Long Run and Easy Run and Monthly Recap

Sunday was a good run. I start my actual training plan next Sunday with a 20 miler, so the goal for this Sunday was to run somewhere between my usual 15 miles and 20 miles. I ended up running 18 miles at just under 8:00 pace. I felt good after this run, with the exception of my feet, which were pretty sore. I followed up Monday's run with ten easy miles on Monday. I'm not sure what I'll do for the rest of the week. I'll probably run an easy 7.5 miles tomorrow, and then either a 10 miler or 12 miles on a double on Wednesday. But really the main goal for this week is to get to next Sunday motivated and well-rested.

July was a good month for me. I didn't reach 300 miles, but I came fairly close. Here are my stats for the month:

292.5 total miles
27 running days, including 3 doubles
4 non-running days
Averaged 9.75 miles per run

I'm pleased with these totals and feel ready to start race-specific training next week. I'm not sure what my totals will be for August. The training plan I've created has some high mileage weeks and some weeks where the mileage is less with the main focus on speed training. Although really it doesn't matter. The success for August, September and October will not be measured in miles, but rather on my 29 October half marathon finishing time.

At Least I Ran

Today was one of those days when I simply did not want to run. I didn't run in the morning, which I'll get to later. I was ready to head out for an easy run at 3:00, but then I ended up having to stay home for various reasons mostly having to do with miscommunications between my daughter, my wife and me. Anyway, by the time we were all on the same page, I simply had lost my desire to run. It was early evening, and I was ready to shut it down for the night. The good news is that after trying to talk myself out of running for 10-15 minutes, I finally got dressed and headed out the door. I didn't really have a plan other than I wanted to run at least 4 miles and get to 60 miles for the week. If I felt better after I started running, I could always go farther. Today was just one of those days where the body wants to rest. I felt okay, but never really had much energy, so I ran my four miles, and called it quits. This was my shortest run in a while, but I'm fine with it since tomorrow's schedule contains a long run and some more time on my feet at the local Wine and Art Festival.

I must have a mental block or something. I mentioned in my last post that I wanted to run in the morning today (Saturday). However, on Friday I did the same thing that I do on many workday afternoons. I came home, changed out of my uniform, sat down for what I thought would be a few minutes, and fell asleep. The sad thing is that everytime it happens, I wake up surprised that I fell asleep. I usually only sleep for 10-15 minutes, but it's enough to keep me awake long into the night. Last night I was awake well past midnight. As a result, I didn't wake up until after 9:00 this morning. I ate breakfast, giving up any thought of a morning run. I've done a better job of staying awake today. Maybe tomorrow I'll get in that a.m. run. Stranger things have happened.

My New Co-Worker

On Thursday I ran a total of 12 miles over two runs (6.5 at lunch and 5.5 after work). Both runs were run at an easy pace with the primary goal to just get in the miles. I know that I would have been better off running one long run rather than two shorter runs, but I didn’t have the time at lunch, and was pretty tired and ready to run short and slow after work. I’m currently at 45 miles for the week, and will finish the week in the 60s, which is a good total for me.

Tonight I’m just going to run by feel. I’ll run between 7.5 and 10 miles at whatever my natural pace is for today. My main goal is to not wear myself out for the weekend. I don’t have plans for a long or a tough run on Saturday, but I would like to get out for a run early in the day. I have a habit of putting my runs off until evening, which clearly puts a hold on any family activities. When I do run in the morning, I'm usually not getting started until 10:00, but this weekend I’ll try to do better. Sunday will be my long run. I’ll go beyond 15 miles for the first time in awhile. I’ve said I was going to do this in the past, but with my first 20 miler on the schedule a week from Sunday, I think it’s time to step it up a bit.

My daughter started working as a volunteer here at work. She'll helping out in the daycare center. She’s only been there a couple of days, but she likes it so far. It’s so nice to see her take an interest in something productive. It’s such a pleasant change from the gloomy teenager that I so often see around the house either talking on the phone or hacking away at the computer keyboard.

