5-er

I got in a five miler with a colleague yesterday at lunch. Easy pace, good conversation, great weaather.

Missed the lunch run today, but I'm hoping to get one in at 5:00, although the weather is looking ominous.

Nothing more to report.

40 at 4:00

I missed my morning window, but got in another 40 minutes at 4:00 yesterday. It was a beautiful day, perfect for running.

I felt ok, but got passed by a guy like I was standing still about 10 minutes into the run. By looking at him, the guy should not have passed me so easily, so I stuck with him and had no issues with the stepped up pace. It was yet another reminder of the mental aspect of running. I was basically in la-la land, daydreaming away until he passed me. At that point, I simply chose to run faster and focused on my pace. This worked well while he was leading, but my pace dropped off a bit when I was on my own again. The work wasn't necessarily in the running; it was in remembering to run, not coast.

Anyway, I'm glad I got out. Check it off. Later.

Morning Run

I went out for 40 minutes this morning. It was my first morning run in a long time, and it felt good. The best part is knowing that I already got my miles in as I go through my day.

One of the cool things about this run was that there was a bunch of fog low in the valleys. We live half way up a mountain, so I was literally running above the clouds. It was a great visual.

Temp was cool, but not cold. This was the first time I put on the sweats and a long sleeve shirt, but no gloves or numbing that Agricola mentioned.

Nothing more to report from here.

Thanks VT

I got out for a 10.5 miler this Sunday morning. It was an absolutely beautiful day, perfect for running, hiking, any type of outdoor activity. Glorious. That's the word that kept coming to mind as I chugged along the mostly dirt roads of my new favorite loop. I felt lucky and thankful to be living (and running) up here in VT.

The run took a bit longer than I would have liked, thanks in part to a gastric emergency (I'll spare you the details), but I enjoyed the time element. Sometimes 30 minute runs can become a grind, something I have to get in and check off the list. Sure, they make me feel better, but they have a way of feeling like any other daily task or chore. The long run is different. When you're out on the road for 1.5 to 2 hours you have a chance to really observe your surroundings, your performance, and the various stages your body goes through during the run. My progression on Sunday went something like this:

- Miles 1 - 3: All downhill and feeling strong. Gorgeous views.
- Miles 3 - 6: Mostly uphill, tightening up. The views of the mountains and the smell of the crisp, fresh air inspire and push me ahead...slowly.
- Miles 6 - 7: Whoa. Stomach issues out of nowhere. Good thing I'm on a rural route.
- Miles 7 - 10: Feeling strong after the forced rest. Back on my local road. Thinking I might be able to hit my goal for the marathon after all. Ready to get back into the training.

It was a cool trip and an interesting progression to observe. I'd encourage you guys to break from the routine and go out for a long run sometime soon. Focus on the time (say a 1.5 hour run), not the distance and just let it happen. It's a great experience that will refresh your perspective on running. It did for me. And I'll bet you'll surprise yourself with your performance.

Later boys.

Saturday 30

Ran a 30 minute out and back over the weekend. It was my first run in a while, and it took me a full 8 minutes just to warm up. Before hitting the 8 minute mark, every stride was tight and I had to work for every step. At 8 minutes, I took a few deliberate, long strides and things opened up. It actually felt good again for a while. At about 25 minutes, I tightened up again a bit, but finished strong.

I'm coming up on 4 days of off site meetings, so I'm hoping to get some early morning runs in. You'll see it here if I pull it off.

One hour

I got out for a one hour loop today at lunch and felt great. After running two 5K runs in the past 14 days, I finally felt ready to get back out there. The weather was perfect at about 75 - 80 degrees, with blue sky and a slight breeze. My legs felt fresh and my lungs felt fully recovered after the much needed time off.

Agricola, at the very beginning of my marathon training, you stressed the importance of listening to your body. I'd add that you need to listen to your psyche, too. You have to be ready to run, to want to do it at some level (even as you dread the first steps). Today was just one of those days when it all clicked. I'm savoring it now. Who's next?

Check it off

I got in 3.1 miles today. It took about 25 minutes and was completely, 100% uneventful. The only event was the fact that I did it. It's all about just getting out there for me right now as I get my "routine" back on track.

I will say that my muscle memory is still intact. My first few strides felt completely natural. Not that it's all that complex to run, but I felt so comfortable doing it -- as if my body knew exactly what was coming, what I was asking of it, and got right in line. Not sure if I'm explaining that very well, but it was a cool feeling. I took it as a small reminder that even though I'm in a bit of a lull, I have put in a lot of work and miles. I am a runner. That was the feeling.

Has anyone else experienced that?

Perfect day

Got in a great 5 miler that was a combination of wooded trails, bike path and a few roads. It was awesome. The lake was rolling and the air temp was somewhere in the 60's. Pace was probably around 8:30. Not much else to report. Big run tomorrow with two colleagues joining for parts. Should be a hoot.

FreeArtist, how's the biking going?

Oh, and what about getting our act together for this this year?
http://www.rtbrelay.com/index.shtml

Churning

6:40 am
42.02 minutes
I'm calling it 5 miles

12:00 pm
41 minutes
I'm again calling it a 5-er.

As I've been saying in recent posts, these next few weeks are all about getting the miles in. I was feeling a little sore yesterday, so I took the day off. My body felt much better today, which is good because I had 10 miles on my chart.

