Second Wind

Rest.

Didn't run today, lazy man.

Continued laziness....

Finally got it together and decided to get out and run today.  After 3 days off I figured I was ready for some kind of speed workout but really didn't know what to do.  Somewhere in the first couple of miles I decided I would run a couple of mile repeats for miles 3 and 5.  The first repeat was at 6:40 and the second was at 6:39.  I felt a bit clunky this morning and the pace felt pretty tough cause the legs weren't quite into it but I made it through and was glad to finally put in a good quality workout after months of the same old thing every day.

Time:  48:56  7:50/mile

BTW, Meg's elbow and shoulder are improving but she is going to see an orthopedic guy today to get a second opinion and for some peace of mind.  Hopefully that appointment goes well.

Moderate paced recovery run today after yesterdays 1600s.  Kept the pace pretty conservative for the first 5 miles and then decided to add 4 x 100 meter repeats and 1 x 300 meter repeat at the end.  The mile ended up coming in at about a 7:30 pace so that is my fast mile.  I could tell the legs were a little dead from yesterday but not as bad I was anticipating.  Still running solo as Meg is staying home on the elyptical until her upper arm and shoulder recover some more.  She went to the orthopedic doc yesterday and he ordered some physical therapy for her.  With our daily schedule it will be interesting to see if she is able to make it to any sessions.

The corporate challenge 5K is coming up in about six weeks so I went to runners world to get some info on training for a 5K since I don't do that very often.  The training looks almost identical to what I am doing now except the reccomended paces are a little slower and there is one day of speed/tempo work per week and one long per week.  The only thing I really need to change is adding the speed/tempo on Wednesdays and I should be good to go.

Time:  49:58  8:20/mile

Well, I didn't pull back the pace as much as I should have today before a long run but everything just clicked today so I took what I could get.  Pretty much kept it at the same pace as yesterday.  It's nice that it's been getting lighter in the mornings near the end of our run, it'll be a bummer next week when it is totally dark again with the time change......wait or will it be lighter.....oh what ever.....  Meg got called to be the enrichment counselor in the in the relief society last night.  I wonder how that will go with her hectic weeknight schedule?  I'm sure we will get through it one way or another.

Time:  50:11  8:22/mile

Not a bad finish to a pretty weak week of runnning.  I banged my ankle on the door last night so I was a little worried it may bother me during today's run but it wasn't an issue at all.  Had to work pretty hard today because there was a steady wind blowing and I had to run several miles right into it.  Ran solo again today cause meg is still nursing her arm.  I think she will be back next week because she can't stand being away from running much longer.

Time:  2:05:01  8:20/mile

Rest.

Going to try and start increasing the mileasge for the next few weeks building up for a 5K and a couple of half marathons in May and June and also the Ragnar in June.  Ran solo today again.  Meg ran but was taking it a little easier with her arm still in a bit of pain.  We've got some of Meg's family coming down to visit for the next few days.  I'm sure they love staying at our house when we are starting to move around the house at 4:30 AM.

Time:  57:38  8:14/mile

Just a fairly easy 7 today.  Nothing too exciting just plain old running.  It was a little bit breezy and a little bit chilly, but other than that everything went well and felt good.  There have been rumors floating around the neighborhood that a house in our develpment was selected for the Extreme Makeover Home Edition show and this morning is sure looked like that was going to be the case as the rumored home didn't have the usual Homeland Security SUV parked in the driveway and there seemed to be a bit more traffic than usual.  I guess the family will know for sure tomorrow but it looks pretty likely that this is the place.

Time:  58:53  8:25/mile

Finally, a good tempo run!  It's been a while since I have run a tempo run so I finally got around to doing one today.  I am using a 6 week training plan off of the Runner's World website using the Smart Coach program for a 5K.  I don't usually use training plans but in the case of a 5K I figured I better at least look at something to have an idea of how to train.  I really want to run a good 5K time in this upcoming race so decided to look at a plan.  I may or may not stick to the plan perfectly but at least I have a guide.  The plan actually gives me paces and distances based on my most recent half marathon race time which was Painter's.  The suggested paces are a little slower than I normally run but I have decided to keep the paces closer to the suggestions to see if I can avoid extra aches and pains and especially injury.  The suggested pace for the 4 mile tempo run today was 7:15 per mile with a slow warm up and cool down mile.  The 4 mile tempo run was moderately hard but not overwhelming.  My splits were 7:09, 7:05, 7:11, 6:55.  Decided to step it up for the last half mile and came in just under 7:00 which felt pretty good.  Overall the run went well, I felt good and the usual yoga afterward was great as to cool down after a hard workout.

