. I'm hoping to squeeze one race in before May finishes so I can keep up my 5K/month average.

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma - where the wildflowers and wildlife make me happy!