Running Log

Easy 4.3 miles on hilly roads. No watch. Pace was around 9 min/mile.

Ran 1/2 mile w/u. Ran 2 1/2 miles in 3:45 and 3:20. Ran 1/2 mile c/d.

Ran at 5:30 am. Muscles were sore. Wanted to run a bit more but didn't have time. Can't run this afternoon so I wanted to fit it in somehow.

Ran a LT/ threshold/tempo run in the PM (which one is it?). Ran 1.1 miles at easy 8:30 pace for 10 mins. Then ran 1.5 miles at just slower than threshold pace,7:14/mile. Then ran 1 mile home at easy pace.

3.5 miles in the early AM. 33 mins total , which included super slow first half mile and last mile and w/u drills. Pace was around 8:30 for 3 miles. 

Have a race tomorrow in Chicago. It's my first race since the triathlon in August. Hoping for a 20:00 time in the 5K. I'm ran a ~21:00 5k in that tri, so I figure I should be about a minute faster. My legs are feeling sore from not running when I went back to work and had crazy weeks, and my Achilles still hurts. I guess we'll see what happens. 

Ran the race today. Official time was 21:03, I had 21:01 on my watch. This is a big race, so the start was really slow, even though I was in the first corral. It felt like 9:00 min mile pace for the first 1/4 mile or so. For example, the race started at 7:00 but I didn't cross the start line til 45 seconds after that. I had to do a lot of dodging and darting to find open lanes and get to pace. 

mile 1: 7:09

mile 2: 6:48

mile 3: I swear my watch said 5:45, but I don't think that was correct. Either I messed up the split, the mile marker was wrong, or I misread my watch as I glanced at it. 

Official mile pace was 6:47, so I think that third mile should actually be around 6:27 or so. 

The course has an uphill start, then on Lower Wacker, which is a horrible dark place but sheltered from the wind/cold. Rather big hill ending the third mile . 

Overall, I was hoping to run faster, but I'll take  it and move on. 

Ran 3.1 miles at 5:30 am. Total time was 28:xx.

Ran first 1/2 mile at 10:00 pace, then the rest at goal 8:45-9:00 easy pace.

Achilles tendon was flaring for first 1/2 mile but settled down as I warmed up.

Ran 6.1 miles at easy pace today. Total time of just over 52 mins. Ran to Concordia, ran a mile on the track, then down to Chicago and back on the same route.

Miles: 8:47, 8:32, 8:24, 8:35, 8:45, 9:00 last mile with drills.

Legs/endurance felt good. I think I ran this route in June about 10 minutes slower. Didn't make it out but once this week for early morning runs before work, so I'm glad I got up at 6am before the kids.

Ran 4 miles in just over 33 mins. Tried to do a progression run. Started at easy pace for mile 1, a bit faster for mile 2, thought I was pushing it for mile 3 but wasn't going as fast as I thought. So I ran the last 1/2 mile faster before coasting in for the last 1/2 mile with drills/pick-ups.

Miles: 8:40, 8:25, 7:50, 8:23.

Again, achilles was twinging for first 1/2 mile but disappated after that.
 

Ran 2 miles at easy pace in 18:00. Ran at 5:30am and it was super cold. Body was stiff to start but warmed up ever so slightly. 

No run today. Cold (feels like 0 deg.). 

Did a quick 15 min hiit workout in the basement. 

Did a threshold run this morning.

Ran 1 mile at easy 8:45 pace. Then did 2.5 miles at threshold pace (~7:10 pace). Ran .5 easy to end.

Threshold miles: mile 1 7:09, mile 2 7:07, last .5 mile in 3:32.

Super cold (windchill at ~5 deg) and my legs never warmed up, so I'm happy I hit my threshold splits.

Ran 7 miles in 1:02 at easy ~9:00 min pace. AP 8:55. Ran to Concordia track, then to Chicago Ave, back to track and then home. 

Mile splits: 9:20 (w/ drills), 8:54, 8:30, next two around 9:00, 8:24, 8:40. Tried to push it a tiny bit the last 2 miles. 

Ran 4.5 miles in just under 35 minutes. 7:45 AP. Ran to Concordia, did .5 mile on the track, then home.

Progression run: started at 8:30 pace, tried to drop down to under 7 min for last full mile.

Mile splits: 8:20, 7:50, 7:05, 6:55, last 1/2 mile in 4:27 w/ drills.

The run felt really good, especially after 7 miles (my longest run in months) yesterday. It felt fast in the last 2 miles, but it felt like I could have sustained it for even longer.

I need a race to look forward to. Unfortunately, there aren't many December races in Chicago.

Ran 3 easy miles in 26:30. 8:49 AP.

Mile splits: 8:54, 8:51, 8:43.

Ran 1 mile at school with kids for the Turkey Trot. Super slow at 13 mins to help the stragglers. After school ran 1.2 miles just to fit something in. Ran that in 7:15 pace

Ran for 30 minutes. I'm at the FIL's house so I don't know the exact distance, but it felt like about 9 min pace. It was snowing and there was about an inch of snow in some places. 

Ran about 7.9 miles in 1:09:14. 8:45 AP. The run was tough because of snow on the ground. I had to run either on unshoveled sidewalks or on the side of the road in 1-2 inches of snow. I'd hop on the clear-but-wet road when cars weren't around, then hop back to the shoulder when they came by. All in all, I was thinking of just doing 4, but I was happy that I pushed through and did almost 8. That's my longest run in the last, oh, 6 years.

I didn't know the exact mile markers since I'm at my FIL's house, but here's the splits of what I considered the mile markers: 9:08, 9:04, 9:03, 5:11 (.66 mile), 5:14 (.66 mile), 8:34, 9:40, 8:39. At this point I thought I had run 8 miles, but my pace/time told me I hadn't. So I ran a bit farther (and uphill) and back for another .5 mile in 4:19.

Ran 5.1 miles in 40:57. 8:02 AP. Ran 2 miles easy to Concordia track. I tried to run the next two miles, one of which was on the track, at 5k race pace (6:45), but I failed. My legs weren't responding too well and my determination to hit my marks wasn't strong today. This is probably due to my long run yesterday. 

Mile splits: 8:40, 8:20, 6:57, 6:47, 8:45. 

Looking at this week in terms of the big picture, it was the most I've run Sunday-Sunday in a long time. I hit somewhere around 25 miles in 8 days with Thanksgiving and long car rides thrown in there. I'm finding it easier and easier to find the motivation to get out the door and run, and as my fitness improves I'm finding it easier and easier to knock out 3-6 mile runs. It feels good.