Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Almost there...

This week has been pretty insane at work. I've only missed one day of running so far but I've had to run twice after dark when I missed my lunch-time runs.

Monday 12/20 (4.0mi, 33min, 8:15/mi) I didn't bring enough warm clothes to work so I gave up running outside and hit the treadmill at lunch instead. I thought I'd last longer than 4 miles but that was all I could stand. I kept a recovery pace after Sunday night's after-dark half tempo run. I hit the weights a little bit after the treadmill and then called it a workout.

Tuesday 12/21 (8.3mi, 56:30, 6:49/mi) I ran a new loop at work last week after dark that wound through the streets and then through a little bit of the Bridle Trails and around the rest of my "Pro Club Loop" in Redmond. The first time I ran it I finished in an hour and two seconds. Of course I wanted to go for < 1hr. Today I pushed the pace from the start and almost kept all of my splits under 7:00/mi, just missing out with a 7:07 on the technical mud puddle-avoiding part of the Bridle Trails and a 7:09 on the big hill leading up to 148th st. I was pretty gassed and had the "how much longer can I hold on to this pace?" feeling for half of the route. I finished in well under an hour which felt great for the distance. I think I'll keep this as my new tempo run as it has a little more variety than the Pro Club Loop and it's a little longer but still do-able once in a while at lunch.

Wednesday 12/22 (8.3mi, 1:11:00, 8:36/mi) I ran another work loop that happened to be the same distance as Tuesday's run but only shared about 50% of the route. I kept a recovery pace after Tuesday's hard tempo and started late in the afternoon so that I finished just after dark. Always nice to get out and run after work. I look forward to next summer's warmer temperatures and longer days to enjoy runs like this more often after work.

Thursday 12/23, Friday 12/24 (0,0,0) I just couldn't make it happen on Thursday and Friday with everything that was going on at work.

Saturday 12/25 (7.7mi, 55:45, 7:14/mi) As is the tradition on Xmas day, I directed an informal race that I've been holding for the last 4 years, the Wise Invitational Xmas Day Extravaganza. (I'm still working on the name). With so many people coming over on Xmas day I gather up the runners and we all go for a run after the gift exchange regardless of the weather. This year I was the only participant as all of the runners in the family were away for the holidays. With just me running I changed from the regular 4.5 mile "One Store Loop" course to my 7.3mi "One Hour Loop" course. I started strong and got out to an early lead. I pushed hard the last five miles, running them at < 7:00 pace average. I never looked back and kept the lead from start to finish. I worked through some cramps in the later miles of the run and after the awesome traditional Norwegian breakfast I think I could have pushed myself hard enough to throw up if I really tried.

Monday 12/27 (7.3mi, 1:01, 8:28/mi) I ran the same route I ran on Xmas day but at an easy recovery pace instead of hard tempo. It felt much better than the cramping, almost-throwing-up pace I held on Saturday.

Wednesday 12/29 (12.4mi, 1:37, 7:49/mi) I decided to make my run a little longer on Wed and started out with the hour loop but peeled off onto Artondale which led me out to the bottom of Wollochet dr. It snowed the night before and there were still traces of snow on some of the hills. There was no snow on the roads thankfully. My stomach wasn't feeling very good so I didn't keep a great pace overall. No sub-7 splits, but I pushed enough the 2nd half to get my average pace back under 8:00/mi. I had a hard time getting the right temperature on the Run. A L/S base layer, L/S tech shirt, shorts and running pants worked pretty well. My thin wind jacket on top of that was too much so I had to carry it. I flip-flopped on gloves and a hat. With them on I'd start to overhead but taking them off would make my fingers start to go numb.  I did find that when I wanted to warm up a gel so that it wasn't hard and chewy that putting it under your hat for a mile does the trick.

Now with only 2 days left in the year I need to start writing up my list of stuff I liked / didn't like.

4 comments:

Holly said...

congrats on winning the Wise Invitational run! Maybe in January we can do the Nemecek invitational race...?

nrmrvrk said...

Technically I finished last too but I'm trying to stay positive. I forgot that you're running again. We'll definitely go for a run or two.

Pinkcorker (Renee) said...

Hey Jason!
Re: your question on the hamstring/glute pain - I took two tennis balls and wrapped them together with duct tape. I sit on them and roll and it digs in the painful/tight spot that is hard to get with a foam roller. It has helped me immensely - I can climb hills again! Hope that helps! Email me at pinkcorker@yahoo.com if you need more info.
Renee

Tricia said...

Happy New Year!