Cool, crisp air this morning with a bit of a breeze in the air. Felt very autumn-like. Was really anxious to take advantage of the weather, and also knowing that with just an easy pace on the agenda, I could really just enjoy being out in the woods with no real worries about pacing and what not.
I really like this loop because it's a fun mix of fire roads that you can pick up the speed on if you choose to, and really technical trails that really challenge you to take the proper lines. You go by a really large, marshy pond, and through some really thick woods. Though no wildlife sightings today, the usual Maine critters are back there... I've seen moose, bear, deer, owls, eagles, mink and more. Makes you feel sorry for people who don't trail run.
Ran 7.7 miles @ 8:56/mile.
Fireroads and technical trails.
Very hilly.
Upper 50s to upper 60s, sunny.
Brooks Cascadia 3, shorts, short sleeved shirt.
Monday, September 06, 2010
Sunday, September 05, 2010
Double: Tempo-ish and Easy
AM:
I set out with the goal of running at marathon pace, which is around 7:20-7:25/mile. I want to start doing that more often... not faster, not slower, but within that range. The rational is to get used to running that pace so I know that pace.
I didn't do so well. I even tried using the feature with the little running man on the Garmin that keeps a certain pace. An almost opposite effect happened. I wanted to crush that little man. It became a competition with the little stick figure on my watch. The pace was then set in the first few miles and it was hard to back off.
Yes, it's nice I can go faster pretty easily, but it's a shorter distance. 9.2 miles is nothing compared to 26.2 miles. I don't want this to happen again. Back then, I bit off more than I could chew as a result of not respecting the distance and going out way too fast. Mental discipline is everything. So yes, good workout this morning, but I need to work on focus with the pacing.
Ran 9.2 miles @ 7:05/mile pace.
Paved roads.
Moderately hilly.
Mid 60s, partly cloudy, breezy.
Saucony Kinvara, shorts, short sleeved shirt.
PM:
Purpose of this run was to just go at an easy pace and enjoy the run. Mission accomplished. Very nice out. Just trotted along and let the mind wander.
Ran 5.6 miles @ 8:12/mile pace.
Paved and dirt roads.
Very hilly.
Around 70 degrees, mostly cloudy, breezy.
Saucony Kinvara, shorts, sleeveless shirt.
Finished the week with 60.6 miles. Another solid week overall, especially considering the awful heat wave we had for much of the week. Feeling pretty great, but sense I would benefit from a cut-back week next week, so that's the plan. Will likely take two rest days next week (not back-to-back) and keep things pretty chilled out for the most part (sans the race on Sunday).
I set out with the goal of running at marathon pace, which is around 7:20-7:25/mile. I want to start doing that more often... not faster, not slower, but within that range. The rational is to get used to running that pace so I know that pace.
I didn't do so well. I even tried using the feature with the little running man on the Garmin that keeps a certain pace. An almost opposite effect happened. I wanted to crush that little man. It became a competition with the little stick figure on my watch. The pace was then set in the first few miles and it was hard to back off.
Yes, it's nice I can go faster pretty easily, but it's a shorter distance. 9.2 miles is nothing compared to 26.2 miles. I don't want this to happen again. Back then, I bit off more than I could chew as a result of not respecting the distance and going out way too fast. Mental discipline is everything. So yes, good workout this morning, but I need to work on focus with the pacing.
Ran 9.2 miles @ 7:05/mile pace.
Paved roads.
Moderately hilly.
Mid 60s, partly cloudy, breezy.
Saucony Kinvara, shorts, short sleeved shirt.
PM:
Purpose of this run was to just go at an easy pace and enjoy the run. Mission accomplished. Very nice out. Just trotted along and let the mind wander.
Ran 5.6 miles @ 8:12/mile pace.
Paved and dirt roads.
Very hilly.
Around 70 degrees, mostly cloudy, breezy.
Saucony Kinvara, shorts, sleeveless shirt.
Finished the week with 60.6 miles. Another solid week overall, especially considering the awful heat wave we had for much of the week. Feeling pretty great, but sense I would benefit from a cut-back week next week, so that's the plan. Will likely take two rest days next week (not back-to-back) and keep things pretty chilled out for the most part (sans the race on Sunday).
Saturday, September 04, 2010
Short Second Run
Decided to go ahead and do a short second run this evening to take advantage of the cooler, drier air now that a cold front has moved through. Was nice to run in seasonable weather for once.
Turned out to be a fateful decision of sorts as I saw an eastern painted turtle trying to cross Rt. 202 (busy road) and I picked him up and moved him to a safer area at the edge of the woods.
Turned out to be a fateful decision of sorts as I saw an eastern painted turtle trying to cross Rt. 202 (busy road) and I picked him up and moved him to a safer area at the edge of the woods.
Ran 3.1 miles @ 7:50/mile pace.
Paved roads.
Slightly hilly.
Mid-70s, sunny.
Saucony Kinvara, shorts.
