Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 13
8/17-8/23 |
Well, my longest week ever, a fitting way to finish off the summer season. Just an all-around solid week, didn't miss any time due to aches and pains, but need to keep the I-squared philosophy a while longer, I believe. Nothing exceptional this week, but a lot of solid long runs. Only doubled three times this week. Time to get down to business now, looking forward to seeing just where my fitness is at in the coming weeks. Back at school and ready for cross to start. August Miles :: 337 |
108 |
| Saturday: |
Fresh Pond around the pond, plus 3 Grass loops. Ran to and from campus, met Fivos, Condor and Sam Berberian at Johnson, Imran went Fake Fresh and Fivos and Sam went Fresh Pond. Running relaxed with those guys, picked it up a bit when I went around the pond, carried a good pace the rest of the way. Not pushing and definitely not running at breakneck speed, but threw down a solid run. Total time wound up at 95 minutes, so the 14M I intended to run turned out to be more like 15M. Nice to be back running with the crew and getting the old courses down. Hopefully more guys will turn out tomorrow for the run. |
15 |
| Friday: |
Out and back down Lake and Santa Monica. Got up at 7AM and ate a little breakfast, then went back to bed. Out the door by 9:30. Feeling alright at the start, took a while to get rolling though. Started at 6:40s, dropped to 6:30s then held 6:10-6:20 most of the way. Luckily the heat of yesterday disappeared, so I didn't have any real problems. Would have been nice to have a cold bubbler to stop at, but I managed without. Legs fairly tired, felt like I was working harder than just 6:10s, guess I just couldn't find that higher gear today. Nonetheless it was a solid run 51:05 out and 49:50 back, a good way to finish off the WI summer training. Heading back to MIT tomorrow, the plan is to run with some of the guys tomorrow, around 14M to hit 107M for the week. It should be noted that in the past 6 days I have nearly eclipsed Verbal's mileage for the entire month of June. |
16 |
| Thursday PM: |
Bender Loop with Kletzsch Park add-on. Scorching hot day, temps over 100 around noon, waited until 6PM when it felt a little cooler. Sun was down in the sky and that helped out a lot. Tried to pound the water today, probably didn't get enough in me. Dragging a bit today, holding 6:20-6:40 range the whole way. Again, nothing spectacular, just logging miles. |
12 |
| Thursday AM: |
Out and back down Lake. Woke up and was very tired and thirsty, HR was at 43BPM last night. Contemplated skipping the run and going back to bed, but managed to get out the door and struggle through it. Right knee was sore, really it was the quad area around the knee, didn't ever loosen up, but didn't get any worse, either. So tired, planning on taking a nap sometime today. |
4 |
| Wednesday PM: |
Art Museum with an add-on North of Capitol. Feeling pretty good today, holding 6:10-6:30s the whole way. Started to get really hot about 9M in, but then the wind picked up again and cooled me down. Probably need to drink more water though. Low key day, low key run. Getting the miles in and feeling good. Only a little pain in the right knee today, gonna ice it a bit. Things are looking really good with the season just 5 days away. |
10 |
| Wednesday AM: |
Out and back down Lake Drive. Feeling pretty good, running well but without a watch. Should be another hot day, hopefully the afternoon run will go alright. HR was 39BPM overnight, got a lot of sleep, feeling good. Time's running out, the season's getting really close. |
5 |
| Tuesday: |
Out and back down Lake Drive and Santa Monica. Solid run, nothing as spectacular as last week's run though. Clipping off solid 6:20s pretty much the whole way, a little faster on the way home (51:02/50:08.) Managed to hit 6:10 for the final mile, feeling really strong, not pushing in the least. Right about 4M in my left knee started aching pretty sharply, on the inside of the knee where the quad attaches. I stopped at stretched it out and it loosened up. Could feel it the rest of the run, but nothing of any real concern, and I made it a point to stay on grass often. Felt like I was running a little faster than I actually was, they got pretty tired right at 35 minutes. Quads were tired the whole way, legs are a little run down I suppose. HR was down at 40 BPM for 6.5 hours last night, got about 8 hours of sleep. I realize that my kilomyle comment yesterday was just dorky, so I'll attempt to cover myself from insult by turning my guns on P-Rock and revealing his official slogan for the summer, taken directly from the Nelly, P.Diddy and Murphy Lee song "Shake Ya Tailfeather" :: "They be like 'He the man', when I'm really a Thundercat." |
16 |
| Monday PM: |
Out and back down Lake Drive. Had an action packed day of sitting around all afternoon. Pretty sunny and warm, so I doused myself with water. Most likely not necessary to survival, but enjoyable nonetheless. Set off at 6:20s and didn't deviaite from that too much for the duration. Hit my 1000th mile of the summer, an admirable feat but the true 6-3ers will note the truly important landmark, the 1kM (kilomyle = 1024M,) has yet to be conquered. Soon my friends, very soon. |
6 |
| Monday AM: |
Bender Loop. Feeling pretty good the whole way, running smooth and strong. Holding right about 6:20s the entire way. Planning on getting out for another 6M later today. Slept about 9 hours, nice to not have to worry about getting to work in the mornings anymore. Nothing too amazing happening, I think that between the soft ground yesterday and the I-squared treatment the knees are going to be OK. No pain at all today. If my memory is correct, Yuval has left Massachusetts for the first time in his life and is in the process of moving out to Washington to work for Bill Gates. |
10 |
| Sunday: |
Lapham Peak. Double Black Loop, becoming accustomed to that, doesn't stress my body that terribly. Floating through the first loop, picked it up about 27 minutes in, legs not stressed/fatigued until I hit Tower Hill. Gutbuster was typically rough the second time around, running a little slower on the second loop (45:02/45:18). Could have been a really fast day if End had been around, but didn't push my body too teribly over the second loop, just found a nice pace, slightly under 6:30 and kept clipping those off. On an unrelated note, Kathryn and I stopped at Jimmy John's on the way home for lunch, and the guy taking our order looked just like Mark Miller, except a bit taller and with green hair. Freaky. Slept about 7 hours last night, woke up thinking about the time trial and got too excited to fall back asleep, so I just got out of bed. Contemplating a nap this afternoon. |
14 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 12
8/10-8/16 |
What a week. Hit the summer's highest mileage and one of my longest weeks ever, to say nothing of the run on Tuesday. That 18-miler was without a doubt my best run ever. For some reason I was just feeling tuned in and clipping off good times the whole way. The only really crappy day was Monday, knee was acting up, but that was my own fault. Since then I stayed on the I-squared and haven't had any problems. Staying on the grass more helped out too. Wasn't able to get out for too many AM runs this week, which will have to change shortly. In just two weeks we'll be toeing the line for the 5k time trial. Gotta get under 17:30 to avoid being cut! August Miles :: 229 |
103 |
| Saturday: |
Art Museum, plus a couple inner loops. Went down LaFayette and then up St. Mary's, back to the Art Museum, down along the Lakefront, up LaFayette, down St. Mary's and then back up LaFayette where I continued upon the original loop. Had to stop at Juneau Park to use the bathroom, about an hour into the run. Feeling alright, holding 6:20s originally, probably dropped to low 6s, but I didn't have any mile marks to check that with. Legs never really tired or overly fatigued, had just been rocking steady pretty much the whole time. It had been really hot out, but I left right as it was breaking, so that helped a lot. Coming up LaFayette the last time it started raining, also good. Only slept about 6 hours last night, woke up and I was really hungry and couldn't fall back asleep. HR was down at 42BPM overnight. |
14 |
| Friday: |
Bender Loop with Kletzsch add-on backwards, then added on down Lake to Kenwood and back. Running pretty slow, 6:30-45 the whole way. Another hot, humid day out, pretty fatigued to begin with and wasn't excited about hammering to begin with. Content to just get the miles in, while sweating my ass off. Legs feeling fairly tired, still managed to hold form pretty well, but it was evident I was not running fast. Had considered an FSQ, but quickly shot that idea down. Worked my last day at the Medical College today, the season's coming on fast. |
14 |
| Thursday PM: |
Art Museum backwards, with an add-on North of Capitol. Feeling alright, quads got pretty tired by the end of the run, going 6:20-6:30 the majority of the way. Laid back and relaxed running, didn't try to hammer it ever. Been a pretty long, tough few days running-wise, taking it easy felt good. Pretty hot and humid out too, haven't had too many days like this the whole summer. A little aching in both knees now, but nothing that's got me too concerned. The I-squared will run it's course. Looks like the week will reach 103M. |
11 |
| Thursday AM: |
Able to get up for the second AM run of the week. Nothing much special happened, stuck to the grass alongside the sidewalk the whole time, no knee pain. HR averaged 39BPM over 7.5 hours last night. That's the lowest it's been over the course of a whole night. |
4 |
| Wednesday PM: |
Bender Loop with Kletzsch Park add-on. The hill was pretty easy today, running at a really good clip the whole way. Form felt like everything was in line and running smooth, but legs were a tad tired and felt like I was a step slow. The watch says otherwise. Running 6:20s average, hit 6:08 for the last mile. Kind of surprised I was able to run this well, given my effort yesterday, really enthused. Knee was pretty sore, but felt alright when I was running on the grass, which I managed to do for 7-8M. Keeping up the I-squared treatment, this shouldn't be a problem. Otherwise, things are looking great, heading back to school in 10 days. Kind of depressing that I ran more miles in 4 days (60) than Verbal will have in any given week this whole summer. |
12 |
| Wednesday AM: |
Finally managed to get up for an AM run this week. Nothing too memorable, kind of sore, kind of tired from yesterday. Knee aches a little, I can feel it but it's not specifically pain. Anything sharp in that area I'll pay attention too and back off, though. Feel like taking a nap today. |
4 |
| Tuesday: |