I ended up splitting the mileage into two five mile runs, and I'm finding that I enjoy getting in a couple of workouts in one day. It makes the run less of a big event and more of a scheduled activity, like a meeting, call or whatever. It's just something I have to get in. The bonus is that I get the nice endorphine boost twice. In terms of training, the guy that I ran with this afternoon says that two short runs might actually be better training than one long. The rationale is that your body works harder at the start of a run and since you're starting twice, you get more out of it in terms of conditioning. I'm not sure I buy it. I'm just glad to have more flexibility.

Happy trails, boys.

Lunch Run

5.1 miles
41 minutes

Had a good lunch run with a couple of colleagues. This one was just about getting the miles in. Felt good overall with a little tightness in the outer band on my left knee. It was a perfect day for running. Probably 58 degrees, no wind, sun poking through the clouds.

Turning Corners

Saturday, April 28
7:38am
14.2 miles
2:04.27

With a day under 4 weeks until the race, my marathon training is hitting another gear, and I'm feeling good about it. I did my third long run on Saturday, and felt significantly better than I did during the 13 miler last week. It felt like my body took note of the increased mileage and responded. For the first time, I could see myself actually getting into longer distance runs. They are much more of a journey and opportunity for observation (internal and external) than the shorter jaunts.

I'm sure the location of this run also helped my overall performance. We made a 36 hour stop in Hingham for a wedding, and the change of scenery invigorated me. I cruised through old friends' neighborhoods, ran the path I used to walk to elementary school, even ran miles 9-14 with an old friend, who's house I incorporated into the loop.

Now that I'm back in VT, it's all about the schedule again. I have 5, 10 and 5 milers to do this week, and a big 20 miler on Saturday. I've (finally) bought into the program, which takes my lack of motivation or laziness out of the running equation. If it's on the chart, I have to run. I'm actually going out today to get ahead a bit in case the week gets hectic.

Now if I only had this focus for my work....

3.1 in the sun

I just got in from a 3.1 mile lunchtime run with a colleague. After running solo for the past couple of weeks, it was good to have a partner. We ran a solid pace, and I never really thought about running. Because of the conversation, my legs just pulled me along like they were on auto-pilot. It was a welcome change from some of the grinding runs I've had lately. The fact that it was a perfect running day (about 65 degrees, no wind, no clouds) also helped.

Perfect run day

Got in a quick 40 minutes after work. It was about 57 degrees, blue sky, no wind. Perfect for running.

Today I realized that I'm finally at the point where I don't want to miss a workout. Sure, I'll take a rest day, but only if it's on the schedule. It feels good to be slightly obsessed.

Blue skies

50 minutes
6.3 miles

Felt tight, fast, slow, effortless, grinding at various points throughout the run. Couldn't get into any real rhythm during the run.

Still, it was a gorgeous day. Man, does it feel good to see the sun.

This was my first run of the year in shorts.

Make it mean something

It was a gorgeous day, and I would have felt really bad if I blew off the run. Luckily, I squeezed one in right after work, thanks to my wife's simple question, "what about your run?" when I called to say I was on my way home. I definitely would've ditched if not for that support. Anyway, it was 5K in 24 minutes -- a good, fast pace for me.

About half way through the run, I found myself saying/thinking, "make it mean something" to keep me going at my stepped up pace. Since I have a marathon coming up in 6 weeks, I know that piling on more 3 milers isn't going to get the job done. That I couldn't run further today was purely a function of time, or more accurately a lack of time because I had to get home to see the kids before bed time. So rather than just cruise through the run, I turned it into a "speed" workout. It felt good, and mixed up what is getting to be a fairly boring route.

I have to acknowledge that simply getting out there on a regular basis "means something." It was a nice feeling, though, to have something from within pushing me just a little bit harder today.

Quick one

I have to say that two recent posts -- one from Agricola who braved the raw, wet weather to get in a run, and the other from FreeArtist, who's getting ready to spin for hours on end in his living room -- inspired me to quit with the excuses and get back out on the road for a run. So, after work I went for a quicky, and it felt great. It was about 3.1 miles, 25 minutes or so. My legs felt fresh from a combination (I think) of time off the roads and cross-training via the snowboard.

I have one funny story from the run. At one point on this particular route, I transition from the road to a bike path via a set of stairs. When I got to the top of the stairs today, a runner buzzed by me. There was enough space that I could have cut out in front of him, but he was going at such a clip that I paused for a second, let him pass and fell into my pace behind him. He pulled ahead but stayed in site, which was fine. We went our separate ways about a mile later as I cut back to the road to make my final push back to the office and he continued on the path. Now here's the funny part. As I approached my final turn that would take me the last quarter mile of my run, I saw the runner who cruised by me earlier approaching from the opposite direction. While I honestly didn't care that he left me in his dust once, I absolutely was not going to get beaten twice in the same three miles. I literally thought (and might have actually said), "No way this joker's beating me twice!" I never met the guys' eye and never looked over my shoulder to see if he made the turn behind me. I just kicked up my speed a notch or two. A few strides in, I heard him approaching and stepped it up even higher. Ten yards later, I convinced myself that he was probably catching me, and I kicked it up yet again. By the time I reached my stopping point, I was at a full on near-sprint-but-trying-not-to-look-like-I'm-really-trying-that-hard pace, and I was very pleased to have won my own personal race. Only then did I casually turn and glance over my shoulder, only to see an empty road. He never even made the turn.

Anyone who claims that running is primarily a physical event has it all wrong. This sport/activity all happens above the shoulders. Play the right mind games and you'll push yourself harder, run longer, and feel better for it.

The joker on my run today has no idea that he was schooled today on the "course", but I know it and I feel that much better for duping myself into believing he wanted the win as much as I did.

What games do you guys play to keep it interesting?