4.21.10

Rained yesterday so I moved the workout to today. I was hoping to do more, but I decided on 1200,800 and 2 400's, but that didn't work out so much. Once I got about 600 meters into the first rep I knew things were going downhill fast and my legs were already getting tired. Really struggled even through that one, and it felt slow. I was kind of amazed to see the time, 15 seconds faster than last week and that pretty much explained it. Throat was super dry, probably need to hydrate more earlier on because just water wasn't cutting it.

Took equal rest then tried to run the next 800. Same thing, legs just felt tired and breathing was hard almost immediately. Struggled and pushed through making a deal with myself if I really kicked the last 200 I would just be done, so I went ahead and did that. Ran 2 mile cooldown with 100m sprints the last mile. Even on the cooldown I was breathing hard so I'm glad I didn't do anything else. The other thing was the race is Friday so I didn't want to do too much today, just kind of get a little taste for the race.

1200 (1:17,1:21, 1:21 ) 3:59 equal recover
800 (1:17.2, 1:18.7) 2:36

fasttwitch 196
 

4.15.10

800 @2:43, 1200 @4:15, 1200 @4:15, 800 @2:38, 2x400 @1:13, 1:11.0. half mile warmup, mile cooldown and full walking recovery between reps.

Planned to do a 1600 inbetween, but my legs were already tired so I decided turnover was more important than cardio and cut it. Really nice day to run, not too hot and hardly any wind so that made things a lot easier than last time.

I ran these within my comfort zone(for speedwork that is), but I still feel like I'm missing a gear. It isn't that surprising since it's the second speed session of the year, things just aren't running on all cylinders yet. I plan to continue adding reps up to the 10k race and hopefully speed drills as well because I've been slacking on those. As far as the mile race goes I may be close to where I was last year. It's hard to compare the workouts because last year i just did 400's. I did 2 workouts first @ 67,71,70,69 and the second @77, 77, 77, 75 w/400m recovery. The second was pretty windy so times were slower. If anything I've got a little more speed endurance, but then I look at the week after which was 3x1200 @4:16, 4:10, 4:04. So basically next Tuesday I'll try to repeat that and see what happens, hopefully adding in more reps than last year - try to tack on a few 800's and 400's.

800@2:43
1200 @4:15
1200 @4:15
800 @2:38
2x400 @1:13, 1:11.0
middleschool
fasttwitch 192

4.6.10

86º 14mph wind but you couldn't have kept me from getting out there today. Track work is just downright fun. Nothing like hitting the oval and seeing what kind of speed you can muster up. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I did indeed have some turnover when I asked my legs for it, so today was a success in that respect.

Didn't even really notice it was hot once I got going, and drinking and resting after each repeat helped a lot. The plan in my head was a few 800's, maybe three if I could handle it, which I really didn't see happening. Started off into the wind so I wouldn't have to finish running into it. First few were like a tempo pace, fast but controlled. Third one I pushed a little and the legs got a bit tired. Last one I was the same, but I really accelerated the last 200 meters. For the first track workout of the year I'm super-psyched.


I met one of my old co-workers who coaches and teaches at the middle school. We talked forever, then after my workout I met another guy who officials meets at UT and helps take care of the middle school track. So I spent more time chatting than running, but I didn't care it was good to meet people and see and old friend. Very happy with today's workout and with a baby on the way tomorrow I'm elated.

.5 mile warmup + drills
4x800's w/400m recoveries
1:26/2:55
1:26/2:54
1:25/2:49
1:25/2:44
1.25 mile active recovery
400m @ 1:11
mile cooldown

fasttwitch 187

5.26.09

Today I signed up for the tweet5k just for fun. I saw it a few days ago on twitter but wasn't sure if I was going to do or not, but for ten bucks and a good cause there's really no downside. There were some crazy times posted by the elites around the country, it's hard to comprehend just how fit these people really are, a lot of hard work I suppose. Anyway I decided to do a time trial sort of deal today at the track, because you get a few chances to post a time, and I wanted to take a little stab at it now so I can do another at the end of the week. My goal was 17:45, but that soon fell apart.

When I got to the track it was windy, and there were storm clouds around, and it was warm. Not really the greatest combo, but it wasn't raining or thundering so I just went ahead with the "time trial". I guess that's the best word for it. I'm also considering it speedwork, but in this workout I get zero rest, so I suppose that qualifies as a time trial. I had to run with my stopwatch which wasn't too big of deal, it just makes it harder to pump the arms. I tried to keep split times as well for better feedback on the run. Normally I'll just keep miles, but since I knew I had to run like 84's I thought it would be nice to compare later on. So I warm up for a good 15-20 minutes.

I wasn't expecting a lot today, my legs just started feeling better yesterday and I just had a race Saturday so I definitely wasn't going all out on this. It's weird sometimes running by yourself, or against yourself. There is definitely something odd about it that I can't quite put my finger on, something a little unnatural, lol. Whatever the case I clicked the buttons and was off. I had my stopwatch in my right hand, along with heart rate monitor watch, and my working ipod going as well. The first lap I missed, I was too busy trying to look at the split, I think it was 1:24, but I could be wrong. I got the rest of the splits except for the final 400 because I was just running.

I started off well, but slightly too fast for the first mile. It was slow and painful from there. I made it halfway and was already breathing hard, and pushing to stay on pace. Looking through the splits they were on pace through 2000 meters, then slowly degraded. I was hoping for a relaxing run, "just hit the splits" kind of deal, but got no such luck. Each lap was harder than the previous and I was breathing heavy and the legs were definitely still a little tired from Saturday's hard effort. I wanted to quit at 2 miles, 3200 meters, but I just kept pushing on. I needed to at least post a time, even if it slow, I thought. That kept me going, but the wind was going pretty good too and that really made the homestretch harder each time around.

Definitely much tougher than I would have liked on this. Breathing was erratic at times and it was hard to relax. I kept having to push to keep the pace up, even though my body wanted to rest. Somehow I maintained relatively close to goal pace, but definitely not in good enough shape to run it easily. I kicked the last 200 meters after reaching 4800 meters, but it wasn't quite enough to break 18. I hate to say it but now I'm almost dreading doing it again, that was much more difficult than I had anticipated, but I guess thats what running is sometimes, or a lot of times.

Splits
1:22?
2:47.66 1:26?
4:13.76 1:26.10
1600- 5:39.97 1:26.21
7:07.12 1:27.15
8:34.72 1:27.60
10:02.88 1:28.16
3200- 11:31.12 1:28.24
13:00 1:28.88
14:28.53 1:28.53
15:57.97 1:29.44
4800- 17:28?? -1:30?
18:05 - :37?

