Ran a 10k in June (8 Viewers)

[Steve Tasker]

Can I get some tips on how to increase speed? I've been steadily increasing my mileage over the last few months, but have noticed essentially no decrease in mile times. I tend to mix in a bit of interval training along with my longer runs, which I thought might result in some speed increase, but haven't noticed much. Any tips?

Details on your mileage, times, and training temperatures...and goals.

How much mileage per week and what are the temperatures like where you are? If you are anything like the rest of us just keep running and ask yourself this question when we hit November.

I am certainly not the most hardcore runner like many of you guys. I am at about 20 miles/week now after easing myself into it all summer. This is the most I've ever been running, and I tried to make sure not to go too fast and overdo it this time around - I followed some advice earlier in this thread to not up your weekly mileage by more than 10% per week and I've been healthy all summer so far.I live in Buffalo, NY. It's been pretty consistently in the mid/high 70s for the last few weeks, but was mid 80s/low 90s for awhile in the last month.I guess I'm just a little confused about my speed. I'm sure that age has something to do with it, but when I was a teen, I could knock out a mile in ~6 minutes. I'm 24 now, and I'm in the best physical shape of my life, and when I "push myself", I'm lucky to get 8 or 8.5 minutes. Over the course of a longer run, I find I'm not even able to sustain that speed. I ran 5 yesterday in just under 48 minutes, which I think was my best mark of the summer. Still, though, that's more than 9:30/mile.I have never been a distance runner; I am a lifelong soccer player - built for agility and short interval sprint bursts followed by light jogging....so to be honest, distance running is all a bit foreign to me even though I've been progressively getting more into it the last few years.I find my biggest hurdle to be lactic acid buildup/fatigue in my legs and lower body; it's not a matter of "cardio" fitness. It's not uncommon for me to run a few miles and feel very "dead" in the legs yet I'm not out of breath and my heart rate is still comfortably low. This confuses me because I've never had problems with leg strength (being a soccer player and all) before. Is this more a core strength issue?Any thoughts/tips are appreciated. I take your collective opinions seriously because you all obviously do this a lot more than I do.

 

[prosopis]

Week 7 day 1 of Pfitz 18/55 today (start of cycle 2). I thought today's run was supposed to be 10 with 6 @ LT, but it turns out I'm a dufus. It was only supposed to be 5 LT, so I worked a little more than I needed to. I just assumed these LT runs were always 2 up, 2 down.

I woke up early and was out the door at 5:30. Holy crap it was, dare I say, chilly. 58 degrees and crisp. I was drooling. The run was weird, but ended up being a great run nonetheless. It took my legs 3 miles before they woke up. But when they did, whew. I was clickin'. My pacing was all over the place, but I was rollin' after my legs decided to participate in the workout @ the 2nd LT mile.

LT = 159-176

3 - 159 @ 8:24

4 - 165 @ 7:58

5 - 167 @ 7:39

6 - 171 @ 7:48

7 - 173 @ 7:42

8 - 174 @ 7:46

Averages = 168 @ 7:52

I love how the cooler weather makes your HR more responsive/predictable. As soon as I hit mile 9, I looked down and saw my HR was back down to 148. It was like I didn't even run those LT miles. Granted my legs were feelin' it, but to see my HR go right back down to the middle of GA zone was friggin' cool.

AwesomeI am in week 4 of the same plan. Fun to hear your progress and what to expect.

 

[prosopis]

I di a 5 mile recovery run today. Still hot here 108-110 when I headed out. My sansa clip died which sucks. I am gonna end up running with out music

The clip was only 2.5 mos old. Is it possible the heat destroyed it? I suspect sweat but dang it should handle that. I will have a new PB mileage for a month tomorrow. Interesting that I am going to hit that mark in the hottest mos I have ever run in consistently.

 

[Sand]

The issue is the lactic acid burn throughout my entire lower body...from my ankles to my thighs - burning worse than ever and to the point where my legs are stiff and feel like they can't move

Your body is talking to you. Take a day off. Or two. Your muscles need the recuperation time. Or you are slightly sick and don't really know it. Rest days are the most important days - they are what make you stronger. It is hard to allow yourself the time to sit back for a day or two, but it will help.

I am certainly not the most hardcore runner like many of you guys. I am at about 20 miles/week now after easing myself into it all summer. This is the most I've ever been running, and I tried to make sure not to go too fast and overdo it this time around - I followed some advice earlier in this thread to not up your weekly mileage by more than 10% per week and I've been healthy all summer so far.

