So Much for an Easy Run

It was supposed to be an easy 5-miler, but it didn't really turn out that way. The temperature was cool, almost too cool with the breeze when I started out, but it was great for running. The Garmin says my average pace was 9:21 per mile, and looking at the chart I can see my pace was very erratic. I tried to keep it slow, but it just wasn't going to happen. With exactly one week to go until the race I thought I'd see how an "easy" run would feel at a little faster pace, and it was a very good run.

One week out and the weather forecast is predicting a low of 60 and a high of 80 and mostly cloudy. Boy, they just don't know, do they?

Last Long Run

Feels like this training has been up and down, but maybe that's just all the hills. This morning was awesome for running. The temp was about 60 degrees, and the sun was shining but had that early autumn feel. Plus the intermittent clouds broke it up nicely. I started down Shoal Creek and ended up exploring a little bit. For instance, I didn't realize there was a police academy (not the movie) just 5 miles away from here. On this out-and-back route I went 10 miles and came home to some pancakes and bacon. Not a bad final long run before the race, which is now only nine days away! The long-range forecast now says the low temp will be 64 and will warm up to 88 degrees on the day of the race. I think that's a little warmer than they were advertising a few days ago. Not a good trend.

Smooth Ride

Continuing the car metaphors, today went much better. I told myself when I went out that I was going to have a stronger run, and sure enough. I went 6.4 miles with 2-4-6-4-2 fartleks. The first four- minute interval was actually more like three since I didn't hear my Garmin chime after the first two minutes. The clouds looked like they were threatening rain, but the actual storms had moved off far to the east. The temperature was great and it's expected to stay very nice for the next few days. That helped since in my last interval I tried to keep the pace at sub-6 minutes/mile and was mostly successful. One more long run and then it's tapering time for real.

Flat Tire

Bleah. You'd think I'd learn not to run in hot weather. But I never do, and I tried to do mile repeats today. I did one, at a reduced pace, and then walked a half-mile before jogging back home. Legs felt bad, never did get into a good rhythm, and just plain stupid for not waiting until later in the evening. 5.3 miles overall. What an idiot I am sometimes.

Clicking on All Cylinders

Tonight's 6-mile easy run was great. Nice breeze to keep the temperature down and still an autumn-like afternoon. Definitely atypical for 24 August in Missouri, but I'll take it. The run was indeed easy, and I noticed that the hills I normally don't look forward to actually weren't that difficult. In fact, after I ran a couple of them I had to think back and ask myself if I'd actually run them. I suppose that's a good sign.

Last Really Long Run

...before the race in a couple of weeks. I ran 15 miles this morning starting at 6 o'clock. And if the weather is like this on race day, I will be a happy man. The past few days have had a feeling of autumn about them, but I have a feeling that's about to end. Nevertheless, this morning's temperature was probably around 60 degrees and didn't get much higher than that, even when the sun came up. A few other people were out walking and running, but not as many as I thought there would be. Even saw a couple of women jogging together in long-sleeve shirts and long pants. Personally I didn't think it was that cold.

This wasn't one of my strongest runs, but I'm feeling pretty good as the race draws near. I keep running lots of hills, especially on a long run like today. It'd be nice if I was overprepared for the hills in the race, but I doubt that'll be the case. Today's pace was right at 10 minutes/mile, which was just right. The past two weeks on my long runs I have purposefully kept from looking at my pace until the last mile and ran by how I felt instead of by the numbers. I think it worked out better that way.

Nice Tempo

Today was a great day for running. A stiff breeze out of the west but not too bad, a mix of sunshine and clouds, and a temperature of 70 degrees. I ran 6.7 miles and included 30 minutes of tempo running. During that time I went 3.65 miles and kept the pace at 8 minutes or below most of the time. All in all it was a good tempo, especially considering I've been up since 4 a.m. due to the dog. I felt like taking a nap when I got home, but I told myself to treat it like I was running at 6:30 instead of 5 p.m. Guess I'm good at fooling myself since it worked.

