Hills

Hills: 30 minutes of continuous hills. Faster up the hills, easier on the flat parts.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Time: 32:34

Performance Stats (out of 5 ★)

Legs: ★ ★ ★

Gut: ★ ★ .5

Energy:  ★ ★ ★ .5

Mind:  ★ ★ ★

Overall:  ★ ★ ★.5

Soundtrack: Metallica, Death Magnetic

     I just realized yesterday that the Hartford Half Marathon is next month! I have had a slow go with getting after the training this summer, and this really crept up on me. The good news is that I've learned my lessons over the years, and I know to make sure that I get the right amount of training in to avoid injury. I also have a good feel for my pace, and I feel that my legs are starting to get back into shape. So I am going to make a go at this, but I'm not sure if we are going to make progress on the time this year.

     All in all, these things happen for a reason. I did get a pretty good tendonitis about 11 miles into last year's race, and really that has been haunting me all along since. I still feel it minimally now, but it is there as a little reminder to take it easy. I think that this extra time off and slow ease back into distance has been good, so I am going to stick with it.

     So I was back to my 4:30AM run again this morning, despite my last post saying that I was switching over to evenings. I had a research meeting last night, some extra student teaching tonight and call Thursday night, so really it had to be mornings this week. That said, it was great out this morning. I do love running with my headlamp, and it was that perfect, cool, humid late summer morning that was made for hills.

     I made my way to my usual favorite hill that is right next to my house. I actually got the urge to run this hill driving up it yesterday. It is SO steep and SO long, that it is just perfect for hills. I cut things a little short with work coming, but all in all, it was great. Smooth, steady uphills and nice cruising downhills. Legs feel good, and I'm ready for the day!

Hills

Run: 10 minute jog out, 5 times hills of one minute up hard, one minute down slow, 10 minute jog home

Distance: 3.1 miles

Time: 30:33

Performance Stats (out of 5 ★)

Legs: ★ ★ ★

Gut: ★ ★ ★ ★

Energy  ★ ★ ★ .5

Mind:  ★ ★ ★ .5

Overall:  ★ ★ ★ .5

Soundtrack: Metallica, ...And Justice for All

     It is a beautiful morning out there! We have had some very mild summer days this week, and this morning was a bit chilly - almost like a fall morning. It's the kind of chilly that you get that Frankenstein headache. That's the one where your ears are chilly and it spreads right into that side of your head and upper jaw - right where Frankenstein has his little bolts.

     But five sets of hills later, and I'm nice a sweaty! The hills were great. My hamstrings were SUPER sore this week from my little run at the beginning of the week. I finally did a little stretching over the past two days, and what a difference it makes. I'm telling you, every year you have to run a little smarter to avoid injury.

     I wasn't too excited to hear the alarm clock go off early this morning, but once I got my feet under me, there was no stopping. Sleepy mistakes made this morning: I forgot to set my coffee to brew before heading out (it just finished now!), and I came down stairs with the wrong pain of running shoes. All quickly corrected, but it's interesting what the sleepy brain can miss!

     I love working in hills. It's a great change of pace and mindset. It also works some different muscles, and the same muscles differently. I think the weekend is supposed to be nice, and I'm going to tackle my first longer run in a long time. So far week one of twelve is turning out to be just right. I hope you are all having good running days out there as well. See you on the weekend!

Distance - New Territory

Run: 40 minutes of easy distance, hilly.

Distance: 4.3 miles

Time: 41:57

Performance Stats (out of 5 ★)

Legs: ★ ★ .5

Gut: ★ ★ ★ ★

Energy  ★ ★ ★ ★

Mind:  ★ ★ ★ .5

Overall:  ★ ★ ★ .5

Soundtrack: Chevelle, La Gargola

     During training I try to stick to the same few courses that I have picked out along the way. I end up knowing the distance, about how long each run should take me, as well as the terrain. This is all very helpful when either trying to push myself to go a little faster/farther, or if I just want to get in a nice steady pace for some known distance.

     Since I've been mostly running off/on a lot lately, I wouldn't call my past few weeks "training". However, I'm getting a pounce on the whole New Year thing, and am getting back after it. Also, we have had such unseasonably warm beautiful weather of late, that I had to get in a nice distance run on the streets. So with all of this, I decided to pick out a new route.

