Friday, July 30, 2010

Longer Run

Heading into the weekend and getting ready for maybe a better, more demanding week next week, I decided to put in some distance today. So it was ten miles in exactly 8:00 a mile, which is fairly easy to calibrate with the treadmill. It was boring, it was sweaty, it was done.

Now for a new set of goals since my fitness base seems good. Next week will be faster and longer as I bump up the mileage base in increments (23 miles this week in 7:45 a mile average). I'll see how it goes. Time to start getting serious since the vacation season is over and I can start running outside again in a few weeks - I hope!

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Quarter Marathon Redux

It's already getting a bit boring, but I ran another quarter marathon today in 7:29 a mile in another good fitness test. I'll put in the back-to-back run tomorrow heading into the weekend. I think I managed to come back from the vacation strong.

On the injury front, there is absolutely nothing to report. Ankle good, shins good. I did tweak the ankle a tad while helping in building a huge utility building at the house in Colorado, but no residual effects here.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Vacation Return Run

I really dislike the return from vacation for a bunch of reasons, just ask my co-workers, and the uncertain about my fitness level is definitely one of them. I wanted to start off fairly easy here to prevent an instant injury, and managed to accomplish it. I ran a solid six miles in 7:48 a mile. I'll start to up the pace once I'm convinced the fitness is back.

And how was the vacation? Two awesome days of fishing. Four fish in 30 minutes from my trout stream in front of the house (the stream begins nine miles away on the Continental Divide). One great day of four-wheeling that ended in too much rain. And one great day of driving my raft on the Arkansas River. Terrific vacation with no running and cool weather.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Triple Runs

I did something I don't think I have done in the three years since I have been running...I ran for a third consecutive day today. This event was driven mostly by my leaving for a 10 day vacation tomorrow so I had plenty of recovery time, and somewhat driven by my recent good runs. Today was no different.

So off I went with tired legs, but I put the machine on 7:30 a mile just to see what would happen. By the time I was done I had covered six miles in 7:29 a mile, which I thought was outstanding given the week's total mileage of 28 miles in an average 7:30 a mile. Now for the vacation rest!

One issue with the being "driven by my recent good runs" is that I can easily hurt myself with too much enthusiasm. Bad idea. I have worked hard at knowing what my body should be able to do with each run and then either staying in that plan or going slower, but seldom faster. I've had some success and some failure with this strategy, but it makes sense so far. Execution, as always, is the key.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Tempo Run

I'm back in the office so back to the corporate fitness center's treadmills I go. Why do we always pick the same treadmill to run on? Such are the penetrating questions I ask as I plod on....

Today's warmup run (usually a quarter mile when I start the machine over again for the real workout) felt good, so as I got a mile into the real workout I stepped down the throttle and kept doing that mile after mile until I brought the foot off the accelerator for mile after mile. When done I had covered seven miles in an average 7:18 a mile, with the fastest mile being around 6:30. Improvement is my friend.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Quarter Marathon Proof Run

Still at the hotel, this time very early in the morning since I woke up around 4:30am and knew I wasn't going back to sleep.

So off to the treadmill I go (it's too hot here to run outside, just like home) and again it's hot in the room but nobody's around so the shirt comes off. And I ran 6.55 miles in, wait for it, 7:20 a mile. It felt good, the fitness is good, the ankle is good, and the shin splints are nowhere to be seen or felt.

I'm starting to get optimistic after my vacation time off.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Flexibility Is My Friend

I had forgotten to mention last week that I had a business trip this week for a few days. I left this afternoon, got to the hotel around 10pm, and went to the fitness center for a run since I didn't have anything else to do and didn't feel like sleeping.

Great choice. I put in eight miles in 7:42 a mile and the fitness felt great. No heavy breathing, just good steady running. The bad and the good: the hotel's fitness center was around 80 degrees cool, not so great; the good was that when you run that late nobody else is around so I was able to take my shirt off. I can't do that at the corporate fitness center, not that I would want to or anybody would want to see it!

It feels good to be back close to where I was. And the ankle feels great.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Getting Back

Okay, now I'm feeling better. The running this week has loosened me back up and the ankle is feeling much stronger. Today I ran six miles in 8:00 a mile, still not fast but a solid run and one that will preserve my fitness base as I get ready for the fall marathon preparation.

Now the weekend is up and I'll take a few days off and be ready to roll next week. The idea is to get my base weekly mileage up to the point I can run credible weekly mileages in the fall preparation time. Nice to have goals; execution is always the problem.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Try Again

By this afternoon my ankle was feeling much better, so off to the treadmill I go. I turned in a very cautious four miles in 8:30 a mile, and felt no pain other than the front shin stretching I did after the run when the ankle was pushed a bit.

I know this is really a slow run, but it seemed smart given the circumstances. With the weekend coming up and some recovery I didn't want to do something stupid. So I'll probably find something else to mess up!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Pain Again

No running today. So much for the back-to-back days, and I think it's thundering outside as God laughs.

The not-so-laughing matter is that I woke up this morning with a throbbing ankle again. The lateral movement is fine, though, so I think it is healing. The forward motion is what hurts. It'll get better, but no running today. Maybe tomorrow?

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Back, Sort Of

I'm back from vacation, and it was a good one with lots of hiking and long drives, and my ankle actually feels better. I hurt it again about a week ago, which took two days to recover from, but today I was back on the treadmill for a five mile re-introduction run.

The run felt fine, although it was clear my leg muscles weren't really loose enough from all the hiking. I finished in a pedestrian, by design, 8:13 a mile. The real test will be how I respond.

My thoughts are that I will run two days in a row with an off day for a while, and of course taking off the weekends since I don't have access to a treadmill. I can hear God laughing at my plans now.