End of June

 End of June... 6 months complete and 6 months to go... not quite halfway through the year though because there are 181 days in the first 6 months and 184 in the 2nd 6 months... halfway is noon on July 2nd... but I digress.

I finished up the month with 166.63 miles at an average of 8:06 pace.  Pretty much an easy month for me by design, putting me in a good position going into the 2nd half of 2021.

Plan to be back over 200 miles for July as I continue to ramp the training back up.

Today, I ran 9.12 miles in 1:13:33 (8:04 pace).  Still an easy run but a bit faster and harder effort than I expected after yesterdays track workout.  The heat and humidity was killer.  I started out at sub 8:00 pace but was running 8:10-8:15 by the end.  I'm starting to get heat adapted but I still miss April and May.  

Track Tuesday 2

 Today was week 2 of my 8 week commitment/experiment to hit the track every week for 8 weeks.

Last week was 48 degrees... perfect weather for a workout.  Today it was 72 degrees with 98% humidity (at least it was cloudy and it poured rain just about immediately after I was back at the house so I dodged that too).  Subsequently, I got a really solid sweat going... probably the most I've sweat this year.

I wasn't feeling quite as snappy this morning as I'd like... I think I still had some fatigue from the 15 miles on Sunday.  I was able to mentally shake that off though and get myself into a good headspace.

My warmup felt pretty good.  2.5 miles at 7:33, 7:10, and then 7:06 pace.

I stopped for just a bit when I got to the track for a few leg swings but didn't waste much time before I got things going... I mentally set myself, jogged a small bit more til I reached the start line and then hit the lap button and took off.

I had a loose target of 85s in my head and that's where the pace pretty much wound up.  Really I would have been okay with anything under 90.  It took a couple laps before my legs felt right but after that I didn't really feel as lactic as I did last week.  

The hardest part was the heat.  Halfway through the workout I was drenched and dripping sweat.  At that point the recovery intervals started to stretch out as I started to do some walking before getting back into a jog.  The HR was getting into the mid 170s and peaked at 178 on the last lap.  

I don't see the weather being too much better for the next 2 months so I should probably get used to this...  really I don't mind the sweating so much and it does help get the HR up and makes me push myself mentally... I do think it makes the recovery intervals harder.

After the workout I forced myself to get a cooldown in.  I was at 6:59 pace at the 7 mile point (about .25 miles after the last lap) and I really wanted to stop the watch to keep things under 7 but forced myself to keep going for another 1.33 miles to get to the 1 hour point.

Final stats:

8.33 miles
1:00:01
7:12 pace

Longer intervals planned for next week (maybe 1000 or 1600), but I might run a 5K this weekend so we'll see how things shake out.

Weekly Recap

 Followed up my track workout with an easy effort on Wednesday.  7.25 miles in 1:00:06 which is a 8:17 pace.  Followed that up Thursday with a more moderate effort of 7 miles in 53:50 which is a 7:40 pace... first mile was 8:06 and the rest were under 8:00.  Didn't push to hard and felt okay...  never quite know if I'm going to hard or not hard enough.  Last mile was 7:04 but I was pushing it at that point but still not hurting.  Friday I ran 5.35 in 43 minutes (8:02 pace).  

At this point I've run 10 days out of the last 11, averaging about 7 miles a day so I took Saturday off.

Sunday I went long and slow.  15 miles in 2:06:47 (8:26 pace).  Slowest long run in a while but it was hot and humid out and I was feeling it.  HR was pretty much at 140 the whole time.  Only long run over 12 miles in June and first 15 mile run since May 16th.  Good to be getting the mileage in again.  10th run of 15 miles or greater on the year... only ran 7 runs of 15 or greater last year so... winning!

Monday (today), I woke up late after staying up til midnight watching the Olympic trials and so only ran 4.05 miles in 33:19 (8:13 pace).  Another hot humid day but I felt okay.

I'm mostly feeling okay right now, just trying to build back up the endurance a bit and stamina as I adapt to summer.  Another track workout planned for tomorrow.

Almost 1/2 way through the year.  I'll save my progress report for July 1st.

