Long Run in the Hills of Conroe

OBJECTIVE
18 mi. w/last 3 mi. pickup

ACHIEVED
16.47 mi.@ 8:37/mi. (slight pickup over final 1.5 mi.)

5:27 AM 74° 94% 1 mph

This was a fun run although I didn't fully appreciate it until after the fact.

I rather large group ended up meeting in Conroe on League Line Road for this one. I'm sure I'll omit some but the group included: Stephanie, Laurie, Stacey, Randy, Josh, Jonathan, Cindy, LaErica, Shellie, Leno, Sim (sp?), Ann, Christina, and another Tornado who came late whose name I didn't catch. Manny answered the early wake up call to drive SAG for us. This was an incredibly generous act on his part since those in Houston had to meet at 4:15 AM to make it to Conroe in time to start. Manny was great driving all around the course as the group got strung out.

We started at "the church" and ran to the marina. This is a hilly section but it was very dark and we always say "it doesn't count if it's still dark." This is oddly true. Those earliest miles somehow melt it a haze and mentally vanish as the sun comes up. (However, I oftentimes still feel them physically.) On our way out, we heard something howling in the dark. It sounded a long ways off but it was a bit unnerving. My first guess is that is was coyotes. If not then I'm thinking it must have been dogs. It did sound wild and threatening.

From the marina, we turned back over the hills toward the church. Before getting to the church, we turned and went back to the marina. This section has some good up and down hills. We wanted to cover it twice but due to weekend traffic increasing didn't want to wait until the way back so that led to the double out-and-back. Before getting back to the church, we turned into the Teaswood neighborhood. At this point, it was just our usual Saturday group: Laurie, Stacey, Steph, Josh, Randy, and me. We were joined by Christina who I think usually runs with the Tornados on Sundays.

We wound our way through the slight ups-and-downs toward the freeway. Before the freeway, we turned back into another neighborhood for a big loop that I think was around 1 - 1.5 miles. We exited the loop and headed toward the freeway. We all needed water but Manny was nowhere to be found. I walked back up the freeway off ramp looking for him. After a minute or two, I looked back and the group was moving again. Everyone needed hydration. I figured they formed a plan while I was away. But as the group run away from me, I saw Christina coming back toward me. She asked if I was cutting it short for 17 instead of 21. I said yes since my schedule was for 18 and I didn't think 21 in the hills was a good idea at this point. She said that would be her long run too and that the others were going for 21. I was surprised because I thought only Laurie and Stacey were going for 21. Anyway, Christina and I headed back. Thankfully before making the loop through the side neighborhood, Manny found us. We told him the others really needed him. We saw Cindy, LaErica, and Shellie on the loop. We then worked our way back through Teaswood. Since I had never run with Christina before, I wasn't sure of her ability but she seemed very strong. I was progressively slowing and told her to go ahead if she wanted but she stayed with me. At around 14.5 miles on my Garmin, she asked if I wanted to pick it up. We pushed the pace and saw a couple of the faster Tornados coming into the neighborhood, adding on miles to their already completed run. The finish at the church came early - at 16.5 on my Garmin. It had been mapped for 17. I think we must have cut it a bit short on the turnaround point of our out-and-back to the marina.

We clocked 8:15/mi. over the last mile and 7:47/mi. pace over the final half. I'm not exactly sure what the previous splits were but they weren't nearly that fast.

I was very spent after this one. While waiting for the others, I had plenty of time to thoroughly stretch and hydrate. Once everyone made it back, we stopped at a Cracker Barrel down the road for breakfast and conversation.

Overall, a good run. I think we're going back to the hills one more time before the marathon. I want to give the 21-mile course a shot.

PRE RUN
FRS & oatmeal w/brown sugar & skim milk

POST RUN
2 SlimFast & water
Later, blueberry pancakes w/blueberry syrup, water & grapefruit juice

Late & Short

OBJECTIVE
6 - 8 mi. Easy

ACHIEVED
4.03 mi.@ 8:24/mi.

