Every day is a new day

Easy day with last mile at 8:00.

Warm up as high school coach running around cross country meet.

Ran the community 5k after the high school race and went out too fast with the croud( 6:40 1st mile) and ended up staggering to a 23:05.

Day off.

Long run day.  Felt horrible ended up at 1:39:05.

Ran a slow steady hill course to check out the hamstrings.  Tight but no problem.  Rain, sleet and hail seemed to slow me down.

Prerace taper day.  No issues.

Finally made it to a race with my 16 year old son.  I promised in March 2007 weeks after I started running after a 25 year gap, that I would run in the next local race.  Today was the day.  He did 38:28 I did 46:18.  Never has losing felt so good

Finally got out three days of meetings.  Too late to run outside. Five treadmill miles at 8:00.

Ran the hill workout course at 1:22.  Cold but no wind. Heard a bear in the park but didn't see it.  Legs hurt more than I would like.

After the rolled ankle incident yesturday, I thought it wise to run on the treadmill even though it was a sunny day.  "Easy" days are hard on the treadmill due to bordom.  Ended up with 9.1 miles @ 8:45/mile.

Last long run before Seattle. Did 13.1 road miles in the rain and snow with an air temp around 36.  Felt good most of the way.  Hope the hills in Seattle aren't too much worse than today.

Was out in the field the last week and truely had nowhere I could run.  Walked a lot and tried to keep busy.  Interesting how hard it was not to run.  Anyway back in town and ran 12.5 at a little slower than marathon pace.  Was struggling at the end but made it through.  Seattle is now only a week away for me and my son.  The bet is if he beats me by more or less than 20 minutes. (  He beat me by 7:45 in a 10K a couple of weeks ago.)

Now I remember why I usually take a day off after 12 or more miles.  Legs felt weak today and struggled to get in a little more than an hour.  It's OK I know my legs were tired.  One more speed day tomorrow and then taper to Sunday.  Current odds are 3:2 in my favor.  Fortunately the bet is in name only.

Just ran long enough to warm up and stretch.  Hamstrings tight and complaining.  With a race in less than a week I forced myself not to run and did an hour on the eliptical machine.  Feel good tonight, so hope to do a mile interval day tomorrow as the last hard workout before Sunday.

Last hard day before the race on Sunday.  Warm up, cool down with 4 mile intervals at:

1: 7:25

2: 7:15

3: 7:05

4: 7:00

Felt good to run, ready as we will ever be to fly 900 miles to race on a new course.  The half seems no problem.  The Seattle hills might be trouble for those of us hill adverse.  This will be a test also for training modes. I went with distance and tempo.  My son went with tempo and interval with little or no distance.  I guess this weekend we will find out who was right.

Waiting in the hotel for the race on Sunday.  Should not have run so hard but did 2 easy and 4.5 tempo miles. Well rest day tomorrow.

Back home after running the Seattle half. Satisfied with 1:48+. Ran very conservatively not being sure about the hills. As a result I had a good time on the first half viewing the scenery. The second half hills were not as bad as advertised, quite reasonable actually, but it was hard to pick up the pace very much on hills. I managed to keep my son within 20 minutes, ( by seconds!), so that was a win too. All in all a great race on a better than reported, abet a little slow, course.

Today was time to hit the road after a couple of post race rest days.  Mostly slow pace with a couple of tempo miles mixed in.  Still feel a little tired legwise but all in a good solid run.  Plan to tone down distance  to try and average about 40 miles a week through the winter, picking up the pace late February to start training for a race in the late May early June timeframe.

Just for laughs ran the first half of the half without looking at my watch, just going by feel not race pace but a good tempo run.  Ran it in 50:30 leading me to believe I ran a wee bit too conservatively last Sunday.  The good part of this leads me to find a race in the next few months to try again.  See there is value in a slow race.

Just an absolutely beautiful day.  Clear sky and 28-30 degrees.  A rare perfect day in southeast Alaska.  Ran the half park half road run for 7 easy miles.  One hour and one minute and had a great time looking around at the snow capped mountains and other sights.  I love runs that are fun just because they are.  Long run tomorrow will be a little more work.  Hope for fifteen but may not have time.

