4.12.10

First day back to running after a long break is usually pretty tough but this wasn't too bad. I took care of Veronica for a little bit while Mom went out to find some baby stuff, so it was a good trade and I got to go for a run when she got back home. Breathing was okay, legs were great. Second half of the run was very nice and I felt like the tin man who just got some oil.

Things have been hectic but not because of the baby, it's because of all the visitors! Finally this week we have her to ourselves and so we aren't obligated to stay around and visit anyone and be on their schedule. I did the Dogwood Art Festival too, so that was an all day thing and by the time I got home I was exhausted and felt bad to run because I hadn't seen my baby all day. I drew a ton of people though, so it was well worth it and I can finally relax this week.

Everyone says to get sleep while we can, but it's really not that bad. Veronica hardly cries, and when she does it's only for a minute. Actually last night mom fed her and I didn't even know it, I slept through the first one and only got up for a minute to check on her the second time because the alarm was going off. She is funny and never wakes up, just sleeps all day long. I tried putting a cold washcloth on her and nothing, dripped some on her head, nothing, poked, prodded, etc. and she just keeps right on sleeping. It's not really a good thing because she'll go five or six hours without eating and then be starving. Anyway things are going really well and I should be back on track this week as far as running goes.

bf 2500

4.1.10

It's April, and yikes only a few weeks till my next race! Luckily it's just a one miler and there is no pressure to do anything special. I just like the race and want to run it again this year. It also helps me kick it up a gear for the Expo in May, kind of like early speed training although the speed is questionable since I haven't done any since last year.

I've decided to do two workouts a week, one hill and one speed starting as soon as possible (another way to say when my legs are fully recovered from the marathon). The reason is that I pretty much have hills down, but I need a little bit more to build for the 10k distance where leg strength is key. The speed workouts aren't really going to be all that fast, it will be less about fitness and more geared toward coordination. Basically low amount of reps, longer recovery and at lower intensity than I normally would do a speed workout. After the mile race I'll start adding more repeats and focus more on the fitness side and therefore possibly drop the hills depending on how this next month goes. I guess that's the nice thing about understanding training, I can improvise and manipulate my workouts without having to rely on a plan.

Just a little hood loop today and I took it super easy. My legs still weren't recovered yesterday when i ran all the hills, so today they were really heavy and still just a bit sore so I only ran 3 miles or so. It was a good run, 78 degrees actually didn't feel too bad. The mowers were out and all the trees have blossomed, bye bye winter hello heat and humidity. I didn't really feel like I got a workout in today cardio wise so I might do some core or something, I really need to start supplementing running when I can, the pool should be open soon so that will be nice.

Last note is that April will be induced on Wednesday if she hasn't had the baby by then. Veronica is on her way!

bf 2458

3.24.10

 Three more easy days until the marathon! Good run to get acclimated to the heat. Legs still aren't as loose as I'd like them to be, but with just a couple miles a day left to run they should be good to go.

bf 2443

3.23.10

Did an easy 4 miles (yesterday) but forgot to post, probably because it was over quickly and nothing to write home about.

bf 2437

3.22.10

Second half of my run from earlier. put me at 6.42miles / 43:31 for the day. Second half felt much better than the first, mostly due to taking off my longsleeve which was over a tshirt and arm warmers. It was warmer than I thought it would be because of the sun, but the wind was around 12mph so it was a lot windier than I would have liked. It snowed this morning, it'll probably be 70 tomorrow. Just checked - 60 tomorrow with snow tonight, 70 is for Wednesday :) Gotta love consistently inconsistent weather.

bf 2433

3.20.10 - Group Run

Great run this morning covering the second 13 miles of the marathon. I got in with my little group from last week, Greg and Doug and we ran it together. The pace was comfortable and I never found myself out of breath but my legs were still a little tired from last week. We talked mostly about our past marathons and our goals for this race. Doug is shooting for 3:30 and considering he's kept up with me and Greg (about 30 seconds faster than his goal time) I think he'll have no problem with it. This was a pretty easy 13, could have easily run some more if I needed to.

The last half of the marathon course is somewhat flatter, but still has it's challenges. Mostly in the form of multiple back to back turns and gradual inclines, but after a 13.1 beating on the first half those small challenges are multiplied. Ipod is brain-dead and hasn't responded since I tried to check it at the end of the run, so no stats.

bf 2427

3.19.10

Sunny 65º, that pretty much sums up an awesome day. This run went well. I actually felt like I had legs today and breathing was relaxed and controlled throughout. Wanted to run longer but decided to save it for tomorrows group run.

