Fly me to the moon...

I'm just getting back into running shape and my workouts have been pretty hit and miss the past month.  My pace was around 7:00 today for the 3.4.  It felt pretty good, but I've definitely got some work to do.

I ran along the Provo River Trail again today.  I met Sasha and ran with him for about 1.5 miles.  The pace was around 7:20-7:30 for the run.  It felt pretty comfortable, but my legs were a bit tight starting out.

Easy 3.2 today.  The legs felt better.  It's been awhile since I ran three consecutive days.  Tomorrow I'll make it four.

I didn't get out yesterday, but today was a good run.  I ran about 1.6 along the Provo River trail to warm up and then ran a couple of 0.5 mile intervals just to see where my fitness is at.  I ran them both at around 3:00 and felt like I could have gone faster if I wanted to.  It felt good to run at a decent pace for a bit.  I then finished off with about 0.6 back to the house.

I ran a little farther west on the Provo River trail today and ended up with about 4 miles total at around 7:30 pace.  The legs felt really good today.  I guess two days rest helps.  I hope to run about 4-5 miles a day for the rest of the week.

Nice 5 mile run along the trail.  Felt really good.  About 14:45 for the first 2 miles and then 14:05 for the second 2 miles.  36:15 overall for 7:15 pace per mile.

3 easy miles along the trail with a 4x100m strides in the middle.  It felt good.  Legs were a little stiff from yesterday though.  Pace was around 7:20.

Can I just say that I don't like Daylight Savings Time. An arbitrary change of clocks every 6 months does nothing to change the amount of daylight. It just makes it dark when I want to run. Anyway, today was an easy 4 along the Provo River trail. I had a side ache nearly the entire run, but other than that if felt fine. I didn't get enough sleep last night or drink enough water today so that probably didn't help.  My pace was around 7:30 per mile.

Easy 3 at 7:30 pace along the trail.

It was even darker on the trail today.  I took a small flashlight this time though.  I felt really good today.  The legs are feeling better now, and I feel strong during the run and at the end.  It was another easy 4.5 along the trail at around 7:20 pace.

Another 4 miles at 7:20 pace along the trail today.  That makes 4 consecutive days!  It has been a long time since I did that.  I'm trying to be more consistent and build a good base.  I'm debating over whether to run a 5k race this Saturday.  It would just be a fast training run to see where my fitness is at.

I ran for the 5th consecutive day today, but it was short.  Yesterday as I started my run I had a pain in the front of my left ankle.  As I continued it loosened up and felt okay, but all during the day today it was sore if I walked on it much.  I decided to run a little on it tonight to see how it felt, and it was not good.  It was painful to start out, but it loosened up a little after the 2 miles.  I noticed I wasn't running smoothly and was sort of stomping my left foot a bit rather than a nice heel to toe strike like normal.  It did get better after about a mile and half, but the pain was still there.  I tried running in the grass and that felt better.  I've never not been able to run because of an injury and come to think of it I've never really had any running related injuries.  I'll see how it feels tomorrow and go from there.

I ran this morning with Sasha and Ted on the Provo River Trail.  They were doing a half marathon, but I turned around at 2.5 for a total of 5 for the day.  The pace was around 7:20 overall.  My ankle felt better after a couple of days off and the legs felt fresh.

It was my first morning run in awhile.  I was never much of a morning runner, but it felt good to get out that early.  I was hurting about the last 1.5 though because the gas tank was empty.  I've found that to be successful in the morning at all I need to get up extra early and get some calories in before running.  I didn't have the chance to do that this morning.

After yesterday's run, my foot was giving me trouble all day today.  I decided to try to run.  I got about a half mile out (after stopping several times) and my ankle was really hurting so I turned around.  It started to feel a little better so I finished a loop around the block, but it was still quite painful to run on.  It seems to be altering my stride as well and my knees and hips were feeling it a little too.  I decided to take a few days off and see if I can get this under control.

I really wanted to run today.  It has been a long time since I really had fun running and really wanted to get out and get some miles in, and I can't.  It's funny how much more appealing it is now that I can't when I went for a couple of years without doing it and was just fine.

I got out today to test the ankle.  It had been feeling almost normal after not running for almost a week.  I ran 1.5 with a big group at 6am from Sasha's house and then turned around.  The ankle was a little sore to start out, but it loosened up nicely.  It feels pretty good right now at lunchtime.  I'll take it easy the next couple of weeks and see how it goes.  I would really like to do some races soon, but I don't want to hurt the ankle anymore.

Just three easy miles along the trail today.  Pace was about 7:40/mile.  The ankle felt good.  I am convinced that it is my shoes and the way I was lacing them up that caused the problem.  I think it just irritated and inflamed the tendon in the front where the ankle and leg are connected.  I don't have any pain during the day if I wear sandals or dress shoes.  It is just with running shoes.  I think the tongue just hits it in the wrong spot.  That's my super scientific analysis for the day.

I ran 3 miles on the trail again today.  The pace was 7:40/mile again.  I felt really good today.  The ankle felt fine, and the run was nice and easy.  I enjoyed the bright Moon because I could see where I was going in the dark.  Being an astronomer, I wouldn't normally like a nice bright Moon.  It messes up your data and makes the stars hard to see, but it's nice to run with.

