Week Ending May 15

Note:  This was not the best week for me.  I let some things get to me a little and it completely affected my training.  In a bad way.  I should have put in a 45-50 mile week, but instead sat on my ass Monday through Wednesday.  I justified it by thinking (and saying) that I needed some more rest after the Greenland race, but the truth is I was pretty upset with how the race went, so instead of doing the right thing and using a perceived poor performance as motivation to work harder, I used it as an excuse to be a giant p*&^%.  I've apparently lost a little of the mental fortitude I used to have.  I have always been a bit of a head-case, but I am a little out of practice when it comes to getting in that competitive mindset.  Though this time around I am trying to focus less on the competitive and more on the having fun.  Sometimes it's difficult to change after you've spent your life training yourself to do things a certain way.  Hopefully some trails and for Pete's sake, some decent weather (where the hell are you?!) can maybe adjust my attitude and philosophy over the summer.  With that said, here is what little work I actually did last week.

Thurs. May 12 - 4 miles.  I went out after work to get something in.  In my haste, I left my watch at home, so I don't know how long I ran.  The route I ran is somewhere in the neighborhood of four miles, so there you go.  I broke another cardinal rule and ran with my iPod; something I don't typically do since I consider it a big time safety issue and I have always felt (and mean no offense, though some will take it that way) that REAL runners don't need headphones.  It's usually the gym rats that use them; the people who aren't real runners.  Anyway, I felt I needed a little distraction while I was running.  Tool provided a good distraction.  My left achilles was very sore after this run, which got me worried, but was something that eventually worked itself out.

Fri. May 13 - 5 miles in 34 min (6:47 pace).  Finally, after a week of crappy weather, we got a good day.  I went to the outdoor track and did 8 x 200m with 200m jog rest.  I didn't keep track of time, just ran comfortably.

Sat. May 14 - 7.5 miles in 53 min (7:03 pace).  I decided at the last minute to show up for the Hapi-ness 5K at the junior high.  I figured I could structure the race in between a few miles and call it a tempo run (since I need some major work on my threshold).  I ran a couple miles to race, met up with Patrick and the famous Dr. Dan (aka the ORIGINAL Hungry Dog), and started the race.  I haven't run a 5K since last year's Race for the Cure in Cheyenne, so I don't have any 5K speed.  This was not a fast course; starting uphill on 30th and then running smack into a nice headwind for the next mile and a half or so.  I started to fade a little on mile three, and Ryan and Dan pulled away from me.  I finished 3rd in 18:51, fulfilling my tempo run needs.  After that, I tacked on a couple more miles on the way home.

Sun. May 15 - 11 miles in 82 min (7:27 pace).  Long run in the prairie.  Weather got progressively better throughout the run.  Finally.  

Totals:
Week's Miles: 28
Running Time: 3:19
Calories Burned: ~ 3,076

May's Miles: 81
Year to Date: 474

Gear: Asics Speedstar 4 (347 miles)

Week Ending May 1

Mon. April 25 - Day off.  Still really sore from the race.

Tues. April 26 - 11 miles in 88 min (8:00 pace).  I met Jeff and Patrick for a lunchtime run that became a little longer than I had anticipated.  We climbed the powerline in the prairie before turning around and coming in on the bottom section of the Pilot Hill course.  Got hit by a storm about 2/3 of the way through.  Springtime in Laramie...

Wed. April 27 - Day off.  For some reason, I woke up just hurting in general.  Race, day off, long run probably didn't help.  No hill workout this week.

Thurs. April 28 - 9 miles in 71 min (7:53 pace).  Another lunchtime run with Jeff and Patrick.  Felt good on the single track climb heading out, got blasted by the wind coming back in.  Springtime in Laramie...

Fri. April 29 - 6 miles in 40 min (6:40 pace).  Form workout at the fieldhouse.  No Coach today; not sure where he was.  I did the 8 x one lap with half lap jog rest.  Didn't time them, just ran on feel.  Felt pretty good, fairly loose.  Did a couple extra miles of warm-up and cool-down to add some miles.

Sat. April 30 - 5.5 miles in 43 min (7:49 pace).  This run was just to get out and do something.  The weather was terrible; strong NW winds with intermittent blowing snow.  I decided I didn't want to be out in that crap too long.

Sun. May 1 - 15 miles in 114 min (7:36 pace).  Jason was in town with the fam, so he towed me along on the Sunday long run.  We met up with Brian for a fun climb up CC.  I love that trail, and nothing says Cowboy cross-country quite like blasting the 30 min climb early going into summer.  Tacked on a loop in the prairie and headed for home to hang out with all the kids.  Good run, good day.

Totals:
Week's Miles: 47
Running Time: 5:56
Calories Burned: ~ 5,395

April's Miles: 169
May's Miles: 15
Year to Date: 408

Gear: Asics Speedstar 4 (303 miles), New Balance Trail 100 (211 miles)