JohnK

10 miles, most of the run at an easy pace but I threw in several 1 minute pick-ups and also ran a 1500m on the track in 5:27. It was rather windy out and I wasn't feeling too quick, so the 1500 wasn't a time trail effort but I just felt like doing something on the track. I'll sure have my work cut out for me getting down to a sub-5:10 mile by late spring. (A friend thinks I can run sub-5:00 but I just don't see it happening!)

11 miles, first 4 easy then ~800m with several fast pick-ups followed by 5 x approx. 1000m on grass in ~3:45 each with 2:00 recoveries that consisted of mostly jogging but also a 100m near-sprint and 2.5 miles cool-down.

Felt pretty good although it was ~20-22 degrees and very windy so not the typical Georgia winter weather I've come to appreciate over 20 years after growing up in Iowa! But I really didn't mind and it was fun to do this on grass.

11 miles easy except on the track I did 1600 alternating 100m strides with 100m at roughly marathon pace (total time ~6:00).

10 miles, first 3.5 easy then mixed in a few strides over the next half mile followed by a mile in 5:55 then 3.5 easy and mixed in several more hard ~100m strides over the last 1.5 miles.

Only had 4 hours of sleep last night and couldn't get out for a run this morning as I was working on a grant application that I needed to get to FedEx by 2:00 p.m., and I needed about every minute. So I finally ran at 5:30 p.m. and felt better than expected. I did 10 miles, the first 2 easy to warm up (with a few pick-ups) then I ran 6,400 on the track in 24:31 and 4 miles easy cool-down. I was intending to just ran a steady 5K at ~6:15 pace but I ended up running 1600s in 6:17, 6:10, 6:00 and :45 to complete the 5K in 19:12 and then I decided to continue another 3.5 laps (5:19) giving me a 4th 1600 in 6:04. I felt pretty good about this run, especially considering I've had less sleep than usual since New Year's Eve. It might be tough getting in a long run tomorrow a.m., however. 

17 miles relatively easy in 2:03. Timed a few miles in ~7:00 on a measured 5K course but mostly I was running ~7:15s. Pleased to get in 17 after a hard run yesterday evening.

9 miles easy. Some overall fatigue from running this weekend but didn't feel too bad.

9 miles easy. Felt okay but wanted another completely relaxed run following two demanding runs this past weekend and considering I'm racing Saturday. I'll probably do a moderately hard fartlek tomorrow and then go easy Thurs. and Fri.

12 miles, first 4 easy then fartlek the next 7 miles, repeating the following 8 times:  3:00 at ~threshold, 1:00 easy, 1:00 ~VO2 max, 1:00 easy. Then a mile easy cool-down. Felt good -- it was a damp, dark morning with very light misting rain but unusually warm (59 degrees) so not uncomfortable. 

6 miles easy. Felt okay, some general fatigue but not bad. So I'm hopeful I'll be sufficiently rested for a good effort in Saturday's 5 miler.

6 miles easy. Felt good except I noticed a little soreness in the inner hamstring of my left leg. Probably nothing although with a race tomorrow I'm just a bit concerned.

Was aiming for sub-30:00 but am fairly pleased with 30:12 as it's somewhat of an improvement over a 30:14 I ran for 8K four weeks ago on a course of similar difficulty. Went 5:56, 12:00, 17:59, 24:05, 30:12 and battled it out with the 30-34 age division winner but he got me by :06. So I was 5th OA/1st 45-49. Weather was close to ideal:  about 40 degrees with just a moderate breeze out of the northwest. Did 2.5 miles warm-up and 4.5 cool-down.

15 miles, going 7 out & 7 back plus an easy 15th mile in the neighborhood. Went 50:15 the first 7 with all miles between 7:05 and 7:15. Coming back I went 6:49, 6:39, 6:38, 6:38, 6:27, 6:18, 6:08 (45:37) and then the easy 15th mile. Felt good, especially considering the race yesterday.

7 miles easy. Felt better than expected and almost went another several miles, but I know it was in my best interests to keep it short today.

9 miles pretty relaxed. Felt good. Just keeping it easy this week with the half-marathon coming up Saturday. Weather looks less favorable for that than a few days ago as it could be chilly and windy.

6 miles easy. Felt okay although last night I thought I was coming down with something and now, a couple hours after running, I've got a few aches and generally feel tired so I'm a bit worried with the half-marathon this Saturday.

6 miles easy. Felt fine, apparently am not getting sick. So all is go for racing Saturday. I'm watching the weather and hoping it won't be rainy and windy as I'd like good conditions to really see what I can do. The course is basically fast with only one significant hill and a few smaller hills. I feel I could run 1:23-1:23.30 if I have a very good day, so going out at ~6:20 pace is the plan as of now.

4 miles easy. Felt okay though I noticed some tightness and a bit of soreness just above the right knee on the outside of the leg. This could be a (I hope) minor flare-up of the IB band problem I had shortly after Chicago Marathon in October. Seems odd because I've gone really easy this week, although last weekend was quite demanding. Anyway, I'm still planning to race tomorrow...in the rain.

I almost didn't get to the race this morning as the weather outlook was for rain changing to snow in North Georgia and it looked as though I'd hit it on my return home. But after checking Weather Channel at 4:30 a.m. I decided to go ahead and hope for the best. I had a very good race so am very happy with my decision. I was aiming to run ~1:23 if things went well.

It was 40 degrees with sprinkles at the 8 a.m. start so close to ideal, although the wind was picking up. And the rain gradually increased and was coming down steadily after about 30-35 minutes but I didn't really mind. (Well, I guess dry with no wind would have been more to my liking!) This is a small event with accompanying full marathon and both started together. Two other guys, one going 26.2 and the other in the half, took the lead along with me and we stayed together about 4 miles (24:53) when the other guy in the half pulled ahead. Soon the guy in the full got away from me but I didn't mind, I was running the pace I wanted. Miles 5 and 6 were directly into the wind then we turned so it was at our side and then a tailwind for several miles. I was 37:23 at 6 so felt I'd probably make my time goal if I kept at it. I had a bit of a problem with the insole of my left shoe which came completely loose and started to shift toward the rear of the shoe. It felt uncomfortable, especially my toes, but wasn't a big deal. I hit 10 in 1:02.34, more than a minute faster than I ran for a 10 mile race about five weeks ago. I maintained pace the rest of the way to finish in 1:22.05 and my splits show pretty solid pacing. This is only 7 seconds slower than I ran in this same race three years ago so a better performance given I'm almost 48 now vs. not quite 45 back then. Took 2nd overall. This certainly encourages me that I'm fit to run a sub-3:00 marathon.

6:13  6:13

12:28  6:15

18:39  6:11

24:53  6:14

31:13  6:20

37:23  6:10

43:35  6:12

49:54  6:19

56:15  6:21

1:02.34  6:19

1:08.50  6:16

1:15.08  6:18

1:21.25  6:17

1:22.05  0:40

8 miles easy. Felt better than expected after yesterday's race (probably due at least in part to very thorough stretching while waiting for awards). Considered pushing on another 30 minutes but decided I'd be better off sticking with a short, easy run.

9 miles easy. Felt fine but decided to take a second easy day following the half-marathon Saturday. Darn cold this a.m.:  18 degrees with noticeable wind. In Iowa 25 years ago I would have defined this as balmy and a good morning to go long but in Georgia it's almost unthinkably cold!

13 miles, mostly easy but included 6 x ~150m build-ups. Felt really good after a few miles.

9 miles easy. Felt good except noticed just a little weakness in the right knee. Probably not a big surprise following the race Sat. and 13 yesterday. I need to keep working on strengthening and stretching.

12 miles, first 1.5 miles easy then ~8.5 miles of fartlek repeating the following 9 times:  3:00 at ~threshold, 1:00 easy, 1:00 ~VO2 max, 1:00 easy. Then during the final 2 miles I included 4 x 150m build-ups. Felt good, pleased with the workout.

