Quest For Boston

Ran 11 with Dave and Gary. Total time was 1:27:26 with a couple of water stops thrown in.  Average time was 7:58 including stops.  Worked out to 7:45's without stops.  Fastest mile was 7:05 on mile 9.

total time of 39:08 for an average of  7:54

Total time was 46:40 for an average of 7:53 per mile. Felt good.

1.25 mile warm up followed by 5k time trial in 20:45. First time under 21 minutews for 5k time t4ial since coming back from injury. Followed up with a 1 mile cool down.

First mile felt realy good at 6:11. Followed that up with a 6:26; which I worked hard for.  So used to falling asleep in that 2nd mile. By the 3rd mile my legs just weren't underneath me anymore. Tried to think lift and drive but couldn't get them to respond. Finished with a 7:08. Still happy with the sub 21 and the second mile was a good improvement.

7.7 miles this morning.  Managed to get off the roads for most of this run which is nice on the old knees.  I realy need to up my mileage. Looking back at my log for the past 6 month's I only had 4 weeks with more than 20+ miles.  I realize a lot of that has been because of the hip injury but I'm feeling better so it's time to get consistent. I know I'll be needing some speed work to improve my times but am so afraid of injury again. I hated not running at all for a month.

Tried to get out before the rain started but at about a mile the sky's opened up. Soaked to the bone by mile three. All the extra weight and puddle splashing was kind of fun.  Sadly; a little bit of leg and nipple rash by the end. Felt pretty good otherwise. Total time 1:11:35 for an average of 8:08 miles. Pretty consistent, fastest mile was 7:45 and slowest was 8:18.

Legs felt heavy for the firs3 miles before they started to turn over.

Garbage miles today. Just needed to get out there and get the blood flowing. time was 29:54 for 8:12s.

Falmouth in the Fall tommorrow. Missed out on the summer race with injuries so I'm hoping for some redemption.  Legs felt pretty fresh for my miles this week.  It's the most miles I've run since June.  My mind really wants to crank out some big weeks but I'm trying to be smart and stay healthy.  Not always my strongest trait.  Race report tommorrow.

3.8 miles   30:26   8:03's

I ran the Falmouth Road Race last summer and somehow was seeded way back in the pack around 6000.  I spent the whole race bobbing and weaving through heavy traffic. Not my best time but it was kind of fun to spend a whole race passing people.  Sadly; injuries prevented me from running this year so I didn't get to take advantage of a start up near the front.

    Falmouth in the Fall is billed as "Same great race- Better people."  It's actualy quite nice.  The weather is always cooler than August and a lot less congestion with a cap of 500 people compared to 10,000. The other nice thing about the race is I get off the ferry from the island and the race is about 300 yards from the dock.

     Race conditions were pretty good. A little cool with starting temp around 45 degrees. The wind was in our faces for the most part- as this is a point to point race along the shore overlooking Vineyard Sound. Usually the wind is from the opposite direction and pushes you to a faster time.  It would have been nice to have a little aid but with my conditioning, or lack there of, I wasn't too worried about my time.

     I found myself up near the front of the pack for the start with a lot of fast looking people. Everybody seems to look fast to me befor a race.  I tried to throttle back the adrenaline through the first mile so as not to crash and burn.  My lack of high milage had me concerned with a race of this distance.  Came through right at 6:39; acording to my Garmin. Mile 2 has you running up the biggest hill on the course. The road winds around and climbs to a lighthouse with a beautiful overlook of the Sound.  I've run this road a couple of times and it's one of the most scenic spots I've ever run on. Of course when I'm racing I don't realy have much of a chance to enjoy the view. I just tried to stay relaxed and hold my concentration.  Mile 2 was 6:33.  I'm going a little quicker than I wanted at this point but felt pretty comfortable so decided to go with the flow.  Mile three was a consistent 6:38 running right into the wind. The rest of the race is pretty much the same conditions, flat and exposed until the final mile. Mile 4 found me falling asleep a little, as I ran a 7:00 flat. To make up for it I decided that I would try to overtake the runner in front of me who had 100 yards on me.  through in a 6:10 5th mile and realed in 2 people.  It was here that I started to struggle.  I probably shouldn't have run quite so fast that last mile and now I was struggling. According to the Garmin I ran a 6: 35 but it sure felt slower. Now I'm just trying to hold form. I know there's only a mile to go so I work on lift and drive.  My wife said I looked strong and relaxed as I came down the home stretch but I was definetly not feeling that way.  As I saw the clock I broke into a final sprint to get under 47:30.  That ended up being my final time.

