Catching Up With Dismal Week

Wed
I didn't think that I could have got any worse in health but then I woke up. I new in an instant why I took 48 hours to recover from a trail run that Would usually just take a day. I was getting sick and now it was full-on! I did report to work but it lasted to noon then I went home. A quick trip to the Urgent Care was justified to ensure I didn't have Step. (I didn't). I made it home and slept for 3 hours. That felt great!
0 miles for the day.

Thursday I woke up feeling rested so I hit the roads for a quick run. I didn't want to do too much so an easy loop to shake out the legs was perfect. My legs were feeling better but now I had to deal with a brewing head cold and mucho snot from my head. The feeling I was having felt like it could linger for a bit. I just finished having a three weaker in early May and I was not looking forward to repeating the whole thing all over.
Total: 42:45. 6 miles

When I woke up on Friday I knew I was in trouble. I hacked up some gnarly lung cookies and made my way out the door. My goal was to get in 7 miles and that was all I could mentally consider. Once I went through the mile I surprised myself and was feeling a bit frisky so I quickly made up a workout based on what I felt like I could handle physically and what would actually help me come June 18th. The plan was to do 2X 2 miles at true LT pace. I worked into the first mile then proceeded to manage 5:20 pace for the two repeats separated by three minutes. My legs were better and I actually was breathing just fine after clearing out the lungs.
Total: 48:05. 7.4 miles

Saturday I woke up with much congestion and really didn't want to run. The weather sucked and I just didn't want to head out. I finally did and hit the trails of Rock Hill and Chester. Again, once the lungs were clear I felt decent so an hour was in store. Easy hour.
Total: 55:49. 6.5 miles on trails

I felt like my run on Sunday needed to be at least 13 miles. I did that and actually ran a negative split run. I love doing these workouts as you gain much confidence when they go good. I had to hold back on the way out and once I had the green light I hit some 5:45-5:50's for close to 4 miles. I would have liked to hit more faster miles but it felt like way too much work for that pace and I just chalked it up to the virus is was fighting. Not the best run but I knew it wasn't a true reflection of my fitness.
Total: 1:25:44. 13 miles with 4 @ steady state pace.

Weeks Total: 45.3. Miles
Years Total: 1043.7 miles

Wasted

The Sunday trail run shattered my legs. I finished the run and went to bed Sunday night very happy. As I woke up Monday I had the usual drowsiness and didn't really want to hit the pavement but I pushed on and quickly realized how sore I was. No energy. No spring in my stride. Just plain 'ol fashioned fatigue! I took every step with caution and quickly made a decision to cut it short. Two days recovery may be in order...

Total: 37:02 4.8 miles

*very low energy

This morning was worse yet. I couldn't believe how trashed my legs were and frankly I was shocked! Three miles in and it felt like I just took my first step off our driveway. The loop took me out to Martin and Vermilion roads and that was enough. Each step hurt. My hamstrings were a mess. Tight is just a word that begins to describe how awful I felt. When I got home I hit the fitness ball and did some abdomen work. I also stretched the hips and low back. I did manage to feel a bit better but feeling like this concerns me. I have some key workouts to do this week and I hope tomorrow morning will allow me to nail a good one!

Total: 58:13 7.6 miles easy!

Finished In The Mud

Wednesday was a lazy morning that turned into a big fat "0" for the morning. I woke up tired and really just didn't want to run. I will give myself one day a week at the most to do that. A person knows when they are being lazy and when you really need a day off. I was somewhere in the middle of all that and when it lands on a recovery run morning I am less likely to fight it. In the end, more times than not, your legs thank you for the rest.

Total: 0 miles

Thursday was back to a more structured workout of sorts. I decided on 1k repeats but as I jogged past the track something told me to avoid it. I am still a bit leary of all the turns a track workout can dish out. My achilles has been so good, I don't want to blow it on some workout I can mimic on the roads. That is what I did. I did 5 x 3 minutes at 5:10-5:15 pace with 90 seconds rest between intervals. West Skyline has fairly tame terrain so that was my stomping grounds.

Here is how the workout unfolded.

