Run Life

PM: Ran with Roger and Jason around the OC trail as a pre-race run. Easy miles for recovery to rest up the legs for tomorrow's groundhog day run. 

AM: ran the groundhog 8k at Lake Overhosler this morning. Felt good, windy morning from the North of about 10-15mph, seemed worse since we were on an open lake. Got out pretty hard for the first 1k, had the second place finisher sitting on me pushing hard as well. This was an out and back course with us heading North first, which I didn't mind since we would have a pretty strong tailwind on the way back. First mile was fast with a 4:59 in the head wind, knew I would pay for that. Second mile slowed down to a 5:10ish, third mile was in 5:07. Now I was on the down slope since I had a pretty strong tailwind, had a pretty substantial lead so I relaxed a little bit. Did some weaving in and out in order to avoid the runners heading to the turn around. Ran 5:03 for the 4th and 5th mile. Overall pretty happy with the effort and win since I came into this race with 103 miles under my belt already for the week. 

PM: 7 miles on the Epic treadmill while watching the Thunder lose to the Cavs away. Pretty disappointing loss for them, since they had a 10 point lead going into the 4th.  

AM: Morning run on the new Epic treadmill. Shake out the legs with a quick 5 miles. 

PM: Draper run with Connor and Jason. Ran 17 on the dirt roads as recovery after the Groundhog 5 milers. Hit 3rd consecutive week in a row of 120+ MPW. Shooting for a personal best with Katie and Matthew gone to Nashville for the week. Should hit the mileage hard and catch up on sleep during this week. Run felt long and slow, seemed like I was out a lot longer then 17, felt more like a 20 miler.  

AM: 6 miles on the Epic tread before going out to the lake for an 11 miler with Connor. 

PM: Ran the first 3 miles with Katie and Connor. Took the first 3 miles really slow since this is Katie's third run back. Pushed the stroller the whole way. Got to love the Bob triathlon stroller. Finished around Lake Hefner with Connor as Katie headed back. Felt a little tired with the increase in volume in miles. 11 total for the run.  

AM: Early morning Epic tread run since I had to take Katie and Matthew to the airport to catch a flight to Nashville. Ran 9 total with a 6 mile push at 5:30 pace. Felt a little sluggish since I got very little sleep with a 4:30 am wake up call and the increase in mileage. 1.5 miles WU and CD. 

PM: Ran 12 around Edmond since I had a break from class. Felt ok, legs a little tired still from the early run. Weather is awesome out though, its about 70 degrees outside and very little wind. Which anything below 15mph is considered a nice NON-windy day in the state of Oklahoma. On pace for the weekly PR of 140. Gearing up and hitting the mileage hard for the Little Rock Marathon which is about a month away now. Fitness feels good, and body weight seems to be maintaining were I want it to be on race day. Excited for some upcoming workouts.  

 PM again: Weather was to nice, couldnt resist running the cool down with the crew at the Rankin track in Edmond on my way home from school. Luckily had spare running clothes in my car as I drove by. Perfect night for another 4 more miles, legs actually felt even better afterwards! Now some serious grubbing time! 

AM: Got out of clinic a little early for an extended lunch. Decided to make the recovery pace more moderate in order to squeeze in a few extra miles before my 1pm appointment. Took off from the School's gym and ran on the Katy trail out and back. Average 6:03 pace for the 10 miles, felt really good and relaxed for a little stronger effort on a recovery day. Mist was in the air which felt really good while running at a little brisker pace. It has been foggy here all day, which makes for great running. Seems to be slightly muggy out but nothing thats too intense. Now off to go do a cavity filling on one of my patients. Looking to get about 6 more tonight. 

PM: 7.5 easy miles with Jax around OC trails. Felt really nice out and legs have been feeling really good and recovered. Excited to see how my body continues to respond to the high mileage.  

AM: Run with Jason out on Tinker AFB. We did 12 total with 8 at his marathon pace, or how I like to say it OMT pace, (Old Man Tempo). Jason looked strong today, it was about 60 out and really muggy and humid but no wind which is always a perk/rare thing in OKC. Took him through in 8 around 5:43-5:44 pace and felt great doing it. Legs have been really strong while maintain close to the 20 day average this week, body is responding well to the mileage. Just trying to sustain energy throughout the day while waiting for the next run. Feels like I am slimming down a bit from the increase in mileage as well. Pace today was a strong moderate, about 20 secs off marathon pace, but it was nice to focus on staying relaxed and comfortable at that pace. Probably shoot to do something a little harder and longer on saturday. 

