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April 2008

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Location:

New Palestine,IN,USA

Member Since:

Oct 23, 2007

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Boston Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

5k - 18:59 (3/09)
4M - 25:06 (9/09)
10k - 41:01 (11/07)

Half - 1:25:58 (11/09)

Marathon - 3:06:33 (12/09)

Short-Term Running Goals:

1:25 for the half marathon
Sub 39:00 for the 10k.
3:07 marathon
18:30 5k

Upcoming Races



Long-Term Running Goals:

Break 3:00 for the marathon.

Personal:

Married, two daughters (18 and 15).  Masters runner trying to get competitive in my age group.

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Saucony Ride 5 (Red) Lifetime Miles: 372.70
ASICS Excel 33 Lifetime Miles: 152.00
Saucony Ride 7 Lifetime Miles: 249.00
ASICS DS Trainer Lifetime Miles: 212.20
Asics Cumulus 16 Lifetime Miles: 241.30
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
142.500.0012.000.00154.50
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.000.000.000.008.00

Still in Gulf Shores on vacation. Ran an easy 8 miles today. It was a nice day and the wind was not too bad. I felt good the whole way. I didn't run the last couple of days just been spending time with the family. I did play about 1 hour of football on the beach which had me sweating and breathing pretty hard.

66:06

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.000.000.000.007.00

Back at home and it was a great day outside (63, light wind). Felt real good today no problems just need to get into some kind of routine. I am planning a long run tomorrow which is way past due.

55:34

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.000.000.000.0012.00

I finally got in a long run today. I was wondering how I would feel since it has been about 6 weeks since I ran over 10 miles (can't believe that). I ended up feeling good the whole way. I just settled into a nice easy pace and my legs felt good. I thought I might start to feel tired later in the run but it didn't happen. I am curious how I will feel tomorrow. Hopefully, no soreness. I am for a normal week this week so don't want any setbacks. It was another beautiful day (60, light wind). Oh how I love Spring!!

1:38:36

Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.000.000.000.006.00

I traveled to DC today so had to fit a run into the schedule. I did an easy 6 miles and felt pretty good. My legs were a little tight/stiff from the long run yesterday but overall I felt better than I expected.  I have a busy week of meeting/dinners etc so we will see what happens on the schedule.

48:36

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.000.000.000.006.00

I have been crazy busy while in DC. I should be getting out early and run but have not been to exciting about running in DC in the dark and hotel doesn't have a treadmill. So ran 6 miles in between meeting. It was nice and easy felt pretty good.

48:30

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.000.000.000.005.00

Got out early before meetings and was able to squezze in 5 miles. Nice morning and felt really good.

40:26

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.000.000.000.006.00

Rainy cold and windy outside today so ran on the treadmill. It had the added benefit of being able to watch the Masters. Felt good and no problems.

48:24

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.000.003.000.005.00

Been having a hard time keeping up with the blogging but hoping I can do the better in the future. I have had a lot going on with work and the running is what seems to be dropping off the schedule. Today I was able to get in 5 miles after meetings and before commiments with the kids. Felt good today so decided to do some tempo work. I just ran the tempo on time not distance so I did 20 minutes at tempo pace which should have been around 3 miles.

38:16

Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.000.000.000.007.00

Tax day! It was a really nice day here in Indiana. Around 50 degrees, sunny and light wind. I felt good today other than a little soreness in my hamstring that has been bothering me for about a week. Nothing too bad just sore enough to make me worry a little. I have been really disappointed with my running this spring. I had such a good winter and then Feb and Mar were horrible. I have spent some time thinking about it and it basically boils down to running is too low of a priority in my life right now. If things get tight schedule wise running is what drops off. I have a new position in my company this year and always busy with family so I end up cutting back on the running. It seems like I go through cycles where I have more time and feel like I can take my running up to a higher level then things get tight and I fall back. I guess I have to realize that I am a recreational running and be happy with the time that I have and the runs that I can get in. I need to not worry about it and just enjoy what time I do have for running.

56:40

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.000.000.000.008.00

It was a great morning today (50, sunny, light wind). My left hamstring felt better but is still a litte sore. I started off real easy to give my leg a chance to warm/loosen up which I think helped. After a couple of miles I felt real good and picked the pace back up. It was a great day to be out running. Hoping to get a long run in tomorrow which I really need to do to prepare for my half-marathon the first week of May. I will start to come up with a plan for the race. Not sure what to shoot for after weak last couple of months of training. I will do a longer tempo run next week and that should tell me more.

63:50

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.000.000.000.0014.00

Finally got a long run in today. It was a bit unusal. I started out easy to get the legs loosened up and started picking the pace back up after a couple of miles. Around 3 miles it started pouring rain and the wind picked up. After getting soaked and with the wind I started to get cold so I decided to head back to the house and finish up on the treadmill instead of fighting rain/wind. I ended up with 8 miles outside and 6 miles on the treadmill. Overall felt real good and I thought the pace was ok since I haven't run a lot of longer runs lately.

1:53:24 (8:05)

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.000.000.000.008.00

I got to see the finish of the Boston Marathon. It was pretty incrediable finish for the women and a great race for the men.

