All about that pace.

4:30am

Windy, but no rain today; praise the Lord for that! My toe still hurts, but it will pass; praise the Lord for that too.

Pace 7:39

4:30am

Woohoo, no rain again!! My right shin was killing me for the first 3 miles today for some reason. I almost quit early, but it was so much worse going downhill that I figured it might actually get better going uphill. I hung in there until the first big ascent on the 10 miler and the pain went away by the time I reached the top. The rest of the run was great after that. I just kept thinking about my day of rest and massage tomorrow. I was a little slower today than the rest of the week, but overall it's been a very good week!

Pace 7:47

5:30am

I usually have some company on my Saturday runs, but today I was solo, unless I count shredded mini toe as a partner. I ran at comfortable pace on a pretty flat course and never looked at my time until the end. I felt really good at 15 miles so I decided to go for 20 today. Around mile 18 my legs started feeling really heavy, but I wanted to finish the whole 20 so I just tried to concentrate on maintaining my form and didn't worry at all about speed. I finished feeling OK but not great. Then I looked at my garmin and saw that my average pace was faster than my goal marathon pace! No wonder I was so tired! This is pretty encouraging considering I still have almost 3 months left to train before race day.

Pace 7:36

6:00am

Another beautiful sunny day!  I think spring might finally be here. I ran my regular 10 miler today and was feeling pretty good. I think shredded mini toe is finally getting better and I ended up running a lot faster that I thought I would again. All these miles are really paying off. Yesterday was a huge confidence booster and my average pace for all of last week was 7:38.

Pace 7:30

4:30pm

We had a pic-nic with all the kids after church at Bradley Lake Park then Kym and I ran 3.6 miles around the lake after lunch. It felt like summer already.

Pace 10:00

.

4:30am

I never thought socks could be such a big deal. I tried some Under Armor socks today and they were just OK. The Brooks Beast socks I wore yesterday were much better. So far it's between those and the Drymax which cost twice as much. I'll probably stock up on the Brooks since they have an outlet store nearby. Today's run was good although a little slower than yesterday. Eventually I think I should start watching my pace closer, but for now I'm still going by feel.

Pace 7:43

4:30am

Another sunny day today. I didn't see any of it on my run since it was still dark, but it was dry and cool with NO WIND :) The arch on my right foot was really sore yesterday after my run. It feels better now, but not perfect. I hope this is something that will pass like the rest of the little aches and pains I've experienced along the way. I've asked a lot of my legs over the past 3 months and so far they have been pretty resilient. Today's run was weird. My legs felt kind of heavy and I was sure I was going slower than usual because I was breathing easy. Just like Saturday, I got a pleasant surprise when I looked at my watch.

Pace 7:28

4:30am

It was nice out this morning, but I didn't sleep well. I just gutted it out even though I didn't feel like running. I'm going straight to bed after work tonight.

Pace 7:43

5:00am

I slept in this morning. I was dreading the heavy rain forecast for today and it turned out be a light mist. I like running in that kind of rain; nice and cool. I ran the hills a little harder than usual today and tried to take it easier on the flats.

Pace 7:44

8:00am

Ran 3 on the track at the high school with Kym.

6:00am

Light rain today. I can't complain, it actually felt pretty good. I cut the run short this morning because I'm doing another semi-long run with Preston tomorrow. I did the first 13 of the same route I took last Saturday. I felt really good and had no problems holding a 7:30 pace even on the inclines. I'm experimenting with food this month and I tried a powerbar right before I left today. It settled pretty well and I think it gave me some of that extra energy I was feeling. Bananas seem to be OK too, I ate one before last Saturday's run with no stomach issues. For years I have only ran on an empty stomach, including both of my previous marathons. I'm also going to try drinking some cytomax sport drink if I can find it since that's what they will have at the aid stations in Seattle.

Splits: 7:34, 7:24, 7:35, 7:31, 7:34, 7:42, 7:36, 7:27, 7:24, 7:27, 7:21, 7:17, 7:10, 6:16

Pace 7:25

4:30am

Preston bailed on me this morning and it was raining hard so I decided to try for 16 miles at MP or slightly faster like yesterday's 13 miler. I felt really good when I started and figured I could get out of the rain quicker that way. My pace was pretty erratic and fell off quickly after 9 miles. My legs got really heavy and I was so thirsty I decided to cut it short and head home 2 miles early. My average pace wasn't bad, but I feel like the run was kind of a disaster overall. Yesterday seemed so easy, I can't figure out what happened today.