Track Tuesday

I do okay on getting mileage in... I do okay at longer steady state session at a sub 7 pace... I'll occasionally get in threshold work in the 6:15 to 6:30 range (something else I need more of)... but the fastest stuff... not so much.  I rarely even get strides in even though I know I should because my legs often feel *flat* and tight to a point that it seems like strides would be detrimental... maybe that part is more mental than anything? 

Today was the first day of a new experiment... a plan to hit the track once a week for the next 8 weeks. If I'm scant on anything in my current training regiment it's fast, top end, aerobic running.  I'm hardly ever running anything at low 6 minute to sub 6 minute pace except for when I race.  

The weather was perfect at 48 degrees for today's plan... 6X800 at ~5:45 pace (2:52 800s).  

After about 2 miles of warm up (7:19, 7:19) around Brimfield I was ready to go.  Stopped my watch and took my time prepping with some extra leg swings and mental preparation.  Then I toed the line and was off.  

A few extra notes:

Mostly ran by feel the whole time.  I knew what the splits should be at each 200m mark but I rarely actually to check my watch and when I did, I was pretty much on pace and didn't really adjust.

Focused a lot on standing tall, working but not over working my arms, and just staying relaxed.  I could feel my form breaking down a bit on the last 2 intervals but tried to correct once I was conscious of it.  

Went to the arms in the last 100m of most sets.  I picked up the pace some but that wasn't the goal.  Mostly just trying to run strong through the whole interval and not allow myself break down the last 10 meters.

Ran with music the first 3 laps until it became too distracting.

Lots of focus on being relaxed and running with a good rhythm and not having to dig too deep.  Especially tried to cruise on the straight-aways.

My HR got into the 170s peaking at 174.  I suppose if I ran longer it would climb more but HR wasn't really the limiting factor.  

My legs were the limiting factor and I could feel the lactic acid build.  But was able to minimize this feeling by changing my focus away from my legs.  This allowed me to run more smoothly too I think.  

Hoping that if I keep up this work, eventually I'll be able to run faster and get my HR up even more.

Thinking 400 repeats for next week... 

Building back up

 Last week I got in 4 runs... Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and then took Saturday off, mostly due to time constraints from other commitments but also because a day off now and then doesn't hurt, especially while I'm building back up from a short down period.

Yesterday I ran my first "long" run in almost a month.  It was only 12 miles but it was 75 degrees out so I didn't want to over do it...  don't over do it has been my mantra for a while now.  Finished up with a time of 1:35:31 and a pace of 7:57.  I think the pace was pretty good for a relatively easy effort.  

Followed it up with 4 today which I ran easy but didn't feel great... I have asperations of running a workout tomorrow... maybe on the track?

Next target on my agenda is the local 5K in August.  Should be plenty of time to build up as it's about 8 weeks away and I'm not really starting from scratch but I'm hoping to break 18 which might be a bit lofty for a summer race at this point but we'll see...  I'm going to try to commit to hitting the track for some real speedwork for the next 8 weeks and see what happens.

...One more note... not sure if I can trust the scale but suddenly I'm in the 163lb range after being in the 167-168 range for quite some time.  I went on vacation and vastly reduced my mileage but also reduced my snacking due to being on vacation.  I think I've been eating a bit less lately but not sure if it was appreciable enough to explain the weight loss especially with the mileage reduction...  assuming it's true I'll take it.

2021 Goals Update

1. 10,000 pushups:  6390 on pace for 13560.  Started back at it today with 3 sets 50, 60, 60.  Hoping this is the start of a big week.

2. 7500 10,000 pulls ups: 4616 on pace for...   9795...  Been hitting these hard again trying to make up for lost time.  75 today with 5 sets of 15.  Will try for a big week here to with the goal of getting caught back up before July.

3. 26 Hours on the Bike:   18:56 for the year... still no movement here.  

4. 2021 miles: 1172  the year and on a pace for 2487 .  Year pace continues to slip but I'm building back here as well.  Might be another couple weeks til I'm back over 50 mpw again but you never know

Busting the Rust

 The end of May and beginning of June have pretty much been planned down time.  Following my taper in May I've been running nothing but easy mileage in June with more days off (6) than I've had in the previous 5 months (4).  This also included a 1 week vacation to the mountains where I got 3 runs in at altitudes of 7000 ft+ including a pretty hard effort 10 mile run at 8:30 pace.  

