May the Mass x Acceleration be with you

Warmup

Warmup before race, including 2x500 @ 1/2 marathon pace (2:05.75, 2:08.75)

Race

Resolution Series 5K - 19:45

The Garmin said the course was 3.2 miles. And, I passed the 1 mile mark on the Garmin 10 seconds before the mile mark of the race. I feel good about the effort I gave the race. The time, though, was horrible. But, what can I say. I'm in bad condition, the recovery from the marathon two months ago has not gone well. I've put on a few pounds. My abdomenal injury has been worse. Also, it was cold and the bulky clothes make a difference.

Still, it was a fun day. Got beat by Mike, but finished ahead of Carl. Also caught and passed a few runners along the way, finished 12th overall and 1st in my age division. Mostly the race serves as a wakeup call that I am in worse shape, even, than I thought. Especially when you considered i raced a 10k last September in 37:59, which is two 19 minute 5ks back to back. Ok, enough griping. Time to do something about it!

Splits:
1 - 6:12.75
2 - 12:27 - 6:14.25
3 - 18:40 - 6:13.0
3.2 - 19:45 - 1:05.55 (5:30/mile)

Cool down

Cool down with Carl - 2.4 miles in 21:23

Vickory route - 10 miles in 1:16:31

Feeling pretty good today. It was cold out, but the roads were dry and clear of ice, and it was full sun. My abdominal injury was not as bad as expected after the race Saturday.

Splits:
1 - 8:06
2 - 15:51 - 7:46
3 - 23:34 - 7:43
4 - 31:17 - 7:43
5 - 38:50 - 7:32
6 - 46:25 - 7:35
7 - 53:56 - 7:31.5
8 - 61:32 - 7:36
9 - 69:15 - 7:42
10 - 76:31 - 7:16

Easy 5 on military road route in 42:26

Still slushy and icey on the road. Abdominal injury still hurting.

Splits:
2 - 16:51
2.5 - 21:18.5 - 4:28
3 - 25:27 - 4:09
4 - 34:01 - 8:34
5 - 42:26 - 8:25

BPA route - 10 miles in 1:18:50

I haven't run this route in a long time because I knew it was short. Thanks to the Garmin I was able to enjoy this paved, under-the-powerlines, trail once again! It is a more hilly route than I remember - just what I need! I felt pretty good the first half, but had some major "bathroom issues" the 2nd half, especially the last 3 miles or so, which slowed me down some. No bathrooms in site, so I had to endure it to the finish.

Splits:
1 - 7:56
2 - 15:41 - 7:45
3 - 23:33 - 7:52
4 - 31:18 - 7:45
5 - 39:25 - 8:07
6 - 46:55 - 7:31
7 - 54:54 - 7:58
8 - 62:49 - 7:55
9 - 70:47 - 7:59
10 - 78:50 - 8:03

Military Road route - 5 miles in 39:32

Easy run after 10 yesterday.  Feeling better, but slow.

Splits:
1 - 7:55
2 - 15:47 - 7:53
3 - 23:39 - 7:53
4 - 31:37 - 7:57
5 - 39:32 - 7:55

BPA route - 7 miles in 55:05

Feeling a bit more energetic today, but still surprisingly slow. I guess the milage this week is taking its toll.

Splits:
1 - 7:48
2 - 15:42 - 7:54
3 - 23:37 - 7:55
4 - 31:24 - 7:47
5 - 39:07 - 7:43
6 - 46:55 - 7:48
7 - 55:05 - 8:10

Long run on Vickory route - 13 miles in 1:39:42

Overall the run was good. However, this was the 2nd time this week where I had "bathroom issues" that kind of screwed up the last few miles. It was pretty much the whole 2nd half today. Still, the legs, hips and abdomen are all doing pretty well. Hopefully the stretching and exercises are finally helping me to get over this abdominal injury that has been plaguing me the last 15 months. Also, I made it back up to 6 days this week, and 50 miles for the week. A couple more weeks of this and I will bump up to 60+.

Splits:
1 - 8:07
2 - 15:59 - 7:52
3 - 23:41 - 7:42
4 - 31:25 - 7:44
5 - 39:01 - 7:36
6 - 46:38 - 7:37
7 - 54:26 - 7:48
8 - 61:53 - 7:27
9 - 69:31 - 7:38
10 - 76:59 - 7:29
11 - 84:33 - 7:33
12 - 92:08 - 7:35
13 - 99:42 - 7:33.5

Round about route using Garmin. I had planned to run through Spanaway Park and keep going on the other side, but when I got to the back end the gate was still closed and locked for another week while they clear up the Christmas lights. So, I had to improvise. These 10 milers are feeling longer and more tiring than expected.

Splits:
1 - 7:50
2 - 15:19 - 7:29
3 - 23:03 - 7:44
4 - 30:56 - 7:53
4.48 - 35:00 - 4:04
5.48 - 42:32 - 7:33
6.48 - 50:12 - 7:40
7.48 - 57:53 - 7:41
8 - 62:10 - 4:17
9 - 69:43 - 7:33
10 - 77:16 - 7:33

Easy run on the trails - 5 miles in 40:41

1 - 8:16
2 - 16:27 - 8:11
3 - 24:35 - 8:08
4 - 32:36 - 8:02
5 - 40:41 - 8:05

Military Road route - 10 miles in 1:14:56

I had planned to run part of this run under 7/mile, or at least in the 7-7:10 range. However, it was pouring down rain the entire time, and yet was still cold out, so I had to run in pants and jacket, and I was soaked by 3 miles. The last few miles my legs were feeling pretty tired and dead, so I slowed into a cool down, only to pick it up the last half mile in hopes of keeping the time under 75 minutes.

Splits:
1 - 7:38
2 - 14:55 - 7:18
3 - 22:31 - 7:35
4 - 29:46 - 7:15
5 - 37:15 - 7:30
6 - 44:46 - 7:31
7 - 52:20 -7:34
8 - 59:32 - 7:12
9 - 67:30 - 7:58
10 - 74:56 - 7:26

Easy 5 miles on trails in 40:25

Feeling pretty good today. I ran without looking at the watch, so I could truly relax. Pretty even splits, given I wasn't looking at pace or mile splits along the way!

Splits: 20:13 - 20:12

BPA trail run - 13 miles in 1:43:14

It was a tiring day. Even by 5 miles I was pretty wiped. Thankfully the rain didn't hold out. I delayed my run an hour in the hopes the rain would stop early on in the run, and that worked out pretty well. By 5 miles the rain had stopped. Then the wind picked up and dried me off.

Splits:
1 - 8:18
2 - 15:42 - 7:25
3 - 23:28 - 7:46
4 - 31:19 - 7:50
5 - 39:25 - 8:06
6 - 47:17 - 7:53
7 - 55:28 - 8:11
8 - 63:19 - 7:50
9 - 71:06 - 7:48
10 - 79:17 - 8:11
11 - 87:10 - 7:53
12 - 95:09 - 7:59
13 - 1:43:14 - 8:04

Vickory route - 7 miles in 55:40

We are heading to Whidbey Island today, so I squeezed my run in between leaving for that and BSF. I felt pretty good today. I ran without looking at the Garmin at all, just running by feel, since I knew it would be a tiring run after the way I felt yesterday. Surprisingly, though, it was a pretty good run. I expected to be around 8:20/mile, but was under 8 on average.

Splits:
1 - 8:27
2 - 16:25 - 7:58
3 - 24:27 - 8:02
4 - 32:19 - 7:52
5 - 40:05 - 7:46
6 - 47:55 - 7:50
7 - 55:40 - 7:44

3 sets of:
15 pushups
12 crunches
12 back raises
12 squats with barbell raise
10 adductors (cable)
10 abductors (cable)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Run on Whidbey Island - 5.1 miles in 40:24

Since we are driving home tomorrow I thought I'd get tomorrow's run in today. This is a pretty hilly route. I started out at 80 ft above sea level, but quickly rose up to 300 feet in the first .6 miles. Then it was a gradual downhill to the water (8 feet) by just past 2 miles, then run back up to 300 feet and cruise back down to 80 feet at the finish. This is pretty apparent in my splits.