The extra 0.25 was running from the testing center at BYU to the science center and back.  I was taking some graded papers back to my office.

Another 3 easy miles along the trail this morning.  It was colder this morning, but it felt great.  The pace was faster (7:25/mile), but it didn't feel like it.  It felt like the same effort or less than the 7:40 I've been running.  Legs and ankle felt fine.

The legs felt great today, and there was no pain in my ankle.  It was the usual 3 miles along the trail.  I read my watch at 2 miles, and I think it said about 15:30 for a 7:45/mile pace.  However, I ended up with a 21:30 for the run for 7:10/mile.  That would mean I ran 6:00 for the last mile.  I think I misread my watch because the last mile was not that fast.  I didn't even think the pace was that fast!

Three miles along the trail at 7:10/mile pace.  That's a little faster than I would like to go for easy, base miles, but it feels so comfortable.  The legs felt the best yet.  I'll take the day off tomorrow and then increase my mileage a little bit next week.  Perhaps I'll add a couple of longer runs of 4-5 miles with the usual base of 3.

I did a mid-afternoon run today for 2 reasons.  It was warmer then, and I didn't have time to pack a lunch this morning.  I came home, ran, ate, and now I'm going to head back to class.  The workout was an easy 4 along the trail.  Pace was 7:20/mile.

I just finished 3 miles along the trail.  It was a nice day, and I felt great.  Pace was 7:23/mile.  I also did 4x100 m strides in the middle with 100 m rest in between.

It was my favorite 3 mile workout along the trail.  I started off around 7:30 pace and hit the 2 mile around 14:45.  Then I decided to push the pace a little more the last mile and ended up with 21:10 for the 3 miles for about 7:03/mile total.

Three miles along the trail this evening.  It was dark and cold.  Pace was around 7:30/mile.  Felt great.

It was a cold, rainy evening here in Provo, but I got a run in.  It wasn't too bad, and I've run in much worse.  I did the usual three miles along the trail at 7:26/mile.  Tomorrow I'm going to try a longer run of 5 miles.  I haven't had any problems with the ankle in over a week, so I think it's good to go.

First snow run of the season!  It has been awhile since I ran in the snow.  It reminded me of running on the dunes at Indiana Dunes State Park back in college.  I ran 5 miles along the trail.  The snow on the trees was beautiful.  All I needed was a camera.  Pace was around 7:50/mile.

I had to do an evening run because I was busy with work and school all day.  I started out going west on the river trail, but the darkness and slick spots under the bridges made me turn around.  I decided to go the other way for a half mile and then do a couple of loops around the neighborhood.  It was fairly slow going, and I almost biffed it once, but it was a good run.   I felt great and the legs feel great.  I don't know the pace, but it was somewhere around 8:00/mile.

An afternoon run of 4 miles along the trail.  It was warmer today, but there were still large patches of snow and ice on the trail.  Pace was 7:20/mile with splits of 7:45, 7:15, 7:10, 7:10.  It felt a little bit like a fartlek with the snow and ice patches.  I would run a decent pace on the dry spots and then slow down on the ice.  Overall, it was a nice run, and I felt great.

Today was one of those days when I didn't feel like running.  I was tired, and running on the dark, cold trail didn't sound appealing.  I went out anyway and had a nice run.  The legs felt tired, but it turned out to be a nice run.  Pace was around 7:33/mile. 

It was a gloomy, overcast day, but I had a good run.  The trail is almost completely free of snow and ice.  Just in time for it to get covered up again tomorrow.  Pace was around 7:16/mile.  I did 6x100m strides in the middle with a 100m recovery in between.

Okay, so I wimped out today.  I didn't feel like running in the rain.  I don't mind the cold or running in snow at all, but I never liked running in the rain that much.  I did run from my office to the testing center just so I could say I ran a little.

It was a 5 mile fun run in the snow today.  There was about 4-5 inches on the ground, and it was coming down pretty hard.  It was slow going (~8:08/mile), but it was fun.

I started with a jog to Sasha's house.  Then ran out 2.5 and back 2.5 on the trail.  Ted and Sasha continued on for the (Un)eventful half-marathon.  The trail was snowy and icy, so the pace was slow.   It was somewhere around 8:20/mile.

It was another 4 miles along the trail.  Hamstring is a little sore, but other than that the legs feel fine.  Pace was around 7:45/mile.  The extra 0.25 was from running from the science center to my car.

I've had a sore throat for about a week now, so I decided not to run today.  Hopefully, I will feel a little better tomorrow.

I guess I should have run yesterday when I felt okay.  I woke up feeling okay, but as the day progressed I got worse and worse.

I feel awful!  I think I finally got what everyone else around here has been passing around.  I think I've been fighting it for a week now with the sore throat, but it didn't get me hard until now.  I'll probably take it easy for a few days and try to get over this quickly.  If it is the same thing others have had, it takes a good two weeks to get over it.  I don't want to wait that long, but we'll see.