May the Mass x Acceleration be with you

Warm up

12:30 PM - I started a little later, trying to wait out the rain. It didn't work.

LMx6, 2.35 mile warmup run to track (7:41 - 7:29 - 2:35)
Skipping routine, LL (3x3 1-leg lunges)

2x500@1/2 marathon pace with 300m recoveries
1:57.9, 2:00

4x150@5k pace with 250m recoveries
32.2, 32.0, 32.4, 30.9

Workout

12x288m in 60s with 144m recoveries in 60s

60.1, 62.7, 61.0, 62.0, 61.6, 61.0, 60.2, 61.5, 61.1, 62.3, 61.1, 61.7

It's been a long time since I ran a hard effort of any kind, let alone a track workout. Six weeks, in fact. I decided to jump back into what I did 6 weeks ago, but scaled back to 12 instead of 15 intervals, and then finish up with a slower-paced short tempo. It was supposed to be dry between 1-3pm today, but it started to rain just before I started this workout, and it was pouring pretty good by about the 5th one. Around the 10th the rain stopped and I took off my jacket and hat. The workout was not too hard, and I could've done 3 more. I actually was going a teensy bit further than last time, enough to add another second to each split, probably.

And then...

PLU Loop tempo run - 2.14 miles in 13:21 (6:14/mile).
I started out planning to run about 6:20/mile, but decided that was too slow. I'm hoping to run a 12k in 6:15/mile in a few weeks, so ought to be able to handle that, even after a tough workout, for a short, flat 2 mile tempo like this.

I started out a little quick - at half mile I was on pace for 6:07 the first mile. I eased up a bit and settled into a more reasonable pace the rest of the way. It was a bit more effort than I originally envisioned for this part of the workout. Still, I'm going to be tired tomorrow no matter what, so may as well pile on a little more!

Splits: 6:12.6, 6:18.5, 48.4 (5:52/mile)

Cool down

Cool down, 2.35 miles in 19:29 (8:17/mile)

Easy jog on the trails - 6 miles in 49:39

The original plan was to do 12 today and 8 tomorrow. However, since I was still pretty tired from Monday's tough workout I thought I'd do the old switcheroo. Still, I went out thinking I could extend the run to 12 if feeling ok today. Early on I was thinking I could do that, but just before 4 miles I decided it was time to turn around. Hopefull tomorrow I'll be recovered enough to bump up.

6xLM, 8 miles in 1:02:32 (7:49/mile)

Splits: 7:56 - 7:57 - 8:06 - 7:53 - 7:51 - 7:34 - 7:36 - 7:42

11 miles in 1:25:38 (7:47/mile)
Feeling much better today. Still a bit of a slower pace, but what do you expect when ramping up mileage like this. The last 2 miles were pretty sluggish, other than that good. It was cloudy today, but stayed dry. My left knee is still a little tender, so I stayed off the pavement as much as possible.

Splits: 7:56 - 7:41 - 7:47 - 7:43 - 7:48 - 7:45 - 7:33 - 7:49 - 7:56 - 7:51 - 7:49

6.35 miles to park and back in 49:50

Feeling pretty good today, more energetic than the last few days. No soreness from yesterday's strides, which is good. I think I'll be ready to handle a long run tomorrow.

Splits: 7:52 - 7;44 - 7:57 - 7:59 - 7:51 - 7:41 - 2:46 (7:50/mile)

Puyallup Valley run - 16.36 miles in 2:07:14 (7:47/mile)

This was a tough run. Not only did I up my long run by 2 miles this week, but I also upped my weekly mileage by 10, so I was quite tired going into the run. Also, did my first hard workout in several weeks. To top it off I used my toughest long run course that I can do from my house (here's the course). And, for extra fun, throw in a bit of hail storm that started around 10 miles into the run. Curse you Weather.com! You said only 25 % chance of rain! I guess that doesn't include hail. I felt pretty ok, though, until the last 4 miles. Those down hills in the first half just ate up my quads, and then the uphills on the way back sapped my energy, so with 4 to go it felt similar to the last few of a marathon - maybe like miles 19-23. 30 minutes after the run is over and another downpour just started outside.

Woo hoo, I made the first page of the mileage board!!

Splts: 8:06 - 7:47 - 7:44 - 7:41 - 7:27 - 7:33 - 7:19 - 7:15 - 7:42 - 8:19 - 8:04 - 7:55 - 7:47 - 7:59 - 7:57 - 7:46 - 2:53 (7:40/mile)

Warm up

Sign at PLU track says closed for refurbishment. No one is at the track, no work being done. Still, I opted to head over to the high school track instead.