Time:  45:21 7:34/mile

Extreme Makeover Home Edition is in my neighborhood!  When I got home from work last night I couldn't even get into my driveway because 2 semis were blocking the way.  Luckily they were kind enough to pull forward so I could get in.  The hood was really hopping last night with excitement.  Lots of news vans and fanfare and of course the ever famous Ty Pennington, ooooooooo ahhhhhhhhhhh!  I never saw him but my family did.  They were there when the family was being filmed getting into the limo to take off on their week long vacation as their house was being re-built.  As of this mornings run the crew has set-up camp all around my neighborhood/running route.  Lots of the big construction light towers burning all night long, 8-10 camping trailers, construction equipment, etc., etc., parked all around the house and surrounding streets.  Lots of security and other officials monitoring the whole situation.  They are even setting up a big base camp area just outside our develpment for all the deliveries and stuff I guess.  Should be an exciting week of around the clock destroying and rebuilding.  I think the family that was chosen has a couple of daughters who suffer from some kind of weak immune system disability.  The house actaully looks to be in really good condition (recently painted), infact the neighborhood is only 13-14 years old so there aren't any old run-down houses.  I suppose they will put some features into the house to help the girls with their disabilities but don't really know for sure.  The lots in this neighborhood are only about .1 acre so they won't be building a mansion on that postage stamp piece of land but I'm sure they will create something really nice.  It will be interesting to see how running goes over the next week as the crew is supposed to start working full swing around the clock either today or tomorrow.  We may have to find a new running route for a few days.

Nice little recovery run after yesterdays tempo.  Kept the pace pretty easy, or at least it felt pretty easy but I seemed to be going faster than it felt.  It really felt like I was crawling today.  Had a couple of close encounters this morning with construction workers driving around in their mule's or trucks and just starting to wake up and get ready to take on the day.  I guess today at 10 is the scheduled time for the destruction of the house.  Our family members that are staying with us are going to go down and video tape the event.  I hope they get some good footage.  Drove around the neigborhood this morning and there are a couple of camps set up on vacant lots with tents, equiptment, wood, etc.  This is really a major undertaking to build a house in a week.  I guess the 24 hour days start today.  Should be interesting running the next few days, even busier than today.

Time:  50:38  8:26/mile

Carbon copy of yesterdays run except for the extra wind today.  Construction on the extreme house continues with the special quick drying foundation in place and the framing getting ready to start.  The framers are a little worried today with the high winds so we'll have to wait and see how that goes.  Not too much trouble running among the construction today even with them working 24/7 now.  I think most of the production had slowed because they had to sit around and watch the cement dry.  Have run solo almost every day this week.  Meg has decided to schedule an MRI for her shoulder.  It's just not getting and better, infact it seems to be getting worse so we figured we better check it out and see what is wrong with it.  At least after that we will know how to go forward with the rehab or surgury or whatever.  Don't know the date for the MRI yet, I suppose it will sometime next week, I will keep you posted.

Time:  50:19  8:23/mile

Split up todays run into two runs but with only about a 15 minute break in between. I am the captain of the Corporate Challenge 5K this year so I decided to have a team group run this morning and told everyone to meet me at the park where the event will be held at 7:00 A.M. I had one taker so him and I ran 4.5 miles so I could finish off my 15 for the morning. Kept the pace a little faster than I normaly do for my long runs but it felt good. The extreme home makeover team still has my neighborhood hopping so I ran most of my miles outside the area. Man that house has gone up fast!

Time: 2:03:05 8:12/mile

Rest.

Just a no frills 7 mile run this morning.  Felt like I was running in mud today.  I just couldn't seem to get the pace up to where I usually like to keep it so I kind gave up and just trudged along for the reamining miles.  Traffic seemed a little heavier than usual will extreme home makeover so I left the neigborhood again today and ran around some nearby neigborhoods.  I continue to run solo everyday which really SUCKS!  Meg is going in for an MRI today for her shoulder and elbow.  I suspect it will come back negative but with the amount of pain she is in it's better to get it checked out than let it go unknown.  We also have a consultation with an attorney this morning to look at our options for getting reimbursed for some of these medical costs.  I am not the type of person to sue anyone but I do think that reimbursement for medical costs is more than fair in this case.

Time:  59:14  8:28/mile

Suffered from the lead leg syndrom (LLS) again this morning for the first couple of miles and then finally found some rhythm and was able to churn out a few miles at a descent pace.  It wasn't a great run but it was better than yesterday.  Today is the big day of "MOVE THAT BUS" for the extreme makeover home people.  My son gets to stay home from school today so he is going to sit in front of our house and sell soda, candy and chips to the expected 10,000 people who will be arriving in our neighborhood.  They are expected to move the bus sometime between 12 and 4 today so as usual I won't be there for the exciting stuff.  The house is complete and as of this morning they are putting in new furniture and cleaning up.  The house is certainly nothing like all the other cookie cutter houses in our neigborhood.  I'm still not sure I like the design and architecture.....maybe it will grow on me.  I'm sure it will be  a real shocker to the family when they see it.  Should be an exciting day for them.

