A Couple of Decent Runs

I sit here after a couple of not great, but at least decent workouts back to back. Tuesday I did a 12 mile out and back from Brewbakers up the rail trail. 45 min out, 39 back. It was my first really decent run since Pisgah, and I was feeling a litte tired near the end, but even with some tightness in my calves, I was able to keep a strong pace. Wednesday I was a little late to the workout, and I missed the warm up. I had been on my feet all day, and was a little tight, but I still felt ok. Brad was doing 2x800/600/400/200. I was planning to just do 800s, but this sounded good, even if I didn't think I would be quite able to keep his pace. The first 800 was way too fast for me right now, and it made it hard to keep the rest of the work out together. I couldn't finish the 2nd 600, but at least I was able to regroup a little after that. My calves were tightening up a lot, and I was glad the reps were getting shorter. The cool down went well, and it helped to keep my calves from totally locking up. But for anyone who is reading this, I have one word of advice: Shunji. I'm writing this after an almost 2 hour massage, and every bit of soreness is gone. He is totally worth the ride down to Wendell Ma., no matter if you are shooting for a 2:15, a 3:15 or a 4:15 marathon. He'll put pieces back into place that you didn't even know were out. Well worth the price of admission.

My track times were
2:53 / 3:06 / 2:19 / xx / 1:26 / 1:29 / :41 / :39

Next week I will try a workout from the Running for Fitness website. It is really great to have something that gives you such good pace information.

It's Gonna Be A Long Road Back

I've been surprised how long it has taken for the little rib tear to heal. Our house finally sold, and I have been hauling furniture up and down stairs for my ex wife. It certainly wasn't helping anything, but this is supposed to be a running blog, so last week I went out with the Wednesday crew, and I was really feeling it on the warm up. Brad was doing mile repeats, and I thought I would give it a try. But by the middle of the first one I knew I wasn't doing myself any good being out there. I packed it in and decided to give it a few more days rest. Sunday was the 2nd run for Angella, and I really wanted to do it. I talked to Jeff before the race, and I was planning to run with him and just kinda take it easy. But there is just something about a race. It doesn't matter if it is a 12 year old saying "Go!" or the starter's pistol in the Olympics, when it's time to go, you have to give it your all. I turned around to let Jeff know I was going to run it a little harder, and I tried to keep up with the second group of runners. My side was hurting, and it was slowing me down, but it wasn't too bad. This was the first real running I had done in almost 3 weeks. I wasn't running as an all out race, but I tried to keep up a decent pace. I ended up running a 30:51, only 1:50 behind last year. So not the best, but not a total disaster either.
This week the workout went a little better. Brad was doing mile repeats again, and again I decided to try to run along with him. It worked out a little better this time, but I still wasn't able to do the whole workout. I ended up doing 2 X mile, 2 X 1200, 2 X 800. It was an ok effort, but it sure seems like all my workouts have been disappointing for the last little while. I still feel as if I am in as good of shape as I was last year at this time, so with a little more effort and consistency, I should be ready to train hard soon. October is 1/2 done, and before you know it, winter will be here. So the time is now. Justin told me about a great website for training paces, and I am looking forward to doing some workouts at specific paces for the time I want to run Boston. This year, 3:10. Next year, if all goes well, break 3:00. It could happen.

Here are the workout results:
Mile : 6:20 / 6:22
1200 : 4:50 / 4:51
800 : 3:03 / 3:01

Next week, a solid 800 workout with 1/2 time rest.