9 miles mostly easy but threw in several ~150m build-ups. Felt good, better than expected following hard fartlek yesterday.

9 miles easy - felt fine. Was going to go long (20-21) today but decided to delay until tomorrow.

21 miles in 2:28.45. Started out with the first 9 all 7:10-7:15s (1:04.56) then picked it up slightly the next 5 (35:30 = 1:40.26 for 14) and dropped a bit more the next 2 (6:58 + 6:48 = 1:54.12 at 16). Had planned to go 4800 on the track in ~20:00 at this point but discovered that the portion of the track still in the shade was covered with a layer of ice so I opted to run a hilly 5K course that starts near the track -- I ran ~ 800m in 3:30 to the starting line near an elementary school then started the 5K which I ran in 20:18 (6:28, 6:30, 6:38 + :40) and followed that up with an easy 1.4 miles in 10:45 to give me 21 in 2:28.45. Pleased with the run -- felt strong the whole way although the 5K was a bit uncomfortable.

9 miles easy except 6 x 150m build-ups in final 2 miles. Felt surprisingly good following yesterday's 21 miler. Not that I really wanted to do more than 9 but it's very encouraging that I wasn't completely wiped out this morning.

10 miles easy. Felt good, nice (somewhat warmer) morning.

13 miles, first 10 minutes easy to warm up then fartlek for approximately 9 miles consisting of 10 x (3:00 threshold, 1:00 easy, 1:00 VO2max, 1:00 easy) followed by 2.5 miles cool-down with a few strides. Felt good, decent effort.

Relaxed 10 mile run. Felt fine.

10 miles easy. Felt pretty good, should be up for a longer run tomorrow with about half the miles at MP.

19 miles in 2:10.15. Started with 2 fairly easy (14:35) then ran 15 at ~MP in 1:40.40 (6:42.5 ave.) and the last 2 easy (15:00). The MP section consisted of miles in 6:42, 6:48, 6:48, 6:46, 6:48, 6:45, 6:41, 6:46, 6:47, 6:42, 6:42, 6:40, 6:36, 6:40, 6:39 & 6:37. (Those last two were on the track, 3200 in 13:12, and I added a four seconds to give a full 2 miles.) Felt strong today although I was fading just a bit at the end. But I had run 73 miles in the previous 6 days whereas prior to a marathon I'll run less than half as much -- it sure helps to remind myself of this fact!

6 miles relaxed. Felt fine, just some general fatigue. Pleased with myself for keeping it to an easy 45 minutes as this was exactly what I needed.

10 miles, easy except for several ~150m build-ups late in the run. Felt good, still just a touch of fatigue from Saturday's hard run but basically fine.

13 miles, first 1.5 easy then 4 x 3000m on UGA track in 11:54, 11:45, 11:31, 11:18 (w/ a 400m recovery jog after each of the first 3) then 3.25 miles cool-down. Felt quite good and ran it as I intended, with the first 3K just a bit easier than threshold pace and then each subsequent 3K somewhat faster. Really pleased with the last one, ~6:03.5 mile pace.

9 miles easy. Felt fine, just a little overall fatigue from yesterday's workout.

14 miles, first ten minutes easy then light/moderate fartlek for about 25 minutes and the remainder of the run easy except for several ~150m build-ups. Felt pretty good but didn't want too hard of a run today so this seemed about right.

8 miles easy. Fell okay, a bit tired although not bad. Will go long tomorrow -- last 20+ miler before the marathon on March 1st -- unless I don't feel quite up to it in which case I'll delay until Sunday.

20 miles in 2:21.10 (7:03.5 pace). Decided against dropping it down to MP as I didn't want this to be a terribly demanding effort. So I just kept it fairly steady the entire run although a bit faster the second half (1:11.12 + 1:09.58). It felt very comfortable, and as I finished I knew I could continue for another 10K at 7:00 pace or better, so this gives me at least some confidence that if I hit 20 miles in 2:15.30-2:16.00 on race day I'll have a good shot at sub-3:00. I'd say my plan now is to run ~6:45 pace for 20 miles and then use whatever I've got left at that point. I don't see much chance of picking up the pace after 20 miles, but keeping it under 7:00/mile will be good enough.

8 miles easy. Felt good, not unusually fatigued from yesterday's 20 miler.

8 miles easy, felt good. Am cutting back on the mileage just a bit this week, three weeks out from the marathon. Will probably get in about 70.

13 miles, first 4 easy then 9 miles fartlek. Included one pretty hard mile in 5:53 and a half mile in 2:49, also six or seven 3:00 sections at threshold and several 1:00 faster efforts. Overall a good workout.

8 miles easy. Felt a little tired but not too bad. Not enough sleep lately.

12 miles, first 5.5 easy then ran a 5,000m on UGA track in 19:44 starting with a 1:45 first 400 and dropping the pace very gradually (1-2 seconds per lap). First 1600 was 6:46, second 1600 was 6:20 and then I finished with 5:56 (91, 90, 88, 87) and :42 for the final 200m. 3.5 miles cool-down. I was pleased with this, especially as it was breezy and quite chilly out (low 20s -- guess that's balmy for folks from Idaho and the Utah mountains). By no means a killer workout, but then I'm supposed to be lightening up a bit this week and I just wanted something to get the legs going somewhat faster than MP. 

Easy 7 miler. Felt good.

17 miles, easy the first 2 then 13.1 miles on the track (52.75 laps) in 1:28.18 and 2 miles cool-down. I divided the 13.1 miles into 5K segments, running the first and third relatively easily (22:10 and 21:53) and the second and fourth somewhat faster than MP (20:20 and 19:40). I was 1:24:03 at 20K and I continued at sub-MP the final 2.75 laps (4:15). This all went quite well -- I felt strong and while the faster 5K didn't feel slow or real easy I'm more confident that I have the fitness to average ~21:00 per 5K for a full marathon. I ran this on the track for several reasons, one being that I wanted to monitor the pace closely, plus I was wearing flats that I'd only worn twice before and I was a bit worried about developing a blister, so this way if I felt the beginnings of a blister I could easily run home to change shoes before it got bad. Close to perfect conditions this a.m. -- low 50s with just a slight breeze. Hope I get this in two weeks (and even a bit cooler would be ideal).

6 miles easy. Felt pretty good, nothing unusual after yesterday's hard effort. Will probably run a fairly hard workout (3 x 1600 at 5K pace, most likely) on Wednesday and am debating whether to race a 5K on Saturday. I wouldn't do it except it's a race at the elementary school our kids attended that I helped start in '04, and I'm still involved with it. I definitely won't run if weather is bad. Guess a 5K seven days out from a marathon shouldn't be a problem as long as I cool down and stretch well afterwards.

9 miles, easy except several ~150m accelerations. Felt good. Have developed a very small cyst on the top of my left foot. It's actually been there several weeks and is not painful, but with a marathon 12 days off I'm finding it easier to worry about such things. Most likely it will eventually go away on its own. Will do a very easy 45 minute run tomorrow and then a 5K pace workout (3 x 1600m on the track, probably) Wed., which will be the last key workout 10 days out from the marathon. I'm determined to eat well and get as much sleep as possible in the time I've got left -- with previous marathon I know I could have been better rested.

6 miles easy with a few accelerations. Felt pretty good.

10 miles, including 4 x 6:00 at about 5K race pace (~5:45-5:50/mile). Decided against doing 4 x 1600m on the track as I wanted to run this more on effort than against the clock. Being as it's my final workout prior to the marathon March 1st I wanted it to be fairly hard but not a workout where I felt I just had to hit certain times. So this was successful -- I felt good, pretty strong, it wasn't incredibly demanding and just hard enough to feel right.

6 miles, easy except for several ~150m accelerations. Felt very good.

