I'll be lucky

Thursday, 10/29/09--1.9 easy, very easy. I've been doing so little running that I'll be lucky to hit 20 miles this week!
Monday-4
Tuesday--3.3
Wednesday--0
Thursday--1.9
Friday--0
Saturday--5 (mile warm-up, 5K+, .8 mile cool down)
Sunday--6.6
20.8 miles

We'll see

Wednesday, 10/28/09--I wound up running last night. I dropped my son off for studying and had 40 minutes to spare. I drove to CHS's track in the mist and drizzle and gave a quick workout a shot. I warmed up a mile, stretched for 5 minutes or so and did 3x800 with 200 meter jog-rest. I was supposed to run these in 5K race pace, but that didn't really happen. 3:00, 2:57 and 2:55 were my runs. I guess the last came close to race pace. It was weird running 7 at night. My legs simply did not feel the same. This morning it was still raining; I did nothing. I am thinking about an evening run, though, or I might just take off the day completely and do 5 of the 8 miles with my crew tomorrow. We'll see. On second thought, I'll probably do 3.5-4 miles this evening and take off tomorrow and Friday in preparation for the 5K on Saturday.

I bagged my workout

Tuesday, 10/27/09--This morning seemed awful, so I bagged my workout and did a little yoga. I am think about running this evening if the weather gets better.

Wobbly

Monday, 10/26/09--overslept a bit; late start. Did an easy 4 miler in 34:00. Legs felt wobbly. Hoping for better tomorrow...

The last ten miler for a while...I think

Today, 10/25/09--I am about to get ready to do my Penn Oaks run and lift combo. Prediction: easy 25:30 there and an easy 24:30 back. Aha--update. I wound up running 24:40 on the way to PO and 23:26 on the way back. I felt pretty good--how I would had I run 25:30 and 24:30. Hopefully, this is a good sign. Total for the week: 38.4, down from last week by a few miles.

Saturday, 10/24/09--Today, I did what has become my customary Saturday 10-miler, the last in my series of five...at least for now. It is unlikely that I will continue to do these longer runs since I am moving into the indoor track season where I will be running primarily 800s. I will probably replace the 10 miler with an interval workout. Anyway, today my legs felt a little heavier here and there throughout the run, but I did pretty well. I hit the 4-mile mark in 30:50 (7:42/mile pace). I hit mile five in 38:20 (7:30), mile six in 45:20 (7:00), mile seven in 52:30 (7:10), mile eight 59:40 (7:10), mile nine in 66:30 (6:50), and mile ten in 73:30 (7:00). I hope these few ten milers will pay off when I run a 5K next weekend, on Halloween! Hopefully, the run won't be a scary one (pun intended). I'd love to run sub-18:00, but the course is kind of slow (more about this as I get closer to the race).

My possible new routine:
Monday--5.5 miles
Tuesday--distance intervals on track (may forgo distance intervals for shorter intervals); hills to start in December
Wednesday--5.5 miles
Thursday--long run in town
Friday--yoga/rest
Saturday--shorter track intervals
Sunday--Penn Oaks

Little core strength

Friday, 10/22/09--Home. Little core strength yoga.

Thursday, 10/21/09--Borough run. Ran usual 7.9. Hit 4 mile mark in 28:55; finished route in 58:30. First 4 miles--7:14 pace; rest of route 7:35 pace. Overall pace--7:25 pace.

Wednesday, 10/20/09--Rustin. Same as last week: Ran 5.5 in 43:30; easy pace of 7:55 pace.

Tuesday, 10/19/09--Henderson. Today I was disappointed with my workout. I had every intention of keeping up with Rachel and Kevin, but I fell off the pace as we neared the 2-mile mark. The first mile was 6:12. I wound up stopping at the two-mile mark at 12:20, so the second mile was 6:08. I did not run the third mile. I rejoined them for my fourth mile, which I ran in 5:52.

Not bad

Monday, 10-19-09--Oops. I forgot that I needed to drop off my car, so my usual Monday run had to be shelved. I wound up dropping my car off at Stillman and then running home from there: 3.4 miles in 26:00. It was a chilly 38 degrees.

