May the Mass x Acceleration be with you

6 miles on the treadmill in 46:30

For some reason my Garmin doesn't work right when I run on the treadmill…

Warmup:

Warmup jog - 3 miles in 23:39
2x500m runs in 2 minutes, 300m recoveries
2:02,2:01

Workout:

4 mile tempo run in 25:28 (6:22/mile)

Not feeling as good as hoped. I struggled from one end to the other, especially on the uphills, which does not bode too well for the Sound to Narrows next weekend.

Splits: 3:23 (up) - 3:12 - 3:10 - 3:09 - 3:14 - 3:15 - 3:14 - 2:53 (down)

Cooldown:

4 mile cool down in 33:02

Allison loop - 7 miles in 53:33

Feeling pretty good today, better than expected after yesterday's hard workout. Beautiful sunny morning. Spring is finally here, just in time for summer!

Splits: 8:01 - 7:32 - 15:17 - 7:40 - 15:04

16 miles in 2:00:12 (7:31/mile)

Splits: 8:07 - 7:52 - 7:51 - 7:38 - 7:24 - 7:27 - 7:25 - 7:38 - 7:31 - 7:54 -7:29 - 7:32 - 7:26 - 7:20 - 6:50.7 - 6:47.7

Warmup:

7xLM, Easy 3 miles in 23:23 (7:55 - 7:39 - 7:49)
2x500m @ 1/2m pace with 300m recoveries
1:56.5, 2:10

Lots of kiddos on the track for P.E., so I stayed on the other side of the field and ran around the softball/soccer fields adjacent to the track. Nice soft squishy grass. I went way too fast on the first one (6:15/mile), and a little slow on the second one (6:33/mile)

4x150m at 5k pace, 250m recoveries in the PLU parking lot
All estimates, and on the first one I wasn't paying attention, so went more than 200m.
46.5, 32, 32.8, 32.4

Workout:

4x 3/4 mile intervals @5k pace with 1/4 mile recovery jogs on the Four Seasons Road Race course. This course is nice and flat, only a few very minor "hills" here and there, mostly in the 3rd mile.

I felt good, it was nice to be able to hold sub-6 pace for a few minutes, and I was pleased to be able to recovery quickly between each one with such short rest. I ran a little long on the first interval because I forgot to set my Garmin to measure 3/4 mile laps.

Intervals: 4:34 (.76 miles), 4:27.5, 4:27.1, 4:26.5
This adds up to about a 17:51 for 3 miles

3x200m@fast, with 200m recoveries.
I set the garmin to do .13 miles, so just slightly longer than 200m (.124 miles)
41.3, 39.2, 41.7

Cool down:

2.65 miles in 22:25 (8:28/mile)

Easy 7 miles on the trails in 56:20 (8:02.5/mile)

I felt really good today, for an easy day. My mind was on other things, so the miles just flew by.

11.08 mile progression run in 1:21:05 (7:19/mile). I kept the progression fairly mild today. I want to be recovered by Saturday's race. Should be my last run in these shoes!

Splits:
1 - 8:27 (long by about .08 miles)
2.5 - 19:55 (11:28)

3 - 23:36.5 (3:41)
5 - 38:17 (14:41)
6 - 45:24 (7:07)
7 - 52:31 (7:06.5)
8 - 59:25 (3:24.1 + 3:30.2 =  6:54.3)
9 - 66:08 (3:22.6 + 3:20.7 = 6:43.3)
10 - 72:57 (3:27 + 3:21.8 = 6:48.8)

11 - 1:21:05 (8:08)

7xLM, 8 miles on Vickory in 59:51 (7:28/mile)

Feeling pretty good today. Left ham is still pretty tight and a little sore. First run in my new shoes!

Splits: 15:47 - 7:39 - 7:13 - 14:30 - 7:19 - 7:24

Easy 4 miles on the trails, with 1/2 mile at rp.