PM: 7 more, felt great and recovered. Average 6:30 pace for the recovery. On pace for 140 still.  

AM: Ran an easy 9 this morning around 7:15 pace. Legs felt good, just a little tired from the mileage. Need to catch up on some sleep this weekend. 

PM: Run with Ian around Edmond at a nice, recovery pace. Just enjoying the nice weather and keeping it at conversational pace. Grabbed Jax for the last two miles of the run, took him to the dog park to let him exhaust some energy there before finishing up our last mile to head home. Total for the evening run was 11 miles. Now just going to chill, watch the Thunder dominate the Suns and get to bed early.  

AM: Ran 19 this morning with Jason and Connor. Weather was good, but had a 15mpw from the South, which we definitely felt when we came onto Classen road which is a due south road. Its the last 10k of the Memorial Marathon course. We started dropping the last few miles in sub 6 and got close to around 5:40s for one or two of them when Jason and I started feeling the strong wind. Felt good though for most of the run, and concluded with the Personal weekly best of 140 miles per week. Happy with attaining the goal of 140, especially with how good my legs felt. Excited to continue the high mileage in preparation for Little Rock in 3 weeks now, this next week might be a little challenging to keep the miles this high especially with 3 midterms and a hospital rotation, but I will make it work. Now to enjoy the rest of the day and rest up the legs for tomorrow's recovery day. 

AM: 15 mile recovery run out at lake draper. Nice and easy pace on the dirt roads. Weather temperature was perfect, windy from the west. Good solid group should up, had 7 in total for the group run. 

PM: Treadmill run while watching the first half of the OKC thunder game. On the road playing the Suns and looking good. Second run felt well to shake out the legs, I always feel better after a quick second run. Picked up the pace at the end to stretch out the legs before going to sleep. Ran the last mile in around marathon pace. Total for the run was 6. Need to get up early for a morning run before reporting to a busy week at the school with a hospital rotation and 3 midterms. YUCK. Hope to get most my miles in today and tomorrow and then probably more Friday and Saturday. 3 weeks till Little Rock feeling confident and strong.  

AM: 8 mile morning run before rotation today. Felt good, a little tired. Wanted the extra hour of sleep but felt this was needed since tonight is going to be consumed mostly be studying and of course another run. Ran 6:30s most of the run to knock out 8. 

PM: Fortunately got out of rotation earlier then expected today. Was able to knock out a little studying/nap this afternoon. Squeezed in a 11 mile moderate run at about 6:20 pace at Mitch Park. Mitch is a hilly run comparative to what else is around Oklahoma. I should expect to see a lot more hills though while running out at Little Rock. Felt strong. Finished with several strides to wrap up my last mile of running.  

AM: quick 5 mile tread run before test and long day. Able to squeeze a 3 mile LT (lactate Threshold) run starting at 5:27 pace and stepping down every half mile to 5:13. Not much of a warm-up or cool-down but was able to clear head for a quick 30 minute run. 

PM: 11 more. Did another threshold type run of 10 miles. Did at about 85-90% of marathon pace and felt great. Did the 10 miles in 56:42, starting at a 5:46 mile and finishing around 5:26 for a progressive type run.  Felt real relaxed and smooth the whole run. Weighed in afterwards and was at the 152, which for me is the lowest I have been since my senior track season at UVU. That season was when I felt my best and set Personal best on the track in the 5k and 10k. I think for me the key is staying as close to this weight, while staying properly fueled. The nutrition thing for me has always been a struggle since I like my "bad" carbs and sweets. I have always been a heavier runner, but I am determined to stay at this weight. Especially for the marathon, every little pound you feel when racing 26.2 miles at a 5:20 goal pace. I am excited where my training is going. 

AM: 7 mile morning run

PM: 10 miles around Edmond. Was at Children's hospital all day. Saw some really interesting and exciting cleft lip/palate cases done. Legs were dead from standing all day. Came home and ran with the psycho mush dog JAX. Cruized around OC before doing a shortened Edmond Box. Dark came upon us pretty quick so we were sketchy for footing and vision. Jax started bolting at everything he heard toward the end of the run, almost ripping out my arm each time. Glad to have gotten outside, weather was awesome. Now to hit the books all night.  

AM: 4 mile run on the tred before school. quick 4 in 24 minutes. 

PM: Ran 12 total. 6 easy easy miles with Katie and baby Matthew and the hound dog Jax. then did 5 miles around 27:30 with 4 x 1 miles at 5 min pace and a quarter mile jog imbetween, so kept it continuous. Ran one mile really easy to finish up the workout. Legs felt a little tired from the week.  

PM: Body was dead from the week. Took a nap when I got home and crashed for an hour. When I woke up I was drudging to get out the door to even start the run. After two miles I started to feel better and get into my rhythm. ONly could handle one run for the day and made my lap around Edmond. 13 in total for the day. Needed the solo day and rest for tomorrow's long run of about 22. Probably run the Edmond dirt roads for Little Rock preparation. 

PM: Had a sick and deranged idea to run my long run on the treadmill. I dont really know why I wanted to be crazy, extreme, bored or whatever you wanted to call it but I did. Lately I have not really wanted to drive anywhere to run, and I have exhausted all of my Edmond routes so I just turned on the tv and ran. Finished the run in 2:11.23 ish so it was a 5:58 average. I felt good about this run, even though it was on the tread which is probably easier in some aspects. Surprisingly didnt get too bored but also didnt feel too beat up from the softer surface. Was happy with how easy the run felt. Slowly increased the last 10 miles from about 6 flat pace to 5:30-40s to finish up. Probably wont do that for awhile again, but needed a stronger effort long run since I am 2 weeks out from Little Rock. These runs I feel like have been detrimental for my marathon training. They build a lot of strength physiologically, as well as mentally. If you think about it, you need to attach your longer runs at a moderate pace, or progressive type deal. Training your body to run long, but also moderately hard will be one of the best ways to prepare for that 26.2 mile race day. Almost turned today into a treadmill marathon day, probably would have finished in 2:34-5 ish but felt like it was not necessary. All in all about as good of a workout as I would have liked for the deadmill. 

AM: Quick easy 6 miles around OC x 2. Hips are pretty sore from pounding on the tread for so so long. Going an easy 10-11 around the lake with Katie and Matthew. SHould be really nice and easy, super nice out for February. 70 degrees or so. 

PM: Ran nice and slow recovery with Kate and Matthew this afternoon. Perfect way to spend a sunday afternoon with some family bonding time while running. Wind from the south was nasty at about 25-30 mph and pushing a stroller with the baby in it even at 9 minute pace can get the heart racing. Ran 6 with Katie at about 9min pace with most of it in a strong headwind. So that was very promising since she is on the rise coming back into her own. Then broke away for a sec to get in a 3 out and 2 back to meet up with her while she walked with the baby. Finished with a super slow trot to finish up the lake Hefner run for 12. Great Sunday afternoon for all 3 of us, while Matthew slept the whole entire time.  

AM: 7 miles this morning. Needed a good morning run in before the school day. 

Later AM: This run was still early enough to call a PM run, so more like a brunch type run. Patient canceled so was able to get out of the school for a few hours. Decided to knock out a 10 miler on the Katy trail imbetween patient appointments. Jason meet up with me at the school gym so we took off form there. Another windy day, shocker its Oklahoma. Felt pretty good, glad to have knocked off both runs for the day before the high noon hour. Feel like thats always a successful way to start off the day, plus after my pediatric appointment I get the rest of the day to kick up the feet and chill with the family. But you never know I might get restless and shuffle 4 more tonight or not. We will see.  

AM: Got up and ran 10 miles with 3x 2miles at marathon pace the first mile and a few seconds faster the second. Felt pretty good during the 2 mile pushes, a little tired starting out, especially with my legs since I didnt get much of a warm up. Needed to make this workout quick since I have a 9am appointment this morning. Hopefully finishing up a root canal on one of my patients. 

PM: Ran 8.5 miles around OC loop. Ran first 3.5 miles with Katie and the baby. She looked stronger today with the average mile pace down to around 8:20s or so, lots more improvement. Then Finished up 5 more with some new jams downloaded from iTunes. Felt great out with very minimal wind, a first in the last few days.  

AM: Wasn't to busy at the school after my exam. Meet up with Jason and Slim Jim at Tinker AF base for one of Jason's PF runs. We had gotten a good amount of snow this morning, so the air was cool and there was a good amount of precipitation in the air. Ran the first 6 with all three of us and the next 5 with Jason. Good recovery run, pretty wet afterwards. Ran in several monster puddles, so the shoes were soaking wet. 

PM: 7 more for the evening for a daily total of 18. Feeling strong and rested form the recovery day. Probably start a mini taper this after today. Will shoot for one more solid effort workout tomorrow with about 10 days out from goal race. Then resting up with easier runs, a few quicker workouts for leg turnover, and generally less volume.  

AM: 5 miles this morning, school was closed for the morning due to "inclement" weather. Sure do like how any bit of snow on the road causes for cancellation in the state of OK. Anyways, have to be back on campus by 1pm, so it was nice to sleep in a little extra and get a morning run in. Going for a progressive tempo workout around the Lake Hefner with Jason at 4. 

PM: 14 on the hefner run. 10 miles progression with last 3 at MP. Felt good with ideal weather conditions.  

PM: Feeling pretty tired from the week and was already ahead in miles, so just decided to make today a real nice, easy, recovery run. Stayed with a singles day and just did 10 miles around OC and the neighborhoods with Connor. Stomach was a little in knots today. Resting up for a nice easy long run tomorrow with the boys to start the weekend off right! Last long run before Little Rock next week!

AM: 19 for a long run this morning. Felt a little tired this morning starting out and the last two runs I feel like I have had some kind of bug with my stomach. Just feeling a little off i guess. Cold morning for Okie standards at the start it was in the mid to low 20s. Didnt really warm up much either. Was happy just to be done with the run honestly. Ran mostly in the mid to low 7s most of the run. This is my 6th consecutive week of 120mpw + so im happy with my mileage base. 

PM: Ran 10 miles solo in around 620-630s just to loosen up the legs. Took a 20 minute break or so while Katie got ready to run the last 5 with me. Marilyn joined us for our 2 lap run around OC on a pretty windy day. Last 5 where nice and easy while I pushed Matthew. Now to rest up for the rest of the week and get ready for this weekend. 

AM: 10 miles in the morning in preparation before the snow storm. This is going to be a laid back mileage wise week. Ran 4 miles in about 21:10, starting out at 5:30 and dropping down to about 5:07 last mile. Felt really good, legs felt quick and rested. Probably one or two more days of this kind of mileage and then running really easy  miles the last few days leading up to Little Rock. 

PM: 4 miles evening run on the dread. Bummer that the OKC blizzard just skipped right over us. Looks like a school day tomorrow. Was hoping for a snow day and some quality sleeping in time.  

PM: Ran 11 miles easy at Hefner out and back with Ian. Ran nice and steady for about 7:20 pace. Legs felt a little slow at the start due to sitting pretty much most of the day. had a long day at the school with clinic, class and a test. Didnt get home and showered after the run till about 7 tonight. Need to get some shut eye early tonight. One more quick workout tomorrow then the next three days will be easy easy miles. Looking forward to the weekend. 

AM: Morning 4 mile run.

PM: 8 mile pm run after a long day at the school. Felt good though, legs feel rested. Did one more quick touch up workout to get the bugs out. Ran 2 miles at 5:20 first mile and 2nd mile at 5:07. Then finished up with 4x400s at 75s with 400m rest imbetween. Happy with how the legs felt, excited for this weekend. Forecast looks pretty ideal for a good marathon. Temps in the low 30s to high 20s with a hight of 46. Looks like a lot of sun forecasted but temperature wise it should be pretty ideal. I feel like some of my best performances are in cooler weather temps, I seem to keep the hydration under control then. Excited for the parents to come out and cheer us on this weekend. Going to be a good one.  

PM: Late 8 mile run after a long day at the school. Just a test and one more appt tomorrow morning and then off to Little Rock for the weekend! Pretty excited about this weekend and marathon. Feeling pretty good, just a matter of resting up now. Been a long week, so ready to kick up the feet and enjoy some resting the next two days and preparation for the race.