Bruiser Course
The Bradbury Bruiser 12-mile trail race is next weekend, so we spent the morning running the course. Very humid out, as the cold front hadn't made it's way through yet, but thankfully the group kept things at an easy pace.
Had a really long conversation with Mike about cross country skiing while we ran, and it just fueled the fire for winter to hurry up and get here.
Would write more, but the Gator game is on. Go Gators!!!!
Ran 12.0 miles @ 10:47/mile pace.
Technical trails.
Moderately hilly.
Lower to upper 70s, sunny, very humid.
Asics Trail Attacks, shorts, singlet.
Had a really long conversation with Mike about cross country skiing while we ran, and it just fueled the fire for winter to hurry up and get here.
Would write more, but the Gator game is on. Go Gators!!!!
Ran 12.0 miles @ 10:47/mile pace.
Technical trails.
Moderately hilly.
Lower to upper 70s, sunny, very humid.
Asics Trail Attacks, shorts, singlet.
Friday, September 03, 2010
Mile Repeats in the Heat
The last time I did mile repeats, I allowed too much recovery time in between intervals (4:00 minutes). After seeking advice from those more experienced with these kind of workouts (thanks Jeff and Ryan), it sounded as if two minutes recovery or lightly jogging one lap around the track in between intervals was best. So, that was the plan. Overall, it went quite well. However, still far from perfect.
The MDI Marathon is very hilly, so times are naturally a bit slower. My goal is to break 3:15:59 to qualify for Boston. However, I need to take into account the hills when using the McMillian calculator to figure out split times for speed workouts, so I'm using 3:05:00 as a benchmark. That has me doing mile repeats in the 6:06-6:18 range. I averaged 6:08/mile today.
I averaged those splits in some pretty warm temperatures and intense humidity to boot. It was in the mid-eighties and still very humid when I finished. However, I was very inconsistant in my splits. Lack of experience with these kind of workouts showed, as I started out way too fast and as a result the splits dropped pretty substantially. Typical rookie-like mistake.
Original intent was to jog lightly for a lap around the track in between each mile interval. I nixed this after the third mile and opted to drink up and walk around for two minutes instead (same time as a light jog for one lap). Just was too hot and humid out there.
Worth noting that I full-on puked a few times after the final mile repeat. Nothing related to heat stroke or the like. My stomach just wasn't holding down the diluted Gatorade I was drinking during the workouts. Felt fine afterwards, and after resting a few minutes, went ahead and did my barefoot cooldown run with no problem.
But overall, pretty pleased with the workout, all things considered. Good hay in the barn, and though the splits were pretty hap-hazard, was glad to keep the average low and do it in hot and humid conditions, nonetheless.
w/u - Ran 1.0 miles @ 7:17/mile pace.
5 X 1-mile repeats w/ 2:00 recovery in between: 5:56, 5:54, 6:05, 6:15, 6:28.
c/d - Ran 1.6 miles @ 9:27/mile pace. Barefoot.
Total miles including recoveries - 8.3 miles
Upper 70s to mid 80s, mostly cloudy, very humid.
Saucony Kinvara, shorts.
The MDI Marathon is very hilly, so times are naturally a bit slower. My goal is to break 3:15:59 to qualify for Boston. However, I need to take into account the hills when using the McMillian calculator to figure out split times for speed workouts, so I'm using 3:05:00 as a benchmark. That has me doing mile repeats in the 6:06-6:18 range. I averaged 6:08/mile today.
I averaged those splits in some pretty warm temperatures and intense humidity to boot. It was in the mid-eighties and still very humid when I finished. However, I was very inconsistant in my splits. Lack of experience with these kind of workouts showed, as I started out way too fast and as a result the splits dropped pretty substantially. Typical rookie-like mistake.
Original intent was to jog lightly for a lap around the track in between each mile interval. I nixed this after the third mile and opted to drink up and walk around for two minutes instead (same time as a light jog for one lap). Just was too hot and humid out there.
Worth noting that I full-on puked a few times after the final mile repeat. Nothing related to heat stroke or the like. My stomach just wasn't holding down the diluted Gatorade I was drinking during the workouts. Felt fine afterwards, and after resting a few minutes, went ahead and did my barefoot cooldown run with no problem.
But overall, pretty pleased with the workout, all things considered. Good hay in the barn, and though the splits were pretty hap-hazard, was glad to keep the average low and do it in hot and humid conditions, nonetheless.
w/u - Ran 1.0 miles @ 7:17/mile pace.
5 X 1-mile repeats w/ 2:00 recovery in between: 5:56, 5:54, 6:05, 6:15, 6:28.
c/d - Ran 1.6 miles @ 9:27/mile pace. Barefoot.
Total miles including recoveries - 8.3 miles
Upper 70s to mid 80s, mostly cloudy, very humid.
Saucony Kinvara, shorts.
Thursday, September 02, 2010
Third Early Morning Run in a Row
I don't think I've ever done three consecutive days of early morning runs. And while I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow (no school), I must say I've rather enjoyed getting up early and getting in some mileage these past few days.
