AZ Run Dad

10 miles around Gilbert. Ran on mostly soft surfaces taking the headlamp with me today. Legs were tired so I just went with what they gave me which wasn't very much. Happy to get a nice 10 miles in on the dirt.

12+ mile "long run" this morning. I felt pretty good from the start today. I warmed up 5 miles and went straight into a 5 x 1 mile workout with 1 min jogs and straight back into a jog to finish things off. Splits were 5:44, 5:38, 5:36, 5:36, 5:35. The first 3 felt great and very controlled. The last two got tough. I must have crossed over my LT pace somewhere in there. I feel good about this one. The misery index was 140 (80 with 60 dew point) which is pretty nice for this time of year and made things very bearable. Things are definitely improving for me.

8 miles easy with a short workout in the middle. I ran 4 miles then did 12 x 100 in 16 avg. My legs were tired from yesterday but the 100s felt great and I think will help with a nice recovery. Other than the 100s I ran very easy. 

8 miles around the neighborhood in the opposite direction which was a nice change. I need to do that more often. I did 6 strides after that and those felt great as usual. Weather seemed good again.

10+ miles with 8 x 1k with 200 jog workout. I warmed up my usual warm up with some drills and strides. Splits for the workout were 3:23, 3:25, 3:24, 3:23, 3:23, 3:24, 3:24, 3:18. I pushed it home on the last one. Jogs were just over a minute on all of them. I did this one on the road by my house. I wasn't planning on going quite this pace but it seemed pretty comfortable so I just rolled with it. I felt like it was a good solid workout and I never had to struggle. Cooled down about 1.5 miles in the rain after. 

8 easy miles around the neighborhood. I had one of my employees work for me today so I could see the kids off to their first day of school. Nice to sleep in until 3:45. 

10 miles: Started off pretty fast today and kept getting faster. I had a tempo effort planned at the end anyway. The weather was great this morning which helped a ton with the pace. I ran 5 miles at about a 6:40 avg. then went straight into a faster 5 mile segment where I went about 29 minutes for those 5. Splits on those were 6:05, 5:53, 5:46, 5:41, 5:35. I felt really strong today but that last mile was tough for sure. I'm pleased with this effort today.

8 miles with a short workout. I warmed up just under 3 miles with drills and strides and then did an 8 x 1/4 mile workout with 1/4 mile recoveries. I can't remember all my splits but I would guess I averaged 72. I know I hit 2 70s and a 71. The others were all 72 or 73. I felt in control with my form but I was giving a good effort. I'm just watching the 10k at Worlds right now. The bibs seem bigger than normal to me? Maybe the runners are just that small.

Long Run: 16 miles mostly easy/moderate pace with a push the last mile because I was bored. I ran 5:34 for that one. This is the longest run I have done in a couple of months and I felt good. The weather was really good again. We've been pretty luck with some dry air for the last week or so.

6 slow miles and then some strides. Tired.

10 Miles with an LT pace workout: Warmed up then did 5 x 3/4 mile with 1/4 mile recovery jogs. Splits were 4:07 (too fast for this workout), 4:15, 4:12, 4:10, 4:11. Last 4 were in the right area. I'm doing something different this Saturday and running a 10 mile time trial with some buddies. Normally I would be running the AFC Half Marathon in San Diego but it didn't work out so a time trial it is. This workout was kind of prepping for that.

6 easy recovery miles this morning. After the first mile I felt pretty good.

8 miles with 10 x 1 min on/jog at about 5:20 pace. I always enjoy this workout (maybe because it only 1 min?) because I get some decent work in without hammering the body. 

16 miles with a time trial today. I couldn't make it to the AFC Half Marathon in San Diego and with a lack of summer races in the Phoenix area I wanted to see where my fitness was at. I met my coach John and my buddy Ricardo. John was awesome to come out and hand us bottle every couple miles. The plan was to warm up four miles then do a 10 mile time trial on a slightly down hill course to negate the heat. The 10 miles has a close to 300 ft drop with a couple of small and not very steep up hill portions. Today turned out to be extremely hot with medium humidity. It was 90 when we started out at 5 am with a dew point of 55 (145 misery index). The plan was to run around 5:45 pace so we decided we would start closer to 6 minute miles in the beginning to ease into it and see how the heat felt. That never happened at we paid for it! Ricardo dropped at 6 miles and I ended up dropping at 8.57 (49:35 total/5:47 pace) . I was fading badly and I figured it would be smarter to pull the plug and save my body rather than shuffle in at 6:15 pace and say I didn't quit. It was just too hot for me to run 10 miles at that pace. I'm actually relatively happy given the heat. It's hard to judge exactly how this went with a downhill course and excessive heat but I think it reflects my LT pace to be around 5:45 in normal summer conditions. That's about what I thought. Splits were 5:49, 5:42, 5:41, 5:42, 5:46, 5:44, 5:50, 5:50, 6:03 pace (.57). I ran a couple of miles afterward for a cooldown. Fitness isn't great but is improving.

