Okay, so the title's a little misleading. I didn't make it all 20 today. My right hammy started really tightening up at mile 14 or so. I ran for while on it, but finally had to throw in the towel. I walked another 2-3 miles back to the car, so I really only did about 18 today... and walked the last bit.
On the plus side, that was the longest run we do... and with 3 weeks to go, we're done with the really long stuff.
I was in Buena Vista, CO this weekend to run the Autumn Color half marathon. We had planned a nice little weekend with friends, and of course, Alex got sick on Friday. So, Laura stayed home and I went to BV to run the race.
It was a nice little race. There were probably about 200 or more people that ran the half marathon. We started at Cottonwood Lake and ran almost entirely downhill from there to Buena Vista. It was tailor made for personal records... and I got one. I finished in 1:44:13 (~7:57/mi). It was a great pre-marathon prep race.
It was an early morning for me today. Since I've committed to running in the mornings, I haven't yet done a "longish" mid-week run. However, since I knew I wouldn't have time during the day today, I knew I had to get it done this morning. So... I was up at 4:30 am to start running by 4:45 so that I could get my 8 miles in before 6 am.
I didn't feel all that great. My legs felt a little heavy after the harder effort yesterday. I really didn't want to go, but I'm glad I did. I felt pretty good afterward.
Here are the stats:
Date: 9-17-2008
Distance: 8.02 mi.
Pace: 8:50/mi
Duration: 1:11:00
Back to the "short" distance today. I got up early to run my usual 5 mile out and back route from the house. It was a brisk 45 degrees, and I really wasn't keen on getting out of my nice, warm bed. But... I did, and I'm glad I did. I decided to push it a little today, to see how my legs would respond after 19 on Sat. Not too bad. I took it a little easy on the out, and really pushed it on the back. Here are the stats:
Date:9-16-2008
Distance: 5.02 mi.
Pace: 08:10/mi
Duration: 40:59
19 miles... That was a L-O-N-G run. I clearly lack endurance from the time missed from the injury. I felt really good until about 15, and then things started to go downhill. I really noticed it from 16-19. I finally got the GPS working right, and I wore it on this run. I think I need to alter the "smoothness" settings, because the Google Maps upload of the course doesn't look very accurate to me. Lots of "guessing" by the GPS plotter shows us running through houses, fences and walls.
Here's the map of the 19 miles.
Here are the stats from the run:
Date:9-13-2008
Distance: 19.22 mi.
Pace: 09:16
Duration: 02:58:14
Yet another easy 5 mile run today. Same route. A little slower today.
The Stats:
Date: 09-11-2008
Distance: 4.93 mi.
Pace: 08:37
Duration: 42:44
I've been bad about running too hard on days where The Plan calls for a marathon pace run. So, today, my goal was to really slow down and run at my goal marathon pace, which is about 9:00/mi.
The Stats:
Date: 09-10-2008
Distance: 4.93 mi.
Pace: 08:52
Duration: 41:51
I never thought it would be this hard to slow down.
Since the weather was so gorgeous yesterday, I just had to get on the bike at lunch and go for a spin around the Boulder Res. It was a very easy ride, with no hard efforts.
Date: 09-10-2008
Distance: 17.15 mi.
Speed: 18.7 mph
Duration: 55:02
Easy run today for a total of 5 miles. This was just my standard 5 mile out n' back route in Stapleton. I felt like I was running pretty easily, despite the 13 on Saturday. But I could definitely feel more fatigue in my legs than last week.
The Stats:
Date: 09-09-2008
Distance: 4.93 mi.
Pace: 08:28
Duration: 41:51
I was really surprised that my pace was as fast as 8:30/mi. I didn't feel like I was running that hard!
That's right! I'm back, baby! I'm back! Today I met my friends (and former colleagues, Justin and Heath) for a 13 mile long run, and... no pain or stiffness at all! The Plan called for a "rest" week this week (week #12), stepping back from 18 last week (which I didn't do) to 13.
We decided to run the first 12 of the marathon course, and modify it for the last mile to get back to our cars. Here's the map:
Date: 09-06-2008
Distance: 13.05 mi.
Pace: 8:52
Duration: 1:55:50
5 more miles today. No pain. No stiffness. It felt really good. Even better than Tuesday. The big test will be Saturday's 13. Didn't run yesterday. Will was up most of the night coughing and wheezing. Found out this morning that he has croup. Gah!!!
Date: 09-04-2008
Distance: 4.95 mi.
Pace: 8:28
Duration: 42:08
Today I ran 5 pain free miles. This morning I met my neighbor, Neil, who is getting back into running, and we ran together. I felt really good. No pain. No stiffness. It was a great day. I'm supposed to do 8 tomorrow, but I may bag it to give me one more day of rest.
Date: 09-02-2008
Distance: 4.95 mi.
Pace: 8:34
Duration: 42:29