Encouraging Fun Run

Today I ran the monthly fun run at work. The course is twice around Coast Guard Island and then once down the main road to the gazebo/picnic area. The total distance is three miles. I ran the course today in 18:33, which is a 6:11 pace. I finished first, as always. The next fastest regular participant showed up today, so I only won by a couple of minutes. While the competition isn’t challenging, these runs do give me a monthly opportunity to test myself. If this had been a 5K, I would have been pretty close to my PR (19:13). The path around CG Island is approximately 60% dirt, and the dirt section is uneven and is not the best running surface. I believe that if I had run a 5K on the roads today, I could have finally made a serious run at going under 19 minutes.

When I was transferring my half marathon training plan from paper to the computer, the speedwork was looking pretty daunting considering that I haven’t been running fast for the past few months (other than during the fun runs). After running today’s fun run so well, I’m feeling better about starting the training program. While I clearly have some work ahead of me, I think I’m in pretty good shape as I enter the program. I’m not normally the optimistic type, but I think I have some good fall racing ahead of me this year.

I was working on my application for the Navy Marathon team today, and one fact is pretty clear – I don’t race enough. This year, I’ve raced once (the Napa Valley Marathon). Since moving back to California last July, I’ve raced only twice. My race times aren’t bad, but there certainly aren’t very many of them. A few weeks ago I mentioned low-key races hosted by a local running club. I’m going to make it a point to participate in these races in August and in September, probably running a 5K one month and a 10K the other month.

Since the fun run, including warm-up, is under five miles, I ran again after work. The plan was to run a bit over ten miles and log 15 miles total for the day. However, my body had other ideas. I felt pretty good for the first couple of miles, but then I suddenly had nothing left. I decided to just circle around to get up to ten total miles for the day and get ready for more miles tomorrow.

Finally Another 80 Mile Week

I finished this week with 81 miles. The week broke down as follows:

Sunday - 15
Monday - 10.5
Tuesday - 10.5
Wednesday - 7 & 5.5
Thursday - 11
Friday - 9
Saturday - 7 & 5.5

This was probably the easiest of my few 80-mile weeks. Mainly because I ran nine times (instead of 7 or 8 as I have in the past), and I ran the easy runs slower. That's unusually good discipline for me. I could certainly feel the recovery as I ran with much more energy on the days after the recovery days. This discipline will be important to maintain when I begin harder workouts next month.

Anyway, more of the same next week. I may not reach 80 because we have our monthly fun run at work is next week, and I'd like to do well. This probably means a short, easy day on Tuesday.

Good Week

I haven't followed the mileage I had planned for Thursday and Friday, but I had two pretty good days. On Wednesday I felt good. I ran 11 miles at a 7:52 average pace. On Friday, I had hoped to run 15 miles, but I ended up only running 9. At work we had a retirement ceremony for our captain, and I spent the first couple of hours of the day moving and setting up tables and chairs. After that I spent a bit over an hour standing in the hot sun while wearing a dark blue full dress uniform. When the ceremony was over, I got to grab a bite to eat, change clothes and then put the tables and chairs back. By this time I was tired and sweaty. I came home, took an ibuprofen for some back soreness, iced my back, took a short nap and started pounding down water. I felt okay this afternoon, but was still a bit tired, so I cut the run from 15 to 9. The plan now is to run a double tomorrow to reach 80 for the week, and then go at least 15 on Sunday.

One thing I finally accomplished this week was to put together a training program for a half marathon at the end of October. My goal is sub-1:25:00. The plan is pretty ambitious with a lot of mile repeats and race pace runs building up to 8 miles. It also includes a few 20-mile runs. It may be a stretch for me reach my goal paces for these workouts, but I do better with something to shoot for. Even if I'm a bit behind the goal pace, I'll still be better off for making the effort and can adjust the plan accordingly if necessary.

