Rhett

I decided to do an old work out I did a couple years ago training for my first Boston.  There is a 1.15 mile loope less than a mile from my house with three very steep hills on it.  The my Garmin says the first is about 150m and 9% incline, the second 250m 7% incline and the 3rd 50m 13% incline.  I run the loope at an easy pace and I sprint the hills.  Last night I did 5 laps, so 15 sprints equallying about 1.5 miles.  Total run was 7.5 miles.  I think I may start doing that workout everyother week instead of my 2 1/2 min repeats on rolling hills.

Oops, never posted yesterday's run.  6 EZ miles AP 8:03

Tonight is tempo run night! Yea!

Wednesday night my wife has young women's so I take the kids to the gym and do some treadmill work.  Today  1 mile warm up, 7 miles at 6:40, 0.5 mile cool down.

Total run 8.5 miles 58:40

Felt great!

I thought I might have heavy legs this morning after my tempo run last night, but my legs felt great.  My foot was a bit more sore than normal though. 

6 EZ miles AP 7:48, probably a bit too fast, but it felt good.

6.4 miles Recovery run.  I kept trying to slow down.  Wanted to run 8:30s but ended up running at 8:00 exactly.  I did 10 hill sprints over the last mile +.  My legs have felt really good this week.  I've got my 1st 20 miler of this training cycle scheduled for tomorrow morning.  I'm excited to get out and do it.

My first 20 miler of this training cycle went well.  I got up at 4am went and planted some water bottles and was out running a little after 4:30.  I did 2 10 mile loopes on a very hilly course.  Total time 2:37:36  Avg Pace 7:53.  I felt great at the end.  Last 2 miles were 7:00 then 6:58.  My foot didn't bother me much, but on a few of the downhills I was worrying that the next step might be my last.  From here out I'll do a 20 miler every other Sat. with a 23 miler 3 weeks before Boston.

Last night I headed out for a 12 mile marathon paced run.  I wasn't sure how my legs would respond after my 20 miler on Sat.  The first mile I felt like I was working hard, but then I started to settle in at a nice pace. 

12 miles  1:21:53  AP 6:49

Felt great!

I did a nice easy run this morning wondering how my legs would feel after my hard effort last night.  My legs felt great.  My foot was a little sore for the first mile and then quit bothering me.  6 miles AP 8:15

Tonight was Treadmill Wednesday, my night with the kids. I did six one mile repeats after warming up. I did 3 minute recovery walk/jogs in between each mile. Then a small cool down at the end.

Treadmill at 1% incline. Each mile at 9.8 (6:07). The last two miles were tough, but I worked it out. Nice not to have to do mile repeats again for a couple more weeks.

I did 6 EZ miles this morning.  The sun was up, no wind, 41 degrees.  It was great. 

AP 8:15

Legs and foot felt great.

6.5 easy miles this morning but run too fast although it felt really easy.  I finished with 10 hill sprints over the last mile+.  AP 7:54  Even though that felt really easy I need to do better at slowing down on my easy runs so I can really push hard on the 3 important runs each week.

I broke out a new pair of shoes for this mornings run and they felt good. No wind, sun shining, 44 degrees. Can you say perfect? I did 8 miles out easy AP 7:21 then turned around and ran back uphill hard AP 7:03. Total run 16 miles AP 7:12.

That was a good way to break in the new shoes.

Ran last night around 8 pm.  It was raining steadily, but I braved the great outdoors anyways in order to get my hill work in.  I did the mile plus loope with 3 steep long hills and sprinted the hills and easy ran the rest.  I ran 6 laps.  Total run 8.6 miles  AP 8:05

I had a nice easy morning run this morning.  The sky was clear and the sun coming up.  It was georgeous, especially compared to last nights run in the rain. 

6 miles AP 7:47

Wednesday night at the gym with the kids. Treadmill tempo run.

