Freethinker ~ Freerunner

7:57 AP.  18 degrees.  

I was scheduled to run a 12 mile MLR this morning, but two things made me cut it a little short.  I was still feeling really sore in my calves and quads last night before I went to bed.  That was one thing.  The other was that I simply did not get out of bed early enough to get the full workout in before I have to leave for the first of two early business meetings this morning.  

As for the run I felt pretty good, but I'm definitely glad I didn't run the full distance so my muscles will get a bit of a recovery.  It was really cold at 18 degrees with 8 mph winds.  I'm looking forward to the next few days when we'll get a break in the cold weather.

Recovery run.  8:35 AP.  26 degrees.  

I'm feeling good after having cut my MLR short yesterday followed by the recovery run today.  I should be good to go for my pace run tomorrow.  

Ka-Chow!  I PR'd on my 18 mile pace run (10 miles at marathon pace).  39 degrees.  winds at 5 - 6 mph. 

First 8 AP: 7:44

Last 10 AP:  6:56

Overall AP: 7:18

I checked my logs and the last time I ran a workout similar to this one was on October 14th about one month before Route 66.  It was a little different because then it was 14 miles at goal pace.  This workout was 10 miles at goal pace.  I was also shooting for a slightly slower goal pace then, but all things considered I'm pretty happy to have set a PR on an 18 mile run.  

I'm most happy with the 6:56 AP on the workout.  I think I am in a good position to strengthen my fitness and be in BQ shape by April.  

General Aerobic Run.  8 miles an 8:16 AP.  32 degrees.  

My legs were still very sore from my PR Pace run on Sunday.  I almost did not get out of bed this morning to make this run because of that.  I'll be taking it real easy the rest of this week. 

MLR.  8:14 AP.  38 degrees.  Beautiful morning.  

My legs are still sore from the Pace run Sunday.  I feel like they may be sore until this Sunday.

In unrelated news Alisha and I closed on our new house last night and got the keys.  We are so excited.  We will be pulling the carp tonight and tomorrow night so the new carpet can be installed in Friday.  We will then move on Sunday.  I have a feeling this week is going to go by very fast.  

Recovery run.  38 degrees.  8:11 AP. 

I have spent two  of the past three nights late at our new house pulling carpet and carrying loads of it down the stairs.  On the second night I spent hours pulling millions of staples from the floors so that the carpet guys could do the install the next morning which was yesterday morning.  Needless to say I did not make two of my scheduled runs this week.  I'm still hoping to get my long run in tomorrow before we finish packing and begin loading the Uhaul at 10:30.

I guess only having missed two days this week from being worn out and sleep deprived isn't so bad.  I'm going to call it a winner so far.  I can't wait to get our stuff moved in and be able to enjoy the new house. 

Tempo run with 5 at 6:50.  3 miles to warmup and 2 to cool down.  37 degrees with 4 mph winds out of the north.  

This was hard workout.  I missed last Thursday, Friday, and Sunday for a total of 30 miles due to the move.  So not only was I not running, but I was moving heavy furniture.  I am pretty exhausted, and definitely satisfied that I was able to make this workout a success this morning! 

7:23 AP

Splits:

MLR.  7:57 AP.  36 degrees.  

This was a typical Pfitz MLR torture session the day after a tempo run.  It was more painful than usual given that my tired body is still making up for lack of sleep and sore muscles from the move.  I'm am looking forward to the recovery run tomorrow like nobody's business! 

Recovery run.  30 degrees, 6 mph winds.  8:26 AP.  

I'm still getting used to my routine getting out of the new house in the morning.   

I felt some pretty tender soreness in my hamstrings of my right leg.  It must have something to do with climbing stairs multiple times per day now in the new house.   

MLR.  7:49 AP.  36, feels like 25.  I love the new Garmin feature that shows the weather.  It makes keeping a log so much easier.  

I'm feeling strong, but I have had some aches and pains these past few days.  My right hamstrings still feel a little tight, and this morning I had some pains in my upper back.  I only noticed it when I tried to rotate my upper body when I would go to grab my gatorade bottle on my belt.  I had this same back pain last fall training for the Route 66.  If I recall a few good massages took care of it.  I think what also helped was to keep on top of my core exercises.  Admittedly I've let a few weeks get by without doing those.  

I'm excited for this weekend as we will be visiting relatives in Searcy, AR.  I will be getting my Saturday and Sunday miles out there.  Hopefully they have good trails.  This will be sort of a high mileage weekend.  From Friday to Sunday I will have run 40 miles. 

Searcy, AR. 

General Aerobic Run with 10x100's.  7:53 AP.  25 feels like 25.  Wind 4 mph. 

