sub-3 or blow-up trying

Ran 6 miles with Rick today at around an 8:45 pace and then continued on from the gym to run another 10 miles.  Did the course up to Morris and back.  Ran the first 9 miles in 63:58 (7:06 pace), running 3 miles at threshold (6:10 was the fastest) and 4 miles at mp.  There were two miles that were mp effort, but speed was down due to hills.  Also, jogged the final mile as a "cooldown".  Overall, felt good about the effort- no fuel or drink for the entire 16 miles, yet still a bit in the tank at the end. 

PM:  Went to gym and did 20-minute weights, followed by slow 7.5 mile recovery run (9ish pace), and a final 15 minutes back with the weights.

Late PM:  Didn't get home until 10ish.  Began to get a TM workout in, but realized I'm running on fumes.  Decided to pack it in and get the needed rest.  2 miles total.

6 miles at slow pace w/Rick at lunch.

7 miles on the TM in 52:30 (7:30 pace), including two 800's @ 6 min/pace.  Planning to run a 5k on Friday night.  At the same time, not wanting to really taper for it.  It's more of a training run for the Litchfield Road Race the following weekend (7.1 miles). 

PM:  Ran 10.25 miles at a 9min pace towards Morris and then through the woods. 

Quick 4 miles this morning...felt very sluggish and slow.  Threw in a couple of strides at a 5:30 pace to try and wake up my legs.  May take a nap this afternoon and take another short jog/stretch to get ready for tonight's 5k. 

Jogged 3 miles with a few strides before the race.  My legs were still pretty stiff.  Probably the 16 mile run on Monday followed by freeweight squats on Tuesday (hadn't done them for a few weeks).  Knew the race tonight was going to be a challenge...

Race time...well, I've had better days.  Started out by running the first mile in 6 minutes flat...at this point I was already pretty much done.  Shifted into training run mode.  Didn't give split at 2 miles and I didn't check my watch, so all I know was that I finished with a clock time of 20:03.  There were about 1,200 runners and I lined up in the 2nd wave, so figured I lost about 4-5 seconds at the start.  I'll find out my chip time tomorrow and will edit if necessary.  I'd love to do the course again...it's a perfect one for a pr.  I think I could have broken 19 on a good day.  I would have loved to have felt more fresh for a strong run today, but I'm still keeping my eye on a good race for next weekend.  Upon returning hope, jumped on the treadmill to see if my legs were awake yet.  Set it on 6 minutes and could only last .25 miles...again, this was not a good race day for me.  Oh well. 

Ran 9.5 miles with Ed at about a 7:30 pace.  Was proud to see how he did in yesterday's 5k.  He's 53 and placed 2nd in his age division with a 19:16.  He's really beginning to recapture his old form. 

Ran the first 6 miles of the local road race course in 40:39 (6:46 pace).  This is about a minute slower than 3 weeks ago.  I'm going to cut mileage just a bit to taper for this weekend's 7-miler.  I'm due for a lighter week.  Hopefully I can get some zip in my legs back soon. 

Once again, did a firm run on the first 6 miles of the Litchfield Road Race course...this time started on very tired legs, but kept a firm pace to finish in 41:02 (6:50 pace).  My legs were dead by the start of mile 5, yet I wanted to push it to get mentally prepared for race mode.  Started with a .25 warm-up and finished 1.1 mile cooldown.

AM:  Jogged 1/4 mile to the road race course.  Ran first 6 miles firm, but not hard in a total of 42:19 (7:03 pace).  After running hard 3 days of the last 4, my legs actually feel as though they are starting to get stronger.  Finished the last 1.1 miles on the course with "cooldown" pace.  Hope to get another run in today.

PM:  Ran to Morris and back for a total of 10 miles...1st 5 in 38:37 (7:43 pace)...2nd 4 in 30:39 (7:38 pace)...last mile "cooldown".

Full day, but was able to get to the track for a quick work-out.  Wanted a shot of speedwork, but nothing to disrupt getting ready for race on Sunday.  2 mile warm-up, then 4x400 w/1 lap jog between each one (83,81,81,80), and finished with 8x100 on the grass barefoot w/100 jog between each sprint.  5 miles overall.  Just enough to work on form and get the leg turnover going a bit.  Will take it pretty easy until Sunday- maybe even Friday and Saturday off. 

rest.

Ran 4 miles at a nice, slow 8:40 pace.  Legs felt much better today than last Friday.  Still not ready to race, but should be fine by this weekend. 

rest.

Mixed results about today's race.  First, to put everything into perspective, this is my 4th time running Litchfield and I pr'd by 6 1/2 minutes.  I've definitely had a great year of running.  However, I have had several training runs in the past month on this course that have exceeded today's performance.  For whatever reason, my legs are in the midst of a 2 week "dead zone". 

