9 Miles Easy

4.5 miles in morning 8:17 pace

4.5 miles in evening 7:32 pace

8.74 Miles Easy

7:42 Pace

9 Miles Easy

• 4.5 miles in morning 8:02 pace
• 4.5 miles in evening 7:21 pace

20 Mile Long Run – Virtual Long Run in Pictures

7:30 Pace

Come along on a virtual long run. I’ll be your guide!

Our long run starts with a simple stretch.

First stop, Bayou City Art Festival.

Let's get back on the trail.

Let's interrupt our running with a little bit of hill work.

Whew! Enough hills.

Let’s jet!

On our way back to Memorial Park.

Here we are!

Left Memorial Park again.

Entering Sandy Reed Trail.

We do some hill workouts around this clover leaf.

A nice view of the Bayou on Allen Parkway.

Let's get back on the trail.

One last stop. The Jewish cemetery.

We’re done. I hope you enjoyed!

SCOPE Run for Colorectal Cancer – 15:59.9 – 1st Overall - 5.71 Miles Total

1 Mile Warm Up

Mile 1	4:55
Mile 2	5:15
Mile 3	5:15
Last .12	4:34 (33 sec)
Total Average Pace	5:08

I arrived a little late once again and this time and I wasn’t able to warm up. I rushed to jog 1 mile in my racing flats, quickly did 4 regular strides, and then 1 long 30 second stride. Quite a few people showed up to support a good cause but this ended up being a time trial for me. From the sound of the gun I bolted out quickly this time and I quickly found out that I didn’t have it for this race. It was probably due to the lack of warm up time but the energy wasn’t there. After about a mile in, I just cruised the rest of the way, identical 5:15 minute miles on 2 and 3. I’m thinking if I warmed up a bit before the race I probably could have dropped 10-15 seconds. But that still is a far cry from 15:30 range. The lack of long run consistency has really played a role in my last few races. Tomorrow long run.

5.82 Miles Easy

7:00 pace.

I will be running in the SCOPE Run for Colorectal Cancer. This is part of a series of races to get me ready for the 2010 Bellaire Trolley Run. One of the fastest and most popular races in Houston.

8.85 Miles Recovery

7:22 Pace

3 Mile 30/30 Fartlek – 8.8 Miles Total

• 2.9 Mile Warm up
• 3 Mile 30/30 Fartlek

5:00, 5:32, 5:14, 6:04, 5:30, 5:47, 5:27, 5:49, 5:23, 5:42, 5:29, 5:43, 5:28, 5:24, 5:23, 6:01, 5:23, 5:43, 5:30, 5:48, 5:33, 5:37, 5:32, 5:42, 5:14, 5:36, 5:32, 5:35, 5:36, 5:25, 5:35, 5:16, 4:56

• Time 16:28
• Pace 5:31
• 2.9 Mile Cool down

My second slowest 3 Mile ever recorded on this blog…EVER! I probably could have dropped the time another 30 seconds since I didn’t have the data displaying my pace on each 30 second interval. After I finished the the workout I knew I didn’t give as hard an effort as previous attempts. Better luck next time

8.7 Miles Easy

6:57 Pace

Ran with Sean. We both agreed that the strength element is missing from my game and that is the reason for me be slower. Back to the bread and butter.

8.8 Miles Easy

Ran in the evening, almost skipped running but that would have been a no/no. Forgot my trainers though so I had to run in my racing flats. That was a little different. It’s a different crowd in the evenings. As a matter fact it is crowded period. I have no desire to run in the evenings if I have to park anywhere. Memorial Park has to be one of the most congested parks in the country in that respect. Oh yeah,

7:00 pace

Recovery Run 6.14 Miles

7:45 pace

Looking Good 5k – 15:55 – 9 Miles Total - 2nd Overall

3 Mile Warm Up

Mile 1	5:00
Mile 2	5:05
Mile 3	5:11
Last .13	4:53 (38 sec)
Total Average Pace	5:05

I arrived a little late but I was still able to get my warm up and strides in before the race, albeit it was a little rushed. The legs were feeling a little heavy before the race. Sean and Luis were there as well. The course was simple and flat with only about 3 turns. The weather was good for racing. We all lined up and the gun sounded.

Sean and Luis took off and I let them go. This time I was going to be content to run between 4:55 and 5:00 pace for the first mile and see if I would have anything left for the 3rd mile. About a quarter mile in Luis eases up significantly. His blister is giving him trouble so I pass him by. As soon as I pass him I could hear another runner, Jon Butler behind me. Sean ended up hitting the first mile in 4:4x. I ended up hitting it at 5:00 flat. I felt pretty good and it seemed like I may have something left.

Eventually we made the turn around and Sean had built a sizeable lead on me and I had a sizeable lead on Jon Butler. The top 3 guys would end up running a time trial race. Three quarters into mile 2 I could see that my pace was slowing down while I continued with the same effort. I hit mile 2 in 10:05.

