Second Wind

What a beautiful morning for a run.  It rained most of the day yesterday and drizzled most of the night so this morning everything was fresh and clean.  The temps were actually still quite mild for this time of year too so all the conditions for a good run were there...for some reason today I just didn't have any energy.  The humidity in the air made everything wet and when the sweatshirt gets wet everything starts to get cold.  Had planned on doing a few more miles than 11 today but just couldn't muster the will power.  Will do a little more running with the kids this afternoon at the kids marathon portion of the Las Vegas marathon so that will help the total a little.  I guess it is just one of those days were you don't feel good.....at least I hope that is the case.

Time: 8:58/mile

Afternoon:

Ran/walked the kids marathon portion of the Las Vegas marathon with some kids from my wifes school where she is a PE assistant.  The distance was a little over a mile and between running and walking it took us about 16 minutes.  Rod Dixon (1972 bronze medalist in the 1500 M) was there to lead the race.  We had a good time and the kids received some nice goodie bags and t-shirts, just like running the real marathon.

Rest.

Was able to get in 7 today on the most chilly running day of the year so far.  Temp was around 38 and it was breezy, but at least it was dry today.  Meg and I ran a really nice pace for the first 6 miles and I finished off the last mile with a 7:25ish.  Sure a far cry from the run last Saturday where I felt like crap.

Time:  8:15/mile

Picked up the overall pace today and ran 3 sub 8:00 miles with the last one around 7:25.  Would like most of my general aerobic runs to be right around the 8:00-8:15/mile pace.  Don't know if my body will agree with that on a daily basis but I am going to give it a try for a couple weeks and see how it goes.  I have been getting the feeling the last few weeks that I have become a bit lazy and repetative in my training so I want to challenge my body a little more to move to the next level of fitness.  Adding a few more challenging miles during my runs might be the key to get me there.  Temps were a tad warmer today at around 43 and the winds were fairly light but enough to feel when you were running into it.  Meg dropped out at about mile 4 today to shake out some pain in her ankle and that is where I picked up the pace a little and carried it through to the end.  She did finish her 6 miles today and the ankle seems to be feeling okay.  Maybe just one of those freek pains you get when it's cold.

Time:  8:02/mile

This was a bit of a recovery run from yesterdays semi-fast run.  Decided to take it a little easy and let the legs recover in preparation for tomorrows anticipated marathon pace run.  Weather was perfect today, even ran in shorts with little to no wind and 48 degree temps.  It would be nice to be able to train in this type of weather year around.

Time:  8:34/mile

Really busted one out today (by slow fat man standards).  Went out with the intention of running 8 miles with 6 at marathon pace (7:28/mile).  This pace however is not really my marathon pace based on my performance at SGM 2007 with an average pace of 8:23/mile.  So I guess I should call the 7:28/mile pace my BQ pace or my dream marathon pace.  Whatever you call it, I was able to maintain it for the first 8 miles where my average pace ended at 7:26/mile including the so called warm-up mile at 7:50/mile.  When I had finished the 8 miles I checked my watch and saw that I still had time to go another mile so I completed the 9th mile at a recovery pace and ended up with a 7:32 overall pace for the run.  In looking back at my Excel running log I could only find one other 9 mile run and the total time was 1:19:46.  I must have been having a bad day that day because I shattered my PR for the distance by nearly 12 minutes.  Total time today was 1:07:52.  I feel like I am slowly getting back to my pre-injury fitness and am hopefully ready to start building beyond that level over the next several weeks.  I hope this time I am able to do so in a safe and injury free way.

Time:  7:32/mile

Pretty good day for a run.  When I checked the temp outside as I do every morning I was surprised to see 55 degrees.  I put on shorts and a my SGM 2006 shirt and a pair of gloves just in case.  There was a little bit of rain drizzling and the wind seemed to be at my face no matter which direction I turned but I felt pretty good most of the way.  Kept the pace at a fairly easy recovery type pace due to yesterdays hard run and in preparation for tomorrows anticipated long run.  Meg wasn't feeling well today so I was on my own.

