Running To Beat Mark

First day of second semester today meant that I was at school longer than usual after the day ended. By the time I got home and ready to run the sun was pretty much down. So 25 minutes was all I got in tonight really not sure about mileage since I did the whole run on a football field, but minimum I am guessing is 3. 

The other runs that I have done in 2013 have been boring treadmill runs in between school planning and house cleaning.   

Go Notre Dame! Down with the SEC! 

3 on the track in between school and emaurines cardio class at the y. 

4 on track and grass field around high school

3 after school

Friends came over after school so I had to cut the run shorter than hoping but still got 5 in so not terrible i guess.

4 today cold and windy outside. Plan is long run tomorrow and getting back to more mileage!

Treadmill miles today. Warmed up and then tried for 2x3miles at bq pace. Got the first rep in just fine 21minutes. But then the long week took its toll on me and I had to do 3x1 miles with only goal under 7. 6:50, 6:40, 6:20 after that last one I feel like I should have dug deeper and did the second repeat but oh well still decent workout. 

2.5 out running errands. Then got the news that Emaurine and I were leading an hour long program at the y so had to get home and get ready. Then after the program at the y did another 3 at 7:03 pace.

Went to the track today and actually had a good chunk of time today to get a run in between school and Emaurines class at the y. Today was no specifics just getting in some miles. Running on a track is awesome compared to running on a treadmill! 

Interesting day today, I did not feel well but I also got my highest mileage in for 2013. Started off running 5.2 with one of the high schoolers, nothing too quick he had us at 6:40 pace. Then I went to the track and did 16x100 wind sprints (gusts of up to 30mph so a good wind!!) with 100m jog back. Finally cooled down to get to the 8 total. 

3 easy. Professor came to talk to me after work today so that cut in majorly on the time slotted for running...

Wife is sick. Hope I do not get sick! Seems like this is a big race weekend for lots of runners on the blog so good luck everyone!

6 miles easy looking for a harder effort tomorrow. 

Wife is sick. Went to the doctors this morning and looks like she will not be able to run again for a few days...  Hoping that I can stay sickness free and keep going on the training!

2x3miles at BQ pace or faster was the plan. I also did this workout with no breakfast to try and simulate running when hungry (which has always happened to me in the marathon no matter how I have fueled) 

1st set went well, maybe a little too well, ran 19:00 so 6:20 pace, this would have been great if I did full recovery but I wanted to get back to the wife as soon as possible so I took quick drink shook it out a little and started again. The next set stunk! It was cold and windy today and that just put me in a bad attitude as well. Oh well got the 3 in even though it took 21minutes this time it was still at planned pace. 

Wife is feeling better!

3. Went to the Illinois Nebraska Basketball game tonight. Go Illini!

Five in the cold and wind. Two "warmup" miles two miles tempo negative splits of 6:10 and 6 even then mile freeze down! Interesting observation that my wife and I noticed. When we dated long distance we both use to do much longer workouts! Now that we are married we want to spend time together, besides running, and do shorter workouts. Except when I am gone for a weekend then she gets in 70 mile bike rides and 20 mile runs!

4 miles easy tonight cold and windy again so not very fast.

4.5 easy hoping for a tough workout tomorrow a.m.

Windchill was above 0 this morning! 2 mile warmup to the park. Found a 3mile loop around the park with little up and down hills like cross country courses. So the goal was negative splits 2 reps. I think I tried too hard for the negative splits (or the course is over 3 miles, lets hope its this!) cuz I ran 21:45 or 7:15 pace. The second rep after 30second jog was 20:14 so 6:45 pace. Wind progressively got worst and the last mile was right into it! 2 mile cooldown. 

Ran with the wife today and our only goal was to get in the eight miles. Rainy but mid to high 30's throughout the run. She finally is feeling better after being sick!

6ish at the high school. A couple of high schoolers and the track coach and I went for a run. There is a grass loop just over 1.5miles away so that was our warmup then one of the runners and I did a 3mi hard run, except the loop is not a mile it was over a mile! The coach does not remember how far over but we are thinking in between 3.25 and 3.5 mi tempo now. The first lap was slower trying to figure out where the muddiest spots were at 7:26, but then we did 6:46 and 6:39, dropped the student with a half mile to go but it was so nice to have someone to push me today! Total time 20:52 for 3.25 - 3.5 miles so pace was somewhere between 5:58 and 6:25.  

When I got home I forgot to drop off redbox movie so that was an excuse to get in an extra 2.25 very slow.

Just under half an hour to run after school today. So got in four but this turned out to be good, I think. The past three days have been higher mileage for me so taking it back for a day and an easier pace was probably what the doctor ordered. 

Treadmill miles tonight. Warmup 1 mile 8:34. Then each minute went up .1 mph until 9.2 so in 22 minutes did just over 3 miles. Then fifteen minutes at 7%incline and 8:34pace(7mph). Then finally 1mi in 6:40. Cool down to get to a full hour run. Longest I have ever been able to do on a treadmill.

5 easy was hoping for a harder workout tonight so I could go easy tomorrow and hard Saturday. However negative wind-chill did not allow that too happen. 

4 easy

Had trouble sleeping last night. Part of the problem I believe was that I did not have my workout picked out for today. I knew I wanted to do something tougher but so many options! When I woke up this morning, I decided to just go out and see what happened. Ended up finding a good 10mile loop! Wanted the pace to be comfortable (not to challenging but not jogging). Got done in about 73 minutes. At first I was like eh ok (since I did not know the distance. As I mapped out the route, and saw that it was 10 miles I felt better, average pace for the run 7:13.

This afternoon did 5.4, 1.2 warmup three tempo in 17:48 1.2 cool down. The course for the us xc championships was where I ran to get my 8k PR. 

The same loop as yesterday. E joined me and we were blessed with over twenty mph winds with gusts over 30! 

 Now on to super bowl party. I do not really care who wins. My students want Ravens so I will be opposite and go for 49ers. As long as it is a good game I will be happy. 

6 easier today. Did do one half mile in 2:50 but nothing crazy.

Limited time today, wife got called in to sub at the Y and I like to go to her classes. 

