Training Time

Did six quarter mile hill repeats on the treadmill.

Nice early morning run around town.  It was great to be outside just before dawn with birds chirping....definitely feels like spring is getting near.

Decided to do a tempo run this morning.  Did the first mile in 7:44 and then picked it up for the next three: 7:12, 7:01, and 6:57.  Dropped the pace back to 7:45 for the final cool down.

Nice and easy this morning.

Marathon pace run early this morning.  Felt pretty good despite the cold weather.

What a great day.  It was a balmy 45 with lots of sun and no wind.  I did the first couple of miles with my son biking next to me and the next four miles with my daughter biking next to me.  I finished up the run with seven miles on my own.  I was hoping to get to 16 miles overall but my inner body just wasn't cooperating towards the end.  Oh well, it was still great to be outside for two hours on such a nice day.

I did a hill workout this morning.  Started with a two mile warm-up and then did eight hill repeats.  Finished things off with a three mile cool down.

Nice and easy run this morning.  Average pace was 8:11 per mile.  Legs were really heavy after the hill workout yesterday.

It was quite foggy this morning, but still nice and warm.  I was able to get in nine nice and easy miles this morning.  

Did a really short warm and cool down.  In between, I planned to do six marathon pace miles but ended up feeling pretty good, so I pushed the pace for three of the miles.  Overall time for the run was 45 minutes.

It was a calm and clear morning.  The weather must have put an extra bounce in my step because I held back and still averaged a 7:43 pace.  Hopefully, it won't hurt me on my long-run tomorrow, my first 20 miler in six plus years.

The spring forward time change made for a short night...I was up at 5:00am so I could get this run in before 9am.  I checked the weather and noticed that it was going to be quite windy, so I took the "easy" route and drove to a starting point that would allow me to run with the wind for most of my run.  I started my run at 6:20am and finished up at 8:50am.  I didn't quite make it to 20 miles but my legs still felt pretty good.  I carried water with me and stopped every other mile for small sips and had a Gu after mile six and twelve.  Average pace for the run was 8:21. 

It was a cool, clear morning with the temperature right at 30.  I did not get a great night of sleep so I decided to just start my day early.  Today was another hill workout day.  I started with a two mile warm up.  Completed 10 hill repeats.  Really focused on form and less on speed.  It seemed to work because my mile splits were lower than the previous times I did hill repeats.  I was wiped out by the end and the legs are a little sore.

Another clear and cool morning.  I decided to try a new pair of shoes today and they fit great.  As you can see from my shoe list, I really like the Brooks Adrenaline 9.

Anyways, I took it nice and easy today.  I was surprised by the pace but I was comfortable throughout.  I checked my heart rate info later and it confirmed that I was running just under 80% of max heart rate which I believe is a good area to be in.

It sounds like today is going to be the last unseasonably warm day for awhile so I took advantage and did a little extra mileage this morning.  I was up early again and the weather was cool and clear.  I avoided looking at my watch and just ran based on feel.  The results were pretty good.  The HR was a little higher than I was hoping for, but I never really felt uncomfortable.

Another beautiful morning to run outside.  Did five easy miles around town.  Each mile was just a little faster than the one before.  Felt pretty good throughout.

With sunny skies, it was easy to run outside today.  My average pace was 7:43 which is a little fast for an easy run, but did feel easy so I guess that works.

Another great weather day...I went for this run right around noon so the sun was shining brightly.  It was great.  Today, I mixed things up and went for a tempo run.  Started off with two easy miles that averaged 7:58 pace, then did four hard miles and finished things off with a slow cool down.  Below are my times for the four hard miles.

 Mile 1:  7:14

 Mile 2:  7:06

Mile 3:  6:50

Mile 4:  6:26

I was really happy to hit that pace after three hard miles and five overall.  Granted I didn't have much in the tank after that, but it still felt good.

This is the first week of my training program with some speed work.

Today was six repeats of two minutes hard followed by one minute easy.

I started my run with a two mile warm up and finished with a 2.5 mile

cool down. Each repeat was between 5:58 and 6:12 pace. I struggled

towards the end, so I probably did the first ones too fast or it could

be because of the chilly weather this morning.  Still pleased with the overall effort.

This morning I took a nice easy run outside.  It was another nice one to be running outside at sunrise.  I was hoping to get in ten miles but finished just a little short.  Oh well, it still went well and I averaged 7:50 pace.  I will be taking it easy the next two days and then I have a half-marathon on Saturday. 

Another early morning run.  The temperature was still pretty nice at 35 degrees but there was a bit of breeze that made it a little brisk at times.  Still another good run although the legs were a little heavy.  Tomorrow will be a short run of four miles and then the half-marathon will be on Saturday.  I am feeling pretty confident that I will run a PR and hopefully my pace will be in-line with what I ran the 15K in last month.

Brrr...winter made a comeback last night which made it quite chilly on the run this morning.  I kept the pace slow and the mileage short due to tomorrow's race.  Hopefully it will go well.

I haven't had time to write my full thoughts on this yet, but here is the short version.

 I had a great race.  The course was short by a 1/3 of a mile.  If this was a true half-marathon my time would have been close to 1:33:00 which is still a seven minute PR.  YIPPEE!!!

Course was brutal with three tough climbs and one really steep decline that killed the hamstrings.  The last five miles were also directly into a 10-15mph wind.  Despite all that I ran a negative split and even managed to run the last two plus miles in under 6:50 pace.

We are in for some warm yet windy weather this week.  I am looking forward to the opportunity to run in shorts and possibly a T-shirt.  Anyways, this morning was a nice easy run with clear skies and no wind.  My legs were still a little sore from the half-marathon on Saturday, but they loosened up as I went along.  This was a good way to start the work week.

I found out last week that one of my co-workers husbands is a runner, so we met up for the first time this morning to run.  Josh is definitely a notch above where I am at.  He was willing to go my speed but the adrenaline of actually running with someone must have got to me.  We did some solid miles with an average pace of 7:27 for the whole run.  That is about 30 seconds faster than I was initially planning on doing this run.  I felt comfortable for the most part, but it was catching up with me by the end.  I will have to take it slower tomorrow that is for sure.  Still it was great to have someone to talk to to pass the miles.

I tried to take it easy today after the hard run yesterday.  I never felt comfortable the whole time.  My legs were heavy at the start, my breathing was erratic, and my hip flexors were hurting in the middle.  I still ran a decent pace and actually tried to slow down a couple times since I wanted to take it easy.  Physically it was not a great run, but my heart rate was really low which is good.  The weather was also nice this morning with temps in the low 40s.