Just after the run, not even walking a full lap, it started raining. The rain felt great! It was like I was being rewarded after a hard run. The only bad thing was that it was really coming down and I didn't want to ruin any of my stuff or get my shoes waterlogged, so I had to leave. I didn't get to run any cooldown miles. I reached a new HR max today of 195, I've hit 191 before, but topped it today - not completely sure if that is a good thing. The nice part about today was having splits. I've never ran (raced) a 5k on a track before so it was interesting to see the technical details of how I fell apart :P

4:45pm. track. 84° 56%H 8 mph from SSW

18:05(3.21) fasttwitch 88
AHR 175 MHR 195

5.18.09

Not exactly what I had in mind for today, but a pretty good quality workout nonetheless. April has set a goal to do workout for 14 days in a row. I think it's a great goal. Anyway she wanted to go to the soccer complex with me today and run a bit. So I of course obliged, although if it were up to me I would have went to the track. In any case it was an easy compromise and I was going to make it work. Well the hard part about the complex is that it's fairly hilly. There are sort of some flat parts, but whichever direction you run, you are going to have to face a few hills. I chose the path of least resistance, as well as chose a few landmarks so I would at least have some idea of the distance I was going for future reference. I picked a bench just at the top of the large downhill, if for no other reason than it is a landmark. Steep downhill, gradual, then back up a moderate climb, and then a gradual downgrade for actually a good stretch, ending with a slightly steep uphill climb. That was my "track" 1200 for today.

Unfortunately I decided not to bring my stopwatch and just use my ipod - which is always a mistake because I can never remember the time I started running at after a few reps. Was it 20:30 or 23:30. So basically I only remember the last rep which was 35:30 to 40 minutes. I was cooking pretty good on the first and last intervals, with the middle one kind of being a I'm-not-so-sure how fast I'm going type of deal. They felt fast though and I was working hard. The other bad part was accidentally hitting my Heart Monitor button after the workout, bam, there goes that data. If I had to take a guess I remember looking only once and seeing like 182 or something, but who knows. So in a funny way today was kind of a fartlek since I really have no idea of how fast I was actually going haha.

My left hip was sore today. The hams were fine, but it feels like I got hit on the side of my butt by a baseball bat, although I don't remember that happening. Thankfully I decided today would be my last workout for this week. Supposedly you need 6-8 days for a workout to reap benefits. I'm not sure how much truth there is in that, but I'll go ahead and call it a week. I still plan on doing some sharpening - 200's 400's maybe Wed. as well as some striders so the legs will still have some speed on them. I do know one thing, I feel in pretty mean shape after the workouts this past month. I was breathing good and the legs were responding. I'm excited going into this next race, I really believe I have trained okay this time around and can put a good effort forward.

6:07pm. soccer complex. missed weather- update tomorrow. (cool, windy)
3x(1200)top bench to post @4:30 w/hill jog recovery
49:20(7.64) gf 701
MHR 183?

5.14.09

Quickly get this done. Incredibly humid today and just insane to run in. It didn't help I didn't get much sleep last night either. Whatever the case I got as much done as I could at the middle school track. Legs were sore and tired from the beginning of this thing - due to a hard day yesterday after speedwork - combo was like a one-two punch. First lap I was killing it because for some reason my crazy brain doesn't understand time.

I did a mile warmup, then my drills. Right away I noticed the humidity because sweat was just rolling off in every direction. I was just "warming up" so I hated to think what was going to happen when I started really running. The legs never did loosen, but I didn't expect them to after yesterdays hilly run.

Goal pace was 4:17 (1:26,/2:52 for 400/800) but for some reason I was thinking 76 instead of 86, I just do that sometimes. So yeah I started running my laps about 10 seconds fast. I went through 400 around 75 and was like okay I'm on pace, then I hit 800 was like 2:34 and just kind of didn't understand that number, lol. I thought that looked a little funny, but I just kept on going. I was really hurting by lap 2 and was like why in the world is this so hard already? I mean normally for VO2 pace I can hold my own, but I was falling apart already. So yeah first 1200 was 3:59.

Learned my mistake on that one, but between the legs being tired and I guess the humidity I was already feeling depleted. Jogged a lap and took some extra rest because I could just tell I needed it from how hard that first one was. Was supposed to be 400m recovery, but I actually stood around and drank gatorade to recover. Lap two felt slightly better of course because I was closer to the pace I should have been running, legs were still tired and was breathing hard by the third lap. Was really sweating at this point, slogged another lap.

Third one I wasn't feeling to good, my stomach just didn't feel right, but I didn't worry about it and just got to the line. This third one actually went well. I stayed on target and again it wasn't till the third lap where things got a little shady. Took a jog lap then another nice long drinking/standing recovery. I really procrastinated because I wasn't sure if I should end the workout or not. My stomach wasn't feeling great and I was completely drenched in sweat, but had only ran about 30 minutes total. I jogged around a lot, going up to the line, then taking a little more rest. Haha, it really took me a while before I just said okay I'm doing it. Then I said to myself, you can do it, just one more. Once I had that thought I was pretty much ready.

Last interval was pretty nice. I was tired, but just worked on relaxing through it and turning over. It helped and although it was tough I sprinted in for the last 200. Jogged a lap, then another mile and called it a day. The last mile, although at a slow pace, still had my heart rate up around 170+ so there wasn't a lot else to be done today. I had to be home soon anyway and all the extra rest/walk breaks and a long form drill session really ate up my time. I'm happy with the work because it was a tough day. I just wish I was a little more rested coming into it. No matter, planning another workout Saturday, which will be my last one before the 10k. I'll do some speed stuff next week, but mostly just tune up things working on form, not really trying to build fitness from those.

here are my notes
3:59 hurt (scribbled)
4:13.41 hard (barely legible)
4:13
4:11

4:50pm. middle school track. 77° 60%H 7 mph from SSW (warm, humid, little windy)
1200m @3:59, 4:13.4, 4:13, 4:11 w/400m and standing recovery
36:35(6.05) gm1031 fasttwitch 78
AHR 155 w/recovery MHR 191

5.12.09

Another great day to run. Gorgeous weather. Maybe warm, but hey I'll take sun and heat over clouds and thunderstorms any day. I was really excited to get to the track today. I found myself smiling as I was getting all my gear ready - stopwatch, a cliff block, ipod and headphones, waffle spikes just in case. I've been hovering over 50 miles a week and it's really helped my attitude towards running. I don't feel like I have to get in the miles, but rather just good old hard quality running - running fast is fun!

