5 Miles Easy

6:59 Pace

6.25 Miles Easy

7:25 pace, speed limit of no faster than 7:00 pace at the behest of Sean. I need to keep everything under wraps till Saturday. Once again nice cool weather. The legs felt great. I tell ya, I could do speed work all day. It's the long stuff I don't like.

Komen Race For the Cure Saturday. Big time race for me. Big. The first time I ran the race I ran a 16:51 and it was one of the most painful races I'd ever run (Brought upon myself!). The second time I ran it I dropped 48 seconds and ran a 16:03. Let's hope for a similar improvement this Saturday!

3 Mile 30/30 Fartlek – 11.71 Miles Total

• 2.91 Warm Up 7:22 pace
• Fartlek
• Time 14:58* PR
• Pace 4:59
• Mile 1 – 4:54
• Mile 2 – 5:00
• Mile 3 – 5:04

4:54, 5:14, 4:39, 5:04, 4:47, 5:03, 4:52, 5:19, 4:52, 4:52, 4:44, 5:20, 4:41, 5:14, 5:08, 5:16, 5:10, 5:15, 4:57, 5:02, 4:51, 4:59, 4:59, 5:18, 5:21, 5:08, 5:06, 5:10, 4:47, 4:34

• 5.8 Mile Cool Down 6:58 Pace

Nice cool weather. Nice group of guys that were ready to roll. Sean, Luis, Dan, J.P., Jose, and a new guy, Curt. Sean, Dan, Jose, and Curt did a 6 x 1 mile @ 5:20 pace with 30 seconds recovery. Luis, J.P. and I did the 30/30’s.

What can I say? I totally murdered the workout. I beat my previous best time by 41 seconds. The last time I did this workout I ran 15:41 and I was enthusiastic. The time before that I ran 16:23. That means I have dropped 80 something seconds the last 2 times I have done this workout. I am a different guy.

Day Off

Gym – Legs (light workout)

Big workout tomorrow.

5.81 Miles Easy

Mile 1	6:45
Mile 2	6:28
Mile 3	6:22
Mile 4	6:26
Mile 5	6:00
Mile 6	6:14
Total Average Pace:	6:22

• Jump Rope 5 x 20 Each leg
• 15 Sec Strides in middle of Run (2min rest)
• 3:49, 3:44, 3:44, 3:40, 3:38

The turnover is definitely still there as you can see by my strides. All 5 were significantly below 4 and the 5th one probably would have been under 3:30 if I hadn’t decided to slow down significantly at the end of it. There is still minor inflammation in my knee but it should be gone by the workout on Tuesday. It was a nice day out. Ran a little bit with Sean and Luis for a loop and then did the strides by myself. Once again over 60 miles for the week. I will be taking it easy during the week. Race Saturday.

8.71 Miles Easy

Mile 1	6:46
Mile 2	6:23
Mile 3	6:28
Mile 4	6:15
Mile 5	6:20
Mile 6	6:10
Mile 7	6:10
Mile 8	6:14
Mile 9	5:49
Total Average Pace:	6:19

It felt good to have a little more pep in the step although there is still some slight inflammation in the right knee. It’s obviously getting better though.

8.72 Miles Easy

6:50 Pace

8.69 Miles Easy

6:56 pace.

8.71 Miles Easy

• 7:37 pace
• Gym - Legs

One word. Tired.

The legs had no strength in them, but I got the miles in. I was totally listless at the gym this morning. My body is trying to tell me something here. I'm going to back off a few days earlier than the original plan and just get ready for some intense racing in October. If everything goes well, I should be racing every week in October. The only additional gains/improvements will be had by racing and sharpening up. Here's to racing fast! Cheers!

Tempo - 11 Miles Total

• Warm Up
• 8 Mile Tempo Attempted 5:30 Pace (4 actual Miles)
• 5:26, 5:25, 5:27, 5:39
• 5:30 Average Pace
• Cool Down
• 1 Mile Jump Back in with the Group
• 5:35
• Cool Down

I never had it today. The legs were flat. I probably worked a bit too hard on Sunday. This continues my incredibly bad run with tempo workouts. I still feel if I had given myself enough rest coming in, I probably would have done at least 2 more miles at 5:30 pace. It's days like these where I usually have a pretty short memory. So I will file this workout away and forget about it. Pretty good group out today: Sean, Luis, Dan, Vaughn, Jose

8.69 Miles Easy

6:50 Pace

8 Mile Tempo Workout tomorrow. Details to come later…

4.91 Miles

Mile 1	6:29
Mile 2	6:25
Mile 3	6:26
Mile 4	6:13
Mile 5	5:40
Total Average Pace:	6:16

• Jump Rope 5 x 20 Each leg – Beginning of Run
• 10 x Hill in middle of easy run. 95% Effort
• Gym – Legs

Felt great today. Sunday’s are one of those “in between” days for me. The run is slightly faster than an easy run day but not as hard as a workout day. I throw in a little mini-hill session and it gets my motor pumping. A nice way to finish off the week at over 60 miles.