1 mi warmup, then 12x300 with 30sec (100m) rest. This equals a 18:00 3mile so I did the workout non-stop, except for tying my shoe and finished in 18:15 so I was right on with all the splits I wanted except for the shoe trying. 1 mi cool down 

Found a race for this Saturday that E and I are going to run. Its a valentines run where you are tied together as a couple. Chocolates for everyone! 

Ran with one of the track distance team members today. Started off at conversational pace (7:15ish) for the first 3 then ran roughly 6:20ish for the next 3 before back to conversational last mile to cool down. Highlight of the run was almost being attacked by a dog...

4 easy. Parent Teacher conferences today so not much time for running today.

Easy travel day 10k tied to wife tomorrow!

10k race with wife. She set a PR so I am very happy for her! We also got second in the team competition!

10 easy. Super windy today but no rain or snow.

6 found a new hill (really not many here) ran up and down for majority of run, boring but hopefully somewhat effective.

First speed workout in a long long time. Probably since last April. A little scared of what I was going to see. I basically had time for a 3x1 mile.  Only goal was under 6 minutes for all three miles. 5:58, 5:53, then my wife challenged me (before the workout) to see if I could throw in a 5:30. Not quite, 5:34, I believe that if I had someone to run with or someone else watching (some adrenaline!) I would have hit it. Oh well, not terrible for first speed day of the block 1.5 warmup and 1.5 cool down. 

1 mile warmup then joined distance coach and a junior runner for a 5mile loop. We did the first 3.5 in just under 7 and then the junior and I left the coach behind for the last mile and did a 6 min mile. Cool down last .5 back to high school. Very happy day for me as this is the anniversary of when my wife said yes she will marry me!

For Valentine's Day the wife and I decided to do a cycling workout and then a treadmill run, with the snow starting to fall. It was fun spending the time with her tonight, but man she is fast on the bike!

 Question for the blog! What type of workouts gets a runner out of their comfort zone?  

6 total. 1.5mi warmup then 3 with some 40 second pickups 1.5 mi cool down. Interesting weather at first sunny and windy, then some flurries, back to sun, then a brief blizzard type snow...oh well the pickups helped to make the run go by a little faster. 

8 miles this morning to shake it out. Last four were straight into the wind. 

5 this afternoon with 3.25 harder in 19:56.  

Ran a half marathon today with the wife. We got stuck by a train about halfway through the run which really upset both of us! Pace was progressive throughout and the average at the end was only a few seconds slower than her PR marathon pace so a good confidence building run for her. 

Tempo 4 with a member of track team, right after school nasty wind on the way back in gusting over 35mph. (Of course the student whose 6'2 tucked behind me 5'9 for a wind block...oh well). Had to move pretty quick so warm up cool down totaled 1 mile

5 more Easy miles on treadmill tonight. Tough to get going again after earlier workout but legs felt better after run.   

Only four tonight. I really do not have a set "plan" for my training for the marathon but I was hoping to get some speed work in tonight, until I got to the track and realized that my right hammy had some pain. So I told myself to do 3miles warmup if better then get some speed in, if not then just call it a day. Well after three it wasnt good enough to get some speed work in so I did one more and called it a day. Icing tonight and stretching so hopefully I can do some speed tomorrow.

Four tonight before heavy snow. Leg still not 100%, but I did try some 30 second bursts 10 of 30 on 30 off.

Four miles with the wife this morning, snow day! 

No run today. Swam with Elizabeth and man was I tired afterwards, have not swam in a long time!

10 total today, 3 mi warmup and then 4.75mi tempo was hoping for 5 but train was passing through so I cut it short by quarter mile, bummer but still feel that I got the main point of the workout. 2.25 cooldown to get to ten total. I think I was still pretty tired after the swim yesterday. 

3 more easy this afternoon.  

16 with wife today, we went slower than her MP but it was good being out there with her and even better getting home out of the cold!

5 around the high school soft surfaces, by myself today. Track team had meeting before first practice of the year, so I decided to not wait, (they broke out of meeting at my mile 4.)

Treadmill at incline (3-7) for 3 more miles tonight.  Something about symmetry has me do runs at 7 incline 7mph... 

Tried for a workout today, but snow covered track and my usual grass loop, so I tried doing some 800s on the track, that was maybe a bad choice. The snow is at that hard packed stage where it grabs you for a little bit and just saps energy, oh well... Two warmup then 6x800 was the plan so 2x800: 3:10 and 3:12 this was the bummer! I was really thinking I could do sub 2:50's for all 6. Feeling drained already (should've had a snack) I switched to 400's and got 4 of those @ 1:30-1:32. Two mile cooldown. So a mile less of speed workout then what I wanted, not as fast as I wanted. I am hoping it is snow related and lack of food, but at least I got legs turning over faster than I have in a while, so I hope it was not a total waste.

5 up and down a half mile hill. First 500m not too steep, last 300 very steep (especially for Nebraska!) to make it even better the uphills were into the wind!

Ran for forty five minutes tonight. Tried to keep a consistent solid pace throughout. No clue on mileage, but 7:30 pace would give me 6 miles and I feel I was faster than that so I will say 6 today (hopefully this is not cheating! I do feel that I went more than 6, just not sure by how much.) Legs feeling good. 

Run with track team today, good to have some others to run with. I had to leave early and not get the full seven in that they were running. A high schooler referenced the run as an "honest" pace today about 6:40s probably.

Did not know what to expect this morning. Thursday night I had finally set some workouts up throughout the training cycle so that I would feel "prepared" for the marathon. I decided for today I would see what I could do with a 4-3-2-1 mile workout. Now I still am unsure what pace I could try and run for the race (going to do a 10k next Saturday to start seeing where I am fitness wise). Main goal for this marathon is BQ so I figured at the very least I better be able to do sub 7 miles for this workout so that was my only goal. Last night I did not sleep well, and I ran harder than I first thought I would with the track team so as I said no clue what to expect this morning. 

About 15 degrees and very little wind at the start of the workout. 1mi warmup the 4 miles out and back. Right away I was in a groove, tried for "comfortably hard" first mile 6:30, second mile 6:31 third mile 6:30 and fourth mile 6:28 for a 25:59 and 6:30 average pace! Where did that come from? I was afraid I killed my workout but for the three mile split I ran 19:20 or about 6:27 pace. Then finished with 2 miles in 13:00 (6:30) and last mile was a little long about 1.1 in 6:48 (6:10). Obviously I feel great about this workout seeing as I thought sub 7 would be a good workout. (Wrote a lot today so I can remember that I can do good workouts solo.) 