The 1/2 mile rp was supposed to be 6:15 pace, but was actually at 6:32/mile pace. I guess the fact that it was mostly uphill, and also on a trail may have accounted for the 17 seconds slower I was

Warmup:

1.2 mile jog around the field
1x2 min at 1/2m pace - 6:29/mile pace, with recovery jog

Race:

Sound to Narrows 12K - 47:45 (6:25/mile)

I'm not sure why I run in this race. It is a local tradition, and I have done it a number of times. It is not possible to run a good time, though. It is a very tough course. The first four miles are very fast, mostly downhill, and the last 3 1/2 miles are mostly uphill. Two years ago I went out too fast the first half, and really payed for it in the second half. The "assault on Vassault" which is the last mile or so of the race, almost entirely up hill on Vassault Blvd, became more like a death march.

So, this year, I held back during the first four miles. Consequently, I was off pace, even with the dowhill advantages, and had no possibility of getting back on pace in the second half. On the other hand, it was nice to be able to truly race the second half, to blow by everyone else and actually push it back up Vassault. Overall the race felt like a hard tempo run, and I only really worked hard on the uphill of the last mile or so. I missed by goal pace by 10s/mile, but I should've had a more appropriate goal given the course, I supposed.

I started with Carl. He was shooting for sub 50 minutes and I was shooting for sub 47, so I should've been way out in front of him. In the first mile we ran together for a few minutes and then he let me go on ahead. However, in the 3rd mile I found myself catching up to him and repassing him. I don't know when he passed me earlier. Then on the next dowhill he went by me again. We yo-yoed through the first four miles before I finally pulled away during the tough uphill 5th mile. I ended up finishing about 2 1/2 minutes ahead of him. I also passed one of the top masters women just before the 4mile mark and beat her by 3 minutes. So that gives an idea of how my pacing went compared to others. Maybe it was a smarter way to run. I still think I probably should've gone a little faster the first 4 miles. Oh well, I did improve by 1 minute over my time 2 years ago, so I guess I can't complain too much. Plus I finished 35th out of 2472, and 2nd in my age division.

Splits:
Mile 1 - 6:00
This mile is all downhill, very fast start. It is not a good way to start in my mind, because you are forced to run fast right from the get go, and my body isn't ready to go sub-race pace so quickly.

2 - 12:28 - 6:28
The downhill continues until 1.4 miles, then the uphills start. There are two short but steep uphills that make this a fairly slow mile. I should've run faster, though. I didn't take enough advantage of the downhills at this point, but I was also to timid on the uphills.

3 - 19:12 - 6:44
The third mile is mostly uphill. It is not terribly steep, but just continuous climbing. I past quite a few runners during this mile, despite not really pushing very hard at all.

4 - 25:31 - 6:19
The fourth mile starts with some more climbing, but once the downhill starts it is very fast from that point on. My Garmin had be at 6:09 for the split, but for some reason the course had the mile marker 10 seconds beyond that.

5 - 32:19 - 6:48
The fifth mile is another tough, slow, mostly uphill mile. It was here that I began to die two years ago. This year I started to take the race more seriously, and began passing other runners in earnest. Still, I held the pace back enough to not kill myself. More than 20 seconds slower than my overall pace, yet I passed several runners and no one passed me. I went back and forth with the 4th place woman, but finally left her at some point.

6 - 38:36 - 6:17
I used this mile to get my breathing back under control, while still moving up on the last pack that was within my range. There were about 6 runners in a row of about 50 meters, and I passed about half of that pack on the dowhills. Before the mile ends we come out of Point Defiance Park, head down a very steep hill, and then up a very steep hill on the other side. I think my pace was down to 6:07/mile at 6.8 miles, and the last climb slowed me to a 6:17. Still, I moved up and passed another runner by the top of the hill.

7 - 45:23 - 6:47
The mile starts with a short reprieve from the steep hill at the end of the last mile. Then comes the "assault on Vassault". This is one long continuous hill that is about a mile long, taking you from 6.2 to 7.2 miles. There are two steep sections early on, and then the rest of the hill is more gradual. I ran the hill correctly this time, easing back on the two steep sections, catching my breath, and then accelarating the rest of the way up the hill, and through to the finish line. Unfortunately, there was only one more runner ahead of me before a long gap that was just too insurmountable with the hill and the distance left in the race. I waited until clearing the 2nd steep hill before passed the one runner, and then charged after the next pack, but didn't really gain much on them.

