Puttin' Money In The Bank (L.A.D.)

Ran over to the High School to meet the WGHSXC Team. Ran a warm up with them, then did 3 1 minute intervals over their home course designed to simulate the start, middle and finish of a 5k race. Ran a cool down home. Don't know the exact distance, but it was pretty close to 9 miles.

Nike Elite - 455.55

8.4 miler today plus 1.2 mile cool down. First 4.2 out in 32 flat (7:37s). Back in 27:33 (6:33s -- Haulin!). Total run time for 8.4 was 59:33 (7:05s). 1.2 mile cool down in 9:15 (7:42s)

Ascics Cumulus - 8.4

Nike Pegasus - 1.2

1pm and 71 degrees today. Easy run. 9.4 miles in 1:12:50 (7:45s).

Pegasus - 10.6

Put on my new Ascics with a blister patch and some quality socks to go do 13. The patch rubbed off 2 miles in and the blister was starting to hurt. So, I took off the shoes and joined the barefoot movement and ran the short way back to my house (1.3 miles). Switched into my Pegasus' and ran the 1.3 back to where I was in my run and then decided to alter things a bit. Completed the run out to MQP, giving me 6.8 at this point. Tough to judge these miles, as I have no clue how slow I was running while barefoot. I'm chalking those 1.3 up to Base II and saying everything else to this point in the run was Base I. At this point I hit a hard run in and pulled it up a bit short of a mile for the cool down. 3.4 miles in 21:16 (6:15s) and .8 cool down.

Cumulus - 10.4

Pegasus - 19.6

12 mile run tonight at 7pm. A bit muggy, but mostly comfortable around 70 degrees. Started out around 7:40 pace through 3 miles. Run time was 1:18:25 (7:08s). Last 8 miles at an average pace of 6:55s. Last 3 miles at an average pace of 6:35s with a closing mile of 6:15. Did a .5 mile warm up with my 6 year old son Ivan (He did very well, holding his pace all the way through the 1/2 mile with the exception of about a 15 second walking rest 2/3rds of the way through). Finished with another .5 mile cool down.

Pegasus - 31.6

4pm, 68 degrees and a light steady rain. 10.1 miles easy in 1:18:05 (7:44s).

Pegasus - 41.7

6:30pm and 65 degrees. A great night for a run with virtually no wind. So I've been contemplating my speed in the mile last week with some of my longer race times and it just seems that I should be able to run 1/2 marathons at a much faster pace than 6:50s or so. I've had a couple thoughts. First, my tempo runs are geared to shorter distances and a bit faster pace 3-4 miles in the 6:15-6:20 range and that I should be doing 6-9 mile tempo runs in the 6:30-6:45 range. Second, when I race the longer distance, I lack the confidence in my body's ability to maintain a set speed. Having said that, I've always felt I was a true negative split runner. That if I would ever average 6:30s for a 1/2 marathon, I'd have to do it by starting out in the 6:45 range and builing myself down to the 6:15 range. That if I went out at 6:30 6-7 miles in I'd crash.

With this in mind, I put myself to a bit of a test tonight. I went out and got a few miles in around Base pace, then converted over to what I felt was a quick marathon pace and continued to build to what I felt was a 6:45 pace and then see how long I could hold it, running strictly on feel. Along the way I took some time splits, but didn't give much thought to them because I had no clue exactly how far it was between markers. Using google maps I calculated out my splits. The entire run, excluding the .9 mile cool down was 11.1 miles in 1:14:55 (6:44s). As always though, my body took over its natural ways and continued to get quicker through the run. Almost all sections of the run were a net flat grade, but every section had rolling hills that equaled each other out of moderate grade. Here's what it looked like:

2.1 miles in 15:53 (7:34s)

1.85 miles in 13:06 (7:05s)

2.1 miles in 13:49 (6:35s) - This section had a net uphill grade.

3.15 in 19:34 (6:13s)

2 miles in 12:23 (6:11s)

.9 mile cool down in 9:13

While this technically comes out to 12.1 miles, I know the run was actually 12. Trying to get measurements to the nearest .05 of a mile leads to some error, thus the acquistion of an extra .1 on the mileage chart for the run ... not terribly concerned about it, so I'll take it out of my regeneration cool down.