Splits:
1 - 8:40
2 - 16:16 - 7:37
3 - 24:06 - 7:50
4 - 32:15 - 8:09
5 - 39:40 - 7:25
5.09 - 40:24 - 44.6

Progression run on Vickory route - 10 miles in 1:13:40

I really think my groin injury is finally improving, so I am going to start incorporating some moderate-effort runs into my training and see how it responds. Today I decided to give the progression run a try again. 1 mile warmup, 8 mile progression, 1 mile cool down. It felt pretty good throughout. I picked up the pace a little more quickly than intended, but didn't really feel it until towards the end. The 2nd to last mile of the progression was a little taxing, but I got a second wind over the last mile of it.

Splits:
1 - 8:09
2 - 15:54 - 7:46
3 - 23:27 - 7:33
4 - 30:52 - 7:25
5 - 38:12 - 7:19
6 - 45:18 - 7:06
7 - 52:08 - 6:50
8 - 59:01 - 6:53
9 - 65:46 - 6:45
10 - 73:39 - 7:53

Easy run on BPA route - 5 miles in 39:12

My groin was a little sorer today, so moderate runs do have an impact on the injury. Still, I didn't feel to bad, nor too slow.

1 - 7:51
2 - 15:47 - 7:56
3 - 23:44 - 7:57
4 - 31:25 - 7:41
5 - 39:12 - 7:47

Military Road route - 10 miles in 1:14:43

Splits:
1 - 7:42
2 - 15:14 - 7:33
3 - 22:57 - 7:42
4 - 30;24 - 7:27
5 - 37:55 - 7:30
6 - 45:22 - 7:27
7 - 52:50 - 7:28
8 - 60:00 - 7:10
9 - 67:23 - 7:23
10 - 74:43 - 7:20

Military Road route - 7 miles in 54:32

I was pretty tired today, and the groin injury was more sore than expected.

Splits:
1 - 8:03
2 - 15:40 - 7:37
3 - 23:28 - 7:48
4 - 31:18 - 7:50
5 - 38:54 - 7:37
6 - 46:46 - 7:51
7 - 54:32 - 7:46

Waller/Vickory loop - 13 miles in 1:40:02

Still feeling tired and sluggish. Groin sore, legs sore. It seemed like everything hurt. At least it didn't rain. In fact it was sunny, and warm enough that I ran in shorts and short-sleeved shirt.

Splits:
1 - 7:46
2 - 15:31 - 7:44
3 - 23:12 - 7:41
4 - 30:45 - 7:33
5 - 38:24 - 7:39
6 - 45:58 - 7:34
7 - 53:38 - 7:40
8 - 61:22 - 7:44
9 - 69:06 - 7:44
10 - 76:44 - 7:38
11 - 84:35 - 7:50
12 - 92:25 - 7:51
13 - 1:40:02 - 7:36

Allison loop - 7.16 miles in 55:09 (7:42/mile)

This is the start of an easy week. I'm running about 3/4 of normal before increasing next week. Also, I am running without looking at the watch at all. I don't want to know my speed/pace or elapsed time until the end of the run. Just distance.

I'm still a little tired from Saturday's long run, but not too bad. I'm glad I only ran 7 instead of 10 today. It was supposed to be sunny for a few days, but it was rainy today. I'm looking forward to July.

Splits:
1 - 8:03
2 - 15:48 - 7:46
3 - 23:25 - 7:37
4 - 31:05 - 7:39
5 - 38:48 - 7:44
6 - 46:25 - 7:37
7 - 53:56 - 7:31
7.16 - 55:09 - 1:13 (7:39/mile)

7 miles with 5 mile progression run on Military Road route - 7 miles in 52:55

This is an easier week, so only a 7 miler instead of 10, and only 5 miles of progression instead of 8. Plus, I made sure the pace was not progressing too quickly. The course is pretty hilly, but I managed to keep the pace progressing regardless of whether it was an uphill or a downhill mile.

Splits:
1 - 8:00 (warmup)
2 - 15:40 - 7:40 (D)
3 - 23:16 - 7:36 (U)
4 - 30:39 - 7:23 (1/2 D, 1/2 U)
5 - 37:44 - 7:04 (1/2 U, 1/2 D)
6 - 44:40 - 6:56 (U)
7 - 52:55 - 8:15 (cooldown)

Easy run on trails - 4 miles in 32:28 (16:21, 16:07)

I ran without paying attention to the time, so had no idea of pace, just that it was an easy effort on muddy trails.

10 miles on BPA trail in

Easy week long run. It was supposed to be dry, but it rained on and off. I kept taking off my jacket, tying it around my waist, then having to put it back on again 5-10 minutes later.

Splits: 52:57
1 - 7:52
2 - 15:41 - 7:49
3 - 23:17 - 7:36
4 - 31:00 - 7:42
5 - 38:54 - 7:54
6 - 46:32 - 7:38
7 - 54:28 - 7:56
8 - 62:23 - 7:55
9 - 70:08 - 7:45
10 - 78:00 - 7:51

Easy recovery run to end an easy week.

1 - 8:07
2 - 16:05 - 7:58
3 - 23:50 - 7:45
4 - 31:33 - 7:43
4.47 - 35:08 - 3:35

Warmup:

6xLM, 6xCM
2.5 mile warmup run to PLU Track in 19:11

2x500@1/2 marathon pace w/ 300m recoveries (I don't really know what 1/2m pace is, I just stuck with 50s per 200m)
2:01.5, 2:06.0

4x150@5k pace or faster, with 250 recoveries
31.6, 32.4, 35.1, 31.1

Workout:

6 minute test run - run 6 minutes all out and carefully determine the distance covered.

This was the main focus of my run today. I wasn't completely sure what pace to shoot for, but I figured somewhere between 85-90s laps, and then speed up the the 2nd half as needed. It seemed to work out pretty well. Only problem was a couple people who were walking on the track and using the first two lanes. I had to dip inside the track a couple times when I passed them. Other than that, I don't think I could've gone much faster than this today, maybe a couple seconds at most. This is less than a minute slower than my high school best (for 1600m), and it wasn't a race, just a time trial by myself. Feeling pretty good about that!

Mile split was 5:35.4, and I covered about 1719 meters in 6 minutes, which I'll round to 1720.

Cooldown:

2.43 mile cool down in 19:07
Myrtl, Pedestal

7xLM, 7xCM
BPA trail - 12 miles in 1:31:52

Beautiful sunny day, but cold. I was not tired from yesterday's time trial, but just a hint of soreness in the quads. The run was pretty easy until the last couple. Amazing how quickly one can lose endurance. 3 months ago I was running a marathon. Now 12 miles feels long.

Splits:
1 - 7:42
2 - 15:20 - 7:38
3 - 22:56 - 7:36
4 - 30:28 - 7:33
5 - 38:30 - 8:01 (up a massive hill)
6 - 46:19 - 7:50
7 - 53:57 - 7:38
8 - 61:33 - 7:36
9 - 69:12 - 7:38
10 - 76:57 - 7:46
11 - 84:34 - 7:37
12 - 91:52 - 7:18

Easy run on trails - 6 miles in 49:11

i was pretty dang exhausted today, all day. I think I need to cut back on the mileage a little bit, not go up to 60 quite yet.

Military Road route - 8 miles with a 3 mile light tempo in 59:26

Feeling better today. I got a decent night of sleep. Still having minor pains all over in my legs, mostly around the sides and behind the knees. Groin injury still improving, though.

