Monthly Recap: May 2014

Days Run - 31 out of 31
Total Miles Run - 321.15
Average Run Length - 10.36 miles
Average Mile Pace (excluding workouts, tempos and pick ups) - 5:41
Track Workouts - 4
Runs with Pick Ups - 2
Tempo Runs - 1
Races - 0
Most Common Run - 10.4 mile Charles River Loops (15 times)

Top 5 Favorite Songs to Listen to While Running in the Month of May:
(Didn't necessarily come out this month. Just made it onto my iPod this month) 

1. Tsunami - DVBBS & Borgeous 
2. Light 'Em Up - Fall Out Boy
3. This is What it Feels Like - Armin van Buuren
4. Pompeii - Bastille
5. Fancy - Iggy Azalea (I have no excuse for this)


Mile Pace Chart for May (excluding workouts, tempos and pick ups):

Saturday 5/31

I'm hoping to get to the track tomorrow, so I took it a bit easier today. The route was the normal 10 mile loop around the Charles, but I didn't push the pace. The weather was great at 60 and sunny. Overall, the run was a standard base builder but very enjoyable. 10.4 miles in 60:39.

Friday 5/30

My legs felt great today after not running since Thursday morning, and I was able to turn out a fairly fast run despite the weather. It was beautiful while I was at work all day. Near 70 degrees without a cloud in the sky, but of course, the clouds started rolling in just before 5pm. I headed out for my run as soon as I got home in the hopes of beating the rain. Didn't quite make it. The first 3 miles had a light mist which was actually nice at 65 degrees. From miles 4 through 6, the precipitation let up, and I thought I might make it home before the real rain hit. Unfortunately, the skies opened up for miles 7 and 8. It was a quick shower thankfully, and it also had the interesting aspect of the sun shining through the clouds where I was. The last 2 miles felt a bit waterlogged as the pace slowed slightly but not really enough to matter. 10.4 miles in 57:12. Total for the week was 74.9 miles on 7 runs.

Thursday 5/29

I had plans for after work, so it was an early morning run today. This wasn't really ideal considering yesterday was a solid effort that left me feeling generally sore all over. I felt good enough to run though, so out I went. This run felt like I was just trying survive it more than anything. I was stiff from a combination of just waking up and the run yesterday, and I couldn't have pushed the pace if I wanted to. Thankfully, running slow was perfectly fine with me. The goal was really just to keep it around 6 min pace. I acutally surprised myself as there were only 3 miles slower than 6 mins, and the overall pace was sub 6 min. However, it was still the slowest I've run this route all week. Better to protect my legs though. 10.4 miles in 61:08.

Wednesday 5/28 - Pick Ups

Roller coaster day. Weather was 50 and rainy all day which doesn't do much for running motivation, and my training plan had today marked as 12 miles with pick ups. I was on the fence about the run all morning while I thought about it at work. I was trying to summon the right frame of mind to be ready for it when I got home, and I was failing pretty horribly. Around noon, I had all but decided to move the pick ups to Thursday and just run a normal 10 miler today. Then, I randomly came across the perfect motivation at lunch. I had read all the usual blogs I keep up with, so I started down the rabbit hole to see if I could find anything interesting. A race recap of the 2013 J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge completely changed my faltering determination. It's been almost a year since I've been healthy for a race, and the excitement to race just hasn't been there. Don't get me wrong. I want to race. I'm looking forward to it. I just haven't had those pre-race butterflies caused by nervous excitement which isn't unusual considering my first race is still at least over a week away, but out of no where, that feeling of pre-race jitters and adrenaline hit me today........ while sitting at my desk reading a blog at lunch haha. One of Jim Johnson's recent blogs mentioned the races he's won with the most entrants. That topic got me thinking about the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge which I will finally be running in this June after failing to get a spot for the last 2 years, and with 12,000 entrants, it will be, by far, the biggest race I've ever competed in. So when I came across a blog talking about the race and all the jostling for position at the start, it got my adrenaline pumping, or as Patrick Rich might put it, it made me want to set some land speed records ;D.

I started off with 2 miles at normal training pace then got into 10 x 1 minute on and 1 minute off. The pace for the on sections was a little under 5, and I tried to keep the off pace to normal training pace. I felt pretty good throughout the pick ups without really straining. Splits for those 4 miles were 5:16, 5:13, 5:03(wind aided), 5:14. After that, I turned around on my out/back route along the Charles and plugged away at 6:0X pace for the last 6 miles. My stomach was a bit upset during that stretch, and my legs felt tight towards the end. Overall, great run though. 12 miles in 69:05.

