Training in Montana

A new month! Not sure if that's good or bad. I'm not sure what to do for the next multiple months. No races of consequence exist in the region over the next 6 months. I need a plan. I think I'll work on one shortly. Probably a 4 week plan so I can have some variety. I need to get some strength training in there as my groin has been slightly sore every time I run until I get warmed up. Not sure what to call it, but when I pick up my leg to take my next step I feel a tug on the muscle that connects from the top of my leg to my groin(ish) area. Could be lower abdominals, I don't know. My right one has given me trouble for years. My left leg has given me problems since I played Ultimate frisbee with the High School kids 5 or 6 weeks ago. I need to cross train.

Ran some miles today at lunch. On the way back after doing 3.5 I passed by the High School track and decided to see if I could run a sub 6 mile. My first lap was off by a ways, at 1:35 and then I foolishly hit the Stop/Start button when I thought I hit the lap button. My 2nd lap was much better, but I'll never know what it is. After realizing my goof at the end of lap 2 I gave up. Good idea too, as this is too soon for me to be pushing it at that pace. I need to get back into that though. I want to see what I can do on the track. 

5 beautiful miles in Bellevue, WA. Here for a one day conference. Gorgeous soft trail most of the way. Ran to the LDS temple on accident. A nice whim of fortune.

Ran a nice short Saturday run this afternoon. Would have liked to do 10 but ran out of time. Got lots of things done at home today which was really nice.

AP 8:09

Intended to run at lunchtime on this deserted Columbus Day at the bank, but then I got hungry and started heating up my lasagna before I remembered that I was going to run. Oh well. Our friends are building a house near us, so when they moved recently they put their treadmill at our place until they move into the new one. Tonight I used it for the first time and ran 5 miles. I think we're definitely going to get us one. It fits perfect in the basement, clear view of the TV, and it was nice to run inside with my kids around me and watch Monday Night Football and not be out in the rain and wind. I like that I now have the option. I also like how I can ramp up the speed and make myself finish strong. I find that when treadmill running I always speed up at the end just to get it over with. I moved from 6.0 warmup to 6.5 then 7.0 then 7.5 for most of it, then 8.0 for a mile, then 8.5, then 9.0 for a bit and finished at 10.0 for the last 0.25 miles. I'm amazed that Fritz ran 11.1 mph for the entire SGM! That floors this slow runner. I can barely last a quarter mile at that speed, and that's only on a good day. Ah-ma-zing.

Total time 41:00, AP 8:12

4 miles today at lunch. 42-47 degrees. Really nice. I was worried I'd be cold but by the end the sleeves were rolled up to the elbows, the gloves were off, and the headband was full of sweat. Nice run. At the turnaround I ran 1/2 mile at 6:30 pace, which is my goal for the Turkey Trot 5K. I just found out we'll be staying in Billings for Thanksgiving so I can run this race. I haven't done a 5K since early last year so I'm excited to create a new PR.

AP: 8:14 

I was just looking at my overall mileage for 2010-2012 and noticed an interesting trend for me. My long runs are becoming a smaller percentage of my overall total mileage, and my injury rate seems to be improving. No small coincidence. In 2010, long runs as a percentage of the total were 48% (362/756); 2011 they were 39% (504/1280); so far in 2012 they are 36% (417/1157). I need to keep that trend going. From what I've read, long runs for us pedestrian runners should be in the 30% range of our overall weekly total. Some weeks that's different based on life, but much easier to see as an annual total. I need to boost my during-the-week miles so that my long runs are in that 30% range. 

5 miles this brisk morning. Had a nice stiff WSW wind but I didn't feel it too much. My legs are back! I've run really well the past few days, and today was no exception. I did my standard out and back course and I ran much faster than I normally do. This 5K mentality is picking up my speed plus being on the treadmill helps me so much with a faster turnover. I forget that and need to hit the treadmill on a regular basis (once a month at least) to remind my legs how fast they can move if a little belt moves them along. It really helps me when on the road. I think I wrote this yesterday but I'm shooting for a 6:30 pace in the Turkey 5K and that might be a stretch goal, but I'm going for it. I need to run lots of 6:30 pace in the next 5-6 weeks.