Slept through my alarm this morning, missed the morning run. That forced me to reshuffle the plan for the week, and I headed out the door planning on my 16M out and back down Lake Drive, with a thought of maybe trying 18M. About one minute before I exited my house I heard Khatch drive by and honk. Set off down Lake holding about 6:20s, after Klode things started falling into place and I was clipping along easily, almost effortlessly. Hit Holly Court (Drive?) in 27, which seemed faster than last week, but I wasn't sure. Feeling good all the way to the turn around, which I hit in 48:34. Stopped to stretch out the knee some, which made it really sore for the next :30 of the run. That subsided and I was back on my way, clipping off some good miles. About 60 minutes in my quads started getting sore and each step was pounding them. After that point it wasn't as effortless as before, but I just had to convince myself that it wasn't supposed to be effortless, and that running with slight fatigue is pure improvement. Hit Holly on the way back at 21:44, still moving well. Stopped at Klode to avail myself of the facilities, which I needed. Both toilets were clogged, but I knew if I didn't take a pit stop the run would get ugly, as I had been prepared for a stop for nearly a mile. I feel sorry for the guy who's got to clean the toilets tomorrow. Coming down Lake, at about 13.5-14M in I cemented it in my mind that I was going 18M. With 4M to go I started hearing footsteps, but maybe I was just being paranoid. In any event, I managed to break him, real or phantom, over the next 1.5M. Hit the 16th mile in 5:40 and tacked on 2M more down Lake Drive, hitting accurate half mile splits of 2:44 and 2:49. Working hard but not running full tilt and not decimated when I got home either. Just under 1:47 total, better than 6:00 a mile. Some days you just know you're in shape. |
18 |
| Monday: |
Woke up too tired to run this morning, opted instead for more time in bed. Got rolling planning on 14M, but 35 minutes in the left knee started aching again. Managed to stretch it out and loosened it up enough to get through the rest of the run, but cut it short to avoid any problems. Admittedly, I slacked off the I-squared treatment, so I'll get back on the wagon and everything should work out. Went Art Museum then tacked on north of Capitol Drive. Too bad I cut it short, because I started clipping off 6:00s with reckless abandon over the last 3 or 4M. A runner came past me at Kenwood and Lake as I was waiting for the light, so I threw down a 2:45 to catch him, which catapulted me to a quick pace the rest of the way. Running on Lake Drive is a lot like running on my Esplanade in Boston, can't let anybody get away, gotta run down everybody. Saw Trevor Greuhn running on the other side of the street. Sucks about the knee, but I'll use it as a down day and come back strong the rest of the week. |
11 |
| Sunday PM: |
Bender Loop. Got going around 7PM, weather was nice and sun was still up in the sky. Feeling really good, felt like I was moving quickly, but the watch says otherwise. Holding 6:20-40 for the whole way, but felt like I was moving at 6:15s or faster. Hit 6:23 for the last mile. Nothing of any real importance happened on the run today, just logging the miles. |
10 |
| Sunday AM: |
Out and back to W from Kathryn's place. Fairly warm out, but West Birch Lake Road is shaded and the sun wasn't a factor. Got moving on the way back, went sub-6:00 for the last mile. Feeling good with no nagging aches or pains. Got a 5 hour drive to get home, then throwing down another 10M. Had thought about running the Musky Day race, but everybody decided that sleeping in was better than running a race at 7:30AM, which I agree with. Found out later that 33-something won the 10k, would've been interesting, but got 9 hours of sleep instead. |
5 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 11
8/03-8/09 |
A good week of high mileage, highlighted by a solid 16M run on Thursday and 13M early on Friday AM with End. Got to Lapham twice, which is always good too. Would have been a few miles more had I not cut mileage on Wednesday because of my knee, but I still think that was a good decision. Thankfully it was a phantom, and the pain disappeared by the end of the week. Plan on keeping the I-squared treatment going for awhile, just in case. Season starts in a little over two weeks, I'm happy with where I'm at right now. August Miles :: 126 |
98 |
| Saturday: |
Out and back down County Highway W from Kathryn's cabin in Winchester, WI. Spent the day swimming and lying around on the dock, so the sun and water kind of took my energy away. Feeling pretty good the first 5M, then it was hell-on-wheels the rest of the way home. Wasn't really expecting it to get so hard, since I slept soundly for 10 hours last night. Got onto the highway and into direct sun, which didn't help much either. Pretty thirsty over the last 5M, just wanted to get back and jump in the lake and cool down. Gentle ups and downs, nothing drastic though. 45:45 out and 46+ back, so averaged a little over 6:30s for the run. Nothing spectactular but an okay end to the week, especially considering the past 3 days have totaled 43M. |
14 |
| Friday: |
Bender Loop with Kletzsch Park add-on and a little extra after Capitol. Woke up at 5AM to eat a little breakfast, went back to bed until 6:15. Out the door by 6:25 and swung by End's place to pick him up. Started rolling pretty much from the gun, feeling really good but the quads were a little sore. Stopped in Lincoln for End to use a Port-A-John, but otherwise moving the whole time. Felt really good up the hill in Kletzsch Park, started hammering the rest of the way home. Holding low 6s for the last 3-4M, and threw down a 5:38 (2:51/2:47) for the last mile. No real pains anywhere, feeling strong and fast and not pushing either. HR was 41BPM for 6 hours last night. Leaving town for the weekend today, won't update until Sunday, most likely. |
13 |
| Thursday: |
Out and back down Lake Drive, down Churchill to Santa Monica and back. Feeling pretty good the whole way, no knee problems which is encouraging. Fleeting pain occasionally, which the I-squared treatment should kill fairly easily. Hit 50:03 for the first half and 48:48 on the back 8. Averaging just over 6:10s, which is very encouraging. Nailing low 6s for the last few miles, after stopping at the bathroom at Klode (~13M in) to use the facilities. Last mile was 5:48 (2:58/2:50). Feeling really good about fitness right now, I think the down day yesterday really helped out. |
16 |
| Wednesday: |
Art Museum then a bathroom stop at home then added on 2M. Had to report for jury duty today, didn't get selected though, and the day ended around 3PM. Had a really crappy lunch in the cafeteria so came home and ate a little too much, which explains the need to stop after 8M. Was really shuffling the last 3/4 of a mile or so, but felt much better afterwards. Had thought about making it a little longer than 10M, but my left knee was still acting up a bit, every few steps or so there'd be a sharp pain under the kneecap, which is a little different place than yesterday. Figured I'd take a lighter day and hit it with the I-squared treatment. Still planning on hitting up a 16 miler tomorrow. It's a pain I can run with now, the goal is to make sure it doesn't become something I can't run with later. After the pitstop I went south on Lake, and ran uptempo from Edgewood to Kenwood and back, dropping a 5:21 (2:40/2:41.) Despite the 180-degree turn I was running pretty well, not flying all out and there's definitely lots mental work to do, but I felt comfortable hitting a fast time, which has me excited. And I couldn't feel the knee at all during the run either, probably because I wasn't thinking about it, where earlier I was directing the vast majority of my attention at my left knee. |
10 |
| Tuesday: |
Lapham with End. 2 Black Loops again. 44:45 for the first loop and 43:40 for the second. End really whupped my ass today, he ran 42:45 for the second go-round. He took off with about 5M to go, I tried to catch him with just under 3M to go but didn't have it. Legs really wiped out, not aching but just couldn't get the turnover. For the past week and a half they've just been feeling blah, with no sharpness or pop in them. Managed to pick it up fairly well over the last 2M though, first time hauling ass in awhile. Left knee was scaring me today. Quad was sore where it attaches to the knee, and about 5.5M in I had to stop and stretch it out because running downhill was jarring it and making the whole knee ache. Never really loosened up, but when I opened my stride up running downhill I couldn't feel it. Hard to open up the stride though because hip flexors were really sore from hurdle work yesterday. Figure my legs could use a break, plan on icing the knee tonight, skipping the AM run tomorrow and going 8-10 in the PM. Hopefully that'll let the knee work itself out. Right knee was kind of tight going to sleep last night, but no problems there today. HR was 40BPM over 7.5 hours last night. |
14 |
| Monday PM: |
Bender Loop with Kletzsch Park add-on. Stopped at the track to do some hurdle work with Coach Johns. Feeling really out-of-sync over the hurdles, nothing was feeling right. Right leg was pretty tight too, especially the hamstring right up by the hip, which I think (hope) was making my knee sore. Wound up doing 3 400s over the hurdles, doing better over those with more room to run and focus on the next hurdle. The run itself was pretty good, holding a little under 6:30, as is the norm of late. A little bit of a flash from SHS past at the start, seeing Andrew Schoewe and Angie Kolanko in the first half mile of the run. Heading out to Lapham again tomorrow, with End this time. |
13 |
| Monday AM: |
North along Lake Drive. Saw Kathryn stretching at Big Bay so ran back with her to Lake Bluff, about a mile. Feeling pretty good when I got rolling, tired and reluctant to get out of bed this morning. Had thought of throwing down another 6M yesterday afternoon, convinced myself it was a pretty good idea, but then didn't because my stomach was feeling very bloated from lunch. Drove the HR down to 36 before going to bed, it was 40BPM for 7.5 hours last night. |
4 |
| Sunday: |
2 Black Loops at Lapham. First time for that, ran 91:30, not as fast as I wanted but given the terrain and the volume of the past 2 weeks I'm happy with it. End was up North so he couldn't come, which was good because I was able to run 45:30 for the first loop, instead of 42:30, but bad because I wound up running 46:00 for the second loop, not really hammering. Need to figure out why I haven't been hammering too many runs recently and fix it. Fatigue didn't really set in until the last mile or so, but even then it wasn't disruptive, able to hold form the whole way. Not as exhausting or devastating as I expected it to be, even though I've been deficient with hills for the past few weeks. Guess maybe I'm getting into shape. |
