I have been running now for 5 years. During this time I have basically just gone out and run the way I felt like running and always try to leave feeling like I have had a good work out.
There is a running calculator devised by McMillan that tells you a projection of what you will run in various races based on the times you post at other distances. Amazingly this system has been very accurate in my case. Included in his calculations is a training time. He uses your time to determine your fitness and then projects what your various training runs should be. In looking at this, I have discovered that most likely, I have been been doing some of my runs too fast.
With this in mind I ran an "easy" run this evening of 4.96 miles at a much slower pace. The key here is that I feel confident in running at that pace. It will be interesting to see if that improves my running times when I go to do a race.
My miles for the year is now at 588.96.
The 1,000 mile pace bunny is at 484.98 miles. I lead her by 103.98 miles.
The 2,000 KM pace bunny is at 598.96 miles. I trail her by only an even 10 miles.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Faster than a speedy bullet....when I am scared.
On Sunday I ran on the local Blackwater Creek Trail that is used by hikers, bikers, walkers and runners. It is a series of trails that cuts through the downtown area of town and is paved and well developed for over 15 miles. There are as many "trail" route miles on top of this that veer off the main route.
As I was running Sunday, I came across a number of uniformed and plain clothes policemen, complete with a dog searching part of the trail. At the time I thought little of it and kept on running. However the local news has revealed that they were hunting for a 6' 4", 300 pound man who robbed a trail user with a gun. While someone interviewed on TV mentioned that the thief would need to be fast to catch most people on the trail, the thought also enters my mind that if he had a gun a bullet is fast enough.
I ran 3.7 miles of recovery last night and tonight added another 4 miles even. This gives me 584 miles run for the year.
As I was running Sunday, I came across a number of uniformed and plain clothes policemen, complete with a dog searching part of the trail. At the time I thought little of it and kept on running. However the local news has revealed that they were hunting for a 6' 4", 300 pound man who robbed a trail user with a gun. While someone interviewed on TV mentioned that the thief would need to be fast to catch most people on the trail, the thought also enters my mind that if he had a gun a bullet is fast enough.
I ran 3.7 miles of recovery last night and tonight added another 4 miles even. This gives me 584 miles run for the year.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
My longest run of the year.
I ran 6 miles on Friday and then 4.1 miles on Saturday. Today was a nice day with a little bit of overcast that kept the temperatures a little cooler and I decided to do a long run. With a camel bag of ice and water on my back I took off at the local community running and biking trail. I sent from one end to the other, dodging a thunder storm that rumbled in the area. I stopped in a tunnel ever so briefly when I thought the storm was going to hit, but quickly realized it was not close. The end result was that I ran 15.6 miles. This is the longest run that I have done since I ran in the Richmond Marathon back in the fall. While I have been getting in good mileage, I needed this LONG run. It will help my other running. Another positive on the run is the fact I ran well below my average pace for the WHOLE 15.6 miles. This is difficult to do at any distance, but especially so with this amount of miles.
This really gives me a great month building for June. I already have 100 miles in for the month and there is still over a week to go. This is great. I am on the doorstep of being on track with the 2000 KM pace bunny. I had not counted on catching him so early but that is wonderful. The only danger is that once I arrive at that pace, the temptation will be to go for another level. I don't want that, so will settle into this amount and grow.
My mileage for the year is now at 576.28 miles.
This really gives me a great month building for June. I already have 100 miles in for the month and there is still over a week to go. This is great. I am on the doorstep of being on track with the 2000 KM pace bunny. I had not counted on catching him so early but that is wonderful. The only danger is that once I arrive at that pace, the temptation will be to go for another level. I don't want that, so will settle into this amount and grow.
My mileage for the year is now at 576.28 miles.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
A week of running
Yikes!
Where have I been? If you have been checking in each day, you probably think I have either quit running(NO!)or died (another NO!). My work has kept me busy and the various other projects and volunteer positions that I hold have also added to that. The result is that I HAVE been running, but not been posting the blog every night (obviously).
