dedication, perseverance, self-discipline

I ran approximately 9 miles this morning in 1:10:43, starting off with 2.5 miles barefoot, and then running the remainder of the run with shoes on.  I ran 1 of the barefoot miles on the track because sharp rubber doesn't hurt as much as a sharp rock (although I did step on one on the way to the track... it hurt).  I also feel like the track provides a good amount of friction, so I feel like it still helps toughen up my feet despite not being as painful.

I ran 9 miles this morning in about 1:14:00.  The first 6.5 miles was with Kimia on the bike with the kids.  The last 2.5 miles was on my own.  The first 2 miles of the run was barefoot, while I wore shoes for the rest of it.  Shortly before I stopped to put on my shoes I took a bad step and smacked my right heel on the concrete.  It hurt for a while afterwards, but feels better now.

Anita and Shayon enjoyed finding the little frogs next to the path while we were out.  I caught one so they could get a closer look.  The frogs looked like yummy bird food because of how small they were.

I ran 9.5 miles today, running 1.5 miles to school in the morning, 1.5 miles home in the afternoon, and 6.5 miles pushing Shayon in the running stroller in the evening.  My evening run was finished in just under 52 minutes.  I broke my day up this way because I was feeling tired today, and I wanted to take things easier without sacrificing the mileage.  I also got a cut on my right foot on the big toe, so I didn't run barefoot today.  I found out later in the evening that some junk had gotten into the cut making it hurt worse.  I am going to back off on the. barefoot stuff for a few days until the cut heals.

I ran 9 miles this afternoon in 1:13:19.  I felt sluggish again so I just ran super slow and didn't bother to worry about the pace.  I suspect feeling this way has something to do with building up mileage again.  I have been waking up a lot during the night lately as well, and I also wonder if I am not getting the rest I need despite getting plenty of sleep.

I ran 9 miles this morning in 1:12:41.  I felt less tired than yesterday despite starting this run only 12 hours after finishing my run yesterday evening.  I threw in a short pick up at the end of the run just to get my legs moving.

Sasha recommended that I run a 5000 meter time trial to gauge fitness.  I was planning on doing a 2 mile tempo today at the end of 10 miles, and I decided that today was as good a day as any to run the time trial.

I warmed up by running to the indoor track (a little over 1.5 miles) after I arrived at the track I ran one lap to finish my warm-up and to find the 5000 meter start line.  The track is 300 meters, so it is pretty fast despite being indoors.  My plan was to start off more slowly and to speed up over time, finishing the last 200 meters all out.  Goal splits were broken up into 4 lap segments with the plan to run 63 seconds per lap for the first 1400 meters (4 laps plus the 200 to the finish line), followed by 62's, 61's, and 60's for the last 12 laps (The last lap would obviously not be a 60, but I still grouped it that way).  This would give me a total time of 17:06 if I did not speed up the last 200.

Splits were as follows:

0:41 - first 200 m, 1 second faster than planned.

1:06 - having a hard time judging effort, slowed down a lot.

1:03 - finally on goal pace.  Feels a lot harder than I though 5:37-38 pace should feel.

1:02 - effort about the same.

1:01 - effort still about the same.  Trying to decide if I should try and hit the pace goals anymore or if I should just stay at the effort I am already at.

1:02 - I backed off just a tiny bit to try and stay on goal pace.

1:01 - running just a tiny bit faster just feels more natural.

1:01 - relaxing into the pace more.

1:01 - hit the 2400 meter mark in 8:17.

1:00 - didn't plan on speeding up, but it happened so I didn't worry about it.

1:00 - worrying that I may struggle the last few laps.  Breathing is fairly hard.

0:59 - didn't want to go sub 5:20 pace quite yet.

1:01 - relaxed a little partly to make up for the previous lap and partly because I zoned out and lost concentration.

0:59 - feeling like I am working harder now.

1:00 - effort about the same.  Not sure if I actually slowed down or if splits were both 59.xx for the last two laps.

0:59 - feeling like I am struggling just a little.  My struggles feel mostly aerobic.

0:52 - I made it to 4800 meters in 16:15 (7:58 for the last 2400).  Last 200 meters in 0:33.

Total time:  16:48

I was happy with the last 200 as I was not running all out until the last 75 meters or so.  I imagine that I could have closed in 0:32 if I was trying harder.  The bad part of this whole deal is that I did not feel like I could run much faster than 59-60 seconds per lap, which would still only give me a 16:31 if I averaged that pace throughout.  I felt like aerobically I was lacking and it was preventing me from taking advantage of my potential.  I guess that is a good thing because it is a problem that is easily fixed by simply running more.  I could also feel my form breaking down just a little during the last couple laps.  This also felt aerobic, but could have been the result of muscle fatigue as well.

I plan on running a bit more later in the morning as I am going to run some errands (literally) with Kimia and the kids.

I ended up running about 3.5 miles more (30 minutes) as I ran with Kimia and the kids to the store to pick up some small things for Shayon's birthday, followed by running home using a slightly longer route so that I could end up with 10 miles total for the day.