Time Off....

Well, I am officially taking a week off from running. My last run was last Thursday morning. I have been ignoring my hip now for about a month thinking that ice would magically heal the problem (bursitis I believe as it mostly hurts after the run on the side to partially back of the hip at the top of the IT band). However, it is not getting better (well it wasn't until I stopped running...it has been feeling a lot better through the weekend!). It seemed to hurt more after a hard workout on the pavement, although it is still generally sore after easy ones as well. The groin issue is still there; it just appears and goes away...really just a bit nagging rather than truly acute. So, I am taking a bit of time off while there is still snow on the ground. Bummer as I had a great MAF block that resulted in some steady efficiency improvement.

I am thinking that these two issues got a bit worse when I switched down to the racing flats and really started after I hit 300 miles on the the Precision 10's. So, I have ordered a pair of Elixir 5's which are still very light (under 10oz), but have a bit more stability to them than the Precisions and certainly the Ronin's.

Time to reset a bit...maybe time to reset expectations and plans for the year as well? We will see.

1/27/2010 - Progression run

Just over 7 miles. Planned on splits of 9:30, 9:00, 8:30, etc. down to a final mile of 7:00. Basically hit the splits with the HR under 160 except for the last two miles. Well under LT throughout. Felt great overall. Not a real struggle even in the final two miles. Max HR of 173 with an average HR for the run at 151. Average pace of 8:19 for the run.

Definitely starting to feel some progress. I did an 5 mile MAF test yesterday on the Rock Creek to Coal Creek Loop around the hospital. It looks like I took about 27 seconds off of the time from 1/15/2010 to 1/26/2010. Not a ton of improvement, but close to 10 seconds a mile. I'll take it at this point. And today, it look awhile to get my HR over the 145 range... in fact I was under 147 for the first three miles with 147 the average in mile three at a pace of 8:25. This feels like progress.

Day off tomorrow, with a planned 7-8 at work on Friday easy.

Activity Details for 1/27/2010 - Progression run

Thursday tempo run - 5 miles between 150 and 160 HR

Fit in a tempo today, 1st in my four week block. Still a bit sore from Monday's Green, but felt good enough to run in a slightly higher HR range. Overall felt very smooth and glad to be moving a bit faster. Generally running in the low 8's today which is close to what I used to run all of my runs at. HR was generally just at 160 with a max of 163...always gravitate to the top end of the specific range for some reason. Overall solid run counter-clockwise on the Stearns Lake Loop. Still muddy, but excellent to be back out on trail...seemed better than pounding around the Colorado Tech Center.

Excellent comment by Tim on Brandon's blog today on fuel. I will be re-reading this one for sure.

Activity Details

Medium run - easy - Sunday 1/17/2010 - 10.5 miles

Ran a loop around Baseline Lake via So Boulder, Baseline and 76. Kept the HR under 145 for the most part; max of 150 with an average of 144. Pretty slow overall pace, but the slight inclines demanded a "slow" pace at this point in base training. Felt real smooth overall for most of the run. No knee pains, just some hotspots on the feet after about 8.5 miles. Not IT issues...even at mile 10.

Activity Details...

31.6 miles on the week in 4:44 hours. Average pace for the week was just over 9min miles compared to my average pace back on the week of the 14th of 8:16. Just goes to show how much I have slowed things down as I try to build some aerobic strength/base. I will be giving this plan a whirl for a few weeks with some MAF tests interspersed to check for progress. Excited to see what happens...if anything.

Great summary of the philosophy I am following on GZ's blog.... Check it out here...

5 miles - Friday 1/15/2010

Ran one of my old favorites, loop out Rock Creek to Coal Creek, under 287 and back...just a bit over 5 miles. This will be a perfect route for an MAF test, a lot less boring than running around the office 4 times. Really, really muddy with some snow here and there. A bit annoying to start, but nice to hit something different today. As usual the HR spiked at the very beginning of the run...this is of course why I need to do a real warmup prior to doing any kind of real workout or interval. Strange.