     This was my first race of more than 5k since my half-marathon in March. I was hoping to come close to my best on this course; 48:13, and was pleasantly surprised to beat that by 45 seconds or so.  I know that I have a lot of room for improvement so there's motivation.

Legs were very heavy today and took forever to loosen up. It seems pretty obvious that I need to build my base back up for recovey purposes if nothing else. Considered not running at all today but figured I could use the easy run to get some good blood flow going in the legs.

Went out this morning and did 10.5 in a little less than 1.5 hours. Started out in cool weather, 38 degrees and finished around 55. I was totaly not dressed appropriately by the end of the run. Run felt good though. Ran an additional 3.75 in the P.M.

I ran 3.7 miles off road today.  Legs were extremely tired. Should have taken an off day. I've got to be a little smarter about building my milage back up. Last thing I want tot do is get injured again.

Managed to getin 5 with a buddy before the sun went down.  Rained all day but managed to sneak it in between rain drops in the p.m.  Felt pretty good.  Legs were back underneath me after dragging yesterday.

Felt pretty good today.  Figured I'd do 5 and ended up adding a couple.  All running on back trails with soft leave covering.  Made for a slower run, with footing,  but felt soo good on the knees.

Recovery miles today.  Cut back week starts tommorrow after 2 weeks of building up.  I'm very happy with my running the last couple weeks.

7:45 minute miles with Dave this morning. Felt a little fast but after all the miles last week, not a surprise.

Off day today.  Ten days of running in a row; I deserve a day off. Back at it tommorrow.

6 miles at 7:20 tempo run this morning.   Legs felt good.  I definetly needed the off day yesterday.

First night run of the season. Felt awkward running with the head lamp.legs felt good though.

Ten miles on some realy nice trails that I discovered. Felt great;didn't want to stop running. Perfect running weather. 38 to start 50 to finish.

Patriots game didn't end until midnight and then I was too worked up to get to sleep for an hour or so.  Tired this morning but luckily it was a recovery day.

Long run with Dave.  Averaged 7:54's on a very hilly course. Felt realy good.  A nice start to the week as I try to put in 50+ .

Recovery miles on soft trails this morning. Saw a couple of deer while out there today.  I came around a bend in the trail in some low scrub brush and this doe jumped straight up into the air.  I jumped back but she was definetly more startled than I was. She ran a couple hundred yards down the trail and stopped and turned.  As I neared her again, she continued down the trail; stopping and starting, waiting to see if was still following.  After about a quarter mile of this, she finaly left the trail and climbed half way up a hill and stared back at me as I passed by.  It was a pretty cool experience. It's been awesome getting off the roads and into the woods.

Long warm up followed by three 1 mile repeats at 6:23, 6:28 and 6:27. Mile cool down.  Felt realy good.I really didn't feel that I had any speed in my legs with all the milage I've been doing of late.  Guess I'm not as slow as I thought.

Recovery miles today. The last three I didn't I didn't even realize I was running.  I had one of those moments where you wonder how you got to where you are.  Made the run seem faster but those 3 miles weren't exactly my best- slow.

Good sleep the past two nights. Felt good today during my 9 miler except for my left foot going numb for a couple of miles in the middle of the run. Finally stopped and stretched out the leg and it felt better for the last two.

     Added a second run this evening when Pat stopped by to see if  I wanted to run a quick 4. I still felt like running so I went.

Work this morning early followed by some volunteer work made for a late run in the cold- 28.  Tired legs, which is to be expected for the end of a 50 mile week- fist time ever.  Excited about the P.R. for weekily distance but need to recover this week because I have 2 local 5 ks; Thursday and Saturday.  We'll see how I feel tommorow.

