Easy One Hour

One hour and about 7 1/2 miles later, I'm finished for the day. I averaged 8:08/mi which may be a bit brisk, for a recovery run, but it sure felt good. No lingering soreness from Saturday's 19 miler, and that's always a good thing.

Surprise, Surprise

Today's roller-coaster workout was short 'n sweet. About 3 miles on the treadmill, running @ 8.5/mile pace, up and down, ending at a 6 % grade. It took me about 26 minutes to do it. Then I stretched like crazy. I guess I was feeling guilty about not stretching enough after Saturday's 19 miler. Surprisingly, today, I'm not sore at all. Sure, I was stiff coming down the stairs this morning, but after that, nothing. Sometimes when you run really hard, or work out really hard, it's not the day after you work out that you really get sore, but the second day. I was expecting that, and was pleasantly surprised.

I've probably jinxed myself for tomorrow.

Saturday = 19 Miles

I did my long run on Saturday, and all in all, I was somewhat pleased with the results. It was an out-and-back run that was supposed to be 18 miles, but because of the indirect route I took on the way out, it became 19 when all was said and done. Again, I ran to Griffith Park, and ran the hills in preparation for Big Sur, but this time, I wasn't nearly as aggressive with the downhills. It seemed to help, but this time, I was fighting the heat, and some dehydration. The last couple of long runs I've done, I've experimented with taking two Benadryls to dry up my sinuses. It seems to help somewhat, and I don't seem to suffer too many side effects, though one could be a quickening of dehydration. Saturday, it was pretty hot, with highs in the low 80's, and it was sunny, so I'm sure that added to the problem. I ran with a water bottle filled with Gatorade, and I refilled it at Griffith park. The added weight in my hands added to some tension and fatigue I experienced in my back, and arms. I was trying to avoid running with a small Camelbak that tends to really squeeze my guts. I think on next week's long run, I may run with the large 100 ounce Camelbak, but just fill it about halfway to avoid having too much weight on my back during the run.

The run ended up like this:

19.01 miles in 2:57

Averaged 9:22/mile 156 bpm Heart Rate

Today, it's a run on the treadmill.

Tight Hips

Today is a day of rest, and my hips can use it. Man they're tight. I had a knot in my lower back yesterday on the right side. This morning, I awoke to the same kind of pain on the left side. It's on the move. I guess I've got to get better about stretching.

Yesterday I ran 3, 1/2 mile repeats @ 7:30/mi then 1 @ 7:24/mi and the last @ 7:16/mi. Sure Paul Tergat isn't quaking in his shoes, but at least I felt stronger than I did the last time I ran repeats. Tomorrow, Big Sur will be only one month away.

Simulation

Today's run:  13.50 miles.  

I had D drop me off 6 miles from home,  on the outskirts of Griffith Park so that I could run 7 miles of hills and then run home from there.  The conditions were perfect for a simulation of Big Sur.  It was 60 degrees, partly cloudy, and WINDY.  At times, the sky threatened rain, but it never happened.  I purposely ran the down hill miles aggressively (sub 7:00/mi).  Rightly, or wrongly, I thought it would be a good idea to hit my legs hard and fill them up with lactic acid.  I wanted to work on running on tired/sore legs.  Of course I regretted that decision around mile 10.  The wheels pretty much came off around mile 11, and I was relegated to 9 minute miles.  I might not have done the right thing by running those down hills so hard, but I wanted to be able to gain a little confidence.  

All in all, I think I averaged around a sub 9:00/mi. 

Now, I'm sore.

7 Miler

Yesterday I ran an easy 7 miler. It felt pretty good, and helped me regain a bit of confidence from the crap 1/4 & 1/4 workout earlier in the week.

Today is a rest day. I'm supposed to run 18 tomorrow, but that'll have to get pushed to sunday for scheduling problems.

I'm beginning to slowly work on waking up earlier and earlier in the morning. I'm a night owl by default, but with training, I can become more of an early riser. It's the transition time that sucks. Big Sur has a start time of 6:45!!! Hey, that's A.M.! I've also begun to train with Gatorade instead of the Hammer products I normally train with. I'm pretty sure Big Sur will be handing out Gatorade at the aid stations so I should let my stomach get used to having that again. I would like to avoid as many surprises come April 26th, as I can.

"Your ass, sir..."

I had my ass handed to me today. I ran a "1/4 & 1/4" workout on the treadmill. I was supposed to run 1/4 mile easy @ 10:00/mi pace, then a 1/4 mile hard @ 7:00-7:15/mi pace. The treadmill was set at 3.0% grade. I was barely able to hold onto running the easy portions @ 10:20/mi, and the hard repeats @ 7:16/mi. By the end of it, I had run 4 miles in about 34:00 minutes, I was drenched in sweat, and seriously suckin' wind. Yuck. The crap run could be a couple of things. It could be the weather. The heat has been turned up the past few days. It's in the low 80's. Whenever the weather changes drastically like this, I can expect it to affect my sinuses. It could also be the lack of lunch today. Because of the way my day was structured, I ran without lunch. I'm sure that didn't help. It could also be that I'm just not in shape.