The track was pretty much empty except for a couple runners who were using the middle and outside lanes to run in. Good track etiquette is appreciated my fellow runners! I started with a mile and half warmup, then did my drills. My HR monitor has been wiggin' on me and was displaying 199 yesterday, it did it again today. The bad part is I have to reset it, which if you are in the middle of a run, there goes all the previous data (it isnt' stored and gets deleted when you start over). I was actually a little sore today in the hams, a little from the long run Sunday and a little from doing a couple different exercises during my core work last night. But by the time I got my drills done and did a few striders just to get moving I felt loose. Tonights workout was some tempo pacing around my goal 10k pace, then some shorter faster stuff to work on form and efficiency.

First up 3x1200 @ 6:13 pace. Now for some reason I've always thought tempo run mean't running hard like a 5k pace and maybe that's right, but tonight the pace felt very comfortable. The goal here was to do them with only 60s rest - I was kind of leery of that before I started these. First one started out well -41 at 200m, well within pace, then around 1:27 for lap 1 -800 was ... lol, I just now realized i ran miles instead of 1200's!!! omg. I guess I just like running miles! Geez I feel like a total idiot. So holy crap on that because I took the rest for a 1200....

so anywayz I was around 4:30 for 1200 and then finished the first MILE at 6:07. Good, well within the tempo pace of 6:13. The nice part about this was I was just flowing along - didn't breath hard the entire time and was very much within my comfort zone even though it was a little faster. So for these I took only 60seconds rest and I stuck to that. Mile 2 went through the half at 3:02 and maintained that pace from the start to the end at 6:04, couldn't have asked for better on that one. 60 seconds rest and I'm off to another mile, 1:26, 2:56 at 800 (started picking it up) 4:something at 1200 and the last lap I worked on turnover, but still stayed smooth. I was still within my comfort zone and came through at 5:56. Impressive considering I did these without even realizing I was supposed to run an entire lap less (and with the same recovery to boot)

60 seconds rest then I started 400's. These were to be at repetition pace which is 79 for the quarter. First one I came through in 73, not easy like the tempo stuff, but I was okay. Recovery was more for these, a jogging lap. Lap two I felt the first one and came through in 76. (recovery lap) lap 3 was 73.84 and I felt the muscles getting tired. Lap 4 was very rough and I was breathing hard and getting tired by 200 meters, still I pushed pretty hard and was totally out of breath coming through in 72.94. All in all that wasn't too bad, and was well within 79, so no fussing here. Jog lap for recovery.

I ended with some 200's, supposed to be run at 39-40 pace, although I knew I would be going faster than that because my tempo were at 42 and I felt fine. I was really huffing on the first one, but worked on staying strong and driving, 33.90. I was breathing hard after this one and the legs were tired. But I decided to do another just for good measure. This time I wasn't breathing hard, legs were utterly tired, but I just drove and pushed and ended up with 32.97 for that. (recovery was 200m jog for these) Then I did another mile and a half for cooldown and it felt great.

So those 1200's were interesting today :P I kind of feel like my mom switched my chicken nuggets for fried ochre or something. I just sort of tricked myself into doing more. No big deal it's just one of those things you get into the habit of looking at mile pace and go with it. I take a little notepad with me to the track so I can write down my splits (otherwise they all blend together) and right there on the paper it's says 6:13. It never crossed my mind that that wasn't what I was supposed to do until I started writing the times in the blog, lol. Still it was a great workout and although I ran more, it felt well within my comfort zone and was a great quality workout.

I'm feeling good about the 10k. Honestly I've never really focused this much on speedwork or pacing, so it will be interesting to see what happens at the race. I sort of "know" what 6:00 feels like, and the difference between working hard and all-out. It looks to be a fun race. They changed the course this year a bit, so I can't exactly compare it to last years. I just hope they don't add more hills :)

6:30pm. track.75° 36%H 7mph from ENE (warm, sunny, nice)
3x1600 @6:07, 6:04, 5:56 w/60s rest
4x400 @73, 76, 73.84, 72.94 w/400m jog
2x200 @33.9, 32.97 w/200m jog
56:09(8.27), fasttwitch 75
AHR ?? MHR 191

5.7.09

Made my way to the track for the second workout of the week. Hammies were still a bit tight from Tuesday; but I looked outside, saw sunlight, and there was no way I wasn't doing a workout today. Did 1 mile warmup, form drills as usual and that loosened the legs up just a bit. I was supposed to run 1x3 miles around Threshold pace (6:13) I was actually running these in my trainers so I was expecting to have to a work a little harder, but I hit the first 200 in 38 and had to back off a bit. I also ran with stopwatch in hand. I'll talk more about that later though. At 800 I was round 2:50, 1200 4:25 or so, and then finished at 5:56 for the first mile. Definitely not close to goal, but I just thought Hey, faster is better right? It wasn't too far off so I didn't stress it.

Did two laps recovery, got a sip of gatorade cuz I was pouring sweat and started the next one. Pretty much the same deal as last time, but I had settled into pace, 42 at 200, didn't catch first lap, 800 I was round 2:50 again and really that's the only split I needed as far as pacing went. These were moderately hard, I was breathing within my limit but still pushing. I thought here about how I need to be running ALL my miles around this pace and not just speedwork. Seems impossible, but I will get there. Came in a little faster this time at 2:52 and repeated two laps recovery, sip of gatorade. This time I wanted to put on my cross country spikes and see how it felt. So I actually got another minute or so rest before this last one as I had to lace up real quick.

It felt funny putting on these because there is basically no cushion, they feel so thin compared to trainers that it's almost like you can feel the ground with each step. It's a good feeling though. So I wanted to be under control this last mile. 41 at 200, right on track, 2:45 or so at 800, 1200 was low 4's, didnt' really catch it because there was a toddler playing by the track and I didn't want to run him over (mom was nearby but far enough where I'd nail him before she knew it). I checked my HR on lap three it was only 178 or so - really not that bad. The funny thing is I felt really smooth this time around, and breathing was much easier. I wasn't really going any faster, but I was putting in the same effort but somehow now. Basically the shoes were making it easier to run at pace, so I was able to maintain with ease. I basically just stretched my legs the last 400 and came in at 5:45. Two laps recovery.

