4 Treadmill Miles

4 Excruciating miles on the treadmill. I wasn't sure why it was so painful at the time but last night I woke up with a slight fever so I probably wasn't completely well. It was coming off another good 5k time so I knew I was condititioned by I barely made it through.

4 miles - 30 min (7:30/mile)

Mike

Weekly Report-18

I hit a rather big bump in the training road... Here's to fresh starts!! ;)

Tuesday: 3.45 miles- 29:15 (8:28 pace)

More Pics

Stretching with Ella (amazingly this is the first time I've really stretched and warmed-up before a 5k)



The first half-mile...



The home stretch



Just before the finish line

El Race-o

Another race and another best time. I met my goal and did so exclusively with treadmill running which is interesting. My legs have been a little sore since (I'm guessing because I don't use them to push off when I'm on the treadmill) but other than that I felt good. The time was 20:48 and my goal was to be under 21min so I can't complain. I just need to maintain my conditioning until the fall and then hit it hard.

3.1 miles - 20:48 (6:41/mile)

Mike

2 Shorter Runs

3 Miles Tuesday and 3 Miles today both at 7:30/mile. I'm hoping this is enought to lower my time by about 20s from my last 5k. I don't anticipate running another (at least with any hope of improvement) until the fall.

Mike

Power Surge

I ran for about 20 min on the treadmill yesterday at home. The treadmill isn't very nice and it is stuck on a steep incline, so even though the pace was slower I'll still put the pace at about 7:30/mile. The incline on the treadmill really made it tough. As soon as I finished I sat down in front of the fan to cool off and the power went out. Miserable.

3 Miles - 7:30/mile

Mike

2 Runs

I ran Thursday and Saturday (and hopefully I'll get a run in tomorrow), both runs were identical so I'll combine the post. I'm trying to lower my 5k time by strictly running on a treadmill. It will be interesting to see what happens but I feel like I've been working pretty hard. Next race is on Saturday; it will be 2 weeks removed from my last one and I'd really like to go sub-21.

Thursday: 4 miles - 30 min (8 min/mile)
Saturday: 4 miles - 30 min (8 min/mile)

Mike

Treadmills Required

With the heat I have to run either early or late. Early is out because I am out the door by 6am to summer school. Late is out because I'm at Life Time until 10pm. I do have about 4 hours at home but that is from 1-5pm during peak fire season. I've resolved to run treadmills before work in the 72 degree environment that is Life Time.

Yesterday I put in four miles at 7min/mile which - as I did before - I'll add 30s/mile to. It got me huffing and puffing so that's good. I figure that my cardiovascular system is what needs the most work now and I can definitely do that on a treadmill. Just run until I can't run no more. Hopefully leg-strength will just maintain itself.

4 miles 7:30/mile

Mike

Treadmills Revisited

So I leave for my run yesterday morning... a scheduled 10 miler, and about 3 miles into it my head starts racing with all the things I had to do that day. I am a bit of an anxious gal to begin with, and add to that the anxiety of keeping a good pace while running... I was, perhaps, maxed out with brain power. This isn't the first time this has happened... especially within the last two weeks. So I abort mission at mile 5 and commit to hit the treadmill that night. I finished my day's workout at the gym, which was lame, but I finished it.

Treadmills are no good for a number of reasons: 1. They are easier than roads, and according to Mike's research, about 33% easier. 2. They are stationary, which makes you feel like you are going no where, and going no where 33% quicker. 3. They have come to represent several negative aspects in my training... lack of time, lack of complete workouts, and lack of good weather. Suffice it to say, if I am on a treadmill, something in my day and/or life isn't going the way I would like.

(side note: I was up til 3:45 last night and in the lab by 9:30 this morning. I'll be headed to the nearest treadmill as soon as I am done with my work. :)

~chrissy

Weekly Report-16

Monday: 5 miles in the AM & 5 miles in the PM: 8:30 pace (on treadmill)
Tuesday: 7 miles 8:20 pace (on treadmill)

Pics n' Such

Here are some pics from the race. It was hard to find any with me in the picture but found some if you have a keen eye. The pic from the starting line I think is before I arrived.