During mile 3 I could see that I was slowing even more so I decided to put the effort up a notch but I couldn’t bring my pace down below 5:10. Once I realized this I minimized the straining and just ran with a pretty good effort level. I ended up finishing just below 16 minutes which gives me another sub 16 time.

I definitely was disappointed but it is what it is. I got sidelined with the foot issues and my long runs and training have been inconsistent. I was holding out hope that maybe I would have held on to some of the fitness gains I had earlier in the year and maybe getting back to regular running would get me back. But that isn’t the case so far. The good news is that I’m not that far off. I’m still in sub 16 shape and I know what will get me back to running fast.

6.74 Miles Easy

7:09 Pace

Race tomorrow.

8.77 Miles Easy

7:55 Pace

5.93 Miles Easy Plus 400m

7:17 Pace

62 sec 400m

Hadn’t run a quarter in a while so I thought I’d see where I was at. Not all out, but as fast I could with stride effort level. Didn’t want to kill myself before the race this weekend and plus had to run in the morning.

2Mile 30/30 – 1 Mile – 8.56 Miles Total

Warm Up

2 Mile 30/30

Mile 1	5:00
Mile 2	5:24
Total Average Pace	5:12

Jog

Mile 1

5:03

Cool Down

Ran with Sean and Adam Davis joined us as well.

5.83 Miles Easy

7:42 Pace

5.84 Miles Easy

7:45 Pace, basically at a snails pace. I want to be ready for a good workout Tuesday.

Long Run with 11 minutes of Hills – 15 Miles Total

• Total Pace for long run was 7:55 pace
• This included doing 11 minutes of hills on Memorial and Shepherd.

7x400m with Decreasing Rest ~ 7 Miles Total

Warm Up

7x400m w/ Decreasing Rest (Goal 68’s w/ option for 15 or 30 secs rest after rep 6)

1. 68 secs, 4:33 pace (90 secs rest)
2. 69 secs, 4:38 pace (75 secs rest)
3. 69 secs, 4:38 pace (60 secs rest)
4. 68 secs, 4:36 pace (45 secs rest)
5. 69 secs, 4:39 pace (30 secs rest)
6. 72 secs, 4:49 pace (30 secs rest)
7. 71 secs, 4:46 pace

Total Average Pace: 4:40

Cool Down

5.79 Miles Easy

Mile 1	7:51
Mile 2	7:17
Mile 3	7:37
Mile 4	7:32
Mile 5	7:27
Mile 6	7:23
Total Average Pace:	7:32

8.73 Miles Easy

Mile 1	7:30
Mile 2	7:05
Mile 3	7:01
Mile 4	7:06
Mile 5	7:05
Mile 6	7:30
Mile 7	7:19
Mile 8	7:17
Mile 9	6:59
Total Average Pace:	7:13

1.5 Mile 30/30 Fartlek, 800m – 8.62 Miles Total

• Warm Up
• 30/30

Mile 1	5:03
Mile 2 (.51 miles)	5:06
Total Average Pace:	5:05

• .5 Mile, 2:14, 4:28 Pace
• Cool down

Sean, Luis, Sam, and I met at the park. Sean and Luis were going to do 3 miles of 30/30s with the first 2 miles in 10 minutes. Sam’s intentions were to hang as long as he could and my intentions were to try and hang for 2 miles. Sam ended up hanging in there for a mile, I continued for another .5 mile and was unable to shift gears so I shut it down and walked for a quarter mile.

Then I jogged and met up with the guys to finish off with a hard 800 meters. Sean took off, Luis wasn’t feeling it this morning so I went around him and tried to sit behind Sean. Sam tucked in behind me. I was good for 600 meters and then the gorilla jumped on my back and then that’s when Sean started pushing the pace a little bit more. I tested the waters a little and tried to push a bit more but couldn’t go any faster without straining so I cruised into the home stretch.

It was a good little workout. My foot felt slightly strained but this was probably due to the plyometrics yesterday(I’ll hold off a little a while on this). I also didn’t feel 100% either but I am happy to get in some mileage at close to the goal pace I want to be at for 3 miles. Hopefully running at this pace will get easier. I have another workout coming up at the end of the week and I am hoping to get some more practice at this pace.

As far as upcoming races are concerned I am leaning towards skipping the Bayou City Classic 10k. I hate having to do this since this is definitely one of the best races in Houston for the year, but I have put myself in sort of a pickle. My week off and subsequent light training has had me losing some fitness. So now my goal race is the Bellaire Trolley Race. This is definitely one of the 2 fastest 5k courses in Houston and I will put everything I can in to being ready for that race and hopefully PRing for the 3rd straight year. Sean suggested doing the Looking Good 5k as a workout to build towards that and I am leaning towards doing so. It’s a shame, I really wanted to have a shot at winning the HARRA Spring Runner of The Season (I finished second to Luis last year) but missing the first 2 races will not help me any.

On a final note I spent about 30 minutes categorizing some entries on my blog. There were some old speed workouts that I didn’t label under “speed” so now if you click under the label speed those old workouts should now pop up. It’s hard to believe I have done about 480 posts in a year and a half. My how the time sure does fly.

