Run for your life!

Pretty much the same run as yesterday with two additional easy miles at the end.

2 easy miles. Then I was supposed to do 4 miles at 6:40. I did two, then dialed the TM up to 6:00 (10mph). After 0.4 I was dead. Walked, jogged for 1 minute and then put it back at 6:40 and then steadily increased it so my average for the 4 miles was still 6:40. I wanted to do a 5k using those first three miles in under 20 minutes, but it ended up at about 20:15. Then I recovered for about a mile and did three 1/2 mile repeats with 1/2 mile recovery in between at 6:00, 6:18 and 6:40 for 10 miles total. Hard workout, but glad I did it as usual.

Added two easy miles in the afternoon.

Run Spin Run.

I had a great experience today running a 5k. I wasn't sure how well I would do since I didn't really think it was worth it to taper my training for a 5k. I did speedwork on Thursday and ran and spun and ran for 1 1/2 hours on Friday. Anyway, I ran this race (which is a very hilly course, not a fast 5k) back in 2009 and got 57th place of about 450 runners and ran it in 22:25. Today I ran the race in 20:59.8 and got 17th place overall and 2nd in my age group. In terms of statistics this was probably my best race ever. I really think my additional miles are paying off, especially mentally. I was able to push myself just hard enough and still have a kick at the end.

Ran 10 miles after the race through hilly terrain with Troy and Terry. It was tough after the effort of the 5k, but good to still fit in a long run today.

Good run. 4 easy miles. Others were at 8, 7:47, 7:41, 7:30, 7:30 and 7:14. My left foot big toenail is toast. It's been dying a slow death and causes minor discomfort at times. Also, my right leg has some soreness between the calf and the ankle kind of on the outer portion of the back of this section. I've been running on it like this for about two weeks and it neither gets worse nor improves. I need to ice it, but who has time!

Went to spin class in the evening.

Ran 3 easy miles. Then 5 at 8min/mi. Finished with three at 7:30. Felt good except for the toe and the right leg thing.

Good run. As always, tired at 5am, but once I got warmed up I started to challenge myself. Warmed up for two miles at 8:34. Then alternated between a "challenge" mile and an 8:34 mile. Ended up doing the following:

6:40, 7:30 at 4 on the incline, 6:00 (never done that for a mile before), 6:40, 7:30 at 4 on the incline.

It was a good workout. The right leg felt fine after ibuprophen and ice last night. Left leg had a little soreness in exactly the same spot. Weird.

Easy run on TM for first 7 miles (8:34 pace) with last 3 at 7:30. Felt good except for left leg still a bit sore. Wants to give out ocasionally. Iced after and took some ibu. Should be okay.

Ran 2.5, Spun 16, Ran 2.5.

This was an utter slogfest! I ran out of gas in yesterday's spin class. Then I was up late last night. This morning I got up and felt like a slug. No energy. My only goal was to run 12 miles and get to a solid 60 for the week. I ate half an almond butter sandwich and talked my 14 year old (Nathan) into running a 5k with me. While I was getting ready I challenged my 10 year old son (Peter) to run 1 mile with me. He bought in. I ran 1.1 miles with Peter at 11:30 and talked him through completing it without walking. I gave him my gps watch and let him track his progress real time. He did it! I was proud of him. I dropped him off and picked up Nathan. The last (and first) time I ran with Nathan it was in a charity 5k. I made him run a little too fast and he puked at mile 2.8. My goal today was to make sure he had a good experience running the 5k. We ended up running 4.02 miles at an average pace of 9:30. He did great. He even agreed to come with me again. He has an awesome attitude. Then I picked up the dog and we ran two miles together at about an 8:45 pace. She is a beagle and even though she's driven by her nose, she runs pretty well and has a natural trot that fits my steady long run pace. Then I took off for 9 of the hardest miles. Legs must be depleted of all glycogen. Anyway, I finished the last mile at 7:54 and ran an overall 8:32 for these last 9. Now it's time to relax.

After my Saturday run, I spent some time playing frisbee with the kids. I ended up straining some part of my upper calf muscle on my right leg. I immediately iced it, but something's damaged. I iced and took ibuprophen since then and tried three short jogs of 2 miles each today. I can run, but I think I may be doing more damage than good. I think I'm going to take two days off with just some good walking and icing and see if I can get it to recover quickly.

Walking out the calf muscle.

Walking out the calf muscle. Things are feeling much better today, but with a race on Saturday, I want to give it the best chance for success.

Happy to report that I ran 6.2m this morning at average 10min miles and the calf held up surprisingly well.

Ran 6.25 at lunch at an average pace of 7:59 and the calf surprised me again with how well it did. I'm very encouraged!

Great progressive run this morning. Ran first five descending from a 10min pace to 8min. Then ran 7:47, 7:41, 7:35, 7:30, 7:24, 7:19, 7:13 and that final .7 at 6:40. That was the 99 minutes the treadmill gave me so I restarted it and jogged .4 to finish up 13.1. The calf felt fine. Small twinges in my left hammie, but it held up fine. I need to do more stretching and some more work with the stabilizer muscles in my calf muscles.

Enjoyed a good race today. The Striders Winter Racing Circuit 10k. It was a rough week of training with a calf injury from last Saturday that I feel really blessed to have recovered so quickly from. I was able to race full speed. This is a very hilly course. I ran this race two years ago and averaged 7:24. This time I averaged 7:09. I ran the 5k two weeks ago and took 20th place and 2nd in my division. This time I took 23rd place and 2nd again in my division. There were about 450 runners. Then I went skiing with Lisa and the boys. It was a fabulous day in the powder. After that I went to the gym and did 4.4 more miles on the treadmill. The the family (with the fast forward button in hand) watched Social Networking. That's an amazing story. Day off tomorrow.

Got in 10 miles before skiing. Last three miles at 7:30, 7:30, 7:19.

Did a nice easy run to recover from hard days Saturday and Monday. Need to rebuild some fuel in the legs.

Run 2, spin 17 and run 2. Wasn't able to get any more in today.

Good run this morning although still feeling a bit lathargic. Ran first 8 easy. Then picked up the pace to 7:30, 7:19 and last 3.1 at 7:13.

Had a good run this morning on the TM. Ran 3 miles at easy pace. Then did the following:

1 mile 7:30

.75 easy

.75 at 7:03

.5 easy

.5 at 6:40

.25 easy

.25 at 6

.25 easy

.25 at 6

.5 easy

.5 at 6:40

.75 easy

.75 at 7:03

1 easy

1 at 7:30

.4 easy to cool down

This added at least a little bit of variety to my workout and made the time go by faster.

Two more easy miles at lunchtime.

Totally awesome powder skiing from 9-2:30. Then went on a great run from the west side of Kaysville to the Bountiful Temple. Rolling hills and then one very steep hill up to the temple for about two miles (800 foot climb). Then I ran down the hill and my sweet wife picked me up in the dark. Average 8:44. Felt good.

Solid run this morning. Actually, probably the fastest 8 mile stretch for me on a treadmill. my goal in March is to run more marathon pace miles. Maybe over half of my miles at MP. So today I ran two easy, then 8 at MP or faster with the first four at 7:30, then 7:19, 7:08, 7:08 and then 6:40 with 1.5 easy at the end. Felt good.

In the evening I went to a core workout class and then to spin class with my wife. The morning, night, morning consecutive workouts are tiring!