I ran 58 miles.
I lost about 5-6 lbs.
I've lowered my one lap at Regional.
My easy runs are quicker.
Ready for a good September.
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Week Total - 20.0 miles
A good week. Not exactly what I wanted, hoping for around 26, but I had some good runs. The quickest easy run this year, the fastest one lap at Regional this year, a progressive 'long' run, more mileage than last week, and the lowest weight I've been this year 197.6. This is a good week to use as a springboard for a good fall!
Sun - 8/31 - 6.0 miles
City Park, Cedar Springs, Keith, Walgreens, Apt, back. 3 x 2.0 miles. Progressive each loop. Each 1st mile - 8:54, 8:49, 8:44. 2nd mile - 8:45, 8:31, 8:17. Each 2 miles - 17:40, 17:20, 17:00 - 52:00 for an 8:40 pace. Felt good.
Sat - 8/30 - 4.0 miles
My old, stand by four mile route from Ingleside to City Park and back. 8:55, 8:45, 8:27, and 8:23 for an 8:37 pace. The best easy run pace this summer. Probably even all year.
Friday, August 29, 2014
Fri - 8/29 - 1.5 miles
A quick, and hot, 2 laps around my newly mowed field. I added about 1/4 inside section to the field last night and wanted to try it out. I took a quick break from 'watching' UTMB.
Wed - 8/27 - 3.3 miles
Regional Park for 1 lap, then 1.1 along the pond path. As I drove over to the park, I was feeling light (198.4 this morning) and feeling spry, so I decided to do a quick lap. During the early section along the pond I was in the 7:30ish pace and the thought went through my head that a 9:20 pace was about right for today. Things went pretty smoothly. I didn't really push, just kept up the pace. And ended up in 20:31, yep, a 9:20 pace. Best 1 lap at Regional since last October and I didn't hit a 9:20 pace or better 'til Sept. of last year.
Monday, August 25, 2014
Mon - 8/25 - 2.2 miles
I wasn't planning on running this evening but the chance came up. Drove over to the local Middle school. My nephew, Brady, has his first CC meet this Thurs. Their course is a mile loop cut through the field in front of the school. I ran two laps plus. 8:14 & 7:48. Good change of pace. A bit like my field loop but longer.
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Fri - 8/22 - 3.3 miles
Regional Park. We had a storm roll through Wed night and limbs were down all over the trail. Brush along the creek was also laying over the trail. Add 5 trees across the trail and it didn't lead to much of a run. Kind of a slog with a bit of trail clearing mixed in. Oh, and it was about 93 degrees! Got back to the car and added a bit over a mile along the road and pond path.
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Wed - 8/20 - 3.7 miles
I was having a bout of depression this evening and started not to run at all. And actually stated aloud that I was going to stop running altogether. Anyway, after much encouraging, Natalie got me to the Y (storming out). I ran for 25 minutes on the track, about 2.7 miles. I started feeling pretty good, so I took a short water break and decided to run a fast mile. About a month ago I ran a 6:57 on the track. Today went 6:55. I was a bit bummed b/c it felt like it would be faster than that. Plus a two second increase after a month, possibly longer, isn't real promising. But I ran and that's the important thing.
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Tues - 8/19 - 3.4 miles
From Ingleside. 3.4 miles in 30:46 for a 9:03 pace. Felt very sluggish today. Hip hurt a lot.
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Week Total - 6.7 miles
Aaagh! Four progressive weeks of good mileage/runs and then this; three declining weeks of very few runs. 13.5, 10.4, and 6.7. But, this morning I woke up at 199.6 lbs. Under 200 for the first time in months, so I'm motivated to make this upcoming week great!
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Sat - 8/16 - 2.2 miles
Regional one lap. First run since last week's race on Sat. At least I didn't feel bad today. Just kind of ran out of time for two laps.
I'm disgusted I'm only at 17+ miles for this month. Last year I went for 88 in July and 78 in August. This year I was at 86 for July and on pace for 35ish for August.