Time:  8:34/mile

I was hoping today's long run would go better than last weeks disaster.  The weather didn't cooperate much with us as we were running in wind and sometimes rain.  By mile 3 mile legs were feeling crappy and I was afraid this would be another long run cut short.  We stopped in for Gatorade at 3 miles and from there, things seemed to pick up a bit.  We continued to hydrate with Gatorade every few miles and the legs and energy started feeling better and better.  By 13 miles I was thinking I could add a few more miles than my anticipated 16 mile run.  Drank the last of my Gatorade on mile 15 and finished off 3 more.  I think the reason I didn't feel as well today in the beginning was the later than usual bed times I have had the last couple of nights and my nutrition on Friday night.  We had a Christmas party to go to and even though Olive Garden was catering the event (plenty o pasta) I still ate some things that probably didn't help.  Oh well, live and learn.  Overall I am very satisfied with the run and the effort.

Time:  8:35/mile

Rest.

Windy as heck today but I was feeling very well recovered from the Saturday run and wanted to get out, so we went for it.  It was a little tough going into the wind in a few places but other than that everything felt real good today.  Pace suffered a bit today due to the wind but it wasn't much different than my usual pace and not bad for a Monday mornning in the wind.

Time:  8:39/mile

The usual 7-mile run today.  Didn't sleep real well last night and come 4:15 I was wide awake and ready to go.  Hoped to get an extra mile or two today with waking up a little earlier than usual but it didn't happen due to the dreaded pit-stop mid run.  Felt pretty good this morning even though it was cold (39 degrees) and windy again today.  Was able to pick up the pace to under 8:00/mile for the last 3 miles.

Time:  8:06/mile

Fairly easy run today in anticipation of tomorrows tempo/marathon pace run.  Winds were finally lighter than usual and the temps weren't too bad at a balmy 36 degrees.  Construction crews tore up a portion of the road along our usual route so we had to alter it a just a bit to get around the construction.  After the first mile today I tried to keep the pace around 8:10-8:15 which is a little faster than my normal pace.  Eventually I would like this pace to be my easy pace.  I will get there eventually.

Time: 8:15/mile

Tough run today.  Was able to manage a 7:28 pace through the first 7 miles and then faded off with a couple of cool down miles at around 8:15 pace.  Didn't really ever get into a good groove today for whatever reason.  Legs felt a little heavy and fatigued.  I think a few  swigs of Gatorade before the run may have helped but we are out.  Still pretty satisfied with the run and the effort but felt like I had to work too hard to go the pace I wanted to go.  I do enjoy adding this run to the mix each Thursday as it breaks up the bordem of the same stuff every day.

Time: 7:38/mile

Fairly easy run today as a bit of a recovery from yesterdays effort.  Felt pretty good most of the way and wished I had time to do a few more miles becuase I don't know when I am going to have time to run on Saturday.  I am going on a scout camp tonight and won't get back until Saturday afternoon.  Hopefully there will be time to squeeze in a decent long run before the ward Christmas party at 6:00.  This month is so crazy, I am having a hard time seeing how this is the "most wonderful time of the year."  Bah Humbug!

Time:  8:22/mile

Have you ever had one of those days where you didn't think you could make yourself tired?  Well today was one of those days for me.  The long run started out great.  Everything was clicking and I was thinking to myself that I was going out way too fast.  The amazing thing was that I didn't seem to be feeling too bad even though I kept holding an 8:00/mile pace.  My usual average pace for my long runs is around 8:30ish so I figured I was going to lose it sooner or later.  My legs finally started to feel the fatigue around mile 15 and it was starting to get cold so I wrapped it up at 17 miles.  Ended up doing my run in the afternoon today since I went up camping with the scouts last night and didn't get home until past midnight Saturday morning.  A good ending to another strong week of training.

Time:  8:06/mile

Rest.

