Happy March 1st 2012

Picking off where I left off.....

After a great Sunday run on the 19th of Feb., I got up Monday the 20th and flew to L.A. for the week for work. I didn't run monday, giving the legs a rest. Tuesday I thought about running before my first appointment in the morning, but relished the sleep and comfort of my hotel bed instead. Wednesday, I finished my lunch meeting, then found some time to get in a few miles, once I set up shop over at my buddy Chirs Bohle's house in Venice Beach.

Wed., 2/22/12
Too excited to go far, and wanting to spend some time with Chris before I had to get to my next meeting for the day (the Clippers game over at Staples Center), I managed to only log a few miles. Ran up the beach bath to the Santa Monica pier and back. Just casual pace/legs feeling a bit fatigued. My watch was dead, and thus my mileage, time, and pace is all a guess
Miles: 3~

Thur, 2/23/12
Still waking up early given the time difference, I awoke to make it a little further this time down the beach and north towards Santa Monica. Instead of staying on the beach bath, I sauntered up the roads and rose in elevation as I passed the pier, and paralled the streets of SM. Made it, in my guess, about 2.25 miles before I turned around. Pace, again, was casual and easy.
Miles: 4.5~

After flying home Friday, I found myself getting in and heading back out, this time with my wife and daughter - who i was very happy to seee -, to watch my Moms championship basketball game. She is the coach of this small private school in Charlotte for the highschool girls.

Sat., 2/25/12
My legs still feeling a bit tired, but managed to go a little farther, and get some more "Shake out" as I started prepping mentally for my long run the next morning. My garmin was back. Just ran along the neighborhood streets.
Miles: 5.1
Time: 40.58
Pace: 8:03

Sun, 2/26/12
For the third Sunday morning in a row I met a group of runners at the Old Bell entrance to McAlpine park for a long run. The pace was a little faster this time, and I successfully achieved my goal of getting in 14 miles - my longest yet of the year. The pace was just dictated by the large group of quality runners, and me not wanting to fall off. Useually long runs are supposed to be slower, but with my lack luster training in the week, I don't feel this does anything BUT help me!
Miles: 14
Time: 1:39:35
Pace: 7:06

Week: 26.6~ miles for the week. 4 days running. 3 easy and short days, 1 pretty good long run.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Monday, Feb. 27th, I rested.

Tue, 2/28/12
Legs were feeling a little tired, but not too bad really. Pace was comfortable, and I kept it easy and light. Again, I'm embracing the recovery days, and after my last run on Sunday, I needed to. Ran the standard loop through Huntingtown  Farms
Miles: 7.8
Time: 1:01:08
Pace: 7:51

Wednesday - Had something pop up after work, and thus my day was shot...so, no run.

Thursday (today) March, 1st - hoping to get in some quicker running tonight, but it might be a little late. We will see what happens.
Time:

happy with my week

Filling in the rest of the week, Friday and Saturday saw low mileage but improvement with using the days to get a run in. Sunday, I awoke early and met my friends at McAlpine to make it two early long run Sundays in a row. 5 days running where I had been averaging 3 days a week for more than the last month. 35 miles 

Friday, Feb. 17th: nice day but just casual here going with what the legs gave me
miles: 4.6
pace: 7.42
time: 35:17

Saturday, Feb 18th: - slow and steady.
miles: 3.8
pace: 8:27
time: 32.19

Sunday, Feb 19th: - nice big group at McAlpine in cold mist
miles: 13.23
pace: 7:09
time: 1:34:43

Two for the road

Tuesday, Feb. 14th:  EASY RUN. I made love to this run. No. But it was understood I was going to get a run in after work before date night with wifey. This one was smooth as silk. Ran with music and it helped pass the time. I kept the pace easy, slow, and smooth. The hills behind my neighborhood still are no walk in the park.

