JohnK

8 miles, first 1.5 easy to UGA track then 2400 including one 100m stride each lap followed by 1600 in 5:55 then 1600 with one 100m stride each lap and 3 miles cool-down. Felt pretty good and the knee was the best it's been in three weeks.

7 miles moderate fartlek, very unstructured. Felt good, the right knee was the best it's been in recent weeks but I did have some tightness in the right hip -- stopped to stretch it a few times.

7 miles, first 2 easy then 5,000m on UGA track in 19:56 (1600s in 6:29, 6:25, 6:18) and a 2 mile cool-down. The 5K was pretty good, just a tempo sort of effort partly to test the knee and that part of it went well. I guess I could have run 18:30 or so if racing, probably no faster. So I've lost some conditioning due to the IT band issue but feel I'll bounce back pretty quickly.

10 miles, most of the run at ~7:15 pace but from 7.5 to 9.5 I dropped it to ~6:30 pace and that felt really good. This was the best run I've had since the IT band problem began several days about Chicago -- I felt no pain, only a little tightening in the right hip after about 8. So I'm really encouraged.

8 miles, first 3 miles mostly easy but with about a mile at MP. Then on the track I did a 1600 in 6:20 jogging curves and striding the straights. Another 1600 with one 100m stride each lap then three miles easy. The faster running seems to be helpful for the IT band problem, I guess because of the increased stride length. No ill effects from going 10 yesterday.

6 miles mostly easy. Am thinking about jumping into a 4.8 mile xc race this Saturday so will take it easy until then. The course (which I ran in '03) is fairly level and a firm, fairly consistent surface so I feel my leg is up to the task. It's a very low-key event too.

7 miles fartlek, very unstructured but I did throw in a mile in 5:58 toward the middle of the run. Felt good, knee really no problem now but I'm still stretching a lot and working on strengthening.

6 miles, mostly easy except for several pick-ups and a little more steady-paced running. Feeling very good and looking forward to a low-key xc race this Saturday.

5 miles easy with just a few pick-ups. Am looking forward to a 4.8 mile xc race tomorrow. Given the recent injury I'll want to ease into it the first mile and I don't look for a fast time. Anything under 30:00 will be satisfactory.

(Race location: Magnolia Springs State Park, north of Millen, Georgia) Placed 5th overall and 1st master in 29:40, which is :59 slower than I ran on this exact course four years ago. I didn't feel great but given the very light training this past month since Chicago Marathon due to IT band trouble (plus two week taper before Chicago) I can't be disappointed. It was a very small field of maybe 60 runners but there were some good quality athletes (including a former sub-4:00 miler from Scotland and a former member of the US Women's World XC team, plus a native Columbian who finished 6th OA at age 60!). The course isn't incredibly demanding but footing was somewhat difficult -- sandy in many places, lots of roots -- and there were many fairly sharp turns so overall I'd rate it as a fairly slow course. My right knee/leg felt fine during the race and I only notice tightness in the right hip this evening.

11 miles, starting with mile #1 in 7:00 and I felt really good so decided to gradually drop the pace and run a 10 miler mostly at sub-MP. Went 6:53, 6:42, 6:44, 6:38, 6:38, 6:39, 6:26, 6:25, 6:15 (1:06.20 for 10) and mile #11 an easy 7:30. This was pretty encouraging, especially as I raced yesterday. I started to notice the knee in mile #10 but just barely and it seems okay now several hours after running. But I'll take it easy tomorrow for sure.

6 miles easy. Felt okay, just a little beat-up from racing Saturday and a hard run yesterday so it was good to go short and slow.

6 miles easy. Donated blood yesterday afternoon and felt somewhat drained but actually better than expected.

11 miles, first 10 in 1:06.15 as a tempo run (similar to this past Sunday) -- went 6:55, 6:50, 6:40, 6:44,6:40, 6:35, 6:36, 6:29, 6:30, 6:16 and then mile #11 as an easy cool-down. Felt pretty good, not as strong over the last few miles as I did Sunday but maybe that's from the blood donation on Monday. Of course on Sunday I was coming back after a 4.8 mile xc race the day before so I wasn't at full strength that day either.

7 miles pretty easy. Heading to the western NC mountains this afternoon so will take three days off and get in some hiking on the Appalachian Trail instead.

No running; hiked from Mooney Gap to Glassmine Gap on the AT with my son William -- 5 miles of easy terrain with the exception of a tough climb up Albert Mountain.

No running; hiked 6.2 miles on the AT from Glassmine Gap to Winding Stair Gap.

Day off.

15 miles in 1:46. Started out with a 6:55 then 6:51, 6:41, 6:50, 6:46, 6:55, 7:00, 6:58, 6:50 and the final 6 at about 7:30 pace. Was feeling good but started noticing some minor right knee pain and also hip tightness at around 7 miles and it gradually worsened so I backed off. I think this is the IT band issue again, probably flared up due to lack of stretching the past four days while in North Carolina. Anyway . . . must get back to taking care of this and put off long, tough runs for a little while longer.

A.M.:  3 miles easy. Right knee pain kicked in after about 1.5 so I turned around and jogged back home. It's obvious the IT band issue has flared up (not helped by yesterday's hard run!) so I'll need to work at it this week and be patient . . . again.

P.M.:  4 miles easy on grass. Just decided to get out again for a very light second run. And the knee was somewhat better than this morning.

8 miles, easy first mile then mile #2 somewhat faster (maybe 6:45) followed by 2 easy and then 1600 on track alternating 100m easy/100m stride and final 3 easy. Knee quite good  most of the run. Definitely responds to gradual and thorough stretching, including before running.

4 miles very easy.

9 miles easy. Felt okay but not 100%. Knee pretty good.

9 miles, first 2 as warm up then 5,000m tempo on UGA track in 19:21 (1600s in 6:07, 6:15, 6:14 + :45), mile easy jog, 1600 at ~MP in 6:37 and 2 miles easy. Felt so-so. It was chilly and windy so it was tough to keep pushing on the track. I was shooting for 18:45 but realistically I've not done anything at even threshold pace in quite a while so I'm rather slow right now.

11 miles, basically and easy run although I threw in one mile in 5:55 toward the middle of the run, on a local 5K course. Felt okay; knee doing well lately although hip/butt tightness remains an issue.

8 miles easy. Felt pretty good. 14 weeks until the marathon I'm planning to run in Albany, GA on March 1. I've got a two-week training pattern worked out and this is day #1 of the first cycle. (For 30 years I've organized my training weeks Mon.-Sun. whereas here it's Sun.-Sat., but no big deal.)

10 miles, first 4.5 easy then 4 x 1K road course starting fairly easy in 4:00 then 3:55, 3:49, 3:45 all w/ 1:30 recovery jog and 2.5 cool-down with a half-mile pickup. Felt pretty good. Not a real tough workout but it was more a test for the knee and that went well.

8 miles, mostly easy except picked it up on one primarily downhill mile (5:55).

8 miles, first 3 very easy then 3 x 1 mile loop (flat/downhill first 1/2, flat/uphill second 1/2) dropping the pace from 7:10 to 6:50 to 6:31, followed by 2 miles easy.

Woke up a tad late which was disappointing as I'd intended on going at least 12. But I went 8 as follows:  3 easy followed by a pretty hard mile loop in 5:49, two minutes easy jog (maybe 0.25 mi.) then 3 miles progressing from 6:40 to 6:25 to 6:05 and about 0.75 mi cool-down. Felt pretty good. Might try to squeeze in a 30 min. second run if time allows this evening, since time will be short tomorrow.

P.M.:  4 miles relatively easy on trails/grass.