Every day is a new day

Thought New Years Day was a good day for an easy morning run.  Ran the park loops for 1:30:30.  Nothing special except I had the park to myself as it was blowing about 40mph.  A good relaxing first run of the new year.

Heavy rain and icy roads lead me back to the treadmill today.  Not very crowded so got my full time in do do an easy day run.  No issues besides bordom.  Total time 1:09:10.

Beautiful day!  Sun peeking out through the clouds with only occasional rain with temp around 40.  perfect day for a road run.

I had forgotten the value of music during harder workouts.  i wore my i-pod today and felt good even during the faster/hilly parts.  It does make a difference.

Ran a total of 9.1 miles with miles 2,4 and 7 at an average of 7:00/mile ( 7:20, 6:40 and 7:00) and miles 1,3,5,6,8 and 9 at 8:45/ mile for a total of 1:14:00.  Good solid workout for me anyway.

Beautiful not a cloud in the sky type of day. Snow covered moutains and volcano, calm expanse of the ocean and the national forest that surrrounds our town make this place amazing.

Obviously there was no other choice but an outside run.  Temps in the teens made a slow easy pace run a bit chilly but a small price to pay for the view.

A little sore from yesterday encouraged me not to add any speed miles today.

Nothing exciting today.  Did an out and back to Whale Park, (yes you usually can see a whale or two- none today however), at an average of 8:44/mile.  Legs were sore the whole run.  Even  though the number of miles was not that high this week, I just realized this was the seventh day in a row I ran.  Rest day it is for tomorrow!

Weather was nice, overcast 32-33 degrees with almost no wind.  Icy in spots on the edge of the road.  Way more traffic than usual, maybe because I ran later in the day.

Still sore even after a day off.  Memo to self: remember this when you do not want to take the occasional day off.

Easy day seemed to be the answer with continuing soreness.  So warmed up and set the mill for 9:00/mile.  Boredom set in right away so to mix it up I ran miles 1,3,5 and 7 at 0 % incline.  Ran mile 2, 4 and 6 at 4, 5 and 6 % incline.  The last was a bit of a struggle.  I really do not do enough hill work.

Legs were really sore today.  That and this lingering cold put me squarely in the " I do not want to run today" mode.  Since I started running regularly in March I have missed runs but not once due to " I do not feel like it" bad days.  I was determined that this would not be the first.  Winds of 30+ and light blowing snow were not factors. 

Decided I was sore enough that a true slow recovery run was in order.  Ran out the road and back, out into the wind and a big push comming back.  Took a casual 1:07 to do the 7.5 miles.  Legs never went quiet but never got bad either.  Since I feel way better now I am sure glad I forced myself to run.  Isn't it almost always that way?

When it rains it snows.  Over 8 inches of heavy and slushy snow.  No roads were plowed today so outdoor running was not an option.

Went to the gym. Looked good as all four treadmills were open.  Started with a longer than usual 3 mile warm up at 8:45/ mile.  Sped the machine up to do a tempo run and it quit...quickly....and I didn't.  Fortunately no injury.  Moved to the next machine,  it did not work either.  Third machine..... belt slipping so badly the tread stopped on each footfall so as a result it was unusable.  Last machine, the one I never use, the one that reads 3.5 mph low was the only option.  Ramped it up to 5.2 mph( 8.7 real speed) and started a tempo run when after a mile and a half, you guessed it, the breaker trips and I'm lucky not to be on the deck.  Sometimes you have to just admit defeat.  lets just call this a recovery day and move on.  On the way back to work I bought a set of Yak trax so the icy conditions expected tomorrow will not prevent an outdoor run.

The things we will do to excercise!

I have had for the last 10 days the worst bout of the flu in many, many  years.  I will not bother with the details except no running Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thurs or today if I had not pretended  I was racing for the gold to finish my 3.5 miles in less than 35 minutes.  I am glad it's gone and I can breath, live and run again.  The run actually helped clear my fully dysfunctional lungs, at least enough that going up the stairs doesn't require five minutes of rest before trying to find the route back down.  I can finally say tomorrow looks better than today.

Perfect sunny winter day!.  Cold, clear and no wind.  I wish my lungs were working so I could have really taken advantage of the day.  As it is I do feel lucky to make it through a very, very slow 7.2 miles in 1:08. My lungs, no matter how slow it seems to be happening, are better than yesterday and  the uncontrolled coughing is no only occasional.

Sunny day and the cough level was under 100 per mile.  lungs are improving but none to fast. It is unnerving to breath so hard while running slow.  Whale park and back for 8.5 miles in 75 minutes or about 8:49/mile.  Except for breathing so hard no other issues.

Cloudy day and the cough level was under 80 per mile.  Lungs are improving but none to fast. It is unnerving to breath so hard while running slow.  Whale park and back for 8.5 miles in 73 minutes or about 8:40/mile.  Except for breathing so hard, no other issues.

Ran 4 miles on an out and back to the track.  Hoped to do some intervals there, but the track was covered in glare ice.  Ran back to the gym and finished with 4 miles on the treadmill at a 8:20 pace.

Sunny day, great 30 degree afternoon for the Whale Park out and back route.

Lungs finally seem to be mostly clear with only minor coughing today. Ultra consistant with 35:50 minutes out and 36:10 minutes back.

Tried out the heart rate monitor.  Ave 146 ( 112-166) for the easy run.  I hope that is part due to the 9 days off and the flu.  HR is too high for an easy day its almost tempo rate.  Think I will try15-20 seconds a mile slower tomorrow and see what I get.  For us old folk an easy day should be a HR of 130 or less.

After yesterdays unexpexted rest day I thought I better put a few miles in today.  Ran the 1/2 marathon course plus a bit. Ran slow and easy, realizing I am still not 100% as my lungs are still stuffy and have periodic bouts of coughing.  So easy 13.5 miles 1:59 for just under      9:00 min/ mile.  Tired but feel fine.

Slow, short recovery jog.  Just enough to loosen up the legs.

It is eight degrees and the wind is blowing better than 30 mph.  Sorry, too cold for this guy.  Went to the gym and did a slow 2.5 mile warm up, then did 3x1600 at 7:00 with a three minute jog then a moderate paced cooldown for a total of 8.7 miles in 1:12 for an average of 8:28/mile.

Easy recovery day so kept the heartrate in the 130's.  Nice day sunny and not too cold. Plodded along for 76 minutes so works out to a 8:50 pace/ mile. Legs were just a little sore at the beginning. Not surprising since it had been a long time since my last speed work. Need to keep at it so I don't embarass myself at the 5K run in three weeks, which will be mainly high school xc kids.

I really like my data recording HR monitor and find the print out log of heartrate really interesting and useful for training.  The GPS on the other hand gives very suspect results.  I am afraid that the reception here in the great state of Alaska is below requirements for these little GPS units.

Blowing snow and no visability lead me to the gym today.  I hate tempo runs on the mill.  I don't mind intervals but bordom sets in way too fast on mid paced stuff.

Oh well, better the mill than nothing.  Ran a 3 mile warm up in 27:00 for 9:00/mile, then a 5K tempo run in 23:00 for 7:25/mile then a 2.1 cool down in 18:50 for 9:00/mile.  Total 8.2 miles in 1:08:50.

HR was high today peaked at 166 at the end of the 5K.

Just wanted to do an easy recovery run today. In the ice vs. treadmill battle the treadmill won.

Sucked it up an ran my 8.1 in 71 minutes for an 8:50 pace. Nice easy run felt great except for the bordom.  Ave HR  143.

So 159.5 miles for the month with 8 days down with the worst flu I can remember, so all in not too bad.  Will try to get back to the 210-220 level next month.

Same as yesterday except for 12-14 inches of new wet snow.  So had to repeat Thursdays run.

So did 8.1 miles in 71:00 minutes for an 8:50 pace.  Oddly enough average HR was the same as yesterday as well at 143.

More snow expected tonight so long run may have to be on the treadmill.  Oh joy.

Decided to split up the long run today since it is still snowing and  I could not bear the thought of another long run on the treadmill.  I know it is not the same but I really want to get the miles in today.

So ran 6.2 in 53:24  for about 8:37/mile. Will try to get back to the gym later this afternoon if I can get away from my desk. Average HR again was 143.

P.M.  Back to the machine.  Little change since I was last there, the only difference is it was at least 5 or 6 degrees warmer.  Ran an easy 6.6 miles at 8:55/mile.  Felt fine- I had never done two real runs in the same day. Great for getting the miles in without strain.  I sure hope I can get back to the road by next long run day though.  HR 141 ave.

Now there is almost three feet of snow on the ground.  We have road graders for snow plows in this town.  All the snow must be dumped in the ocean.  Needless to say the streets are almost unusable for cars or runners. 

To change up the treadmill routine I did a 2 mile warmup at 9:00/ mile, then ran a fast ( for me) mile at 6:45/ mile with a .25 jog, then a graduated three miles going from 8:30/ mile down to 6:45/ mile with a smooth speed increase ave 7:40 and finally almost a mile cooldown at 9:00.  Total time 1:01.  Average HR 148 ( 120-166)

I thought it might be time to make a change in my training routine.  Since I recently got a logging HR monitor I thought training  by HR was worth a try, even if only for a change of pace.

It seems I was running my easy/long runs too fast and my interval/tempo runs too slow, at least according to average HR.

So in light of the above ran 7.1 easy at 9:12/ mile for an average HR of 138.

Exactly the same as yesterday. 

7.1 miles at a 9:12 pace. Average HR 136.

Quite the winter.  Still way too much snow to run anywhere plus winds to 50 mph the rest of the week.  I am promising myself no more treadmills once spring arrives.

Did a series of progression runs from 8:15 down to 6:30. With a warm up and cool down the total was 7.3 miles in 58 minutes. Average HR 149.

Easy day on the treadmill.  Sunny but cold and windy( 8 degrees and wind 35+).  Two more feet of snow expected in the next 36 hours, but turning to rain by Monday and then rain all next week.  The good news is that should allow running outside by Wednesday.

Today was a recovery easy day of 7.3 miles in 65 minutes for an 8:54 pace.  Ave HR 137.

Where do I start?  Let's see winds 45 gusting to 60. Blowing snow and ice fog.  No plowing for 36 hours. Oh yeah 12 degrees.  Could not risk a boat ride to town for the treadmill.

That left jogging around the island trails with snow shoes.  So that is todays workout. On a perceved effort basis slow jogging in deep snow with snowshoes is easily as difficult as marathon paced running.

The good news is the weather is changing and it is expected to rain all week!

Raining and in the 30's!  Back outside as soon as tomorrow. 

After a 2.2 mile warm up ran a treadmill 5K at hard but not hardest pace.  Ran 7:30  7:15  7:00 and 0:42 for  22:27.  Guess I'll run the local 5K on Saturday to find out where I really stand.

Recovery day so nothing special.  Still treadmilling.

Ran 7.0 miles in 1:02.  Ave HR 136.  Very hot and humid in the gym since it has warmed up so much with the return to rain.

Back to the great outdoors!  Ran with only a little glare ice on the roads.  Felt really good to see the scenery change.

Ran a 1 mile warm up then ran next Saturdays 5K course which includes a roundtrip over the bridge. While the bridge is less than a hundred feet elevation gain going over it twice in less than a mile seems to slow one down.  Ran it as a fast tempo/slow VO2 max run but managed only 23:52.  Put that down to ice and a lack of compitition.  Will know in a few days how much my speed has suffered over the winter(what little I have anyway).

