Doing What I Can

repeat 800s today. ended up doing 7x800. my times were kind of all across the map though. Splits:

1- 2:42.1

2- 2:43.8

3- 2:54.6

4- 2:48.9

5- 2:39.6

6- 2:53.8

7- 2:38.1

I was going 2 min breaks between reps until after the 4th one, i took 2:30+ for the last 3.

3 miles easy this morning after i rolled out of bed. A shakeout of sorts. 

first 1.5- 11:26

second 1.5- 11:22

TOTAL--22:49, 7:36 avg

7 painful and slow miles today. Just didnt feel real good, felt very tired. Probably the accumulation of mileage without a day off. tomorrow is a SRD for sure. 53:03, 7:35 avg pace today.

5 today, felt kind of sluggish, not really sure why. Splits:

1- 7:20.8

2- 7:17.5

3- 7:16.7

4- 7:24.0

5- 7:17.4

TOTAL-- 36:36, 7:19 avg

Fartlek today. Really pushed myself. Did 2 sets of 4, 3, 2, 1 on with 1 min off between each rep and 2 min set break. Total Vo2 max and Threshold miles and easy miles are estimates. I tended to run the 4 and 3 min at tempo pace and the 2 and 1 min on's at vo2 max pace. Overall, a decent workout. I know for sure I went a total of six as I measured it out.

hit 4.5 today, one was technically GMP. total time, 32:13, 7:10 avg pace.

3.5 today, legs were really heavy, probably cuz of the ice bath last night. 26:10, 7:29 avg pace.

still sick with this nasty head cold, so tomorrow morning with be a game time decision when I wake up. If i am still feeling rotten it'll be a no-race, if I am feeling ok at all, i will race the 5k. 2 miles today in 14:31, 7:15 avg pace. Felt good while running. Just not before and after.

Woke up at 5:50 am this morning to prepare to race. Felt okay actually from my sickness and everything, but still decided not to race, I'd rather save the money and wait til next week when Im healthy. I figured the sleep was important so I went back to bed for another 4 hours. When I woke up I went out and hit the trail for a uptempo 9 miles. I basically wanted to see how far I could run at a decent pace and that was about 7 miles. Splits:

1- 7:01.9

2- 6:44.7

3- 6:43.6

4- 6:41.8

5- 6:53.4

6- 6:59.6

7- 7:03.6 (48:08, for 6 miles, 6:51 avg)

took a 1 min break here and then used last 2 miles as a cooldown

8- 8:22.0

9- 7:45.3

TOTAL-- 1:04:15, 7:08 avg

Overall, a good run. I decided to count everything under 6:45 as tempo miles and under 7:05 as GMP. Overall, a good run and it helped me gauge my current fitness.

wanted to go 6 today, but i have been super sore the last two days. I played some flag football on sunday and have been hurtin since. Hopefully, itll be better tomorrow. Cut the route off early and measured it online when i got home, came out to 4.7 in 35:05, 7:28 avg.

beautiful new route today, but horrible horrible run. Had terrible GI issues and had to stop at mile 4 for a bear attack. Barely made it home after that. pretty sure i was right around GMp for the first 4 miles, right around 7 min miles, but after the stop just wanted to get home. 37:43, 7:15 avg pace.

busted my butt today, 12x400 at 1:16-1:20 pace with 1:15 recovery. Totaled times added up would be 5:15, 5:13, 5:13, for a total of 15:41 for 3 miles or 5:14 pace. Pretty good avg times added up, but my legs felt tired so I am taking another ice bath even tho i just took one last week. Hopefully rockin this 5k this weekend!

4 shakeout miles today, just rolled outta bed and went. 31:24, 7:51 avg.

pre race 2, one in 7:18, one in 7:13, 7:15 avg, 14:31 for 2 miles. raceday tomorrow, des moines marathon 5k!

Ran the DSM Marathon 5k today. Course seemed long as I felt really good and had a lot left. I also felt like I was steady around 17:30 pace, or at least that was what the effort seemed like. Ended up with a weird finish, thought the first set of mats were the finish and I slowed up, yet I still held off the guy right behind me, but for some reason the official scoring had him in 4th and me in 5th? Maybe my slowup in my confusion allowed him to sneak his foot with the chip on it to the finish line before I got mine there...weird stuff. Absolutely ideal conditions for racing, 46 degrees with no wind. Splits:

 1- 5:46.8

2- 5:48.8 (11:35, 5:47.5 avg)

last 1.1--6:30.2 (5:50-5:55 avg)

TOTAL--18:04, 5:50 avg pace

Overall, I felt good and picked off a lot of people after mile 1, which was nice, I ran really steady pace throughout...however, I still think it was long. They did change the route this year, and I just felt like i ran better than 18's. O well. It was a fun race.

long run of 10 miles today, the weather was perfect! right around 60 with no humidity or wind. Felt very nice! Ran it pretty quick given I ran a race yesterday, actually hit 5 miles at technically GMP. Splits:

1- 7:18.7

2- 6:55.6

3- 7:09.1

4- 7:10.4

5- 6:59.1

6- 6:57.4

7- 7:06.8

8- 7:19.0 (big uphill)

9 & 10- 13:56 (6:58 avg, didnt get the 9 mile mark)

TOTAL-- 1:10:52, 7:05 avg pace

Overall, very happy with this run, doing a workout and hitting 10 miles under 1:11 is a good sign that I am getting in better shape, not to mention I ran a race yesterday and totalled 6.6 yesterday. Pretty good day all around!

