September 2008 Archives

Run: 6.03 miles - Pace: 9:49/mi - Week: 6.03 miles - Total: 663.64 miles

Good run today, maybe a bit fast. The Nike website was having trouble with the runs that I had mapped out, so I just ran until it said 3 miles out and then came back. It has been underestimating my runs lately, so I would be surprised if that was a little closer to race pace than it actually says. I sure pushed it to a pretty fast pace. For the rest of the week, I'll do 5 miles tomorrow and 5 miles at race pace on Friday with an 11-mile run on Saturday. :) I can't believe how soon it all is gonna be.

Run: 10.03 miles - Pace: 11:32/mi - Week: 22.93 miles - Total: 657.61 miles

A pretty good run today. My legs weren't exactly fresh, with 5 hard miles on Thursday and 3.5 quasi-easy miles yesterday, so I took it really slow to start. I also included the hill coming back from the Plaza, and it actually went pretty well. I felt good afterward, so I tried to pick up the pace on the last 3 miles home. Let's see if I did.

Mile 1 - 11:33
Mile 2 - 11:40
Mile 3 - 11:54
Mile 4 - 11:19
Mile 5 - 11:30 -- First Half - 57:56
Mile 6 - 11:34
Mile 7 - 12:11
Mile 8 - 11:13
Mile 9 - 11:29
Mile 10 - 11:05 -- Second Half - 57:32

Ok, well, I did manage to pick it up a little, but not as much as it felt like. Those splits are pretty awesome, especially since that awful hill goes from mile 5.5-6.5 on this run, so I did well to have a negative split.

I just took water with me, though I forgot how much that can wear on my abs to wear that water belt. I may try one package of sport beans and see if that doesn't make my legs feel a bit better after mile 7. It may be only psychological, but every little bit helps. The shoes felt pretty good, and I'm sure that wearing my best socks helped with that. For the most part, the only things that really hurt were in that first mile, afterwards everything felt pretty good. In that last mile, though, I noticed my left hip giving me just a little bit of trouble, so I made sure to do some really good stretching when I was done. I'm gonna ice my calves and shins a bit too this afternoon.

I can't believe I'm going to shoot for doing 3.1 more miles in roughly the same amount of time, but races have a funny way of bringing that out of me. Plus, I'm going to have an actual pacer, which should help tremendously.

Run: 3.59 miles - Pace: 10:36/mi - Week: 12.91 miles - Total: 647.58 miles

Easy run today. I know I said I'd do 4 miles but I hate the hill that loop includes and everything wasn't feeling quite as good as I would have hoped. It's the left side of my shins, running back to the side of my calves that's giving me trouble. I'll ice later today and just try to take my 10-miler easy, if such a thing is possible.

Run: 4.84 miles - Pace: 9:31/mi - Week: 9.32 miles - Total: 643.99 miles

Well, I filed this under Speed Work because I actually ended up making it a bit of a tempo run. I think when I factor in the Nike+ underestimate on distance, I end up with around a 9:12/mi pace, which is just over a 2-hour half-marathon. I say ended up, because it wasn't exactly what I intended to do, but as I noticed my first mile split I thought, "Why not?" I've been missing some runs due to comps this week, so I'll do an easy 4 miles tomorrow and then the 10-mile long run on Saturday.

My ankles felt a bit odd at the start of this run, but otherwise fine once I got going. I will say that my shoes seem to be doing better. I didn't notice the rubbing on my feet nearly as much. Mostly only when going uphill later in the run.

Run: 4.48 miles - Pace: 10:46/mi - Week: 4.48 miles - Total: 639.15 miles

Not a bad run today, though the shoes still don't feel quite broken in. The calves also don't feel great, though they didn't bother me too much. Still, I'm worried about trying speedwork again tomorrow. Perhaps I'd be better off just running 6 miles instead of doing the 5.5 miles with 8x400m repeats included. I'll have to see how I'm feeling in the morning.

Details on the Regular Blog. You can also just click the link on the right to go to my fundraising page. Cheers!

Run: 9.01 miles - Pace: 10:16/mi - Week: 16.63 miles - Total: 634.66 miles

Long run today, and I did just about everything wrong. Last night I had pizza and beer, and when I got up this morning I was already really thirsty. I thought a big glass of water would help (which it did for a while--maybe 2 miles), and I didn't take my water bottle because it felt so good not having to drag it around last long run.

I did make it, though, and in decent time, considering. I wanted to stop after 7 miles, so I hope that I'm not too sore tomorrow. Right now, the only things that seem to be bothering me are my toes. I thought I'd take care of some of that rubbing in the shoes by tightening the laces, and while it helped my toes feel pretty raw right now. The new shoes are nice, though. I didn't have any shin problems and my calves feel fine (for now).

