Start time: 8/5/09, 6:10am
Location: North Arlington
Distance: 2 miles & 2 miles
Average pace: 8:13min/mile & 8:16min/mile
Total Miles For August: 20 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 479 miles

Greg vs the duathlon! Sort of.

To switch things up a bit this morning, I got up early and ran the first two miles of my 4-mile loop, which conveniently has my gym just past the 2-mile point. I changed my shirt, headed in, and went to spinning class... well, except the instructor never showed up. (Oops!) Still, I did get my 45 minutes of cycling in, just without someone pushing us extremely hard. (One of the people in the class did lead us as best she could, though, which was nice.) Then, I grabbed my stuff, jogged over to where I'd left off, and ran the remaining two miles home. It was a nice little way to have transitions of sorts, and to make the morning a little more exciting. Plus, the plan was to go get burgers and fries at lunch today, so an extra caloric burn was definitely a good thing.

Start time: 7/28/09, 5:45pm
Location: Thomas Jefferson Community Center
Distance: 2 x 2 miles
Average pace: 8:15min/mile & 7:53min/mile
Total Miles For July: 76 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 455 miles

Been a while since I've run at TJ, but as it's in the 90s even after work today, inside it was. I ran two miles, then stopped for about 40 seconds or so to get a drink of water from the fountain, towel my face off, and then back off I went. Pretty pleased with the splits. Also amused at the little kid who kept trying to catch me... and failing. But that kid was fast. And he probably clocked 2 or 3 miles, too. I wish I was that good a runner when I was under ten years old!

(8:25, 8:04, 7:50, 7:55)

Start time: 3/3/09,7:00pm
Location: TJ Community Center
Distance: 2.5 miles
Average pace: 7:49min/mile
Total Miles For March: 2.5 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 119.5 miles

I have year-round allergies, and normally if I'm going running I have done at least one of the following: taken an afternoon dose of my allergy medicine, flushed my sinuses out with a neti pot, taken some sprays of Asmanex. Guess which of these I did today? That's right, none of them.

I ended up terminating the run after 2.5 miles, but on the bright side, I knew after mile 2 that I wasn't going to stick around much longer so I at least made it count. Ah well.

8:02, 7:48, 3:41

Start time: 1/9/09, 7:30am
Location: Thomas Jefferson Community Center
Distance: 2 miles
Average pace: 8:27min/mile
Total Miles For January: 7 miles

I went to the gym this morning with two goals—get back on the rowing machine, and run a couple of miles. Both were accomplished, although for less than planned with each of them. I ended up just rowing 20 minutes on the machine (the idea is on Monday I'll go back to the full 30), although I could not help but notice that the calorie-per-hour numbers were lower than normal. Still, to be expected.

Afterwards I ran two miles on the indoor track. At first I started out at a 9:00min/mile, but the Arlington County Fire Department's recruits were also using the track, and about 3/4 through the first mile I started speeding up as either I passed them or they passed me for the rest of the distance. Heh. On the bright side, it felt good for both miles being under 9 miles. On the not so bright side, I was beat afterwards. Still, I know it's going to take time to get back up to speed (no pun intended). Patience. Patience. And enjoy the victory.

(8:40, 8:14)

Start Time: 9/16/08, 11:00am
Location: Thomas Jefferson Community Center
Distance: 2 miles
Average Pace: 9:04min/mile
Total Miles For September: 7 miles

Well, the plan was to run while I was on vacation up in Cape Cod. What actually happened, though, was the first night there we played a game of Spoons -- and in doing so I wacked my knee really hard on the table. To the point that it really hurt even to the touch until Monday afternoon. So on Tuesday I went for an easy 2-miler just to make sure everything was ok. Neither it nor a half hour on the rowing machine hurt, so I think I'm back up to speed for a run after work today. (Fingers crossed!)

Start Time: 5/24/08, 7:00am
Location: Washington-Lee High School
Distance: 1 mile & 2600 yards
Total Miles For May: 34 miles

After our warm-up, Fred had us run an exercise he called "stinkers". The idea is that we would sprint 50 yards down to the middle of the field, then head back briskly to the goal line, then turn around and do that 4 more times. Five total equals one "stinker", and we were to do five total. Emma wasn't there, but Paul (who ran a couple of times in the winter program) was and he is blazingly fast. He could almost always beat me in a sprint, but on the way back he was a little slower and that meant I was ahead of him at the end of some of the stinkers. The one downside? In the second "stinker" I miscounted and because I was ahead of him and everyone else, didn't realize it! So I actually ran 26 reps instead of 25. Oops. After that was some stair work, and strange jumping exercises. A gorgeous morning for exercise!

