Another run ho hum.

My run this morning was pretty uneventful. I started a little later than usual because everyone in the house was able to get a little extra sleep. I did decide to take it slower beginning with the first mile because my legs were a little sore. For some reason the backs of my thighs are sore which is strange. Anyway, it is nothing serious just typical leg fatigue that you experience anytime you ramp up mileage again. The run went smoothly though. I wore my Mizuno Wave Creation 7's instead of the Brooks today. Because the Brooks are a bigger size they tend to rub and give me a blister on my right foot. The only remedy I have found to work thus far is to double up on socks and to wear a large bandage on the left side of my right foot. This works pretty well for low mileage. Today however I ran out of bandages so I went back to the Mizuno's. They've got a lot of mileage on them, about three hundred and fifty miles to be exact but still feel good. This is far and away my favorite brand and model of running shoe although with the exception of the size issue the Brooks have been excellent too. My splits were negative and I decided to run the hill at mile three smart instead of bounding up it which I tend to do. This costs me time in the long run as it wears out my legs. As I approached mile three I began thinking about the March Madness Half Marathon, the serious hills there and how one of the main reasons I stayed fresh the previous time I ran the course was because Brian held me back on the uphills and pushed us to take advantage of the downhills. This is a strategy I will incorporate again this March so that's how I ran the hill at mile three; a slower but not too slow pace uphill and downhill at a decent clip to make up the time.

Regarding my schedule I'm having second thoughts about running again tomorrow. Mostly I feel guilty about getting up early and possibly waking the rest of the house on a day when they can all sleep in. My reasons aren't entirely selfless though, I haven't been getting enough sleep lately and would like some extra rest as well. So I think that I may take an off day tomorrow then sleep in a bit on Thursday, get up and run four or five miles. This way I can catch up on some sleep but still get my runs in and have the energy I need for a three mile temp run on Friday and a long run on Saturday.

4 miles 33:05

What's this white stuff falling from the sky?

Last night was another late one so I was concerned about waking up on time and even more so that I wouldn't have the energy to get out of bed let alone run. I felt surprisingly rested however after a wonderful evening so getting motivated wasn't all that difficult. Little did I know that as I strode downstairs there would be a surprise waiting for me outside. Snow! At first I thought that it was only hail because it was slushy and wet but there was definitely a little white stuff on the ground. Not much mind you but some. My main concern was traction as I have not purchased Yaktracks yet and was hoping to hold off and get them for Christmas. That may not be possible though if we end up getting a bunch of snow in December but I am still holding out hope that I can wait. My Brooks Glycerin 5's held up fine in the slush but won't in serious snow hence the Yaktracks. Anyway, I ran negative splits and felt good about my time and just getting out the door again. My schedule might be a little fluid this week since we have what has been affectionately dubbed "Fake Thanksgiving" on Wednesday and then Thursday the main event. My plan was to run Monday and Tuesday, then speed work on Wednesday and run again Thursday and Friday with a long run on Saturday. Now that I am looking at it more realistically I realize I will probably be out late on Wednesday so the plan is to run tomorrow and Wednesday, take Thursday off and then run Friday and Saturday. That means I will postpone beginning speed work until next. This seems prudent since I really have only been running well a week and a half. More tomorrow.

3 miles in 24:15

A good week.

My first week back running is over and there is a lot to be proud of. First, I'm proud that I got back to dragging my sorry behind out of bed. Monday began like most of my recent running days where I woke up, turned off the alarm and climbed back into bed. Unlike the majority of days in the past month I got up after ten minutes even though I knew my time to run would be limited and hit the road. Today was another like that. We were up kind of late last night and the kids were sleeping in (a minor miracle). I thought about running in the afternoon or even postponing to Sunday but if I would have done that there is a chance the run would have never happened and even more alarming I would have strayed from my plan in the first week. Instead I got up and put in my long run of six miles which gives me a grand total of twenty for the week. Not a ton but I ran five days this week and I'm pleased with the effort. Hopefully this won't sound too cheesy but this week was a good microcosm of running. Sometimes it is going to be difficult and sometimes it will be easy but if you stick with it through the tough runs there will be a lot more easy ones. If I stay as motivated as I've been this week from here on out I'll be in good shape both literally and figuritavely.

6 miles in 49:31

20 miles for the week.

Wow am I a slacker.

Well friends or people who have randomly come across this blog I am back and ashamed that I have done such a poor job with my posting. Over the summer a running friend of mine said he checked out my blog and I was completely embarrassed when I thought about the last time I had posted. So this will be my third attempt to consistently update this thing.