Tuesday 5/27

Felt a bit sore while I was at work today. I think it may have been lingering from the downhill running on Sunday. The run I did had a steady downhill section for 2 miles which isn't something I'm accustom to right now. Regardless of what caused it, I decided to ease off on the pace today. The weather didn't really inspire fast paces anyway at 55 degrees with mist/light rain and decent winds. Quick core workout when I got home then out for the standard 10 mile loop around the Charles. By now, it should be apparent that I don't really change up my routes all that much. For some reason, running in the same area everyday has never bothered me all that much. When I find something I like or something that works well for me, I tend to just repeat it. That goes for most aspects of what I do not just running.

The run went well. Nothing special. Just building up my base in-between workouts. I really want to start fitting in some rides on my road bike though. Running has been going well, so there hasn't been much time for it over the last few weeks. 10.4 miles in 59:18.

Monday 5/26

Normal 10 mile loop around the Charles. The last two days caught up with me, and my legs were a bit tired. It wasn't too bad though. The weather was starting to feel on the hot side at 80 and slightly humid. There was also a decent headwind for the first 5 miles that was a bit of a pain, but it did cool me off during those miles. Overall, I felt like this was bound to be a slow run which isn't a bad thing in this case. I ended up running about a minute slower on this loop than I have been recently, but it seemed like a fairly standard effort. 10.4 miles in 58:56.

Sunday 5/25

While back in New Hampshire, I decided to take advantage of the hills since the paths along the Charles don't offer any. I opted for one of the more difficult routes I ran in high school. My parents' house is situated in a very hilly section of town, so no matter what direction you run in, you'll be running hills throughout your run. The loop starts off downhill for the first 2 miles before climbing about 300ft over .75 miles in mile 3. Miles 4 and 5 give you a chance to recover with a steady 400ft drop over those 2 miles. From there, it's rolling hills until the last mile, and that last mile is a killer as you climb back up another 300ft. Total vertical gain for the run is about 800ft over 10.75 miles. For those who run hills regularly, this run probably wouldn't be all that bad, but for someone who doesn't get the opportunity to run hills very often, it can be a system shock.

Surprisingly, I felt pretty good today. I thought yesterday's track workout and the Useless Olympics which ended up going from 3pm-1am would have left me feeling sore and tired. However, that wasn't the case. I got up early feeling great, and I couldn't feel the workout in my legs at all. Overall, the run went well with the only difficulty coming on the final climb over the last mile, but I was able to make it through without too much of an issue. 10.75 miles in 62:54.

Useless Olympics Recap - We started off in the middle of the pack with 3rd in Bowling, 3rd in Mini Golf, and 2nd in Ladder Golf. This put us within striking distance of 2nd, but the 1st place team was pulling away after winning the first 3 events. We lost a bit of ground on the 2nd place team in the 4th event but made a big move during the next event: Darts. Going into the final event, we were a point out of 2nd place, and the competitive instincts were high all around. We finished just good enough to pull out the tie for 2nd overall. At that point, we were all a bit too tired to go into a tie breaker. Very long day but incredibly fun.

Saturday 5/24 - Track Workout

Massive confidence building workout today.

My friends have been planning a "Useless Olympics" for a few months now. It is a competition of two person teams in 6 events that by most standards are considered useless skills i.e. mini golf, bowling, darts, etc. The competition is today, and they are taking it seriously. Intimidation videos, matching uniforms, the whole nine yards. It's shaping up to be an all day event, so I had to get my workout in this morning. After my last few workouts on the Charlestown track, the morning was probably a good idea anyway to try to avoid a kids' lacrosse or soccer game on the infield.

I was up by 8am and running by 8:30. It was a great day for a track workout at 55 and overcast with only a mild wind. 2.25 mile warm up to the track at 6:00 pace, and my hopes were confirmed when I got there. No games going on in the infield, and only a few walkers scattered around the track. I did a few warm up exercises and got right into the workout. The plan was 3 x 3200 with full recovery of 5 minutes walking/jogging. I haven't done this workout since my senior year of high school, so I was a bit uncertain on what the pace should be. I thought 5:00 might be a little aggressive but wanted to give it a shot as I was looking to find out exactly where my fitness level was. Per usual, I rocketed out way too fast for the first 400 in 71 seconds but fell into the pace surprisingly quick after that. It felt like a solid effort but didn't feel like I was straining. Came through the first 3200 in 9:59 and felt pretty good. I wasn't winded, and after 2 minutes, I really just wanted to get started on the next repeat. I thought better of it though since I still had 4 miles left. During the 2nd 3200, I started to realize that I would be able to hold the goal pace for all 3 repeats. I went out in 73 seconds and dropped into the pace of 75 seconds per lap which I held perfectly for the next 7 laps to split 9:58 for the 2nd 3200. I could feel myself pick up the effort during the last 2 laps of the 2nd repeat, but I still felt really good. For the last 3200, I kept the pace even from the beginning but started to dip over the goal pace during laps 5, 6, and 7 as I rattled off 76s. I was only 3 seconds back though, and the negative splits I had going over the first 2 repeats motivated me to push the final lap. Finished up with a 9:57.

