Nice and Easy

This morning I did a easy relaxed trail run in Harley Park. A lot of small loops to and from the Nature Center. My legs felt pretty good, my Achilles felt pretty good, and I had the chance to do some really good stretches along the run. I am feeling pretty good going into tomorrows run, providing the rain can wait for a few hours in the morning and let us run.
Totals: 32:21 4.5 miles on trails.

What's that Beeping?

I managed to snooze my alarm this morning for almost half and hour. The alarm wasn't doing its job until then. Once I was awake my body felt alright. My right Achilles is more sore than my left these days so I took a few extra minutes and stretched lightly before setting off on my run. Today's schedule called for 13 to 15 with a step down pace at the end. The morning was excellent for running but once I got going I didn't feel too energetic. My legs didn't feel very good, quite heavy, and not very fluid. The other bad thing was I started the run hungry. As I approached an hour I had a few good miles and I was able to mark off a mile.(6:19) I had ran a few miles at this pace and finished the run about the same pace. Today at work I loaded the carbs and will continue to do so tomorrow as well. New shoes today...Brooks Racer ST 2. I think that they will be a good shoe for the marathon. I will get the chance to use them on Saturday.
Totals: 1:27:21, 13 miles

We Need the Rain, But....

I don't like starting a run in the rain, but sometimes you have to. As I was heading out the door most of the rain stopped and just a mist was coming down on and off through my run. Ran up through Kenwood, Arlington, Orange street, and Skyline home. Most body parts felt good. I ended up running a pretty quick pace. Striders are feeling better too. Still some discomfort in the right Achilles at the start of my run.
Totals: 1:10:54 ~11 miles

Grey Morning...

This morning was a bit more grey than most of the past few weeks. I was pleasantly surprised to feel my legs were very rested given the day off yesterday. Most of my runs this weeks are going to be of medium distance at best. My longer run will be incorporated into the 1/2 marathon on Saturday. As for this morning, I did one of my east routes with hills, and some added striders towards the end. A good run!
On a side note, our PC is "shitting the bed" aka. going to crash! It made a horrific noise of humming and actually felt like it was vibrating last night. I am in the process of backing up all our important files, music, photo's etc... If I don't post some day I will be back as soon as we have computer access.

Totals: 1:05:40 ~10 miles

Zippo

I wasn't planning a day off, but this morning was one of those days where I just couldn't get my carcass out of bed. I wanted to do a light run this afternoon but had to deal with the golf-ball sized hail that pummeled my car.
Totals: 0 miles

Weeks Review

This was a pretty good week for the most part. I had some Achilles issues in the early week but ended the week feeling much better. My massage on Friday helped tons! Next weeks schedule will not include such a long run, but I will try to do more medium distance runs with a marathon simulation workout/ 1/2 marathon race on Saturday morning.

Weeks Totals: 69 miles running (six days) 30 minutes of pool-work.

Loops, Loops, and More Loops

You can tell by the title that today I did loop courses from our house. I wanted to make sure I got decent fluids and gels on this run, but I didn't want to go on the course again since I did that last week. I started with the idea that I would do 3 loops of the same course but I needed something fresh to warm up. My first loop was on roads and on a downhill section of the SHT to Hawks Ridge. My first segment was almost an hour loop, good for a solid 8 miles. I then decided to keep to the original plan and do two exact loops to see how my legs would respond and if I was able to run faster the last bit of the run. My legs tired around two hours but ironically they felt better as I picked up the pace.(close to 6:15's the last half of the final loop) The course I chose today was much hillier than the marathon course so overall I was satisfied with this run, as it allowed me to simulate the feeling of fatigue in your quads during the last 8k of a marathon and still keep pace.
Totals: 2:24:55, ~21 miles. step-down pace at end.