It's a little late to make habits, but I'm going to try to run every morning this coming week just to prepare a bit for getting up extra early marathon morning. Hopefully I can work out a nice routine so everything goes smooth and I'll be prepared to run when the gun fires next Sunday.

bf 2414

3.16.10

Not sure about this one. Felt pretty fast, but ipod said it was over 7:00 pace so I decided to do 3x200m sprints @5:36 at the end just to prove my point to it.

bf 2379

3.15.10

A little windy and overcast today but not too cold. Legs weren't fresh due to some squats, wall sits, etc. last night but the run wasn't too bad. Probably would have went longer but didn't quite get out early enough to run before dinner like I wanted to.

This weekend is the group run, but I just realized I may not be able to make it due to a caricature job in the afternoon. It's not until 1, but I have to drive about an hour to get there and grab a bite to eat before I leave so it's cutting it a little close, but will be doable if I plan it out right. My days usually go better if I just go ahead and get the run in first thing, so it'll probably end up better that way. Less than two weeks to the marathon.

bf 2369

3.12.10

bleah blah day outside. Severe thunderstorms, lighting, and plenty of rain all-day-long. I was miserable and cranky. Finally 2 hours after dinner got in my run on the treadmill so at least now I don't feel lazy.

"Long" run tomorrow in the morning with the training group. Should be 13-15 if all goes well, but who knows what will happen with the weather. I'm definitely going downtown either way, just not sure how many miles I will get in.

bf 2358

And now it's time

Okay so I pretty much abandoned this blog, which was literally my home for over a year and now I feel bad about it. Since I hadn't been updating as often as I should, I have yet again changed my mind back to logging here. I will just log the same stuff as on daily mile. I'll no longer include the time/run data, just the text because if people really want to look at those it's it two places which log it much easier than here. I will also have to refigure how turn off the auto-feed to twitter and only post to twitter when I have something extra other than daily info.

Did one loop in the hood. Legs are pretty much shot but I need the cardio so suck it up legs. Just trolololo'd along. Had to use the bathroom and the ipod quit the run on me after 30 seconds, so i started a new one which is always annoying because you can't manual input your runs like here so it gets split into two runs. Probably the worst part about it is if people want to cheat they can so it really serves no purpose not to let people insert their own data, or in this case, simply combine a run within 1 minute of another run. Or better yet, fix the dang software so it doesn't just quit the run without your permission. Meh, I know it's my own fault for just not switching to Garmin, but I still enjoy having all my miles logged there as well.

Sorry for the rant. Anyway it was rainy today. I wasn't sure if I was going to get this one in not from rain from lack of motivation. It sprinkled here the last two loops but it actually felt good. I think the hardest part about days like this are just the gloom factor really gets me down. Once I got out there though it was a pleasant 60 degrees and made for nice running weather, however dreary it may have felt.

Put this run as an alright simply because of leg tiredness.

blue free 302+2050= 2352
fasttwitch 88+52=140
gm 8+1051 =1059

10.13.09

Ran about 6 miles today. My hams were extremely sore from yesterdays 100 or so squats. I also worked in some calf raises but I didn't really feel that. Cardio wise I definitely was huffing a bit more than I would have liked, but I'm sure that will go away when I get back into consistent training yet again. The half marathon is nov 16, so I have just over a month left and that ain't much. I know I can do well as long as no injuries happen. I plan on working harder, but resting harder too. So a hill workout and "speed" workout (between mile and 5k pace 5:40-6:00) once a week. I'm planning long runs as close to 20 miles as I can get. The other days will be rest/relaxed running.

bf 1916

10.7.09

Back on the roads tonight after a very long interlude. I've really had a hard time keeping myself motivated. In case some of you don't know my wife is pregnant!! She is a few months along now and so things are getting crazy. I'm just trying to make things as good as possible and hold it together. Tomorrow I have a job interview so we'll see how that goes. It deals with computers so that's like my middle name and I am really hoping it will work out. That will definitely help with the bills, erm doctor bills that is. The last one, wait, three that we got were 400, 400, 1200 and that was from a single week. Yeah, we have insurance but they won't cover the costs because April switched it over from her old job and guess what - there is a 10 month "waiting" period for maternity bills. So yeah we're screwed if she has the baby early.

So you can see why I've taken over a week off, trying to prioritize and find a way to keep my life going. Tonight I made it back outside. I've had constant headaches and have just been feeling so lame without running it was the best to just get out and run. Even better is that it's cool outside now. Couldn't have been more than 60 degrees and it's been that way all this week, sheer torture. I have a festival this Friday and Saturday and I'm hoping to get early runs on those days. Fortunately it's not 2 hours away so I think I can pull it off.