Start Time: 5/10/08, 7:00am
Location: Washington-Lee High School
Distance: 1 mile & 200/400/800/600/400/200m
Total Miles For May: 13.5 miles

I didn't end up with my Tuesday or Thursday runs this past week; one of my calves was mysteriously tight on Tuesday, which made me scrap any running plans, as well as Wednesday's spinning class. It actually was feeling about 99% better on Thursday morning, but I decided to not push things and held off there as well.

It was a wet, nasty morning on Saturday, and it honestly took a lot of willpower for me to actually get up and go. Fortunately, the longer we were out there, the less it stopped raining. And as an added bonus, no running up and down the bleachers (for fear of slipping and falling).

We ran meter-repeats again, and the originall schedule was 200/400/600/400/200m. However, after the 400m, Fred told me, Emma, Laura, and Tracy that we were going to run 800m next. What? No 600m? Why was he torturing us so? *sigh* Sometimes it doesn't pay to go fast.

Except, what Fred apparently REALLY meant was, "You'll run 800m, but only after you run a 600m, so you won't be running it next." Which none of us got from his statement, unfortunately. Oops! Ah well. It went well enough, although all four of us were amused that after the 800m we all were of the opinion that we didn't feel terribly good.

200m: 0:41
400m: 1:24
800m: 3:13
600m: 2:20
400m: 1:24
200m: 0:37

(No run on Sunday due to monsoon rains. Darn.)

Start Time: 5/3/08, 7:00am
Location: Washington & Lee High School
Distance: 2 miles
Total Miles For May: 7 miles

I got to this morning's workout a tiny bit late and missed a bit of our warm-up, but as it turned out... I made it up later. After the warm-up run (plus some stairs, ugh) it was time for four 400m runs—as always, each faster than the previous. Emma wasn't there this morning so I ended up taking the lead, which was both good and bad. It feels good to be up in the front, but at the same time with no one to pace off of... well... Here's how those four went: 1:44, 1:31, 1:28, 1:21.

Yeah, that jump between the first and the second? A bit daunting. But I kept it up, and really went all out on the last one. So that's when Fred casually said, "So, who wants to run an extra one?"

Huh? Really? Then someone said they would... and the next thing I knew, six of us had lined up for a last one. And the end result? 1:20. Phew! The difference of a second could have just been clumsy fingers, but hey, I'm taking it as a victory.

Start Time: 4/26/08, 7:00am
Location: Washington & Lee High School
Distance: 2.5 miles
Total Miles For April: 17 miles

Due to an elementary school track group that shows up at 8am, we shifted our time back to 7am for Saturdays. That's fine by me, actually. Get everything done with and have lots of time to spare. After a warm-up mile, we did what last week's elementary school group had kept us from doing—a timed mile run. Now, I knew that Emma is normally faster than me, and Laura's right around the same pace. But there were also a lot of new faces and who knows what to expect from them?

Still, I went up into the front of the group and started off for four laps around the track. I actually ended up in the third lane, with two women that I'd never met before pacing along. For something like this, even though there's an obvious place to count off progress (each lap) in my head I viewed it as eighths; having the number turn over in a minute or less somehow makes it easier to focus. By the time I'd finished the first half lap, the other two women were still very close to me, but I knew in the next curve I could safely shift into the first lane without doing so mere paces in front of them. And when I hit the first lap (1:45) I was clear of everyone else. But of course, things can change, right?

After I finished my second lap (1:58), taking it a little slower as to not burn out (I'd definitely given an extra little push to get clear of the others), I glanced over my shoulder. Emma was in fact about a quarter of a lap behind me. Good to know. I hit the third lap a little faster (1:53) and felt good heading into the final stretch. I was picking up a bit of speed and had a quarter lap to go when I could hear Emma's feet pounding the pavement in a sprint, making her move to pass me. "Oh no you don't!" I yelled and hit the gas as well. As we crossed the finish line (1:43)... victory! Emma was maybe just a second behind me at most, but with a 7:19 I'd beaten her. So rare! (I better enjoy that while I can.) Laura was just behind the two of us, looking pretty strong as always.

