Friday, July 31, 2009

The Summer has been good so far...

I am getting a lot of good runs in recently. I wake up and do my run. That is something I can't normally do because my wife has to leave for work so early during the school year and I have got to get the kids ready for school before going to work myself. But, recently I just wake up grab my shoes and get out there.

The weather around the country has been hot in some places, but mostly the DC Metro area has been cool for July. So good weather and a less constrictive schedule have really had an effect on my treadmill. I haven't used it since I don't know when.

My paces are pretty steady, I see that I need to focus in order to keep my speed up when running more than seven miles. Not a whole lot of time left until the next marathon, but I expect to start peaking soon. I am running 5 days a week and averaging about 7.0 mph. I've put in 95 miles in the last 30 days. This weekend is an 8 mile marathon pace run followed by an 11 mile "long slow distance" run. I'm putting it together.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Game face on (today's run 7.33 miles - 1:01:47 - 8:25 min/mi average pace)

Today I thought occasionally about not doing my run. I had a hard time trying to imagine getting in a 7 mile run, working almost ten hours at work, and supporting my children's swim team "loads of laps" challenge. Determined not to disappoint myself, I got to the pool, cheered the kids on and ran off into the sunset.

At mile 6 I got a painful stitch in my side. That familiar diaphragm cramp. I tried to keep running and put pressure on my side and took deep breaths, but I had to slow down to a walk. As soon as I could I got back to my running pace and finished the last mile at about a 7:15 mi/min pace.

I am not where I want to be. I skipped a few runs in late June to take care of some important family business, but I stay resolute. I ran on my vacation last week. I knew I was going to have a hard week back at work and I am keeping the faith. My training needs to pickup, but I am still at it. My game face is on.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Laying down on the job (Today's run: 4.01 Miles - 30:58 - 7:43 Avg)

I have been running. But, I have recently been bringing no enthusiasm to the job. Today's run was a fairly vigorous 4.01 miles in 30:56 with an average pace of 7:43 mi/min. I have run 13 times since my last blog and averaged roughly this same pace over distances from 3 to 7 miles except for my abysmal 15K this weekend that I can only explain as a result of my first 90+ degree F day run of the summer.

I think I need a race. I also want to order the heart rate monitor that I did not get with my Garmin Forerunner 405. I feel like I need something to make me push my intensity. I have roughly 13 weeks until my next marathon, but the efforts I have been giving in my workouts are not indicative of the kinds of changes I want to make. I am gonna try to step it up. :)