Not today

Well the workout didn't go as planned today. I had intended on running 3x2400 at 6:40, 6:35, and 6:30 pace with 1200 meter recoveries at 7:25 pace. Then I was to finish with a fast but controlled mile. Basically what Eric did yesterday but a little less volume.

2 miles to warm-up in 43 degree weather with a light rain and 17 mph wind... felt pretty good. I was running our 1200 meter loop so each rep would be 2 laps. The first lap was 5:00 (172) or exactly on 6:40 pace and felt pretty good. The second lap was on pace as well and I finished the first 2400 feeling pretty good. My legs were a little tired but things seemed to be going ok. I was expecting the second rep to go a little better as this seems to be the case for me when I am doing this type of work. The recovery lap felt good and I was ready to go after the 1200 meters. The first lap was a little faster than I was supposed to go.. 4:52 (180) rather than 4:56 but I slowed a little on the next lap.. 4:55 (186). It was during the second loop that I knew things weren't going to finish well. My legs were really tired and they weren't coming around like I expected they would. My breathing wasn't terrible but it seemed like the effort was harder than what we intended for this workout. I was pretty sure before I started the 3rd rep that I wasn't going to finish the workout but thought I would give this lap a try to see if things were going to ever come around. They didn't. About 200 meters in I decided to push a little and just make this lap a hard but controlled 1200 and call it good for the morning. I ran a 4:48 (I messed up the avg. HR for this lap but think it was probably a little higher than 186 based on a few glances at the watch) or 6:24 pace and it didn't feel good. I seemed to recover ok though.. down to 130 in 1:05 and 120 in 1:22.

While it is easy to say now that I am done, I am pretty sure that I could have finished the last 2400 at the intended pace but I don't know if it would have been in my best interest. Today it seemed like it was my legs that were the limiting factor... if that really was the case is it ok to push through that and keep going? But my heart rate wasn't leveling off either so maybe it wasn't just tired legs. I am concerned that I am not recovering well enough from my runs and am starting to dig myself into a hole. Hmmm... maybe we are being a little too ambitious with the paces we set. Sometimes it's easy to forget that I don't have the base that Eric has. But my recovery down to 120 heart rate has been pretty good lately and seems to be getting better as the weeks go on.

I'd like to think that it was just an off day but I suspect that I may be pushing things a little more than I should be right now and I am not recovering as I should be. Don't know.

Hills

Hills on the treadmill today. 7 miles with 5x400 meter hills (5.5% incline) at 7:00 pace... 400 meter recovery between. The first few felt pretty good but by the last two my legs were burning. Definitely not used to hills.

6 mile recovery run yesterday. My legs felt pretty good.. tired but not sore.

Back-to-back

Yesterday was day one of my third week of back-to-back workouts. 9 miles with 6 at 7:10 pace. It was great running weather.. 33 degrees, no wind and a light mist.

I started with my two mile warm-up and then hit the first faster mile at 7:09 (175). I felt really relaxed and could tell again this week that I was going to have to hold back some to keep the pace from getting too fast. The next 4 miles felt really comfortable: 7:06 (173), 7:11 (174), 7:07 (175), 7:08 (174). I finished with a 7:16 (173).. I could feel that I was slowing down over the last 100 meters or so... not from being tired but for some reason I just decided I was ready to be done. I recovered to 130 in :48 and 120 in :54.

