10 miles

Whew, wasn't sure if I would be able to get up at 4:30 this morning, but I did, so I ran... 10 miles. Not bad actually. I actually enjoy the mid-week middle distance lengths. One my way out, encountered very little traffic, but on the way back, needed to announce myself to pedestrians walking to the bus stops along the way (to not scare the bejezzus out of them), plus I had to wait for some cars at intersections. Oh, I ran a different route than what I would normally run -- this one has pedestrians and car traffic, oh, and hills....

I was supposed to run a mile warmup, then 8 miles at marathon pace, and then a mile cooldown. Well, I messed up my Garmin (didn't reset from last run), so I spent a while trying to figure out what lap (mile) I was on, versus what was displaying on the GPS, as well as what distance I was at. At a desk, with proper lighting, I could probably do this, but while running, and not thinking clearly anyway, this was apparently a very hard task. Anyway, I figured out that I was running 10 miles, and that I was doing the proper pace. At the end, I figured that I ran an 8:59 for the run, which wasn't too shabby.

Did I mention that was a brisk this morning? 44 degrees. I was cold at the start, and it took over a mile for my hands to get warm.

Tomorrow night (Yes, another sleepy night-time run), 20 miles. yikes.

Yasoo 800s.. Bring it ON!

Okay, that's a bit of a strong title, but I guess I'm still on a runner's high here... To start with, I overslept this morning (I woke up at the ungodly hour of 5:06 am -- to late to get my run in before work) so I delayed my run until tonight. Around 8:00 pm, I went out, did a 2 mile warmup, did 6 Yasso-800's, and then a 2 mile cooldown. What's a Yasso-800? Well, named after Bart Yasso, it's a type of run that will 1) help get your extended distance speed up; and 2) help determine if you are ready to do a marathon. It's basically a 800 meter (1/2 mile) fast run, at a speed that whose number is equivalent to your target marathon time. That is, if you want to run a 4:10 marathon, you need to run your 800 meter in 4 minutes, 10 seconds (or a 8:20 pace). 6 Yasso-800s means do this 6 times (with a 1/4 mile recovery between each run). Well tonight, I ran my Yasso-800's not a 8:00 pace (which would mean running them in 4:00 minutes), but at a 7:30 pace -- for all 6! Wow, I was impressed with myself, if I do say so myself :) I was very worried about this workout, as it is indeed a tough workout (and I get to to it again in a couple weeks, but this time, do 8 of them).

Now, I did manage to *not* run my 18 mile this past weekend, due to Cub Scout training, in-laws in town, and basic oversleeping, so my legs were fresh. We'll see if I can do my 20 miler this weekend (again, due to Cub Scout training, and other stuff, I get to do my 20-miler on Friday night! yay.....)

Two in a Row

Today was the second of two hard workouts in a row. I don't recommend
it. Since I skipped Tuesday's workout day, I shifted that workout to
Wednesday. Unfortunately, that workout was the Mile Repeats. Today, I
did 9 miles, with 7 of those miles at goal marathon pace. I managed a
9:01 pace for those 7, but I was beat at the end. Tomorrow, I'm
supposed to do 3, with Saturday doing 18. I'd like to skip tomorrow,
but if I do, my Saturday run will suffer. Hmmmm.

Actually, I'm not sure how I'm going to do 18, as I'm in an all day
cub scout training class on Saturday, starting at 8 am. That would
mean, for a 3.5 hour run, I'd have to wake up around 3 am to get the
run in before class. That ain't going to happen. Friday night won't
work either. Maybe Saturday night?

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Sent from my mobile device

Mile Repeats

Today I did Mile Repeats. Today I also learned how to use the advanced training functionality in my Garmin. I did a 2 mile warmup, 3x1 Mile repeats, with a 1/4 mile recovery in between, and then a 2 mile cooldown. Since the total mileage of that workout was 7.75 miles, I also ran the rest of the way home, making my total 8 miles.

The repeats were good. I could have gone faster (I averaged an 8:18 pace on those miles), but I was worried about my knee. However, at the end of the entire run, I felt refreshed. Taken as a whole, my average pace for the 8 miles was around a 9:22, that the pace was considered 'easy'. Again, taken as a whole.

The buckeyeoutddoors site is very slow this morning (it's slow most mornings), so I don't know what's next. However, since I overslept yesterday, I took that as my 'rest day', so I pick up again tomorrow. My long run on Saturday is 18! (yikes). I also need to be at (another) Cub Scout training class at 8:00 am on Saturday, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do....

Short run today

Keeping this short today. I ran 3.3 miles (I think) this morning at an easy pace. Tomorrow's run is a series of mile-repeats. I'm going to keep my speed a little slow for the benefit of my knee. Regarding my knee, I totally forgot about it until around 2 miles -- and even then, my thought wasn't on pain, but on the fact that it didn't hurt and that I wasn't altering my form. All this is good.

I was focused on the temperature. I was a little cold at the start (it was 61 degrees this morning). Pretty soon I'll be forced to wear something other than a t-shirt and shorts. Yikes, cold weather is coming....

Early Run

Got my long run in today. at 5:40 am. on a saturday. I'm tired now. I got 14 miles in (2 down from last week), but felt good the entire way. had a pb&j at 7 miles, and got to run into my neighborhood with the remains of night run still on my head (head lamp). All told, I was very happy with my run. I knew my knee was there, but it didn't cause any pain. I took it easy though, running up the hills at a slower pace, and down the hills at a slower pace, but was able to get a 9:32 average for the whole thing. Next long run: 18 miles (ouch)

Tentatively Cautious

First of all, those of you reading from Facebook can see my whole blog on this site. Last we met, young readers, I was worried about my knee. I took yesterday off, and had a tentative and cautious run today (5 miles, slow pace: 9:29), and although when I asked my knee if it felt anything and it said 'yes', it never interrupted my thoughts by impolitely making itself known. In other words, I knew it was there, but if I hadn't had pain there on Wednesday, I wouldn't have known there was a potential issue.

Anyway, I ran 5 today, and due to run 14 tomorrow. Since my long runs are supposed to be 60-120 seconds slower per mile than my goal pace (which I took advantage of on my last long run), I should be okay. Plus, it's 2 miles shorter than last week, so that's good.