dedication, perseverance, self-discipline

Easy run today.  My legs took most of the run just to feel like they were awake.  I did a few strides during the run just to try and wake myself up a bit.  Total time of 1:15:57 for 10 miles.

I didn't run to school today because of the holiday yesterday (I had no food or clothes there so I couldn't run).  Instead, I drove to school and then ran there.  I ran about 4.5 miles as a warm up, and then went over to the track.  I got lucky today, as there was only minimal wind (it helps that the track is built to minimize the wind).  I ran intervals of 2400, 1600, and 800m with 800 recovery between intervals.  I kept the first interval fairly relaxed and finished it in 7:52, recovery was about 3:40, followed by the 1600 in 5:04.  Again, recovery was about 3:40, but I stopped to fix my shoelaces so it was really more like 4:30ish.  I ran the last interval all out in 2:12 with 200 splits of 31, 33, 34, 34.  I was fairly pleased with the 800, but I was hoping to break 2:10.  I do realize that I had just run two and a half miles of intervals and I kept the recovery brisk, so I guess I really can't expect too much (especially seeing that I only have an 800 pr of 2:07).  After finishing the intervals I ran one last mile on the track before running back to the lab where I work to finish up 10 miles for the day.

PM:  I didn't get enough sleep last night, and this mornings workout took more out of me than I thought it would, so I scrapped the run I had planned for the evening. 

I ran over to the track with Anita this morning, as Kimia had gone over there to do a little exercise of her own, and I ran a tiny bit more at the track.  After that, I walked home with Kimia, and then ran to school.  I ran to school faster than I normally do, as I was feeling pretty fluid and smooth as I ran this morning, so it was comfortable to run a little faster.  I finished the 8.6 mile run to school in 1:01:03.

PM:  I ran home from school.  I felt pretty good, and I cruised through the run fairly quickly.  8.6 miles in 1:00:32.  I got home just in time to listen over the phone as my brother opened up his mission call.  He will be going to Argentina on July, 6th.

I ran to school again this morning.  8.6 miles in 1:02:53.  I kept the pace easy, but I plan on doing some speed work on the way home.  Either 2 x 3 miles or a single 6 mile tempo.  Hopefully the wind doesn't pick up this evening.  The wind has been pretty mild this week, so I hope it stays that way this evening as well.

PM:  I ran home from school.  I decided to run 2 x 3 miles hard on the way home because it was windy, and I was hoping for better wind if I had a break before starting the second three miles (ended up being true).  First 3 miles in 16:16 with a mild headwind for the first mile, and then a stronger wind for the last 2 miles (not terrible wind, but still not easy).  Second 3 miles in 16:03.  The second 3 mile section was the same section I ran 3 miles hard at on Saturday.  I had a stronger wind for the first 1:05 (again, same as Saturday) and then had a lighter headwind for the rest of it.  I could have run the second 3 miles faster, but I didn't push the first mile very hard because my legs were feeling tired, but I sped up the last 2 miles.  Total time for 8.6 miles was 51:51.

I ran 10 miles this morning in 1:18:26.  Strong winds and uphill on the way out, so I only made it to my halfway mark in 41:21, but with downhill and the wind at my back I finished the second half in 37:05.  My legs were feeling pretty tired after yesterday's workout, so I was glad that I was running easy and didn't need to fight against the wind.

I was shooting some high speed video for a project I was doing for class at UNLV, so I ended up running more on the treadmill at school.  I will call it a mile, but I am not exactly sure how far it was (probably longer than a mile) as I was stopping and starting repeatedly.

My long run today put the cap on what for me was a fairly brutal week running wise.  I normally am not accustomed to running a lot of speed work, but on Tuesday I ran an impromptu speed session (2400,1600,800), and I still wanted to run some longer intervals prior to the long run so I ended up running 2 x 3 miles hard on Thursday evening (a workout which left me feeling just a little sore the next morning).  All put together with the long run, and the fact that I ran 66 miles from Wed until Sat, this week wore me out.  I am definitely ready for no running tomorrow.

My original plan was to run a 4 lap tempo at Sunset park (approx. 10.8 miles).  However, the wind was every bit as bad as yesterday, and knowing that I was already feeling tired, I didn't want to have to fight the wind at the park.  Instead, I decided to run 20 miles out and back on the Pittman wash and up St. Rose Parkway like I did 2 weeks ago.  I am fairly certain that it was 10 miles, but I don't have real accurate mile markers along the route, so I will just estimate 5 mile markers for the sake of guessing.

The first 5 miles was mostly uphill with a strong cross wind that slowed me down a fair amount (34:44) followed by 5 miles that was also mostly uphill, but with cross wind (about a mile) tail wind (another mile or so) and headwind (the last 3 miles).  I turned around at 1:10:00 (35:16 second 5 miles) and immediately felt a difference that was night and day from what I had been feeling as I went from having a strong headwind to having a strong tailwind instead.  I started my tempo when I turned around, and based on some marks on the trail I was on it appeared that for the first few miles I was averaging mid 5:20's.  Once I hit the section where I had tailwind on the way out I hit the corresponding headwind on the way back, and it was nasty.  I was just glad that I only had to endure it for a little while (approx. 5:50 on the way back vs. approx. 6:50 for this section on the way out).  After I made it through the section with the headwind I had a really hard time picking the pace back up, as I was dealing with cross winds for what seemed like the majority of the rest of the run.  I hit my 15 mile mark in 1:38:05 (28:05 for 5 miles) and ran the next mile in 5:40 as I fought the cross wind.  I don't feel like I sped up at all over the next 2 miles, and I didn't want to finish the last 5 miles slower than the previous 5 miles.  So, just before my approximate 2 mile mark from my house I started ramping up the effort (extra downhill did help some) and I ran the last "2 mile" stretch in 10:37 to finish my run with a total time of 2:05:43 (27:38 for the last 5 miles).

So, 55:43 for the last 10 miles, with an average of 5:34 per mile.  I am not super happy about the pace per mile for the run, but considering how I was feeling prior to the run I am just happy to get this workout out of the way.  I don't think the pace is really all that important anyhow, as I mainly just wanted to get some work in that was hard enough to give myself a stimulus to help in my marathon prep.