Longer solo run

Monday, 8/31/09--first day of school for the kids. Short run--2.2--in 17:08.

Sunday, 8/30/09--7.5 miles: Ran Rustin loop--2.2 miles. Ran first part of a second Rusting loop...to the start of XC course. That was an additional 1.3 for a 3.5 total thus far. Ran the XC course for an additional 3.15 miles. 6.65 miles thus far. Completed the rest of the Rustin loop from the end of the XC course for an additional .85 mile. Grand total of 7.5 miles in 57:40. 7:41/mile pace. Wish I had fgelt stronger. This was my longest solo run in months. Of course I've done the 7.9 mile from WC Country Club with a group, but I haven't run beyond 6.6 miles alone in quite some time. And even my 6.6es in last last few months have not been continuous; they've been to Penn Oaks and back with a "lift rest" in-between.

Saturday, 8/29/09--took off. Went to Hershey Park!

This week has been a blur

This week has been a blur. At least the good thing is I ran 60.4 miles in the last two weeks, 25.6 in the last 7 days and 34.8 the 7 days before. I will start clocking my miles again.

Friday, 8/28/09--Michael Jackson's b-day! RIP, K of P. I was running late and ran 1 2.2 loop in 17:30.

Thursday, 8/27/09--I confused the day and did not have enough time to make it to WC Country Club to meet the guys for the 7.9 mile run. So, instead I ran two 1.85 loops for a simple 3.7 in 29:30. Same feeling as yesterday.

Wednesday, 8/26/09--I ran to Penn Oaks to lift and ran back for 6.6. Pace was easy (26:30 there, 25:30 on the way back). As a result, I should have felt better.

Tuesday, 8/25/09--Went to Henderson where a 3-mile tempo run awaited me. Given that I had just completed one yesterday, I was not enthused. Perhaps that's why I bombed! I warmed up 1.1 mile. I ran 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. I felt sluggish and couldn't keep up. I cooled down a mile. Total: 4.6 miles.

Tempo run #1

Today I did a 31-minute tempo run on Rustin's site, using the 1.85 loop. I began with a 10-minute jog and then picked up the pace, trying to maintain and accelerate over a 10-minute period. I cooled down 11 minutes for a 4.1-mile total. Overall, I felt pretty good.

Fartlek style

Sunday--lots of yard work, a little biking to get to nearby courts for tennis, but otherwise I took off.

Saturday--did a 35-minute fartlek. I ran about .6 to get to the start of Rustin's new XC course. That was about 6 minutes (warm-up). The fartlek wasn't particularly fast, but it was challenging enough, especially considering I haven't done one in at least 6 months. I covered the 3.1 mile course--fartlek style--in 23:00. Each of two loops was about 11:30. I ended with a .6 mile/6-minute run back home (cool down).

Friday--dropped off my car, ran across the road to Penn Oaks to lift, and ran back home. Easy pace of about 8 minutes/mile. 3.3 in 26:20.

The Humidity, I guess

Today I ran with the Thursday crew and did the same 7.9er. There were only three of us today, compared to the usual 5-10. And one of the guys peeled away at the 4.5 mile mark. We ran slower than we did the last two weeks (61:00+, or about 7:45/mile pace). It was very humid--worse than last Thursday--and we took the last mile incredibly easy. During the run, I felt a little heavy. I did go out to a Mexican restaurant last night and ate a lot. (I'm an average of 4-5 pounds heavier this summer.) I felt like I was struggling a bit here and there--the humdity, I guess. Too much talking? After the run, I felt pretty good. I was barely winded, a good sign.

I look forward next Tuesday's intervals and next Thursday's 7.9.

Wondering whether I'll take off tomorrow or run or bike to Penn Oaks to lift and back.

Easy Run

Today was an easy run of about 3.1 miles/25 minutes, about 8:20 pace. My legs were a little heavy, even sleepy, but I felt good otherwise. I was supposed to do an easy 30 minutes (3.75 or so), but I was running late. Looking forward to my 60-minute, 8-mile, 5:45 AM run tomorrow.

Trying to get back into a groove

I went to Henderson today for what I knew would be another challenging workout...at least for me--4X1600@ 10K pace with a 200 meter jog-rest. Like last week, Kevin said the repeats should be at 10K pace, but I think we wound up running faster than that. At this point in my training, it felt like 5K pace, sorry to say. I skipped the first one, as I decided to devote more time to stretching my Achilles. My runs were 5:58, 5:57, 5:53, with 800 meter splits of 2:59, 2:58, and 2:59, respectively.

In the middle of the second one, I told myself that I could tackle this workout, despite what has been a crisis of confidence.

Like last week, I do wonder whether I would have been able to make it through the whole workout had I run the first 1600. Overall, I was pretty pleased with my effort.

Warm up 1.3
Workout 3.3
Cool down 1.0
TOTAL 5.6 miles

Starting tomorrow I will try to get myself back on a regimen.

Monday--do 30 minute tempo run
Tuesday--do interval training @ Henderson
Wednesday--run 30 minutes easy, bike to and from Penn Oaks to lift, or take off
Thursday--do long run (about 60 minutes) in WC Borough
Friday--run 30 minutes easy, bike to and from Penn Oaks to lift, or take off, depending on what I did on Wednesday
Saturday--do 30 minute fartlek
Sunday--run to Penn Oaks (lifting)--out and back easy--6.6 total