Should have looked at the weather before heading out this morning. I always tease Kristin about looking at last night's weather and it burned me this time.
The temp was about 20*F with a light 5 mph wind…I dressed for sub zero wind-chill and paid for it.
Nice "loop" (or square if you prefer) 4.1 miles at a 9:07 pace.
Off to work!
Well I doubt that I will get in the allotted 20 miles in today…I just have not felt it. My wife joked about going into this marathon without running a 20 miler and that just might be the case!!
The temps were -7 with the windchill (a solid 10-15 mph NW wind) but I still made it to the location on time…holy crap there are a lot of people here for 6 am!!! There were 7 of us to start off with and more came once we had left.
Simple out and back to the south…which meant that the run back to the car was horrible!! Got in 5.5 miles before we met up with the rest of today's runners.
7am we headed out again this time down the frontage road…over to Stuart and up to Old Spring Road. Normally we would turn back here but we were all interested in extra mileage today so we headed down to the Oakes trails. I did a complete loop before heading back.
All in all I got in 12.51 miles and did it in under 2 hours…looks like my 13.1 mile goal of sub 2:05 is well within reach!
If I keep my head into my running the way I envision it I’ll have a good day. Get outside and boy is it humid. We run from Kristin’s to Melissa’s and the decision is made that we are going to run through Johnson’s today (which means some hills). I quickly fall behind the girls but they are faster so I let them go. I’m doing relatively well at focusing on a nice even pace.
We get out of the park and my wife decides that with the race only days away and the IT band still not 100% she is going to head back and see us there.
I keep moving following the other two girls but I’m still losing ground. I walk for a small portion of
I feel bad that Melissa ran the extra mileage, I feel insulted that they thought I’d be THAT FAR behind them, and I feel good knowing that I have a group of running companions that care that much for me. Melissa declined a ride home and she estimates she ended her day with 7-7.5 miles.
For me I ended the day with 5.25 miles in about a 9:15 pace. The day was 64 degrees, light NE wind (5 mph), and overcast.
With the wife’s IT band acting up I had told her that she wasn’t to run today so she opted to stay in bed when I got up this morning – I thought that Kristin was going to have her ride a bike but maybe I was mistaken. :\
So I met Kristin and find out that Melissa isn’t going to make it either so Kristin and I set out…I had a rough mile and a half. I could not breathe and my legs were burning! Kristin was trying to keep her normal pace and I was trying to hang in there for a while. After a short time I bailed on her and let her go ahead. She did it twice…both times coming back to get me. We finished up the run with 4.25 miles for me in about 41 min. It was 58, no wind, and slightly overcast.
No running today, just the personal trainer. She did a great job moving us through a number of upper body exercises that just kicked my ass! 60 min workout with a warm up and cool down.
I still do not know why I mentioned that I want to do intervals to Kristin, Melissa, and Jodie. I now have to do it!!
So here is what we did…1 mile warm up (9:22 pace)…4 x 1/2 mile speed work with ¼ mile rests (pace 7:46, 7:41, 7:41, 7:19)…1 mile cool down (9:23 pace)
Total mileage for the day 5 miles at 9:17 pace.
The mileage for the say is 15. It is rainy, humid, and about 51 degrees at 5 AM when I meet Kristin and Rick. We start out at a decent 9:08 pace and I was able to maintain it for about 2 miles. At this point my legs felt like they were getting shorter! So I stretched and tried to catch up. I met up with them again at Kristin’s house (4.5 miles in) and then we headed back out, the long way, to meet the rest of the group. I had 10.5 miles in once I got to the group. My wife and I headed for Case’s track to put in a few laps (in honor of those we know with cancer and to remember the founding of our running group 7 years ago) but I realize shortly after getting there that I need a bathroom break. Once relieved I finish my laps and head back to the trail. A lot more walking that I should…just a bad day! 15 miles at a 10:39 pace
So if you’ve looked at the schedule to the right of these posts you probably noted that it is different than what I have been doing for the past 4 years. The NY Marathon site offered a number of training programs and seeing that this one had a few more 20 milers and a 22 I thought this would be a much better program to follow.
All that being said I have been short of my weekly mileage for the past 2 weeks and it looks like this week I will be to but I didn’t want to be 6-8 miles short just 1-2. So when my wife got up to exercise I decided that it would be best if I got out and did a few miles.
Simple out and back for a total of 4 miles at about a 9:20 pace. Sunny and cool (48) hint of a breeze 3 mph NE
Really did not want to be up this morning. What was just as bad was that my wife didn’t either! But we were good got out of bed and drove over to Kristin’s. Found out that Jodie wasn’t going to be there so we went straight away to Melissa’s. My wife has been complaining about a bad knee so has been resting it but Kristin convinced her (very easily I might add) to run to Melissa’s. Now I always end up behind them so this was no surprise what was interesting was that they were losing me and I was at an 8:45-8:50 pace!! I thought she was having knee issues. ;^)
Once at Melissa’s we got caught up on the daily events in our lives and ended up walking a bit farther than normal before we set out running. I started my watch toward the end of the walk just to record the mileage but even that is off by about ¼.