Ended up with a total of 7.7 miles in 62:40.  Average HR 144.

Recovery day but wanted to run the 5K course again.  Planned on doing only recovery pace but ran a little fast and ended up with 7 miles in 58 minutes for an 8:20 pace.

Nice day with little wind and temps in the mid 40's.

I am cutting back on the miles with the increase in speed and tempo work.  Seem to be getting a lot of new aches and pains that I most definately do not want to grow into a problem.

Easy day on the treadmill.  Ran 5 miles at 9:00.  Ave HR 133.

Just so I would remember how to move my legs tomorrow at the 5K I ran the last mile at 7:30.  Ave HR 151.

Woke up to an inch or two of new snow. Wind at 25 with gusts to 30. Temp about 30 degrees.

Great weather day for the local 5K race. I did not include finishing place in the summary above as my son and I made up close to half of the total runners. We saw no one at the start and thought the race had been canceled and did minimal warm up and were leaving the start area when the organizer showed up 5 minutes before race time . A few quick strides and we were off.

The field was made up of two fast runners, me and two joggers. I often have trouble with opening pace and today was no exception. I never try to start out with my son but the other fast runner told me he was just looking for a low 7 minute pace today so I followed him, expecting to slowly lose ground but have someone in sight the whole way.

Well as expected I went out too fast, going by the first mile marker in 6:44. Then I hit the bridge- long uphill section and straight into the wind plus the snow was rather slippery on the bridge. Wind did not seem to push much on the return trip. Needless to say the second mile was slow, very slow. I noticed my HR peaked in the high 170's- a little high for an old guy like me. The third mile was tiring but uneventful. The leaders were out of sight ahead, the joggers were out of sight behind. I was tired enough that surging to the finish with no one in sight did not seem worth it. Felt tired but not exhausted at the finish.

Details 6:44, 8:17, 7:09 and :47 for 22:57 a PR for the CC course.  Ave HR 163.

Less than 4 minutes behind son, who said he had a bad day and running wearing only shorts, ( no shirt, hat or gloves), was a bad idea especially considering the wind chill.  No matter he owes me dessert tonight!

Started out with the intention of running an easy 6 or 7 to loosen up legs a little stiff from yesterdays 5K.  Got to the turn around point before Whale Park and decided it was too nice a day, ( no wind and 45 degrees), to stop, so carried on to the mill bridge and back.  Ended up with 11.0 miles at an easy 9:00 pace for 1:39:00.  Average HR was a little high at 144 but soreness nad hills accounts for that. More than a little stiff as I write this.  Stretching then a nap I think.

Ran five miles with a friend who is recovering from surgery so kept to a modest pace that actually felt just right to me after running too long yesterday after Saturdays 5K race.  Ran two miles at 7:30/ miles on the way back to the gym.  Total time 65 minutes.  Ave HR 132.

Today was a good day for the hill route.  Warm, wet and windy was the order of the day, with temps over 50.  This time of year that seems like spring.

Ran an easy and relaxed pace on the hills finishing in 1:11  for about an 8:52 pace.  Nice, fun run.

Trying out a new strategy for dealing with work hours that are growing rapidly. My son wanted to start two a days for track and asked if I would skiff into town early to get him to the track. I thought it would be a good chance to run a short run before work.  It wasn't, I am not a morning person and found the run to be harder than usual.  Still I ran 2.4 miles easy at 9:00/mile and a modest tempo 3 miles in a little under 8:00 for a total of about 45 minutes.

I will do a shorter regular lunch run assuming the legs are up for it.

P.M.  Did a slow recovery type run this afternoon.  Legs were quite sore for the first mile.  Guess I'm not used to two-a-days outdoors yet.  Did 5.6 miles in 48:30 for an 8:40 pace, all on level ground.

Felt the need to have a recovery run day due to overall soreness.  I also realized this is my tenth day in a row of running.  Since I do not want to take a day off until Sunday I thought an easy day was just right.

Nice day with no rain or wind and temps in the low 40's.  Ran for an hour for a total of 6.8 miles. 

Beutiful day for a run, sunny, no wind and temps in the 40's.  A little short on time today so ran only 6.5 miles at a slightly faster 8:20/ mile pace.  Ave HR 142.

Did not originally intend to go more than 8 miles today.  This is my thirteenth day in a row so I did not want to push it.  Of course my recent major surgery friend kept saying he felt fine and lets keep going every mile.  So we did.  I kept to a pace right for both of us and ended up with 11.7 on the mill and back route.  I had done a 1.5 mile warm up on the treadmill before he arrived for a total of 13.2 miles in 1:55 for a 8:42 average pace.  Ave HR 142.

Will run more speed work miles next week and drop the total mileage a bit to compensate.  Looking to run a flat course 5K on March 15.  Feel really slow at the moment.

A very much needed day off.  Tired fronm the last twelve days.  The good news is it is just aches and pains, nothing nagging or problematic.  Plan to cut down from low 60's to upper 40 miles and do at least 2 speed days this week.  Decided I will run the 5K in the next series race  and not my prefered 10K. I want a better 5K time.  Will try on March 15th. 

A.M. - Got up early to bring my son into town to run a self timed 800 time trial.  The track is covered in ice so we were going to mark off a section of the park trail and run it there. We got up early but son informed me he was too tired to run a time trial and would like to do it after school. Since I was already up I decided to go into town anyway and run a bit before work.  Ended up doing 5.3 miles in 44:52 for a 8:30 easy run pace.  Will do some more later.

P.M.  Went to the gym at noon to just do a couple of treadmill mile intervals since the track is under ice.   Did a 2 mile warm up, then 2x1600 with a quarter jog.  miles were 7;00 and 6:45.  Then a 1.2 mile cooldown. Felt just a little more tired than expected, but thought it was the morning run.  Actually turned out to be treadmill set at 2.5%.  Average HR 144.

I could not decide what to do today or where to go.  It was quite windy and threatening to rain heavily.  Should of been an easy day in the park.  Instead it was a tempo day on the highway in the heavy rain and wind.

Jogged a 1 mile warm up then did 7 miles at an average pace of 8:00 and only a .1 cool down due to the heavy rain.  Went in the gym and did 15 minutes of active stretching instead.

Felt pretty good, minor leg issues only.

I was just going to do an easy day treadmill run.  It was very busy at the gym today and I had to give up my machine after 30 minutes.  Put on my hat and an extra shirt and ran out to the park and back.  Total of 7.5 miles in 64 minutes for an 8:31 average.

Felt tired this morning and almost opted for only doing a 6 mile easy run.  My plan was to run a few mile intervals.  By the time I got to the gym I decided to try to follow the plan and modify only if I had to.

So ran a 2.5 mile warm up at 8:45 pace.  Then did 3x1600 at just under7:00 pace with 400 jogs followed by 2 mile cooldown.  Tired but not exhausted.

Glad I did not wimp out!  Decent workout for an old guy.

Easy day today.  I had to go out to the airport to pick up my wife's car that was left in short term parking due to lack of space.  I did not want it towed so I decided to get two things done and ran out to the airport to collect the car.  I went on a route I had never run on before and was unsure about the distance.  As per the GPS it was exactly 7.1 miles.  Ran the 6.1 at an easy 8:50 pace and the last mile at just over 7:00. for 61 minutes total.

Nice day for a run and made it back over 200 miles for the month which is my long term ave goal.

Snow last night but the roads were ok this morning. Decided a run to the gate  past the mill was a good route.  For the first time in a long time I saw a whale as I ran by Whale Park. Two actually, both humpbacks.

So for the details 14.3 miles in 2:06 for a 8:30ish pace.  Ave HR 142.

After a short .5 mile warm up I decided to do a modest paced tempo run so I ran all around and through downtown for 6.2 miles in 51 minutes for an 8:13 pace.  Then a 1.8 mile cool down to get back to the gym.  All in the run felt good after a day off.

Easy day. Sunny almost warm.  Ran to the park and did 9 loops of the main route.  8.1 miles in 1:12 for about a 8:40 pace.  Nice recovery run.

Finally home after four days out of town at meetings.  Enough meetings that I only had the chance to run twice both during breaks, only got into mild trouble for returning late to the meeting room.

Oddly enough my legs felt sluggish today, even after two days rest.  That turned into annoying almost painlike conditions after half an hour.  Not real bad so chugged along ending up with 7.5 miles in 1:04 for about a 8:40 pace.  Glad the run was over but more glad that I had made it through.

Seemed like time for a tempo run.  For some reason I find this my hardest workout to get started on. I expect it to be harder than it usually is.

Anyway ran a 2.2 mile warm up in 20:00, then into  tempo mode for 5 miles in 38:20 for a 7:39 average.  A quick 1.1 mile cool down finished it off.

Really nice sunny day with temps in the high 30's.  Decided a short long run was all I had time for today.  Overnight snow had melted in most areas by the time I started my run.

Ran 9.6 miles in 1:26 for a 8:57 pace with an average HR of 139. Just about exactly where I wanted to end up.

I decided a another hard day this week would be too much so I compromised, I ran 6.1 easy miles at 8:56 average and one mile at 6:30.  Good workout especially running the fast mile in the middle at 2.5 mph faster.  Really points out the differences between easy and upper limit miles.

Since I plan on entering the local race tomorrow, either the 5 or 10K not sure which, I decided that an easy 45 minute five miler was good preperation either way and would not overtax the legs.  Snowing again so I ran on the treadmill helping ease the strain on my legs. With snow on the ground do not expect to run race like speeds tomorrow, but none the less it will work as the beginning of a good workout. Ave HR 133.

Clear, cold but sunny morning for the March 5K local run. A much larger crowd than the last race with at least 12 runners this time. It was about 25 degrees when the gun went off. Most of the runners were high school kids. This out and back course was mainly flat with a series of small hills.

I was a little surprised to go by the mile marker in 7:22 and the half way point in 11:11. I felt more tired than the time indicated. Forced myself to keep a steady pace but knew I was not quite as fast on the return trip.

Still ended up with a new PR of 22:52 although the course end up long at 3.188 miles and my actual 5K time by GPS was a 7:15 average pace for 22:28. Either way I was satisfied with the end result.  I did manage to run a little more even pace this time, by the GPS:

1st  mile    7:01

2nd  mile   7:19

3rd mile    7:24

.1 mile       0:44

Actual 3.1 mile time 22:28. Average HR for the race 164.

Since it had been quite a while since I had done a long run today seemed as good a day as any.  Monday is a little quiter at work and since I worked all weekend I did not feel too guilty doing a long run at lunch.  The only problem was the heavy mixed rain and snow.  That is nothing unusual but does dampen the enthusiasim for a long road run.

Anyway since I had decided already out the door I went. Mixed became all snow for the first five miles.  I was intentionally running at recovery pace so it was hard to warm up until the first big hill.  Then the snow stopped and I felt reasonably warm.  The rest was mostly uneventful.  Went past the mill gate and halfway to the hatchery turning around at 7.8 miles.  Did 13.1 in 1:58 and 15.1 in 2:15 for just under a 9:00 minute pace which is exactly what I was trying for.  Good run once it was underway.

