Week 11 Run 1

This week, since I don't have anything on Wednesday or Thursday night I am going to switch up my schedule. My long runs on Saturday are taking up too much time, so I need to move that to a weekday. This week it will be on Thursday.

So for my run on Monday I just did a 4 mile run and it sucked. I just wasn't really feeling it. Thats basically it. I guess those are referred to as junk miles.

Distance: 4 miles

Week 10

So this week was pretty disappointing. I was all set to give a good run, but things fell apart rather quickly. I changed up my schedule and did my long run on Monday. It was less than spectacular. I ended up running like 8 miles and I was miserable.

The next day I did like 4 miles and I was in pain. My knee started aching pretty badly. I decided to just shut it down for the week. Am I pushing too hard too quickly? Probably, but I hate going slow and steady. Anyhow, hopefully next week will be better. I guess I needed to have a rest week anyway.

Weekly Total

12 miles

Week 9 Run 4

So this morning my groin was pretty sore, so I decided to fore go my long run of about 9-10 miles and instead just do a easy 5 mile run. I thought I should show some running maturity and not overdo it.

Anyway, I ran my miles at these paces: 8:36, then 8:00, then 7:30, then 8:00, and finished back with 8:36. This proved to be a nice and easy run and was a time of 40:40. Its amazing that a couple months ago I would have had to give it all I could to post a time like that over 5 miles, but now its pretty simple. Hopefully over the weekend my groin will loosen up and the pain will subside.

Distance: 5 miles
Time: 40 minutes 40 seconds

Weekly Total: 21 miles

Week 9 Run 3

With March Madness beginning, I was not able to do my run on Thursday as I normally do. But I showed some discipline and ran on Friday right after work. This was my speed interval run. I ran a warm-up half mile at a 10 minute pace, really slow, but just to get going. Then I started out with a 7:13 pace for a mile, then to a 10:00 pace for a minute and 30 seconds. I did this 3 times and then I got a little over ambitious. On the last mile I really went for it to try and push my total to 5 miles and get it under 38 minutes. I had to run about a 6:30 closing mile and I felt great at the time, but shortly thereafter my groin tightened up and has been really sore. Just another case of my immaturity when it comes to running. I need to just stick with my plans and not deviate from it, otherwise I'll probably end up hurting myself. Anyway, the run overall was good.

Distance: 5 miles
Time: 37 minutes 58 seconds

Week 9 Run 2

Today was my easy run. I like the easy runs because they are just so easy. I love that. I originally was planning to do 5 miles, but ended up only running 4 because of time constraints. I ran them at an easy pace of about 8 minutes per mile. Thats about it.

Distance: 4 miles

Week 9 Run 1

I have fallen behind in my posting. The week is over, I had 4 runs and I am just now entering them all. Monday I did my first tempo run. I had 2 warm-up miles and then ran 4 miles at a 7 minute 13 pace. It felt good just running at a nice pace for the 4 miles. I mean, if I could just run that pace for 26.2 miles I could qualify for Boston!

Anyway, I can't even remember what my time was. I think it was in the neighborhood of about 54-55 minutes. Good run anyway, I basically feel like at this point the overall time isn't that important as I am running warm-up and cool-down miles.

Distance: 7 miles
Time: about 55 minutes

My "Program"

The more I run the more I keep asking myself if I really know what I am doing. There seems to be so many different types of training methods with intervals, tempo runs, distance runs, etc. Seems like I just run hard one day and then run a little easier the next. I try and try to read and figure out what I should be doing, but it seems confusing. I'm starting to think this (this will SURELY change at some point), that I should run 1 tempo run, 1 easy run, 1 speed interval run, and one distance run each week.

The tempo run is something I am trying to still figure out. But as far as mileage goes I am estimating that a tempo run will entail a 1-2 mile warm-up, then a 4 mile "tempo" run, and then a 1 mile cool down. Thats going to be like 7 miles. Then I have an easy run of like 4-5 miles. Follow that up with a 4.5 mile speed interval run(based on last weeks speed run). Top that off with a minimum of a 9 mile run on Saturday. So basically, going forward, on this schedule, I am looking at at least 25-26 miles a week. That is probably a good thing. I hope its the right course of action. To be honest, I have no clue if it is.