My pace was strong for a morning I didn’t want to be out here: 9:20. When I got near Kristin’s I realized that I would be short so a little out and back and I ended the day with just over 4.5 miles. Factoring in the walking I was about at a 10 min pace…ignoring it closer to 9:15. Overcast cool (52) slight wind out of the NE 8-10 mph
I think that I overdid dinner last night. I was up at 3 am not feeling well. Sweating, nauseous, and cramping…not the thing you want to wake up to.
Up at 4:15 got ready but still was not feeling well. The wife and I met Kristin and Jodie. Steph and Jodie walked…Steph is nursing a knee injury so she walked with Jodie.
I started out okay and it got worse. The grocery store was not open so I had to hold it a while longer. There was some pressure that after a short time passed and I was able to run again. Even with all of that I finished the 4.1 miles in 44 min…not great but could have been much worse. Beautiful morning…overcast, 58, with a light East wind.
It has been a few weeks but we are back on schedule with the personal trainer…for a week or two! Anna worked us hard but it was good. I’m glad to see that I didn’t lose too much strength while I’m away.
In the continuing adventures to work on my speed and endurance we opted for a hill/stair workout for today. We met Melissa and Kristin at 7:30 am in the Gateway parking lot. The rain had not started so we might get lucky…not so much!
The plan was to charge the hill recover on the down and head for the stairs…charge the stairs…I love hills so I was off to the races!
By the time I hit the 4th hill charge the lungs were burning and I was ready to quit. Got a drink of water after the 4th circuit and did another 2.
When you add all the hills/stairs…1 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down we got in 4.5 miles. The weather was cool (52) and rainy…wind (NNE 5mph)
My wife is looking to build her mileage so that the Lighthouse Run and the Maui Half are a little easier for her to handle. In that vein she convinced me to forgo my 10 miler this week and do 12. We met Melissa at 5:30 am in the Panera parking lot and started our run. I was only able to squeak 8 miles in before meeting the group at 7 so I thought I’d be a little short but Melissa knew where to turn so that we would have just the right mileage for the day.
My body shut down at 9 miles – I just did not want to run any more but I slogged through it with a little walking and I was able to finish the 12 miles in a 9:45 pace. The weather for the day was cool (49) and windy (ENE 5mph)
Parkside! My favorite course. I needed 13 miles today so I’m out there at 5:30 with Kristen. Did a nice out and back on the roads in the park while waiting for the early group to get there. 6:00 am we meet up with the early group and run a modified 5k course backwards. Part of the group headed off to the roads and the wife and I stuck to the trails…she is going to hate me!!! We finished things on the trail and got to the parking lot just before 7.
Talked a bit with the group and then headed back out there to finish the mileage for the day. My wife stuck with me the whole time…she could have gone faster but the trails were kicking her butt and in the end when the mileage was kicking me she ran the extra 0.5 miles just to be sure that I got my full 13 in!! She managed to run 10.5 miles as a training run!!!
13 miles…95% trail…9:59 pace!
Didn’t want to do this but it has become part of the ritual…2 days a week early.
Out and back…4 miles…9:50 pace…much more humid that I would have liked (92%!!)
Back in
5 miles…9:45 pace
A small group of us decided that we would do a Memorial Day run and head up to
I struggled for the 1st 5k as I tried to stay with a much faster group initially so that I could direct them. Averaged 9:35 on the way out.
On the way back I was with my wife and Andy and we did pretty good talking and focusing on the nice trail. Averaged 9:15 on the way back
Completed 6.2 miles with a 9:25 pace.
We will be adding this location to our regular run.
Starting the marathon buildup for
Met the girls early and doubled back to pick up the wife at 6:15.
Felt the same way I did last week…no real cares and just focused on the run.
Manages to get 10 miles in at a 9:13 pace…that is better than last years Lighthouse run!!!
I saw a sign that there were caves here in
4 miles…10:23 pace.
Still not a fan of the morning run and it is worse when I’m away from home and running by myself.
Out and back route…4 miles…9:30 pace
The wife wanted to get a few extra miles in this week and who was I not to agree. So we were at running a bit early on Saturday to get in a few miles before meeting the group. We maintained a decent pace not too face but not too slow. It was tough going but running with each other made it a little easier.
Got back in time to meet the group say ‘hi’ and head right back out.
I was in a unique place mentally…no race in the near future (other than the Lighthouse) and no “long run” for a few weeks. I was feeling good so I just went. Seems that everyone noticed the extra spring in my step as I move out in front of the group and managed to put up a 9:19 average for my 2nd 5k of the morning.
Finished 8 miles at a 9:26 pace.