14 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 10
7/27-8/02 |
Another solid, solid week. Not a week for hammering though, not really able to get in gear ever, but I got the miles in and at a solid pace. I'm pleased with how the week went, especially since I wasn't on vacation anymore, and wasn't spending a lot of time sleeping or just laying around. Getting very, very confident in my fitness, things are going along swimmingly right now. I'd like to be able to feel a little more pop in my legs, but I'm sure that'll come. Need to get back on some hills and off the concrete. August Miles :: 28 |
101 |
| Saturday: |
Bender Loop plus Kletzsch Park Hill and add-on south of Capitol. Sat around all day, before getting going. Thunderstorms came through again, waited for those to pass then set out as thunder was rolling over the lake and skies were blue to the west. Another day of clipping off solid 6:20-30 pace, managed to hammer it for a little while near the end, but nowhere near the feats of Fivos or Brewer. still though, good to hold that pace for 14M at the end of a 101M week. Slept about 8 hours last night, but the big news is that somebody used my idea and released bats with tricked out DNA in Lincoln, because there were virtually no gnats today. |
14 |
| Friday PM: |
After a quick round of golf and some time trying to mess around with my schedule for next term, I took off on a Bender Loop, the normal direction. Felt kind of weird running today, because my legs weren't aching or painfully sore, but I couldn't pick up the pace to save my life. Running with a short, constrained stride for some reason, felt uncomfortable for a little while because of the shorter stride. Loosened up or I learned to ignore it eventually, but I never really got moving quickly the whole time. Clipping off 6:30s with a fair bit of regularity. There are gnats all over the place, finished the run covered in them, chest and stomach speckled with dead bugs. Somebody needs to get a pair of genetically freaked bats and let them loose in Lincoln Park, they'd eat those things in no time. And then you could make some money by charging admission to watch the bats battle each other in a cage... These are the things I think about during 100+M weeks. |
10 |
| Friday AM: |
out and back down Lake Drive again. Feeling pretty tired, not much to mention about today. Woke up to a thunderstorm halfway through the night, hoped maybe I wouldn't have to run this morning, but I was up and gone because the storm passed through. Got caught up watching the end of "The Shawshank Redemption," arguably the greastest movie ever made last night. |
4 |
| Thursday: |
Art Museum 2x (backwards then forwards.) Had planned on rolling out about 6PM, but the threat of major thunderstorms kept me inside until 8, watching "Scrubs." Of course, the storms never showed up. Wound up settling into a nice coasting pace, right around 6:30s most of the way. That tends to happen to me when I get going at night and the streets are fairly deserted, couldn't keep my head in it. Finished the first loop, thought to myself "What the hell? It's not like I've got anything better to do with myself..." as I headed back out for another 8M. Started to push it, but then the stomach got upset, mainly because I was getting hungry, I do believe. It was sloshing around for a good portion of the last half of the run, but nothing too upsetting. Legs feeling really good, thought they were going to tie up about 90 minutes in, but they loosened up again. Pretty solid to be able to coast through 16M like I did today, but I would have like to hit it a bit faster. 103+ minutes for the run. July Miles :: 403 |
16 |
| Wednesday PM: |
Bender Loop backwards. Feeling alright, hitting between 6:10 and 6:30 a mile the whole way, with minimal effort. Really just gliding along, not forcing anything. Lots and lots of gnats out, maybe they're baby gnats, but it was pretty disgusting running through cloud after cloud of them through Lincoln Park. A few aches in my legs still, which is disquieting but I don't think it's a big deal. Planning on going long tomorrow. |
10 |
| Wednesday AM: |
Yup, out and back down Lake again. Up a little earlier than usual and the streets were pretty dead at the start. Loosened up after a mile or so, feeling pretty good. Nothing remarkable. |
4 |
| Tuesday PM: |
Art Museum then added on down Lake Drive. Feeling pretty good today, gliding along at 6:10-6:20s without working at all, actually felt like I was running a bit slower. Didn't have any desire to hammer, would have been interesting to see what would happen though. First run in a new pair of Motos, drove out to Rodiez's during rush hour to buy them. I think they should eliminate all on-ramps from the highway, that's clearly the source of every slowdown. Most of the little aches disappeared with the new shoes, as I expected. A little aching in my knees which I'll ice down and take care of, not worried about it. An all-around good day. |
11 |
| Tuesday AM: |
Out and back down Lake again. Nothign exciting, just putting in miles. Really need new shoes, going this afternoon, hopefully that'll stop the little aches and pains in my legs. Really dislike all this concrete. Somebody should do something. |
4 |
| Monday PM: |
Bender Loop backwards. Waited until about 5:45 to get going because my stomach wasn't feeling too hot and I didn't want to chance anything. As it turn out though, it wasn't a problem at all. Held slightly under 6:30s the whole way on a nice relaxing run. Nowhere near hammering, legs kinda sore and tired the first couple miles, but then they loosened up and it was flowing over the last couple. Not entirely excited about being back on concrete though. Left quad tightened up slightly again, stopped at 30:00 and stretched it out. Slight aches in the knees, probably a sign I need new shoes more than anything, went up to 508M on them with this run. |
10 |
| Monday AM: |
Up and out the door before work to get the miles in. Out and back down Lake Drive. Laid in bed a few minutes debating the value of such a run, but eventually got up, it was inevitable. Not about to wake up at 4:40AM in order to join Khatch's Krazies like Fivos... |
4 |
| Sunday: |
Out and back down E for old time's sake. Got up at 7AM for a little breakfast, then went back to sleep for a few hours before heading out the door about 9:20AM. HR was down at 41BPM for the 7.5 hours of sleep. Feeling pretty good as I set out down the road, nothing amazing but running pretty strong nonetheless. Hit halfway at just over 44, took a minute to loosen up my left quad, which had been tightening up over the past couple miles, and then headed for home. At about the 8M mark I was trucking up a slight hill and holding even with a guy on a bike, he hollered that we were going about 9MPH. Maintained pretty well the rest of the way, nothing exciting just running strong. Finished up in 43:30, to average 6:15s for the whole way, like Friday last week. A solid start to what should be another good week. |
14 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 09
7/20-7/26 |
Solid week, ushering in a few more high mileage weeks before the official start of cross. Got in 16M on the grass in the orchards, and logged the rest on the gravel shoulder of County Highway E. Not a lot of variety to the week, but solid performances, especially Wednesday's 14M in 84:30. Feeling pretty run down by the end of the week, but the HR was low all week, so I'm not too concerned. Content to let myself get acclimated to the 95-105MPW region for awhile. Not doing a whole lot more than running and sitting around the past week, which definitely helped. I'm feeling really confident in my current fitness, but really want the season to get here, want to be back smashing pigs with the Boston crew. July Miles :: 330 |
98 |
| Saturday PM: |
Out and back down Hwy E. This run was entirely about getting the miles in, especially give my performance this morning. I'm fairly sure my condition was due in part to dehydration, drank a few too many sodas last night and not enough water to compensate. Regardless, I ate some vegetables this afternoon, kicked my legs up for 15 minutes too. Feeling alright at the start, but my condition gradually worsened throughout the run. Really just dragging the last 2M home, not rigging per se, but not moving quickly either. Due in part to fatigue and also just wanted to be done with the long week. Similar in a lot of ways to Thursday's run, about 2 minutes slower than "usual" pace, letting the legs dictate the pace.The sun had burned away the clouds and there was no hint of the thunderstorms from earlier, pretty warm too. Going to focus on getting more water into my system before Sunday's run. |
10 |
| Saturday AM: |
Trails and Orchards in the morning. Thunderstorms and rain all night, went around 10AM during a break in the weather. Only rained for a minute or so, nice and cool day. HR was at 43BPM for 6 hours last night, took the strap off at 5AM when I got up to get some water. Legs really tired, feeling light-headed and over the last mile or so the legs were not steady at all. Don't know why I felt so weak, but will hit the vegetables, water and Gatorade and maybe even a nap so hopefully I'll be ready to go this afternoon. Think maybe I'm getting "over rested" or something, because I've been sleeping fitfully the past few nights. In any event, the 10 hours of sleep will be over soon. |
4 |
| Friday: |
Out and back down E one more time. Not feeling amazing, legs still a bit tired, but managed to average 6:15s dead on (44:00/43:30) for the run. Calves were pretty sore today, used The Stick before I left, I think that helped a bit. Fought the wind in my face over the last 2M, otherwise a really nice day to run. Warm with the sun behind the clouds, but a bit breezy. My turkey sandwich and popsicle tried to escape before the 2M mark, but settled down the rest of the way. Got the HR down to 36BPM for half a minute or so last night, but the chest strap was uncomfortable for some reason, so I slept without it. Slept fitfully last night, legs were really sore and keeping me awake in the middle of the night. Played at Stonehedge again today, hit a 56, but it should have been a bit lower. |
14 |
| Thursday PM: |
Once more out and back down County Highway E. Legs tired before mile 2, took a much deserved easy day, not paying attention to pace at all, letting my mind wander, the miles slipped past fairly quickly. Only a minute or two off of the normal time, legs tired but not devastated from yesterday, probably also tired from sitting out in the sun at the pool this afternoon. Stepped up the vegetable consumption, along with Gatorade and water, planning on kicking the legs up tonight, keep things fresh through the rest of the week. |
