The Long Run

Woke up a few minutes earlier (4:55 instead of 5:00) to get a little bit more stretching before the run which seemed to help.  It was just Randy and I today.  We took the first few miles at an easy pace then picked up a little bit to an 8:00 pace.   Randy split off at the point to complete 5 miles and I continued up along the usual 6.2 mile route.  I was feeling good so I took a slightly longer way back to the Y for a total of 7.3 miles.   Overall pace was 7:45.

Going to see the doctor today about an abdominal problem, hurts when I sneeze and it has been months since I've been able to do a good crunch.   Want to get it looked at as Chicago marathon training is approaching. 

5 miles on the treadmill this morning at the Y followed by about 30 minutes of upper body weights.  Overall pace averged 8:05.   Slower and shorter run than yesterday.  Planning on doing at least usual 6.2 tomorrow.

Good turnout for this morning's run, Dixie, Eudair, Keith, Raj, Brian and myself.   Started at with an easy pace for the first mile (9:00).  Stopped twice for some quick water breaks.  Dixie asked if anyone was up for an extra mile so I said sure and we repeated the run I did on Tuesday but did not go as fast today.  Averaged 8:16 for the run.

Met up with Dixie, Eudair and Brian at the Y this morning at 5:30 which we usually don't do except for Tue and Thu.  Ran part of the usual 6.2 mile loop to only do just over 3 miles.  Then headed over to the track at the high school next to the Y where we did 4 800's at 3:20 each (actually between 3:18 and 3:21 which was pretty close) with about 3 minutes of jogging between each one.   Didn't feel too hard which was good as we just wanted to do a little bit.

With the more frequent running I have been doing for the past few weeks I have been feeling more fit than ever. 

Doctor visit a few days ago has worked out really well.  After just two physical therapy appointments my lingering lower abdominal pain when sitting up is pretty much all gone.  Glad I didn't put that off any longer. 

12 miles, starting at the Y this morning. Weather was already warm at 71°. It was Dixie, Eudair, Franco, Barbara and myself. Barbara, Eudair, and Franco were doing 14 miles, but Dixie and myself only had time for 12 miles which was fine as I had put in a pretty good number of miles for me this week already. We were trying to take things slowly and stopped a few times for water until we had done 7 miles. The last 5 miles were pretty solid with no stopping and miles splits ranging between 7:45 and 8:05. It had warmed up at the end and was 77° and feeling even more humid. With the slower pace at the beginning and breaks counted, the total average pace was 8:42, total time 1:44:28

It's been a good week for running :)

Ran a 5k distance with the boys this morning.  Andy is going to do a Mother's Day 5K next week with Jenny.  Noah wanted to go along on this morning's run.  We stuck with Noah's pace which overall was 12:35 - not too bad for a 5 year old.  Andy could have gone a lot faster but that's ok since today wasn't the race.

Decided to take one day off from running even though yesterday was a very light day.  Still though, it was 7 days in a row of running.    

Did 20 minutes on the Arc trainer and then about 45 minutes of upper body weights. 

Another physical therapy appointment this morning, lower abdominal strain is almost all gone now. 

Early run, met up at 5:30.  Brian, Raj, Randy, Dixie and myself were there.  We almost left without Dixie as he showed up at 5:33.  Not sure where Eudair was today.   It was colder this morning than it had been in about a  month, about 54°.  I felt very sluggish but kept up ok with everyone else, just didn't feel very energetic.  A little bit faster on the last 1.2 miles.  Average pace for the run was 8:10 with one short water break.

Ran by myself this morning.   Warmed up a little bit first on the elliptical trainer, then headed outside.  Started out slow but not too slow with an 8:10 for the first mile then picked things up to about 7:30 pace and held it there.  A few of the miles were a little bit faster, but nother faster than 7:15.  Overall pace was 7:33.   I think I could have held this pace for at least 2 more miles before it became a real struggle.  Felt a lot less sluggish today compared to yesterday, might have been the extra 45 minutes of sleep.   I'll go a bit slower tomorrow.

