Cool Runnings!

AM - no running

PM - ran 8 miles outside.  It was quite nice - upper 50's.  Wore shorts and a singlet with a technical tee on top - plenty warm, although my hands got a little cold (kind of hard to write as of this moment).  Legs felt a little dead, probably from the lack of sleep.  Lungs felt good.  Total time for the run was 1:01:27, average pace of 7:41/mile.  I had a hard time maintaining a steady pace - I was fluctuating from between 7:30-7:50/mile.  I also attribute that to lack of sleep.  Planning on getting a good night's sleep tonight, and then will plan on another 8 miler tomorrow. 

Ran 8 miles on the treadmill this evening, nice easy pace.  First 1.25 miles at 8:30 pace, the rest at 8:00 pace.  Total time of 1:04:38, average pace of 8:05/mile.  Wasn't feeling 100% before the run and was just going to do a couple and go from there, but felt good during the run.  However, afterwards I don't feel so hot.  Although I took it easy, this may have pushed me over the edge (again!).  I will have to see how I feel in the morning.

So, after a protracted absense (read: 3 days, not including Sunday) due to my Christmas bug hitting me again (I think I got back into the groove too quickly after Christmas and didn't give my body a chance to fully recover), I am back in the saddle again.  6 easy miles on the treadmill after the boys went to bed, while Lybi tried to run with Christine (I am sorry about your leg, honey).  First two miles (or was it the first three?) at 8:30 pace, then increase the pace to 8:00 pace.  Decided not to go any faster than that to make sure I don't overdo it again.  I have come to the following conclusions:

 1) my body is quite sensitive to illness, and when I attempt to push my body when I am slightly ill, I will, without fail, get sicker.

2) I need to listen more closely to my body.

 The rest of this week will be easy miles (I promise!), and then I will see how things are from there.  No tempo miles until I am fully recovered and my body feels good (i.e. horses are neighing).

 

Another day on the old treadmill.  Didn't have time run more than 5 miles today.  Took it easy again, warmed up for a mile or so at 8:30 pace, then bumped the speed up to 8:00 pace.  It took a bit of willpower to not go faster, but I remembered my promise from yesterday to myself to keep all my miles this week easy.

Didn't get enough sleep again last night, but I feel pretty good today in spite of that. Still need to get to bed earlier, though. Ran 8 miles on the old "tredder", warmed up a mile at 8:30 pace, then ran the last 7 miles at 8:00 pace. Finished watching Stardust, then watched one of the season 3 episodes of "Doctor Who". Loved it! We missed out on season 3, saw some of season 4, but I am going to make sure I get to see them all. Feel good, illness seems to be gone except for some lingering stuffiness in my nose that may be more due to allergies.  Did some light stretching, then did my core exercises.

Bliss!  I got to run outside this evening for a bit, and it felt oh so joyful!  4 miles so far this evening, each mile faster than the previous (not intentional, except for maybe the last one).  Total time of 29:23, average pace of 7:20/mile.  Last mile at MP in 7:05.  Stretched out nicely after then run, I will run another 4-5 miles a bit later in the evening.

Oooh, after running on the treadmill for most of this week, I have gained a greater appreciation for running outside!  I was able to run outside this afternoon again, and it felt really good, especially after having gotten enough sleep.  Started off at about 7:30 pace, but it felt good, not hard.  Decided to keep going at that pace.  When I hit the 5 mile turnaround point, I was at 37:37, just 7 seconds over averaging exactly 7:30/mile.  Decided to pick up the pace a little bit, then at 6 miles decided I wanted to get some MP miles in.  Next 4 miles at about MP, 7:14, 7:11, 7:01, 7:18 (I hadn't planned on this being a MP mile, but it ended up being that way by accident).  Stretched out, then went inside and took a shower.  Total time was 1:13:52, average pace of 7:23/mile.

AM - got to sleep in a bit, as I had to do some troubleshooting with our network team from home.