10 |
| Thursday AM: |
Orchards and trails again. Took my dog Sandy with me today, she didn't pace herself very well. Pretty warm out, nice run on soft ground. Not really all that tired, despite yesterday's run. HR was down at 41 last night, slept another 10 hours. Got the HR down to 37/38 before I feel asleep. Things are working out really well so far this week. |
4 |
| Wednesday: |
Out and back down Highway E again. You'd think maybe I'd get sick of this route... REALLY feeling good today, started smashing the run and hit the halfway mark at 42:35 (6:05 average) and headed for home. Legs feeling strong the whole way, able to just sit back and let the legs dictate the pace. I was hammering the run but wasn't having to push myself to keep the pace up, in some respects it was easy just cruising along. Came back in 41:50, there are more downhills on the way back, then went and got in the pool to cool down. Total time of 84:25 made for a very solid, and exhausting run. Hard to imagine running like this last week, but things turn around. HR was 41 again last night, got a nice 10 hours of sleep again, will double up the runs tomorrow. Put up a 57 for nine holes around noon, rimmed out on the two par putts I had. |
14 |
| Tuesday PM: |
Out and back down E, again. Things are shaping up really well so far this week, went bombing down the Highway, hammering it from the start. Feeling good the whole way, just running fast. Went about 5PM, so the sun was up but it wasn't that hot out, a bit of a wind again though. Pretty quiet day, not much going on. |
10 |
| Tuesday AM: |
Same as yesterday, out and back through the orchards and on the trails. HR was down at 41 again, got it down to 38 before falling asleep, must be getting in shape. Slept nearly 10 hours, but my calves are still pretty tired and aching. |
4 |
| Monday PM: |
Out and back down E again. Feeling pretty good, legs tired in the middle but I worked through it and was feeling really good by the end of the run. Think the problem is mainly my diet, just had 2 sodas and popcorn for lunch. Need to start augmenting with vegetables and fruit, more water couldn't hurt either. Nothing too exciting happening today, weather a little cooler than usual, that was nice, and there was a bit of a crosswind, more in my face on the way out and not such a big deal on the way home. Abnormally tired today, just lying around most of the day, but boredom probably factored into that too. |
10 |
| Monday AM: |
4M in the orchards behind the condo. Feeling pretty good this morning, got on the soft grass and some trails for a simple out and back. Nothing too strenuous, just getting miles in on soft surfaces. If things get tough this week will probably head out that way for longer. HR was 41BPM over nearly 9 hours last night. |
4 |
| Sunday: |
Out and back along County Hwy E in Door County. Began in a slight rain, which picked up into a decent rainstorm, until the half hour mark, at which point the rain subsided and didn't come back. After that it was pretty humid and the road was steaming, pretty cool effect. In any event, was feeling really good today. At about 20 minutes in realized that the fatigue was gone from my legs, combination of persistence and the soft surface and strides from yesterday. Really moving well, running strong the whole way. Paused briefly at 7M to stretch, my hips were a little tight, then proceeded back on my way. Went 43:44 out and 43:05 back, really good day. It's got me pretty excited about the coming week, really good opportunity to stay rested, get miles in on soft surfaces and run my ass off. |
14 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 08
7/13-7/19 |
Long, tired week. Really didn't have any great days at all, and only a couple good days. My legs were really tired the whole week, but still managed to get up to 90M. Probably would have been easier with a longer run on Sunday, but what can you do? Satisfied with the mileage, pushing 600M and nothing's gone awry yet. Need to get in touch with J's PT and head off any injuries at the pass. Just one of those things, I guess, a down week like this. Just keep plugging and things will turn around, can't stay in breakdown training forever. July Miles : 232 |
90 |
| Saturday: |
Lapham Peak with End. Went Black and Blue as usual, but I was hurting from the gun. Managed a 44:00 and 38:00 respectively, so not a bad day altogether, but was lacking the power in my legs to really hammer it. End and I kept switching up the lead, neither one of us was feeling entirely spectactular, so we'd yo-yo a bit and didn't run together all that much. Stayed together more on the Blue Loop, but after Asthma Hill I threw in a surge and really wanted to hammer all the way home, but wasn't able to hold it. Wasn't really in it mentally for the first couple miles, End was running ahead at the Wall, but evened things up by Asthma Hill. Gutbuster the second time around was pretty tough, managed to outclimb End but it took a lot of work. Need to figure out why my legs are so tired, and then fix the problem. Could have been a spectactular day had my legs been willing to cooperate. Heading up to Door County tonight for a week, should manage to get well rested. |
13 |
| Friday PM: |
Bender Loop backwards, stopped at the track for an FSQ. Right before the 30 minute mark my left hip and my left knee both started hurting with every step, and it scared the crap out of me. I stopped for about 5 minutes and stretched both IT Bands before getting back at it. Wasn't a problem after that, debated skipping the FSQ but by the time I hit the HS I couldn't feel it anymore. Maybe it's related to the hurdling work. Hit a pathetic 62 for the FSQ, legs have just been feeling like trash all week, guess the slow time was to be expected. Going to finish it off at Lapham tomorrow, before heading up to Door County for a week. Finished a preliminary release of RunLog earlier today, after I fixed my boneheaded mistake. |
10 |
| Friday AM: |
Got out for a quick 3-bomb at 7 minute pace. Definitely a struggle to keep the legs going forward, felt like they just wanted to fly out in random directions. Hips are still sore from hurdling on Wednesday. Got about 7 hours last night, but wasn't nearly as tired in the morning. This has been a fairly long downswing, wondering when it's going to pick up. |
3 |
| Thursday: |
Woke up early to put in a morning run, but was too exhausted to get out of bed, even though I'd slept for nearly 9 hours again. Decided if I was that tired the 30 minutes would be better spent sleeping. Wound up running around 6pm, after the temp had dropped to below 70, that was nice. Stopped at Kathryn's then went down to Big Bay, and back along Oakland to the HS. Was going to stop at the track for an FSQ, but it was really crowded, so I just kept going. Went back up to Lake and down to the Art Museum and back. Held low 6:00s most of the way, not feeling amazing, very conscious of my legs, they've just been fatigued recently. Went past J's apartment, then his Nissan, and looked up to see him walking out. A little earlier, along the Lakefront, suffered another Khatchadourian drive-by. Have run into a bit of a problem with RunLog, going to need a little redesign, I'm afraid. |
13 |
| Wednesday: |
Bender Loop with the Kletzsch Park add-on backwards. Went with End around 4PM, stopped off at the track to work with Coach Johns going over hurdles. Felt pretty good given that it was the first time I'd done hurdle work in a long time. He said I was looking pretty good going over them, still a little too high, and that my trail leg was starting too soon, and snapping my lead leg down will help that out. Got some things to work on, spent a good 30-40 minutes there with him. Finished off with the last mile home. Feeling pretty beat up today, stayed a step behind End most of the way, didn't want to get into a pissing match and get rolling too fast, but we held 6:20s like we both wanted. Felt strong up the hill again, really the only time I turned it on, opened up a little lead over End. The past few days have just been about getting the miles in, legs really beat up. HR was 42BPM over 9 hours of sleep last night, so it can't be overtraining, just one of those cycles. Should snap out pretty soon. Got the name of a good PT/CAT from Mr. J, I want to have him work me over a time or two before I head back to Boston, especially since the mileage is starting to get serious now. I figure once I get back to MIT I'll start having Tom give me a once over at least once a week, make sure everything's where it should be. Still think I'm going to take a shot at 90M, but might fall a little short. |
12 |
| Tuesday PM: |
3M out and back down Lake Drive. Rockin' steady at 6:30s the whole way, dropped a 6:20 over the last mile, can't seem to pull back on the reins. Still, fairly evenly split 19:30/19:10. Solid run, finished off a big day. Legs a little sore but that's it. No fatigue like on recent runs. Was expecting my stomach to act up again, it hasn't been feeling good all day, but no problems. Had lunch with Mr J, he decided last night to bag the Ironman for this year due to the whole getting hit by a truck incident, sounds like a smart decision to me. In other news, RunLog is nearing the first build, I keep thinking I'm there and then realizing that some essential functionality has yet to be added. Hopefully an hour while watching the All Star Game will suffice. But for tonight, the primary objective is sleep, and lots of it. |
6 |
| Tuesday AM: |
Bender Loop. Out the door a little after 6:30AM, this town is dead that early in the morning. Took awhile to wake up, but I started feeling pretty good. Hit 3M in 20:00, jumped in a Port-A-John at 24 in Lincoln, things were feeling pretty good for 10-15 minutes after that. Then the stomach started creeping up on me again, and I had to stop at the bathrooms in Klode. Able to finish up well after that though, threw in a 6:10 last mile, feeling strong the whole way. Really tired at the end though, but HR was 45 last night, nothing that's too far out there. Should be pretty light mileage this afternoon. |
10 |
| Monday: |
Art Museum, then headed north on Lake for half a mile, before turning around to take a much needed pit stop at home. Got back on the roads and went 2M north and came back. Had hoped to go 14M today, but my legs were spent and it was a struggle to finish off the 13th mile. Making 90 is still a possibility, but it'll depend on my HR the next two nights. I think it might be a little high because I haven't been feeling too hot on some of the runs. Going to start doubling up too. The first 8M were really solid, but things started to go downhill with the stomach problems. |
13 |
| Sunday: |