I've decided to put in an application for the Navy Marathon Team. It will be a long-shot for me to make the team, but it can't hurt to ask. If I'm selected, I'll get a free trip to run the Marine Corps Marathon. Looking at the past participants, the talent seems to be mostly faster than me, but there are a few runners who are a slower. I'd feel more confident if I had run more races lately. I guess if the fast guys get orders to sea, I'm in. If I do get selected, having the 20 milers and weekly mileage between 60 and 80 will put me in a good position to move up to the marathon.

Easy Running

Yesterday and today were both easy days. Yesterday I ran 10.5 miles. Even though I had planned on running at an easy pace, when I started my legs felt surprisingly fresh. I felt like I was running at a decent pace, however, the first couple of miles were going by close to 20 seconds slower than I would have guessed. The pace picked up a bit as I turned and got the wind at my back, but I gave any advantage back when running home into the wind.

Today, I ran seven miles at lunch and five and a half miles after work. On both of these runs, I didn't have much energy and took awhile to get loose. I ran the first one easy with an average pace of 8:10. This is slower than I usually run on my easy days, but the slow start and running in the heat of the day were the difference. For today's second run, I kept it at a recovery pace. The average for this run was 8:20 miles. I wore a watch, but didn't check it during the run. My main focus was on just running slow.

Hopefully, breaking the runs up and going easy during both runs will have me relatively fresh tomorrow. I hope to round out my week with 10 tomorrow, 15 on Friday and 7.5 on Saturday, which will get me to the 80 mile mark. Our Captain is retiring on Friday, so tomorrow and Friday will be mad-crazy at work, but I don't think I'll have to stay late much (if any), so it shouldn't affect my workouts.

A Good Run

Not much to post today other than the fact that I had a better than expected run this afternoon. After a quick 15 miles yesterday and a hot day here in the Bay Area, I didn't have high hopes for today's run. However, from the first step my legs felt surprisingly fresh. Taking it easy, I averaged just under 8:00 miles on the out portion and approximately 8:10 on the back portion (with the wind versus against the wind). Even though the wind made the run a bit tougher on the way home, it felt better having the wind in my face cooling me off a bit. Tomorrow will be a short, easy run of probably 7.5 miles.

I've said this before, but I'll say it again as a reminder to myself. I need to set up some kind of half marathon training program and get started with workouts designed to do more than just cover X number of miles.

Decent Week

The bad news is that I didn't get my second run in on Saturday and failed to reach 60 miles for the week. I thought I'd be in the 70-mile range, but missing Wednesday and that second run, pushed me back. I've been pretty down on my running lately. It just seems that I haven't been able to get motivated enough to stay consistent. However, during Saturday's run, I was thinking about where I'm at, and it put things in perspective for me. So far this year, I'm averaging 60 miles a week. I've had weeks of over 80 miles. I PR'd a marathon by 24 minutes. Last year, I was running between 40 and 50 miles a week, and I had no interest in going higher. I've taken a lot of steps forward (no pun intended) since moving back to California. This doesn't mean that I don't have to keep working and get more consistent. It's just that I am doing some things right, and I need to give myself credit, not just focus on the negatives. Positive feedback is also important.

Back to the present. I ran 15 miles today at a 7:21 average pace. These mid-7 minute paces (7:20 - 7:40) seem to be easier to maintain than they were only a few weeks ago. I could run at this pace for awhile, but I used to have to push a bit to get there. Now it seems like I just need to keep mindful of the pace, and I'm there. Of course, getting more sleep lately has helped, also. Speaking of which, it's almost 11:00, so it's time for bed.

One last thing. This week at work will be busy. We have a conference for 40-50 people on Tuesday, and a retirement ceremony on Friday. It may mean more hours for me, but I don't think it will affect my running.

I Need to Get Organized

I didn't run 15 today like I had hoped. I ran an errand after work with my wife, which got me out the door late and forced me to cut the run back to 10 miles. I had a good plan. Get off work at 4:00; be at Costco by 4:30; pick up a few things; and be home by 6:00. I easily could have been out the door by 6:30 with enough time to run 15 before dark. Instead, I got busy at work and didn't get out on time. This delay got us out the door late. We got to Costco later than we had hoped, so it was relatively crowded, which made moving through the store slower and checking out much slower. Anyway, I didn't get out the door until 7:10 and got home just as it was getting dark. Even so it was worth it. It seems like during the week, my wife and I get into our own routines and don't spend enough time together. This evening was nice.

