Trail Running Blog

DailyMile Running Updates: August 17-22, 2009

I was surprised to find out that I was sore from last Sunday’s 5K race. I don’t recall getting this sore after any of my other races and I didn’t run that much faster this time. However, I didn’t have time to really stretch before this race though, so that may be the reason why I was this sore. I didn’t run on Tuesday because of some work stuff that I had and I guess because I was still sore. Maybe I should have taken Monday off instead Tuesday.

I think the visuals in Nike+ are cool, but not sure what else. DailyMile FTW!

My one notable run for the week happened on Thursday, which was unexpected. I’m glad that I never really plan to have these good runs or else I would be really disappointed when I am expecting a good workout and don’t hit the time I was hoping to run. Because I skipped Tuesday’s run, I wanted to run a little more and I also want to try and increase my daily mileage so that when I begin training for the half and have to have those 10+ mile runs, it won’t be that big of a jump. I planned to run my regular route, but do 5 laps instead of 4. Whenever I have a good run, I usually start off really fast just because I am feeling good that day. On this day though, I wasn’t able to get that great of a start, so that first mile wasn’t that fast. But I wasn’t tired and actually felt pretty comfortable, which was a good sign. I hit the same time for the second mile, and just had a lot more energy to push it for the rest of the run. During my runs, I try not to see what my split was or else I will spend the next mile analyzing that split and trying to figure out how fast I have ran and how fast I “could” run this workout. I’d rather just listen to my music and focus on the current mile and hope to keep up the pace or even better to increase it. I never thought I would be able to run 5 laps on this route, just because it gets boring after a couple of times around. So that’s why I was so surprised to be able to hit such a great last mile: 6:18. I was really happy with this workout because it was not that long after my race but I was still able to have such a great run.

I have been given some great recommendations via DailyMile (here and here) on a half marathon training plan, and got one that I will probably do that is supposed to be an 8 week long program. The first half that I was planning to do is in January 2010 (I think..), so what am I supposed to do until the 8 weeks before that? The other day, I was looking for races to run for the next couple of months, I just need to sit down, look at my calendar and actually register for those races. I guess I’ll do some more 5K’s and maybe another 10K to work my way up to the half.

Monday, August 17, 2009
4 mi / 33:02, 7:54 min/mile

Easy post-race run to start off the week. Was sore from the race too..

HR Avg: 143, Max: 157

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

5.03 mi / 36:11, 7:11 min/mile

Missed yesterday’s run, but really glad I got out today. Felt good to just move, need to find a new race to start training for. For now, I’m just running to have fun!

Thursday, August 20, 2009
The Loop – 5 mi / 33:26, 6:41 min/mile

Surprisingly fast run so short after racing. Ran the most laps around this route. Felt pretty comfortable the first couple of miles and had more than enough energy at the end. And I actually hit progressive splits: 6:54, 6:53, 6:46, 6:33, 6:18.

HR Avg: 174 bpm, Max: 181 bpm

Friday, August 21, 2009
4.03 mi / 28:58, 7:11 min/mile

Easy run after yesterday’s very productive workout. Going to do a brick workout tomorrow.

Saturday, August 22, 2009
Lake Miramar Brick – 5 mi / 37:32, 7:30 min/mile

Another run of the mill brick workout. 5 mile bike followed by 5 mile run and 5 mile cooldown bike ride. Legs felt heavy as usual at first, but when they got back to normal, I still felt really tired and was not that into the run. So I opted to just take it easy today. I was surprised that the pace was still alright, nothing special. I’m happy with the workout overall!

Splits: 7:10, 7:50, 7:31, 7:26, 7:34
HR Avg: 175, Max: 193