     This route is actually part of my hill course. I usually just double back down the hill as part of the hill training. But, if I keep on going there are several options for nice loops back to my start. I had (incorrectly) guesstimated the distance to be about 2 to 2.5 miles, and thought I would get in this loop, and then take my usual 3 mile loop to follow, making for a nice 5 mile run or so.

     The run was good, even with my left ankle bothering me here and there. The roads were a little wet, so coming down from the hill was a little tricky with the footing, but overall not too bad. Some of the curves were a little dicy, and probably on a busy traffic day I wouldn't pick this route; but this quiet Sunday morning ended up being just fine.

     As I made the last turn to the homestretch, I thought I would have a sip of water from my water bottle nicely stashed on top of the fire hydrant across the street from my house. I felt like maybe this distance wasn't quite 2 mile, so I wanted to check my GPS. Low and behold, 4.3 miles. Now certainly not any more distance than I was planning on running, but a little more than I thought from this route.

     After weighing another 3 miles at this point in my run, I decided to cap it at 4.3. I can see making it out to this loop again, but not as part of my regular training. It's not quite even distance, and the downhill and traffic are just enough to keep me off. I'm glad that I got the run in, as I have always wanted to check it out. I'll probably save it for exactly the type of day that I ran it - a lazy weekend day run with some good hills built in.

Hills

Hills: 40 minutes of continuous hills

Distance: 4.4 miles

Time: 40:35

Performance Stats (out of 5 ★)

Legs: ★ ★ ★ ★

Gut: ★ ★ ★ ★ .5

Energy:  ★ ★ ★ ★

Mind:  ★ ★ ★ ★

Overall:  ★ ★ ★ ★ .5

Soundtrack: The Darkness, One Way Ticket to Hell...And Back

Ain't nothing more concerning than walking out the door at 4:30AM and smelling a fresh skunk spray. You just know that that little critter is still somewhere close, and probably in an ornery mood. With it being so dark out, you really aren't sure where the little guy could be. Fortunately we didn't have any run-ins. Although, I do think that I might have seen a small fox run across my path as I was half way up a hill!

This run was a good example of how good it is to just get started running. It's Friday, and all these early mornings do start to add up. Plus, it's getting colder out there, and just standing around to put my headphones on gets chilly, even with the proper clothes. So when I hit start on my running ap and stopwatch, those first few steps are not the most exciting. About 0.25 miles into it, you're thinking, "man, are my knees sore? What's this all about?!"

And then, half way through the first set of hills you start to realize that you are warming up, the tunes are good, and this run is going great. I cannot believe how far I have come on this hill in just the past few weeks. This hill run is SUPER steep, and long. Today I felt like I was running this thing with an ease that I certainly did not feel the first time I ran it. It may be the cooler weather, but I do think that some of this training is paying off!

By the time I am on the last down hill to home, everything just felt right. I was nice and awake. My legs felt great, and my overall conditioning felt really good too. I switched out more of a speed / tempo run this morning for these set of hills, and I'm glad that I did. Something I would have never said 3 months ago!

Hills

Hills: 10 minutes easy out to the hill. Three sets of 8 minutes hills (one minute up, one minute down) with 5-6 minutes easy run in between sets. 10 minutes easy run home.

Distance: 6.5 miles

Time: 56:56

Performance Stats (out of 5 ★)

Legs: ★ ★ ★ ★

Gut: ★ ★ ★ ★

Energy:  ★ ★ ★ ★

Mind:  ★ ★ ★ ★

Overall:  ★ ★ ★ ★ .5

Soundtrack: Sevendust, Chapter VII: Hope & Sorrow

There was just no way that I was getting up at 4 AM this morning. I hit the snooze only once, and decided no way! The sleep felt good, but I spent a good portion of the morning trying to figure out how I was going to fit in this hill run AND the weekend long run. After a lot of thinking, it was looking like I was going to have to drop this run.

Then everything really fell together in the afternoon at work, and I was out of there way ahead of my usual schedule. I drove home and realized that I didn't have any of my work constraints keeping me from running at night, being Friday night and all. So I quickly checked in with the family, threw on my running stuff, and headed out for the hill up the road.

