dedication, perseverance, self-discipline

I just ran easy today.  Nothing special happened.  I did a few pick-ups during the run as well just to shake out my legs a bit.

I was going to run a free 800m race next Tuesday, but I realized that I have a Stake training meeting that I need to be at that same night.  Instead I decided to run a solo 800m time trial today.  I went out to the track to run the time trial, and when I got there I found out that the track had been torn up as a new one is being installed soon.

So, luck was obviously not on my side, but I figured that I could run a half mile time trial out on the Pittman wash instead.  I ended up running the time trial just over 5 miles into the run, running a few strides before starting.  Luck was still not on my side, as I had a solid headwind that I had to deal with for the entire half mile.  It evened things out a bit seeing that there was a net downhill during this section of the trail, but I still think that the wind had a net slowing effect on the performance vs what I would have run on the track.  I was also running a half mile on a trail vs. 800m on the track.  800m is actually about 5m shorter than a half mile and is measured 8 inches from the inside rail, meaning that if you run right on the rail the distance is actually shorter than 800m (at least for the inside leg).

Anyhow, I started the time trial and struggled with the fact that I was not getting consistent pace feedback.  I tried to keep the effort hard to make up for the lack of pace feedback, but the wind was making things difficult for me.  I finished somewhere in the high 2:09 to mid 2:10 range.  So, obviously not what I would have liked to run, but conditions were not the best.

Total time for the run was 1:16:24 

I ran an easy 10 miles this morning in 1:16:27.  During the middle of the run I ran a hard 300m in a section where a start, 200m and 300m marks are randomly painted on the trail I run on.  I just wanted to get a better feel for the effort that it will take for me to run a 45 second 300m because I will be running 300m repeats tomorrow.

PM:  I ran 5 miles this evening in 37:24.  I felt pretty good considering that it was the second run of the day for me.  I guess that is to be expected since I only ran 60 miles last week, and haven't run any doubles yet this week until today. 

I went to UNLV and ran a track workout this morning since the track by my house is torn up.  The goal was to run 4-6 x 300m repeats in about 45 seconds with 300m recovery.  I ran a 3 mile warm-up at a fairly brisk pace (20:23 for 3 miles), and then changed into my track flats, ran an extra half mile with some strides, and started the workout.  

There was a good amount of wind this morning, so I decided to cut out the homestretch when the wind would be the worst.  The wind still slowed me down on the corners, but it sped me up on the backstretch so I think it ended up being about even.  The first repeat was a 45.1 and it felt easy.  I even took my foot off the gas a little during the last few meters so as not to run too fast.  However, things got progressively harder from there, as the next three repeats were 46.1, 46.3, and 45.4.  I should note that it is hard to hit the stop button on my watch, so I probably cost myself a few tenths of a second on each repeat in slowing and trying to hit the stop button.  After the fourth repeat I decided to keep going and try to run 6 repeats, but I gave myself and extra minute or so to rest.  I ran the fifth repeat in 46.6 and I felt spent.  I think that some of the slow-down was psychological, but I did not feel good so I decided to shut it down after this repeat.  I ran a cool-down on the track, and while running I decided that I didn't want to end my workout on a bad note.  So, after running just under 1.75 miles for recovery I ran one last 300m repeat, finishing in 44.9.  This repeat also felt easy, similar to the first.  It was interesting to compare the effort it took to run fast when fatigued, yet be able to run as fast or faster just a few minutes later after resting a bit.

After finishing, I ran barefoot on the grass for a little while, and I wanted to get some water so I ended up running over to the lab and finishing on the treadmill after getting a drink.  Total of 15 miles.

I ran 10 miles this morning in 1:09:xx.  I kept the pace a little quicker than normal because I wanted to hurry and get to work.  I felt relaxed, so that was good.

PM:  I ran a half mile over to the baseball fields and then ran barefoot on the grass.  While I was running some sprinklers turned on, soaking my shoes, so I just ran home barefoot as well.  Total time of 38:15, which I will call 5 miles. 

The workout I did not Thursday was pretty tough, and I didn't feel like getting up early this morning, so I decided on Friday to just run a solid pace for 20 miles without doing any speed work.  I ran out 10 miles on the Pittman wash, and up St. Rose Pkwy in 1:10:24 (5 mile splits of 35:45, 34:40).  I then turned around and ran 10 miles back home to finish with a total time of 2:18:05 for 20 miles (5 mile splits of 33:45, 33:55 during the second half).