Sunday, 10-18-09--Penn Oaks run. Legs felt pretty good, considering yesterday's 10-mile run. On the way there-25:05; on the way back--23:59. These times were 1 minute faster, each way, than last week's times. 6.6 miles. TOTAL FOR WEEK, Monday through Sunday-->41.3 miles. This is the fourth over-40 mile week.

Tomorrow my legs won't feel like jello.

October 17, 2009--Today, I did another long run: 10 miles in the rain. And, oh, what fun it was! Just kidding! I don't really enjoy running in the rain, but I have made a commitment to doing 5 10-milers, the fourth of which was today. I used a different route from the last one at least. I hit the 4-mile mark at 30:40, which meant I was running about 7:40/mile pace. The last 6 miles averaged 7:08 pace. This faster average pace is attributed, at least in part, to a sub-7:00 final mile. I finished up in 73:30, which is about 7:21/mile pace. I felt pretty good overall, considering the route was hilly. Hills are good for you, but I don't really like them. I trust that tomorrow my legs won't feel like jello.

Oh yeah, Daley has returned

Thursday, 10/15/09--Went into the borough for my 7.9. We were joined by a few women, a first. Like last week, it was in the mid to upper 40s. I felt pretty relaxed and unpressed most of the time. We came through the 4 mile mark at 29:20, 30 seconds slower than last week. This was 7:17/mile pace. We finished up at 58:00, 5 seconds slower than last week. So, about 7:21/mile was the pace for the remaining 3. miles. The run was pretty even. I did a decent hill, stronger than the last few. I pushed the las stretch just to open my stride a bit. Felt good overall. Oh yeah, Daley has returned. We may ditch next Tuesday's workout in favor of something shorter. 24.8 miles thus far this week. With Saturday's 10 and Sunday's 6.6, I should be over 41.

Easy run.

Wednesday, 10/14/09--5.5 mile neighborhood run: 3 loops (1.85, 1.80, 1.85) in 15:25, 14:30, 14:20 for 44:20. Easy run.

I did okay

Tuesday, 10/13/09--
Went to Henderson for 6-8 x 800 workout, 200 meter jog-rest. 5.9 miles, including warm up and cool down. Kevin, Rachel and I wound up doing 6, although I did not realize at the time that the two of them would be stopping after 6. To be honest, I had planned to do 6, skip #7 and hop into the 8th one. Joe Breslin, I believe, did all 8. He was with us, but seemed to do more after we had all finished. Anyway, my runs were: 3:01, 2:58, 2:53, 2:52, 2:51, 2:50. The average was 2:54. Here are previous 6x800 workouts:

Tuesday, 9/8/09
#1: 3:13, #2: 3:06, #3: 3:05, #4: 3:03, #5 3:03, #6 3:02, #7 3:01, #8: 2:47. Ran by myself b/c there were none from my group there. I was surely seconds off where I wanted to be, but that's the way it goes.

Tuesday, 5/12/09
6x800 w/ 400m non-stop jog in-between: 2:59, 2:56; 2:52; 2:48; 2:48; 2:48. we were supposed to start at 3:00 and then work our way down.

Tuesday, 3/24/09--Henderson. Cold--28 degrees!
6x800 w/ 400m non-stop jog in-between: 3:00, 2:56; 2:52; 2:48; 2:48; 2:40.

All things considered, I think today's workout compares well, not necessarily favorably, to the ones above. Notice that the ones above, including 6x800, offered a 400 meter JR. Of course the weather was tough on 3/24/09, though.

Oh boy.

Monday, 10/12/09--5.5 mile neighborhood run: 3 loops (1.85, 1.80, 1.85) in 15:30, 15:00, 14:30 for 45:00. Legs were a little heavy. Arms a little weak. Oh boy.

just when I was getting the hang of it...

Sunday, 10/11/09--Penn Oaks run. Tired legs. On the way there-26:00; on the way back--25:00. 6.6 miles. TOTAL FOR WEEK, Monday through Sunday-->41.8 miles.

Saturday, 10/10/09--Ten miler. Hit the 5 mile mark at 38:15 (about 7:40/mile pace); finished at 74:15 (about 7:15/mile pace).