What a beautiful evening it was running at sunset. The view from the hill was perfect for checking out the setting sun lighting up the clouds in the sky all different colors of red, pink and orange. Since I wasn't waking up during the first part of the run, like on my morning runs, I had great energy the whole run. And since I wasn't rushing off to work right after I was able to sneak in some extra distance in between the hill sets, which extended the great run.

Moral of the story - mix it up and think creatively, it just might create the best run of the week!

Hills

Hills: 45 minutes of continuous hills. Faster up the hills, easier on the flat parts.

Distance: 4.2 miles

Time: 44:44

Performance Stats (out of 5 ★)

Legs: ★ ★ ★ ★

Gut: ★ ★ ★ ★

Energy:  ★ ★ ★ ★

Mind:  ★ ★ ★

Overall:  ★ ★ ★ ★

Soundtrack: Fun Lovin' Criminals, Crime and Punishment

Nothing better than new stuff! So after the race yesterday I took one good look at my running shoes and new it was time for a new pair. The back of the left heel was fairly worn, and the sides of the heal were starting to buckle in. I've had those shoes for about a year, and they have seen plenty of distance.

I made my way over to the New Balance store and bought a new pair of the exact same show, the 1260. I'm not exactly sure what the number stands for, but the shoe has been very reliable and came recommended by the salesman a year ago. I also purchased New Balance inserts at the time and again, and these have worked out well too. A little less pounding on the foot, and they keep you from over-pronating while running. I'm convinced these shoes did a lot to reduce my knee tendentious over the past year. The shoes felt great today, and I never missed a step (nice!). It felt like running in my old shoes, which is exactly what you want.

Since I was out, I decided also to look for a running head lamp. I found an excellent LED lamp at the local EMS. They had all sorts of kinds, but I settled on one of the brightest, and one that could be recharged. I put this on today, and ran up my steep dark hill next to my house. It was as if I was running in the day-time. Now, the whole road wasn't lit up, but I could see exactly where I was going, and where to put my feet. It certainly gives you a little more confidence that you are not going to end up on your face doing hills.

Not a bad set of purchases. Running certainly isn't the most expensive hobby, but sometimes you do have to make some investments in keeping yourself safe and healthy. One wrong step, and it's back to square one!

Hills

Hills: 10 minutes easy out to the hill. Then 3 repeats of 7 minutes of hills (1 minute up, one minute down) followed by 4 minutes easy in between. Then a 10 minute easy run home.

Distance: 4.9 miles

Time: 46:24

Performance Stats (out of 5 ★)

Legs: ★ ★ ★ ★

Gut: ★ ★ ★ ★

Energy:  ★ ★ ★

Mind:  ★ ★ ★ .5

Overall:  ★ ★ ★ .5

Soundtrack: The Prodigy, The Fat of the Land

No matter how tired or sore you feel when you get out of bed; and no matter how many times you walk out the door and forget something, then have to go back in (again and again), making yourself later and later; once the run is over, you just feel great. It happens almost every time.

I found myself super bummed when the alarm clock went of this morning. I hit an extra snooze, but then did manage to get on my feet (very key!). Getting out the door was a little comical. First I forgot my watch, then my headphones, then my water. It's partially a 'haste makes waste' thing, but at 4:30 AM, things are a little blurry.

During the ten minute jog out to the hill, I think that I was still waking up. Even the air felt funky - it was cool, but still humid from the past few days. Kind of a weird feeling. Then the first set of hills. You almost just get started instinctively, but then by the first set you are all warmed up, and this is really happening. As I ran each set of hills, I could see Jupiter on the rise in the Eastern sky. Nice and bright and getting higher each time I turned around to run another hill.

It's nice to get to the last set, and then the jog home. I love sitting here with my fresh cup of coffee, but the 45 minutes on the road is as good as coffee to wake you up. You just gotta get out there and do it. Put one foot in front of the other for ten minutes, and you are on your way. By the end of the thing, it's the best start to the day that you can think of.

