Such a relief!

It's been a couple weeks since I last posted and I've done a lot since then.  First of all, I've been extremely busy with finals over the last two weeks.  Fortunately, they all went extremely well.  I have managed to keep up the training throughout the finals period but not without cost to the quality of runs. 


A week ago, on Wednesday, December 7th, Kimi and I completed a 5 mile tempo run that went phenomenal.  We ran the 5 miles in 29:36 according to "my" garmin forerunner.  Kimi's Forerunner wasn't quite as nice bringing us in almost 10 seconds slower than that. So on days when our Garmins don't agree, we usually take the average of the two to settle right in the middle.  So 29:41 seems just about right.  We followed that up with an excellent 8 mile run the next day in 54:22 feeling pretty good.  


The following Saturday, we attempted 5 one mile repeats.  They didn't go as well as we had hoped but they weren't terrible.  All of the miles were right around 5:47-48.  *Finals had officially started for me on the Thursday of this week so the long hours of sitting and studying had probably started to take its toll on me.  On Sunday, we ran 11 miles for our long run and it was sufficient being completed in 1:15:22.  The tells me that our endurance is solid and our speed is lacking.  *We'll get to that very soon; we're starting next week actually.   


Along came the final week of finals for this fall semester in 2011 and I knew I had 4 exams (one each morning at 7:30 through Thursday morning) which was going to make this a long difficult, mentally, and physically draining week.  However, we started the week off solid with our runs on Monday and Tuesday covering 8 miles for me on Monday, and 8 miles for me on Tuesday.  Kimi went 7 miles on Monday which I'll explain the significance of that later in this post.  Then along came Wednesday the 14th of December (yesterday).  We had decided to complete a 4 mile Fartlek run which basically means a continuous run where a set time is spent pushing the pace and a set time is spent recovering all while not stopping until the end of the set distance is covered.  Ours was going to be a 4 mile of 2 min pressed and 2 min easy.  It started off okay but then quickly I could feel the fatigue setting into my legs and most of all into my mind.  That's when it got a little ugly for me for a couple of pushes.  I did my best to stay focused but I just couldn't maintain the intensity needed to keep up with Kimi during the pushes.  However, I didn't give up because I know that workouts can often get better if you just hang in there.  I managed to catch back up to Kimi on some of the easy portions and then I was able to dig deep and finish the workout solid right along side her for the final two pushes.  We have had better Fartleks than this one but it didn't end up too bad.  We covered the 4 miles in 25:12 which is right at 6:18 pace per mile.


Finally, Thursday December 15th (today) had arrived.  It was the much anticipated last final exam for the week. I woke up this morning at 5:50 a.m. to do some final reviewing prior to my exam (I like to do this to make sure I have it all fresh in my mind).  At 8:00 a.m. I was done with the exam and I breathed a huge sigh of relief.  Now I get two weeks to focus my attention to my running and preparing for a seminar that I'm taking at the beginning of next trimester. 


I mentioned above that I would explain the significance of Kimi going 7 miles on Monday compared to my 8 miles.  The reason I am going further than her some days is because I am trying to get our yearly mileage back to equal.  After 49 weeks of running in 2011, Kimi has managed to cover about 15 miles more than me at this point.  Over the next two weeks, I plan to make up this difference so that we can both proudly say we accomplished the same yearly distance which will be over 2700 miles assuming the final 2 and 1/2 weeks goes as planned.


On one final note, don't forget that Kimi and I will be competing in the Jack Frost 10 mile this coming Saturday.  I'm sure we'll both have plenty of fun things to write about after that race is complete! 

This week has been a good one!

The week started off with some quality 7 mile runs where Kimi and I ran together each day.  Wednesday, We completed a 3 mile tempo/pace run and had a phenomenal run.  Our goal was to run 6:10 per mile since this splits almost right between Half Marathon and Marathon pace goals.  However, out of the ordinary, we ran much better than our goal.  Our first mile started off at 5:55 and at that point, I knew it was going to be a good one.  According to my garmin forerunner, our second mile clipped off 5:48, however, Kimi's clipped off 5:55.  Our last mile clipped off a 5:50 for both of us so on our second mile, we simply averaged the two to make 5:52.  That means our total run was right around 17:40.  This workout started and ended with a two mile warm up and two mile cool down to make a total of 7 miles again.

On Thursday, Kimi and I ran on our own.  I decided to take out my headphones and Ipod so I could listen to some music during the run today.  I don't know how it happened but I had a great run on Thursday.  I averaged 6:41 for 7 miles.  It's been a while since a run like that has happened.  I think the workout the day before woke up my legs to better turnover.  With only two weeks to go until the Jack Frost 10 mile, I hope that our training continues this trend of good run after another. 