I started the race among about 1,300-1,400 runners, including several elites.  The temperature was good for a 1pm start (65 degrees), yet the sun was out and there was 78% humidity (non-factor).  I started out with a firm pace, but then adjusted quickly towards a significantly slower pace...just didn't have 6:30 minute miles in me today.  Here are the splits I was aware of...

Mile 2:  12:30 (steep downhill in mile 1 and modest uphill towards the end of mile 2)

5K:  20:02 (same time as my 5k from last week with 4 miles to go)

Mile 4:  27 minutes (significant uphill portion...mile 5 included some trail running for maybe 3/4 mile and then my pace got back to around 6:50 on the street...spent 1/4 mile or so running and talking with Rod Dixon- former Olympic runner from New Zealand)

Mile 6:  41 minutes (translates to 6:50 pace...ran to this point in just over 39:40 a few weeks ago...what's going on?)

Mile 7 begins with a hills with a 9% grade, so my goal was to finish things off within 50 minutes...held my place and finished strong in well under 50...I'm not sure the exact time so I'll make adjustments once official result are out.  Finished in approx 49:30.

I don't feel as though I've lost fitness...I could probably go out right this minute and run the same course in the same time or faster...I'm not tired at all and will probably run again this evening.  I'll just keep plugging away and hopefully start getting some zip back in the legs.  Overall, still a fun experience today!

Legs still felt fresh so I did a 5-mile workout in the TM in our basement.  2 mile warm-up followed by some speedwork separated by .25 mile recovery- 1 mile (6min pace), recovery, 1 mile (6min), recovery, 1/2 mile (6min pace)...had to stop because I was sweating so bad the TM was getting dangerous.  I'm realizing the need to get 1-mile repeats back into the circuit + TM helped discipline me to keep the legs moving (don't want to fall off). 

PM:  5 miles at gym + 10 minutes weights

EVENING:  5 miles at home...both recovery mode (8:20ish pace)

AM: 15 minutes weights + 6.6 trail miles in Whites Woods.

PM:  9.75 mile run out towards Morris and down through the cemetary. 

Both runs were easy 8:30-9min pace.

Noon:  A little experiment this week.  I've tapered for the last 2 road races and the legs felt pretty dead.  This week I've poured on the mileage already and will participate in an evening 5k.  It's a bit of a challenging course (21:30 last summer) w/two thirds of it going uphill.  Last year I pr'd in a 5k (19:09) about one month after running this particular race.  If I get anywhere near 20 minutes tonight I will feel good.  My goal would be to then pr within a month (under 19min).  No more tapering for smaller races and I'm really interested in seeing how the legs respond to tonight's effort.  Got in 4 miles during lunch with 8- 30 second strides built in.  Felt descent.

PM:  Got to the race site and ran through the course + an extra half mile (3.6 miles), followed by the actual race...it was a very tough course (rolling hills with 2/3 being more up than down), so I decided to start out conservatively.  Here are the splits...

Mile 1:  6:25 (rolling hills, gradually going up)

Mile 2:  13:20 (6:55 pace...a couple steeper hills and then flattened out...kept same effort)

Finish:  20:13 (6:15 pace for the final 1.1...held a steady pace and coasted in feeling strong)

Overall, very happy with the effort.  It was a good training run on a high mileage week.  I pr'd on my time on this course from last year by over 1 1/2 minutes.  Placed 9th out of about 150 runners, including 3rd in my age division.  Got home and did an extra 3.4 on the TM, including 2-mile repeats at 6 min pace + 800 in 3 min.  Feel as though I'm beginning to regain form. 

Pouring rain outside...started to do a recovery run on the TM, but then the motor blew after 1 mile.  Fortunately, we have a 1-year warantee on parts/labor, so the place we bought it from is being very helpful to replace it promptly.

Did a long run today on my old familiar route...did the first 12 miles in 1:33:24 (7:47 pace) and stopped by the house to switch socks.  It was humid out so I was drenched.  Grabbed a banana, half piece of bread, quick drink, ditched the shirt and I was off again within 3-4 minutes.  Got 1/4 mile down the road and realized I forgot to set my watch, so I jogged back and started the second half over again.  Ran 8 miles in 1:01:32 (7:42 pace).  Although it was humid, I kept everything at a manageable, steady pace.  Feel good about the run.  Last summer I was just beginning to build for these 20-milers, so I'm a step ahead.  The legs keep feeling better and my pants are starting to get a little looser- not sure if I've lost weight, but I'm getting better toned. 

Ran a 14-mile route with Ed today through Morris and into Bantum.  Forgot to start my watch, so just ran by feel.  Most of our run was between 7:20 and 7:40 pace w/mile 13 timed at 7:03.  Thought I'd be sore or sluggish today, but was surprisingly fine.  I'll have to weigh myself this week.  I think I've finally lost the post-Boston weight. 