PM - ran on the dreadmill, 6 miles.  Warmed up first .5 at 8:30 pace, belt seemed to be catching a bit, so I decided to increase the pace to 7:30/mile to see if it helped.  It did, a little, at least I didn't seem to be getting thrown off balance.   At the 1 mile mark, was getting sick of the treadmill already, so I decided to turn the run into a 1/2 MP tempo run.  Increased speed to 6:40/mile, ran that pace for 4 miles, no problems, then decided to bump the speed up to 6:00/mile (max on my treadmill) for as long as I felt good.  Stayed at that pace for 1/2 mile, then cooled down 1/2 mile at 8:30 pace.  Total time for the run was 41:59, average pace of 7:00/mile.  Felt good, but glad to be off the treadmill.  I need to find a different time to run.  Lybi runs every evening with Christine at 8:45, which forces me to stay home with the boys.  I either need to a) start running early in the morning again, which I don't particularly want to do, because my achilles is always stiff in the morning, b) run as soon as I get home from work, which is difficult for Lybi because she is usually teaching piano lessons, c) run after dinner but before family scripture study (7:30) or d) continue to run on the treadmill.  AARRGH!

Ran 0.8 with Sparky, then 6.2 on my own outside.  I had tried to fix the treadmill, but was unable to get it to work.  Not that I minded running outside . . .

Legs felt a little dead today on the run, both as a result of the lack of sleep as well as the tempo run yesterday.  Still felt pretty good, and every time I tried to slow down, my legs automatically sped up again.  So I just decided to run whatever pace my legs wanted to.  Time with Sparky was 6:03, time for the 6.2 miles was 46:47, total average pace of right around 7:33/mile. 

Well, I got my new Axioms today, so I decided I would take them out for a spin.  Headed out, and discovered the wind was blowing pretty good.  In spite of that, after having warmed up the first mile, I started running at MP starting at the second mile (partly because the wind was at my back at the time).  I thought, might as well get in some MP miles.  Miles 3 and 4 were into the wind and were pretty difficult, but I pressed on.  Miles 5 and 6 were then with the wind mostly at my back, and were much easier.  As I was finishing the 6th mile, I saw a dog-like animal streak across the road in front of me and run down the direction I was going to be heading.  This kind of freaked me out since it was dark and I couldn't see well, plus the wind was really blowing hard directly in my face, so I turned off that road and went back home a different route.  After 6 miles at MP or faster, I cooled down for 1.2 miles.  When I got home, I turned around and took Sparky out for .8 miles to make a total of 9 miles today.  The shoes felt pretty good.  They are definitely lighter than the Adrenalines.  I will plan on using them for my 1/2 marathon in February, and will also plan on using them for long tempo runs.

Ran in the evening after dinner.  Sasha is right, eating the right food makes a big difference in terms of how quickly after dinner one is able to eat.  I ran about 30 minutes after dinner, no problem at all during the run with my stomach.  Tried to make this an easy recovery run.  Went a different way than normal, and after going through some construction zones where there was barely enough room to run, decided that it was not a good area to run, turned around and headed off another way to get in some more miles before I turned back for home.  The run felt very good - it was a nice stress reliever from a very difficult day at work.  Total distance was 7 miles, total time was 53:52, average pace of 7:42/mile.  I am happy with this run.

I'll keep this entry short so I can go to bed.  Ran 8 miles while Lybi watched Pirates of the Caribbean 3 with Holly.  The first 6 miles felt good, then I started to get kind of tired.  Probably again from lack of sleep.  I also pushed it on the last mile just so I could get home.  Total time for the run was 59:15, average pace of 7:24/mile.  Planning on a long run tomorrow - either 12 or 13 miles, which will put me at either 49 or 50 miles for the week.  It is actually amazing to me how 8 miles doesn't even phase me any more - it seems so commonplace, whereas even this time last year, I would have considered it to be a medium-long distance run.  I think that says something to me about my level of fitness.  Depending on how I feel tomorrow, I may attempt to put in an 8 mile tempo at or below MP.