Did not want to take a day off so soon, but anything but a very easy workout would be too much after yesterdays long run.  So I decided a recovery pace short treadmill run workout would be just right.

Ran 6.1 miles at an easy 9:00 pace for 55 total minutes.  Took a little longer to loosen up than normal but no problem or issues surfaced.  Legs are tired however.

Thought it time for some kind of interval day.  Ran to the track as a warm up 2.5 miles.  It snowed some today even though it was well above freezing. About 1/4 of the track was under 1/2 to 1 inch of snow and the rest was wet and a little muddy. Ran 6x400 intervals with 200 jogs. While there was no speed, (partly due to the snow), there was consistancy as all were at 1:30 +/- 1second. That there is part of the problem, I have no speed and will work on this as we get into spring.  Ran at regular easy pace of 8:50 to make up a total of 7.25 miles for the day.

I was pretty sore today especially knees and feet.  Even my repaired achilles was saying " be careful today".  Decided a treadmill day, no matter how boring might be a little easier on the body.  So I did 3 miles at 8:40 as a warm up, then 6 miles at 8:20 as a solid easy day run.  Felt good throughout.  I tried a shorter stride/ higher turnover rate today.  Seemed to be a little easier once I got used to it.  Cannot seem to find a rate that feels right over a range of speeds.

Having a minor issue with P.F. with a little heel pain, but not while running.  It almost feels more like a bruise.  In any event I am using the treadmill to reduce the impact and pain of stepping on uneven ground, rock and the like.

Tried the new gym treadmill for my entire workout today.  It is about .2 mph faster than the other machines.  I have no idea which machine is reading correctly but I know I had a better workout on the new machine.  For what it is worth 8:19 pace for 7.5 miles for a total of 62:30 minutes.  Heel does not hurt at all while running, it hurts a little now that I am sitting at my desk.

The bottom line is everything was bothering me today feet,ankles, achilles, calfs and most of the other muscle groups.  I think the problem started with doing a long run the first day of the week so no day off like I usually do when the long run is on Saturday.  That and a speed workout and two moderate tempo runs may have tipped the balance.

So today I did the treadmill to reduce impact and carefully control the speed.  I ran 10.6 miles at 1% grade in 94 minutes for about 8:50 pace.  The funny part is once I got warmed up nothing bothered me until 10 minutes after I stopped.  Rest day tomorrow no if, ands or buts!

For the record I am stiff and sore all over today.  The good news is the P.F. and heel issue seems to be subsiding, replaced by a nagging adductor muscle issue. All in problems seem minor and I look forward to a good solid easy run tomorrow. I hope to be able to repeat last weeks runs and add just a little more distance and speed/tempo workouts.  Now only six weeks to my next race ( 1/2 marathon) in the redwoods of California.  Note to self: need to start training for running where it will be 35-40 degrees warmer.  The only way to do that here is inside on the treadmill.  Oh well.

Nice day so even though I was going to run on the mill to reduce stress on the lower body it was too nice to stay inside. Ran the park loops and the road out to the church and back. When I got back to the park decided to pick up the pace for the last two trail miles.  Legs were hurting so did not try to go all out ended up with the last two miles at 8:00/mile and an overall average of 8:45.  Tired but no major problems.

Got up early and stumbled into the boat for a 0:dark:30 trip to town.  It is getting to the point that I can't justify being out of the office for the time it takes to get in 9 or 10 miles during lunch "hour".  I will try to do two a days two or three days a week and change the off day from Sunday to a weekday.  So:

A.M.   Got to the gym just after 6:30 and there was no one about!  Of course five minutes into the run the place filled up. Enough so that the 30 minute rule was in effect, fortunately after 30 minutes I moved to the machine everyone thinks is broken because it reads  in metric, and finished up my run.

32 minutes @ 6.8 mph for a 8:49 pace and 3.6 miles

23 minutes @ 11 kph(6.8)  for a 5:27(8:49) pace and 4.2 (2.6) kilometers

Total 6.2 miles

P.M.

Did the park loops 2.7 miles at 9:00 and 3 miles at 8:05. Nice day temp almost 40 and partial sunshine.  Felt a little slow on the up tempo miles.

We were greeted with 6-8 inches of snow overnight and even though the sun was out today I did not see any good runs for a tempo workout outside.  Went to the gym instead.

As usual I was ambivalent about the tempo workout, as I don't like them for some reason.  But no guts no glory so it went as follows:

2miles warmup @ 9:00/mile

5 miles tempo @ 7:30/ mile

1 mile cool down at 9:00/ mile

Thought about a sixth miles but soreness told me that might be too much today, as it was I am satisfied with the workout.

Today was the definition of recovery day and why we do them.  I felt a little tired this morning from yesterdays workout and too little sleep.  I felt a little sluggish at work this morning too. Went to the gym and could not bear to miss the sunshine so I ran the Totem to Whale Park and back route.  Started with a really, really slow warmup and it seemed to take at least three miles before my legs loosened up. The underlying soreness subsided but never went completely away.  Stopped after eight miles as that seemed to be enough for one day.  Now an hour later I feel fine.

Ran 8.0 miles in 71:44 for 8:58/mile.

The original plan was to do an easy treadmill run to be ready to extend my long mileage tomorrow. Turns out my wife was traveling on the ferry today and just like the airport vehicles can't be left overnight.  I had a meeting so could not drive her out there.  Of course I said no problem I'll run out there and pick it up in the afternoon.  While not very far, ( only 7.5 miles), from the gym, it is along the closest thing our town has to a highway. Add to that humpback whales, sea lions, killer whales, eagles and much more to watch while driving at 50 miles an hour on a sunny day and you have a great day for drivers and not so much for runners.  I am not used to continuous high speed traffic and now remember why I don't often run on that road.  Ended up running 1:06 for an 8:48 pace.

Long run day arrived with clear blue skys and light winds.  Decided I'd try the harbor to hatchery run.  It's 7.1 miles of road then 3 miles of hilly trail and then back the same way.  I forgot how much hills can take out of you in the 7 to 13 mile range.  I purposely ran at a slow easy pace to account for never having gone this far.  In the end I ran out of time and cut through the shorcut to end up 19.5 miles in 2:55:30  for a 9:00 pace, which is in fact my recomended long pace.  I think I will not plan any more big increases in mileage at one time for the near future.

Still sore after the long run Saturday.  Tried ( mostly succeeded) to get more sleep the last two nights but was still sore and a little tired today.

Treadmill seemed right for an easy recovery day.  It took 20 minutes for the soreness to subside and 40 minutes before I felt reasonably good.  Held myself to 7.2 miles in 64 minutes for an easy 9:00 pace.  Feel good now with no soreness.

Thought it time for a tempo day.  Reality is I think it was a day too soon as I'm still a little extra sore from the long run Saturday.  Warm up miles did not completely loosen up the legs.  Add tp that 33 degrees and heavy rain and I'm not surprised it did not work out so well.  So for what its worth is my run:

2 mile warmup at 9:10 pace

tempo miles of  7:50 7:45 7:40 7:40 8:00  and

cool down miles of 8:15 and 9:00.

I will try again on Thursday if the legs feel up to it.

Easy day after yesturdays quasi tempo day. I felt that it would be a mistake to do too much two days in a row. Turns out I felt fine today, and kept feeling like I wanted to pick up the pace. Thinking about all the issues related to the work/rest cycle I knew it would be a mistake.  So I will have to be satisfied with the thought that it was a fun very easy run.  Total of 9 miles in 80:00 for an 8:53 pace.  Will try some more speed work tomorrow and decide about this weekends 5K.

Thought I'd take another go at a tempo run.  I seem to need a warmup after the warmup or I burn out at tempo pace.  As a test I ramped up the speed today using the treadmill(.5%) to better control the pace.

2 mile warmup at 8:53

6.2 mile at 8:00 7:47 7:35 7:35 7:35 7:29 and 1:30 for 47:30

1 mile cool down

This felt much better and could have kept it going if I had to.

Easy day was the plan today.  I don't know why but I decided to do a trail run I hadn't done since early last fall. So did a trail loop with many small hills and a bunch of trail type steps. Ran real easy and did not push at all.  Ended up with about seven miles in just over an hour.  It felt great to do something different!

Had almost no time to run today. Went to the gym did a quick 1 mile warmup then at 8:53/mile ran 2x1600 at 4 % then 5% slope and then a 1 mile cool down. I hope to get more time in tomorrow.

Because I ran so little yesterday, I decided against a day off today.  Snowing heavily midday so I went to the gym.  Planned easy 8 turned into an easy 3.6 warm up/cooldown with 5 mid tempo 8:00/mile in between.  Total of 70 minutes. Try to find time for a long run during the week.

Easy day.  Snowing again today but the outdoors was calling so I ran the park/ road route for a total of 8.1 miles. Ran very easy without looking at my watch til I was done.  Went by breathing rate and feel to keep the pace at a very even relaxed pace. Total time was 70:30 for an 8:42 pace.

Legs were quite sore today which was a little surprising since I had an easy day yesterday.  Just when you think you understand your body it reminds you that you really don't. Felt tired and run down as well so treadmill 8 miler was the plan.

Legs were sore all the way through but the interesting thing was at 50 minutes I suddenly felt much better and decided I would run as long as I had time for which ended up being 1:30 so I ended up doing 10.2 miles at an 8:49 pace and felt better at the end than the beginning.  Note: dehydration was beginning as I lost 6 pounds of water since the gym was hot and humid today.  Bring water in the future!

Unplanned but needed day off yesterday.  Easy run planned for today but due to the day off I ran a little faster than I like for an easy run.  Ran the park til I realized the sun was out so left the trees so I could run in the sun.  That made it seem much warmer than the 35 degrees it was.  Ended up with 9.0 miles in 1:17 for about a 8:35 pace.

Had to be at work at 4:30 this morning and did not leave til after 9 last night so not a good nights sleep.  As a result todays run was tough.  I knew it would be so kept to an easy treadmill run of 8.1 miles at a 8:50 pace. I will be really happy on April 16th.

I am having some kind of quad injury that started a few days ago and seems to become more noticable each day.  This morning I realized it was more than soreness.  I was loathe to avoid activity so I chose to jog 5K, stop and stretch well and then do it again.  End result is if I run very slow like 10 minute miles, I have no discomfort, but at normal speed  it is noticable maybe even  painful.  I will rest tomorrow and see what happens on Monday.  Three weeks to a race I suspect caution is in order.

Leg is better but not good.  Thought about another day off but the problem is I can't cross train.  All the other equipment makes the injury noticable, while slow running seems ok.  So I ran a 5K in 27:00 then did a long slow stretch routine followed by another 5K at the same speed.  No obvious issues but when stretching after I discovered it was not a quad thing it is actually a deep inner thigh thing that I really can't identify.  Anyway since it seems to do nothing bad to jog I will continue that until it gets better or worse for that matter, and will then act acordingly.

Tax day!  The finish line was reached. I did not win but did not lose. Seven day weeks are over so now maybe we can think about other things.

I finished up electronic filing and extensions by 4:30 and realized I had not left my desk at all in the last ten hours. When a fellow tax preparer said "the day is over go for a run" I did not hesitate.  Ran the park loops and felt remarkably good.  Legs did not complain at all. Ran two mile warm up in 18:00 then two miles at 17:00 then two miles at  15:30  before a 1.5 mile cooldown at 16:45.  No issues felt pretty good.