1 mile warm up

7 miles, 1% incline 9.1 mph. Mile 7 was tough so I started running 0.25 miles at a time. By mile 6.5 I really wanted to stop, so I increased the speed to 9.2. I then wanted to stop at 6.75 so I increased the speed to 9.3 for the last quarter mile....7 miles in 46:07 (AP 6:35)

1/2 mile cool down.

6 EZ miles this morning and another beautiful, crisp, cool morning. 

AP  8:12

I'm really starting to love my EZ days.  I used to dread them, but now I like them better than my hard days. 

6.4 recovery run with 10 hill sprints at the end.  AP 8:24

I was trying to keep it nice and easy so I can have a good 20 miler tomorrow morning.

It was a very dark morning, so dark that I almost ran off the road a couple times.  It's a weird feeling when you can't see the road in front of you.

I started off a little sluggishly for the first few miles and then I seemed to settle into a nice groove.  I did my 10 mile loop with the 1st 3.5 miles climbing 700+ feet and then a nice easy descent over the next 6.5 miles.  I did it twice to get in my 20 miles.  The first loop I ran in 1:18:10.  I was suprised to see I had done it that fast in that I kind of felt like I was sleep walking through that first loop.  In my never ending quest for negative splits I picked it up a bit on the second loop and ran it in 1:14:54.

Total run 20 miles,  2:33:04,  AP 7:39

I was feeling good with a couple miles to go so I let the horses run and averaged 6:33 over the last 2 miles.  I hope I don't pay for that on Monday when I head out for my run.

What a wonderful night. We had FHE, played hide and seek with the kids, put them to bed and then I went out for my run. I had a 13 mile marathon pace (6:52) run planned. I decided while running to do the extra 0.1 so I could do a half marathon. My pacing at the beginning was off. The first 3 miles I was just over 6:30 pace. I was worried that this might kill me at the end of my run. I was then able to settle into a pace right around 6:50 for the next 9 miles. On the last mile.1 I was feeling good so I picked it back up around 6:30 pace.

Total run 13.1 miles, 1:28:30 AP 6:46 (Oh yeah, they were flat miles. I ran around the island 3 1/2 times)

Felt great, I'm ready for a nice easy run tomorrow morning. This run gave me some confidence that I was just having a bad day at Painter's for what ever reason.

I did a nice easy recovery run this morning.  I thought I might have some soreness in my legs after last nights half marathon run, but my legs, although tired, felt great.  Not even a twinge of soreness.  I ran 6 miles starting out slowlyl and then just running what felt easy.  Ended up running 6 miles, AP 8:04.

I took the kids to the gym for some treadmill work tonight. It was mile repeat night, and I wasn't sure how I felt about that. I did a mile warm up at 7.5 and my legs felt very tired. I then set up the treadmill to do 6 one mile repeates at 9.9 (6:03) with recovery pace at 4.5 all at 1% incline. I was suprised that my legs felt a lot better running at the faster pace. I did my 6 repeats with 2:57 recovery time. I was suprised how good I felt all the way through until that last mile which was tough at the beginning then I finished strong. Total run 8.5 miles.

6 recovery miles AP 8:03  Legs felt great

I have started to notice that by doing my real hard runs at night and then doing my recovery run the next morning early, by legs feel a ton better.  I don't know if there is any science behind it, but it is working for me. 

I did a nice revovery run which averaged exactly 8:30 this morning. 

6.4 miles with 10 hill sprints over the last mile +.

Legs were a little tired today.  I think they'll be ready for a good hard 16 miler tomorrow.

There was a strong wind out this morning. I hate wind! I guess it is good to train in though, cause you never know when you are going to have a bad race day like SGM 2008. I did my normal 16 mile run...8 out and downhill easy, 8 back uphill and hard. The wind was in my face on the way out, thank goodness. It took a lot out of me though and I didn't have my usual legs on the way back. I went out in 1:02:00 (7:45) exactly. I came back in 57:35 (7:13), slower than usual, but I'll take it.

Total Run 16 miles, 1:59:35, AP 7:28