I think what I'll do this weekend is to run 15 on two runs on Saturday and 15 on one run on Sunday. Early next week, I'll work out a schedule for half marathon training. Even though I've logged decent mileage since May despite not having a schedule, I'm much more consistent when I have a schedule to work from. Plus, I know I won't be consistent with any type of speed work without planning the workouts in advance.

This weekend should be fun. Tomorrow we're heading to San Francisco to just spend some fun time just walking around and then getting some lunch. It will be interesting to see how walking the hilly streets of San Francisco will affect my afternoon run. Actually, I'll probably feel it more on Sunday. Other than running, Sunday will be the day to get things done around the house.

Okay Week So Far

So far I’ve had a so-so week. I did run 15 miles on Tuesday after playing a losing game of softball at lunch (we lost 19-17, and we had the tying run on base when the game ended – frustrating.) I didn’t run on Wednesday. My sleep pattern had gotten out of whack. I fell into a pattern where I was falling asleep after work and then not going to bed until well after midnight, and then I’d drag ass all the next day. By Wednesday, my legs were sore and tired from the day before, and I was close to sleepwalking by the time I got home from work. I dedicated Wednesday evening to doing things at home and staying awake until bedtime. It seems to have worked because I got a good night sleep on Wednesday and Thursday.

I’m at 41 miles for the week. I got a late start on Thursday, so I didn’t have time to run ten before it got dark, Instead I ran a 7.5 mile loop and pushed the pace a bit; I finished with an average pace of 7:26/mile. I’m planning 15 miles tonight and 10 on Saturday, which will put me in the mid-60s for the week. Again not bad, not good, but about average for me.

Easy Run

Today I ran an easy 7.5 miles, which is one lap around my neighborhood. I was going to run ten miles, but my legs felt pretty tired right from the get-go, so I cut it a bit short. Of course after I warmed up, I felt better and considered running the full ten. However, since I'm planning on running 15 miles tomorrow, I stuck with the easy 7.5 miles. It turned out to be a good decision because my legs started feeling heavy after five miles or so. Anyway, tomorrow I play softball at lunch and then go 15 miles after work.

I'm ninety percent sure that I won't be running a marathon this fall. I just can't justify the expense of traveling and staying overnight. My wife and I have had some unexpected expenses this year (as always). I could make it work, but between a couple of family events and saving for Christmas, it just seems guilty to spend what few extra dollars we have on something that only benefits me. Instead the plan is to run the Grape Stomp Half Marathon on October 29. It's local and fairly inexpensive. I'm also planning on running a local 10K in August, but the half marathon is the goal race for this fall.

Okay Last Week and Okay Start to This Week

Forget my last post. I ended up not running on Friday. I was about to head out the door when my mom called to tell me where they were, which was approximately 20 minutes away. No big deal. I would have plenty of time to sneak out for a run after my wife got home. Of course, it didn't work out that way. I ended up watching a baseball game with my uncle. I was going to take off in the middle of the game to run, but I was enjoying the game and the company, so I stayed home. I live with my wife and my daughter -- two women with no interest in sports; the chance to watch a game with another baseball fan was a treat.

I'm not really concerned about the lost mileage or day off from running. The thing that does bother me, however, is how easily I'm distracted or can convince myself not to run. I need to work on this lack of dedication that jumps up and bites me on a fairly regular basis.

The good news is that I did run six days last week, which was a step up from the previous two weeks. Also, I had good runs on Saturday and Sunday. Both runs were between 10 and 10.5 miles, and both were at 7:40 pace with a comfortable effort. I was planning to run at least 15 miles today, but I had an upset stomach and had to stop three times to use the bathroom, so I just headed home.