Medium-long run for the week, 12 miles.  Was originally hoping to get my run in this afternoon, but that did not work out.  I had to be at the pinewood derby for our cub scouts since I am a webelos leader, and that took longer than I thought it would.  The run was interesting.  Lybi and I went out to eat early this evening, and finished at about 6:30.  I headed out for my run at 9:00, and could still feel my dinner.  Of course, there was some fatty food, and I also probably ate too much.  So I had some abdominal discomfort (just a little) for about the first half of the run.  I should have known better :)  Hit the first half in 45:34, just a little slower than 7:30 pace.  Decided to pick up the pace just a tad to try to average 7:30 for the entire run.  However, once I hit the 8 mile mark, my body wanted to be home, and I ended up picking up the pace a bit more.  This is where two of my MP miles were - 7:14 and 7:11.  After a 11th mile of 7:20, I kicked it into gear, and hit my last mile in 6:53.  I was huffing and puffing at the end, I was tired, but glad to have the run complete.  49 miles for the week, and feeling good.  I should be able to top 50 miles next week, then start preparing for my 1/2 marathon.  Congratulations to all the FRB'ers who ran Painter's and did so well, I am so proud of all of you!  Lybi and I wish we could have been there, but it was not to be this year.

Boy and I tired - I spent most of the day removing the toilet and taking up the vinyl floor from our boys' bathroom so that I could put in new flooring.  It was much more difficult and exhausting than I had anticipated.  It has taken forever to get the old flooring completely removed from the sub-floor, including all the adhesive.  I am still not done, but I was sore and tired and had to stop.  Lybi is also going to repaint the walls, and I also had to replace a section of the drywall because it had gotten a bit moldy due to water.  Luckily there did not appear to be mold damage on the wood (as far as I could tell).  So, on to my run.  Ran 1.2 miles earlier in the day with Sam and Joey, untimed, then ran another 5.3 this evening to make a total of 6.5 miles for the day.  Averaged 7:34/mile for the 5.3 mile run, amazingly.  I was sure I was going to be running super slow, but then I got into a nice rhythm, and it felt good.  I was not checking the Garmin to see how fast I was running, I just kept going.  Legs started out feeling pretty heavy, but got better as the run went on.  My lower back is still sore from all the bending over, and I am due for another appointment with my chiropractor, but I am happy with what I accomplished today.

PM - ran 1.4 miles with Samuel, no time, then 0.6 with Joseph also untimed, then another 0.8 with Sparky in 6:00 (7:30 pace).  Then took off on my own.  The horses were really neighing in spite of some muscle soreness in the back of my legs, so I obliged them.  Ended up hitting 10K pace for 3 miles before slowing down for the last 1.2 miles.  Splits were 6:40, 6:22 and 6:27, then slowed down to 7:30'ish pace for the rest.  Total time for the 4.2 miles on the Garmin was 28:26, average pace of 6:46/mile.  I am feeling pretty good.  The rest of this week will be easy runs, I think, so that I feel fresh for this weekend, and I will hopefully attempt an 8 mile tempo at 1/2 MP during my long run.  We'll see how that goes.

Easy run today.  1.35 miles with Samuel at 12:48 pace, then another 4.65 miles later in the evening at 7:35 pace.  Legs felt a little dead after yesterday's barnburner, and I am feeling a bit of pain deep in the back of my right leg when I run too slowly.  Not sure exactly what it is, but I will work on doing some additional stretches, and I have an appointment with my chiropractor for Friday, so I should be able to get it sorted out.

Ran 5 miles this afternoon before Webelos, average pace of 7:27/mile.  Decided this would be all I would do today, as my piriformis has been quite sore.  Since I am scheduled for my chiro appt tomorrow, I wanted to take it easy today and get adjusted tomorrow.  I am certain that my pelvis is out, along with probably most of my back and neck.  Lybi also showed me her piriformis stretch, and boy, could I feel it!  I am going to keep doing that after I run in addition to the other stretches I do.  I also need to get back on board with my core exercises.

Ran 9.5 miles this evening, weather was a balmy 57 degrees.  Wore shorts with a singlet and long-sleeve technical tee on top - I still broke a pretty good sweat.  Ran out to the local HS track in a roundabout way, then ran 2 miles on the track, the second of which was at 1/2 MP - 6:47.  My legs felt kind of flat, the second mile was somewhat difficult - at least more difficult than I had anticipated.  Prolly due to lack of sleep and the piriformis issue.  After the 2 miles at the track, ran back home via the same roundabout way, glad to get the run over with.  Went to the chiro today and got adjusted, also got heat and stim on my piriformis - that felt good.  Going to keep doing the stretches, and he also showed me an additional stretch that I can do for my piriformis.