At this point I felt good. I had my spikes on still and was about to switch to trainers and I just thought, I might as well do some shorter stuff while I got em out of the bag. So I kept jogging and did a 400. I don't know what the time was because I just sort of did it spur of the moment. Lets just say 73... one lap jog recovery and I wanted to another. The first I was breathing really hard, and so I focused on that this second one. I just took deep breaths and really worked on turnover with a pickup the last 100 for a 72. Jogged a lap recovery, then switched shoes.

Trainers felt incredibly cushiony after switching almost to a silly point where I thought I had marshmallows in them. Ran two and half more miles which was actually harder than it seemed after the workout, but I wanted to maximize it and get all the capacity I could. Legs were definitely feeling it, but I felt good and the sun had set so it was nice and cool.

So an interesting day at the oval with some miles and a few quarters to get the legs going. It's difficult, but everytime I get a little stronger and paces get a little easier. Two weeks left to train till the 10k.

7:10pm. track. 77° 54%H 5 mph from WSW (warm)
1600m @5:56, 5:52, 5:45 w/800m rec. 2x400m @73,72 w/400m rec.
AHR 155 (with drills)/ MHR 187
gm 1009, forever 17

5.5.09

Track work today. Headed out to the middle school this time around. Their track is basically pavement, maybe a little more give since it's worn, but not much. Interesting to run on that instead of cushy, sinking rubber. The other difference here is there is a meter or two between the 400 starting block line and the finish line, so this track could be a little "long", although I doubt it. It feels the same to me, but then again my body isn't a gps receiver.

Started with a 2 mile warmup and right away noticed the legs were already a little tired. The run yesterday was a bit fast and there was more tightness than I would have liked. I tried stretching a bit after my form drills, but they never did feel right, so I just got on with it.

Took down times after each one. Originally I had planned to do them @ race pace, but then I begin thinking that was probably a bad idea and I was just going to run these harder. So I'm not going to be boring and describe every little detail about each lap, only note that I slowly began breathing harder earlier each repeat, with jog recovery lap inbetween each for recovery. By numero 6 I was ready to call it a day as the legs were pretty tired. I could have done more, but I like ending on a good note rather than driving myself into oblivion. I ran a little more after that, gradual mile pickups where I worked up to threshold pace and held it. I rather enjoyed those last two miles. At that point I ran another lap or two as I also worked in some accelerations, 1x100 and 1x200 and they felt smooth and fast.

workout went good, I'm not concerned with times, I just wanted to get anaerobic work in. Hopefully Thursday or Friday I can do some longer stuff, mile repeats at threshold pace (a litte faster than race pace - 5:40-5:45 if I can handle it and maybe throw in a few 1200's after that just to get a little extra distance in.

7:00pm. middle schell? (lol school) track. 72° F 59%H 9mph from SSW (cool, windy)
400m @76, 74.5, 74, 74.7, 74, 73.2 w/400jog rec.
58:54(9.28), fasttwitch 66
AHR166/MHR191

4.28.09

am run

glorious run this morning. April was supposed to get up and exercise. She has been asking me to workout with her and I've been trying to help, but she is easily bored. She has tried fitness centers, running (for a day or two), yoga, exercise balls, jazzercise, but she always ends up getting bored and quits after a month tops. The thing about it is even if I do happen to motivate her, I just have this feeling that she'll quit on me after a month or so. She does need foot surgery, and I've told her to get it, but she doesn't want to take time off of work or have to be on crutches. I'm kind of through trying to convince her what to do. Anyway sorry for the rant, she just slept in - I reset the alarm, but she still never got up.

So it was a very nice run. The weather was a very cool 60 degrees and it just felt like I could eat the air it was so thick. Great for running and felt great the whole way. It was nice getting to run in the morning. I don't know how I got up so fresh as I usually am dragging, but whatever the case it was nice. I got to watch the sun rise as I ran, the first forty minutes just before it poked over the hills it was just beautiful. I really need to make morning runs a part of my routine.

6:20am. home. 62° 75%H 5 mph wind from SSW
1:06(9.69), bf 1327
estimated AHR155/MHR165

pm workout:

So most of the reason for running in the morning was so I could do a harder workout tonight on the track. Since April missed the AM, I invited her to come with me to the track. She decided to go (with a little convincing her it wouldn't take that long for my workout) and so we went. I stared with a one mile warmup, then form drills and a little acceleration - I've pretty much got it down now without having to think if I missed something. So I start off and it's a little rough, but I enjoyed being able to breathe freely. I used a pace calculator from my recent mile to get the splits I should be running. For 1200 meters at V02 max, the pace was 4:17. My first 1200 was 4:16 and I didn't push hard at the end or anything so it was good.

I ran with my stopwatch so I knew the splits would be accurate. Recover time was supposed to be equal time minus 30 seconds. So I just rounded down to 3:30 to keep things even. I gave myself appropriate recovery with a bit of jogging and walking and then started the next one. Second time around I felt really smooth. The big thing for me on this workout was being at a pace where I had to breathe hard, but not too hard. So it was interested when I changed from short quick in-out breathing, to a slightly longer slow breathing method. Things changed radically and I wasn't feeling like I was doing anything. The second 1200 flew by in 4:10 - and I didn't even try harder, the effort was equal to me. I didn't push on the last lap or anything.

So that was quite interesting. I tried the method again for the third. This time it worked pretty well, but at times I would slip back into the old breathing and have to focus to go back to the longer breaths. The third lap on this I felt my legs getting heavy, and I did push just a little harder on that one which gave me a 4:04. I was surprised because that felt relatively easy, but the previous two had worn me out a bit and since April was just sitting alongside the track listening to her ipod I decided to call it a day. I did another mile at about a tempo pace and finished the workout. It was a really great workout. I could probably repeat it Thursday or even add some because I really didn't do a whole lot. I mean a little over two miles isn't gonna cut it for a good 10k, but as I said I can do another workout later so it's all good.

My ipod has been wiggin' out on me. It's about time for a new one. It was used before I got it and it's been 2 years, so it had a good run. I think I paid about $100 for it and that was when they were a bit more expensive. I might pick up another one on craigslist or something if it keeps freezing. I'll try resetting and see what happens first.

6:20pm. home.81º %? 5mph wind (warm)
3x1200 @4:16, 4:10, 4:04
27:31(4.54)fasttwitch 58
with breaks AHR144/MHR184

4.21.09

A little track workout tonight. Nothing major a 2 mile warmup, form drills, 400 meter sprints with 400m recovery, then another two and a half miles with accelerations on the backstretch for the last 5 laps. So this workout was kind of wierd because it was so late. I normally workout before dinner, but tonight was kind of pushing it as I ate before. So that mean't getting to the track around 8:30, when it was nearly dark. Actually most of this workout was in the dark, and there are just a few lights they keep on nearby at the parking lots. It was still easy to see the lines so no big deal, just different. Another good reason to run later is that my race Friday will be at 9:30, so it was a good test of running later on.

