Still reporting from Washington. The cold weather broke and temps are getting into the 40's melting snow and even giving us some peeks at the sun on occasion. Here's how things went down:
Saturday 3.5 miles in 31 minutes. A poorly planned coffee just before the run forced me to cut this one short
Sunday 5 miles in 40 minutes just before sunset.
Monday I had big block of time and was finally able to get my long run in. Monday is not a normal long run day but on vacation it works just fine. Heather helped me map out a route in the area and I was set with a rolling 20 miles. Maybe a tad ambitious for the mileage I have been running lately but I thought if I took it slow it would be fine.
So that is just what I did, took it slow and kept my eyes open for oncoming cars and the landscape. With all of the cloud cover there are no glorious views to report but it was a relaxing run, if that makes any sense. Around mile 15 I was starting to hurt and the lack of water wasn't helping any. It never got horrible but I was glad to wrap things up. 20.8 miles in 2:44
Tuesday - DNR. I chide myself for not getting up early and running therefore missing my only chance to run before dark and breaking a little streak I had going. Oh well.
Wednesday. Heather and I drove to Banbridge island about 20 minutes from her parents house and directly across the Puget Sound from Seattle. We were doing a little house hunting and found a few prospect houses and open lots where we could build our own house. Afterwards Heather went for a swim at the local high school/swim club and I laced them up for 8 rolling miles out and back across the width of the island. My legs had a lot of pep in them but I held back. 8 miles in 64 minutes.
And that wraps up the year. I went from training hard in the winter for a half marathon that never materialized to marathon training in the summer that was cut short when I decided to opt out. The end of July, August and beginning of September were lost miles. I have a huge blank right in the middle of my running log. In the fall I started logging 30-45 mile weeks again and my running really took focus in Mid-November with a late winter 2009 marathon on the calendar.
The races that standout for me are the NERRC 10K in the spring where I PR'd going under 37 minutes for the first time. I feel that is right up there in the top 3 performances for me. Another highlight was PDR. I didn't kill the race but I loved running it none the less. I think it got me back in touch with why I get out there to run nearly every day.
Happy New Year!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
I'm out in Washington with Heather's family for Christmas and the New Year. They got hit with about 8 inches of snow before we arrived (somewhat rare for this area) but the larger roads were clear enough that I could squeeze to the side when the infrequent car passes.
The conditions have narrowed my running route options so I can't be to choosy. Two very similar loops yesterday and today. Yesterday I ran three hard repeats of a long hill on the route. Today my legs were constantly reminding me of the repeats. I had to run through some heavy snow and windy conditions but the temps were barely at freezing and it wasn't to bad. Yesterday 8.4 mile in 67 minutes. Today 8.2 miles in 67 minutes.
Surprisingly, there is rain in the forecast for the entire weekend. I'll do my best to get in a 16-18 mile run at some point.
The conditions have narrowed my running route options so I can't be to choosy. Two very similar loops yesterday and today. Yesterday I ran three hard repeats of a long hill on the route. Today my legs were constantly reminding me of the repeats. I had to run through some heavy snow and windy conditions but the temps were barely at freezing and it wasn't to bad. Yesterday 8.4 mile in 67 minutes. Today 8.2 miles in 67 minutes.
Surprisingly, there is rain in the forecast for the entire weekend. I'll do my best to get in a 16-18 mile run at some point.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Here is the article I mentioned in yesterday's post about habits of the elites. http://www.runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=15247&PageNum=1
I thought it was a good read.
I thought it was a good read.
Heather and I exchanged Christmas gifts last night and I now have an iPod Nano to replace my broken four-year-old classic iPod. The Nano’s small size makes it perfect for running in the winter, I can just drop it into my glove and then pull my hand up into my jacket sleeve to keep me warm. Heather also got me the Nike+ which works with your iPod to tell you your pace, and distance. I think there is bunch of software on their website to analyze your workouts in a million different ways too.
I‘ve always been more of a watch and sneakers type runner who doesn’t really want any other high tech gadgets to go along with my runs. The more stuff you have the more you have to get together before you can head out the door. So I am a little unsure if I’m going to like this new attachment to my runs. God knows I already spend enough time running, planning to run, recovering from a run, showering after running, logging my running, g-mapping my running and blogging about my running. Do I need to add another layer of analysis and time to the whole thing?