I did miss two runs this week, though, due to pushing it too far on the tempo run on Tuesday. I wanted to get out yesterday, but my legs still hurt going up the stairs. It took a while to warm-up on this run, but ultimately I'm glad to have missed those runs. I'll have to be careful with my intervals if I'm going to be ready for this upcoming race.

Run: 4.0 miles* - Pace: 9:35/mi* - Week: 7.62 miles - Total: 625.66 miles

Tempo run today, and I definitely need a garmin. :) 10 minute warm-up, 20 minutes of acceleration, 10 minute cool-down. The 20 minutes was divided into 4-minute units, with the last minute being reserved for just shy of all out. During the run, my calves were giving me some trouble, and afterwards they hurt quite a bit. I iced them both for 20 minutes and they immediately feel better. I'll see how they are tomorrow. I think I'll have to retire those shoes, though. Maybe I'll use them for easier runs, but can't use them for speedwork anymore. Hopefully I won't have to cut tomorrow's run.

Run: 4.5 miles* - Pace: 9:11/mi* - Week: 4.17 miles - Total: 622.21 miles

Ok, that's about as far off as the Nike+ has been, so I'm thinking time for a recalibration. I did bust out the new shoes today, and for the first mile they felt awesome. After that, though, I started noticing how they fit differently. I forgot about the right arch and how it's a bit too supportive to begin, but that should go away before too long. I did also notice that the balls of my feet were getting a bit warm from friction, so hopefully that too will resolve itself. I'll be going back and forth a bit to get myself gradually used to the new shoes. So for the next couple of weeks it'll be new shoes on Mon and Wednesday and the old ones the rest of the time.

This felt did feel really, really good though. I ran it a bit fast, but the cool weather (68 with 39% humidity!) helped. At no point did I feel like I was struggling from an aerobic standpoint. The hills weren't easy, but they weren't too hard either. Overall, everything just felt really strong. Here I come, Half!

(Miles on old shoes - 360 miles, New Shoes - 4.5 miles)

Run: 7.93 miles - Pace: 10:43/mi - Week: 22.25 miles - Total: 618.04

Not a bad long run. I felt like that second half was much faster than the first. I haven't looked at the hard data yet, though. Nothing major to report, which is a very good thing. I still haven't busted out the new shoes yet, but Monday will be the day. The neighbor kid wanted to tag along with his scooter, so I let him knowing that he wouldn't make it very far and thus never ask me again. (Am I mean?) He made it about a mile before we had to loop back. It broke up the run pretty nicely, as once I got back to the start, I was already about 3 miles into the run. Maybe running with people wouldn't be so bad. I may let him tag along on his bike (we've ridden together and could make it). At least then I'd have someone to carry my water bottle. :)

Run: 3.05 miles* - Pace: 8:06/mi* - Week: 14.32 miles - Total: 610.11 miles

This was to be a race pace run, but I over ran it by a lot. I mean, the McMillan calculator puts me at 8:24/mi for 13.1 miles, but as this is my first half, I'm shooting for 8:50/mi, which would give me a 1:55:48 time. If I feel better in the last miles, I can push it, but if not so good, I can still hit a sub-2 hour time. Regardless, that's a pretty big difference between 8:06 and 8:50. I was worried about my long run, but as you already read, that didn't go too badly.

Run: 2.97 miles - Pace: 9:49/mi - Week: 11.68 miles - Total: 607.47 miles

Nice run this morning, though my legs felt sore from yesterday as I got going. When I stopped, I especially noticed it in my calves. I think as I run faster I tend to run even more on my toes, putting extra strain on the calves. Hopefully tomorrow will be enough for a rest day. I didn't have time for an cold bath today or yesterday (barely time for a shower, for that matter), so I might try it tomorrow.

In other news, the new shoes arrived yesterday. You don't realize how much you've broken in the last pair until you get the new ones. Boy, do they feel different. I think I will alternate running in the new shoes vs. the old ones, but don't know how to do that most effectively. I think perhaps the easy runs would be the best place to start, but that would mean waiting until Monday to run in them. Not cool. Maybe the 3m pace run on Friday. We'll see...