Great day at church followed by Father's Day celebration.  Ate way too much mexican food.  The family settled down at home, so I headed off a run.  It was raining pretty good for 2/3 of the workout.  Started with a 1-mile warm-up, followed by two 3-mile tempos, and closed it out with 3-mile cooldown...

1st 3-mile tempo:  19:46 (6:35 pace...one steep downhill 1/4 mile and 1 mild uphill)

-walked for 2-min-

2nd 3-mile tempo:  20:20 (6:46 pace...same effort, but one 1/2 mile stretch uphill...mile 3 was flat in 6:34)

Felt good with th effort after 34-miles in 2 runs on Fri/Sat.  Plan on a 5-miler this Saturday.  Again, a fairly tough course, yet I hope to beat last year's time by at least a minute (or two). 

After a full weekend, felt it wise to keep it short and slow today.  5 miles @ 8:30 pace.

Ran 11.5 miles out through Morris in the sprinkling rain in 1:22:17 (7:09 pace).  Ran 1 extra for "cooldown".  Feel good about my workout variety. 

Jogged our 7 mile road race course...took a detour to the track in the midst of the run and decided to go 1-mile at a pace I felt I could maintain "comfortably" or "realistically" (might be a better term) for a 5k- never looked at my watch until finishing (6:12)...jogged 2 more laps...continued on the course until reaching Whites Woods and decided to run the 5k trail course...really had to dig deep to do this, yet was able to pull off a 19:43 time (6:22 pace)...it was a bit buggy and muggy and I was totally sweating like a moose...continued back onto the street to finish the original course I started...total of 11.6 miles.  Plan on recovery runs for the next two days.

Noon:  Nice easy run with Rick at recovery pace (9min) for 6 miles...may run again in early evening.

PM:  Warm and humid late this afternoon (mid-80's).  Started out w/a very comfortable pace, felt good, so decided on mile 5 to take the longer route, was naturally able to pick up speed and finished 11.5 miles in 1:24:34 (7:21 pace).  Walked for some water and finished with an extra 1.5 home.  Felt very good today.

Missed my window of time to run...once ready, huge thunderstorms struck.  Went to the gym and did 3 miles on the TM...nothing too exciting.

Drove down to Norwalk for a 5-mile race w/approx 150-60 runners.  Good day for running.  My goal was to pull off as even pace a run as possible and continue my summer improvement.  It's a little bit of a challenging course with rolling hills- mile 4 is mostly uphill and the last half mile is uphill...the course was not fully marked and mile 4 was definitely off a bit, yet I was able to get a reliable measurement for both mile 1 and the entire course (5.11).  Here's the best I can do with splits...

Mile 1:  6:26 (mostly flat + some uphill...ran very conservatively)

Mile 2:  ???  (no mile marker or I just missed it...one downhill then mostly flat)

Mile 3:  19:22 (still feeling very steady...I think mile two was faster because mile 3 had an uphill section)

Mile 4:  26:25 (this mile was mostly uphill, yet I think it was still off a bit...I kept a very steady pace...breathing fine, feel good)

Mile 5:  33:14 (picked up up a bit...last half mile was uphill, yet I still think I ran faster than 6:49...probably could have dug deeper, but nobody was within 100 yards of me either way)

Again, it's hard to know precise splits (only used stopwatch), but feel as though I kept the same pace throughout and even kicked it in a tiny bit at the end.  6:30 pace was my goal and I was able to achieve it.  Also, I pr'd on this course from last year by 1min 50 seconds...hope to keep shaving time of the shorter distances.  Plan on going to the lake with family and will get a second run in only if time permits...

PM:  2.5 mile warm-up, then ran our 7.1 road race in 3 portions- 2 tempos + 1 mile "cooldown"...

1st tempo (5k):  19:46 (6:23 pace...may have used up my threshold miles for the day)

-2min rest- (wrung my shirt out a few times)

2nd tempo (3 miles):  20:41 (6:54 pace...I'll count this mp even though it felt like tp)

- 1 mile "cooldown"

9.6 miles total for the afternoon.

Nice, slow recovery run- 12 miles at an 8:40ish pace.  Legs feel strong. 

Ran outside with Ed today through Goshen.  Mid-80's and a bit humid.  There were a couple downhill patches in the shade which gave tremendous relief.  We started out at about a 7:40ish pace, work our way down to a few sub-7's (mostly downhill) and then finished off on a tough uphill at around a 7:45-8ish pace.  Overall, probably averaged 7:15-40 for most of the run.  Very rolling course and Ed definitely pushed me today. 

Ran 10-miles with Ed through a hilly course.  Overall, held about a 7:05-10 pace w/3 sub 7's near the end.  Good finish to the month!