Early run this morning at the Y at 5:30.  Eudair, Randy, myself and a new guy named Randall who is going to do the Marine Corps marathon in October.   Started out pretty easy, with a gradual picking up towards the end.  I tacked on one more mile at the end as I was feeling good.   Went faster but not all out, 6:45 pace.  Overall pace for today's run was 8:03

Met up with Dixie and Eudair at the Y this morning at 5:30.  Did an easy warmup of 3.1 miles around the Kinsmere loop.  Headed over to the track at the high school where Dixie and I did 4 800's at 3:20  (each one was either 3:18 or 3:19, we didn't hit 3:20 exactly).  We jogged one lap between each 800.   Total mileage turned out to be 6.2 with an average pace overall of 7:46 (not counting the walk from the Y to the high school).

It was supposed to be smokey this morning (from the north Florida fires) but turned out to be ok when we were running.  Unfortunately the smoke still came.  Andy is supposed to be finishing his "marathon" today at school.  His 2nd grade class has been walking one mile each day (a few days have been 2 miles when they needed to catch up).   The kids have really loved doing this.  If it is too smokey today, hopefully they can finish up on Monday.

Met up at Starkey park this morning at 6:30 - it was Dixie, Keith, Eudair and myself.   Wanted to get started before it got smokey out which could have been as early as 8:00 but has so far not shown up.  First 4 miles out were at an easy pace, although it felt hard to get started.  Eventually things fell into place.  After 4 miles, slowly picked things up.  Had to tell the others to slow down at one point because everyone was feeling good but we all said we didn't want to go too fast today.    Overall pace was 7:57.

Ran the "I love Mother's Day" 5k and 1/2 mile run.   Jenny and Andy ran the 5k as a mother/son team.  It was Andy's first 5k with a time of 30:47.  I ran the 1/2 mile race with Noah in just under 5 minutes.  Noah wasn't too happy about not being able to do the 5K, but other than that we had a great time.

After a fun day yesterday of eating too much, it was time to get back on track.   Made it to the Y just after 6:30.   Had time to warm up and stretch then did 5 miles on the treadmill.   Overall pace was 8:20/mile with the fastest mile at 7:47.    Then had time for about 30 minutes of lower body weights.  Did some ab work with a little discomfort someone between none and mild.

Met up at 5:30 this morning at the Y with Randy, Randall, Dixie, Eudair and David.  Dixie was going a bit faster than usual but I did not try to keep up with him.  Overall pace was 7:44 with the last mile at 7:13.  First few miles were fairly easy.  Pretty good weather this morning with the temp and humidity not too hot and no smoke.

Ran by myself this morning.  Arrived at the Y just before 6:30.  Stretched and then warmed up a little bit on the arc trainer, then headed outside.  Took the same route as last Wed, the Kinsmere loop then down Grimsby and Wyndtree but went a little bit farther today.  Was feeling good on the last mile and picked things up and did that mile in 6:58 although this wasn't what I planned on doing.   Overall pace was 7:27.  If it wasn't for going faster the last mile I think I could have comfortably done a couple more miles at 7:30 without too much effort.  But as it was I was a bit tired after finishing, although I did have enough left for about 30 minutes of upper body weights.

No nosense easy run today.  Dixie, Randy , and I headed out from the Y just after 5:30.  Randy has a race this weekend so just did 4 with us.  Dixie and I did the usual 6.2 route but did the initial  1 mile spur at the end rather than at the beginning.  Felt really good especially at the end and wanted to go faster but Dixie was the voice of reason this morning and we just held steady with the pace.  

 
8:07 overall pace.

No running today, just 20 minutes on the rowing machine, and 30 minutes of lower body weights. Also did some ab work this morning which was completely pain free, so the doctor visit and physical therapy sessions really paid off.

Wanted to take today off to see if I feel "fresher" for tomorrow's run.  6 days a week has been working pretty good for me but I tend to get a lot of criticism that I am running too much, even though I'm not doing any more miles than I would be doing in 5 days. 

Ran through various neighborhoods near the Y.  Met up at 6:30 with Joe and Dixie.  Started off with 8:40 pace for the first mile.  Several miles were around 8:00 or just over 8:00.

Joe split off after 10 miles then Dixie and I continued on for another 3.  Paces were pretty steady, not too hard but not slow.  Last 3 miles were a little bit faster and started feeling a little bit harder.  We decided to back it down slightly for the very last mile.   As we were finishing up, I noticed we were just under 13 miles.  I also noticed that if we ran another .1 miles I would have a new half marathon PR.  That wasn't really the point of today's run, but it was a fun way to finish up.  Overall pace was 7:48.

