OBJECTIVE
9 miles : no pace
ACHIEVED
9.01 mi. : 1:10:50 = 7:52/mi.
6:06 AM 43° 87% 1 mph
Today was a GOOD run. There really wasn't really reason for it that I know of and I certainly didn't see it coming. It surprised me so much that I kept expecting to fade as the run progressed but "it" was there the whole time.
I was out of bed early this morning but slow to get going. It was cool this morning and I wasn't really that eager for this morning' run. By the time I made it over to the Y, ChampionsFit was gathering for their "unofficial long run" scheduled for 10 miles. I didn't want to have anything to do with them (long story) and was happy that I didn't see anyone that I knew while stretching in the parking lot. I let there band of about 20 set off while I was still stretching. I don't know how much time passed but it was a while before I started. Their group includes runners of all paces going all distances. I'm sure by now you're anticipating what happened .... As I began reeling them in, my pace quickened as I looked for more. My first mile was 8:16 - about 30 seconds faster than I'd planned. I started thinking I'd be in trouble later in the run for this fast start. Of course the faster runners were still ahead. I don't know why I had something to prove but it seems that I did. Second mile - 7:46. I had passed them all. Now I was sure I'd be hurting later. But I figured I was around 8:00 miles and was feeling pretty good. Even though this was supposed to be a long, slow distance run (my longest since before Thanksgiving), I decided I'd try to hold the 8 minute pace for as long as I could.
Mile 3 - 8:05
Mile 4 - 8:09
I was still feeling fine. Legs felt good and cardio was strong. I turned around at 4.5 miles. I had not planned on seeing the CF group again but obviously since it's out and back, I was going to. I started pushing it a bit because I wanted to pass them as far back the path as I could.
Mile 5 - 8:13
Mile 6 - 7:40
Passing them here and there. Some going back from shorter runs; some still going out. It really spurred me on. I was still feeling good. I decided that over the last two miles I'd try a legitimate pickup. I've only tried this a couple other times and it's never really worked out for me. I wanted to see if I could run the last two miles faster than any other mile up to that point. In the back of my mind a wondered about stressing my old injuries but figured I'd been playing it safe for a long time and it was about time for a test. Since everything was going so well, today seemed as good a time as any.
Mile 7 - 7:46
Mile 8 - 7:33
Mile 9 - 7:16
I did it and I felt great! I passed a couple guys over the last mile had run a shorter distance and were running at a good pace. That really helped me focus on working my way up to them.
Again, I have no good reason why this happened for me today but I'll take it! There are plenty of days when it's just not there so it's extremely nice to get a good day like today.
As a reference, yesterday I ate a small pasta marinara for lunch, a PBJ smoothie in the afternoon, a hard boiled egg in the early evening, and cereal in the evening. I went to bed around 9:30 and woke up around 2:30. Had a hard time getting back to sleep. After tossing around until about 4:30, I got up and surfed the Internet for a while before going for the run. [Just wanted this on record as I will probably try to replicate today's run sometime in the future!]
PRE RUN
Clif bar & water
POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, Kashi GoLean w. skim milk, water, multivitamin, zinc
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
Sluggish
OBJECTIVE
5 miles : no pace
5 miles : no pace
ACHIEVED
5.11 mi. : 44:07 = 8:38/mi.
4:37AM 45° 57% 5 mph
Started sluggish and stayed sluggish this morning. Left knee was a bit slow to start again but not as bad as usual. Relying on yesterday's forecast for this morning, I overdressed. This made for an uncomfortable effort. Tried to keep my mind busy with work issues but couldn't really focus.
Paige has been sick for most of this week. I've been sleeping in the guest room in an attempt to avoid picking anything up from her. I was tired at work most of the afternoon yesterday. That coupled with how I felt ruuning this morning has me fearful that I may be getting sick. Stay tuned ....
9 mile long run tomorrow before going to the office.
PRE RUN
Clif bar & water
POST RUN
SlimFast, multivitamin, water & oatmeal w/brn sgr
Later, vitamin C
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Rain & Cooler
OBJECTIVE
3 miles : no pace
ACHIEVED
≈3.00 miles : 23:52 = 7:57/mi.
≈4:30 AM 42° 92% 1 mph light rain
Got 3 miles in under light rain and cooler temperatures. About 150 yards from the house a car passed and sprayed me big time. At that point the hope of staying as dry as possible had been eliminated! My left knee was slow to start again but, as has been the trend, finally got into the act a little before the 1 mile mark. My Garmin didn't work from the outset so I switched to the IronMan and followed the regular 3 mile route. Overall I felt pretty good this morning. Tomorrow is a scheduled day off before going out for 5 miles on Friday and 9 on Saturday. The cool temperatures and rain are supposed to continue throughout the weekend. There are times when the rain doesn't bother me at all; other times it absolutely drives me crazy!
Paige is planning to run the Galloway Gallop 10K with me on February 2. I'm just hoping my work situation will allow me the time to do it! To make an incredibly long story as short as possible, we condensing 8½ months work into 5 weeks! The "pot of gold" at the end of the rainbow ... so to speak ... is that the summer should be much lighter than usual.
PRE RUN
nothing
POST RUN
SlimFast & multivitamin
Later, Kashi GoLean & water
3 miles : no pace
ACHIEVED
≈3.00 miles : 23:52 = 7:57/mi.
≈4:30 AM 42° 92% 1 mph light rain
Got 3 miles in under light rain and cooler temperatures. About 150 yards from the house a car passed and sprayed me big time. At that point the hope of staying as dry as possible had been eliminated! My left knee was slow to start again but, as has been the trend, finally got into the act a little before the 1 mile mark. My Garmin didn't work from the outset so I switched to the IronMan and followed the regular 3 mile route. Overall I felt pretty good this morning. Tomorrow is a scheduled day off before going out for 5 miles on Friday and 9 on Saturday. The cool temperatures and rain are supposed to continue throughout the weekend. There are times when the rain doesn't bother me at all; other times it absolutely drives me crazy!
