adding elements to improve

Last Thursday was my first speed workout. I enjoyed it about as much as I thought I would.... not at all.

The idea is to do a comfortable warm up distance then incorporate tempo intervals. This means increasing the pace for X amount of time then back to a normal pace in between. I didn't cover as much distance as I would have on a normal run but I can see the benefits of doing these interval workouts. So every Thursday from here until race days will be dedicated to doing the tempo intervals. So I have that to look forward to...

For my Saturday run I set of goal of going five miles. I made it! It ended up being harder than I thought it would and my time wasn't great. I ran it at about a 13 minute pace and it took me a little over an hour. Like I said it was harder than I thought it would be and I wasn't as fast as I had hoped I would be but, I set a goal of five miles and accomplished it. I felt good about it. Now I can work on getting faster at five miles before I go for six.

3 Milestones, 2 Days... not bad

I ran out of time on Monday to post anything so this will cover both Monday and Tuesday.

I reached a milestone on Monday by besting my previous distance without stopping. Previously I went 1.2 miles without a walk break so my goal when I set out Monday was to best that. I pushed myself, although it didn't seem all that hard but managed 1.8 until my brain told me my legs could use a break. My walk breaks are getting shorter and father between so I feel like I'm making good progress.

Tuesday was a really good day. Not only did I best my previous distance without a walk break, I managed 2.25 miles but I also reached the goal of running for 30 minutes without a break. I guess technically if I broke the 30 minute milestone the distance without stopping milestone would have happened by default. But I'm choosing to look at them as seperate just because I like the way it sounds.

I have decided that Thursday has to be speed interval day. As much as I hate speed work I need to do it so I can increase my distance and get my per mile pace down. I am at the point where the distance is coming easier but my pace is still about the same. It isn't a plodding pace by any means but I know I can get it lower.

I've been happy with my progress so far. My weight is down (not quite ready to publish that number just yet) and my waistline is shrinking ( I know this because my belts are on the last hole and someone suggested I needed suspenders the other day). It has been fun to set goals and actually achieve them.

I have my race dates on the calendar now and I'm working my training backwards with those dates in mind.

Saturday...

Saturday is my long run day. My schedule called for 75 minutes today. I was only able to do about 50.

We have been recording one of our favorite shows and decided that we were going to watch way too many episodes Friday night. I didn't feel like I was rested enough to go the full 75 minutes. I logged just over 3.5 miles at a fairly consistent sub 13 minute per mile pace. That was a little fast but I felt ok maintaining it.

The weather was perfect. It is getting warm enough in the mornings that I can leave the jacket off and I should have done that today. I kept feeling drops hitting my legs and at first I thought it was bugs until I realized it was my sweat dripping out of my jacket sleeves... I know, gross!

The dilema I have is that my jacket has a large zipper pocket in the back for my car keys but more importantly for my Zune. I hate carrying stuff in my hands when I run but I also hate not running with my Zune. I need to find one of those arm band set ups but they are all designed for the iPods so my Zune won't go in it. I'll have to keep looking because the jacket has to go....

This morning was perfect along the Snohomish River trail. The was a bald eagle sitting up in a tree watching the water. People were putting their boats in the river and of course all the locals with their dogs and kids out enjoying the spring morning.

The only bad part about the Snohomish trail is that it's only 1.5 miles long so I have to get creative to add a little extra distance. It all works out ok for fairly short runs but really I out grew this trail a couple weeks ago.

My plan is to get the date of my first 5k on the calendar and start planning my training runs with that date in mind. I am consistenly getting through my first 1 to 1.5 miles without walking but I need to get to point where I can go 30+ minutes at a good pace without walking. So this will take a little planning on my part. The 5K is July 24. This is the build up to the 11K on September 11.

Onward...

A bit of a crisis. But I got over it

My Thursday run started out ok.

My current running schedule is Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I really look forward to Wednesday after back to back runs but then by Thursday I'm ready to go again.

So Thursday started out ok. I have a nice loop by my office that is mostly on Tukwila's Green River trail. Like most city owned paths this one is nicely paved and maintained and runs right along the Green River/ Duwamush Waterway. The scenery is nice the trail is not busy and everyone that I come across is friendly and either on their way to work or just trying to stay in shape. But I digress... again.

So back to Thursday. I was running along at a good pace, not killing myself but working hard enough to feel it. As I got close to the first group of homes near my first turn where I cross the river I noticed a dog out in the yard sniffing around. As luck would have it he noticed me as well. I slowed to a walk just to see what he was going to do and, sure enough he starts towards me. The dog gets out to the trail and is about 20 yards or so behind me. I am still walking and so is he. I stop and look at him and he stops and looks back at me. I decided I better not run. I'm averaging about a 13 minute mile but my guess is the dog can move considerably faster. Luckily for me one of the regular bikers was coming along behind and saw what was going on, slowed down and put himself between the dog and me. I was able to start running again and the dog lost interest. I appreciated the riders help and thanked him as he sped off. I'm not sure but he was probably considering the old wisdom when hikers cross paths with a bear. He didn't have to be faster than the dog, just faster than me...

I was back on pace and cruising along pretty well when the real crisis came. I was about two and half miles out and working hard when the question came to my mind "what in the world am I doing out here running around at 6:30 in the morning?" It seemed like a fair enough question. So I slowed to walk to think this through. As I looked around at the river and the sunrise and trees covered in spring leaves and thought about the benefits I have already gotten from these past few weeks it all seemed worth it. It was a beautiful spring morning, golfing weather we call it at work, watching the neighbors waking up and starting their day and actually feeling good about the workout I get when I run my pace picked back up and I was on my way again. Crisis averted. I finished strong and completed 3.75 miles in just over 48 minutes.

I was talking to a co-worker who is a pretty avid runner about this little mental meltdown I had. His response was "you went nearly 4 miles in just under 50 minutes? no wonder you had a mental lapse."

So I felt good about that.

Well, Hello... I guess

I went to blogspot.com about a year ago and signed up for an account. I was excited to join the ranks of all the bloggers and post my thoughts and musings out there for friends and family to read and enjoy. So I created the account and realized I had nothing to say that anyone would really be interested in reading.... So I left it alone and largely forgot about it.

Until today. For some odd reason the mood struck me to go back to blogspot and start a blog. So, well, Hello... I guess.

I think what motivated me this time was that I have started a training program to run a couple races this coming summer and I wanted a place to record my thoughts, ideas, things I enjoyed about a particular run or things that were less than good about a particular day.

I have been running for about 6 weeks now and I am averaging just over 3 miles per day. I reached milestone the other day in running my first mile and quarter non-stop on back to days.

This may not sound all that great to many of you out there but there are a couple things to keep in mind about me. I am 46 years old, not in particularly good shape and unless someone was chasing me really had no reason to run anywhere.

But like I said, about 6 weeks ago I decided to start running and I have to say, at this point I'm hooked! I look forward to my morning runs. I look forward to pushing myself toward goals I never imagined I would even set, let alone push myself towards.

So I guess all this is to say I am going to be blogging about my adventures as a runner. You're welcome to come along if you like, but if you'd rather not that's fine too...