easy 8

I got my 8 miles in this evening. There was a chance of rain, but when I started it only looked a little cloudy, but it was still sunny and humid. At the half way point the dark clouds rolled in and the wind picked up. I seemed to be staying in front of the clouds, but they soon overtook me and my pace picked up trying to beat them home, but honestly was looking forward to running in the rain again. With about a mile left to go, it did start to "try" to rain, but it never amounted to much more than some scattered large drops.

I finished up in a decent time (74 minutes), averaging a 9:16/mile pace... felt good for the run. Things seem to finally be coming together for me.

Tomorrow is a 3 mile recovery run, so I hope to get back on the trails for this one. It has been quite a while since I have had the opportunity to run some trails, so it should be a nice change of pace.

wet behind the ears

and everywhere else...

I started out my recovery run yesterday morning at 5:30am, squeezing it in before I had to be at work to head up to Michigan. I checked the radar before I left and the rain looked to be north of me, so no big deal. One mile into my run it started to rain, then pour. Seeing that I could not possibly get home without being drenched anyway, I continued my run to get my 4 miles in. I actually enjoyed running in the rain. The only downside was the "squish, squish" as I ran...

Looking to do 8 miles this afternoon if all goes well... maybe it will even rain on me...

break on through to the other side...

I began my week without any expectations. On the schedule for Monday was a 7 mile LT run with 3 miles at half marathon pace.

When I started out, my pace was 10:18/mile...much slower than I thought and it felt faster than that. The plan was to run the first two miles nice and easy (no problem there), then run the next three at half marathon pace (which I am not sure what that really is, so I guessed at around 8:30/mile). As soon as I hit the beginning of mile 3 I picked up the pace - surprisingly effortlessly. I wasn't sure if I could manage it for all 3 miles, but before I knew it I was there. Then I tried to slow down, but it didn't happen as easily as I thought. my last 2 miles were still sub-9's.

So, a little redemption for me and a nice way to start out the week. A nice recovery run tomorrow morning then 8 miles on Thursday. So far so good...

week 5 looking ahead

With two more weeks in the first mesocycle in Pfitz's training plan, I am going to try to establish a better routine, but also try to be as flexible with my time as possible. It appears that I will have to adjust the schedule as I move forward and hope that I can still do the long run mileage on the weekends. On tap for this week:

Monday: LT run Tuesday: Recovery run Wednesday: XT Thursday: GA Run Friday: Recovery run Saturday: Rest Sunday: 17 miles*

*I have a 42k Relay Race that morning and will be running 8.2 miles in that and the other 8.8 miles afterwards

the ultimate betrayal

With week 4 having been less than perfect for me, I was looking for some redemption in my running with my long run this morning. The weather was practically perfect (starting out around 60 degrees with a nice breeze).

On my schedule was 15 miles, so the idea was to do an out and back to force me to get my mileage in. I felt pretty good for the first 7.5 miles then it was time to turn around... I think it was all mental, but then it seemed like a daunting task to run back to where I had started... I stretched and took in some sport drink and started back. It was about a mile into my run that I was passed by a runner who I would have guessed to be Kenyan, but I later found out it was just a guy who runs and has never run a marathon... that probably made me feel even slower... another mile down the road I take another break and drink a little more and push on a little further. With 4 miles to go, my body was giving up. It did not want to do anything with running and it was becoming such an effort to maintain any sort of forward momentum. I pushed for 2 more miles and then I had to stop and stretch. It took every ounce of strength I had to get going again only to see a bench about a 1/4 mile later that called my name. I stopped, sat down and massaged my aching muscles for about a minute then I pushed on to then end.

My body had betrayed me today, but in all fairness I think it was my fault. I didn't have much of a dinner last night and I never have much for breakfast before I run, so it had no fuel to keep me going. I felt like I had run a full marathon when I was done - and it got me thinking about my ability to train for a fall marathon... I think the good thing is it is still early in the schedule and I believe I have time to make this work... another tough week coming up...

On another note, my friend Brooke will be running the US Half Marathon in Copper, Colorado tomorrow. Looking forward to hearing all about it. Check her blog next week for a race report... Until then, Happy Running to all.