Last night I didn’t get out until 8:00. I took Boomer for an easy 4 miles, dropped him off and headed out for 3 more. 7 miles in 59 minutes. It felt a little faster than that but it is what it is.
This morning my thermometer read 17 degrees my first sub 20 run of the year. I’ll still take this temp over 80 humid. The morning was completely clear and even at 6:15 I could see a faint light on the horizon. Now that I am in more a morning running routine I really enjoy running into the sunrise.
This was sort of a tempo run. The first couple miles were probably around 8:00 pace and then I began to pick things up. I was probably in tempo range for about 3 miles and under marathon pace for a total of 5 miles. I finished with an easy mile. 8.2 miles 58 minutes.
For whatever reason I am having an easier time mixing in the speed during this marathon build up. My legs are protesting a little less even though I am running on sneakers that are over the hill. I’ve now been to 5 different shoe stores that are either out of my size 9 Asics Gel Cumulus or don’t carry them. It’s frustrating. I know I should just order online but I just want to have them in my hands so I instead try another store. I’m running out of options and may just order them today.
I‘ve always been more of a watch and sneakers type runner who doesn’t really want any other high tech gadgets to go along with my runs. The more stuff you have the more you have to get together before you can head out the door. So I am a little unsure if I’m going to like this new attachment to my runs. God knows I already spend enough time running, planning to run, recovering from a run, showering after running, logging my running, g-mapping my running and blogging about my running. Do I need to add another layer of analysis and time to the whole thing?
Last night I didn’t get out until 8:00. I took Boomer for an easy 4 miles, dropped him off and headed out for 3 more. 7 miles in 59 minutes. It felt a little faster than that but it is what it is.
This morning my thermometer read 17 degrees my first sub 20 run of the year. I’ll still take this temp over 80 humid. The morning was completely clear and even at 6:15 I could see a faint light on the horizon. Now that I am in more a morning running routine I really enjoy running into the sunrise.
This was sort of a tempo run. The first couple miles were probably around 8:00 pace and then I began to pick things up. I was probably in tempo range for about 3 miles and under marathon pace for a total of 5 miles. I finished with an easy mile. 8.2 miles 58 minutes.
For whatever reason I am having an easier time mixing in the speed during this marathon build up. My legs are protesting a little less even though I am running on sneakers that are over the hill. I’ve now been to 5 different shoe stores that are either out of my size 9 Asics Gel Cumulus or don’t carry them. It’s frustrating. I know I should just order online but I just want to have them in my hands so I instead try another store. I’m running out of options and may just order them today.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Last week I read an article in Running Times magazine about habits of the pro-runners as seen by a sportswriter over the years. There were 5 habits:
1. A Large difference between easy and fast pace
2. Runs start slowly and build into the pace.
3. Perform drills in addition to running
4. Vigorous warm-ups before races
5. and the last one I forget.
For the first habit the writer described an easy morning run with a couple Kenyans. They went out for a 10K loop and it took something like 45 minutes. The writer was itching to go faster and the Kenyans were content to just plod along. In the afternoon they ran a tempo workout on the same loop, this time it took 31 minutes and the writer got dropped at the start. For habit #2 he describes another run with Kenyan women. At the a start he was having a hard time going so slowly, within a couple miles he realized he was running at his normal pace, then he was pushing, then he got dropped.
I have the bad habit of running my easy runs in the 7:15 – 7:30 pace range (to fast) and also starting things off too quickly. Glancing at my watch at the first mile split and pushing harder because I started off to slowly, even though it is an easy run. I’ve known that I should slow down on my easy runs and I’ve tried in the past but for whatever reason it really stuck after reading this article and I’ve put into practice, at least for last week. I’m going to try and keep it up through the winter.
So onto weekend of running.
I couldn’t get out of bed on Friday morning to run. When I left work Friday eveningit was 33 degrees and pouring, about the worst running weather possible. Luckily the rain stopped around 6:30 and I got out for a few easy miles with Boomer. 3.2 miles in 27 minutes.
Saturday I was going to meet Deirdre and Seebo at the AM for long run. I initially got Deirdre to change the start time from 9:30 to 8:30 and lost Seebo who couldn’t make it that early. On Saturday morning I realized that I wouldn’t be able to do even the 8:30 run. So I backed out and pretty much ruined the group run for Seebo and Deirdre. Sorry.