5.85 Miles Easy

Mile 1	7:59
Mile 2	7:16
Mile 3	7:23
Mile 4	7:23
Mile 5	7:31
Mile 6	7:26
Total Average Pace	7:30

• .25 Mile, 78, 5:09 pace
• Plyometrics
• Stair running 60 secs
• Stair jumps 60 secs
• Ceiling touches 60 secs

For the first time in a few years I did some baby plyometric drills for about a minute in duration a piece. There were 3 drills that I did. Stair running, stair jumps and ceiling touches. As I said I only did 1 rep of each for 60 seconds. The idea is to limit ground contact time to where you end up hopping continuously for a minute during each exercise. Eventually I want to max out at 2 minutes each twice a week. The purpose is to improve upon my explosive speed. Hopefully this will play a supporting role in bringing down my 400m, 800m and mile times. Tomorrow I will be running with Sean and Luis doing 30/30s. The whole idea is to try to hang for 2 miles and then do 800m with them.

8.72 Miles Easy

Mile 1	7:51
Mile 2	6:59
Mile 3	7:11
Mile 4	7:14
Mile 5	7:12
Mile 6	7:05
Mile 7	7:15
Mile 8	7:06
Mile 9	7:19
Total Average Pace:	7:15

.25 Mile, 1:08, 4:32 pace

Long Run – 11.68 Miles

Mile 1	8:34
Mile 2	7:49
Mile 3	7:57
Mile 4	7:34
Mile 5	7:36
Mile 6	7:35
Mile 7	7:25
Mile 8	7:21
Mile 9	7:25
Mile 10	7:29
Mile 11	7:29
Mile 12	7:14
Total Average Pace:	7:38

I set out to do 15 miles but my legs started to tighten up and get tired so I cut it short this week with the anticipation that my legs would be improved and stronger next week. My whole goal is to have total recovery and stay away from feeling to fatigued. As I said before I want to be able to go harder on workout days.

1 Mile 30/30, 2 Mile, 1 Mile 30/30 - 8.57 Miles Total

• 1.74 Mile Warm Up
• 1 Mile 30/30, 6:04 Pace
• 2 Miles 10:21, 5:11 Pace (goal 10:10, 5:05 pace)
• 1 Mile 30/30, 6:22 Pace
• 2.9 Mile Cool Down

It is what it is. I’m not in quite the shape I was when I ran the Rockets run in January. It’s ok. I can climb my way back up. The only thing that I’m worrying about is health issues and it seems like my foot is getting better. I’m pretty sure it was the shoes.

8.73 Miles Easy

Mile 1	7:46
Mile 2	7:26
Mile 3	7:28
Mile 4	7:11
Mile 5	7:11
Mile 6	7:19
Mile 7	7:19
Mile 8	7:07
Mile 9	7:10
Total Average Pace:	7:20

.25 Mile, 1:13, 4:51 pace

8.67 Miles Easy

Mile 1	7:58
Mile 2	7:15
Mile 3	7:04
Mile 4	6:53
Mile 5	6:46
Mile 6	6:53
Mile 7	6:58
Mile 8	7:09
Mile 9	7:30
Total Average Pace:	7:09

.25 Mile, 1:12, 4:50 pace

I was able to bump up the mileage to 3 loops today, no issues. Like Spike Lee used to say in the Michael Jordan commercials. It must be the shoes.

6 Miles Easy

Mile 1	7:57
Mile 2	7:27
Mile 3	7:31
Mile 4	7:30
Mile 5	7:33
Mile 6	8:07
Total Average Pace	7:44

.25 Mile, 1:16, 5:02 pace

Picked up the new Adidas Bostons. I’m happy to be out of the Lunar Glides. Instead of doing strides I will start off doing a quarter of a mile around 4:50 pace at the end of my runs. I want to get my legs used to running at this pace and also for them to get a little bit tired to simulate a little bit of speed endurance. It shouldn’t be long enough for me to feel it the next day.

5.77 Miles Easy

Mile 1	8:18
Mile 2	7:33
Mile 3	7:45
Mile 4	7:39
Mile 5	7:36
Mile 6	7:48
Total Average Pace:	7:47

The foot is still hurting and doesn’t seem to be getting better. I’m starting to believe it is the shoes that I have been wearing for the past few months, the Nike Lunar Glides. I’m going to go back to the Adidas Bostons and see if those fix the problem. Thursday I’m going to do my first workout in a while. I’ll warm up with a 30/30 mile and then attempt to go 2 miles in 10:10 and then do another 30/30 mile. My workouts are going to be a little different now. They will be focused on running a faster pace and holding it. Each week I will hopefully add on some distance and hold the same pace. I will also be doing more plyometrics. Back in my late 20’s I used to be able to dunk a basketball, I’m hoping to get some of that explosiveness back just in time for track in the summer. In summary I will be running my workouts a lot faster but I will be running my easy days a lot slower. On my easy days or when I’m feeling a little sore, I may cut it a little short. My whole goal is to have enough recovery to run as fast as I can on workout days.