First day off in a long time! Decided since its cold and windy that the gym would be a better place to get in a morning run.  Originally was just going to do 5 easy miles and maybe look at the park this afternoon for 4 or 5 more. I was too hyper to sleep very long or very well last night so felt really slow and tired from the beginning of the run.  The good news is that feeling subsided a bit as I sped up and when I went to7:30 pace I did not feel bad at all. That said today I would not have wanted to do a whole lot more.  Total 6.2 miles in 48 minutes.  Hope to get in a few more later.

P.M.

Raining and gusting over 40 knots all afternoon.  Regular heavy hail as well.  Not at all nice today so back to the treadmill.  Plan was to run an easy 5 in 45:00 mostly followed the plan with 5.1 in 44:25.  Funny how it seems like I've just sat around all day and done nothing productive.

Pain in the hip and back today. Feels like nerve issues rather than muscle.  Hurts the hip to run or even walk uphill.  Ran a three mile slow warm up and the pain never got bad but never went away either. I stretched for a long while and tried another slow run with the same results.  Gave up and stretched again and decided to call it a day.  I get brief shooting pain in the sciatic nerve area and suspect tight hip muscles are causing the problem.  Cannot seem to be able to find a stretch that pulls in the affected area.  Well if it is like this when I get up in the morning I will take a day off tomorrow.

Forced myself to take a day or more off.  Seems that my minor injuries have led to some gait changes that has caused an imflamation of my sciatic nerve.  I can't run, walk or do much motion of any sort without mild to moderate pain.  I am doing all the relevant stretching but think it is wise to aviod running til the pain is gone and and I can run with normal form again.

The good news is my P.F. seems to have completely disappeared which might have started this whole process.

Still out of commission with the sciatica issue.  No better no worse with three days off. Culd not stand it so I went to the gym to find something I could do.  The only thing I could do was the elliptical backwards so I did that for 75 minutes.  Guess that is worth 6 miles.  I cannot walk from our house to the dock (1/2 mile) without pretty serious nerve twinging.  Chiro tomorrow.  This is a good example of a gait change injury and why its not always a good idea to run through low to medium muscle pain as the gait change can lead to all sorts of problems.

No running today.  Went to chiro for a look see.  Turns out the locked muscles were on the other side from the pain and my stretching may have actually been making the problem worse. We will see how I feel in the morning.  I hate waiting and know this is not good less than two weeks before an event.

Ran one very slow mile.  Still in pain.  Did 45 minutes on the eliptical I'll call 2.5 more.

Interesting thing, I found out today at the P.T. visit that my left leg is noticably longer than my right. About 5-7mm longer actually.  P.T. guy thinks I reached the tipping point of mileage, repaired right achilles and leg length differential and suffered serious inflammation in th SI joint. Ibruprofin and rest should solve the problem in a day or two more.  Long term looks like a 4mm shoe insert in the right leg may help prevent a repeat.

Slow ran one mile.  Stopped to stretch.  Hurt too much to do anything but limp back to the gym.  Did 45 minutes on the eliptical for 3.5 miles more. Looks  like complete rest is in order.  Will pass on the race if required.  There are always more races.

Ran 30 minutes in the pool with the last 15 quite hard.  No S.I. joint issues while doing this.  Got out of the pool and had a few twinges but nothing like yesterday. I think this will work while injury heals. Then 20 minutes backwards on the elliptical that was pain free.

Well my back and S.I. joint are better after a few days off but not healed.  I am going to pass on this weekends 1/2 having decided it is worth waiting the 2-3 weeks I need for recovery, rather than damage the ligaments further by trying to race injured.  We have a local half in 4 weeks that I should be able to at least run in if not actually race.  Healing seems to be a better way to go.  Rode my bike for 15 miles at lunch today wearing my back grace thing and had no pain whatsoever.  Yet it still twinges a bit when I walk downhill and land funny.  Time and patience is in order.  I,ll call the effort the equal of a 4 mile run.

P.T. guru says I could probably slow run the 1/2 marathon with out re-injury as long as I stopped if any unusual or sharp pain is felt. Said I might add a number of days to the recovery but should not, if careful, do any more damage.  Suggested I do an easy 5K tomorrow, and again on Fri. or Sat. and  if no pain should be OK to run(jog) through the half.  I am OK with that since 2 1/2 weeks without training leaves me feeling unprepared anyway. 

Tried a slow easy run. Some pain after three miles but not real bad. I have decided to run in the 1/2 marathon but not race.

Thephysical therapist said as long as the pain was under control, my S.I. joint injury would not keep me from running, abet not racing. So I ran at training run pace and paid the price of a week of intense pain but I managed to finish the race.

The avenue of the giants is a great race, with just under a thousand 1/2 runners.  Since I could not race I really enjoyed the run.

Splits for what they are worth were:

8:50

8:20

8:00  feeling good holding back

8;15

8;20

8:18 Three uphill miles still feel good

8:25

8:38

8:41 The joint pain took hold during these miles, slowed down to prevent stopping.

8:26

8:37

8:41  Tried to keep an easy pace,pain increasing.

8:21

0:44 Picked up the pace a little at the finish.

In the end I was happy to be able to finish the race with a fairly serious injury.  The time was very poor but I know with recovery time I CAN DO MUCH, MUCH BETTER.

After eight days off to try and rest the injury, I felt OK today and thought a short slow run might be in order. I walked at 15% grade for 20 minutes as a warm up. Then a slow 3.5 miles in 30 minutes. Periodicly had a little pain but not unmanageable. Now sitting in my offce I feel pretty good about having done some running without causing aggrevation to the injury. Hopefully we are on the road to real running again.

Just slightly more pain this morning, which I consider good since I ran yesterday. Today repeating the slow reintroduction to running I walked 1 mile at 15% grade then ran 4 at 9:13/ mile with only a small twitching in S.I. joint. Will again evaluate in the morning.

Felt pretty good this morning with only a small amount of tightness.  Felt like it was still improving after yesterdays run.  Felt like it was worth a little risk to try a more normal, but still very easy day.  Warmed up with a .5 mile walk at 15% grade then transitioned into a 8:55 pace for another 6.2 miles for a total of 55 minutes of running.   Quite sore at first but now a couple of hours later it feels OK.  I will take tomorrow off and evaluate and, if better, will look to start back to normal schedule over the next two weeks.  The long term change I need to make is run 5 days instead of six except for real race training and cross train the other day. Also core strengthening is essential to help prevent re-injury.  As the P.T. said all I do is run and my running strength is far better than my core, thus subjecting the core to much higher forces with only being a little stronger.  I think that is good advice.

S. I. joint hurt a lttle more today so just ran 4 miles on the road while I am here in the capital city for the regional track championships.  Glad I came as son managed to win two races and got a second place finish in a third. State championships next weekend.  I will continue to run as injury allows.

Just trying not to aggrevate the injury.  Ran five miles slow in the park at 9:00/mile. Twinges but no real pain.

Ran a very slow treadmill hour. Total of 6.6 miles.  S.I. joint pain now more of an ache than a pain and seems to go away as soon as I stop.  No after effects this morning.  Suspect I can run lightly without trouble with more cross training days.  Heading of to the State track meet tomorrow to watch son and a few of his  teammates that qualified. Hope to run above the artic circle on this trip to Fairbanks.

Ran in the park. Pain much more noticable today. Decided a short run was all that could be done.  Went back to the gym for 30 more minutes of crosstraining.

Ran 3.5 miles on thetrack during practicefor the state meet that starts tomorrow. Ran too fast as being surrounded by fast runnersnaturally speeds up ones pace.

Back home and ran 6.8 in the park at an average of 8:40/mile. Still twinges but no sharp pain. I expect it will be very sore tomorrow.  Think I will only run the 10K next weekend.

Seems that the injury is starting to heal. I ran 8.1 miles starting at a slow 9:20 pace and ended up 73 minutes later at an 8:40 pace. Slow and easy seems to be the ticket. This is the most mileage over two days in many, many weeks.  Sore but no real pain.  I sure hope this is coming to an end.

Originally planned a cross train day today but the weather was so nice, 65 degrees and sunny, I had to run anyway. I went to the park so there would be at least half shade as we are not quite used to this sort of weather. Ran to the park and did ten large loops for a total of 9.5 miles in 1:23 for an 8:45 pace. The best part is S.I. joint was mostly quiet today. If it feels OK tomorrow I hope I can say I am over it.

Following P.T. advice I did cross training today.  I did 25 minutes each on the bike, elliptical and 15% grade fast walking.  I think the 75 minutes is worth at least 6 easy miles.  Lots of stretching afterwards and I feel quite good with no pain.  Short easy run tomorrow and then the local half on Saturday.  I am not going to race but just run it as a workout and just make sure I end up under two hours.  I need to start getting back into shape after almost seven weeks of injury time. 

S.I. joint a little sore( more so than after any recent running) after crosstraining yesturday.  Go figure.  Anyway needed to run today but thought a trip to the treadmill might be less impactive.  Hot and humid in the gym today.  Did not really feel like running today but managed to end up with 6.75 miles in 61 minutes.

Even though I am not 100% I am going to run the local 1/2 tomorrow, but only as a training run.  I am so out of shape anything more risks injury, new or existing. It will be fun to watch the sights and feel no pressure to run to a certain time.  There will be more races.

I just ran 3.5miles in 30 minutes on the treadmill since tomorrow will seem like a really long run will my lack of recent running.

Well I should not call this a race report since I only ran it to get some miles in. The seven weeks of injury inteuption caused a lot of endurance loss so I knew there was little point of worrying about time.

Started off on this very hilly out and back course with 7:24, 8:03 and 8:23 miles which was way too fast for my current shape and the large number of hills on the next seven miles.

The next four miles were more reasonable until the larger hills really started wearing out my legs.  It was weird, not breathing very hard but nothing in the legs on the longer hills. Miles were 8:16, 8:25, 8:35 and 10:00 which included a pit stop.

The next three miles were slow and difficult even with the motivation of the person just ahead of me having an up close and personal visit with a brown bear (less than five feet away).  I never saw the  bear but was probably too tired to notice.  Miles were 8:50, 9:05 and 9:10.

The last three miles I just held on to finish.  Miles were 9:25, 9:20 and9:10 and missed the final .1 time.

Not the greatest day ever, but the really good news is my S.I. joint hardly bothers me two hours after the finish.  And that is worth way more than the time in any race.  I feel like I can start to train for real again!

Just did a very slow 3 mile jog to loosen the legs.

Went for a six mile trail walk in the afternoon.  Felt good with no S.I. joint issues on the uneven terrain.  I think I can return to proper training and will start with a tempo run in a day or two after a slow run today.

Did a slow increasing and decreasing workout.  Started at about 9 min/mile and went down to 8 min/mile and back up to 9.  Ended up with 7 miles in 60 minutes then did a 1/2 mile cool down.  No issues except I feel really out of shape.

Sore today, no doubt due to suddenly running again.  I can't bring myself to start over and add 10% a week so pain, short of injury, is to be expected.  I hope to end the week at about 45 miles and be back to 50-55 miles next week.

To reduce stresses I ran the treadmill for 63 minutes or a little under 9:00 min/ mile.  S.I. joint a little sore but does not hurt.