8:03 AM 80° 87% 2 mph

Got a really late start. Observed that I seem much faster at this hour than earlier; the same has happened a couple other times too.

Inconsistent

OBJECTIVE
6 mi. w/7x2 min.@ 6:40/mi. & 2 min. jog

ACHIEVED
8.34 mi. w/7x2 min. & 2 min. jog

6:24 AM 77° 90% 1 mph

Inconsistent pretty much sums up my effort today and over the past couple weeks. Deadlines at work are once again conspiring against my running. I’m also enjoying watching the late Olympic sessions but that shortchanges my sleep and makes it tougher for me to get an early run before going to work.

My stomach was sloshing with every stride today. This caused very slight discomfort but was incredibly annoying. I only drank 10 ounces of water before going out this morning so I’m not sure what the deal is. I experienced the same thing to a lesser degree during last Saturday’s long run. I can’t identify anything different about these runs compared to others.

Here are my erratic splits:

Warm-up – 2.41 mi.@ 9:29/mi.
2:00 min.@ 6:42/mi.
2:00 min. jog
2:00 min.@ 6:30/mi.
2:00 min. jog
2:00 min.@ 6:26/mi.
2:00 min. jog
2:00 min.@ 6:36/mi.
2:00 min. jog
2:00 min.@ 6:48/mi.
2:00 min. jog
2:00 min.@ 6:36/mi.
2:00 min. jog
2:00 min.@ 6:45/mi.
2:00 min. jog
Cool down – 2.55 mi.@ 9:16/mi.

My preference of course would be for a tighter grouping of the speed intervals. I also would prefer the warm-up and cool down to be about 30 seconds per mile faster. However, I'm falling back on the heat and humidity excuse for the slower times. I know that’s “chicken” because if you can hit the prescribed times in heat and humidity, you should be even better in ideal conditions.

PRE RUN
water

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, water & oatmeal w/flax, brown sugar & skim milk

I Much-needed Recovery Run

OBJECTIVE
3 - 4 mi. SLOW

ACHIEVED
4.02 mi.@ 9:37/mi.

5:13 AM 79F 84% 9 mph (???!!?)

I certainly did my part to make this a SLOW run! I suppose this was a recovery run in the truest sense. I was still pretty achy ... from Saturday's run I suppose. I felt like I loosened up slightly after a mile but my pace didn't get any faster. I knew I was slow and thought about pushing but decided that clearly wasn't today's objective. So I just let the slow miles roll up. Hopefully clearing my legs and body for better runs later this week.

Almost forgot to mention, I very surprised the wind was 9 mph. The air certainly wasn't moving where I was running! The weather station that my run data is sync'd to is at a small airport about three miles north of where I actually run.

PRE RUN
water

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

Training Schedule: Aug 10 - 16

Sun: Rest
Mon: 3 - 4 mi. slow
Tue: 6 - 8 mi. easy ***physical therapy***
Wed: 6 mi. incl. 7x2 min.@ 6:40/mi. w/2 min. jog
Thu: 3 - 4 mi. slow
Fri: 6 - 8 mi. easy
Sat: 18 mi. w/last 3 pickup @ 7:55/mi. ***League Line Road hills***

A Good Long Run

OBJECTIVE
18 mi. EZ w/last 3 mi. pickup @ 7:55/mi

ACHIEVED
16.72 mi.@ 8:49/mi. w/last 2.72 mi.@ 8:13/mi.

5:39 AM 78° 86% 0 mph

It was a good long run today. It wasn't easy but I had good company. Today was Miranda's last run with us before moving to Fort Lauderdale. Others along for the run were Stephanie, Stuart, Randy, Josh, William and me.

We went started at Memorial Park and went to Rice University for a loop around the campus. From there we went north and west until we got to Stephanie's house for a water break. There was about 4 miles left at that point.

My legs felt okay throughout the run. This was good given yesterday's 8 miler. My cardio felt good intermittently. It was warm and humid. The soft surface on the trail around Rice was helpful.

