Campus Six -- Thu. May 29

Feeling worn enought that I wasn't sure if I'd do this, but by 7 felt ready enough -- aiming for somewhere between endurance and stamina (6:50~7:40). Did the extension of the figure of eight 5-miler that I found a few weeks ago (April 30). Started nice and brisk, and managed to keep a good sub-7 for the first three miles, but then the uphill pull added a minute; felt sore after mile 4, but plugged away trying to get at around 8.5 or 7s. Here's the score:

Time: 43:18
Distance: 6.11 miles
Speed: 8.5 mph

Comment: managed to average out dead-on pace wise, but that's still not my official stamina pace. I think the difference is my lack of condition - -I don't feel ready for a 10K even, right now, let alone a half, but I know that witha couple more good distance weeks I'll get back to it. Next run should be endurance and double digits, maybe Sat p.m., unless I'm still sore. The numb-leg problem came back at about 5.5 miles, so I'm still in that. Not sure how to get through it other than build up little by little and hope.

Speed work -- Wed. May 28

I'd planned to do hill work, but then a dream where I couldn't run fast, and was pretty disgusted w/ myself, plus feeling a bit weary for attacking hills, led me to take the track option. After work jogged out in late evening to make a 5K run to the middle school cinder/gravel track. Marked a line and then did a solid 400, looked at the time and was flabberghasted at how slow it appeared: 1:27. Okay, so jog a lap and try again. Again, 1:27. Hmm. Jog a lap again and make one more attempt, with at least the makings of a push at the end. 1:25. Okay, point taken. Then I joged home a shorter route. First, here's the combined out and back routes:

Time: 22:16 + 13:22 = 35:38
Distance: 3.19 + 1.7 = 4.89 miles
Speed: 8.6 & 7.6 = 8.23 mph

And the track work:

Time and speed varied, though that pace is about 10.2 mph; not fast.
Distance: 1.49 miles

So, total mileage for day = 6.38 miles.

Comment: when I got home I looked up the mcmillan running training notes I'd printed out and found that speed work for me, counting myself as a long distance runner, for 400m laps should be in the 1:24.5 to 1:29.3 range. So, slow though it may be, I was exactly as predicted for someone of my current abilities. Hmmm. Now I'm tired, for sure, but I'll go out again tonight, atbe.

Spring Running Totals

Weekly Running Totals for SPRING 2008 (getting back into the flow!)

GOALS: get well, do regular SRRS runs, and find an 18k to aim for.
Also, aim to bicycle SOME, even if short duration

March 16 - 22 -- target = assuming I get over the cold a bit, some light re-entry runs
actual = 4.42 = 1 @ 4.42

March 23 - 29 -- target = trying to recover from back spasms; anything is good
actual = 3.19 = 1 @ 3.19

March 30 - April 5 -- target = week off again, but perhaps one a weekend run
actual = 4.37 = 1 @ 4.37

April 6 - April 12 -- target = try a bit more, still just weekending (time pressure at work)
actual = 7.46 + 5.69 = 2 @ 13.15

April 13 - April 19 -- target = no time, but a Sunday run to start
actual = 8.46 = 1 @ 8.46

April 20 - April 26 -- target = three runs before Saturday 5K race
actual = 10.13 + 5.49 + 4.17 = 3 @ 19.79

April 27 - May 3 -- target = SRRC and a Cavehill rehearsal
actual = 5 + 6.02 + 5.45 = 3 @ 16.47

May 4 - May 10 -- target = anything -- really busy!
actual = 5 = 1 @ 5

May 11 - May 17 -- target = [ended up with cold after SRRC run; week off]
actual = 7.51 = 1 @ 7.51
plus a Saturday bike ride, easy 5 miler on trails w/ F

May 18 - May 24 -- target = get back into rhythm after cold: 3 runs, w/ first NoHo of the season
actual = 8 + 7.1 + 10.05 = 3 @ 25.15

RESULT
Well, getting sick twice didn't lead to good mileage, but no zeroes! And at least now as summer opens I've hit 25 miles again. Best thing about spring has been the discovery of SRRC, for sure.

Solo 5K+ -- Mon. May 26

Up early and back/thighs very sore after yesterday's run, so tired hair of the dog -- out for a short one, as I had time. Just a Hamilton 5K, running comfortably but pushing a bit against the hill near the end. The sore foot from yesterday evening, and the feeling of "tangled innards" on the foot (right foot, same as numb leg, bien sur) when I landed on it sometimes: still there, and by the end of the run I couldn't really comfortably put weight on it barefoot (better with shoes, interestingly). Tonikaku, here's the run:

Time: 24:10
Distance: 3.36 miles
Speed: 8.3 mph

Comment: hope this injury fades soon -- maybe it was exacerbated by running with full bladder yesterday? it all goes back to that sort of sciatica syndrome, I think, not really a muscle/tendon/ligament thing. . .