It's been about two weeks since the last time I posted anything new.  Kimi and I started full out this week past week.  On Sunday a week ago, I was involved in the Gobbler Grind Marathon.  I was the lead cyclist for the 5k, half marathon, and marathon.  Thankfully, the leader of the marathon ran under 2 hours and 40 minutes.  That means I didn't have to stay out there quite as long.  It was quite cold that morning.  Prior to the event, Kimi and I searched on Craig's List to find me a bicycle.  We were just going to find something really cheap but then we had the idea that we should look for a quality bike at a great price since I plan on doing a triathlon sometime in 2012 (we'll see).  We ended up buying me a bike that values at nearly $1500 but we got at quite a fraction of that.  It was quite the experience riding the lead cyclist.  Of course it never goes as smoothly as one would hope.  I took a wrong turn early in the event and Kimi chased me down and corrected me.  Thankfully only one person followed me that direction and it was only two tenths of a mile out of the way.  That was the only real screw up that I had during the event. Everything else went smoothly. 

Following that 26 mile ride, Kimi and I ran 5 miles in the afternoon.  To my surprise, we managed a pretty decent run.  This week went like this; Monday, 5 miles; Tuesday, 6 miles; Wednesday, 6 miles; Thursday, 6 miles; Friday, 3 miles; Saturday, 6 miles; and Sunday, 10 miles.  On Saturday, the weather was quite dreary.  It was raining most of the day with temperatures around 50 degrees in the morning.  We made arrangements to meet with Jamie Burnham at the Vet's office in Miller at 11:30.  The rain was light when we began the run and the wind was at our back for most of the 3 miles out.  Just before we turned around at the 3 mile mark, the rain began to pick up and the wind greatly increased to gusts easily over 20 mph.  Thankfully, we were turning around and the wind was going to be at our back again on the way back to the cars because as the rain picked up so too did the wind change direction.  We had an excellent run on Saturday.

Today, we ran 10 miles and it was pretty nondramatic.  Nothing special happened today other than it being about 35 degrees with a wind chill in the mid 20's.  Thankfully, we completed the run and I'm greatly looking forward to next week where I'll be aiming to hit closer to 50 miles for the week (this week was 42).

It doesn't always go as planned...hmm..

So as you might be able to guess, our Glorious return to running didn't quite go as planned.  We did a 3 mile run on Thursday evening, 5 mile run on Friday, and then 5 on Saturday.  Both of us decided that our bodies needed more rest and that we weren't ready to return to performing just yet.  That's when we decided to take the running easy all the way through this current week.  Since we are only planning on taking these two weeks easy for the entire next year, we decided to truly take full advantage of it.  Also, Kimi's foot has been bothering her on the outside of her right foot.  We're hoping it's just a bruising or minor irritation that will go away with just a little more rest.  My achilles tendon and gastroc are beginning to feel a lot better with the time off so hopefully I'll be able to make a full recovery from that problem. 

I've also started a new routine that I call my "Daily Do List" consisting of the following exercises and stretches:
1 min body bridge face down
1 min body bridge R and L
25 reps of Birddogs R and L
2x10 Glut Bridges
1x10 Lunges R and L
1x10 Eccentric Calf Raises
2x30 sec Hip Flexor Stretch R and L

This is my new plan that I am starting and I have already completed two days of it.  Today, Monday, I'm also returning to the weight room to begin my strength and conditioning program that has been suspended for the past 3-4 weeks.

We're Back BABY!!!

The long awaited arrival of starting to train for the future is finally here.  We put in a 3 mile run Thursday evening.  It was pitch dark when we started the run so as most outdoor runners know, it's much more difficult to run fast in the dark, but we managed a quality 3 miles.  Today we're planning on running 5 miles, 7 miles on Saturday, and possibly a 10 mile long run on Sunday.  Nothing like jumping right back in pretty much where we left off.  Time to start getting ready for the indoor track and field season which will quickly be approaching. 

Just waiting, and waiting, and waiting!

This is the week that Kimi and I have decided to take as our true recovery week.  Our 2011 training year has been phenomenal up until this point.  We are both on schedule to hit the highest yearly total either of us has ever reached.  Our goal is to get to 2700 miles this year and currently we are just over 2400.  Because of our increase in miles this year, we decided that it was time to take a week and let our bodies recover.  Of course, for people like us, this 3 days of no running can feel like an eternity.  Our plan is to begin running again on Thursday with an easy 3 miles.  I am simply hoping that these few days of rest are enough to propel us forward into the winter season where we are planning on running some indoor track events! 

