Run rest run

Three days in one.  I ran a slow 4.0 on Thursday, the slowest ever, 9:42 average pace.  I took Friday off, mostly because I didn't get enough sleep Thursday night and I went to the movies.  Today I felt rested and strong.  So I set off on my run.  I didn't have a concrete plan when I left.  At first I thought I would take a slow 8 miles, but after getting warm and loose the first mile, I decided to run.  So it ended up more like a tempo run, 6.6 miles total.  It felt very good.  I almost started running again during my cool down walk when a really good song came on my iPod, but I held back and just walked.  It felt good, and now I'm in full on recovery mode.

Tempo run

Yesterday was so slow and easy. So today was fast and hard. I wanted to do 1 mile warmup, 2 miles tempo and finish with 1 mile cool down. I started the tempo a little too hard and only did 1.5 miles. But I was able to slow down and run the final 1.5 for cooldown.  All told, a tough workout.  I'm going to be sore tomorrow.  Here's my splits:  Warmup, 9:06; 6:54; half, 3:30; half, 4:36; half, 4:43; half, 4:45.
I just checked the training calculator on RunnersWorld.com.  According to my 5K finish time, I should run my tempo runs at 7:31, not 7:00 like I did.  Maximum oxygen at 6:47.  I need to work on my pacing.

Ran so slow...

...I could see the grass grow.  I read on a blog that I follow that a common training mistake runners make is to run their slow runs too fast and their slow runs too slow.  So I took it s-l-o-w today.  It was pretty much as slow as I could run without walking.  Hardly even lost my breath.  I think before my shin trouble I was over-training.  At least not getting enough recovery between hard runs.  I looked back at my training log, and here's what I saw that caught my eye:  Sat. 10.5 miles long run, Mon. 4.0 miles recovery run,  Tues. 4.0 miles, legs still tired, probably ran too fast yesterday, Wed. 3.0 miles, very tired legs, Thurs. 3.0 miles, very tired legs, had to walk a lot.  This is when I had my shin trouble.  Anyway, I'm hoping it's behind me now.

Back to running/Dr. visit

Having last week to cross train was a nice break for my legs. I was also encouraged by how my shins felt on Friday. So I'm running again this week. Probably 4 miles every day. Maybe I'll run 6 on Saturday.
So I ran today's 4.0 at a good pace, I would probably call it a tempo run. I even held back the first 3.0, ran fast for 0.5 then easy for the last 0.5. It felt good to open up and run for a bit. Only a little bit of discomfort in my shins. They definitely felt better than Friday
I saw the Dr. for my annual physical. It went well, he even checked out my heel and decided it was probably just a sprained tendon. Ice and ibuprofen. What surprised me was my pulse: 55 beats per minute. Wow! It hasn't been that low since high school, and that was at 10:00 am, so it was definitely higher than my resting heart rate. Definitely made me feel good about myself.

A first run

After biking all week I decided to try a nice and easy run. I took it excruciatingly slow. I was never winded while I ran, but sweaty since it was hot. I could feel some tightness in my inner thighs and some discomfort in my heel. It felt obvious that I have not stretched all week. So- during the run I could feel a little bit in my shins, but no pain. I guess it was a good run. Not challenging physically but mentally.  It's very hard to make myself run that slow.

Ride hard

I went for it today and decided to ride my regular route as fast as I could.  It was tough.  But still not as hard as running.  But I improved my time on the route by 1 min 20 sec.  Quite a jump.  I think inflating my rear tire up to 50 psi also helped.  What is up with this weather?  This could be the longest summer ever.  But at least right now it's just warm, without humidity.

Two days in one

Forgot to post yesterday. I've decided to bike this week and give my shins a rest. Gorgeous weather for this early in the spring.  Biking feels too easy. I can't wait to be running again.

Blech

Shins still troubling me. Time to make a plan and fix them.

Cut short

Another beautiful day for running. I need to remember the sunscreen. I was definitely tired from yesterday, so I held back a little. But by mile 5 I decided it was enough. And I walked the last 1.0.

Better

My shins felt better today, but I still noticed them. I'll do the same recovery routine and see how it goes tomorrow. A strong run. I decided to do the 6 miles no matter what.  I think running it a little faster than I ran yesterday also helped me.  It was tough because of the heat. I'm not used to sweating that much.

Tired shins

I wonder if it's my new shoes causing my shin trouble. No trouble yesterday, but soreness and tenderness today. So I cut my 6 mile run to 4 and called it good enough, with a 1 mile walk on the end.  I iced the shins when I got home and soaked for 10 minutes in a very cold bath.  My legs felt very good about an hour later.
Wow. I forgot what it was like to sweat this much while running. And I thought I drank a lot of water before.

Easy run

An easy run today since its only 3 days since my race. Everything was mostly good but I had a few sore spots.  Nothing like the shin pains I had last week.  I felt rested and felt like I could have run faster, but I held back.  I think I still ran too fast though.
My new sunglasses were great.  I didn't notice them except when I needed to wipe some sweat off my face.  I even ran the first half without music so I could think.  For the second half I turned on Pandora to give me some juice.  Lots of joggers, doggers, rollerbladers and bikers out today.  And baby-strollers and walkers.  A very good day for a run.

Cross train

I decided to take another easy day while I recover from the race. I'll do an easy run tomorrow of 4 miles, then I should be back into my training schedule of 6 miles most days.  So I pulled my mountain bike out of winter storage over the weekend and aired up the tires.  It felt nice to be out and go fast.  Especially when the wind was at my back.  I also bought some new sunglasses on the way home. A nice ride on the bike and nice weather.