I instead ran from home on a long hilly loop over Harts Lane, down River Road, then up over Shawmont Hill. I cut through Manayunk and then over Walnut Lane Bridge, through Mt. Airy and home. It was cold but I was comfortable. The pace started very easy and I slowly sped up through the run. I pushed myself up the hills and tried to run around marathon pace for most of the last five miles. It was a great workout. 17 miles in 2:04.
On Saturday night an ice, sleet, snowstorm made for messy, slippery conditions on Sunday morning. I pushed off my run until 3:30. The sun was now out and the ice-coated trees were melting creating tiny rain showers under every tree. The light from the setting sun also glistened off the ice making the trees sparkle. It made for a scenic run. There were a number of icy patches on the street, which had me running like an old man with a short sliding gait. I nearly went down at one point when some ice caught me by surprise. 7.5 miles in 6 minutes.
For the week, 60 miles in 7 workouts including a fast finish run, a track workout, and a somewhat hard long run. A great week of training.
Over the holidays I travel out to Seattle to visit the in-laws. I am going to make every effort to get all my runs in out there. I’ve heard that they got hit with a foot of snow and I’m hoping a lot of that will melt before we get there.
1. A Large difference between easy and fast pace
2. Runs start slowly and build into the pace.
3. Perform drills in addition to running
4. Vigorous warm-ups before races
5. and the last one I forget.
For the first habit the writer described an easy morning run with a couple Kenyans. They went out for a 10K loop and it took something like 45 minutes. The writer was itching to go faster and the Kenyans were content to just plod along. In the afternoon they ran a tempo workout on the same loop, this time it took 31 minutes and the writer got dropped at the start. For habit #2 he describes another run with Kenyan women. At the a start he was having a hard time going so slowly, within a couple miles he realized he was running at his normal pace, then he was pushing, then he got dropped.
I have the bad habit of running my easy runs in the 7:15 – 7:30 pace range (to fast) and also starting things off too quickly. Glancing at my watch at the first mile split and pushing harder because I started off to slowly, even though it is an easy run. I’ve known that I should slow down on my easy runs and I’ve tried in the past but for whatever reason it really stuck after reading this article and I’ve put into practice, at least for last week. I’m going to try and keep it up through the winter.
So onto weekend of running.
I couldn’t get out of bed on Friday morning to run. When I left work Friday eveningit was 33 degrees and pouring, about the worst running weather possible. Luckily the rain stopped around 6:30 and I got out for a few easy miles with Boomer. 3.2 miles in 27 minutes.
Saturday I was going to meet Deirdre and Seebo at the AM for long run. I initially got Deirdre to change the start time from 9:30 to 8:30 and lost Seebo who couldn’t make it that early. On Saturday morning I realized that I wouldn’t be able to do even the 8:30 run. So I backed out and pretty much ruined the group run for Seebo and Deirdre. Sorry.
I instead ran from home on a long hilly loop over Harts Lane, down River Road, then up over Shawmont Hill. I cut through Manayunk and then over Walnut Lane Bridge, through Mt. Airy and home. It was cold but I was comfortable. The pace started very easy and I slowly sped up through the run. I pushed myself up the hills and tried to run around marathon pace for most of the last five miles. It was a great workout. 17 miles in 2:04.
On Saturday night an ice, sleet, snowstorm made for messy, slippery conditions on Sunday morning. I pushed off my run until 3:30. The sun was now out and the ice-coated trees were melting creating tiny rain showers under every tree. The light from the setting sun also glistened off the ice making the trees sparkle. It made for a scenic run. There were a number of icy patches on the street, which had me running like an old man with a short sliding gait. I nearly went down at one point when some ice caught me by surprise. 7.5 miles in 6 minutes.
For the week, 60 miles in 7 workouts including a fast finish run, a track workout, and a somewhat hard long run. A great week of training.
Over the holidays I travel out to Seattle to visit the in-laws. I am going to make every effort to get all my runs in out there. I’ve heard that they got hit with a foot of snow and I’m hoping a lot of that will melt before we get there.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
The track near my house is not lit so I thought a workout there was going to be difficult. Last night I decided to swing by the track and see what was doing, if it didn’t look good I’d continue on for a hill workout. Luckily the street and school lights provide just enough illumination so you can see what your doing. Only the back corner was a little sketchy but after a couple times around it was fine.
I took the long way there so my warm-up was nearly 4 miles. I felt light and bouncy and was excited to get to work. My track workouts are sporadic at best so I‘m always a little out of sorts, unsure of pacing and what workout to do. For no reason at all I decided to do a pyramid type workout starting at 400m building to 1600m and then coming back down with 400 recoveries between each interval. Instead of aiming for a goal pace I decided to just do what felt natural.
