February Blues?

After two months, my training log is consistent workouts but lower miles than I would like to have at this moment.  In January, I had 14 run entries covering 88 miles.  After my run tonight, I ended February with 16 runs covering 83 miles.  That puts me at 171 miles YTD, which means I am currently 7 miles ahead of pace to break 1,000 miles for the year.

That last sentence makes me happy.  My goal from day one has been to top the century mark for the year.  Last year, I finished somewhere around 750 miles and felt that 1,000 was a pretty good leap but something within reason.  It's nice to be on pace for it, but I also fear the fact that my November and December months typically suck pretty badly when it comes to mileage.

While I am happy to be ahead of pace, I'm also kind of disappointed right now.  Had you told me on January 1st that through two months I would have 30 runs I would have figured it would have totaled somewhere closer to 200 miles.  My runs have been consistently in the 5-7 mile range each time out, but I really don't have any distance to speak of yet.  Hopefully over the next couple weekends I can log a 10 miler.

Yesterday was a first for me, and one that I will remember for a long time.  It was probably my best 2 mile run ever.  With the weather being nice (although extremely windy), Jess and I planned to run a couple easy miles while the girls (ages 8 and 5) rode their bikes next to us.  I figured it would be a slow go, especially with the wind, but we did 2 miles at about a 11:55 / mile average pace!  Granted, we had to have a stop at the playground, but with that being Annabell's first bike ride on a "big girl's bike" I was extremely surprised and happy that we managed that distance at that pace.  I foresee that type of activity happening a few more times over the summer.

My legs feel like jelly tonight.  Feeling rested, I decided to nail some Yasso 800's this evening on the treadmill.  After my warm up, I clocked 5 x half miler at 8.5 mph with a short recovery jog between each set.  That was my first speed workout in a while, and couple that with the gym being roughly the temperature of the sun's surface, I was exhausted afterwards.  But it's done, in the books, and I'm happy about it.

I have an easy run planned for tomorrow, then volleyball game at 9:30 (yikes), then some miles Thursday, Friday, and Saturday this week.  March hopefully will have a spike in miles.

Left, right, repeat!

Countdown to the Indy Mini

The Indy Mini (indymini.com) is MY race.  I first ran it in 2005, and to be honest, I sucked.  Years before, I could run a race of any distance without much thought, and do it well.  However, as college and first few years of post-college went by, things had changed.  That race is when I realized that I was completely out of shape and a little hefty.  And that started my push to lose weight and get back to what I was capable of doing.

Since then, I have been hooked on running and specifically, this race.  I have only missed the Indy Mini one year since then, and that was due to an injury.  It's the race that I have marked on my calendar every year as the one I absolutely must perform well.

My training this year has been solid - as of right now, I have 135 miles YTD and I am 4 miles behind my pace of running 1,000 miles for the year.  My times on speed and tempo and have been spot on, and I have had some consistent longer runs as well.  Compared to years past, I should be happy with where I am at in mid February.  However, this morning I find myself scared.

I just realized - the Indy Mini is 76 days 22 hours and 49 minutes from now.  That seems like a long ways away, but for training purposes, it's really not.  The countdown is officially on; the training must kick into action over the next 10 weeks.  It's almost here....

Left, right, repeat!

So.... It's been awhile

I admit it - I have become lazy on this whole blogging thing. My wife reminds me (constantly) that I have not blogged in 6 weeks. This blog was intended to simply hush her up (since she will read it) but now as I type this, I feel like I have a lot to talk about. So what all is new running-wise over the last 6 weeks? Well...

1) How about those Olympic Trials this past Saturday? Jess and I watched the entire three hours of it, and were completely inspired by what we saw. Rupp, Meb, and Ward leading the way for the men and Cragg, Desi Linden, and Shalane (a favorite of Jess and mine) for the women. People think we are crazy because we enjoy watching people run 26.2 miles on TV - but how could you not think Saturday was great for the sport? Given the weather conditions, those six as well as everyone else who finished were awesome.  Check out this section of the USA Track & Field website and you can see all their mile and split times.  I would love to run just one segment similar to what these guys do for an entire race.

2) Speaking of Meb, he's coming to the Indy Mini! OK, so Shalane is a favorite of ours - but Meb is Meb! It was like Christmas for me when I found out last month that Meb was coming to town to be part of a race that I am an ambassador. For more, check this out!

3) Keeping with the running theme and the Indy Mini, two weeks ago Jess and I ran the 3 miler - the first leg of the three race training series. I came in 28th overall (out of 1,441) and Jess set yet another PR! Sooooo proud of her, since she did this completely on her own and she owned that race! Her training is paying off and she will be under 30 minutes easily this year.

4) Speaking of races, as I laced up my gear this past Sunday to go outside and run in 19 degree weather that felt like 7 degrees, Ella told me she wants to do another family race. I have another runner in the making there. Guess Jess and I will have to do some research and find a 5k that the four of us can do sometime.

5) And to round out all this running conversation, I checked out my Strava account this evening.  My goal January 1st was to run 1000 miles this year.  I had something like 770 miles last year.  As of right now, after doing 5 miles today, I am right on pace for 1000.  I feel like that is an accomplishment as after 6 weeks I have kept it up, however I also understand that I need to get some major miles banked up between now and the fall.  Historically speaking, my November and December miles simply suck.  Like, big time.  So I must get as many miles as possible between now and October to be safe.

I probably left some stuff out, but that's all I can think of right now, plus my Indiana Hoosiers are getting ready to tip off.

Left, right, repeat!