Training in Montana

My 10 mile Saturday run once again! So stoked to do this twice in a row. Legs were rough from yesterday's tougher effort, but I just kept going and didn't stop at any time, which felt great. I could tell my legs were still in rough shape as my last mile was the hardest and I struggled to maintain a solid pace, even though it's downhill.

AP: 9:29

6 cooollllddd miles in Stevensville, MT while staying at my sis-in-laws. I didn't even think to bring gloves, but I should've worn some. I was in a singlet and shorts, and it was in the mid to low 40s with a breeze. Arms felt pretty good, but hands were ice. About mile 1, I passed a group of ladies walking their dogs and they were in full winter gear - jackets, hats gloves - and I was in my singlet and shorts with no gloves. I'm sure they thought I was crazy, and I may have yanked the gloves off one of them if I had the chance.

AP: 8:40

4 miles this morning on another chilly morning (47F), which is the new norm. I'm fine with it. Didn't feel great on the run, likely tired from the drive home yesterday.

AP: 9:11

Showered at the Y this morning and weighed myself. Was fixing my wife’s car early when NAPA opened, so no run. Then went to lunch with my son instead of go for a run. It’s his last day in Billings, so I sacrificed. I’m a great dad...  I really wanted to go for a run instead, but we had a nice time. He’s a good kid and I worry about him. 

6 miles from home. Legs felt a bit sluggish on the out. Maybe the higher-than-normal mileage the past 10 days? Most likely, plus a couple travel days in there. Felt decent on the return, but harder than expected.

AP: 8:41

Considering doing a 5K on Saturday. I haven't done any 5K specific training, as I know I should do if I want to break 20:00, but I might give it a shot anyhow. We'll see how my Saturday shakes out.

4 miles from home. Felt decent, not great. Decided to do the 5K tomorrow as it’s a flat course. With 14 turns I’m not expecting a PR, but will give it a shot. Plan is to warm up by slowly running the course, then try and maintain a 6:24 pace to break 20:00.

AP: 8:41

I tried to break 20:00 in a 5K for the first time ever, but I didn't as I need more speed training. This is a tiny race, 170 registered, and with it being cross country season, no college or high school kids showed up. I led the race the first 2.3 miles - how weird is that? I was trying to maintain a 6:24 mile to break 20:00, but I wasn't even close: 6:32, 6:37, 7:21.

I ran the course to warm up, tried to go slow (but didn't turn on GPS during the warmup so maybe I went too fast?). I planned to only do part of it so I could know all the turns, but ended up running the entire thing. 15 turns, so a very weird thing through a neighborhood. Kind of cool, though. The race started and ended at a city park. It was a gun time, and I started at the very front. I expected to get passed like I do in all races, but it didn't happen until the last mile. 30 feet into the race I heard footsteps and a guy came to my left and said "you look like you know what you're doing" and I said a few words, but I was not running a conversational pace so I stopped talking and kept running. He slowed down fairly quickly and finished 4-5 minutes after me. There was a small hill about .5 miles, and that slowed me a bit, but for the most part I thought I was running a 6:29 the first mile. I guessed a few seconds under my actual pace. Second mile I was struggling to breathe - my throat felt constricted - so I tried breathing differently. Seems that slowed me a bit, but I thought I was doing close to a 6:30 mile. I need more speed work to get the feel. With .8 to go, I was still in the lead, felt rough, but I was trying to push it and I felt like I was starting to go in oxygen deprivation. I wasn't going to beat 20:00 so I gave up trying to hit that goal as I knew it was out of reach. I stopped and walked for 10 seconds or so, and a guy passed me. I started running again, close to a 7:00 mile. Turns out nobody else was even close behind me as I kept asking the course guards if anyone was back there. I took 2nd place, which didn't matter to me. I didn't get a prize as only top people got prizes.... I wasn't racing for a place, I was racing the clock. Onward and upward! If I can keep doing 25+ a week and add in some speed work, I have no doubt I can break 20:00 in the next few months. 

Noon Boot Camp. I intended to run this morning but it didn't work out, so I did cross training at BC and it was a butt kicker as always. We did run around the block a few times, which is probably 5-600 yards or so. My legs were a bit tight from Saturday's faster effort. 