Here are the splits...notice the HR spike in the first .25, then the settle. Pace was mostly even given the early mud...definitely a bit faster as I got back on pavement with no real pace fade across the miles.

Great feedback from Lucho this week. He took the time to analyze my LT results from my Boulder Center for Sports Medicine test from late 2008. According to the master, I need to be running in the 135-145 range for most runs with a tempo run sprinkled in weekly in the 150-160 range. "Easy" targets to hit, elegant plan for the foreseeable future. Of course I just need to get used to running slow for the foreseeable future as 135-145 puts me in the 9-9:30 range on a flat course. Kind of an adjustment since I have been running in he low 8's and below through most of the fall and early winter. But, I am convinced this is what I need to do now to build my base fitness for what comes next....

Activity Details for 5 miles - Friday 1/15/2010

Steady 4+ mile at projected marathon pace - 1/13/2010

Needed to keep HR under 156, but for some reason the mood struck to run a bit faster than planned as I have been running slow over the past few weeks. Felt good to get below 8min miles for the first time in awhile, but of course I should have followed the plan. Average HR at 160 for the run...still a higher than I used to be able to run at this pace, but not bad nonetheless.

Met Lucho today in person. It is always great to meet someone in after following their blog for awhile. Had the same experience with Brandon last year when we banged out a 10-mile Heil Loop. Spent a bunch of time talking about training and pacing. Got some great ideas for the next couple of months as I figured out whether Colfax is in my future. Step one was pretty clear...run more. This of course is always my problem as I constantly complain about not having the time with work, family, etc. However, Brandon, Lucho and GZ all make it work with multiple kids and jobs...so I just have to choose to make the miles happen. Step two, give MAF a real try. I have basically been doing this for the last couple of weeks after switching to HR-based training by following Brandon's lead. So now I really need to dial in the right HR. I had mentioned to Lucho yesterday that I through my LT was in the 160's. However I dug up my Boulder Center for Sports Medicine data and came up with the following; report states that my LT back in Sept of 08 was 174 not 172 for a pace between 7:19 down to 6:55 for supra-LT. The max HR listed on the report for VOMax is 182. So, the question is if this puts my MAF target HR closer to 150 rather than 145? I think I heard that MAF is between 25 and 30 beats less than LT? Lucho, what do you think? Step three, do two weeks of MAF with a 5 mile MAF test each week to check current fitness and then jump into a 4 week block of mainly MAF with some progression runs and maybe a bit of tempo. This all fits quite nicely into the current RW plan I am following.

More to come...easy MAF run today either at work or after work....

Stupid HIP is still bugging me a bit, bursitis I think. Not a long term-worry, just an annoyance.




Details here...

Easy 7 miles - Waneka Loop - 1-9-2010

Just missed catching the Oatmeal 5K at Waneka by about 15 minutes...hoped to intersect with the leaders but needed to keep moving. Annoying again keeping the HR 145 or under, especially with a few little inclines. Stayed with the plan and kept the overall HR at 144 for the 7 miles. Did some strides for just under a mile after the prescribed 7. Felt ok overall. No pain later in the day..slight tightness in the right knee late in the run, but felt it would not have been an issue if I had continued the run. I guess twinges are just going to be there as I reach 40. Wonder how long it will take to improve the pace? Pace was consistent through most of the run until the last 3/4 mile which was mostly uphill.Easy 7 miles - Waneka Loop

Details here...

1-7-2010 - Easy 4miles on the mill

Easy 5 miles was on the schedule for the day...decided to bag the last mile as I really needed to get back to the office...and the mill was just annoying me. The machine is really setup up for cardiac re-hab rather than working out, so it is extremely minimal in features. It does adjust the incline, but the speed only goes to 7.2 mph. Funny the mileage calculation seems to either tick over faster or the speed is off because the pace that is calculated when I enter the miles vs time in runningahead and connect ends up being quite a bit faster. Case in point was today where by the end of the workout I was supposedly doing a 10:30 pace to keep the HR below 145. However, the overall workout came in at just over 9 minute miles throughout. So, something is just not right. Anyway, goes to what GZ always says in that a mill workout can only be compared to another mill workout on the same mill....

