The Long Run

I didn't get a very early start this morning, woke up about 6:15, got out of the house, warmed up and stretched and actually started my run just after 7:00. As predicted today was a few degrees cooler, just 76° , humidity about 75%. Felt much cooler than any runs recently.

Today's run was supposed to be just an easy run. The first 3 miles were difficult and it felt hard to get into a rhythm. They were about an 8:50 pace. 4th mile was 8:07. 5th mile was 8:44 but part of that was to slow down and walk while I had a gel pack and water. After that I started feeling much better, with the miles gradually getting faster and faster. Before I knew it the 10 miles were finished, I was not quite at the parking lot so it ended up being an extra 0.4 miles onto the planned run.

Average pace: 7:58

Except for the start, the run was one of my best in recent weeks. I was especially pleased that this was after doing 20 miles with just one day off from running. The last time I did 20 miles, I took two days off, then just did 5 miles with some residual soreness left over. Looks like I did not overdo it this time. The miles are building up now so I'm going to try and concentrate on being injury free. If I can do that I think I'm almost certain to get a PR in Chicago and maybe have an outside shot at a BQ, but I'll have to see how the next few weeks progress.

Also, almost forgot:

Glycerin: 10.4

(new pair of shoes today)

Cross training day.  30 minutes on bike, followed by weights, stretching, pull-ups and some ab work.

Next 4 days running, get some good quality runs for a total of 48 miles this week.

My alarm was set for 5:00, I woke up at 4:30, fell back asleep and dreamed that I overslept until 7:50.   So, when the alarm did go off at 5:00 I was happy that I did not oversleep - good to start the day on a positive note. 

Dixie was up for a run this morning and we were both up for a change of scenery, so instead of starting out from the Trinity Y we started out at the Lansbrook Y.   Weather was back to normal for this time of year which is about 80° and 90% humidity.  First 2 and a half miles felt sluggish.  Stopped for water at the lake park then got going again, felt a lot better at that point.  Hit a couple of miles right at marathon pace then we were soon at the high school where they have some water fountains outside with nice chilled water. 

Return trip was about an 8:10 pace.  We had made some wrong turns along the way so the planned 9 mile run turned into 9.9 miles.

Overall it was a good run.  Average pace 8:11

When I got home I jumped in the pool for about 10 minutes to help stretch out. 

(Glycerin: 20.3) 

Tempo run today!

I was a little bit worried about it. I haven't done very many tempo runs, last one I did was two weeks ago when I tempo'd for 4 miles. That time, the first three and a half miles were miserable, with only the last 0.5 feeling good.

The weather was fairly decent this morning at 78° and 84% humidity. I spent a good amount of time warming up and doing some stretching, then headed outside. My goal was to do 5 or 6 miles at between 7:00 and 7:10 pace. I ran 1.8 miles as a warm up at about a 9:00 pace, then took a powerbar gel and stashed my accelarade and got going. To my surprise the first mile was not miserable, probably due to having done a good warm up. I was running at a pace which felt about 7:00 (turned out to be 6:59). I kept going with about the same effort with slightly faster times (6:57 and 6:58). At the start of the 4th mile I still felt pretty good thinking if all I did was this then it would be pretty good run - that mile was 6:54. Kept going and hit the 5th mile at 6:56. Now just one mile left. At this point I was feeling pretty pleased with my times. I sped up a little bit towards the end and decided to go an extra 0.2 miles and call it a 10K practice run - last mile at 6:47 and final 0.2 at 1:22.

Then I slowed down, grabbed my accelerade which I drank along the way and jogged back to the parking lot, another 1.2 miles for a total of 9.2 miles.

Some days my runs go better than other days, today was a better day.

Average pace of 7:37

 A bit late for this but I might as well start (based on a guess):

Asics Gel 300

A very light day today.

Warmed up on the arc trainer for about 10 minutes. Did some light lower body work and ab work then ran 2 easy miles on the treadmill at about 9:00 pace. It seems like forever since I've been on the treadmill.  Yesterday afternoon, seemingly out of nowhere my left knee was a bit sore when I walked.  It felt better this morning (didn't bother me at all while running) but I'm keeping an eye on it. 

I started kind of late since I slept in until 6:30 (I remember when that used to be early).

With tomorrow's 16 mile run I'll be right where I want for mileage this week.

I woke up at 6:00 this morning. However, the night before I did not have everything all set out and ready to go so I was fumbling around for a while getting everything I needed together. I got out of the house a 5 or 6 minutes after 6:30. Up until when I left home I had not made up my mind about where to run, I finally chose John Chestnut park/Lansbrook over Starkey Park. Starkey has a great path with lots of water stops but also has some nasty deer flies (they do make you run faster though). Keith and Dixie were going to San Antonio (FL) to do some hills (there aren't many places around here to do them), and I didn't get in touch with David to see when he was running so I was running alone today.

The weather was pretty good with 77° temp and 84% humidity to start.

It was almost 7:00 when I got to the parking lot. Little bit of warm up and stretching and then started at 7:03.  Today, I borrowed my wife's water belt which holds 2 10 oz bottles instead of mine which holds 2 20 oz bottles.  Her's felt lighter and more comfortable, hardly felt like I was wearing it.

Took the first mile really easy at 9:22 (I was worried about my knee although it felt ok this morning). Next mile at 8:29, then 8:24. Stopped at Lake park at 3.4 miles, had a power bar gel and some water. Now I felt warmed up. Next mile at 8:02. Pace naturally picked up - 7:49, 7:35, 7:44, 7:38 .... and on it went. Made 2 more stops, once at east lake hs on the way up and then on the way back again.

Now it was starting to get warm and the last few miles were a little bit harder.

Last full mile was 7:33 and final 0.6 miles at 7:25.

Overall pace (mostly not counting breaks): 7:53

Except for the end, if I saw my pace was 7:45 or 7:50 I resisted the temptation to speed up to hit "marathon pace" and just kept going trying to hold a steady pace.

No knee problems today!!

Glycerin: 36.3