Miles: 6.3
Time: 49:48
Pace: 7.54

Thursday, Feb. 16th: TRACK WORKOUT. First time since last fall. Craving some speed and turnover. The weather was humid, 50's, foggy, steamy, and perfect. Ran with Jason Blackwood at Marion Diehl track after work.
Workout: 6x600m with 2 min rest. Goal: 2:05 (5:35 pace) and faster, without feeling like im gunning the whole time. Not too tall an order.
    2:04, 2:05, 2:03, 2:02, 1:58, 1:45
Only the last one did I really go hard. And that's about as hard as I can go right now (4:40 pace). It felt fun and something fresh. I'd like to visit the track again soon to keep working on my speed.
  With warm up and cool down for the day got in...
Miles: 7

Glad Jan. is over

Friday, Jan. 27th
 Got back into town from driving up from Atlanta, and dropped the car off and ran from the lot. The pace was easy and reserved, and just strolled out towards Little Sugar Creek Greenway South, for an out and back.
Miles: 6.68
Time: 51:53
Pace: 7:46

Saturday, Jan 28th
  Met Brian Baum, Mike Mitchell, David, and Jason at Mcalpine for a long run. David just ran a mile or so with as he was cooling down, Mitchell just a few miles as he had started earlier, Jason just a few miles as well as he was on the tail end of his long run, and Brian ran all of it with me since we got there about the same time. Pace started out a little quicker than I liked, but was able to hold on and drop it some the last couple miles, all without going too fast. Was happy to hit my longest run since the marathon, at 11 flat.
Miles: 11
Time: 1:21:49
Pace: 7:26

Week recap: 23.18 miles on 3 days. One quicker, one easy, and one long.

----------------
Monday, Jan 30th:
  Some very slow running, pushing Avery in the stroller for the first 1.8 - by then she was fussing to get out. So I added on a little more and closed with just over  3 miles for the day. First couple were around mid to high 8's and the last was around 7:50-8.

Tuesday, Jan 31st:
 Some very slow running again - Again pushing Avery in the stroller
3.38 Miles
Time: 30:18
Pace: 8:58

Wednesday - exhausted and napped. no running!

Thursday - Basketball game; probably no running today other than the exertion in the game.

looking back at my training...

Here's a fun fact: I didn't hit 40 miles in 2011 until the first week in September!

That being said, my running Jan-Aug was nothing much to write home about, mileage wise. So, September-October (Marathon Training time period) my training consisted of:

112 miles in September. Highest week: 46.5
196 miles in October. Highest week: 51

From Oct. 22  through Nov 11th  I was on taper. (weeks of 33, 17) and marathon week I hit 35, which was boosted from the 26.2 mile day on Nov. 12th.

Only 1 week all year I hit 50+ miles!

I am a little surprised to see my sub 3 hour race given my modest mileage. 

2011 total miles through today, Nov. 28th: 1,178

Cool.

Catching up on runs last week:

Wed (11/23) 6.73 miles at McAlpine with David and Mitchell. Legs felt okay, kinda low on energy.
Pace: 7:30
Time: 50:39

Sat (11/26)
5.08 miles around my neighborhood. Felt good
Pace: 7:01
Time: 35:42

Sun (11/27)
4.25 miles around my neighborhood pushing Avery in the jogging stroller. Legs not bad, but needing to go slower
Pace: 7:58
Time: 33:52

weekend update

Yesterday I flew in from Austin, TX and had to drop my car off at the shot to get some work done, so I swung by the house on the way back from the airport to change into my running clothes before dropping it off. From the shop on South Blvd, I did an easy run home. Started off normal pace, but slowed it down and just strolled along until I got back. 6.4 mile run

This morning I woke up at 8:15am after a great night's sleep, and downed a piece of bread with peanut butter, and met David outside to start the run shortly thereafter. Weather was perfect on this first day of October. I mean perfect. The pace was easy at first, standard in the middle, and quicker towards the end. I felt generally great on the run, and can't complain. Also, it was all on pavement, since we didn't do the standard McAlpine trails for this long run. Maybe it was good to get used to the long pounding with the Marathon in our sights, but nonetheless it wasn't too much of an issue. Did my longest for the year at 17 long run map and pace chart

San Diego, Sickness, and a Race (Recap from 9/11 to 9/19)

9/11 Sunday - Flew to San Diego for a company meeting. The airport was quite and thin. Flight was fine, Thank God. Good day of rememberance and realizing the Panthers have a franchise QB!! No running

9/12 Monday - After the day's meeting, got out for a light run around San Diego. Had to watch the clock so I could make it back in time for the evening's events, but was able to squeez in 4.5 miles of running around the hills.