I'm disgusted I'm only at 17+ miles for this month. Last year I went for 88 in July and 78 in August. This year I was at 86 for July and on pace for 35ish for August.
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Sat - 8/09 - 6.0 miles, Still Hollow 10k
After a week in which I didn't run (lots of stuff going on), I got thoroughly depressed. I even talked about not doing the race, although, in the back of my mind I think I knew I would.
Race day. I wrote last year's mile splits on my arm. Last year I didn't really know where I was. This year I hoped I was on par with last year's mark, but feared that I wasn't. So, mile one ended up being about 5 seconds slower. Mile two was about 7 seconds slower. Mile three the wheels fell off - 1:22 slower! At that point I settled in to a training run. Mile 4, the toughest time wise, was less than a minute off last year's. Mile 5 was a bit over a minute. As the finish got closer I felt better and picked out a guy that had passed me earlier. I chose to stay with him until he put some distance into me on the last hill about 2/10 from the finish. I kicked it in the last bit and ran out of real estate. I finished just behind him and another guy. Time: 1:01:18. Almost 4 minutes slower than last year. But my best time this year! I finished 41st overall (25th last year) and 5th in the 45-49 age group. My time would have placed me 2nd in the 40-44 AG. And although I finished 7th in my AG last year, my time from last year would have placed 2nd this year. It is what it is. Time to start grinding, my new term.
Got a massage after the race and the therapist confirmed that my IT band was extremely tight. Also a lot of tension in the right should blade.
Race day. I wrote last year's mile splits on my arm. Last year I didn't really know where I was. This year I hoped I was on par with last year's mark, but feared that I wasn't. So, mile one ended up being about 5 seconds slower. Mile two was about 7 seconds slower. Mile three the wheels fell off - 1:22 slower! At that point I settled in to a training run. Mile 4, the toughest time wise, was less than a minute off last year's. Mile 5 was a bit over a minute. As the finish got closer I felt better and picked out a guy that had passed me earlier. I chose to stay with him until he put some distance into me on the last hill about 2/10 from the finish. I kicked it in the last bit and ran out of real estate. I finished just behind him and another guy. Time: 1:01:18. Almost 4 minutes slower than last year. But my best time this year! I finished 41st overall (25th last year) and 5th in the 45-49 age group. My time would have placed me 2nd in the 40-44 AG. And although I finished 7th in my AG last year, my time from last year would have placed 2nd this year. It is what it is. Time to start grinding, my new term.
Got a massage after the race and the therapist confirmed that my IT band was extremely tight. Also a lot of tension in the right should blade.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Mon - 8/4 - 4.4 miles, 44 mins
An easy two laps at Regional. It felt slow starting out, and most of the run for that matter, but the time was faster than the effort seemed. Signs of some fitness coming around. I went through mile one at 10:12 pace, the fastest 'slow' effort this summer, I think. Made a conscious effort not to slow on the second lap. When I reached the top of the last hill, 6/10 from finish, I was at a 10:15 pace. Feeling good, I pushed the last 1/2 or so to lower the average pace to 10:05. A progressive two laps and my fastest two laps of the summer. Also, may fastest 1st lap at 10:12 and fastest 2nd lap at 9:58.
Week Total - 13.5 miles
Well, my down week turned into a real down week. Was hoping for 4-5 runs for 20 miles. Ended up with 3 for 13.5, but I did get in my Still Hollow recon run. If there is a week I don't hit my proposed, the down week is best.
Saturday, August 2, 2014
July Total - 86.2 miles
I wanted to top last year's total of 88. Close! Can't complain about the last four weeks, though. Progressive increase in mileage from 14.6 to 20 to 22.2 to 23.4. Progressive increase in long run from 4.4 to 6.3 to 6.8 to 7.2. Probably could've increased both a bit more, but not bad. Decreased pace on my long runs, too. Lost some weight, albeit not what I wanted. But a good month. Last year, August ended up being fewer miles than July. Goal this year is for that not to happen.