Time:  58:13  8:19/mile

Good work out today. My 5K training plan called for 3 x 1600 meter repeats with 800 meter recovery inbetween each one. I set up the Garmin to do the mile repeats with the recovery distance and did a two mile warm up and then got into the intervals. The recommended pace for the intervals was 6:47 so I had decided in advance that I would keep the first two right around that pace and then see what I could do on the last one. The first two were 6:44 and 6:43. The last one turned out to be my worst time but I think it was my hardest effort. About halfway through the last one I glanced down at my watch and saw that I was at about a 6:35 pace. I really wanted to try for a 6:30 so I felt like I picked up the pace. The next time I glanced down at my watch (about 30 seconds later) it said I was on a 7:15 pace, WHAT THE!!!!! So I spent the last half of that rep digging really hard only to get it down to a 6:48 at the finish. I really think the Garmin lost me somewhere in that last interval because I wasn't overly fatigued and I was pushing harder. Oh well, it was a good strong effort and despite the time I'm sure I will reap the benefits of the workout. I even broke out the racing flats for todays workout since I rarely ever use the "ruby slippers."

I forgot to report on the results of Meg's MRI yesterday. I guess I didn't report because I don't have the official report yet but I do know some of the details. She will meet with the Orthopedic doc today to go over the "official results." The unofficial results say she has some severe bruising and a small fracture in the upper arm/shoulder area with a possible torn "something or other" that I can't remember right now. I should have better details tomorrow. Nothing from the attorney yet either, but I imagine we won't here anything until next week.

Time: 54:15 7:45/mile

The first couple of miles today were drudgery, not to mention that my Garmin lost me again today....dangit. So my time and pace are a little off, but what am I gonna do. I guess yesterdays speed was a little tougher on the old body than I thought. It really took me a good three miles today before I got into a nice ryhthm and felt okay. Good thing tomorrow is recovery pace too cause I'm kinda tired.

Meg went to the Orthopedic doc yesterday and yes she does have a fracture in the upper arm or shoulder area and she does have a tear (not the rotator cuff, don't know what it's called though) that usually requires surgury, according to the doc, but he doesn't want to do the surgury until the fractured bone has a chance to heal. I guess once it's healed we will re-evaluate the tear and see if surgury is still required. So Meg may not be running for quite some time....she's gonna go nuts.

Time: 52:03 8:40/mile

Felt like the body needed and extra rest today so I took the day off. As much as I really hate to take a day off, I think it is probably the smart thing to do. I was just feeling too much fatigue and my experience in the past has been that running on too much fatigue will lead me right down the road to injury. So I plan to do my long run tomorrow but it may not be as long as I had planned depending on how I feel.

Taking yesterday off turned out to be a pretty good thing.  I had my legs back today and really felt good the entire time.  Ran 4 of the miles at sub 7:50 so that is why I am calling them fast.  Today I ran the first 9 miles near home and then drove over the park were my upcoming 5K will be held and ran 4 miles with another member of our corporate challenge 5K team.  Those miles were in the 9:00/mile range, but I was fine with that becuase the first 9 were a pretty good workout for a long run day.

Time:  1:47:50  8:17/mile

Rest.

This week is scheduled to be a little bit of a pull back week on the mileage with higher daily mileage but one less day of running and a shorter long run.  That's what the schedule says, we'll see how it goes.....  It was pretty dang windy today and it has cooled off a bit from last weeks perfect temps.....it is March though.  I continue to be the Lone Ranger out there as Meg is still in lots of pain and is now just trying to decide the best date to have surgury on her shoulder.  The PE coach who she works with is having knee surgury in the next couple of weeks and apparently they can't both be gone from school at the same time.  So I guess she will be doing some creative scheduling in order to miss as little work as possible.  Everything felt pretty good today despite the wind and the cold.

Time:  1:06:16  8:17/mile

Windy and cold this morning.  Almost considered going back to bed and then said to myself, what is Andy doing right now.  Well knowing that Andy was probably out freezing to death in the wind and snow I decided I could hack it.  My new mantra is WWAD (what would Andy do?)  So I survived, but only barely..... I'm ready for March to go out like a lamb any day now so we can enjoy running in the calm cool air for a couple more months before it gets really hot.  Still running solo and still waiting to get approval from the insurance on Megan's surgury.  I think will probably happen on Thursday of next week, right before spring break.  I know this is anxious to get going so she can get healed up in time for some of our upcoming races.