6 miles easy. Felt good, looking forward to going a little longer tomorrow and then after than it's pretty much all short and easy until next Saturday. Had thought about racing a 5K tomorrow but have decided against it -- even the slight risk of injury is more than I want to take. And I'm not really in 5K shape anyway. My training has been focused on next Saturday's marathon, not on tomorrow's 5K.

13 miles total today. Early this morning I went 12 easy with the exception of one mile at about MP and total time for the run was 1:28. Felt fine, not outstanding but no complaints with a week to go until marathon day. Later in the morning I ran about a mile while helping at a local 5K race -- ran from the start/finish area to the spot were I served as a course monitor. I'm definitely glad I decided against racing although I was a bit sad to not be taking part. But helping out was good so it's fine.

I don't think I'll take any complete rest days between now and next Saturday because I always feel out of sorts when I don't run. But I want to be very well rested for this marathon, something I haven't really accomplished previously, so I'll just run 30-45 minutes a day and try to get a little more sleep than usual, stretch well, eat well, all the important stuff.

Easy 4 miler. Felt good. Will be running really light the next five days, stretching well, eating properly, getting enough sleep -- taking care of the details and doing everything right.

5 miles, basically easy but I threw in a few fairly hard accelerations. Felt really good this a.m., better rested than usual and anxious for marathon day to be here. Guess I'll do 2 or 3 miles at MP during tomorrow's run (7 or 8 total) then it will be easy 30 minute runs W, Th & F.

6 miles, first 2 easy then 3200 on UGA track in 13:21 (6:42, 6:39) then another 2 miles easy. Had to cut the cool-down short by a mile since heavy rain w/ thunder and lightening struck about 5 minutes into the cool-down and it seemed somewhat dangerous -- I didn't really mind the rain but had no desire to get picked off my a bolt of lightening! Felt good today. The 3200 was very close to goal MP (6:45/mile) and certainly felt comfortable but I'm not entirely confident I can hold that pace for 26.2 miles. My approach is to get myself to 20 miles at that pace and just see what I've got from that point. I definitely won't go out too fast this time -- that's a mistake I've made a few times and I know it's incredibly stupid.

5 miles easy in snow flurries, upper 20s. Felt good.

5 miles easy. Feeling good with ~48 hours until the marathon.

3 mile easy. Felt very good, all systems go. Heading out soon for the 4 hour drive down to Albany, GA -- marathon start tomorrow is 7 a.m. and weather looks A-/B+ and way, way better than the furnace at Chicago last October.

Short story: 2:59.12 on a perfect marathon morning weather-wise. So I'm rather pleased although thinking I could have gone a minute or so faster but it's not a big deal.

I hardly slept Friday night -- maybe got 3 hours -- as I just couldn't relax and had a really bad headache for a while. But I think I was pretty well rested from the previous week so it probably didn't hurt me, just made for a long night and some really poor television viewing.

I felt good from the gun and started just a bit fast (6:40) but that wasn't as bad as a lot of folks. I was probably not even top 30 at the mile and began passing people fairly soon and finished 17th OA. (During the entire race only one person passed me!) I went 6:40, 6:45, 6:42, 6:40, 6:44 to hit 5 in 33:31. Feeling great. Next 5 were 6:40, 6:43, 6:44, 6:43, 6:53 (#10 had to be a long mile) for 1:07.14 at 10. By this time I was very gradually catching a guy in neon yellow shorts and shirt and still feeling good but had been on my own for several miles. Next 5 were 6:51, 6:47, 6:50 (13.1 in 1:28. 26),6:48, 6:50 for 1:41.20 at 15.

I caught Mr. Neon right after the half and he stayed with me for a few miles which was nice as we chatted a bit. This was his first marathon and I could tell he was laboring so wasn't surprised when he dropped off after 16. That mile (6:57) worried me but then 17 was a 6:41, so those were almost certainly marked wrong. I saw a woman up ahead and closed in on her and then we worked together a while. Next three 6:52, 6:44, 6:48 to hit 20 in 2:15.22. I had pulled away from the woman by 20 and no one was in sight up ahead, which was too bad as some company would have helped, but I was feeling okay and figured I'd hold on for sub-3:00, maybe around 2:58.

Mile 21 was 6:54 then a 7:00 and my left foot began cramping a little. This was really not what I wanted -- it never got bad enough to make me stop but I was very worried that would happen. And the last 4 miles all kinds of turns which made it feel slow, but perhaps those turns helped keep the cramp at bay. A really young guy passed me at 23 and raced off -- he ended up just under 2:56 so had a great finish. Anyway, I lost focus on pace somewhat and slowed to 7:04, 7:07, 7:05 (25 in 2:50.32) and right after finishing mile 25 crossed a busy street and was almost mowed down by a motorcycle! I came to a full stop to avoid an accident so lost several second stopping and getting started up again. Thus I didn't enjoy the final mile too much and it was slow (7:11), but I was certainly happy finishing -- never hit the wall, just felt the sort of gradual fatigue I had expected to feel if I paced it pretty well. I won the 45-49 division. My 5 mile segments were 33:31, 33:43, 34:06, 34:02, 35:10 and I'm especially pleased with miles 16-20. I think w/o the slight cramp I'd have focused on finishing as strongly as possible (rather than just holding it together and  hoping the cramp didn't get bad), so might have been :30-:60 faster but who knows.

The woman I ran with a little turned out to be Valerie Gortmaker from Nebraska who already has a qualifier (2:46 from Tallahassee last spring) but has been injured and she said she was using this race to determine whether to run the Trials. I think she was disappointed and may wait for 2012. She's 32 but didn't start running until 4-5 years ago. I talked with her prior to awards -- nice person, played rugby in college then tore her ACL and switched to cycling and running, so no early background in the sport but some real talent. (Sounds like someone I know!) I felt sorry from Georgia's Beth Old, a previous Trials participant (2:39 PR) who missed the B standard by less than a minute in third place. A Kenyan woman won in 2:37 and a Cheryl Murphy of Victoria, BC, Canada was 2nd in 2:40 -- haven't seen online results yet. Simon Sawe won men's in 2:26 and Andy Martin of Oregon was 2nd (2:27) with a Kenyan from Mobile, AL 3rd in 2:29, I think. Top master was a Canadian in 2:38, possibly the husband of the 2nd place woman. The $3000/$2000/$1000 prize money in men's and women's open brought in some pretty good talent and the race more than doubled in size from last year's inagural running (1100 in full + half, still small but not bad for Albany, GA).

That's about it. After the disappointment of Chicago's unusually hot weather last fall this was nice, running close to what I felt capable of. Not too sore this a.m. despite 4+ hours driving home but I'll not attempt running for several days and will stretch and walk a lot instead.

Rest along with some walking and watching our son play soccer. The quad soreness is there but certainly not as bad as after St. George in '06 or even Chicago last fall, I suppose because even though I had to take some walking breaks at Chicago in the terrible heat I also got dehydrated whereas yesterday it was perfect (45 at start, maybe 53 at finish, overcast, light winds). My right knee is a bit sore, I guess from the IT band and upper hamstring tightness I discovered last fall. I may get out and run a few miles easy tomorrow but won't do it unless I feel I'd enjoy a run -- no need to hurry getting back to it although I don't want more than a few days off.

4 miles easy, mostly on grass. Some quad soreness but it's far better than it's been with previous marathons.

5 miles easy. Felt good, legs less sore this a.m. although the right knee has a bit of tightness/soreness. Need to fit in a little more stretching today as I didn't do much yesterday.

5 miles easy. Felt very good and would have gone somewhat longer but my right knee is somewhat sore (probably IT band tightness I need to address). Still I'm very pleased with marathon recovery so far and don't need to be running a lot this week.