Run: 4.74 miles - Pace: 9:37/mi - Week: 8.71 miles - Total: 604.50 miles

Yay for speed work. I got up at the butt crack of dawn to head up to UMKC and do 7x400m intervals. I ran a mile warm-up, then stretched, then began with an easy lap and then the interval and alternated back and forth, closing with a half-mile cool down. If you're doing the math, the Nike+ is off by about 0.26 miles. I ran the first three intervals right around 1:55, and the next four at 1:50. I was surprised by how closely I was able to keep the times, and glad I didn't push it too hard. The last two were pretty tough, I definitely wanted to walk instead of jog the rest lap, but I managed pretty well. We'll see how I feel tomorrow, but the only thing I noticed post-run was my right calf, which hasn't bothered me for the rest of the day.

Run: 3.97 miles - Pace: 9:39/mi - Week: 3.97 miles - Total: 599.77 miles

Good run this morning. Only problem was that I forgot my visor and sure enough, I got a little bit rained on. No biggie, I just won't forget it next time. Things felt funny in the first mile as usual, but nothing really carried through the run or until afterward. Tomorrow is my first go at intervals, if I can only figure out when I'm going to have time to do them...

Run: 7.05 miles* - Pace: 10:27/mi* - Week: 17.56 miles - Total: 595.79 miles

Good run today. Didn't take any water with me, but did have a glass of water and some sport beans before I left. Overall, it felt good to run at a slightly faster pace than on some of my other long runs and still have a few miles left in the tank. The great weather didn't hurt, either. 57° but there was some high humidity.

As far as physical difficulties, I had some left shin problems, and somewhat more frightening, I had some brief pain in my right arch. That could be bad if it progresses. To help myself a bit, I took a 20-minute cold bath and ordered some new running shoes. I got a fantastic deal at runningwarehouse.com. Word to the wise, always google for coupons before making a big purchase. I found a 20% off link and with their cheaper prices, I ended up getting a pair of shoes that would normally run me over $100 with tax for only $64! Rock and roll! I have just under 350 miles on the shoes I'm using now, so I'll probably go back and forth a bit in an attempt to get to at least 400 miles. Hopefully, I'll be able to hold together for this half-marathon. I'm beginning to think that I'll do pretty well... (virtual knock on wood)

Run: 3.07 miles - Pace: 9:55/mi - Week: 10.26 miles - Total: 588.49 miles

Nice easy run this morning. The best thing was that it was only 60° outside! It was sooooo nice to run in cool weather. Left calf and right shin again, but as usual didn't bother me once I got warmed up. I'm still going to be really careful about this, as either could sideline me. Tomorrow's a rest day, so I'll probably ice a little bit. Oh, and I have strength training for later today, so here I come Wii Fit.

Run: 3.6 miles - Pace: 9:46/mi - Week: 7.19 miles - Total: 585.42 miles

Well, that graph looks funny because I must have come to a stop before stopping the Nike+ recording. Today was my first crack at a tempo run, which, as Higdon prescribes, is 10 minutes of warm-up, 15 minutes of acceleration, and 10 minutes of cool down. Since a gradual acceleration of that length seemed tricky, I went with 2:30 intervals, bumping up my pace ever so slightly each time. On the last interval, I did 1:30 at the next fastest pace, and then 1:00 with whatever I could muster for a kick. This was not the easiest run in the world, but at least I was smart and kept my pace well back to start with and increased it pretty slowly.

The hardest part was probably the jogging afterwards. After kicking for a good minute, all I wanted to do was just stop, or at least walk slowly. Continuing to jog was pretty hard, but I managed it. It did, though, take a good 1:30 before my breathing returned to normal and a good 4 minutes after that until the jog felt appropriately slow. All in all, not bad for a first speed session, I'd have to say. I did a cold bath, which should help with recovery. My left calf still isn't happy and some of the pain seems to be moving forward to my shins (not good). I've run just under 300 miles this year, and with the bit of running I did on these new shoes last year, I'm probably getting to the end of their life cycle. I'm just not anxious to pony up for new ones either. Still, if I'm getting new shoes, I better do it well before the half marathon. Maybe at the end of this month, we'll see.

Run: 3.59 miles - Pace: 9:47/mi - Week: 3.59 miles - Total: 581.81 miles

Oh goodness it was a hot run today. I managed to sleep in, which was fantastic, but unfortunately by the time I got out it was 80° with 70% humidity. Good times. By the end of this run, my legs felt like jelly, though I will say that the first mile felt so much better than yesterday. I noticed my left calf giving me some trouble and right shin of all things, but after warming up I didn't notice any trouble. Tomorrow will be telling, as it is my first day of speed work. A 35-minute tempo run. Good times.

When I got back, I tried a cold bath, which felt fantastic. It was a little shocking to the system, but I can see why people do this. I'll definitely try this again after long runs, and maybe the tempo and interval runs as well. We'll see. The only thing is that it's rather wasteful from a water perspective, but oh it feels so good (once you get settled in, of course).