I think for next saturday's race I am going to try and go out at 6's and see how long I can hold on.

(ready to read how everyone did this weekend!) 

3 more this evening easy easy 

18 with the wife. Extended the 10 mile loop, a couple more dogs and more wind but besides that everything was fine. Way out was straight into the wind, so what does my wife do? Tucks in behind me. Then when we turn to come back in and get a nice tailwind, she passed me and put in a surge! (What great race strategies) Overall a good progressive run, she was able to keep up that surge for the rest of the run so 8.5 miles at MP or a little faster for her another big confidence builder! 

Did not feel like running today. Not sure if it was lack of sleep, or food, or just tired from past workouts. I was hoping for 6-8 today before I got done with the school day and just did not feel it. I did not push it, figured that tomorrows speed workout, was more important so did 4 easy. Legs felt a little better after the run then before so I think I did the right thing.

4 with some 20sec bursts. still a little off today.

2 mi warmup and some drills. Was waiting for the track team but they were a little late so I started without them 2x400 in 76 and 77. Track team came and we did 8x300 in an average of 50seconds. Since it was their first speed workout of the year they got a pretty long break so I did 300m recovery in between. 3.5 cool down. 

5.25 with track team then I split away to do a 2 mile tempo in 12:06 (6:16,5:50).Cooled down just under 2miles

2 more shakeout to the grocery store. 

4 easy today

Afternoon race today so I thought I would get in a short run this morning to shakeout the driving legs from yesterday. Turned out to be more of a negative run then anything else I have done this week. Was thinking anywhere from 6-8 just nice and easy but at the 2-2.5 mile point my left gluteus maximus seized up and I tried some stretching slowing down the pace but I could not get the pain away so I said never mind and walked back to the friends house. NOT a confidence builder for this afternoon.

 Before the race they were doing free injury screenings so I checked it out to see how bad this was. The therapist and I decided that I just aggravated my lower back from sleeping on a soft couch last night. So I decided to go ahead with the race, but abandoned the plan of going out in 6min and seeing what happens. This was an unique race with the ladies getting a 5:30 head start and the guys chasing. It had some pros and cons for me, but so many runner/walkers were now in front of me in the first two miles that it took me a long time to get through. (they were supposed to have a passing lane but it didn't quite work out.) So after getting cutoff so many times I finally ran faster 2-5miles but then started feeling tired. But here was the good part of the race, usually at this time I would have very few to chase, but because of the staggered start I still had quite a few runners to pass that last 1.2 to keep me going. No splits, just glad that I didn't hurt my muscle anymore. (Secondary goal was under 40, I think I would've made it with a watch but overall still ok with the result.)

4 on treadmill since we are stuck in hotel from the snow! 60 degrees yesterday blizzard conditions today.

4 at track at high school in the snow.

2 to and from library.

Both easy. 

4 windy and high 20's but good news snow is mostly gone so I can try and get a good workout in tomorrow.

4 easy not feeling good so i didnt force tough workout

5 with the wife tonight. Middle 3 turned into a tempo run for her around 7:40s or so. 

Happy Pi day! 

8 today with the wife. muscle is finally feeling better as we were both able to do some 2 mile repeats. 

Ran for a good 55 minutes with some pickups of 30 seconds hard. 

Middle school track practice started today, most of my miles (3/19-3/28) have been slow, jogging with team warming up and cool down only a few workouts. This has dropped my expectations for marathon hopefully April will be better.

treadmill stopped on me 3 times during this run, was hoping to get a good workout in since no middle school track, oh well.

freak 18 inches of snow today.

travel day back home in snow took forever no running...

two x 800 against middle school relays (4x200) 

no school was really hoping to start weekend off strong get 10 miles in friday, sat, sun, monday and I woke up throwing up... 

still sick and tired but got something in

had to get something in to make up for the big dinner and many sweets!

5 mile tempo 34:30, ended up being more of a progressive run I guess but still not too bad given lack of training past weeks and still a little under bug (I have drank so much water this weekend trying to get healthy!!)

3 easy, and then running all over the track meet. First one today and 8th grade boys got 1st and 7th grade boys got 2nd! 7th grade girls 3rd 8th grade girls 6th (10 teams)

Only time for a quick workout tonight, but I wanted to get some sort of confidence builder going into the HM on Saturday. Was thinking three by mile but stomach said no so switched to 2 sets of 400, 800, 400, and the third set was back to back 800's. Goal was just to get back under 6 minute pace (been a while since last speed w/o). 1:22's for 400s and 2:55's for 800s with last one at 2:52. Goal accomplished legs feeling ok. Not sure what to expect Saturday, earlier in year I was thinking I could shoot for sub 1:26. Now I think I'll shoot for under 1:30.  

Roughly 4 very easy tonight probably around 9 minute pace.

3 easy travel day

Temperature was perfect for the race, however it was super windy throughout the race. I think the lowest the wind ever was was 15mph and the majority of the race was at 20 or higher. Started out slow about 7:05 first mile then progressively picked it up. Got the average mile pace under 6:45 until mile 10 when the hills came and the last into the wind section (the final 5k!). I was in position to place in the age group but did not have any kick left into the wind those final miles. Overall happy that I broke 1:30 again new PR and legs are feeling pretty good. 

travel back

6 with the wife nice recovery run today. 

Did not think I was going to get anything in today. As I was driving home, I drove straight into thunderstorm and hail and could see maybe 20 ft in front of me. However, as i pulled into garage hail stopped no more thunder so I decided to do a four mile run that still allows me to stay within a mile radius of home (in case it happened again) Weird running atop of hail, but held a decent pace and legs feel good, hope weather gets better so I can do some longer runs this weekend.

3 easy

Still very wet outside so had to do the run on sidewalk again. Whenever I am "forced" to run on sidewalk I like to keep pace slower and not pound the legs as much, today it also meant a little shorter distance than I would have liked. 

3 or 4 with track team, ill put it down as three

First 20 mile training run that I have ever done. Pretty exhausting and ended up being slower than goal MP by over a minute so hopefully it is still helpful. 

Masters sunday! 

