12.64 Miles Easy

AM - 9.67 Miles

Mile 1	6:56
Mile 2	6:36
Mile 3	6:27
Mile 4	6:20
Mile 5	6:21
Mile 6	6:25
Mile 7	6:38
Mile 8	6:42
Mile 9	6:41
Mile 10	6:52
Total Average Pace:	6:36

PM - 2.97 Miles

Mile 1	7:29
Mile 2	6:57
Mile 3	7:15
Total Average Pace:	7:14

Once again I felt really great on my morning run but a couple of things made this day very challenging. I started late in the morning again, 9:30. Then we went out to eat and then had a picnic outside for a couple of hours with the family. Then at 4 I ran again, still pretty hot out. Luckily I ran into Mahta and I joined him a little bit on his long run. Then I had to rush home get changed and then go to the movies with my friend to see Robin Hood. I'm ending up going to bed sometime around 11pm. I stayed outside WAY too long and I didn't get enough rest. I may have compromised tomorrow's run. We'll see.

8.69 Miles Easy

Mile 1	7:07
Mile 2	6:42
Mile 3	6:39
Mile 4	6:44
Mile 5	6:37
Mile 6	6:38
Mile 7	6:36
Mile 8	6:45
Mile 9	5:54
Total Average Pace:	6:40

I have to admit, before today’s run I was a little excited. Yesterday I had noticed a change in my leg strength. I was running sub 6:20 pace in highly adverse conditions with about as much ease as maybe a 7:00 minute pace run. Even though I crashed the last few miles I knew there was a change in me. So I was pumped up for today’s run. Sure enough, I was late out the door once again as I arrived at the park after 9am. It wasn’t as humid but it was sunny and hot with no shade. I started off my run right away at a pretty quick pace. The one thing I did notice was that I was still fatigued a little bit from yesterday’s run. So I kept it at an easy pace. The pace ended up anywhere from 6:30s to 6:40s. During the last mile as I was finishing up my run, a guy made an obvious attempt to try and catch me. And catch me he did. So we were running side by side for a while. Then he made a move and the competitor in me picked up the pace ever so slightly. I picked it up enough to where eventually I could hear him laboring a bit and finally he just let go right before the starting 0 marker. I ended up finishing at sub 6 pace. This was actually the first time I had been at sub 6 pace since my last race in early April. I have to tell ya, that was the easiest 5:51 pace that I have run in quite a while. All this is happening while I have run the most miles I have run in a couple of years. Today’s total puts me at 73 miles for the week, a little short of my 77 mile goal, but I’m still happy. I’m 5 weeks into my base building phase with no speed or tempo work yet and I’m liking the changes I’m seeing. I think I’m fit as a fiddle. I’m going to wait till my next cut back week and then I’ll throw in a tempo workout. Next week will be even tougher.

Long Run 11.6 Miles

Mile 1	7:20
Mile 2	7:00
Mile 3	6:36
Mile 4	6:26
Mile 5	6:17
Mile 6	6:27
Mile 7	6:36
Mile 8	6:53
Mile 9	7:27
Mile 10	7:23
Mile 11	7:29
Mile 12	7:18
Total Average Pace:	6:56

As you can probably tell by the table above this run was all over the place. When I started the run I really didn’t feel all that different or any better than usual. By the 3rd mile I noticed that my pace had picked up considerably. I kind of dreaded this doing this run since I had such a late start for it. It was 9 am by the time I started and I had plans of doing a 15 miler. By the end of the 3rd mile it was hotter and definitely more humid than expected but I didn’t want to force myself to run at a much slower contrived pace because of the conditions. I decided to go with the flow. That flow had me running pretty quickly. Somewhere along the way Mahta jumped in as well. The amazing thing to me is that the 6:17 actually felt like 7 minute pace, even in the adverse conditions! Then eventually the reality of the situation came to the forefront. By the end of my 3rd loop I was badly dehydrated and a little light headed from the heat. I had to go and hydrate(I don’t usually hydrate during my runs). By the time my 4th loop came around I was done and there would be no 5th loop today. Like Sean always says, I needed to save a little something for tomorrow.

10.65 Miles Easy

7:10 pace

10.66 Miles Easy

6:57 Pace

A pretty easy run. The weather wasn't that bad all things considered.

10.65 Miles Easy

7:06 Pace

Last night I ended up seeing Mahta at the park. We ended up talking about racing. I got pretty pumped up and I can’t wait until I’m ready to get back out there. When I do get out there, I’ll be ready to run some fast times. Until that time comes I’ll be out there racking up the miles.

