How Much Discomfort Can I Tolerate?!

AM : Weather - 57 degrees, sunny.

Drove to Homer Lake with Maggie (pet dog) and we ran 5 miles through the forest trails. Lots of bluebells were on the path, and I ran barefoot for about 1.5 miles.

PM : Weather - 62 degrees, sunny.

After dropping the rental car off I ran 4 easy miles home.

#170

z.m. - #83

Weather - 78 degrees, sunny.

Nice warm day, ran 4 easy miles in shoes through the park and Busey Woods, and 1 mile barefoot at the golf course.

Tomorrow will be another easy day, and if I feel good on Wednesday I will join 2nd Wind at the track for an interval workout.

I am thinking about running a 5k this weekend at Crystal Lake park. I did not schedule to run it, and I won't feel fresh, but I need to do some tempo/pacing type sessions, and a 5k race would meet that need. A race is more exciting than doing a tempo workout by myself, and I get a chance to see if I can hold a stiff pace without tapering. If the weather sucks I will skip the 5k, because I need a break from racing in cold/rain/wind.

#171

z.m. - #84

Weather - 78 degrees, sunny.

Ran 6 easy miles at the arboretum, 2.5 miles barefoot in the grass.

#172

z.m. - #85 

Weather - 67 degrees, raining.

Had one of my better workouts today, doing a track session with 2nd Wind. The group was doing 4 X 1200m and 4 X 200m. The total time for each 1200m was 8 minutes, but if I ran a 5 minute 1200m, then 3 minutes rest seemed too much. Matt suggested I do 4 X 1600m, that seemed more challenging, so I gave it a try. I realized before starting that I had never done 1 mile intervals, so I had no idea how it would go. I decided on a slightly slower than 5K pace, so somewhere between 6:40-6:50 seemed reasonable. Just before lining up it started to rain, but since it was warm it felt pretty good. We did 4 x 100M accelerations and then got to it :

1) 6:26 - The time seemed fast, but the pace felt right.

2) 6:32 - feeling good.

3) 6:30 - still feeling good

4) 6:21 - a little leg weary at the end, but recovered nicely before starting the 200's.

The 4 x 200M had a long 400M rest, so I was fresh for each one :

1) 40 seconds

2) 39

3) 39

4) 36 - my first 36 second 200, was in control the whole way.

Did a half mile cool down, did not feel exhausted or beat, just pleasantly spent. What I was most pleased about is I had only a 90 second jogging recovery between miles, and it was enough, I started each one fresh and with a low heart rate.

#173

z.m. - #86

Weather - 53 degrees, raining.

5 easy miles in the rain.

#174

z.m. - #87 

Weather - 61 degrees, cloudy.

3 easy miles around the park and Busey Woods.

I may run a 5k in the park tomorrow, depending on how energetic I feel. Also, I had a slight low ankle ache on my run today, which is why I cut it short. It seems better now, I will see how it feels when I run to the park tomorrow morning.

#175

z.m. - #88 

Weather - 58 degrees, sunny.

A nice day for a relaxed 5k. I was not expecting to break a PR today, as I had 2 hard workouts during the past 7 days. My overall mileage was low, but the intensity of the 12K race last Saturday and my first ever mile intervals at the track on Wednesday caused me to feel a bit low on racing energy. My plan was to get another good pacing workout in with the help of this race. My mile splits were right on target :

Mile 1 - 6:16

Mile 2 - 6:18

Mile 3 - 6:14

That is where I thought I would end up. I will admit I feel a bit down because I was running these same splits last year in June/July, when I was feeling really tired because of my marathon training. Well, I should not complain, I set a PR in the 5k last month, and I am feeling healthy and not too beat up.

I plan on doing a shortened long run of 90 minutes on Monday, then maybe some bike intervals on Wednesday. Next Saturday is the Buffalo Trail 5 mile race. I ran a pretty good race last year, averaging 6:45 per mile on grass, smallish hills, and a creek crossing. That time is going to be hard to beat, but I should be close.

#176

z.m. - #89