After not quite meeting my expectations during the first 3 speed workouts of the year, it felt really good to not only hit my marks but also negative split the workout with 9:59, 9:58, 9:57. This was a big time confidence boost. I still have work to do as I progress through my training, but I think I'll be ready to start racing soon. Enjoyed the 2.25 mile cool down at 7:15 pace with a grin on my face. 10.5 miles on the day.

Friday 5/23

Got out of work early today. We regularly get out at 2pm on Fridays before holiday weekends as long as you're caught up on work. I was, so I headed out around 2:30. Home by 2:40. Out and running before 3pm. Weather was comfortable for running at 60 and overcast. As it was the middle of the day, the paths were fairly clear. Great day for a run. Standard 10 mile loop around the Charles. Plan was to just keep the effort honest since I'd be running a speed workout the next morning.I had a decent tailwind for the first 6 miles though and ended up going out just a bit faster than usual. As I looped back along the Cambridge side of the river, the wind came back into me for miles 7-9. I picked up the effort slightly to maintain the pace, but overall, it was a solid pace without pushing too much. 10.4 in 57:37.

Thursday 5/22

Finally got the new fridge! After nearly 2 weeks without one, the new fridge was delivered today. They gave me a 2 hour window during which it would arrive, so I just rode my bike back to the apartment. We had some issues with delivery earlier in the week due to construction right in front of our building, but to my surprise, they showed up within that window. I actually enjoyed the wait today though. Coming home broke up the day, and I was able to get some work done from my laptop while watching netflix on the couch.

Standard 10 mile loop around the Charles. 60 and overcast. It rained for an hour or two earlier in the day but was fairly pleasant now which was also great because it meant that fewer people than usual were out on the paths. I haven't been keeping up with core workouts as often as I should have lately, so I did one before heading out for my run. The run itself went well, and my legs felt pretty good. I held a normal pace without too much effort and also kept the mile splits to a smaller range than I typically do. It always feels great when you don't have wild swings between your faster and slower miles unless you are running negative splits of course. 10.4 miles in 57:52.

Wednesday 5/21

Rough run. I had plans to go out for dinner after work, but when I woke up early that morning to go for a run, my right leg was still stiff behind the knee. I decided to skip the morning run and figured I'd just take an off day to rest my leg. Unfortunately, I'm very bad at taking off days. My legs were feeling pretty good when I got home from dinner, and I couldn't stop myself from a late night run. I was off and running by 9pm which isn't a problem as far as worrying about cars since I'm on sidewalks and walking paths the whole time. The issue was that I had eaten an entire flatbread steak pizza and drank a few beers at dinner. The first 3 miles went fine, albeit a bit slower than usual which was to be expected. I always run a bit slower when it's dark, and I had opted to make it an easy pace anyway. If I can't stick to taking a day off, the least I can do is take it easy. From the fourth mile on, things started to get dicey. I could feel the food mixing around in my stomach and slowed the pace to 6:00. I was able to hold the pace through mile 7, but during mile 8, the writing was on the wall. My stomach was too upset, and I would have to give in. I slowed the pace to 6:30 as I just tried to make it home. It wasn't meant to be. I had to stop after 8 miles and walk the rest of the way or I'd risk losing my dinner. In retrospect, it all worked out in the end. I was able to get in an easy 8, and an upset stomach was probably the exact thing I needed to force myself to throttle back. 8 miles in 48:01.

Tuesday 5/20

Standard out and back along the Charles. Perfect day for a run at 65 and Sunny. My legs were no longer tired from the workout on Sunday, but I did have some soreness on the backside of my right leg behind the knee. This area has been an issue before, and I've been stretching and massaging the area a bit more than normal for the last month or so. Continuing to monitor that as well as my lower shin. Could be time for a day off soon. Other than that, it was a good run. 11.1 miles in 62:58.

Monday 5/19

Standard 10 mile loop around the Charles. Weather wasn't bad at 65 and overcast. There was a light shower at one point, but it was really more refreshing than anything else. Considering the speed workout yesterday, my legs felt pretty good. I do have some lingering pain in my lower shin which I'll need to monitor since it is close to the injury that cost me the winter, but it doesn't feel like anything to get overly concerned with yet. It was fine while I was running, and I was able to hold a normal pace without pushing the effort. I'm thinking about keeping this week low key with some base building runs and focusing on a another speed workout over the weekend. We'll see how things develop though. 10.4 miles in 57:54.

Sunday 5/18 - Speed Workout

The workout was 30 x 200 meters with 100 meter jogging rest at the Charlestown Track. After my run yesterday, I was really hoping to avoid people at the track. Especially since this track can get extremely crowded even though no one runs or walks on it. The plan was to wake up early and get the workout done before anyone else got there. No dice. I didn't end up heading over to the track until noon, so any people that I had to deal with on the track would be my own fault. There was a kids' lacrosse game going on, and per usual, there were parents scattered along the straightaways in various lanes and younger siblings practicing their lacrosse skills on the turns or riding scooters and bikes in a general serpentine pattern on the track. It really didn't get to me that much today though. I should have learned my lesson two weeks ago, and I knew it was my fault which made it a bit easier to deal with. As a result however, my 200s may have been slightly long or short depending on where I started. For each repeat, I tried to pick a lane that I would be able to run in for a full 200 meters, but it didn't always work out as I had to cut inside or outside to avoid kids.