3.4 mile warm up

3:00 at 5:16 pace

3:00 at 5:04 pace

3:00 at 5:16 pace

3:00 at 5:17 pace

3:00 at 5:17 pace

200 meter, 400 meter sprint

3.5 mile warm down

Total: 11 miles

Friday I woke up to sunlight and decided to run a new route and mix in some trails. I ran through Woodland neighborhoods and worked my way to Hartley before making a final loop to Rock Hill. Legs felt great and the trails were in great shape.

Total: 1:05:30 8.4 miles

Saturday we went camping on the North Shore to Temperance State Park. The morning was great and we took in the action at the Superior Trail Races. There was a 50K and 25K that had a maximum field of 250 runners. The runners were blessed with no rain and mostly dry trails. As we were leaving the race, the rain started and never let up until the next morning. My plan was to run 90 minutes on the trail near Temperance but that never materialized so I took another "0". I cant remember when I last took more than one day off in a week. Again, I tried not to beat myself up over it and enjoyed the weekend.

Total: 0 miles

Sunday was another rainy day and we made it back to Duluth rather early. After a little snack I decided to hit the trails for some loops and ended up hitting Rock Hill, Hartley, Amity Creek, Lester and returned home. I misjudged the Lester loop and ended up running a bit longer than planned but all was good. One gel got me through the ordeal and for the most part my legs were happy.

Total: 2:21:21 18.1 miles (trails)

Weeks Total: 56 miles

Years Total: 998.4 miles

Crisp Air

The first two days of this week have been a bit chilly but I will not complain a bit because I have run under sunny skies. By the time I am heading out at 0515 the sun is near breaking the horizon and the morning air is crisp. The birds are chirping and all I could hear was the pitter patter of my feet hitting the asphalt.

Monday I found myself a bit more fatigued than planned. I felt so good yesterday after my long run that I figured I would jump out of bed and just pound out the miles. Wrong! I had sore and tight hamstrings along with general fatigue. That may have been a good thing as it kept the pace very controlled. I did my usual loop out to Martin road and home via Vermilion and UMD. By then end of the run I was looking for some food and tea and ready to start a fresh week.

This morning I managed to get out and do some uptempo running. For the next three or four weeks one of my weekly workouts will be steady-state running. This morning I did 4 miles and at the end of four weeks I will run a 10 miler at pace. The pace is NOT the same as LT (lactate threshold) pace, rather it is a pace just a bit slower, or, just a bit faster than marathon pace. At this point in my training I used 5:40 as my pace. I didn't really feel all that peppy this morning but I managed to hold pace rather easily. It's really important not to push too hard on these workouts and running under the prescribed pace is counterproductive. I'm not too sure what I will do the rest of this training for my second workout of the week but I am thinking I will dabble with 1000 meter repeats. In the past I have gained a lot of strength from the 1k's and I hope that is the true this time around.

Monday: 1:02:00 8.2 miles recovery

Tuesday: 1:10:00 10+ miles

(garmin died 32 minutes into run)

4 miles at 5:40 pace in middle

Another Cold Week- Lucky For A PR!

Monday:

The run on the SHT left me feeling a bit invigorated. Having run for two hours on that trail and having little to no soreness after makes one feel like their "fitness" has made a proper adjustment. Once those trails dry up I plan to make them a regular addition to the weekend running routes. For the morning run I ran an easy loop up Woodland and home via Vermilion. Typical recovery style run.

Total: 57:27 7.6 miles easy

Tuesday was my last workout prior to the one mile race on Thursday night. I managed to do a nice warm up to the UMD track, quickly changed my shoes the the Mizuno Universals before working myself into some laps of alternating the straights and corners of easy/hard. The straights were at mile pace and I jogged the corners. In total I made it 8 or 9 laps before heading home. I was really liking how I was feeling after the first 3 or 4 repeats and had a really good workout. I think if things go right, a new mile PR could be in the works. But let's not get too far ahead of myself...

Total: 1:00:35 8.3 miles

Wednesday was another easy Kenwood loop. The rain has managed to stay away for my runs this week but the cool temperatures sure have not. I need some heat!!

