JohnK

11 miles total, first 7.5 easy then w/ spikes at track did some strides, a 400 in :82 starting slow and building the pace each 100m to finish hard, 1600 in 5:38, 200 jog, 200 in :39, 1.5 mile cool-down. Felt okay.

9 miles, easy except 1600m on track alternating 100m at ~MP/100m hard (total time 6:10).

7 miles total, first 3 as warm-up then 2 mile measured road course in 11:23 (5:47 + 5:36) and 2 miles cool-down. Ran the 2 mile pretty hard and was pleased. This was sort of a tune-up for a 5K race this Saturday. The course will be really fast the first 2 and then mostly uphill the final 1.1 so I'll want to get out fast but still have something left for that difficult last mile.

6 miles, easy expect several short pick-ups/strides. Felt good.

7 miles pretty easy. Felt fine, am looking forward to racing a 5K this Saturday although it will be cold! Possibly upper 20s at start time which is very unusual for April in Georgia. But I'd much prefer that to what we'll have in a couple months so I'm not complaining.

5 miles easy. Should be ready for a good race tomorrow a.m. Course looks fast the first 2 miles then tough uphill most of the last 1.1 so no time predictions.

Unseasonably cold this a.m. (upper 20s) and windy, but a beautiful morning. We were treated to a new course for this race and I knew the first mile would be fast, as it's mostly downhill with an elevation drop of at least 150 feet. Mile #2 is fairly level along the Oconee River. Mile #3 is rolling the first half mile and then there's major uphill for about 0.25 mile and a flat last few blocks. I was determined to race hard and go out fairly fast, and I was 5:36 at the mile and in 6th place. I moved into 5th at about 1.5 and hit 2 in 11:29. Since shortly after the start I had been eyeing the lead masters runner, who was :10 up on me at the mile -- think I cut his lead by only about :02 by 2 miles. It was into a tough headwind as we began mile #3 and I continued closing just a little on the lead master. We made a sharp left at about 2.5 to begin the climb and I pushed hard to pull even with the other master then really poured it on for the next :30 or so to get away from him. I also passed another guy so moved into 3rd. Over the last flat section I briefly pulled up to the guy in 2nd place but I was spent and could not respond when he started a kick. So it was 3rd OA/1st master in 18:17. Not fast, but very satisfying because I really put out a strong effort. (3 warm-up, 6 cool-down.)

11 miles easy. A little fatigue from yesterday but not bad.

7 miles easy. Was up most of last night (only 2.5 hour of sleep) working on a grant application, so while I needed a morning run to get me going today I didn't want much. Actually felt better toward the end of this easy 7 miler.

7 miles easy. Decided to take another really easy day because I'm still dragging after almost no sleep Sunday night and stress from finishing a grant application. Plus I'm scheduled to do a track workout tomorrow a.m. (although there may be thunderstorms here by then, but I hope not).

13 miles total, first 2 as warm-up then 4 x 1200m and 3 x 1600m on track, all with 400m jog recoveries (about 2:05 each). This is the fourth time I've done this workout this year (also Feb. 2, Feb. 16, Mar. 24) and I cut down the recovery distance/time from 600m/~3:00 on 2/2 to 500m/~2:30 on 2/16 to again 500m/~2:30 on 3/24 (although closer to 3:00 on the last few) and then today I was down to 400m/~2:05. Plus it was raining (very lightly) and windy this a.m., dark at first, so not ideal. I went 4:26, 4:25, 4:23, 4:21, 5:59, 5:58, 5:57. Wasn't feeling really motivated although I didn't give up, I made it though the workout okay. I compared total time for the 9600m of hard running covered in each of the four workouts and it comes to 35:44 on 2/2, 35:26 on 2/16, 35:11 on 3/24 and 35:29 today.

So given that today I had the shortest recovery I'm not unhappy, although it wasn't the really solid workout I'd have like to give me a confidence boost. I don't think today's results indicate a sub-37:00 10,000m is all that likely next Saturday (4/20), but if I have a great evening it's a slim possibility. More likely is something in the 37:20-37:40 range but I really must keep it under 37:30, and actually 37:17 (6:00/mile pace) or better would make me quite happy. So we shall see -- I'll probably go out at ~89 per 400 and try to maintain that as long as possible and who knows. A pretty good workout today, under the conditions.

7 miles mostly easy but with several good 1:00 build-ups and one hard quarter mile. Felt pretty good, not too fatigued from yesterday's workout.

10 miles total, first 6 mostly easy with a few 1:00 build-ups and strides then 2 mile road course in 11:19 (5:45 + 5:36) and 2 miles cool-down. Pleased with the 2 miler, even though it has ~75' net elevation loss (mostly in 2nd mile). One week from tonight is my big 10,000m effort and I'm feeling good. Need to start getting more sleep though, that's always a problem. If I could just get an extra 30 minutes (or more!) a night this next week I feel pretty sure it would help.

11 miles, mostly easy but threw in several build-ups and a few strides.