Now that I'm back home and refreshed a bit, I'm easing my way back into training.  It started with 7 painful miles on Tuesday.

7.03 miles
55:23
7:52 pace

Cardio was fine, but my legs were not feeling it.  Just rust from downtime and driving 2 days straight in a car maybe.  They didn't feel that good during the run even though I wasn't really pushing it and they felt worse and worse as the day progressed.

5 easy miles Wednesday

5.03 miles
40:55
8:08 pace

Followed by a harder but not too hard 7 miles today:

7.08 miles
52:32 
7:25 pace

I suppose 7:25 pace isn't something to get to excited about but my HR was relatively low and my legs felt okay.  I was pushing a bit but overall would still say the effort was on the hard edge of easy.

I didn't mean to run this fast but went by feel at the start and after getting a good first mile 2 miles in, decided to go with it.  I even zoned out a bit in miles 4 or 5 which is something I wish I would do more of when running.  You know, the state where your mind wanders and next thing you know a 1/2 miles has gone by and you didn't even think about how your legs were hurting or wanting to slow down or how much you had left...  normally it takes me 7 or 8 miles to get to this state so it almost exclusively happens on long runs... this is probably why I like long runs so much.

2021 Goals Update

1. 10,000 pushups:  6220 on pace for 13513.  My pace keeps slipping on this one... no doubt I'll hit 10,000 but the end goal is not the only point of these.  They are also supposed to be supplementing my training and building strength and core so I need to make sure I stay consistent.

2. 7500 10,000 pulls ups: 4467, on pace for...   9705?!?!?  Uh oh,  first time all year that I've dropped under pace.  My "off-season" and 9 days of travel away from my pull up bar did not help...  Actually I was worse off 3 days ago and have been clawing my way back with extra effort the last 3 days.  Hope to be back on pace by next week and unlike the pushups which are relatively easy, I think the rest on these did me good.

3. 26 Hours on the Bike:   18:56 for the year... no movement here

4. 2021 miles: 1150  the year and on a pace for 2500 miles on the nose.  Should continue to build a buffer as I ramp the mileage back up for my next training cycle.

Feelin okay

 I'm in a good spot as of now with my running; physically and mentally.  

Physically my IT band and hip I'm usually keeping an eye on but with last weeks taper and easy running this week, that all feels good.  Theory...  I've been shooting basketball by myself in the driveway since I've installed a hoop a couple months ago.  When I was in the best shape I ever was in I was playing a lot of basketball between working out.  I think the fairly low intensity physical movements of shooting, chasing the ball, picking up the ball, and lateral movements from dribbling really help my overall mobility.  I've been shooting for 10-15 minutes after my runs in the morning... I'll start out stiff but it works itself out as I go.

Only other physical area to watch is my right foot.  It's been feeling better lately too.  Nothing has been too far out of whack but I'm always keeping an eye on things waiting for the other shoe to drop...

Mentally, I was approaching burnout but that seems to have past.  I had my 3rd good run in a row... good in the sense that I felt good and enjoyed the run.  I started off at about 8:20 pace, worked it to 8:10, 8:00 and then some 7:50s at the end before kicking it in at 6:00 pace for the last .25.  This was pretty much spontaneous...   Full candor, I was trying to drop the average pace under 8:00 but once I achieved this I felt good and kept running hard until I didn't feel like it any more.  

Final stats:
6.51
51:33
7:55 pace

Started sketching out my marathon training plan too... I start in about 2 weeks, which will be 16 weeks til race time.   Right now it's just a rough sketch.  Got the basic mileage lined out but no workouts planned.  My main focus is to get the time on feet in...  I'll run based on how I feel.  I originally planned on running a cookie cutter plan but I think that it makes more sense to follow my own lead.  It's been working for me so far so I'll keep at it until it stops.

May Recap

Another month in the books, here's some highlight from May 2021:

• 223.86 miles at an average pace of 7:40.  My 3rd highest mileage month and definitely my fastest.  
• I ran back to back 60+ weeks for the first time to start the month before tapering back a bit as I approached my end of month race.
• I ran my fastest mile (in recent history) at 5:40 and my fastest 15 miler at 7:11 pace.  
• I ran a killer 5 mile tempo run at 6:12 pace where I felt great and a not quite as killer 10K at 6:09 pace where I felt just okay.