10.67 Miles Easy

7:11 Pace

10.67 Miles Easy

• Morning 9.67 Miles (7:08 pace)
• Evening 1 Mile (7:27 pace)

Getting myself slowly acclimated to doubles. 1 mile really isn't anything but I have to start somewhere. I will add a mile each week in the evenings.

3.5 Miles Easy

6:50 Pace

Very easy run, especially since it was only 3.5 miles. I rode the bike with my son for about an hour and a half yesterday and I could definitely feel it. I’m glad it was only a 3.5 mile run. This run also put me over 50 miles for the week. Now it’s back to hard core mileage this week. Going to put my hard hat on and keep grinding.

Long Run 11.56 Miles

6:55 Pace

Strong run. Started to tire on my 3rd loop. That’s when JP stepped in on my 4th loop and made it go by a little quicker. Very close to 50 miles on the week. Will wrap that up tomorrow.

Weekly Mileage Totals

• 10/04/2010 - 10/10/2010 (26.06)
• 09/27/2010 - 10/03/2010 (34.48) 15:49 5k
• 09/20/2010 - 09/26/2010 (60.31)
• 09/13/2010 - 09/19/2010 (62.08)
• 09/06/2010 - 09/12/2010 (46.27)
• 08/30/2010 - 09/05/2010 (60.38)
• 08/23/2010 - 08/29/2010 (32.62) 17:10 5k (Multiple Course Screw Ups)
• 08/16/2010 - 08/22/2010 (60.26)
• 08/09/2010 – 08/15/2010 (62.28)
• 08/02/2010 – 08/08/2010 (64.32)
• 07/26/2010 – 08/01/2010 (30.63) 16:02 5k (Course Long 15:42 equiv)
• 07/19/2010 – 07/25/2010 (63.37)
• 07/12/2010 – 07/18/2010 (63.14)
• 07/05/2010 – 07/11/2010 (63.22)
• 06/28/2010 – 07/04/2010 (33.48) 16:28 5k
• 06/21/2010 – 06/27/2010 (60.39)
• 06/14/2010 – 06/20/2010 (62.53)
• 06/07/2010 – 06/13/2010 (40.58)
• 05/31/2010 – 06/06/2010 (60.3)
• 05/24/2010 – 05/30/2010 (73.6)
• 05/17/2010 – 05/23/2010 (50.08)
• 05/10/2010 - 05/16/2010 (70.08)
• 05/03/2010 - 05/09/2010 (63.95)
• 04/26/2010 - 05/02/2010 (63.79)
• 04/19/2010 - 04/25/2010 (49.32)
• 04/12/2010 - 04/18/2010 (29.01)
• 04/05/2010 - 04/11/2010 (29.2)
• 03/29/2010 - 04/04/2010 (43.83) 16:22 5k
• 03/22/2010 - 03/28/2010 (66.68) 15:59 5k
• 03/08/2010 - 03/14/2010 (56.83)
• 03/15/2010 - 03/21/2010 (50.97) 15:55 5k
• 03/01/2010 - 03/07/2010 (58.14)
• 02/22/2010 - 02/28/2010 (43.89) 33:43 10k
• 02/15/2010 - 02/21/2010 (5.79)
• 02/08/2010 - 02/14/2010 (52.7)
• 02/01/2010 - 02/07/2010 (58.52)
• 01/25/2010 - 01/31/2010 (43.65) 15:32 5k
• 01/18/2010 - 01/24/2010 (24.58)
• 01/11/2010 - 01/17/2010 (60.59) 2:48 Marathon
• 01/04/2010 - 01/10/2010 (52.05)
• 12/28/2009 - 01/03/2010 (49.19)
• 12/21/2009 - 12/27/2009 (67.87)
• 12/14/2009 - 12/20/2009 (59.85)
• 12/07/2009 - 12/13/2009 (64.16)
• 11/30/2009 - 12/06/2009 (59.3)
• 11/23/2009 - 11/29/2009 (58.38) 14:59 3 mile
• 11/16/2009 - 11/22/2009 (46.45)
• 11/09/2009 - 11/15/2009 (60.25)
• 11/02/2009 - 11/08/2009 (59.81)
• 10/26/2009 - 11/01/2009 (64.12) 15:34 5k
• 10/19/2009 - 10/25/2009 (64.59 15:55 5k
• 10/12/2009 - 10/18/2009 (61.17)
• 10/05/2009 - 10/11/2009 (68.19)
• 09/28/2009 - 10/04/2009 (44.89) 16:03 5k
• 09/21/2009 - 09/27/2009 (59.1)
• 09/14/2009 - 09/20/2009 (65.95)
• 09/07/2009 - 09/13/2009 (59.65)
• 08/31/2009 - 09/06/2009 (52)
• 08/24/2009 - 08/30/2009 (57)
• 08/17/2009 - 08/23/2009 (17.63)

8.99 Miles Easy

6:57 Pace

Felt better today. Ran a few with Sean and JP.

You may have noticed the weekly mileage total from the previous post. This will be my marker page where I will post my weekly mileage. I need to do this in order to hold myself accountable. Sometimes perception doesn’t reflect reality so this will be my way of keeping myself honest. I have added a link to it on the top right.

8.67 Miles Easy

7:23 pace

My knees felt pretty tight from the get go. Could be hydration issues. It will be very crucial to keep hydrated during the Houston summer because any dehydration will definitely carry on to the next day.

8.68 Miles Easy

6:52 Pace

Felt excellent out there. This was to be expected since I had a day off and lower mileage yesterday.

8.68 Miles Easy

7:00 Pace

Sam told me about a potential 6 mile tempo workout with Sean, Luis, Dan, and himself. That would be awesome! Should I join in?...

I haven't ran faster than 6 minute pace for a mile in a month and a half...

Day Off

I only plan on doing 50 miles this week, so I decided to take today off. What a swell idea!

9.91 Miles Easy

7:00 Pace

70 Miles for the week. Goal achieved. It will be a cut back week for me next week as I prepare to tackle even more mileage. More mileage than I have ever taken on before.

Ran into Jose Lara today. He's coming back from surgery and he's looking good. I did 1 mile with him at 6:30 pace and he looked pretty comfortable. I got to get his perspective on upping the mileage and it was pretty helpful.

The last 3 weeks I have ran 70, 64, and 64 miles. I ran into Luis today and he's doing about 70 with no speed workouts. Sean's hitting about 70 without the speed stuff as well. It seems like a lot of the guys are just gearing up and getting ready to put down some really fast times later on in the year. I expect to be one of those guys. I figure to have at least 1 or 2 really fast 5ks in me this year after my base mileage is achieved and I start speed work.

Long Run 11.62 Miles

7:14 Pace

9.83 Miles Easy

7:03 pace

Please Donate...

Help Americans compete in distance running by donating school buses to Kenyan children.

Easy Run 9.67 Miles

7:11 pace

Tough run. I had to wake up a little earlier than normal and the first thing I noticed was the extra humidity. It's definitely tougher to run earlier in the morning for sure. Ran into Sam, he was about to start his 7 mile tempo run.

Earlier yesterday, I went back and tallied up my weekly mileage totals for the year and then calculated the average mileage per week. I came up with 47 miles per week. Are you kidding me? I thought I was doing closer to 58 miles a week. It goes to show you that sometimes you can trick yourself into thinking you're working harder than you are. I told Sean and he said that was weak. I totally agree. I'm going to start posting my weekly totals so I can keep myself accountable. I'll post it a little later.

9.68 Miles Easy

6:55 Pace

I felt pretty good to start off the run. I was running around 6:4xs early and then Devin joined me for 3 miles and ran a few 6:30’s and a 6:28. I broke off after that and ran quite a bit slower, low 7 minute pace. It was just too humid and I’ve been putting in too many miles to mess around too long. It is about that time to get some new shoes. The current ones I have are done and my left foot is getting to the point where there may be a problem if I don’t get some new kicks soon.

My friends were teasing me about my race with a girl yesterday. One of them was quite clever and suggested maybe she wasn’t racing me but maybe running away from me! Ha, pretty clever. But what they didn’t think about was the fact that maybe I was running away from her! Ha Ha. Hmmm, I guess that doesn’t sound too convincing. I don’t know too many guys that run away from girls.

9.67 Miles Easy

6:57 Pace

It was a hot and muggy morning. But you know what? It didn't bother me too much. Now I may not feel the same way a month from now, but so far, not bad. Today I decided to race a girl. I know what you're thinking. Ya, you're a big man, Bill, racing girls and all. Ahh, I don't care. This girl was fast, plenty fast enough, and I felt like messing around a bit. I started out nice and easy for about 10 paces and the girl ran by me like I was standing still. I said what the heck, lets go. So for the first 3/4 of a mile into my run we were probably running 6 minute pace. We didn't say anything to each other. We didn't even look in the direction of each other. All I knew was I had this girl running with me and not only was she not backing down, she was trying to lead. Eventually things ended after 3/4 of mile and I finished my 1st mile at 6:35 pace. Thirty seconds later I ran into Sean and ran most of the rest of my run with him.

