Positive Running

Got a good night of sleep.  Recovery day - no work out.  Our gym doesn't have a hip abduction machine, so I am looking to learn about hip abduction exercises.

Ran 13 miles with Josh north of the Arkansas River this morning.  Josh is an outstanding ultra-marathon runner, so it was good to run some pavement with him.  We ran the first half with the following times.  Mile 1: 7:02; Mile 2 7:18; Mile 3: 7:32; Mile 4: 7:42; Mile 5: 8:01; Mile 6: 7:48.  Ran the second 6.5 miles with an average time of 8:01 per mile.  Overall pace: 7:51 per mile.  I feel great and will probably run some more this afternoon or this evening.

Ran this morning instead of running last night.  This was a slow easy run north of river just to add some miles.  Started at 6:30 a.m., which is later than usual, so it was fairly warm. 

Ran 13.5 slow miles with Josh and Joe from Two Rivers Bridge to the Riverview Skate Park and back.  It was good to run with Josh and Joe.  Hadn't run with Joe since we ran the Full Moon 25K in early July.  Compared to Joe's running times last year, his 8:58 per mile pace for this morning was outstanding.  When we returned to Two Rivers, Joe and Josh went to Panera Bread for breakfast.  

I continued and ran the 7-mile loop (6.85 miles) at Two Rivers Park at a 8:17 per mile pace, not including two water filling stops.  What made that pace good was that the trail between the bridge and the loop was very crowded with walkers, a few runners and a lot of bicyclists.  But most people were confining their activities to the shaded trail between the bridge and the loop.  Hence, once I reached the loop, due to the hot weather and lack of shade on the loop, there were very few runners, walkers or bicyclists on the loop.  It was a good run on pavement.  , I ran by Joel P twice during the two legs of the run this morning.  Joel looks like he's training pretty hard.  When I returned to the parking lot, I talked with my buddy Alex who had just finished running for 17 miles.  AT the parking lot, one of the bicyclists commented that he saw me getting water and then running pretty fast around the loop.  He saw that I was out of water as I reached the parking lot and gave me an ice-cold bottle of water.  That was nice.

Another recovery day.

Ran with Josh from Two Rivers to the mile 4 mark north of the river.   I started us at a leisurely 7:46 to 8:00 per mile pace for the first three miles, and in retrospect, should have started slower for Josh.  Ran miles 4 to 6 in about 7:55, then met up with Josh and ran at about 8:35 for two miles, then ran mile 9 at 7:50 and mile 10 at 7:07.  I circled back and Josh and I walked in the last half-mile together.

Josh had just eaten dinner before we started at 6:40 p.m., and he lost his dinner at mile 5. But Josh continued running.  Plus, Josh had run a total of 48 miles in the two previous days, so he was looking for  a recovery run. It was good running with Josh, who is an extremely good ultramarathon runner who runs sub-7:00 miles with no problem when he isn't worn-out and sick to his stomach.  Josh will be running two 100 mile runs in the next six months, and pacing a friend of ours in the Arkansas Traveler 100.

Started a little late at 7:15 p.m. and ran 10.5 miles on a 90 to 94 degree evening with Wesley.  Averaged approximately 8:05 per mile, but ran mile 8 in 7:21, which felt good.  Wesley and I are running much better in the heat this year compared to last year. 

At Wesley's suggestion, we ran the Burns Park loop at dusk and nearly were sprayed by two skunks, came close to cornering a racoon by a tree, and supprised a squirrel that jumped like a frog in the brush.  The skunks got into position to spray us, but we ran far enough from them that they must not have felt threatened. 

Saw Jacob at Two Rivers on Saturday morning, and Monday and Tuesday nights.  Saw Joel there on Saturday and Monday.  The park is consistently really busy, and that's a good thing for Little Rock. 

Ran 7 miles on a sunny 95 degree afternoon in 59.16 or 8:28 per mile.  Just trying to add some miles for the week, without pushing hard.  Kind of a recovery run.  Saw one of my ultra running friends running in the opposite direction on the Broadway Bridge.  She was just finishing as I was starting at 11:45 a.m.  Otherwise, not many people on the trail at lunchtime today.  Just a couple of bicyclists. 

4th consecutive day of running - I rarely do that.  Ran 12 miles in 8:09 per mile north of the river. ran 3.75 miles with Kevin, who ran great considering he hasn't been running much in the past month.  Ran the first mile slow, but ran mile 2 in 7:50 and mile 3 in 7:36.  My mile 4 was 7:59 but that included slowing down when Kevin decided to turn back and I decided to continue.  To my surprise, my Garmin says I ran mile 7 in 7:41 just after the turn-around.

I feel good, but I need a recovery day prior to running 20 miles on Saturday with the ultramarathoners at Lake Sylvia.

Recovery day. 