I live in Buffalo, NY. It's been pretty consistently in the mid/high 70s for the last few weeks, but was mid 80s/low 90s for awhile in the last month.

I guess I'm just a little confused about my speed. I'm sure that age has something to do with it, but when I was a teen, I could knock out a mile in ~6 minutes. I'm 24 now, and I'm in the best physical shape of my life, and when I "push myself", I'm lucky to get 8 or 8.5 minutes. Over the course of a longer run, I find I'm not even able to sustain that speed. I ran 5 yesterday in just under 48 minutes, which I think was my best mark of the summer. Still, though, that's more than 9:30/mile.

I have never been a distance runner; I am a lifelong soccer player - built for agility and short interval sprint bursts followed by light jogging....so to be honest, distance running is all a bit foreign to me even though I've been progressively getting more into it the last few years.

I find my biggest hurdle to be lactic acid buildup/fatigue in my legs and lower body; it's not a matter of "cardio" fitness. It's not uncommon for me to run a few miles and feel very "dead" in the legs yet I'm not out of breath and my heart rate is still comfortably low. This confuses me because I've never had problems with leg strength (being a soccer player and all) before. Is this more a core strength issue?

Any thoughts/tips are appreciated. I take your collective opinions seriously because you all obviously do this a lot more than I do.

Ok. Speed. I'd recommend a couple things. As a former soccer player I know where you are coming from. First off, give yourself 6 months of good endurance work before getting all worked up over this stuff. Consistent work will get you there. For the first few months of actual running when I started I really didn't see much, either. It does come. Specifically, from my experience, I'd recommend a couple things: 1. Train for a 10k or half marathon. Keep working at your long runs and get them to 10+ miles. Your body will respond to this and build up those slow twitch fibers. So far in your life you've concentrated on fast twitch fibers and need to train your body to use the other kind. This takes time. 2. Twice a week, after normal runs, do a half dozen strides. There are good articles out there on doing these and they do help to get your body used to the form of running faster.---------

On my end, did a double today. Here and here. For those on the conference call I might point out in the second file the "stop and backing away" slow spot at mile 3.5 or so. That's where the ####### dog bit me. At conference call start I was outside talking to the cops - the dog bite wasn't bad, but it has been getting more aggressive and I wanted to put a stop to it. My goal was to keep my HR below 160 for both runs, but the bite made my HR go up a decent bit. Second ####### dog bite this year.

Other than that, though, the runs were great. Felt good after the second run and completed it, no problem. The humidity is down here - first run at 90F with only 40% humidity and the second at 88F with 50% humidity. Massive, massive difference from a couple weeks ago where the humidity would have been 80+%.

 

[Sand]

I di a 5 mile recovery run today. Still hot here 108-110 when I headed out. My sansa clip died which sucks. I am gonna end up running with out music The clip was only 2.5 mos old. Is it possible the heat destroyed it? I suspect sweat but dang it should handle that. I will have a new PB mileage for a month tomorrow. Interesting that I am going to hit that mark in the hottest mos I have ever run in consistently.

Sweat kills those things pretty readily. I went through 5, I think, last year. See if they will RMA that one. I have bagged mine in a small size plastic bag and that has kept my latest one going strong since. If you can't find a good size one PM me and I can send out some to you that fit that thing pretty well. Pretty easy to do and it works great.

 

[prosopis]

I di a 5 mile recovery run today. Still hot here 108-110 when I headed out. My sansa clip died which sucks. I am gonna end up running with out music The clip was only 2.5 mos old. Is it possible the heat destroyed it? I suspect sweat but dang it should handle that. I will have a new PB mileage for a month tomorrow. Interesting that I am going to hit that mark in the hottest mos I have ever run in consistently.

Sweat kills those things pretty readily. I went through 5, I think, last year. See if they will RMA that one. I have bagged mine in a small size plastic bag and that has kept my latest one going strong since. If you can't find a good size one PM me and I can send out some to you that fit that thing pretty well. Pretty easy to do and it works great.