So, I am feeling pretty good after a few days of using the runnersworld program downloaded to my Garmin. I set the program to be based on HR as Brandon did last summer as this does seem like a good idea and a great way to keep pace in control based on fitness. I made an assumption that my max HR is 185 given a few 180+ readings over the past months on some inclines and intervals. I also ran the numbers based on the 3:30 marathon target just for the heck of it. This put the paces well slower than my last 5K early in 2009 and my BB10K of 44...so, I am thinking that the 185 is about right as the paces I am hitting seem to be pretty close based on the HR targets. Regardless, I am running a lot slower with the majority of my runs at under 150 which puts me right in MAF territory as well.

I really intuitively have known that I have been running too fast over the past few months, so this focus on HR has been a nice change. Honestly a lot of my twinges are starting to disappear and I am finding myself a lot less beat up overall...really starting to crave more distance and speed.

So, the real question in all of this will be whether I really have the time to bang out the long runs this winter and spring. I think I can definitely get in the weekly workouts, it will just be all of the 20+ milers...I think there are like 5 of them. We will see. Regardless, I will follow

Really preliminary races for 2010 are as follows:

1. Colfax Marathon May 15th

2. Bolder Boulder (running slow depending on recovery from Colfax) May 31st

3. Denver Marathon

Kind of ambitious...need to let the list fester for a bit... Will probably add a small race or two to the list as well...

Here are the details for today...

1/2/2010 - Easy mid-long run

1/2/2010 - Easy mid-long run

Ran real slow again. Turned off my pace display and just ran by HR. Worked to keep it under 150...overall average of 148. So, so given the pace ended up being slow. Not a great run actually, day after a big guac dinner my stomach was just not into it. Frequented BK and the Waneka bathrooms to take care of business...ugly and a waste of precious time. Hip still hurts a bit as well. Wondering if I need to take a week to get everything back in order before starting my HR focus. We will see.

12/31/2009 - Thursday - SUPER easy

Activity Details for 12/31/2009 - Thursday - SUPER easy

Last run of the year. Just got in over 100 for the month! Didn't think I was going to make it given how little I ran early in the month. Ran the Mesa and Harper...all snow, kind of like running on a loose trail. Felt decent, a little sluggish mainly. No real pain to speak of.

More mileage this year than 2008 by about 15% or so. Overall average HR was lower and the pace was faster. Not sure if I can make any real conclusion based on this data, but I think overall I got faster in 2009 at shorter distances but slower at longer distances; notice some of the early long runs in 2008...decent pace with a low HR. Funny, I would be happy to hit those distances now with that kind of pace and HR. I may have run more often in 2009; just not as far. I did 17 runs >= 10 miles in 2009 and about the same in 2008. Whereas I did 10 runs >= 13 miles in 2008 vs. only 4 in 2009. So, it was great to increase the frequency of running in 2009 but I really need to increase the longer runs at 13 miles and great to really make some improvements.

Date	Course	Distance	Duration	Pace	Avg HR	Activity	Max HR	Type	VO2 Max
2009		1317.4 Mi	188:17:56	8:35	152		172
2008		1142.0 Mi	167:57:45	8:50	156		176

Date	Course	Distance	Duration	Pace	Avg HR	Activity	Max HR	Type	VO2 Max
9/6/2009		13.4 Mi	2:26:58	10:59
8/23/2009		13.7 Mi	2:01:53	8:53	91		140
8/16/2009		13.1 Mi	1:59:56	9:09
7/5/2009		15.4 Mi	2:27:39	9:37	144		175
10/19/2008		26.2 Mi	3:49:00	8:45
9/20/2008		21.0 Mi	3:08:00	8:58
9/6/2008		18.0 Mi	2:41:07	8:58
8/24/2008		18.0 Mi	2:39:47	8:53	157		182
8/16/2008		16.5 Mi	2:23:07	8:40	158		177
8/9/2008		15.0 Mi	2:13:01	8:52	153		168
7/26/2008		14.2 Mi	2:06:00	8:55	174		186
4/12/2008		14.4 Mi	2:04:22	8:40	153		183
2/16/2008		17.0 Mi	2:26:42	8:38	151		173
2/9/2008		15.0 Mi	2:06:42	8:27	156		178