Clear, cold and beautiful again today.  Could not pass on the chance to do a long run in the sunshine.  Kept to an easy pace of 8:50/ mile for a total time of 2:02:27.  Felt good no problems or complaints.

Treadmill day as it was 8 degrees with a wind chill over 25 below.

Did a steady one mile warm up and cool down with the rest at 7:45 pace. 10k at 49:00 and 7.5m  at 1:00:20.

Looks like the same weather for tomorrow, so treadmill it is!

Unfortunately the weather was not condusive to running outdoors so it was the treadmill again.  Ran an easy one hour even and felt bored but good by the end.  Looks like it will be warmer for tomorrow so hopefully back to the park loops.

Trying to find a half to race in January or late April/ early May that would be quick to get to from Alaska.  Anyone have a good idea?

Treadmill again.  Total time with varing speeds 60:24.  Seem to be in this steady 7-7.5 mph rut.  Think I will go with 4 easy, 1 tempo and one long run for most of the winter since it doesn't look good for racing in January.  I just hope I get more outdoor days than this week!

Outdoors at last.  Weather moderated a lot today was in the high twenty's with little wind and only a few snow flakes.  Did the park loops plus 3 miles on the road avoiding the hills.  Time of 1:05 was just where I wanted to be since the trail is a little slow.  Felt great to be out of the gym.

Interesting run today.  It warmed up and rained a little but the ground was so cold it turned to clear ice.  Fell down twice on turns.  Not the best day for running outside.

None the less ran a good easy pace for 1:10:05.  Don't think a tempo run would have been advisable today.  Looking forward to more normal conditions.

Originally ment to do a long run today as is usual on my weekly schedule.  Between the heavy rain and a tight hamstring due to yesterdays fall due to ice on the road, I decided to put off the long run til tomorrow  and do an easy run instead.  Comfortable in 1:03:20.  Hamstring does not hurt at this speed, but does twinge running uphill or at speed. Do not plan to do much of either this week so will not be a problem. 

Nice weather for a run with breaks in the clouds this afternoon.  Inspiring to add a couple of extra miles. Did the park, road and extra trail loops with a total time of 2:26:13. Nice slow pace made this a very enjoyable run with only minor hamstring tightness that did not affect the run.

I wish there were more days like this!  I felt that a few more miles would have been no trouble as long as I kept to this pace and did not add any more  hills.

I was a little surprised how long it took to loosen up and get comfortable today.  Guess that is why you add miles to the long run slowly.  Tried a steady progression in speed after a 1.5 mile warmup at 8:55/mile.  Remaining seven miles were as follows:

8:30

8:30

8:15

8:00

8:00

7:45

7:30

Felt good all the way through.  One of those days that convinces me of the value of a rest day.

Recovery day so ran 6 at 8:45 and the last mile at 8:00 so it would seem like a workout.  Everything fine except the dreary wet windy weather.

Did a 2.5 mile warmup at 8:49/mile.  Then did a 5k with miles of 7:30, 7:15 and 7:00 with the last 1/10th at 6:45. Finished up with a 2.4 cooldown at 9:00.  All was good, no problems or issues.

To be honest some easy days aren't.  This was one of them, from thinking I was way too slow,( I wasn't 8:49 as planned), to having to pull out all the "don't quit early" rules I have in my head.  Some days you just have to force the miles.  This was one of them and I'm really glad I did.

So, all in, eight "easy" miles 70:35.

Normally this would be a long run day, but I had done enough miles that I thought a short-long run was the best bet.  Weather was nice with temp. about 36 and only light rain.

Ran the park loops with two road extensions with miles between 8:35 and 9:02 for a total of 10.5 miles in 1:29.

Good run and week with less soreness than expected,  since the last time I got to this mileage level I started having "issues" with my hamstrings.

Six inches of new snow over freezing rain did not make for a good situation.  It was hard to stand up never mind run anywhere today.  So the treadmill it was.

Decided a modified interval day was in order.  Ran 2 miles at  8:49 warm up.  Then ran 3x1600 at 7:05, 6:55 then 6:45 with 2:00 jog between.  Followed by 3.6 miles at 8:49 as a cool down.  Felt great the whole way and I was pleased with the ease of the third interval.

