Fly me to the moon...

I ran my usual 7 with Sasha, Mary Ann and Matt.  I felt good again today.  I plan on doing 7 a day this week and then going up to 8 a day next week.  Total time for the run was 55:17 (7:54/mile).  A little slower than recently, but there were some heated discussions, particularly in the last mile.  There was some question as to where to start the race on Saturday.

It was a pretty typical run.  I ran with the usual group.  We turned around after 3.5.  There was a heated debate, and I ran home alone from the trail.  Total time was 52:16 (7:28/mile).

My legs have felt great during my runs this week so far.  My knees were a little sore going up and down the stairs at school today though.

The group was a little different today.  Sasha and Jeff ran earlier so it was just Mary Ann and Matt.  We ran the opposite direction today.  Matt turned off towards BYU with about a mile to go.  Total time was 53:07 (7:35/mile).

We were back to the same group today.  I did the usual 7.  Total time for 7.25 was 56:07 (7:44/mile).

It was a rainy day, but it was much warmer.  I ran the workout in shorts.  We had the usual group plus Matt.  Total time was 53:12 (7:36/mile) for 7.

So far today I have run 4.25 miles.  It was deceptively slick this morning.  The temperature was above freezing, but the trail was icy in many spots.  It was a fine layer of ice and very spotty.  It was difficult running on it.  My approximate time was 36:39 for 4, but that includes some walking, sliding, and stopping to set up the course for the race later.

I ran from home to the start of the race.  Mary Ann had some helpers today so my number was ready when I arrived.  I did some stretching and a few strides.  My total warmup was about 1.5 miles.  Most people were in the 5K and seeing the competition, there was a high schooler that looked like he could be trouble.  Fortunately Sasha and Bryce were in the 10K.  The race started and within the first 100 meters we had a solid group of 4, Sasha, Bryce, me and the high school guy.  I didn't check the pace until the half mile mark, but I felt like it was slow.  I even thought to myself, "Why is Sasha going out so slowly?"  I was pleasantly surprised when the time was 2:40 at the half mile.  At that point Sasha and Bryce started to pull away a bit, and I stuck with the high school kid.  At this point I was feeling really well.  The pace felt easy and sustainable.  I slowed down a bit and hit the first mile in 5:36.  After about 1.25 I started to pull away from the other guy.  By the turnaround, I had about a 10 meter lead on him.  I hit the halfway point at 8:48.  I tried to focus on the 2nd mile and keep the pace up.  I find that it is the middle part of any race where I tend to slow down the most.  With 1 mile to go, my time was 11:57 which would make my 2nd mile around 5:46.  It was encouraging to see the time under 12 with a mile to go because I was hoping to go under 18.  I closed with a 5:47 mile and an 8:56 second half for a 17:44. 

I felt pretty good from start to finish and even feel like I could have pushed it a little harder in the last mile.  I had already put a significant gap on the second place guy and didn't feel the need to push too hard.  My splits were pretty consistent as well considering the second half is slightly uphill the entire way.  This is very encouraging and lends support to Sasha's thought that consistent, slow, daily mileage can improve your running time significantly without speedwork.  My last real race (not including the icy MLK Jr. Run) was Dec. 31st, and I ran an 18:37 off of sporadic training.  I was running about 3-4 times a week and hitting around 20 miles per week.  The past month I have been getting 6-7 miles a day consistently with about 2 total miles of faster paced running and no real speedwork.  Today I dropped 53s off of that time.  The consistency and higher mileage is paying off.

After the race, I did a 1.5 mile cooldown along the trail.  I helped clean up a bit after the awards and headed home with Sasha for another 1.25 for a total of 11.6 for the day.

I ran with Sasha, Mary Ann, and Matt.  It was a bit warmer so that was nice.  I increased the mileage to 8 miles/day this week and the legs felt okay.  Total time was 62:47 (7:51/mile).

Woke up to snow this morning.  Ran 8 with Sasha, Mary Ann and Jeff.  It was snowing pretty hard the whole time.  There were a few slick spots with ice underneath the snow, but overall it was pretty good.  The legs felt a little tired.  They weren't really sore.  They just didn't want to go.  It is most likely due to the increased mileage.  Total time was 62:04 (7:45/mile).

Due to lack of sleep last night and tired legs I decided to only do 7 this morning.  I felt okay once I got going, but I would rather be safe than injured.  Ran with a big group consisting of the usual plus Matt and Chauncy.  It was colder this morning, and it started snowing pretty hard the last couple of miles.  Total time was 55:03 (7:52/mile).

Another 8 miles with the group.  We talked about Linux, hexadecimal numbers, and RGB color values the entire run.  It was interesting.  Total time was 63:22 (7:55/mile).

Ran with the usual group plus Matt.  Sasha and Jeff continued their discussion of Linux and programming languages.  It was a bit slower today.  It was colder and icy in spots too.  Total time was 64:23 (8:03/mile).

