Making the Most of the Master Years

6 mi in 51:24

Easy pace run.  Felt ok today.  Some mild pain in the left hip.  Not sure if it was the SI/IT area or the hip flexor.  Pain was sorta in between the two.  Otherwise the stride and pace were fine.  Very windy out today.  Streets were wet but no rain.  Decent run.

7 mi in 55:07

4 x 3/4 mi repeats w/ 1/4 mi recov in between. Splits were 5:02, 4:56, 4:49 and 5:01 for an avg of 4:57 which is 6:36 mpm pace.  Target was 6:20 pace.  Missed a little more than this WO 2 weeks ago.  It was on a hillier course, Brookwood Manor vs. Moon Place last time.  I had a pulling pain in the left postierior knee ligament.  And by the end both hips and supporting muscles in my upper thighs/quad felt completely fatigued.  Had to concentrate today to keep decent form.  Kept trying to post up on the left foot strike.  Some pain in the left SI/IT band connection.  Gutted out this run today.  Very chilly but clear and a full moon.

6 mi in 54:13

recovery run today.  was just ok.  some pain still in the left posterior knee and in the left SI/IT connection.  seemed today to be the IT band on both ends.  little bit of a headache when I first woke up and about halfway through the run.  ocular migraine beginning at 1.23 mi but I didn't notice when it stopped.  stride was fine today.  didn't fight it.  downhills were good.  was able to keep from posting up on the left foot strike pretty easily.  weather was cool again but overcast today.

7 mi in 56:15

10 x 1 min fartleks with 1 min jogging recov in between. Felt ok today.  Left knee much better.  Barely any discomfort at first nothing during and only a slight discomfort couple hours later.  Left SI/IT area hurt today.  3 fartleks on the road to BHS, 4 on the track and 3 on the road from BHS.  Felt very strong on the fartleks.  Most of them were at sub 6 pace.  Probably ran them too fast and jogged the recoveries too slow.  The last two on the roads back weren't as strong, but they were on hills.

5 mi in 42:39

easy run on soft surface at Alexander.  felt really great today.  had to discipline myself to slow down to easy pace.  left knee was perfect.  left SI/IT connection hurt a little but not the entire time.  Clear and cold this morning.

19 mi in 2:36:00

Long run with pace on the Silver Comet Trail. Ran race pace for 7 miles beginning at the 10 mile mark. Goal was 7:27 pace. Splits were 7:33, 7:26, 7:26, 7:22, 7:36, 7:32, 7:26 for an average of 7:29. All and all not too bad. Felt really strong for the first 4 of them. Had to fight hard for the 5th and 6th. 7th one, I was well and truly cooked, but it was downhill and I didn't want to loose it right at the end so, I concentrated on my form and kept going and it ended up being quicker. Made the final two miles hurt real bad even though I wasn't pushing at all. Ran them sub 9 mpm. Felt like 14 or 15 mpm.

6 mi in 53:02

easy run on the Dogwood Rd loop.  Felt just ok today.  Legs a little heavy first half.  And pain in the left SI/IT connection throughout.  Overcast but mild today.  55°F.

8 mi in 1:10:32

10 x hill repeats on FC up from the front pool to Providence in 75 to 80 sec each. The easy parts, warm-up recovery btwn and cool down, weren't particularly quick. But oddly, the hills weren't particularly hard. The effort level today didn't feel like an all out attack as it usually does on this WO. I didn't feel like I was pressing too much on the top 1/3 of the hill. Nevertheless, the times were about the same as they usually are. Had considered switching the tempo run scheduled for Thursday to today since the weather is supposed to be bitterly cold and blustery winds on that day. Ultimately decided that since I didn't feel great yesterday that I might need more recovery so I opted for the 'easier' WO that was planned. Felt pretty good today, so I think it was the right decision.