My wife went on line and found that if you hold the power button down for 40 seconds it comes back sometimes. This seems to have worked for me, I will find out tomorrow. I do have some small plastic bags at work I can try.Thanks

 

[IvanKaramazov]

I find my biggest hurdle to be lactic acid buildup/fatigue in my legs and lower body; it's not a matter of "cardio" fitness. It's not uncommon for me to run a few miles and feel very "dead" in the legs yet I'm not out of breath and my heart rate is still comfortably low.

This is normal. Once you develop a certain level of cardiovascular fitness, it essentially becomes a non-issue unless you're running a 5K or some other short distance all-out. For longer distances, like a 10K or half marathon, your ability to process lactate tends to be the thing that causes issues. For even longer distances, like a marathon, lactic acid is no big deal -- you won't accumulate any with proper pacing -- but endurance and glycogen conservation are important. I'm oversimplifying things, but it's not that far off.It sounds like you're at the point where you'd benefit most from improving your body's ability to process lactate. The usual way that people do this is with "tempo runs" in which you warm up with an easy mile or two, run continuously for a few miles at a hard pace, like 10K pace, and then cool down with an easy 1-2 miles. Don't do this workout every time you go out the door; once a week or even once every other week is plenty.

 

[Reginald Cornsilks]

Just checking in to let you folks who've helped me out the past few months that I didn't lose motivation but it looks like I'm going to need some time off.

My knee that I was grousing about got worse after my run. I treated with ice and rest for 2 days, as soon as I ran it got worse. It's now stiff as a board and extremely painful (but not noticeable swelling). I'm going to have to take some time off and reassess. That's 4 months of training and 2 injuries that have stopped me from running altogether. Perhaps I need to lose a few more pounds before trying this again. Thanks to all

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Good luck Reg. Maybe just a week or so off will do you some good.

 

[Ned]

Just checking in to let you folks who've helped me out the past few months that I didn't lose motivation but it looks like I'm going to need some time off.My knee that I was grousing about got worse after my run. I treated with ice and rest for 2 days, as soon as I ran it got worse. It's now stiff as a board and extremely painful (but not noticeable swelling). I'm going to have to take some time off and reassess. That's 4 months of training and 2 injuries that have stopped me from running altogether. Perhaps I need to lose a few more pounds before trying this again. Thanks to all

Rest up, GB. Running puts a hell of a load on your body. Too much too soon and it can come crashing down quick. IIRC, you ran 8 straight days recently? Gotta space that stuff out and let your body catch up.You'll be surprised at how quick your body can respond to rest/treatment. Just take it easy this week, keep up with the RICE treatments, and you'll be back in no time flat.

 

[scoobygang]

Reg, I'm not a running expert, but I'll second (or third, or whatever) those saying that you have to grow comfortable listening to your body. The consistent early dead legs seems to be a pretty reliable indicator of over training. I doubt it's the weight, per se, because if I remember correctly, you weigh less than me and have lost more weight. But there are days when I just don't have much in me to run. So I don't. Or if I do, I do it as slow as I want to do it. I also don't know if you're still trying a lower carb diet, but if you're at all ketogenic you're going to want to warm up very, very slowly. I know when I tried to run on a ketogenic diet, I didn't feel good until at least 15 minutes into a run, after my body had stopped even searching for glycogen.

 

[jamny]

Just checking in to let you folks who've helped me out the past few months that I didn't lose motivation but it looks like I'm going to need some time off.My knee that I was grousing about got worse after my run. I treated with ice and rest for 2 days, as soon as I ran it got worse. It's now stiff as a board and extremely painful (but not noticeable swelling). I'm going to have to take some time off and reassess. That's 4 months of training and 2 injuries that have stopped me from running altogether. Perhaps I need to lose a few more pounds before trying this again. Thanks to all

Wow, sorry to hear that. As someone who's just starting out, I know the temptation is there to do more than I should. Hopefully some rest gets you back on your feet and you learn from it. It is a reminder to me to take it easy. Good luck!

 

[scoobygang]

Did my first "Scooby Sprint Interval" workout in a month last night. 3 minute warmup at 10:00/m pace, then alternating minutes at 5:40/m pace and 10:00/m pace. Repeat five times, then do the whole cycle over again twice. I feel stupid calling it a sprint interval considering that elite runners run entire marathons faster than my 1 minute "sprint" pace, but whatever.

Feeling it a bit this morning, so tonight is going to be an easy run.