So if you don't hear from me again I apologize. I will try to keep training and posting, and I still plan on racing in November regardless of my fitness. Tonight was great despite [8] days off! I was doing some serious fartlek sprints at the end and you'll notice my max hr below. This next few months is going to be tough, but I'm hoping and praying that things will work. Happy Running!

60º 50%H
1:14:01 10.70m bf 1910
HR - ahr165 mhr197

9.28.09

Right now is the best time to be running. The cool weather has finally moved in and I can tell a HUGE difference. My breathing is relaxed and controlled and I feel like I could run forever. Tonight I had no problems running the hour and half I'd been trying to reach for the past three weeks. At one point in the run I found myself just coasting, that hasn't happened for a while. I was just running without thinking about it or even trying, I love that feeling.

So yeah I missed three days. Friday I had a festival, Saturday were insane thunderstorms, and Sunday I guess I just kept the streak going. But as always I'm getting back up on the horse, and after today's run being the longest since I can remember, I find that pretty ironic after three days of absolute zero. Honestly though, now that the temperature is cooler I'm not sweating as much and definitely can breathe easier. It felt like had an oxygen mask on or something, and my shorts barely had any sweat on them, where normally they are completely soaked through, I mean literally just dripping and so wet they stick to my legs, gross.

It was fun because normally set my ipod to 1hr 10minutes. Well I somehow set it to 1:15, so when I hit 1:15 I realized that I was 5 minutes ahead of where I thought I was. It really helped my confidence because i'm usually just begging to hit that mark. The last five minutes I picked it up pretty good and nearly made it under 1:30, which was kind of what I thought I could hit if I ran well. I hope you all are having great runs as well.

7:09 pm 66° F 45%H 10mph
1:30:28 13.04 bf 1900

9.23.09

Double today. I tried to run in the morning but that didn't go so well. The humidity was near 100% and I had to take a breather after the first loop around the neighborhood. I was huffing and puffing like I had just ran a race. So I couldn't even find it to go back out, but it didn't turn out so bad. So 3 miles this morning, then later on I got back out the door. The heat was up there today - very near 90, but humidity was much lower and there was a nice little breeze blowing that helped too. By the time I got outside it was only around 80 and I think it got even cooler as the run progressed because I felt pretty good. I just took it easy and tried to run nice and smooth, even pace.

I like doing doubles, I just have to get up earlier if I want to avoid the morning heat. Really it's just a matter of setting the alarm a bit earlier and having some sort of snack prepared for the morning. I always get up but am so hungry that I eat breakfast, and then by the time I get out it's close to 8:30-9 and the sun is already doing it's thing. Sunrise is 7:30, so I have to at least be out the door by 7 to avoid it for a normal 45-60 minute run. Hopefully having some sort of plan/schedule will get things into gear. Happy running, keep it real.

9am 22:12 3.31

7pm. 80º 80%H
pm 56:37 8.36

total - 1:18:49 11.66 bf 1887

9.21.09

Wow September is almost gone people. At least I've gotten my butt in gear this month and really put up decent numbers, especially considering the whole mr. shin being weird deal. Today it rained, yet again. This time I took no chances and freakin got on doppler radar and scoped it out for myself - I'm forecasting my own weather from here on out. It worked! I was able to wait until the storm passed, then start running, otherwise I probably would have ended up running in the middle of the storm like yesterday.

Although the roads were wet it wasn't too bad of a run. My shoes were still a little soggy from yesterday, but I didn't want to get another pair wet too, so I just wore them anyway. The funny thing about running in the wet roads is all the dirt that flies up on the back of your legs. When I take a shower it feels like I just came back from a day at the beach. I ended the run with some pretty good accelerations, but nothing too much because I'm still very weary that if I go too fast or too far my shin will suddenly just shatter into a million pieces. Well I tried to make this post a little more exciting, but yet again I revert to weather, injury, and the ever present edging towards complaint.

7:07 72º 97%H
1:12:33 10.5 bf 1854

9.20.09

I wanted to get a long-ish run in today in between the thunderstorms and it worked for the most part. I was about halfway where I wanted to be, head right for an hour and half when it started raining. I figured it would let up because it sprinkled for a bit at the beginning of the run and stopped, but it didn't let up. It just kept right on coming, and I kept right on running through it. After a good 20-25 minutes of running in this I was completely soaked and my shoes were squishy. I really felt like I was either going to slip and fall due to running 180º cul-de-sacs, or get some sort of nasty blister from my shoes being waterlogged so I just ran until I hit 1:15 and called it.