Oh. My. Gosh.  I don't remember the last time my legs felt so dead, and I felt so out of sync on my run.  6 miles at 7:29 pace, but I was really fighting it today.  Everything was off-kilter, including my breathing.  Then again, I spent 2 hours this morning running around at our ward activity, then I spent several hours this evening in unnatural positions while I was painting our boys' bathroom.  I guess it makes sense, but it was really frustrating.  I was hoping to do 8-10 miles this evening - I had no illusions about doing my 8 mile tempo run as originally planned, but even 8 miles was too much for my poor old legs today.  After I got back from my run, I took Sparky out for another mile in 8:30.  Legs feel bone-weary.  I am going to take it easy this next week - just 6 miles/day so that I feel fresh for my 1/2 marathon.

Ran 1.5 miles with Sparky at about 7:30 pace (yes, we are keeping the dog, we have set some boundaries, and are going to work with him on barking at the neighbors - none of the animal rescue shelters would take him, and the only other option was the pound, which we did not want to do).  Ran another mile with Samuel - worked with him to help him understand he can do much more than he thinks he can - held his hand and had him run faster than he normally does to teach him that his body can handle the faster speed.  Sometimes I think he needs to understand the concept of being less than comfortable when he exercises.  That was the point of this lesson.  He ended up doing the mile about 1 1/2 minutes faster than he ever has before - just slightly more than 11 minutes.  That is with the first 1/4 mile at about 13:00 pace as well.  I was proud of him for hanging in there.  Then another 0.5 miles with Joseph at just over 12:00 pace.  I was proud of him as well for doing a good job.  Then we had family home evening about testimony, played red light/green light, and then got the boys ready for bed with their nightly Harry Potter reading.  We are on the second book right now - I try to make it more entertaining by doing impressions of the voices.  After the boys were done, I headed out for another 3 miles.  I started pushing the tempo shortly after I started, because I remembered I had to go to the bathroom, and I didn't want to turn around and go back.  Was a bit worried after 1 mile, turned around, and really picked up the pace.  First mile was 6:55, second mile was 6:21, and that was with the wind blowing in my face a bit.  Got home just in time to hit the restroom, then went back out for what was supposed to be a cooldown mile, but it ended up being at 6:59.  Oops.  It actually did feel pretty good compared to the second mile.  I guess once my legs get used to a certain pace, it's hard to get them to slow down until they are spent.  Total time for the 3 miles was 20:15, average pace of exactly 6:45/mile.

Ran 1.5 miles with Sparky at about 7:30 pace, then 1 mile with Sam slightly slower than yesterday.  He did not hold my hand once, and did a great job.  He was only about 15 seconds slower than yesterday.  Another 0.6 miles with Joey, then ran another 3.1 miles later in the evening, after Lybi had gone running with Christine, at around 7:30 pace as well.  In between, I was working on putting our new vinyl tile floor in the boys' bathroom.  Not completely done, but it looks pretty darn good.  We're going to try to get it finished tonight so that I can put the toilet back in tomorrow night.  Woohoo!

Ran 1.5 miles with Sparky at about 7:30 pace, then ran 1 mile with Samuel at just under 12:00 pace (the wind was blowing fairly hard), then ran 0.6 with Joseph at about 13:00 pace.  Finally got the toilet put back on the bathroom floor, and made sure everything was working properly (at least it sure seems like it - if something is not working right, we have a few plumbers in our ward that I can call for help), then caulked around the toilet, bathtub and sink cabinets (there were tiny gaps between the bottom of the cabinet and the edge of the vinyl tile that we wanted to seal up).  I don't envy people who work in construction all day - it is not for me.  It is enough that I understand how to do this stuff - we will eventually be remodeling our master bathroom and putting tile in, and that will be a much larger undertaking.  But that won't be until all our debt except the mortgage and car loan are paid off.  Back to running, after all that stuff was done, went out for a quick 3 miles.  First mile in 7:13, second mile in 7:00, final mile in 6:43, average pace of 6:59/mile.  Need to make sure when I run the half that I work on proper form, including popping off my toes - I can really feel an increase in power when I do that.

Big fat zero for today's miles.  My knee was feeling kind of achy below the kneecap, and hurt when I ran, so I stayed home and iced it.  That seems to have helped.  Nothing big, just didn't want to take any risks this close to my race.