 

[Reginald Cornsilks]

Ned

Yes I ran a PR record mileage wise 2 Saturdays ago and then ran 7 straight days after that but I felt awesome everytime out. As soon as my knee is better maybe I'll cut it back to 4 days a week. I was getting faster and longer and targeting a road race in 2.5 weeks where I know I can run around 26:00 so that's just a bit discouraging.

Will take all the advice here though and RICE. I will absolutely be back - I've never felt so good these past few months.

 

[sho nuff]

I di a 5 mile recovery run today. Still hot here 108-110 when I headed out. My sansa clip died which sucks. I am gonna end up running with out music The clip was only 2.5 mos old. Is it possible the heat destroyed it? I suspect sweat but dang it should handle that. I will have a new PB mileage for a month tomorrow. Interesting that I am going to hit that mark in the hottest mos I have ever run in consistently.

Probably the sweat.Despite marketing all these devices to runners...they have all done a piss poor job of creating a product that is as useful as it sounds.Amazing what you are doing in that heat.No way I could handle it.Thankfully, the TM at the house gets me through some of the runs that I have had to do in heat like that.Did a little 3 mile recovery and some weights last night.Nothing exciting...though, after a mile of the run I really just wanted to stop. Legs and breathing and everything felt fine...just was not into the run last night.Ended up pushing through and by about 2.25 I was feeling a lot better about the run...almost kept going after the 3rd mile, but thought better as tonight will be a harder workout.

 

[sho nuff]

Just checking in to let you folks who've helped me out the past few months that I didn't lose motivation but it looks like I'm going to need some time off.My knee that I was grousing about got worse after my run. I treated with ice and rest for 2 days, as soon as I ran it got worse. It's now stiff as a board and extremely painful (but not noticeable swelling). I'm going to have to take some time off and reassess. That's 4 months of training and 2 injuries that have stopped me from running altogether. Perhaps I need to lose a few more pounds before trying this again. Thanks to all

Injuries happen too all of us.Just take some time...rest it up...get back to 100% and gradually build back up...you will get there.

 

[sho nuff]

Just checking in to let you folks who've helped me out the past few months that I didn't lose motivation but it looks like I'm going to need some time off.My knee that I was grousing about got worse after my run. I treated with ice and rest for 2 days, as soon as I ran it got worse. It's now stiff as a board and extremely painful (but not noticeable swelling). I'm going to have to take some time off and reassess. That's 4 months of training and 2 injuries that have stopped me from running altogether. Perhaps I need to lose a few more pounds before trying this again. Thanks to all

Rest up, GB. Running puts a hell of a load on your body. Too much too soon and it can come crashing down quick. IIRC, you ran 8 straight days recently? Gotta space that stuff out and let your body catch up.You'll be surprised at how quick your body can respond to rest/treatment. Just take it easy this week, keep up with the RICE treatments, and you'll be back in no time flat.

Agreed...I don't run consecutive days all that much.THe most I do is 3 in a row (Mondays run, Tuesday's recovery, Wednesday's speed run...then two days off before Saturday's long run...though, I do weight work and try to get on the bike in those 2 days for some cross training).

 

[tri-man 47]

Did my first "Scooby Sprint Interval" workout in a month last night. 3 minute warmup at 10:00/m pace, then alternating minutes at 5:40/m pace and 10:00/m pace. Repeat five times, then do the whole cycle over again twice. I feel stupid calling it a sprint interval considering that elite runners run entire marathons faster than my 1 minute "sprint" pace, but whatever.Feeling it a bit this morning, so tonight is going to be an easy run.

scoob - that's good interval work, so don't get down on yourself for it! As a comparison, I did 8 x 400m repeats this morning. My pacing was about 5:55/mi pace for each of the quarter-miles, with about a 90 second walk/cooldown between each. Total up/down surrounding the workout was 4 miles.

 

[Ned]

Did my first "Scooby Sprint Interval" workout in a month last night. 3 minute warmup at 10:00/m pace, then alternating minutes at 5:40/m pace and 10:00/m pace. Repeat five times, then do the whole cycle over again twice. I feel stupid calling it a sprint interval considering that elite runners run entire marathons faster than my 1 minute "sprint" pace, but whatever.Feeling it a bit this morning, so tonight is going to be an easy run.

scoob - that's good interval work, so don't get down on yourself for it! As a comparison, I did 8 x 400m repeats this morning. My pacing was about 5:55/mi pace for each of the quarter-miles, with about a 90 second walk/cooldown between each. Total up/down surrounding the workout was 4 miles.