12/30/2009 - Wednesday - Easy with some slow tempo

12/30/2009 - Wednesday - Easy with some slow tempo

No pain today for any of the run. HR was a bit lower than this identical run on Sunday with a slightly faster pace. Temperature was similar. What gives? Good run overall. Still running in the Precision 10's, working great. Probably will consider moving to the Ronin's for my next shoes.

Day 4 of my case of Pink Eye. The kids have all had it at this point, Lily and Owen are in their second weeks are and finally resolving. Mine still suck at this point, very dry, itchy and uncomfortable. As a result, I have been wearing my glasses rather than contacts. Kind of a bummer as it has been a bit bright lately.

The muscle right above left hip on my back is still sore. Hurts a bit when I walk up stairs or push off. Does not bother me during the run, but is definitely a bother. Mostly feels like a small pull of some sort.... I am thinking it will resolve with time.

Friday 10/16/2009

Easy run after work. Intended to run before work, but just could not get myself out of bed. It was not that I was tired or anything, it was just more comfortable not moving. So, figured I would fit in a run right after our bi-weekly leadership marathon meeting; today was no exception as there was an extra hour tacked on to the already 2 hour slot. 3 hours...holy crap. So, after 3 hours I figured I could bang out a quick 4-5 at 2pm. Well, this did not happen as sometimes happens in hospitals an emergency required another meeting. So, never got out. Fortunately KT had a good day with all kids in school for the first time in 2 weeks and she was therefore more than willing to let me get one in after getting home.

Headed out in search of the "gnarliest" Louisville trails so as to test the 100's. I pretty much zig-zagged around town into the open space by the Louisville Rez and then across So Boulder to the hills on lower Davidson Mesa hitting just about every steep incline and rocky trails I could link together from home. Overall not much zip today and I definitely was noticing the dearth of padding on the shoes during my concrete connections. I also had neuroma problems again on my left foot. Hopefully  will be able to fix this with different lacing strategies and/or a sock change. Regardless, the shoes performed well off road with great grip and traction on the ups and downs. I am still looking forward to getting them out to some gnarlier terrain in the foothills sometime this weekend.

6 miles with an average of just under 9 minute pace. GPS Data Here....

Thursday 10/15/2009

2 Days off! Really wanted to head out yesterday, but Jack came down with what we think is H1N1. So, 2 out of the three seem to have had it and Lily probably (hopefully) had it a few weeks ago. I guess we will see. Overall, Jack had a mild fever for a day with some serious lethargy for him as well as a cough and a sore throat. Today being his second real day he perked up a lot and was eventually playing outside a bit this afternoon. As long as he stays quiet I hope he is on the mend.

Finally received my second pair of MT100's yesterday in a 9.5. The 9's were just too tight at the tips of my feet and a little around my forefoot. The 9.5's have enough additional room to make them quite comfortable out of the box. Running them around the neighborhood definitely had me thinking these were the most minimal shoes I have every run in; far more minimal than the Lunaracers. In fact I spent a bit of time walking around the house in them marveling how close my feet felt to the ground. I even tried my old Precision's out just to compare; these shoes are year and a half old with about 500+ miles on them. This a lot given that my original pair were retired after just under 300 miles. Needless to say, they are played out. Well, the Precisions felt thick compared to the MT100's; heavy even. The MT100's are amazingly light, but with just enough protection from the sharp rocks to make them seem good for technical trails. I even tested this by putting one of my kid's smoothed-out rocks from the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry on the floor and then bouncing up and down on it. I knew the rock was there, but the sharp edge was mellowed and rendered an object not worthy to be gait altering. Pretty cool actually. With all of these perceptions I was still a bit apprehensive hoping that my march towards ever more minimal shoes is a good idea. The first run would tell for sure.