Killer Hills

I went for the challenge today - Yasso 800's on the hilliest route around here. I went 6.8 miles total with 6x800. I could have chosen a flatter route, but that's all relative. The point of these intervals is to run the 800 meters at the pace you want for your marathon. So if my goal is to run a marathon in 3 hours and 40 minutes, I should run the 800 meters in 3 minutes and 40 seconds. That translates to a 7:20 pace on my Garmin, and for the most part that's what I ran. Interval #4 was a little slower due to a long hill, but I still managed to keep it 8:30 and lower. #5 was the steepest hill but I did better on that one because the first part of the interval was downhill. And let's just that after #6 I was ready to stop, but after walking for about 15 seconds I went ahead and jogged the last half mile. Slowly.

Boy, this speedwork on the hills better pay off or I'll be cranky. And nobody wants that.

Wet Air

The temperature was great, the sun peeked out from behind the clouds a few times, and the air was saturated from the rains that soaked us all morning. When I returned from my 6-mile run my neighbors commented on how sweaty I was since the evening was so mild. Other than the humidity, the run went nice and easy. I stretched out some lingering sore spots from Saturday's long run, but nothing too bad.

It's amazing how my body's response has changed in the past couple of years. When I was at this point in my first training plan I thought I was going to die. Now it seems routine. Sure, I have my bad runs (see the Saturday before this last one) and I won't say a 20-mile run is easy, but now that I've done it several times my body doesn't rise up in revolt as before.

Made the hotel reservation for the night before the race, so I'm all in now. The hotel close to the finish line had a bunch of bad reviews online, so I went with the one close to the start. It's also where I pick up my packet and the location for the pre-race pasta dinner, which I also signed up for. Should be a good time.

Running With My Back Against the Wall

That's what I kept telling myself this morning. With a shortened "long" run last Saturday and only three weeks until the race, this was it. I was up against the wall and if I didn't have a good run then the race would be really tough. So I went out with that attitude and had a good, strong run. I ran a lot of hills, which should come in handy in Columbia. The weather for this 20-miler was great. I started at about 5:15 a.m. in the dark, and when the sun came up it was mostly overcast. The sun poked through the clouds a few times, but nothing major.

This was also my first run with my Bolle sunglasses and insert. Yesterday I picked up the prescription insert from eye doctor. When I stopped by the house at about mile seven I put on the sunglasses. Wow, it was so incredibly nice to be able to see when running! I've been doing this for about six years now, and other than the rare occasion when I wear my regular glasses I usually wear non-prescription sunglasses. Since my lenses are so funky having sunglasses made would have resulted in something I wouldn't have been happy with. The ladies at the eye doctor recommended the Bolle with the insert, and they work great. I am very pleased with the outfit. I would say I wish it had been sunnier this morning just to see how great they actually work, but I'd be lying. I know I'll have plenty of opportunity to check them out.

More of the Same

Another supposed 10-miler that turned into a 6.5 mile run. I got up fairly early and did three mile repeats. Once again about an hour was all I could take of the warmer weather. I'm thinking the high-mileage plan might work better during winter, but then again it's so bitterly cold at times that breathing in the cold dry air for 90 minutes probably isn't a good idea. I painted a lot today, and with the long run coming up on Saturday I need to take it a little easier tomorrow. I probably won't, but I'll try.

High Mileage

Maybe a high-mileage plan isn't the thing for me. The total this week is supposed to be 46 miles, and today was supposed to include 10 of that. Or maybe it's just the hot weather that is keeping me from it. I went 6.5 miles, almost 5 of that was at "marathon pace." I tried to keep it at about 9 minutes/mile, but it was tough. At one point I was going too fast, and then other times I was going about a half-minute too slow. I ran on Shoal Creek and tried to stay in the shade. I don't know, maybe it's just too much to expect to run 90 minutes or more on a weeknight.

