A Couple of Hard Training Runs and a Race

I only found the time to do two training runs this week, but I ran them pretty hard.

Tuesday: I went to Turkey Mountain and ran the yellow (39:40), blue (16:42), and red (7:33) trails. Total time 1:03:55. Distance is around 7 miles. That's a pace of a little over 9 minutes per mile, which is pretty fast on Turkey Mountain.

Wednesday: No running, but I did turn another year older.

Thursday: Andy and I ran 6:25 miles, averaging an 8:12 pace. We started going north on Peoria from RunnersWorld, went through Woodward Park, went south on Terwilleger, crossed Utica and made our way over to Yorktown, and then returned to the store over our old hilly route. We started the run slow and kept picking up steam the whole way. The last mile was in about 7:30, with the last half mile at about 7:15 per mile pace. A pretty good run, but I probably did it too hard to recover for the Tulsa Run.

Friday: I didn't run, but I did hang out at the RunnersWorld booth at the Tulsa Run expo most of the day. All that standing up wore me out. I did have a good time hanging out with Andy and Kathy, who were there all day, and with other friends who stopped by the booth.

Saturday: TULSA RUN 15K. My time was 1:10:45. A little slower than last year, but I'm happy with it. I was hoping to do 1:09:xx, but I knew within the first mile it wasn't going to happen. I did keep a pretty constant pace, but each kilometer was about 5 or 6 seconds slower than I had originally planned. It seemed like almost everyone I talked to had a great race, except for Larry, who seems to have pulled a muscle about halfway through the race. Hope it's not too bad of an injury. My wife got me a Garmin for my birthday, and I tried it out in the afternoon. I ran 1.19 miles. Max heart rate was 152.

Total Running Miles for Week: about 24

Next key run is the Mock Marathon, which is our last long run before the Route 66 Marathon.

A Few Good Runs

I've been out of town on business, so it was hard to keep my mileage up. Still, I got in a few good runs.

Tuesday: Carlos and I ran the hilly, rocky trails at Pigeon Creek, near Mountain Home, AR. We ran for about 70 minutes, and I'm guessing we did about six miles. It was a difficult run because I felt bloated the whole way, and I couldn't breathe very well. I think it's because I ate too many peanuts the night before at Colton's in Poplar Bluff.

Wednesday: Carlos and I ran for about 55 minutes at the Springfield Nature Center and on the Galloway trails. We ran for about 55 minutes. When we were on the paved trail, there were markers painted on the asphalt every tenth mile, and we were going at about an 8:15 pace there. I'm sure we were going much slower on the dirt and rock trails at the nature center. This was a much more pleasant run than Tuesday. The trails were not as rocky and not as covered by leaves. I still had some intestinal issues, and I was glad to get to the restroom at the end of the run.

Friday: At noon I did a 4.3 mile tempo run. I ran from downtown, through OSU Tulsa, and north on the Osage Trail to Pine Street and back. Average pace of 7:47. Friday evening I rode Saturday's route on my bike and chalked the course, marking every 1/2 mile.

Saturday: This was supposed to be a marathon pace run of about 16 miles, which we did by running two almost 8 mile loops. I was hoping to keep the pace between about 8:10 and 8:15 per mile. I ended up averaging 8:08 per mile for the 15.6 miles. Here are my mile splits:

Mile 1 - 8:00
Mile 2 - 7:50
Mile 3 - 8:07
Mile 4 - 8:04
Mile 5 - 8:30
Mile 6 - 8:01
Mile 7 - 8:21
Mile 8 - 6:09 (this was really 0.8 miles)
Mile 9 - 8:21

Mile 10 - 7:54

Mile 11 - 8:13

Mile 12 - 7:46

Mile 13 - 8:43

Mile 14 - 8:15

Mile 15 - 8:19

Mile 16 - 6:18 (this was really 0.8 miles)

It was a windy day, and there were a few hills, so that explains why there is so much variance in the pace. For instance, mile 12 was pretty quick, and I remember thinking we were going too fast, but then when we turned back into the wind, I realized why. And then mile 13 was dreadfully slow, but I don't think the effort level was any less than for mile 12. I was pretty satisfied with the run, but I am still having doubts about trying for 3:35 in the marathon. It would be so much easier just to shoot for 3:45, which I am pretty confident I can do.

Running miles for the week: about 32

A Good Week of Running

After missing a couple of days running due to sickness, I got in a few good days of running.

Monday: Thirteen miles in the drizzly rain at night on the River Parks trail. Started slow and finished with a few fast miles. Averaged about 8:15 per mile.

Wednesday: Eleven miles in the drizzly rain at night on the River Parks trail. Ran an even pace and averaged about 8:20 per mile.

Thursday: Four miles at noon at about an 8:30 pace. Yasso 800s in the evening. This included ten 800s at an average time of 3:20 with an average recovery of 2:50. With the warm up, cool down, and recoveries, the total mileage for the evening was about 9.5.

Saturday: Legs were tired from the start. Ran four of the six mile loops. Mapmyrun calls it 6.09 miles per loop, so I logged 24.4 miles. My intent for this run was to do it at an easy pace, and to maintain an even pace for at least the first three loops. The last loop I was not feeling too good, and I slowed considerably, but that's okay. I averaged about a 9:40 pace for the whole run, about 90 seconds per mile slower than planned marathon pace.

Total running for the week: About 62 miles.

That will probably be my peak mileage week for the season. The next few weeks will be difficult to get in many miles due to business traveling. So far my training is going well, and I don't think the drop in mileage will hurt me. Saturday will be a difficult run - supposed to be 16 miles at marathon pace.