9/15 Thursday - With two days off (Busy and Tired as hell are my excuses!) I really needed to exercise the legs. Trying to salvage the week with a good race, I didnt' want to overdo it - as I normally like to take the day off 2 days before a race anyway. Just ran 3.5 miles easy, but could tell there were some cobwebs.

9/17 Saturday - Hit the Brixx Race 10K - So the day before I knew I wasn't being the smartest in terms of preparing for the race by going to the Incubus concert at Verizon Ampetheater, but with 11 races I'm not the kind of guy to let running ALWAYS get in the way. And on top of that, I started coming down with a sore throat Friday afternoon. The last couple days in San Diego whiped me out as I didn't get enough rest, and I just felt run down. But on to the concert I went, and had a very late bed-time!

So after 4 hours of sleep, and with a throbbing sore throat I get out of bed and hazily put my clothes on and get out the door. I was so tired, I just sat in a booth at Brixx Pizza (pre-race site) and watch others warm up, until 15 mins before the race where I sauntered out and forced myself to warm up for 10 mins.

That allowed me to at least get warm, and when I toed the line, I was just hoping for the best. The first mile was sort of downhill, and I felt alright as I settled in behind the faster runners and knew I really had to watch my pace given my condition. Hit 6.03 for the first mile, and that felt fine. Started to climb the second mile a little, but while I thought I was upping the pace, I actually slowed a tad and hit 6.08 for a 12.12 two mile. Rolled to another downhill, and as Vincent Arey came flying by I tried to mimick his light stride and pick it up. Didn't feel like I was able to drop a negative mile here, but was thinking I was just maintaing pace and could maybe drop a negative split for the second half of the race. A little disappointed when I hit 18.20 for the 3 mile mark (6.08 split).

The 4th mile saw a good climb in elevation, as well as a couple racers who passed me. This is when I got focused from Jason Martin who said "worry about the guys in front, don't look back." This stuck with me the rest of the race. I wasn't going to care who passed me I was going to keep my focus up front. The oldest trick in the book, but if you don't remember to do it, a race will get away from you in a heartbeat. Only with focus did I manage to hang on, because that 4th mile started to get me. Came through in 24.34 (6.13 split). The 5th mile we were on roads winding around Elizabeth where I had an awful performance earlier in the GPX series at the Skyline 5k, so I was keyed in to running these streets with a vengence. I started to gain on the runners ahead who passed me, while we also reeled in a couple from the pack way ahead who were slowing down. Throttled the 5th mile pretty good, and was getting geared up to stay strong the last mile. Came through 5 in (30.49 (6.14 split ??? Approx. trying to recall as my watch deleted my splits)). The last mile was a BIG climb up 7th Street, and I was fighting the whole way. I was probably most proud of my fight in this race than all the other races of 2011. I was moaning as I was climbing, trying to catch the guys in front, and not let the ones in back catch me. I was able to get 1, and keep off another. Hit 37.08 for 6 miles, 6.19 split (maybe toughest mile on the course). With .2 to go, I came up to Greg Shore and we really kicked it in. We were stride for stride, both building speed the the whole .2 until about 50 meters from the tape he got up on his toes a little quicker and got me by a second. Still a 1.07 for the .2 I will take anyday.

After the race, I was totally done for. I slept for 3 hours, and layed around the house until I decided I needed to go to Urgent Care because I believed I had strep throat. So after finding out I had a fever and my throat looked awful, I got a shot of penicllin in the buttox to cap off the day. Awesome.

Time: 38.15
Place: 23rd
Pace: 6.09

Miles for day: 9
Week: 17 (last week was 46!)

9/19 Monday - Still recovering, I got antsy and wanted to run. I meant to run about 4 miles, but go into a route which didn't let me once I got past a certain point, and ended up running 50 mins around the hills behind my neighborhood. Felt okay, but got real weak the second half of the run.

