The Next Step

It was a nice morning (65, cloudy) for running.  I started off easy and was stiff/tight.  I quickly loosened up and started to feel really good.  Today was one of those days where everything clicks and you feel great.  It would have been a great day for a race or speed work but stuck to the plan and did my normal run.  Hopefully this is a sign that the consistent training is starting to pay off.  I need to get some races on the calendar so that I can get a better test of where I am at fitness wise. 

Hope everyone had a great Father's day yesterday.  I have been truly blessed with a great family and we had a great day just spending time together.

63:05

Great day (60, sunny)!  I have to enjoy days like today because I know hot and humid will be here soon.  Today I planned a 4 mile tempo run at around 6:50 pace.  I felt good this morning especially after I had warmed up a few miles.  I haven't done a tempo run on a know route since before I ran the half marathon so wasn't sure what to expect.  Recently most of my tempos have just been based on time/effort due to travel.  I started off a little fast on the first mile but felt good.  The second mile I got it back to the pace I wanted.  I slowed a little on the third then picked it up for the last mile.  Overall I felt good and I didn't feel like I had to strain to hold the pace.  I need to work on keeping a more consistent pace but since I haven't been doing a lot of these workouts I guess that is to be expected.  Here are the splits:

1st - 6:39

2nd - 6:52

3rd - 6:58

4th - 6:45

Overall: 59:33

Another great day (58, sunny)!  This has to be the best week we have had this year.  Today I did my medium long run and felt real good.  I had a friend pass away yesterday from cancer so I spent most of the run just reflecting on how blessed I am to be healthy and be able to enjoy beautiful days like this.  I don't want to ever take my health for granted! 

87:55

The string of beautiful mornings continues (60, sunny).  I felt a little sluggish/stiff this morning as I started and I didn't really feel very sharp the whole way.  I also had some soreness in my right quad (not sure where that came from) but otherwise pretty good run.  I am going to have to scout out some different routes.  Because of the way I am doing my mileage right now I end up doing the same route 3 sometimes 4 times a week which is getting kind of boring.  Probably map some stuff online then try them out next week.  I did tack on 8 x 100m strides at the end of the run.  Those felt pretty good.

65:19

A little warmer today but still beautiful morning to run.  Today I just took it real easy.  I have gotten in a pretty good week of running and I wanted to be ready for tomorrow's long run.  It was a nice run just cruising along.  Sometimes it is refreshing just to run and not be concerned about time, splits, etc.  This was one of those runs where you can clear your head and really feel better when you get back. 

67:15

My wife was having a yard sale today and I agreed to help her get everything setup and help with the early morning crowd.  Because of this I got out much later than I wanted to for my run.  It was about 72 when I started and almost 80 when I finished so it was getting pretty warm.  Even with the heat I felt pretty good and stayed consistent with my pace throughout the run.  I did pick it up just a little bit (maybe 15 seconds per mile) the last 4 miles to practice strong finishes. 

On a side note German Fernandez  ran 8:34.4 in the 2 mile to break the national high school record.  If you are interested you can watch the race here: http://www.dyestat.com//?pg=videos&vid=D8CECA5EF13F6D7A&PHPSESSID=94cb6f176d3e44b865bcadb11889ba7f.  Pretty cool stuff!

2:01:42 (8:07 avg)