8.71 Miles Easy

6:57 Pace. For the first time in a few weeks I actually felt the previous day’s workout. So I took it out pretty easy today, but that didn’t mean that I wasn’t being tempted to go a bit faster. It seems that in the past few days a few guys have been running up behind me trying to hang for a few or then blow by me. Usually I like to mess around but today I behaved since I truly did need every bit of recovery I could get. I’m close to 60 miles for the week so everything is looking good from the mileage perspective. I’ll be out there again bright and early tomorrow.

8x800 Workout - 10 Miles Total

• Warm Up
• 8 x 800m with 1 minute rest - Goal 2:30 (road)
• 2:31, 2:32, 2:29, 2:29, 2:30, 2:29, 2:30, 2:24
• Cool Down

I did this workout with Sean and JP this morning. Sean ended up being the pacer since he is part running cyborg(He runs his splits like a Swiss clock). Sean kept telling me that we may do this 800 workout Friday. But it didn't seem like he was ever fully committed. So finally I told him, "Let's do it!" and  he said, "Your on, and only 1 minute recovery". You see the funny thing is that originally we were going to to do the workout with 2 minutes recovery. Which didn't intimidate me at all. But when he puts in the "Sean Special" (a fast workout with very little recovery) then things start to get interesting. I have to admit that I thought I had bit off a little more than I could chew but I had been running so well for the last 2 months that I wasn't going to back down. Plus I never turn down good speed work these days!

So we ended up doing the workout and I felt uncomfortable at all times. But at no point did I feel like the workout was killing me. My issues were more mental than physical, although I did have some back issues that affected my breathing a bit. Once I got to the last rep I knew I was home free and let loose a little bit.

To give the workout a bit more perspective you would have to look at the previous time I did this workout at the beginning of February. About a week after my 5k PR. I ended up doing the exact same workout but with 2 minutes recovery instead of 1 and I still ended up running about 5 or 6 seconds slower per 800. And from what I remember, the effort level was higher for that workout than the one I did today. I ended up messing up my hamstrings after that workout and I wasn't the same up until 2 months ago. So I definitely am a lot fitter and faster than when I ran my 5k PR. Now all I have to is run a race that will let me PR!!!

9.21 Miles Easy

• Easy Run 7:01 Pace
• 15 Sec Strides in middle of Run (2min rest)
• 4:38, *3:48, **3:33, *3:39, *3:47
• 15 Sec Strides at end of Run (2min rest)
• 5:18, 4:40, 4:45, 4:48, 4:24

1. ** Fastest stride ever
2. * First time I have done 4 strides under 4 minute pace

I seems my top end speed has improved...a lot. Maybe I do a workout tomorrow. Maybe I don't. RJ and Sean were going to be doing an 800 workout tomorrow but now that is up in the air. I am debating whether or not to do the workout solo. Maybe I should, it seems everything I'm doing is working these days.

8.68 Miles Easy And Some Misc Stuff

• 7:02 Pace with the last mile around 6:07 pace.
• Gym - Legs

Met up and saw quite a few important people on my non-descript run this morning. I happened to see Connie who is the best local massage therapist in Houston. She used to be on Carl Lewis' support team when he was traveling around the world winning events for years and years. She is somewhat of a local legend around certain circles of the running community. She is the one that takes Sean Wade apart and puts him together again and she has done the same with me. If she takes you on as a client, she'll tell you all kinds of stories about Carl, Sean, and other local running legends. And if you need tips she is more than happy to play that motherly role of nurturer. I always find my sessions with her interesting and eventful. Anyway I digressed. I saw her and asked her about my back which has been absolutely killing me recently. She basically told me to leave it alone and if I had any issues to let her know. I met another local massage therapist, Duval, who advised me to ice it in the evening and heat it in the morning before I run. Basically it is my left trap muscle that is the problem and I've just been grinding through the pain. I will take both advice to heart and see what happens. I also bumped in to my buddy Sam of "HoustonTexasRoadRacer" fame and got some updates on his progress with his Achilles injuries. Hopefully that guy heals up quickly because he was on his way to setting many PRs before the injury bug beset him. After that I hooked up with Sean and continued on with my loops of the park before he completed his mileage and bumped off. Then I decided to ramp up the pace for the last mile and that ended up being around 6 minute pace. The funny thing is that I did the progressive run yesterday but I felt no effects of it today. The 6 minute pace was nice and easy with very little effort expended. One of the major differences between the new me and the old me is that I usually do not feel the effects of the previous day's workout in my legs. I mean if you asked me to run sub 5 minute pace today, I would have felt it for sure. But running 5:45 pace or slower is nothing for me after workouts these days. This is a very good sign because it means I'm recovering well after my workouts and gives me an opportunity to be ready and willing for the next workout! You do this enough times and you will get faster no doubt.