Distance

Run: 80 minutes of easy distance, hilly

Distance: 8.6 miles

Time: 80:03

Performance Stats (out of 5 ★)

Legs: ★ ★ ★ ★ .5

Gut: ★ ★ ★ ★ .5

Energy:  ★ ★ ★ .5

Mind:  ★ ★ ★ ★ 

Overall:  ★ ★ ★ ★ .5

Soundtrack: Led Zepplin, Remasters, Disc 2 and 3

This was a great day for running. This long run was exactly what running is supposed to be. I had a LONG weekend in the hospital, but finally got out around noon today. I needed to get in my long run for the week, and was a little hesitant about pulling it off in the middle of the afternoon. But, we had a birthday party to get to by 4:00 PM, and it had to be done.

With the fall beginning to show itself around New England, even though it was decently sunny, 77 degrees made for a very tolerable temperature. My stomach was empty from basically getting up and coming home after rounds, and my legs felt great the whole run. I was a little low on energy, but drinking some 100% juice before and during the run kept me from feeling too run down.

A lot of people like to talk about a "runner's high". I think that this comes in many forms, but one of my favorites is feeling the endorphins pouring out of my brain and running down my spinal cord. People describe this as, "tingling all over". I get this on most runs over thirty minutes, and if I'm listening to music, it usually gets timed with some dramatic part of the song. For example, I don't know anyone who wouldn't feel something like this listening to Houses of the Holy about 45 minutes into a long run! It kind of pumps you up for two or three minutes, and it is certainly one of the more "addictive" parts of running. On a good run like today, this can happen two or three times. Unfortunately, it's sort of a combination of emotion and effort, and it can't simply be turned on - which would be nice for a boost up a hill or a final kick in a race.

Hills

Hills: 10 minutes out easy. Then, 10 minutes of hills (one minute up, and one minute down). Easy run for about 6-7 minutes. Repeat the 10 minutes of hills again, and then easy run home.

Distance: 5.2 miles

Time: 48:02

Performance Stats (out of 5 ★)

Legs: ★ ★ ★ ★

Gut: ★ ★ ★ ★

Energy:  ★ ★ ★ ★

Mind:  ★ ★ ★ ★

Overall:  ★ ★ ★ ★.5

Soundtrack: Chevelle, Sci-Fi Crimes

Great hill run today. Legs felt great and lots of energy. Also, the little cold snap that came through earlier this week is gone - it's back to a t-shirt for the run. It made me a little sad to see the summer going away. I do love the fall, but I am hoping to be in much better condition for early summer running next year.

OK, today's big thought was on cars' "bright-lights" or high-beams. Turns out my hill that I run on for these hill days is on a major street / minor highway. The cars driving on this thing (me included!) go blistering fast. The hill is just too perfect not to run on, and the good news is that there is a nice sturdy guard rail that keeps the cars at bay on just the right part of the hill.

The bad news is that the lights illuminating the street are gone right when the hill is perfect for a hill work out. Good light leading up to the major part of the hill and after, but not over it. This leads most drivers to use their high-beams. Now, if you find this distracting when you are driving, it's equally as bad when you are trying to sprint up a hill ten times!

So, I've never been majorly accustomed to this, but when I am driving up upon a cyclist or runner, I plan to drop my high-beams just as I would for an oncoming car. Just seems like the polite thing to do!

Hills

Hills: 40 minutes of continuous hills. Faster up the hills than the flats, but this really turns into maintaining your pace if the hill is steep and long enough!

Distance: 4.2 miles

Time: 41:55

Performance Stats (out of 5 ★)

Legs: ★ ★ ★.5

Gut: ★ ★ ★ ★

Energy:  ★ ★ ★ ★

Mind:  ★ ★★

Overall:  ★ ★ ★ ★

Soundtrack: Shinedown, The Sound of Madness

So I have two great hills really right next door to my house. I do most of my hill work, and actually most of my long runs, on the long and gradual hill. This hill goes up about 2 miles to my turn around point. Today I went up the much steeper and shorter (about 1 mile) road, which really challenges the legs. It's actually so steep that the run down the hill is tricky as you really feel like you are going to lose your footing. This is a nice change up to the midweek shorter runs - I highly recommend something like it! OK, I have to still read my journal club article! See you for the race on Saturday night.