Cruisin', my friend.Had a bleh recovery run at lunch. I could definitely feel the effects of yesterday's run. Legs weren't totally dead, but they didn't feel good either. 141 @ 9:52I closed out August with 176.8 miles. I have 211 on tap for September. It's time to really buckle down.

 

[gruecd]

As a comparison, I did 8 x 400m repeats this morning. My pacing was about 5:55/mi pace for each of the quarter-miles, with about a 90 second walk/cooldown between each. Total up/down surrounding the workout was 4 miles.

For what it's worth, I'd try to shorten those recovery intervals a little bit. Pfitz recommends that recovery intervals be 50-90% of the duration of the actual repeats. The shorter the intervals, the closer I am to the bottom end of that range. For 400M repeats done at 5:55 pace, you'll get a better workout if you get those rest intervals down closer to 60 seconds instead.Still a good workout, but just my two cents...

 

[gruecd]

Agreed...I don't run consecutive days all that much.

My last non-running day was August 3, which means that I've run 27 consecutive days. As such, I've inadvertantly gotten a little streak going, and my admittedly OCD personality is going to make it very difficult for me to take a day off.Stooopid "type-A" personality....

 

[sho nuff]

Agreed...I don't run consecutive days all that much.

My last non-running day was August 3, which means that I've run 27 consecutive days. As such, I've inadvertantly gotten a little streak going, and my admittedly OCD personality is going to make it very difficult for me to take a day off.Stooopid "type-A" personality....

Well...Im still quite mortal in comparison. That and if I add in too many more running nights, my wife will be quite pissed.3 weeks ago she started getting annoyed that I added the recovery runs in on Tuesdays or Thursdays depending on the week.

 

[tri-man 47]

Agreed...I don't run consecutive days all that much.

My last non-running day was August 3, which means that I've run 27 consecutive days. As such, I've inadvertantly gotten a little streak going, and my admittedly OCD personality is going to make it very difficult for me to take a day off.Stooopid "type-A" personality....

WSJ just ran an article on a guy - now the 6th active runner that anyone knows of - who has now run every day for 40 years or more. Deal with that, Mr. OCD!

 

[gruecd]

Agreed...I don't run consecutive days all that much.

My last non-running day was August 3, which means that I've run 27 consecutive days. As such, I've inadvertantly gotten a little streak going, and my admittedly OCD personality is going to make it very difficult for me to take a day off.Stooopid "type-A" personality....

WSJ just ran an article on a guy - now the 6th active runner that anyone knows of - who has now run every day for 40 years or more. Deal with that, Mr. OCD!

Yeah, I saw that, too. I'm not THAT insane!

 

[Darrinll40]

Ok, if it is 85+with 75% humidity in Kentucky, I am probably ####ed.

I went out to do 3 easy miles to test the legs and ended up toughing it out the last half mile.

I trained my self never to look at my Garmin on a known distance run, because if I do look once I keep looking over and over again. So, I didn't know my pace until I got to the end.

1 - 9:29

2 - 9:24

3 - 9:36

I was going that fast and faster on the treadmill but that was inside with controlled temps.

Oh, the legs felt great, no pain at all. Tomorrow I will really do 3 easy miles.

 

[BassNBrew]

There's some really good work going on in here.

Ned - You are going to kill it.

Props to props - Training in this heat will pay off.

Scooby - Do you eat scooby snacks after a hard set of scooby sprints?

Gru - sub 3 should be in the crosshairs and worried.

Ivan - Sorry to hear those college co-eds are messing with your workout.

Darrin - Heat or no heat you'll beat your goals at the chase.

Reg - Got the Sony and the stoogie...thanks.

Sand and Dex and turk - Way to carry on the tri torch.

As for me I've been a sloth for two weeks after I broke my first 40 mile week. Huge issues and time commitments with rental properties. Because of this, I've punted the Sept 18th marathon.

The other problem has been no key event on the schedule. Well wish me luck as I lottery bound for the Mt. Mitchell Challenge http://www.blackmountainmarathon.com/ and have applied for the Shut In Ridge Run http://shutinridgerun.com/

I'll know about the challenge in a week and shut-in by the end of the month. If these don't pan out I'll have to find something else.