Splits:
8:02 - 7:46 - 4:06 = 19:54 warmup (2.5 miles)
3:26.25 - 3:22 - 3:19 - 3:17.25 - 3:18.5 - 3:15 = 19:58 for 3 miles light tempo
11:41 - 7:48 = 19:29 cool down (2.5 miles)

Easy run on trails around Ft. Steilacoom Park - 6 miles in 48:59

Although "easy" is not really the word for it. The pace was easy, but many of the hills made it a challenging run, more of a strength workout.

Vickory route - 13 miles in 1:38:19 (7:33/mile)

I'm feeling a lot better now than I did earlier in the week. Backing off was the right thing to do. I made this a light progression run, progressing in 4-mile blocks. The first block was the warmup - 7:45-8/mile. The second block I was shooting for 7:30's, and th 3rd block was 7:20's, finishing with a slightly quicker final mile. Nothing too quick, but by mixing up the pace a bit I was able to run with less fatigue/staleness.

Splits:
Block 1 -- 7:55 - 7:46 - 7:47 - 7:49 = 31:18
Block 2 -- 7:37 - 7:36 - 7:42 - 7:33 = 30:29
Block 3 -- 7:22 - 7:19 - 7:25 - 7:18 = 29:24
Mile 13 -- 7:08

Warm up

7xLM
Easy warmup run to track - 2.35 miles in 18:11 (7:58 - 7:33 - 2:40)
Skipping exercises, LL (5x3 1-leg lunges)
2x500@1/2 marathon pace with 300 recoveries
1:59.4, 2:04.1

Workout

15x143m (465 ft) in 30s with 30s recoveries
30.1, 31.8, 31.1, 30.8, 31.4, 30.9, 30.3, 28.4, 30.7, 30.4, 30.8, 29.1, 30.5, 31.0, 31.1

Cool down

Cool down - 2.46 miles in 19:59

Easy 6 in 47:33

This was somewhat of a test. I have typically been running my recovery days around 8:30/mile the day after a hard workout. Yesterday's workout was moderate at best, so I was hoping I would not need to run so slowly today. As it turns out 7:55/mile was what I needed to run. Felt good enough.

Splits: 7:51 - 7:53 - 8:07 - 7:45 - 8:02 - 7:55

Warmup

7xLM, LL, 6xCM
Easy 3 miles in 23:18 (7:46/mile)

Workout

4 mile tempo run in 26:09.75

Felt pretty good. The plan was to run the first mile at around 6:40 and then gradually increase towards 6:30. I was not wearing the Garmin, so only feedback was 1/2 mile splits.

Splits:
0.5 - 03:12.5
1.0 - 06:34 - 3:21.75
1.5 - 09:50 - 3:15.75
2.0 - 13:04 - 3:14.5
2.5 - 16:17 - 3:13.0
3.0 - 19:37 - 3:19.5 (uphill)
3.5 - 22:55 - 3:18.0
4.0 - 26:10 - 3:15.0

Cool down

3 miles in 23:16

Easy 6 miles on the trails in 48:32

I expected to have to run 8:30/mile today after yesterday's tempo effort. However, I did not. I guess the run yesterday was more moderate than I thought - a good thing! I actually felt pretty good today. I've made a lot of progress in recovery over the last 10 days, feeling much better, running more again, and running harder.

8 easy miles on the trails, including 4 uphill strides of about 1/8th of a mile - 8 miles in 1:05:36

Strides were in 46.8, 50.5, 48.9, 49.0. The uphill is pretty mild, about 60 feet of gain over the .125 miles

Vickory Road route - 15 miles in 1:56:38

This truly felt like a long run. I was pretty wiped by 11-12 miles, so the last 3-4 was very difficult. The weather was nice - sunny, cool, no wind. A storm came in just after I finished, with 25 mph winds, and rain came later.

Splits
1 - 8:05
2 - 7:47
3 - 7:46
4 - 7:49
5 - 7:51
6 - 7:46
7 - 7:37
8 - 7:48
9 - 8:02
10 - 7:40
11 - 7:41
12 - 7:34
13 - 7:44
14 - 7:47
15 - 7:43

Warm up

7xLM
Easy warmup run to track - 2.35 miles in 18:11 (7:58 - 7:33 - 2:40)
Skipping exercises, LL (5x3 1-leg lunges)
2x500@1/2 marathon pace with 300 recoveries
1:59.4, 2:04.1

Workout

20x143m (465 ft) in 30s with 30s recoveries
29.3, 29.3, 29.6, 29.8, 29.2, 29.7, 29.3, 30.0, 29.4, 30.0, 29.5, 29.7, 29.6, 29.7, 29.1, 29.9, 29.6, 29.8, 29.72, 29.6

I ran much more evenly this week as compared to last week, and this in spite of the fact it was raining and the track was pretty wet, with puddles everywhere. Most of the splits were right on - high 29s, with a couple right at 30s. I never got winded, just a little tired in the quads, but they are still a bit sore from the long run Saturday.

Cool down

Cool down - 2.35 miles in 18:34

BPA route - 6 miles in 46:59

Feeling a little sluggish and tired from yesterday. Quads a little heavy. Still, keeping pace at a decent level was pretty easy.

Splits: 7:44 - 7:43 - 7:51 - 7:58 - 7:48 - 7:53

Warmup

Easy warmup run - 3 miles in 23:03

Workout

5 mile tempo run in 32:30 (6:30/mile)

I got out a little too quickly the first mile. I didn't really feel too tired in miles 2-4, but just for the effort I was looking for the pace was a few seconds off per half mile. I was pleased to be able to get back on to 6:30 pace over miles 3.5-4.5, given it was near the end of the run and that is the end of the uphill portion. The last half mile was fast, as expected, not quite sub-6, but fast. I think this bodes pretty well for the 15k next week where I will be running in lighter shoes and on more rested legs.

Splits:
0.5 - 03:10.0
1.0 - 06:26 - 3:15.75
1.5 - 09:43 - 3:17.75
2.0 - 13:03 - 3:19.5
2.5 - 16:13 - 3:10.0
3.0 - 19:34 - 3:21.0
3.5 - 22:58 - 3:23.75
4.0 - 26:13 - 3:15.75
4.5 - 29:28 - 3:14.75
5.0 - 32:30 - 3:02.0

Cool down

Easy 2 mile cool down in 16:04

Easy run on trails - 6 miles in 48:49 (24:38 - 24:11)

BPA route - 7 miles in 54:34

Still pretty tired from Wednesday's run. Also feeling a little run down.

Splits: 7:59 - 7:41 - 7:49 - 7:43 - 7:47 - 7:42 - 7:52 = 54:34 (7:48/mile)

4x100m strides with 100m recovery jogs, 1/2 mile of jogging

Vickory Road route - 13 miles in 1:36:10 (7:24/mile)

Felt really good today, basically back to pre-marathon fitness, but a little heavier. It was cold and pretty windy, but sunny. The wind was mostly head wind the first half, and then tail wind the second half, though had started letting up a bit by then. I ran as a progression run, but the progression proceeded more quickly than I intended. First four miles was a warmup, then picked it up after that. I intended to run 4 miles at 7:45 or so, 2nd 4 at 7:30 or so, 3rd 4 at 7:20 or so and fast last mile. Instead my splits were:

Block 1 - 8:01 - 7:51 - 7:47 - 7:44 = 31:23
Block 2 - 7:26 - 7:33 - 7:19 - 7:16 = 29:34
Block 3 - 7:17 - 7:00 - 7:06 - 7:12 = 28:35
Mile 13 - 6:38.5

Warm up

7xLM
Easy warmup jog to the track - 2.36 miles in 17:52 (7:34/mile)
Skipping exercises, LL (5x3 1-leg lunges)
2x500@1/2 marathon pace with 300 recoveries
2:00.2, 2:00.0

Workout

24x143m in 30s with 30s recoveries

28.7, 29.8, 29.9, 28.9, 29.5, 29.5, 29.7, 29.6, 29.4, 28.9, 29.7, 29.8, 29.5, 29.1, 29.5, 29.3, 29.8, 29.4, 30.0, 28.9, 29.6, 30.2, 29.2, 29.4

Another workout with consistent pacing, maybe a little on the fast end with a few of them, but mostly mid to upper 29s. I was feeling a little under the weather today, like just coming down with a cold. The intervals never became difficult, and I was only just beginning to get a little winded on the last couple.