Today's conditions were similar to yesterday only a little better.. 43 degrees instead of 33. Warm enough for shorts! I planned to run 14 miles with the last 5 at 7:10 pace. I wanted to keep the first 9 around 7:40 pace or 162 heart rate. I averaged about 7:32 pace and stayed right around 162-163 until mile 9 when I hit 167. I could tell at that point that the effort was changing a little too.. not in my legs so much but my breathing changed some. I started the 5 miles at 7:10 pace still feeling pretty good. This is how they came out: 7:08 (173), 7:08 (174), 7:11 (177), 7:06 (178), 7:06 (174). Things changed again a little around mile 3... my heart rate started going up and I started to feel it in my legs a little this time. Something happened again though right before mile 5... my heart rate went back down and my legs felt incredible. I had to really try to keep the pace from dropping. A couple of times when I checked the GPS I was running 6:55 and it felt better than any other point during the run. My average heart rate was lower than miles 3 and 4 too. I am not sure how that works.. this is the second time that this has happened during one of these efforts where my last mile feels really good and the heart rate drops a few beats too. I recovered to 130 in :58 and 120 in 1:15. I finished with another slower mile to get 15 for the day. It was just too nice outside to stop at only 14 miles. Good run.

Last week ended with 65 miles.

8 miles

Another good day... everything felt really smooth this morning and I really enjoyed this run. 8 miles with a few hills on the treadmill. I started at 3.5% and increased the incline gradually over 600 meters up to 6%.

8 miles

8 miles (8:05 avg. pace) with 1x600, 2x400 at 6:00 pace on the treadmill. Legs felt good again today.

11 miles

11 miles on the treadmill this morning. Felt really good today.

Evaluation Run

The plan today was to hit 6:40's for the 3 mile evaluation run. Conditions were pretty good this morning... 12 degrees and a little windy (but nothing like it has been the last few days). I hit the first mile at 6:39 (177) but didn't feel very good at that point. It took until about half-way through mile 2 before I started to feel comfortable. Mile 2 was another 6:39 (185). I felt pretty relaxed and smooth by the time I got to mile 3 and finished with a 6:37 (185). I recovered to 130 in 1:18, 120 in 1:36, and 110 in 1:59. 7 miles for the day with a 2 mile warm-up and 2 mile cool-down.

Monday- 6 miles on the treadmill. Felt pretty good.. legs were a little tired but not sore.

16 miles

16 miles in 2:02:36 (7:40 pace) this morning. Heart rate stayed around 160 for most of the run. The last two miles or so I felt like the effort changed a little. My breathing didn't seem to change and my heart rate only increased 1-2 bpm but I started feeling tired in my legs. Probably the most frustrating part of the run was the wind.. a nice 32 degree morning but the wind was blowing 21 mph gusting to 27.

Slow down

9 miles today with 6 at current marathon pace. I had a hard time keeping the pace where I wanted it to be.. around 7:12-7:15/mile. I was trying to slow down a little this week based on Mystery Coach's suggestion after last week's back-to-back and evaluation runs. The 6 miles broke down like this: 7:07 (172), 7:07 (175), 7:09 (171), 7:18 (169), 7:01 (174), 7:09 (168). I have really lost my ability to judge pace... it is frustrating. I used to love being able to hit a 400 in the exact time that my coach would ask for... it was neat to be that tuned in to pace. I found that every time I let my mind wander a little today I would drop down around 7:00 pace. I'd slow down to try to get back on track but eventually the pace would drop down again... except for mile 4. But then I freaked out because it was a little slower than I expected it to be and took off like a nut for mile 5. Overall I feel pretty good about the effort. It felt really controlled and my legs definitely wanted to go faster.

63 miles for the week.

9 miles

I had a little more desire to run when I woke up this morning than I have had the past few days. If I would have had to run outside today that may have changed... we got about 7 inches inches of snow dumped on us yesterday and to top it off it was 5 below zero this morning. The weather has been pretty crazy this winter.

9 miles on the treadmill at 8:00 average pace with 1x600, 2x400.

Tired in the head

This week I have been lacking motivation... the tiredness in my body is gone (my legs felt great today) but my head hasn't quite come around yet. I gave in today and stopped at 6 miles.

11 miles

11 easy on the treadmill (8:10 pace).

