AZ Run Dad

4 miles including some longer strides

1:14:21 for sixth place. Traffic getting to the buses was ridiculous so I decided to park about 2.5 miles from the start and run there. That turned out to be a really good choice. Besides being a little cold in my racing gear for a few minutes it was pretty stress free. I got in my full warm up and some strides on my way to the start.  Race seemed very organized and we were off very close to the 6:30 start time. The weather seemed perfect. I was determined to go off effort and not look at my watch at all until the mile splits. First two seemed conservative enough and were 5:41,5:44. A lead group of 4 had separated early and I was running with another guy for the first nine miles. We would trade surges and taking the lead but it was nice to have him there. Rest of the splits were 5:34,5:36,5:38,5:37,5:39, 5:39, 5:38,5:45,5:44,5:43,5:31, (4:59 pace for the last .16). The guy I was running with gapped me around 9 miles and I didn't respond well enough to stick to him. I was hurting so I tried of course but you always say "what if" when you look back. Anyway, I was a little disappointed with the time and miles 10,11,12 is where I lost the time that I was hoping for. The course was good, weather was perfect, and I gave it my all so I can't ask for much more. After the race I quickly cooled down and went to watch the marathoners come in. I was coaching a few in the race and I got to see Jake going for the win with about 1.5 to go which was very cool to see. For about an hour I had no idea if he had won or not. Overall a great day doing something I love to do.

5+ miles recovery shuffle. I'm getting old. 

8 miles + some strides. Legs are tired and so is the rest of me. I have another race this weekend. Recovery will be interesting. 

10 miles with a 4 mile warmup then 5 x 4 min at MP (5:55) straight into 1 min at 10k pace (5:25) and then straight back into the 4 min at MP and so on. So the total tempo run was 25 min straight through probably around around 5:45-50 pace overall. I enjoyed this was as it was something different and I don't feel like it pounded my body although it did get tough towards the end. It also challenged me mentally to shift paces like that. I'd like to do something like this more often.

8 miles easy. Feeling fresher. I think I'll be okay for the 15k this weekend.

Warmed up a couple of miles then did a couple of 800s a little faster than 15k pace. Felt good and fresh.

Pretty good race today. Basically on par with what I've done lately but I had a decent finish and that always feels good. I was 27 seconds faster than last year and was sub 52 which is what I wanted. Splits were 5:43,5:25,5:24,5:19,5:26,5:33,5:44,5:50,5:27, 1:51 (.37). This race has big money so I ended up running with some of the top women for a lot of the race. The top men were well ahead and I only saw them after the race. There is a big hill at around 7 miles and I didn't have much after that last year so I left a little bit in the tank this year and was able to have a good finish. That helped my time a lot. This is a great race and the post race is awesome. Tons of good awards and lots of beer. I took home a dinner for four at Chipotle and a 12 pack of Kilt Lifter beer. My kids also had a great time playing in the grass and park. It was a great morning for running! 

6 miles very slow. Body is only a little beat up today which is an improvement over the last two races I've done.

8 easy. I felt pretty good this morning and was able to start the run without a limp from hip pain for the first time in a while. Started the Mrytl Routine cool down today.

AM: 8 miles at a moderate pace. My body is feeling better and hip pain seems to be going in the right direction. That helped for a bit of a faster pace this morning. 

PM: 4 miles easy + 6 x 10 second hill sprints 

12 miles with 6 easy then last 6 progressing from marathon effort down to 15k effort. Splits for last six were 5:58, 5:49, 5:44, 5:41, 5:37, 5:35. This one got tough towards the end. My legs were a little sore and tired from some strength exercises I started but I am feeling as healthy as I have for a while.

8 miles with 3 x 1 mile repeats with 2:55 jogs between. Not a huge workout but faster for me. Splits were 5:07, 5:06, 5:05. It was hard but I'm confident I could have done another one at that pace. I'm happy with this one. I haven't done miles this fast for a while. I hope to be able to run this pace at the Carlsbad 5000 on April 7.

16.45 miles with 7.5 miles then straight into 3 x 2 miles with 1 mile jog between. Goal was to be comfortably hard and not go too slow on the recovery jog. Actual was a little bit harder than comfortably hard but times were fast and I was right where I wanted to be for the jogs. Splits were 11:17, 7:10, 11:10, 7:00 11:03. The first one actually seemed the toughest because my body had to adjust from 6:40 pace to 5:40 pace in an instant. Good workout today and a nice back to back this weekend.

8 Easy miles. 

AM: 10 Miles easy/moderate. I was warming up to do a workout but I could tell my body wasn't quite ready so I just kept on with easy running.

PM: 4.4 Miles with some strides 

10.4 Miles with 8 x 1k. Plan was to go through 800 in around 2:40 then finish the last 200 in 35. I did these on the road so it didn't quite go as planned but it did go well. Rests were 200 walks which seemed like a lot. Splits were 3:13, 3:12, 3:11, 3:09, 3:11, 3:10, 3:09, 3:08. I think I was running the last 200 in around 35 seconds. I felt good today and not wiped out after this one. 

AM: 10 miles easy. Legs felt pretty good considering the workout yesterday.

PM: 4 miles easy + 6 x 10 second hill sprints. When I was doing the hill sprints there was a guy doing the same exact thing as me and he was just blasting up the hill with really good form like a sprinter. It just didn't look like a normal guy to me. He was only about 5 ft 6 but he was built like a fire hydrant. Before my last one I told him good job and that he looked really strong doing the hill sprints. We got to talking and he was Larod Stephens-Howling from the Cardinals (NFL). He was a good return guy and fill in running back when guys were injured. He was a really nice guy and is a free agent right now. I thought it was pretty cool to see an NFL guy out there doing hill sprints.  

10 miles with a speed workout this morning. I did 6 x 800 with 800 jogs. Splits were 2:25, 2:26, 2:24, 2:26, 2:25, 2:27. These were pretty hard but they should be. That's a fast pace for me. My speed is improving though so I have no complaints. I will get a nice fill of endurance tomorrow. 

18 miles. Nice long run this morning. First 8 about 6:45 pace and felt good then progressed slowly for the last 10 down to 5:26 for the last mile. Last 4 miles were all under 6. Nice mental challenge for this one. I felt pretty good this morning especially considering the faster 800s yesterday.

8 miles easy. Legs were tired from the weekend.

AM: 10 miles with 4 x 1 mile on the road w/3 min jogs. Splits were 5:01, 5:01, 5:03, 4:57. Happy with this one especially after a hard long run on Sunday. Cooled down a couple of miles to finish it off.

PM: 4 miles easy on the way home from work. Legs were toast from the morning session. 

8 miles easy. Perfect weather for this one. It took a couple miles to loosen up and then I had a nice enjoyable easy run.

12 miles at a moderate pace with a couple faster towards the end. I finished the run with 6 x 100ish strides for a touch of speed. Great weather again this morning. 

10 miles with a quick track workout. I ran to the track and did some drills and strides before jumping into a 12 x 400 w/400 jogs workout. The first and last one were 68 and the rest were all 69 so I was happy with the consistency. These were still in control as far as form goes but I honestly didn't have a ton of wiggle room. I think 68s the whole time would have been too fast. Good workout though. Have a great weekend!

12 miles easy this morning. My legs weren't sore from yesterday's faster reps but they were tired. Nice peaceful run this morning and perfect weather as usual for this time of year.