Cool down

Cool down - 2.34 miles in 18:16 (7:48/mile)

Spanaway Lake loop - 8 miles in 1:00:19

Feeling pretty sore in my left hip and back today, but during the run I was ok. I actually ran faster than anticipated, and I'm not sure why the 6th mile was so much slower, other than I was running through the woods, where the trails were thinner, and I had to hop over a couple of recently downed trees. It was nice to go a different route than usual, one that I don't have measured out (thanks Garmin!). Weather was cold, but dry. I got it done before the snow came that evening!

Splits: 7:34 - 7:26 - 7:26 - 7:26 - 7:40 - 7:54 - 7:27 - 7:27 = 1:00:19 (7:32/mile)

Vickory Road route - 6 miles in 43:49

The plan was to run 2 miles easy, 2 miles @ 15k pace as an easy-moderate effort to prepare for the race Saturday. Only trouble was, my Garmin ran out of battery power - thankfully, just before I started the run, so I had time to get my old ironman out. Actually, it was kind of nice to have to do it without the Garmin, because there was no way to know whether I was on pace or not until I got to the next 1/2 mile mark. Then I could make corrections and see at the next 1/2 mile whether I corrected correctly :) I was shooting for 6:35/mile, and finally got the hang of it in the 2nd mile.

Splits:
Warmup - 7:45 - 7:33 = 15:18
Cooldown - 7:42 - 7:37 = 15:19
Workout: 3:15.25 - 3:22.25 (6:37.5) - 3:17.5 - 3:16.75 (6:34.25) = 13:11.75 (6:36/mile)

Day off! I'm feeling pretty good, but want to make sure the 2nd half of this week is pretty easy. Instead of taking an easy full week leading up to the 15k, and a full week of recovery, I'm only going to take 1/2 week before, and 1/2 week after to recover, then get back to it.

2 miles normal, 1/2 mile @ 15k pace, 1 1/2 miles easy

Everything felt easy today. The warmup felt normal, even though it was 30+ seconds faster per mile. The 15k part felt like the easy side of marathon pace. I was shooting for around 6:35/mile, but managed a little faster with easy effort. I hope everything feels this easy tomorrow. It will be colder, though. Suppose to be in the upper teens tonight.

Splits: 7:32 - 7:21 = 14:53
.52 miles @ rp in 3:21.5 (6:31/mile pace)
7:08 - 3:45 = 10:53

Warmup

Warmup jog on course - 1.22 miles in 10:02 (8:11/mile)
2x2 min 2 1/2 marathon pace with recovery jogs (1.17 miles total)

Race

Resolution Series 15K - 9.42 miles in 1:00:35 (6:26/mile)
10th overall, 1st in age division

The course appears to be about .1 mile long. I talked to several other runners, some with Garmins, some without. Everyone seems to agree that the course is about 1/10th of a mile long, and the discrepency occurs in the 1st and last miles. Adjusting my time for 15k, based on the pace I was running over the last 200m, that gives me a 1:00:05 15k. If it had been an accurately measured course, and I knew I was that close to breaking one hour, I'm sure I would've found some way to take off a few more seconds. Oh well.

Going in I was hoping to get out in about 6:35-6:40 the first 4 miles, and then try to pick up to 6:30 or faster during the 2nd half. I did a good job of holding back through the halfway point, and so was able to push in places on the 2nd half, particularly the 7th and 8th miles, when I caught and passed a couple guys. I had to back off a little the last full mile, but was still running under my average pace, so not really backing off. I had been 12th at the turn around point, caught up to the next guy after about 2 more miles. We ran together for a bit and he let me get ahead of him so we could run single file on the roads. After a bit I pulled away from him as we both tried to catch a high school kid. I did catch that guy about a mile later with my 6:17 mile, then pulled away with a 6:07. I was catching another guy, slowly gaining ground as we approached the finish line. He got to the track about 20 meters ahead of me, and I couldn't close the back. He kept looking back and only gave enough to make sure I didn't catch him. What can I say? He was a 15 year old speedster and I'm a 39+ year old foagie, who was never know for my kick even when I was young. I'll get him next month in the 20k for sure!

Conditions were cold, like the 5k on January 1. Temp at the start was about 20 degrees, warming up to 25 or so by the end. No sun, no wind, no rain or snow. Just cold and dry. Sidewalks were icy, so we had to run on the roads, right up against the traffic. That shouldn't be as much of a factor in the 20k at the end of March.

Splits:
1 - 0:06:37
2 - 0:13:08 - 6:31.5
3 - 0:19:56 - 6:47.5 (lots of uphill in this mile
4 - 0:26:15 - 6:19.25 (big downhill)
5 - 0:32:38 - 6:23
6 - 0:39:21 - 6:42 (big uphill)
7 - 0:45:38 - 6:17.5 (lots of downhill in this mile)
8 - 0:51:45 - 6:07.25 (no hills, just an awesome split)
9 - 0:58:08 - 6:23
15k - 1:00:05 - 2:01.64 (5:56/mile)
Finish - 1:00:35 - (5:00/mile pace)

Garmin results

Cooldown

Cooldown - 2.55 miles in 25:21 (9:56/mile)

Allison Loop - 7 miles in 52:57 (7:34/mile)

It was dry, I checked Weather.com. It was supposed to be dry for the next couple hours. Just before I headed out it started snowing. It snowed pretty good, with rain mixed in, the whole run. About 10 minutes after I finished the snow stopped. Why did I go for an early run today?

I'm feeling surprisingly good two days after the 15k. I will still plan to take it easier this week, then hit it hard for two weeks, then a week of taper before the final race of the 4-race series - the 20k. I'm also going to make it my goal to lose a few pounds during that 4 weeks.

I just looked at my splits for the run. I didn't look at the Garmin at all during the run. Aside from the 1st mile, which goes up a steep hill, you'd think I was on a treadmill.

Splits: 7:55 - 7:30 - 7:30 - 7:30 - 7:31 - 7:33 - 7:29

 5 miles in 39:10 (7:50/mile)

Easy day in an easy recovery week.

Splits: 8:02 - 7:44 - 7:49 - 7:42 - 7:53

Easy-mod progression run - 7 miles in 50:53 (7:16/mile)

Feeling pretty good today. The rain held off. 1 mile warmup, then a gradual increase in speed. The one mile that was under 7/mile was due to downhill. I kept the pace pretty light overall.

Splits: 7:47 - 7:22.5 - 7:22.9 - 7:13.6 - 6:53.1 - 7:10.4 - 7:03.0

Easy run on the trails - 5 miles in 40:07

Vickory route - 7 miles in 54:09 (7:44/mile)

Still kind of tired today, a little sluggish. Started with 7xLM, LL

Splits: 7:57 - 7:45 - 7:48 - 7:44 - 7:42 - 7:38 - 7:34

11 mile run on the Foothills Trail in 1:28:44

Ran with Carl. We deviated from the main trail, however, and ran along the Puyallup after Orting. It was a nice trail, not paved like the main one. At first the gravel was deep and thick, made a good resistance workout. After a little while, though, the terrain changed to a basic dirt path, wide enough for 3 to run side by side, with the Puyallup to the right.