Laps were going to be difficult to time because I couldn't use a stopwatch - it has no glow in the dark and I probably wouldn't have been able to find it to turn it on because it is black, so there was no point in bringing it. I just had to use my ipod and try to remember what the seconds were when I crossed the line. But anyway the first lap was 77, not anything special, but honestly I wasn't pushing my hardest, I was going fast, but still had another gear. It was also windy for 200 meters as the wind was coming at angle to the track, a good 12-13 mph or so and that took a few seconds off I'm sure. One good thing about going a tad slower was that I only needed a lap recovery before doing the next one. I really wanted to limit recovery tonight and it worked nicely. The next two laps were 77 as well, I guess it was just my night for 77's. My last lap I pushed a little harder into the wind the last 200m and got it down to 75, but nothing to write home about.

The 400's felt good and I really tried to get a feel for what the mile should be like on Friday. It will hurt, just as these did. But the funny thing is that after you take 20-30 seconds you are fine again, it's crazy how that works. I try to keep that in mind when things start hurting at the end. So I ran another mile and then did 100 meter sprints on the backstretch for the next mile. These I really worked on getting up to near top speed. I still feel a little clumsy getting up that fast and my feet just feel like they are pounding. That's to be expected from all my slow running I guess, I'll get there soon enough, plenty of time to work on speed this summer.

So I'm guessing Friday's mile is kind of going to be a toss-up judging from this workout. I'm going to run the first 800 hard and try to get with someone and run with them(assuming I'm not in the lead somehow) hold on for the third 400 and do a gradual kick the last 400. Sounds as good as a strategy as I'll get. No reason to overthink it as I'm really not in shape to run it haha. We'll see what happens, I'm sure there will at least be some high schoolers running good times so I think I'll just try to hang with them and outkick them at the end. The fortunate thing about marathon training is that for a short distance like this I'm pretty confident my kick will be there at the end, so not to worried about that. It's exciting just thinking about it, reminds me of high school glory days. Only, then I had friends yelling out "Ric Flair" at the end so I could yell "Woooo" and kick it home. I really didn't like Ric Flair, but I liked abandoning all sanity and sprinting no matter how much it hurt. Fun times, in shape times.

8:28pm. track. 54º 40%H 13mph wind from WNW (cool)
4x400 @77, 77, 77, 75 w/400m recovery
4x100m accels
50:18(7.75) fasttwitch 54
AHR165?/MHR185

4.14.09

Finally got some speedwork in. Boy was this workout a wakeup call. I think my last speed session was like a month ago, and the one before that was a month before as well. Not too great fitness wise, but time wise I actually surprised myself a bit. After a 3 mile warmup around 7 minute pace I switched to my road racing shoes and did my form drills. My left tendon (just behind the knee) was doing it's normal thing. Sort of a "click" happens when I pull my foot up toward my hamstring. It doesn't really affect anything, but I've come to the conclusion that is from the last 10 years of not stretching, and the last two basically just spent tightening up the hams.

It was kind of colder today, but a relatively comfortable cold. The sun wasn't out so that helped with staying cool. Shorts and a cotton t-shirt seemed to be the right fit today, other runners at the track had sweat suits/jackets on, but I usually like it on the colder side. So I had no real plans other than 4x400 and maybe more depending on how I felt. So I run the first one. This is tricky because I have an ipod, a HR monitor, and a stopwatch but mostly I just have to be sure that the stopwatch has activated otherwise I'm pretty much screwed, I could really care less about the ipod data. The other tricky part is having to throw the stopwatch down right at the start, so I don't have to hold on to it while running, it's hard enough to run, but then you've got a big watch with a shoelace swinging around it makes it kind of difficult.

So I toe the line, press the start on the stopwatch and I take off flying. I was breathing pretty good by the end and was pretty much amazed by seeing a 67 on the watch as I ran by! Holy crap I really wasn't expecting that. My goal was 72-74. Yeah, I really am in no mans land when it comes to the "faster" stuff. I just haven't done enough of it yet to know what the difference in pace feels like. It all just feels hard to me. So I took two minutes rest, walking around for recovery. Normally for these you want to minimize rest, but considering this was my first fast stuff since like high school, i figured more is better for now.

Lap 2 was tough. There was a pretty good wind on the homestretch about 12mph and I was struggling to get to the line with my form in tact and this time I was breathing hard at 300. Lap two was 71. That one hurt so I realized I needed a lot more rest. I relied on my HR monitor and waited till it got back down to 112-115 which took a good five minutes (with jogging a lap and walking). So after a pretty good break I was ready for number three. For these type of workouts you just have to go do it, no complaining or moseying around, just put your toe on the line, click the thing and take off. I definitely felt the first two on this one and again I was breathing hard and the last 100 was pretty tough. Lap three was 70. I took another long break after this one, but knowing I had only one left was good and I pretty much ruled out doing any more after that.

So this time I got off to a great start, my knees haven't been that high in ten years and I was real smooth at first, but I felt myself slow down before hitting 200 and basically just pushed from there the rest of the way, pretty much dying at the end. Last lap was a 69. For all the times they are give or take a second because for one I have to find the stopwatch on the ground, and like for the last one, I had to turn it over to see what the time was. I did a mile or so after that and switched back to my free's again. They felt like flip flops it was a weird feeling to switch them. Ran another mile or two in those.

So it was very interesting just to go fast. My little left tendon thing went away as soon as I started running fast, which is kind of wierd I guess it just needs loosening up. I really killed the first lap and that took a lot out of me for the rest of the workout. I need to run 74's to break five, so this workout was a fairly decent indicator of my pace. I will get these times down a ton just by getting on the track more, it feels night and day compared to pavement. Because of the "cushion" it sort of feels like I'm sinking and is a little hard to run on because of that. It's something I will have to get used to again, this summer I plan on pretty much living there. The other nice thing about the track is instant feedback on pace every lap. I know exactly how many miles I've ran and what pace I'm doing it at without really needing a pedometer or anything else, just a watch. Unfortunately my HR monitor watch doesn't have a "second hand" readout, so it just shows full minutes. That is so dumb how hard would have it been to add a tiny little display of the seconds? But it was a gift, so I am happy to use it.