Miles: 6.5~
Time: 49.13
Pace: slow

shake out from a good weekend

Well, after a pretty good race and a really nice long run, I took Mitchell's advice and ran on Monday. He likes to run after workouts and long runs, so as to get the legs used to running tired, and to shake out the junk. Work had me feeling sluggish, so it was somewhat of a chore to get out the door to run. Nonetheless, once I get going, I started to appreciate the run. I thought about only doing 4, then 5, then I ended up doing about 6.5.

My pace was about 745 in the beginning to probably 730 the second half of the run, if not faster the last mile or two.

No compliants, just getting some work done. Resting on Tuesday, then a longer/tempo run lined up for Wednesday night with David.

Happy running!

Miles: 6.5
Time: 47.31

i useually don't

...run 2 days before a race, but figured I'd switch things up and run today, and take the day before the race off of running. Again, adhearing to running for time, simply did 25 mins today. My legs felt good, so I had to work on keeping it casual.

Time: 25 mins
Miles: 3+
Pace: 745

lunch shakeout

Squeezed in 2 miles during lunch. Leg's didn't feel bad from workout, just not as fresh as they have been.

Miles: 2
Time: 15.26
Pace: 7.42

Morning Shake - Out

Another AM run, as I would be off to the beach for the weekend on a guys golf trip! Squeezed in 3.5 miles to finish my week, and give me 6 straight days of running for the first time in maybe years. I'm looking forward to the rest for my legs on Saturday and Sunday. Also, that puts me at 23.5 for the week in miles and no long run.

Miles: 3.5
Time: ?
Pace: easy

Checking out the first day of the 100x5k

After duties and obligations, I was able to sneak off to the PDS track late in the afternoon during the middle of the rain clouds overhead. Having only run 2 days prior in the week, and with my leg of the race coming up - I sided to stay easy and short, rather than make up for lost time to stack my weekly miles. I found Jordan and Meagan under a tent on the infield with a stack of Karhu running shoes, free to sample for a run. I opted to slip on the lime green Fast 2.



Went out towards Landsdown and jogged through that neighborhood and back for a total of about 3.5 miles.

With the Relay in the 10th and 11th hour, I was able to watch a couple notable performances. Alana Hadley (1709), Caitlin Chrisman (1725), and Jason Martin (18??).

Miles: 3.5+
Time: 27.30
Pace: 7.40

2 mile shake out

After work, I laced up the Pegasus and hit the roads for a light 2 mile shake out. Honestly, I should not be so slack, but I wanted my legs to feel good going in the 4 mile race, to get a nice boost to start the Run For Your Life Grand Prix Series. After last months poor performance at the Cupid Cup 5k, I needed some confidence, so i stopped after 2 miles and called it a day.

The legs are feeling pretty good after a harder run earlier this week. Not 100% but they are ready to go.


Miles: 2
Time: 16.30
pace: 8.15

where can i go?

running from home is starting to feel routine, and I'm trying to squeez every best route out I can from home in to keep the runs fresh. Anyway, I ran the quickest way out to Freedom Park from my house via the Little Sugar Creek Greenway. Turned around at 25 mins, and made it back just a hair quicker.

Legs didnt feel as fast as yesterday, but it was fine.

Miles: 6.5
Time: 49.51
Pace: 7.40

Northern Alabama

Specifically, Florence. I'm sure you have heard of Muscle Shoals. Well it's a tri-cities type deal...no, make that 4 cities (Tuccombia, Sheffeild, Florence, Muscle Shoals). Anyway, after I checked into the Hampton Inn in Florence, I set out for a run to take up around 45 mins.

Since i've been here before, and ran here before, I thought I'd go back to familiar ground - the park along the river....but it was flooded. so I ran along the water as best I could, and headed back up to the hotel and kept going. Ended up at University of North Alabama campus, and it was very pretty. The buildings were beautiful, and the homes were historic around those parts.

Got back, ordered a hawaiian chicken papa johns pizza, watched the heat lakers game, and then headed to the bar. DPs in Sheffield. Neighboring town. To my friends delight, i met Jason Isbell of current independent fame, and former Drive By Truckers Fame. He was at DP's Classic Grill, where I was instructed to go and scoop out. Anyway, the bartender introduced us - we bought each other shots, played pool and generally hung out, so it was a cool night. For sure.

Miles: 6
Time: 45.19
Pace 7.30

CHECK HIM OUT!