I finished up the month feeling a bit burnt out and flat... I raced my goal race 10K meeting but not exceeding my goal.  I was kind of ready for a break.

Now we're in June and I ran 8.36 yesterday and then 8.67 miles.  Just slow and easy pacing of 8:10 yesterday and 8:14 today.  The runs have felt great.  Back to how I was feeling mid-May.  I'm kind of relieved to have the race done and be back to base training.  I really like racing but I also just like running for the sake of running.  

June will be easy.  I won't plan workouts but will run fast if I feel like it as the month progresses.  We're going to the mountains so that should be a fun week of slow, high altitude, high elevation gain runs... and in the back of my mind there is the marathon I plan to run in October.  The one I haven't officially signed up for yet and the one I could start training for next week if I were to follow an 18 week training plan.

I do plan on signing up but I don't plan on following a strict training plan.  I've been doing well running by feel so far and that's what I'm going to keep doing.  I plan to build up my mileage and see how I feel.    

2021 Goals Update

1. 10,000 pushups:  6100 on pace for 14552. 

2. 7500 10,000 pulls ups: 4255 on pace for 10150   

3. 26 Hours on the Bike:   18:56 for the year.

4. 2021 miles: 1086.45  the year and on a pace for 2592

Herrinfest 10K Race Report

Prologue:  After a couple months of dedicated training race week had finally arrived.  I was all geared up for a final taper, followed by a fun Memorial day weekend family trip to the Grandparents house and  culminating in the Herrinfest races... until a round of head colds hit the kids and then me.  The family trip was canceled out of an abundance of caution to not pass the cold on to the grandparents, leaving my aspirations of racing greatness in shambles.  Friday evening found me lying in bed cursing my stuffy, mucus inflated sinuses, but by Saturday I was starting to clear up, and by Sunday I felt that I was recovered enough to race...  I hadn't seen my Dad in 16 months, the projections called for ideal weather, and that I had really focused on this race, so I decided to make the drive down to Carbondale Sunday afternoon by myself and stay at a hotel so I could at least salvage a small bit of the Memorial day weekend experience I had been looking forward to.

Race Report:  The 4 hour drive on Sunday afternoon had me questioning if it was worth it, but as I drove the final miles on the back roads of Southern Illinois; windows down, cool breeze, and a beautiful wispy sunset over fields and trees I was glad I'd made the trip.  I checked into the hotel and they had me sign a "No Party" policy sheet promising I wouldn't throw any parties in the room (not an issue with this guy any more).  Other than that it was uneventful and I got a decent night sleep before waking up at 5:00 am to start my pre-race rituals. 

Getting ready for a race is a bit cathartic for me....  Almost a meditative experience.  Every action is done with purpose as I prepare myself for the starting line.  I warmed up the coffee I had brought down in the hotel room microwave, and then headed out of the room to walk around outside the hotel a bit and get the legs moving.  This was followed by foam rolling, getting on my racing clothes, eating a small snack, and using the bathroom one last time before I headed out to the race.  I arrived at 6:30, an hour before the 7:30 start.  I picked up my t-shirt and number, pinned on my number, and then walked over to the starting line to begin warming up.  

I ran a slow 5K to warm up and by the time I was done it was about 7:05.  I headed to my car, changed into my Vaporflies, did some dynamic stretching, and headed to the start line.  It was 7:20... 10 minutes to race time.  Got some strides in and finally ran into my dad around 7:25.  

It was sunny and maybe 55 degrees with about zero wind, just about perfect weather (in fact the race director later commented in an email that this was the best weather Herrinfest race has ever had).  We had to cross a mat to record our chip time and the starting line and the mat was fairly narrow (slightly less than the width of a lane of traffic) so I made sure I was in decent position near the front; Not toeing the line but maybe 2 or 3 rows back. Then the race started and we were off.  