SRRC long run -- Sun. May 25

After lectoring it was a bit of a rush to get there, but still made it by bike to DnD for 10:00. Mark and Ivan there, and Andy, no Jason; also Dawn and (anthro) Bill. Suggested doing last week's run but adding the canal loop, for probably a bit over 10 miles total. All okayed this (Dawn did her usual 6, solo, alas) though I thought Mark and maybe Ivan might want to peel off for the 8 miler. We set out very gently, doing 8 and 8:30+ on the opening trails, then picked up a bit on the roads. Summit Hill was Bill leading and me working to stay even, with Andy jogging along too; we waited at the top for the others, then headed down t'other side. Bill and I pulled ahead as we took more of a 7:30 and less pace; was good to push it a bit, though I knew the distance would be tough. The last mile of the canal was predictably hard, and the rail trail more of a struggle than when I'm fitter. I let Bill's pace push me a bit, as he was comfortable with anything. Here's how it ended up:

Time: 1:24:18
Distance: 11.15 miles
Speed: 7.9 mph

Comments: communicated poorly w/ Andy re running on ahead, and he arrived a little in front of the other two maybe ten minutes after us, a bit ticked. He said they'd lost the route (which was my responsibility, I know, but I thought they'd be okay; my bad), and indeed they came different way, but the distance was practically identical (11.04 on Ivan's gps). Oof. I'll email him and apologise. It would really be easier if we could get a bigger bunch involved; I must do some recruiting. . .

Running wise, this is the longest time and distance I've done since January. Finally back on the way up to 14+ runs, I think; but it will take time. Bill gave me some good tips on hill work: like speed work, it needs to be done separately from continuous running. Yuhuh. Not my favorite thing -- I like to run as travel, not as exercise. But I'll make an exception for speed and hills as long as I can get in three real runs a week on top. Here's what he recommended:
1. Find a hill (he uses Jabish).
2. Run up it hard for 2 minutes.
3. Jog back down.
4. Repeat 4 times (later increase to 5 or 6)
I can even work that into a real run, I think. . .

Solo Ten 久しぶり -- Thu. May 22

Given that the Fri/Sat are taken up with graduations, and even Thu. evening is out with a trip to Boston, I went out Thu. a.m. for my planned weekly double digit run. First such in many weeks, so I wasn't going to to do much more than 10. When I set out I was indeed feeling a bit early morning (it was 8:45 or so) and I only had an hour and a quarter. So the simple obvious route was rail trail, which I duly did, entering from GeoHannum and going down all the way to just short of 181, turning round and coming back, stopping the clock at 10, with near perfect timing:

Time: 1:15:09
Distance: 10.05 miles
Speed: 8 mph

Comment: this takes me to a 25 mile week, and finally a feeling I'm getting back into some sort of useful shape. Phew. Next week a bit more, I hope. Weather was oddly early spring still: ran in longs, with slight rain the whole time (no hat though).

NoHo 5K plus four -- Tue. May 20

Made it to this first one of the season for me, though the series actually started in April. Drove across to the boathouse on Old Springfield and parked (traffic really slow, so next week bike if possible). Warmed up with the two miles to the course, very pleasant run along by the bird-busy hedges. Ivan and Christi both there. April was playing violin and it's her parents who run the whole thing, it turns out. Amazing. Quite cool breeze, but humid and not really cold. Guessed 21:00 for a time. Very crowded start so ran past a few, and then struggled to keep position. No Rich C. to pace on, but younger long-haired guy I remember from last year. First two miles cautious but running quite hard; managed to sort of float up the really steep hill and not lose too much ground on the recovery, then it was a real place swapping last quarter. I had enough left for a bit of a kick and made up one place right at the line:

Time: 20:27
Distance: 5K
Speed: 9.3 mph

Then after eats and chats I ran back the two miles to the car, so combine those two runs thus:

Time: 31:07
DIstance: 4.05 miles
Speed: 7.8 mph

Comment: both good mileage and a decent race. Quite satisfying, and a time to try to beat next week.

SRRC run -- Sun. May 18

Slow start, but on my bike and arrived at DnD just at 10 -- Ivan called my mobile while I was biking over which nearly made for a wipeout (must practice phone/biking). Horde of bikers there, which was novel, and a couple more runners than last week. Jason, Andy, Ivan and me for the longer run, w/ Dawn and Ed G. doing a 6 miler. Tried out my new course incorporating the trail behind the Junior League field -- very pleasant, a perfect day for it (again!) and quite appreciated; the road section after was good hill training too, also appreciated (and I sure felt sore at the end!). We started gently, then pushed in the middle (sort of -- Summit Hill felt really long!) and at the end A and J took off a bit, but I was bushed. Overall a fair pace considering the hills:

Time: 1:03:48
Distance: 8 miles
Speed: 7.5 mph

Comment: I just hope that's the end of that cold; Andy was also getting over similar. Though I tapped out at the end, I'm ready again for longer distances, finally.