5 miles, started out easy and noticed I was feeling really good (probably due in part to having been working on a scathing letter-to-the-editor since getting up early this a.m.). So I did a gradual build-up over the next three-quarters of a mile, running the last quarter close to all-out. Was pleased that my legs are feeling pretty fresh just five days post-marathon. I then ran an easy half-mile and followed that with a full mile right at 6:00, then ran the remaining 2.5 miles relatively easy. This was just test to see how some faster running would feel. I still have a little soreness in the right knee and need to keep stretching carefully, but otherwise all is well.

Rest. Woke up with body aches and a sore throat plus it was chilly and raining, all of which was a bad combination and I didn't need convincing to take the day off.

5 miles easy. Felt really bad last night with body aches and chills but no upset stomach or congestion. Woke up feeling somewhat better so decided a short, easy run couldn't hurt. And I felt fairly good during the run but a little worse later in the day. Seemed to have a low fever by late afternoon/evening.

Felt a little better this a.m. so got in an easy 7 miler. But by mid-afternoon the body aches and fatigue had returned so I'm still fighting this, whatever it is.

7 miles easy. Felt somewhat better this morning although still definitely not 100%. I expect to improve a lot by tomorrow so am planning on a good fartlek run unless I'm not up to it. I've had enough post-marathon easy stuff and want to get back to doing some productive training!

8 miles, mostly easy but included 6 x ~150m accelerations in the final 3 miles -- got pretty close to top speed (such as it is!) on these and took long recoveries. Felt okay though am still not completely over whatever bug I've had the past five days. A good sign is that my knee was fine today so I believe the IT band problem is under control.

8 miles, first 2 easy then 6400m on UGA track in 25:45 and 2 miles cool-down. Ran the first 3200 sort of between MP and threshold pace (6:33 + 6:27) then gradually sped up over the next 1800 to hit 4800 in 19:13 (6:13) and 5,000m in 19:58 and continued to 6400m at roughly the pace I'd run the first 3200m. As I'm still not at full strength following the virus I've had I'm relatively pleased with how this went.

7 miles, mostly easy but included 6 x ~150m accelerations during final 2 miles. Felt good. Some soreness in right quad but nothing too serious.

9 miles, primarily easy although after ~3 I did a few strides then ran and out-and-back mile in 5:42 and also did a few ~150m hill repeats and several pick-ups. Felt good, finally over the virus that's lingered for a full week.

10 miles, first 1.5 easy then 5 x 800/300 on UGA track w/ 300m recoveries after each 800 and 600m recoveries after the 300s. Was basically wanting to run ~5K race pace on the 800s and close to mile race pace on the 300s, and I went 2:54/1:00, 2:55/1:00, 2:54/1:00, 2:57/1:01, 2:56/1:00. So I wasn't exactly tearing up the track, but considering I've been marathon training this winter and raced a marathon just two weeks ago this isn't so bad. (I suspect 18:15 is about the best I could do for 5K at present.) And this workout is something to build from, I hope. (2.25 mile cool-down.)

11 miles relatively easy in 1:20. Felt good. Right knee got a little sore over the last few miles.

A.M.:  7 miles easy. Felt pretty good, knee no problem.

P.M.:  2 miles easy getting the dog some exercise.

9 miles, doing fartlek the first 4.5 miles (some strides and then 3 x 5 minutes at threshold w/ 1:00 recoveries) then a mile in 5:40, easy half mile jog, mile in 5:37 (same out-and-back road course) and 2 miles cool-down with a couple accelerations. Felt good, pleased with how the two faster miles went.

9 miles, mostly easy but included a few light strides and accelerations. Felt good. Looking forward to racing a 5K this Saturday. It might be a rude awakening as I've not raced shorter than 10K in 10 monthes, but if I can avoid too fast a start I should be okay.

7 miles, mostly easy except for a few strides and light accelerations. Felt good.

6 miles easy. Racing 5K tomorrow -- not too sure what to expect but want to avoid too quick a start because I'm not really in shape for such a short race.

This was not a great performance with miles going something like 5:52, 12:06 (6:14), 18:14 (6:08), 18:52 (:38). It was a rolling course and I did get 2nd overall but it was quite a small race, maybe 100 runners. I did talk with someone afterward who said his Garmin got the distance as 3.3 miles but I really don't believe it could have been a full 0.2 long -- that would bring my time down into the 17:40s and I'm definitely not in sub-18:00 shape for 5K. One tenth of a mile long I'd believe but not more than that.

15 miles in rural, fairly hilly Oconee County with Kevin in 1:43. Might have been a bit farther and the pace felt kind of stiff (especially as I'd raced, though poorly, yesterday) and headwind the last several miles made the going kind of hard. But a very enjoyable run. This was actually fairly close to marathon pace for me at 6:52/mile average.

7 miles mostly easy but I included 4 x :45 fairly steep uphill repeats in mile #6. Left quad is rather sore today for some reason.

10 miles, first ~1.5 easy then 30 minutes of fartlek (2 x :30, 2 x 1:00, 2 x 2:00, 2 x 3:00, 2 x 2:00, 2 x 1:00, all with 1:00 jog recoveries) then immediately ran 3,000m on UGA track in 11:07 and finally ~2 miles cool-down. I was pleased with the 3K -- was just wanting to keep each 400 at 90 seconds or below and I managed to do that. I was still feeling just a bit tired from the weekend but actually pretty good.

9 miles, easy except for several ~:45 hill repeats. Felt good.

9 miles, similar to yesterday in that it was primarily an easy run but I threw in a few pretty hard :45 to :60 uphills. Felt good.

11 miles, first 1.5 easy warm-up then a solo 10K on UGA track in 39:31 followed by 3.25 cool-down. Ran the 10K mostly as a threshold effort, aiming to hit 5K at ~20:00 (and was 19:58) then see if I could go a bit faster then second 5K (19:33). 1600s were 6:25, 6:25, 6:21, 6:20, 6:19, 6:12 with a final 400 in :89. This felt maybe a bit harder than I'd have liked but it was under control, and obviously if I was able to gradually speed up throughout that's a good sign.

8 miles easy. Felt pretty good, not noticeably tired from yesterday although I've got a small sore spot near the right kneecap. It actually improved after a few miles so I hope to get in at least 15 tomorrow.

16 miles in 1:50 with my friend Kevin. Started with a fairly easy first mile but quickly dropped the pace to ~6:45-6:50 and kept that up until we'd finished 15 then I ran a slow 16th mile on my own. So it was close to marathon pace and a good run -- felt very strong. Damp with a stiff breeze, mid 40s, just the sort of conditions I like for long runs.

8 miles easy with a few strides. Felt good.

11 miles with several strides during the last few miles. Felt good. Hope to get in a second shorter run this evening.

P.M.: 4 miles easy.

10 miles easy (75 minutes). Felt good. Wanting to hit a higher mileage week this week and then a bit less next week with one solid track workout. I'm running River to River Relay in southern Illinois -- killer hills! -- on April 19th so I'll be sure to back off a few days prior to that. We've got a good team (Atlanta TC masters) entered in the handicap division which is open to all ages 40+. I'm actually our youngest team member at 48 and we range up to 75. I think we can finish top three if everyone run decently. That would be quite an accomplishment.

12 miles, first 2 easy to warm up then 5 x 800/300 on UGA track aiming for ~2:55 on the 800s and ~:60 on the 300s and taking 300m jog recoveries after each 800 and 600m recoveries after each 300. Went 2:56/:61, 2:56/:60, 2:55/:60, 2:56/:60, 2:58/:61. It was misting and rather windy so not ideal conditions but I'm glad I pushed through the workout. 3.75 miles cool-down with a few strides.

10 miles mostly easy. Felt good after a few miles.

9 miles easy in the rain. Had planned a long run for this morning but am delaying until tomorrow because of forecast thunderstorms w/ lightening -- didn't want to be 8 miles out of town when that suddenly popped up.

