Go long.

It was about 65 degrees today and while the humidity was pretty high, as it will always be here by the ocean it was still a real nice morning for a run. I decided to pack some food today for my run. I have a water belt that holds a 20 oz bottle on the small of my back and also has a little pouch for my phone and... some fig newtons. They make gels that are essentially carbs in a little pouch but I don't want to fork over $1.50 per pouch nor do I want to have to make my own gel. So fig newtons it is. I packed two and ate them at about mile 7 when I stopped for a bathroom break and a longer drink of gatorade.

I wanted to see how my stomach handled it and I'm happy to say I didn't have any problems with digestion. I did feel like I didn't quite die out like I do at the end of my runs. Before when I run 9-11 miles the last two miles are really just a haze of me keeping upright and getting one foot in front of the other. The cookies seemed to help with this. I felt pretty good when I finished. I also beat my old 11 mile time by four and a half minutes so the fig newtons must be magical.

11 miles in 1:34:30, 8:36 m/mile.

I think my garmin was messing up because my splits were all over the place this morning.

1-8:24
2-8:34
3-9:02
4-8:50
5-9:44
6-8:04
7-8:33
8-7:57
9-8:09
10-8:54
11-8:14

Mile 5 is where it really doesn't make sense. I'm normally good at keeping my pace steady or at least know when I'm dropping off. I felt fresh for mile 5 and I was picking up the pace pretty good by that point. I think the trees were blocking the signal or something. Oh well. I still improved my time and had a great 5 miles (6-9 and 11) where I was able to push the pace into my goal half marathon pace.



Wednesday: 4 miles on the treadmill at the gym.
9:13
8:57
8:27
9:13

Tempo, shall we?

I checked the weather, 70 degrees chance of light rain. I noticed it was raining but figured it wouldn't be a big deal. I grabbed the garmin but left the ipod at home and started out. The rain was light for about 2 minutes of my run, the first two. Then the downpour started. I felt like a little kid outside playing in the rain. The people driving past me thought I looked like a moron. The only problem with rain running is I kept inhaling rain in my nose and that doesn't feel good. The added water weight in my shoes really bogged me down and made hitting my pace a little extra work. The 11 mph wind didn't help much either.

Splits:
1-8:47
2-7:53
3-7:42
4-7:37
5-7:22
6-9:04

Yesterday: an easy 5 on the treadmill, 9:13 m/mile

Long

Went long this morning. I got in my new shoes yesterday, 2 pair to be exact and today pair "A" got a proper break in. The temp was only 75 degrees but the humidity was 97% and I could tell. It's not a shocker for my shirt to be soaked through by about mile 3 and by the time I'm done running I'm pretty much soaked in sweat from head to toe; no matter the time of year. But today by about mile 5 I was soaked from head to toe. By mile eight my shorts were so wet they were getting heavy and I was having to cinch the drawstring as tight as I could just to keep them up.

The humidity was draining on me but I hit my splits and properly broke in a pair of new running shoes. It's amazing how new shoes just make those little aches go away and amazing how bad shoes can make my knees hurt just a few miles into a run. Perfect timing on the shoes and with 2 pair of the exact shoe I should be able to make them last 6 or so months.

Splits:
1-9:24
2-8:54
3-8:58
4-9:10
5-8:37
6-9:11
7-8:28
8-8:38
9-8:31
10-8:47
11-8:43

Easy...sort of

I get the idea behind the easy run but I'm not sure the name easy is real accurate. Sometimes easy runs aren't so easy especially when they follow a tempo run. My hip hurts, my leg hurts, my chest hurts, my ankle hurts, my hip hurts again, is today the day I don't make it. Maybe I should cut the run short to just 3 miles. And so the conversation continues in my mind until I finally I decide to stop being a cream puff and just finish the run.

Splits:
1-9:11 (ironic)
2-8:39
3-8:45
4-8:32
5-8:22
.5-4:01

Due to being tired and other time constraints my long run still hasn't happened for the week. I'm thinking probably Saturday.

Somethings weak

But I'm not sure if it's my mind or my body. On monday I woke up just exhausted. My entire body was just tired from the busy weekend. So instead of going out for my long run of 11 miles I decided to just do a lap to the park and settled for 5.5 miles. Tuesday came and my right knee was bothering me. I'm pretty sure it's from my oldest pair of shoes and decided that they need to be retired. I've ordered two new pair but they haven't gotten here yet. If they don't hurry up I'm going to have some problems.

So I didn't run on Tuesday and figured today would be a good day for speedwork. So I did intervals. 7 miles in 57:31.

Splits:
1- 9:40
1- 7:13
.5- 4:37
1- 7:13
.5- 4:37
1- 7:13
.5- 4:37
.5- 4:00
.25- 2:18
.75- 6:00

Very enjoyable run on the treadmill at the gym.

I've got a race on September 27. The Neptune festival 8k, that's not quite 5 miles for my non canadian friends. My goal will be somewhere between 36-38 minutes.

Tempo

Speed work day I have to psych myself up for. I can go out for a few miles and push the pace, even hit my tempo pace but speed work days I have to get mentally prepared to get there. Today on the schedule was 6 miles, 4 @ 7:49 between a warm up and a cool down.

I decided to run at the gym, out of the rain and on the treadmill I can control my pace a little bit better. I knew from the start it was going to be a good run. I felt comfortable after my warm up mile and even comfortable after the first mile at 7:49, my heart rate confirmed that I wasn't really working that hard. I decided that after the second mile at 7:49 I would increase the pace. Finished the run at 7:30 for the next mile and then 7:00ish for the final mile.

I WORKED hard and that's probably why I like tempo runs so much. I love seeing the progress, the burn in the legs but the knowledge that this pace is faster than I've ever run before.

Runner's Paradise

I had a meeting in Frederick, MD yesterday. I lived there before moving here to Suffolk so I figured downtown in the park would be a nice place to run. It was a great place to run and even better than I remembered. The new Carroll Creek Park the riverside walk is beautiful. There are just a few street crossings that are well marked. I've never run somewhere like that. I'm not sure what I liked so much about it. Perhaps the change of scenery, being beside the water, running on a place meant for runners and walkers. Probably all of the above.

4.16 miles in 35:53

Splits:
1-8:56
2-8:22
3-8:16
4-8:51
.16-1:26