Evaluation Run

Tuesdays have become the evaluation day. The plan was to try to hit the same pace this week as I did last week and monitor heart rate and recovery again. Last week I ran 3 miles in 6:32 (176), 6:28 (184), and 6:31 (191). The first mile today I could tell I was a little tired and my legs were heavy.. I was having a hard time sticking to a pace and came through a little fast in 6:28 (178). Mile 2 felt a little better and the heaviness seemed to lift a little.. 6:28 (184). I felt a lot more tired this week on the last mile than I remember feeling last week... it was also a little faster than it should have been.. 6:24 (184). I recovered to 130 in 1:26 and 120 in 1:56 so recovery was a little slower this week but overall average heart rate was lower and pace was a little quicker. But what does it all mean?

Yesterday was an easy 7 on the treadmill. My knee was a little sore on Sunday but felt fine yesterday and today.

Part two

Today was the second part to my first of Mystery Coach's famous back-to-back efforts. I had planned to run 14 miles at a steady pace (7:40ish) following yesterday's 5 mile tempo. I felt good today and found myself slipping into the 7:30's and even 7:20's for some of the early miles. I held back until mile 11 and then I let the pace go where it wanted to go. I focused on staying relaxed and keeping the effort from getting beyond what felt comfortable. The last 4 miles were 7:17, 7:06, 7:02, 7:00. I was definitely tired at the end of the run but I think I could have kept the pace for another couple of miles.

14 miles (1:44:37). 10 miles at 7:36 avg. pace with 4 averaging 7:06 pace.

Good run

Yesterday I mentioned that the workout today would include 5 miles at 7:00 pace.. I was wrong. That isn't until next week. Today the schedule called for 5 miles at 7:10-7:12 pace. The first 2 miles during the warm-up were at 8:00 pace and then I gradually picked up the pace so that the 3rd mile of the warm-up was a 7:28... and then I was ready to have some fun. I have been itching to start some of this faster stuff and I knew my legs were feeling good today so I was excited to do this workout. I was running pretty relaxed and the pace felt really comfortable. The splits were 7:11, 7:02, 7:02, 7:03, 7:04. I had my mind set on running this workout at 7:00 pace so when I found out that it wasn't supposed to be that fast I decided on a compromise and figured around 7:05 would be good. It was probably a little faster than what I was supposed to do but it felt good. We'll see how tomorrow's long steady run goes now.

9 miles for the day with the possibility of a second run later (in shorts!).

64 miles for the week. A little lower than I wanted but Monday was a 3 mile day due to my knee problems.

*I did get out for that second run. 36 degrees and sunny.. it was perfect for a slow 3 miles in shorts =) So I guess that brings up my miles for the week to 67.

It's not all bad

While the snow makes it much more difficult to run at times, it can be pretty fun as well.

10 miles this morning on the treadmill as Eric ran outside in shorts.... we might have to start doing rock, paper, scissors to see who gets to run outside as the weather starts getting nice =) I felt pretty good this morning and added 1x600, 2x400 at 6:00 pace just to get the legs moving a little.

Tomorrow I am planning to run 9 miles with 5 at 7:00 pace... we should be able to work out our schedule so that I can get outside to do this. I always feel better at the faster paces when I am not on the treadmill.. plus it is supposed to be in the 30's again tomorrow.

8 miles

Easy 8 today on the treadmill. I was going to add a little speed during the run but decided not to as I could feel just a little tightness in my knee. In the past when this has flared up it usually goes away within a day so I am surprised that it is lingering a little. I need to be better about icing and stretching throughout the day.

Wednesday

10 miles (8:06 pace) on the treadmill. I wasn't sure what to expect today after yesterday's faster effort. My legs weren't sore at all and they actually felt pretty fresh. I would have gone another 2-3 miles today but some light snow on top of already slippery roads brought Eric back inside after just a couple miles. I stopped at 10 to give him plenty of time to finish his run. It was a good reason to stop a little early and have some extra time to enjoy my morning a bit before work and kids.

