Run Buffs Run!

Today was my first real speed day in a while. I did 10x2min fartlek runs at 4:40 mile pace with two minutes of slow jogging between intervals. This workout was pretty tough, especially since I just ran last night (less than 12 hrs. ago). It snowed again, and another arctic blast seems to be in the making. In all, though, this was a good workout!

Nothing too special today. I ran ten easy miles and finished with 8x150 meter strides.

I ran the usual long run today to begin the week. I am contemplating a 5k this upcoming Sunday. I feel that my endurance is up from last year, but I have not done much speed work lately. I hope that the two will "cancel" each other out, resulting in a similar times to last year. The USA Cross Country Championships are in Boulder this next weekend so I am definitely going to go watch some of the big names in running battle it out. It will be cool to see olympic-grade runners compete.

A nice and easy seven miles today to recoup from yesterdays fiasco. I am doing another hard workout tommorrow, so today definitely needed to be a slow day.

I ran a threshold workout today with 4x1mile repeats with one 1:30 rest between intervals. My splits were as follows: 5:22 (a bit fast), 5:28, 5:23, 5:28. In general, I was surprised to see that I could hit farily exact mile times. Usually, I can't really judge how fast I am going, but today I managed to stay relaxed and cruise at the right pace. I then did 4x200 meter strides at 4:40 mile pace, and finished with three easy miles. A good day of running!

An easy nine miles today around the CU campus. I had to run in the dark tonight due to the owerwhelming amounts of schoolwork this week. It felt good to forget about studies and get out for a run. I don't know how I survived last school year without this escape.

Ten easy miles today with 8x150 meter strides at the end. It was very foggy and eerie this morning. It felt like a "lord of the rings" style landscape. Nonetheless, a good run. I have a 5k this weekend, but I don't think that I am going to taper at all. I am coming off of my two highest mileage weeks to date, but I feel fine.

An easy run today before my race tommorrow. I went to the USA Cross Country Championships today and man was that cool. I saw Alan Culpepper, Adam Goucher, Dathan Ritzenhein and Jorge Torres (just to name a few), and it was awesome to watch them run. The 12k run took place on Flatirons golf course, but the amount of melting snow turned the course into a muddy cesspool. Despite the terrible conditions, the runners still laid down some incredible times. Alan Culpepper won the race in the last 2k, passing Dathan Ritzenhein and Adam Goucher to finish in 37:09. This is something I want to work on. I want to have the ability to really pull through in the clutch and put the pedal to the floor when it really counts. I am sure that time and training will help this.  

I ran the Frozen Foot 5k this morning, and probably ran the best I ever have in my life. I started out pretty fast (about 4:50 pace) and managed to hold it through the whole race. The race was a bit short, though, wheeled at 3.005 miles. This means that my initial time (14:30)was not accurate (bummer!). Using my total time, my full pace comes to be  4:49.5/mile. If this pace is used to add the additional .1195 miles, my full time comes out to be 15:04.6 seconds. I am extremely pleased with this for a few reasons. For one, the course was not downhill; It was completely flat. Second, the course had a lot of turns that depleted momentum. I am a bit annoyed that this was not .1195 miles further so I could have set a new PR, but this race did  give me a very good understanding of my current ability. In a few weeks I will probably run another 5k, and I am going to make sure that it is official length so I don't have to deal calculations anymore. The pain level of this race was tremendous. At the first mile, the lead pack was a group of five, but after about 800 more meters, the pack dropped to four. At mile two, the race winner began to push the pace, and only I followed. I tried to keep as close to him as I could, but it was as if he had rockets for shoes. I finished strong, and manged to not break form! (something that I typically lose when trying hard). In all, a very good race. I am looking forward to this race season!

An easy ten miles today after yesterdays race. I felt pretty good, in all. My muscles feel a bit tight, but I am sure that a bit of running will loosen them up.

It snowed again last night, so I resorted back to the runnig tights and longs sleeve shirt. It was very icy today, so I had to be careful not to take a spill. I ran past a spot where the snow was all messed up, making it apparent that someone had taken a dive. I am going to begin strides again tommorrow and resume with a threshold workout on Thursday. The pressure in school right now is way too high. I have recently been questioning myself on whether I really want to be an engineer. This career does not really fit my personality and skills, nor do I really enjoy it. I want to be able to utilize my talents, not struggle to be something that I am not.  