Total: 57:03 7.6 miles

Thursday was all about the TC 1 Mile. I woke up and proceeded to run about 4 miles easy to Vermilion Rd and back. I did a few striders and got myself home to ready myself for work.

Once we, Dave S. and I, got to Minneapolis we picked up our packets under grey skies and temperatures just 2 degree's warmer than we had in Duluth. The mist/rain would fall off/on throughout the night and keep things rather cool. I figured this to be the case as all my races this year have been under grey skies and some form of precipitation.

We got in a nice warm up and covered the course a time or two before getting on the racing flats to ready ourselves for the gun start. Once we were off I tried to settle in a pace that would keep me under control the first 800 meters but that would not happen. I felt a constant urge to adjust the pace and never really got comfortable. Lot's of jockeying for position and I soon was getting passed by a light grey-haired gentleman that had me worried about the masters title. He passed with authority and I had a very hard time trying to go with him. Once we got past the 3/4th's mile mark I decided it was time to start to get to work and try to make a last push, but the legs really had no other gear than I was currently running. Over the last 200 meters I felt like had just a bit left in the tank and passed a few runners but not the man I targeted. That's OK because I managed to run 3 seconds faster than last year and run myself to a new mile Pr of 4:34. I'm happy with that. After the race Dave and I hooked up with some old teammates of mine and had a nice burger and pint before heading home for the late night commute.

Totals: 30:00 4 miles in AM

35 minute warm up prior to the race

1 mile race then 1 mile warm down.

11 miles total for day

Friday I had off from work and packed my morning full appointments and the afternoon was full of rain. Being pissed and sick of all this, I opted for a day off and enjoyed myself.

Total: 0 miles

Saturday I made my way to the SHT to Hawks Ridge and ran roads home. I found myself at the base of Glenwood hill and pushed at 7:15 pace up and continued the effort the rest of the way home. An impromptu tempo if you will. Legs felt great to go faster again and I feel like some nice workouts are right around the corner.

Total: 1:00:21 8.1 miles with last 20 minutes tempo.

Sunday I found myself out at Jeremy's as he is starting to get back into running after an injury that had left him down and out for a month or so. We ran the Western Waterfront trail out and back then three of us added another ATV trail loop to get our long effort for the day. Good for just over 2 hours. Legs felt great with no soreness after. Yeah!!

Total: 2:03:19 15.5 miles

Weeks Total: 58 miles

Years Total: 942.7 miles

Kickin' Viruses

Tuesday: I woke up with continued and actually increased head-stuffiness and I wasn't sure what the source was. My initial thought was another virus, I had just finished a three week bout of a head cold and I wasn't looking forward to another one. I was then reminded that the pollen counts were at an extremely high level and it could be allergies kicking in high. At at rate I was waking up very congested and having to hack up many goobers along the first few miles of my runs.

The schedule called for some up tempo work and I decided to do longer fartleks. Once I got a decent warm up I worked myself into 5 X 4 min's at LT pace with 2 minutes of rest between. I was very pleased with how this workout unfolded and considering the terrain was fair, with the exception of the strong uphill 4th interval, I felt very strong and excited to hit the splits that was given to me that morning. I hit splits of 5:40, 5:35, 5:40, 6:08, 5:33 for the "on" segments. Finishing with a nice 4+ mile warm down kept me loose for the day.

Total: 1:24:42 12.3 miles

Wednesday I woke up with continued congestion and I really didn't want to head out. I got my arse out of bed a bit late and proceeded to make a short loop just to clear the head if nothing else. My legs appreciated the effort and became much looser with the short mileage. One of those mornings where I was happy just to get out a bit.

Total: 30:07 4 miles

Thursday was uptempo day #2 for the week and I decided on shorter intervals at a much higher workload. After a decent warm up I worked myself into a workout that consisted of 15 X 1 min on/0ff at ~4:50 pace. It felt great to get my legs to turn over a bit quicker and I really was feeling good at the end of the workout. Lot's of head junk still coming out in the early miles.

Total: 1:00:08 8.6 miles

Friday was my usual Wednesday loop of easy miles in the Kenwood area. I like this loop as an easy run and having a beautiful morning was a bonus. My legs were a bit tired at the start but I worked into the run and finished feeling very fresh.