All day track meet #1 8th grade boys took 1st!

all day track meet #2, the school in which I am at has really struggled to find mile runners at the middle school Today we had two go sub 6 for the first time, really proud of them! 

8 mi tempo on the treadmill tonight. A couple reasons I decided to do this workout on the treadmill 1. just got done snowing before we started running still 30 degrees and very windy. 2. The past two years this marathon has been at a hot temperature and I wanted to do MP workouts in the heat this year (weather has not allowed that too happen yet!!). 

 Set the treadmill for 7:03 pace jumped on and at first was really struggling (I never have been good at running on these things!) But about the 2 mile mark (when I thought about quitting) I got into a rhythm and got 6 more in. The last mile I slowly increased until my finishing pace was at 6:18. Overall, glad I got the workout in, but a little defeated by how much energy it seemed to take up, hopefully it was due to the heat in the cardio room and not how out of shape I am.  

5 with the wife nice easy a little rain on us, but it was finally warm enough that the rain was refreshing!

Another tempo on the treadmill. This time a little faster than goal MP. 6:58 for the first 7 then for each of the next five minutes I went 1mph faster and ended at 6:31 pace. Overall total running was about 66 minutes and got around 9.5 miles. Cool down to get to ten. The weather is finally looking like it will clear up after Tuesday of this week so hopefully this is last treadmill run for a long time! 

13 days away, thinking that I may not have done enough during the training. 

shakeout, easy, 12 days...

About 2 miles with the track team today, even tried to hang with the sprinters (ran back to back 32 200's).

Got home and did two 5k's. One with the wife to help her get a sense of her MP, we went a little fast but we are hoping thats ok (24:43 or 7:57 pace), (she is going for a PR of breaking 3:57:something or 9:02 pace) 

 I then did a little over a 5k and tried to see what pace running comfortably hard led to tonight. Ran 20:21 and final mileage was 3.16 or 6:26 pace. I am very glad that it was a good chunk below goal MP! Eleven Days and getting excited!

3 with the wife nice and easy, then we actually had a free hour together last night, so we had our first date in a long time!

4 easy

13 with the wife today and she looked great! Big time confidence boost! I threw in 13 2 minute surges at MP or faster to make sure I remember what I am shooting for, only worry is stomach issues for race. (Also showers are now in forecast for Race Day.)

4 easy, showers still in forecast. forecast

2warm up 2tempo on track in 13:25 2 cool

I was really trying to hit 7's on the mile splits but the good news was this was not stressing at all even when temps in high 80s. 6:50 6:35

3 easy

snow in may!?! Must be a sign that I should take today off.

Half mile warmup 3 x k at MP (or a little faster) Ran this workout at 7 a.m. to get use to running at the start time of the race. Splits were 4:19, 4:14, and 4:07 so close to MP for the first one, then my legs warmed up and I could not slow them back down to 4:20's. I will have to be more careful about this the opening miles on Sunday! 

 Plan is to go for the 3:05, I know training has not been everything that I had hoped for, but it is still my best training block before a marathon so I am going to give it all I got Sunday and go from there! 

20 minute run, 8 minute pace nice and easy 7 a.m. again. Less than 48 hours lets do this! 

There is tracking if anyone is not doing anything better on Sunday a.m.

http://www.mtectracking.com/Mtrack?raceid=42

Bib #6530

Not sure how to start this post.. I was really gunning for the 3:05 BQ time and up until mile 19.5 I was ahead of schedule. Then at mile 20 I realized I needed to run a 42:14 10k to get there, which I could feasibly do so I went for it, then by mile 22 I was back to seven minute pace and still a little behind schedule. I tried one last surge at mile 23 when I had roughly 20 minutes for just over 3 miles but I did not have it in me. When I hit mile 24 I knew for sure I was not going to get it, so I was pretty bummed and slowed down. But then as I finished I realized I  still  set a new PR by over 20 minutes! So a pretty good day, would have been great if I could have hit the BQ. Wonderful day for my wife today she set a new PR by over 8 minutes!!

Last track meet before state. Boys 4x400relay set a school record, without any competition and are ranked first! Kids were laughing at me as I was hobbling around watching everyone. Our two eighth grade boy milers dropped their times into 5:40s so both of them dropped time by over twenty seconds!

Legs still too sore to do any running today, but I am thinking Wednesday or Thursday I will be good to get back at it

Legs are feeling much better, but decided to wait just one more day to make sure, I will run Thursday again

Early am run good to get back out there!

Early morning run with wife. Thinking bout pacing her to 3:40 in four weeks, then we both will go for B.Q. in fall maybe Sioux Falls.

3 easy stomach problems today so I could not do as much as I wanted

Easy again today not much energy after teaching

Easy 10 with wife. Felt great to get back out there.

Pretty easy today for the most part. Four miles (maybe a little more) of looping around soccer fields and then 16 x 120 yds (or 110 meters) at a fairly good speed. This was my first time since marathon going at or faster than MP so it took a few to really get going.

10 since Wednesday on the beach in Hawaii!

Not much running this week a lot of travel back from Hawaii and then to the wife triathlon. All easy

Emaurines triathlon today. Once again 2nd in age group!

easy with wife

easy again 

tried a brick workout today legs felt pretty wobbly after coming off the bike

4 with wife in the hottest temperature we have had so far, was definitely no acclimated so much more of a struggle than it should have been!

another very hot run, I think that slow hot runs can be very beneficial to overall fitness though

3 with a goal of the last two being at sub 7 miles, it seems to me that I get my fitness back faster with shorter "faster" runs than with long slow distance. Ran warmup mile then next two at 7:05, 7:03, and half mile cooldown so not quite what I wanted but still faster turnover then most of my runs recently

4 in the early morning!!! Was running before 5! Enjoyed sunrise no worry about pace. 

Wife did her first century ride today!! 

3 each Friday, Saturday and Monday still getting out there but I am noticing without specific goals desire to push myself does not exist...need to set some goals I guess!

Wife did two more century rides one on Saturday one on Sunday! 

4 miles in heat, started off way too fast and then faded hard at the end! 

1 mi warmup

5x400 (did not time first four but fifth felt by far the slowest at 1:28)

1 mi cooldown

Quick little something this morning, hopefully I can get out again this afternoon.

3 more in the afternoon 22 minutes. 