400 – 1:32 slooow, maybe I hadn’t realized I was on the track or something. I chalked it up as a warm-up lap.
800-2:53 that was in the range that I expected. I was pushing but not to hard.
1200 – 4:22. Right on track, I was in the groove and the 400 recovery after this interval felt just right.
1600- 5:47 Faster than expected and I felt like I had held back slightly in the last two laps. My recovery lap was slow at 2:18 but not horribly slow and surprisingly I wasn’t dreading the way back down.
1200-4:18 Faster than the first.
800-2:50 keeping up the trend.
400-1:17- I let it loose on the final lap, close to all out.
Thinking back I’d say this was the best track workout I’ve had to date. It might not necessarily be the fastest but I beat my expectations and I felt strong the whole way through. The interval portions totaled 6400m so that definitely makes it the largest volume I’ve done in one workout and it didn’t feel that way. I’m definitely going to stick to this workout my next time out.
I felt energized on the 1.5 miles back to my house. 11.7 miles in 1:24
This morning was a very easy loop around CH. The sky was clear and I caught the beginning of a beautiful sunrise. Cold, damp and misty, I felt like I was in the northwest. Ryan Adams was the perfect musical backdrop for the run. 6 miles in 50 minutes.
I took the long way there so my warm-up was nearly 4 miles. I felt light and bouncy and was excited to get to work. My track workouts are sporadic at best so I‘m always a little out of sorts, unsure of pacing and what workout to do. For no reason at all I decided to do a pyramid type workout starting at 400m building to 1600m and then coming back down with 400 recoveries between each interval. Instead of aiming for a goal pace I decided to just do what felt natural.
400 – 1:32 slooow, maybe I hadn’t realized I was on the track or something. I chalked it up as a warm-up lap.
800-2:53 that was in the range that I expected. I was pushing but not to hard.
1200 – 4:22. Right on track, I was in the groove and the 400 recovery after this interval felt just right.
1600- 5:47 Faster than expected and I felt like I had held back slightly in the last two laps. My recovery lap was slow at 2:18 but not horribly slow and surprisingly I wasn’t dreading the way back down.
1200-4:18 Faster than the first.
800-2:50 keeping up the trend.
400-1:17- I let it loose on the final lap, close to all out.
Thinking back I’d say this was the best track workout I’ve had to date. It might not necessarily be the fastest but I beat my expectations and I felt strong the whole way through. The interval portions totaled 6400m so that definitely makes it the largest volume I’ve done in one workout and it didn’t feel that way. I’m definitely going to stick to this workout my next time out.
I felt energized on the 1.5 miles back to my house. 11.7 miles in 1:24
This morning was a very easy loop around CH. The sky was clear and I caught the beginning of a beautiful sunrise. Cold, damp and misty, I felt like I was in the northwest. Ryan Adams was the perfect musical backdrop for the run. 6 miles in 50 minutes.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
I wrapped last week with a 14 miler on Friday night, and two easy 5 milers on Saturday and Sunday.
I was dreading the longish run Friday night and the first half lived up to my dread. My left headphone finally bit the dust about 8 minutes into the run and at the very beginning of my favorite solo on the Kind of Blue Album. For the remainder of the run John Coltrane sounded like he was playing in the far corner of gymnasium.
I didn't feel like I had any kind of rhythm and decided that I better shoot for a long out and back because any loop run would tempt me to cut it short. I decided to run to my old house and back. At least 12-13 miles and then I could add one or two on. An hour into the run everything started to click and the pace began to drop until I was in marathon pace range. I kept this going for the last 4-5 miles and felt great. 14 miles in 1:40.
Saturday an easy, early 5 miles with Boomer in the Park, 40 minutes. Sunday an easy late run by myself around CH 5 miles 40 minutes. 45 miles for the week. I was looking for 55 miles but with finals last week and a trip to NYC last weekend I am happy that I could get to 45.
This morning I was out and running only 9 hours after I finished Sunday evening's run. No headphones to distract me, I had my thoughts and my running to keep me company. I decided to do a progression run and started off things very easy as I slowly warmed up. At about 3 miles I'd say I was at my normal pace, by 5 miles I was at fast normal, then marathon pace, then tempo pace, and for the last bit I was sub 5K. I left 1/2 mile for cool down. 8.8 miles in 64 minutes.