Just 4.5 miles on the treadmill, followed by upper body weights.  About 8:20 pace overall, with last mile at 7:50.    Run felt pretty good although I'm trying to fend off an emerging sore throat.  Hopefully I'll be better by tomorrow morning.

Usual Tuesday morning run at Y starting at 5:30.   Eudair, Dixie and myself today.  Went a little bit slower with an overall pace of 8:12.  Last mile at 7:17.

This morning's run was very enjoyable despite still having a little bit of sore throat, but that is almost gone now. 

Another nice and cool morning for running.  Ran by myself this morning.   Left from the Y after a short warmup and stretching inside.  Planned on running 1 easy mile followed by 4 at 7:30 then 1 mile easy.  Unlike last week when I did 1 mile easy followed by 6 miles faster than planned including the last mile much faster than planned, this week I pretty much stuck to the plan.  The 4 miles were just under 7:30 (7:23 - 7:29).  Last mile was at 7:55.   This week I did not feel worn out at all, although not perfect as there is a little bit left over of what I was fighting off yesterday but I think it is mostly gone now.

 Overall pace was 7:35.
 

Met up at the Y at 5:30.  Dixie and Randy were not there.  Raj was there (finally!).   Eudair came by but was just finishing up her run.  Raj and I did the 6.2 mile loop at a pretty comfortable pace.  The weather was perfect.   I figured that since I went fast yesterday I didn't need to go fast today.  Overall pace was 8:24 with the last mile the fastest at 7:42.  One minute stop for water included in total time.

This morning was somewhat stressful and busy and I almost did not do any running.  Then I figured that it wasn't that busy that I didn't have time for 3 miles.  3 easy miles on the treadmill 25:00 minutes or about 8:20 average.   Did some weights too as I seem to be shrinking quickly with the running, trying to stay balanced.  But then again, the few pounds I have to carry for 26.2 miles the less energy required.

6:30 morning run at John Chestnut park.  Met up with Dixie and Joe and headed north up the bike path.  Did a loop through a neigborhood at the end of the bike path and then wound back through some different neigborhoods on the way back.  Very fortunate again with a starting temperature of  68°.  Overall pace of 7:56.

4 miles on the treadmill this morning.  Felt a bit stiff from the weekend but much better after the run.  Thought about not running then decided to just do 3 which seemed kind of lame, so I did 1 more.  Finished off with some lower body weights.

Another early morning Tuesday run at the Y. It was David, Raj, Randy, Randall and myself. A nice easy first mile, started feeling really good after two miles. Continued easy but a little bit faster for the next two. Started picking up after 4 miles to a 7:35 pace, then picked up the last 1.2 miles, especially after crossing the traffic light to a 6:54 pace. It felt challenging but very controlled and no where near all out.

Overall pace was 7:53 

Slightly warmer this morning at 72°, maybe this is finally the end to the cooler weather.

Just to see where I am at, I attempted a training run from the book "Run Less, Run Faster". It was quite difficult. Goal was for 10-20 minute warmup, 3 * 1600 m at 6:22 each with one minute rest intervals followed by 10 minutes of cool down. First 1600 was at 6:19 (actually going off of a 1 mile lap, but pretty close .01 miles farther), second was 6:24 (possibly a 6:22 1600). Towards the end of the second one I bargained with myself that if I made the time I would just try for under 7:00 on the last 1600. Since I wasn't sure if I actually made the second one in time, I went a little bit faster on the last one than my bargain, with a 6:42. Then I jogged back to the parking lot for my cooldown, about 10 minutes or so.

Went into the gym for about 30 minutes of upper body weights. 

It was just slightly warm, about 71° , and a little bit of smokey haze, just enough where you could see it and smell it.

Ok, looks like I'm not quite ready for this sort of pace, but I'm not that far off either. It was good to see where I'm at as far as speed goes.

I'll just keep putting in the miles and try again later.

David invited us to his house to run instead of the Y.  Got there at 5:45, then started running about 5 minutes later.  3.25 miles up at a fairly easy pace then picked it up a little bit on the way back.  It was David, Dixie, Randy, Keith and myself.  On the way back Dixie started picking it up, I began falling back as I didn't want to go too fast until he said "Mark are you with me?" so I caught back up with him.  Overall pace was 7:48.

 Got back to David's house for some coffee, juice, bagels, and bananas on his front porch.  Karen and Barb were back from their run.  It was a nice change of scenery from the usual routes.

The cooler weather is finally disappearing, but it was still very comfortable weather for running.