We are in Searcy visiting family.  There is a really nice trail about 1.5 miles from our hotel that runs along a creek.  The only problem with this trail is that it is only about 5 miles long.  I'm going to have to use the streets and then run a couple of loops somewhere to get my 21 mile run in tomorrow morning. 

I packed plenty of running pants, but only one turtle neck.  Alisha did a load of laundry the night before we left, but I did not grab my clean running gear out of it like I should have.  So I hand washed my turtle neck in the sink this morning and it has been air drying all day.  I actually worried it would not dry in 23 hours, so I gave it a head start with the blow dryer.  We went out to an event at Harding and when we got back it still felt really damp.  Now I have it hanging by the ironing board in front of the Heart vent with the fan on blowing air on it.  Hopefully it is dry by morning! 

Searcy, AR.  5:00 AM start as usual.  7:43 AP.  37, feels like 33, winds at 6 mph. 

I might finish this blog entry later, but for now I will just say that I had a great long run in Searcy.  We are packing our bags to head back home and I don't have time for all the details just yet.  I ended up getting lost early on from my original mapped out plan, but that worked perfectly in my favor since I would have originally had to do some back tracking to get my full 21 miles in.  With my little excursion I ended up perfectly looping back around to my hotel at and finishing at exactly 21 miles. Bam!

5:10 AM.  5 miles at recovery pace.  8:29 AP. 28, feels like 22, 6 mph.  

I have been experiencing some sensitivity in the ball of my left foot since Sunday evening.  It flared up yesterday morning.  I made sure to wear my good Montrail sandals around the house and my work shoes with arch supports.  It felt a lot better by yesterday night, but I could really feel it this morning when I woke up.  It did not bother me on the run.  

I also must have strained my hamstrings or whatever ligaments run along the back of my left knee.  I really felt that one this morning which sucks because I was running a real easy pace.

I think these are just some lingering effects of have run a high mileage weekend.  I will run the second part of the double this afternoon at four miles to complete ten for today

3:28 PM.  5 miles at recovery pace.  8:13 AP.  50 feels like 48, 6 mph. 

I'm not sure what happened but my left knee area hamstrings or ligaments felt jacked up this afternoon.  In retrospect I should have just skipped the PM run.  I'm going to take a few days off to heal up.  The ball of my left foot flared up again too. 

20 miles at 7:53 pace.  28 feels like 22, winds at 6 mph.  

I had to take the last 5 days off.  Midway through my afternoon run last Tuesday I had strange calf pain in my left leg.  It gradually got worse towards the end of my 5 mile recovery run.  The good news is that it felt fine this morning.  I'm pretty sure I injured it during a non-running activity, which means continuing to run while it heals should be fine.  That's my theory anyway.  As long as I don't feel it while running I'm going to keep running.  I had some minor soreness in the ball of my right foot this morning.  It also felt really sensitive after my last run last Tuesday, but it felt exponentially better by last night walking barefoot around the house.  That type of injury has not cropped up on me my first marathon in 2010.  It was quick to vanish then and I'm expecting it to be quick this time as well.  

Other than that giant paragraph describing my two injuries I had an awesome time this morning.  I expect to be back at regular volume this week.  Too many things have interfered with this cycle.  That is all past and I'm ready to improve now.  

5:40 AM.  34 feels like 24, 15 mph winds.  Light rain/ snow.  

8:26 AP. 

Snowy, wet, and muddy conditions.  My right ball of my foot felt a little tender after I finished, but my calf is feeling great! 

It's going to be a busy day off, but hopefully I can squeeze my PM 4 mile run in these afternoon.  

6:45 PM.  4 miles at recovery pace.  41 feels like 36.  I wore my jacket and was way too warm.  I thought with the wind I would need it.  I totally missed the boat there.  This was the first run I can remember running with my jacket tied around my waist.  Weird.

None of what follows is related to my run, but I feel like writing about it.  Alisha and I finished watching Firefly last night and the movie called Serenity that ended the whole series.  It was awesome!  I can't believe Fox cancelled it after only 12 episodes.  So we started a new series tonight.  The comedy called How I Met Your Mother.  It is hilarious. 

We really needed something goofy to unwind to after a loaded day.  We have been working hard to prepare our house for our future renters.  Everything is coming along nicely.    

Mid-week MLR.  15 miles at 7:41 pace.  32 feels like 27.  5 mph winds.  

I set out to keep the pace easy at 8:00 minute miles.  I accomplished that until I ran into Shane at miles 7.  That's when I went from an 8:00 AP to about a 7:30 AP.  

I felt really good though.  I'm definitely going to make sure to go super easy the rest of the week since I have a pace run on Sunday of 16 with 12 at marathon pace of 7:00 or sub 7:00.  

Recovery run of 6 miles at an 8:24 AP.  28 feels like 28.  

I'm feeling good.