Watching videos of Olympic running events to see what I can learn from the running form of the top runners, 

Ran 20 miles on the lake to lake trail at Lake Sylvia.  Took a right at SR 114 and saw a bear track about three miles from the intersection of SR 179 and SR 114. A nice morning - about 65 degrees.  Saw Carl Baldwin and met up with Stacy, Cliff and Jenny. 

After running 16.75 miles, I kicked in some additional effort and ran the last 3.25 miles in 7:13 per mile, which was faster than I thought I could run on dirt road. Overall, a nice morning and a nice run.

Started at 6:20 at Two Rivers and ran to to the BDB parking lot and back to Two Rivers (about 3 miles).  Then ran the 7 mile loop on a beautiful late summer morning at about 65 degrees.  Met Kevin after the run and before he was about to run up the hill at Overlook Drive.  Lot's of people at Two Rivers for a Sunday morning, Nice way to start the week.

AM:  Ran 5 miles on the treadmill.  Central Arkansas received some much needed rain overnight and early this morning. 

LUNCHTIME:  Ran 6 miles north of the Arkansas River at 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. with temps around 94 degrees.  It seemed fairly dry considering we had rain in the morning.

Should be a nice day tomorrow.

This morning was 72 degrees with a dew point of 61, which was terrific.  I'm surprised more people weren't outside enjoying the morning.  I ran 13 miles in 8:34 per mile (slow) but averaged 8:23 per mile for 11 miles, not including the first and last mile.  Overall, a comfortable pace considering that I've run 54 miles in the last four days.

Recovery day.  In The Woodlands on business.

Tempo run with Pam and Mike in The Woodlands, on a hot (82 degrees) and humid Texas morning.  Warmed up with 2 miles at 8:47 per mile.  Ran 1.75 miles at 7:04 per mile.  Walked for 20 seconds because I was running low on energy.  Ran 1.25 miles at 7:26 per mile, while Pam ran the same in 7:00 per mile.  Ran the last mile at 8:21 per mile.

Pam has been training by doing tempo runs like this and could easily have completed the entire three miles at 7:00 per mile without stopping.  I have worked on endurance all summer, and am just starting my tempo run trainning.  So this was a good test.  I'll be doing two tempo runs per week like today's run between now and the first week of December (St. Jude Marathon), as I try to improve on the distance I can run without stopping at 7:00 per mile.

Overall, it was a good run.  I'm a bit fatigued from all the running I've been doing and will appreciate when my tapering for the Philly HM starts the week after next.  

8.5 mile recovery run on the Arkansas River trail on a beautify 82 degree afternoon at an average pace of 8:28 per mile.  It was a lot more humid yesterday morning running in The Woodlands.  I ran a fairly consistent pace between 8:20 and 8:35 per mile.

Ran with the Arkansas Travelers 100 (AT 100) ultra marathon training group. Started from the Lake Sylvia trailhead and ran up Browns Creek Road(probably 70% of that section is a 3% to 7% uphill grade). Ran an extra mile and a half beyond the Ouachita Trail crossing (we just ran past it) and ran back and found the trail crossing. Then ran and walked (in slick sections) the OT for 8 miles. The entire route is part of the AT 100. It started to rain during the 7th mile and didn't let up until approximately the 14th mile.

Ran a modified version of the Capitol City Classic course with Jacob W and Kevin.  Jacob has been reading Mastering the Marathon:  Time-efficient Training Secrets for the 40+ Athlete.  Following that book, we ran at a pace between 8:40 and 8:50 per mile.  From Kevin and my perspective, we ran a relaxing recovery pace only I was the only one recovering.  Kevin, Jacob and their friend Joel are training for the Tupelo Marathon on Sept. 6 and the St. Jude Marathon on Dec 1, and Jacob is hoping to beat a 3:30 time for each race.   I had to cut the run short at 11.25 miles to get ready to perform Head Usher duties at church, but Kevin and Jacob continued for a 15 mile run.

Ran 11.5 miles with an ultramarathon running friend south of the river.  Ran 2.25 miles in 9 intervals (with 20 to 30 second rests between sprints) and in those miles we averaged 6:42 per mile.  In beautiful 88 degree weather, we ran 8 miles at an average 8:07 pace.  Although my Garmin reported a 6:42 average pace during the intervals, our actual interval pace was around 6:05 per mile during intervals of 0.2 to 0.5 miles.  Then I drove 3 miles down Riverfront Dr. to the BDB and ran 3.5 miles, averaging 8:15 in the first 1.5 miles and cooling down at an average pace of 9:09 for the final 2 miles.  These were good intervals tonight and I feel that I benefitted from them, but I really need to learn how to pace myself better so I can run a little slower like 7:00 per mile intervals. 

Recovery day, after 56.25 miles in the past 5 days.  I thought I would really feel some muscle soreness after the run yesterday, but I feel pretty good.