14 miles, first 2 easy to warm up then 15K on UGA track in 1:00.55 followed by 2.75 cool-down. Ran first 5K in 20:29 (1Ks in 4:06, 4:07, 4:07, 4:04, 4:05) then sped up just a bit with a 20:18 (4:03, 4:03, 4:04, 4:04, 4:04) and ran the final 5K in 20:08 (4:04, 4:04, 4:03, 4:03, 3:55). Overall pace for the 15K is 6:32 so this is ~:15-:20 faster than MP.

My original thought was to run 20K in ~1:22 but after 5K I could tell I wasn't having a great day so I agreed with myself to just do 15K but pick up the pace a bit. It didn't feel as easy as I would have liked but I've had some short nights lately and think I came into this kind of tired.

8 miles easy. Felt okay, some fatigue from yesterday.

Had some unexpected soreness in the right groin area this a.m. so I just ran an easy hour instead of planned fartlek. I'm not sure where this came from. It lessened a bit after the first few miles but was noticeable the entire run.

12 miles, first 1.5 as warm up then 5.5 miles fartlek -- not too tough, mainly some short accelerations and also several longer build-ups. I got to the track at the end of the fartlek section where I did 1600/1200/800/400/400/400 all with 400 jog recoveries. Times were 5:47, 4:21, 2:50, :81, :82, :82. Easy mile cool-down. Groin still somewhat sore but better than yesterday and it didn't bother me much. I was pleased with the part of this workout I did on the track, considering I'd already gone 7 with some fartlek. It wasn't that fast but the effort was reasonably good.

9 miles, mostly easy but with several accelerations and strides. Felt better than expected following yesterday's workout.

8 miles easy. Felt pretty good. Might race a low-key 5K this Sunday as a tune-up for River To River Relays next Saturday.

7 miles easy. 5K race tomorrow:  not much idea what to expect but I'm hoping to keep it under 18:30 and perhaps ~18:15 if I have a good day.

Ran this local 5K in 18:16 which was good enough to give me the overall win. Obviously it was a small race -- only about 100 finishers which you'd expect on a Sunday morning -- but I ran pretty well and was pleased with my effor and with the fact that I maintained pace well. I felt tired during warm-up, not surprising as I was up late with the family watching "Amistad" and then got up at 4:30 to watch London Marathon (which was well worth giving up a few hours of sleep to see!). But once the race started I felt okay. No problem with the groin that had been sore early in the week.

Mile #1 (5:49): A mostly flat mile and another master (young 41-year-old guy) got out fast so I just kept him close until a small uphill at 3/4 where I pushed just a bit went by him. Then we made a turn and started a gradual downhill. I knew mile #2 had two significant uphill sections so I was planning to push those.

Mile #2 (5:56): Started out continuing gradual downhill then a little flat before a quarter mile uphill. I pushed the hill pretty well then after a brief flat section there was another (shorter) uphill and I continued to work fairly hard. I knew I had already built a decent lead but wanted to feel I had it won by 2 miles.

Mile #3 (5:56) + 0.1 (:35): This was flat for about 3/4 then there was a short, steep uphill followed by a bit of flat and then down to the finish, but that last bit was on a trail with two sharp turns. I just maintained my effort as evenly as possible and then pushed a bit at the end. Felt strong throughout but was pretty well spent by the finish.

Overall I'm pleased. I haven't been doing much 5K-oriented training in a long while so I certainly wasn't expecting a sub-18. But maybe there's hope I can improve on this a bit over the coming months.

(It's a bit depressing that I used to race 20K at this pace, but that was more than 20 years ago. I'm just glad to still be out there!)

8 miles, primarily easy but I threw in several accelerations and felt quite good.

9 miles easy. Felt like doing more but resisted the urge as I want to be rested and ready to go for Saturday's relay.

9 miles easy with a few pick-ups. Felt good.

5 mile easy, felt really good. Am heading out before dawn tomorrow for southern Illinois with 7 other Atlanta Track Club masters to participate in Saturday's "River to River Relay" -- 80 miles across the southern tip of the state from the Mississippi River to the Ohio. A very hilly route and the area is water-logged with mudslides here and there and downed trees but it should be a blast. We have a good outfit entered in the handicap division (all ages eligible on a team, with handicaps given based on age) and I'm our youngest member at 48. If everyone runs up to potential we have a shot at a top three finish which would be excellent.

2 mile light jog in the rain in Marion, Illinois the evening prior to River to River Relay. Long drive from Atlanta but we'll be ready to roll tomorrow.

River to River Relay, Southern Illinois (start on Mississippi River, finish on Ohio River)

Our team (Atlanta Track Club masters) finished 22nd of 240 teams overall (clock time of 8:48.53 for 76.4 miles -- shortened by 3.6 from 80 due to recent heavy rains basically washing out the first section). We were 2nd of 53 teams in the handicap division with a handicap time of 7:00.08. (Our average age worked out to 59.7 so I was the young guy at age 48.) Handicaps are assigned based on age and sex and we had 1:48.45. The team that beat us to win the handicap division was Los Tortugas from Albuquerque, NM and they had a clock time of 9:53.19 but a handicap time of 6:58.34 (beating us by a narrow 1:34!) due to their large 2:54.45 handicap. They had 3 or 4 women and the handicaps for older women are pretty substantial -- too substantial we thought!

My three legs were 3.35, 3.40 and 3.45 miles and I ran them in 21:13, 20:17 and 21:09 for a total of 10.2 miles in 1:02.39. The course was very hilly although my sections weren't as tough as some. Overall it was a great experience and the organization of R2R is excellent.

3.5 miles very easy in Paducah, KY before driving home to Georgia.

A.M.:  7 miles with a few pick-ups and 2 x ~800 in 3:05 (just stretching the legs a bit). Felt pretty good.

P.M.:  3 miles easy. Beautiful evening and no one was home so I decided to get out for a short run.

12 miles, first 5 mostly easy with 4 x ~150m accelerations and a few other pick-ups then 3 miles in 18:30 (6:30, 6:05, 5:55) followed by 4 miles cool-down. Felt pretty good.

9 miles easy. Felt kind of beat up today -- think it's a delayed response to the demanding weekend (R2R Relay, not much sleep, driving, etc.) plus I ran pretty hard yesterday. So I took it very slow this morning.

11 miles, first 1.75 to warm up with a few strides then 1600 on track in 5:48, easy 400m recovery, 400 in :82, easy 400, 3,000m in 11:51 (hit 1500 in 6:00 and picked it up a bit with 5:51 the second 1500) then 5.5 miles cool-down. The idea was to run the 1600 at 5K race pace, the 400 at 3K race pace and the 3,000 at threshold pace and it seemed about right. I'd like to try this again next week and bring the 3K down to near 10K goal race pace (i.e. ~11:15-11:20).

10 miles easy (75 minutes). Felt okay, not bad considering yesterday's workout and how I felt earlier in the week. It was a nice, easy recovery run so I should be feeling good tomorrow.

9 miles, first 2 to warm-up (included a few strides) then 1600 in 5:43, 400 jog (2:10), 400 in :80, 400 jog/walk (3:00), 3000 in 11:27 (1500s in 5:47 + 5:40) then 3.25 cool-down.

This is the same workout I did Thursday a.m., just 48 hours ago, and I'm not really sure why I decided to do it again. But I felt like running on the track, so, what the hey. I'm racing a 3,000m in early June and obviously need to focus my training on preparing for that. I'm pretty slow right now and will need to get in sub-5:00 1500m shape if I want to run ~10:20 for 3K, which won't be an easy task!

15 miles in 1:47. This wasn't exactly an easy run as much of it was sub-7:00 pace (w/ miles 14 & 15 considerably slower) and there were some hilly sections. I was dragging by the end, due to yesterday's workout and also several hours last night on my feet watching a pro criterium in downtown Athens. Got to sleep at 1:30 a.m. and was up a little after 6:00. But I'm glad I got the run in.

7 miles easy. Felt so-so and definitely needed a very easy recovery day!

