Rush post.
I'm supposed to be leaving in 2 hrs to take my church youth group to Tennessee for the week, so this morning has been moving pretty fast.
Today was my 'graduation run' for C25K - it's the last run on the schedule, and it was supposed to be 5 miles. Since I knew the schedule would be tight today (as it was last night), I decided to cut it down to just 2 miles, so I would finish at about the same time as Steph, and so we wouldn't be on the road for the hour that it would take me to do 5 miles. Good decision - time is always against you when you plan a church trip.
We got up early and were out the door by 8:15. I only ran the 2 miles I had planned, but I did the mileage on the flattest part of the dam ('S' line to a turnaround @ the 1 mile marker). I was already warm by the time we got on the road, and the humidity was (I'm estimating here) about 286%. I usually run shirtless, but I kept it on today, and I was drenched at the end of 2 miles. At 5 miles, I'd have looked like I just got out of the pool. It was a good run, and I tried to stretch out my legs a little on the last 3/4 mile. It took about a mile to warm up, then I sped up a little. I couldn't find ANYTHING I wanted to listen to on the mp3 player. I have some USMC cadences on my player, but I couldn't find any of them. I finally found one after the run was done, and I was on my cool-down walk back to the Jeep to stretch.
I used a bigger water bottle, and mixed up some pretty weak Gatorade. Weak Gatorade sucks: it kind of burns the back of my throat- I'll just go back to mixing full strength.
I'm a little closer to my weight goal today - the scale said 158 this morning before I ran - - - 8 more to go.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
C25K W10d4 (6-29-07)
Late post due to storms and internet connection problems. My ADSL2+ modem got fried in the storms last night.
Friday - We were going to wait until 7pm to run tonight (because of the heat), but it rained about 5pm and knocked out the power to most of the city, so we ran some errands and headed on to the dam at about 6.
I ran the scheduled 6 miles, but this time I started at the 'Start' line (what a novel idea), so that I would have to loop twice to get up to 6 miles - just one out-an-back circuit. I was curious about starting at the "S" because it would let me run for a full 1.25 miles on flat ground - no big hill at .75 miles. I was interested to know how this would affect my running on the first big hill. I did feel everything kind of fall into place just past the 1 mile mark (which is just as I get onto the dam), and I was pretty well warmed up a quarter mile later when I faced the hill. It was still tough, but I was in sync, so I didn't feel like a amputee penguin running up the hill. The rest of the run was pretty uneventful. I've noticed that since my endurance is picking up a little that I tend to stretch my stride a little more on the downhills, whereas in the past, I just tried to maintain a steady pace. I'm finding myself pushing more at the end of my runs, and I wonder if that means that I'm not pacing fast enough throughout the rest of the run. I don't intend (at this moment) to start any speed workouts until I've had my weekly mileage @ 25-30 for a month or so. I'll let my time at the Midnight Express develop on it's own, and that will be a goal to beat for next year.
Steph is up to full 20 minute runs (no walking) on her C25K program, and she's still enjoying it.
Friday - We were going to wait until 7pm to run tonight (because of the heat), but it rained about 5pm and knocked out the power to most of the city, so we ran some errands and headed on to the dam at about 6.
I ran the scheduled 6 miles, but this time I started at the 'Start' line (what a novel idea), so that I would have to loop twice to get up to 6 miles - just one out-an-back circuit. I was curious about starting at the "S" because it would let me run for a full 1.25 miles on flat ground - no big hill at .75 miles. I was interested to know how this would affect my running on the first big hill. I did feel everything kind of fall into place just past the 1 mile mark (which is just as I get onto the dam), and I was pretty well warmed up a quarter mile later when I faced the hill. It was still tough, but I was in sync, so I didn't feel like a amputee penguin running up the hill. The rest of the run was pretty uneventful. I've noticed that since my endurance is picking up a little that I tend to stretch my stride a little more on the downhills, whereas in the past, I just tried to maintain a steady pace. I'm finding myself pushing more at the end of my runs, and I wonder if that means that I'm not pacing fast enough throughout the rest of the run. I don't intend (at this moment) to start any speed workouts until I've had my weekly mileage @ 25-30 for a month or so. I'll let my time at the Midnight Express develop on it's own, and that will be a goal to beat for next year.
Steph is up to full 20 minute runs (no walking) on her C25K program, and she's still enjoying it.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
C25K W10d3 (6-28-07)
Tonight went pretty well. I was scheduled for 5 miles and I ended up doing 6. We waited until 6:30pm to get started in an attempt to avoid the heat with limited success. It was still pretty hot when we started - I need to start checking the temp when I leave the house.
When I started, it was the standard hard push to get in the groove. I find that once I cross the dam and get up the first hill, then things fall into place better. However, the 1st uphill has no shade, so the sun beats down pretty hard on the first one. By the time I got to about 1.5 or 2 miles, I had decided to go ahead an push on to the West Point entrance to the park (I know this to be 5.6 miles if I start from the .5 mile marker), and about halfway back after the turnaround, I decided to tack on an additional half mile at the end to round out 6 miles. I was VERY thirsty when I finished and I'm going to have to start carrying more water to the dam with me. Maybe a quart with a weak Gatorade mixture with salt in it.