I left this workout feeling comfortably tired. I could have done maybe one or two more, but like I said, I'm just getting started no reason to overdo things. I mean I've been training to run a marathon, not a single mile for heaven's sake! Thursday I'd like to do something either hills or speed, maybe a combo fartlek would work I dunno. Then Saturday do some more speedwork, maybe repeat today's workout, and monday do another. So one day of rest and then another workout and repeat? ...I'll probably take a few of those workouts easy and make Monday's a tempo with decreasing pace for the last four miles. Then it'll be three days of rest and time to race a mile :)

I took a break from the internet today to focus on my painting. It's coming along, maybe three more days to go, but it's taking more time than I anticipated. I'll leave note for my twitter peeps tonight.

6:20pm. track. Cloudy 57° F 59%H From WNW 12 mph(chilly)
50:01(7.63), gf 659, fasttwitch 47
4x400m @ 67,71,70,69 w/full recovery
36.44 warmup AHR116 MHR171
13.55 workout w/recovery AHR137 MHR178
23.28 cooldown AHR160 MHR174
sleep AHR54/MHR88

3.17.09

I wasn't sure what to expect tonight. I had hoped to meet up with some other runners, but there was only one other runner guy, a few walkers, and a couple students. I was about to talk to the guy after my workout but he left before I was finished and I didn't get a chance.

The workout went well considering I haven't done speedwork for a while. I was breathing pretty hard especially on the 3rd and 4th laps, but still I wasn't really going top speed. I just didn't have the coordination. I really need to be working on that -> running drills, quick feet, striders to be precise. Like I said though the workout was fine and I was surprised to even be running as fast as I was to be honest. Didn't wear the spikes tonight, stuck with the shoes I'll be racing in. They are so torn up already (the tread).
So it looks like they don't have too many racing days left in em already. That's okay though - I needed a new pair of trainers and I'll just start using them for everday running. I'm not 100% on that though. I think I'll see how they're doing after the marathon, then decide. I don't like spending 85$ on shoes for a single race and less than 100 miles - that's just silly to me.

Anyway after the three repeat miles (with 2 running laps and 1 walking inbetween) I did an 800. That thing nearly blew up my calves and hams, so I figured it would be best to stop there for the fast stuff. I decided to try a "test pace" mile, where I would go at a comfortable rate that I felt like I could hold for a while. The first ended up being around 6:20, and the second was probably the same, but I didn't catch the time. So that is great! If i can hold a 6:30 that will get me a pretty decent marathon time, and If there's anything left toward the end in the last 6 miles I might be able to pick up the pace a few seconds.

I am nervous. I've been really anxious the past few days when i think about the marathon. I'm not sure why, but my heart starts beating faster and I kind of have to shake off the nerves. I think it's just that I haven't raced for a while, so really anything could happen. I'm a little afraid of totally bonking too. I've put in some really hard work though and at this point I just have to be confident and let what happens happen. My main goal is to enjoy the marathon, have fun, and do my best, hopefully all three. I'll do my best NOT to check the weather constantly in the next week, because there's nothing I can do about that. I'll be running hard no matter what day we are blessed with. Okay enough rambling. I've got other things to do. Like sleep.

5:25 pm. track. 69 degrees 5mph wind 35%humidity (warmer)
3x1600 w/1200m recovery 1x800 2x1600 @6:20-6:30
1:03:09, (10.00) fasttwitch 18

2.8.09

I was exhausted after church so I took a nap. By the time I got up it was too late for a long run, so I turned today into a speed workout. I Invited April to come with me and she was happy to be my timer for the day. It made things a lot easier on me because I didn't have to hold it all the way around the track for four laps. I was feeling alright today, but my right calf/soleus was still hurting a bit as I warmed up for about two miles.

And so the workout began after I showed April how to work the timer. She did a great job after the first lap, calling out the time so I would know my splits. 1:18, 2:40, 4:00, 5:23 first mile! whoo it felt pretty good too. I wore my spikes today so that helped a little bit. Even with that time I had to dodge some kids that were in the first lane, so i actually might have picked up a few seconds if it weren't for that. I took a walk lap with April, then I jogged one and got read for the next mile. Doing some light stretching and form drills helped me stay loose and ready. I had fun doing my drills because it's been too long since I remember last doing any. Also it was BEAUTIFUL today, around 60 degrees and dropping, with maybe a 5 mph wind. Just awesome.

Second lap started off really well. 1:18, 2:42, 4:02, 5:22. I was breathing pretty hard on this one and actually ended up dodging around more people. I suppose thats normal for an actual race though so not a big deal really, but I could have maybe got an extra second or two. I was breathing pretty heavy on this one, especially once I reach that third lap, things started getting a little rough. But it wasn't too bad really and I actually felt a lot more in control than when I was running the 5:40's a few weeks ago. I kind of wanted to end it there, but I decided to continue on and give it another shot. So a walk lap, then a jog lap and the next mile. 1:19, 2:43??(didn't get it), 4:04, 5:23. So I kind of "coasted" the first three laps, just trying to keep a nice hard pace without letting things slip away, but also lengthened my stride and tried to conserve energy for a final push. It worked to an extent and I was able to really give it some gas on the final lap, but the time ended up being about the same because of it, so not a great strategy. I should have just stayed consistent, but honestly I was pretty tired from the first two miles and was getting a little on the lazy side of things.

So holy cow, 5:20's? I guess the spikes/weather/wind and non-sickness/timer have their part to play, but I felt really good on these. I might have been able to burn off another one, but it was getting late and since April was with me I didn't want to keep her there forever. The calf is still sore, but isn't really affecting my stride or anything so I'm not worried about it. I learned that I've really been slacking on my extras (as usual) and even these past few days I lost a little motivation and wasn't even blogging, so sorry for that if you read my stuff daily. I guess it happens to everyone now and then. But after today's session I'm feeling really good and ready to hit the road hard again. Even now at 9pm it's 55 degrees! just a few days ago we had two inches of snow on the ground....weird.

5:13 pm. track. 60 degrees 5mph wind.
1600 @ 5:23,5:22,5:23 w/800m walk/jog recovery
50:30 gf 456/forever 14

1.22.09

I did five easy miles this morning, just to wake up a bit. I was hoping it wouldn't affect the workout later and I don't think it did. Still, I had a tough day. Running-wise I was ready to go and everything felt as good as can be expected when moving at mile pace. The problem was with my stomach. It wasn't feeling good and furthered my exhaustion while running. I also was in a battle of the stopwatch, where I thought I had pushed the button, but actually had pressed it, but it never started... The little things like that you normally don't care about seem a lot more important when you're dying for air and your legs are crying out for no more abuse. My third mile was the last straw. On the last lap (after 3 agonizing ones) my stomach just hit the ground and I about doubled over. I pushed through and finished, but had no motivation to do any more sprinting - at least not at the track. The soccer kids were back and they were doing their little workouts so I didn't want to keep running through them anyways. I did another mile or two at my usual pace and went home.