10 miles, first 1.5 easy then track workout consisting of 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 600, 500, 400, 300, 200 w/ recoveries of equal distance. I wasn't wanting to push incredibly hard on this -- didn't want to pull anything! -- so I didn't warm up fully. And I was just wanting to run close to steadily which is about what I did. :43, :64, :85, 1:46, 2:09, 2:09, 1:47, :83, :62, :41. It was quite windy so that slowed my times a little. 3.5 miles cool-down. Overall not a terrific workout but something I can improve on easily!

10 miles, easy except several ~150m accelerations. Felt pretty good.

11 miles mostly easy. Felt good. 25 years ago today I ran my marathon PR -- I've been at this a long time.

11 miles, first 5 easy then (on the track) 3200 in 11:24 (86.0, 85.0, 85.5, 86.5, 86.0, 86.0, 85.0, 84.0), 800 recovery jog/walk, 1600 in 5:38 (84.5, 84.5, 85.0, 84.0), 800 recovery jog/walk, 800 in 2:42 (81, 81), 1.5 miles cool-down. Felt pretty good and am satisfied with the workout. The 3200 was fairly close to a time trial effort-wise but I feel pretty sure in a race I could bring this down to 11:00-11:10. I'm hoping to run a 3,000m in ~10:20 on June 7th so this workout indicates I'll have at least a shot at that. Of course dropping ~:03 per lap won't be easy even with some competition.

8 miles very early a.m. Felt good.

16 miles, first 2 easy then 20K on UGA track in 1:22.15. Started relaxed with first 1600 at MP then gradually dropped the pace. Went 6:51, 6:48, 6:43, 6:38, 6:36, 6:32, 6:27, 6:25, 6:23, 6:30, 6:37, 6:33 + 3:12. (So I slowed a bit after 14,400). 5Ks were 21:12, 20:32, 20:04, 20:27. The sun popped out at about 12K and it warmed up, so had that not happened I'd have run a bit faster the final 5K. Still, a good effort.

9 miles easy. Felt okay although noticed some groin/lower abdominal pain that has been bothering me some in recent weeks.

10 miles, easy except several ~150m accelerations. Felt good.

7 miles easy. Felt good but decided I needed a very easy short day.

11 miles, first 2 easy then 8 x 800 on UGA track in 2:49, 2:48, 2:48, 2:46, 2:45, 2:45, 2:48, 2:47 (=2:47.0 average). Took 400m jog/walk recoveries (~2:30+). 3 mile cool-down. Fairly satisfying workout although I had wanted to hit 2:45-2:46 for the average to be in line with my 3K goal of 10:20 (= 2:45.3 per 800). I thought these would feel a bit easier but on the other hand I ran them fairly consistently after a conservative start. So it's okay but I'll need to improve a bit over the next 4 weeks to have a shot at 10:20. (Sub-10:25 is my definite goal and I'd like ~10:20.)

10 miles easy. Felt pretty good following yesterday's track workout.

5 miles, mostly easy except one ~half mile in 2:55. Was out of town most of the day at our son's soccer tournament and could only fit in a short run this evening. Probably good to take a really easy day.

9 miles, first 3.5 easy then 1500m on track in 5:09 (82, 82, 84, 61), 800 very easy jog/walk recovery, 800 in 2:43, 800 very easy, 2 x 200 in :39 and :38 (400 recoveries), 2 x 400 in :79 and :79. 1.75 miles cool-down. Felt okay, not really pleased with the workout. I think if my life depended on it I'd be hard-pressed to run a 5:15 mile, in fact 5:20 is probably about the best I could do right now even when fully rested! But perhaps part of the slowness was due to riding the exercycle 30 minutes right before running -- I originally was going to run in the late afternoon but decided to go ahead and get it out of the way this morning. The other part of the slowness is old age!

11 miles easy. Felt pretty good.

9 miles moderate/steady pace (~64:00). Felt good.

12 miles, first 2.75 as warm-up then 5,000m time trial on UGA track in 18:20.5. 1600s were 5:52.0, 5:52.5 (11:44.5) and 5:54.0 (17:18.5) + 42.0. Long cool-down with a few pick-ups. Fairly pleased with the effort -- it wasn't 100% all-out but close. I think in a race under ideal conditions I could go sub-18. (8 years ago I ran a solo 5K time trial in 17:18, so I've lost about a full minute. Kind of disappointing but that's what happens going from 40 to 48!)

2 miles easy and then I bagged the run due to some pain in the groin/lower abdominal area. I'm really concerned that this is an old injury that has returned to haunt me. I missed maybe 8 months of running from late summer 2000 to spring 2001 due to an abdominal strain/tear of some sort (never really identified it). Maybe it's something else -- sure hope so. (Played 90 minutes of soccer last night, a parents vs. kids game at our son's season-ending cookout, which was not good for the injury!)

7 miles easy. Felt pretty good. The groin/abdominal pain was minimal so I'm pleased about that. Have decided to go very easy and short the remainder of the week regardless of how good it may feel. I'm due for an extra easy several days anyway.

11 miles, first 2 easy to track then 10K on track in 41:09 starting w/ 3200 a bit above MP (6:57 then 6:54), right at MP with 1600 in 6:44, a bit under with 1600 in 6:37, then 600 in 2:30 and the final 3K of the 10K in 11:27. 2.75 miles cool-down.

Decided to run some on the track for a good, level surface and as I felt good I decided to work the pace down somewhat and hit the final 3K at close to 10K race pace. Not a real demanding workout.

10 miles, easy except I ran one mile on the track starting at ~6:45 pace the first 400 and then gradually speeding up to run the final 400 in :90. Otherwise a very relaxed run. Felt good.

10 miles, mostly easy ~7:30 pace but I dropped down to ~6:40 pace for 2 miles. Felt good. Still having a little groin/lower abdominal pain at times but it seems to be responding to careful stretching.

7 miles, going 3 easy then 2 at ~6:40 pace and 2 easy. Felt okay.

7 miles, first 1.5 easy then 5K tempo in 19:32 (w/ miles in 6:23, 6:17, 6:10) and 2.5 cool-down. Felt good.

11 miles, first 6 a bit quicker than usual easy pace then a mile in 6:26 followed by a 5:54 then 3 easy to cool-down. Ran the last mile with my daughter, who will be in 9th grade next fall and plans to try cross country.

7 miles mostly easy, mixing up the pace some. Felt okay.

8 miles, easy with one mile in ~6:40. Groin/lower abdominal area noticeable but thorough stretching later in the day really helped so I think this is the key (i.e., I've got a lot of tightness in the hip/butt/groin area on the right side I need to address regularly!).

8 miles, mostly easy but threw in one ~400m at close to 5K race pace and .75 at MP to threshold. Felt quite good and the groin area was much better -- I spent a good bit of time stretching prior to running (which is not what I normally do) and it seemed to help. So, I believe I'll race a 5K tomorrow, not aiming for an all-out effort but will view it more as a workout and test for the injury.

Was pleased that I had zero pain in the adductor/groin area and felt pretty strong today, at least until the final ~0.5 mile that was all uphill and a real grind. I went 5:45, 11:39, 17:55(?) so after 2 it was slow but I knew this wasn't a fast course and really I wasn't too concerned with finish time. I was in maybe 12th place at the half mile, passed 5 people and was not passed the entire race. I just need to be more careful and keep stretching thoroughly and I'll be back on track soon.

11 miles, mostly easy but I included 3200 on the track with a 100m acceleration on each lap. Felt surprisingly good after racing yesterday.

10 miles, first 4 easy then 3200m on track in 12:20 going 100m close to MP, 200m gradually increasing pace, 100m pretty hard (not all-out) -- this repeated for the 8 laps; then another 4 miles easy.

12 miles, first 4 easy then (on track) 1600m in 5:31, 400 easy recovery jog/walk, 1200m in 4:09, 400 recovery, 800m in 2:43, 400 recovery, 400m in 78, 400 recovery 400m in 79, 800 easy, 3K tempo in 11:55, 4.125 miles easy.