I had done the same workout last year, but I didn't look at my notes on it until after I was done with the workout today. As it turns out, I did this workout on the exact same weekend last year, and my notes are surprisingly similar. I started with a 2.5 mile warm up at 5:55, did a few knee highs and butt kicks, and got right into the workout. The goal pace was 34 seconds per 200 which I accomplished with an average of 34 low. The actual splits were:

31,34,33,34,35,34,32,34,33,35,34,34,34,34,34,34,34,34,34,35,34,34,34,34,35,34,34,34,34,29.

I obviously had an issue with finding the pace for the first 10 repeats but eventually evened out. The 100 meter jogging rest slowly turned from 6 minute pace to 7ish, but overall, the workout didn't feel that difficult. I probably should have attempted to throw in a few more 33s after the first 20 repeats considering that my legs don't feel sore at all the day after the workout. The fact that this workout has such close results to last year's gives me hope though. Perhaps my speed isn't too far off from where it was last year. I just need to work on sustainable speed.

The 2.5 mile cooldown back to my apartment was at ancient marathoner pace. By far the slowest miles I've run in the last year. However, I think this was more a matter of getting stuck in that pace from the 100 meter jogging rest rather than actually being tired. 10.5 miles on the day.

Saturday 5/17

Great Day for a run - 72 and sunny. Unfortunately, today was one of the annoying days when the lack of courtesy from other people on the paths along the Charles really got to me. I had written a long entry complaining about it, but after venting via a rambling blog, I felt like it was better kept to myself. Suffice it to say that at one point a group of guys in their early 20s were driving a Volkswagen the wrong way down the run/bike path. I say "wrong way" because I can't think of a better way to say it. There is no driving on these paths. That didn't seem to bother these young gents though. I jumped to the side and let them pass as they flew by, and that basically sums up how things went.

As far as everything else, it was a decent run. I held a normal pace without too much effort, and my legs felt like they were ready for a speed workout on Sunday. 10.4 mi in 57:59.

Friday 5/16

My goal was to wake up early this morning and get a run in before work. I'm going out to dinner after work today which won't leave time for a run then. Unfortunately, when 6am rolled around, the last thing I wanted to do was pull myself out of bed for a run. Instead, I decided to run during lunch. It's not something I typically like to do because we don't have showers at the office meaning that I have to ride my bike back to my apartment, get changed, stretch, run, stretch, shower and ride back to work. Also, if the run goes poorly, I may not be very productive when I get back to work. Thankfully, today was fairly good day for a lunch run. It was nice out, it was a slow day at work, and the run plan wasn't anything too intense. Today was the first humid day of the year, but at only 70 degrees, it wasn't a major factor. The wind coming off the Charles also offered some relief from the humidity.

The tempo run yesterday definitely feels like it was the right choice. My legs are a bit tired but don't feel sore at all. The run plan was for a medium to easy pace 10 miler. I did a standard loop around the Charles and fell into 5:45 pace. That seemed like it was about the right effort, and I held it there for the whole run. It wasn't anything ground breaking, but it was solid run that helps fill in my base. 10.4 in 60:10.

Thursday 5/15 - Tempo Run

70 and Overcast

I decided to switch up the training plan for today. I originally had it down as a day to include pickups mid run but decided that a tempo run was probably a better idea. I have a natural tendency toward tempo running and find that I need to stop myself from doing it too often, but the timing was right. Last year, I started replacing tempo runs with pickups more often than not. The result was that I was extremely confident in my finishing speed which led to more confidence overall while racing. Knowing that all I had to do was hang on until the last half mile or so got me through a few tough races. This year, I may have taken my training too far in that direction so far. I haven't done a single tempo run yet which showed in my last speed workout as I struggled to sustain the hard effort on longer intervals. Thankfully, there is still plenty of time to rectify this. I also felt the need for the change this week because my legs recovered slowly from my last workout, and running pickups had taken a lot out of me the last few times I ran them. I feared that if I did pickups again this week, I wouldn't be able to put in a solid effort for a speed workout this weekend.