I was able to get the week off with a solid run. After the ups and downs the last few weeks it is good to get the week started right. I hope to keep it that way. Today I felt a little stiff/tired when I started but got going better after a couple of miles. I ran in the afternoon today so it was pretty warm (70 and sunny). I am not use to this so I was feeling the hotter weather the last couple of miles. Still a great day to be outside running.

64:42

Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.000.000.000.008.00

It was a great morning today (55, sunny) for a run. As I started out my right hamstring was still a little tight/sore but it has been loosening up after 1/2 mile or so. Because of this I have not been too concerned about it. Just took it real easy today. I am working on getting back in the normal routine so just doing some easy mileage plus tomorrow I will be doing a tempo run.

66:26

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
3.000.004.000.007.00

Because of my up and down training over the last couple of months, I am not really sure of my level of fitness and what pace I should plan on for my upcoming half marathon. Today I hoped to sort some of this out with a tempo run on the track. This is my only way to get exact times since my normal road routes are rough measurements. Today I wanted to see what it felt like to hold 6:50 pace. I planned on running 5 miles at this tempo pace.

It was a very nice morning (60, light wind) and I started off with a two mile warmup. After this I jumped into the tempo run and immediately felt like I had to push to hold this pace. I was slow the first half mile so picked it up to get back on my target pace. I came through the first mile in 7:00 but was already starting to feel like this was faster than I could hold for 13 miles. The 2nd mile was not to bad and stayed on pace. As I got into the 3rd mile I was starting to really feel the effort and the effects of the lost mileage over the last two months. On the 4th mile I started to realize I wasn't going to hold this pace for 5 miles unless I wanted it to feel more like a race and less like a tempo run. Because of this I cut the tempo at 4 miles.

Here are my splits:

1st - 7:00

2nd - 6:50

3rd - 6:54

4th - 6:51

So what did I learn today. Probably no sub 1:30 half-marathon for me next week. Based on the way I felt today there is no way I can hold that pace for 13 miles. I will run another tempo early next week and target 7:05 to 7:10 pace to see how that feels. I have to realize that based on my recent training I have probably slid back instead moving forward. There are shortcomings in this game!

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.000.000.000.008.00

Another nice morning to run but it was very windy today. I started off easy as usual to get my hamstring loosened up. Today I just wanted an easy run after yesterday's tempo. I ran out into the wind so took it real easy. It was much more fun coming back with the wind at my back and naturally picked up the pace. Felt very good this morning with no issues from the tempo yesterday.

65:07

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.000.000.000.008.00

Man the weather has been great this week! I really love this time of year. It would be awesome to have this all the time. Today it was around 60 but windy and I really felt good today. I am starting to feel like I am getting back into the groove. It is a little to late for my race next Sat but feels good none the less. Today I just ran easy but I did 8 x 100 m strides at the end of the run. Just wanted to get the legs turning over a little faster and hopefully work on my running economy a little.

64:07

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.000.000.000.0012.00

My string of nice morning came to an end. It was still not bad around 48 but very windy. I felt good this morning but was a little sore from a lot of yard work the last few days. After a mile or so I felt much better and settled into a nice easy pace. I felt good throughout and picked up the pace the last 3 miles. This turned out to be a good solid week for me. It is the first full week of running that I have had in about 2 months. Not good for my race next week but just have to make the best of it. I will do another tempo workout this week to try to figure out what pace to shoot for in the half. This is the first time that I have ran a race this long without having a few shorter races to judge my fitness level. So I will probably just have to go by feel and adjust accordingly.

1:38:41

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.000.000.000.008.00

Very nice morning for running (45, light wind). I felt very sluggish at the start and this continued for about 4 miles. I started feeling better after 4 miles and picked the pace up some and actually starting feeling good around 6 miles. It was a good run to shake the legs out.

63:20

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.500.000.000.004.50

I had an early morning meeting then was busy when I got home so ran 4.5 miles while my daughter was at soccer practice. Not exactly what I was hoping for today but better than nothing. I am going to try my tempo run tomorrow then take it easy before the half marathon on Saturday.

34:50

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.000.005.000.007.00

Today I wanted to do one last tempo run before my race on Sat to get an idea of pace for the race. Last week I tried a tempo run at 6:50 pace and that seemed to hard to maintain for 13 miles so this week I thought I would drop back and try a 5 mile tempo at 7:10 pace to see how I would feel.

Started off with a warmup then jumped into the tempo run. I hit the first mile right on pace in 7:11. It felt pretty easy so I picked it up a little. Here are the splits from the other miles:

1st - 7:11

2nd - 7:06

3rd - 7:04

4th - 6:57

5th - 6:47

All of the miles felt pretty comfortable except the last which I pushed too hard. Based on this I am thinking I should plan on going out around 7:05 pace and then make adjustments based on how I feel. I hoped to be a lot better than this but my training in Feb/Mar really suffered so not sure I should expect more. So now I will just to a couple of easy runs on Thur and Fri so I hopefully will be ready to go on Sat.

51:48

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
142.500.0012.000.00154.50
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