All I need is one piss-poor run like this today, and it shakes me a bit. Big Sur is little over one month away. These runs happen. They just do.

Right?

Have a Pint

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone.

During today's easy one hour run I ran 7.07 miles averaging 8:30/mile.

Hope you all have good craic today. Raise a few Arthurs, or pints o' plain if you please.

"May misfortune follow you the rest of your life, and never catch up."

Slainte!

Kickin' Ass & Takin' Names

It's a funny thing about running, sometimes you feel awesome, like you're gonna kick some serious asphalt, (and you can't), and sometimes you're dreading it. Yesterday, I was dreading my "Endless Mountain" workout on the treadmill. I got to the gym late in the day, I was a bit tired, my allergies were giving me some trouble, but when all was said and done, I had completed 5 miles in 46 minutes, and ended on 11.5% grade... So, I felt like crap, but bettered my last Endless Mountain workout by 6 minutes and 1.5%. Yeah, I didn't break any world records, but I did surprise myself on a day I really didn't want to be running.

Now, it's time to run an easy hour.

Pain in the Neck

I haven't posted in a bit. I was in a mild fender-bender last week. Nothing too serious, but I had to take a few days off to make sure I hadn't suffered any whiplash. I ran my hill repeats on Thursday, running 5 miles in about 51 minutes. I added two repeats due to missing the workout the day before.

Saturday, I did my long run, it ended up being 16.71 miles in 2:29. I averaged 8:56/mi. The long run included about 4 miles of really steep hills. I ended up running a negative split, which is always good. I ran the first 8.25 miles in 1:21, averaging 9:52/mile. (The steep uphills really killed my pace) The second half, I ran 8.46 miles in 1:07, averaging 8:01/mile.

All in all, not bad.

Hair Today...

I did it.

Under advisement from D, I bit the bullet yesterday, and I got the legs waxed.

I'll give you a second to ponder what i just wrote.

...

Yes, it DID hurt. But I got high marks from the masochist, um, waxer, for "not moving around or even flinching". So, you know, at least I had that going for me.

It feels kinda creepy. I'm sure it looks that way too.

Anyway, after having to take about 5 days off to shoot a short film, (woo hoo!) I got back at it this week.

Monday: I ran an easy 6 or 7 miles then did weights on my legs.

Tuesday: I did a 4 X 1 mile workout

Mile 1: 7:30/mile

Mile 2: 7:15/mile

Mile 3: 7:00/mile

Mile 4: 6:45/mile

all done on the treadmill at the gym, 1.0 % incline, with a 3 minute walk between repeats.

Endless Mountain

Today brought with it, an Endless Mountain workout on a treadmill. I put the speed at 5.8, and increased the incline 0.5% every 2 minutes. I was supposed to do it "until exhaustion".

I ran for 40 minutes, ended on 10.0 incline, and ran nearly 4 miles in 40 minutes.

It was very hard.

Some W(h)ine for that Chese

Last Friday, I had an "optional" upper body workout scheduled. The fact that I actually did it, tells me that I may be getting in better shape. Many times, if I have the option to not work out I choose it to give myself the benefit of extra rest. Now, let's be honest, I didn't have a HUGE workout, but I tried to compensate for its lack of intensity by going to a different gym, and using different equipment. As I suspected, I was quite sore the next day, which is, after all, a good thing.

Saturday, I was supposed to go on my long run, but I had to push it to Sunday (yesterday), because of class that I had. It was a 13 miler on trails. I felt pretty damn good starting off. I ran in Cheseboro Canyon and hadn't run there in over a year, so it was good to be back out there.

The run began good enough, I felt strong, I enjoyed the scenery, (though the wildlife sightings were a bit disappointing), but around the 7 mile mark, I got pretty nauseous. It was probably a combination of hard running, and taking some supplements. I took some time near the top, before I turned around to head back. Once I started back up, I felt fine. I didn't drink as much on the way back, and around mile 10 or 11, I really bonked. I think I was dehydrated.

With less than 2 miles to go, with my legs tired and sloppy, on a flat stretch, to boot, I took a spill:

Ooh la la!

"I've seen better legs in a bucket of chicken."

Indeed.

But see what I mean, how the hair on my knee gets all scraped off? I was lucky this time around. My hand got the worst of it, but really, it wasn't bad at all.

(sigh)

I'm afraid, it may be time to get rid of the hair on my legs. Next time, I may not be quite so lucky.

The run ended up looking like this:

13.56 miles in 2:25

Av: 10:43/mile (yuck)

2319 feet of ascent

Calories burned: 1395