8 miles easy. Felt okay, somewhat fatigued from yesterday's workout but more from only ~4 hours of sleep last night.

11 miles, basically easy. Felt okay but heat and humidity have set in -- not surprising since tomorrow is June 1st.

10 miles, first 3 easy w/ strides to warm up for track workout then 1600m in 5:28.2 (82.5, 2:44.9, 4:07.2 = 82.5, 82.4, 82.3, 80.9) then 600m jog/walk followed by 4 x 300m gradual accelerations in 58.1, 57.0, 57.1, 56.9 (w/ ~500m jog/walk recoveries) and 2 x 400 evenly paced in 73.4 and 75.5 (w/ 400 jog recover after the first one). ~2.5 mile cool-down. Felt good, fairly pleased with the workout and I think it indicates I'll have an outside shot at running sub-10:25 in a 3,000m track race next Saturday. Will aim to run 83/400 which would give me a 10:22.5.

7 miles easy. Felt pretty good.

9 miles, first 3 easy with a few strides then 2 x 200 relaxed (42 and 40), 4 x 300 (58, 57, 57, 57), 3 x 200 (37, 37, 38). Recoveries all about 400m. Easy 3 mile cool-down. A little problem with a blister I got wearing spikes for part of Sunday's workout but that should be cleared up by Saturday's race. This was just a light workout with a little running at faster than 3K goal pace.

7 miles, first 2 easy in ~15:00 then 3 gradually dropping the pace (~7:00, 6:40, 6:10) and 2 easy cool-down. Felt strong. Blister on left little toe was really bad yesterday afternoon/evening (seemed to be getting infected) but is better this a.m. I bandaged it well w/ padding and the run didn't set it back at all. I'm confident it will be fine by Saturday and that I'll be able to race in spikes no problem. Plus a 3,000m isn't that long a race and I can put up with 10+ minutes of toe pain.

7 miles, mostly easy but threw in a few relaxed strides. Felt good.

5 miles easy. Felt good. Will be pretty warm for the 3,000m tomorrow a.m. but I'm looking forward to it. Goals are (1) avoid starting too fast, (2) hit 1600 in ~5:30, (3) really work hard to maintain pace from 1600 to 2600, (4) push the last 400 in :80 or faster, (5) run sub-10:25.

I was happy to run 10:20.4 this morning, good for 2nd among men 45-49. Originally the Atlanta TC organizers were planning on one heat for all women at 7:30 a.m. followed by all men 50+, men 40-49, and finally open men. But entires were higher than expected so there were two women's heats and they divided the old guys into 60+ and 50-59, meaning my 40-49 heat was #5 of the morning and didn't start until I believe about 9:15. It's a hot day down here! So I'd sure have liked an earlier start.

I went 81.3, 2:43.6, 4:06.1, 5:28.7, 6:52.6, 8:16.9, 9:40.2 (= 81.3, 82.3, 82.5, 82.6, 83.9, 84.3, 83.3, 40.2). I felt great for the first three laps and was right behind the eventual 45-49 division winner (who ran 10:12.7). But during the 4th lap I lost a few steps and then gradually fell back a bit more. In the meantime, the 40-44 second-place guy (10:11.5) passed me and those guys battled it out. I'm a little disappointed with myself for not staying closer to those two -- think I could have run ~10:15-10:16 had I really focused and kicked stronger. I guess I was just feeling satisfied at running under my 10:25 goal time when I should have been racing! But at least the first 1600 was exactly what I wanted.

10 miles fairly easy. Felt good, no ill effects from yesterday's race except my calves are a bit sore, I guess from racing in spikes (which is odd because I've been doing some track work in them).

9 miles, mostly easy with several ~150m accelerations. Felt good.

9 miles, first 2 easy then 2 x 3,000m both in 11:12 w/ 800m jog/walk recovery in-between (~5:00) and then 3.75 miles easy cool-down. On the first 3K I started a bit slow but sped up enough to hit my goal of 11:12 (exactly 6:00/mile pace). I began a bit faster on #2 and ran it very evenly. Good strength workout 1.5 weeks out from a road 10K (6/21). I may race a track 3K next Tuesday evening (6/17) also and would then run very lightly the three days prior to the 10K.

10 miles mostly easy. Felt good, a little tired from yesterday's workout but not bad.

8 miles, first 3.5 easy then half a mile with 4 x 100m strides (on grass) followed by 2 miles of alternating 200m hard/200m jog (also on grass).

9 miles, mostly easy although mile #4 I dropped to 6:33 and #5 was a 6:16. Felt good. Might try a 5,000m TT tomorrow a.m. just to see how close to 18:00 I can go on my own.

10 miles, first 2 easy with a few strides, etc., to warm up then 5,000m time trial in 18:09.3 followed by ~5 miles cool-down. Fairly pleased with the 5K -- I really didn't think I'd be able to get a sub-18:00 in a solo effort but this is fairly close, so not bad. 1600s were 5:48.7, 5:48.9, 5:51.4 (+ 40.2 the final 200).

I have a local road 10K next Saturday and, if weather isn't too bad, I hope to be close to 38:00. This time trial suggests I should be in ~37:45 shape so we'll see. It's possible I'll jump in an all-comers 3,000m this Tuesday but that should allow plenty of time to recover for the 10K.

7 miles easy. Felt a little tired today but not bad.

8 miles, first 2 easy then at the track I did 2 x 200, 2 x 300, 2 x 400, 2 x 300, 2 x 200 with equal or somewhat longer recoveries. 200s were 37/38, 300s in 57/58 and 400s in 78s. Not a real hard workout, just some tuning up for the race Saturday.

6 miles easy. Felt really stale and low on energy this a.m. and knew I was due for a very easy run anyway. With the 10K race this Sat. I've decided to really take it easy and go into it well rested. So probably another easy 6-7 tomorrow, with strides, and ultra easy Thurs. & Fri.

7 miles with moderate accelerations.

6 miles mostly easy w/ a few light pick-ups.

4 miles easy.

Ran 38:42 for 6th OA/1st master.  5:56, 12:06, 18:15, 24:34, 31:03, 37:26 (= 5:56, 6:10, 6:09, 6:19, 6:29, 6:23, 1:16).  Not such a hot performance!  Following up on a good 3,000m track race two weeks ago I expected to do considerably better but just didn't feel good from quite early.

11 miles easy. Felt okay.

7 miles with some light fartlek and accelerations.

9 miles, easy except 2 x 800m in 2:52 and 2:48.

7 miles easy.

10 miles, first 1.5 easy then 10K on the track in 39:07 going 3K in 11:03, 1K easy (4:23), 2K in 7:26, 1K easy (4:24), 1K in 3:44, 1K easy (4:22), 1K in 3:45. 2.25 mile cool-down.  Felt pretty good, fairly satisfying effort.

8 miles easy.

9 miles mostly easy.

8 miles with 2 at ~MP (6:50, 6:45) and one threshold (6:25), total of 20:00 for 3 continuous miles.

6 miles easy.

5 miles easy.

No running today -- travel to Eugene, OR (left home at 3:15 a.m. to catch 6:25 flight from Atlanta).

5 miles easy mostly on wood chip trails in Amazon Park. Really drained from the long day yesterday.

Ran 38:59 (6:49, 12:38, 18:42, 24:59, 31:20, 37:35 = 6:49, 5:49, 6:04, 6:17, 6:21, 6:15, 1:15). Tough uphill first mile then fast downhill second mile, after that fairly level with no significant hills. A little warmer than ideal but not bad. Felt fatigued fairly early -- no doubt from the long travel day on the 2nd and being up late last night at the Olympic Trials. Still this was a neat race and I don't feel too bad about the slow time.

8 miles easy mostly on trails.

Easy hour run on trails in Eugene.

