How Much Discomfort Can I Tolerate?!

Weather - 53 degrees, cloudy, windy.

5 easy miles at the arboretum.

#177

z.m. - #90

Weather - 62 degrees, sunny.

Very nice day for a shortened long run. Because I have a race this Saturday I decided to include some bike intervals in the middle of today's run, rather than have another strenuous effort later in the week.

After running 45 minutes, I stopped in at Cardinal and did my usual routine of bike intervals. The session was difficult on my breathing/heartrate, more so than usual. I should mention that for the past two weeks I have altered my breathing technique during running. If I stick with it I can expect difficulties for a few months when running beyond an easy pace. This could also hinder my races, but in the long term it may be a better way to run, so I do not mind working with it for 2 or 3 months to see if my running improves from it.

After the bike intervals, which took 20 minutes to complete, I ran another 45 minutes, for a total of 90 minutes running.

Afterward I did some stretching and strength exercises, and a 35 minute walk home.

#178

z.m. - #91

Weather - 62 degrees, sunny.

5 easy miles at the arboretum on a pleasant spring day. Ran 1 mile barefoot in the grass. At the end of the run I did 4 x 150-300M accelerations.

#179

z.m. - #92

Weather - 62 degrees, cloudy.

4.5 easy miles around the park, did 5 x 100m accelerations at the end of the run.

Legs feel pretty good, the low mileage is helping me stay fresh. Now that I am running races almost every weekend I would like to keep my mileage between 30-50. When I take an extended break from racing I will begin to build back to a higher base. Now is the time to focus on the quality of the training runs, the lower mileage will hopefully keep me injury-free.

#180

z.m. - #93

Weather - 52 degrees, raining.

A wet and cold day, so I decided to be soft and run on the treadmill at Cardinal. I ran 4 miles, with about 1 mile being run at 5:42-6:15 pace.

After the mill I did some strength exercises and stretching, and a 15 minute walk home.

#181

z.m. - #94

Weather - 56 degrees, cloudy.

Ran 3 easy miles. Looking forward to the race tomorrow.

# 182

z.m. - #95

Weather - 61 degrees, cloudy, windy.

Race day conditions were not too bad, a stiff 15mph wind, but it was pleasantly cool. I did not feel at my best, my energy level was a bit low due to poor sleep the past couple of nights. I should have been more careful about getting to bed early, but that is the way it goes sometimes.

Last year I ran this race in 33:46, so I was 44 seconds slower this year. Pace was 6:54, which was the same pace as the 12K two weeks ago. One factor not in my favor was the course was quite muddy in places, and besides the swollen creek crossing, there was a 20M length of standing water at the 3.5 mile mark, causing a slowdown. I held about a 6:40 pace for the first 3 miles, but slowed to a 6:55-7:00 pace in mile 4, and mile 5 I fell apart on the long gently sloping uphill straight into the wind. My lungs were maxed out with 800M to go, and I just kind of meandered in, losing quite a bit of whatever speed I had left.

I was proud of the fact that nobody passed me in the race, but with 200M to go I looked over my shoulder and saw a runner closing in, he was only 5 meters back. He had been following me at a 100M distance for the final 2 miles, but with my crash he was ready to take me down. With 100M to go he was on my heels, and even though I felt like crap I started sprinting. I was confident that I could hold the lead, and when I turned to look behind me with 50M to go he was still on my heels - he was not going to let it go so easily. I ran even harder and I was able to get into the chute first - ahhhhh, that hurt!

Today is the 6 month mark of consecutive days of running, I'm going to eat some Ben & Jerry's frozen yogurt to celebrate.

#183

z.m. - #96