A few notes on the run. First, the last 7 miles of the run, if we could balance the section that was net uphill and make it balance out to a net flat, I was probably looking at over 7 miles at 6:15 average or better. That's very encouraging. Second, around mile 8 I started talking to myself. Ok, lets see if you can hold it through to 9. Then again at 9, try to do 1 more mile. At mile 10 I was convinced I could hold the pace for 1 more mile, and my jaw about dropped when I rounded the corner running mile 10 in 6:08. Truly these last 3 miles were grueling mentally, but I'm certain that in a race where letting up is not an option I'd be able to battle through it. Not sure what to make of this run in terms of what I can and can't do. I'll mull it over for some time.

Pegasus - 53.7

12:30pm and 74 degrees. 8.75 miles easy today in 1:09 (7:53s)

Pegasus - 62.45

Ran a 9.3 mile loop today with 10:21 added in of very easy running with the WGHSXC coach while the team did interval repeats on their home course. This extra mileage accounts for about 1.2 miles. The 9.3 broke down as follows ... First 2 miles in 16:18 (8:09s) and then 7.3 in 55:47 (7:38s).

Nike Elite - 466.05

Did 2 miles of walking today. I've been hitting 6 days a week running since June and I felt my body could stand a bit of rest ... plus my foot has been feeling tired ... a feeling that probably indicates my plantar fascitis is coming back ... so I'll have to start restretching it.

1 mile walk to take the kids to school this morning.

Ran to work tonight the extra long way. 8.4 miles in 60:21 (7:11s). First 4.2 in 31 minutes (7:22s). 2nd 4.2 in 29:21 (6:59s).

Ran home from work 5 hours later. 5.45 in 41:59 (7:42s).

Cumulus - 24.35

1 mile walk to Ivan's school and back.

5pm, light rain, 70 degrees. 3.05 mile warm up in 23 flat (7:32s). 3.05 tempo in 19:43 (6:28s). And a 2 mile cool down in 16:23 (8:11s).

Cumulus - 32.45

Walked 1 mile to Ivan's school and back again this morning.

5pm and 60 degrees. 8.8 miles to work tonight in 1:04:36. First 4.5 in 33 flat (7:20s). Next 4.3 in 31:36 (7:21s). A great even paced and mostly easy run. When I got to work I tore up a whole chicken dinner from the supermarket and guzzled down about 80 ounces of pink lemonade diluted heavily with water. I was incredibly thirsty and could feel my muscles were rather sore. The run was hard on my legs and I could tell that I was having fuel issues.

11pm and 45 degrees. 5.45 in 42:12 (7:45s).

Cumulus - 44.7

First 5.15 miles in 40:18 (7:50s). Next 1.85 in 13:27 (7:16s -- all downhill section). Turned around and ran back up the 1.85 all uphill climb in 13:23 (7:14s) and continued on for a 4 mile turn around in 27:08 (6:47s with the last 2.15 in 13:45 [6:18s]). Finished with a 3 mile cool down in 22:26 (7:29s). Total run time was 1:43:20 for 14 miles (7:23s).

Cumulus - 58.7

8.1 mile run today. Nice fall day, sunny and cool, 59 degrees with a bit of a breeze. 8.1 mile run today. Opened with an 8 minute mile and closed with a 7:15 mile. Run time 1:01:19 (7:34s)

Cumulus- 66.8

1 mile at noon today to pick Ivan up from school and walk home. Jogged 1/2 mile up there and walked back

9.7 mile run tonight. 5pm and 70 degrees. A very good, very quick run. First 2.05 miles in 15:08 (7:23s). Remaining 6.75 miles in 43.45 (6:29s) First 4.75 of that in 31:44 (6:41s). Last 2 in 12:01 (6:02 and 5:59), followed by a .9 mile cool down.

Pegasus - 72.15

9 Mile easy run today in 1:11:28 (7:56s). Crisp morning around 48 degrees and sunny. Did 1.5 to the Webster Y and met up with Nancy and Megan. Megan wanted to get some hills in before the Clayton Police 1/2 Marathon which is 2 weeks away (I'm running this also). So we took a route through Webster that hit about 8 hills. Nancy and I maintained pace while Megan hit them hard. A good run, not too fast, not too slow. The rest of the week will be around this pace I hope.

Cumulus - 75.8

50 degrees, windy and almost cold at 9am this morning. Did a 7.7 mile run staying mostly close to the house in 55:30 (7:12s). This pace was much faster than I intended to go, but it felt mostly comfortable, so maybe that's a good thing.