5 mi in 44:23

recovery run on the Old Snellville loop.  felt just ok, maybe a little lethargic.  legs not quite heavy but the pace as slow as it was still felt a little bit labored.  maybe overdressed today.  Thermometer in the kitchen said 30°F so I put on a heavier top and leggings.  But it felt warmer than that while running.  Car thermometer said 38°F and weather.com said 36°F.  Felt warmer than that too. no pop in the legs today.  mild pain to ache in the left high IT band at the SI joint.  better than yesterday but not great.  been trying to stretch the hip flexor more.  Probably need to walk more at work. 

8 mi in 1:01:17

Great tempo run this morning! BAM! And that's why you get up and run 'em anyway. You just never know. Strikes against the 5 miles of tempo pace this morning: 1. Haven't been feeling great the day after hard workouts probably indicating I'm not recovering quickly, 2. no surprise on the recovery since this is the 3rd week in a row of building volume and intensity, 3. I was a little intimidated by the planned route - the Webb Gin and Holly Brook hills, 4. it was supposed to be sub 20°F and blustery winds today, 5. I went to bed a little stuffy and woke up hard this morning. HOWEVER ... as I was dressing for the artic, it seemed that the temp wasn't as bad. It turned out to be perfect weather, abt 40°F and no wind. (I changed gear.) Stepped out into the street and already could tell that my body was responding. Warmed well in 1.5 miles. Hit the gas. Tempo pace target was 7 or under mpm. Splits: 7:05, 7:03, 6:48, 6:58, 7:07 for an average of (drum roll please) 7:00 minute per mile! Consider that the last time I did this WO 2 weeks ago, I did 4 tempo miles on Moon Place (gently rolling hills with max elevation change of at most 15 ft), I avg'd 7:02 and about died on the last mile to mile and a half. Today's run had max elevation changes of - I'm guessing - 50 to 100 ft. Granted I benefitted from the down hills of that size, but I usually don't run well down hill. And, I didn't really even flinch until a 1/3 of the way through the 5th tempo mile most of which was that long uphill from the low spot between Bridgewater and Havenstone all the way up (with emphasis on the UP) onto Rocky Road. Felt really great today too, in contrast to the last 4 runs. NO PAINS. Both hip flexors were sore during the final mile. But, that just means it was a great WO and that weakness was fleeing my body. Thanking God for the ability to run today and all of the previous ones (and next ones) that did hurt.

5 mi in 45:16

Recovery run.  Felt just ok.  Nothing remarkable in either way.  Some ache in my left SI/IT connection but not too bad.  Pace was easy but since I didn't try to push at all I couldn't tell if my legs had any pop.  Didn't feel heavy though.

21 mi in 3:07:00

Long run today on Ronald Reagan Parkway before the race.  Felt good today. Some mild ache in the left SI/IT connection at times but never actually hurt except for the pull I felt when I twisted around to the right to look for cars as I was heading back into the neighborhood 0.15 mi from the end of the run.  Was able to run alot of time on the soft surface of the median and shoulder on the Parkway.  I could tell instantly the difference between the asphalt and the grass. The SI/IT area felt better from the beginning than recently but even so, I could tell a difference in it between the surfaces.  Felt pretty strong for most of the run.  Last two miles were tough and I had to fight for them. But the best take away of the day was that I never lost form.  This might have bween the best week of training I've ever had. 

5 mi in 44:13

easy run.  Felt good today.  No pains.  Some mild discomfort in the left SI/IT connection a couple of times but stride mechanics took care of it quickly.  Ran from the auto shop home with some extra.  Seemed to have recovered well the first few miles including the enormous hill on Patterson.  Feeling good so I decided to go 5 instead of 4.  But at 4.1 mi I realized I should have stopped at 4.  Started straining a little bit.

8 mi in 1:10:10

easy pace medium long run (according to McMillan).  Felt really good early today except that I had not pop.  Overall, felt kinda lethargic.  Felt a shart tendon strain pain in the top of my left instep toward the inside of my foot at one point but it went away going back uphill.  Felt the left SI/IT connection for most of the run.  But it was only an awareness, not really even a mild ache. In the last mile though, it because a mild ache.  No good power today but the stride was good for the most part.  A few times I had to correct sitting back and pulling through the gait cycle instead of being forward and pushing through it.

