Freethinker ~ Freerunner

General aerobic run with 10x100 strides at the end.  8:16 AP.  I can't remember what the temperature was, because I'm logging this run the morning after.  The blog servers must have been down yesterday morning as I was not able to log on. 

I've been feeling like I need a re-charge.  I'm able to make my time goals, but not without my legs feeling a little too stressed.  I should note that I only feel the fatigue those first 2 to 3 miles most days this week.  After that point I seem to warm up and I can run pretty easily without feeling too much fatigue.  

Long Run.  75 degrees. 78% humidity.  8:10 AP. 

I'm glad I started at 5:00 this morning.  The temperature has warmed up again these past few days.  I had the breeze at my back for the first half of this run.  That kind of light breeze where you don't know that there is a breeze until you get to the point in your run where you change directions to come back.  Once I got to that point where I could actually feel the breeze I felt pretty good.

This past week and including this morning I have felt like I needed a recharge.  If I had to run a pace run this morning I'm not sure that I could have made it.   I'm just glad that I was able to average 7:56 per mile for my final ten miles.  It has been a while since I've run anything over 18 miles.  I was reminded and humbled this morning about the mental toughness that is required to maintain even pacing and to finish with a negative split.

I almost forgot to mention that I saw a really awesome shooting start this morning just after dawn.  It was the brightest I have ever seen.  It looked like a firework shot across the sky.  It sort of gave me a rush and I felt my pace quicken just a little bit. 

AP: 8:10

First 11 AP: 8:20

Last 10 AP: 7:56

Today I'm going to run a double.  It is a recovery day with 6 in the morning and 4 in the evening.  

AM: 6.04 miles.  78 degrees.  8:57 AP.  

My legs still felt really sore from the 21 mile run on Sunday morning, but they felt so much better by the time I got back from this run.  I will run 4 miles this evening to complete the day.  I'm pretty sure I've never run twice in one day before now.  I'm looking forward to completing it. 

PM: 4.07 miles.  100 degrees!  8:18 AP. 

I haven't run in the heat like this in a long time.  I told myself it would be no big deal because it was only 4 miles.  It sucked!  Anything more than 4 and I might have quit before the finish.  I was supposed to run slow and easy, but the heat just made me want to hurry up and finish.  I'm still feeling pretty sore from Sunday.  I'm not sure how my 14 mile MLR will go tomorrow.  At least it won't be 100 degrees at 5:30. 

MLR.  14 miles.  8:30 AP.  79 degrees. 78% humidity.

This run completes 45 miles in 72 hours.  I'm felt totally drained this morning.  I woke up feeling like my legs had recovered a little better from the 21 mile run on Sunday, but I still felt less than 100%.  By the last half of this run I was struggling to keep my pace below 8:30. 

I wish I had another day off work so I could take a long nap today.  I'm going to try to get as much sleep tonight as I can.  

76 degrees.  7:35 AP.  Tempo run of 11 miles with 6 at a goal of 7:00 mile pace.  I fell just short by a few seconds per mile.  

I wore myself out so much on Wednesday that I skipped my recovery run yesterday.  I considered skipping out today as well, but I went ahead and shoved ahead.  I plan on running my 6 tomorrow at as easy a pace as possible.  I noticed my right ankle felt a little tight when I got to the cool down portion of my run today.  I'm going to ice it some more before I head off to work.  

3 miles warm up: 7:59 AP

6 miles at tempo pace: 7:04 AP

2 miles cool down: 8:31 AP

Update on the ankle.  I went off to work and felt pretty good, but throughout the day it started to really worsen.  I was walking really slowly to my car after work to prevent myself from limping.  I will ice it more tonight, and definitely skip my next few runs until I heal up.  I don't think I've ever had shin splints before, but I think this might be it. 

Long run.  AP 8:08.  Temperature in the low 50's.  A beautiful morning that would have surely been a PR run had my right ankle not been ready for the road quite yet.  I'm still not exactly sure how I injured myself as the pain just showed up during the cool down phase of my tempo run last Friday.   

I went to work yesterday with it wrapped to keep it from moving too much.  I got home from work last night took off the wrap and it felt quite good.  So I laced up and went for about a 4 minute jog down my street.  It felt fine so I decided to attempt my 20 mile long run this morning.  I felt some mild pain at about the 8 mile mark, but I decided to forge ahead since I was so close to my half way point anyway.  The weather was so nice out and it was Sunday morning.  What is it about me that I can't stop myself from running on a Sunday morning even while experiencing mild pain.  I also have to note that it was a little frustrating to know I'm capable of running so much faster than my body would allow me to go on a morning like this.     