Long run with Dave today.  Averaged 8:00 minute miles but it felt faster. Cool and windy.  Last  5 miles were at 7:45's.

Cold and rainy this morning.  I decided I'd have to use the treadmill in the basement; which is one of my most dreaded things to do; but that's what I bought it for.  I did a mile warm up and decided to use my indoor time to do some hills.  I proceeded with the following workout.

All miles done at 8:00 mm

1 mile warm up

1 mile at 2.5% incline

1 mile at 5% incline

2 miles at 7.5% incline

1 mile at 5% incline

1 mile at 2.5% incline

1/2 mile warm down

Even though the basement is fairly cool I was sweating like a pig. I really wanted to cut the run short but kept telling myself- "Just 5 more minutes"  It's amazing how you can fool yourself even when you know you're doing it.

No running today as I had to take the boat off island for a day of  shopping.  One disadvantage of living on an island. It becomes an all day affair.

Not a lot of sleep last night as I had to get up early to prep and put the turkey in the oven. Still felt pretty good though.  This is a small race so my second place finish wasn't too surprising.  The race went off at 8:30 am with temps around 38 degrees. I tried realy hard not to go out too fast and I probably ended up  going out to slow. A 6:25 first mile was definetly slower than I had wanted.  The good news was that all my miles were negative splits.

6:25  6:03  5:58  I averaged  about 6:07's for the whole race.  I was happy with my time as historicaly this race is slow- everyone felt it was a bit long. Personaly I thought it was fine.  With the milage I've been putting in lately I didn't expect too much. Plus with another race on Saturday, it's nice to have somewhere to improve to.

A nice little recovery run today.  The calfs were realy tight but loosened up nicely by mile 2.  Other than that I feltgood for a day after.  Just tired legs. Another race tommorrow and then I have nothing scheduled.

This is probably my favorite race out here on the Island.  It follows the high school x-country course and reminds me of the "old" days of my youth.  If only I could run as fast today.  It's a fairly flat cousre but very sandy.  You're forced to go side to side along the course to avoid the deep stuff so your time is definetly affected.  After Thursdays run my legs were definetly a little slow.  I thought that I was running the first mile a bit quicker than the last race but found myself coming through in exactly the same time, 6:25.  That's when I knew I was in trouble.  I tried picking up the pace but there was no second gear. I did work hard for the rest of the race but couldn't make headway on anyone in frontof me.  I did manage to hold on to my place however, so that was a moral victory. First place for division winners was chocolates from the local chocolatiere, so my wife was happy with my finish also.  Good news is the racing season is over and I can concentrate on building up a good base for a spring marathon, if I can stay healthy.

Long slow miles in the cold-38 and rain this morning  with Dave.  Realy didn't want to go out after looking out the window but figured I wouldn't let Dave down.  It's good to have someone to help keep me honest. Struggled the first couple of miles but eventualy warmed up and felt a lot better for the last 8.   Looking forwards to a day off tommorrow.

Today was supposed to be an off  day but I was thinking about getting out and running before my feet even hit the floor this morning. When Pat stopped by with an offer to go out with himself and Dave I jumped.  Even though it was just some slow recovery miles, it was a great time.

4.88 miles in 42 minutes

I've got a cut on the heal of right foot.  It runs up the side of the heal and is very uncomfortable when I run right now.  It doesn't hurt enough to keep me from running but I'm very aware of it. I'll have to keep an eye on it.

Tempo run for 10k this evening.  1.4  mile warm up followed by a mile cool down.  Ran the 10k at 7:15's. It felt realy good.  10K- 45 minutes

I don't know if my legs and body were tired from a hard workout yesterday or from a lack of sleep.  Either way, not my best day.  I managed to get through a slow run but thats about all I can say about it.  I may take tommorrow off.

Day off today. After struggling through yesterdays run, I woke up with no desire to get out there.  It's been a while since I've actualy wanted a day off.  Usually I need a day off but still want to run.  A full 8 hours sleep and I could have used a nap.  Ended up digging a trench for 6 hours instead.  Lovely.  Snow coming in on Sunday.  Perfect for a long run.

I felt a lot better today after taking yesterday off.  Weather was 27 degrees with very little wind after 20+ winds on Thursday.

