Excited About Racing

Tomorrow I am running in the Penguin Run, my first race since the Turkey Trot. I'm pretty excited to get back out there with other runners. I'm hoping to get under 23:00, but am feeling a bit unsure about this. Weight loss isn't happening as fast as I'd like. For the most part, my eating habits have been more focused. I guess, I'll just need to work harder, run faster, and stay focused. Today was an easy 4 mile run on the treadmill. It is nice to say that, "easy", as I can remember beginning in April and barely sustaining a 3 mile run.

Mileage: 4.00
Time/Pace: 37:10/9:18
Avg HR: 143
Incline: 1.0

Finishing Up My "Rest Week"

Last day of my "rest week" although I still logged 27 miles. No long runs or speed work, a bit of time for the body to heal a little. With my marathon training at the half way point, I am looking ahead at some of my upcoming workouts. I am going to tweak my schedule a bit this week and try to get my long run in on Thursday. This is mostly because I have a 5K race scheduled and don't want to run 16 miles the day before this race. 6 more miles today, on the treadmill.

Mileage: 6.00
Time/Pace: 56:30/9:25
Avg HR: 142
Incline: 1.00

Couple of Days Off

After my last run on Wednesday, I took a couple days off. I've been feeling a bit worn out, long work hours, not much sleep. After a decent night's sleep last night, I was back at it today. I ran on a treadmill today, I should have ran outside, it was a nice day. Right around mile 6, my left knee stiffened up, don't know why. I'll have to keep an eye on that.

Mileage: 7.00
Time/Pace: 1:05:52/9:24
Avg HR: 143

New Long: 16 Miles

Hmmm....16 miles on the schedule today....yikes!! In the back of my mind I still have the memories of my struggles at 14 miles in December. Yesterday, I spent most of the day on my knees putting in a hardwood floor. Pretty tough on my knees and back, even my butt was sore! When I woke this morning, all my joints were creaking and legs were moaning. Add today's weather and it was setting up to be a perfect day to bail. However, I sucked it up, filled my water bottles with Accelerade, grabbed a couple packs of Clif Shot Blocks and headed out to the gym.

Treadmill running is not my favorite, it is quite dull, but necessary today. The one thing I do like is that it sets a pace nicely. The miles rolled off with relative ease. At the 10.5 mark, I knew I'd be able to complete the run. I felt pretty good throughout the run, with the exception of some stiffness in my left knee and ankle.

Mileage: 16.00
Time/Pace: 2:31:04/9:26
Avg HR: 144

Splits: 9:20, 9:29, 9:30, 9:28, 9:22, 9:26, 9:28, 9:27, 9:27, 9:26, 9:27, 9:23, 9:27, 9:24, 9:27, 9:26

More Footpodding

I really don't enjoy running on a treadmill as much as being outside, but it was just too damn cold yesterday. I did an easy 5 miles at the gym yesterday morning. Today, I did another bike workout. Tomorrow, I will attempt 14 miles again.

Mileage: 5.00
Time/Pace: 47:43/9:32
Avg HR: 142

FootPod and The Treadmill for a Tempo Run

I received my footpod for my Garmin GPS watch today and it was also very cold out. Perfect for some treadmill work. Pretty mild workout today, it felt much easier than running outdoors. Part of this could be due to the fact that I have been wearing 3 layers lately when running outside. Today's run on the treadmill was nothing more than a pair of running shorts and t-shirt. Either way, this was a much easier tempo run than I have experienced previously. The footpod is great so far.

The goal for today's run was 3 miles at an 8:04 pace, with a warm up and cool down mile. My splits were 8:02, 8:05, 8:04. It was a bit difficult to get the pace exactly right as I couldn't get the treadmill set at 8:04/mile. I had to adjust it up and down a bit, but I think I was close enough.

Mileage: 5.00
Time/Pace: 43:28/8:42
HR: 147