Things are going well.
I was dreading the longish run Friday night and the first half lived up to my dread. My left headphone finally bit the dust about 8 minutes into the run and at the very beginning of my favorite solo on the Kind of Blue Album. For the remainder of the run John Coltrane sounded like he was playing in the far corner of gymnasium.
I didn't feel like I had any kind of rhythm and decided that I better shoot for a long out and back because any loop run would tempt me to cut it short. I decided to run to my old house and back. At least 12-13 miles and then I could add one or two on. An hour into the run everything started to click and the pace began to drop until I was in marathon pace range. I kept this going for the last 4-5 miles and felt great. 14 miles in 1:40.
Saturday an easy, early 5 miles with Boomer in the Park, 40 minutes. Sunday an easy late run by myself around CH 5 miles 40 minutes. 45 miles for the week. I was looking for 55 miles but with finals last week and a trip to NYC last weekend I am happy that I could get to 45.
This morning I was out and running only 9 hours after I finished Sunday evening's run. No headphones to distract me, I had my thoughts and my running to keep me company. I decided to do a progression run and started off things very easy as I slowly warmed up. At about 3 miles I'd say I was at my normal pace, by 5 miles I was at fast normal, then marathon pace, then tempo pace, and for the last bit I was sub 5K. I left 1/2 mile for cool down. 8.8 miles in 64 minutes.
Things are going well.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Cold drizzle greeted me as I stepped off my porch this morning. Really it wasn't even a drizzle but a cold mist that quickly coated my face and clothes. I tucked my iPhone into my glove and hoped that the heavier stuff would hold off until I could finish the 7.5 miles. I found my mind drifiting to no place in particular this morning as my eyes focused on shine of the streelights off the wet road in front of me. It wasn't until I was nearly finished that I felt warmed up and into the run. 7.5 miles in 58 minutes.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
The cold weather broke yesterday and by the time I got out for a run in the evening it was 50 degrees. Perfect running weather. The last few runs have found me fighting with my headphones trying to get the left ear to work. After tapping, smacking, bending and cursing I have been able to get things working again. These headphones have logged many miles with over the past three years and I am past due for a new pair.
I planned on a tempo run but during the 1.5 mile warm up I wasn't feeling to fast, I knew I was going to be pushing to get through this one. I tried to ease into the speed and after a mile I was feeling decent. That is until I hit the hill that is in the middle of my tempo stretch. It knocked the wind out of my sails and left me hanging on and yelling at myself to get in at least 30 minutes. Luckily a good song came on during the final stretch and was able to keep things going until that ended. The tempo portion was 4.9 miles in 32 minutes. Ugh! 6:30 pace, not very tempo in my book but I'm glad I was able to get it done. That time will get quicker as training progresses.
The total run was 10 miles in 71 minutes. Not the best run I've had lately but it's done.
This morning was even warmer and I took slow loop around Chestnut Hill in the drizzle and into a muted sunrise. 4.2 miles in 33 minutes.
I planned on a tempo run but during the 1.5 mile warm up I wasn't feeling to fast, I knew I was going to be pushing to get through this one. I tried to ease into the speed and after a mile I was feeling decent. That is until I hit the hill that is in the middle of my tempo stretch. It knocked the wind out of my sails and left me hanging on and yelling at myself to get in at least 30 minutes. Luckily a good song came on during the final stretch and was able to keep things going until that ended. The tempo portion was 4.9 miles in 32 minutes. Ugh! 6:30 pace, not very tempo in my book but I'm glad I was able to get it done. That time will get quicker as training progresses.
The total run was 10 miles in 71 minutes. Not the best run I've had lately but it's done.
This morning was even warmer and I took slow loop around Chestnut Hill in the drizzle and into a muted sunrise. 4.2 miles in 33 minutes.
Sunday, December 07, 2008
I just finished a cold night run to wrap up the week. With the wind howling and temps in the mid-20s I feared a frigid run but the wind wasn't as bad as expected and the run went well.
Running has been a great outlet for stress over the past few weeks. While my mind mulls things over it is almost like I can drive the anger, frustration, and pain through my legs and right into the road.
For the week:
54 miles in 6 workouts.
Running has been a great outlet for stress over the past few weeks. While my mind mulls things over it is almost like I can drive the anger, frustration, and pain through my legs and right into the road.
For the week:
54 miles in 6 workouts.