Since it was a nice day I ran between the cruise ship tourists to get in 8.2 miles in 73 minutes for an 8:54 pace.  Felt really good until the last few minutes when all my energy seemed to disappear. Only 4 hours of sleep last night might have played a part.  No hip issues today at all.

Hip just a little sore today.  Decided the treadmill was a wise choice to reduce the pressure on the hip.  Mostly ran at an easy pace with 2.5 miles in the middle at 10 K pace for fun.  Still feel out of shape and thus this workout seemed fairly hard.

Ran the park loops for 8 miles.  Just a very slow relaxed pace of 9:00min/mile.  Quite a little soreness today so will rest tomorrow.

Better sleep and a day off lead me to decide to do a little harder workout.  Ran two miles in the park as a warmup then out the hill road to Whalepark.  Did occassional pickups on the flats.  worked the hills at easy level ground pace which hurt at times.  Ended up 9.5 miles in 1:25 for an 8:42 average pace.

Ninety treadmill minutes. Traveling to the east coast tomorrow which is a twenty hour trip at best so no running tomorrow.

No running 20 hours on planes and in airports.

Lots of minor pains and issues.  Did 45 minutes of cross training instead of a regular run.  an the 3.5 at a fast easy pace.

1:00 AM to 8:00 PM traveling.  No running.

Rainy somewhat dreary day, perfect for running.  I ran 3 miles in the park and 6.5 on the road all at an easy 9:00 min/mile pace.  No problems, in fact the hill portion of this route felt pretty good for a change.

Very little free time today. Just managed 4.5 miles  in the park.

Interval day even though I knew it  would not be very good. Ran 2x800 2x400 and 1x1600  with 400 jogs between each.  Times were very slow 3:20, 1:30 and 7:20.  Two miles  warm up and cooldown.  Well I  did it. I hope this is the start of better things.

Cross train miles.  Went on a camping trip to climb the local volcano Mt. Edgecumbe.  Seven miles one way with most of the 3200' elevation gain  in the last mile.  Pretty steep up to the edge of the cone. Great view of the entire area from the top.  Lots of snow above 1500'.  Great trip and a little exercise too.

One hour with half at tempo pace and half at easy pace.

Just got out today for a little longer run.  Ran 10.5 miles on the park loops in 90 minutes.

Six easy miles with Steve.  Total of 53 minutes.  Will be fishing the next two weeks and running will only happen during times after unloading in town. No place to run on a 47 foot boat in the Gulf of Alaska.

I have been commercial fishing for the last five days thus no running.  It is pretty hard to run on the back deck of a salmon troller especially with the eighteen hour work days.  Delivered today so got to run.  Didthe park loops plus the mill road almost to the gate and back.  Total of thirteen miles in 1:55 for about an8:50average pace.

Just an easy 7.5 mile treadmill run.  Sore from yesterday plus quite a bit of plantar pain.  Being on my feet for so many hours a day fishing seems to have aggrevated the problem.

Plantar issues still worse than usual but felt like I might get away with a run today.  Ran alternating miles at 0% and 4% grade at an 8:50 pace.   Felt good to push up the hills and work a little harder than easy pace for some of the run.  P.F.  was not an issue during the run so it is getting a little better.

Seemed like a good day for a faster but still easy pace run.  Decided to do an hour at easy but slightly uptempo pace.  Ended up doing 7.2 miles in 61 minutes or a little better than an 8:30 pace.  Felt mostly good but still need to watch the P.F. pain and associated compensation type issues.

Felt a little tired today and after a bunch of physical chores I was not sure if I was up for a real run.  Decided to give it a go anyways and see how it would go.  Ran at an 8:45 pace for 74 minutes.  P.F. is still troublesome but runnable.  No other issues, in fact felt good at the end.

Raining pretty hard today so I decided the treadmill would be just fine.  Since it had been a while since I had done a faster workout today was the day.  The treadmill has one advantage over the road since speed adjustment is easy.  I started at 8:50 pace and sped up to 6:50 pace, then after a cool down jog did it again.  I really felt the second one.  Guess I need more tempo/ interval work.  P.F. was actually much less noticable today.

Only had time for 8.5 treadmill miles at an 8:49 pace.  Felt reasonable for the first hour then felt better and better until I had to leave for the boat.  Hope I do not have to miss too many days while working on the boat.

Just wanted a slightly longer than usual easy run today.  Felt a little sluggish at the start.  Ran 10.25 miles in 90 minutes for about an 8:45 pace.  Felt good most of the way.  Knee pain near the end but nothing much.

Just ran 4.25 miles at an 8:49 pace on the treadmill since I am going to join a group for a hill climb run this evening.  I agreed to run a very hilly leg on the Skagway to Whitehorse Klondike Road Relay Race and need to make sure I do regular hill workouts.  The group is moderately paced so I thought I better get a few miles in addition to the 3000' hill climb tonight.

Did the mountain run with friends.  I had never run up the Harbor mountain before.  Even going slow the 1600' elevation gain was quite a workout.  It sure was fun running back down though. Estimated mileage was 6.7 miles in 68 minutes.  It was actually a great run that I plan on doing again.

Just a slow easy recovery run after yesterdays hill climb.  Legs were dead today so I cut back a little.  Small pain on inside of knee so I wore a brace and had no real issues with it.

Another rainy, busy cruise ship day in town.  I hate dodging tourists who are all over the trails and roads.  So another treadmill day seemed to be the best bet.  Still have a twinging knee and minor plantar pain.  Nothing to keep me from running but I think I'll skip the tempo and interval runs for now.  No sense taking chances.  Ran 7.8 miles in 69:30 for an 8:55 pace.

Heavy, heavy rain today with temp around 50 degrees.  Did not have any gear for running in those condtions.  Ran on the treadmill again instead.  Just an easy pace of 9:00 min/mile.  Knee ok not great.

Easy 10.5 run at an average of 8:50.   Ran the park to the mill and back.  Legs hurt quite a bit until about 8 miles then they felt better.   Large mileage increase this week from the last two.Should stay around 50 next week.

Only had an hour today at lunch to be out of the office.  I managed to get in a 40 minute run for a total of 4.3 miles in the park.  I hope to get a few more miles in after work.

After work I went to the gym.  Did a warm up mile and a half then two miles in 15:00 then a cool down mile. Total time 36:00 for an 8:00 average.  Felt tiring but good.

Did an easy 4.4 miles on the treadmill at lunch.  Kept it short as I am planning on running up the mountain again tonight.  I hope to run a little further up than last time.  Knee is a little painful until warm then no problem.

Evening ran up Harbor mountain again.  This time with GPS.  Of course it failed 1.8 miles into the hill climb but gave me a good idea as to what the road actually is.  First ran 2 mile warm up in 18:30 on the rolling hill at the base of the mountain.  Then ran up the hill based on GPS we were on an average 10% grade.  I know it is steeper on the second half of the 3.4 mile slog to the bridge.  Actual elevation at the stopping point was 1745 feet.  Short break at the bridge then ran back down.  Went slower down today but slow is a relative term.  Total time up and back was1:06.

Felt a little trashed after yesterdays mileage with the hill climb.  Did a "recovery" run of 7.2 miles at an 8:49 pace on the treadmill.  Felt pretty hard all the way through.  Knee sore but ok.

Short on time and tolerance  for continuing knee and foot pain.  I am cutting back the miles  and will add  a  cross train  day here and there to see if that will do it.  The pain is moderate and livable but I think it better to see if cutting back will be enough.  I do not want another injury time out.

Knee still about the same not good not bad. Did an easy 4.5 miles, the P.F. does seem to be easing so I will do one more easy day and take Sunday off and reevaluate on Monday.

Knee felt a little better today so I decided for a run in the park until symptoms arose.  Did fine for about eight miles and only occasional twinges after that.  We will see tommorrow.  Ran 10.5 in 90 minutes for about 8:40 average.

Just an easy treadmill day. My knee is still a problem. Looks like meniscus issues and I am torn(joke?) between complete rest and continuing to run. Running does not seem to make it worse but it is not healing either.

Actually did 65 minutes on the elliptical machine to reduce pressure on my knee.  I did not have any pain so far so I will join the moutain hill climb run tonight.  I plan to run to the top and not run back down to reduce impact on the knee.  I called the cross training the same as 4.5 miles, seem about right.

This evening was mountain climb night.  I ran a slow 2 mile warm up then ran the mountain road to the top this time.  Very slow pace but it is a relentless hill no flat spots for the first four miles and then a flat .6 up in the alpine.  So a total of 4.6 miles in 56 minutes with an elevation gain of a lttle over 2100 feet so close to a continuous 10% grade. HR averaged 157 for the trip. Did not run down as I thought the knees would not like it.

Finally a nice day. Sunny with temps in the high 60's! Hurting a bit from last nights run up the mountain so a recovery day was in order. Problem is it was so nice I had to be outside all day. The morning was fine, an eight mile recovery run at 9;00/ mile average. The only hard part was getting the legs moving. So far so good. A nap and a lawn chair in the yard? No how about climb another mountain? Yeah that's it climb, walking of course, another mountain trail. I chose Mt. Verstovia which the trail guide describes, "2,550 feet elevation gain, trail level: difficult, steep trail, many switchbacks and bears are often present". It is only 2.5 miles to the top which took me 75 minutes. I was amazed how much pain my legs were in on the way up. Snow still at 2200 feet but not very deep. No bears to be seen. Great ocean views from the top. About an hour to come back down. I am now officially tired. I am going to call this 3 easy miles although my heart rate was in the mid 140's the whole way up which would equal a lot more.

Well the weather quickly returned to normal.  Rainy and temp around 50.  Went to the park and given all the abuse I have given my legs climbing the last two days,  I did a real slow recovery run all on flat as a pancake trails.  My first warm up mile was close to the slowest mile I have run in over a year at 10:35.  Picked up the pace for the next few miles to get back on a more reasonable pace ended up with 10 miles in 92 minutes for a 9:12 pace.  Just exactly what I needed to do.  Still seemed like work on tired legs.

I have really tired legs today. Too much hill work as left my legs dead.  I decided a modest treadmill day was the only answer.  Felt a little better after a 2 mile warm up, but the run was hard the whole way.  Ended up with 7.75 miles in 69 minutes for around an 8:55 average.  Knee and foot are bothersome but no worse.  I think I will make it through the next race in five weeks.  Then a little time off is probably required.

Climbed another mountain today with the family.  3000' elevation gain over about 3 miles.  The legs were tired by the end.  I want to call this about 4.5 easy miles since the heart rate was 125-140 for over 90 minutes.

Legs are very, very sore today.  One hill run and two hill climbs in one week was a little too much too soon for this guy.  I planned on 12-15 easy pace miles today but it was obvious after 5 that without slowing to a crawl this was not happening today.  I kept going at normal long run pace (8:55) for as long as the pain in my legs, knee and foot could stand.  Ended up with 10.3 miles around town in 92 minutes.  Moderation in all things.  Maybe someday I will learn that lesson.

Knee is still an issue.  Could be a small menicus tear or just a general strain.  Does not get worse or better.  Since it does not hurt to run I will keep running for now.

High school x-c starts tonight so I plan on running with the team so I only ran a slow 3.25 miles in thirty minutes to try and loosen up my hill climbing tired legs.  Felt good to run an easy short distance.  Hope the workout tonight is not too intense.