I was debating the pickup as we worked our way back to Memorial Park. The group gradually picked up with about 3 miles to go. I think we must have cut the planned route short because we should have had 2 miles left when we hit the park. But I knew it was less than that. I broke from the group at Memorial Drive. I think I pushed too hard right away instead of working up to the faster pace. I was gassed over the final half mile.

The run was a bit shorter than I scheduled and I didn't hit the 7:55/mi. pickup pace. But the heat index was pretty high so I think it was still okay.

I missed the Rich Bouchard 10K in Utah this morning. Sorry that I did ....

PRE RUN
water, oatmeal w/brown sugar & skim milk; FRS

POST RUN
2 SlimFast, water
Later, homemade berry smoothie

8 on 8/8/08

OBJECTIVE
6 - 8 mi. Easy (8:24-54/mi.)

ACHIEVED
~8.00 mi.@ ~8:56/mi.

~6:30 AM 77° 93% 0 mph

My trusty Garmin has worked so well lately .... Apparently today was time for it to pull the "Low Battery" routine on me. Very frustrating. I know it was fully charged after yesterday's run and I'm relatively certain the sequence I followed when disengaging from my desktop at home was the same as usual .... That left me with my IronMan. This wasn't too big of a problem since I was running from the YMCA for 8 miles. I generally know where the mile intervals along the way are.

I was slow to get going. My legs felt a tight but loosened up shortly after I was underway. I got a late start because I slept in until 5:40 AM. I usually don't bother with an alarm during the week figuring that's the best way to get the rest my body needs. After the past couple weeks of inconsistent morning starting times I've been waking up at different times. Prior to that I was pretty much waking up at 5 every morning.

It was humid again today. By the time I was finished, my shoes were sloshing with sweat. Jonathan has come up with the concept of "rain gutters" for runners' feet to keep the sweat from filling up their shoes. I could have used them today!

Overall I felt fine today. My cardio seems solid and with the exception of a few niggling issues my body is okay too.

I've decided not to go to Utah for tomorrow's 10K. This is a disappointment because I wanted to defend my age group title from last year. I also really wanted a race to assess my fitness. I haven't raced in a long time now. But I was going to have to go on a 9:30 PM flight and get in very late then turn around for a 7 AM race start in the morning. It just didn't make sense. I've also got some work issues that most likely will require my attention over the weekend. So I'm going to miss the race. GOOD LUCK TO THE BIGFOOT FARMS RACING TEAM TOMORROW!

As for me, I'll be heading out for a long one in the morning. Stephanie is in town and has put together a 17-mile route from Memorial Park around Rice University and back to the Park. I hope to hold up better than I did last week and add a bit of a pickup at the end.

PRE RUN
GrapeNuts w/skim milk

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, water, multivitamin, oatmeal w/brown sugar & skim milk

Slow 4

OBJECTIVE
4 mi. Slow (+8:54/mi.)

ACHIEVED
4.03 mi.@ 9:06/mi.

5:51 AM 74F 95% 0 mph

Got out and got a few miles this morning .... I'll call it Day 2 of getting back on track. It was quite humid.

I'm considering going to Utah for the weekend to run a 10K. The course is hilly, at altitude, and I wouldn't mind a "fitness check". Stephanie is out of town this weekend and Stacey is running with KatyFit. The usual Saturday group is fragmented at best. This seems to make it a better time for me to go. I was planning on 18 miles Saturday. I figure I can run to the race start, finish the race then go add a few more miles.

Stay tuned to see how this one plays out ....

PRE RUN
Accelerade

POST RUN
Accelerade, multivitamin, oatmeal w/flax, brown sugar, cinnamon & skim milk

I Suck

OBJECTIVE
who knows?

ACHIEVED
5.13 mi. @ 9:20/mi.

5:17 AM 77° 89% 4 mph

In 1976-7, I was a fifth grader at Central Elementary in St. Anthony, Idaho. During that year my occasional friend, Alan Edlefson (sp?) and I wrote a few supposedly humorous skits for some sort of school talent show. We chose what we thought were the best ones and “acted” (I use that term loosely in this instance.) them out as part of the show.