Let's catch up. On the 10th I ran 1.42 miles. On the 11th I ran 6.21 miles and another 5 miles even on the 13th. The 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th were runs of
6.5, 5.18, 5.08, 4.34, and 4.12 miles. This now gives me 550.58 miles for the year and there are still two weeks left in June.
I have already run more miles this month than any of the previous June's since I started running. This also is the second most miles that I have run in a year. I am on track to beat the record number of miles that I have run in a year. All of this is great and certainly something to be thankful for at this stage in life.
The weather has been hot in recent days and this has affected when and how I have run. To give a clue to the heat, the other night a deer popped out at the cemetary where I was running. Normally when they do that, they run away quickly. This poor deer looked at me cautiously and ran about 10 steps and then simply continued to walk. I am sure this was purely from the heat.
The 1000 mile pace bunny is at 465.80 miles
The 500 mile pace bunny is at 232.40 miles.
I am only 24 miles behind the pace to reach 2,000 KM for this year. This definitely looks like the goal I need to be aiming at. I will still keep the 1,000 mile goal, but that should be passed fairly quickly.
Where have I been? If you have been checking in each day, you probably think I have either quit running(NO!)or died (another NO!). My work has kept me busy and the various other projects and volunteer positions that I hold have also added to that. The result is that I HAVE been running, but not been posting the blog every night (obviously).
Let's catch up. On the 10th I ran 1.42 miles. On the 11th I ran 6.21 miles and another 5 miles even on the 13th. The 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th were runs of
6.5, 5.18, 5.08, 4.34, and 4.12 miles. This now gives me 550.58 miles for the year and there are still two weeks left in June.
I have already run more miles this month than any of the previous June's since I started running. This also is the second most miles that I have run in a year. I am on track to beat the record number of miles that I have run in a year. All of this is great and certainly something to be thankful for at this stage in life.
The weather has been hot in recent days and this has affected when and how I have run. To give a clue to the heat, the other night a deer popped out at the cemetary where I was running. Normally when they do that, they run away quickly. This poor deer looked at me cautiously and ran about 10 steps and then simply continued to walk. I am sure this was purely from the heat.
The 1000 mile pace bunny is at 465.80 miles
The 500 mile pace bunny is at 232.40 miles.
I am only 24 miles behind the pace to reach 2,000 KM for this year. This definitely looks like the goal I need to be aiming at. I will still keep the 1,000 mile goal, but that should be passed fairly quickly.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Running in the heat
The local area is in the midst of a heat wave. Temperatures each day are well into the mid 90 degree range with humidity high. Friday I ran in the middle of the day and then Saturday tried to run a little earlier in the day to escape some of the heat. While it probably was cooler..it still was plenty hot and took a lot out of me. Today I considered taking another day off, which is okay since I had good miles in already for the week and month. However, the forecast is for more heat for the first of the week. This caused me to attempt to run later in the evening after the sun went down. Interestingly enough, it FELT cool even though the temperature was 89 degrees. The difference was the lack of the sun beating down. I ran 3.67 miles.
The week was a good running week and now I have 512.73 miles for the year.
The week was a good running week and now I have 512.73 miles for the year.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Starting off strong for June
I have never had a high mileage month for June. In fact, last year with 57.9 miles is the most that I have run. With this in mind, I have approached June wanting to put in enough miles to give me a choice for the last six months of the year. I can either run moderate miles during this time period, of go for a more aggressive goal than simply 1,000 miles for the year.
On Sunday I ran 8.60 miles.....Monday was 5.13 miles.....Tuesday was 3.44 miles.....Wednesday had 3.70 miles....and then I took a break on Thursday. Because of the threat of thunder storms and even tornado activity in the area, I had run the first part of the week anticipating that I was going to miss a day of running. When Thursday came and I had been able to run each day, a day off seemed like a good idea.
Then today, Friday, I ran 7.10 miles during the noon hour with temperatures of 94 degrees. I had taken my water pack with me to be sure I was hydrated well. While the heat was high and it definitely took a toll on me, I was pleased to get the 7 plus miles in. This also put me over the 500 mile mark for the year with 24 more days left in the month before the half year mark is reached. In other words, these days for the rest of the month will be bonus miles towards my 1,000 mile goal for the year.