Road construction is done now so I am able to run the regular loop around my neighborhood.  It's a flat 1.45 mile loop and relatively light traffic, so on most days, especially cold and windy ones, we stay in the neighborhood.  I wish there were some hills around the loop but unfortunately it's about as flat as a pancake.  The only real hills that are very close are the bridges over the freeway.  Legs felt a little heavy and the pace felt a bit more labored than the pace of my long run on Saturday.  Maybe I'm still recovering a bit from the faster paced long run.

Time:  8:15/mile

Got up a little early for once instead of a little late and was able to squeeze in an extra mile.  Probably could have got up even earlier because I looked at the clock at 4:00 and went back to sleep until 4:20.  It seems like 4:00 is when I have been waking up lately and then just laying in bed half sleeping until 4:30 when the alarm goes off.  Maybe I need to just start getting up when I wake up.  Anyway, the weather was warmer today (40) and no wind again.  Felt pretty good for most of the run and picked it up the last 1.5 to finish strong.  Can't believe Christmas is one week from today, still not completely ready.....typical guy.

Time:  8:16/mile

Another uneventful 8 miles today.  Today was even warmer than yesterday at 48 degrees.  I considered trading the in the sweats for some shorts but decided to keep them on since today was going to be a relatively easy run anyway.  Kept the pace right around 8:30 most of the way and just tried to run relaxed.  Added some strides in the last mile just to work on my form.  It's been nice to get up a few minutes earlier than usual and get in the extra mile these last two days.  If I am awake I figure I might as well get up.  I think my body is programed to get up at 4:30 or earlier now after two years of doing this.  It is a rare day when the alarm clock actually wakes me up.

Time:  8:28/mile

Kind of a crudy day.  Actually felt really good the first couple of miles then felt like crap and decided to wrap it up at 4 miles.  Not really sure what the problem was, legs just felt dead.  We were up a little later than usual last night because we went to see Danny Gans at the Mirage (good show by the way), but we were in bed by 10:15.  Anyway, chalk it up as one of those days I guess.  Hopefully things will feel better tomorrow.

Time:  7:46/mile

Lazy.

Lazy.

Rest.

Lazy.

Lazy.

Lazy.

Lazy.

Well what do you know....I finally decided to run again.  After a week long layoff I finally got my lazy butt up and went for a run today.  It was a nice break but I think it is time to go back to work now.  The break was good to let some of my nagging pains have a chance to heal up a bit and for me to have a chance to get some extra rest and spend more time with the family.  Since I have Painter's in 3 weeks I hope to get a couple of really nice weeks of running in and then a taper week.  Today's run was uneventful and I could tell I was a little rusty and felt a little clunky.

Time:  8:34/mile

Got up a bit earlier this morning and got in 12 slow miles.  Calfs were tight and legs were heavy.  It seems like whenever I take a week or so off from running I always get tight after the first run back.  It's better to just keep going than take the extended break.  Anyway, I got through it and was glad to get it done.  Hopefully by monday the legs will feel better and the muscles will have lossened up.

Time:  8:42/mile

Rest.

Last run of the year and I was glad to be out running this morning.  It was almost 40 degrees with a slight north breeze, still chilly for us Las Vegas wimps.  Legs are feeling better today with most of the soreness gone.  I guess it's that time of year when you start to think about running goals for the upcoming year and things you want to accomplish.  One of my biggest goals would be to drop these last 15-20 pounds that I am packing around my waist.  I think that goal alone would help me to become a better runner.  I would like to make this the year that I qualify for Boston at SGM.  If I can stay injury free, I think I can do it.  I would like to improve my PRs at all the distances I run this year starting with the mile and 5K as well as the half and full marathons.  I would also like to keep my weekly mileage consistantly above 45-50 miles.  I think the consistancy will add tons to my endurance which is what I seem to be lacking the most.  Anyway, best wishes for a happy new year to all of you out there.

Time:  8:28/mile