At a climatic point in one of skits I ad lib’d: “This thing sucks!” I thought nothing of it but later in the day received a fairly serious scolding from my mom (serious enough that I remember it 30+ years later!), who was present in the audience. In short, she told me that “suck” was a bad word and that I shouldn’t say it.

So with apologies to my mother I say, “I suck!”

Saturday’s run was hard. I followed that up with a lot of time in the sun over the weekend. The temperatures were +95° with high humidity – typical August days in Southeast Texas. The baseball team I was coaching ended up making a run to the championship before losing. This meant 5 games … all played during the day. I was smart enough to use sun screen but the conditions really zapped me.

Using that as an excuse, I slept in Monday. On Tuesday morning, it was Hurricane Edouard (ended up being not much more than a rain storm with some wind). Over the days my legs were achy and I still felt fatigued.

Upon waking up this morning, I gave myself permission to run at ANY pace in exchange for just getting out and putting one foot in front of the other.

I took myself up on the deal and made it out the door. I slogged through an extremely slow 5 miles. I didn’t feel particularly bad and certainly wasn’t good … just getting back to training. Today I operated under the theory that there’s no such thing as “junk miles”.

Last week I tried adopting the “rest 3 days a week” training approach. I didn’t feel like it worked for me so I’m planning to flip back to running 6 days per week. I know this isn’t what my doctor or physical therapist have recommended but I felt better running this way over the 6 weeks I followed this approach. It’s not a good time to be messing around with my training schedule.

I need focus and I need to stop sucking. There’s only 58 days until the marathon.

Postscript: The skit Alan and I performed was pretty funny. I’m probably the only person who remembers it now. The skit was in the form of a television commercial for a shaving product we called “Triple Trac” – a razor with three blades. For context, please remember that the most advanced razors at the time only had two blades. Ironically, I shaved this morning with a four-bladed razor. Not only were we funny but we were well ahead of our time!

PRE RUN
nothing

POST RUN
Accelerade, multivitamin, water, oatmeal w/flax, brown sugar, cinnamon & skim milk

How Easy (or Hard) Should An "Easy Run" Be

OBJECTIVE
Easy 8 mi.@ 8:53/mi.

ACHIEVED
8.02 mi.@ 8:50/mi.

5:40 AM 77F 89% 4 mph

I haven't really figured out how fast or slow to run "easy runs". Over the past six weeks, I just run how ever I felt. Sometimes that led to fast runs; other times slow. Today started out relatively slow. I decided to "put a little effort into it" so I would be closed to my target time. I ended up just under it. How fast should an easy run be? There are tables and formulas. But I've also read about just leaving your watch home and allowing the run to be paced however you feel. I've also read that you can "speed up by slowing down".

Along these same lines I've heard that it's best to stay away from "junk miles" (too slow). I've also heard there is no such thing as junk miles.

I don't know what's right and wrong when it comes to these thing ....

I pushed today's run a bit out of the "easy" range for me ... but not much. It just required slightly more focus and attention to pace.

PRE RUN
apple juice

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

First Tempo Run in a Long Time

OBJECTIVE
7 mi. w/4 mi. tempo @ 7:30/mi.

ACHIEVED
7.04 mi. w/4 mi. tempo @ 7:25/mi.

6:09 AM 75° 89% 4 mph

Drove over to Faulkey Gully to run the bayou trail. I dropped in at Louetta which I now know is almost exactly the midpoint of the trail ... thanks to the mile markers that have been installed along the trail. From there I went up the path and extended my warm up to cross Eldridge and continued to the dead end. From there, I came back and crossed Eldridge, took a short break then started my tempo run.

I had been dreading this one somewhat. Only because I haven't done a tempo run in a long time and I didn't know if I could hold a 7:30/mile pace for 4 miles. I'm sure it was this anxiety that led me to start out too fast. But somewhere between 1/2 and one mile, I settled in to a better rhythm and found the pace. I don't recall running this pace over any distance before so that's probably why I had some trouble finding it.