Maybe the streets will be plowed by tomorrow!

Nothing special today, although quads twinged a bit when I got up this morning.  I suspect I was a little too quick on the cooldown/stretch yesterday. decided a longish recovery run was in order so ran the park 10.5 miles 1:29:30 for about 8:30/mile.

Thought for a change I would run the 'out the road" run.  Really wasn't the best idea even though it was sunny and about 20 degrees.  Snow, ice and snow banks really made for tough footing.  Sunshine makes up for a lot however, and I had a great time struggling through the conditions for 1:12 which is about 8:50/mile.

More than a little sore from yesterdays hard packed snow run.  It is interesting how a small change in form, to prevent slipping, can result in a lot harder workout for the same speed as well as interesting aches and pains in parts of my legs usually immune from them.

Long story short since conditions had not improved much, worse actually since snow was falling at about 4 inches an hour for a good part of the day, I reluctantly went to the gym and treadmill.

Ran 10.1 miles in 1:25:10 for 8:26/mile. A little faster than I usually would run this but dropped 20 seconds a mile for the treadmill effect.  Still sore after yesterday this evening.

Little to report today except it was hard to find the time to run the distance I wanted to do.  Where there is a will there is a way o I put off some work til the weekend to free up a couple of mid-day hours. 

Weather has warmed up and now it's 40 and raining.  much more to my liking as a runner.

Uneventful easy paced run 11.1 in 1:34  for 8:30/mile.

My legs felt dead this morning, I have no idea why.  Briefly considered not running today but quickly decided to give it a go, start slowly and only stop if the legs still felt bad after a couple of miles.  Did a very slow 2 mile warmup 19:00 and then slowly ramped up to normal long run pace of about 8:40. Legs never fully came around but never did more than remind me they were tired. In the end 12.5 miles in 1:48:50 for around 8:45/mile.  Glad I did not listen to myself and ran anyway.

For a change of pace I went to the track today.  Conditions were less than ideal as about one third of the gravel/sand track was mostly snow and ice. I could weave a little and avoid the worst of it however.

I ran a warm up mile at 8:50 then another at 8:00.  Then switched to 5 x 400 at an average of 85s with a 400 at 2:15 between them.  Then ran a two mile at a 7:30 pace followed by a cool down mile at 8:45.

I was a little surprised at how hard the quarters were and how slow they were.  I think it shows my lack of any speed work in months.  Guess I will add a speed day to each week.

Day off tomorrow....... Merry Christmas to all of you.

Took an extra day off for Christmas since the weather was too bad to bother with a trip to town to run, besides the gym was closed.  Went on a three day camping trip to the volcano island nearby.  No running but lots of high quality hiking with the family, including college student who hates camping.  Great fun!

Back to the real world today.  Ran a 2.5 warm up, them 3.5 tempo with splits of 7:05, 7:01, 6:56 and 3:26.  Then didi a two mile cool down.  Good solid, but not too hard, workout.

I was really looking forward to running outdoors today.  Of course the weather had other ideas.  My skiff ride to town was truely by memory as it was snowing so hard that visability was less than 100 yards.  Kept up all morning, so I resigned myself to the treadmill.  Being a weekend the only gym in town was packed and the half hour rule was in effect for the treadmills.  After my half was up I noticed people waiting so no luck. Frustrated by only getting warmed up, I put on my long pants and coat and ran the short park loop in the heavy snow.  End result 7 easy miles total time 1:02 including the costume change.

Just for a change I started ( after a warm up) with 2 miles in 15:00 then slowed down to recovery pace for 49:00.  Park trail was quite slippery in spots but all in not too bad.  Wind came up and kept getting hit on the head with ice falling off the Spruce and Hemlock trees.

All and all a good year.  January and February were mostly non running months.  Started a regular and continuous program in mid March.  Ended up just shy of 1600 miles.  I plan on 2200-2400 miles for this year and hope for continued improvement at all distances.  Plan on making sure I fall no further behind my high school junior running son.

Happy New Year to all!