Time:  59:19  8:28/mile

Anther easy 7 today.  Meg did come out and do a little running today but very slow and easy miles.  So even though she was out there I was still running solo.  The wind continued to be an issue again today but not as bad as the past two days.  Tomorrow is supposed to be the worst day this week for the wind.......oh goodie....  Had a cat charge out of the bushes at me today and pull up just short of running into me, there's one you don't see everyday.  Yesterday I almost stepped on a dead cat right in my running lane and today I got cats charging out of the bushes at me, this must be the week of the cat.

Time:  0:57:59  8:17/mile

Same run, different day.  Almost an exact copy of yesterdays run.  Lately I've notices that it takes me about 3-4 miles to really get warmed up.  The last couple of days I have really felt like turning up the speed a little bit at mile 3 or 4 but have resisted the urge since this is supposed to be a cut back week.  I don't know if this longer warm-up time is a good or bad thing.  I am glad that I do feel better as the run progresses but I would love to feel good from the start.  Ran solo again today and it was windy again today, then I get home and the weather man is reporting that the winds are calm......huh???? Which city is this forcast for???  I have noticed in talking to others who workout in the morning that on my windy days they usually have little wind and they live in the far south end of the valley.  Maybe since I am in the far north end near the mountains I get some extra wind, don't know for sure.  Anyway, I digress....Yoga was good and continues to be good every day.  I wish I could say I can touch my nose to my knee but it will definately be a while.

Time:  58:04  8:18/mile

Nice easy 5 today.  Surprise! It was windy again today....woo hoo!  In the spirit of cutting back a bit this week I only did 5 today.  Tomorrows long run will only be 10 at the most but I plan to go to the track and do a 1 mile time trial for the upcoming corporate challenge track and field event.  I need to be able to run a mile in about 6:00 if I am going to be competative and earn some points for the team.  I have never run a mile in 6:00 so I am a little skeptical that I can do it now, I guess we'll see what happens tomorrow.

As a side note, I was watching the weather this morning after my windy run and they showed the wind speeds at various weather stations around the Las Vegas valley.  The one weather station nearest my house was showing winds in the 15-17 mph range while the rest of the stations were in the 3-7 mph range.  I guess I just live in a part of town that is a bit more open to the winds.  Interesting stuff.

Time:  41:25  8:17/mile

Well today was the big day for the 1600 meter trial run. Finally a day without wind! Got up and ran 3 miles with Meg this morning. She was able to handle 3 easy miles and that was just what I needed to get warmed up for my 1600. Jumped in the car and rode to the high school track for practice. I then slipped into the ruby red slippers and ran another mile with some fast strides for a warm up and then the four of us that showed up lined up for the 1600 meter time trial. At the start I was thinking I would like to run 90 second quarters and then try to hang on and keep it just under 6:00. The first lap was a little fast at about 1:24. The second lap came in just under 3:00. The third lap was just over 4:30 so I thought if I gutted it out I would have a chance at going sub 6:00. Well as it turns out I didn't have enough guts and my time came in at 6:00:13. I was a little disappointed but not for too long because it is a 12 second PR from the last time I ran it and this was just practice. I think on the day of the race I might be capable of going under 6:00 with some race day magic. I think my best strategy for the mile is to go even splits for the first 3 laps and then just give it everything on the last lap and hope for the best. I then ran 5 more miles on the track while the rest of my teammates practiced the other track and field events.

Time: 1:22:44 8:16/mile

Rest.

Felt pretty good today even though it was a bit chilly and very windy.....AGAIN!  Maybe I had a little more zip in the step due to the slower running week last week...who knows?  Whatever it was, I'll take it.  Megan goes in for her pre-op today and then will have her surgury on Thursday.  The attorney still had not had a response from the letter she sent to our infamous dog owners, she said her next letter won't be quite so nice....I guess it's just a waiting game at this point.  I have a feeling these legal matters can and probably will drag on for many months to come.  The most important thing though is that I get my running partner back at my side healthy and happy and sooner rather than later.

Time:  1:04:58  8:07/mile

No wind today!  Woo Hoo!  But it was a chilly 44 degrees, the heater even kicked on this morning.  Won't be too many more of those days before summer is upon us here in the south.  Felt a little dead when I got up this morning but the fact that there was no wind made me very happy, so the run went better than expected.  Nothing too exciting, just 8 miles, alone in the dark.  Meg had her pre-op yesterday and she is scheduled to go in to the surgical center on Thurday at 8:30 am and we should be home by around 1:00 if all goes as planned.  I guess the start the surgury arthroscopically and then if the repairs are too major they have to open her up and make the repairs.  The doctor has assured us that it is rare when a patient has to be opened up so I am crossing my fingers that it doesn't turn into something major.  She is scheduled for physical therapy the day after surgury so they're not wasting any time getting her rehabed, that's a good thing.

Time:  1:05:44  8:13/mile

That finishes off March with 180 miles which is my highest monthly total of the year so far and I am only 5 miles behind last years annual mileage.