But I still felt like I could run. So I decided I would finish out the day at home and did about a half hour of running. This time I actually got a few pace increases in here and there, and slowed back down when things felt like they were getting out of hand. If you are a runner then you know this kind of running is called fartlek, yes that's right. It's german, so blame them if you're offended. That worked really well and although I wasn't going as fast as my track speed, I was going fast enough to breathe pretty hard. So the day was certainly not a total loss, I'll just have to plan my lunch better next time. I had a porkchop with some scalloped potatoes and peas. I think the porkchop did me in. I actually second guessed the decision and almost went for something else, but then I figured it wouldn't matter and went ahead. Guess I should listen to my instincts better.

Lastly I wore my fasttwitch on the pavement - not so great. It FELT great, but it tore the crap out of the tread, so I think I'll keep them on the track until race day. Another day in the books.

8:25 am. tread
40:03, gf 367

3:12 pm. track. 40 degrees sunny with 8 mph wind. (shorts+t-shirt)
miles @ 5:43, 5:45?, 5:45? w/recovery + fartlek
1:29.01, fasttwitch 19

1.14.08

Speed Day! It's finally here. The day I go out and kill myself burning off miles at a rate much faster than I should probably be going and haven't preparation for. Well okay, maybe I had a little preparation, but still. Here is the runcast for today. I like doing them, but I'm not planning on making this a daily thing.....yet


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So the miles went like this:
1- dodged kids on the track 5:48
2- Clear track, 5:38
3- Kinda died, 5:44

I definitely thought these were harder than they probably should have been. I'm not sure how last year's speed felt fitness wise, so i might go back and read about that to compare, but today was pretty tough. I was definitely pushing hard on the last mile. It was difficult to simply get my legs going as fast as they wanted to go, my lungs were fine, but I need to play some catch up with my coordination. I have been slacking on form drills unfortunately. Honestly I can't remember the last time I did them. So instead of crying about it, I'm going to make an effort to remedy that now so in the next few weeks or months I'll be able to benefit.

For how fast I was feeling, I wanted to guess 5:30. Honestly I'm still kind of hoping in the back of my head that the track is long and I'm actually running a lot faster. I know it isn't, but I really thought I'd be faster. The weird thing is I ran my 5k at 6 minute pace, which isn't too far from today's miles, and that really didn't feel all that hard. I still felt like I could have gone a lot faster that day. But today I felt like I was closing on top speed and was surprised I could hold on as long as I did at that pace. So I thought maybe I'd be ahead, but I suppose it's a good place to start from. I mean I wanted to run these at 5:40 and add 2 (or more if I can handle) every week. So I'm actually able to run at the speed I wanted, but now I just have to make it easier to run at that speed. So next week looks like 5 x 1 at 5:40-45. I think it's doable.

My second idea was to do a secondary workout and switch to Tuesday and Thursday workouts, also cutting back a bit to be fresh for speed on Tuesday. Tuesday would be a normal workout, increasing the number of miles each week, and Thursday would be shorter, faster training focusing on holding a near-top end speed - like 800's or 400's, or a combination. Basically I need to wake up my fast twitch fibers, as they seem to be asleep at the wheel. So we will see about that second workout, but I think it could be a possibility. If it doesn't work out, then I'll just have to use form drills and some focused accelerations instead. So lots of options to consider and I'm pretty excited.

4pm. track. 35 degrees.
1600m @5:48, 5:38, 5:44 w/jogging rest
1:05:47, fasttwitch 8

ok

Got my entry form turned in for the race, I was going to mail it, but had forgotten so I dropped it off. Since i had to go home first to get the check I ended up going back by the school to drop it off and decided to run on the track. I had thought about it today at school- and got excited at the thought of a fast mile. So that is what I did- a mile warmup, some dynamic stretches, then just went for it.

I ran the first two laps with my stopwatch in hand- knowing full well I needed to be around 75-80 for my goal pace of 5:10-5:20, which seemed reasonable enough. At 200 I was already at 37 which mean't I was on pace, but started slowing even after a lap. Unfortunately it was a little windy out- but I was running pretty hard anyway and didn't really notice it. Lap 2 was 2:40, I thrust my stopwatch down because I knew it would take all I had to match those first two laps again. Lap three I was breathing hard and although I wasn't out of breath I was certainly having troubles. The last lap was pretty bad too. I couldn't go much faster if at all and was breathing way too hard. But all the same I sped up for the last hundred. Since the stopwatch was on the ground it's hard to tell what the time was exactly, but I read 5:33 just after crossing the line.

This mile is actually quite revealing. Although it is pretty much the same as my last mile two thing were different- the wind and no spikes. These things may have made me able to go faster. The second thing I noticed was my legs were tired and they normally aren't. This has to do with the surface of the track and that "sinking" that I'm not used to since I'm on roads. The previous mile I ran was slightly slower- but I was in the same situation as now with very little speed training. This is the last and most important thing -- I've yet to really push that anaerobic capacity that Lydiard talks about in his book. He says it's "not important" and is the easiest thing to increase, obviously with the necessary painful excruciating work. Mine needs lots of increasing. He states that training two days then one off for four weeks or something along those lines will maximize it. I'll have to read that passage again, but I think that is very possible for me. The main philosophy is that I've maxed out my aerobic system (oxygen transfer) and now it's time for anaerobic system (oxygen capacity). Again that is a much abbreviated and generalized statement, but you get the drift.

The other thing to note was my cooldown/warmup miles were run at 7:20 pace. This would lead me to believe the ipod pace is quite close (but faster as I had previously observed). I liked having that precise information available- it's just more affirmative than adjusting and guesstimating like I normally do. In other words I expect much more track work in the near future.

5 miles w 1mile @5:32. 60 degrees windy. BF 229

last speedwork

I wanted to run this morning, but I didn't sleep very well last night. I was up at 4 and the cat was doing her thing at 6. So I was already tired when I got up at 8. That didn't stop me from getting in my planned speedwork around noon. I got out to the track and warmed up for a mile, then did my running drills. I'm still not 100% on those, but in all honesty I've only done them 3 times so that's not much time to develop those skills. Still they were good and after a few flys for 100 meters I was feeling ready. The legs tightened up just a little, so I again did some light stretching and a few more flys before I toed the line.