For all of this, I am thankful.
One of the runners in the web site that I use for accountability, had her husband collapse near the finish line of a 10K race and actually died. Paramedics who were there for the race were able to revive him and open heart surgery was done a couple of days ago. The results have been good, but the reminder is made of just how frail life and health can be.
My miles for the year is at 503.88 miles.
The 1,000 mile pace bunny is at 432.92 miles.
The 500 mile pace bunny is at 216.46 miles and now cannot catch me this year!!!!!!
On Sunday I ran 8.60 miles.....Monday was 5.13 miles.....Tuesday was 3.44 miles.....Wednesday had 3.70 miles....and then I took a break on Thursday. Because of the threat of thunder storms and even tornado activity in the area, I had run the first part of the week anticipating that I was going to miss a day of running. When Thursday came and I had been able to run each day, a day off seemed like a good idea.
Then today, Friday, I ran 7.10 miles during the noon hour with temperatures of 94 degrees. I had taken my water pack with me to be sure I was hydrated well. While the heat was high and it definitely took a toll on me, I was pleased to get the 7 plus miles in. This also put me over the 500 mile mark for the year with 24 more days left in the month before the half year mark is reached. In other words, these days for the rest of the month will be bonus miles towards my 1,000 mile goal for the year.
For all of this, I am thankful.
One of the runners in the web site that I use for accountability, had her husband collapse near the finish line of a 10K race and actually died. Paramedics who were there for the race were able to revive him and open heart surgery was done a couple of days ago. The results have been good, but the reminder is made of just how frail life and health can be.
My miles for the year is at 503.88 miles.
The 1,000 mile pace bunny is at 432.92 miles.
The 500 mile pace bunny is at 216.46 miles and now cannot catch me this year!!!!!!
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Finishing off the mileage for May
I had a solid month of running for May. It ended up that I ran 118.6 miles during the month. The previous high that I had for May in any of the 5 previous years was only 67.2 miles. This is simply a month that I had never run that much. This becomes very satisfying to have accomplished this amount of miles for the month.
Thursday's run was 3.63 miles.......Friday's was 3.41 miles.....and then Saturday's run was 5.56. I had intended to run further on Saturday but the threat of thunder storms kept me close to the house and I simply didn't get in as much mileage at I had hoped for. Interestingly enough, as I was finishing off my run and was sweaty from the hot and humid conditions it gently started to rain. This was almost like a soft spray that would come off of a sprinkler system. Certainly it was a welcome mist at this stage of my run and helped to slightly freshen me up.
My mileage for the year is now at 475.91 miles.
The 1,000 mile pace bunny is at 416.48 miles. I only need to be averaging 2.45 miles a day to achieve this goal.
The 500 mile pace bunny is at 208.24 miles. I am less than 25 miles away from her.
Meanwhile, the 2,000 KM pace bunny is looming up ahead at 513.76 miles. I need to run an average of 3.57 miles a day to catch this rascal.
Thursday's run was 3.63 miles.......Friday's was 3.41 miles.....and then Saturday's run was 5.56. I had intended to run further on Saturday but the threat of thunder storms kept me close to the house and I simply didn't get in as much mileage at I had hoped for. Interestingly enough, as I was finishing off my run and was sweaty from the hot and humid conditions it gently started to rain. This was almost like a soft spray that would come off of a sprinkler system. Certainly it was a welcome mist at this stage of my run and helped to slightly freshen me up.
My mileage for the year is now at 475.91 miles.
The 1,000 mile pace bunny is at 416.48 miles. I only need to be averaging 2.45 miles a day to achieve this goal.
The 500 mile pace bunny is at 208.24 miles. I am less than 25 miles away from her.
Meanwhile, the 2,000 KM pace bunny is looming up ahead at 513.76 miles. I need to run an average of 3.57 miles a day to catch this rascal.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)