6 recovery miles. Legs were tire and a little sore from yesterday. Nice and slow today. Yesterday turned out to be a record heat for Phoenix. No wonder my run was so hot!

8 miles easy around Gilbert. I ventured out of the neighborhood a little bit for something different. My legs were just a little sore and tired still but I pretty much felt normal after a couple miles.

8+ miles up tempo this morning. After a couple of recovery days I was feeling fresh so pace was a bit faster this morning. I ran 7 miles around 6:30 pace then 1 hard mile in 5:15, then cooled down with a 1/2 mile jog. Felt good today and got in a solid run. My wife is leaving for the Hood to Coast relay tomorrow so it will be me and the kids for a few days. Let's hope I survive!

6 miles easy + some strides after that. Felt okay today. It was close to 90 at 3 am. Normal.

10+ miles with a VO2 Max workout:

Warmed up about 2.75 miles then did 8 x 1/2 repeats with 2 min jogs between each one. Splits were 2:34, 2:33, 2:35, 2:36, 2:33, 2:32, 2:32, 2:31. During reps 3 and 4 I was struggling a bit mentally but I told myself to slow my recovery jogs and speed up when I was hurting. That really helped me mentally to go faster when it hurt and the last 4 reps went really well. I was quite a bit faster today then when I did this workout a few weeks ago so it feels good to see some progress. Cooled down a couple miles to finish things off. Small signs of the fitness level I want are starting to show.

8.25 miles with a short but quick workout: Warmed up 4 miles, switched to the A5s, then did 10 x 200 w/200 jogs, then cooled down a mile. Everything was between 31 and 33 with the majority 32 or 33. These felt hard but smooth and in control. I always make sure my form stays solid on these and I don't feel like I'm sprinting. I feel like I did that today. I'm looking forward to the TOU Half results today.

Long Run: 18 solo miles this morning with a mix of streets and soft surfaces. This is my first 18 mile run of the cycle and my longest run in some time. I ran the first 14 about 6:50 pace then the last 4 as a progression in 6:11, 6:07, 5:59, 5:47. The last two were pretty tough. It was warm and humid but I did get some light rain from time to time and there was good cloud cover once it got light out. While I'm not thrilled with this run it is nice to get 18 in and finish at a decent clip. I just wish that last part felt easier. I probably should have run just a bit slower for the first 14. I drank 30 oz of water and still lost 7 pounds on the run. That seems extreme to me. 6:40 overall pace

6 easy miles + some strides. Muggy morning and tired legs.

10 Miles with Mile repeats on the road: A couple of warm up miles with drills and strides then 4 x 1 mile with 3 min jogs. Splits were 5:17, 5:16, 5:20, 5:20 (watch beeped about 40 ft later than normal on the last one?). This one really hurt and I thought I was ready to go faster. I'm not sure if I wasn't quite recovered from Sunday or it was just the weather (148 misery index) but this one execpectedly kicked my butt. I was completely drenched after this one and was very tired. I was happy to just get through it. I would like to have these down to 5 flat soon.

6 very easy. First mile was rough but I actually felt very good by the end.

13 miles with some hills:I live in a very flat area so these are hills for me. Ran from work in Phoenix up to the canal then did 3 times up and down 32nd. Street to Lincoln. No pick ups or anything just a solid steady pace on the hills. It was extremely warm and humid but I felt pretty good this morning. I'm glad I did this instead of running flat miles around my neighborhood. Details:http://connect.garmin.com/activity/367295028

8 or so easy then some strides. Extremely humid this morning. Felt tired from work. I thought about moving my long run up to today but after a few steps I knew it wasn't happening.