Product purchase, IronMan Strike sunglasses: $32

Total purchases for the year: $200

Spring Fling 5K race

Did my second race yesterday, the Spring Fling 5K.  This was the first time for me to run a 5K.  It's a popular distance, so it should give me something a little more concrete to gauge myself by.  So, here's the proof:

Taken by big S using his spy watch.  Little B isn't sure if he should high-five me or not.

Here's the overall info:  Chip time, 22:02, for 7:07 average pace.  8th place overall out of 128 (8%) but 3rd out of 6 in my age group.  Who knew there were so many fast 30-34 year olds in the race?
According to my watch my splits were 10:51 on the first half, and 11:16 on the second half.  I definitely started too fast and felt it the whole race.  I'm glad the wife and kids were in the spot they were at because right about then I had just about convinced myself to stop and walk.  But I didn't.
They cheered me on, and the guy (55-59 age group) coming up behind me (not in the picture) yelled out- "Your dad is awesome!"  Quite a compliment, it really made me feel good about myself.  And then he promptly passed me about 100 yards later.
I could do the mile-by-mile recap, but here's basically how it went.  The first 1/4-1/2 mile, I passed all of the jack rabbits who started way too fast.  After that I was mostly running by myself and wondering if I could catch the guys in front of me.  But I didn't catch anyone else after that, and only got passed by the aforementioned 55-59 year old.  I almost threw up the gulp of water I took at the mile 2 aid station, but I definitely needed it.   I looked at my watch at mile 3, and when I saw I was just under 21:00, I decided that I should be able to finish close to 22:00.  So I gave it all the juice I had left and finished strong.  The clock showed 22:07, but my chip came in at 22:02. 
With a little work on pacing the start of the race, I should easily be able to take 15-20 seconds off my time.  That's a nice goal, but the main one I'm working on for 2012 (a resolution!) is to run a mile (or 1600m) under 6:00.  I might be able to hit that the next time I test myself.  But that won't be for a week or two.
Now I have to decide when I will run another race.  I've kicked around the idea of running a half-marathon this spring, but I haven't committed to it.  There is one in two weeks, but I don't think I'll be mentally ready to race again that soon.

Race day weather

It's chilly this morning. Hopefully that means an uncrowded race. Time to get ready.

Nice day for a walk

I should have taken two days off for my race taper, not just today. But I took a long walk with the big S. Sorry, no pics if the boy.  And I forgot to take a screen capture of the weather.  But it was chilly.  It's going to be in the 20s tonight, which means a cold start to my race tomorrow.  Hopefully I can sleep better tonight than I did last night.

Still not recovered

Same outcome as yesterday. Except this time I turned around at 2 miles and ended up walking only 1 mile.
I'm pretty sure I have shin splints.  Not as painful as when I had them in high school, but I still have them.  After my Saturday race I'll have to get them sorted out.  I'm still secretly hoping that my legs are just tired.  We'll see.  This is especially surprising since I haven't had much shin trouble.  Except last winter when I started walking every day- they would get tight after walking for a mile or so.  But that eventually went away.

Not recovered

So I ran too hard for my recovery day on Monday, then had a poor workout yesterday. Then I didn't sleep well last night and I bonked my workout today. I was planning to run 5, but after 3 my legs couldn't take anymore. So I walked the last 2 miles.  I'm not too proud to walk because I can still remember when all I could do was walk and how far I've come since then.  It also gave me an opportunity to slow down a little more on a gorgeous and windy day.

Lesson learned, I hope

I ran too fast for my recovery run yesterday. My legs were tired today. Plus it was very windy.  It was a tough run, and I ended up with a decent time: 47:33 for the six miles, which is 7:55 average pace.
It was very warm and sunny today.  So sunny that I was wishing for a hat or sunglasses the entire time.  Or maybe a visor.  Something I should look in to.

Fast recovery day

I decided I should take a recovery day because of my long run on Saturday. So I only ran 4 miles at a comfortable pace. My legs were a little tired, but not stiff or sore.  After I got moving and warmed up, I felt really good, so I just kept going.  Turns out I'm comfortable running 7:51 average pace for 4 miles. I tried to hold myself back at the end, but I just had to lengthen it out and kick up my heels for that last 100 meters.
My left heel is still acting weird.  It feels fine after I warm up, but when I'm sitting if I straighten my knee and pull my toes up as far as I can I get a sharp kind of pain.  I'm wondering if it's a bone spur.  It certainly doesn't feel like a tendon or ligament.  It's odd, that's for sure.

Product purchases

I haven't kept up with this as I should.
Purchase:  $20 for entry into the local spring 5K.  Ok, so it isn't a product, but I will get a shirt out of the deal, so I need to include it.
Product purchase:  Foster grant sunglasses:  $3

Yes, they broke after I wore them like three times.

Product purchase: New shoes & more no show socks:  $74.



Product purchase:  Running shorts and tech shirt, $60

Did you know that size Large shorts bought in Indiana are the same size as Medium shorts bought in Kentucky?  Doesn't that mean people in Kentucky are bigger than people in Indiana?

Recent purchase:  $157

Total purchases for the year: $168

Best long run ever

Two reasons this was such a good long run:
1- Longest distance ever, 10.48 miles
2- I felt good throughout with a strong and consistent pace (8:33) plus a good kick at the end

Cross train walk

A nice and easy walk today in the warm weather and super strong wind. The big S rode his bike while I walked.  My new shoes felt great.
Oh, and check out what the big S got to do when we finished: