faster than last year

Ran in the Newburyport 10 mile race today. This was the first race I ran after moving to New England. My time last year was 66 minutes. I improved my 4 minutes this year. I was hoping for better, but I just didn't have anything left the last 2 miles. Maybe I needed GU, maybe I was dehydrated, or maybe just went out too fast. Either way, I didn't have any race left in me the last couple of miles. I guess it is still improvement.
So, I averaged 637 pace last year, then I think that was my avg pace in my marathon. Maybe if I decide to run a marathon this year I can average 613 per mile, same as my newburyport race this year. Hmmmmmm..

Still going...

The Nikes are hanging in there nicely. I started wearing the blue
ones 2-3 weeks ago, but I still wear the greens now and again.The greens do have a very intimate relationship with the ground when I run, but they are going to be my rainy day shoes. Or when the others are still sweaty from the prevous run.

345pm I ran to the dealership to pick up the car, 30min. Then I picked
up jess at work at 530 pm and ran home. 70 min, I took the shorter
route this time. 13.5 for the day

The quads are back in proper working order today. I guess they just
needed a good talkin to and some active recovery. The ibuprofen I took
last night prob didn't hurt either.

Latest wizard wisdom

When you hear top runners say that their plan is to, "run my own race," they are lying. They really are too polite to say that their strategy is none of your business. They really mean something like, "I will run with the pack and when I sense a weakness, I will crush them with a surge or a kick and win."

T.I.-red

8 am - Dropped off the car at the dealership for some service work, then ran home. 31 minutes, calling that 4 miles.

6 pm - Picked up Jess from work, let her drive home while I ran home. During this run my quads continuously asked me if they were going to get the day off tomorrow. I told them to hang in there, finish this run and we'd talk about it tomorrow.
78 minutes. calling that 10

14 for the day

No track no home loop.

My legs are still sore from the race. Quads mostly.
I had to pick up jess from work this eve, so I decided to let her drive home and I'd run home. Making the most of my time during the day. The run went well. Nice and easy for the first 50 minutes then I dis some pick ups and held a tempoish pace for about 2 minutes. I only did this 3 times then continued home. 75 minutes for the day.

Calling it 10

9 min pace

I felt good for the first bot of the run, then the dayafters set in pretty hard. I didn't plan for a full home loop, but I was hoping for at least 60 minutes. I tried my best to slow down for the last couple of miles to make the run a 60 minute run, but I was too close to home. I thinky last 2 mules were in the 17-18 min range. Nice and easy, African warmup style.

48 min for the day.

Stowe 8

Didn't get around to running Saturday.
Sunday was the Stowe 8m race. What a beautiful town and area of the country.
Time 47:56. Got in about 13 miles on Sunday, ending the week with about 56 miles.

I missed the early bus

This morning I crawled out of bed at 515 had a cup of coffee, but decided to kiss Jess good bye instead of joining her on her way to work. Then I proceeded to give in to the call o the bed and slept till 830. AhHh that was nice! The early morning weakness is not something that I overcome well.
Once I got home after work it was shoes on and hit the street. Little did I know that the weakness was right there with me. At the 31 minute mark I caught myself trying to take the short route home. I was justifying it by saying it will still be a 45 min run, and you are racing on Sunday so you will need the rest. I had to stop for a second, wring the sweat out of my shirt and get my mind right for the rest of the run. There will be none of that just yet. Granted I am over the 3 weeks of getting back into doing some decent mileage and the new is wearing off, but now is the key to getting a good base. Staying on top of it and running as much as I can. If ICANN manage that the rest will fall into place.
Another home loop in the books.

Sudden heat

Most of the day the weather was overcast and 70s. Then when I got home to run the sky cleared and the heat and humidity were very real. Oh well, gotta get in the run right. I added a couple off route loops to the home loop tohelp insure I hit 80 minutes for the day.
I am debating wether I want to get up at 430 to ride to work with Jess then run home. All I have to do is make it to the car, then I'll have to run the 10 miles to get home. I'll probably just sleep till 0730 as usual though.

Mid week

Tuesday track practice didn't happen for me. I guess work takes precedence over running sometimes.

Wednesday home loop 73 minutes. Felt a bit rusty, but pretty easy for the most part.

Due to the missed day on Tuesday I guess not going to go short the day before Stowe.