Well, brought the gear to work today excited for the opportunity to run out to Sterns Lake via the Imel Trail in Broomfield. Also excited for some nice weather...I do enjoy running in the cold of the winter, but I am just not prepared to give up the shorts and short shirts. Today was perfect, even with a little wind. From the first few strides I knew these shoes were going to rock. There is no faking form in these things, you have to land on the forefoot/midfoot as there is very  little heel padding and not much padding on the forefoot. These definitely feel pretty close to running barefoot as there is really not much space between the foot and the trail. Started on pavement and concrete on the way to the Rock Creek Trail. Through this section they felt nice, very comfortable with very little distracting me from the feeling of my foot landing. Whereas with the Lunaracers I am constantly noticing that they are a little narrow, with the MT100's I was just noticing my foot strikes. After making the 3/4 concrete section I arrived at the Rock Creek Path which quickly turns into the Imel Trail which continues under E470 and connects with the new trail into Broomfield under 287. Excellent new addition to my running routes by the way as I was really starting to tire of constantly running the Coal Creek Path. Back to the shoes. They felt even better on the trail as well as off trail. Just enough feel for the trail with good protection from the sharper rocks. Continued on to the lake and ran along the top of the damn which has a lot of little, sharp rocks that are a problem in the Mizunos. Not for the MT; they let me know the rocks were there, but did not impede my gait as I knew my feet were protected.

The one problem I did notice was on the way back at around mile 5; I did end up with a hot spot on the pads of two of my little toes in the exact same place I got blisters this past summer while attempting a barefoot run on a rubber track. I think that this is a minor issue as I will probably move down to some thinner socks and maybe even consider running without socks. I will also move the laces up one rung from the bottom so as to allow more room for my forefoot; will probably help the neuroma on that side as well.

So, overall a great first run. Happy with the shoes...so much so that I may even make these my everyday shoes as well. We will see what they bring on some future runs.

6.5 miles in 52:42. GPS Data here...

10/8/2009 Thursday

Dragged my sorry ass out of bed this morning for a pre-work run. Had a few good nights of sleep so it was not as hard as it could have been. Hit the road around 5:50 or so for an easy jaunt around Louisville. Ran down to the Coal Creek Path and then over to Dillon. At this point I decided to mock the golfers by doing a loop around the Coal Creek Golf Course. Figured they were all asleep and warm in their houses, especially since it was still dark and raining. Ran along the cart path that the backs up to 36 and then up the hill to Avista. Nice little jog in my typical run along this course.

Made a point to keep the Garmin under the jacket and reversed so as not to get the damn thing wet. It seems that the thing is not only not water resistant, but more of a sponge. This allowed me to run on feel.

Overall pace of around 8:30 or so for 6 even with a little build near the end in the low 8's and some high 7's thrown in.

Not a bad run, great to get it out of the way in the morning. The kids are finally sleeping late enough that I can realistically start moving my runs to the morning. This will be key to me finally adding miles as long as I leave early enough to get back just before 7am to get breakfast ready. Looks like I may not have the family as my excuse for much longer. Certainly I would prefer to run in the light of day at work, but it is so much more efficient to get it done in the morning...and, if I get up early enough I could conceivably starting seeing 7 mile-10 mile runs before work. This would be nice. Probably could add a double or two during the week at work as well.

Ran in the old Mizunos this morning. Overall felt ok except for the freakin callous on my big right toe right on the joint. I think this is the main result of moving to a less supportive/thinner shoe as there really is not much cushion under foot whereas the bigger, thicker sneaks seem to shield me from this problem. Need to figure out some solution to this as it is getting really annoying!

GPS Data here....

Tuesday 10/06/2009

6.62 miles total with a 2 mile tempo near the end of the run. 10k in 47 even, 2 mile tempo in 13:26. Total time of 50:19.