An easy ten miles today with 8x150 meter strides at the end. If it wasn't for the snow, I would have had a much better time. I will be very happy when this whole "snow" thing is over. It's not that I don't like snow, it is just way to hard to run in it. Besides that, though, a good run.

I ran 5x1 mile repeats at threshold pace today. I had one minute ret between intervals. My splits were as follows:

Mile	Time
1	5:20
2	5:22
3	5:18
4	5:23
5	5:17

I was supposed to run between 5:30 and 5:40 for all the miles, but I felt really good and figured a little more pace wouldn't hurt. These miles hurt, but I never felt like I had to over-exert myself to achieve these times. More importantly, I never felt the need to break form. I then did 8x200 meter strides at mile pace. Luckily, most of the snow from last night melted today, but there was still some bad ice. I had to be careful to avoid taking a spill.

I ran nine just over nine miles today. I had to run in Ft. Collins (a town just north of Boulder) because I was visiting some friends from high school that go to CSU. It was not too bad of a run, nor was it anything special. I finished with 8x150 meter strides.

I began the week with a long run. I felt very good today, especially since the weather was finally warm (which in turn creates mud that gets messy, but I would rather that than 5 degree temp). In all, a good run!

Nothing too much to report today seeing as this was an easy recovery run. I ran in the dark today after all of my classes which turned out to be a relaxing and easy effort. The first half of the run was uphill so I was a bit tired, but at halfway it was easy coasting back to the appartment.

Today was a very good workout. I actually trained simultaneously with my running coach since we were doing similar workouts. I ran 20x200 meter repeats at 4:15 mile pace (32.5 seconds for the 200 meters), with 200 meters of recovery in 55 seconds. I ran four sets of five, and between these groups I had a 400 meter recovery in 1:50. This workout hurt decently, but was not terrible. My coach watched me and gave me any tips to improve form and efficiency, and he was glad to see that I could complete the full workout he assigned. He says that I am "raw" (meaning that I have barely running experience) and that more miles and time will provide a lot of improvement. I agree with his thinking, mainly because I did not do any speedwork before my last 5k, and I ran far faster than any of my pervious races. The added endurance from the miles over the winter are what "pushed" me through the race. He said that my potential is untapped, which makes me excited for the future...

I ran some easy today and the weather was really good. I don't quite know what my mile pace was, but it was not too fast. It feels good to just relax sometimes when running. I think that times like those are what prevent you from burning yourself out. I did 8x150 meter strides to finish. Good day for running!

Today was another easy run. I ran 9.5 miles and threw in 4x150 meter strides at the end. Tommorrow is the off day for the week, so I will have a bit of a break coming up. I felt very good today, though, after some decent miles this week. Right now, this is the key to my success: keeping some decent mileage up and allowing my aerobic capacity to build.

I ran some easy miles today and finished with 8x150 meter strides. This was my first day for running this week, and I felt a bit sluggish. In all, though, a good run.

I ran 17 miles today and felt good. Its weird, running seems to warp time for me. I ran for 1:48 today, but it felt like 30 mins. I guess that once you "numb" yourself out to longer runs, time seems to pass without you even noticing it. This is good because if I were to concentrate on how long the run is the pain amount would go way up. Its all about finding a little cocoon of comfort and just cruising through the miles. 

I ran an easy couple of miles today to recoup from yesterday. I felt my IT band a bit, but I stretched and exercised it after the run and the tension went away. The weather is finally warm!

I ran a five mile threshold run today, but this week I was assigned one continuous run as opposed to five individual repeats. The goal pace was 5:30 +/- 4 seconds. I ran the full threshold workout in 27:07, which averages out to just over 5:25 per mile. This workout felt good; it had some kick to it, but I definitely didn't have to overextend myself to hit pace and finish the run. I then did 4x200 meter repeats in 32 seconds each. I think my coach assignes these to help develop a "kick" at the end of a race. Today was definitely a very good workout!  

I ran close to ten miles today, ad finished with 8x150 meter strides. I think that these strides really help with that extra kick at the end of a race. School is pretty much terrible right now, so I am kind of in survival mode. Without running I think I would wither away.