7xLM, 3 mile warmup run in 23:40 (8:12, 7:46, 7:42)
Skipping routine, LL (5x3 1-leg lunges)

Too much going on at the high school track what with PE classes coming and going, so headed back to PLU.

2x500@1/2 marathon pace with 300m recoveries
2:03, 2:03 - a little slow, supposed to be in 2 minutes each.

4x150@5k pace with 250m recoveries
32.4, 32.8, 32.7, 32.2

Workout

3x3min hard (864 m) with 3 min recoveries, 6x60s hard (288m) with 60s recoveries

3:00.0, 2:59.6, 3:00.6, 61.4, 60.9, 62.1, 60.9, 62.0, 60.7

It's amazing how much harder it is to run 3 minutes hard with 3 min recoveries than it is to run 3x1 minute hard with 1 minute recoveries. I started with the expectation that I would do just 3 of them, and then fill out the rest of the 15 minutes of hard work doing 1 minute ones. That worked pretty well. I think I could've handled one more 3 minuter, but it's better this way and I was ready to be done by the last 60s interval.

Cool down

2.35 miles in 20:28 (8:43/mile)

Easy 6 on the trails in 49:03. I wasn't feeling all that bad, and didn't think I was running quite that slowly, but I guess my body needed it. Left knee continues to be a minor annoyance. Not getting any worse. Left hamstring has been tight for a couple days now.

7xLM, 8 miles on BPA trail in 1:03:52 (7:59/mile)

Still pretty tired. My body just doesn't want to go faster than 8/mile. I was, frankly, shocked when I saw the first splits and they were so slow. I made a concerted effort to speed up in the second half, but it only lasted a couple miles. It was a pretty rainy day today, but it was mostly dry or very light sprinkles during the hour that I ran.

Splits: 8:17 - 8:06 - 8:06 - 8:03 - 7:38 - 7:45 - 7:55 - 8:01

11 miles on the BPA trail in 1:22:10 (7:28/mile)

Feelling quite a bit better today, more energetic. Not completely normal, but a lot better. I tried to make this a light progression run, and the faster paces later in the run were easier on my knee. My left ham is improving, just a little tightness today, not really sore at all. Dry today, but not very warm, around 50 with intermittent sun.

Splits: 7:42 - 7:45 - 7:48 - 7:42 - 7:43 (uphill) - 7:23 - 7:18 - 7:22 - 7:14 - 7:03 - 7:09

Easy early morning run - 6 miles in 48:18. I'm not used to running this early. Normally I run before lunch, not before breakfast. It was nice. Not much traffic, clear skies, the sun felt good. It was cool, but warming. Plus, I was able to check all my street signs for my plant sale.

Splits: 8:08 - 8:14 - 8:15 - 8:03 - 7:52 - 7:46

16 miles on Vickory in 2:00:43 (7:33/mile)

I managed to get most of my run done in between heavy rain showers. It was just a light sprinkle the whole time. Enough that I kept my hat and jacket on the whole time, but not enough to be noticable, really. It started to rain pretty hard in the last 2 minutes of the run.

In spite of the weirdish week this run went pretty well. I'm off a day from my normal schedule, been extra tired all week due to the increased mileage, my left knee and ham have been bothering me, etc. Today the knee and ham were hardly noticable. Also, I didn't feel very tired. The quads were kind of fatigued in the first few miles, but then I felt great until the last two, which were almost as hard as last week, but faster.

Splits: 8:03 - 7:44 - 7:38 - 7:34 - 7:25 - 7:22 - 7:19 - 7:32 (up) - 7:20 - 7:50 (big up) - 7:31 - 7:31 - 7:28.5 - 7:27 - 7:29 - 7:29.5

4xLM, 6.48 miles in 52:03 (8:02/mile)
Easy jog. I don't usually run the day after my long runs, but because it was pushed to Sunday instead of Saturday I had to make the sacrifice. My quads are pretty sore, and the last couple miles they felt dead. Hope it was light enough that I feel better tomorrow.

Splits: 8:19 - 7:59 - 7:50 - 7:49 - 8:06 - 8:04 - 3:57 (8:14/mile)

Dang, I'm rockin' the mileage board this week, thanks to that Sunday long run!

I opted for a day off today. My quads feel like mush, my left knee hurts a lot worse today, I'm limping around everywhere I go. Hope to be much better tomorrow.

Easy 6 miles on trails in 49:19

1:30 into my run my foot caught on a root and down I went. The heel of my right hand is pretty ugly, a good chunk of flesh was dug out, and was still bleeding by the time I went to bed 12 hours later. On the other hand, just superficial scratches, so at leaset I have some functionality. The blessing is that I had no scratches anywhere else, not on legs, knees, stomach, arms, nothing. I headed back to the gym once I got up, cleaned up the wounds with antiseptic swabs, decided the pain wasn't too bad, so went out and started over on my run.

