Kerry's Running Blog

Highland Glen loop this morning with a run to the top of Redwood Drive. I would have liked to have run a seven, but I was tired and wanted to sleep as long as I could. Yesterday I was on the go from 5:00 a.m. until well after nine (four stake meetings, plus our regular block schedule) -- then we never seem to get the lights out before 11:00 p.m. Once I got out the door this morning, I felt great. My legs felt light and springy and the miles seemed just flew by. I didn't wear my watch, but I know that I was easily under marathon pace the last mile or so. Now if I can just get a nap in and get to bed earlier tonight :)

Kohler's loop at 5:30 a.m. Felt a lot more rested this morning and was actually semi-conscious during the first mile. My legs didn't feel as fresh as yesterday, but they still felt pretty good. Ran a pretty steady pace through the first four and then picked it up a bit, just because I was feeling good. Ran 8:02 on the slight uphill from Kohlers and 7:17 on the slight downhill towards the high school. Averaged 8:02 over all, without feeling like I was pushing it. Tomorrow, I'll do a tempo run on the same route, probably going a little slower the first couple to warm up and then pushing it harder during the middle four.

Tempo run on Kohler's loop. Two and a half mile warm-up. Four miles threshold pace and a half mile cool-down. I didn't feel like I was in great distress at any time, but I was glad when the tempo stretch was over. I'd like to be able to stretch that part out to six miles or so by the end of next month. The inside of my right ankle was sore when I got out of bed and I briefly considered skipping today's run to rest it, but like most aches and pains it went away after a few minutes. It briefly came back a couple of more times along with a sore big toe, but right now none of those things look like anything to worry about. I know It's normal for me to be kind of a hypochondriac just before the relay, out of fear that I'm going to get injured and let the team down. I certainly worried about that last night as I was cutting one of our bigger (diseased) trees down with a chain saw. I kept imagining that I was going to slip and cut my foot off.

Distance	Avg Pace	Avg HR
2.50	8:40	133
4.00	7:22	164
0.53	8:24	160

My heart rate zone 4 (threshold) is from 155 to 169. Maximum HR is 183. I was happy with the 7:22 as it included a couple of good uphills and then a long gradual climb, before flattening out, dipping and finishing with a mostly gradual downhill.

Kohler's loop. Left the watch home and just ran for the fun of it. Enjoyed the sights, sounds and smells of the early morning. Legs felt pretty good. Still have some bounce in them after yesterday's harder workout.

Here is a map of the Kohler's loop:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1046961

Highland Glen loop. I thought about going longer today, but I thought the extra sleep would probably do me as much good at this point. My legs have been really great, but I occasionally have fleeting aches and pains that make me think I might be on the verge of an injury. No reason to risk that right now. I'll start increasing mileage again after the WBR.

Great run this morning with many friends (old and new). I hadn't seen Verdon for a long time so I ran and chatted with him for the first mile and a half or so. He was having a hard time talking and breathing so he kept encouraging me to catch up with the others (who by that time were no longer in sight). I caught up with Larry and Wayne after a few minutes and chatted with them briefly, before trying to catch the others. After a couple of minutes I caught sight of them on some of the longer stretches and started to slowly close the distance, but the closer they got to Vivian, the more the seemed to pick up the pace. Even though I never caught them until they stopped to head back down, I still got a great workout in nonetheless. I ran back down with Paul (as he relates in his blog entry) and Martin, who joined us about a third of the way down. It was fun seeing everybody and getting in a good workout besides.