Ran the cross trail with the team this evening.  Ran the cross trail which has a lot of up and down and a lot of trail steps and foot bridges.  Kind of slick today.   Ran a total of 3.8 miles in 34 minutes.  Harder by quite a bit effort wise than an easy run.

Ran a  six mile warm up on the flat part of HPR in 54 minutes(9:00/mile).  Five minute rest, then joined friends for the Tuesday evening hill climb. Ran the 3.2 miles up 1600' to the bridge in 38 minutes(11:50/mile).  One minute rest then ran the 3.2 miles back down in 26 minutes(8:08/mile).  Total 12.4 miles  in 118 minutes for a rather slow 9:30 average.

Back from a fishing trip.  Eight easy miles in the gym.  Knee bothersome today.

I have been having trouble going more than about ten miles recently.  Minor injury, a lot of hill work, no tempo work and a general blaa feeling has made long runs not just hard but impossible.  So today I decided  that with a 16 mile hilly relay leg only three weeks away I at better get some distance in, no matter how slow I needed to go.

Ran two very slow warm up miles in 20:00 in the park trail system.  I then came out on the road and ran out past Whale Park, past the mill and out to the hatchery road gate and back.  Pace was mostly in the  9:00-9:30 pace depending on hills.  My goal was to make it out and back with no stops and no fluids,(it'sonly 50 degrees today), so on both goals I suceeded.  Ran the remaining 13.1 miles in 2:01 for a 9:15 average pace.  I tried to keep my HR around132-134 and did exceept for hills and the slow climb with time.

I feel a little better about the race now.  A little speed work is still in order however.

Just an easy 8.5 treadmill miles after the long run yesterday.  Legs were tired today and the knee was quite sore.  Just want to get through the race on the 5th.

Just six easy treadmill miles as I hope the weather allows the Tuesday evening run up Harbor Mountain.

P.M.  Ran a 1.5 mile warmup at about a 9:00 pace.  Then did the standard Harbor mountain run.  Ran 3.2 miles with 1600 foot elevation gain in a slow 39 minutes.  Easy run back down in 26 minutes.

Knee was not much of a problem today.  Getting better or just luck?  Will see tomorrow.

Very tired after last nights mountain climb.  Raining hard today so just did an easy hour recovery run.  Knee mostly OK.

Traveling in central Oregon temps have been in the 105-110 range, a little different from the 50-55 I have been used to.  No time to run on Wednesday due to travel and delays.  The only free time yesterday was mid afternoon and I could not see running on a highway at 3 PM air temp 108.  Today I found a treadmill at a nearby motel and did an easy ( hard) 5 miles.  It was hard because the room was over 80 degrees and I faded fast after the first twenty minutes.  It has been a full year since I ran in hot weaqther.

Last day of this short trip.  Four flights to get home today plus a fair amount of driving.  Managed to get five treadmill miles at the hotel early in the morning.  Back to normal schedule tomorrow.

Back at home again.  Ran on the treadmill to try an interval/progression run.  Ran a 2.5 mile warm up then ran 5 x a progression from 8:30/mile down to 6:30/miles in :15 increments every thirty seconds.  This gave me some foot turnover that has been lacking without too much strain on my knee.  Workout felt good,  nice to know I can actualy run faster than long run pace.

P.M.

Feeling pretty good I decided for a short recovery run.  I did 4.7 miles in the park at about 9:00-9:15 pace.

A.M. -  Ran an easy recovery hour on the treadmill.  Legs tight after yesterdays workout. Total of 6.5 miles including a very slow first mile warmup.

P.M.  Two mile warm up in 18:00 to get ready for the evening hill climb.  Did the normal Tuesday evening run up the mountain with the crew.  Managed the 3.2 miles up the hill with a  total elevation gain of 1600 feet in 36:02.  Turned around and did a slow run down the hill in 26:10.

Long day leading to a high mileage week.  I need to be careful not to do too much with the race only a couple of weeks away.

I felt really sore and out of it this morning.  Two days of two a day with a hard session each day will do that.  Thought about a rest day but decided the best thing would be a really easy day.  So in light of that I am happy I made it through the 7 miles in 63 minutes.  Feel much better now.

Still tired and sore.  Decided another easy day was the best thing then either a tempo day tomorrow or another easy day and a long run on Saturday even though I will be a big weekly mileage increase.  Ran 8 miles in 71 minutes.  Knee sore.

Still sore at the start but came around after a mile or so.  Another easy day so I can do either speed or long tomorrow even though I am up on mileage.

Did an easy 8.3 miles in 75 minutes.  No issues besides the ever present knee soreness.  One of those runs where I made myself stop, felt like running another hour.

Just as I was about to start my run the sun disappeared and the downpour started.  I had no gear for the conditions so I relucantly went to the gym.  Long run day but I decided to only go until I felt tired and not push it.  Ran at a 9:00/ mile pace and ended up with 12.5 miles in 1:52.  I felt ok but was fading near the end.  I should not at that speed but figured that water loss in the humid gym was probably the culprit.  I weighed myself before and after, and because I do not drink anything while running, and found I had lost 8 pounds of water which is a little high even for me who always losses at least five.  I suspect hydration would have eased the run.  High mileage for me this week.

Thought I better do something besides an easy day today.  Given my knee and other issues I wanted to make sure I did a workout that I could actually complete, since it's only 11 days til the race and I did not want to do something I could not complete.

Tempo seemed the right choice, abet a moderate tempo.  Ran 2 miles at 9:00 as a warm up, then 5.25 miles at just under 8:00 and a 2 mile cooldown at 9:15.  Breathing was fine, legs were a little tired and my knee was complaining but not enough to consider stopping.  All in a good workout that makes me feel like I can do quite a bit more.

  A.M.    Did an easy 4.5 mile recovery run on the treadmill in the morning.  Legs were only a little stiff after yesterdays tempo run.

P.M.  Did a 3 mile warm up before the group run up the mountain.  Ran the 3.2 miles up in 37 minutes with a gain of 1600 feet.  Turned around and jogged back down in 25 minutes.  No issues, a nice run on a nice fall day.

Legs fairly well trashed from the mountain run last night.  Funny because I went a little slower than the week before.  I realized that due to being cold, ( it's only in the low 50's), none of the group stretches after the run.  It is late enough by the time I get home I haven't bothered.  No wonder my legs hurt.

Anyway a slow recovery run was the order of the day.  I ran 7.2 miles in 65 minutes.  Went fine after my legs loosened up.

Time for an interval run, and since I am racing a 14 mile leg next week I decided to stick with a 3 x 1600 workout.  Started with a 2 mile warm up at a 9:00 pace.  Then ran the intervals at 7:20, 7:05 and 6:55 pace with a .33 jog.  Then ran a 1.2 mile cooldown at 9:00.  All in all felt pretty good.

I could not believe how dead my legs were today.  Running a 9:00 pace seemed like 7:00.  I struggled around the park with hurting legs that never really felt any better.  Could not really pick up the pace.  Ended up with 5 miles in 45 minutes and decided enough was enough.  I think I have done a little to much hard workouts and miles recently.  I may pass on the 5K that will be run after the high school xc meet.  I will decide in the morning.

Today was the only home CC meet of the season so I spent a good part of the day marking the course and adjusting for a last minute route change.  Spent a long time removing the cones and flagging trom the national park we use for the race after it was all over.  I only got three miles in for my four shortcut  trips back and forth from the start line to the two mile mark to record split times for the runners.  Did I say it was a little wet?  It was almost hard to see it was raining so hard.  A number of runners fell on the course today and that has never happened before.  Iwas so wet that I had to travel back home to warm up and change.  I felt a little under the weather at that point so decided to rest today and join the Sunday group for a long short or short long run.  I hope to get at least 12-14 miles in as the last serious workout before Fridays relay race.

Last long run before the relay that starts Friday night at 6:00 PM.  I will not run til about 02:00 AM on Saturday.  It was a beautiful sunny day with temps about 50-52 at 8:00 AM.  Ran a 3.3 mile warm up at 9:00/ mile pace.

  Then met up with the group for the planned 8 mile Green Lake run.  It turned out we ended up at 4.3 miles at the turnaround and did this at a 9:00/ mile pace as well but it included at least ten significant hills.  Turned around and ran back, and as a side note I have a great deal more respect for all those stroller runners.  I took my turn with the stroller for the biggest hill and a total of a little over a mile.  I was worn out!  It was of course harder to run up hills but it was really hard running down as well.  It was ok on the flats but this course had little of that.  So all you folks looking for better training ideas...... push a stroller. Ended the group run at 8.6 (12.3 for me) miles and then ran a slow cooldown for the last 3.35 with one other person. 

 She is a steady runner but does not push much for speed.  I did the old very slow but steady increase in speed to see if she would follow.  Ended up she finished the 15.65 going at least  30 seconds/mile faster than she thought she could.  We are all looking forward to the race.

Another 1.35 miles in the evening just to loosen up.  Felt good to move. I am looking forward to running in the middle of the night during the relay.  It is a great time running from Skagway Alaska to Whitehorse, Yukon Territories.  !46 teams, near zero population it is a great time.

Planned day off.

Legs still hurt from Sundays run.  I suspect the very hilly nature of the run was mostly responsible.  Of course it might have been the uphill mile with the jogging stroller.

Ran a very slow 3 miles on the treadmill to lossen up.  Tonight is mountain run with the group.  Hope this warm up keeps the legs loose.

P.M  I did a 2 mile warm up in 18:00 before the mountain run.  Because of this weekends race we shortened the run to 2.7 miles to turnaround and only 1200' elevation gain.  I kept to the mormal pace but it felt pretty easy.  Kept it slow on the run back down.  Legs are tired so will be careful the next two days.

Just 5 easy treadmill miles in 45 minutes as a taper day for this weekend.

Last run before leaving in the morning for the race.  Steve and I did the CC course plus .15 in a very easy 30 minutes just enough to shake out the legs.  Felt good no new issues.

Leave in the morning for the Skagway, AK to Whitehorse, Yukon Territories relay run.  Ten legs, ten runners doing legs as varied as   from 5.6 mile mountain leg to 16.2 mile rolling hills leg to 13.1 downhill leg.  We start at 7:30 PM and will end up 110 miles down the road some 15-16 hours later.  We are a team all over fifty five men and five women. We will finish near the middle of the pack but will be better in our senior mixed division.  A total of over 140 teams will be racing in what can only be described as a great event.  Last years highlight included a runner followed up the mountain leg by a bear, it was close enough for him to be able to feel the breath on his legs.  The bear followed him for many minutes before tiring of the race.

My leg will start about 2:00 AM and is a 14 mile route with one major climb and three or four moderate hills.  Looking forward to it.

Just back from the Klondike Trail of '98 road relay race.  Take one RV, ten mixed masters and a remote, hilly and historic 1898 gold rush route from Skagway, AK to Whitehorse Yukon Territory.  Total distance 110 miles. The group is more fun than competitive.  Makes for an interesting weekend.

My leg 5 route is described as follows:

Description of Leg 5
After leaving Checkpoint #5, runners will follow the shoreline of Tutshi Lake. The lake is to the right with steep mountains very close to the road on the left. This leg of the race consists of mostly rolling hills with lots of curves. At about KM 14.5 there is a fairly challenging 2.5.KM uphill stretch, followed by a 3 KM downhill.