7.45 - 47:45  - 2:22 (5:15.5/mile pace!)
The last .45 miles starts with some hill on Vassault still, but once you get to the top you turn left and it is downhill for another .2 miles to the finish. I finished about 20 seconds behind the next pack of runners, didn't gain much on them. As I sprinted towards the finish I was getting that nauseated feeling I love so much at the end of races with hills :) The finish clock must've been off, because it said I was at 48:15, but the official results say 47:45. I forgot to stop my watch, so can't go by that. So, I will go by the official results.

That's all I have to say about that. Here's the link to the course.

Feeling really good the day after the race. Not sore, not tired. I don't feel nearly as tired as I do after a hard workout or long run. Looking forward to my next race, on a mostly flat fast course!

Splits: 7:50.5 - 7:30.5 - 10:57 - 3:42.5

AM - Easy 3 in 23:57 (7:59/mile) (8:30 - 7:47 - 7:41)

PM - 5 miles in 37:43 (7:33/mile) (7:30 - 7:27 - 7:33 - 7:33 - 7:40)

AM: Easy 3 miles in 23:37 (7:51 - 7:58 - 7:48)

PM: 7xLM, Warmup jog of 2.67 miles in 20:36 (7:43/mile) (7:59 - 7:33 - 5:05)

2x500m @ 1/2 marathon pace or so
2:01, 2:03

4 miles of light tempo run. This was closer to marathon pace than anything else. My left hamstring is still being a problem. In fact it is getting tigter and a little sorer. I'm contemplating backing off for a bit to see if that helps. I hate to do that!

Splits: 6:41 - 6:53 - 6:44 - 6:37

Easy cool down of 2.68 miles in 20:58 (7:50/mile) (7:54 - 7:45 - 5:19)

1 set of:
30 crunches
15 burpees
15 pushups
20 squats
10 feet-elevated pushups
30 low back extensions
15 bench dips
15 lunges each leg

AM: Easy 3 miles in 24:43 (8:14/mile)
Splits: 8:47 - 8:10 - 7:46

PM: Easy 5 miles on the trails in 41:43 (8:21/mile)
I started out with a bad case of low blood sugar, so the first couple miles were around 8:45/mile. After the sugar levels caught up I was able to run closer to 8.

AM - 3 miles in 22:41(7:34/mle). Feeling good this morning. It was colder, around 45, but the sun came out and it was nice. Probably didn't even need the jacket.

Splits:
1 - 7:56
2 - 7:25
3 - 7:21

PM - 7xLM, 10.25 miles in 1:14:54 (7:18/mile)

Feeling pretty energetic today, only complaint is the left hamstring. The weather was perfect - bright, sunny, not too warm, slight breeze.

Splits:
.22 - 1:46 (8:03/mile)
Then...
1 - 7:46
2 - 7:19
3 - 7:29 (up)
4 - 7:07.5
5 - 7:21
6 - 7:24
7 - 7:15
8 - 7:05 (down)
9 - 7:16
10 - 6:52
.03 - 0:12

AM - Easy 3 miles in 24:32. My left ham is definitely getting worse. I may have to bite the bullet and ease off for a while.

PM - 7xLM, 8  miles in 1:01:27 on Vickory route

Left hamstring is definitely going the wrong way. I think I may take an extra easy week next week and see what happens. Grrrrr.

Splits: 7:54 - 7:44 - 7:37 - 7:43 - 7:31 - 7:37 - 7:40 - 7:41

12.51 miles in 1:37:04 (7:45/mile)

It was supposed to be another nice sunny day today, but instead it decided to rain. Oh well, it was a nice run anyway. Even my hamstring didn't bother me much today. Looks like I had an unintentional progression the first half of the run. That's probably because the rain was getting steadily harder and I wanted to get home.

