1:35:00 :: 14 miles

Easy run. Felt the leg a bit at 8-9 miles, then it gradually faded. No pain, just a mild tightness. Legs felt great, overall felt easy and relaxed for the whole run. Stopped short of the full 1:45 I was planning due to the leg issues.

2:20:00 :: 21 miles

Long run. Got a bit fatigued at 13, but after a couple of sips of water, I started to feel more energetic. First 12.5 outside, then finished on the treadmill.

Say Goodbye to the Unicorn

Things are improving quite a lot lately. The weather is still sketchy, but no more ice, snow, or unbearably cold temps lately. I've even willed myself into wearing shorts on a couple of mornings.

I'll see how the weekend of workouts go, and by Sunday morning our little pink friend will sparkle no more. Cheers!

57:00 :: 9 miles

MP run @ 156-157 HR. Haven't done one of these in a long while. Today wasn't a great day to try it with the wind, either. I was able to wear shorts, so no restricting extra gear. It still went well enough. Effort felt about right for MP, and legs felt (and feel) very fresh.

1.7mi WU 12:30
41F, 16mph NNE wind

5:43(157) | 5:48(156) | 5:54(156) | 5:53(157)
5:51(157) | 5:51(158) | 5:51(157)

58:00 :: 8.5 miles

Eval. GI issues still bothering me, three pit stops during the run (none during the eval segment, though). Ran inside even though it was beautiful outside (32F, not much wind). Ice and frost on the roads was pretty bad.

3 mi WU 20:55
6:03(152) | 6:08(152) | 6:14(152) | 6:18(152)
recHR: 130-:34 | 120-:43 | 110-:76

2:20:00 :: 20.7 miles

Long run. A little bit sore at the end, but fueling wise, everything went very well (as compared to the multiple failed runs over the past few weeks). Pace was faster than expected from the start. Had to dial back a bit after the first two miles. Legs feel good a few hours later. I'm feeling like I'm back on track! A few more weeks of good results and I will be much happier.

1:03:20 :: 10 miles

Moderate run. Shooting for 64-65 minutes, but fell into a good rhythm around 6:18-6:20 pace for a 63+. Very comfortable, good HR numbers and excellent recovery. Wind was swirling, felt like it was always in my face. Felt good overall.

30F 18mph WNW wind
6:23(139) | 6:25(142) | 6:16(142) | 6:20(144)
6:20(145) | 6:21(144) | 6:17(146) | 6:17(147)
6:19(146) | 6:19(146)
recHR 130-:25 | 120-:31 | 110-:46

54:00 :: 8 miles

Evaluation run. I have to stop doing these for a while. I can't take it mentally. They might be indicating better fitness than I am aware of, but I can't get over the fact that I was running these paces for easy 20 milers last year.

Today
3 mi WU 20:35 20F 17mph SSW wind
6:08(151) | 6:13(152) | 6:14(152) | 6:19(153)
recHR: 130-:28 | 120-:37 | 110-:56

Tuesday Feb 17
3mi WU 20:20 15F 7mph N wind
6:13(152) | 6:16(152) | 6:21(152) | 6:21(152)
recHR 130-:27 | 120-:34 | 110-:49

2:01:00 :: 17.5 miles

Easy run with hills/strides. Felt really good this morning--recovery pace run yesterday was the ticket! First half at 7:00 pace and then added 4 minute, 5% hills, followed by a 1 minute stride at 5:00 pace. Repeated four times on ten minutes. Finished with a couple more miles at 6:40 pace. HR was 133 or so at 7:00 pace, which hasn't happened in a while. Nice to see some movement there.

1:00:00 :: 8.5 miles

Easy run. Feeling a bit wiped out after yesterday's longer run, so I just ran comfortably. Really felt good later in the day, so I think I needed the recovery.

1:45:00 :: 15 miles

Easy run with hills on the treadmill. Four or five hills at 5% for 3-4 minutes each. Finished with a long stride at 5:30ish pace. Felt decent overall, definitely better than the last couple of days.

1:00:00 :: 9 miles

Easy run with strides. Long stride around 5:00 pace with a little bit of incline every fifteen minutes, three total (2:15, 1:30, 1:30). Felt pretty good, nice change of pace.

1:20:00 :: 12 miles

Easy run. Back is starting to feel better. Still rigged up pretty good, but not painful to run. Muscle relaxers must be doing something odd, though. Having some GI distress and a general lack of comfort (shallow breathing, slow pace feels fast). Hopefully only a few more days of this.

1:00:00 :: 9 miles

Second decent run in over a week. Started fighting a cold last Saturday, finally cleared that out of my system the following Sunday, but got one of my neck/back spasms that morning and could barely move, let alone run. Three days of muscle relaxers later, I am able to run somewhat normally. The scheduled eval will have to be put off for next week as I get my feet back under me. I hope you enjoy the unicorn. It will be on my page to remind me of how pink, sparkly, and non-existent my training has been lately.

1:18:00 :: 11 miles

Easy run. Very relaxing, leg went almost completely unnoticed. The more I run, the better it feels. That's a happy accident.