Same run as yesterday. Went earlier in the morning, so the sun was up in the sky but the day hadn't really gotten hot yet. Took one more day of "rest" at 10M, running slightly slower than yesterday, but a good clip nonetheless. Had to stop briefly with 2M to go because a rock had made it's way into my shoe, otherwise, no problems. Aside from a few bloody roadkills, nothing of interest happened on the run. Planning on getting to 90M this week, so I'll probably throw down a few doubles, and a few long days to boot. Hopefully I can get on the ball about my HR too. |
10 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 07
7/06-7/12 |
Another solid week, really feel like the training is coming to me this summer. No problems thus far and my legs feel amazingly strong. Climbing hills is much easier, I feel powerful all the way up. Missed out on Lapham this weekend, but the rest in Door County was worth it. Ready to come back at another week. July Miles :: 142 |
85 |
| Saturday: |
Ran down County Highway E for 5M and came back, in the warm afternoon. Sun was out, but it wasn't terribly hot, a really good run. Moving really well, feeling good and rested. Spent the whole day lying around at the pool. Was afraid my stomach might bother me, because I ran fairly close to lunch, but no problems at all. A solid day to finish off the week with. |
10 |
| Friday: |
Bender Loop. Woke up early and ran before work, really crawling today. Hit a 6:30 on the last mile, that was probably the fastest of the run. I think that the past three days, plus jogging the Storm the Bastille 5k with Kathryn last night took a little more out of me than I expected it to. But no worries, because I've got a weekend of rest in Door County coming up. |
10 |
| Thursday PM: |
Kenwood to Big Bay and back. Feeling alright, pretty sore legs though, just held a pace in the 6:20 range the whole way. Really just getting the miles in, stomach was pretty full. Nixed the FSQ, just wasn't feeling it. Maybe I'll throw down next week. Just need to drop in a pair of 10 milers on Friday and Saturday and I'll hit the mileage goal for the week. |
5 |
| Thursday AM: |
Art Museum backwards to St. Mary's hill, up the hill and down to Back Bay park, back home up top. Out the door at 6:30AM, into the morning mist. Half raining, half wet air, pretty good weather for running, kept everything cool. Started out a little slow, still waking up I guess, then dropped some sub 6:30s the rest of the way. The hill was a good run, nothing killer but pretty difficult. Legs fatigued, probably from the two big days before this. Plan to finish off the day with a 5 miler and maybe an FSQ this afternoon. |
9 |
| Wednesday: |
Bender Loop, with the Kletzsch Park Hill add-on, plus down to Kenwood and back home. Feeling alright at the start, kind of shaking it out and running at the pace my legs felt comfortable. Hit 3M in 19:30, not doing too bad, then gradually worked it down and was running really well the majority of the way. Felt strong as anything going up the hill, just eating it up. Hit the Citgo station (formerly known as 7-11) at Bender and Port, then continued on my way. That helped out a lot, then I started clicking off 3:10s all the way back, and finished off with a 6:00. Wound up feeling a lot better than I anticipated at the start of the run, but was dealing with some ridiculous fatigue in my legs over the last mile. Don't think it's been that bad all summer, maybe I just wasn't tough mentally today. Found out yesterday I have the opportunity to work twice a week with Coach Johns from my high school on hurdles, he was an Olympic Trials qualifier in the 400H, should help me out a lot. Sitting in the back of my mind constantly is also the summer journals up on run-insight.com. I probably shouldn't let other guys' training affect mine, and I don't think I am, but it helps the motivation to see guys throwing down 104M versus my 80. Always more work to be done. Speaking of more work to be done, build01_0g of RunLog is nearing completion. |
14 |
| Tuesday: |
Art Museum Loop in 50, then down to the SHS track to pace one of Kathryn's track kids to a 2:52 half, then back up to Lake Drive, down to Big Bay and back. Ran with End for the last mile, he was meeting 'Duza at Atwater Park for their run. Feeling really good today, must have been wrong about the downswing. Started out at 6:30s and then dropped it down to 6 flats, pretty much held that the rest of the way. Feeling nice and strong, the 2:52 was easy, splits of 1:24/1:28. Thought about an FSQ but nixed that idea, maybe tomorrow I'll swing by the track again. We'll see how it feels. Want to load up the middle of the week so I can "coast" through the weekend up in Door County. |
14 |
| Monday: |
Bender Loop. Feeling moderate today, nothing amazing though. Figure I'm heading into a downturn, cycles and all. Have been running well of late, so I'm not going to worry about hit. Managed to clip off 6:20s over the last couple miles without much effort. Nice day to run, things were cool because of the recent thunderstorms. No pig out today though. Was in a bit of a hurry becuase I was running late for dinner with Kathryn, but it all worked out. |
10 |
| Sunday: |
Lapham Peak. End bailed on me, he was going out to breakfast with his dad, but Kathryn came with me, so that was cool. Still ran alone, but at least there was someone to drive with. She ran Green Loops, I went Blue Loop in 40 and Black Loop in 47. Went Blue first by accident, forgot to turn onto Wiggly Squiggly, but it wasn't a big deal at all. Course was really slippery and waterlogged because it had been raining for the whole drive out. The sun came out as we started though, but the shoes still got soaked and the legs caked in mud. Pretty sweet day for running. Didn't really hammer at all, just getting in the miles and feeling good. Run almost turned hideous at the base of Asthma Hill, when a hawk nearly shat on my shoulder. I heard a rustle in the tree above me and thought it was just dropping water off the leaves, until these two big white splotches showed up on the ground half a foot from my feet and a hawk flew away overhead. Otherwise a solid way to start off this week, which will be a push for 80+. |
13 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 06
6/29-7/05 |
Solid, solid week. Good way to start off July. Not a single bad run in the whole week, everyone par or better. The heat near the end of the week made things tough, mainly because I'm not adjusted to it. Good to run with the guys again, even if just for a day. Saw the pig twice this week, surprised it was outside at all, given the heat and it's size. And Khatch, well, that was just weird seeing him on Thursday. Every week should end with a three day weekend. July Miles :: 57 |
80 |
| Saturday: |
Lapham with End. Went Black Loop with End in 44:15, then he decided to do 2 Greens and ran with me as I started the Blue Loop. Cut it short, just after skipping Two Tier. Feeling good the whole way, could have made it 13M easy, but wasn't about to. Did strides/walked the last bit, feeling really strong and surprisingly quick on the strides. Maybe I do still have some pop left in my legs. Mid 80s when we ran, but really humid because it had rained overnight and the moisture was trapped in the woods. Not a big deal, but we took a break after the Black Loop to water down again and cool off some. Gutbuster the second time around nearly ended me, but managed to get up Asthma Hill and Tower Hill reasonably OK on the second go-round. |
12 |
| Friday: |
Art Museum, plus a loop through Lake Park to add on mileage. Feeling alright, it was seriously hot out though, another 90+ day, so I chilled through the run. Went after Maltas and Yuval departed, so running alone again. Trucking 6:30s, pretty much the whole way, started running bubbler to bubbler at the end, and dumping water on me to keep cool. Kind of sore at the bottom of my right calf, not really the claf though. I guess it's on the outside of my leg, right next to my Achilles. That loosened up though, but I'm going to be paying more attention to it now. Saw Khatch today, hung out with him. Sounds like he's doing pretty well, really busy though. Hopefully I'll hit Lapham tomorrow to finish off the week. |
11 |
| Thursday: |
Bender Loop, with Maltas and Yuval on a bike. Swung by End's place and picked him up. Ridiculously hot outside, pushing 90 and bright and sunny. Going at a steady, respectable pace, hit Silver Spring in 31, which was a little behind so I started pushing, which was probably a mistake. There was an odometer on Yuval's bike, he said we hit about 10.5MPH for mile 6, roughly 5:45s. Backed off a little bit because my legs were starting to give, but got to Klode in 46 minutes, then End and I started hitting 6:00 all the way home. End turned off on Lake Bluff, and we had dropped Maltas back by Big Bay, and Yuval rode with him, so I had a hell of a time over the last half mile. Legs really starting to lose form, and really getting hot. Yuval's odometer said 10.5M, so when you take into account picking up End, and the swerving he was doing, I'd call the loop 10.3. Good day, but way too hot. Saw the pig sitting out on it's stoop, trying to get inside, the guys couldn't believe it was a real pig. And there was a Khatch sighting within the first 1:10 of the run. |
10 |
| Wednesday: |
Bender Loop, added on through Kletsch Park, up the sledding hill and down the back, then up the back and down the steep part. Feeling really good today, first 3M in 19:15, just cruising the majority of the way. The hill was really a non-factor, not much for hill work when you stack it up next to Lapham. Either my marks are kind of skewed down Lake Drive, or I really started hauling, because I dropped 3:15, 3:02, 2:52 for the last 3 halves. It felt more along the lines of 3:10, 5:55 with even splits. Either way, a very solid run, with mileage looking good for the week so far. Looking forward to logging the miles with Glassbones and Yuval, but Glass is trying to back out. Ran late in the day again, it was pretty hot today, but nice when I was out, sunny with a breeze, so it was hot but not killer. Once A Runner showed up today, my sister was awesome enough to buy both that and Sub 4 for me, and I'm now 60 pages into it. The running log program will probably suffer, but it's coming along. Realized the backend needs a quick tweak, and a GUI is the only reasonable way to go, although I detest GUI programming in Java. Zephyred with C-Los and P-Rock today, good to talk to those guys again. |
12 |
| Tuesday: |