3 in the a.m. before the storms.

4x(4x150m hills) fastest in 26.7 averaged 29-30.  

1 wup 1 cdown 

3 each on saturday and sunday

1 mi warmup

8x400 - 1:45, 1:40, 1:41, 1:45, 1:41, 1:40, 1:40, 1:32

1x1600- 5:40

1x400- 1:15

.75 mi cooldown

the first 8 were pacing the wife  

easy 4 warm today

Time trial 5k super windy on the track 20:10

7 with Matt Schreiber and emaurine around Brookings. Longest run since the marathon, very fun, and cold water at the end! Thanks again Matt!

3 in the heat! with emaurine, main goal to get legs moving after the driving

5 easy in the a.m.

an attempt to swim in the afternoon did make it 800yds so new longest 

3 on grass 

3 easy again did not wake up this morning to get a track workout in...

easy again been tired all week

easy

1up 1mile sprints 1down

5.25 with emaurine today. Nice run, the reason I include the extra quarter is she tried to break me with a surge at the end!

Since two Saturdays ago now haven't done anything of distance but have ran every day so hopefully can keep up running every day but start to build up some mileage as well.

1 up

3x1 5:53 5:59 5:58

Short recovery today only a 200 in between so roughly 1:10 recovery b/w, side stitch early mid 90's so glad to get all under six

1 down

Found a new loop with the majority of the run on soft surfaces. Took it pretty slow today 

Similar to yesterday except more running on hard surfaces and emaurine joined me today at 

the end of her brick workout. 

little rushed today but at least got something in

3months til marathon wanted to do 5k time trial hammy tight during warmup so will reschedule

Three hammy still a little tight

3 easy did some driving today so had to work around that

solid 5 today really felt good last 2.5 should've done time trial 5k today will maybe do it this Friday

3 scenic run today

Past four days running in Colorado great experience!

Emaurine won her age group in an Olympic triathlon today! Also her birthday!

over the past week been traveling and getting random three mile runs in between meetings and such 

3 with emaurine 

4 today during lunch break

10 with emaurine pretty easy pace 

Feeling sick all day so not nearly as fast or far as I wanted it to be... 10 weeks until marathon

emaurine 18 miles bike  

Six easy during lunch, made it back just in time for a meeting! 

Five with some of the cross team at around 4.  First double in long long time felt good looking to do more of these.

emaurine 18 miles bike 

4 during lunch, not as much time today but glad I still got something in

7 in the evening with a track workout

1.5 warmup

3x1 mile with 400 jog recovery in-between 6:07 (first lap really hurt here could not get legs turning over!)  6:01 (pretty consistent pacing 1:30 and a little change on each one)                  5:59 (1:33, 1:32, 1:29, 1:25)

 1.5 cooldown

8*120 yds strides/form work 

First full day of school!!! three easy in the a.m.  nice and cool out!

4.5 afternoon easy total recovery day  

3 in am b4 school

7 after school with wife really good to run with her today!

Slept in today so only got 2.5 in... I still feel that it was worthwhile though in keeping me honest with these doubles

8x1k tonight 3:53, 3:45, 3:45, 3:46, 3:46, 3:39, 3:45,3:42 with 2:30 recovery (or just over 400m) felt really good about this workout since it is at end of highest mileage week.

1up 1 down 8x100m form/strides 

4 today wanted more but spent day with wife and that was great! (Still highest mileage week for me!)

emaurine and I ran our half-marathon loop today. She ran a great a duathlon yesterday so our emphasis was just on the miles no concern with pace. really hot and humid today! 

3 easy a.m. 

1 mi warmup and some strides to get legs going

5.2 mile time trial with the XC team, I was really hoping to get a good tempo in. Hilly course and I have not done any sort of hill running in a long time (and it showed!) Only real goal was to break 35 and get sub 7 pace for sure. Stayed with top 3 for first 2.5 but they started to break away. I kept same pace thinking that heat would bring them back to me, it almost worked caught two of them but big hill at end kept me from the first place and kept me from sub 35, ended at 35:22. Compared to last August of 34:54. I am ok with this run since I am coming off my biggest mileage week and legs were pretty tired

1.5 cooldown and some strides/form running 

7 easy with XC team 

took morning off because I am not getting enough sleep... hopefully that changes soon! 

2 warm up

5 x 1k with XC team 3:45, 3:38, 3:40, 3:38, 3:29 (on xc course)

None of these reps felt too exhausting today which I took as a good sign with upper 90's maybe 100 degree heat and little sleep again last night.

Strides/form

2 cooldown

 Was hoping to get double digits today... oh well

During dinner last night felt pain in my left hammy, I am thinking it was just a cramp from the heat and maybe not having enough water. Felt like I shouldn't risk anything today though so 5 easy all slower than 9

Careful one more day another easy 5 with emaurine I did not feel any pain in hammy today will try for some big workout(s) this weekend.

2 mi warmup then 8 mile tempo on gravel road (turns out this might have been a mistake since it rained last night super muddy!) Primary goal for this tempo was sub 56 secondary goal was sub 58  

Started off and in the first mile I was already making excuses.. great start but right around 7:10 so I thought ok this was not too slow with the road I can still make this work, but at the 4 mile turn around I was at 29:03 so I had not increased pace by nearly enough and then turned straight into the 20 mph wind for about 1.5 miles... 

Long story short I did not have it today, maybe it was the elements (hot and windy!) maybe it was the lack of sleep this week, but no excuses I should have been faster. The positive from this is I kept the same pace pretty much all 8 final time was 58:22 and pace was 7:12

looked at watch afterwards turned out my warmup was way faster than I wanted and I ran the warmup plus tempo in 1:13 or 7:18 pace so almost could call this a 10mile tempo

2mi cooldown 

10 easy pace did not feel easy with the heat however

Was thinking about doing a longer run today, but cross country team was doing repeats. So emaurine and I joined them, 10 x 500 repeats averaged 1:39s 

Was going to do more but achilles was hurting after only a couple so shut it down. 

Good news was even with the pain I was able to hold 5:20ish pace for the whole time with short rest, 

Hopefully achilles stops acting up!

