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.

Thursday 7-02-2009

Easy run along Lake Michigan. Felt a little tight this morning, but wanted to get a few in just the same. Felt smooth overall with some calve tightness in the last mile or so. Kept the HR around 142 with a max of 152.

Wednesday 7/1/2009

Negative split/progression run on the Greenbay Trail in Chicago. Arrived yesterday with the family in Chicago for our yearly visit with the in-laws. Woke up this morning with an unfamiliar ache in the legs...I think I was just ready for a real run after a day off. I am also hoping that my legs are finally adjusting to another level of fitness after all of the hill and trail work.

Whatever, started off with an easy 3.60 staight up the trail to about Glencoe. Average pace of 8:06 with an avg HR of 148 / max of 155. I would like to think that the pace and HR had to do with my fitness, but alas it probably had more to do with arriving at near sea level from Boulder. Regardless, felt smooth and relaxed with a great gait. Turned around and headed back home. Notched up the pace to around 7 and below. Tried to keep it around marathon pace, but I just felt too good. Notched 3.62 in an average pace of 7:08. AVG HR was 166 with a max of 173. At the end of this workout I felt I could have kept going and going...really did not want to stop. But, there are several more runs this week including a 16 sometime this weekend, so I want to conserve a bit.

Awesome.

Medium run from home - 7.35

Ran easy for the first 5.33, than picked it up for a 800 at a 6:58 pace followed by 1.16 at 7:20 with a small cool down. Felt good overall. The intervals felt great with no real stress...did not have to work hard to hit the paces at all. Maybe the hills are helping?

Ran in the Saucony's today and felt more secure than in the thinner Precision's. Will use the Saucony's for longer distances and save the Precisions for some speedwork.

Right achilles was a little soar when I stopped, but not during the run. It started a little last night, but felt fine most of today and for all of the run itself. I wonder if this is from the hills and from my focus on a mid-foot strike? Will ice a bit tonight.

Moderate run from home - 5.04

Excellent run this morning from home. Intended on doing an easy one, but after about 3 miles I felt nice and loose so I picked it up for a bit. Did about 3/4 miles at around a 7minute pace and then finished out the last 1.20 around 7:18. Not a real hard effort as my HR was around 164 for the .75 and then 161 for the last mile (kind of downhill for this part of the run). The run average HR ended up around 151 which is very close to where I should be for an easy run.

A little sore in the calves and a slight tightness in one of my right achilles. This feels like a result of my tight calves from the hill climb last weekend and the tempo on Tuesday as well as my renewed focus on mid/fore foot landing. So, this is why I took it easy today. Day off tomorrow for sure. Will wait a week for another big hill effort.

I am looking forward to a nice long trail run on Sunday for Father's Day. I will be heading out early again so I can get back home before 9:30. Maybe will start at the Colton Trail Head and head out to the Springbrook trail to Vista and back. Will have to map this one out first so I don't over-extend myself...more to come.

Last few runs update

Been meaning to update lately, just have not had the time.


Did the Tuesday Tempo Run tonight with the Boulder Trail Runners. Great fun on the Shanahan Loop. We did the short one for about 3.56 miles or so. I think I was still a bit tired from my Sunday Run. Did the loop in 31:00 at an average pace of 8:42 overall with 1389 of climbing (probably about 800 or so of verticle gain). Not bad. Shins were tight on the descent...need to shorten the stride more and keep the toes down. Probably will run with this next week as well. Cascadias were again excellent, great grip, feel relatively light with nice trail feel.











Did an easy recovery run before work yesterday for just under 5. Really worked on the form concentrating on a forefoot/mid-foot stride. Definitely tight with a slightly elevated HR, but smooth overall.



Sunday AM did a full Flagstaff TT from Gregory to the Leaving sign. I am feeling really good about this workout mostly because I finally got one in the bag and that I was able to run most of it to just past the firestation. As I feared, I tired when it got steep and took a few breaks. Overall did the run in 52:08 for 4.56 miles and about 2129 ft of climbing according to the Garmin. I definitely feel I could knock about 2-3 minutes off of this fairly easily in the next few weeks as I eliminate more and more of the walking. Splits as follows:


1: 10:19
2: 9:51
3: 10:13
4: 14:19
5: 13:14


On the way down I ran the road till it intersected with the Flatstaff Trail. Hopped into the trail to get a little footwork practice in and to eliminate some of the road pounding. The trail saves about a mile off of the distance, but it was a heck of a lot more fun.






Looking forwarding to doing this monthly or more to track progress. Will be adding in some Green, Bear and So Bo Peak in the next month or so. Loving being out on the trails and/or hills. Running the trails is so much more enjoyable for me this days. Feel reinvigorated for sure.


I need to sign up for the Eldora 10K and the Golden Gate Trail Run as these will be my next few races. Will see if something else comes up between now and then.