I just kept trying to relax and "run strong". Most of the time those attributes seem opposed to me but I had pretty good focus this morning. I was a little faster than planned over the first mile but felt pretty good. I decided to try to hold it there over the second mile (which included the turnaround at the bottom of the path). The return trip felt like more of a struggle but I stayed focused and reminded myself that I was over half way done. The third mile clipped by and I was heading for the top of the trail. I figured I was going to have to keep going all the way to the top of the trail and cross Eldridge and go to the dead end to get the full 4 miles. I was exactly right. Fortunately, traffic wasn't too bad crossing Eldridge and I didn't lose much time there. I finished strong and very spent. A blue collar guy in a truck saw me finish and asked if I needed some water. This was quite generous and thoughtful on his part. I declined, telling him I had some back at my car which wasn't too far back.

My mile splits:

7:25/7:24/7:26/7:25

I'm happy with the consistency and very happy that I came in under the planned 7:30.

My legs felt good today ... after doing some "clam shells" last night.

PRE RUN
GrapeNuts w/skim milk

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, water, multivitamin, Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk, 2 homemade waffles with maple syrup, tall glass of 1% milk

Not So Easy Run

OBJECTIVE
9 mi.@ 8:53/mi.

ACHIEVED
9.03 mi.@ 8:56/mi.

5:31 AM 75F 91% 6 mph

Had some general soreness from the beginning. Most of it dissipated once I got warmed up. I just ran easy but found myself around 9:04-08/mi. Struggled in an effort to go a bit faster so I just left it there until I turned back at the midway point. Started playing the "2% more effort" game. I focus on putting just 2 percent more into every stride. I've found this is usually good for a 10-25 second pace reduction. I only wish I could stay mentally focused longer. I'm getting better but its still too short.

I ran the bayou trail from the Y. It looks like I'll be using the Y as my starting point more often now that my runs are longer.

PRE RUN
2 FRS chews & water

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, water, multivitamin, 5-grain w/flax, brown sugar & skim milk

Training Schedule: July 28 - August 3

Monday - Easy 9 mi.@ 8:53/mi.
Tuesday - Rest
Wednesday - Tempo 4 mi.@ 7:30/mi. (Total distance = 7 mi.)
Thursday - Easy 8 mi.@ 8:53/mi.
Friday - Rest
Saturday - 18 mi.@ 8:53/mi. w/3 mi. pickup @ 7:55/mi.
Sunday - Rest


I'm nervous about changing up my approach but the doctor and physcial therapist say I need more rest in my schedule. I'll see how this goes.

Hershey Park Long Run Hosted by Stacey

OBJECTIVE
16 mi.@ 8:24-54/mi. w/last 2 mi.@ 7:55/mi.

ACHIEVED
16.01 mi.@ 8:18/mi. w/last 2 mi. 7:53/7:32

5:36 AM 78° 89% 1 mph

Stacey Almond hosted Steph's group for a long run at Hershey Park this morning. Stacey runs with Steph's group downtown occasionally. Along with her today was Steve Brammer who may ??? have won this year's New York City Marathon 50-59 age group and a strong runner named Kevin. Joining the run from Stephanie's group was Laurie, Stacey, Stephanie, Randy, Jonathan, William, and me. Our merry band got started down the trail in the dark around 5:30 AM. I decided I'm not fond of running in unknown terrain in the dark. The path was okay but I seemed to find a few uneven spots.

After a little over 2 miles, we ran repeats on a long hill. We did 10 from about 2 miles total up and down. Knowing that this is my longest run since the Ogden marathon and since I just did intervals on the track on Wednesday, I did not push myself on these. Before we were finished I was near the back of the pack.

From there we headed out a long paved trail that generally parallels I-10 leaving Houston. Somewhere around 5 miles out, an injured runner from KatyFit was manning a water station. I had a couple cups of Gatorade. It was very nice for him to be there. Stacey runs and coaches with KatyFit so we were welcome to share their refreshments. From there we turned and went out a long dead end road until we came to a failing bridge then turned back.