And so it begins!

This is my first post so I hope that you aren't expecting "Amazing" from this post!  Kimi, my wonderful wife, and I recently competed in the Bass Pro' Cohick Half Marathon in Springfield, MO on November 6, 2011.  We were greeted pleasantly by wonderful temperatures just as we were hoping for on this particular day.  The temperatures were near 60 degrees Fahrenheit.  However, if you don't know, for the temperatures to be that warm at this time of year in Missouri, there must be a wind coming from the south to keep the temperatures from falling much much lower.  That was of course the case on this Sunday in November.  The wind was between 15-20mph and was constant.  I knew that was going to play a huge roll in our race that morning.  We started the race at 7:00 in the morning (thankfully it was daylight savings weekend). 

The race began after an opening statement from Frank Shorter where he made a joke that only Prefontaine fans would understand.  He said something along these lines, 'why don't you leaders do yourselves a favor and share the work and take turns leading, you don't have to always lead' this was a joke because Frank Shorter was a runner that back in the 1970's ran with Prefontaine who as most of us know, never let anyone else lead, 'ever!

The first 1/3 of a mile was directly into the wind and so I started out sitting behind the lead pack letting them do most of the wind blocking.  However, after we turned the corner, I was expecting the pack to pick up the pace.  This didn't happen, so I quickly decided that I was going to have to start moving the pace quicker if I was going to run anywhere close to my goal pace.  I lead through the mile and then I was passed by a small group. I wasn't too concerned because I was feeling just fine. I hadn't actually pressed the pace anywhere close to my max just yet.  I had to let the leader go because I knew I couldn't compete with him but my ultimate goal of beating a competitor (that I prefer not to name) that had beat me the week before in a 5k was still possible.  My group consisted of Me, my competitor, and an Ethiopian girl.  I knew that I was in control because I was able to set the pace faster or slower as I pleased.  At 5.5 miles in I was leading the pack by a couple seconds, so nothing really.  This was at a point where we were clearly going to go directly into the wind for a while so I didn't want to waste myself while letting the opponent draft off of me so I payed close attention to this during the headwind portions.  Any time that I noticed my competitors getting into the drafting zone, I quickly made a lateral move to force them to fight the wind equally.

Just prior to mile 9, I had nearly a 10 meter lead.  I didn't feel like I was completely able to shake them just yet so I eased up on the pace to sit next to them for a little while.  However, the Ethiopian girl had another idea.  She decided to press the pace herself.  At first I was ok with this and let her get a 10-15 meter lead while I felt I was resting up and preparing for a long stretch of nearly a mile and a half straight into the wind.  However, my plans changed quickly when I was running next to my 'competitor' and we were making a right turn.  There was a cone at the corner on the right and he and I were running stride for stride right next to each other.  He took the corner a little tight and I was right next to him.  Though I don't feel like I cut him off or forced him into the cone at all, he must have felt so because he pushed me sideways by giving me a pretty good stiff arm to the right shoulder.  I was shocked and almost lost my balance.  My reaction was to turn around and give him an 'arm's out to the side look like what was that for?'  That was my last straw however.  At that very moment I made a conscious decision to put on the afterburners and go for the rest of the way. 

I quickly caught the Ethiopian girl and had to run directly into the wind for a mile and a half while the girl drafted on me the whole way.  I was pretty sure that I could beat her and so I stretched it out nearly 20 meters with a mile to go.  I was running strong and was plenty ahead.  I was at the point where all I wanted was to see the finish line and give one final effort to finish strong.  However, the Ethiopian girl had a different idea in mind.  She made a run at me but with about 100 -150 meters to go, I poured out all I had left and beat her by a mere 3 seconds.  That was enough for me.  I was completely satisfied.

I was very happy with the results on this particular Sunday.  I had placed 2nd in the Bass Pro' Cohick Half Marathon and was awaiting my wife who would quickly come in just a few places back also in 2nd place and with a new Personal Best!  Both of us had intended to have better times at this event but were struck by illness the two weeks prior to the event.  Thankfully, we were able to recover enough to perform at high levels and are both looking forward to our next competition that will most likely be on November 20th!  It's another Half Marathon/5k event. 

Today is Tuesday November 8th, two days after our recent half marathon performances and I know our bodies need the rest so we have decided to take a few days off.  We might not even run another step until Thursday!!!  Unfortunately for me, I'm already getting antsy.  Sitting still and not exercising is like torture!!  I just hope that my left Gastrosoleus/Achilles tendon complex will heal up and be ready for some more grueling training!

I look forward to writing about our return to the world of running obsession as soon as it gets going!