Cumulus - 83.5

Ran to work tonight with the back pack on, weighing in around 3 or 4 pounds. Trip there was 6.3 miles in 46:49 (7:26s) and the trip home was 3.6 miles in 26:41 (7:25s). Good, easy, consistent miles.

Cumulus - 93.4

Easy 5 mile run today just to get the legs out and loose. Run time was 39:20 (7:52s).

Cumulus - 98.4

Got up about 6am and had some breakfast. Then I woke up my 6 year old who was thinking about running the 1 mile fun run. The forecast was for 35 degrees, however, they changed it last night to 45-50, so the plan was for him to see if he thought it was too cold. At 6:15 I got him up and took him outside, he shivered once and said no. I shouldn't have asked him and given him the choice, because it was perfect at about 50 degrees. At any rate, I told him fine, go get in bed with your mamma ;-).

So, I got a good warm up in with 3 miles in the 7:30 range. Changed into race gear and then hit some strides and such. Temps at the gun were around 55, sunny, no wind. Perfect. My goal for this race was to break 6:15s, which would have been 7 seconds/mile faster than last year. Its a very tough 5 mile course with miles 3 and 4 containing an endless series of short, but tough hills, culminating each of these miles with a 300 yard climb. The 2nd and 5th miles are relatively flat and mile 1 has a slight downhill slope.

The gun went off and I had planned on staying about 15-20 seconds back of the leader and trying to make a move once we got into the hills. Clearly this wasn't happening as the winning time was 27:05 (5:25s). Bagging this plan, I tried to find a pace that I felt was holdable throughout and taxing as well. The plan worked well as all 3 miles that did not contain hills were run sub 6:00s. Overall time was 30:31 (6:05s). Splits as follows:

1- 5:45 (a bit surprised, didn't intend to go out quite this fast, but it felt comfortable enough, so I figured maybe the marker was off)

2- 5:58 (thinking that perhaps the marker for mile 1 wasn't off because I basically came back with the same split because the 1st mile was slight downhill, and this one flat)

3 - 6:16 (starting to get into the hills, nothing major yet, but enough to annoy you with probably 4 50 yard climbs, and 1 250 yard climb)

4- 6:36 (the 2 biggest hills in this mile, each about 300 yards long, 1st one at the beginning of the mile, 2nd one at the end)

5 - 5:55 (Was trying to finish under 6:00 and did so. Climbing on 4th place through this whole mile, but just couldn't catch him as he finished about 50 yards ahead.)

I'm very excited about this finish. I believe that I can potentially break 6:00s on a flat 10k course and this should be a great warm up for the 1/2 marathon next weekend. This is a big PR over last years race by almost 17 second a mile. The training is starting to pay off and my times are diving down right now. Today is a good day!

Pegasus - 78.15

Gel Speedstar - 77.15

A bit cold this morning, 33 degrees. Sunny and calm though. I overdressed for this run, but it was really the first colder run of the year, so I guess that's to be expected. 9.4 mile relatively easy run. First 1.5 in 12:00 (8:00s). Next 5.4 in about 40:00 (7:24s). Last 2.4 in 16:40 (6:57s). Total run time of 1:08:40 (7:18s).

Cumulus - 107.8

Same route as yesterday, but different approach. To keep sharp I burried 3 x 8 minutes with 8 minutes continued running. I wouldn't call it recovery jog, but more like a return to approximate M-pace to slightly slower than M-pace. At the time the 8 on felt about what it would feel to go slightly faster than 1/2 M pace. The duration of these 3 bouts, plus the 2 8 minutes recovery between covered approximately 6.15 miles. The warm up was about 1.5 and the cool down was about 1.75.

Warm up in 11:23 (7:35s). 3x8 minutes on with 8 minutes between in 40:56 (6:39s) and the cool down in 12:33 (7:10s). I thought this was a very solid, quality sharpness workout going into the 1/2 marathon this weekend. It gave me some confidence without putting any real strain on my body. I felt very good throughtout the run, never really ever feeling tired. Total run time for 9.4 was 1:04:53 (6:54s).

Cumulus - 117.2

70 degrees and sunny at 12:30pm today. A beautiful day for running. Just the slightest breeze. 7.3 miles in 56:18 (7:43s). A nice easy run to get the legs their last stretch before the race. I may go out for 3-4 on Saturday, but I haven't decided yet.

Cumulus - 124.5