As for the run itself, I was a bit nervous going into it. I thought I might not be able to hold the goal pace of 5:15 for 4 miles which wouldn't help the fact that my last 2 speed workouts were lack luster. Can't skip a tempo because you think you won't be able to do it though. So, I tossed on my Flyknit Lunar 1s and headed out. The route was a pretty standard out and back along the Charles, but I wanted to avoid having to wait at any traffic lights during the tempo. To achieve this, I took a longer path to and from the Charles which meant I'd be able to turn around before the first crosswalk. It also meant that I would need to turn around half way through the tempo, but that's better than stopping completely. I took the first 3 miles easy at 5:55 pace. As the tempo started, I had a difficult time finding 5:15. First, I dropped to 4:40. Then, I eased back to 5:40. The whole first mile went like that. Dipping below 5:15 and easing back off above 5:15, but I did eventually start to narrow in on the pace. I guess I need to work on my pace making a bit. After the first mile, I evened out a bit and finished strong. Splits were 5:13, 5:16, 5:17, 5:09. Overall, the effort felt solid but wasn't all out. I'm considering it a success. The last 3 miles were at 6:30 as I strolled in. 10 miles in 58:20.

Wednesday 5/14

Today was a vacation day for me. I had a few deadlines to meet on Tuesday, and once I finished everything up with those reports, my schedule for Wednesday was empty. So, I decided to take the day off with no plans other than to relax. I woke up at 9am, ate some breakfast, watched The Hobbit 2 for the first time, had lunch, and then took a two hour nap haha. After the glorious nap, I figured it might be a good idea to get outside since it was such a nice day: 65 and sunny without a cloud in the sky. I did a quick stretch and was out the door for the normal loop around the Charles. Since it was the early afternoon, the paths were almost completely clear, and with a slight cooling breeze, it was a great run. The pace was almost identical to yesterday which I had been expecting because my legs felt about the same. I'm hoping that my legs will feel a bit better for pickups on Thursday, but if not, I might just skip the pickups and look toward the speed workout this weekend. I hate a full week of vanillia training runs, but I'd rather avoid an injury. 10.4 miles in 58:33.

Once showered and changed, I headed over to the Fenway area to watch game 7 of the Bruins vs Montreal. Yep, I took the T from North Station (where the Bruins were actually playing) to watch the game near Fenway. The bars near the Garden are fun, and it's amazing to watch a playoff game around there. However, during a game 7, you need to get there hours in advance, and I wasn't looking for anything that crazy on a Wednesday. While the Bruins ended their playoff run, it was still a fun night and great vacation day.

Tuesday 5/13

Nothing crazy today. My legs were still slightly sore from the last two days, so I made it a normal day just filling in miles. It was cloudy and 55 today which was a bit chillier than the last week or two. It was refreshing though. The route was a standard loop around the Charles, but with the colder weather, there weren't very many people out on the paths. The last few days at work had been super busy, and it was kind of nice to get for a run were I wasn't focused on anything. 10.4 in 58:21.

Monday 5/12

When I got back to Boston on Sunday, it was to find that our fridge had died over the weekend. Slightly annoying but not really a big deal. We needed a new one as the light had stopped working years ago, and the fridge itself would periodically turn on and off. Thankfully, the landlord will be replacing it, so we just need to wait for Sears to pick up the old one and deliver a new one. The landlord didn't even seem that upset about it. It had been on its last leg for a while I guess. The only unfortunate part is that we had to throw out quite a bit of food, and we don't have a fridge for the next few days.

I had to work a bit late tonight which worked in my favor since it was one of those really nice spring days where there is a ton of foot traffic on the walking/biking paths right after work. I also did a quick core workout to give the paths more time to clear off before I headed out. I figured it would be a fairly slow day because my legs were tired from the workout Sunday, and I decided to make it a longer run. The first few miles of my out and back along the Charles went fairly well. My legs were definitely stiff, but I took solace in the fact that they both seemed to be equally sore all over haha. Better than being sore in just one isolated region which usually means injury rather than normal post workout fatigue. I held a decent pace through the first six miles thanks to a few good songs that shuffled onto my iPod at the right time. After the six mile mark, I was really just trying to keep the pace below six minutes and was surprised how well it went. Just missed out on the last mile after cruising through it in 6:01.... so close. The pace hadn't been the point of the run though. I had just made a game out of it to entertain myself toward the end of a long run and wasn't bothered by missing. Great run. 75 and Sunny. 11.5 miles in 1:06:23.

Sunday 5/11 - Speed Workout

75 and Sunny with a decent breeze at the Spaulding High School track in Rochester, NH.

Today definitely ended up being a fitness test. Result? I’ve still got work to do. 2.25 mile warm up on the trails through the Pines near Spaulding at 6:20 pace before heading over to the track. For the workout last weekend, I just switched into my pair of Nike Flyknit Lunar 1+ which are about 8oz , but I decided to put on my New Balance MR1000 racing spikes today. While I like them, they’ve caused my toes to bleed on a few occasions. This isn’t really out of the ordinary with racing spikes and isn’t very painful, but it is a bit unsettling to look down in the middle of a workout and see blood seeping through the bright yellow outers.

