JohnK

8 miles, first 3 easy then 5K on track in 19:40 and 2 miles cool-down. Ran the first 1600 of the 5K in 6:30 (a bit faster than MP), the 2nd 1600 in 6:15 and the 3rd in 6:10 (so those two at ~threshold pace).  I monitored the Achilles and it felt really good throughout. This was kind of a test, not too much stress on the leg and I thought running on the consistent surface of the track would be wise. It was mid/upper 70s and really humid so I didn't feel great out there even though it wasn't exactly a tough workout. Will take a very easy run tomorrow and continue thorough stretching and icing today.

10 miles easy (75:00). Felt good and the Achilles was just barely noticeable at times, not really painful. Will take it easy a couple more days and consider a mid-long run for Sunday.

8 miles easy (60 mins.). Felt good, Achilles okay but it was somewhat noticeable last night and when I got up this a.m., probably a result of not icing or stretching much yesterday. I just must keep doing this stuff -- it's a minor thing right now but if I'm not careful it could easily turn into something major.

11 miles mostly easy (1:22). Felt good, Achilles coming along -- no pain, just the slightest bit of tightness.

13 miles total with first 2 easy (15:00) then 15K on track at slightly faster than MP, 1:02.45 (= 6:44/mile or 2:56.30 marathon pace) then 1.75+ miles cool-down. The 15K went pretty well but I was suffering some due to heat & humidity. I believe I could have run 13.1 at this pace on my own today, in these conditions, but probably no further. And even that much would have been very, very tough. So I'm pretty well decided that I need to focus on 2:59 as my goal time for Chicago, just going out at ~6:50 pace and holding that all the way if possible. Fortunately the weather on Oct. 7th in Chicago will be much better than what I was running in this a.m. The Achilles was good today -- a little tight but not at all sore.

9 miles, mostly easy but picked it up some on two long uphills and also ran two hard quarter mile sections just to work on turnover a bit. Felt good, no significant fatigue from yesterday. Achilles still tight and just slightly noticeable while running.

12 miles pretty easy in 1:28. Felt okay but it was about 80 degrees and humid at 7 a.m. so not very pleasant. Supposed to top out at 100 this afternoon and tomorrow.

10 miles total with 2 x ~600m hill at threshold pace and 2 x ~400m flat in ~:75. Felt good. Achilles no problem, only aware of a little tightness at times but no pain. Still need to stretch more than usual and ice a couple times a day (which I neglected to do yesterday!).

Easy 8 miler (60:00) in unpleasant morning conditions (at least 80 degrees, humid). Really dragging this a.m. and didn't feel much better as the run progressed, I guess this hot spell is getting to me.

11 miles, first 2 easy then 8,000m threshold pace run on track in 31:20 (6:18 pace) followed by 4 miles cool-down with a few strides. All Ks of threshold run in range of 3:53-3:56. Felt pretty good, maintained pace well despite warm, humid conditions.

8 miles easy (60 mins.). Felt okay, ran a little later in the morning which made it less enjoyable due to heat. (5 days of 100+ degrees here; this will be day #6.) Hope to get in at least 15 tomorrow if I can get out early enough.

16 miles, total time 1:58. Easy pace (~7:30) the entire run except threw in one hilly mile in ~6:20 (mile 11). Felt good, Achilles noticeable just at first then fine and I was thankful for cloud cover this a.m. which kept the temperature from climbing so quickly. With luck it will be cooler next weekend and I'll get in a 20 miler.

8 miles easy on grass/trails. Felt good.

9 miles, easy except for a few strides. Decided on a second-straight easy day following long run Sunday and will go mid-long tomorrow with 2nd half at MP.

16 miles out-and-back course, mostly flat, in 1:52.30. Out in 59:15 (7:24 pace), back in 53:15 (6:39 pace). Pleased with the effort and felt good. It was low 70s with some humidity but not all that bad, at least compared to some recent mornings. Plus I set out at 5:30 a.m. so it was still completely dark the first 30 minutes. Achilles was fine but I'll ice it a couple times today for good measure.

9 miles easy (66:00). Felt okay, not overly fatigued from yesterday's run.

9 miles easy (67:00). Was really dragging this a.m., partly due to a very sore left shoulder. I strained it somehow early in the week, thought it was improving, but today it was much worse. I think that just made me feel uncomfortable overall, and combined with a somewhat warmer and more humid morning it was tough going. Sure hope this heatwave lets up, we've been over 100 for about 10 days straight. Even though I'm not running in that heat it is draining just being out in those conditions off and on during the day.

6 miles easy. Decided I needed a really short, easy run today and I'll hope to be up for a long run tomorrow.

20 miles in 2:23.15, fairly relaxed with all miles between 7:07 and 7:25 until miles 16-18 which were on the track at a little faster than MP (1600s in 6:36, 6:37, 6:34). Last 2 miles very easy in ~15:00. Very humid this a.m. and warm so I was definitely dehydrated by the end and had a little calf cramping in the final 2 miles. Only drank 8 ounces of Gatorade (at 8 miles) which was certainly not enough. I've got to get in the routine of taking in more fluids during long runs. Overall I'm pleased to have put in 20 in less than ideal conditions and I felt good during the 3 MP miles -- it didn't feel all that fast -- although I was really wasted after 18 and was certainly glad to stop at 20.

9 miles, mostly easy with a few pick-ups in the final 2 miles. Felt okay considering 20 miler yesterday.