Week 8 Run 4

Great run to finish off the week. I started my run with a goal of 8 miles, maybe 8.5(since I had run 4.5 on Thursday). Well, I ended up just going 9 miles instead, I couldn't stop at 8.5 with 9 so close. The run was good and I felt like I could have kept going. My energy level was really good and the pace did not feel tough. Granted, I am not trying to go blazing fast, but the fact that I felt like I could have kept going and finished the 13 miles was encouraging.

Anyway, as I was running I decided that I really wanted to get under 72 minutes(8 minute miles). So the last mile, I pushed a little extra hard and actually turned in a time of about 7:10. I thought that was good just considering that it was the 9th mile and I had enough in the tank to easily do a 7:10 and probably could have gone much faster.

On the other hand, I am not delusional. I am realizing that I still have a lot of time to cut if I want to get anywhere close to running a sub 1:30 half marathon. At least I am making progress and that is always encouraging.

Distance: 9 miles
Time: 71 minutes 52 seconds

Weekly Total: 22.5 miles

Week 8 Run 3

Last night I did a "speed" session. I guess its supposed to help you, I can't remember why, but I trust other people who have run marathons so I did it. It was actually pretty enjoyable and hard at the same time. I ran my speed intervals at a pace 20 seconds faster than my target run pace of 7 minutes per mile. This equates to exactly 9 miles per hour. Basically I ran 1200 meters at 9mph pace and then I ran 800 meters at a 6mph pace for my rest pace. Each of these intervals was exactly 5 minutes, how convenient.

All in all I did 4 fast intervals and 3 reset intervals totaling 35 minutes. This came out to be exactly 4.5 miles. Each speed interval got progressively more difficult which i think is the idea. Hopefully this translates to a better overall pace in the end.

Distance: 4.5 miles
Time: 35 minutes 0 seconds

Week 8 Run 2

Last night was a nice and easy 4 mile run at about an 8:10 pace. My new "program", until I figure out something different, is to do a hard run of 5 or more miles on Monday, Tuesday is a 4-5 mile run at an easier pace, Thursday is a speed session running fast and slow intervals, and then Saturday will be my long run of 8 or more miles.

So I ran my 4 miles and I felt great, it was pretty easy and I came in just under 33 minutes.

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 32 minutes 51 seconds

Week 8 Run 1

Got the week off to a good start with a solid 5 mile run tonight. My previous best at this distance was a little under 38 minutes I believe, but that was 3-4 weeks ago and I knew I could push that time a little lower. I set out with my game plan(as always) with hopes of a time in the 36-37 minute range.

I decided to try and run the first and last miles at about a 7 minute/mile pace and fill in the middle 3 miles at about a 7:30 pace. This would get me right around 36:30 total. The first mile was good, just a few ticks under 7 minutes and mile 2 was fine as well. Mile 3 rolled around and I was wondering if my strategy was too aggressive up front. Maybe I should have gone out in about 7:30 and then progressively gotten faster. Anyway, I pushed on a little harder than planned in the third mile with the idea of pulling it back a little in the 4th mile. What a relief to get that third mile done and I went to a steady 7:30 pace for mile 4. I started mile 5 and wasn't sure what I had left in the tank. I pressed on and really gave it everything I had hitting the line at 35:50 on the nose! When I finished I didn't have much, if anything, left in the tank. This was a good feeling, because I knew I had given it my all. At the same time I wonder how I can ever break 35 minutes. But I know I can do it.

Distance: 5 miles
Time: 35 minutes 50 seconds

Week 7 Run 4

Great run to finish off a great week. I hit the 20 mile mark for the first time in my training and hitting a milestone like that is always very encouraging. I was reading last night about long runs and the pace that they should be run at. It was basically saying to run at a speed 20% slower than you anticipate running in your race. I hope to run at a 7 minute/mile pace come race day(not sure how realistic that is yet) so I calculated that I should run about at about an 8:24 pace on my long runs.