I did attempt to run today but only ended up hobbling for about ten-fifteen minutes so not counting any miles... thinking I might have done too many reps last night... with over seven weeks left still time to give achilles chance to heal (at least that's what I have to try and keep in mind)  before firing it up again.. 

another day of resting the achilles... 

still achilles hurt

Back to running! achilles felt good the whole time, had to make sure I did not go too far today to reinjure it first run back

Little local road race today about 150 runners split between a 2 mile race and a 4 mile race. I heard that last year the winning time was over 30 so I thought I would take this as more of a tempo. At start though two went out and got me into a reasonably aggressive pace. Caught both by first mile though 5:53 then kinda went two different paces throughout the race 6:26 next mile, then 5:58, and finally 6:26 again (I am now wondering if miles were marked correctly). Great news was I won the race and my wife won the female overall!! 

Goal was an hour run today, ended up doing 1:10 fast :50 slow 9 times toward the end and then the tenth rep did 2:30 on, covered a little over three miles doing that (21 minutes (some of the fast sessions went a little longer)). Legs felt good today.

Goal this week is to get a run in every day, but not as high mileage as I was a couple weeks ago, so that I am not stressing the achilles and can have absolutely no pain by next week for 5 solid weeks of training before race. 

2 mi warmup legs took a while to get going today

4 mi tempo (i did take a 10sec water break and shoe tie after 2 miles (it was over 90 still)

splits 6:44, 6:40, 6:35, 6:25 (total 26:14)

Probably could have extended this out to a 6 mile tempo or more, but still want to take it slow with achilles. Pace felt comfortable whole time which is very encouraging

Busy day, first xc meet for the high school today home meet so I had to work the meet so busy from 4:30 til 7:30 only time for four easy tonight. 

Travel to wedding did not get out today.

10 with emaurine made it into a tempo for her average pace was 8:15 

not much time for run today with travel

Not the type of run I was hoping for today, but got to run with emaurine so that made it great.

Sort of a mixed bag of running tonight but got in some more distance tonight which is what I have been needing

1mi warmup

2.25miles in 14:23 (6:23 pace)

5x400 with emaurine (6:36-6:40 pace)

3x1mile 5:50, 6:09, 6:12

1 mi cooldown

I really did not think I went too fast on that first mile rep, but heat might have finally gotten to me. (even though it was close to 7 p.m. still over 90). Also very little rest between miles less than 2 minutes each  (a 200 jog recovery and a quick sip of water.)

6 in the hills north of town, middle 4 in 28:12 did not really mean to run BQ Pace

Four miles nice and easy. Wedding weekend for my brother so we will see what I can get in... good news is after this weekend the next couple weekends are open so I can get some longer distances in

no running today woke at 3:40 to get to plane then constant busyness until 11 p.m. 

Basically no running this weekend with older brothers wedding. Very time consuming with last second details helping out here there did get a few jogs in for sanity but nothing of any value.

Just a little over 4.5 easy very tired from weekend and lots of work to catch up on. also did just over half mile of some sprints 

It has been a week since my last run that went for 8 miles or more. This is not good! Today's weather was cloudy misty and low 70s very nice compared to what we have had. Emaurine teaches a fitness class tuesday night so I have an hour to run, got eight done tonight in a little under that hour so finally a decent run.

Four easy. Really tired all week still recovering from lack of sleep all weekend and then early this week little sleep as well. Hoping to sleep really well tonight!!

1 warmup

Goal was 3x15min and really hoping to be at 6:30 pace but no slower than 6:45

Ended up doing 2 x 16 min and 1x13min with half mile jog recovery. 

The 16 minute runs both ended up being 2.36 miles or right around that 6:45 pace

and the 13 min was right at 2 miles or 6:30 pace.

Overall happier than I thought I would be with this run, since I am still exhausted and it was windy!!

1.5 cooldown

3 easy

There are some workout to remember, and some to forget! Today was one of those days. I was planning a tough 5-4-3-2-1 workout with all miles at MP...and got in 5 at 6:58 pace (then tasted breakfast again) and then could only make it 2 at 7:00 pace. Just not good!! I felt bad the whole time and even tried to have a longer break between the reps but just nothing going for me today. 

Met up with the XC team at 4 (I know Matt during the Husker game!!! Turns out they did much better without me watching.) 6x800's with short recovery 2:36, 2:30, 2:34, 2:34, 2:36, 2:40 (got really bad dry mouth on this last one) Still not what I wanted today but at least now I do not feel that is was not as much of a waste.

Another bad run today really warm when we decided to go cramped up in the first mile and fought it the whole time. Not what I wanted at all this weekend..

4 miles nice and easy this morning. First morning run for a while because we are "kid"sitting this afternoon. 

1 warmup

12 x 350m hill repeats (3 x 4)

Short recovery (high knees and butt kicks)

1 cooldown

Parent Teacher Conference day! In the gym from 8-8 with hour break from 12-1 so I did nice easy thirty minutes 16 times around track!

Another 4 easy, really trying to work on recovery although I have not slept well in forever, so taking it easy yesterday and today so hopefully I can get a real good workout in tomorrow and build some confidence.

No confidence building workout. Couple reasons why I did not attempt, very tired, 90 degrees outside (what is up with that!) and 30 mph winds. Will wake up early saturday simulate race and try for a good 16-20 depending on how I am feeling in morning.

Finally a long run! Now this was not as much as a confidence builder run as much as it was mental strength building run. (and physical strength of course..) Took me 2 hours 15 minutes so right around 7:30 pace (which this is my fastest pace long run!). But the mental strength part was I had a cramp since the half mile mark all the way to the finish! Some parts of the run both sides of stomach were cramping. But I knew this was my last chance at a long run and I needed to get it in. Listened to Matt's advice on not jumping into a 20! thought about it but realized he was right and that 18 will be good enough! 3 weeks and counting 

18 again today same loop as yesterday except it felt completely different since the wind did a 180. Ran with emaurine, she looked great today!

Easy! Early in a.m. kidsitting again this afternoon

3 easy again, family coming to town this weekend most of evening cleaning 

At the least today was 4  could be closer 5 but over 35 minutes of comfortable running nothing hurting everything feeling good a couple pick ups here and there explored new area of town runs go by faster when seeing something for the first time.

