One of those Sought-after Days

OBJECTIVE
10 mi.@ 7:46-8:36

ACHIEVED
10.07 mi.@ 8:21

6:07 AM 70° 81% 0 mph

This turned out to be a really good run. I would have never guessed it given that yesterday's run was so late (causing such a short turnaround) and by how I was feeling while running yesterday.

The group was back together again. It was really good to see Stephanie who was riding instead of running with us last week. She said it's been since the Houston marathon that we had seen each other. That was nearly 5 months ago!

Today's version of the group included Stephanie, Laurie, Stacey, Augie, Randy, Josh, William and me. The opening pace was slow as it's only two weeks until the Coeur d'Alene IronMan triathlon. Several in our group will competing in that event. I was happy with the pace and conversation given my expectations for today's run. While with the group, I never felt particularly good or bad; just happy to be out moving around on a beautiful morning.

We meandered around the Uptown area on a route Randy mapped for us. The total mileage for the route was a bit over 13 miles. I only needed 10 miles today and found a convenient place to split off from the group around the 6-mile mark. Laurie had planned to run the shorter distance with me but when it came time, she was feeling good and decided to stay with the group.

So I was on my own to get back to the park. Before splitting up, Steph and I had moved to the front and absent-mindedly picked up the pace while talking. Nothing too fast just more in the range of what we usually run. Once on my own, I thought I'd pick it up a little bit. I felt good and just went with it as I navigated the 610 feeder road to Woodway then Memorial Drive. I could see I was going to come up a bit short of 10 miles so rather than cut straight back to the park loop, I stayed on the picnic loop before crossing Memorial Drive to the park loop. I ran the park loop clockwise from there figuring that would get me close to the 10-mile mark. All the while, I was feeling really good. I had a nice rhythm going and just found a very comfortable groove. I tried to do nothing to upset this running euphoria. I wasn't sure where it came from but I wanted it to last!

My final mile splits were: 8:10/7:56/7:45/7:27. The really nice thing about these times is that I didn't feel like a was pressing in the slightest. They came at the end of a 40-mile week and after I had finished a decent 6-miler only about 9 hours earlier. I'll take this and hope that it's the sign of progress.

PRE RUN
water, oatmeal w/brown sugar & 1% milk

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, water, multivitamin & Kashi GoLean cereal w/1% milk

The Week Stays on Track

OBJECTIVE
6 mi.@ 7:46-8:46

ACHIEVED
6.02 mi.@ 8:32

8:40 PM 79° 57% 7 mph

Didn't get my run this morning. Feet are feeling bruised and sore. Think it's the Nike's and/or two speed workouts per week. Didn't want my solid week to fall apart so stopped at Memorial Park on my way home for two loops. Probably pay for it in the morning.

Odd thing happened after the run. A guy stopped by my car while I was stretching and thanked me for pacing him. I didn't even know that I had done anything other than pass him with about 1.5 miles to go.

PRE RUN
water

POST RUN
SlimFast, apples, hamburger & orange drink

Wimbledon Forest Fartlek

OBJECTIVE
dynamic stretching
6 mi.@ 7:46-8:36 w/6x90 sec.@ 3K pace (6:11) "sprinkled in"

ACHIEVED
dynamic stretching
6.20 mi.@ 8:03 (6:14/6:26/6:12/6:19/6:10/6:20)

5:42 AM 70F 86% 7 mph

The good ole fartlek .... I felt okay today after shaking off an ever-so-slight soreness in my legs. My 90 second bursts were a bit
sloppy time-wise. I was dodging traffic on Stuebner-Airline during my
second and sixth one. Nonetheless I need to tighten it up a bit.

I failed to get any resistance work in last night due to a late night at the office. I'm sure I could be a much better runner if work didn't keep getting in the way!

Today's miracle is that my Garmin lives! It's real shaky but made it through the entire run. I think it's something to do with the battery not being able to hold a charge anymore. This saga is to be continued, I'm sure.

PRE RUN
water

POST RUN
SlimFast, multivitamin & oatmeal w/brown sugar & 1% milk

National Running Day

Apparently today is National Running Day. Who knew?

Wimbledon Forest Out-&-Back

OBJECTIVE
6 mi.@ 7:46-8:36

ACHIEVED
~6.1 mi.@ 8:14

6:14 AM

Legs still sore from last night's pounding. Loosened up about a 1.5-2 miles into it. Running with my trusty Ironman watch since the old Garmin checked out.

Planning to get resistance training later tonight.

PRE RUN
weight=160.5

POST RUN
water, multivitamin @ Kashi GoLean cereal w/ 1% milk

R.I.P. Garmin 205

After 2 years and over 400 runs, my Garmin 205 decided it had lived a full and useful life. It freaked out and died at the end of this evening's run.

On to a New Week

OBJECTIVE
6 mi.@ 7:46-8:36
2x20 sec. stiff-legged run
2x20 sec. running no arms

ACHIEVED
6.08 mi.@ 8:11
2x20 sec. stiff-legged running
2x20 sec. running no arms

6:15 AM 62F 97% 0 mph

A delight-some coolness awaited me this morning. It was very nice! I
felt good as I e felt eased over to Wimbledon Forest Drive and back
home. I reminded myself a few times that this is the equivalent of an
"easy" run under my old training regime ... effectively adding miles
while setting up for more challenging efforts later in the week.

Once back at the house, I did the drills. I'm sure anyone witnessing me hobbling up the road as fast as I could with stiff legs or while holding my arms in front of me in the shape of a huge basket wondered what in the world I was up to. Long story, short, people - I'm isolating certain muscles that don't get focused work while just running.

Looking forward to a good week.

PRE RUN
weight=163

POST RUN
water, multivitamin & oatmeal w/brown sugar & 1% milk

Training Schedule: May 31 - June 6

Sun. Rest
Mon. 6 mi.@ base pace
stiff-legged run 2x20 sec.
running no arms 2x20 sec.
Tue. dynamic stretching warm up
1.5 mi. warm up @ recovery pace
6x90 sec. hill repeats@ 1 mi. pace w/ 2 min. active recovery
1.5 mi. cool down @ recovery pace
Wed. 6 mi.@ base pace
resistance workout
Thu. dynamic stretching warm up
6 mi.@ base pace w/6x90 sec. intervals @ 3k pace "sprinkled in"
Fri. 6 mi.@ base pace
Sat. 10 mi.@ base pace

Pace Guide
recovery pace = 8:37 - 9:47
base pace = 7:46 - 8:36
1 mi. pace = 5:50
3k pace = 6:11