Saturday Hartley Run

I am getting in the habit of running trails on Saturday's. The whole state needs rain but boy are the Hartley trails in good shape. I did one continuous loop from the house and ran just about 3/4 of a mile on asphalt with the rest on trails. After the massage on my lower legs yesterday I was curious how things would go. I started off much the same, but after 5 or 10 minutes my Achilles felt really good. Time to fuel up and get ready for tomorrows long run.
Totals: 59:14 8.5 miles

There's Smoke in the Air

As I headed out for my run this morning I immediately smelled smoke, and as I got near the lake it was very apparent over the water. The hazy skies from the disastrous fires in the BWCA filled the horizon and obstructed what would have been a picture perfect sunrise. I sure hope we can get some rain to assist those fire fighters. As for my run, I planned on a medium distance workout, but I didn't quite make the distance part but had a good run despite the lack of mileage. After running for near an hour, 6:20-6:30 pace, I had to climb up from the lake to my house near UMD. A few streets took my to the base trail of Chester Bowl and I headed up from there for about 12 minutes or so. The last 10 minutes were flat again, allowing me to shake out the legs after the climb. The feet felt OK after the warm up. I got a massage on my legs focusing on the calves and it felt great. I will try to get one massage a week leading up to the marathon.
Totals: 1:13:58, 11 miles with short segment of hill climb.

Another Morning for the Books

Such a beautiful morning today. They say the temperatures lately have be upwards of 20 degrees of normal. I'll take it, as it is an amazing mood lifter. Today was an easy general aerobic day on the schedule. I love these days, as it allows me to go run on the trails and forget about the pace, watch, time, Everything! This is why I love to run. Most body parts felt ok on the run and I really hope to get healed soon. I tried to do some easy strider's but my right achilles wasn't willing to play the game. I was able to stride, but my foot felt awkward and felt as though it wasn't ready to go through the full range of motion. I did 4-5 X 100 meters easy. A wonderful run and I am eager to run my medium distance tomorrow morning.
Totals: 48:18 easy 6.5 miles plus 100 meter striders

Is it the Shoes?...Mars Blackmon

Mars Blackmon kept at Michael Jordon back in the 80's and 90's, "is it the shoes Michael?" Nah, it's not the shoes... But I wonder. Last night I returned those Nike zoom elites and picked up a pair of the Hayward's. After contemplating and several visual comparisons to the old DS Trainers, I decided that this was probably my only choice. I ran this morning, and despite a little tenderness in the right Achilles for the first 10 minutes or so, the run went very well. I did my Wednesday skyline out and back and had a most beautiful morning to do so. I made it to the turn-around past 28th ave. west, made my turn and headed into the sunrise over Lake Superior. I was waiting for the Achilles to become sore and they never did! I am keeping my fingers crossed for the rest of the week.
Totals: 1:27:56 13.5-14 miles, 44:51 at the turn, 43:05 back to the house.

No 2 Day Lag Here.

I felt quite good 48 hours post long run. My quads have recovered very well, and I need my achilles to follow. The first two miles this morning were slow, but after warming up I dropped into a comfortable training pace. I was supposed to do Tempo work today but the achilles said no way! Woodland, Arnold, Martin, and Vermilion loop to house.
Totals: 58:00 8.5 miles.

Pool Day

I kind of had that feeling last night when I went to bed that there was a high probability that my morning workout would have nothing to do with running on solid ground. I was right. Woke up with pretty tight achilles and decided to make my recovery run a pool workout. Monday mornings are tight on time so I only had a half an hour to get my workout in. I did 15 minutes of aqua jogging and 15 minutes of swimming and kick-boarding. A good workout for the amount of time I had and my achilles felt so much better after the workout. I was going to run after work but decided the risks outweighed the benefits.
Totals: 30 min's pool workout.

Weeks Review

Overall this week was decent. I wish I could get rid of the aches and pains in my feet and achilles. By the end of the week my quads are now starting to feel much better. I am hoping the achilles will get better this week. I ended the week with a pretty good long run of 20 miles with the second half much quicker. Maybe the momentum of this weekend will be carried into next week.
Totals: 6 days of running= 62 miles. (no swimming)

The Great Tailwinds of May

Why can't the day of Grandma's marathon ever be like the weekends during May? Year after year, us locals can take just about any Saturday or Sunday and have that magical long run down the shore. Today was another one of those days. I decided to do an out and back from Fitgers (24 mile mark). My buddy Kooks joined me for the first 4 miles out as he needed to turn around because he is coming back from injury. On the way out there was a terrible headwind and my splits after dropping off Kooks were 6:40's. I ran to the 14 mile mark and turned around downed my Power Gel and a sip of Gu2O and got ready to hang on! Without changing much effort my first mile heading to town was 6:26. For the next 9 miles my slowest mile would be 6:12. Most everything felt pretty good except those damn achilles. They didn't get any worse than the way they felt after 6 or 8 miles, but still, I don't like it! More ice bath and stretching tonight. Even with the bum achilles this is the best long run of my training thus far.
Totals: 2:12:55 20 miles (first 10 1:11:18 second 10 1:01:32)

Life Doesn't Get any Better Than This...

