Buttsweat Towel© season has begun

48F, NNE 20-29 mph.  6:53 AP.  Managed to run as the cold front was arriving again.  No run yesterday, woke up too late and it was impossible to fit in after that.  Today I ran a 12 w/ 6 @ MP, which is only 60-65% of what I had originally intended, but ok for today.  I ran pretty well, given the last 2 weeks.  The first 6 were warmup, but still at a pretty brisk pace, given that they were mostly headwind miles.  Then I turned around and the legs were antsy to run.  Last 6 miles went at 6:23 AP (6:21, 6:33, 6:27, 6:33, 6:27, 5:56).  Clearly not MP in this lifetime, but I had the big tailwind, rested legs, and a shortened workout so why not crank it down a bit more?  Anaerobic sprint the last couple tenths of a mile to snag a sub-6 at the end.

This next week might be more hit or miss with running as Danielle has to go out of town and I'll be single dad for a few days.  I'll just have to be a bit more creative.

38F, 8:30 AP.

Had the kids by myself, so couldn't run in the AM.  This run was on a TM at the gym at work.  Limited to 30 min (was all I could afford between work stuff) but I guess it's slightly better than nothing.  Last mile was pretty fast, I guess.

Same routine tomorrow, but schedule looks better so maybe an hour on the TM, and will push my workout to Thursday this week when I can run outside.

TM at work again.  I probably could've squeezed in a couple more, but the urge to get off the TM was too much to overcome.

29F, NNE 15-22 mph.  7:30 AP.  The plan was to do 8 x 0.5 mile @ 10k, 60 sec recoveries.  I could tell again on the warmup it was going to be bad.  I almost didn't attempt the workout but after the turnaround decided to give it a try and made it through half of it.  6-minute pace was a sprint today; complete opposite from Sunday, when I would almost find myself accidentally running that pace at times.  Weird, bc I should've been ready to go for this one.  Just can't seem to get going on this training cycle.

40F, 7:05 AP.  No running the last couple days, because I suck.

Today was going to be just 20 easy, but I was feeling peppy from all my laziness and sloth so when I hit the turnaround, I picked it up to MP.  It started feeling bad just before 5 miles in, so I told myself I could stop if I could just make it to 8.  And so I pushed, made it, and cooled down the last 2.

10 easy/medium - 7:21 AP

8 @ MP - 6:38 AP

2 cooldown, ~7:30 pace.

Consdiering I've been averaging 40-something miles/week over the last 10 months, with no long runs, and wearing mushy kinvaras, this was ok.  With only 8 or 9 good weeks of training until Boston, hopefully I can cram in some more distance work like this.  Right now, I'm probably barely in sub-3 shape.  Having just run a 1:22, I know I have the speed for sub 2:55, but I haven't been much of a marathoner this past 10 months.  Might be too little too late, even if I can get in everything I want.  Time will tell.

58F, wet fog.  9:19 AP.  Dropped a sub-9 in the last mile, no big deal.

AM: 34F, 8 @ 8:08 AP.  Dropped a sub-8 on the last mile, no big deal.

PM: got caught up at work and snuck downstairs for 4 easy on the TM this afternoon.  Surprising number of people in there for 2:30pm, so I didn't feel too truant.

33F, 7:47 AP.  Decided on one more easy day since the 20 w/8 hit me harder than I'd planned.  Tomorrow I'll retry the workout fail from a week ago.  

35F.  Set out to do 8 x 800m @ 10k, 200m active recoveries.  For 10k pace, I targeted 2:58-3:00.  Ended up doing 7 of the reps, averaging 2:58.6, (2:57, 3:00, 2:58, 2:57, 2:58, 3:00, 2:59) so right in the sweet spot.  Wasn't feeling too great; I could have emptied the tank and done #8, but that's not the point...the effort was good today.  The days of being on my A-game for every workout are probably over for the next 8  weeks...time to suffer a bit more!

36F, 7:38 AP.  8 easy in longview, TX (visiting in-laws for the weekend).

45F, 6:49 AP.  Not exactly sure what to call this one; it was supposed to be 17 @ steady state, but I was feeling good and a lot of it was MP effort.  I ran from Longview HS to White Oak, and it was a good, hilly route, with a couple of good Heartbreak simulators on the way back.  The last half-mile climbs about 100 ft, and I kept it under 7, though I almost puked at the top.  Definitely a good training run for a marathon, and as a bonus, I averaged the exact pace I ran @ Boston last year.

6:44, 7:06, 7:02, 6:59, 6:51, 6:46, 6:48, 7:02, 6:45, 6:38, 6:37, 6:54, 6:48, 6:35, 6:43, 6:40, 6:55.

Splits jumped around a lot because of the hills, but it's exactly what I needed since I've been running on the flattened creek trail at home.

62F, foggy.  5 @ 8:44 AP.  Faster than last Monday's recovery...maybe I'll be ready for a workout on Wednesday this week.

Hit the gym TMs at work in the afternoon for 30 min easy.  My right calf started feeling sore on this run.  Just feels like soreness but weird that it is only on one side.  Guess we'll see how it feels in the morning...

62F, 7:55 AP.  I can still feel my calf, but it's better; probably just a little microstrain from Sunday's effort.  Acute injuries never worry me too much...can usually run right through them.

Don't know if the legs will quite be ready for LT pace tomorrow, but will probably give it a whirl.

58F, heavy fog.  Decided to go to the track for a 6 x 1600 @ LT, 400m active recoveries.  After my warmup, I shucked my shirt and it seemed to help.  It went pretty well today; Jake gave me a good reminder yesterday to go by effort.  I looked at a couple pace calculators that both put LT at 6:07/1600m, but I eased into it, knowing the legs are adjusting to higher mileage than they're used to.

Average rep was 6:09 (6:14, 6:11, 6:09, 6:07, 6:07, 6:04).

By feeling out the proper pace for the day, I was able to complete the workout without emptying the tank.  Definitely a success today.

63F, 8:46 AP.

44F, 7:31 AP.  Legs had some life today, so I did some sprints on the way back.  Last mile ended up pretty close to GMP.  Also, I hooted at an owl on the way back, and he then hooted at me.  This is the 3rd time we've hooted back and forth.

62F, 100%, foggy.  7:22 AP.  18 in the early morning at a medium pace, picking it up slowly to finish with a GMP mile.  I think I re-aggravated my right calf on Friday doing those sprints, and I could feel it for most of this run but it wasn't too bad.  I have no plans to run fast for a few days anyway.  Saw an armadillo today, the national small mammal of Texas.

I tried to run this morning, but my right calf is jacked up.  It's tender and seems swollen too.  Probably going to be at least a few days off for this one, if not more.

Tested out the calf today on the treadmills at the gym at work.  I am using my get-out-of-jail-free card (heavy doses of vitamin I) but could not feel any discomfort.  I kept increasing the pace to test it at different speeds, too.  Ended up with about 3 miles at GMP or better by the time the TM shut down at the 1-hour mark.  Still going to use a bit of discretion this next week or so, though.  Gotta get to the starting line before I can get to the finish line...

30F, 7:38 AP.  Ran outside today, calf still feels good.  Going to start my ibuprofen-tapering program now.

43F, 7:36 AP.  Got in a few extra miles - Danielle is going out of town this weekend and I am single dad again, so maybe some 4-mile TM runs at the most on Saturday and Sunday.  Possible fast finish long run on Monday (22 w last 5 @ MP), we'll see...