My 6 mile run was supposed to be tomorrow, and I'd been a little apprehensive about it. It's only a mile further than I've run before, but it was still somewhat of a mental barrier since I'm not 100% sure that I've ever run farther than 6 (even when on high school cross-country). It's behind me now and my next big number is 10. I want to move my weekly mileage up to 30 miles per week, with at least a 10 mile run on Saturday. It will take me a few more weeks to get there. I'm increasing my weekly mileage by 5 to 10% per week to avoid over-exertion and injuries.
I'll still try to do 6 miles tomorrow night. I may wait until later in the evening to take advantage of the cooler temps - unless it rains.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
C25K W10d2 (6-26-07)
Today was HARD! My last several runs have been 5 miles or more, and tonight I was only supposed to go 4, so I figured that it would be an easy night - - Wrong again. I started at the .5 mile marker, as usual, and did the turnaround at the 2.5 mile marker.
My legs didn't' feel great at the start of the run; no pain, but no spring in my step either. Steph and I left @ 6:30pm for the run, and the sun was still pretty hot. I figure that the heat and humidity contributed to making the run harder. The last quarter mile was okay and everything seemed to sync up, but it was a little late by then. Tomorrow is a rest day, so hopefully Thursday will be another good run. Friday is the big 6 miler, and I'm still looking forward to that one.
My legs didn't' feel great at the start of the run; no pain, but no spring in my step either. Steph and I left @ 6:30pm for the run, and the sun was still pretty hot. I figure that the heat and humidity contributed to making the run harder. The last quarter mile was okay and everything seemed to sync up, but it was a little late by then. Tomorrow is a rest day, so hopefully Thursday will be another good run. Friday is the big 6 miler, and I'm still looking forward to that one.
Monday, June 25, 2007
C25K W10d1 (6-25-07) Final Week!!
It seems like this week has been a long time coming (10 weeks to be exact), but this is the last week of C25K, so next week, I need to be on a new routine.
Tonight I was scheduled to run 5 miles, but when I got to the turnaround @ 2.5 miles the end of the park road just seemed too close to waste. So I went a total of 5.6 tonight ( these 5.6 pushes makes the 6 mile coming up this week not seem so big). I did the standard .5 maker starting point, and ran to the West Point side of the park and back. No pains or odd feelings. I've noticed it takes about a mile to a mile and a half for my legs to get warmed up good, and everything to fall into rhythm (that's a cool statement since when I started in January a mile was my long run, and I was toasted at the end of it). The temperature was pretty mild, and since it was overcast, the sun didn't beat down so hard. I didn't stretch my legs out at the end like I did last week, just took it at what felt like a nice easy pace. I haven't been timing myself, but we were on a tight schedule tonight, so Steph and I had a rendezvous time worked out, and I carried my phone since I had asked my 14 yr old daughter to start some cooking while we were gone. I looked at my phone when Steph and I separated and it was about 5:45, when I finished it was 6:45. I ran 5.6 miles, so that puts me on a pace of roughly 10:45 per mile. My goal for the midnight race is 27 minutes which is roughly 8:30 per mile - that's gonna be tough to do, but hopefully, 30 miles per week for the next several weeks will get me close to it.
Saturday I'm supposed to run 5 miles, but that might be tricky. I'm travelling with my church group to Tennessee at 3pm, so I'll try to run early that morning.
Tonight was Steph's first run in her new shoes. We went to Below the Knee on Saturday and she got a pair of Nike Air Pegasus. She loved them, she says she didn't realize shoes could be so light.
I did a good stretch at the end, and chugged down my whole squirt bottle of Gatorade. I may need to start carrying 2 bottles just for myself.
Tonight I was scheduled to run 5 miles, but when I got to the turnaround @ 2.5 miles the end of the park road just seemed too close to waste. So I went a total of 5.6 tonight ( these 5.6 pushes makes the 6 mile coming up this week not seem so big). I did the standard .5 maker starting point, and ran to the West Point side of the park and back. No pains or odd feelings. I've noticed it takes about a mile to a mile and a half for my legs to get warmed up good, and everything to fall into rhythm (that's a cool statement since when I started in January a mile was my long run, and I was toasted at the end of it). The temperature was pretty mild, and since it was overcast, the sun didn't beat down so hard. I didn't stretch my legs out at the end like I did last week, just took it at what felt like a nice easy pace. I haven't been timing myself, but we were on a tight schedule tonight, so Steph and I had a rendezvous time worked out, and I carried my phone since I had asked my 14 yr old daughter to start some cooking while we were gone. I looked at my phone when Steph and I separated and it was about 5:45, when I finished it was 6:45. I ran 5.6 miles, so that puts me on a pace of roughly 10:45 per mile. My goal for the midnight race is 27 minutes which is roughly 8:30 per mile - that's gonna be tough to do, but hopefully, 30 miles per week for the next several weeks will get me close to it.
Saturday I'm supposed to run 5 miles, but that might be tricky. I'm travelling with my church group to Tennessee at 3pm, so I'll try to run early that morning.
Tonight was Steph's first run in her new shoes. We went to Below the Knee on Saturday and she got a pair of Nike Air Pegasus. She loved them, she says she didn't realize shoes could be so light.
I did a good stretch at the end, and chugged down my whole squirt bottle of Gatorade. I may need to start carrying 2 bottles just for myself.
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