Splits: 8:10 - 8:03 - 8:09 - 8:32 - 8:22 - 8:16 - 7:57 - 8:03 - 8:07 - 7:40 - 7:24

Warmup:

8xLM
Easy warmup run to the track - 2.35 miles in 18:20 (7:56 - 7:39 - 2:46)

2x500@1/2 marathon pace with 300m recoveries
1:59.8, 2:02.3

4x150@5k pace with 250m recoveries
31.1, 33.0, 33.8, 33.5

Workout:

6 minute test run - run 6 minutes all out and carefully determine the distance covered.

I don’t think I'm entirely recovered from the 15k 9 days ago. I was feeling a little sore and a little sluggish on the warmup intervals, and I ran out of gas pretty quickly on this time trial as compared to last time. I only improved by about 2.5 seconds through 1600 meters, and only went 11 meters further for the full 6 minutes. I had expected a bigger improvement than that. Still, an improvement is an improvement. I went out too fast this time, opposite problem as last time. My first 200 was in 41s. I was thinking 82 second laps would be manageable, and that I would even been able to speed up after that. However, I got to 800m much slower, in about 2:49. But, I managed to speed up a bit on the second half, running 83 on the 3rd lap (4:12), and about 82 or so on the 4th lap (abour 5:34), then hung on the lasat 26 seconds.

Somehow the Garmin mile split was 5:33.14, and came before the 1600m mark. I did have to run out into lane two a couple times to go around a hurdle, but I don't it made that much of a difference. I covered about 1730 meters in 6 minutes, 11 more than last time.

Workout, part 2:

But the workout didn't stop there. Next I did a 4 mile tempo run at 1/2 marathon pace. I have recently run 5 miles at what I assumed was about 12-15k pace, in 6:30, but now that I've run a bit faster than that, McMillans says 6:35 is 1/2 M pace.

The course I used was pretty flat and easy, and also very familiar. 6:35 pace felt pretty comfortable. I mostly had to hold back or risk dipping into the 6:20s. It was nice to be able to run this part of the workout so comfortably, since the 6 min run was so hard.

Splits:
1 - 6:37.5
2 - 13:10 - 6:33.1
3 - 19:45 - 6:34.4
4 - 26:13 - 6:28.4

Cooldown:

2.58 mile cool down in 20:43
Pedestal, Cannonball

Easy 6 on trails in 48:14

8xLM, LL
12 miles on BPA trail in 1:30:42

Feeling pretty good today again, mostly recovered from Monday's workout. Unfortunately the weather man was wrong. It was supposed to get drier as the run went on, but instead the light sprinkles at the beginning turned to a downpour by just before halfway, and kept pouring until after I got back. I had to wring out my clothes before I could do my strength workout afterwards!

Splits:
7:46 - 7:44 - 7:45 - 7:26 - 7:58 - 7:43 - 7:33 - 7:23 - 7:27 - 7:14 - 7:20 - 7:22

Easy 6 miles on the trails in 47:26

8xLM, LL
8 mile progression run on Military Road in 58:37

Feeling pretty good today. I seem to be adapting to the 60 mile week much better this time than when I tried it several weeks ago. It was a dry day today, between storms, thankfully. But the long run tomorrow is supposed to be in the rain. I didn't want today to be too tiring, since I have a long run tomorrow. I ran 2 mile warmup, 1 mile cool down.

Splits: 7:46 - 7:44 - 7:32 - 7:14 - 7:06 - 6:51 - 6:53 - 7:31

Brookdale Road route - 16 miles in 2:01:28 (7:36/mile).

This is a moderate route. There are a couple big hills in the middle and you have to run both ways, and there is an overall gain of elevation on the way out of about 250 feet or so in 6 1/2 miles. It actually wasn't as hard as I remembered. The rain fell the entire run, but never very hard. It wasn't as bad as the pouring rain on Wednesday, even though that was a shorter run.

Splits: 7:48 - 7:49 - 7:38 - 7:34 - 7:34 - 7:39 - 7:25 - 7:41 - 7:35 - 7:37 - 7:25 - 7:45 - 7:30 - 7:24 - 7:32 - 7:30

Warm up

8xLM
Easy warmup jog to the track - 2.36 miles in 17:55 (7:36/mile)
Skipping exercises, LL (5x3 1-leg lunges)
2x500@1/2 marathon pace with 300 recoveries (2:00.9, 2:01.0)
4x150@5k pace, with 250 recoveries
32.3, 33.8, 33.3, 32.5

Workout

30x144m (470 ft) in 30s with 30s recoveries

30.0, 31.3, 31.4, 30.5, 29.6, 30.0, 29.8, 29.5, 29.4, 29.6, 30.0, 30.7, 28.9, 29.7, 28.7, 29.5, 29.3, 29.8, 29.6, 29.5, 28.0, 30.0, 29.6, 29.8, 29.3, 30.3, 30.5, 43.0 (forgot to stop), 30.2, 30.6

Not too hard, though my groin injury was aggravated and pretty bothersome over the last few

Cool down

Pedestal, Cannonball

Cool down - 2.37 miles in 18:43 (7:54/mile)

Easy 7 miles in 56:18

I felt pretty good the first 4 miles, but very tired after that. Also, my groin injury has resurfaced over the last few days, becoming more aggravating.

Splits: 7:53 - 8:00 - 8:01 - 8:03 - 8:06 - 8:09 - 8:07

Weights

Warmup:

8xLM, LL
Warmup run, with 1x500m at 1/2 marathon pace

Workout:

8 mile tempo run @ 1/2 marathon pace, run in 53:05 (6:38/mile)

I had hoped to run between 6:30-6:35 pace, but that wasn't realistic, for several reasons. I'm not quite that fast over 8 miles yet; I'm still tired from Monday's track workout and yesterday's weight workout; I was wearing my regular trainiers instead of the light-weights.

I really had to work at pushing myself frequently to keep anywhere near pace. Typically I'd check my pace and find I was running 6:45 or slower and then have to force myself to speed up, usually on an uphill, to try to shave a few seconds off. My body was pretty fatigued musculo-skelatally. I wasn't having trouble with oxygen debt, though. Just tired body. In the end I was pleased with the effort. A few weeks ago I ran a 5 mile tempo in 6:30/mile, then ran 6:25 pace the following week at the 15k race. This time I ran 6:38/mile for 8 miles, so I'm hoping that translates into a 6:32 or faster 20k next week. I will need to make sure I am well rested going into the race.

Splits:
1 - 6:40.75
2 - 13:11 - 6:31.25
3 - 20:06 - 6:54.75 (main uphill)
4 - 26:39 - 6:32.5
5 - 33:19 - 6:40.5 (usually this is a faster split)
6 - 40:00 - 6:40.5
7 - 46:43 - 6:43.0
8 - 53:05 - 6:22.0 (downhill)

Cooldown:

Easy Cool down 2 miles in 17:04

Cannonball

4xLM
Easy 6 miles on trails in 47:43 (23:54, 23:49)

I actually felt pretty good today, more energetic than usual after a tough tempo run.

9 miles on the BPA path in 1:09:44 (7:45/mile)

Another run where I was running slow for the effort I felt I was giving. Looking forward to a recovery week next week before the 20k I had originally thought I'd do a progression run, but the pace wasn't getting faster so I gave up.  I just kept running barely under 8/mile until, with a few miles to go, I forced myself to pick it up. Funny how, whenever I do that, it only takes a minute or two, and then the new pace begins to feel normal.

Splits: 7:59 - 7:45 - 7:44 - 7:36 - 8:01 - 7:53 - 7:37 - 7:29 - 7:40

Vickory route - 15 mile long run in 1:48:53 (7:16/mile)

The plan was to run a 2 mile warmup, then do a block progression run of 4 miles each block. I wanted to do 7:30, 7:15, 7:00, and then with the last mile either cool down or kick it in, depending on how I was feeling.