Dang she was fast. But tell me, am I jerk for not ceding to this talented girl? 

I'm Back

Ok, what the hell happened the last month and a half? Well, nothing much really. I just took some time off. When I say time off, I completely took a break from running. I didn't run, didn't read any running blogs, didn't keep up with the running news. I gained a few pounds. Took a break from any exercise as well. I slept well, like a baby as a matter fact. I was a normal guy. A father, a husband, a babysitter, a TV watcher. Yep that was me.

Ok, I act as if I did that for a year. I only did it for like 5 days. But for me that's like a year in Bill years. After those 5 days I didn't really miss the running. That was kind of strange, I usually get the jitters, and want to run immediately when I take breaks. I was watching some infomercials, P90 & Insanity. I looked at the bodies in those infomercials and I was like hey, I used to be like that! I thought to myself I can't let all that work go to waste. So I was like I'm just going to run to be in good shape. I enjoyed my sleep and the extra time I had, so I decided to go run, but this time with no pressure.

That seemed to work. Immediately I started running faster than I was running before. So this only confirmed that I was burned out. I was enjoying the running with no strings attached. But one more problem, I lost my six pack, and no I'm not talking about beer. So I decided to go back to doing my calisthenics exercises. After a little while I started trimming down a bit.

On a few of those runs, I ran with Sam. Sam has a dream. His dream is to run in the Olympic Trials here in Houston in 2012. Sam has been dedicated and has been working his butt off. He dropped his half PR to 1:13 and his 5k PR to 15:52. Probably the main reason for his improvement is his increase in mileage. He has slowly bumped it up to over a 100 miles. I've been watching his progress and I have to say he has lit a fire in my ___. I'm thinking if he can drop 40 seconds off his PR in the 5k, what the hell would that do for me?

So slowly but surely I have been increasing my mileage. So far my legs have been irritable at times so I hold back a little bit and add little bit. It's a give and take. I realize the mileage increases may take longer than expected. But I'm willing to push for a little while. You know why? Because my switch has been turned back on. So I'm back into training mode albeit just a little bit different this time.

Who do I have to thank for this? Sam. Thanks Sam. You have been my crash test dummy and you didn't break. So here we go again...

But this time it is Bill 2.0

9.7 Miles Easy

7:04 Pace

I ran just a shade under 64 miles for the 2nd consecutive week. The legs were tired and this was the 2nd day after my pretty fast long run. It was windy and humid. With all that being said, I am very happy with the pace I was running today. It showed that my legs are getting stronger as I wasn't putting in much effort. Normally I would expect something in the 7:15 to low 7:20s range. Now if I can just figure out some way to trick my body into putting 70 miles this week. I'm starting off by running an extra mile for a few days. Let's see how that works out.

Recovery Run 8.7 Miles Easy

Mile 1	7:36
Mile 2	7:17
Mile 3	7:03
Mile 4	6:44
Mile 5	6:46
Mile 6	6:40
Mile 7	6:33
Mile 8	6:39
Mile 9	6:31
Total Average Pace	6:53

Started off slow which was to be expected(after yesterday’s fast long run) but then all of a sudden around mile 4 it felt like I had jet fuel in my legs. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow. That should be the true gauge.

Long Run 11.6 Miles

Mile 1	6:59
Mile 2	6:45
Mile 3	6:55
Mile 4	6:42
Mile 5	6:41
Mile 6	6:40
Mile 7	6:27
Mile 8	6:42
Mile 9	6:56
Mile 10	6:45
Mile 11	6:52
Mile 12	6:50
Total Average Pace	6:46

I was supposed to meet up with Carlos, a guy I met last weekend. I was a little late and so had to catch up with him a little later during mile 4. We ended up running pretty good with he and I dropping a 6:27 during his last lap. A pretty impressive run for me.

8.75 Miles Easy

6:53 Pace

Finally got my mojo back.

5.8 Miles Easy

7:15 Pace

Had to cut it short because the doubles are still kicking my…tail.

8.7 Miles Easy

7:21 Pace

Dang, doubles kick my…

11.7 Miles Easy

• 8.7 Miles Morning: 6:51 Pace
• 3.0 Miles Evening: 6:52 Pace

Ended up racing some dude in the park in the evening. Will probably pay for it later. Shooting for 70 miles this week. Hoping to hit the total by doing a couple of doubles.

8.7 Miles Easy

7:22 Pace

8.7 Miles Easy

7:18 Pace

My slowest run in a while. This was in large part due to the almost 64 miles I logged during the week. This probably was the largest total of miles I have done in many months. I’ll take it.

Long Run 11.61Miles

6:59 Pace