Believe in yourself, and you just never know...

Warm-up ten 6 x 800 meters, then a cool down.  First four 800s were in the 3:00-3:02 range.  The last two were 3:10 & 3:15.  Not exactly what I'd hoped for, i.e. 8 x 800s at 2:55-3:00, but a huge improvement on last week.  The dream is still alive ;o).

4 mile easy run.

Nice cool morning.  1 mile warm up to meet Mark.  We then set out to do 8 miles at about 7:25 pace, which is a slower than MGP, but hey its early in the training season ;o).  Finished the 8 miles in 59:10.  Next week I'm going sub-59 minutes hehe.  Finished up with a 1 mile cool down. 

My legs were toast after two harder workouts on Monday and Wednesday so I wasn't able to muster the strength for a speed workout.  However, convinced myself to do some easy miles.

Didn't fancy the hassle of trying to do a point-to-point run with the group so met up with my Wednesday running buddy.  However, that meant a very early start.  How early?  I left the house at 4:30am, ;o(.  It was a cool morning, but humid too.  In fact it was very foggy down my the river.  I only noticed the humidity as I my shirt got wet pretty shortly after I started running.  

Pace today was pretty slow, but wanted to get a long one under my belt.  I also wanted to make it to 45 miles for the week.  The goal for next week is 50.  It's going to be tough as I know I'll be achy after this one! 

Warm up then 6 x 800 meters and then a cool down.  I wanted to do 8 x 800s (as I had also attempted last week), but it just wasn't there.  However, I am making progress, and 800s were faster than last week (3:11, 3:04, 3:02, 3:00, 3:00, 2:49).  

 I just need to keep up the momentum! 

I was lazy, and didn’t run yesterday so I knew that I needed to put in a good run today….fortunately I did ;o).

It was a cool morning when I left the house to meet up with Mark.  It’s about .9 mile of a mile to Quacks (meeting point), and I took my time.  Then we headed off for 8/1 miles of faster pace stuff.  Started out fast then steady for the next 3 ½ miles.  After that I decided to see what I had in the tank.  Fortunately my legs responded well.  They started to fade just a touch at the end, but I was pleased with 4 MGP miles.  Splits were as follows: 7:15, 7:17, 7:24, 7:19, 6:48, 6:47, 6:52, & 6:58.  Average pace was 7:05.  It was a run to warm the heart that’s for sure!

Easy does it!

Great morning for a run.  Cool, but not breezy.  Average pace around 7:40s then 10 x 100 meter strides.

Nice & easy run this morning.

PROGRESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!

Decided to take one more outing to the track to see if I can get 8 x 800s done.  This time I was able to do it.  Splits were 3:01, 3:01, 3:01, 2:58, 2:58, 3:00, 3:07 (ahhhh) & 2:52.   

 I was pleased to get this one under my belt.  The splits weren't earth shattering, but I was on my own, and I was able to remind myself that I can turn it on when I have to! 

Easy does it!

Today was one of those character building days!

After picking up the mileage this week, my legs really felt it this morning.  It was just as well I knew I had to go and meet my friend Mark as I otherwise I'd have been tempted to back to bed ;o).

 I ran 1 mile to meet Mark, and then 8 miles with Mark.  Well to say I ran 8 miles with Mark is an overstatement as I was dropped at about mile 3 as I just couldn't pick up the pace, and in the end I started going backwards.  However, i didn't fall to pieces, and just pushed as hard as I could.  I wanted to stop, but told myself that I had to keep going, to keep pushing, as I didn't want Mark to have to wait a long time for me.  I was relieved to see the finishing point, and then all that remained was a the jog home!

Got to try my new shoes today.  They looks pretty snazzy, and felt pretty good too.  Just an easy run on a softer surface today.  Legs appreciated that as they were still pretty tired.  All that is left now is to have a solid 18 mile run on Saturday and I'll crack 50 miles!

Strange run today that ended up being solid rather than spectacular.  I ran from my house to the annex (about 3 miles), then ran with a group doing 12 miles for about 5 miles, then I kept heading north when they made the turn back towards the annex.  I ran on my own for several miles before bumping into a coworker with about 5 miles to go.  His route took him right past the house so I stuck with him until the end of the run.  I ended up with a 7:42 average, which is slower than I'd have liked, but given that there were so many solo miles, and the higher number of miles I've put in this week it was a solid performance!

Here are the splits: 8:05, 7:16, 7:48, 8:21, 8:05, 7:41, 7:39, 7:26, 7:48, 7:36, 7:38, 7:51, 7:42, 7:31, 7:32, 7:32, 7:24, 4:55 (7:30 pace for .65 mile).

Easy miles - 8:45 average pace.

Great run afterwork today.  1 1/2 mile warm up then 4 x 2,000 meters with 2 minutes rest between each repeat.  Started out slow, and then each one was progressively faster with the last one being a bit of a lung buster.  Long story short is that I was doing 2 x 1,000 meter loops and shortly after starting the second loop of the final 2,000 I was coming up on  a group of about 30 people doing a core class.  Their instructor told them to do one lap as fast as they could.  Luckily I was able to pass most folks within a short distance (20-30 yards), but there was one guy who tried to race me.  The race instinct must be back, as I found another gear and was able to pull away.  The last 200 yards were agony, the cool down was more of a stagger down, but I was pleased with the effort level today!

 Ok here are the splits: 7:55, 7:43, 7:34, 7:13 (as I said a bit of a lung buster).

Recovery run!

This run started well.  I headed to the track for some 800 repeats.  However, about 100 yards into the fourth one I felt a twinge in my right knee.  I stopped for a few moments, and tried to carry on, but it just didn't feel quite right so decided to jog home, and also to take Friday off.  Probably being overly cautious, but better safe than sorry.

GREAT RUN!  The old legs started to fade in the last few miles, but I didn't have a meltdown.  I just put my head down, and kept pushing forward.  

 I felt good when I started so I thought I'd see what i could do.  Probably my best long run for nearly 2 years.  Here are the splits: 7:41, 7:28, 7:30, 7:15, 7:19, 7:01, 7:00, 7:11, 6:59, 6:56, 7:11, 7:17, 7:14, 7:17, 7:15, 7:03.

 Average pace 7:13 ;o). 

Recovery run on the Hancock golf course trail.  Perfect weather.  Sunny, cool and a little breeze meant that the sun didn't make me hot.

Warm up then 8 x 800 meters at the track followed by a cool down home.  Here are the splits: 3:06, 2:57, 2:58, 2:57, 2:55, 2:58, 2:56, 2:55

 I wasn't able to pick it up as I'd hoped on the last one, but it was a solid run!