Running Around

The past month has been extremely hectic. I vacationed to Hawaii at the beginning of July. I had a blast and enjoyed my 10 days there. On my second day in Hawaii I ran the Freedom Fest 10k. They list it as a Run/Hike. I wasn't sure what the "Hike" part meant, but I figured that with my experience with running the hills in Huntsville, I didn't have much to worry about. Boy was I wrong! I quickly found out what "Hike" meant. It means that you will come across hills so steep they are impossible to run, so you must hike up them. This was the hardest course I've ever raced and it didn't take long for me to regret the fact this was a 10k and not a 5k. I ended up running 48:51 (7:49/mile). I also went out a bit to fast and paid the price at the end. I haven't done anything faster than mileage pace, and the 7:15 first mile hurt! My brother ended up passed me with about a half-mile left and I didn't have anyway to respond. He ended up beating me by about 20-seconds. He finished 9th overall and I finished 10th.

I didn't run much the rest of time in Hawaii. I stayed active (hiking, rock climbing, swimming, etc), but I only ran twice over the next 8 days. However, since getting back to Texas I've gotten back in the routine and have been doing well. I ran 54-miles this past week, which is my highest mileage week since January. I've also started lifting weights twice a week, spending a little bit of time on the elliptical, and I've started working in some quality workouts again. I feel pretty good at the moment and my mileage runs have been feeling better and better. By the end of August I plan on being back at 60-mile weeks while doing two quality workouts and one or two 10-12 mile runs each week. If I'm doing that my prep for a winter marathon will be right on track.

Feeling Fit :)

I've been grinding out the miles lately. In the month of June I ran 38 times for 196.7 miles (5.176 mpr). It was my best month of training since March and I'm definitely feeling the benefits from the consistency. In early June a 5 to 6 mile run was a tough run, but that run is now pretty standard and I'm getting back to the point where I'm not going to step out of the door unless I plan on running at least 4 miles. My regular long runs have been 8-10 miles and I'll probably start increasing that distance to 12-14 miles by the end of the summer. I ran 8.25-miles tonight and felt great. If I can continue with this training through July 18 I'll start working in a quality workout once a week. I'm looking forward to it, just need to keep grinding out the miles.

Long Run

I ran 10-miles last night with Molly and Victoria around town. I enjoy running with the girls from time to time. It spices things up a bit and they always make me smile when I hear the topics they discuss and their opinions on various subjects. I will say that what their conversations are completely different from what the guys talk about. It reminds me that men are indeed from Mars and women are from Venus.

The run went well and considering it was still about 90 degrees when we started (we started running at 9pm) we ran pretty quick. We started pushing the pace the last mile or so and it felt good to run hard for an extended period of time. I haven't done that in a while. Another positive is that Molly and Victoria appear to be in pretty good shape. Hopefully they can continue to build on their current fitness. If they do they are going to set themselves up for a good cross country season.

Routine

I feel like the routine of running is back. I've run 40-45 miles each of the past two weeks and a 5-6 mile run is not as challenging as it was a few weeks ago. I'm still struggling to keep a respectable pace, but I think that has more to do with the weather than it does with my fitness because I feel strong and effecient.

I ran 7.5 miles last night with Molly while Matt rode the bike. It was a good run, but we ended up averaging around 9min/mile, which is too slow for me to do too often. I think I'm going to do my first real workout sometime this week, probably Thursday or Friday and it will probably be something threshold oriented.

Feeling Good

My training has been going fairly well the past several weeks. I finally feel like I'm back to the routine of being a runner and I've noticed that I've been feeling stronger and more efficient on most of my runs. On Saturday I ran 7.8-miles, which was my longest run since April 15, and last night I put my shoes on with the intention of running 3-miles, but just before I started I decided to go ahead and do 4-miles. About 2.5-miles into it I decided to go a head and make it a 6.5-mile run. I been feeling strong an efficient again, however, my average pace is significantly slower than it was just a few weeks ago. I've been averaging about 8:20 to 8:35 per mile. My only justification for this is the fact that it has been significantly hotter and more humid than it was just a few weeks ago. Sunday morning I went for a run and the humidity was at about 98%. I don't handle the heat and humidity well, so I'm going to try to do most of my morning runs indoors at the HKC and the bulk of my running in the evening on the roads. This is about the best way I can figure to deal with the weather.

Marathon Buildup

I ended up taking most of the month of April and the first part of May virtually off; doing just enough to not get completely out-of-shape. This wasn't my original plan, but I felt like I had too much going on with my coaching and recruiting duties to train consistently.

But now that we are out for summer break, I've been able to get back into the full swing of running and I've begun my marathon prep for the Houston Marathon at the end of January. I'm going to spend about 10 weeks running 50-60 mpw with a lot of doubles to re-establish a training routine. The focus is going to be on mileage and weights. I've been training well the past 2 weeks and I can already feel my fitness coming back. My biggest adjustment is just getting used to the heat.

I'm excited to start training for my first marathon. If my prep for the full goes as well as it did for the half this past January it should be a lot of fun.

Cruise Intervals

I wasn't really sure what workout I was going to do today and I actually made it up as I went along. All I knew was that I wanted to target something around my lactate threshold.

I ended up running 3 x 2400m on the track with a 400m jog recovery between each interval. I averaged 10:37.2 for each (7:05/mile) and my recovery jogs were around 2:45. My only complaint is that it's starting to get warm again. I started the workout at 11am, and it's probably the last time I'll be able to start a workout after 10am until October. The heat was really beginning to have a negative effect on my running the last 2400m. I also need to pay extra close attention to my hydration again. Summer is on it's way :(