4.6.09

Normal steady run on the treadmill. It's amazing how a treadmill can show you improvement in a very objective way. I remember when I first got the treadmill 7.0 seemed like I was flying, and 7.5 may as well have been a sprint. Today I started off nice and easy around 7.5, then moved to 8.0 and then 8.2 for a while. Not sure exactly as I was just kind of playing around trying to pass the time by. Eventually I worked up to 8.4 and 8.6 which didn't feel that bad. For a good sustained increase I went on up to 8.8 for a few minutes, then settled back down at 8.5 for the rest of the run. Basically around 8.5 was my steady state, which is even better than it was a few months ago in December when I felt good around 8.0-8.2 or so.

Running is kind of funny that way. Improvements are hard to see on the daily, but every so often you'll notice something and are like Whoa I really am getting faster/stronger/better. The run did go fine and actually at times it felt like the treadmill was too slow for my stride. That's the other thing, you can have the TM at 8.0 and burn yourself out turning over, or you can take really long strides and seem like you are going slower, but basically the pace remains the same. Finding proper turnover rate is kind of subjective, and that is why I prefer to just run on the Earth's surface - it doesn't lie.

Marathon recovery has gone well. I actually feel really close to 100% and I think my idea of waiting two weeks before I try any sort of tempo is a good idea. Considering I'll be running a one mile race soon, I'm not too worried about mileage, but rather core work, running drills, and just getting my coordination and footspeed up. I really want to break 5 minutes. Most of the running calculators I've seen don't really rate me too well. I usually go for McMillan(beware loud video) over any other one as it has probably been the most accurate/realistic out of the ones I've tried. For my recent race the estimate is 5:18. I was running 5:22-24 last time April timed me at the track (with spikes) so I'm pretty positive I can beat that, especially considering I ran about 3 of those that day. I ran 5:32-36 x3 in my most recent speed session (no spike), but that was right after injury/time off, and I've bounced back since then.

So lots of work to do in a very short time frame. I'm not stressing or pushing things, because it's not a goal race, but I'd still like to do well and check that sub-5 off the list for this year as it's been hanging over me since I started running. There are a few other mile races in June, so if I don't have my "A" game, I'll have a chance to improve on the time then. Alright that's it for today's post, later.

8:59am. treadmill.
1:05:19 (9.60), bf 1257