Splits something like 9:40 (mostly uphill), 8:04, 7:46, 7:24, 6:40 (mostly downhill). AP: 7:48 

Scout campout last night and today. Was planning on doing a run at 6 am but when it was midnight and I still wasn't asleep, I turned off the alarm. Too much to do today and not worth missing an hour's sleep. I was still exhausted that night and would have been doubly tired if I had gone for a run. Next week I'll miss my Saturday run also as I'll be elk hunting. I've never been successful in this very difficult big game endeavor, so hopefully this year is the one. I'm pretty sure it will be. Very sure. Power of positive thinking. I'll run M, T, W, H then off Friday-Tuesday. If we all get our elk on Saturday I'll be home Saturday night. That would be awesome. The chances of that happening are probably around 1%, so I'm all over it. "So you're telling me there's a chance?"

6 tough miles today, uphill and in a headwind. I guess I didn't get all the rest I needed this weekend as my legs were pretty beat, yet I barely ran last week. I've had a lot going on. I need to find a long race and put together a training plan to boost my motivation. It is sorely lacking.

AP: 8:46 

I woke up at 5:55 this morning, 5 minutes before my alarm, took care of my ritual POP business and normally at this time I change into my running gear. Today I looked outside at the dark, glanced at the 45 degrees temp on my weather app, looked again at the dark, again at the weather app, and said screw it. I put on a shirt, put on my robe and slippers and went to the living room. Read scriptures for 15 minutes then bundled up under a blanket and slept until the family awoke.

At lunchtime I only had an hour in between meetings so I checked out the 5K schedule that I have but haven't been using, and it had me doing 6 X 400 yesterday. Good enough for me! Headed to the YMCA, quickly changed, and jogged the 3/4 of a mile to the high school track. I left my Garmin at home and only had my phone on me for timing, and I wasn't going to carry that, so I ditched the phone at the track and ran by feel. It felt good! No idea of time, but if I had to guess I was in some wide swing between 6:00 and 7:00 paces throughout. I'm glad I didn't have the watch as the last few laps were into a 40 mph headwind and my times slowed significantly. Effort increased but my legs were not moving as quick. It was really cool running into a mass of blowing leaves, though. "Something Wicked This Way Comes" was running through my mind. Incidentally, I walked/jogged 200 between each lap. 

After finishing my 6 I jogged back to the Y, changed, and made it back for my 1 pm meeting.

Heading out today for hunting camp. Will chase elk until Tuesday, hopefully be successful, and come back ready to tackle running again!

"Where, oh where, has my motivation (to run) gone? Where, oh where, can it be?"

Hmph. Maybe it's the time of year (cold, dark), maybe it's that it's a busy time of year, maybe it's that I did well in the marathon and finally hit my goal, maybe it's that I don't have a long race in my near future, maybe it's that I haven't started getting super fat yet. It's probably a combination of all those factors. I need to start reading people's blogs a lot and sign up for a long race. That seems to really motivate me. I think finally beating my Dad's marathon time (3:38) has me mentally satisfied, although I'd really like to BQ some day. I don't know. This is a bit of a weird one for me. Guess I won't hit 100 miles for October. Poo.

Woke up late but still got 1.5 miles on the treadmill. Wanted 3 miles. 

Saturday I caught the stomach bug that swept through my family. Thought I missed it but somehow it caught up to me. Thankfully I only experienced stomach cramps and pains and general malaise but I felt awful for 30+ hours. I was going to do a long run Saturday afternoon but alas. Now it's Wednesday and I still don't feel 100%. I was going to run at lunch time but my legs feel really heavy (even while sitting down) and I'm generally really tired. Not sure what's going on. I'm starting to get really anxious to get back to a schedule but now my body won't cooperate. Grrr. Happy Halloween all.

Read a bit about tired legs and decided that exercise was the best way to combat that feeling. Not sure if it will back fire on me tomorrow, but oh well. It felt good to get out and run. On my way back I saw the Boot Campers running around the block so I followed them inside and alternated working out a station and running the next turn, so got in another mile. I haven't done anything besides run for months & months so I'm sure I'll be super sore tomorrow. Ran without a watch so no idea of AP.