The knee isn't better...

I have a doctor's appt. tomorrow, so I didn't run this morning. No use in pushing it.

I was supposed to do 12 miles on Saturday, but I don't think it's in the cards.

SPEEDPLAY!!!!

Yesterday...

Here were my splits...

1. 10:03 warm-up
2. 1:16.35 sprint
3. 2:20.67 jog
4. 59.98 sprint
5. 2:06.3 jog
6. 1:00.45 sprint
7. 2:58.18 jog
8. 1:00.88 sprint
9. 10:17.04 cooldown

Total time was 32:03.52. Total distance was 4 miles.

Tweaked my knee playing tennis with the kids

So I am going to give it a day of rest...so much for cross-training.

Speedplay tomorrow!!!

6.5 miles - beautiful day!!!

Saturday's pace was 8:16 per mile - so 53:45 total time...

The knee feels a little tight, but I think I'm good enough to go on training. My coach wants me to take an extra day off, so I will move to a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday schedule.

See ya out there!

The knee is already feeling better...

Maybe the combination of glucosamine chondroitin, rest, ice, and Sam Adam's Light did the trick!

Today is another rest day and I run tomorrow with my running coach. Looking forward to it.

Runner's knee....

Hobbled by runner's knee now.

I post a 6:24 mile on Tuesday and now it's runner's knee. One step up, two steps back.

Time to rehab and dial back on the training a little.

What a difference 10bpm makes...

I did a recovery run today which was 5 miles in one of my lower zones. I decided to stay between 150-155bpm anyway and managed an 8:43 pace.

My splits:

First half - 21:32/8:36 pace
Second half - 22:03/8:49 pace

Tomorrow I'll probably be doing a base run and calisthenics.

My comment about 10bpm? At 144bpm, I am putting in about a 9:15 minute pace. Averaging 150bpm over the entire run shaves 30 seconds off. This is pretty exciting stuff!

See ya out there!

SIX MINUTES, TWENTY FOUR SECONDS!!!!

A 6:24 MILE!!!! I ran 1 mile splits today with the following:

1 Mile warm up: 10:44
1 Mile sprint: 6:24
1 Mile cool-down: 11:29

Recovery run tomorrow! See ya out there!

The air had a little snap to it today

Which was awesome to run in. If it weren't a recovery run, I could have spent another couple of hours out there. Today's run was supposed to be a nice and easy pace, so I did my 5 miles in 44:52 which is an 8:58 pace - just what I was shooting for.

Could have used the run today...

Today was a rest day. I would've like to have had the endorphin rush to give me a mental boost.

By the way, to my reading public, my kids rock. All I need to do is stay in the moment with them and the other stays outta my head.

Ah well.

Tomorrow is a nice and easy 5 mile recovery run. Gonna run below threshold, probably at about 144bpm. That will be the boost I need.

7.5 Miles in 1:01:40...

That's an 8:13 pace!!!! I am so dang stoked!!!

We ran at Springbrook Preserve in Naperville. It looked like rain, but it seemed nice enough. The weather held out though, which was great.

I don't have enough adjectives to adequately describe just how awesome the run was. It does turn out though that I've been holding back.

See ya out there!

hehe...what did I get myself into?

My running coach said "Let's get you to a 6 minute mile, that way you can do 7:20 per mile easy for a marathon."

This should be fun. I'm really interested in seeing how I come out on the other side of this.

wOOt!!!! 5 miles today

What a gorgeous day! Getting up to see the sun rise over God's creation (I'm an intelligent design kinda guy all because of one word - causality - but that's for another blog). It's just beautiful out there.

I didn't have the wherewithal to do the exercises that my coach suggested and I was short on time, so I decided to do one better and just run faster.

5 miles in 43:08 - that's an 8:37 pace!!!! I am so stoked.

If I am going to qualify for Boston, I have to sustain at least a 7:38 pace for 26.2 miles. There's loads of work to be done.

Tomorrow is a day of rest and Saturday I have my first coaching session.

See ya out there!

Must stretch better

My calves felt like taut rubber bands on the verge of snapping, so I didn't do my recovery run today. Back to it tomorrow.

See ya out there.

SPEEDPLAY!!!!!

4x1 minute pickups bookended by 10 min warm ups...

1. 10 min warm up
2. sprint for 1 min
3. 3 min jog
4. sprint for 1 min
5. 3 min jog
6. sprint for 1 min
7. 3 min jog
8. sprint for 1 min
9. 3 min jog
10. 9:20 cool down

I covered about 3.8 miles, so it went pretty well, except for almost spewing my guts out after the last sprint. Good times!!!

An easy five....

Today's was a recovery run. 5 miles nice and easy. It was supposed to be a 10:00 pace, but I ended up having a 9:16 pace. I played around with form a little, which may have given me some speed.

This week is allegedly supposed to be easy, but since I took off last week, I will do the speed play and strength drills that I missed out on.

See ya out there.

Tomorrow - an easy 5 miles

The ankle is healing nicely. I'll be continuing to ice it until it's 100%.

The time in my head has been nice. An hour and almost 40 minutes on Saturday gives one time to think. Do martyrs create their own hell on Earth while looking towards a reward in heaven? What is a martyr? "One who suffers for the sake of principle"? Won't this only matter if there is positive change that comes of the actions or inactions of the martyr? I say yes. What's the point of being a martyr for a principle if it does not change the situation and allow the principle to actually take effect. Why sacrifice needlessly?

I welcome arguments to the contrary.

See ya out there.

TEN!!!!

Great day for a run, if only a little windy.

I felt pretty good starting out, so I went 10 miles today. It was a 9:43 pace, for a grand total of 1:37:09. Not too shabby for 10 miles after having taken a week off to rest my ankle. I'm feeling pretty good. I think I'll still ice the ankle tonight and tomorrow just to make certain it's healing.

Hey, be certain to check out my fundraising campaign page. I haven't really kicked off my efforts but I will soon.

Tomorrow is a day of rest and Monday is recovery.

See ya out there.

It's Friday....last day of resting the ankle

And time to hit it tomorrow morning...I was thinking about going for 10 miles, but that would be kinda stupid. No point in pushing it, right? I'm gonna go on feel. If its good, I'll do 6, nice and easy.

Icing it has worked pretty good. Oddly enough, so do a few beers on Thursday nights at Rizzo's in Naperville. Gotta love $2 cheeseburgers!

The ankle is getting better...

Slowly - looks like Saturday will be in the cards. I am so stoked....

See you out there.

Another day off....

That ankle still isn't quite right, so I am going to rest it for a couple of days. Hoping to make my 10 mile run on Saturday.

No run today...

Did something weird to my ankle. No recovery run for me.

Where the hell have I been!?!?!

It's been what - a week?

Well there's been alot of crap I have been dealing with and those close to me know - and I thank them all. They have earned and deserve my gratitude.

On to it...so..

Monday I did a recovery run - 4 miles. Unfortunately I forget the time.

Tuesday was speed play. 4x1 minute sprints separated by 2-3 minutes of jogging. This is bookended by 10 minutes of warmup/cooldown. This was allegedly supposed to cover 5 miles. I did 3.5 miles in 30:35. According to a couple of more experienced runners, I was bookin'. It sure felt like it though. I almost spewed after the 3rd and 4th sprints!

Wednesday - I was supposed to do 6 but ran 4 on accident. ah well...

Thursday - 5 miles which I ran in a 9:34 pace!

Today (Saturday) was 9 miles. I did it in 1:25:05. That's a 9:27 pace. I'm pretty stoked!

I'm gonna see if I can qualify for Boston at the Disney Marathon!

See ya out there!