Pace 7:34

5:00am

I woke up feeling sick today and took a long time getting my act together. When I finally got out the door it was after 5:00. I felt a little better once I got out there, but about half way through the run I got really nauseous and it was all I could do to hold down the power bar and cytomax I had for breakfast. I feel better now since I called in sick and slept all day.

Pace 7:48

4:30am

I'm feeling a lot better today. It felt good running some hills without feeling like I was going to puke. Overall the run seemed a lot longer than 10 miles, hopefully it will go by quicker tomorrow.

Pace 7:32

4:30am

Easy run. I pushed it a little bit on the hills and pretty much coasted through the rest. My calves felt a little tight today, but my breathing was good and I wasn't tired at the end.

Pace 7:46

4:30am

Another easy run today. I could have done 10 more if I had time. I'm looking forward to Saturday's long run; I hope I have some company this week.

Pace 7:43 

10:30am

I ran three miles with Kym again at the high school track today. I get a little antsy running at her pace so I thought I'd try "joggling" this time. I couldn't find any tennis balls or hacky sacks so I grabbed 3 mandarin oranges on the way out the door. We ran at about a ten minute pace and I juggled or tried to anyway most of the time. It's a LOT harder than it looks. I put in about an extra 1/4 of a lap chasing my oranges around. There were a few kids out on the track that I'm sure thought I was some kind of weirdo or something, but I had fun. I think I'll keep working on this skill while I run with Kym on Fridays :) When we got home we made an awesome smoothie out of my oranges, a couple bananas, and some mixed berries.

Pace 10

7:00am

Another solo long run today :( I did my normal Saturday route around Gravelly Lake, through Steilacoom Park, and a couple laps around Woughop Lake for a little over 16 miles. This route is getting easier each week, but it seems so long running it by myself. I got really spoiled for a few weeks running with Preston and Carl. Anyway, it was a great run; this route is flatter than my weekday training route and giving it just a little bit more than my normal training effort I had no problems maintaining a faster-than-race-pace. 

Next week I'll get some interesting twists in my training schedule if I can find time to run. Thursday I'll be in Winnemucca, NV(cold and high elevation 4300'), and Saturday/Sunday/Monday in Bullhead City, AZ(hot, dry and windy),  and back in Winnemucca on Tuesday.

Pace 7:21 

6:30am

Today started out to be a recovery run after yesterday's speedy 16 miler. I was cruising along at a nice easy pace, around 7:45 or so until the end of mile 9 where I ran into Preston running towards Steilacoom Park. I joined him for a lap around the park adding an extra 3.4 to my route. I enjoyed the company, but those last 4 miles in the low 7s were a challenge! Tomorrow I may still need to recover from my recovery run.

Pace 7:31

4:30am

Recovery from the recovery run...the first 8 were nice and slow in the 7:50s, I couldn't stand it any longer and had to speed up a little for the last two, 7:22, and 7:02.

Pace 7:47

4:30am

I took it easy again on the first 8 and picked it up a little for the last two miles - 7:22 and 7:14. If I have any spring back in my step this afternoon I plan to knock out another 10 so I can take tomorrow off.

Pace 7:44

4:30pm

• The good: It's about 70 out with a slight breeze and I got to run in shorts and a short sleeve shirt! I also get to rest and ride all day tomorrow. 
• The bad: I just ran the hardest 10 miles of my life, not because I was tired or sore or out of breath, but because of my lunch.
• The ugly: Kimchee soup is not good running fuel! It is extremely hard to hold down while running! I won't be doing that again.

Pace 7:29

10:30pm

I got to Winnemucca, NV(4300') about 9:00pm and was feeling antsy after dinner so I ran before bed instead of trying to get up before everybody else in the morning. I expected the altitude but not all the hills. It was a tough run for a sea-level guy.

Pace 7:34

5:30am - Fort Mojave, AZ

Don't run down a dirt road in AZ! Cars will come...

Pace 7:23

5:00am

Still in AZ. Very windy and hilly run today.

Pace 7:48

5:00am - Fort Mojave, AZ

A little cooler today, but still shorts and t-shirt weather.

Pace 7:35

4:30am - Hawthorne, NV

My garmin went dead today :( I brought the charger, but forgot the cradle. I ran a loop around town that took 42 minutes the first time, and 37 the second time. I rode the same loop on my bike afterwards and it turned out to be 5.1 miles.

Pace 7:44

8:00pm - Redding, CA

After dinner I ran out 5 miles from the motel and back. Running with a belly full of spaghetti wasn't much fun and the way back was a bummer in the dark. The shoulder of the road seemed much wider on the way out.

Pace 7:54

4:30am

I was hoping my regualr 10 miler at home would seem easier after getting in some miles at higher elevations. No such luck, it was still a work out :)

Pace 7:43