The Long Run

It was chilly but not freezing cold this morning.  I felt sluggish at first from a long day of fun yesterday at Busch Gardens and then out to dinner on the way home.  So, it was good to get my week back on track.  Went to the Y and warmed up inside on the bike and then did 4.12 miles on the treadmill at about an 8:15 pace.

Headed outside, and waited for my garmin to lock onto a signal which seemed to take forever.  Did another 3.15 miles without looking at my pace until I was finished.  Averaged 7:35 outside with the fasted mile 7:13.

Felt ready for the day.

Ran with Dixie this morning.  Run through Lansbrook neighborhood to the lake park and then back with a final loop into John Chestnut park by the boat ramp.  High 50's was perfect weather.  Left knee was bothering me a bit, started acting up sometime last week on one of the days when it was cold.  Slight improvement over yesterday when both knees were a little achy at the start.

Average pace: 8:24

Day off from running tomorrow due to early morning travel, Thursday treadmill at the hotel and then I'll make up some miles on Friday which I usually take off from running.

5.12 miles on the treadmill at the hotel. Felt salted so it was a little bit slow going but I felt much better at the end of the run.

About 8:45 pace

Felt a little back to normal today compared to yesterday.  I went to the Y, did some usual warm up stuff and then ran 3.13 miles on the treadmill at about an 8:15 pace.

Headed outside where it was cool (but not cold), a little breezy and some light rain towards the end.  Felt pretty good running, did 3.12 miles at a 7:48 average pace.

Back inside for some weights.

My back had been bothering me a bit for a while, now that is clearing up.  Seems to have been fixed by NOT skipping weights but going a little bit lighter.

Knees were bothering me a little bit at the start of the run as well as some PF in my right foot.   These are all minor irritations that I can live with but should work on clearing them up before any of them get worse.

Met up with some of the guys at the Y this morning for some 800's.  Keith, Dixie, Raj and myself were there.   It was a cool 42 degrees and a little windy so it felt a bit cooler.  We warmed up with 2 easy miles then headed over to the track.

Plan was for 6 X 800 @ 3:00 each.  This is probably about the second time of doing 800's this year.  Getting ready for the 5K next week.  Probably won't do these again for a while since it will be back to marathon training pretty soon.  It was also fun to do something a little bit different just to keep things interesting.  It's harder to keep interest when things get too routine.

Anyways, the track work went pretty well with splits of:

2:55, 2:58, 3:00, 3:01, 3:02, 2:57

Raj ran with me for most of the first one and all of the last one.  He did the rest of them with Keith and Dixie who were right behind me.  Last 800 felt good but hard.  Not sure what happened on the 4th and 5th, not paying attention I suppose.

So, goal for next week's 5K is to hit each mile as close to 6:00 as possible and see what happens.  It is a very flat and straight course and one I am familiar with.