 

[prosopis]

Just checking in to let you folks who've helped me out the past few months that I didn't lose motivation but it looks like I'm going to need some time off.My knee that I was grousing about got worse after my run. I treated with ice and rest for 2 days, as soon as I ran it got worse. It's now stiff as a board and extremely painful (but not noticeable swelling). I'm going to have to take some time off and reassess. That's 4 months of training and 2 injuries that have stopped me from running altogether. Perhaps I need to lose a few more pounds before trying this again. Thanks to all

Good luck. Take some time off and maybe hit it a little slower? I dont think you should stop altogether. Even if you have to walk for a bit it is better then nothing.

 

[prosopis]

I di a 5 mile recovery run today. Still hot here 108-110 when I headed out. My sansa clip died which sucks. I am gonna end up running with out music The clip was only 2.5 mos old. Is it possible the heat destroyed it? I suspect sweat but dang it should handle that. I will have a new PB mileage for a month tomorrow. Interesting that I am going to hit that mark in the hottest mos I have ever run in consistently.

Probably the sweat.Despite marketing all these devices to runners...they have all done a piss poor job of creating a product that is as useful as it sounds.Amazing what you are doing in that heat.No way I could handle it.Thankfully, the TM at the house gets me through some of the runs that I have had to do in heat like that.Did a little 3 mile recovery and some weights last night.Nothing exciting...though, after a mile of the run I really just wanted to stop. Legs and breathing and everything felt fine...just was not into the run last night.Ended up pushing through and by about 2.25 I was feeling a lot better about the run...almost kept going after the 3rd mile, but thought better as tonight will be a harder workout.

I will find out in a bit( I am waiting for it to "cool down" from 110) but I think my wife fixed it. She went on line and found that if you hold the power button down for 40 seconds it reset. I dont know I will know more after I do my 10 miles today.

 

[gruecd]

12 miles yesterday and 10 today got me (accidentally, I swear) to 304 for the month of August....my first-ever 300-mile month!

 

[Ned]

12 miles yesterday and 10 today got me (accidentally, I swear) to 304 for the month of August....my first-ever 300-mile month!

I swear to god I was just thinking about you (in a non-### way). I was out back shooting my bow and started day dreaming about running. I was wondering if you would eclipse 300 for August.

 

[Ned]

The other problem has been no key event on the schedule. Well wish me luck as I lottery bound for the Mt. Mitchell Challenge http://www.blackmountainmarathon.com/ and have applied for the Shut In Ridge Run http://shutinridgerun.com/

I'll know about the challenge in a week and shut-in by the end of the month. If these don't pan out I'll have to find something else.

The Shut In looks awesome. I love the slogan - "...destroying quads for over 30 years."

 

[jamny]

12 miles yesterday and 10 today got me (accidentally, I swear) to 304 for the month of August....my first-ever 300-mile month!

 

[gruecd]

Gru - sub 3 should be in the crosshairs and worried.

Time will tell. The volume has certainly been there, but I haven't done nearly as much quality as I would've liked. If I can get down close to 1:25x in the half on Saturday, I'll feel a lot better about my chances.

Well wish me luck as I lottery bound for the Mt. Mitchell Challenge http://www.blackmountainmarathon.com/ and have applied for the Shut In Ridge Run http://shutinridgerun.com/

Good luck!!

 

[The Duff Man]

Craphole week personally.

Got my 10k time under 60 min tonight and my 5k approaching 28 min so I've got that going for me. 3.1 yesterday, 6.2 tonight.

 

[sho nuff]

5 tonight with 3 .5mile intervals and 1 .25 after those 3 just to push one hard and see how it felt...actually wore the HRM tonight too to start getting some data points.

1st mile at 10:15...avg HR 142 (never got above 150 in that first mile...some up hill some down in it.

1st .50 at 3:59 (my typical .5 pace for these) avg HR 146 (max 164...looking at the HR line on that, the avg was brought down by a low starting HR)

2nd .50 at 4:02...avg HR 166...max 172

3rd .50 at 3:57...avg HR 170...max 177

.25 at 1:39...avg HR 177...max 183

Then about 1.3 of a cool down to get me to the 5 miles...walked about a quarter before jogging that 1.3 and the HR stayed at an avg of 165 during that last 1.3. It was coming down til I got to the hill back up to the house.

Run felt good...just hot out. 85* with 50ish% humidity when I went out.