Unseasonably cool morning for Arkansas in August - approx. 69 degrees.  Ran 10 miles north of the river with Wesley.  People were out on the trail this morning and Wesley commented that cool mornings like this make it easy to get up early and run.  Wesley is running very strong.  We ran miles 2 through 5 at 7:30 per mile or less we think, but neither of us had our Garmins so that's a guess.  Ran the second 5 miles at closer to an 8:15 per mile pace.  So overall, we averaged under 8:00 per mile.  I held back a little in the second 5 miles since I will be running tomorrow morning.  For me, I've run a lot of miles in the past two months and need to start tapering for the HM in Philly in mid-Sept and to focus more on speed work in the next three weeks.

We met a guy in his late 60's who grew up about 1/3 mile from me in Littleton, Colorado - it's a small world. 

Recovery day with no running or work out.

Ran 12 miles north of the river with Wesley.  Started by running 5.5 miles including a 4 mile tempo run with an average pace at sub-7:20 min per mile.  Then met up with Kevin and ran 6.5 miles at a 7.43 min per mile pace.  Overall, we ran the 12 miles at a 7:40 min per mile pace, which is within the aerobic zone of Wesley and Kevin.  The 20% upper limit of Wesley's aerobic zone is 7:47 min per mile and of Kevin's aerobic zone is just a little over 8:00 min per mile.  

The 20% upper limit of my aerobic zone is 9:27 min per mile, so I am training to improve my pace so that when I run with Wesley and Kevin, each of us gets a solid aerobic workout.  My running form needs improvement, and I'm struggling to run with good form throughout a medium-long run.  Please let me know if you have ideas on how to improve running form.

It was good for all three of us to run together, we haven't done that much throughout this summer.  However, Kevin has moved 20 mile closer to downtown Little Rock, so we should be able to start running together on a more regular basis. 

Ran 11.25 easy miles, 7 miles with Abtin from the Big Dam Bridge to the soccer fields on Riverfront Dr. and back, and 1.5 miles with Reid Landes. Abtin is running very good - at a pace of approximately 8:50 minutes per mile despite having runner's knee. He's on track to run the Soaring Wings HM at the end of October.

This morning I saw a number of people on the trail. Amy and Austin in the parking lot at Two Rivers, Joel P on the trail, Howard H on the trail, Sanjeev J. on the trail, and Reid on the trail.

Reid is a solid ultramarathon runner and will be running the Arkansas Traveler 100 on October 6. I saw Reid ahead of me just after the Big Dam Bridge and caught up with him. He had run the North Little Rock side and Abtin and I ran the South side of the river. Overall, it was a good recovery run.

Warm muggy mornings have returned to central Arkansas. Ran 11-miles in an average pace of 8:04 minutes per mile. Started at Two Rivers, going over the Big Dam Bridge, and running to mile marker 4 north of the Arkansas River then returning back to Two Rivers. Spoke with James T of Acxiom who we see almost every morning when running north of the river during the week. Saw Karen Hays, and ran the last mile with Leah T at a 7:07 minute per mile pace. While running with Leah I realized that by picking up my knees more and extending my stride I can achieve the goal pace I am targeting with a lot less effort than I've been using. Saw Baker K at the Two Rivers parking lot. Overall, not a speed run but a solid effort for a Sunday morning.

Recovery day.  Wanted to work out in the gym but couldn't due to work involving preparations for TS Isaac.

Ran 15 miles north of the Arkansas River with Wesley in 1:53:42 or an average pace of 7:35 minutes per mile.  Ran the first 7.5 miles in under 7:20 per mile, inlcuding mile 3 at 6:55 per mile and mile 4 at 7:07 per mile.  I had no idea we were running that fast.  I was please to see that we ran mile 12 at 7:44 and mile 13 at 7:43 per mile.  It helps a great deal to run with Wesley who just cruises at these paces without a heavy breath like a stroll in the park.

I was a warm (79 degrees) and very humid (muggy) morning.  I'm looking forward to cooler and dryer mornings in the next month.

Ran an easy 4.5 miles with Abtin north of the river.  Abtin has a great attitude and is working through the pains that everyone goes through when ramping up their weekley mileage.

Ran 13 miles north of the river at an average pace of 8:22 minutes per mile. Didn't want to run too hard because I have at least one long Heart of the Traveller training run this weekend with the AT 100 training group. Also, wanted to run before central Arkansas begins receiving rain from TS Isaac, which should begin around noon today.

Rainy day in central Arkansas due to tropical depression Isaac.  Ran 7 miles on the treadmill at an average pace of 7:40 per mile, with 5.5 miles at a 7:30 per mile pace.  Saw Wesley at the gym.  He runs on the treadmill a lot more often that I do and makes running at 7:00 per mile look very easy.  I tried that pace and don't have confidence in my novice treadmill skills to maintain that pace.

I have chronically high potassium levels (which I have known about for many years) and want to control my blood-potassium level through diet only.  So I'm having to take Clif bars (Builder's Bars and Energy Bars) out of my diet.  I'll have another potassium test in about a month.  I'm looking for suggestions for low potassium protein and energy bars.