Last Taper Run

Today I did 4.25 miles - including the Jupiter loop in 33:30 - about a 7:50 pace. The run felt good, my achilles were both a little tight, and I probably didn't adequately stretch them since it was a chilly 40 out there (with moderate wind). All that's left is to relax and hit it hard Sunday.

Easy Tempo

Today I did the 4 mile Eastern Point loop in 29 minutes (7:15 pace). It felt pretty good. The weather is suppose to start sucking here the next few days, so I'm not certain when I'll get my next taper run in.

The Tough Part...

...is over! Yesterday I capped my Tarzan Brown training with my final set of intervals: 5x2000s (or, since I wasn't running on the track, 5x8:30s) on a run from my work in Groton, to my home in Mystic. I did the Mumford's Cove route, to add a little extra flat distance, since I didn't want to be doing an interval over the Brooke Street hill. The workout, like those before it, was difficult - but I think it actually felt better than the 2 previous ones. Maybe I'm pacing a little better, or running a little slower, or just getting a little stronger. Total mileage for the workout was 9.7 miles, which took 1 hour, 24 minutes (including breaks between intervals, which were 4:30).

This morning I biked the route back - but did the Brook Street hill - about 9 miles in 5o minutes, including some walking to let the blood back into my frost-bit feet. The ride felt good, but cold - I'm glad to be all warmed up now.

Mileage for the week was 18.75 miles running, plus 5.85 miles of cross training: 24.6 total. My largest in a while. Moreover, the week encompassed a little of everything: swim, bike, trail run, tempo run, intervals and long run. Next week I can take pretty easy - although I may hit a track for some 18x200s, or something - just to keep the legs use to moving fast.

Bluff Point Trail Run

I needed an easy run today. The weather was 50 and windy, so I headed to Bluff Point and did an easy slow 3.8 miles.

Monday Tempo Run

Dave wanted to do 5 miles at lunch today, so I headed out hard and didn't look back. 5.2 miles in 37:30, good for about 7:13 min/mile pace. I'm glad I got that out of the way. I have four days left now in the week - one of them will be the last of the brutal intervals, another will be a bike to work and the final one should be an easy trail run. Really, I only have one really difficult workout left.

Back to the Pool

That's more like it. Last week it was difficult to head over, since the weather was so beautiful, but today was a different story: raw, 50s and windy. Blah. Hopefully the weather will turn nice again for this weeks runs.

Anyway, I did another 1000 yards: 1x200, 4x100s, 6x50s and 4x25s. I'll probably do an easy 4 miles tomorrow and then do my 5x2000s Tuesday or Wednesday after work.

Brutal Intervals

Ugh. Damn that was very difficult. I did 4x2000s today. Mileage was approximate, as I just ran hard for 8:30. The total mileage for the run was ~8.25 miles, as I did two loops of Jupiter and across Tyler twice (only did Avery once). Probably the most difficult workout I can remember. The 5x2000s are going to be brutal.

Totals mileage for the week: ~23.5 eq.miles and ~20 miles running.

Early Tempo

I realized this morning that I wouldn't be able to do my 'run home' intervals since I had my wife's car - so I ended up going out at lunch with Dave and doing ~4 miles in 28:28 (7:07 min/mile pace). This is 'good enough' to count as my tempo run for the week. Ideally, I'd like to drop this pace below 7:00 next week - maybe only run 3 miles.

Tomorrow I must do the intervals, and just bike in Friday. Looks like the weekly mileage is going to spike pretty high this week.

A Pair of Easy Runs

Yesterday I went out with Dave at lunch to do a pretty fast/easy 4 miler in 30:20 (7:35 pace). It felt great and was a beautiful day. Today, I wanted to mix it up a little, so I headed for Bluff Point after work and did the loop which is about 3.7 miles. I think it took about 29 minutes (~7:50 pace). In general, the runs are feeling easy. I have over 11 'equivalence miles' for the week and will be doing a long run home tomorrow and the bike into work on Thursday. Friday I finish with a tempo run.

Back to the Pool

Can't say it was the best Fall for swimming in the Sound. Not many swims - and other than the Rock swims (what was there, two of them?) - no good swims. So I sucked it up, and headed back to the pool today. At some point, I'd like to get back to the Wednesday night swims - but for some reason, that's more of a cold weather thing.

Anyway, I did 1000 yards: 6x100s, 6x50s and 4x25s. I'll probably do an easy 4 miles tomorrow and then do my 4x2000s Tuesday after work.

Killer Tempo: Part I

Today I did my first 'true' tempo run of the season: 4.2 miles at a 7:11 pace, 5.3 miles total. I was suppose to do ~5 miles, but after 30 minutes, I'd had enough. I'll have to think a little bit about how to proceed from here. I have 2 tempo runs left - and I'd like one of them to be short and fast (~3 minutes, sub 7:00) and one a little longer ~5, which was suppose to be today. I suppose I'll decide next week which to try.

Interval Torture

Well I had 6 tough workouts planned for the next 3 weeks and the first one was today: 3x2000 intervals. Yes, the felt much more difficult than last weeks 3x1600s - hopefully some of that was the post race rundown. It only gets more difficult with a 5 mile 'long/tempo' Friday and more longer intervals over the next 2 weeks (4x2000 and 5x2000 -which I'll probably try doing on the run home). I should mention that I'm doing these 'off-track' - so my pacing may be a little off - but I tried to just run hard for 8:30 - figuring that'd be about about 2000.

Leg Stretcher

I went out today at lunch for a 4 mile 'leg stretcher': nothing fancy, just out to Avery Point and back up at an easy pace. Tomorrow I'll aim to do my first 3x2000 intervals, with the other 'key' workout - a 5 mile tempo run - to come later in the week. I'll be running these next 3 weeks hard before tapering a little before the Tarzan Brown run November 2nd.

JP Morgan Chase Championship

Today was the JP Morgan Chase Championship in NYC. This was my first time running it, and I have to say it is a great event. Not often in life can 'joe average' show up and run a race course along Park Avenue in NYC with an elite field from around the world - but that's exactly what I did this morning - with my family watching.

The course is 3.5 miles - starting out toward the Hemsley hotel and around the top concourse of Grand Central Station heading south before looping back the same way. I finished in 23:37 (good for a 6:44 pace). A pretty good run for me, and a good day for our 'A-team' (which didn't include me), as they finished 4th overall and had the best time for a team from the U.S.

This event is a lot of fun and the championship run really has a great international feel.

Long Run Wednesday

I ended up heading out at lunch today, since it looked pretty nice out and there is a threat of thunderstorms this afternoon which may have ruined my run home. I ended up doing over 8 miles and running for over an hour - but I'm not certain on the exact timing since I didn't bring my watch. The run felt pretty good throughout - I pressed the pace a little since I should be aiming for about 7:50 pace. Having said that, I didn't want to totally burn myself out before this weekend's race. If the weather stays nice tomorrow, I may try and head out for a swim - but I'll need to keep it pretty easy.

I should also mention that some punk in a maroon pickup with an IU license plate threw a half-full bottle of soda at me on Easter Point Road. Fortunately they have about as good of aim as an IU quaterback - so I was never in any real danger, but seriously, what the hell is wrong with people?