Evaluation Run

The plan for today was 3 miles at 6:30 pace while wearing the heart rate monitor to check recovery. Eric and I worked out our schedule so that I could do this outside instead of on the treadmill... thanks =) We have a 1200 meter loop by our house that is pretty clear of snow and ice right now so that is where I headed. 4 degrees (above zero!!) and a 9 mph wind... not too shabby. A 2 mile warm-up and I was ready to go. The first mile felt really relaxed.. 6:32. The second mile was more of a mental battle than anything. About halfway through I started thinking maybe I would stop at 2 or maybe 2.5 or maybe I should just suck it up and finish what I was out there to do. Mile 2 passed in 6:28 but I was still waffling about how much longer I wanted to keep up the effort. I could feel that I wasn't relaxed anymore and not surprising when I checked my pace I had slowed to 6:38. Finally I got my head in the right place (thanks jackelope) and I focused on relaxing.. a quick look at the watch showed that I was back (6:22 pace). Mile 3 ended up being a 6:31 and a good lesson in what running relaxed can do for me. The most surprising part of the whole workout was the recovery. I have a pretty high max heart rate (don't know what it is for sure)... my average heart rates were 176, 184, and 191 and I was recovered to 130 in 1:22, 120 in 1:41, and 105 in 2:01. I didn't think I would recover that quickly. It has been 5 months since I have been back running again and I am surprised at what I have gained in that time. I ran the equivalent of a 20:10 5k today and while it was challenging it certainly wasn't a race effort. I am looking forward to racing now.. I have a 5k planned for April 14.

Yesterday I had to cut my recovery run short.. my left IT band was tight after Sunday's run and my knee hurt bad enough at 3 miles that I knew I needed to stop. A lot of stretching and icing paid off because it felt fine today.

Monday- 3 miles
Tuesday- 7 miles with 3 mile evaluation (6:32, 6:28, 6:31)

Great run

It's funny that I didn't want to run today... I normally love my long run and really look forward to heading out the door. For some reason this morning I just wasn't excited about running but I knew I needed to get it done. The first mile was a slow 8:26 and I was worried that it wasn't going to get any better. I decided to forget about the watch and just run whatever was comfortable. A few miles later I was running in the 7:40's and starting to feel really good. At mile 11 I decided I would try doing the 3x1 mile reps (with a recovery mile between) that I was going to do last weekend but had trouble because of the weather. The roads weren't great today but I was able to find some relatively clear stretches. I wasn't too worried about time... I just wanted to run relaxed. The first one felt really good and I was surprised that it was a 6:46. I felt ready to go at the end of the recovery mile (7:50) and had another pretty clear straight stretch of road. This one felt a little quicker but I still wasn't pushing too hard.. I was very surprised to see a 6:19. Whoops. The recovery mile went by in 7:32 this time and I wasn't in a great spot to start the next mile.. I had to make two turns so that I was heading back home and both were pretty slippery which meant I had to slow quite a bit. I could feel this one in my legs quite a bit more than the first two.. I think I was feeling the effect of the 6:19. I finished in 6:41 which was still better than I expected it to be. I can't remember having a more enjoyable run. 17 miles (7:37 avg.)

The week

Sunday- 16 w/ 3x1200 at 6:46-48 pace
Monday- 8
Tuesday- 8 (8:00 pace)
Wednesday- 13 (8:10 pace)
Thursday- 7 w/ 2x600, 1x400 at 6:00 pace (7:50 avg.)
Friday- 10 (8:05 pace)
Saturday-8 (8:05 pace)

70 miles for the week. Overall pace is starting to come down on the treadmill. Still anxious to get it under 8:00/mile.

Easy 10

10 miles at 8:00 pace on the treadmill. Felt good today and enjoyed the run... it didn't seem to take forever today. It's still snowing...

Snow!!

Even more snow last night and it is still going strong. The roads are not good right now... the plows have not been out and there must be 8 inches of new snow already.

7 miles on the treadmill today with 2x600, 1x400 at 6 minute pace to try to get the legs used to some turnover. It was pretty fun and I am really looking forward to doing some faster stuff when I can get out on the roads. 7:50 average pace.