I believe this was my first 70+ mile week ever!

Splits: 8:27 - 8:02 - 7:57 - 7:44 - 7:39 - 7:34 - 7:37 - 7:40 - 7:41 - 7:40 - 7:44 - 7:25 - 3:56

With my hamstring getting worse last week I decided to back off this week and do lower mileage and lower intensity.

Warm up:

4.78 mile warmup run in 36:12 (7:34/mile) (7:39 - 7:22 - 7:33 - 7:37 - 6:03)

Workout

2 sets of:
25 second stride
15 pushups
10 burpees
25 Roman crunches
10 squats
25 second stride
10 feet elevated pushups
25 back raises
10 bench dips
15 lunges uphill
25 second stride

Cool down:

Cool down of 2.6 miles in 20:44 (7:58/mile)

5.5 mile run on DeVry loop in 42:22 (7:42/mile)

Part of the run was in some neighborhoods I've never run through before, and there wasn't an outlet where I thought there would be. So, I ended up having to backtrack and got a little more mileage in than intended. Oh well, it's all good!

Splits: 7:49 - 7:43 - 7:43 - 7:39 - 7:37 - 3:52

Afterwards I did a couple light-weight sets of hamstring curls. This was on a Cybex machine, only two plates of weight. It was enough that by the 9th and 10th reps my left hamstring was starting to feel the work, but not real challenging. The right hamstring had no problem with the load. I did 2 sets of 10 pretty easily, felt fine. Got up to walk to the water cooler, about 15 feet away. Before I got there my left ham erupted in a massive charley horse. I just had to stand there trying to get it worked out. Finally it subsided. I took two more steps towards the water and it happened a gain. I think I may be on to something!

8 miles on Vickory in 1:00:14 (7:32/mile)

I was feeling pretty good today, energy-wise. My left ham is sore from yesterday's workout and charley horses, but held up for the run ok. I took the day off work, today, so got lots of cross training in the yard. About 4 hours of potting and shoveling before the run, and another 3 1/2 hours of shoveling and other stuff afterwards. Good day!

Splits: 7:40 - 7:36 - 7:36 - 7:30 - 7:24 - 7:31 - 7:28 - 7:30

The plan was to go 8, but my left hamstring was so sore from Tuesday that I was limping, so I cut the run short to 4 miles.
Splits: 7:40 - 7:45 - 7:56 - 8:01

Warmup

2 mile warmup jog on the trails. I'm feeling much better than yesterday, my left ham is hardly sore at all today.
Splits: 7:37 - 7:03

Workout

Circuit training workout.
2 sets of
1/4 mile on treadmill @5k pace
5 pullups
32 crunches
15 burpees
15 pushups
20 squats
1/4 mile on treadmll @5k pace
10 feet-eleveated pushups
32 back raises
15 bench dips
15 lunges
1/4 mile on treadmll @5k pace
I ran the 1/4s in 6:10, 6:00, 5:52, 5:52, and 5:45/mile pace

Teak routine, 2 sets of ham curls. The ham curls were much easier than on Tuesday and no massive charley horses afterwards.

Cooldown

2 mile cool down in 15:32 (7:47, 7:45)

9.25 Progression tempo run in 1:04:56 (7:01/mile)

Feeling really good today. Yesterday's circuit training was not tiring and no fatigue today from it. I was planning to do just a mild progression, but was feeling so good I just kept ratcheting it up. I found another gear around 7 1/2 miles.