Link to all the pictures:

http://runthewoodlands.smugmug.com/gallery/2983821#161548774

Link to results:

http://www.runningintheusa.com/07/tx0609.html

Mike

So Near ... So Far

Well, I ran another no-so-glory-day best, but I was just off my goal time of coming in under 21 min. Of the three mistakes from last time at The Woodlands (arrival time, preparation and course knowledge) I only really benefited from one - the one that was automatic. I got there late again which prevented race preparation but I still managed to get 21:06. Here's the story:

Wake up @ 6:10 to be out the door by 6:30. Marci is not in bed but spent the night with Ella because she was feverish with teeth coming (we think). She tells me it's not a good idea for them to go and, being the morning person that I am, decide not to run because I'm tired too and I don't really want to go alone. After 15 more minutes in bed I realize I do want to race so I start getting ready. After some mis-haps I'm out the door by 6:50.

Arrive via new, less confusing and more direct route I found online (this route actually involves a turn by the gas station we stopped at last time for directions!) I went to the restroom and was at the course by 7:50. A large number of people (much more than last time) were already congregating at the finish line. I don't fret because I know the race won't start for 10 more minutes; can't warm-up, but I know I'll be able to run. I open my car door and race officials are yelling to people already checked in that the race is beginning and they need to run. I run to check in, pay my dollar in quarters and dash to the starting line.

At this point they inform us that two club teams are competing against each other which, 1) explains the large turnout and 2) tells me competition will be tougher than last time (so much for my secondary goal of placing in the top 10). They explain the course, hoist up the trophy that is at stake for the winning club and blow the horn probably 3 or 4 minutes early.

Mile 1: We're off. I'm initially somewhere in the top 25-30 runners. My watch is synchronized with the start (unlike last time) so I am using that, along with a keen eye for the mile markers, to take advantage of my course knowledge. Last time I started off too fast so I made a conscious effort to not do that. I hit the first mile in 6:48 and felt really good. The competition had thinned and spaced itself out a bit by now but I really hadn't jostled position. I told myself to keep pace and finish strong and that should be just enough to meet the goal.

Mile 2: It would have been enough to meet the goal but for some reason mile 2 was slow. It ended up being my downfall. I don't remember the exact time but it was probably 10-15s off pace (I stopped looking at my watch once I realized I should be at mile 2 and it wasn't in sight). I decided to start running and not be so concerned with my time and pacing. I also happened to pass 4 or 5 people during mile 2 so perhaps that gave me a false sense of time.

Mile 3: Familiarity with the course really helped with making it not seem so long; the 5k-race-this-way sign seemed to come up very quickly. I felt good and noticed I was 15 minutes into the race so I knew I only had 5 or 6 minutes left. I decided to just go. I consequently passed a lot of people on this stretch and by the time I got back to the parking lot was practically running on my toes. I finished about 2 strides short of a guy who was out of sight at the time I started my increase in pace.

Overall it felt great to finish that strong and lower my time, I'm only mildly disappointed that I missed the goal of sub 21. I had it in me to do it today but tactically I went out a little slow and to some degree let others dictate my pace. The main factor, however, in my opinion is training. Over the past three weeks I've only run 8 or 9 times and only a couple of those were hard workouts. I really can't expect much after training like that.

I guess that's good for now. I'll post links and pics from the race when they become available. Oh yeah, I placed 16th overall which I'm fairly proud of considering the turnout and the fact that there was an actual team competition going on.

Mike

4 miles - 31:29

Another medium day but it would have been difficult to do a hard day. My legs felt heavy and my body just overall felt fatigued. I'm guessing maybe partly due to a laborious weekend. Anyhow, I probably wouldn't push it either way with a race approaching this weekend.

4 miles - 31:29 (7:52/mile)

mike

4 Miles - 30:55

I intended to go hard but my body didn't want to so I made it a medium day. I'll do one more tomorrow and then I'm pretty busy for Thursday and Friday before the race at the Woodlands.

4 miles - 30:55 (7:44/mile)

mike

Weekly Report-15

Monday: 7.3 miles - 1:02:00 (8:29 pace)
~blah... I ended up with 27 miles this week.