Run Buffs Run!

I decided to give the knees a test run today to see if they were doing ok. This test run slowly progressed into something substancially more, ultimately resulting in ten miles. My knees felt fairly good, though, despite the unexpected addition in mileage. I think the stretching and rest allowed them to heal pretty well. I still could feel them today, but nothing near Mondays run. I think that I might get another long run in tommorrow.

I ran 11 miles today at easy pace. My knees are feeling very good, which enabled me to run this distance. I ran through some sections of fairly deep snow, and battled the cold the whole time (15 degrees), but I guess that is just winter running. I feel good, mainly since I still got over 30 running miles in this week despite all of the knee trouble (three days of cross training).

I ran 10.5 miles today with a few random pick ups, but in total, ran at an average pace of around 6:40 per mile. There was nothing too special about todays run, just an ordinary workout.

Starting today, I am beginning a new training plan. After going into Boulder Running Co. I lucked into a college coach who is taking time off to pursue his running career. I was asking some general questions, and seeing how new a runner I am, he decided that he would help coach me. I am very grateful, since he is taking time away from his own running to help me. He plans on creating a multi-peak season for me. One peak will take place at the Bolder Boulder in late May and one will take place at next years cross country tryouts. As of now, my mileage will drop to 45 miles/week, but will steadily increase as time progresses (we still have 26 weeks before Bolder Boulder). I have faith in his coaching strategys, mainly because he (himself) has run a sub 14:30 5k using this type of training plan. What luck!!!

I ran 7.5 miles today at fairly easy pace (6:40/mile) and felt good. Since I now have a set schedule of workouts, it takes away the questioning that I usually ask myself after runs. Basically, since someone is "formulating" workouts for me, the whole thinking aspect is removed. I like this, mainly since I am stressed enough going through engineering. All I need to do is follow the workouts he lays out. My IT bands are feeling very good now.

I ran 9.5 miles today at easy pace. I felt very good, but the weather ended up being a bit colder than I expected. As usual, I wore a t-shirt and shorts, which turned out to be the wrong combo for today. My core was fine, but extremities such as hands and legs were freezing. I should have guessed judging by the amount of snow on the ground. In all, though, I felt very good.

I ran seven easy miles today. Nothing too special happened, but it did feel good to get out and run.

I ran 9.5 miles today at easy pace. I felt good doing so, and amgoing to run short tommorrow.

I ran six easy miles today. I had to cut it short to keep my mileage quota, which I still exceeded by a bit. Next week I will run another 45 mile week.

I ran 12 easy miles today and felt very good. There were a lot of hills mixed in, so this definitely served as a decent workout. At the end, I spotted another runner. The situation was too tempting to resist, so I sped up to about a 5:50 mile and caught him with about a half mile left. I don't quite know why I do this, but man does it help you push a bit at the end of a run. In total, though, a very good run!

I ran an easy 5.5 miles today at easy pace. My workout schedule calls for an easy, short run after the run that is 25% of my weekly volume (yesterday). I believe that this is meant to allow me to fully recover before returning to training. As of now, I am only doing easy miles, but within the next couple of weeks, strides will be thrown in with short fartlek workouts to prepare me for faster speeds. I know that my coach will pick the right workouts for the right time, so I don't want to over-analyse my workouts. I figure that if I do what he says (seeing as he has coached for a college team), I will be properly prepared for Bolder Bolder and next years CU tryouts.

I ran 7.5 easy miles today. Tommorrow will be the weeks 2nd longest run, comprising 75%-80% of the weeks long run (12 miles). My IT bands seem to be doing very well, so I should be good to go.

I ran 9.5 easy miles today, nothing too special. I felt good, although my legs did feel a bit heavy. Besides that, a decent workout.

I only ran 7.5 miles today at easy pace. It was a bit cold, and I soon found out that I was underdressed for the occasion. Once I got a little ways into the run, however, I warmed up a bit. In all, a good run.

Only a short run today, which is good because I did not feel much like running today. I had a statics final today at 7:30 am, after studying until 2:00 am the night before. After the test, I crashed for a couple of hours. When I woke up, running was not on the top of my "want to do" list but I knew that all I had was a short run, which was manageable. I accidently wrote each entry a day early this week, so it may look like I will skip two days, when I am only taking one day off this weekend.

I ran 12 easy miles today, finishing in 1:19. I felt good, but my IT band hurt a bit today. Hopefully it will go away soon, seeing as I am going to attack it with a "barrage" of exercises. In all, though a good run. I am beginning some 150 meter strides this week at mile pace (5:00 or below) and will be doing so for the next four weeks.

I ran 5 easy miles today, with 10x150 meter strides at mile pace. Felt very good, but a bit cold.

I ran an easy 7.5 miles today in the snow and it was freezing. Even with full winter apparel in the middle of my run, I was still cold. Well, I guess sometimes you just run and ask questions (like why?) later.

An "easy" nine miles today in three feet of snow proved to be tougher than I would have ever expected. I don't even know what I was thinking. It was about 25 degrees (F) and very wet. Most normal people see three feet of snow and stay in their nicely heated house, while some of us feel the "need" to go and run. This whole running thing has corrupted me. I am forever branded!

I ran seven miles today at easy pace. The snow was still very deep, so running was kind of a pain, but I managed to get a decent workout in.

Since I came home yesterday from college, there are no more accessable running trails available to me. There was no effort to plow walkpaths and sideroads, so unless I wanted to run on a main street (which would be way too risky), I had to crosstrain. I spent 35 minutes on the elliptical and managed ot get my heart rate to 185 bpm, showing that the blood definitely got flowing. In all, a decent workout.

An easy run today. I ran 1:25, so I am not sure about exactly how far I went, but I am guessing that with the snow factored in, I got about 12 miles in. It was kind of hard to gather the willpower to run today, but I figure that if I ran today (Christmas Day) in deep snow, there is not much that can stop me! Merry Christmas to everyone!!!

I ran 5 easy miles today, with 10x150 meter sprints at just below mile pace (4:50). This was a short run to recover from yesterday, but I felt very good, and definitely feel energized.

I ran 7.5 easy miles today. It was very icy, so falling was a big concern. Since I usually run with reckless abandon (paying little attention to what I am running on or running the correct speed for various terrain), snow does not mix very well with my running style. None the less, I managed not to take a spill. In all, a good run.

It began to snow like a madman again today, so I had to get up decently early and pound some miles down before the weather destroys any ability to run. I felt good, but I was a bit glad to finish the run and escape the miserable cold.

I was hoping all of the paths would be open today, but apparently the weather though differently. It snowed another 14 inches last night, making it increasingly difficult to run. I still ran my scheduled amount, though. It was tough, especially since I was running through a foot of snow at times.

I ran decently short today, and did 11x150 meter strides. I felt very good, mainly since I was forced to take yesterday off.