The workout was a reverse ladder of Mile, 1200, 800, 400, 400, 800, 1200, Mile, and the 1st 1200 and last Mile were struggle city. The rest was 3 min, 2 min, 90 sec, 60 sec, 90 sec, 2 min, and I stayed fairly close to the goal pace of 71 sec per lap with the exception of the last mile. The real issue being that the first mile took a lot more out of me than I expected. It was the fastest mile I had run in a year, but I misjudged how much a 4:44 mile would take out of me. It was a big wake up call, and I didn’t feel comfortable in the workout until the 2nd 400. Overall, I wasn’t disappointed. The workout just made me realize that I’m not quite as far along as I thought. Splits were 4:44, 3:35, 2:23, 70, 70, 2:23, 3:35, 4:50. By the last mile, I could tell my pace would be a bit slow, but I was pretty happy to just finish up the workout without bailing. 3 mile cool down through the Pines at 7:30 pace before heading back to my parent’s house for a Mother’s Day lunch. 10.25 miles total.

Saturday 5/10

75 and overcast (but nice enough) in Rochester, NH

My parents had a BBQ today, and I ate way too much. It always ends up happening when I come home, so it was to be expected. After lunch and hanging out with my family for a while, I crashed on the couch for a while before heading out for a run. Once recuperated from my food coma, I headed down to Spaulding to run one of the training runs we did in high school. The route I did leaves from the parking lot through the Pines. I ran a half a mile on the trails and crossed the footbridge to the neighborhood across the Cocheco River. From there, I headed over to route 202A towards Strafford. I hit the first set of rolling hills while on 202, and I could definitely feel them. Since the majority of my runs so far this year have been along the Charles River, I really haven’t done many hills at all. There have probably only been two or three runs max that have included a vertical gain of more than 100 feet over the entire run. The first big hill comes right at the 3 mile mark. It’s got a decent grade to it and has about 200 feet of vertical gain to it. For a runner use to flat runs like myself, it was enough to put the burn in my legs. At the top, I turned right to Meaderboro Rd which continues to climb for a half mile or so before dropping back down for the next turn onto Four Rod Rd. The next hill of any consequence only has about 80 ft of vertical gain, but it is almost straight up and can really throw my stride off. Thankfully, it comes after a decent drop and wasn’t much of an issue. After that, the run rolls up and down as it turns onto Ten Rod Rd which begins the decent back towards the high school. The next mile has steady downhill section that evens out for the last 2 miles and loops back into the neighborhood near the river. As I head back into the Pines, I add on a loop along the trails to get the run a bit closer to 10 miles. Overall, the hills slowed me down as expected, but it was a good run and nice change of pace. The total vertical gain was 420 feet which is a lot for me considering it is 10 times more than I usually get in Boston. The good thing is that none of the races on my radar for this summer are terribly hilly, so I’ve got time to work on it. 9.75 miles in 56:46.

Friday 5/9

Fairly standard training day just filling in miles. Since I did pickups on Wednesday and might try to get in a speed workout this weekend, I didn't want to do anything too crazy today, so I just did a loop along the Charles. It was a long day at work, and I may have pushed the pace a bit to let off some frustration. The run went well though which put me in a better mood by the end. I actually kept the splits fairly even by my usual standards. During training runs, I always start out a bit fast for the first few miles, even out in the middle, and pick up the pace for the last mile. I've tried to hold back at the start, but I always end up slowing down in the middle no matter how easy I start. 10.4 miles in 57:27.

I'm headed back to New Hampshire tonight, and I'm looking forward to being able to mix in some hills tomorrow.

Thursday 5/8

Today's run went much better than expected considering it was my first pre-work run of the year. I have found that I almost always race the best early in the morning, but that comes after waking up at least 2 hours before the race. When I try to roll out of bed and get out for a run within half an hour, it usually doesn't go all that well. I have some plans for after work today which will make it impossible to run then, so I had to pull myself out of bed at 6am and force myself to get out for a run. Once I get in the routine of morning runs, I really quite enjoy them. I just expect them to be slow and don't usually do a full length run. After hitting the snooze button a few times, I popped some bread in the toaster and sat down to watch TV for 10-15 minutes while I tried to build up the will power to actually follow through on going out for a full run. There really wasn't much on, and I settled for watching a rerun of skateboarding on the Dew Tour while eating my toast with strawberry jam. I pried myself off the couch, changed, and did a quick stretch. I was out the door by 6:30 and greeted with sun and a crisp temperature in the mid-50s.

During the first few miles of the run, the pace wasn't bad, but my legs felt stiff. It had already worked its way into my mind that I'd be writing about how I always end up running slow on morning training runs. However, as the run progressed, I remembered why I enjoy morning runs: the temps are a bit cooler, the college crew teams are out rowing along the Charles which is cool to watch, the run/bike paths aren't full of people, and there never seems to be as much wind. I think that picked up my spirits a bit, and I was pleased with the rest of the run as I held a decent pace without having to push the effort. 10.4 mi in 59:05.