Ran in the Lunar racers today with out the insoles. They felt mostly ok for the first 5 or so but after that I got a few hot spots. Callous under my left big toe was sore near the end of the run.

Overall great run. Amazing weather. Perfect for running.

Moving Forward

Been thinking a lot lately about my running moving forward. What is the next challenge??? Anymore racing in 2009? How am I going to improve in 2010 without it costing too much...in time or money? How do I balance an obsession with running with a growing obsession with my career? Again, how does this all fit in with the family...three kids, two of them playing soccer, one soon to be playing basketball, an impending ski season (a pass for the first time since before the boys up at Eldora), etc., etc., etc.

Lots of questions, no answers....

A few potential goals that have been milling about for the past 6 months, not sure where to focus next considering the above. Obviously I would need to choose maybe one or two key races for 2010; but I definitely need to pick something(s) now so I at least have a focus unlike this summer where I was just wallowing back and forth between several ideas finally settling on Breck Crest which was great, but more as a B-race rather than an A-race. The marathon would certainly have felt like an A-race.

1. Colfax Marathon - May 15-16

2. Bolder Boulder

3. Spring Desert Ultra (25mile) - April 18th

4. Pikes Peak Marathon 2010 - August

5. Leadville Marathon - August

6. Breck Crest Marathon - September

7. Denver Marathon - October

8. Blue Sky Marathon

Lots of options of course. Obviously a big split between the trail races and the road races. I definitely have to admit that I really enjoyed the Breck Crest as there was no focus on pace, catching runners...just the beauty of the trail and the challenge of the terrain; simple and elegant. However, I have such a feeling of unfinished business with Denver last year knowing that I am capable of so much more. It truly seems that the biggest thing holding me back now is the lack of mileage. Even though I have not tested it yet I feel that if I was able to tick off 35-40 mile weeks through base and build and then 45-50 during the big marathon weeks I would really be able to nail these longer races. Watching BF progress his training dramatically after upping his mileage is such a great example of what I am talking about. I just am not comfortable running much more than 13 right now mostly because I really don't run that far very often. I started getting in the habit of getting up fairly early on Sunday mornings for some of my longer runs this summer which did help. However, after finally deciding on Breck Crest I tended to focus these runs in the hills and on the trails not really getting big mileage, but getting decent time and elevation. So, again; I need to find a focus and stick with it.

Or, I could just take a step back from running and simply focus all of this energy on other things like the career. The family of course will be the constant of which I will not take real time from. So, any alteration in training will have to been taken from somewhere else, like early mornings, lunch runs and maybe evenings here and there. Real mileage increases will have to be gained by doubles and consistent long runs on those early Sunday mornings.

Or, I could keep the running status quo hitting 20 and 30 mile weeks consistently with smaller races in 2010 as with 2009. Will this be enough? Status quo could mean the same time focused on getting the article written, the CRA completed, the consulting gig in the bag, and maybe an application for speaking at RSNA 2010?

Lots of options to choose from.

More to come....

Sunday 8-23 Long; ~14 miles

Left around 7:45...already getting hot. Ran ok for the most part, a little sluggish here and there. No real pain, gait was good in the old Mizunos. Final hill up South Boulder to Mcaslin a bit rough. Probably had more miles had I taken another gel. One full pack of the Chomps with about 26 onces of water total.

Switched back to Running Ahead from Connect.Garmin. Garmin is just SOOO slow whereas Running Ahead has all of the functionality including mapping and elevation with direct integration with the Forerunner. Works great!

Ran in the Precisions 8's...they are over 1 1/2 years old. Pretty much forefoot the whole way with no pain on tinges anywhere. Probably going to shoot for 1000+ in these and may even alternate with my original pair of Precisions (red). They are as thin as racing flats and fit me great. I can't seem to get the LunaRacers to NOT give me blisters on the outsides of my big toes. Will use these for shorter races (10K and less) and maybe some tempo runs. Precisions for everything else.