We started at 7:30 P.M. with my leg starting at 01:45 AM.   I started out slow not sure what the hills were really like and did not want to burn out early.  Running at night with no reference, no experience and no GPS makes for a cautious run.  Two early hills confirmed my need to be careful.  Then about 4 miles of flat got me into a steady pace.  I passed and was passed by the same number of runners.  When we hit the hill,( one of those that has a passing lane due to steepness), I slowed to moutain climb pace and worked my way up the 1.5 mile climb.  When I got to the top I knew a long downhill was due.  I actually passed one of the guys that had passed me in the second mile during the downhill portion.  The leg finished with two short but steep uphill only sections.

End result is I had a lot of gas left in the tank, felt great and should have been quite a bit more aggressive on the first half.  Oh well, we were a fun run group not a competitive group.  ,  I ended up at 2:00:30 for an 8:38 pace, well below my 8:15 expectation.  But given the hills and cautious nature on the first half, I am satisfied with the race.  Next year I will try to run the leg I do in advance to avoid being too cautious.

Just 6 easy treadmill miles to start off a travel week at work and probably a low mileage week as well.

Working out of town this week so I get to run on different roads.  The town I'm in has some nice roads with gentle rolling hills with wide shoulders.  Had a nice run this afternoon all miles between 8:00 and 9:15.  Legs still a little sore on the uphills.

Same run as yesterday.  Quite windy today as well as heavy rain.  Surprised myself with running the 9.5 miles in 1:19 which was faster than Tuesday even though the return was straight into the wind.

Same route.  Legs were very sore today and I had a tough time getting goingor finding a good steady pace.  I guess running into the srong wind yesterday and maintqiningpace gave me a bigger workout than I thought.  After about 5 miles I started to feel better but never quite right.  Total 9.5 miles in 1:22.

Exactly the same route  as yesterday .  The weather was a lot nicer and my legs felt a little better.  Ended up at 1:21 for the 9.5 miles today.

Switched days off as I felt beat up yesterday.  Ran the same route out the road and back as the last number of days.  I extended the out portion to the next town which was 7.15 miles.  I decided to run at a little faster pace since I took yesterday off and ended up the run  in 2:14:20 for about an 8:45 pace.  This is about as fast as I want to go in a non race situation for this kind of distance.  I was more than a little tired this evening.  Good run though, I am sure glad I did it.

Just 6.5 easy recovery miles today as I just got home from a week away.  Legs hurt from yesterday.  Slow uneventful run.  Saw a bear on the road this morning exactly where I say the wet footprints while running yesterday.  Actually saw two sets of very distinct black bear tracks while running.

Just an easy 4.5 miles on the treadmill as a warm up mid-day for tonights mountain run.

Ran the Harbor mountain road.  Went up in 36 minutes and down in 25.  Total of 1600 feet up in 3.2 miles.  Heavy rain and fog most of the way.  Good solid run.

Easy treadmill hour.  Trying to cut back a little to see if I can cure the ever worsening plantar pain.  I do ok for a while but every multiple day or long road run brings it back with a vengance.  I am going to try cross training a lot more to see if that helps.

I only had time for a quick 5 mile run in the park.

Nice day!  I did two warm up miles while waiting for the "group".  I thought they would do 8-10 and wanted a couple of more, especially since the group runs together at the slowest persons speed through the salmon carcasses and bears on the route.  Turns out only two showed up.  Both young ladies are training for marathons and the sum of their age plus their two children is still less than mine.  I started to think this run would be just a bit challenging.  The course is a gravel road with numerous long hills but on the out and back is elevation neutral.  I led the way out, ended up I was told to be 6 miles, and set the pace at a little under 9:00/mile. My friends kept saying we must be at 9:30 or higher.  I assured them it was the hills that made it seem that way but I was sure we were under 9.  Also turns out they were running by time not distance so the twelve mile run was actually 125 minutes.  We decided the turn around would be at 59 minutes.  Turned out to be 6.7 miles and an 8:48 pace.  On flat ground this would be just right, but with the hills this was work.

On the return run I had one of my partners lead and on the return run we did 60 minutes for the 6.7 miles and an 8:57 pace. Total of 13.4 miles in 1:59.  A little faster than I would like since this equates to about 1:51-2 half  on a flater road course.  In the end I was tired but glad we all finished together.

Final count: 30+ salmon heads and zero bears on the road.  Only two bears nearby.

Just an easy 4.5 mile recovery run.  Felt like after a race this morning.  Felt good to move.

Harbor mountain run.  2.3 mile warm up then the pain of the mountain. 3.2 miles with1580 elevation gain in a slow 38 minutes. Then 3.2 easy miles back down.Total of 90 minutes.

Ran the Heart Lake trail. I had forgotten about the hills. After yesterday they about killed us.  Only made 5 miles since wewerealready worn out and I want to run tomorrow.

Another nice day.  Ran for almost an hour in the park for 6.5 miles.  Legs sore and tired so did not push it.

Five miles in 400 intervals during the four races. Boys and girls made state.

No time for a long runtoday.  Very bad weather so I did 73 minutes on the treadmill.This ended up as a 8:41/min average. Just a little fast for an easy day.

Ment to do a tempo run today.  Did a 2.5 mile warm up then started the tempo.  After a 1.5 mile run the blisters on both arches really really started to hurt.  I slowed down and finished at a slow pace but all four blisters popped and was quite a problem.  Need to take care of this before I have real trouble.

Blisters on my arches are better today.  Decided that I would try to do my tempo again today after having to stop yesterday.  Ran a 1.5 mile warm up then moved into the tempo.  Ran 5 miles at a 7:45/ min  pace.  Felt great until the last mile which was a little labored but not bad.  Then ended with a 1 mile cool down.  This has been the best tempo wworkout in a long while.

Just a very easy recovery run today.  My legs hurt less than expected but I knew not to push it at all.  So I ran at a 9:10 average pace for 9 miles for a total of 82:30.  Felt easy relaxed and unforced until the last ten minutes when my hamstrings tightened quite a bit.  Now as I write this my quads are complaining a wee bit.  Glad I took it easy.

A.M.

Had to get up at 3:30 to get my son to the airport to go to the State CC meet this weekend. I am going tomorrow. Meet is in Palmer which is next to Wasilla, a town we have heard of a lot lately in the national news. Since I had to get up early I decided to do an early run and break up my running a bit.

Did a 2.3 mile warm up in the park then ran the official CC 5K course at 90-95%. I don't know why I decided to do this workout it just happened. Ran the 5K in 23:05 which was about right. This afternoon will be just an easy run.

P.M.

Just did a slow 5.1 miles on the treadmill at a 9:05 pace.  Felt fine but getting bored by the end.  Traveling this weekend and am unsure as to running chances. 

Travelling with the high school cross country team this weekend.  After flying to Anchorage early in the morning I drove to the meet site in Palmer.  Decided since the kids had not yet arrived I would run the course so I could tell them what to expect sice they would only jog the course once.  So I did a warm up lap and then ran the three lap course at tempo pace 7:30 average.  Then ran a cool down jog with the kids while expaining what I had found. Boys finished sixth in the state and the girls were third.  Not a bad performance.  Highlight of the day was the state champ running 15:07 on a measured, hilly 5K course

Nice fall day!  Ran in the park today.  Felt pretty strong after the weekend off.  Ran about 4.4 miles but found I was speeding up the whole time.  So I decided to end the run with a 5K at tempo pace.  Finished up the 7.5 miles in 1:02 for a 8:25 average pace.

I could not decide what to do today.  I ran a little too hard yesterday to have a hard day, but not hard enough to feel worn out and needeing an easy day.  Well the more I thought about it, it seemed unwise to do too much so I ran 9.1 miles at about a 9;05 average.  Nice, easy and relaxed run.  Glad I did not try to do more, as there is always tomorrow.

Wednesday means treadmill tempo day.  Nasty rainy day made that decision easy.  I did a 2 mile warm up and the got into the tempo run.  Chose 7:45/ mile again and thought I would extend the distance if I felt good since I decided a speed increase might not be a good idea.  Ended up only adding .3 to the run but I felt good up to the end when my hamstrings really got tight.  Decided it better to stop rather than hurt something.  Ran a .7 mile cool down and then walked for 5 minutes more.  Good solid workout for me.  Will up the speed next week.

We had another nice but cool day today.  About 40 degrees when I went out at lunch. Wore gloves, hat and coat for the first time this fall.  Decided to run the park and then out the road to Whalepark.  Easy recovery run scheduled but I kept having to slow down.  Ended up running 9.4 miles in 81 minutes for a 8:37 average pace.

Experimenting with weight control.  I have felt slower all summer compared to last spring.  I have gained about 7 pounds so I am going to track my weight over the next few weeks and see if I see any noticable improvement.

Weight: 187

Traveled to Colorado with my son to look at colleges.  Could not run yesterday due to travelling.  Arrived in Gunnison Colorado at 5:00 PM and 7,850 feet.  Went down to the treadmill since I had no idea about running in town as well as the heavy rain and sleet cooled my enthusiasim.  Started up the treadmill and was distressed to find out it was limited to 6.3 MPH.  I uped the slope to 2.5 % to warm up and assumed I would just continue to do a hill workout instead.  Five minutes into it I realized I was a little light headed and was breathing quite hard.  Always living and running at sea level has spoiled me.  I also realized I was affected when driving over the handful of 11,000 foot passes.  Sorrry I will not be here long enough to make use of the altitude.

Visiting the University of Colorado in Boulder.  Ran the bike path for about 3.5 miles.  It was a little easier at 5,400 feet but still seriously affectted my breathing.

Still in Colorado.  Down to 5000 feet.  Still suffering.  Ran a normal easy run and found myself lagging after just a few miles.  Ran a total of 6 miles and decided that was enough for the day.  Look forward to the return to sea level.  I would love to stay here long enough to acclimate but that is not going to happen.  So in summary I now have much more respect for those that run at altitude and/or run with a stroller.  I will always be in awe at both groups.

Back home to seal level!  Ran on the treadmill for just over an hour.  Set the slope to 1% and ran at 7 MPH.  Easier than 6.5 at 5000 feet.  Breathing was back to normal and easier than at altitude for a harder workout.

Mile interval day.  I did a two mile warm up, stretched and then started.  Plan was 3x1600 with 3 minute jog.  The intervals went like this 7:02 6:50 and 6:55. Then ran a little over a mile cool down for the total of 7.1.  Miles felt under control with a little left if I were at 100%.

The USCG puts on a seven mile road race to celebrate Alaska Day.  On this day the Russians turned over Alaska to the U.S. right here in  our town.

Why 7 miles was chosen I don't know, but the course is two connected road 5K's with a bit added on to make the full seven miles.  I started easy, I think, as there were no markers until the turn around point.  I ran with one of my normal long run partners who is training for  a marathon next month.  She is clearly in better shape.  We ran together for the first 3 miles and the I slowly pulled ahead.  I reached the turnaround in 28:05 or almost exactly  an 8:00/ mile pace.  Felt good at this point and decided to just cruise back without pushing since I had done an interval workout yesterday and my legs felt tired.  All was good until the bridge at 6 miles.  the bridge is a half mile long with only about 80 feet of elevation gain.  I slowed on the uphill but neglected to speed up much on the way down.  I could tell when I hit the flat with .5 to go that I was tired.  My running partner caught back up and passed me while encouraging me to pick it up.  The legs just would not cooperate and I crossed the line at 55:55 for a 27:50 split. Guess did not actually slow too much at the end. Still all and all a good run that I never intended to race flat out.