Wed - 7/30 - 6.0 miles (5.8 miles + 0.2 mile cd) Still Hollow recon
Today's outing was a recon mission of the Still Hollow. I've done most of it the last couple of weeks but today was going to be the first time running the actual course from start to finish. Although, initially I had planned on just a slow, easy jog, I changed my mind, deciding to add some quicker running to better gauge my overall fitness and speed. So the new plan was this: run a fast first mile (because the first 4/10 of the race is on the road, it is by far the fastest mile), use miles 2 and 3 to recover, even stopping to rest after mile one if I wanted to. Run a fast fourth mile (the toughest, for me anyway, due to rolling hills), use mile 5 to recover and then a fast finishing 8/10. I wrote last year's race times for these 3 segments on my arm. Although, not imperative that I beat these times, with the rest, I really felt mentally I needed to be close. Simple enough plan, right? Oh, and I was going to stop my Enterprise after meeting Natalie (she had a tennis match in Chattanooga) to take the boys to Jump Park. I figured about 2:00.
But with every well designed plan, there are obstacles. And in this case, they ended up being self-imposed, mental obstacles. When I reached Jump Park, Natalie informed me that she had signed up the boys for a 2 hour jump slot. Ok, no big deal I supposed. But at the end of the time, which we didn't get started until 1:00, I was starving. So we ordered some food at the Jump Park café. I didn't order anything and opted to munch on some of the boys so I wouldn't get full before running. And although, that worked out to a degree, I still ate more than I should have. And now it is after 4:00. I've already started to get angry about the whole time/food thing at this point. As we are loading up to come home, Nat says something about me stopping to run and I reply "I'm not sure I'm going to." Luckily, it takes about 20 minutes to get to the Enterprise exit, and I decide to pull off, still unsure if I'm going to run. I'm feeling a bit full, but it's more about me being angry that my plans were thrown off kilter.
After sitting in the car for about 5 minutes deciding on whether or not to run, I get out. It's a go. A quick jog to warm up, then off on my first fast mile. Last year's time was 7:48, so that was the goal. Again, the first 4/10 is down the road and I was going about 7:30 pace. I figured that wasn't fast enough once I hit the trail, but any faster seemed really not attainable. I hit the trail and slowed some. I continued to watch the pace. At about 7/10 mile my pace reached 7:48 and I stopped. Just stopped. I wasn't really mad at this point but I wasn't really sure what I was going to do. After just a few moments, I decided to keep going and back off a bit. Seven-tenths is close. With race adrenaline, maybe that first 4/10 is considerably faster and gets me through the remaining 3/10. I jog on. Sometimes walking, even some of the flats. About 2.5 miles in a pass a runner that I had given directions to before I got started (he was running in the opposite direction from what I had told him). I stopped my Garmin while I chatted for a moment then continued on. After a couple of minutes I began to gear up mentally for the fast 4th mile, the toughest) and glanced down at my watch to see where I was and realized I hadn't restarted it. Crap! I'm not sure when the 4th mile starts. I estimate that I had gone about 1/4 mile. As I get closer to the 4th mile, negative thoughts really start to creep in. This is not shaping up to be what I want my last run on the course to be before the race. I'm regretting even starting the run. Wishing I had just driven home at this point.
My mind eventually starts going through what will happen when I get home. Natalie will ask me how the run went. As I plan on what I'm going to say, it comes to me to respond with "great". When she pushes for me to explain, as I know she will, my response will be "Oh, the run sucked. But it was great to be on the trail. I'm healthy, relatively, at least I'm able to be on trails running. What do I really have to feel bad about? Anyway, about this time what I had estimated being mile 4 comes up and I'm off. Picking up the pace as much as I can. Last year's 4th mile was a 11:06. I figured with the trail being equal the entire mile (it's not) I needed to go through 1/2 mile about 5:30ish. The first two tenths went by in right at 2 minutes, ahead of pace. I hit a short hill in the 3rd I walked, so slowed a bit. But as the mile progressed, the hills didn't really become a problem. Right at the end of the mile I hit what is probably the steepest grade in the course, but very short. I ran it and pushed to the end of the mile. 10:37!