I'm planning on running 15 miles at least twice this week and finishing with at least 70 miles, although 80 is more likely.

Just Catching Up

Not much to say. I ran 15 miles on Wednesday, and 7.5 yesterday. My mom and aunt and uncle are coming to visit for a couple of days. They're goinig to a wedding in the area on Saturday. This morning was spent finishing up the house cleaning so that my wife isn't embarrassed at my sloppiness. Frankly, I got off easy. She did 90% of the cleaning yesterday. I did a few things yesterday and then wrapped it up this morning.

The plan is to run 10 miles today and finish the week with an easy run (either 7.5 or 10 miles) so that I'm rested and ready to run long on Sunday. A week from Sunday (7/16), I start race specific training. Since I'm starting in the middle of the plan with only 12 weeks to go, my first run is a 20 miler. It will be beneficial to get in at least one run that's longer than 15 miles before jumping to 20.

I'm outta here now so that hopefully, I'll have time to get in my run before family arrives.

Easy Day

Today I ran five easy miles. I'm hoping to be in the 60 mile range this week. Five today gives me 30 for the first three days of the month, so I'm where I need to be. Tomorrow I'll run either 10 or 15 depending on what time I get started and on how my leg feels.

Tomorrow my daughter is flying out of town to spend the next four and half weeks visiting with her grandparents and attending summer camp. Her flight is in the late afternoon, so I'm not sure when I'll get home from the airport and start running.

My leg feels better today than it did yesterday. There was a little pain early in my run, but it wasn't too bad. I can feel the tightness even after I get loose and the pain goes away, so I'm still running all my runs at an easy pace. Other than keeping the effort easy, I don't see this effecting my mileage total.

Bad and Good News

The bad news is that last night I started feeling some soreness in my upper left quad. I figured it was just from running long after two easy weeks. However, today my leg was not only stiff, but it was painful to walk. I felt the pain each time I moved my left leg forward. It felt like I strained a muscle. I guess pushing the pace in mile 14 after running nothing but easy miles for awhile wasn't the smartest thing to do.

The good news is that I was able to run today without too much pain. The beginning of today's run was ugly, and I almost turned around and headed home after running less than half a mile. Stubbornness and the fact that the pain wasn't getting worse kept me going. After a mile or so, the pain was pretty mild, and eventually I forgot all about it. Tonight my leg isn't sore like it was last night. I can feel a tightness, but it's not painful. Hopefully a few days at an easy pace will get me back to 100%. During today's run I had plans to care for it with alternating ice and heat, but I was running late, so I showered immediately after getting home and then forgot to take care of my leg. I'll try to do better after tomorrow's run.

10.5 miles in 1:26:55.

Decent Start to the Week

I ran 15 miles today. I felt good for most of the run and finished strong including a 6:44 14th mile just to get a taste of stretching out the legs a bit. My legs are pretty tired and a bit tight this evening, but I feel good and am motivated to get in at least ten miles tomorrow. I don't really have a plan or goal for the week, but I know that I'd like to be above 70 miles. I only work one day this week (Monday), so I should have no problem getting in my miles and should get in a couple of doubles. I do have family visiting Friday and Saturday, so it may take a bit of creative scheduling to get out on those days. We'll see.

One negative on today's run was that I had to take a rather long bathroom break just after the halfway point of the run. Of course, that's what I get for sitting around like a slacker living off chocolate and ice cream for the past week.

The teeth/gums/dental work is a non-factor as far as my running goes. I am very sensitive to cold food and drinks, but once I'm out running, I don't even notice the work that's been done.

15 miles
1:56:49
7:42 average pace.

Another Crappy Week

I ran four days this week for a total of 30 miles. However, my legs feel stiff and sore as if I had just logged a personal high for weekly mileage. I don't really know why I feel this way, but it's time to stop slacking and get running. Fortunately, I'm finally digusted enough with my lazing around that I think I'm ready to get serious and run like I did a few weeks ago. I have two weeks to kick off some good running before I either start race specific training for the Bizz Johnson Marathon or decide on another race.