Ran from Columbus to Central Park's bridle path, lap of the bridle path and then back to my car on Columbus. Had to go quick because I was strapped for time. sub 7:00 pace did not feel hard AT ALL! wow!

3.05 miles in 21:20 (6:59 pace)

also did a mile with Scott this morning (only a mile because it started thunderstorming so we went back home, oh well. That means that

all told today I did 4 miles

I had intended to do a run of about 6-7 miles today but I just never got going and by the time I headed out the door to do my run, I had to hurry it up because Lauren was going to be getting into the Wantagh train station at 1835 (giving me about an hour to run, shower, get to the train station). I decided to run a little quicker than I have been and do only about 3-4 miles. I felt good, even if it was brief. Here's the damage:

5k (3.1 miles) in 23:10

including:
Mile 1- 7:30
Mile 2- 15:10 (7:40 mile)
Mile 3- 22:34 (7:24 mile)
5k- 23:10 (36 second for 0.1 mile)

This felt pretty easy, obviously a faster pace than I've been doing for my runs of late but I guess one quick run won't hurt. The funny thing is, this is only 30 seconds slower than the 5k I ran in September and I was really shot at the end of that. How far I've come! Anyway, I managed to shower and get down to the train to pick up the darling girlfriend and a good time was had by all :)

Today I was a little strapped for time...again, so my easy run turned into a bit of a quick run, but not necessarily speed work. I just did some loops of the neighborhood, I wore the knee strap just in case because I haven't run on pavement in a few days and I didn't wanna risk it. Here's the damage:

6 miles in 45:00 (7:30 pace)

including:
mile 1- 7:50
mile 2- 15:32 (7:42 mile)
mile 3- 23:06 (7:34 mile)
mile 4- 30:35 (7:29 mile)
mile 5- 37:54 (7:19 mile)
mile 6- 45:00 (7:06 mile)

I felt good and relaxed though so it's all gravy. No pains whatsoever. Stopped to do light IT and quad stretches towards end of mile 1 which is why it's a little slower than the rest. Now to pick up Laur, then fancy dinner out with some cousins for gramp's birthday, then relaxation!

Back on Long Island, I was subbing at Salk again today, like every day this week. I had 2 preps in a row and that meant I could get my 4 miles done midday as opposed to this evening. Wizard. I lost track of time and had to sort of rush it though. Not that it was sprinting but I don't think I can really call it an "EASY" run. Here's the damage:

4 miles in 28:22 (7:04 pace)

including:
mile 1- 7:14
mile 2- 14:24 (7:10 mile)
mile 3- 21:31 (7:07 mile)
mile 4- 28:22 (6:51 mile)

I didn't mean to go as fast as I did, didn't feel all that fast in the first place. I could have easily maintained this pace for a half marathon, I feel. Also, no pain at all and I felt fresh and invigorated afterwards.

Of note is that I did not wear my knee strap today and my knees felt fine, so that's encouraging. After I was done, I was wiping myself off in the bathroom and Dr. F called with excellent news. Apparently a tuition waiver is available for the Spring and I can start my exercise physiology grad program IMMEDIATELY! WOO! More info in supermanz. Good run, good day.

4 miles in 30:53 (7:43 pace)
including:
mile 1: 8:00
mile 2: 16:07 (8:07 mile)
mile 3: 23:47 (7:40 mile)
mile 4: 30:53 (7:06 mile)

1st half: 16:07 (8:03 pace)
2nd half: 14:46 (7:23 pace)

I felt good tonight. I started relatively easily and sped up as I felt stronger and looser. No pain whatsoever. By the end I felt very loose and relaxed and confident I could have maintained my speed for a while. I'm not terribly concerned with the increasing speed of the last two runs as speedwork is starting and this is sort of a precursor to it. 20 miler tomorrow then a weekend to recharge and hitting it hard and fast (TWSS!) til race day!