Trail bike -- Sat. May 17

Spent the past week miserable with a cold, too busy to take much time off and just resigned to get through it. By day 6, Saturday, felt well enough to go out biking with F and we did some good trail riding as prep for the Sunday SRRC run. Also did with R some of the plank crunches that Jason recommended -- pretty tough, and worth sticking to, I think. The week ahead will include Ivan and my first NoHo Summer 5K -- we're both also agreed on doing lots of hill running this summer. For me four main goals, along with the basic increase in mileage back up to 30+ per week:

1. aim to do only climbing and trail races, with nothing less than 5 miles;
2. do at least one solid distance run (12+ miles) each week
3. do the Tuesday 5Ks for speed work
4. increase the biking (including biking to Noho when possible) --our August trip will help there.

That's it for now. SRRC run here I come.

SRRC run -- Sun. May 11

Almost hot -- just a gorgeous day, and a small SRRC group when I arrived by bike at 10:00. Lisa W's husand Ken was new to me, and he joined me and Jason on a duplicate of the 21 and Jabish canal run I did on April 20, thus: "starting through the HS and then going right on Old Springfield out to 21, left all the way down to the JB canal, and back up that to the rail trail and along there to our start." Aiming at comfortable sub-8s, we started a bit fast (7:30, 7:15, then 7:45) then slowed down to this pace:

Time: 58:25
Distance: 7.51 miles
Speed: 7.7 mph

Comments: nice run, getting right through my soreness from yesterday, and feeling like a practicing runner again. Still, I may have eaten too soon after, or gotten chilly, or something -- I was going down with a cold that evening. . .

Cave Hill Classic -- Sat. May 10

A surprisingly nice day, considering dire forecasts! Set out at 7:40 and arrived in time to jog up to the top of the hill (just a reminder) and then register by 8:30 a.m. Ivan and then Mark arrived, and we all set out to do a mile or so warmup, just down the track and back. Weijia was there again (with her guy, I think), and there was a pretty solid crowd. Blessed and started with a handdrum, we set off at about 9:15. Pretty fast first mile, inevitably, but I wasn't really going for broke; clocked 5:53 by their mile marker, but GPS called it at 6:05. Then it got slower bit by bit, as the course demands. Steadily losing ground to a guy in orange, and overtook a guy in blue who then pushe me all the way before catching me on the crest of Rattlesnake Gutter. He stayed that one place ahead of me to the end, though I closed back to 2 seconds by the end. As we hit the road for the uphill mile and a quarter, footseps behind and breath sounded like a woman runner, and sure enough she passed at the 4 mile mark, powering on to overtake the guy in blue too (really strong runner; I recognise her from other runs, and her partner had a CMS shirt on; maybe she's from there). The last uphill was tough, as I knew it would be, but I had a bit left for the final 100 yards and closed on the guy in blue. Felt okay afterwards too, so I could have shaved a bit off the time, but not much. Here's the deets:

Time: 35:57
Distance: 5 miles
Speed: 8.3 mph

Comments: satisfying as a recovery run. As Ivan said, it's a training run, too tough for us at this stage of the year to really race. If I ever get a sabbatical, though. . . Kudos to Mark, btw: he was wearing his DD shirt! Oh, and this year for the first time I go to enjoy one of the burritos from Buenos y sanos (sp.?) -- very solid.

Cave Hill dry run -- Sat. May 3

Met with Ivan at 10 for a tryout on the Leverett course. Mainly it seemed familiar enough -- we were taking it easy and followed the regular route. The downhill at the start was shorter than I recalled, and the mid point uphill, at about 2.5 miles, was shorter too. But the push at the end and the brutal last quarter mile were as memory said: very tough. Here's the data:

Time: 43:57
Distance: 5.45 miles
Speed: 7.4 mph

Comment: it was a chilly morning considering the week, but that's fine as the weather for the day is going to be lousy, it seems. I wish I could get another practice run in, at least of the last mile. Oh well, just have to see what happens.

Campus extended -- Wed. April 30

Evening run solo just as the day was fading. Started from Haigis as usual, headed clockwise round and did the loop as far as Newman, then keep going straight on NoPleast towards town, then double back onto EaPleast and follow on *past* the fire station all the way to the road that leads to a footpath connecting with a road that comes out back onto NoPleast, then head back towards Campus. Stopped clock at Northeast to say hi to Alexei, who had a bike event set to go at 8:30. Nice run, useful for future ref:

Time: 42:59
Distance: 6.02 miles
Speed:8.4 mph

Comment: I'm still not in the groove of regular running. Each outing feels like the first after a long break. . . but this one at least was without mishap and picks up on the weekend's workout nicely. The route is a keeper, too -- varied gradients, and a 10K plus a tiny bit if I ran all the way back to the office. Must try it w/ Ivan and Mark at some point.