The first block at 7:30 required more effort than expected. However, 7:15 block came easier than expected, though I had the help of a downhill the first mile. I started having "bathroom issues" on the 3rd block and really struggled to stay at 7/mile until the last mile of that block. For some reason I had no issues the last 2 miles, so I gave the last mile a good charge, hoping to get down to under 6:50. Surprised to see such a fast mile at the end of 15 miles!

Splits:
Warmup 1-2: 8:00 - 7:44 = 15:44
Block 1: 7:30 - 7:26.5 - 7:23.7 - 7:27.5 = 29:48
Block 2: 7:10.8 - 7:12.1 - 7:17.6 - 6:59.5 = 28:40
Block 3: 7:17.6 - 7:02.5 - 7:08.1 - 6:58.6 = 28:27
Last mile: 6:14.1

Warm up

8xLM
Warmup run to the track - 2.35 miles in 18:04 (7:42/mile)
Skipping exercises, LL (5x3 1-leg lunges)
Skipping routine, LL (5x3 1-leg lunges)
2x500@1/2 marathon pace with 300m recoveries (1:57.9, 1:58.8)
4x150@5k pace with 250m recoveries
31.9, 32.9, 32.6, 32.1

Workout

15x288m in 60s with 144m recoveries in 60s

59.1, 61.2, 59.9, 59.3, 60.5, 60.4, 60.3, 60.0, 59.6, 60.6, 60.5, 60.5, 60.0, 59.8, 59.0

I got to move up from 30x30s to 15x60s. Still 15 minutes of hard, and at the same pace as before, just in fewer but longer durations. This was a harder workout that the 30x30. The last 3 were pretty challenging, but no reason to stop. I feel like I got more out of this workout than the 30s workout, too. Looking forward to doing another 6 minute test in a few weeks.

Cool down

Cool down (8:26/mile)

6 mile easy run on Vickory in 47:27 (7:54/mile)

Not feeling too bad, given the difficulty of yesterday's workout. For an easy day this was a decent pace. I don't seem to be needing to crawl at 8:30/mile anymore.

Splits: 8:01 - 7:48 - 7:55 - 7:50 - 7:53 - 8:00

8 miles in 1:00:39 (7:35/mile)

Feeling a little tired and sore, but the pace was not too difficult. Not feeling ready to race, but isn't that always how it is on easy weeks? A little weird having a day off yesterday.

Splits: 7:56 - 7:28 - 7:38 - 7:30 - 7:35 - 7:22 - 7:41 - 7:30

Easy 4 miles, with 1/2 mile at race pace.

Splits: 7:54 - 7:50 -
.5 mile split in 6:33/mile pace (goal was around 6:30)
8:09 last mile

Warmup in 19:34
10 minute warmup
Skipping exercises
2x2 min @ 1/2 marathon pace (6:32, 6:37) with recoverey jogs in between

Race:

Perfect day for a race - low 40s and some light drizzle. Actually the rain only fell during the first few miles of the race. I took off my hat just past 5 miles. Not much competition in the race. It was pretty spread out.

I continue to struggle mentally in the first half of these longer races. I am afraid of going out too fast, so I end up holding back too much. McMillan's said I should be able to handle about a 6:35 pace,. My 8 mile tempo from last week suggested I could go 6:32 or faster. Yet, I averaged around 6:38 for the first 6 miles. Once I get to the turn around I tend to let loose. I start thinking of the race in terms of miles left, and I think "I can go faster than this with only 5 miles left", etc. Consequently I dropped my overall time a lot in the 2nd half (see splits, below). Once I past the turn-around I decided I was not going to allow myself to run slower than 6:30 in a mile unless it was uphill. I knew whatever I did that the last 3 miles would be fast.

Unfortunately, the one guy who was close to me in front of me, the one I had spent that last two miles gaining on and was getting ready to pass, ended up being in the "miles" race instead of the "k's" race, so at my turn around he kept going straight. That is, he was running 20 miles, and I was only running 20k. The next person ahead of me was a group of three guys that were so far ahead I could barely make out a blur of colors off in the distance. They were probably 1 1/2 - 2 minutes ahead of me, and since they had each other, and all I had was my Garmin, I didn't figure I would catch up to them much. Never the less, with 4 miles to go I noticed they were much closer, and also that one of them had fallen off the pace. I spent the rest of the race chasing after him, but fell 8 seconds short by the fninish line, though I gained steadily the entire second half.

All in all, I am very satisified about the race, particularly that I was able to continue to push myself to my limits the last 6 miles, even with no competition near me. At the finish I had left all other competitors behind. I think it was about 4 minutes after me before the next person came in. Too bad the course was a little short, by about .13 miles. That would add about 43-45 seconds to my time, which would put me over 1:20. 1:20:27 or so. The pace calculates to a 1:20:37 20k. Not bad considering McMillan said 1:21:30 should be my goal time. That indicates I've improved my overall pace by about 5-6s./mile over the last 4 weeks! I ran 6:25/mile at the 15k 4 weeks ago, and only 4s/mile slower, or 6:29/mile today for the 20k! I feel like I am finally getting into good shape. I am looking forward to a couple weeks off, and then get back to building up the mileage a little higher. Next race won't be until June, which will kick off the summer racing season.

Splits:

1 - 6:41 - a little disappointed. I ran about 6:37 at the 15k, and was hoping to run about that today.

2 - 6:42 - Even more disappointed. The pace feels harder than the time suggests. I think it is mental, as I don't want to have any fatigue 2 miles into a 20k, which isn't realistic

3 - 6:52 - This is the main uphill mile. Nothing steep, just mostly gentle climb over the entire mile

4 - 6:24 - One fairly steep downhill, but the rest of the mile is also either downhill or flat. I took advantage and pushed the pace to make up some lost time. The lead girl who had been near behind me fell back out of earshot on this mile

5 - 6:31 - content to run under goal pace here.

6 - 6:37 - Surprised this mile ended up so slow. I think at one point I intentionally eased up because my pace had been under 6:30, but I eased up too much.

7 - 6:30 - Here I decided not to go slower than 6:30 anymore on flat or downhill

8 - 6:27 - feeling good, gaining on the competition, cheering on the back of the packers who were still heading towards the turn-around of this out-and-back course

9 - 6:41 - The steep uphill, challenging mile. I was pleased with the time. This was faster than I ran this split at the 15k

10 - 6:12 - Once I cleared the steep hill I cranked up the pace, even though I was still out of breath. i made a lot of headway on the guy in front of me during this mile

11 - 6:12 - Another 6:12! Sadly, I made less progress on the guy in front of me this mile

12 - 6:20 - Really glad to stay so far under pace on this mile. I ran the 11th and 12th miles faster than I did in the 15k last month.

12.29 - 1:34.5 (5:27/mile) - decent kick. I just wasn't able to close all the way on that guy in front of me. I believe I had enough energy, but not enough speed, to do it. This is why I need to go faster in the first half.

Cool down jog with Carl and Mike 1.5 miles in 15:11 (10:03/mile)

Easy 3 mile run on trails in 24:46. This is going to be a very easy, almost off, week. Next week easy, too. Taking a couple week break and then starting up for a long season into late summer.

Today I turn 40. i will celebrate later by going for a run. Thanks, in part, to running I don't feel 40 .

I ran 6 miles in about 46:30. It was raining just very lightly. I was hoping to have a downpour, so I could embrace turning 40 by running shirtless in a downpour. But, with just some light sprinkles it wasn't worth taking off the shirt. So, I just ran. I'm still a little tired from the 20k on Saturday, will continue to take an extra easy week this week.

Easy morning run of 3 miles in 24:18

5 miles in 37:49 (7:35/mile)

Feeling pretty good after a week that was mostly off. As usual, my legs were a bit sore after the lack of exercise, but was able to get back into the pace pretty quickly. Light rain, 46 degrees. I used the heart rate monitor for the first time. My average HR was 155.