Art Museum backwards, cut up Snake Hill, back down to LaFayette, over and up St. Mary's (along the road) then back home. A solid run with a few good hills in it. Didn't make a point of hammering the hills or pushing at all during the run, but held a solid 6:20 pace. Getting miles in was pretty much the theme, nothing amazing today. Real nice weather, sunny but cool since I didn't start until a little before 7. Mileage coming along nicely this week. Had a bit of a pain right below the knee cap, that went away after about 20 minutes, but I think it's time to start icing the knee and paying a little more attention to the IT Band. That's not the first time there have been aches in the knee this summer. A certain amount is likely to be inevitable, but still, I don't want to take any chances. Solid start to July. |
12 |
| Monday: |
Bender Loop. Feeling pretty good, trucking in the 6:20 range the whole way. Dropped a last mile of 6:12 (3:10, 3:02), feeling really good, really strong. Quads pretty damn sore though, I think End's are as well. What a surprise, that punk. First 3M in 19:15, last 3M in 19:00, finished a shade over 65 minutes. Pretty solid day, have yet to lay out the course for the week, in terms of hitting the mileage, but Maltas and Yuval are heading up later in the week, it'll be good to run with them. Most likely go long (12-14M) either Tuesday or Wednesday. Finished Sub 4 yesterday, in a mammoth reading session. Book is pretty good, not a whole lot of new insights, but some killer workouts. Haven't touched the program in a few days, try and get to it tomorrow.June Miles :: 292 |
10 |
| Sunday: |
Lapham. Went Black then Blue. Ran the Black Loop with Nick "My legs are tired and I just want to get through this, you can grind if you want though" End, in 42:50, and the Blue Loop alone in 39:10. That's the fastest I've ever ran over the Black Loop, I knew we were flying when we hit Homestead in 25:25 and I'm normally 26+ there. Pretty dead on the Blue Loop, especially since I was all alone. Rigging up just about every hill, but able to get my legs back under me between them, so it wasn't so bad. All in all a good day, but it left me pretty wasted. Need some bananas and pasta. Had a partial SHS XC reunion last night, with Alberty, End and Weyer. Plan for the week is 80M, looking forward to Glassbone and Yuval's arrival on Thursday. |
13 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 05
6/22-6/28 |
Pretty hard week. Don't know if it was the unfamiliar surroundings or what, but getting out the door at Kenney's house was a real chore this week. Wound up running a lot later in the day than I would have liked to. Maybe it was my diet, hardly had any fruits or vegetables, it was all frozen pizza, pasta and crackers. But I got it turned around by the end of the week, it all comes in cycles, that is my philosophy. Strung together a few good days at the end, due in part to doubling up. Hit the mileage goal with no adverse effects, everything is feeling good. Already at record June mileage, with 2 days left. June Miles :: 269 |
75 |
| Saturday: |
Bender. Done house sitting, good to be back with a little more variety in my runs. Hit the first 3M in 19-flat, just rolling. Didn't push at all during the run, just let the road unfold before me and let the run come to me. Feeling good, running well the whole time. Finished off with the last 2M in 12:16, last half in 3:00, and the whole run was a hair over 64 minutes. Nice solid run, good way to finish off the week. Got Sub 4 in the mail today, managed to read about 50 pgs. Most likely will finish it off tomorrow. Got the back-end of the program set up, all the data structure has been hashed together. Will need to add a UI, or GUI, then it'll be set for an Alpha release, before I go back in and refine the back-end. That'll come soon. |
10 |
| Friday PM: |
Down to the grass path, then 3 grass loops with hurdles. Got going to an ominous sky, it was raining in Shorewood when I left and the sky was split down the middle, half blue sky, half dark clouds. Watched them roll in as I ran. Hit the grass loops needing about 12 minutes, and started to will the rain to stay away. Got to needing 5 minutes before I knew I was going to get hit. The wind was picking up and I saw a bolt of lighting between clouds, and the rain came for my last 3 minutes. Not a big deal, the run was over and it feels good to run in the rain anyways. Another good day, really trucking. Things are picking up. I think the doubles helped. |
8 |
| Friday AM: |
Got up and threw down some grass loops again. Didn't really want to get up because I stayed up late last night working on the running log program, and only slept about 6 hours. I'm such a wuss now. Managed to get out the door, and it was surprising how quickly I was acclimated to running on tired legs after little sleep. Maybe more depressing than surprising. An uneventful AM run. |
4 |
| Thursday: |
Ran down County Line Road past the bike trail until it ended at a coal plant, where I turned right along another road. Held that until 25 minutes, then turned around. Ran pretty late in the day, wound up racing daylight, and turned around early because I didn't like the prospect of running along the shoulder in the dark as cars hurdled at me going 45. Wound up picking it up on the way back, thinking about scenarios I probably shouldn't be thinking about yet, and made it back to the school, where I threw down some more loops and hurdles. Feeling really awesome today, moving quickly and effortlessly, really hauling. Right where I need to be. |
10 |
| Wednesday PM: |
Silver Spring Loop. Drove home to run because it was in the 90s in Oak Creek, but only high-70s at home. Real sweet run, hauling from the start, but not pressing at all. Went through 3M sub-19 and everything was looking good. Kept it under control most of the way, feeling good and running strong. Hit 6:10 and 6:04 to bring it home. Feeling much better, much more excited about running today. |
7.5 |
| Wednesday AM: |
Grass Loops around the school. Woke up later than I planned, but everything worked out. Was able to work in some hurdles too, because there's a traffic barrier next to some grass that I was going over once a lap, probably only about 30-inches high, but it helped the confidence, going over some barriers. Nothing much else to report. |
4.5 |
| Tuesday: |
Another day in Oak Creek. Ran down to the dirt path again, went back and forth there a few times then headed back for two grass loops around an elementary school near Kenney's house. Feeling extremely unmotivated today, just sitting around and not wanting to run, and cut the mileage lower than I planned, because I didn't feel like running today. Probably going to double up tomorrow morning. After dinner spent some time watching TV, because I couldn't get myself off the couch and into bed. Right now, running seems like a chore to me. |
9 |
| Monday: |
Realized the bike path from yesterday didn't actually end where I thought it did, it turned into a dirt path through a conservatory, hopped on that expecting to log the majority of the day's mileage on dirt, but was disappointed as the path ended 5 minutes after it started. Went all the way back down to the other end of the path and back, then headed for home. Another solid, yet not spectactular run. Left a little behind schedule, but the sun was still bearing down and I was sweating quite a bit. Didn't feel as bad as yesterday when I got done, which is good. Slept a solid 8 hours last night, eating well, things are going to be fine. |
11 |
| Sunday: |
Ran late in the game, after watching US Nationals and then sitting around some more. Think I ate a few too many Triscuits too soon to running, because at about 40 minutes I knew I needed to get to a bathroom, and it took me another 10 minutes to get back to the house. Tacked on another 15 min to round out the total, don't know any distances, just running by feel and time since I'm in Oak Creek at Kenney's house for the week. Found a bike path, but that was only good for 20 minutes or so, ran from one end to the other. Fairly warm out, but had cooled off while I was on the john. Got back home and the legs were totally dead, no desire to move or stretch, but after a while managed to stretch out, change, cook a pizza then go to sleep. Not a horrible day, but not a great day. Lacked the motivation today. Would like to hit 75M this week, but wouldn't be devastated with a slightly lower total if the desire isn't there. Need to keep the fire lit. |
11 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 04
6/15-6/21 |
Another solid week. Haven't truly tested myself yet this summer, but the 13M on Sunday came pretty damn close. Still only June and still very early, but it's hard not to get excited. A lot of work to go still, but mileage is progressing very nicely. Small niggles went away after I got the new Motos, which makes sense. Dropped a sub-60 FSQ, pretty sure I can hang with Brewer. June Miles :: 194 |
70 |
| Saturday: |
Lapham Peak Unit. Black Loop in 43:50, two Green Loops in 24:30 (12:30, 12:00). Excellent, excellent day. I keep underestimating my fitness. I had hoped to get the Black Loop down in the 42 minute range, but kind of fell asleep in the middle, just coasting up and down, but managed to come through with a fast time, and then tack on another 4M without pushing too hard. The 2M Green Loop has to be the penultimate grass loop, rolling hills, a mixture of sun (to accentuate the abdominals) and shade (to prevent heatstroke getting all up ons.) On the second loop got that fatigued feeling in the legs, makes you want to push harder and you can feel the improvement on each step. Not overly exhausted or hot at the end, temps below 80 day, that was helpful. HR was 43 last night, through 9 hours of sleep. |
11 |
| Friday: |
Bender Loop again. Feeling fast today, clipped off 19:00 for 3 without thinking about then, but then decided to just hold steady. Really want to try and drop something fast at Lapham tomorrow, so I decided against actively pushing the pace today. Held pretty much steady the rest of the way, hit Klode at just under 46-flat. From there trucked a couple more 6:20s, until 4676. Sometimes, stupid people cannot be prevented from doing stupid things. I spotted a white shirt about 300m ahead of me and decided I was going to run him down. The legs started moving, and I was still feeling good and it was easy, so I didn't back off. Hit the half in 2:55, nothing drastic, and the guy was only 150m away. By this time I was really moving well, floating along easy and eating up ground. Caught him quickly, white polo shirt tucked into his running shorts. Held it through the mile mark, a 2:45 half, then did some strides on the way home. Got moving very quickly, but strong and nowhere near anaerobic. Stretched out and legs feel fine, no apparent aftermath. HR was 42 last night, over 8 hours of sleep. Heading out to Lapham tomorrow for 11M. Been toying around with the notion of writing a Java program to automate the log. We'll see if I get around to it. Fivos has kicked the shit-talkin' into high gear. My question though, is if he's bringing money along, expecting to buy water, why doesn't he just bring water? And if he's not expecting to buy water, why's he bringing money? End's racing tomorrow, Wejo shocked a lot of people in the 10k, Krum's running on a bad hammy, Rock was 7th in the quarter trials. So much going down. |