I don't mean Old Milwaukee beer either! We took Lucas to grandma's house for a couple of hours this morning and then headed out for a trail run. The rain had stopped ensuring that this would be a muddy trail run. The course took us through Rock Hill and SHT to the Hartley trail system. Most of the trail was decent with just a few mud holes to cross. Kari was feeling pretty good and I let her take the lead through most of the trails. My feet felt pretty good. It is funny that my achilles are taking alternate days as to which one is going to give me a little discomfort. Today it was the left. I bought some ice from the beer store (bought some beer too) to ice my feet in an ice bath tonight in preparation for tomorrow's long run attempt.

Totals: 1:08:58 trails with Kari 8+ miles.

"What part of 'normal' can you relate to...?"

I was watching channel 6 news this morning prior to my run and Edward Moody was giving Ken Beuler the berries about being normal. That Edward! After having a cup of joe and doing some light stretches I headed out the door and had a pretty good run. My achilles were just a bit tender, much better than on Wednesday's run. I ran through the cemetery and did a 2 mile section of the SHT to hawks ridge and back to the house via an extended loop past campus. It was so nice not to have too many aches and pains. I also decided to run in a newer pair of speedstars (asics). A nice way to start my Friday.
Totals: 59:43 9 miles.

No Go

My best bet today was a day off of running. I should have gotten up and swam/jog at UMD but once I realized I wasn't going to go for a run, I took advantage of an extra 45 minutes in bed. I attempted to find some shoes today and actually bought a pair of Nike Zoom Elites but will return them tomorrow. I jogged for a bit on the TM and immediately realized they were not the shoe for me. On a high note, Kari, Lucas and I ate at Hacienda tonight. Some of the best, if not the best, Mexican food Duluth has to offer.
Totals: 0 running, extra 45 minutes of rest this am.

It Seems a bit Busier...

Wednesday's are my medium distance runs along with Friday's. I headed west on Skyline to do an out and back route. Doing this kind of route is nice as it gives me markers I can use to ensure I run the proper pace. The first thing I noticed (after my achilles) was the amount of traffic. I have been running early morning runs all winter and some workouts I don't see anybody! On this route today I saw several runners and bikers, and an overall increase in motorists. It is amazing what nice weather does to the soul.
My run was "average" at best. My right achilles was sore the entire run, and my trip back after the turn around wasn't as strong as I would have liked. I managed to negative split, but not by much. I had to cut the time a little short but at least I got the run in. I really am hoping for the best with this achilles. Most of these aches and pains seem to be from the rapid increase in mileage since I started up last week. As long as things don't get worse this week, I believe things will improve next week.
Totals: 1:09:43 10.5 miles (neg. split 1 min back to house)

"I Walk the Line...A thin Line"

Now that my ankle feels mostly healed, at least from a running standpoint, my achilles are achy. I know that this is something not to be taken lightly. I feel like I could be walking a thin line of injury here. I have been stretching my calves as much as I can during the day, I don't have much opportunity to ice until I get home from work, but they continue to be sore. Tomorrow will be a day to evaluate if a few days off of running and a few more in the pool are warranted. As for today I did a run out to Woodland/Arnold/Martin and home. I did about three miles warm up then I did 10 X 30 seconds on 30 seconds off, followed by a 4 minute and 5:45 minute cruise interval. It felt really good to do faster running. During my warm down my quads felt a bit beat up again, and also I felt the right achilles.
On a high note for the night, the American Idol's had to sing Bon Jovi! YES!

Total: 1:04:00, 10 miles with cruise intervals.