Splits:
7:43 (144 bpm)
7:38 (151)
7:47 (156)
7:24 (160)
7:17 (163)

7.5 miles in 58:08

I started out planning to run 8 miles and feel good and fast. The first half went ok, but then things went downhill. My quads were tired and aching and I had to slow down. In fact, I wasn't trying to slow down, I just did. Around 7 miles I decided I was going to cut the run short, and I took a short-cut back. Except it wasn't a shortcut, it was a longcut. I had misjudged where I was. At 7 1/2 miles I decided I was done and I walked the rest of the way.

Splits: 7:39 - 7:42 - 7:45 - 7:33 - 7:34 - 7:37 - 8:05 - 4:12 (1/2)

Easy 4 miles in 32:10

I'm feeling ok, but definitely suffering from the effects of not much running. The body is getting out of whack and going much slower than I'm used to. I had wanted to take a couple weeks off, but this is really more "off" than intended. Oh well, I expect I will bounce back quickly once I start up again. Going to Disneyland this next week, so I won't do much running while there probably. Lots of walking, though.

8 miles in 1:01:51

Feeling better today, less tightness in the legs. I've come to the conclusion that I need to not take days off, even after long races. My legs get tight and running hurts if I have more than a couple days of break.

Leaving for Disneyland tomorrow. I'm not sure how much I will get in while down there, so wanted to get a decent run in today. I started out planning to do 6,  but would cut it short if things didn't go well. Instead I felt good enough to lengthen to 4 out.

Splits: 8:04 - 7:53 - 7:54 - 7:42 - 7:31 - 7:40 - 7:43 - 7:26

5.75 miles in 45:40, around Disneyland

I wanted to get in about 6 miles, but no more than that. This worked out well. I ran down Ball road to Walnut, tried to run through a neighborhood but it didn't go through due to railroad tracks and a small aquaduct that runs through Anaheim. It was fun to explore a bit, and kept the pace easy. The plan is to head over to the park about 9:30 and spend many hours there!

Splits: 7:47 - 7:51 - 8:05 - 7:58 - 8:06 - 5:53 (.75 - 7:49/mile)

4 miles in 30:34, around Anaheim/Disneyland area.

A little crazy, but I wanted to get just a short run in today. We were at the park by 8:00AM, spent the morning and came back to hotel by 2:30 PM. Went for a short swim in the ice-cold pool, then waited for the heavy lunch from the Blue Bayou to finish going down. Also took a brief nap. By this time it was 4:20 PM, and was 88 degrees out. Now, I am used to running in upper 40s to maybe low 50s right now. Anything over 50 and I am in short sleeves and shorts, so 88 was a bit of a shock to the system. Never the less, I actually felt better as the run progressed.

Kind of a boring course, but I headed out Manchester and Clementine to Katella. There is a Disney Cast Member parking lot there, so had to turn left and head up a block and kept going South on whatevere road that was. Ran down to Chapman. Saw what I thought was the Crystal Cathedral, so kept heading in that direction until I got to 2 miles and had to turn around. We drove by there the next day and verified it was, in fact, the Crystal Cathedral. Pretty amazing architecture!

Splits: 7:46 - 7:44 - 7:43 - 7:21

10 miles around Disneyland aread in 1:20:24

I decided to beat the heat by running early again. Actually, we weren't going into the park today, so it was good to get the run in in the morning and then have a fairly relaxed day. I did not intend to run 10 miles, but only 8. However,  I mapped out the course ahead of time on google maps and didn't pay enough attention to which mile I was at as I went along, so ended up going out 5 miles instead of 4. The good news was that I didn't notice this until 8 was at 8 miles. I tihought I was at 7 with a mile to go, but figured out I was already at 8 miles with 2 to go.

My legs were pretty tired by today, 3 days in the park plus 2 runs. My legs were sore and ached from the first steps and hurt the whole way. Also, my groin injury was more painful that it's been in a couple months and was a problem for the whole run. Other than that it was a good run. I did more exploring, though I checked to find which streets went through. I visited a couple small parks along the way, one of which I was familiar with.

Splits: 8:07 - 7:56 - 8:08 - 8:03 - 8:04 - 8:13 - 7:56 - 8:05 - 8:14 - 7:38

8 miles in 59:25 (7:26/mile) (30:40 - 28:45)

Feeling ok today, not too tired or sore from the Disneyland vacation. After driving almost 17 hours straight, we got home last night just before 10pm.

It was 51 degrees, and sunny at the start. At 5 miles, though, it started to rain. I didn't want to run in the rain, so I sped up. I didn't outrun the rain, but it did stop with about a mile left. Pace felt good, though certainly strong, over the last couple miles.

Splits: 7:54 - 7:36 - 7:38 - 7:32 - 7:25 - 7:17 - 7:12 - 6:51

5 Mile gas loop in 38:21

I woke up with some kind of cold or similar illness this morning, so stayed home from work and took it easy on the run today. Sunny, but chilly at 11:30.

Splits: 7:48 - 7:35 - 7:46 - 7:38  7:35

5 miles in 38:14

Turns out it hasn't been a cold, but strep-throat I've had. I went to the doctor yesterday morning and got on anti-biotics. Still feeling pretty sick today, but thought I'd give a short run a try and see how it goes. I actually felt pretty good, and better as the run went on. Doctor said that tomorrow I should be feeling noticably better, so I may yet try going 12.

Splits: 7:59 - 7:49 - 7:39 - 7:32 - 7:16

Long run of 12 miles in 1:32:13 (7:41/mile)

Day #3 of antibiotics, I'm still recovering from strep, but I felt pretty good so decided I should be able to handle the 12 I originally planned for this week. The first few miles I was a bit out of sorts. Also, I felt dehydrated a lot of the time, I think due to the medication. Thankfully I did bring a water bottle which lasted me until the 8 mile mark. I also had a bout of low blood-sugar just before 4 miles, which made that mile a bit slower. I stopped for a few minutes in the shade and waited for the dizzyness to pass before resuming. It was a gorgeous day, best of the year so far, at upper 60s by the end, and we reached 72 for the high today.

Splits: 8:02 - 7:38 - 7:39 - 7:58 - 7:39 - 7:34 - 7:41 - 7:50 - 7:27 - 7:32 - 7:36 - 7:36

SEJ-5 mile Gas loop - 5 miles in 37:05 (7:25/mile)

I wasn't going to run today. It was raining steady all morning and I was still feeling crummy from last week's illness. The last thing I wanted to do was be out in the rain while feeling sick. However, around 2:30 I noticed the rain finally stopped and it was sunny out. So, I quickly suited up, warmed up and headed out for a shorter 5 mile run. Felt pretty good. It started to rain in the last mile, but only for a minute. The pace was a bit speedier than planned, but it was good and shouldn't be a problem.

Splits: 7:39 - 7:32 - 7:32 - 7:16 - 7:07

Noon

10 miles in 1:14:26 on Military Road route (37:39 - 36:47)

Although still recovering from strep, and coughing and still have sore throat, etc., I feel really good energy-wise, and nothing seems to be hurting significantly anywhere running-related. I keep running faster paces than intended, but I really think that, if I can run a 20k @ 6:30 pace I should not be wasting my time running 7:40/mile or slower on my regular runs. Recovery days, sure, but not other days.

Splits: 7:39 - 7:33 - 7:41 - 7:26 - 7:21 - 7:19 - 7:22 - 7:15 - 7:29 - 7:21

Noon

6 miles in 44:45 (7:28/mile)

Not feeling tired from yesterday at all. Supposed to be an easy day today, but I am still feeling so good I went ahead and let the pace speed up. Actually, didn't have to try, just looked at my watch and saw I was running more quickly than usual again. I had some low blood-sugar problems during the 3rd mile, but was fine after that.