10 |
| Thursday: |
Bender Loop. Another slow run, not feeling agressive the past 2 days, it's all a cycle, the ups and downs come and go. Running about 6:30-6:40s most of the way, stomach started getting bad about 8M in, not a big deal. Brought it home with a 6:31, total time of 66:31, slightly better than 6:40 a mile. Slept about 9 hours last night, HR was at 41BPM when I woke up. Not much going on, things are pretty low-key around here right now. |
10 |
| Wednesday: |
Art Museum. Started at 6:40+ and by 10 minutes in my legs felt like complete trash. Quads were really heavy and just running slow. Ran early because I worked 11-3 today, instead of 9-1. Maybe my legs aren't used to the AM, or maybe the FSQ took more out of them than I thought. But the last 10-15 minutes they loosened up, and I managed to drop to 6:20s. Not a big deal, good to have recovery days in there, and it wasn't pain or soreness, just straight up dead legs. HR was 42BPM and got 8.5 hours of sleep, but I'm looking forward to the weekend. Yesterday the Rival D3s were on sale at Rodiez's, and my old pair was falling apart, so I picked up a new pair. They're blindingly white right now, so I'll take them to the first mud puddle I see. And they look huge, because they're brand new and white and haven't bent into shape yet. |
8 |
| Tuesday: |
Bender Loop backwards. Picked up some a new pair of Motos at Rodiez's after work today, the old ones were getting pretty worn down, and pushing 500M, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were causing the majority of my aches and pains. Been contemplating buying a new pair to wear around too, instead of just recycling the old training shoes, since that probably plays a part too. Anyways, about the run. Solid day today, clipping off 6:20-6:30s effortlessly, just floating along. Wasn't feeling that amazing and definitely not in a mood to push it today, but all in all a good run. Stopped at the track to try my hand at an FSQ, since Brewer and some other guys have been trying them. Really just wanted to see how I stacked up, there's no hard and fast training philosophy behind this, trying to keep the fast twitch fibers there somewhat, but with hardly any (i.e. no) strides after runs, I doubt one FSQ is going to do much. Dropped a 59.4, it definitely wasn't full speed but it was a hard effort. Haven't done any true speedwork, but have been running an above average number of hills, which is an adequate substitute for speedwork during base phase. Still, I probably should be running strides at least 2x a week. Not diligent enough about water or sit ups yet, but the running part, I'm doing ok with that. |
10 |
| Monday: |
Art Museum backwards. Feeling pretty good, ran the first 6M in 6:00-6:20, slipped to 6:30+ over the last 2M because my stomach was giving me problems. Guess I ate too much popcorn while watching "A Fistful Of Dollars" this afternoon. Yesterday may have been a little overboard, in that I was wasted the rest of the day, but was well rested today, so it was within reason. Need to get better about checking the HR. |
8 |
| Sunday: |
Black Loop and Blue Loop at Lapham. Ran a little later today, started a bit after 11, and it was nearly 80 degrees when I finished, nothing drastic but much more than I'm used to. Feeling good on the Black Loop, not hammering because I had another 6M afterwards, but was moving pretty well, especially after Asthma Hill. Went 44:45 for the first loop, then threw in 38 flat for the Blue Loop. Wasn't running so well on that loop, really tired and not able to climb as well. Tried to keep my mind in it, this was really my first difficult run of the summer. Definitely not coasting through the last 6M. Able to finish pretty well and went 83 mins for the run. Probably 2 more weeks until End will come to Lapham with me. Hoping to score about 70M this week, but if the aches and pains stick around, might back it down to 65M. Putting in a lot of quality work and it's still early. |
13 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 03
6/08-6/14 |
Solid week of mileage, hit exactly what I wanted. Tuesday was the only really bad day, but the beginning of the week was pretty rough, running slow and not feeling it. By the end of the week it had turned around though, threw down some solid, solid runs. Helped to have Kathryn on her bike with me on Thursday. Random aches and pains popped up during the week, but mainly limited to just when I woke up, nothing that interfered with my running. When you get old like me, that stuff probably happens a lot more. June Miles :: 124 |
65 |
| Saturday: |
Down to LaFayette along the Lakefront, back down St. Mary's and over to LaFayette again, back to Kenwood and down Lincoln Memorial to Snake Hill, back up to Lake Drive, a half mile loop in Lake Park and then home. This run wound up being a lot more scattered than I expected. Thought throwing in the loop from St. Mary's to LaFayette would bump up the mileage enough, but I wound up running in circles for awhile adding mileage. Running really well though, holding 6:00-6:20s the whole way. Feeling really easy too, not hammering, not up on my toes at all, just running hard and fast. Got in some hills too, not a whole lot but more than usual around here. Heading out to Lapham tomorrow for a black and a blue. Beautiful weather, pretty overcast but warm. |
9 |
| Friday: |
Bender Loop. Time slipped away and I wound up running at 6PM, but was feeling really good. Hit the first 3M in 19:00 and kept on hammering. Last 3M were 6:00, 6:00, 5:50 and the whole loop took me 63 minutes. Feeling really good, I was pushing but didn't ever get up on my toes, stayed completely within myself, a really good run. Wasn't wasted when I finished up, tired but could have kept going. Good day, good pace, hope there are more like this one this summer. More proof that these things come in cycles, string a couple bad days together and you'll get a couple good days in a row down the line. Have had a variety of small aches and pains, mainly just when walking around, but my right knee did ache for a block or two, right where it was hurting during indoors. That scared the crap out of me. So now my IT Band has a date with The Stick. Have only been sleeping about 7 hours a night, looking forward to a nice, laid-back weekend. |
10 |
| Thursday: |
Down to the Art Museum along the Lake, then back up to Wilson and Congress along the Bike Path, back up to Lake Drive along Lake Bluff then home. Kathryn rode her bike along with me today, so that got me moving pretty quick throughout. Not exactly sure about the mileage, but it was 66 minutes and I clipped off the last half mile in about 2:45-2:50 not even pushing it, just coasting pretty much at the speed I'd been running. Nice day to run, sunny but still cool. Too many bugs out. Spent a long time stretching and drinking water afterwards, did some towel stretches because my calves have been a little more sore than usual. My feet were hurting up by my toes this morning, afraid that might bother me on the run but couldn't feel them at all. Very good day. |
11 |
| Wednesday: |
Bender Loop then down to Edgewood and back with End. Planning on taking it all the way down to Kenwood for a cool dozem, but right at the 10M mark the left calf started to feel like it was close to cramping up, and my left hammie was tender, so I cut it short a mile. Good thing too, it was starting to feel worse after 11M. Stretched it out and don't think it'll be a problem. Everything else was good today, running 6:20-6:30 consistently, maybe a couple faster bouts in there, but that's just typical of running with End. Have to wait and see how the mileage turns out. If the legs are feeling good 3 straight 10M days shouldn't be a problem, but I don't know how the legs will be. This week is kinda strange with the stomach problem and now the calf. No need to rush anything, for all intents and purposes 63M is just as good as 65M, better even if saving 2M means staying out of trouble. Really cool today, low 50s, End was wearing a long sleeve shirt, but he's got to keep his girly body warm. First day of work today, nice 4 hours at the Medical College. That's right Maltas, I'm not a worthless piece of crap anymore, and I only slept 7.5 hours last night (should have only been 7 but I overslept.) Rode my bike to Kathryn's and back today, so that's almost 2M of cross training. Ha, like I'm gonna start training for tris on an 18 speed mountain bike with shitty gears and no brakes on the front wheel. |
11 |
| Tuesday: |
Art Museum backwards. Ran early in the day, about 12 hours after last night's debacle, but 9 of those were spent sleeping. Legs felt pretty tired and the stomach was still feeling the effects of yesterday's run. About 35 minutes in it was feeling bad, but a large part of that was in my mind, because it went away soon after I stopped stressing it. Pretty easy day, running 6:30-6:50s the whole way, going to come back with a long run tomorrow hopefully, the mileage should work out for this week without a problem. If not, not a big deal, running 63M or whatever isn't going to hurt me. Forgot to mention that I saw an opossum during the run yesterday, before the run went to hell. Was planning on relaxing at a friend's cottage this afternoon, but it's looking like rain, so those plans got scratched. No big news, Verbal claims he is running, about 4-5 a day, that's pretty solid. Started thinking about Hanover at the end of today's run, that gets me feeling better. |
8 |
| Monday: |
Attempted Bender Loop. Absolutely horrible, horrible run. Was planning on running at night with End, but he took the day off and I decided to run alone at night. Thought it would be pretty cool, wound up backfiring. Got off to an acceptable start, lulled into a slower pace by the night, didn't feel like pushing at all. Planned on running 12M when I went out the door. Night was gorgeous running weather and my legs were feeling good. After 5M my stomach was starting to hurt, which surprised me because I had attempted a pre-emptive bathroom stop before starting and thought I was going to be OK. By 7M my stomach felt like it was about to explode. Managed to jog the next mile, but was then reduced to walking and jogging short distances, trying to get home. Walked almost the whole last mile, jogged maybe 400m with shooting pains in my stomach before being on the verge of vomiting. It was a complete waste of a day, one of the worst runs of my life, certainly of the past year. Haven't sat down and figured out how this is going to affect the week, but it probably won't. Don't think this is an illness at all, my stomach just wasn't agreeing with me tonight. |