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Two good runs to report:
Friday night after work I headed out for an 8.5 mile loop around CH. Mile goal was to finish in an hour so I had to hustle. Started with an easy 1.5 miles and the surged for about 1 mile, slow again for 1 mile and surged again. I felt great and was having a hard time holding back on the easy portions, just tons of pep in my legs. I ran the final 2.5 at tempo pace and finished in 58 minutes. After almost a year I'm picking up the nooks and crannies of this loop, every bump, hill and house getting burned into my memory. I also know many of the distances between points in the run which allow me to gauge how fast I'm going.
This morning I met Lee at the top of Forbidden Drive for a long loop on a cold but calm morning. I ran a very similar loop with Seebo and Deirdre in the opposite direction several weeks back. This run was very similar to that, easy pace and almost relaxing. My legs were fresher than expected and felt like I had finished an 8 mile run rather than 15 miles run when we stopped. 15.6 miles in 2:05.
Friday night after work I headed out for an 8.5 mile loop around CH. Mile goal was to finish in an hour so I had to hustle. Started with an easy 1.5 miles and the surged for about 1 mile, slow again for 1 mile and surged again. I felt great and was having a hard time holding back on the easy portions, just tons of pep in my legs. I ran the final 2.5 at tempo pace and finished in 58 minutes. After almost a year I'm picking up the nooks and crannies of this loop, every bump, hill and house getting burned into my memory. I also know many of the distances between points in the run which allow me to gauge how fast I'm going.
This morning I met Lee at the top of Forbidden Drive for a long loop on a cold but calm morning. I ran a very similar loop with Seebo and Deirdre in the opposite direction several weeks back. This run was very similar to that, easy pace and almost relaxing. My legs were fresher than expected and felt like I had finished an 8 mile run rather than 15 miles run when we stopped. 15.6 miles in 2:05.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
The Thanksgiving weekend and a busy work/school schedule has me way behind on blogging. Luckily it didn't interfere with my running.
I travelled to Nashville for Thanksgiving weekend and got in some great runs while I was down there.
A long run on Saturday that had me looping streets together and trying not to get lost. Luckily I found a road that went on for several miles and I stayed on that for an out and back that included several detours into sub-divisions to get the miles up. Mostly rolling hills and an easy pace. Towards the end I pushed it to tempo pace for some short bursts and also took advantage of some hill by charging up them on tired legs. It all made for a good workout. 15.8 miles in 1:59
That run was followed by and easy 8 on Sunday and an easy 5 on Monday. My legs were dead so I was content to plod along in the 8:00 pace range.
For the week I overshot my goal and ran 56 miles. For the month of November I got in 196 miles. The longest of the year, that is until we get through December I hope.
Tuesday was a DNR due to work, school, and sick wife that needed a little TLC in the evening.
This morning I got up extra early to squeeze in 10 miles. After a 1.5 mile warmup I pushed the pace to what I thought the marathon would be. This was all done by feel so I have no idea if I was accurate but it felt right. Maybe in the 6:45-6:50 range. I took the long loop around Chesnut Hill, this only gets me 8.5 so I had to tack on some extra miles at the end by runing up and down a few blocks. 10.3 miles in 1:14.
I travelled to Nashville for Thanksgiving weekend and got in some great runs while I was down there.
A long run on Saturday that had me looping streets together and trying not to get lost. Luckily I found a road that went on for several miles and I stayed on that for an out and back that included several detours into sub-divisions to get the miles up. Mostly rolling hills and an easy pace. Towards the end I pushed it to tempo pace for some short bursts and also took advantage of some hill by charging up them on tired legs. It all made for a good workout. 15.8 miles in 1:59
That run was followed by and easy 8 on Sunday and an easy 5 on Monday. My legs were dead so I was content to plod along in the 8:00 pace range.
For the week I overshot my goal and ran 56 miles. For the month of November I got in 196 miles. The longest of the year, that is until we get through December I hope.
Tuesday was a DNR due to work, school, and sick wife that needed a little TLC in the evening.
This morning I got up extra early to squeeze in 10 miles. After a 1.5 mile warmup I pushed the pace to what I thought the marathon would be. This was all done by feel so I have no idea if I was accurate but it felt right. Maybe in the 6:45-6:50 range. I took the long loop around Chesnut Hill, this only gets me 8.5 so I had to tack on some extra miles at the end by runing up and down a few blocks. 10.3 miles in 1:14.
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