It may not have been especially wise to run this race, given that (a) I have a goal 10K on the track this coming Friday evening and (b) I only decided to run it last night and was not ideally rested as I'd gone 10 with a hard 2 miles on Friday and 11 with pick-ups yesterday. It was the prospect of picking up $100 that swayed me to race. There was a 1st prize award of $100 and also $75 for 2nd and $50 for 3rd. Last year's winning time was only 18:48 and I felt sure I could go faster, although the course is really tough and it was really windy today and I didn't know who would turn up this year. As it turned out, a 2:24 marathoner from Eatonton (GA) was on hand and I spotted him warming up, so I knew even before we started that he'd win handily. And then it became clear fairly early that I wouldn't be able to get 2nd or even 3rd, as I was only in 8th at the mile (5:44). My legs felt heavy but I decided to keep working during the tougher 2nd mile and I passed three competitors to hit 2 miles in 11:49. About 90% of the entrants were Univ. of Georgia students, as this was a sorority-organized benefit event for arthritis research, and I did kind of enjoy passing these 20-somethings. (I may not look quite 47, but I'm sure most college kids peg me for someone of their parents' vintage.) A really long, tough uphill in mile #3 caused me to bag it a little, as I was feeling bad and was clearly out of the money. But I didn't let anyone get by me either. My finish time of 18:48 matched last year's winning mark, but was only good for 5th today. (1st 16:19, 2nd 17:19, 3rd 17:20, 4th 17:54 -- so I was pretty much in no-man's land the last mile.) Only after the race did I learn that the prize money was a new offering this year, which would explain why there was better competition. Oh well, I'm not really in this for the money!

5 miles easy. Feel fine after the 90% effort in yesterday's 5K. Will take it light and easy leading up to Friday evening's 10,000m with the exception of 6 x 300m tomorrow a.m.

8  miles total, first 2 as warm-up with a few strides, etc., then 6 x 300m on track in 58, 58, 57, 56, 55, 56 all with very easy 500m (~3:00) recovery jogs then 3+ mile cool-down. Felt good, pretty smooth and not killing myself although I was running hard. (I did this workout on the advice of a friend who knows I'm racing 10,000m this Friday evening so I sure hope he's right that this is what I needed!)

4 miles mostly easy. Also stretched very thoroughly after running (as I have the two previous days -- makes me realize I don't stretch nearly enough on a regular basis). Am feeling good and getting pretty excited about racing Friday evening. Trying to eat extra carefully this week also.

4 miles easy, with two :60 build-ups. Felt good, can tell I'm better rested than usual, so with 36 hours until the race I should be ready to give a good effort tomorrow night. Confidence wavering, but in any case I'm looking forward to it.

Ran a 37:13 which was okay although I didn't quite get my goal of sub-37:00. 5:53, 11:48, 17:44, 23:44, 29:46, 35:48 = 5:53, 5:55, 5:56, 6:00, 6:02, 6:02 + :85. I'm not real pleased that I didn't push it harder at the end, but I have a history of fading badly on the track and this wasn't nearly as bad as usual. There were only 9 competitors in the 10K in the entire meet so all of us (6 men, 3 women) ran together. This was fine with me, although it meant swinging out to pass fairly often (especially as the final finisher ran 1:10, so I passed her nearly every-other-lap). 1st and 2nd were 35:30 and 35:39, and had I had someone to run with I believe I'd have been a little faster. Still it was a good effort and I'm not unhappy, although getting under 37:00 would have been nice.

3 miles easy a.m., 2.25 warm-up before the evening race, 3.5 cool-down after.

7 miles easy. Fatigued from last night's race but not feeling too bad.

12 miles mostly easy although I picked up the pace now and then and felt strong.

9 miles easy, felt fine.

11 mile fartlek, going easy the first 3 (with a few pick-ups) then 2 x :30, 2 x 1:00, 2 x 1:30, 2 x 2:00 and back down, then to UGA track and 1600 in 5:37 (84, 84, 85, 84) and 3 miles cool-down.

8 miles, first mile easy then mile #2 in ~6:20, next 3 miles mostly easy with a few pick-ups, 1600 on track in 6:02 starting each lap relaxed and gradually increaing the pace to about mile race pace between 250-300m then easy the last 100m; final 2 miles easy.

8 miles, first 1.25 easy then mile in ~6:10, rest of run mostly easy except 8 x 100m strides and a hard downhill 400m. Felt good.

12 miles, first 3 easy with strides then 2 x 2 miles (road course) in 11:28 and 11:33 with 3 miles easy inbetween and 2 miles cool-down. Had planned to run 2 x 3200 on UGA track but it was occupied by a hoard of ROTC folks doing a pre-dawn workout so I opted for the roads. Wasn't feeling very well rested today so I'm pleased I made a good effort and didn't bag it on the second 2 mile.

10 miles easy. Felt good, would have done more but I'm planning on 14-17 tomorrow so this was enough. Beautiful, cool spring mornings like today make me want to keep going.

14 miles, first 7 easy (51:30) then next 4 in 26:00 (~:10/mile faster than MP) and last 3 easy.

8  miles, easy except 8 x 100m strides on track. Felt good.