Well I was a bit chatty tonight for whatever reason. Don't expect this to be a regular occurrence!

I'm out,

Bill

9 Mile Progressive Run – 11.9 Miles Total

Mile 1	7:04
Mile 2	6:41
Mile 3	6:35
Mile 4	6:14
Mile 5	6:03
Mile 6	5:50
Mile 7	5:24
Mile 8	5:14
Mile 9	5:12

Ran with the big boys today and improved on the last mile by 13 seconds comparative to my last progressive run. Went ahead and knocked out my long run for the week as well.

8.7 Miles Easy

6:53 Pace. Taking it easy today. One thing of note is that I hurt my back. Specifically I believe it is my trapezius muscle. It hurt like crazy today during my run and affected my breathing at times. The last thing I need is something like this to start affecting my running.

Easy Run 8.83 Miles

• 6:43 pace. The last 3 miles conversational with Luis at around 6:00 pace.
• 10 x Hill in middle of easy run. 95% Effort
• Gym - Legs

After getting sick and feeling pretty bad during the week, I had to skip my workouts and cut a few miles. So I won't be able to make my 60+ mile goal this week but I will adjust my schedule accordingly. It's all gravy as I was able to come back and actually run a little quicker on my easy days. I'm just happy I'm not sick anymore as that last bug was pretty brutal. I definitely don't like feeling weak and helpless. Now back to the regularly scheduled program!

Long Run 11.6 Miles

6:35 Pace. I ran 6:3x throughout and closed the last mile in 5:47.

8.69 Miles Easy

• Jump Rope 5 x 20 Each leg
• 15 Sec Strides in middle of run
  • 5:15, 4:53, 5:07, 5:00, 4:50
• Easy Run 6:48 Pace
• 15 Sec Strides after run
  • 6:25, 5:06, 4:52, 4:59, 5:02
• Gym - Legs

5.74 Miles Easy

The legs were a little weak but I was still able to manage 6:58 pace for the run.

Day Off

Sick. I’m not messing around.

2.68 Miles Easy

Today was supposed to be a tempo workout. I ended up having to abandon the workout. As a matter of fact I decided to abandon the workout and just do 6 miles easy. I couldn’t even do that. I had to walk back to the 0 mile marker . I broke out into a cold sweat and was in bed the whole day. You wouldn’t want what I have. I wouldn’t wish this on my fastest competitor. The limbs were weak, my head felt like there were little anvils banging around in there, no appetite, and my throat felt like I had a small cat clawing it up from the inside. It hurt just to think. I’ll probably just take tomorrow off completely and hopefully I’ll be in much better shape by Thursday.

8.73 Miles Easy

7:21 pace. Definitely sick. The legs were weak and feeble. Just glad I got the mileage in.

3.06 Miles Easy

6:52 Pace, felt slightly sick. Once again over 60+ miles for the week.

8.72 Miles Easy

6:58 pace

Gym - Legs

Ran a few miles @ 6:20-6:30 pace then bumped into Carlos and chatted with him a bit and finished up the run. Saw a pretty big Kenyan Way fast marathon group and also saw the usual familiar faces in full marathon training mode. The weather was pleasant enough considering it’s Houston we’re talking about. It’s been a good week. Back in full training mode.

1 Mile, 4321 Workout - 8.81 Miles - (Screwed Up Workout)

• 1 Mile - 4:50 (5 min rest)
• 4 Minutes fast - 4:55 (4 min rest)
• 3 Minutes fast - 4:55 (3 min rest)
• 2 Minutes fast - 4:47 (2 min rest)
• 1 Minute fast - 4:25

I slightly screwed up the workout by resting instead of jogging the slow parts(For some reason I thought I was supposed to rest). So it was an easier workout. Oh well, at least I spent 15 minutes at sub 5 pace. I'll do better next time.

• Jump Rope 5 x 20
• 4 Strides

8.79 Miles Easy

6:57 Pace

Long Run 11.54 Miles

7:08 Pace