Forced my way through six recovery miles.  My legs really hurt after yesterday. Two hard days in a row was a litlte much.

Did not have time for a true long run today so I ran a short long run at about 30 seconds a mile faster than my long run usually would be.  Ran the park with Indian River and Sawmill Creek roads added on.  11.3 miles 97 minutes for an 8:35 average pace.  Was in fact a little tired after this run.

Easy day after yesterdays longer run.  Ran on the treadmill as the weather,  40 degrees, raning and wind gusts to 60 mph was too much.  Ran for 83 minutes a total of 9.3 miles for an 8:56 average pace.  No problems except tight legs.

Wednesday means tempo run day.  Weather is still terrible rainy and winds over 50 mph.  Treadmill the only sensible choice.

Did a two mile warm up in 18:00.  Then dialed in a 7:30 pace and figured on a minimum of 5 miles and 6 if I felt good.  Funny the first mile seemed a little harder than normal but I soon got into it and the rest of the run was uneventful. I did the full 6 miles as I was fine after 5.  This was one of those runs where I felt really good afterward and was sure I could have run a little faster without trouble. One mile cool down for a total of 9 miles.  I am pleased with this workout.

Easy day after yesterdays tempo run.  Hard to believe but still blowing 50 and raining, the third day in a row.  Ah, fall in Southeast Alaska.  So treadmill recovery day ran 10.1 miles in 90 minutes for an 8:55 pace.  Actually felt great when done.  I started adding at least one hour of sleep by going to bed an hour early EVERY night 9 days ago.  I am starting to believe it makes a huge difference, if not in endurance, in how I feel after a run.

Even though I did not want to do it, I had a cross train day today.  Eight running days in a row was enough especially with an 18 miler scheduled for Sunday.  So I did 35 minutes on the elliptical, 20 minutes walking at 15% grade, 15 minutes on the rowing machine and 20 minutes of weight machines. I hate cross training and I have no idea why.  Antway i survived and am going to count that as 5 running miles.

Today was just an easy 7.5 mile run.  The weather is better for today only and it was nice to get back outdoors.  Kept to an easy pace and ended up at 9:00/ mile average.  Cut the run short in favor of the anticipated 18 miler tomorrow.  Weather is expected to be raining with winds to 55 mph.  Should be fun.

Rain or shine.  That was my long run partners comment on Friday about todays run.  When I got up this morning it was cold, raining, windy- 30 gusts 55 or more and generally quite nasty.  A deal is a deal though and I had agreed to run the full 2 hours and 45 minutes her schedule dictated for today.

We met up at the starting point at SJ College where it was raining hard but only a little wind.  Good day for a run she said as we started.  Two slow warm up miles in the park in 18:45 then out on SMC road into the wind and  we were off.  Between there and Whale Park I got blown off the sidewalk twice by gusts and we had a great time up the big hill into the wind.  Reached Whale Park 5.05 miles in 46:42 total , good for a 9:15 pace. Ran the next 4 miles into the rain and wind but a bit downhill in  36:12 for a 9:03 pace to the turn around spot, then reversed course and ran the same route back.  The rain quit so I started to warm up a little but the wind was still around 20+, although less by far than on the way out.  The 4 miles back to Whale Park in 35:09 for a non wind impeded 8:46 pace.  Gained some help in four other runners who came out to help us along half way back to Whale Park.  So we only had the 5.05 miles back to the cars left to go.  Uneventful really, only the legs mild protests were noted.  Felt pretty good all the way back.  Ended the last leg in 46:47 for a 9:16 pace.  Total run 18.1 miles 2:44:50 for an aveage pace of 9:06.  Good run, would have been great if the weather had been better.

192 pounds? seem to be gaining

Time will tell if a recovery day was a wise move or if today should have been a cross train/ off day.  Decided I wanted to loosen up with a recovery run of a half an hour or so.  Did the treadmill thing to keep impact low on my sore knee and legs.  Ended up running 5.25 miles in a slow 47:30.  Sore at the start then a little knee soreness at the end, although not bad at any time.  Hope to do a longer slow run tomorrow then tempo on Wednesday.

Even for a place with bad weather in the fall this is hard to take.  Another day, fourth out of five, with winds 40 and gusts to 70. Really great when you commute by small boat.  Maybe sleeping in my office tonight.  Anyway the treadmill was the only viable option today.

Legs only a little tired today.  Ran 9.1 miles on the treadmill in 81:30 for about a 9:00 pace.  No issues felt good but tired at the end.

Wimping out today.  Knee and foot (P.F.) acting up a lot today.  No doubt due to Sundays long run with no day off after.  Oh well that's how it goes. So instead of the usual tempo today I crosstrained:

50 minutes elliptical - 7 miles

25 minutes bicycle -   7.5 miles

I hate trying to come up with equivalents for easy miles but the 75 minutes is worth at least 5 miles.  Will do the tempo run tomorrow assuming no serious leg pain.

Tempo day.  Always leaves me wondering if I will make it all the way through it.  It's like a pre-race moment with me, wondering if the pace I choose will be too fast to sustain all the way through. Well today I decided to try dropping 15 seconds a mile and try to get at least five in.  Started with a 2 mile warmup at a 9:00 pace.  Streached for two minutes then into the tempo at a 7:19 pace on the treadmill.  Felt pretty hard but ok. Decided I would make four and probably five miles.  Getting tired but a little burst of enthusiasim carried me through to 10K.  So 6.2 miles in 45:23 for the tempo. Then a 1 mile cool down at 9:00.  My best tempo run to date although it might have been a wee bit close to race pace, still a good run for me.

The bottom line is it is always something.  I am starting to think it is impossible to go more than a few months without some body part letting me know that it does not want to participate in training.  This weeks star is my plantar faciitis, which while present has been manageable.  Sundays long run brought it back to the front and yesterdays tempo run left me almost unable to walk last night.  It was better this morning so I took a chance and jogged for an hour.  Pain manageable and actually feel better now than this morning.  Day off tomorrow before a long run (shorter than last week) on Sunday.

Plantar faciitis really acting up.  Crosstrained as a result.

45 minutes elliptical

15minutes each - bike, stairstepper and walk on treadmill 15% slope

Total of 90 minutes and 1350 machine calories.  I think that is easily worth 6 easy miles. 

It's Sunday so long run it is.  Weather was much better this week with light rain and temp in the upper 40's with light winds.  Todays run was advertised by my running friend a "an easy 2 hour trail run with 6 or 7 people running today."  That would be easier than last weeks 18.1 mile run.

I should have known better, as the roads that lead to the start of the trail system we were running contain the longest hills in town.  We got on to the new portion of cross trail and started up another large hill. The hilly trail was in good shape and early in the run the hills were at most an annoyance.  When we reached the existing old trail, mud and water were the order of the day.  We have received almost 20" of rain this October and the trails showed it.  Wet, muddy feet and good agility were required for this portion of the run.  Reached 7 miles in 1:05 and reversed course to get back home.  The only difference is that those annoying hills on the way out were now killer hills on the way back.  Managed to get back in 1:02 which was amazing considering the struggle to climb each and every hill. In the end this was one of the hardest workout of the year. Only my main partner and I ran the whole way and both decided it was a great and really tiring run.  Glad I did it and really glad its over.

Actually cross trained today.  Just shy of 50 minutes on the treadmill at 4.2 MPH and 15% grade and then 20 minutes on the elliptical.  Legs were shot today so all I wanted to do was loosen them up and make sure I burned over 1000 machine calories, ( I don't really believe machine #'s on this).  Achieved both goals and legs feel much better as I write this a couple of hours after leaving the gym. 

Knee and foot really, really sore today.  Was only going to run 3 miles and then cross train.  Of course as I warmed up the pain disappeared and I ended up doing 6.6 miles in an hour.  Felt pretty good at this point.  Moved to the elliptical and did 20 more minutes that I will call 1 extra mile. 

Traveled up to Juneau last night. for three days of meetings.  I don'tlike running in our capital city, at least downtown as traffic is pretty heavy and all the sidewalks are concrete.  Ran by our Gov. house but she is not back home yet. Actually is almost never here in Juneau.  Ran all the roads I could stand and ended up with 7.5 miles in 65 minutes.  I always seem to be more tired running when traveling.  Now bring on the long, long meetings!

Just a quick six miles around the hotel at lunch break.

Meetings are finally over.  Did the run I did the first day here after we adjurned at noon.  Really nice day abet a little cold here in Juneau. 

Back home again.  My knee is really bothering me, I do not have any idea what the cause is.  Maybe running only in the city the past week with a lot of concrete sidewalks played a part.  So today I only ran 4 miles easy then did 35 minutes on the elliptical that I'll call 2.5 more. Knee really hurt after that.  I probably will only crosstrain for a few days and then see if it is better or if I have real knee issues.

Knee is still quite sore.  I thought an easy treadmill session might be OK.  Just did 6.5 miles in 60 minutes.  Knee troublesome but not terrible. Will see in the A.M.

Weight pre workout- 196

Weight post -  192

Knee felt OK today so I ran a short 3.5 miles and then cross trained for another hour that I'll call 3 miles.  Knee did alright today.  No real pain just uncomfortable at times. I will try to be careful through the race in Seattle then take a break to see if it will heal.

P.M.  Had some free time before going back to work tonight so I went  back to the gym.   Knee felt good so I ran another easy 3.5 miles followed by 20 minutes on the elliptical and 15  on the bike.  Say 4.5 for the session.  Knee seems Ok, will see in the morning.  Total for the day about 2.5 hours of machine time.  I don't think I could stand much more!

Weight pre- 194

Weight post 188

Well didn't feel too bad today.  Knee fair to ok after a long workout yesterday.  Decided to do a short run and see.  Did a treadmill run at 9:12 pace and 2% grade for 5.5 miles.  Then did 20 minutes on the elliptical I'll count as 1 more mile.  Felt tired as much as anything, the 2% grade seemed more like 4% today.

Weight (pre exercise)  192

Weight ( post exercise)  186.5

Knee still a little extra tender.  Stayed with an easy treadmill run and will leave a tempo run for a day or two.  No real issues during the run.  7.1 miles in 62 minutes.  Knee sore in a different spot, ie. anterior rather than medial.  Felt slow and sluggish today with this easy run feeling almost hard.  For now I will assume it is due to calorie control and extra crosstraining.

Weight pre workout- 191

Weight post workout- 186.25

Knee felt ok today.  Decided a little longer run was warrented. Blowing 40 with gusts to 60 again today so I did the run on the treadmill.  Nine pretty boring miles in 80 minutes about 8:54 average.  Knee was bothersome at times but never really hurt and was fine after  proper warm up.

Weight before- 191

Weight after - 185.5

Actually just a preplanned crosstraining day.  Elliptical for 60 minutes then treamill walk at 15% grade then 20 minutes on the bike,  Finished up with two loops of the main weight machines. Two hours in the gym total.  Will say equal to five miles just to keep track of weekly effort.
Weight B- 192

Weight A - 187

Machine calories burned  1380.