perhaps I am being too hard on myself: Poor 'ole me

Today, I did 5x1000...all alone.  Poor 'ole me.

I chose to do this workout because I want to compare my fitness level with that in August 2010.  I used the first 1K of the XC course across the street.  With the adjustments made to the course, the 1000m mark is one telephone pole shy of where it used to be: at Plumly & Shiloh. Like the 800s last week and the 1Ks I've done on this course in the past, I did decided an out and back pattern, running a 1000m, stopping, and then running the next 1000 in the opposite direction. The target: 3:25/1K w/3:35 recovery, for an even 7 minutes. I hit 3:39, 3:23, 3:26, 3:22 and 3:26, for an average of 3:27.  The ones going in the opposite direction were a bit easier; even though the terrain was still rolling, the run seemed to have a downward trend in elevation.  I guess my pace made for a 17:25. This felt good. Warmed up 1M. Cooled down .85M. Total: about 5 miles.
  For comparison sake, on 7/31/10 I did the same exact workout (5x1000) with my son and Justin, a friend, using roughly the same portion of the XC course.  That day, according to my log, the target was 3:40/1K w/3:40 recovery. I hit 3:37, 3:28, 3:30, 3:23 and 3:27, for an average of 3:29. We apparently took about 4:00 rest. (Justin hit 3:37, 3:28, 3:40, 3:40, 3:40, and DJ managed 3:39, 3:36, 3:58, 3:50, 3:53.)  I noted that I felt good. Perhaps the warmed up of 1.25M and cool down of 1.85M, for a total of about 6.1 miles, helped.   Four weeks later, on 8/29/10, I was at it again, this time, however, by myself.  I warmed up 1.25M and stretched well. My target pace was 3:20 with 3:40 recovery...for an even 7 min. Trial 1: 3:28; trial 2: 3:18; trial 3: 3:15; trial 4: 3:14; trial 5: 3:22.  My average was 3:19+. Apparently, as noted in my log, this was a tough workout after all the lifting the day before.  However, it felt good to run, on average, my target time.   My workout today was closer in time to what I did on 7/31/10 than to what I did on 8/29/10.  (I find it intriguing that I ran faster alone on 8/29 than I did on 7/31 when I ran with Justin and DJ.)  It would appear that I am roughly 3 weeks behind where I was 3 weeks ago.  This can be attributed to a myriad of things, not the least of which is my low mileage this past spring and first half of summer.  I just started distance work this month!  Thus, perhaps I am being too hard on myself. 

I hope I'm game for tomorrow's fartlek.

Friday, 8/24

I didn't want to get up early this morning.  I didn't sleep well.  Perhaps I owe this to Eileen's retirement gathering last night.  Did I fall victim to the salmon?

Anyway, I eventually dragged myself out of bed nearly an hour later than usual.  I followed my normal routine: gather clothes, put on coffee, iron clothes, feed the cat, check my email.  I'd eventually workout, make a protein shake, feed the dog, shower and shine.

I figured that I'd do a short, 4.4M run today at a decent page, supposedly an "easy run" pace.  I covered the 2 Rustin loops in 30:40, or about 6:59 pace. 

loop 1: 15:45 (M1: 7:12, M2: 7:08 (14:20), M2.2 15:45)
loop 2: 14:55. (M2.7 19:05, M 3.2 22:40...the watch read 23:55 with 1 mile to go; last mile in 6:45)

loop 1 in 7:10 pace
loop 2 in 6:47 pace

Boy my legs felt rather heavy.  I hope I'm game for tomorrow's fartlek.

the hill slayed me today

Thursday, 8/23--Met up with a nice size group this morning to do our customary 7.9M run begininng at the country club.  The morning was clean, featuring a comfortable 67 degrees.  An easy run was on the docket.  I figured they needed the easy pace, given how hard they've been training.  I probably could've used a hard pace, as I am nowhere near at their level of conditionining.  For this I am ashamed!  At the 4-mile mark the watch read 28:30; we were going at 7:08 pace.  We seemed to slow up during second half of the run, covering the final 3.9M in 29:25 (about 7:33 pace) finishing in 57:55, about 7:20 pace.  I felt okay, but my legs were tight.  Also, for whatever reason, the hill slayed me today.  In contrast to how I felt during most of the run, my legs felt awfully weak and tight as I made my way up. 

My plan for tomorrow (Fri): 4.4M, 7:10 pace.
My plan for Saturday: 35 min fartlek
My plan for Sunday: 11.5M, 7:15 pace.
My plan for Monday: take the day off!