Wednesday 5/7

My legs felt pretty good today, so I added a few pickups to my run. I ran the first 3 miles at normal training pace then switched over to 30 seconds on/30 seconds off for 15 minutes. It was hard to judge what the paces were during that section, but I'd say it was somewhere around 4:45 on and 5:45 off. Splits for miles 4 through 6 were 5:14, 5:17, 5:14. The last 4 miles were run 5-10 seconds slower than normal training pace. Overall, it felt like a fairly productive run. During miles 7 and 8, I could definitely feel the effort I had put in during 4-6, however, I never felt winded, didn't run any poor mile splits, and got my legs back under me for the last two miles. 10.4 mi in 57:44.

After a longer workout session on Tuesday and a few quick mile splits today, I will probably take it easy tomorrow.

Tuesday 5/6

It was a pretty busy day at the office, but I got a nice little surprise around 3:45. An IT guy gave me a call to let me know I was getting a new PC which in itself isn't bad, but he also said the upgrade would take a little over an hour to process. I stood around for about a minute after the guy walked away with my old PC before I realized I could just go home since the new computer wouldn't be ready until around 5 anyway. Nice, early day.

My right hamstring was a bit sore again, so I spent some time stretching in the morning and throughout the day. By workout time, it felt pretty good. I started off with a core and upper body 3 set rotation while watching some Netflix. Next, I decided to jump on the bike for a bit. I considered going outside on my road bike, but by the time I was ready to ride, I would have run into rush hour traffic on my way to the bike paths. Instead, I rode for half an hour on the indoor bike which meant I could keep watching Netflix (always a plus). After the bike, I was stretching for my run when FedEx showed up with my new pair of Nike Lunarglide 5s! Getting a new pair of running shoes always brightens things up. My current pair still have a few miles left in them, but I'll probably need to make the switch in the next few weeks.

In all the excitement, I forgot to drink some water before going for the run. Rookie mistake. I did an easy 10 mile out and back along the Charles, and by mile 6, I felt a a little dehydrated. When I got home, I had a decent coat of dry sweat. It didn't effect my run all that much but wasn't very smart. The run was really enjoyable though. It was 60 and sunny with a nice breeze, and I ran a few paths I don't usually run on which made for a great change of scenery. 10 mi on the indoor bike in 29:24. 10 mi run in 57:15.

New Trainers: Nike Lunarglide 5

Monday 5/5

After the workout Sunday, I planned on taking it a bit easier Monday. My right hamstring was a bit tight, but it wasn't anything major and loosened up after a mile or two. The weather was great (60 and sunny), and the out and back route I ran through the Esplanade and along the Charles to the Harvard athletic facilities had fewer people than normal for such a nice spring day. The good weather lifted my spirits a bit, and I didn't really end up easing off as much as I should have (if at all). 11 mi in 62:52

Frozen Banana Protein Shake and Game of Thrones afterward. I'm not really sure why I waited so long to start the series, but I'm enjoying it and finally caught up.

Sunday 5/4 - Speed Workout

I finally felt ready for my first speed workout of the year this weekend. Three weeks ago, I did a few runs with pick-ups in the middle. Just 10 x 30 seconds on/30 seconds off with the on pace being a bit below 5 minute pace. I could tell that my legs weren't quite up for a full workout at that point, but after the solid week I had this week, I thought I'd give it a go and see how things turned out. I decided to do the workout on Sunday rather than Saturday because 1. the weather looked like it would be better on Sunday and 2. I knew I was going out Friday night. Unfortunately, Sunday ended up being the wrong choice. While the temperature wasn't an issue at 62 degrees, the wind had returned to the tune of 20+ miles per hour, and to me, there is no worse run than a speed workout on a windy day. The wind just always throws off my stride and demoralizes me. Plus, slower splits are never fun. Running a few quick splits can change a speed workout from bearable to satisfying.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this workout. My goal was to run a benchmark workout that I've done often in the past in order to judge my fitness and, hopefully, build some confidence. The workout plan was 12 x 400 with a split range of 66-67. After my first 400, I knew keeping it to 66 and 67 was out the window. Along with the 20+ mph wind down the back stretch, I also had a kids' lacrosse game to contend with. There were about 20 or so parents on each of the straightaways taking up the first four lanes. In retrospect, I should have just done the whole workout in lane 5, but apparently, I'm not that smart. Something about wanting to start and stop in the same place..... Anyway, I ran the turns in lane 1 and moved out to lane 5 on the straights. All in all, I doubt it really slowed me down that much, but worrying about slamming into the kids riding their bikes and scooters on the track may have.

2.25 mi warm up at 5:50 pace.
12 x 400 67-68-68-68-68-68-68-70-69-67-69-69
4.25 mi cool down at 6:20 pace
9.5 mi total

During the workout, I wasn't too happy with the splits I was running, but now that I've had some time to reflect, I think it could have been worse. My legs feel really good for the day after a workout, and while the pace was slower than I had hoped, I never felt like I was winded.