9 miles, easy except several short, fast pick-ups. Felt okay, just really looking forward to some cooler weather but it's not coming any time soon.

13 miles, first 3 easy then 9 x 800 loop w/ ~800 jog recoveries plus a 1.5 mile cool-down after the 9th hard 800. The loop is about two-thirds uphill and then one-third downhill, not quite back to the starting point so there's more elevation gain than loss. I was aiming for sub-3:00 on the 800s but started in darkness (with just a few streetlights) and went 3:05, 3:05, 3:01, 2:59, 2:56, 2:57, 2:55, 2:56, 2:56. The first couple were slowed by the darkness, but I did work significantly harder after #4. I think it's a good loop because it takes some strength getting up the hill and then I can stretch out and "power" (yeah, right) on the downhill. The recoveries were longer than is typical for this kind of workout but I wanted to get through all 9 so I decided to go a full half-mile. Plus it continues to be really warm and somewhat humid in the early mornings and I must have lost several pounds through fluid loss. Satisfying workout, considering I haven't done anything like this in a while.

8  miles, easy 7:30 pace except 2 x 400m at in ~:80. Felt okay. It got up to 106 here yesterday but today will be "only" 100 and then it should drop a few degrees each day until early next week we might even see highs in the upper 80s. I'll believe it when I see it.

13 miles, 6 out (41:26) then turned around & 6 back (38:51 = 1:20.17 for 12) plus mile 13 easy (7:30 = 1:27.47 for 13) around the neighborhood. Started with a 7:15 then went 7:00, 6:50, 6:50, 6:42, 6:48, 6:39, 6:37, 6:31, 6:30, 6:25, 6:10 plus the 13th in 7:30. Was thinking I'd just run MP after mile #2 but was feeling good so I decided to try gradually dropping the pace. It was mid 70s but more humid this a.m. so fairly unpleasant. Pleased with the effort. Pace for 12 is 6:41.5 so nearly :10 faster than MP.

9 miles easy (66:00). Felt a little beat up as I started but gradually began to feel considerably better. So this is encouraging because of pretty hard runs both Wed. and Fri. Will go longish tomorrow but might not do any MP toward the end unless I feel really good. Don't feel I have to get in 20 -- will be satisfied with 16-17 although again if I feel good I'll stretch it out to 20.

11 miles mostly easy. Decided against a long run today since I've been going at it pretty hard the last couple weeks, got to bed late last night and just felt I shouldn't get by on 5.5-6 hours of sleep another night. Will shift to at least a mid-long run tomorrow.

17 miles in 1:58.03 (6:56.5 pace), going out 8 in 56:35 then back 8 in 53:58 plus an easy 7:30 17th mile. Started easy the first 2 (7:20, 7:15) then dropped to a little over MP the next 8 (7:00, 7:05, 7:00, 7:00, 7:00, 6:55, 7:03, 7:00) and finally started working a little the last 6 (6:45, 6:45, 6:45, 6:40, 6:35, 6:25) plus the last one easy (7:30). Covered the 13 miles from #4-#16 in 1:28.58 (6:50.5 pace) so just about MP on average. Felt good, very humid and low 70s. Started at 5:30 a.m. and it was really dark during the middle miles out in the country, didn't begin getting light until nearly 7:00 because of cloud cover. Got a stomach cramp during mile #9 but it eventually went away. Overall a satisfying run.  

7 miles easy. Felt okay, some fatigue from yesterday but not bad. Wanted a very easy day as I plan to race a 10K this Friday night. Will probably go 9-10 tomorrow with a few pick-ups, 6-7 easy Thursday and may get out for an easy 3 Friday morning. I'd like to run ~38:00 for the 10K to confirm my marathon fitness but (a) it's a tough course, (b) it might be raining -- last year in the rain I could hardly see because I wear glasses, and (c) I have done precious little running at below 6:15 pace during the past six weeks.

10 miles, mostly easy except several pick-ups and also 2 x ~400m in ~:80. Felt good, well recovered from Monday.

7 miles easy. Felt really good and am looking forward to racing 10K tomorrow night. 11 p.m. race, will be warm and humid possibly with rain although I sure hope not, as I run in glasses it's disaster to race at night in the rain. Course is tough but the first 1.5 miles are downhill and I hope to avoid going out too fast.

A.M.:  Easy 3 mile shake-out run, felt pretty good. Tonight's race is at 11 p.m.

P.M.:  Conditions for the race were certainly not ideal as it rained heavily about 90 minutes prior, bringing the humidity way up, so the air was extremely heavy and it was warm. Plus my drive over to Anderson, SC from Athens, GA should have taken about 90 minutes tops but a few delays made it a very close call as to getting registered by the 10:15 p.m. cut-off -- I actually didn't arrive until 10:20 but was able to get signed up. Not an enjoyable drive over but at least I made it. The race went okay, I ended up running 13 seconds slower than last year but actually finished stronger as the final 2.2 miles this year were 11 seconds better than in '06. I really pushed hard toward the end and passed several people including the women's winner who had been 3-5 seconds ahead of me most of the way. (She ended up with a 38:32, I believe.) The course is tough:  downhill most of the first 1.5 miles then mostly up to the turn-around at 3, mostly down to about 4.5 then up to 6 and the final 0.21 is downhill. Splits were all over the place:  5:44, 11:54, 18:12, 24:26, 30:42, 37:15 = 5:44, 6:10, 6:18, 6:14, 6:16, 6:33 (ouch) + :67. Am fairly pleased although I was shooting for sub-38:00.