2/23/10 - Easy 6.85 Miles

6.85 Miles
46:43
6:49 avg
7:35, 7:01, 6:54, 6:35, 6:38, 6:37

Home to the park for a loop and back, both ways down Blossom, which shortens the run a bit. Being so cold out, and not feeling good at all, I contemplated the treadmill, but Lord knows I hate that thing, so I did what my body and mind needed... a head clearing run in the elements. It snowed some along the way, ran into a good breeze in the freezing conditions, but still it was completely bearable and felt pretty good on the 2nd half of the run. Ran into a couple of fellow Kenyan Way-ers on the way back that live in my 'hood, so all in all, a good run.

2/22/10 Hill Workout - 11.3 Miles

Lunch time Run
3.87 Miles
31:03
8:01 avg
8:33, 7:57, 7:39

PM - Hill Workout
5xmile repeats on cloverleaf, progressive
Actual
5:18, 5:12, 5:16, 5:07
1.77 Mile Warmup
1.23 mile cool down

Unexpected lunch run, but was joined by a running partner for a mid-day run which turned out to be great for getting a few extra miles in.

For the workout, I didn't expect much from myself today, as I'm ramping back into training mode. After the first 2 mile repeats, during the rest, I told Sean that I would only do 4 miles, not 5, as I was flying through the first 2. He recommended I scale it back a little to 5:20 for # 3 so that I'd have something for #4. So, I did, with a pretty good result. I'm a little disappointed in the 4th one, as I really felt like I attacked it from the start, but could feel my body giving way in the 2nd half of the run. I was moving at 4:35 pace for the final quarter of that run, helped probably cause you finish off a downhill and then it's flat to the end of the mile. Either way, I was hoping for a sub-5 for the last one. I have yet to post a sub-5 on this workout, but I sure hope to by the end of the Spring series. We'll see.

2/17/10 Easy 5.5 miles

5.5 Miles
6:40 avg pace

Looped the bayou for the first time in a while. I think I used to consider the bayou sort of a 2nd home for me, and to some degree I still do. It was a welcome run...more was planned, but circumstances outside my control shortened my time (ok...they were sort of in my control, but whatever :P), so the run was shortened. But, it felt like the miles were quality and the run was good.

2/16/10 Easy 8 Miles

8.15 Miles
6:50 avg pace
Garmin data at home...will update later.

Nice run down to the park for a loop and back. I felt like I was moving well, until the last 2 miles of the run. Seemed that some Achilles/calf tightness seemed to catch up to me at this point. Worse though was some stomach issues late in the run. Probably just from a late lunch. Nothing that couldn't wait till I got home, but it did slow me some at the end of the run.

2/15/10 Kenyan Way Hill Workout

7 Miles
45:13
Workout - 5x1000m on Cloverleaf
3:23, 3:18, 3:23, 3:23, 3:22
2.1 Miles warmup
1.72 Miles cool down

First workout with actual consistent "hard" efforts since the marathon. Felt good, although it was quite evident that it had been a month since a hard effort at all. There was one run that I had hammered out a 5:15 mile to close out the run, but up to this workout, no consistency. There have been lots of things going on that took priority over training over the last few weeks, but it's been OK. The best part is that I feel like my legs are in a recovered state. Yeah, it felt harder than it should have. Yeah, it was rough, but none of the things that felt like they were bothering me before (hamstring, Achilles) ever made their presences known. Good stuff.

Did my warmup partially with Geoff. Was good, as it was the first time I'd seen and talked with him since inside the GRB @ the marathon. He's training for Boston to run with his dad.

That's it for today. Off to work.

2/4 - No Run

No running today. Just a regular work day, hanging out with my daughter, and back home. Will resume tomorrow.

2/3 Easy 5.25 Miles

5.25-ish Miles
39:00
No Garmin, so no splits.

I really didn't want to run in the cold and rain, but all the treadmills were spoken for in my gym. So I got on the floor with a towel and did some core and upper body work, then decided to head out for 30+ minutes.

Went down Memorial to Crestwood, Crestwood to the park, along the path back to Memorial, and back home. I know it's 2 miles from my apartment gate to the water fountain at Crestwood. It was 15 minutes going and coming, and 9 minutes to go from the water fountain, essentially around that wooded area and back to the fountain. Funny how all the splits came out exactly... 15:00, 9:00, 15:00. Good stuff.

No fatigue at all. Just took it easy. I know my body and mind are not quite in the mindset yet for workouts, but I'm getting there. I run these days with a new, big goal in mind. It's far off, and I know that the Spring training will play one of the biggest roles in its achievement, but for now, I'm working my mind up to it at the same rate I'm working my body. We're getting there... just not yet.

2/2 Easy 8.16 Miles

8.16 Miles
7:09 avg pace
7:26, 7:20, 7:16, 6:59, 6:58, 6:54, 7:04, 7:12

Home to the park for a loop and back. Felt better at the start of this run than at the end. My breathing seemed to never change, but my legs, specifically my calves and ankles seemed to fatigue more so than anything else. No concerns though. As soon as I felt any fatigue, I let up on the pace and slowed. Now is definitely not the time to push through stuff like that.

2/1 - Easy 10.05 Miles

10.05 Miles
4.60 AM Miles @ 36:00 (7:51 avg)
5.45 PM Miles @ 40:00 (7:24 avg)

After a couple of weeks of running every other day and some days off for recovery and other priorities, I hit the road for some good feeling, easy miles. In the morning it was up and down Heights Blvd. In the afternoon, I looped the bayou. The goal at this point is getting/building mileage at a way easy pace. I'll work my way back into workouts next week, albeit moderate workouts. The following week, I'll be ready to get more intense.

I'm definitely taking a total body approach to the Spring, as the goal is strength and speed. The only way to bring down the 26.2 time is to bring down the 3.1, 6.2 and 13.1 times. Looking forward to my next two races...the Rodeo Run and Bayou City Classic.