There were a bunch of runners and bikers along the paved trail on the way back. Going out, I stayed with Stephanie and Randy most of the way to the Gatorade stop. From there I was with Jonathan to the bridge. On the way back, I was with Stacey and Randy to the Gatorade truck. From there I was alone until about 2+ miles where the group stopped for a rest hydration break. Jonathan and I hung back for William after the others left. Once William joined us, we walked a bit then started back. I asked Jonathan to keep us on a 7:55/mi. pace which he did ... much easier for him than me! Right before the end we passed the others. Stacey and Steve were heading back for William.

KatyFit has a bunch of people participating in their program. It was like a post-race event afterwards. I helped myself to some Powerade but passed on the core stretching. Hung around a bit and chatted then headed home.

I generally felt okay today. It was a long run but I had no hint of IT band issues. For this I am ecstatic. Hopefully everything stays that way. I still need to build endurance for St. George. The long runs are now the most important part of my training.

Once at home, I took an ice bath but didn't get it quite as cold as I wanted so I'm not expecting the full benefit.

On a side note, it's Christmas in July at our house. Paige got a new car this afternoon. She ended up with a 2005 Buick Rendezvous which is what she wanted. ... Buick ... we must be getting old!

PRE RUN
water & oatmeal w/flax & turbinado

POST RUN
Accelerade, 2 SlimFast, water

Plodding

OBJECTIVE
4 mi. SLOW

ACHIEVED
4.01 mi.@ 9:11/mi.

7:54 PM 75F 92% 5.3 mph

My legs were quite fatigued tonight. I was slow but just tried to enjoy it. It had rained most of the day so everything was wet and green. Based on how I feel, Dr. Cianca's advice and Saturday's scheduled long run, I've decided to take tomorrow off. Hopefully that will help get my feet back under me.

PRE RUN
water & Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk

POST RUN
5 grain hot cereal w/ turbinado, flax & skim milk

Yes ... Yasso 800's!

OBJECTIVE
9 mi. w/7 x 2:00 @ 6:40/mi.

ACHIEVED
1.9 mi. warm up
10x800 meters
1.8 mi. cool down

8:00 PM 79° 84% 7 mph Light Rain

Ended up not running this morning. Thunder, lightning, and rain offered a lame excuse and I took it. (It wasn't that bad. Just the leading edge of Hurricane Dolly that ended up hitting the US- Mexican border later in the day.) So this led to a PM run for me. Under the soggy conditions, I decided to take advantage of the high school track and try running Yasso 800's.

It was around 8 pm by the time I was on my way. I was NOT feeling it. I slogged my way over to the track, considering cutting it short the whole way over. Once on the track, I figured I'd try a couple 800's hoping to feel better. It didn't happen but I was hitting my times. I decided rather than do 10 I'd just cut it short at 5. But by the time I got to 5, I couldn't think of a reason not to do another. After 6, I started thinking it would be a complete waste not to try for the original 10. So I pressed on. I was still hitting my times but was tiring. After 7, I decided I was going to get 10 and pressed on. It was raining lightly much of the time and the wind was occasionally gusting. I felt really tired but very satisfied about finishing this workout when all along it seemed it wasn't in the cards. The s-l-o-w march home wasn't the most pleasant cool down but before leaving the house, I had thrown together batter for blueberry-walnut pancakes that I was looking forward to.

The concept of Yasso 800's is to run 10 in the time you anticipate running the marathon ... except in minutes and seconds rather than hours and minutes. Therefore, my 3:25 marathon had me running 3:25 800's. If a runner can do 10 in the prescribed time while limiting his recovery to the same time, it's an indicator of what he can ran a marathon in. So here's what I ended up with:

800 / Rest

3:24/3:24
3:23/3:35
3:21/3:26
3:30/3:54
3:27/3:31
3:24/3:39
3:24/3:29
3:21/3:31
3:25/3:26
3:20/3:24

So I did it! Effectively, I ran 10 x 800's at 3:25. Okay here's the huge caveat, instead of jogging in between each 800 like your supposed to, I walked. Of course, that's cheating. So I didn't exactly do it but I know it's achievable. The last time I did Yasso 800's was June 5, 2007. It's most comical to look back at how that went. Here's my blog entry. It's good for me to look back occasionally to get some perspective on my progress.