Friday, 10/9/09--Yoga day. I'm bummed, though, that my go-to yoga routine was taken down from On Demand. And just when I was getting the hang of it...

Not bad overall

Thursday, 10/8/09--Same ole: went into town to do my 7.9 with Sean, John, Justin, Joe and another guy whose name escapes me. It's amazing that you can run with the same people week-in and week-out and never know they're names or what they're really about! That's scary. Anyway, it was about 48 degrees. I felt pretty relaxed and unpressed most of the time. We came through the 4 mile mark at 28:50. This was 7:12/mile pace. We finished up at 57:55. So, about 7:28/mile was the pace for the remaining 3.9 miles. We actually took the last mile easy. The hill was pedestrian to say the least. Not bad overall.

Easy does it

Wednesday, 10-7-09--Today I did an easy 5.9 miles in 47:50. Loop around the block 5:00, 1.85 #1-->15:00, #2-->14:13, #3-->13:32. About 8:10/mile pace.

I wasn't dead after the tempo run

Tuesday, 10/6/09--Went to Henderson where a 4-mile tempo run awaited me. Warmed up 1.15. We were to drop 5-10 seconds each successive mile. I opted to run with the second tiered group today, figuring that I would not be as successful with the first. Admittedly, my last tempo run on the track stunk. I wound up running the first mile in 6:20, then stopped at the 1.5mile mark at 9:30. I waited a few minutes, then ran a 6:00 mile. That day, I felt sluggish and couldn't keep up. Well, today I was better. I started a few seconds after the second group started, not knowing if I was going to do the workout. The first mile--6:31, mile 2--6:25, mile 3--6:18, mile 4--6:10. Altogether I ran the 4 miles in about 25:25, 6:21+/mile pace. Kevin and Rachel ran together and, from what Kevin said, ran 6:15, 6:10, 6:02 and 5:51 (about 6:05/mile pace). They averaged 16-17 seconds per mile faster than I did. I've got to get back into the type of shape. I have to say, though, that I think I could have gone faster, maybe by 5-8 seconds per mile. I wasn't dead after the tempo run. Cooled down .85. Total today: 6 miles

Like I said, nice 'n easy

Monday, 10/5/09--Ran 3 1.85 mile loops for a total of about 5.5 miles in 44:20. Easy pace: 15:35, 30:00 (14:30), 44:20 (14:20). This was just over 8:00/mile pace. Like I said, nice 'n easy. Tomorrow: interval work at Henderson. Let's see if I can have a banner, breakthrough workout.

Sunday, 10/4/09--I made my way to Penn Oaks earlier this afternoon to lift. On the way I ran 7:37, 15:15, 22:38 and 24:49 at 3.3. On the way home, I ran 7:10, 16:50 at the 2.3 mile mark, and 23:30 at 3.3 (6.6 miles)

My total for the week, Monday through Sunday: 42.4 miles, a career high!

Saturday, 10/3/09--Long run #2. I have committed to doing 10-mile runs on Saturday for 4-5 straight weeks to push my weekly mileage up to 40. The first 5 were in 40:00, or 8:00/mile pace, the second 5 in 36:40, or 7:20/mile pace. Overall, the pace was about 7:40/mile. I was fairly pleased, although there were times during the run that felt harder than last week's.

Felt good. Getting better at it.

Friday, 10/2/09--Yoga time. Same drill. Felt good. Getting better at it.

Thursday, 10/1/09--I went into town to do my customary 7.9 with the guys: Sean, John, Justin, and a couple of others. It was colder today...about 43 degrees and I had no gloves, while everyone else did. About every mile, I'd stuff my hands in my jacket pocket for a minute to get them a little warm. I felt myself pushing the pace as early as the half mile mark. I just pushed up the hill and got my knees up a bit. We came through the 4 mile mark at 28:40. This was 7:10/mile pace. We finished up at 57:30. So, 7:24/mile was the pace for the remaining 3.9 miles. We actually took the last 1.9 easier. We were pretty slow going up the big hill. I suspect miles 5 and 6 were at 7:19 pace and that miles 7 and 8 were at 7:29 pace. Overall, one of the better 7.9 runs I've done.