2:21:00 :: 21 miles

Long run on the mill. One of the good ones. I think I benefited from doing the moderate ten miler yesterday, which sort of makes this like a back-to-back. Something about doing these one after another makes the long run better.

7:16(119) | 6:45(128) | 6:42(131) | 6:43(134)
6:42(135) | 6:43(136) | 6:42(136) | 6:43(136)
6:43(138) | 6:42(139) | 6:43(138) | 6:42(140)
6:38(141) | 6:39(142) | 6:39(143) | 6:40(144)
6:40(145) | 6:40(145) | 6:40(147) | 6:40(148)
6:40(151) recHR 130-:38 120-:58 110-2:47

1:02:30 :: 10 miles

Moderate pace run. Had to run on the treadmill again this week, as it is -23F with a steady wind (-48F windchill), and there is just no way to get a decent run done in that kind of weather. The tough guy routine is ultimately just a waste of energy!

Felt pretty easy again. Picked up the pace a few seconds per mile over the second half, and still felt great. Really quick HR recovery. Good day.

6:18(137) | 6:17(141) | 6:17(141)
6:18(142) | 6:15(143) | 6:15(145)
6:13(146) | 6:13(147) | 6:12(149)
6:13(150)
recHR 130-:36 | 120-:43 | 110-:59

Long run tomorrow.

1:00:00 :: 7.5 miles

Easy run. Really easy.

1:45:00 :: 15.1 miles

Easy run. Feeling a little bit tired until about halfway, then felt more energetic. Started watching Arrested Development from the first episode. Great way to pass the time. -24F this morning, unspeakably colder with the windchill, so it is slowly warming up.

52:00 :: 8 miles

Evaluation run. Sucked. Didn't feel bad or off or anything, but I guess I am having a bad day. Couldn't do it outside due to -30F air temp and fresh snow, so I was back on the mill.

Today
3mi warmup 20:40
5:54(152) | 6:04(152) | 6:07(153) | 6:09(153)
recHR 130-:34 | 120-:57 | 110-:80

12.30.2008
3mi warmup 21:13
5:43(152) | 5:53(152) | 5:57(152) | 6:07(153)
recHR 130-:35 | 120-:49 | 110-:71

Quite a difference, so this was no fun. I have definitely added some mileage the past two weeks, so hopefully that is the madness behind the mildness of the last couple of runs. Mystery Coach did mention that as I got more fit, the pace would start to even out, which seems to be happening here. Or maybe that's wishful thinking. Have a good day!

1:12:00 :: 10.2 miles

Easy run. Interesting run. About half a mile in, I came across a police blockade covering about two city blocks. No cops were in the cars, and there was an ambulance in the middle, so I assumed it was just to prevent cars from entering the narrow street and getting in the way of the ambulance. I kept running down the street and got about halfway down when a police officer came walking out into the street rocking a very tactical looking .223 rifle. I slowed down and kind of half threw up my hands, and asked, "Am I okay to be running here?". He looked back at me and goes, "You are now.", and kept walking.

Wow. What the FUCK!

I called the police station later, and asked what was going on to require that kind of hardware on scene, and the supervisor said it was for 'safety reasons', which makes me wonder how 'safe' it is less than half a mile away from my house. I don't know about you all out there, but I'm not that comfortable with police on a medical assistance call carrying automatic weapons down the middle of the street. It's not like we're living in Beit Hanoun here. Holy shit, people.

2:20:00 :: 20.2 miles

Long run. Felt pretty good (finally). Picked up toward the end, once I knew I was going to get through the whole thing.

55:00 :: 8 miles

Easy run with a couple of strides and hills. 3x.5 mile hills, and 3x45-60seconds at 5:00-5:30 pace. Don't want to do too much, really just to break up the monotony and briefly touch base with turnover. Long run tomorrow!

1:10:00 :: 10 miles

Easy run. Nothing special. A couple of strides toward the end.

1:45:00 :: 15 miles

Easy longer run. Felt really good. No fatigue from yesterday's 10 miler.

1:10:00 :: 11 miles

Ten mile moderate-pace run in 1:02:54. HR went higher on this than I would have hoped or expected, but it was also done indoors, which is different than most of these I have done in the past. I'll be able to compare better once I get a couple more done. Here are the results:

6:30(138) | 6:17(149) | 6:17(149)
6:17(152) | 6:17(153) | 6:17(155)
6:18(157) | 6:08(162) | 6:17(160)
6:17(161) -- 130-:56 | 120-1:39 | 110-3:06

Felt really strong and controlled through mile nine, and even then just a slight fatigue. Breathing didn't change much until mile eight, which I picked up for about a quarter mile. Overall, not at all like I remember these runs. I remember them being somewhat more challenging. Maybe a good sign.

1:20:00 :: 12.1 miles

Happy New Year! Easy run on the mill. Really good run, feeling good, minimal to no problems with Leg (yes, it has it's own name now). Most of run was around 135 avgHR, about 6:45 pace. Last mile right at 6:00 pace, 156 avgHR.