The Long Run

Went to the Y this morning for my Monday morning routine.  Warmed on the bike for 10 minutes, did two sets of crunches on the ball and some light stretching.  Got onto a treadmill to start my running week.  Took me a little while to warm up then the running felt pretty comfortable.  Did 4.31 miles at about an 8:20 pace.

Headed outside where it was cloudy and slightly misty, put on my long sleeve shirt over the sleeveless one I was wearing which seemed to do the trick.  Ran across the street to the Trinity Oaks neighborhood where I usually run on Mondays after the treadmill.  Everything was going according to plan.  On the return trip I saw a woman that I often see out walking around carrying a bag and a stick with a claw on the end to pick up trash with.  Said hi to her and was thinking how nice it was that she is out so often picking up trash.   Shortly after that I realized I had missed the turn I meant to take and had added some distance onto my run ( I had meant to do just 11 miles, oh well).

Average pace: 7:49

Ran with Jenny this morning.  Back to warm weather for one morning, about 64 degrees at the start.  We ran together for 7.5 miles with most of them between 8:30 and 9:00 and the last one just under 8:00 pace.  Then I did 2.5 miles by myself to bring the total up just over 10 miles.  Felt ok but not quite super charged so was glad that this was just supposed to be a relaxed run.

Average pace: 8:26

PM - did a beginner Inflict workout.  Towards the end of the run this morning I had to pick something up I had dropped and had a really hard time bending down because I had tightened up so much.  I'm in need of some cross training so this was a good start.  Going to try for 2 times of Inflict and 2 times a week doing about 15 minutes of yoga.

Good track workout.  Nice to have Raj along for company.  Warmed up with 3 easy miles, also one of Raj's friends ran with us for this part.  We ran about a 9ish pace.  Nice cool weather (just above 50 degrees).

Headed over to the track and got started.  Goal was 4 x 1600 @ 6:00 each.  Somewhat daunting because last time was 3 x 1600 @ 6:07 and I just barely made each one.  On the other hand I have done this before (back in the fall before getting injured).

On the first repeat I forgot to start my watch and didn't notice until the first lap around the track.  Started the watch and figured I would average what I got for the final 3 laps.   My pace was not looking good at first and I had trouble going faster than 6:30 but I slowly seemed to get a little faster.  Time for last 3 laps was 4:35.  Raj was behind me and thought it looked like I finished at about 6:05, which was great considering how bad it was looking at first.

Next repeat went very well, finished in 5:57, last two also were good with 6:00, and 6:01.   Pushed really hard on the final one and thought I would make it.

Cooled down afterward with about 1.5 miles of easy running.  Average was very close to the hoped for 6:00 time.  Very happy to get one under 6:00 and to finish all 4 of them faster than the ones I did last month when I just did 3 repeats instead of 4.

Part of the credit for this morning's success goes to Jenny and the heating pad that she made for me.  I had never heard of making a heating pad, I had envisioned buying one that you plug in.  This is basically a small pillow filled with dry rice and buckwheat groats.  You microwave it for about 3 or 4 minutes and it's good for about 10 minutes worth of heat.  It weighs around 5 pounds so it is heavy enough to apply a nice even pressure.   

Last night, I used this on the upper hamstring area that had been bugging me and it helped out quite a bit!!

Ran with Jenny for part of my run this morning.  She had to do only about 6 this morning.   So, we ran together for about 5.5 miles, then I turned back to run where we had just come from rather than heading back to the house and looping around our neighborhood.  It was a quite pleasant morning out.  I had some shin tightness in my left leg for about the first 4 or 5 miles, it was being kind of stubborn this morning.  Felt better after a while and felt the best on the last two miles.

Average pace: 8:18

Ran by myself this morning around the usual neighborhood and golf course routes.  It was pleasantly warm (actually felt a little hot towards the end), with a steady wind blowing.  Took me a little while to wake up.  I tried starting and stopping, speeding up, strides, but I just needed some time and miles.  Went from 9:30'ish first mile and gradually increased to 8:30's.

I recently got tired of trying to make playlists for my iPod shuffle, and instead told itunes to just fill it with random music.   So, with a little bit over 3 miles left to go, a track from Motion Traxx, which I had downloaded a while ago (it was fee) came up and I decided why not try it.  It was a music mix set to be at 182 bpm.  I didn't believe any of this would work and  I would get tired of it.  But it actually kind of worked.  Before I knew it I had sped up without thinking about it.  Last 3 miles were 7:03, 6:49, and 6:39.  Hadn't planned on going that fast, but it was only 3 miles so it didn't seem too far off plan.

Cooled down for just a little bit after that and was back at my front door.

Average pace: 7:59

Wore new shoes today, might have been part of the problem but I don't think that is likely.

Went to Starkey park and started out with Raj, Keith, and Jorge.  Keith and Jorge were just doing 10 or 11 miles so it was just Raj and I past 5.5 miles.  Weather was great, on the cool side but very comfortable for running.  Felt pretty good from the start.  I did not get the shin tightness I had been getting for the past few weeks, hopefully I'm over it now.

We took it pretty easy on the way out and had averaged about 8:25 pace for the first 8 miles.  Turned around and picked up the pace as we got closer.  I pulled ahead a bit for the last 3.5 miles, with the final 2 miles under 7 minute pace.  I had a few worrisome twinges in my hamstring but they were somewhat isolated and never got too bad.

Average pace: 7:51

Saw all my friends at the social hour, including Dan who I hadn't seen for quite some time now.  Didn't stick around too long since the nice cool weather great for running in was not as good for standing around in!

PM - did 14 minute Wii Fit yoga routine