I got two prep periods in a row today early on, 2nd and 3rd period off, so I decided to rush home and go for a quick run around my block a few times. Everything felt good and despite my fairly large lack of sleep I had energy enough to get in a good, solid workout with plenty of time leftover to re-change, wipe off the sweat and get back up to Salk. Here's the damage:

6 miles in 45:22 (7:34 pace)

including:
mile 1: 7:46
mile 2: 15:33 (7:47 mile)
mile 3: 23:15 (7:42 mile)
mile 4: 30:55 (7:40 mile)
mile 5: 38:25 (7:30 mile)
mile 6: 45:22 (6:57 mile)

1st half: 23:15 (7:45 pace)
2nd half: 22:07 (7:22 pace)

first 3rd: 15:33 (7:46 pace)
middle 3rd: 15:22 (7:41 pace)
final 3rd: 14:38 (7:19 pace)

I got stronger as I went along and finished with energy left. No knee issues to write home about today and I got back to school invigorated. A feeling that lasted all the way through Trivia Night with Laur, Scott, and co.

actually I'm in Somerville but who's keeping track? So there will be no big run on the Esplanade. Time and my legs, especially the IT band, have been begging me to rest a little, and before they FORCE me too, I have taken it very easy this weekend. I know I will not come near hitting the weekly mileage I anticipated, I don't even think I'll run tomorrow with the travel home and the big Giants-Packers game and all but in the long run (no pun intended) I don't think it's all that bad. I got a 20 miler in and I've been very good about my training from the beginning. Right now I'm just listening to my body and giving it a break from the non-stop day-in-day-out pounding. Tonight I did a quick 3.5 miles as everyone was getting ready to go out and Laur was passed out on Amy's futon. Here's the damage:

1.5 miles @ 12:44 (8:29 pace)
3 miles @ 23:41 (10:57 for 1.5 miles, 7:18 pace)
3.5 miles @ 27:04 (3:23 half mile, 6:46 pace)

Quick, I know, but I felt alright and I had to be back soon. Tonight I also used the knee strap I bought, which my research and some reliable sources said would help prevent and manage knee joint pain, especially that associated with ITBS. Hopefully next week, with another 20 miler on the horizon for Friday, will get me back on track and set to enter speed work time refeshed and ready to kick some ass in the marathon

another crazy day of activity with the Cornhusker's still in town. Wound up doing my run in Bayside tonight, pressed for time again, which seems to be this week's theme. I had originally planned on doing a 15k, but cut it down to 8, and then finally 6 becuase of said time crunch (had to get to dinner back out on the Island for Maria's birthday). So I did two loops that Laur had mapped out, getting some culture or something I suppose. Here's the damage:

6.1 miles in 44:15 (7:15 pace)

Each loop was ~3.05 miles, maybe a bit more but I'll stick with it for convenience sake. I know I did the second loop faster than the first by some few seconds. I know I felt good, despite some modest hilliness on Francis Lewis Blvd. Overall, I could have kept the pace up for longer which is encouraging. And the dinner was lovely :)

In case you were wondering, which you weren't, I pronounce 'deux' as 'doox'. Today was a little tricky business fitting in my run. More family came over early (like around the time I was getting up) and thus I didn't really have a free moment to run until just before dinner was starting. I had to hurry because Lauren was coming in on the train to Wantagh some hour from the start of my run. Somehow I managed to do the run, get home, shower, dress and make myself moderately presentable, and get to the station to pick her up without making her wait terribly long. This was partly because this turned into a very quick run. Here's the damage:

5.5 miles in 40:48 (7:25 pace)

Legs felt good, I realized right away that I was starting quicker than usual, which I chalk up to knowing I didn't have time to really take it easy. I'd say my pace on this run was exactly what I'd do if I just went out and ran without thinking. I wasn't consciously forcing myself to go easy, and I wasn't pushing myself to go faster, I was just running whatever my legs naturally would go. Definitely pushed a little towards the end because of the time crunch. Overall, a great run and then a delicious dinner and the best Christmas present ever: making it official with Lauren :)

Merry Christmas, indeed!