Great post from Tony here on his shoe progression. Bummed for his race yesterday as I was looking forward to him getting the record which could have motivated Carpenter for a repeat visit. May want to check out the new NB trail runners he helped design.

Signed up for the Breck Crest Half Yesterday. Getting Psyched.

A run I want to do one of these days....

La Sportiva Eldora Trail 10km

Excellent race this weekend. Ran in 52:40 which is over 2 minutes faster than my 2006 time (last time I ran this race). Really focused on having a great time in the mountains with a controlled pace. I have been curious to see how I have been responding to my less-anal training regimen this summer with some biking, water-skiing, Tuesday Tempo Run Hammer Sessions and less long miles. Well, this strategy seems to have worked as I felt really great throughout the race.

Took it slow off the start up the first hill, probably mid-pack. From there I stayed mostly in line for the first mile or so until the little hills started coming. Picked off a bunch of other runners during each of these little hills. Kept the pace constrained and within myself focusing on nice short strides never really feeling out of breath or over the line. The first "real" hill went ok with no real problems, passed a few more. Then, the first technical downhill approached...this was in the trees on very tight, technical, rooted and slippery single-track. I was able to pick of one of the early runners that passed me as well as a few others. Loved the down-hill...running with the "laughing girl" who seemed to be having such a great time in the woods that she could not contrain her joy. This is trail running/racing at its best...just plain fun in the mountains.

Continued to keep things under control in the second half although I could tell I was getting a bit tired at the second to last aid station...paused a bit for some water mostly because the guys I was running with did the same. Started up again quickly without loosing any places and approached the last real challenging hill. I did a quick downshift to a race walk as it seemed I was at the pace that this seemed to make more sense. This worked as I again lost no places and felt a bit better than the guy in front of me sounded. Kept going for the rest of the run not letting anyone else pass. Was pleasantly surprised to see Bernie B. out there near the finish snapping pictures...he even shared a couple of words of encouragement.

Overall a great morning and a great day...especially with KT and the kids waiting at the finish. I definitely felt I had a little more to give out there, but I was very happy with the result nonetheless.

Looking forward to the Tuesday Tempo Run already!

Thursday 7-16-2009

Been awhile since my last post. Have been having a hard time getting back into the swing of Colorado running since getting back last week; I really think I responed well to running at near sea level whereas returning to Colorado has been difficult.

Today was only my second run of the week as yesterday was Lily's birthday and the day before that was my niece's birthday. I was able to get a hill workout in on Tuesday in the neighborhood, but I ran around 4:45pm during the hottest part of the day. Wow, that sucked for sure. It took a long time to cool down after the effort. Did four laps up the Washington/Tyler hill and then down Pine. Each lap is almost exactly a mile with about 120 feet of climbing every lap (in about a quarter mile I guess). The splits show that I started too fast on the first one and each subsequent lap was a bit slower. First lap was an average pace of 7:29 with the last one at 8:15...kind of sad really, but made sense given the heat.

Today I headed out for what was supposed to be between 6 and 7 miles at marathon pace. Not really knowing if am doing a marathon yet this year and therefore not really being sure what my marathon pace should be; I targeted hitting between 7:30 and 7:40. But, alas I pushed the pace as usual and ended up with an avg pace of 7:20 for about a 10K in a little over 45 minutes. Honestly I am kind of happy with this run as it was only a little over a minute slower than this years BB and I did it without really feeling too pushed or spent. Additionally, no real pain to speak of...legs are feeling pretty good to be honest.

More later....

Sunday 7-05-2009

Long run in Chicago for 15.36. Ran the first 7.6 or so with Katie at an 11 pace with less than a 130 HR. Then did another 7.6 in 8:03 or so for a HR of 162. First 7 was great, last was quite a bit harder...have not run this long since the Denver Marathon...the road is hard for sure. Spent almost 2:20 on mostly pavement...miss the trails, but glad to get some real miles.


Not much pain, gait was good with no real issues of concern. Need to keep these long ones in the program to build endurance.