Cut a Little Short by Sickness

After a 61 mile week, I was aiming to ramp up my miles just a little more this week. Here is how it went.

Monday: Four and a half miles at noon at about an 8:45 pace. Then did hill repeats with Rusty and Amanda in the evening. I ran the hills pretty hard. Rusty and Amanda were really strong on the hills too. Amanda is going to do well in her first marathon. Total mileage in the evening was about eight.

Tuesday: Five mile tempo run at noon. Avg pace of 7:31. Felt pretty good.

Wednesday: Six miles at noon, avg pace of 8:23. Another five miles in my neighborhood in the evening at about an 8:30 pace. Thought about going a few extra miles, but I knew I had a pretty good mileage day on Thursday, so I cut it short.

Thursday: Five and a half miles at noon. I ran a really easy pace because we were supposed to do a long tempo run in the evening. Thursday evening it was pouring down rain, so instead of a tempo run, we just did a longish easy run. I think it was a little over 8 miles, mostly at about an 8:30 ish pace, but part of it was walking because Brian was having knee problems. Doubled back until we met Larry and Patty, and I finished the run with them. I had a blast running on Thursday. It's always fun running in the rain as long as it isn't too cold.

Friday: I had planned a five mile easy run, but I had been suffering from a sore throat and runny nose most of the week. By Friday morning I was having some chest congestion, so I decided to skip the run and save myself for Saturday's long run. By Friday evening, I was pretty sure I wasn't even going to make it to the Saturday run.

Saturday: Skipped the long run. Had chills and fever during the night. Slept until 3 p.m. Felt achey all over. Went to the doctor and was tested for H1N1. Nope, I don't have swine flu. Doctor prescribed amoxicillin. Took first dose and went back to bed.

Sunday: Woke up at about 7 a.m. Took second dose of amoxicillin. Thought about Jason and Kathy and about how they must be pretty close to finishing their hundred miler. Went back to sleep. Woke up again at 9. Watched the finish of the Chicago Marathon. Thought about my friends from church who were probably almost 2 hours behind the leaders. Then checked facebook and saw that Jason finished his hundred in 24:24. Way to go Jason! Went back to bed.

Total running miles for the week: About 42. Would have been 67 if I hadn't missed the Friday and Saturday runs. I do have Monday off, so maybe I can get the long run in then. It's going to be hard getting in my mid week miles the next few weeks because I'll be gone on business trips.

Sunday

Sunday morning worship was great. The choir sang one of my favorite songs, "How Beautiful," by Twila Paris.

The sermon was challenging, based on Philippians 2:5-11:

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be held onto for his own advantage, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death -- even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Sort of as a response, we sang, "May the Mind of Christ My Savior."

May the mind of Christ, my Savior,

live in me from day to day,

by his love and power controlling

all I do and say.

May the word of God dwell richly

in my heart from hour to hour,

so that all may see I triumph

only through his power.

May the peace of God, my Father,

rule my life in everything,

that I may be calm to comfort

sick and sorrowing.

May the love of Jesus fill me

as the waters fill the sea.

Him exalting, self abasing:

this is victory.

May we run the race before us,

strong and brave to face the foe,

looking only unto Jesus

as we onward go.

May His beauty rest upon me

as I seek the lost to win,

And may they forget the channel,

Seeing only Him.

Spent the rest of the day helping Mark build his shed. It was a pretty good day.

Lots of Running This Week

Sunday: no running, but I rode part of last Saturday's route on my bike - about 14 miles

Monday: 3 easy miles at noon. Rusty, Amanda, and I did hill sprints in the evening plus I added some extra running to make it 8 miles.

Tuesday: 4 easy miles at noon plus 3 miles in the evening. The 3 in the evening included a lot of walking with my wife, but Sophie, our dog was along and wanted to run a bit, so I'll count it as running miles.

Wednesday: 6 mile tempo at noon. Avg pace was 7:53, but that included a couple of pretty slow miles at the end. The fast stuff was more like 7:20, with the last fast mile in 7:05

Thursday: 5 easy miles at noon. 8.7 pretty fast miles with Dustin in the evening - avg pace about 8:20

Friday: 6 easy miles at noon. plus I rode my bike to mark Saturday's route - 11 miles The noon run was at a very relaxed pace (about 9:20). I was only going to do about 3, but when I ran past 1st Presbyterian, the bells were peeling out "O God Our Help in Ages Past." So I started trying to remember the words, and I think I got about 4 stanzas. Then I remembered to pray for Brian and Kathy, which I do during almost every run. Then I got to thinking about my upcoming Sunday school lessons that I have to prepare for. My mind got lost in thinking about the infinitude of God. Yep, that's what I have been assigned to teach next. Before I knew it, the 6 miles were up.

Saturday: 14 miles at marathon pace (averaged 8:08 - I was shooting for 8:10 - 8:15). This was a good run. I started out a little tired and didn't know if I could hold pace, but Eric, Dustin, and Andy pushed me, and we finished strong. They went on to run a total of 18. I was going to stop, but ended up running another 3 with a new girl that showed up after I thought I was done. Her name is Nicole. Just after we had packed up, and I was getting ready to leave, she showed up back at Veterans' Park at the end of her run. She ended up running 15, and I finished bout the last quarter mile with her. She has run a 3:20 marathon and will be a good addition to our group.

Total running miles for the week: about 61 (for the 7 days ending Friday the total was 65)

Total biking miles: about 25

Total running miles for September: 202