Every Run is a Great Run!

AM solo run at work on Kuhni road. Went earlier than usual to beat the storm. Temps were mild but the wind was pretty horrendous. Legs feeling pretty good. Ave pace 8:10.

Headed to the gym around 11:30 with intentions of doing a run including 4 miles of 10K tempo (6:15 pace) on the treadmill because I figured Kuhni road would be to icy/sloppy to try to run fast on. But on the way to the gym I noticed the sun was pretty bright and the roads looked like they were clearing up nicely so I decided to give Kuhni road a shot.

Fortunutely the roads were pretty good and the bright sun was also nice on the face. Unfortunately something was wrong with me today and after 2 miles of warmup and 1.5 miles of 6:15 pace I got some pretty severe stomach pains and nausea and I had to bag the tempo run altogether. Not sure if it was something I ate or what but at any rate it just wasn't working for me today. Ended up just running an mostly easy run toward the fast end of my easy pace range. Also did a bit of circuit/weight training.

Ave pace for entire run: 7:20.

My stupid high-hamstring tendon-butt-itis is acting up a bit lately. Hope it doesn't start giving me big troubles again. I'll stick with easy runs for the next few days.

Late AM treadmill run. Most miles were in the 7:30-7:45 pace range.

They are doing fitness evaluations at the gym this week. Gary the gym manager had told me earlier in the week it was OK for Kim to come in with me and have a couple things checked.  Kim is probably too modest to mention it on her blog but I wanted to brag her up a bit and report that her body fat measured in the low teens! Pretty impressive I think! She's also lost 5-10 pounds since stepping up the running and is looking pretty lean and mean! Also her 168 cholesterol put my 189 to shame. Sorry if I've embarrased you Kimi but I just felt like bragging on your behalf a bit today.

AM run with Kim in the chilly but thankfully not windy morning air. Actually was a nice morning as far as January mornings go. We met up with some of the SF/Scenic gang and ran with them for a bit. I plan on doing some more at work later. Tried some of Brent's suggested hamstring ball exercises. Felt pretty uncoordinated but I do think it could be helpful for the tendon-bumitis so I might do these a few times a week. Thanks for the suggestion Brent. Actually the hamstrings were feeling pretty good today so that made me happy.

Late AM workout at the gym. Treadmill and circuit/weights workout.

Finally we made it to Jan 31. To January all I can say is goodbye and good riddance! Looking forward to a (hopefully) more sunny and slightly warmer February.

Well I was hoping to do a long progression run today outside on at least somewhat dry roads, but Mother Nature as typical of this winter didn't want to cooperate so I had to settle for the treadmill. Plan was to start out nice and easy and increase tempo every couple of miles so the workout ends with miles 10-12 around 1/2 marathon pace. I was able to pretty much follow the spirit of the workout but I never feel like it quite counts as much on the treadmill vs. the roads. On the other hand the treadmill is so boring and takes more mental fortitude so perhaps it balances out in the end.

Did miles 0-2 @ 9:00 min pace, miles 2-4 @ 8:30, 4-6 @ 8:00, 6-8 @ 7:30, 8-10 @ 7:00, then finished with mile 11 @ 6:31, and mile 12 varied starting at 6:25 then speeding up every .25 finishing @ 6:00 pace. I'm very glad to have this run out of the way and hope to never have to do it on the treadmill again.

On a positive note my legs felt better today than they have since the race and I felt very loose and relaxed after the run. My hamstrings were not an issue and I was able to get a real good stretch in afterward. So anyway I'm feeling a little less apprehensive about the 10K next week, after the lousy attempt at a tempo run earlier I was bumming out but perhaps the legs will be ready to make a decent go of it for the race.

Late AM run with Kim for 7 miles then a few more miles on my own. Since we had B-Ball games and such early we decided to sleep in a bit and get the run in later in the morning. We saw JohnA and ran with him for a bit.