The lead group of 4 guys took off hard but I did not let them sway me from my strategy.  I WAS NOT GOING TO RUN THAT FIRST MILE TOO HARD!!!  I just tried to run easy.  The plan was 6:10 for the first mile.  I was running closer to 6 and it felt easy.  I'd rather run by feel than by pace so I went with it.  I could see the pack of 4 up ahead and then there was me in 5th.  I figured a bunch of other people would go out too fast and then falter but no one really did (at least no one going 6 minute pace).  The first mile was all straight and slightly downhill.  I hit the first mile in 6:04... just about perfect and my HR had steadily climbed to 164.  I was feeling good.  Into mile 2, the course continued straight then turned right for a block then another right so that we were running parallel to the street we started on.  I past the first water stop but waved them off.  I could tell I was slowing down slightly so I revved it a bit.  I hit the 2nd mile with a 6:07 split.  A slight positive split but I was still feeling good and right on overall pace.  I don't remember much about the 3rd mile except that I was still feeling pretty good but was still slowing slightly.  I just tried to stay relaxed knowing I still had 4 miles to go.  The front pack had splintered off  ahead and I was locked onto the runner ahead but not really gaining ground.  I hit the 3rd mile in 6:11 and the 5K mark in 19:01.  I was planning on 19 for the 5K mark so I was happy with that.  

The second part of the race things started taking a turn for the worse.  When I hit the 5K mark my HR was at 170 and I really still felt pretty good.  Mile 4 I started feeling bad.  During this mile the 10K runners encountered the 5K walkers.  Passing them wasn't really big deal but it takes me off rhythm a bit. Mile 4 and 5 were slightly uphill....not steep but sneaky.  Not sure if my head cold might have had some effect?!?...  Really I don't know what the deal was but I suddenly went from feeling exactly how I should be to really hurting.  Maybe it was just my fitness... Like most runners I have a lot of hedges and excuses but the real summary is that normally when I race I excel and exceed my expectations and today just felt slightly off.  Mile 4 was 6:15 and mile 5 was 6:21.  Looking back, my only regret is that I didn't push myself a bit more on mile 5.  I think I probably could have cut a few seconds off but probably not significantly.  Based on my heart rate the effort was exactly where I needed it and I probably didn't have too much more to give but it all just felt slightly off.

 Near the end of mile 5 was another water stop.  By then I was heating up and strongly considered grabbing the water but waved this one off too.  I rounded the bend, ran a block, and then was back on the main road, heading slightly downhill, back towards the finish.  Not sure if it was knowing that there was only just over a mile to go or the fact that it was downhill but I was able to find another gear and pick it up.  I was still hurting but I wasn't feeling off anymore, and it was like a cloud had lifted.  My HR rose from 175 up to 180 during mile 6, as a I dug deep to tick off a 5:59 mile, my fastest of the day. During this mile I fought the urge to look behind me...  the race was ahead and I kept locked on the runner ahead, still not gaining any ground even as I pushed myself.   Finally I could see the finish shoot up ahead so I picked up the pace even more for the last .22 finishing at 5:37 pace.  I still had a bit of kick left in my legs but no one to use it on...  4th place had finished 20 seconds ahead... 6th place was 45 seconds behind.  

Distance:  10K

Final time:  38:18

Final pace: 6:11

Place:  5th Overall

The top 5 finishers got plaques so at least I got an award.  My dad ran 53 minutes (8:34 pace) which he was happy with.  Some young 70 year old showed up randomly and beat him so he only got 2nd place in his age group.  I had a good trip and was satisfied with my race.  I was hoping to break 38 minutes but it wasn't quite my day.  

Epilogue:  A quiet and uneventful drive home involving a fat burger and followed by a bunch of cake and ice cream.  After a decent nights sleep in my own bed I woke up feeling pretty good; a bit of stiffness and soreness in my quads from racing but nothing significant.  

Also, I had been feeling a little burnt out on running but this morning that feeling was gone.  I headed out for an easy recovery run and it turned out to be really enjoyable.  I planned to go 7 but wound up feeling so good I stretched it to 8.35 at 8:11 pace.  My plan is to take it easy in June... run by feel, minimal mileage goals, and no workouts except for fun.  After not quite achieving my 10K but executing my race perfectly it's time to cool the burners, get back to basics, and get some more time on my feet.