Afterwards we had four 200-meter runs, with each one supposed to be a little faster than the previous—and with the idea to pick up the pace at the 100m mark. For the first two, it was more or less the same; at the 100m mark, Emma would zoom by me and finish a bit ahead, with me hot on her heels. For the third and fourth, though, I was able to finish first without her overtaking me—and since each one was indeed faster, that felt great. (0:41, 0:40, 0:39, 0:36)

A very good workout, both in terms of running and also a nice ego-boost.

Start Time: 2/2/08, 8:00am
Location: Washington-Lee High School
Distance: 1 mile & 4x800m
Total Miles For February: 3

4x800m: 3:21, 3:27, 3:22, 3:24

Start Time: 1/26/08, 8:00am
Location: McLean High School
Distance: 2 mile & 12x200m
Total Miles For January: 35.5

12x200m: 51.90, 53.95, 45.93, 49.57, 47.30, 45.78, 43.08, 43.80, 42.71, 43.50, 42.76, 41.89

Start Time: 1/26/08, 8:00am
Location: Washington-Lee High School
Distance: 1 mile & 2x200m & 4x400m
Total Miles For January: 33

2x200m: 47.82, 48.89
4x400m: 1:42, 1:39, 1:35, 1:33

Start Time: 1/12/08, 8:00am
Location: Washington-Lee High School
Distance: 1 mile & 4x100m & 200m/400m/800m/400m/200m

Saturday was another group session with Empowered & Fit. After a mile warm-up, we did four 100m runs progressively faster (forgot to time those, oops). Then we did a pyramid: 200 meters, then 400 meters, then 800 meters, then 400 meters, then 200 meters. And for each run, we were supposed to transition every quarter of the distance and get progressively faster. It was fun, if hard. It was great to have Emma there, acting as a rabbit in front of me and pushing me through the end each time. I like having someone a little faster than me there for an event like this, because it really pushes me hard. (0:45, 1:31, 3:33, 1:33, 0:37)



Start Time: 1/14/08, 6:30pm
Location: McLean High School
Distance: 2 miles & 12x200m

"Oh, don't worry, Greg. McLean High School's track is lit at night."

Well, it isn't. Argh. Still, ran my warm-up mile (9:34), then with a deep breath... started 12 200-meter repeats. Ugh. That's four more than I'm used to, but I was able to ramp things up pretty well... ok, #11 not so much, but all in all, I was pleased. (50.15, 49.11, 43.43, 43.71, 43.15, 40.35, 40.99, 40.38, 39.45, 39.32, 41.42, 40.03) And then afterwards, amusingly, the cool-down mile? Kind of fast. (8:35) Funny how it's all relative.

Start Time: 12/31/07, 1:45pm
Location: Thomas Jefferson Community Center
Distance: 2 miles & 8x200m

Today was one final run for the year—more 200-meter repeats, oh joy! I did a little better a job of pacing through them this time, I think. (46.01, 43.52, 42.05, 40.40, 38.79, 38.91, 37.79, 38.49) And I am always amused at how much faster the "cool-down" mile is versus my "warm-up" despite the fact that the two feel the same. (9:31 vs 8:26) All a matter of what they're compared to, I guess!

This year's grand tally looks to be 688.75 miles; better than last year (650.75), not as strong as 2006 (732), but considering I had an injury that sidelined me for a month, I'm not complaining at all!

Oops! Whole bunch of updates here.

Start Time: 12/13/07, 6:30pm
Location: Thomas Jefferson Community Center
Distance: 6 miles
Average Pace: 8:49min/mile

Start Time: 12/15/07, 8:00am
Location: Washington-Lee High School
Distance: 1 mile & 4x200m & 3x400m

Start Time: 12/17/07, 6:30pm
Location: Thomas Jefferson Community Center
Distance: 2 miles & 8x200m

Start Time: 12/22/07, 3:45pm
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 8 miles
Average Pace: 9:16min/mile

Start Time: 12/24/07, 9:30am
Location: Washington-Lee High School
Distance: 2 miles & 8x200m

Start Time: 12/25/07, 4:00pm
Location: Vienna, VA
Distance: 5.8 miles
Average Pace: 9:12min/mile

( Read more... )

Start time: 12/10/07, 6:30pm
Location: Thomas Jefferson Community Center
Distance: 2 miles & 8x200m
Average pace: 43sec

I was originally going to run these Monday morning, but it got postponed to the evening due to some stomach issues the night before. Once again, lap #5 was the slowest, although I was able to at least pick it up a bit at the end. (45.42, 45.64, 43.07, 42.04, 44.17, 42.69, 42.58, 42.06) The one nice thing was when I was done with my last repeat and preparing for my cool-down mile, a woman I see often at my spinning class said to me, "Speed work?" Which for some reason was encouraging and perfectly timed, because I was feeling like I was running slow—it's nice to know that at least someone else at the gym knew exactly what I was attempting to do.