8 |
| Sunday: |
Art Museum Loop. Feeling pretty trashy today, Lapham probably tore me up a little bit yesterday. Calves really sore, just not that enthused, still running sub 6:30s though. Got through the run, try to go long tomorrow, things are in good shape right now. Spent the afternoon watching Boston beat up on Milwaukee at Miller Park, pretty ugly game. Played a little golf, tennis and bingo yesterday, not too much luck at any of those. Guess I'll just stick with running. Planning on hitting 65M this week. |
8 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 02
6/01-6/07 |
Solid week of mileage, strange that a couple years ago this would have been a really high week, and now it feels like I'm hardly running at all. Plan on just increasing by 5M a week from here out now, that should put me where I want to be. Got in a couple long runs and a solid day at Lapham too. Feel like I'm in pretty good shape and it's only Week 2 of summer training. June Miles :: 59 |
59 |
| Saturday: |
Black Loop at Lapham Peak. Great run, feeling good, pretty tired by the end though. Not used to climbing this many hills, still dropped 44:25, which was a lot faster than I was expecting to run. In the middle the legs were pretty tired, but managed to get through it really well. Decided not to add on 2M afterwards, just stretched out and came home. Looking forward to running a lot more miles out there, one of the greatest places to run. In good spirits after the 9-3 ass kicking the Brewers laid on the Red Sox. |
7 |
| Friday: |
Bender. Swung by End's house off Wilson and cruised with him. Running really well, good to have someone to run with and that gets the pace going and it's easier to hold. He's started working, and is 2 weeks away from his Junior Nationals race, he claims to be starting his "taper." Anyways, again, I argue the route is long, ran about 65 mins but clipping off 6:00s over the last 3M, including a 5:50 (3:00/2:50) final mile. Rigging slightly near the end, partly due to an incredible desire to find a toilet, but tried not to push too hard after End turned down Lake Bluff and left me alone for the final half. Pulling myself closer to Brewer's season mileage, should have him by next week. Enjoyed the Brewers' sweep of the New York Metropolitians yesterday. Got the BoSox in town this weekend. |
10 |
| Thursday: |
Art Museum backwards. Feeling really good, really strong today as well. Nothing memorable or exciting to report, just fresh legs and holding about 6:30s at the start, dropped slightly near the end. Last half mile in 3:05 without pushing it at all. Need to get better about water and situps though. |
8 |
| Wednesday: |
Bender Loop. Woke up and wasn't too excited about running at all, but as the day went on I decided to run long. Really good run, feeling great. Strong all the way through, running easy at the end, not rigging. Big step up since Monday. HR was 43 and slept for 11 hours last night. Maybe this route is a little long, because I ran the last 3M in 18:20 (6:10, 6:15, 5:55) and was 65 for the whole way. Didn't feel like I was picking it up that much, probably running 6:20-30 most of the way. Saw a fox crossing the street as I turned onto Bender, and the pig was sauntering down his driveway like he owned the place. He wears a harness, pretty stupid looking, and is grossly overweight, needs to step on a treadmill. Talked to someone from Manpower today, she couldn't help me but might know someone who can. As of now though, still unemployed. |
10 |
| Tuesday: |
Art Museum. Feeling great today. This was the run I want all runs this summer to feel like. Felt light and easy but was clipping off 6:20s the whole way. Definitely a good day, hopefully a sign of things to come. First really fast, really comfortable day I've had this summer, and a good distance too. This has got me in a great mood. |
8 |
| Monday: |
Bender Loop. Feeling pretty good, but nothing amazing. Maybe yesterday's run took more out of me than I thought it did. HR was 43 last night, slept for 10 hours, so all signs are good. Noticed that my legs were tired at 3.5M, but they didn't get really bad until about 8.5M in. Was a little disappointed, I thought my fitness was better than that, was rolling along a shade above 6:30s and expected to be feeling good. Despited feeling like I was rigging the whole last mile, managed to drop 6:20s for the last 2M. Wasn't trying to speed up or to hammer at all, just trying to maintain. Good day for the confidence and the legs, need to start hitting long runs like this consistently. |
10 |
| Sunday: |
Klode again. Waited around all day watching TV, finally got moving at 6:20PM. Nailed a 3:12 then rolled off 5 straight 3:00 half miles. Hit the halfway point and started dropping it down. 5:45, 5:40, 5:35 for the last 3M. Feeling great, really effortless until 2M to go when my legs started to feel a little tired, and then the last half mile was tough. Must have been falling apart mentally because my legs weren't hurting terribly but I felt like I was backing off. Got going pretty quick for this early on, but a tough run is necessary every once in awhile and I guess too fast is slightly better than too long right now. Going to try to get on the ball and get a long run in tomorrow. Unfortunately, no pig sightings today, must've been inside. |
6 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 01
5/25-5/31 |
Typical first week back running. Sore muscles after the first day that lingered for a few days. Wound up a little more exhausted at the end of the week than I expected. This mileage seems really low and I feel the need to step it up, but I keep telling myself it's early. Need to start checking the HR, hard to believe I'm digging myself into a hole at low mileage and 8-10 hours of sleep a night, but I'm barely 10 days removed from MIT, so there might be lingering effects. Never know. May Miles : 132 |
49 |
| Saturday: |
Klode. Cool outside, which was shocking at first but really beautiful weather. Feeling lethargic all day, couldn't motivate myself to do anything, barely wanted to run. Got out on the roads for an out and back where only two things keep you going straight: 1) too tired to think about turning around and 2) the knowledge that nothing better awaits you at home. Wound up picking it up all the way home, which wasn't my intention and didn't feel that way at all. Hit the last 3M in the 6:15 range. Saw a pig in someone's front yard about 3.5M in. Kinda strange. |
6 |
| Friday: |
Out and back to Silver Spring along River Parkway. Was going to go full Bender Loop but got to 4.5M mark in 29:12 and decided to turn around and make it just 9M. Calves really tired for the first half of the run, feeling pretty slow, but felt a lot better on the way back. Got a little excited and picked it up slightly. 57 minutes for the whole way. It's still early and the mileage this week is high enough, important to take care of myself. Was 169.5lbs at the start of the run and 166lbs at the end. Going to need to concentrate on drinking more H2O as the summer progresses. |
9 |
| Thursday: |
Silver Spring Backwards. Hooked up with End for the back half of his run. He was moving pretty well, started out around 6:20s and held it there. Running with him is a lot like running with Brewer, he stays a stride or two ahead the whole way, pushing the pace. I felt a little more tired than I would have liked, but got in the miles. Measured this loop the other day, it's going down as 7.5M, too long to call it 7 and too short to call it 8. This week is coming along fairly well. Saw Mr. J on his bike along Lake Drive. |
7.5 |
| Wednesday: |
Klode Park. Set out with the intention of running 7M at a decent pace, but very quickly realized my quads were much too sore to make that a good idea anymore. Could have pushed it out probably, but 1) it's early and 2) it's early. Settled for a six miler at 6:40-7:00 pace. Mile 5 was horrendous, but started to feel good at the end of the run, relaxed and dropped in a sub 6:30 without noticing. Focused on stretching out the quads, drinking a lot of water and will come back at it tomorrow. Still entertaining thoughts of going long on Friday, maybe push it to Saturday though. Saw Mr. J at the 2M mark, stopped to say "Hi." He was in the middle of a 90 minute run, but at 7:40s. Triathlon training. Maybe that'll be me someday. |
6 |
| Tuesday: |
LaFayette Hill with a few minutes add-on down Lake Drive. Feeling pretty good, kept it nice and easy though, 6:30s the whole way. Quads are still the sorest part of me, but that's just a matter of time. Nothing exciting going on, still sleeping a lot and unemployed. Thinking I'll throw down a 10 miler on Friday, hit about 50M for the first week back. Need to stay on top of strides, stretching and sit-ups. Going out to Milwaukee Lutheran to watch the WIAA Regional Meet, check out the Shorewood action. |
7 |
| Monday: |
Silver Spring Loop. Feeling good, stayed calm and relaxed for the first few miles. Came through 3M in around 19:30 and ran a slow 4th mile. Started to feel better coming back along Lake Drive. Realized around 30 minutes in that I was close to the end and didn't have to hunker down as if I was on a long run. Feels kinda strange to be running short, but the long runs will come soon. Dropped 6:20 and 6:10 on the last 2M, not trying to pick it up at all and wasn't pushing it. Quads were the worst, which is surprising because the calves were aching last night. Felt way too bad to even think about hurdling something, and I haven't found anything the right height quite yet. Maybe I'll wind up pulling a folding chair into the middle of the road and looking like a moron. Got another solid 8+ hours of sleep last night, this is the life. Route may have been a little long, maybe I'll get out and measure it sometime. |
7.5 |
| Sunday: |
Klode Park. Typical first day back run. Feeling great for the first five minutes, tearing it up and just flying. Legs feel light and fast. Then reality sets in and you realize there's still 30 minutes ahead of you. Then you think you're never gonna make it. Elbows and knees start flailing every which way, limbs akimbo. You swear you're feeling worse and running slower than Nate Brigham at Nationals, and you feel almost as old as Wilson Perez. Then things start to look up and maybe you'll get through it. I think I got in a little over my head, but it's not going to affect me negatively. Ran the first couple miles at 6:15s, then dropped in a 6:00, 5:50, 6:00 and finished with another 5:50. Ran 5M in 30:30 and 6M in 36:20. Not too shabby for a first day, althought I'll need to learn how to take it easy if I hope to get out of the summer alive. |
6 |