Total: 54:55 7.4 miles

Saturday was a run in Cloquet as a group of us at work were running a 5K to raise money and awareness for Breast Cancer. Save Our Hooterz 5K didn't disappoint and over 200 walkers and runners participated on a wonderful, sunny morning.

I tried to get to Cloquet early to run some miles prior to the fun run but I didn't get there as early as I wanted since I was functioning on 5 hours of sleep post Sir Elton John conert Friday night at the Amsoil Arena in Duluth. What a spectacular show!! Anyway, in total I ran just under 5 miles prior to the fun run then the race. Good enough for a sleep deprived morning. Maybe some photo's of this event will follow. I just have to find someone that had a camera that morn.

Total: 8 miles

Sunday I ran a wonderful trail run with Tony out west on the Superior Hiking Trail (SHT). We ran from the Magney Snivley parking lot out past Ely's Peak toward Fon du Lac and back. The pace on that trail makes one humble but the experience and strength one gains is priceless! What a run, and one that left me hungry for more. I even started talking about running a 100 Miler some day! Must have been the low blood sugar.

Total: 2:05:00 12 miles

Weeks Total: 62 miles

Years Total: 884.6 miles

Get in Gear race data.

Untitled by greggor722 at Garmin Connect - Details

A New/Old Toy

I just started playing with the Garmin Connect site and downloaded a few runs I have completed last week and this morning. It's really neat. I don't know how to post them to the blog yet but will. For those of you on FB, I will post one up soon.

This morning I did an easy loop out Woodland and UMD before getting the dog and completing the morning. It was cool. The kind of cool that reminds me of November running, not MAY!

My left upper hamstring and both glutes were very tight but got much better with the run. No other pains to report and I hope I will be ready for some harder running tomorrow morning.

Total: 1:11:39 9.2 miles

A Weeks Worth

I got my Garmin fixed!! Wow, what a relief. Product support came through big for me and I was able to fix the bug at home with the assistance of Garmin. All it took was to borrow Tony's USB ANT (garmin chatter) and I did a "hard reset" of the unit back to factory settings and then download the most recent software version for my device and I was back and running!

Tuesday I ran out to Woodland and did an easy recovery "jog" and enjoyed every minute of it. Legs were feeling the uptempo from Monday and I was happy not to think on this run.

Wednesday I just made it out of bed and immediately decided on another easy loop and I was so happy I made it out. Sometimes you have to just enjoy the moment and stop thinking about goals, plans, races and everything else. That morning was all about having the opportunity to get out and run some miles. I'm being patient but the weather better change quickly!

Thursday was another uptempo day on West Skyline. I love doing these workouts this time of year on Skyline because I get to see some amazing sunrises over the big Gitch. This morning would not disappoint, yet another great sunrise. I did a series of fartlek intervals of 20/40's. Seventeen to be exact and I felt really good. My pace for the 20 seconds on was averaging 4:45's.

Friday I decided to take it really easy and ran out and back on Vermilion and home through UMD. I just wanted to shake out the legs and do a few strides in preparation for the big race tomorrow.

Saturday was a big day. I woke up at 0400 and hit the road by 0440 to pick up my buddy Chris and make our way to the 34th Get In Gear 10K. The weather was horrible and the temps were marginal. It rained the entire way to the Twin Cities and rained during our warm ups. The race was fairly rain-free but the rest of the morning consisted of rain and clouds. I felt rather pleased and ran a decent race despite the conditions. It's good to be on the right track.

Sunday was truly a day of rest. I partied with my buddy Dave as it was his birthday a day before mine and I managed to stay up way too late and get very little sleep. I rested, tried to fly a kite with my boy, and picked my honey up at the Lester Park after her medium distance run of the weekend. I really didn't want anything to do with running that day. No biggy.

Tuesday: 58:46 7.7 miles

Wednesday: 54:35 7.3 miles

Thursday: 1:12:50 10.4 miles

Friday: 34:00 4.2 miles

Saturday: 90 minutes 13.5 miles

Sunday: 0 miles

Weeks Total: 54.6 miles

Years Total: 823.1 miles