Start time: 12/2/07, 8:30am
Location: Sidwell Friends School
Distance: 1 mile & 6x100m

Start time: 12/4/07, 6:30pm
Location: Thomas Jefferson Community Center
Distance: 2 miles & 6x200m
Average pace: 43sec

Start time: 12/6/07, 3:00pm
Location: Thomas Jefferson Community Center
Distance: 5 miles
Average pace: 8:34min/mile

Start time: 12/8/07, 8:30am
Location: Washington-Lee High School
Distance: 1 mile & 200/400/600/800m

Oops... haven't put the last couple of these in here. I've been starting a new speed training ("explosive running") program for the winter, and I'm not entirely sure how to categorize a lot of these. But it's been fun. Our first session we ran a warm-up mile, then did some running exercises involving "butt-kicks", "high knees", and "form runs". Then we did six 100-meter runs, with the idea that each one got progressively faster. It was really enjoyable, but hard; I could feel it in my quads the next day!

Next up that Tuesday was six 200 meter fast runs, once again, trying to get each one a little faster. My fifth one slowed down a bit but I did recover in the end. I must say, though, having a 200 meter track to run it on is a little less than enjoyable. All those curves! (45.38, 44.57, 43.47, 42.00, 44.00, 42.06)

Thursday was a slower, enjoyable 5-mile run. It snowed out so it was back to the indoor track for me... but after all those speed drills, just having a breather was good.

On Saturday after some warm-ups and running exercises, we ran 200m, then 400m, then 600m, then 800m. The idea was to do them at a faster pace but to also maintain that pace through all four of them. Mine slipped a tiny bit for the third and fourth, but not too drastically so. (0:50, 1:41, 2:38, 3:33.) For the 800m we were supposed to try and speed up for the second half and I did accomplish that, so that was good. It's been a very different running experience, but I'm actually looking forward to more torture drills ahead!

Start time: 11/19/07, 6:00pm
Location: Thomas Jefferson Community Center
Distance: 2.5 miles
Average pace: 8:24min/mile

Vacation's over! I went for a short, short run at the gym yesterday; my quads are still a little stiff when I run, but otherwise everything seemed in working order. My splits seem a bit fast (8:26, 8:19, 4:13), but it is the indoor track. I think I may start adding a tag in for those on the indoor track because of my uncertainty of their accuracy. Or maybe not. We'll see.

Meanwhile, I've got both a 5k and a 5mi scheduled for Thursday. This ought to be hysterical.

Start time: 6/5/07, 7:00pm
Location: McLean High School
Distance: ~2 miles
Average pace: 9:30min/mile & 7:00min/mile

The idea on Tuesday was to get back into the LTRs. My schedule said 8 reps, but I ended up doing 4 strong ones and started but didn't finish a 5th. Considering how long it had been, I was pretty pleased. Ended up walking my cooldown instead of running it, but it was still all good.

Start time: 5/10/07, 7:30pm
Location: Arlington Boulevard Trail
Distance: 2.50 miles
Average pace: 8:12min/mile

Thursday's scheduled run was a Tempo run, which for me is supposed to be at an 8:30min/mile pace. I plotted out a route where I knew every half-mile marker, and set out to see how I would do. Unfortunately, for the second time in the past week or so, I'd neglected allergy medicine. I at least had taken a morning dose but I'm so not used to needing a late-afternoon/early-evening dose that it keeps slipping off my radar until it's too late. My head felt like it was packed in cotton and it was extremely uncomfortable at best to run. I finally gave up with half a mile to go, because I just felt horrible; it was hard to breathe and really unpleasant. On the bright side, while I started off a little too fast (oops) I'd done a pretty good job of hitting each half mile around the 4:15 mark; the exact times were 3:46, 4:01, 4:14, 4:08, 4:18. Next time, hopefully, I'll be a little wiser when it comes to the Allegra.