My plan was to get to an hour and half and see how I felt, possibly running a bit longer if need be, but as we all know plans have to change sometimes. The shin was doing it's weird thing, maybe I'm just thinking about it too much? Still no pain though, just that old tension feeling. I'm happy with today's run. Despite being 10 pounds heavier I managed to hold the pace and picked it up just a little at the end and I felt good, I could have at least got to 13 miles. I was thinking if I just held the pace for the next two miles I would've ended right at 1 hr 30 for a half, that ain't bad! I might not be as far behind as I thought. Some hill training will definitely get the times going in the right direction methinks.

6pm. rainy 74º 86%H calm
1:16:05 11.16m bf 1844

9.19.09

The humidity was ridiculous. My shorts and shirt were so soaked that when I came in April asked if it was raining outside. It was not. But I digress, the run was actually pretty good. Started off slow because the last two days I didn't run due to procrastinating on a caricature gig day, then there were thunderstorms yesterday. Today was the same with storms, but luckily it held off long enough for me to get a run in. Toward the end I felt good, I guess i got the lead out and managed to get a really good quality easy run in.

I haven't done a long run in ages, so tomorrow I'm thinking 13 with some faster miles or a normal 15 where you just try to stay alive. I'll have to see what the weather looks like and go from there.

On a side note the Berlin Marathon is tomorrow. This is the one Haile set his world record at a few years ago if I recall correct, and he'll be running again tomorrow. He missed the olympics and really hasn't caused much fuss in the record scenario lately, so I hope he has a break out race even though it's supposed to be on the warm side. The sad part is the marathon is live @ universalsports.com, but since it's Germany that means 2:30 a.m. yikes! Anyway I think they have it set up so you can play it later on, but it's always really difficult to figure out and the link is never in an intuitive area you would think it would be at. I don't think I'm staying up for this one, so I'll just have to try and catch it in the morning. Ok later peeps, happy running.

76º 95%H
1:15:00 11.0 bf 1833

9.13.09

Easy run tonight. Stopped for a quick gato-break at 20, and the rest of the run was real smooth. I don't prefer to run in the dark, but it's totally worth it to avoid the heat. I also ran yesterday, but didn't get around to posting. Shin appears to be just fine, but always a little niggle at the beginning of the run...
today

76°F Partly Cloudy 79°F 64% From NNE3 mph

1:15:45 11.10 bf 1791

yesterday
10.51 1:12:36 1780

9.11.09

Well I was back on the road again today after a few days off. The shin has kinda been bothering me again, but not as bad as before. I just don't like anything feeling "weird" and it was feeling pretty, well, weird. So that was kinda of a bummer. I ran on it today and it felt wierd again, but only for a few minutes when I started off. After that it loosened up. There is still some damaged tissue in there I think, because I've tried massaging the area by the shin bone and it's still just a tad bit tender, but leaps and bounds better than it was a week or two ago when it was really hurting. The run today went pretty good until the end of two loops, it was hot and I needed a quick breather/water break to finish.

So I think I'm on the right track. I'll keep trying to get runs in, but at this point I'm really considering some alternate form of exercise to get the HR up. I dont' mind not running really, it's missing the conditioning that really stresses me out. So I'm not sure what to do, I don't have a bike and don't really want one because no where to store it, and the pool just closed, so swimming is out unless I get a membership to a gym that I can't really afford right now. I'll think of something, even if it means walking.

The second part of that is to start doing my core work again. I picked it up when I was training for the mile race, but kind of let it go. Well I think it's time to bring that back again, and it will also help with my conditioning just a bit.

Work at this point involves literally every weekend from here to November (and I'm already lining up more) But at least I have the week to fit in my runs, although it makes me feel guilty. I suppose I should take my wonderful benefits and just enjoy them right? I'm training for a half in November, and there's not much time left. I'm honestly not confident that I will do as well as I would like. I know I will PR, because I PR'd during my marathon by four minutes, on a cold, windy day on a hilly course, so I'm confident in that. It's coming close to the goals I set that I am worried about. I just dont' feel like I've done enough over the summer or even in the past month or two compared to how I normally like to train. Appropriate (over?) training gives me a good mindset going into a race. Anyway I'll just do the best I can and no big deal right?, just have fun :)

5:30 pm. 80ºF
1:12:35 10.66 bf 1770