dedication, perseverance, self-discipline

Just an easy run this morning.  There is still some lingering soreness/muscle fatigue in my calves that hasn't gone away yet.  During the run I actually felt pretty good, but on occasion my calves would remind me that I ran a race on Saturday.  Total time of 1:14:06 for 10 miles.

I have also been thinking a bit more about my race from Saturday.  I actually felt very positively about the whole experience despite being mad at myself about how I finished the last quarter or so which didn't allow me the chance to pull out a win.  After some thought I think the real reason why I feel so good about things is because this is the first time since I switched to a forefoot strike while running that I feel I have been able to run a complete effort in a race longer than a 10k.  I ran very well at the Provo City Half last year, but I was only able to make it through 7 miles before I started slowing (despite having a mild tailwind from about 7.5 to 12 miles).  At the Utah Valley Half I made it through about 5.5 miles before I started to struggle.  However, on Saturday I was able to maintain pace without feeling like I was starting to fade throughout the entire race.  This may have been aided by the slow start, but it still reflects 11+ miles of hard, fast running without fading.

Easy run on the way to school this morning.  Total time of 1:03:10 for 8.6 miles.  The last bit of lingering fatigue/soreness in my calves is finally going away.  I may do some strides on the way home.

PM:  I ran a little bit at school on the anti-gravity treadmill as a demonstration for some people interested in a partnership with our lab at UNLV, and then I ran 5.8 miles on the way home before I met Kimia, who had been grocery shopping and who picked me up after finishing.  I did run 6 sprints on the way home averaging about 11 seconds for each one.

I ran to school today, and after getting to school I ran a hard 400 to get a feel for what type of effort it would take to run one in the low 60's after running for almost 9 miles.  I started off pretty hard, and I hit the 200 mark in 29-30 seconds.  I then let up a bit the last 200, slowing a lot just before the line, and I finished with a 61.  So, I was right about where I wanted to be, and the effort did not feel too hard.  I actually considered taking it to 600 near the end, but decided against it.  I then ran a slow lap on the track and then ran to the lab to finish the run.  I will call the total distance 9.7 miles.  Time was probably in the 1:12-1:13 range.

PM: I ran home from school.  8.6 miles in 57:11.  I ran a 4.2 mile tempo on the way home in 23:38 (5:37 average).  Considering the effort the tempo was really slow.  I ran the last mile of the tempo in what felt like a 5:15 effort and I ran that mile in 5:30.  There was a little wind, but it was honestly negligible as far as time was concerned.  Maybe 5-10 seconds total for the entire tempo.  I was confused enough about the slow time that I even plugged the course I ran for the tempo into the course tool, and the distance came out exactly as long as I thought it was.  I think that I was just tired after being at school all day, plus running a hard 400 this morning (even though it was just 1 x 400) in addition to running strides on the way home from school yesterday.  It was all little stuff, but it adds up.

I felt pretty tired today, but surprisingly no so bad while I was running.  I ran to school, 8.6 miles in 1:00:54.  My calf was feeling tight before I started, but after I had been running a mile or so it loosened up and felt fine.

I ran 10 miles this morning.  I was still feeling a little tired when I first got up this morning, so instead of taking Anita in the running stroller, I waited for Kimia to get home from her walk and I ran alone.  I wasn't trying to go fast at all, but I ended up finishing the run in 1:11:50ish.

Today's run was a little odd in terms of it being a long run, but I think I got a decent workout in so I am not upset at all.  This past week had me pretty tired by the end of it, and despite going to bed on time I stayed in bed later than normal and I got up at 8:00 this morning.  Because of that I had less time to run before Kimia went to a stake women's conference.  So, I ran 8.25 miles with the plan to finish that and then take Anita in the running stroller for the remainder of the run.  I ran 8.25 miles in 48:55 (5:55 average), running 5.75 miles as a tempo in 31:35 (approximately) running half of the tempo on a rolling uphill, and then the second half on a rolling downhill.  During the downhill section I started chasing a guy on a bike.  I would gain on him every time the grade was flat or uphill, but then he would gain on me when it was downhill.  I split a half mile in 2:27 while chasing him, and in the next half mile he turned off of the trail, so my fun ended.

After I got home to pick up Anita I got a bad cramp in my right calf.  I think it is because my calf has still not recovered fully from either the issues it was having at the beginning of the month, or the half marathon last Saturday.  I think running hard downhill is really what did me in, I need to remember not to do that any more.  Anyhow, I decided to massage it out before finishing the run with Anita, and while I was doing that Anita fell asleep.  So, I ended up letting Anita sleep, and I waited for Kimia to get home from the women's conference before I finished the run.

My calf was still sore and hurt some when I left again (even though I had been at home for about 3.5 hours) so I decided against running a full 20 today.  I ended up running out 4 miles and coming back, adding a detour to the track near the end.  I ran another half mile or so fast while running uphill on the way out.  I didn't measure or time it, but I got going pretty quick.  At the end of the run I wanted to see what kind of quarter speed I had left after 16+ miles, so I ran a quarter on the track finishing in 1:04.  There was some wind on the track, but not enough to slow me down by more than a second or so (I couldn't feel the tail wind when I had it, so the head wind must have not been too strong either).  I finished what I will call 8.85 miles in 1:02:38 (1:51:33 total for 17.1 miles).

My calf is still bugging me as I write this.  It doesn't feel like I hurt it at all, it just feels like it is sore after a hard race or workout.  I probably should have taken it easier than I did during the middle of last week since I had run a half the previous Saturday.  Hopefully the slightly easier than normal Saturday run and Sunday off will let it recover so that I can keep up with my training next week.