Travel day -- no running. Up early to drive to Portland, 10 a.m. flight to Denver where I met the family and drove to Saratoga, Wyoming.

3 miles easy in Saratoga, WY. Would have like to run more in this beautiful area but we had to set off for the Tetons and than on to where we're staying near Driggs, ID.

7 miles easy near Driggs, Idaho. Feeling the altitude!

7 miles relatively easy near Driggs, ID.

No run -- up at 5:00 a.m. today to drive to Jackson and then went on a great rafting trip:  16 miles on the Snake River starting near Hoback Junction. 8 miles of flatwater and 8 miles of whitewater.

10 miles, first 2 easy then 5 miles out-and-back going 15:50 the first 2.5 (somewhat downhill and with wind) and ~17:00 back. Easy 3 cool-down.

8 miles fairly easy, felt pretty good. Spent the day in eastern Idaho at Upper and Lower Mesa Falls and Harriman State Park.

9 miles, first 2 easy then 2.5 in 15:05 (not all-out but it was somewhat demanding, considering the ~6,500' altitude) followed by 4.5 easy. Felt pretty good. Spent the day in Grand Teton NP.

7 miles easy. Felt really drained during the run and lacked energy most of the day.

6 miles outside Driggs, ID. Last run here -- has been a great week.

4 miles easy in early a.m. east of Cooke City, MT. Felt good, beautiful area but only had time for a very brief run.

6 miles easy in Cheyenne, WY. Felt okay but the groin and lower abdominal pain was more noticeable today. Perhaps due to lots of time in the car yesterday -- I'm sure that can't help.

7 miles easy back home in Athens, GA.

11 miles mostly easy. Need to update my running for the past month or so, which I'll do soon.

8 miles, easy to moderate pace the first 3 then mixed in several fairly hard uphills (mostly :45 to :60) and a rolling half mile in ~2:50. Felt pretty good, still having some groin and hip tightness and pain but stretching seems to be helping.

9 miles with some fartlek.

10 miles relatively easy.

6 miles easy.

11 miles, first 2 easy then 6 x 1.25 mile loop going pretty hard on the 1K uphill section each loop. Fastest was a paltry 3:53 (but it's a tough hill). 1.5 miles cool-down.

7 miles easy.

13 miles, going 6 out in 40:36 (6:50, 6:48, 6:42, 6:46, 6:42, 6:48) and 6 back in 39:15 (6:34, 6:36, 6:35, 6:29, 6:31, 6:30) and mile 13 easy. Pretty good effort.

8 mile, easy except 8 x ~150m accelerations.

9 miles, mostly easy but I worked pretty hard on an uphill mile in ~6:35.

10 miles, first 3 easy then 2 x uphill mile in 6:24 and 6:15 (w/ mile jog down inbetween). Also several ~150m accelerations.

9 miles easy with a few pick-ups.

11 miles, first 2 easy then 6 x 1.25 mile loop same as last Friday, going hard on the 1K uphill section each loop. Ks were 4:04, 3:57, 3:56, 3:53, 3:53, 3:52. Pleased to not slow down at all thru the set. Recoveries were easy the remainder of each lap. Good effort in humid conditions.

8 miles, easy except about 8 x ~150m accelerations.

16 miles, first 5 relatively easy (36:30) then 6 miles (3 out, 3 back) in 38:45 going 6:27, 6:30, 6:29, 6:24, 6:33, 6:22 and another 5 easy.

9 miles, easy except 8 x ~150m accelerations.

A.M.:  11 easy with a few strides.

P.M.:  3 easy on grass with a few pick-ups.

8 miles easy with a few accelerations.

11 miles, first 1.5 easy then 4 x 1200m on track in 4:36, 4:34, 4:32, 4:32 (w/ 400m jog recoveries) and then 5.5 miles cool-down. Didn't feel good and bagged the workout, which was to have also included 3 x 1600m after the 1200s. I just felt slow and it was an off day.

8 miles easy.

16 miles in ~1:55 with Saturday a.m. group. Felt okay considering higher mileage this week.

9 miles mostly easy with a few strides.

7 miles easy.

11 miles, first 1.5 easy then 4 x 1200m/3 x 1600m on track going 4:31, 4:30, 4:28, 4:29, 6:06, 6:06, 6:03 (w/ 400m recoveries after the 1200s and 500m after 1600s). Felt good, this is the workout I cut short last Thursday so I was glad to get it in today. Not really impressive but I feel this indicates I'm in decent shape and perhaps ~38:00 or so for 10K will be a reasonable goal for fall.

7 miles easy in rain. Felt so-so, kind of drained from yesterday.

11 miles fartlek, felt pretty good but not great.

6 miles easy.

8 miles easy.

7 miles easy. Groin/lower abdominal area rather sore.

4 miles easy.

A.M.:  5 miles easy

P.M.:  5 miles during William's soccer practice, going 8 x 0.5 mile loop in 3:41, 3:31, 3:25, 3:16, 3:10, 3:08, 3:06, 3:03 then an easy mile cool-down.

6 miles easy.

7 miles easy.

5 miles easy.

8 miles easy.

8 miles light/moderate fartlek.

6 miles easy.

9 miles mostly easy with a few pick-ups.

5 miles easy.

5 miles easy, feeling pretty good so I'm leaning toward giving it a go and running Asheville Half-Marathon on Saturday.  This afternoon I decided to enter online so in case I got delayed during the 3+ hour drive race morning I'd at least not have registration to worry about. But active.com had stopped taking entries as of last night (which figures). The odd thing is that there was a note about the race being almost full, this despite the fact that neither the entry form nor the race website mention a cap on entries. And both say they will accept day of race registrations. So I e-mailed the race director to see if there's any other way I can enter today or tomorrow.

5 miles easy, feeling pretty good. Except for the fact that I made major efforts to get into Asheville Half-Marathon today and failed. The race director's e-mails said they would probably be full at some point this afternoon and he also said they couldn't take a credit card number over the phone and no faxing entries and paying tomorrow. So I went ahead and tried faxing my entry to the YMCA then calling to ask people there if they would accept it -- no deal. This makes me really angry! Why is there no mention anywhere of a limit on registrations?! I'm not driving all the way to Asheville leaving at 3:15 a.m. tomorrow to be told I can't enter. I wonder how many people will be turned away?

14 miles, first 1.5 to warm up with a few strides, etc., then ran 15K on the track in 1:00.29 (5Ks in 20:05, 20:10, 20:14) and about 4.5 miles cool-down. Since I couldn't race the half-marathon I wanted something to really test my fitness and this was the best idea I could come up with. At first I thought I run 52.75 laps and do a complete half-marathon but it was so humid I knew I'd really suffer doing that on my own so I settled for 15K at about half-marathon pace (a bit slower, I hope!). I'm not nearly as fit as half a year ago when I ran a 1:22 half but this wasn't too bad considering everything, including the humidity. I think I'll aim for a new half-marathon in Augusta, GA, in six weeks and see if I can get something back by then, provided my hip and so one cooperate.

6 miles easy then a few miles walking while working at a small local 5K at our son's middle school.

9 miles, first mile easy then ran the 5K course from yesterday's race at more or less threshold pace (20:30) then 5 miles easy. This is a tough course! I'd have died if I had raced yesterday following the 15K on the track Saturday. Hip and groin not bad so I'm somewhat encouraged.

5 miles easy. Felt good, hip noticeably tight but little soreness elsewhere. Might do a light run primarily on grass this evening during my son's soccer practice, with barefoot strides, etc.

10 miles easy. Wanted to do a fartlek today but had some discomfort in the groin/lower abdominal area so just took it fairly easy.

Day off from running but I did get out for a hour on the bike (~17 miles, relaxed pace) this evening which was a nice change.

4 miles easy. Not so great -- hip tightness and groin pain.

No run but road 75 minutes (~20 miles) in late afternoon.