The run felt quite good, other than the hand. Knee much better, energy not too bad, not too wobbly. A day off helped!

6xLM, 11 miles on the BPA trail in 1:23:55 (7:38/mile)

Feeling pretty good today. It was nice to feel normal on a run and be able to run comfortably most of the run. The war-wound on my right hand from yesterday's fall is still pretty bad, and it starting bleeding again over the last couple miles. Not really hurting much, though.

Splits: 7:57 - 7:54 - 7:45 - 7:31 - 7:40 - 7:32 - 7:21 - 7:38 - 7:34 - 7:25 - 7:38

8x100m strides with 100m recovery jogs, on the trails

Easy 6 miles on the trails in 46:29 (7:45/mile)

It was nice to run on the trails and not be slogging through on dead legs from a tough workout in 8-8:30/mile for once.

Long run on hilly course with Carl - 16.43 miles in 2:10:57 (7:58/mile)

This is just a tough course, no bones about it. In spite of a slightly slower pace, and it being my third 16 miler, my legs were still like lead the last couple miles. The rain was ongoing, but not heavy. I remembered to pick up my water bottle on the way back this time, and the bottle I left last week was still where I left it, too!

Splits: 8:39 - 8:14 - 8:04 - 8:14 - 8:02 - 7:45 - 7:35 - 7:23 - 8:22 - 8:38 - 7:46 - 7:48 - 7:44 - 7:54 - 7:57 - 7:46 - 3:06.5 (7:09/mile)

Running from Eagle Crest, OR, which is just West of the small town of Redmond, OR. The planned workout was:
3 miles warmup, 2x10 minutes @ 6:15/mile, 2.5 mile cool down

Warmup of 3 miles in 23:05 (7:49, 7:57, 7:20)
10 min interval @6:15/mile (1.60 miles)
Recovery jog of .65 miles in 5:29 (8:26/mile)
10 min interval @6:04/mile (1.65 miles)
Cool down of 2.19 miles in 17:40 (8:01, 7:54, 1:45)

The first interval was tough. I barely maintained 6:15, and felt pretty well spent at the end of it. But it was uphill the whole way. After a slightly longer rest than planned I started the second one and found it was much easier, despite running faster. Of course, I had turned around and had the benefit of downhill. Good prep for Sound to Narrows in a few more weeks.

Here's my course today

I ran slowly along the Deschutes River trail at Eagle Crest, stopping frequently to enjoy the scenery. I never tire of coming to Central Oregon and being out in the high desert environment. Such beauty and grandeur. Also, a little bit of elevation and some good climbing on the trail here.

Splits: 8:52 - 8:23 - 8:18 - 8:35

Here's the course

6xLM, 3 mile warmup, 4 miles with 4x1/2 mile @5k, 1/2 mile easy, 2 mile cool down

Warmup 3 miles - 7:59 - 7:44 - 7:41
Intervals: 3:02 (down) - 3:00 (down) - 3:10 (up) - 3:04 (up)
Recovery: 3:57 - 4:18 - 4:16 - 8:17
Cool down: 7:57 -

Moderate effort workout. The last uphill 1/2 was pretty tough, but otherwise, not too hard. I'm starting to come down with a cold, but thankfully not too bad yet. It was raining pretty good most of the run, and I was a little hesitant on the downhills because of it.

Too many meetings this morning conspired to kill my lunchtime plans for a run. plus, my cold is setting in, so a day off was more enticing than running in the rain again.

My cold is worse today, but didn't really bother me on the run at all. I ran this is a mild progression run, except the last couple miles I eased up a bit.

Splits:
8:16 - 8:05 - 7:57 - 7:56 = 32:12
7:28 - 7:26 - 7:19 - 7:30 = 29:44
7:06 - 7:12 - 7:13 - 7:22 = 28:52

Easy 4 miles to check on my sale signs. Two were down. I also almost got hit by a car a couple times as idiots were going 60+ in a 25 mph road to pass other cars. One guy actually tried to apologize.

Another run to check on my sale signs. All were up this time.

Splits: 7:38 - 7:38 - 7:46 - 7:25

11 miles on the BPA trail in 1:21:13 (7:23/mile)

I managed to time the run just right today and avoid all the pouring down rain of the morning, and still make it back to the cafeteria 3 minutes before they closed - just in time to get a burger and some tater tots!

Splits: 7:30 - 7:23 - 7:34 - 7:18 - 7:27 (Big hill) - 7:17 - 7:19 - 7:19 - 7:28 - 7:17 - 7:20