I wanted to get a good mile in just to see where I was at. The wind was pretty strong coming from the west and it was very sunny out. Unfortunately it would mean running straight into the wind on the backstretch- where I'm usually kicking and at my strongest. So I started off okay. It's still funny running in spikes, but the warmup went well so I wasn't wasting a whole lot of energy. Two laps went by and I was feeling fine, I knew I'd have to pick it up the third lap because I felt too good and probably mean't the pace was slow. So by the last stretch on the third lap I was feeling it. Final lap was great until again I hit that wind and just didn't have a lot left. I stopped and looked at the stopwatch on the ground- 5:40. Not bad, but certainly not my best either. I kept jogging for a lap and half.

That was all the recovery I gave myself before my next 800. It was a good run, and now I'd have the wind to my back on the stretch since I moved to the other side of the track. Two laps went by pretty quickly and legs were turning over well, but still not as fast I wanted-2:49. This time I took 3 laps as I was pretty tired from basically back to back sprints. I was off again, but this time ran with the stopwatch in my hand. The last lap I had stopped to pick it up while still jogging and dropped it twice.

First lap was a measley 1:25, I knew I'd have to kill the next one, so I pushed. Instead of being on my toes, I let my heel strike just slightly more and that made everything loosen up. Last 200 meters felt good and the last 100 I finally felt like I was sprinting for the first time today- 2:45. I jogged at least another mile or maybe a little farther while drinking water before calling it a day on the track. I didn't need to be prancing around in spikes for more than 5 miles, which is where I was at that point.

Tonight I just felt like I didn't get enough out of the workout today. Granted I worked hard, but I didn't want to overdo anything so close to the race. I probably could have gotten away with more, but most of the work has been done and the risks outweighed the gains for me. Had some sun on my shoulders from being out in the morning too. So anyway got out to the soccer complex again for 6 miles at easy pace- although that turned wrong since I was going so fast earlier today I couldn't help but push. The hunger I had yesterday and the day before was also gone, and other than a little tiredness from the sprints everything was flowing well. It was one of those awesome runs where I just felt excited to be out there.

AM- 5(5.75) miles. 62 degrees sunny w/wind. Forever 11
1600 @5:40 w/600m rec. 800m @2:49, 2:45 w/1200m rec.
PM- 6(7)miles @6:43. 55 degrees. BF 182

track meet and workout

Yesterday was the track meet. It was fun playing track coach. Had a few kids stand out, but Oak Ridge distance looked better coming off their state championship in cross country *cough 4:24mile cough*. I was happy with our results, but we've got plenty of work to do.

Obviously no running yesterday, it was late when I got home and by the time I ate it was time for sleep.

Today was good, sent the distance guys out and watched the sprinters workout. Tomorrow is our own meet. Well just between our own team members for fun. Should be interesting. We're having it because not everyone got to go to the practice meet yesterday.

Stayed until everyone was gone, then did my workout on the track. I just went by feel on this one. CALVES!!! they are so friggin tight lately. Nothing loosens them up. I ran my warmups and did running drills, then got started. I am beginning to feel like I have rocks instead of calves. I'm not sure if this is good or bad. I'm guessing it's just overworked muscle fiber, but it has been this way for a while so they must really be overworked.

1200m @4:23
800m @2:56, 2:56
400 @74
800m @2:52, 2:50
Forever- 3

I could have ran more, but again the calves were destroyed before I even started, so it just wasn't necessary. Was breathing somewhat hard on these, but I like hills better. I just feel faster running uphill for some reason. I guess I can really use my major muscles more so I feel stronger. These times aren't great....yet. It's still early for me, and I didn't get the strength foundation from my hill training that I really wanted.

Oh yeah, I also ran 6 miles when I got home. I figured the legs were shot so I might as well tack on some more. Another run under 7:00, I seem to be improving. Oh and if you really want to see improvement, check my training log for the first week when I ran some 1200's. I ran those just for comparison sake later on-- now that's planning ahead.

6(6.5)miles @6:54. Zoom 129

So I just started running today

For some reason the past few days have been funny. The other night at the soccer complex I looked around and was like, "hey I'm running right now". It's weird to think about how I don't think about running while I'm running. It just never really happens that often. Tonight was a fun night where I again just felt like I was going somewhere, even though it was in circles.

The good old track. It almost took me back tonight, but in a newer fresher way. I remember putting on my dirty, old white spikes at the school and getting ready to fly on our old potholed cinder track. While I laced on my bright shiny Nike forevers I had that same old feeling- knowing you were just going to fly. I went with the girls, well I sort of had too due to timing issues. The guys time themselves, but the girls can't. So we were doing 1200's, I was doing 800's. I would click the watch, let the girls start, then run around them in the third or fourth lane and do my 800's. It worked out perfectly because I was done with my second lap before them and could see their splits. The only bad thing was I got extra recovery time (wait over a minute for them to finish, then add 3 minutes for recovery). Still it wasn't bad.

It felt good to wear spikes again. Ah it just gives you that feeling of power and speed. I'm not real sure what exactly my splits were. I had to throw the stopwatch on the ground, so it took a few seconds to find it and flip it over to see my times, but all were under 3:00, and I'm pretty sure I saw a 2:45 on the last one. I was breathing really good on them and they were not easy. It didn't help not having wore spikes for 8-9 years !!! I was using muscles I had forgot existed, mostly in the calf area. So when the girls were done with their 3 12's, I ran 3 more 800's with the normal rest time. I also ran a one mile warmup and cooldown.

Got home pretty early and still had all my gear on, so I went out for an easy few miles just for aerobic building. Planned 5, but didn't feel right to end in the middle of the course, so I just finished it out for 6 miles. I was going to run this morning, but was tired last night and ended up setting alarm for PM. Duh. I'm glad I did because I got up at my normal time without any alarm (b/c it obviously wasn't going to off for a while). I hope to eliminate the need for the alarm soon, so I can just wake up raceday and be ready. Haha, last night on Seinfeld the same thing happened. Jerry's friend was running a marathon. Jerry told him to stay over because he didn't trust the wakeup call at the hotel and dumb Kramer ended up blowing the fuse with his hot tub so the alarm clock didn't go off. Haha, it was classic.

Legs are worn, but I'm feeling better than ever. I've had less niggles lately and it seems as long as I take it easy on my easy days I'll be doing just fine.

2 miles warmup/down
6x800, all below 3:00 w/4:00 rec.
6(6.5)miles. 42 degrees. GM 325