Paige is planning to run the Galloway Gallop 10K with me on February 2. I'm just hoping my work situation will allow me the time to do it! To make an incredibly long story as short as possible, we condensing 8½ months work into 5 weeks! The "pot of gold" at the end of the rainbow ... so to speak ... is that the summer should be much lighter than usual.
PRE RUN
nothing
POST RUN
SlimFast & multivitamin
Later, Kashi GoLean & water
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Light Rain & Warm Temp
OBJECTIVE
5 miles : no pace
ACHIEVED
5.13 miles : 42:30 = 8:17/mi.
4:24 AM 57° 95% 1 mph light rain
My left knee was cranky for a little less than a mile this morning but got with the program thereafter. It was warm with a very heavy mist/light rain. It was a quiet morning. I only saw a couple of cars over the whole run. Although one of them was a speeding SUV on a dark section of Cypresswood Drive that came closer than I'd like. I think it may have been a law enforcement vehicle .... I'll assume the best ... they were responding to an emergency and the abrupt lane change that took the vehicle into my path was necessary ... ???
My mile splits were tightly bunched today (slowest mile - 8:22; fastest mile 8:12). I suppose that qualifies this as a tempo run. Although the pace was slower than my tempo run should be. I'm still running at "no pace". I thought I'd switch to defined pacing this week but since I missed the long run over the weekend and re-read some of Daniel's stuff, I'm not sure what the proper pacing should be at this point. At the moment, my plan is to roll off of Hal Higdon's plan that I'm currently following (not enough detail) and shift over to Runners' World Smart Coach. Next week will be 16 weeks out from the Ogden marathon which is an ideal point to start. The other thing I like about Smart Coach is that it better fits my schedule for now. I've recently taken on additional responsibilities at work and am "drinking from a fire hydrant" right now. I like running as a release during this time but there are late hours and suboptimal nutrition and rest ahead. It's just a fact. Smart Coach should allow me to properly prepare for Ogden and better manage the other aspects of my current situation. Smart Coach also worked well for me at last year's Ogden half and St. George.
Yesterday was a bad nutrition day for me and I felt it during this morning's run ... just a general sluggishness. It wasn't that I ate bad food ... just that I didn't get enough calories and carbohydrates to properly fuel for today's run.
PRE RUN
Clif bar & water
POST RUN
SlimFast, multivitamin, & water
Later, oatmeal w/b.sugar & skim milk, water
5 miles : no pace
ACHIEVED
5.13 miles : 42:30 = 8:17/mi.
4:24 AM 57° 95% 1 mph light rain
My left knee was cranky for a little less than a mile this morning but got with the program thereafter. It was warm with a very heavy mist/light rain. It was a quiet morning. I only saw a couple of cars over the whole run. Although one of them was a speeding SUV on a dark section of Cypresswood Drive that came closer than I'd like. I think it may have been a law enforcement vehicle .... I'll assume the best ... they were responding to an emergency and the abrupt lane change that took the vehicle into my path was necessary ... ???
My mile splits were tightly bunched today (slowest mile - 8:22; fastest mile 8:12). I suppose that qualifies this as a tempo run. Although the pace was slower than my tempo run should be. I'm still running at "no pace". I thought I'd switch to defined pacing this week but since I missed the long run over the weekend and re-read some of Daniel's stuff, I'm not sure what the proper pacing should be at this point. At the moment, my plan is to roll off of Hal Higdon's plan that I'm currently following (not enough detail) and shift over to Runners' World Smart Coach. Next week will be 16 weeks out from the Ogden marathon which is an ideal point to start. The other thing I like about Smart Coach is that it better fits my schedule for now. I've recently taken on additional responsibilities at work and am "drinking from a fire hydrant" right now. I like running as a release during this time but there are late hours and suboptimal nutrition and rest ahead. It's just a fact. Smart Coach should allow me to properly prepare for Ogden and better manage the other aspects of my current situation. Smart Coach also worked well for me at last year's Ogden half and St. George.
Yesterday was a bad nutrition day for me and I felt it during this morning's run ... just a general sluggishness. It wasn't that I ate bad food ... just that I didn't get enough calories and carbohydrates to properly fuel for today's run.
PRE RUN
Clif bar & water
POST RUN
SlimFast, multivitamin, & water
Later, oatmeal w/b.sugar & skim milk, water
Monday, January 21, 2008
Uncorked a Good One
GOAL
3 miles : no pace
ACHIEVED
3.04 miles : 23:10 = 7:37/mi.
Had a good run this morning which I expected since I missed my weekend long run due to work. Tried Sasha's ta-ta-ta cadence (which honestly I don't really know what it is, how to do it, or what it's supposed to do) and it seemed to speed me up and allow me to keep a strong pace.
Run nice, negative splits.
PRE RUN
Clif bar & water
POST RUN
SlimFast & multivitamin
Later, oatmeal w/b.sugar & water
3 miles : no pace
ACHIEVED
3.04 miles : 23:10 = 7:37/mi.
Had a good run this morning which I expected since I missed my weekend long run due to work. Tried Sasha's ta-ta-ta cadence (which honestly I don't really know what it is, how to do it, or what it's supposed to do) and it seemed to speed me up and allow me to keep a strong pace.
Run nice, negative splits.
PRE RUN
Clif bar & water
POST RUN
SlimFast & multivitamin
Later, oatmeal w/b.sugar & water
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