Long run with Dave this morning. Weather was much better than expected.  A slight drizzle and 36 degrees with very little breeze made for almost ideal conditions.

Eight degrees out this morning so I jumped on the treadmill.  I did 4 miles that felt like 10. Warmer temps tommorrow.

A lot of sleep last night.  I can't remember the last time I've had so many days with 7 plus hours.  It must be all this good living- and miles. Legs felt beat up after todays run.  I need to get off the roads and back on the trails for a couple of days.

Ran 6 at 7:30 pace to try and make up for no running the past 2 days.  I know I can't make up for them but I fel better about it anyways.  Torential rains yesterday should have forced me to the basement and the treadmill but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  Tried out a new shoe today. Reebok ultra 3. Not sure how I feel about it.  Toe box is a lot more roomy than my asics.  We'll see as we go along.  Knees felt a little balky today.  Not sure if it's running with no glasses or just all the rain and moisture in the air.

Long day tommorrow so an easy run today.

Long run with Dave and Patrick this morning.  The last 2 miles were a real struggle. Probably exactly what I need to stretch myself out safely.  I just focused on maintaining form.   Glad to ge tthe runin in it's entirety.

Knees felt like glass this morning.  Took it real easy out in the woods on pine needle trail. I felt I needed to get out and do something to get some blood flow through the legs.  Felt better afterwards.

A little behind schedule this morning so turned it into a tempo run.  Wanted to do 7:30's without checking the Garmin.

7:32, 7:37; 7:34; 7:32; 7:00 and the last 3/4 at 6:50 which I knew was faster than 7:30. I just didn't know it was that fast.  It felt realy good after yesterdays run so I'm very happy. Plus the consistency without looking at the watch was a good thing to see. Off to work I go.

P.S.  The new shoes felt a lot better today.

Did a nice easy run around the golf course this afternoon. Legs were a little heavy but I still had a good time with it. Threw in some fartlek to spice things up a bit.

Did a mile repeat workout today. It was kind of a ladder workout starting slow and picking it up  with each successive repeat.

1st- 7:00

2nd- 6:39

3rd-6:30

4th- 6:00

Whole workout was done off-road so it felt good on the old knees. Very happy with the run today.

I was planning on a real easy day but by the time I got out the snow and wind had started.  As I went down Beach Road. the snow was coming sideways at 25 mph. After a couple exposed miles; the left side of my face was freezing and snow blasted. It definetly put some giddyup in my stride.  Ended up averaging 7:30's.

Nasty weather continues here in the Northeast.Wet and windy this morning, combined with snow yesterday, made for slushy conditions so I went to the basement and the dreadmill. I cranked up some old Bruce Springsteen and went to it.  Boring as heck but managed to get 70 minutes in. Off to watch my beloved Patriots do battle now.

EAsy 3 today. Temp was 20 with a breeze. I am not ready for these temps.

I woke up on the 25th and my left heel was killing me. It hurt every time I put wieght on it and I had to go shopping that day. It finally felt better this morning so I went out for a test run. Happily it seems fine today. I'm wondering what caused it. Between new boots this past week and new shoes I'm not sure. I'll start with the assumption it's the boots and go from there.

After having foot issues for most of the week I cut my long run way back today.  To make up for it I increased the intensity some.  All miles at 7:37 with 3 tempo miles at 7:10.  Foot felt fine.

Easy recovery day today. A little soar after yesterday's run but I loosened up after the first mile and felt fine.  My left hip was a little achy last night when I went to bed but felt good this morning and during my run.

I felt tired out there today. The first mile was a real struggle. I seriously thought about turning around and cutting my run short. I decided to stick with it and felt a lot better by 3 miles. I seem to have a pretty serious case of tennis elbow for some reason and it stiffens up quite a bit during my runs.  It's pretty painful when I have to bend it afterwards

When I went out the door i saw a couple of snow flakes falling.  By the time I got home the ground was covered and the roads were slick.  We're looking at 6-9 inches today so I'm glad I got the run in early. I was a little concerned about my foot when I left the house but it was fine by a mile in. Maybe I'm getting a little paranoid about injuries. Happy New Years Eve to everybody.