I've been icing it since I got home.  I will surely take the next several days off since I was clearly not ready for prime time yet.  I know I must rest to run again another day.   

 Long easy run.   8:45 AP.  67 degrees.  Disgusting 94% humidity.

I took all of last week off because my right ankle or lower shin was injured the week before.  I finished a 20 mile run one week ago hurting and decided to play it safe by resting.  The good news is that my right ankle/shin seems to be healed up, but as usually happens when I take a week off and then try to run long one of my knees does not make the whole way.  My right knee started hurting about half way through.  I can usually suck it up and finish, but today I had to run/walk the last three or four miles.  My pace gradually fell off to the point of embarrassment.  

I was actually supposed to run 16 miles today with 12 at marathon pace, but I knew starting out that I should take it easy and just try to recover.  I needed to see how my ankle would do on the distance, let alone anything fast.  The I remember that I needed 17 miles by today to complete the Trail Runner 100 mile challenge going on on Strava.  Since I was only going to fall one mile short I decided to throw in an extra mile.  Unfortunately as noted previously it was a miserable mile, but I got it done.  I think I will recover nicely going in to this week.  

Aerobic run this morning.  I kept the pace comfortable and paid close attention to every little pang and quiver of my joints.  AP 8:13.  Temperature 52 degrees.  

I set my alarm for 5:15 last night, but forgot to turn it on.  As a consequence I did not wake up until 7:15.  Good thing I don't work today, as I was still able to get my 9 miles in.  I think taking the week off last week messed up my sleep cycle, because even though I stayed up late last night I would ordinarily not have slept past 5:30 or 6:00 even with no alarm.    

I felt no knee pain and no ankle pain, so hopefully I'm out of the woods on the injury front.  I think it's going to take me a about another week to recover my level of fitness.  I did not thinking that missing a week would set me back this much, but I'm definitely not in the same shape I was in on my last tempo run. 

VO2 Max run today.  9 miles with 6 800's on the track.  7:34 AP.   

I jogged for about 1 minute between intervals.  

800's: 3:17, 3:13, 3:17, 3:16, 3:18, 3:19

I jogged the first two miles at a pretty easy pace from my neighborhood to the track about 2.75 miles away.  When I got there the gates were all locked.  What the hell?  The only signs posted were the usual signs stating that the school system has chosen to make this track public and to please abide by the rules...  Since it was 6:00 in the morning and no one was around I considered jumping the fence, but I decided to run the perimeter of the grounds first just to make sure there was not another open gate at the other side.  Before I got the the gate on the opposite corner I found a slot in the fence that I was able to walk through.  When I got closer to the actual track I noticed it was new, and that there was evidence of other construction near the stands.  I decided to hurry up and get on with my workout before any possible construction crews started showing up for work.  I was into my first 800 when I noticed construction traffic far on the other side of the school grounds start arriving for work.  I began imagining that it was only a matter of time before someone came to the track to kick me out, but alas I kept going. 

I finished my workout before anyone came to kick me out and I exited through the entrance on the opposite side of the track that connects to an adjacent residential area.  This was the gate that I had not yet checked to see if it was open.  It was open.  As I left I turned around and saw a sign.  The sign read "facility closed for track renovation until mid to late September."  I considered myself lucky to have escaped and also considered that it is late September. 

On my way down the sidewalk off a main street just outside the neighborhood I encountered a woman riding bike smoking what at first I thought was a cigarette, but later realized was most likely pot.  She was swerving all over the place and I had to jump out of her way.  She exhaled a puff of smoke that when I passed by was very thick and almost choked me up.  It has been many years since I've smelled marijuana, but the scent was pretty unmistakable.  

Recovery run.  AP 8:11.  I think it was about 54 degrees.  

Today is my birthday.  Happy birthday to me!  I sort of wish I had a nice long run planned for my birthday today.  6 miles seems unworthy somehow for such an occasion.  

MLR.  8:03 AP.  Humidity 86%.  Very nice out.  Heart rate: Min 151, Max 176.  

I felt pretty strong and my legs and joints all felt good.  I've been having this strange upper middle back issue that I need to figure out.  I think I probably just need a massage.  The muscle up there feels like it is too strained to allow me to run with good form.  I feel as though I need to let my shoulders drop a little bit.  I had to self massage that area several times in mid-stride, which temporarily relieves the strain.  I first noticed this strain a few weeks ago, and it only seems to show up on my long or medium long runs.  

General aerobic run with 10x100 strides at the end.  AP 8:00.  Temperature 54 degrees. 

I felt really good.  No pains or discomfort of any kind to report.  Most importantly I felt really fresh.  I'm looking forward to finishing out this recovery week.  