Saturday 5/3

Last night, I saw Aziz Ansari live at the Wilbur Theater. It was a great show, but it did make for a pretty late night. I didn't feel great when I woke up this morning, so I decided to hold off my run until later. I did some core work around noon and spent the early afternoon watching the Bruins game. I had been planning on running after the game, but I realized I had forgotten to charge my iPod which had died yesterday. While I let that charge for a bit, I went to the market to pick up some fruit for protein shakes and lettuce for salads. (Side note: My eating habits were absolutely horrendous until last year when I started to turn things around. Early last summer, my training was going fairly well, but I knew I wasn't getting everything I could out of it because my poor food choices. By the end of the summer, I had made some great headway, but I reverted back during the winter. When I got injured in December, I decided to indulge myself a bit, and it didn't end until April. Surprisingly, I was able to kick the one habit over the winter that I hadn't been able to during the summer... soda. Soda has long been the one thing that I knew was probably the worst for me, and yet, I drank at least 2 liters of it a day. Thankfully, I discovered my love for fruit flavored seltzer water around February, and I've been able to completely cut out soda.) Anyway, still working on getting my eating habits back in check, but I'm hopeful.

  By 5pm, I was good go for my run. Weather was great - 62 slightly overcast (but no where near raining) with very little wind. I decided to run the same route as yesterday around the Charles, and I hit the intersection stop lights much better this time around. The first 4 miles felt much smoother than expected considering I hadn't been feeling well for most of the day. Around 6 or 7, my legs started to feel a bit heavy, but it was nothing major. I finished up strong, and overall, the run was on pace without me having to push at all. 10.4 in 57:59.

Enjoyed a frozen banana protein shake afterwards while watching the Kentucky Derby and hoping Wicked Strong would be able to pull out a miracle.

Friday 5/2

Having an accurate GPS watch is turning into a major convenience for me. Over the last three years, almost all the of the runs that I've done in the city have been variations on 2 runs. When I first started running again back in 2011, I used mapmyrun to plan a route through Charlestown that was 4.5 mi with the ability to add on an additional loop of 1.2 mi. As my fitness level improved, I moved up to a 10k loop that went out around the Charles River and back. After a few months, I combined these two routes into a 9.5 mi course that had the ability to add on the additional 1.2 mi loop, and being the odd runner that I am, that would be the route I ran for 90% of my training over the next two years. Once I get comfortable with a route and establish mile markers, I will do the same run over and over again for years. For some reason, seeing the same views day after day doesn't really bother me all that much. I think the major reason behind this behavior is because I don't trust my internal pace making which there isn't very much justification for. My splits don't usually vary wildly on a run, but I always feel like I'm running slower than I am. So, I constantly felt the need to check my time against some point of reference to ensure that I was on pace for whatever my goal was for that day.

Now that I am not limited by running routes with predetermined mile marks, I feel much more open to exploratory runs to search for new and interesting courses. The route I did today doesn't quite qualify as an exploratory run since I'm very familiar with the area and have run the majority of it previously, but I did find a loop that is 80% along the Charles with very little retracing and no narrow path bridges to cross (big plus as these are common on the Charles and become congested when the weather gets nice). The downside was that there were a few intersections that, when caught at the wrong time, can leave you waiting for a while. I spent about 4 and half minutes standing and waiting during my run which is absolutely not something I want to be doing. I was aware this would probably be an issue but wanted to switch my route anyway, and I'm glad I did. I enjoyed the run and will probably start working some variation of it into my weekly routine.

Like many of my runs in the city, today's run was flat. The weather was great at 65 and sunny with only a moderate headwind on the way out. 10.4 mi in 57:55. I count my mileage from Friday to Friday, so this was the end of the week for me. Total miles run was 68.6 with no biking miles logged.

New GPS watch and a quick training run to go with it

Thursday 5/1 - I picked up a Garmin Forerunner 220 and used it in my first training run. Previously, I was using a simple stop watch with mile markers measured out on my road bike. The mile markers ended up being almost exactly on, but being able to see the current pace on the GPS watch was pretty interesting. As a result, I ended up running a bit quicker than normal, but it's nice to stretch the legs from time to time especially on spring days in the mid 60s with the sun out and no wind. I did one of my normal training routes from the North End of Boston to a loop along the Charles River and an additional loop through Charlestown. This run is almost completely flat with only a few stops for traffic. 9.5 miles in 51:41.



A bit of a background on my current fitness level: I had a few injuries at the end of last summer and wasn't able to train at all from the beginning of December until the beginning of March. I spent most of March and April trying to find a rhythm and avoid old injuries. I have only really felt like I'm starting to get my legs underneath me in the last week or so. I hope to continue to rebuild my base and start working in speed work over the next month.