Splits: 7:34 - 7:24 - 7:39 - 7:23 - 7:17 - 7:28

BPA Trail run - 10 miles in 1:15:36 (7:34/mile)

I was definitely a little tireder today. This is also a hillier course, and that got to me in the later miles. Also, my left knee continues to get sorer, and this course has more concrete sidewalk than I would've liked. The knee started to feel tender after about 5 miles. On the BPA trail I tried to run on the grass/dirt edge to the side of the asphalt trail, but it is only about 1 foot wide, and often is overgrown by tall grass or encroaching scotch broom. Still, it helped.

Splits: 7:33 - 7:34 - 7:38 - 7:25 - 7:39 - 7:41 - 7:30 - 7:35 - 7:31 - 7:31

10:30 AM

Still feeling kind of tired. Left knee a little worse, started feeling sore after about 2 miles or so. This is not anything serious, just some tenderness under the knee cap, and of course it would be getting sore right now. I ramped up my mileage this week from 4 weeks of 15-30 miles to running 50 miles this week. Also, my shoes have over 1100 miles on them. And, my runs have had a lot more concrete in them the last couple weeks. Also, I haven't done much strength training over the last 5 weeks. So, 4 good reasons why my knee is starting to flare up just a little bit.

Splits: 7:41 - 7:44 - 7:48 - 7:38 - 7:43 - 7:54

9:30 AM
14 miles combining Vickory route and the SEJ-7 mile loop - 1:44:10 (7:26/mile)

My knee was a little tender, but not as bad as might be expected. I was able to stay on softer ground much of the time. It was sunny and dry, with little wind. The temps were in the  mid-50's at the start, probably around 60 at the end. Somewhere out there is a water bottle I stashed but was never able to find again. But, I got some water from it at 2 miles before stashing it. And, by breaking the course into two 7 mile segments I was able to get some more water at the half-way point.

I didn't intend to run the second half like a progression, but running the same slow pace gets boring after awhile. I figured I'd just pick it up a little bit. Then a little bit more, etc. Honestly, on long runs it feels easier running faster anyway. My knee wasn't bothering me when I ran faster. Overall, pretty good run. I was tired the rest of the day, though. Splits were sporadic. I discovered at the beginning that my Garmin hadn't been charged. Apparently I'd left it on for a number of hours yesterday and measured a 10 mile drive I'd done in the afternoon! Oh well. I'm out of the habit of marking splits.

Splits:
1 - 8:03.5
4 - 30:59 (22:56 for 3 miles)
5 - 38:42 (7:43)
7 - 53:52 (15:10 for 2 miles)
9 - 68:36 (14:45 for 2 miles, including one major uphil)
10 - 75:54 (7:17)
11 - 83:10 (7:17)
12 - 90:17 (7:07)
14 - 1:44:10 (13:52 for 2 miles)

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

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)

16 miles on Vickory route in 1:58:03 (7:23/mile)
Feeling good after a couple weeks without a long run. The pace was pretty comfortable throughout, and no pain or tightness in the quads. The hamstring was not noticeably tight either.

Splits: 7:47 - 7:27 - 7:24 - 7:28 - 7:24 - 7:20 - 7:17 - 7:29 - 7:11 - 7:44 - 7:20 - 7:23 - 7:13 - 7:17 - 7:13 - 7:05

AM - Easy 3 miles on the Burnt Bridge Creek trail in 24:02 (8:01/mile)

PM - 6 miles on the  Burnt Bridge Creek Trail in 46:11 (7:42/mile).
It was a gorgeous day, sunny warm, not much wind. Lots of people out on the trail, too. Felt good, ran a little faster than I intended or should've, but I felt pretty good. My left ham is more sore today, but mostly I think it is the old sciatica cropping up again.

Splits: 7:55 - 7:31 - 7:37 - 7:39 - 7:37 - 7:53

2.6 mile warmup in 19:43 (7:35/mile)

2x400@4 mile race pace
I ran a little faster than race pace. I decided to do this on the track so I could do 2x400 instead of a single 1/2 mile at race pace like I usually would. I ran the 400s in 1:25.8 and 1:26.7, but was really shooting for an 88. The pace did feel a little fast, but I think 88 will feel easier. Especially in a race, with my racing shoes on.

2.6 mile cool down in 20:16 (7:48/mile)

Warmup:

1 1/2 mile warmup jog in 11:27

2x500m @ 1/2M pace. I ran them a little too far, but close enough (.33-.34 miles)
2:07, 2:11, both in about 6:20-6:25/mile pace)

Race:

Four on the Fourth 4 mile race - Goal time: 23:28; Actual time: 23:27!

I felt pretty good all morning, through the warmup and pre-run intervals. I was in a relaxed and happy mood beforehand, too.

My goal was to get out a little more aggresively than usual and try to take a little more risk. I'm not sure whether I really took much risk, but I did push a little more aggresively at least. Usually my friend, Mark, goes out faster than me and I catch him after a couple miles. However, today I went out with him or slightly ahead of him. We ran together the first mile, with me usually even or slightly ahead of him. The whole first mile is downhill, with a fairly good-sized and steep downhill the first half mile, then more gradual the 2nd half. We were at 1/2 mil in 2:44, but 5:45 at the mile, so definitely slowed up a bit. 5:45 was the slowest I had wanted to be. I was thinking 5:40-5:45 would be a good start, then try to hold pace (5:52) over miles 2-3, and hang on for the uphill 4th mile (it's an out and back course).

Mile two I opened up a few second gap on Mark. Not much, though, because I was able to hear him behind me when he would cheer on other runners. Mile two was a little slower than it should've been, a little too comfortable. Still, I was gaining on runners and moving up consistently. As we approached the turn-around I saw another friend, Darrin, up ahead. He was in 12th, but not as far ahead of me as he usually is. I found out later he went out too fast (5:15) the first mile and slowed up a bit after that. I counted the runners returning as they went by me and I was in 20th.

Mile three I focused on keeping my pace down to low 5:50s. It's basically a flat to slight incline mile, and I usually am able to catch a few runners here. There was a group of 3 runners not far ahead of me at the turn-around, and I caught them pretty quickly and zoomed past them like they were standing still. I could still hear Mark behind me by the 3 mile mark. I checked my split and was under 17:30! That's more than 30 seconds ahead of last year, and slightly ahead of goal pace. I just wanted to try to get under 6 minutes on the last mile.

From the 3 mile mark you can see all the way up to the big hill just before the finish. I could see Darrin up ahead of me in his bright green shirt. He hadn't gained on me. In fact I was gaining on him. I really tried to push the last mile, kept checking the Garmin. I hit 1/2 mile to go in 2:59 for the split, so still on pace! I kept the pressure on myself, though I was slowed a bit on the big uphill just before the finish. My stomach, which was already a little queazy, really tightened up on me on the hill, and in the final sprint to the finish. As I approached the finish I saw the digital display say 23:26 so I gave just a bit more of a surge and my watch said 23:27 when I looked after the race! Woo hoo, made my goal by 1 second! I can feel good about that because the goal was challenging to begin with. Based on the time I ran at the track meet Wednesday I thought I could pull off a 23:28 if I ran a really good race. Looks like it worked out. Next is the Lakefair 8k!

It was really nice to be able to get out more aggressively, and yet still find something to push hard through the finish, and also still be able to be competitive with all the runners around me.

Splits:
1 - 05:45 - 5:45
2 - 11:45 - 6:00
3 - 17:28 - 5:43
4 - 23:27 - 5:59

Cool down:

5 mile cool down in 42:05 (8:25/mile)
I ran over the whole course again with Mark, then finished up with one more mile on my own to make it 12 for the day. The first mile we ran with a kid Mark coaches, so ran a little extra slowly.
Splits: 9:25 - 8:10 - 8:03 - 8:12 - 8:15