5 easy ish

6 x 1k 600 m rest

3:20 (woh too fast will hurt later!) 3:26, 3:30 (more like what I was expecting) 3:34 (starting to feel first one) 3:35, 3:35

Did not feel greatest going into the workout originally planned on 10 reps but stomach issues and little sleep last night it was smarter to do 6 I think. Ran with xc team they did 6x800s so I just hung behind the top three and then did my best to hang on last 200. 

Good luck to Matt on his attempt at 5k pr tomorrow!

Felt terrible but needed to get something in. Goal for next two weeks, get sleep! 

1.2 mile warmup and cool down.

5.1 time trial with xc team hilly course, we tried for course record of 31:36 but fell short at 32:04. Great run for me. Maybe not time wise, but I was able to hold it together through some stomach problems on a hilly course and finish strong. 6:17 average pace and it was not giving everything I have (that's in a couple weeks!) felt pretty comfortable for most part.

Four easy by the river soft surfaces legs little tight loosened up at halfway point

2 mi warmup 1 mile at 6:40 2miles in 12:52 (even splits of 6:26) 1 mile in 6:50(straight into wind)

2mile cool down

Easy day today. 78 mile relay on Saturday and I am doing 14 so taking it nice and easy today and tomorrow.

easy excited for tomorrow!

What a great day! If anyone has a chance to run a relay I would highly recommend it! My wife and I really only knew one other member of our team but after sharing a van with six other people after running you get to know the others really quickly!

We got a poor starting time of 9:20 a.m. This was the second to last wave start and it was also when they started all of the elite teams, which we were no where near an elite team... We got past by first and second place within our first two runners even with a twenty minute head start! 

I was our third runner and when I got the chip I knew there were still some fast runners behind me. My goal was to not get caught in this first stage. Well that lasted all of 3 minutes, but that may have been ok because I then had someone to run with. We both got passed by one other runner but we had passed 5 or so already so I was still +3 for my stage. A little side cramping but having that other runner there kept me focused and able to run through it. Decent first run stayed comfortable and relaxed did not throw hammer down or anything (6:30 pace, 4.2 miles)

Emaurine's first run was the potential highlight of the day. Not feeling well this week she came in to the race not knowing what to expect. This was the hilliest of the course, 5.1 miles and she was telling the team not to expect faster than 9 minute miles, well she ran 7:52 miles and passed over 6 teams, without getting passed!

My second run was my toughest 5.5 miles with hills and straight into the wind. The 10k prediction tool that the organizers use too stage the event had me at averaging 6:45 miles so I wanted to keep close to that if nothing else. This time I knew I had noone behind me that was going to catch me, but there was a shirtles runner who started about 3-4 minutes ahead of me that I wanted to challenge myself to catch. I was constantly gaining until we got to the hills. Then I started cramping and dry heaving. I did not lose any ground to him. I thought the stage ended right after the only bridge we pass so I sprinted the length of the bridge and got within 35 seconds of him only to realize there was still over a half mile left in the stage. Ended up missing him by ten seconds and ran 6:45 pace, which I am not too unhappy about with how I was feeling. (also +4 teams on this stage so now +7 for my stages)

The new highlight of the day was emaurine's second run 3.9 miles at 7:26 pace!! She is just unstoppable!!

Last run side stitch before I even start, now knowing what to expect 4.2 miles of limestone trail so I am thinking I can really go after it but I am not even a quarter mile in before I know this is not going to be nearly as good as I want. Ended up starting about a minute behind "green shirt guy" almost caught him fairly early just to have my side splitting in pain! So I backed off a little bit let him wander ahead just briefly, but then we had to cross a major highway and I had to stop and he didn't! Now I am over forty seconds behind with roughly a mile left to go! So I dry heaved a little after stopping (I guess my body wanted to be done) and then set off to catch green shirt guy. At the very end I sprinted to only lose to him by a second or two but I was still a little upset I didnt quite catch him. However after the major highway there was a line of teams for me to pass so I did catch 15 other teams during this stage. total of +22 for me throughout my part of relay! (28 minutes 6:40 pace again not to upset with this with the way I was feeling)

Last highlight of the day. Emaurine's final stage 3 miles 22 minutes 7:20 pace just incredible!!!

When we got to the finish rumor had it that the team that finished closest to the predicted time from the relay officials got free entry into next years race. When we crossed we thought we were only three-four seconds off! A great chance to win! But the timing was not quite connected right and we were eventually told 6 seconds off our predicted time and another team was 3 seconds off...

Overall great experience 78.7 miles total 10:52:26 was our reported time or average of 8:17 pace. I averaged roguhly 6:38 pace total emaurine averaged 7:35 for 12 miles!!!

easy tired from long day yesterday

rain out, after i woke and before school and then after school til bedtime thunderstorms non stop, so good thing taper week and taking day off shouldnt hurt me too much.

3 easy took a bad step ankle swollen uh oh

Cycling with wife ankle no good hoping beyond hope that it gets better by Saturday. Icing and elevating but not sure how much it's really helping

District xc tonight two seniors made it to state, but our sophomore missed by .1second feel bad for him. Ankle held up to jogging but gave out when I tried to go a little faster to get around the course

Travel day easy jogging, if it is in pain tomorrow and I cannot go the pace I want to I will back off early still probably finish race since no refunds but definitely disappointed going into race. Hopefully emaurine will do great! I know she will!

KC marathon = hilly at least for us in central nebraska that do not have much hills to train on. Chickened out of trying for PR! Ankle still hurting lack of sleep and basically I am just a chicken oh well had a lot of fun pacing emaurine! she was on PR pace for quite a long time but then the hills came and her hip is still hurting. hills just make it that much worse and she had to slow down but still the time she ran today with the fewest miles of training she has ever had before a marathon and the injuries she has is great. I am super proud of her!! 

new shoes! no run but a very huge urge to start running fast probably sooner than I should

3 easy with the new shoes felt good still taking it this week

3 easy running, then hard cycling class courtesy of emaurine!

3 easy 

3 easy

8 with emaurine, 3 up 3 tempo 2 cooldown was the idea but she did not slow down to much after the tempo

4 easy with emaurine

1 warmup   2 with other pair of new shoes (kinvara 4 lightest shoes I have ever had (besides spikes)) did not feel like I had any shoes on! Goal was run with feel, no watch on me, and get an idea of what comfortably hard was, 11:40 so not too shabby for no speed work in past few weeks. Starting spot to build off of at least. one cooldown

6.5 easy legs felt good after 2 so I went a little faster last four no watch though just based on feel.