With that knowledge in mind I set out to run 8 miles this morning. Its amazing how difficult my runs seem to be when I actually pull the pace back, I seem to feel the burn a little more when I would expect the opposite. Anyway, I went out on the first mile and ran it in about 7 and a half minutes to get warmed. Then I pulled back to an 8:20 pace and ran at this speed for the next 6 and a half miles or so. The last half mile was quicker, but not blazing and when the dust cleared I had run 8 miles in 1 hour 5 minutes and 19 seconds. I am very pleased with this right now and am excited to build on it. At the 8 mile mark I could have kept going, but I knew I would pay for it as my body has never run that distance before.

This was a great run and even though my legs were pretty dead about a half hour after I finished the run I felt really good about everything. I guess I ended up running at about an 8:10 pace and had I continued this would translate into a 1 hour 47 minute half marathon. If I can run that right now, then I hope I can easily shave more time off between today and June 20th.

Distance: 8 miles
Time: 65 minutes 19 seconds

Weekly Total: 20 miles

Week 7 Run 3

My goal today was to break 29 minutes on a 4 mile run. So far in my running the best time I have posted was 29:13. I knew I could get under 29 minutes, but I wanted to map out my plan of attack to make sure I got it done.

So basically I set out to get a quick first mile, somewhere around 7 minutes or less. Next two miles would be about 7:30 each and then I would push it home in 7 minutes or less to get below 29. Its all about strategy, see....

So for the actual results. I went out pretty hard but ended up right on 7 minutes when secretly I was hoping for about 6:45 or something. Luckily for me I was able to shave off a few seconds here and there and run the middle two miles in just over 14 and a half minutes. Heading into the final mile I was at around 21:40 or so(I should pay more attention to the splits) and pretty much knew I had it in the bag. I ran at about a 7 minute/mile pace for the first half of the mile and then pushed as hard as I could the rest. When it was all said and done I posted a time of 28 minutes 23 seconds. I was stoked!

Its amazing how much my running has improved, going from 35 minute runs down to under 29. But there is still a long way to go if I want to achieve my goals(whether realistic or not).

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 28 minutes 23 seconds

Week 7 Run 2

Last night I decided that I would run at a more leisurely pace and allow my body to recover a bit. I guess the theory is to run so that your body still continues to get used to putting miles on the legs, but don't push yourself to exhaustion.

I decided to run at an 8 minute mile pace. Amazingly, it didn't really feel that much easier than when I run at like a 7:30 or 7:20 mile pace. Oh well. I ran 4 miles and I guess the important thing is to keep running and running and running.

Another run on Thursday and then I will go for at least 6 miles on Saturday.

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 32 minutes (exactly)

Week 7 Run 1

Sometimes I feel great during my runs and sometimes I feel like I have cement boots attached to my feet. Last nights run was definitely the latter. However, I pushed through it and still posted a great time for my 4 mile run. It probably did not help that I basically took almost a week off and I realize that I cannot do that going forward.

One thing that I can take away from the run is that I was able to keep pushing and still post a 29:13 4 mile run, which in my training so far is my best time in that distance. The question now is how will these times translate into a 6+ mile run? I guess I will have to find out this week. I desperately need to get in a 6 mile run to start gauging where I am really at. My hope is that I can post a sub-45 minute run. I think I can do it, but then again, the last time I ran that distance I think it was closer to 50 minutes, which is not great and actually pretty slow. I figure if I want to get close to breaking 1 hour and 30 minutes in a half marathon I am going to need to post a 6 mile run somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 minutes or even less. Yikes!

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 29 minutes 13 seconds

Time To Get Serious.... Seriously

So I kinda blew it last week. After a great start I failed to log my third run on Saturday, which was supposed to be at least 6 miles. Basically, I went camping and didn't exactly get the greatest night of sleep in my life. I ended up getting home around 3pm and my body was so tired I couldn't bring myself to run. I was out cold by 8pm.

Here's the thing, now its time to get serious! If I want to push myself and get close to a 1:30 half-marathon I am going to have to commit to at least 16 miles per week and more. It is now t-minus 16 weeks to the race and I need to top out at about 12-13 miles in a single run in about 13 weeks. So, here we go......