Monday daily run

I was on the fence about only doing 10 or adding another 15 min on towards the end of the run. I didn't feel too bad at the 52 min mark, which is where I usually make the left and hit the home stretch. Today I decided to head to the trails for a 15 minute add.

90min for the day... 12 ish.

74%

Finished the week with 74 miles on 7 days.

Feeling pretty good. Not really over run, and hoping to turn out another good week.

Friday 10

I decided to push it for today's run. Home loop, 65 min.

Hmlr

H is for Hot. Today I tried to embrace the heat and enjoy the run. I stopped at the 49 min mark for some juice and cold water. After that it was back on the road.

100 minutes for the day, I think it is safe to call it 13.5 miles. To reach 80 miles this week is going to require some fancy foot work though.

At peace with my daily route

The most important part of my training is consistency. For me the easiest way to be consistent is to have a good daily route. My route is a 10ish mile loop. I know the loop, and as a result I can focus on running and my thoughts instead of where I am going to turn or am I going the right direction. When I am having a tough day of running I can just block out the heavy legs and focus on getting to the next turn and moving on.
Today's run was one of those heavy legs days.The run was a good aerobic effort, but I could feel that my legs were working harder than a usual on a daily easy run. This was probably due to the track workout the previous day. Since I wasn't feeling too great, I just took the run one land mark at a time. The first hill, then the long straight away thatleads to another pain in the ass hill. Once to the top of that hill I am at the mansion that has the weekly concert in the back yard. Today the yard was filled with children running around the yard like mad. I swear there were about 45 small children in the yard. Kinda odd. After this I pass the Dedham track/highschool, at this point I am usually at the 38 min mark. By the time I am here, I know I have the run in the bag regardless of how I feel. Only a few more turns and hills. My favorite part of the run is at the 52 minute mark. At this point I have about 20 miutes left. I can make the last part of the run as easy or hard as I like. Like many races the last 20 minutes can make or break a person. So I try to stay focused and relax, while pushing the pace if I can do so with out sacrificing my form or stride. I wasn't realy able to push today so I just cruised it the rest of the way home.

Home loop, 73 minutes with a 2 minute add to make it 75 min for the day.

Heat wave?

100 degrees is all people could talk about today. " we hit the century mark" is what the weather guy continuously repeated. It was hot, but I didn't find it to new too uncomfortable. My shoes were soaked after 40 minutes of running due to the excessive perspiration. That is the first that has happened in a while. After the warm up it was on to the track for the 12k relay. Teams of 2. 400m, then rest/ jog around while the partner ran 400m. Good workout. Most of the 400s were 76-78. There was one 80, 78, 74, 75, and we finished with the last 2 in 71 and 68 respectively. I didn't have much for a cool down, 17 minutes.
Safe to call it 10 for the day.

Scorcher

So we are having a heat wave apparently. It was pretty hot during today's run at 10-11am. I took gremlin with me for the first time in a while and found my route to be exactaly 10 miles, funny how that works. Anyway it was a good run, but kinda hot though. 74 min.

4th

Call it 70 miles for the week. My plan was to get in 80, but I didn't run sunday. instead I decided to go for a mt bike ride. The ride was 3 hrs so I don't feel too bad about not running. I still got in a long aerobic workout, just not running. I felt great all week with mileage. Hope it stays that way.

Shady Saturday run

Spent an hour 51 minutes on the trails of Walden Pond and surrounding lands. The best part of this run was the 100% shaded trails. The run was nice and didn't feel forced. If I had to guess i'd say it was a 15 mile run at the very least.
I ended the run with a dip in Walden Pond, which was a great way to end a run.

Friday, new England summer

Weather was nice again. 78-75 deg and clear. I ran the home loop today. 72 minutes. The run didn't feel forced, a good aerobic effort run

Walden Pond part II

On my way home from visiting a customer in Lowell Ma, I couldn't resist stopping by Walden pond for some more trail therapy. THese are by far the softest trails I have found in the state. Mostly pine needls and packed leaves. I passed from Walden Pond reservation to the Concord conservatoin forest to extend my runtime. I wasn't planning to run over 10 miles. but due to uncertainty of direction I extended the run for a total run time of 80 minutes. I felt great during the run. All credit for this one goes to the soft soft running surface.