Wed, 8/22--I did a short, simple, easy run.  I began with a Rustin-plus loop (2.2M), continued with the first .9M of a second loop, but then took a sharp left and run the first 1100m (.7) of the XC course.   Mileage: 3.8M (in 30 min)--7:53 pace.

my way home

Tuesday--5:50 workout at Henderson. 3x (Mile, 100m jog, 400m) with 300m jog between sets.

I arrived at the track in good time, leaving enough to warm up and stretch for more than 3 minutes!  I felt a little sluggish today, though, having done nearly 10M yesterday. I shook it off, however, knowing I had to get myself into gear to have a decent showing at the workout. 

I began with the top group: Kevin, Scott, John, Manion and Ed.  The first mile was in 5:57, a few seconds ahead of my time.  Ironically, they began to pull away from me when they did the 400 less than a minute later.   I just kept at it, knowing I needed to make it through with my brick legs.  In the end, here is what I managed.

6:02, 1:24
6:02, 1:21
5:59, 1:18

This is a far cry from what the top guys did, as they dipped into the 5:30s for the last mile.  Scott wound up doing a fourth set, with a 5:18 mile and a 67 quarter.  Wow!

Monday--Dropped car off, then headed into the Borough, assuming the first portion of the Thursday route we do.  I eventually made my way home, running 9.75M in 71:55--7:22 pace.

Sun--5.7M in 40:20--about 7:05 pace

Today was a near perfect day

Sat--Today my workout was 8x800 at 5K pace.  My goal pace was 2:45.  The rest would equal the running time, 2:45.  Some people call them Yasso 800s, I guess.  Anyway, I decided to use the XC course across the street from my house to give my feet a break from the track and street surfaces.  Today was a near perfect day for the workout: little humidity, warm but not sweltering, and light wind to keep the air fresh and moving.  I just wish I had had someone to run with!  (On tap for my son was a fartlek, so he declined to join me.)

My runs were: 2:45, 2:46, 2:47, 2:44, 2:46, 2:43, 2:48, 2:33.

Altogether, this was a pretty good attempt, considering I the course, which included thick grass and a couple of rolling hills

And now I'm dizzy.

Fri-8/17--Went to the Y.  Alternated between running easy miles on the treadmill or 16-laps-to-the-mile track and 3:00 to 3:30 minutes of lifting.

Mile 1 on track: 6:59; 7:00 pace.
lifted
Mile 2 on treadmill: 6:53; 6:50 pace
lifted
Mile 3 on track: 6:40; 6:40 pace
lifted
Mile 4 on treadmill: 6:40; 6:40 pace
lifted
Mile 5 on track: 6:25; 6:30 pace
lifted
Mile 6 on treadmill: 6:22; 6:20 pace

And now I'm dizzy.

I realized that I wasn't slowing down

Thursday, 8/15--Met up with the crew at the country club.  We did the 7.9M course in reverse.  Tempo would begin a couple of miles in.  There were 7 of the 14 or so of us planning to run tempo.  Coming off North Hills the pace quickened as expected.  We were about 13:55 into the run.  I hung with the guys for most of the first mile.  And then it happened: my back began to tighter a bit, and I began to tire.  Tempo mile 1: 6:30.  The top two guys(whose names I cannot remember) had dropped the pace even more and were moving closer to 6:00.  Kevin K and John Manion were falling behind but not at the same rate I was. Mine was greater. Steve was just a few meters behind them.  Two mile into the tempo I realized that I was .1M behind Steve, .15 behind Kevin and Manion, and .2 behind the top two guys.  It was not until afterwards that I realized that I wasn't slowing down; it's just that I was maintaining and they were accelerating.  Steve would eventually finish 200m ahead of me, Kevin and Manion 300 and the other guys, probably 400.  My tempo stopped at 40:15.  So, that means I the middle 4 miles from 13:55-40:15, or 26:20, which is about 6:35 pace.  I stopped with the other guys and waited for Barry, who was less than a minute behind me.  Moving at 8:00 pace, we then jogged the last portion of the course--about 2M--to the country club. We finished up after 58 minutes, but the real time, at least for me, was close to 2 minutes faster.  For others, it was even faster, given the stop at Rosedale.

Tues, 8/14--Went to Henderson.  1.5M, 1M, .5M with a 400m jog in-between

Wed, 8.15--Did 6.6M (3 x Rustin-plus loops)
loop 1--16:40--7:35 pace
loop 2--32:40 (16:00)--7:16 pace
loop 3--47:58 (15:18)--6:57 pace