4 easy miles today. the weather was perfect for running again tho so I couldn't really slow down and shake my legs out. Felt pretty good regardless. Splits:

1- 7:12.4

2- 7:15.1

3- 7:08.6

4- 7:03

TOTAL-- 28:39, 7:10 avg pace

tempo today. 4 miles was the distance. Goal was 24:40, ended up being under it. Would have ran it in probably 24:10-24:15 if not for the incredible wind. Everytime I turned West I got blasted with 25-30 mph constant wind. Definitely slowed down my times on certain miles. Splits:

1- 5:58.4

2- 6:10.5

3- 6:15.6

4- 6:07.1

TOTAL-- 24:31, 6:08 avg

Overall, I am actually quite happy with this run. Although my 2 and 3 miles werent were they needed to be, they were also the most exposed to the wind, which slowed me down incredibly. The last mile even had a good stretch into the wind, so I think that 6:07 translates into at least 5:50 as I was hammering it down into the wind. To be honest, this run today probably helped me improve more than the same course on a calm day because I had to push myself a lot--and i know very well that race day conditions can be unpredictable so its good to be prepared for anything.

4 easy ones on a beautiful iowa fall morning. 

1- 7:32.8

2- 7:06.0

3- 7:26.6

4- 7:24.8

TOTAL-- 29:30, 7:22.5 avg

broke out the new shoes today for a pre-race 2 miles. 14:46, 7:23 avg.

Today was the race for the cure. i have the goal each year of getting a medal which is the top 25. This year i finished 7th but the course was way long. The winner, a kenyan who usually runs thi15:20s ran 17:52. Plus, I havent ran this slow since jr high. So when I got home I measured it online at usatf website and indeed the course was 3.5 miles. Kind of disappointing to put in a lot of effort for a long race...nonetheless one that was so much off of 5k. Still a good cause and I like doing this race cuz of that.

update: race results website confirmed that the course was long, they came out and said 3.42 miles. So officially not a 5k.

long run gone awry today. Sposed to get 11-12 miles in, ended up calling it after just 6. Just wasnt feelin too good. Legs were heavy, lungs hurt and had GI issues, it was like the perfect storm of running failure. Splits:

1- 7:03.6

2- 6:57.4

3- 6:55.3

4- 7:18.5

5- 7:23.4

6- 7:06.6

TOTAL-- 42:44, 7:07 avg

got my long run in tonight. Crazy weather, it is 30-40 mph winds with gusts in the 50s. So I basically repeated similar North and South routes over and over again til I accumulated 12 miles. I did manage to time a few miles so I know I hit 2 miles in GMP, one at 6:48 and the last mile in 6:56. Overall a great run that just was kind of spurt of the moment. Total time was 1:25:08, which translates to 7:06 avg pace. 

4.2 miles today in 30:17, 7:13 avg. Had to run strictly north-south routes as the west wind was constant at 35 mph with gusts often at 50+ mph. The whole state is under a high wind warning, ive never seen anything like it. Cant wait for calm conditions again!

So ran a great tempo run today. The distance was 5 miles and I wanted to stay between 6:00-6:10 as that is my GHMP. Thought it was a good sign when I ran my warmup mile in 6:51, or GMP. Splits on the actual tempo:

1-  6:05.2

2- 6:02.9

3- 5:53.8 (18:02, 6:00.67 avg)

4- 6:07.1

5- 6:03.7

TOTAL-- 30:12, 6:02.5 avg pace

Overall, ran a great tempo today, I was very happy with it. I felt pretty good and kept rolling off even splits. Pretty happy to start off so well and then run my fastest mile as my 3rd one. Still a bit windy today, but ran well regardless!

6 miles today in decent weather. Had a lot of soreness built up in my legs. Splits:

1- 7:12.2

2- 7:03.5

3- 7:12.3 (21:28, 7:09 avg)

4- 7:13.5

5- 7:30.0

6- 7:20.4

Overall-- 43:31, 7:15 avg

The last 2 miles I had major GI issues and lets just say that complicated matters. Overall, a decent run despite some major sore legs.

repeat miles today. Was planning on doing 4, but my left calf was hurtin so I stopped after the 3rd repeat. Goal wasnt to go all out like it sometimes is when I do repeat miles, instead I wanted to push the pace but still be able to settle in and I did that to a decent extent. Pretty good splits overall considering the 1st and last were into 15 mph headwinds. Its been windy here lately.other than that, absolutely gorgeous morning in the mid-50s. Splits:

1- 5:48.9

2- 5:47.0

3- 5:43.9

took about 3 min breaks between each rep. overall, pretty even splits.

4 miles easy today, 29:36, 7:24 avg