6 miles this morning from the Y. I forgot to bring running gloves, so I grabbed some yellow work gloves from the truck and they worked great. Padding on the knuckles protected from the chill. Forgot to us the restroom before leaving, so hit the Great Harvest bread store for a pitstop. Towards the end I saw a former co-worker so stopped and chatted with her for 1/4 mile. All those things put my official pace as much less than it was, but it was likely around 8:50. 

Weight keeps dropping little by little. I'm curious as to where it will end up without any significant/purposeful diet changes. I am eating differently as I pay attention to what my body craves, and trying to stay away from the bad stuff, but I'm not being shy about eating full meals with good food. 

4 miles from home. 

AP: 8:55

8 from home mid morning. Felt pretty good. Walked first mile while talking on the phone with my buddy in Utah, so the average pace is messed up.

 AP: 9:49

3 from home, then Boot Camp at Noon.

10 Saturday miles up my hill. Tough effort, hungry, kept going . Only stopped to eat after the turn. Good tough run. 

3 slow morning miles, then Boot Camp at noon.

Left early to go cut firewood with a friend, so no running today. A pretty good workout to run a chainsaw then load the wood into a trailer.

6 miles from home. Wore tights for the first time this fall season. Fall arrived early for us- the high today will be 49... what the what? The normal high for today is 71.

AP: 9:06

6 morning miles from the Y after dropping off Dylan at early morning seminary. During the first mile I thought about my desire to break 20:00 in the 5K and how it won't be possible unless I do speed work - I just don't have the legs, cardio, or mentality to embrace the suck for that long. So I decided to run a 5K pace during mile 2. I didn't have my watch setup for doing that well, so I don't know how long I actually ran 5K-ish pace, but it was probably close to a mile. Also, that stretch of road I ran has massive old growth trees to the South, so my GPS was off quite a bit. I knew I was about a 6:25-30 pace and my watch told me I was 6:45 or higher. So I went for quite  a bit, then stopped, really no idea of distance or pace. It tells me 7:15 pace for mile 2, but I started a while after my watch hit mile 2, thinking I could start the mile split when I wanted. Anyhow, that was helpful. I then decided to do another fast mile during mile #5. This time I stopped my watch and reset the screen to show pace and mileage for that lap. I also was in a small tree neighborhood so that helped. I managed a 6:14 pace and it was tough, but manageable. Having not done much speedwork in my life, my pace was all over the place - as low as 5:50 to as high as 6:30s, so I tried to stay in the teens and it worked. I think I'll do Workout Wednesdays and do some faster miles those days, hopefully downtown at the track or on the flat. 

4 miles from home, pea soup thick fog to start, the rose above it at 1.75 miles. Beautiful with the sunrise.

12 from home 

5.5 from the Y in the morning. Friend called at mile 3 so I walked the next two miles as we chatted.

Noon Boot Camp

Afternoon run. The joys of being out of work - I can run anytime I want (which is actually throwing me off as I like being tied in to a schedule. Felt good after mile 1 (during which I got a call from a hiring manager telling me I made the final interview next week) so I started going faster and then kept it up and went faster until I was done with fast and hard breathing. Even my last mile, which I meant to be a recovery mile, had me dialing in to an 8:20 pace, which seems to be my new comfortable pace.

AP: 8:15, miles: 10:05 (walked during phone call), 7:55, 7:33, 7:03, 8:36

5 hilly miles at Noon from home on the Lupine/Hillcrest loop. Steep Downhill the first 1.5, then a brutal climb most of the way back. 500 ft drop, 520 foot ascent, mostly over 1 1/2 miles. It was hot (mid 60s) and I was dripping sweat. Glad I wore my visor, as I have a funny headband tan (forehead is not very tan from eyebrows to hair...). 

AP: 9:04, which blows me away as I went slowly downhill and uphill. My endurance is returning, which excites me.

4 miles from home mid morning. The scale at home seems heavier than the scale at home, but it’s tough to judge. Maybe I’ll take the home scale to the Y sometime and weigh side by side.

4 TM miles at Noon at the Y

Busy day today, didn't feel like getting up at 5 to go for a long run, so I skipped it. After weeks of upping the mileage, it felt pretty good to give the long run a break this week.