Much Better Run

Even though this was just an easy 6-mile run, it went much better. The temperature was in the mid-80's. It rained earlier in the afternoon, but the clouds had cleared by the time I headed out the door. Still not too bad since I kept the pace at about 11 minutes per mile and intentionally took it easy. With the race four weeks from today it's time to bear down and make sure I have good workouts, especially this week since Saturday is my last long run, the always-fun 20-miler.

What a Weenie

Got out of bed before dawn cracked this morning and was on the road by 5:30. Usually it takes a couple of miles for me to warm up, but this morning that never seemed to happen. I didn't sleep good last night, either. When I came back to the house at 7 miles to pick up my sports drink, I decided to go ahead and pack it in. Yes, I weenied out in a big way. My "long" run this week was shorter than my two speed-work runs. I'm considering this my normal bad run during the training plan as well as a week to back off and decrease miles before increasing again next week. At least that's what I'm going with this time around.

More Yasso 800s

Went a total of 7.6 miles with 6x800 repeats. Again I waited until the sun was going down and it paid off. Interesting note, though, from the Garmin. On the last couple of repeats it shows my heart rate was 99% of max. I suppose I should find out if that's good or bad.

Evening Run

The moon is shining, and the temperature is still 80 degrees at 9:20 p.m. Today I ran a total of 8.4 miles, which include a 1-mile warmup, 7 miles at marathon pace, and a little less than half mile of cooldown. My average pace for marathon pace was 8:40 per minute according to my little Garmin friend. I think I'm going to pay for the 32 ounces of sports drink I just drank right before bedtime, though.

I Earned That Six Miles

The temperature when I got home from the run was 92 degrees, according to Yahoo! weather. The 'feels like' temperature was 97. That was at 7 p.m., and I'm not sure the temperature had gone down any since when I started the run an hour earlier. I took the water bottle with me and used probably half of it on my head. These runs wouldn't be so bad except for the neighborhood. And I don't mean the neighborhood itself is bad, but as I've lamented before, we just don't have any shade. It took a full 3.5 miles on today's route before I hit some shade, and then the last mile was in the direct sunlight again. I think that's what wears a person down more than anything. If I had more consistent shade on the run it would have been a lot easier. Today was 'only' six miles, and even though I deliberately kept the pace slow, it sure felt like more.

Another Nice Sunday Morning

Ran 16 miles this morning. The pre-dawn quiet is so nice and peaceful, I could run in it forever. For whatever reason, I was in an exploring mood today. Most times I head out the door I know the exact route I'm going to run, but today I felt like going...wherever. My normal laps of the neighborhood are 2.5 miles. Our neighborhood is now connected to the one east of us, so I extended my laps, making them about 3.5 miles. I ran two of those, stopped by the house to strap on the fuel belt, wound through a few streets I rarely run, and then down to the town homes. I had just started down that street when I heard a yappy dog barking up ahead. Deciding I didn't care to run the gauntlet of annoying dogs that live in that area, I turned around and exited the neighborhood up to Pleasant Valley Baptist Church. For the final five miles or so I ran down Shoal Creek Parkway and back.

On my running schedule I had 16 miles listed for today, but my Garmin beeped at me when I hit the15-mile mark. Apparently when I revised my schedule I didn't update my electronic training calendar. I felt like I got a bonus extra mile off the error. Not necessarily the way I'd normally do it, but I felt good this morning so it wasn't a big deal.

During one of my westbound runs on 96th Street a lady on a bike came up behind me and asked if I was training for the KC Marathon. I told her I was training for Columbia. She said it was listed as one of the Top 5 toughest marathons in the country due to the hills. She's run 42 marathons and normally runs in the 3:30 range. The Heart of America race she finished at just over 4 hours. Guess I won't setting a PR in this one. At least I train on some steep hills. Guess we'll see how that works for me in about a month.