My running until recently has been erratic. I was fortunate enough to be invited by Brian Gaines to run the MC200 in June and that motivated me to try and get back in shape it also gave me confidence that I could run faster. I think since the ankle sprain I had been holding back worrying that I would injure myself again if I pushed too hard. The truth is that injury had to do with a misstep on a stone in the dark and poor training on my part. Seeing my new running friend mentioned above and MC200 teammate Joe Kolbaba's passion for running and training also was a huge motivation. So I began running again and even planning to step up and run a marathon or the Lakefront 50/50. Sadly neither happened. I don't have any excuse so I will be straight up honest: I got lazy. The alarm went off in the morning and for the first time in my life I reset it for an hour later and choose sleep over running. Once or maybe twice a week I would get out for a run and the farther away I got from my original fitness level the more I realized how cranky I was becoming and how I missed and needed to get out and run.

Fast forward to the present, a couple of weeks back we were at a wedding sitting with a couple we have known for a very long time. The wife (Cory) runs seven days a week and has a very high fitness level. She has also wanted to run half marathons and a full but needed that nudge so I gave it to her. A couple of days after the wedding I invited Cory to run the March Madness Half Marathon in Cary on March 15th. It is a challenging hilly course but between signing up for the race (once registration opens December 31st) and knowing someone else is depending on me to run it I have begun dragging my behind out of bed and logging some miles in the cold.

The plan right now is to ease back into a four day a week running schedule plus one day a week doing speed work indoors on the treadmill. I've got a ways to go but I have a goal, the drive and a refresher on why I love this sport so much.

4 miles in 32:16

What a gorgeous weekend.

The weather was beautiful this weekend unfortunately my schedule did not live up to my expectations. As I mentioned in the post below we celebrated the engagement of my younger sister Friday night. I ate a lot of pasta, did not drink but I was up late, at least late for me. I am not sure if it was the pasta, the lack of sleep or a combination of both but I was in a funk Saturday morning. I was crabby and fatigued and disappointed because I knew that there would be no running or biking. I needed the rest and I was not going to get in my workout. The day was still very nice and it did not rain until later in the evening so I got to spend a lot of time with the family.

Sunday I woke up early and squeezed the long run in before church. I put no thought into pacing before this run so I did a little math during my warm up and came up with a plan. I would run the first three miles in 9:00 minute/mile, the next four at a 8:45 minute/mile pace and the final four at 8:30 minute/mile pace. That never happened. The first mile came in a perfect 9:00 minutes. The next was pretty fast in eight forty something and instead of regrouping and backing off the pace I went with it and ran negative splits for five miles. After that I ran a couple miles close to even splits and negative splits including some really good ones the last two or three miles. I felt comfortable enough to run twelve miles instead of eleven so I was pleased with that. The rest of the day I did yard work and played with the kids so I obviously was not feeling too sore.

The rest of this week will be interesting. Our church has challenged us to fight hunger and be more aware of how too many people in this world are forced to live. As part of the Celebration of Hope we are packing meals to feed ten thousand children in Africa for a year. Many people in the world live on two dollars or less a day so for the next five days we are eating like that is all we have. That means a cup of plain oatmeal for breakfast, beans and rice in a tortilla for lunch and a little rice, small amount of vegetables and an even smaller amount of chicken for dinner. The money we save will be donated to provide more meals for those in need. This is how I will be eating for the next five days so my running will certainly be curtailed. I hope to run three miles tomorrow, three on Wednesday and I should be fine on Sunday to run my pull back long run of eight miles.

12 miles in 1:42:44

Mirror posts

I should just copy yesterdays report and paste it into this one because they were almost identical. Once again I woke up, turned off the alarm and got back into bed. I proceeded to lay there for five minutes reminding myself that I wouldn't really fall back to sleep and that I needed to be productive and run. It was another beautiful day, although there was an earthquake in Indiana that some Chicagoans and Chicago suburbanites felt. Personally I would not have known that there even was an earthquake except that I saw it on the news.

Friday is not the best day for me to run because I am responsible for getting the kids ready and out the door. I decided to pick up the pace a little bit to save some time. Mile three was the only positive split, there are some hills and one in particular that usually kicks my behind a little. Fortunately I was able to take the time off during mile four and still ran a quicker pace than I have been. My hope had been to take a recovery bike ride tomorrow but seeing as how it is supposed to rain the plan has changed to run tomorrow and bike on Sunday. This works out better anyway because we are going out tonight to celebrate the engagement of my sister and her fiance so I will be able to carb up on some tasty pasta. Not that it is really necessary for an eleven mile long run but it is a good excuse to eat pasta. : )

4 miles in 32:58

Five more minutes, just five more minutes.

Well, I almost slept through this one but eventually I did drag myself out of bed. I turned off the alarm and laid back down but as I lay there I kept telling myself that I wouldn't be able to fall back to sleep anyway. Five minutes later then I had planned I was up and thank goodness I did so because it was fifty seven degrees this morning! The run felt good even though I have a blister on my right foot. I wore my Brooks Glycerin Fives yesterday and like them a lot but I also wore two pairs of socks which was a bad idea as it gave me the blister. I was back in my Mizunos this morning and will wear them until the blister heals. After that I definitely want to break in those Brooks because they felt good much better than my Asics.

I originally was planning to run five miles today but opted to run four instead because of my late start and the time crunch to get home and get everyone out the door.

4 miles in 33:58