So this week has been going very well for me so far. Apparently my training is starting to produce adaptations and I am running fairly significantly faster than I have been yet I don't feel like I've been pushing it significantly harder than any other week. Mostly I feel very relaxed on my runs and am quite surprised when I see the time on my watch. So of course today was no different. In fact, today was the most extreme example! Worked all day after getting more than 4 hours sleep for a change, so I got home feeling pretty fresh. The sky was very overcast and it was supposed to snow but was not when I set out for my run. It started flurrying about a half mile in and didn't let up until close to the end, and I LOVED EVERY SECOND of running in the snow! For a fourth consecutive day I ran quite quickly and felt absolutely fine, with the exception of a final kick where I did push it a bit. Here's the damage:

10k (6.2 miles) in 44:22 (7:09 pace)
6 miles in 43:11 (7:11 pace)
final 0.2 in 71 seconds (5:50 pace)

including 4 miles in 29:20 (7:20 pace) meaning
final 2.2 miles in 15:02 (6:50 pace)

The first mile, I didn't feel like I was going that fast. I concentrated on not going out like I had the previous two days, hold back til halfway and then run a negative split. Then I passed around 1 mile and saw it was 7:30. Then the snow came and that really put some pep in my step, I started singing "LET IT SNOW!" outloud to myself and smiling like a lunatic. Two miles was around 15:00 or so.

The first 2 miles are slightly uphill to Oakfield Ave. Then there's mostly flat the rest of the way, and it's amazing what a difference that made to me. I didn't increase my effort at all but I felt like I had sped up considerably. Turns out I was speeding up.

By mile 4 I was at about a 7:20 mile. But instead of slowing down, which was my concern about going out too fast for a longer distance like this, I was getting faster still! Right after turning into the Duck Pond area, I realized that I would come very close to my 5 mile Turkey Trot time from just over 2 weeks ago. And this is a TRAINING RUN! and not even a speed one. My head was trying to grasp how this was possible while at the same time just really enjoying the feeling of being out in this winter weather and seeing people putting up Christmas lights. I was also telling myself not to worry about the 5 mile time, that this was a training run and PR's weren't the main concern here, just to run steady and easy like I'd been doing.

Well I wound up hitting 5 miles in ~35:45, or somewhere near 45 seconds below my 5 mile race time! I did not expect that, but was pleasantly surprised and got some adrenaline for the final stretch. I had to wait a bit at the light by the high school as usual. Once I turned off Wantagh Ave I felt myself pick it up a bit without consciously thinking about it.

My favorite moment of the run came shortly after turning off Wantagh Ave. As I was running down the street, the snow flurries still falling, I saw a mother putting her son in the backseat of a minivan. As I approached she took a look, then did a double take eyeing me in my running shorts and t-shirt and as I passed shook her head in disbelief and yelled out, "Are you insane or something?" to which I promptly replied as I ran by chuckling, "I'm a runner, I HAVE to be crazy!" That gave me a mental boost and totally made my day. On top of making me FEEL like what I'm doing is SPECIAL. It takes a SPECIAL kind of person to be a runner, to willingly put yourself through this day after day, no matter the conditions or the way you feel. I love the quote "My sport is your sport's punishment" because it sums up what it is to be a runner, we're different, and we love it!

Anyway, I had run easy all the way up to mile 6. Setting a 10k PR was an afterthought given that from mile 5, I'd have had to run the last 1.2 in over 13 minutes to NOT. I hit 6 miles and took off with whatever I had left. My face was contorting, I was drooling, my legs finally felt it, and when I was done and looked down at my time I let out a big YES! and did a little victory jump thing that must have looked odd to passing cars.