This is the nice time of year for running.  I saw about 5 other runners out.  I'm sure all the seasonal runners are getting ready for the Tulsa Run in October.  

Long run.  A beautiful 54 degrees out.  I wish it was like this year round.  8:02 AP.  Average heart rate 150, max 170.  I could have run this one a little faster since my heart rate zone for this run was to be between 152 and 172.  

Kevin ran 11 with me.  He loaned me his calf compression sleeves, because he said they prevent soreness in his calves.  I will try them out this week.  

First 10 miles AP 8:07.  Last 5 miles AP 7:51.  

AM:  6 miles recovery.  8:32 AP.  Heart rate: Avg. 148 Max 165.  I did not check the temperature when I ran this morning probably because I overslept and rushed out the door.  I can say this; it was hot!  Because I overslept I did not get out the door until about 7:40 when the sun was already up.  At noon as I type this post it is already 90.  I made sure to keep my heart rate below 52 to stay in the proper zone.  I found the heart rate training zone to be helpful this morning because I probably would have run a little too fast at certain times if I was just going on my usual recovery pace.  Monitoring my heart rate especially helps me to see how much more effort goes into hills than flat territory.  I'll be running another 4 this afternoon.

I meant to test out the compression calf sleeves that Kevin loaned me, but I forgot all about them since I overslept.  I will put them to the test when I finish my workout today with my 4 miler closer.  Ha!

PM: 4 miles at recovery pace.  8:19 AP.  91 degrees.  Average heart rate 142, max 1160.  I waited until the sun was down so the temperature was not a big deal.  I got busy before I left and did not give myself enough time to put on the compression sleeves, ergo I have not yet tested them.  They are actually a bit of a pain in the ass just to put on.  I didn't time it earlier today, but I think it took me about 3 or 4 minutes.  With the sun setting and me running short on time, I did not stop to do it.  I will wear them for sure on my 15 MLR tomorrow for sure.  I know at least two are anxiously waiting to get a report...LOL. 

MLR - 15.  8:29 AP.  72 degrees at start and very humid.  About 67%.  Average heart rate 156, max 181. 

I knew this was not going to be a great run when I was sweating and feeling fatigued by 3 miles in.  For some reason I felt really tired and like I was sweating too much for the conditions.  I had the wind at my back the first half.  When I turned around I could feel a nice breeze, and it felt to me like the temperature cooled a bit.  This helped me on the second half, but by then I was way to fatigued to drop to my goal pace of 8:00 minute miles.  I was sprinkled on just before the the half way point, which also helped cool me down.

I wore the compression sleeves for my calves.  I'm not sure if this is the best run to really gauge their effectiveness since I was not able to run very hard for the last 5 miles.  The only thing about them so far that I don't like is they are a pain in the ass to put on and take off.  I almost didn't get the left one off this morning with my tired legs and body. 

Recovery run.  6 miles.  8:52 AP.  Slight drizzle for about half of this run.  It felt nice.  

Tempo run.  12 miles w/ 7 at lactate threshold pace.  65 degrees.  Humidity in the 90's. 

It is still too warm for me.  I'm ready for the cooler temps, and I'm ready to stop sweating before I'm even through my warmup.  I failed to hit my pace goal for my lactate threshold pace, which was 7:00 per mile.

3 at warmup pace: 8:27

7 at lactate threshold pace: 7:12

2 at cool down pace: 9:13

I really wish I would have hit my 7:00 minute pace goal, but I think the MLR on Wednesday really took a lot out of me this week.  And I think I'm still recovering from having taken a week off.  Fortunately I'm only running 5 easy tomorrow.  I hope to recover fully for 22 on Sunday, which will be my longest run on training cycle. 

Recovery run.  5 easy.  AP 9:22.  67 degrees. 92% humidity. 

It is still to warm and humid for my liking, but the forecast for this Thursday has a low of 47.  It looks like we may finally be about to break into some cooler weather.  

22 mile long run.  New PR!  8:03 AP.  65 degrees. 82% humidity.  Average heart rate: 153, max 179.  179 went over my recommended range of 172 for long runs.  I feel really good after this run.  I finished the final 4 miles at a pretty much faster pace than the first 18.  I probably should have run a little faster than I did, but I came away feeling really strong.  I think I will have good quality workouts the rest of the week. 

Kevin ran about 16 with me.  He just put a bid in on a new house on near the Creek Turnpike and county line.  It is larger and it sits of five acres, but the best part for him is the close access to the trail.  He will no longer have to drive 7 miles from his house to meet up with me every weekend.