5 mi in 43:57

easy run pace today.  felt better than yesterday.  there was still some lethargy, but not at bad.  was much better by the end of the run. more fluid in the stride and the pace felt less strained.  no pains at all anywhere.  some mild discomfort in the left SI/IT connection.  but even really the whole time.

4 mi in 32:41

easy run on soft surface at Alexander Park.  Felt really good today.  Toes got cold in the 16°F but no pains.  Some mild ache in the left SI/IT band area in the last mile.  Pace was very easy.  Pop back in the legs.

13 mi in 1:47:23

Thirds progression run at Stone Mountain.  Easy through 6.  Med through 8 and race pace from 8 to 12.  Cool down to 13.  Felt really good and strong.  Some mild ache in the left SI/IT band connection.  Lower left back kinda hurt hours after the run.  Stride and pace were great.  Splits on the 4 pace miles were 7:35, 7:32, 7:27 and 7:22.  

6 mi in 52:07

easy run in the rain.  Felt good today other than some mild pain in the left SI/IT band connection.  Some pop in the legs.  Stride and pace were easy.  Route had a lot of hills in it today. 

9 mi in 1:10:44

7x800m.  Felt good today except for pain in the left SI/IT band connection that turned into some weakness in that hip.  Actually missed a couple of steps at the end of the run b/c of the loss of stability.  Light rain began about 2/3 of the way through the run.  2 of the 800m repeats on the roads to BHS, 4 of them on the track and a final one on the road coming back.  Target was 3:10 per 800.  Splits were 3:14 (0.5 mi), 3:22 (0.53 mi; coverts to 3:11 for 0.5), 3:09 (0.5 mi), 3:11 (0.52 mi; 3:04 for 0.5), 3:13 (0.51 mi; 3:09 for 0.5), 3:17 (0.52 mi; 3:10 for 0.5) and 3:17 (0.5 mi). Using the times scaled to the exact 1/2 mile, the average repeat was 3:10.  I'm a little concerned about the hip.  It had been almost completely better.  Will have to monitor carefully.  If it doesn't respond well during tomorrow's recovery run, I may have to scrap the tempo run planned for Thursday.

6 mi in 52:07

easy run.  felt ok today.  still some pain in the left SI/IT band connection but didn't have the weakness from the end of the run yesterday.  stride and pace were just ok.  seemed to have more strength/pop in the legs than the first part of last week.  but the "easy" run wasn't all that comfortable or free.  had to think about form and staying on pace.  some of that could be attention to monitoring the hip, but the run could have been more of a reprieve from the hard WOs than it felt like today.

8 mi in 1:00:27

Scheduled 5-7 mi tempo run today.  Woke up feeling pretty lousy including a headache.  Decided to change it to a race pace run so I wouldn't have to push so hard since I wasn't feeling good.  Started out and the warm up was really good.  Started the race pace and felt great!  Was flying w/o much effort.  Race pace is 7:27.  Ran 7:16, 7:19 then 7:09.  Next two miles were both 6:52 for the tempo pace.  Wasn't really pushing as hard as the pace would normally require though I could feel the pace in the muscles.  Decided to throw another 1/2 mi in at 7:15 pace. Then one mile cool down. Finished the run feeling good, like I could have done more miles (though not necessarily at pace).  Some slight discomfort in the left SI/IT band connection at short intermittent points.  But for most of the run, it was right as rain.

5 mi in 42:58

easy run at Alexander. Felt pretty good today.  Some ache in the left SI/IT band connection and some lack of strength in the middle of the run. Ended very well.

22 mi in 3:21:55

long run around the hood.  Started down FC hill toward 5Forks some left SI/IT hip pain.  Lasted about 3.5 mi.  Then cleared up and felt fine the rest of the run with the occassional mild ache while running down hill.  Spent as much time as possible on the soft surfaces next to the sidewalks.  So, felt good through the whole run.  Cherie joined the run from 15 - 20 miles.  Struggled with some fatigue from 18 to 20.  21 and 22 felt fine though.