I may trying these again during this training cycle. I know I'm not ready to run 3:25 in St. George today but at least I have an indicator that it's not out of reach.

PRE RUN
water

POST RUN
chocolate milk, blueberry-walnut pancakes, skim milk, calcium & vitamin A&D supplements

Startin' Late; Feelin' Good

OBJECTIVE
6 mi. EZ

ACHIEVED
6.07 mi.@ 8:35/mi.

8:07 AM 82F 68% 8 mph

Got a late start today but ended up having a good run. Run out and back on Wimbledon Forest. Felt good right from the start. Just tried to maintain it.

Met with Dr. Cianca this afternoon. I need to be smart about my training and keep doing the exercises. I'll meet with Danie in 3 weeks to make sure I'm still on track then again 3 weeks later.

PRE RUN
Low-fat granola w/skim milk

POST RUNchocolate milk, multivitamin, & water
Later, English muffin, poached egg, & Canadian bacon; water

Yes ... This Felt Like a Recovery Run

OBJECTIVE
4 mi. SLOW

ACHIEVED
4.03 mi.@ 9:06/mi.

5:04 AM 75F 89% 0 mph

My legs were tired this morning. I really didn't ever push out of a warmup pace. I'm sure Saturday's run is still heavy on my legs ... even after yesterday's rest. I wish I would have followed up on the ice bath I had considered for Saturday. I need to remember that for this coming Saturday's 16-miler.

I've got Dr. Cianca tomorrow. Hopefully I check out and he clears me to get on track with my training.

PRE RUN
nothing

POST RUN
chocolate milk, multivitamin, oatmeal w/flax, turbinado & skim milk

Training Schedule: July 20 - 26

Sun. - Rest
Mon. - 4 mi. SLOW
Tue. - 6 mi. EZ
Wed. - 9 mi. w/8x2 min.@6:40/min. & 2 min. jog
Thu. - 4 mi. SLOW
Fri. - 6 mi. EZ
Sat. - 16 mi. EZ w/@ MP = 7:55/min.


I have a follow-up visit with Dr. Cianca on Tuesday so this schedule is contingent on getting good news from him.

Longest Run Since Ogden Marathon on May 17

OBJECTIVE
12 - 14 mi. EZ pace with 2 - 3 mi. pickup @ 7:55/mi.

ACHIEVED
14.21 mi.@ 8:33/mi. including Mile 13 = 7:46; Mile 14 = 7:51; Final 0.21 mi. = 7:42/mi.

5:43 AM 80° 78% 0 mph

I wasn't "feeling it" today right from the start. I spent the first 2 miles doing a whole body check. My abs were hurting. I didn't have much spring in my legs. I'm fairly certain it was the plyometrics I did at PT yesterday.

Stephanie, Miranda, Laurie, Josh, Randy, William, and I made the trek from Memorial Park along the bayou to downtown ... through downtown to the George R. Brown Convention Center. Then back. At Shepherd, Steph, Josh, and Randy continued through River Oaks. The others including me headed back toward the park. I tried to pickup once I hit the park and went around the backside. It was tough but generally a success.

I stretched and chatted with William and Miranda back at the cars while we waited for the others. They didn't make it before I left.

Dani cut me off from PT yesterday. She said she's done all she can for me. She also said I need to go back to Dr. Cianca for a followup and get a running coach who can help me increase my mileage wisely. This was abrupt! I was hoping to stay with her for longer. She has definitely helped me but it doesn't seem to me like our work is done.

PRE RUN
FRS

POST RUN
2 SlimFast & water
Later, multivitamin, water, English muffin, poached egg & Canadian bacon