I almost didn't get a run in today.  I was busy with family stuff, and my running group was off running the SLCTC race.  I finally got out in the late afternoon and got 4 miles in.  Total time was 32:14 (8:04/mile).  It felt faster than that with about 4 inches of snow on the trail.  It was tough going.

It was a weird run today.  I started with the usual group, but we only did 4 with Sasha.  He was not feeling well.  Mary Ann had invited a friend to run with us, so we ran around the block 3 times for 1.05 miles while waiting for him.  Then we went out and ran 3 along the trail with Jeff, Mary Ann and Craig.  Total time was 68:06 (8:30/mile).  It was a little slower due to icy conditions, sickness, and beginning runner.  The legs felt great.

It was another strange day.  For the first time since I've known him, Sasha didn't run.  He was pretty sick last night, but I was still surprised.  Mary Ann had somewhere else to go or something this morning, so it was just Jeff and I.  Mary Ann will be sad she missed out on our conversation this morning though.  We talked about the differences between PCs/Microsoft, Macs, and Linux.  Finished the 8 miles in 63:06 (7:53/mile).  Felt good, but my nose has been running a bit more today.  I'm trying very hard not to get the cold my family has had and many around the neighborhood have been passing around.

It was almost back to normal this morning.  It was the usual group plus Chauncy, but Sasha was still sick.  He has a bad head cold and infection in his ear.  He ran with a bottle of Emergen-C to help replenish fluids.  My cold has gotten worse, but it hasn't really affected my running yet.  The trail was treacherous with black ice in many spots.  The pace was slower with Sasha being sick and the slick trail.  Total time was 69:16 (8:39/mile) for 8.

Big fat zero today.  I've been fighting this cold for the past few days, but it finally got the best of me.  I decided to sleep in and take it easy today.  I'll probably do the same tomorrow morning, but I may try to get out in the afternoon for a little run.  It will depend on how I feel.

I felt much better today and decided to go for a run in the late afternoon.  I took it easy and only went 4 in a time of 30:47 (7:41/mile).  I can actually breathe a bit through my nose, and the headache from sinus pressure is gone too.  I should be back to the normal routine tomorrow.

Felt good today.  I wasn't planning on doing the threshold run with the group, but decided to tag along anyway.  The plan was to do 6:20 pace for as long as Mary Ann could hold it or until they hit 20 miles.  We started off just fine at the mark just after Geneva Road.  Sasha planned to do 10 and ease off, and I figured I would do 5 and call it quits due to being sick for both of us.  Sasha revised his plan and decided to only do 10K, and I decided to do the same.  We hit the 10K in around 39:03 and 6.25 in 39:13 (6:16/mile).  I felt really good.  I think I could have done 10 pretty easy at that pace, but I didn't want to push it.  After that we turned around and jogged back home.  On the way back my left foot starting hurting a little bit right on the ball of my foot.  I hope it isn't something serious.  Tomorrow is my day off so I will rest it and see how it feels on Monday.

The day off yesterday was good for my foot.  I wasn't sure what the problem was, but this morning it felt like it was bruised.  I slept in instead of getting up to run with the group.  I got out in the late afternoon for a short run to test it out.  It started off a little sore, but it felt better as I went along, and it loosened up a bit.  That was encouraging.  It also felt better to go faster on it.  My total time was 30:07 (7:31/mile) for 4 miles.

I got up this morning to run with the group as usual.  A funny sight was seeing Sasha with a piece of garlic in his ear that was held in place by a band-aid.  Anyway, the run went pretty well.  I suspected that the problem with the pain in my foot might be my Asics shoes, and the run this morning pretty much confirmed it.  The pain kept getting worse throughout the run.  It wasn't as bad as Saturday, and I could walk on it during the day with no problem (unlike Saturday).  I don't think the cushioning is worn down too much with less than 300 miles, but the fit is not quite right.  I'll try 8 miles with the New Balance tomorrow and see how it feels.  I think it will be just fine.  Total time for the 8 miles was 60:00 (7:30/mile).

I ran with the usual group.  I turned around at 4 miles and they continued on.  Total time was 62:13 (7:46/mile).

The foot is still bothering me so I decided to only do 6.  I ran with the usual group and finished in 45:43 (7:37/mile).

I didn't get to bed very early and Symphany woke me up a couple of times, so I slept in.  I ran later in the morning and took it easy.  I did 6 in 46:42 (7:47/mile).  I ran a little bit in the grass and that felt better on the foot.  In college, we almost always did our interval workouts for cross country on the grass or a dirt track.  We also ran on the dirt and sand trails at Indiana Dunes State Park on Saturdays.  I think that helped to have a softer surface every so often rather than pounding the pavement day after day.

Another lonely run with all of my training partners running in the SLCTC racing series.  I did 8 along the trail in 60:00 (7:30/mile).  My foot is still sore, but I am able to run on it.