After a few moments rest, I pushed on, feeling rejuvenated. Easy jog through the 5th mile and then upped the pace for the last 8/10 finish. Last year's pace on the finish was an 8:59, today about 9:30. But I knew I hadn't pushed like I would on race day, just a solid finishing effort. As it turned out even with the blah first half of the course, I finished just about a minute off my race time from two year's ago and with the fastest time at Enterprise this summer. Crazy what the mental game can do. I'm convinced just that slight change in attitude propelled me to a good second half.
But with every well designed plan, there are obstacles. And in this case, they ended up being self-imposed, mental obstacles. When I reached Jump Park, Natalie informed me that she had signed up the boys for a 2 hour jump slot. Ok, no big deal I supposed. But at the end of the time, which we didn't get started until 1:00, I was starving. So we ordered some food at the Jump Park café. I didn't order anything and opted to munch on some of the boys so I wouldn't get full before running. And although, that worked out to a degree, I still ate more than I should have. And now it is after 4:00. I've already started to get angry about the whole time/food thing at this point. As we are loading up to come home, Nat says something about me stopping to run and I reply "I'm not sure I'm going to." Luckily, it takes about 20 minutes to get to the Enterprise exit, and I decide to pull off, still unsure if I'm going to run. I'm feeling a bit full, but it's more about me being angry that my plans were thrown off kilter.
After sitting in the car for about 5 minutes deciding on whether or not to run, I get out. It's a go. A quick jog to warm up, then off on my first fast mile. Last year's time was 7:48, so that was the goal. Again, the first 4/10 is down the road and I was going about 7:30 pace. I figured that wasn't fast enough once I hit the trail, but any faster seemed really not attainable. I hit the trail and slowed some. I continued to watch the pace. At about 7/10 mile my pace reached 7:48 and I stopped. Just stopped. I wasn't really mad at this point but I wasn't really sure what I was going to do. After just a few moments, I decided to keep going and back off a bit. Seven-tenths is close. With race adrenaline, maybe that first 4/10 is considerably faster and gets me through the remaining 3/10. I jog on. Sometimes walking, even some of the flats. About 2.5 miles in a pass a runner that I had given directions to before I got started (he was running in the opposite direction from what I had told him). I stopped my Garmin while I chatted for a moment then continued on. After a couple of minutes I began to gear up mentally for the fast 4th mile, the toughest) and glanced down at my watch to see where I was and realized I hadn't restarted it. Crap! I'm not sure when the 4th mile starts. I estimate that I had gone about 1/4 mile. As I get closer to the 4th mile, negative thoughts really start to creep in. This is not shaping up to be what I want my last run on the course to be before the race. I'm regretting even starting the run. Wishing I had just driven home at this point.
My mind eventually starts going through what will happen when I get home. Natalie will ask me how the run went. As I plan on what I'm going to say, it comes to me to respond with "great". When she pushes for me to explain, as I know she will, my response will be "Oh, the run sucked. But it was great to be on the trail. I'm healthy, relatively, at least I'm able to be on trails running. What do I really have to feel bad about? Anyway, about this time what I had estimated being mile 4 comes up and I'm off. Picking up the pace as much as I can. Last year's 4th mile was a 11:06. I figured with the trail being equal the entire mile (it's not) I needed to go through 1/2 mile about 5:30ish. The first two tenths went by in right at 2 minutes, ahead of pace. I hit a short hill in the 3rd I walked, so slowed a bit. But as the mile progressed, the hills didn't really become a problem. Right at the end of the mile I hit what is probably the steepest grade in the course, but very short. I ran it and pushed to the end of the mile. 10:37!
After a few moments rest, I pushed on, feeling rejuvenated. Easy jog through the 5th mile and then upped the pace for the last 8/10 finish. Last year's pace on the finish was an 8:59, today about 9:30. But I knew I hadn't pushed like I would on race day, just a solid finishing effort. As it turned out even with the blah first half of the course, I finished just about a minute off my race time from two year's ago and with the fastest time at Enterprise this summer. Crazy what the mental game can do. I'm convinced just that slight change in attitude propelled me to a good second half.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)