Splits:
1 - 07:55 (warm up)
2 - 15:32 - 7:37
3 - 23:03 - 7:31
4 - 30:14 - 7:12
5 - 37:07 - 6:53
6 - 43:51 - 6:43
7 - 50:36 - 6:45
8 - 57:09 - 6:33
9 - 63:27 - 6:18
9.25 - 64:56 - 1:28.8 (5:50/mile pace)

AM - Easy 3 miles in 23:40 (7:53/mile) (8:07 - 7:44 - 7:49)

PM:

Warmup:

7xLM
3.01 mile warmup in 22:51 (7:36/mile) (7:48 - 7:27 - 7:33)
Skipping exercises
2x500m @ 1/2 marathon pace with 300m recoveries
1:53.7, 2:01.9
4x150@5k pace, 250m recoveries

Workout:

6 laps of 'straights and curves' - run the curves super easy, and the straights fast - between 800m-mile race pace.
This was my first real speed workout in a long time. My left ham is still sore and a bit weak, but didn't give me too much trouble during the workout.
19.7, 20.0, 19.9, 19.4, 20.6, 19.5, 19.8, 19.2, 19.6, 19.7, 19.8, 19.0

Cooldown:

5.4 mile cool down in 41:23 (7:40/mile)
Splits: 7:31 - 7:44 - 7:53 - 7:35 - 7:25 - 3:16 (8:10/mile)

AM - easy 3 in 24:52 (8:17/mile)

PM - Easy 6 on the trails in 46:52 (7:49/mile)
Feeling pretty good today, but took it easy on the trails to give the legs a break. My left ham is still very tight and unhappy. I ran nice, even splits…
Splits: 23:26 - 23:25

AM - Easy 3 miles in 23:14 (7:45/mile) (7:49 - 7:40 - 7:46)

PM - 3200m race at Sparks Stadium in 11:38.9

Warmup

Easy warm up of 1.3 miles in 10:07 (7:48/mile)
2x500m (.31 miles) @ 1/2 marathon pace with 300m recoveries
1 - .31 miles in 2:03 (6:36/mile pace)
2 - .32 miles in 2:08 (6:41/mile)
2x150@5k pace, 250 recoveries
29.8, 30.75

Race

3200m race at Pierce County Parks all-comers meet in 11:38.9

I wasn't sure what to expect from myself. Last year I ran 12:06, and I definitely didn't want to run that slowly. But I haven't done much speedy work in a while, so didn't know if I had any speed to speak of. But I had a couple workouts over the last week or so where I ran more quickly than I thought I could handle. The best I could hope for was 11:40, I figured. I really didn't think I'd run that fast, though. Even during the race, I never thought I would break it. As my splits show, I was never really in a position to expect it. It wasn't until I finished the race and looked at my watch that I realized I had done it.

Starting out a little fast the first lap, I settled into a comfortably hard sub 89. I wasn't pushing all out, but was content to be staying under 89 each lap. I decided to pick it up a smidge on the second mile. Mark got out several seconds faster than me during the first two laps and then we stayed the same distance apart until the last 2 or 3 laps, when I began to close on him. My 87s 7th lap caught me up to him and I passed him just before the last lap started. As soon as I started the last lap I just took off, felt great, was pleased to be able to push quite hard and open up a gap on Mark. I ended up beating him by about 4 seconds.

27 seconds faster than last year should mean about 54 seconds faster than last year in the Four on the 4th, which would be 23:28, which is exactly the time I've been planning to shoot for. However, I didn't push as hard this year as I did last year in the 3200, so I may be able to go even faster on the 4th!

Check out these nice, even splits
1 - 01:27.4 - 87.4
2 - 02:56.2 - 88.8
3 - 04:25.0 - 88.8
4 - 05:53.8 - 88.8
5 - 07:22.8 - 89.0
6 - 08:50.5 - 87.7
7 - 10:18.1 - 87.5
8 - 11:38.9 - 80.8

Cooldown

7.45 mile cool down in 1:01:57, including about 1 1/2 miles with Mark and one of his athletes at about 9:15/mile pace.
Splits: 7:55 - 9:16 - 8:44 - 7:47 - 8:50 - 8:23 - 7:34 - 3:28 (7:39/mile)

AM - easy 3 miles in 24:37. I was pretty stiff and tired this morning. It took me a while to loosen up. My splits were far from even: 8:52 - 8:01 - 7:45. At least they went the right way!

PM - Easy 6 miles on trails in 48:24 (24:14 - 24:10)