Hilly route for Nebraska and twenty five mph winds made it even more fun.

1.5 warmup 4x400 hills (suppose to be fast but the last 150m was pretty steep so it was a grind up) then 8 x 200 hills so that I could actually make them faster. Recovery was just down the hills... 1.5 cooldown

Thunderstorm when I woke up this morning, could not go to track as planned 4 on treadmill all I had motivation for

Cycling class with emaurine!

easy tonight was not properly nutritioned (not from candy!) just super hungry

Off day knee still hurting so taking it easy

Wasn't sure what I was going to do when I woke up this morning. Was going. To. Base it on knee. Did not hurt in first mile so did five mile "tempo" was planning to just shoot for 35 minutes but instead ran 33. Then took minute break switched shoes to the kinvaras and ran three miles in 18:26. Purpose that I came up with for this as I was running is to let myself know what pace I can hold end of race when legs are tired. It was pretty much like clockwork around the track high 1:33 or 1:34 for 400 so 6:16 pace is what I could hold at that comfortable yet still giving effort pace that only if you have run races before you know what people are talking about. Probably could have gone faster during the three mile but I am not upset for first " workout"in a while

Easy 10 today First 6.5 with emaurine. 30 mph winds made it tough to get started, so we watched NYC marathon first.

Wanted more but did not get out of bed in a.m. And I think that jinxed me students after school for first time in awhile, which is good for everything besides my running.

1 warmup 6 mile progressive on treadmill today because of crappy weather, (sleet) usually I would battle these elements but I think it's tough to push hard during these times so I used the treadmill to make sur I was putting in some effort. Started 7:30 was going to drop fifteen seconds a mile but was feeling good (except for stomach), so I dropped when feeling like it stayed about a mile at 6:40 and 6:20 pace then last 1 and change was 6 and faster down to 5:40 for last just over quarter. 1 cool down (at the three mile mark of the progression the treadmill stopped on me so I switched and saw my last three miles were just over 18:30 not bad for me on a treadmill! )

Easy then emaurine's cycling class. I know I need to get my mileage up on recovery days, tough to do with little sunlight (but that's just an excuse...)

1 mile warmup

20x400 with 100m jog recovery. Goal was all reps sub 1:30. ended up locking at 1:25 pace for most part and just really feeling "comfortable" at that pace. Only rep 5, 15, and 17 were slow and those were when I was not focused. Some validation that I was working hard tonight was my 20th I tried to go as fast as I could and went 1:20 showing my legs were tired and that I was not dogging it. I did not time my 100 recovery splits but if they were 35 seconds then that makes a neat little 40 minute 10k! Overall very happy with this workout.

1 mile cooldown

Easy peasy

Took me a long time to get going this morning. Really was not that motivated and tired.

3 warmup 

2 miles in 12:22 (6:24, 5:58 just took my legs awhile to get going to on that first mile) (3min rest)

6x 800 in 2:55, 2:56, 2:46 (tired of mediocrity!), 2:49, 2:50, 2;50 (2:50s was the goal pace for these) (1 min rest inbetween (maybe a little long but needed today) 3 min rest until the 2 miles

2 miles in 12:03 (6:05, 5:58)

2 mile cooldown (really slow!!)

4 easy wanted to do more schedule and miscommunication on my part did not give time for that

easy around town where I teach flat windy cold first sub 15 degree run of year

Only time for a quick one tonight but got in a mile warmup 3.2 faster pace and then mile cooldown

mile warmup was not enough for the cold so I took it a little easier the first 4 minutes of the 3.2 than I would've liked. Still ended up in 20:12 for the 3.2 so 6:19 pace. Out and back course on way back I went 9:41 or 6:03 pace thats what I was hoping for whole run.

Not too discouraged because I did not warm up all the way, I am more discouraged with how busy this week has been and the lack of mileage, especially after I was finally starting to build again! Hope rest of week is better.

5 easy then tough cycling workout courtesy of emaurine

First off, I am happy with the workout because this was a day where everything about getting ready and getting going was slow and dragged out trying to talk myself into going. No MOTIVATION.. (at first). 

Got to track did mile warmup and I was jogging I tried to figure out what I could handle tonight. Then I said wrong attitude and tried to see what I could challenge myself to do. Came up with goal as 5x1 mile all right around 6. First mile ran 6:01 then I had crazy though why don't I give myself only a minutes rest while making sure I run a 200 (8:00 pace). So i do that run a 6:00 mile and do the same rest finish with a 6:02 mile. By this time I realized I was going to do 2 sets of 3x1 mile goal 6 minutes with 1 minute recovery at 200m. After third mile take a 2:30 break and back with a 6:03, 6:00, and 5:53. This set I let myself go 1:05 for first rest 1:10 second rest. Really felt good after the workout that I could do this workout on little sleep and little to no motivation.

mile cooldown.

4 easy 

Six easy legs and mind were shot before I even started so I decided not to do a faster workout today

feeling a little sick and mentally still beat so took a day off even though weather was not bad for november

6 easy with emaurine was great to run with her again nice and easy 

Little bit of a different workout 

1 mi warmup 

3 miles in 18:10 (6:18, 6:03, 5:48)

2x800 in 2:37,2:36

1 mile in 5:41

1 mile cooldown

Easy running today followed by good leg burning cycling workout once again provided by emaurine

Easy

easy again 

10 total 2 warmup 6 progressive 2 cooldown 6 progressive was around 40 minutes so I am thinking 10k race I definitely should have my best 10k in the past couple years and if I am having a good day and good weather maybe even scare the old PR (that would have to be a really good day and some competition to push me throughout the race)

5 nice and easy. bought some new running pants yesterday very warm :)

Another 5 easy 

1.25 warmup

4x200 (average 44) 4x400 (average 1:29) 4x200 (average 42) 100m rest in between everythin

1.25 cooldown

During the reps goal was to keep everything relaxed and never strain. Did let myself go a little faster 2nd set of 200's but not very much. Weather 25 degrees wind at 23 mph gusting to 31!

Weather for the race will be similar to today temperature wise but not wind thankfully! Still projected 12mph winds, 28degrees and sunny.