Couple o runs

Having trouble hitting the 30 mile mark these days. Got some sort of a head cold on Saturday and as such kind of wimped out a bit on Sunday. Ended up with 8.69..fairly muddled miles. Ran with KW, our new coach for EGSMC. Somehow got the motivation to organize a training group at the hospital. Been wanting to do this for years as I have run across so many people who ask me about my running at work and about various races, etc. Just wanted to provide a good program to help people run and maybe run better. It is funny how this thing has evolved. Mentioned the group to a co-worker whose husband happens to be a tri coach who happened to be interested in doing some volunteer work/pr/marketing who happened to love the idea of a running group for fairly new runners in the 10min mile - 13min mile range. Funny how things work out. So, the vision has always been to structure this thing very much like the run-the-whole way pace groups at F4 or BBTC. And, this is exactly how it appears to be working out. Anyway, did my first run with KW the coach and he of course was naturally a lot faster than me, especially when I am feeling like crap. We started mainly sub-8 which really should not have been a problem for me, but it seems on that day I needed a bit slower of a warm-up to get going. Anyway, was able to chat about the program, goals, etc. most of the way regardless of the feeling of discomfort. Avg pace of 8:23 with an avg HR of 163...which really sucked. Should have been well below 160 for the avg pace. Oh well.

Missed my planned Monday as the day was perfect for a visit by the kids at the park by the hospital. Made a decision to prioritize the family! Well worth it for sure.

Finally got out today after blowing off my mid-day run. Went to check out the wind before my planned time...decided to bag it as the wind was just whistling through the hospital with dust storms all around the construction surrounding the place. Wise decision. Fortunately, left work early and was able to cobble together a decent 3.89 around old-town in about a 8:15 with an avg HR of 150. Funny how different this run was than Sunday, faster with a much lower HR. Weird. Maybe it was the tail wind in the beginning, although most of the second half was a combination of the Old Town hills and head wind. Regardless, felt a bit tight and sluggish today for some reason. Finished up the workout with a set of 5 X 10 second sprints up Washington. Modeled the workout from an article I read in the latest Running Times by B Hudson. Loved it actually. Felt like I was floating up the hill, total forefoot with very quick turn-over. Definitely "pawing" my way up the hill. Felt stronger after the workout as described in the article. Will keep this one up.