I'm still trying to figure out what's changed this week compared to the previous few. But I'm not going to complain or worry. I haven't been pushing too hard, my heart rate isn't too high where I'm running anaerobically, and my legs feel GREAT, both in an injury-free and un-fatigued sense. Tomorrow will be an easy 5k and I will make sure it's slow and easy before my long run Sunday. We'll see how that and next week goes before fully weighing in on what this week means.

So the first two runs of this week have been pretty good. I've felt like the training is actually starting to show results in the form of faster running at the same effort. It's only 4 and a half weeks in now which I feel is a little early but I can't argue with results. So I shouldn't have expected today's run to be any different. I went out right after school, running a longer distance and getting it in in daylight I had no choice. I started feeling good again and went from there. Here's the damage:

8 miles in 1:02:02 (7:45 pace)

@3.5 miles: 28:52 (8:14 pace)
@7 miles: 55:05 (7:52 pace)
@8 miles: 1:02:02 (7:45 pace)

mile 0-3.5 done in 8:14 pace
mile 3.5-7 done in 26:51 (7:40 pace)
mile 7-8 done in 6:57

So basically, I had a freakin' amazing run! I went out feeling good. I knew I wasn't going as fast as yesterday and that was my goal, keep it under control and relaxed, no pushing the throttle. I did both of my 3.5 mile courses back to back and then a mile lap of the neighborhood, which accounts for the odd splits, although I also was able to take fairly accurate splits during the secon 3.5 miles. What adds to my amazement is that I had to wait a few times for lights to change so I could cross the street, a downfall to running in daylight hours.

After getting through the first 3.5, I knew I was running well and within myself, my legs felt very comfortable and loose. At around mile 5.5 I realized I had just run a sub 8:00 and was feeling not only good, but FANTASTIC! I figured I'd stick with the pacing because it felt like an easy one. The next mile I saw I did in around 7:30, and did about a 7:15 pace from 6.5-7. I knew I could really crank out a fast final mile, but I didn't want to push it and feel dead at the end, I wanted to run smooth and even the whole way through. I definitely could have gone a good deal faster and I STILL came in at 6:57. This CRUSHES my previous PR for 8 miles by over 3 minutes!

I don't get what's happened seemingly in a matter of days, but I'm not complaining. I know not everyone run, or every week is going to be this good or feel like these have but I'm also not going to worry that I'm going too fast now. Yesterday, maybe I did a little, today, though, felt easy and relaxed the whole way through and still a fast time compared to what I've been doing. Tomorrow is a 10k and I have every intention on taking that easy but we shall see.

New route today. And I managed to get out the door before dark, despite working at Salk til 1400. It actually snowed again a bit this afternoon but let up by the time I got home from subbing. When I left the house at 4pm to run, the snow had stopped, it was just pretty cold. The route took me around Salk and MacArthur and into the surrounding Levittown neighborhoods which was a nice change of pace. Here's the damage:

3.5 miles in 25:23 (7:15 pace)

As soon as I started I could tell this would be a good run. My legs felt fresh despite the hills and speed of yesterday's 10k. I got to the corner of the high school and so what must have been the winter track team running on the other side of Old Jerusalem Rd. and, not wanting to be caught by the group, increased my pace a little past the schools. When I came to around where the first mile was I saw it was ~6:50. I knew and told myself I needed to slow down, and I did somewhat, but all the way through the end I wasn't able to make myself approach an 8 minute mile. I was worrying that I would crash and struggle towards the end but I actually felt like I was getting stronger through the end. About 2 miles in was when I decided to screw easy and just maintain pace and go for a quick run. My pace for 3.5 in training beats my 5k pace from September 30th, which is some sort of milestone I guess.

Afterwards my legs felt fine, albeit a bit cold from the cold air, once inside I massaged them, stretched and warmed them up. Absolutely no pain or lingering anything. Tomorrow I should take it a bit easier and go from there. But the 2 runs this week have been phenomenal!