That being said, I don't think I'll be doing them regularly. I've only really done it this week to beat the heat. However, there will be days that are so busy that running in the early morning will be the only option, so it's been good to reinforce that they are actually pretty enjoyable when they have to be done.
This morning was warmer and more humid than the other days, which isn't very surprising given today is supposed to the hottest day of the heat wave (98 degrees predicted). It flat out sucks. But at least relief is on the way beginning tomorrow.
Run itself went well. Despite only getting five hours of sleep last night, I woke up at 4:25am pretty easily and my legs had more pep in them than the previous two mornings (but still slow). Good run. No plans on making today a double.
Ran 5.1 miles @ 8:50/mile pace.
Trails, fire roads.
Slightly hilly.
Mid 60s, clear, humid.
Asics Trail Attacks, shorts, short sleeved shirt, headlamp.
That being said, I don't think I'll be doing them regularly. I've only really done it this week to beat the heat. However, there will be days that are so busy that running in the early morning will be the only option, so it's been good to reinforce that they are actually pretty enjoyable when they have to be done.
This morning was warmer and more humid than the other days, which isn't very surprising given today is supposed to the hottest day of the heat wave (98 degrees predicted). It flat out sucks. But at least relief is on the way beginning tomorrow.
Run itself went well. Despite only getting five hours of sleep last night, I woke up at 4:25am pretty easily and my legs had more pep in them than the previous two mornings (but still slow). Good run. No plans on making today a double.
Ran 5.1 miles @ 8:50/mile pace.
Trails, fire roads.
Slightly hilly.
Mid 60s, clear, humid.
Asics Trail Attacks, shorts, short sleeved shirt, headlamp.
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Garbage Double
AM:
Broke my running up into a double again today because of the heat wave. Hit the trails in the morning in the dark. I did the trail version of the Dump Loop, which is much more hilly and technical than the route I did yesterday morning. As a result, very slow going in the dark (on top of it being 5am and my legs not really wanting to move).
Ran 4.6 miles @ 9:52/mile pace.
Trails, some dirt road.
Very hilly.
Lower 60s, clear.
Asics Trail Attacks, shorts, short sleeved shirt, headlamp.
PM:
As it got close to 6:30pm, it finally cooled down to the mid-80s (reached 95 at the hottest point) and I headed out the door. It was around the same temperature that I ran in yesterday, only today felt more humid and there was the added fun of a bad air quality alert (ozone and particles). Air felt really heavy and nasty, was happy to keep this run short and slow.
Ran 2.9 miles @ 8:01/mile pace.
Paved roads.
Slightly hilly.
Mid 80s, humid, bad air alert.
Saucony Kinvara, shorts.
Neither run today exactly of the highest quality. I don't mind excusing the early morning runs for simply putting miles in the bank, but to follow it up with another workout in the same day that is essentially garbage miles doesn't exactly leave me feeling content. At least yesterday evening's run was at a moderate pace. On the other hand, obviously getting in 7.5 miles is better than nothing at all especially with conditions like today. Would have been easy to just say screw it and take a day off.
Planning on another early run tomorrow, but nothing in the evening as we have a XC meet. Hopefully it won't be cancelled because of the heat, but that's a possibility I suppose. At least Friday things start to cool off, and later that day a little Hurricane Earl fun might be thrown into the works to boot.
Broke my running up into a double again today because of the heat wave. Hit the trails in the morning in the dark. I did the trail version of the Dump Loop, which is much more hilly and technical than the route I did yesterday morning. As a result, very slow going in the dark (on top of it being 5am and my legs not really wanting to move).
Ran 4.6 miles @ 9:52/mile pace.
Trails, some dirt road.
Very hilly.
Lower 60s, clear.
Asics Trail Attacks, shorts, short sleeved shirt, headlamp.
PM:
As it got close to 6:30pm, it finally cooled down to the mid-80s (reached 95 at the hottest point) and I headed out the door. It was around the same temperature that I ran in yesterday, only today felt more humid and there was the added fun of a bad air quality alert (ozone and particles). Air felt really heavy and nasty, was happy to keep this run short and slow.
Ran 2.9 miles @ 8:01/mile pace.
Paved roads.
Slightly hilly.
Mid 80s, humid, bad air alert.
Saucony Kinvara, shorts.
Neither run today exactly of the highest quality. I don't mind excusing the early morning runs for simply putting miles in the bank, but to follow it up with another workout in the same day that is essentially garbage miles doesn't exactly leave me feeling content. At least yesterday evening's run was at a moderate pace. On the other hand, obviously getting in 7.5 miles is better than nothing at all especially with conditions like today. Would have been easy to just say screw it and take a day off.
Planning on another early run tomorrow, but nothing in the evening as we have a XC meet. Hopefully it won't be cancelled because of the heat, but that's a possibility I suppose. At least Friday things start to cool off, and later that day a little Hurricane Earl fun might be thrown into the works to boot.
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