 

[scoobygang]

Another 7 miles. Mostly at 8:45 for the first 5 miles or so. 8:00 or so for the last 2. Kept mostly in HR zone 2 but crept up at the end. Looking to get a longer run on the weekend.

Probably stupid, but there is a half-marathon in 5 weeks. I haven't done nearly the miles to do it with a respectable time, but I think I could sneak in under 2 hours.

 

[prosopis]

We had some monsoon storms in the area so I did not do my scheduled 10 miles today. I did run 113.85 for the month of Aug. This is a new personal best for me. With the heat I am real happy with that.

Grue- 300 in a mos

Scooby- Sign up for the half. Under 2 hrs would be great.

Shonuff- looks good

B&B - good luck

Every one in here is doing so well in these hot mos. I really like reading how every one is doing. I read it all and I appreciate it all even if i dont always say so.

* I am reading a book called Unbroken which is about a guys experience in WW2. Before he went off they thought he would break the 4 min mile. It is a very good book and easy read. Amazing what these guys went through. This guy was slated for the olympics and his running is a pretty constant back drop to the story. Some of you may like it.

 

[BassNBrew]

Another 7 miles. Mostly at 8:45 for the first 5 miles or so. 8:00 or so for the last 2. Kept mostly in HR zone 2 but crept up at the end. Looking to get a longer run on the weekend.Probably stupid, but there is a half-marathon in 5 weeks. I haven't done nearly the miles to do it with a respectable time, but I think I could sneak in under 2 hours.

Did my first "Scooby Sprint Interval" workout in a month last night. 3 minute warmup at 10:00/m pace, then alternating minutes at 5:40/m pace and 10:00/m pace. Repeat five times, then do the whole cycle over again twice. I feel stupid calling it a sprint interval considering that elite runners run entire marathons faster than my 1 minute "sprint" pace, but whatever.Feeling it a bit this morning, so tonight is going to be an easy run.

You just did a 30 minute workout at a 7'50" pace. From there you just need to do your warmup pace minus 15 seconds and you have that covered. If you're not already a fast dude, you're a fast dude in the making.

 

[Reginald Cornsilks]

B and B - Wanted to make sure you received the mp3 player I sent? It should have arrived by now.

 

[BassNBrew]

B and B - Wanted to make sure you received the mp3 player I sent? It should have arrived by now.

http://forums.footballguys.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=302486&view=findpost&p=13481210Sorry it didn't work out.Not sure how much my advice is worth after that experience, but I do have some suggestions regarding your knee...1. Look into the knee straps.2. Switch those yoga classes to weight work on the leg extension machine.3. Walk to a running store and get your shoes looked at.4. While you recover, continue to do some fast paced walking.

 

[Ned]

Another 7 miles. Mostly at 8:45 for the first 5 miles or so. 8:00 or so for the last 2. Kept mostly in HR zone 2 but crept up at the end. Looking to get a longer run on the weekend.Probably stupid, but there is a half-marathon in 5 weeks. I haven't done nearly the miles to do it with a respectable time, but I think I could sneak in under 2 hours.

Did my first "Scooby Sprint Interval" workout in a month last night. 3 minute warmup at 10:00/m pace, then alternating minutes at 5:40/m pace and 10:00/m pace. Repeat five times, then do the whole cycle over again twice. I feel stupid calling it a sprint interval considering that elite runners run entire marathons faster than my 1 minute "sprint" pace, but whatever.Feeling it a bit this morning, so tonight is going to be an easy run.

You just did a 30 minute workout at a 7'50" pace. From there you just need to do your warmup pace minus 15 seconds and you have that covered. If you're not already a fast dude, you're a fast dude in the making.

Don't sell yourself short, scoob. You have some serious talent. You'd destroy 2:00.

 

[Ned]

Another super early Thurs AM run. I had a creepy experience at around mile 3. I do my first 5 inside the neighborhood on Thursday's since it's so damn early/dark (4:30). As I loop through I see what I thought was a witch statue in the front of someone's yard. I figured they were decorating for Halloween already, so I thought nothing of it. I got closer and was just about right in front of the house when she suddenly jumped and gasped AHHHH! at me. It scared the living #### out of me. I swear to god she looked like a statue. Turns out she was picking flowers. WTF picks flowers at 5AM?

Anyway... Today was an 11mi MLR and I felt great. I was expecting this run to hurt since that 10/6 seemed to take a lot out of me. As the miles were melting away, I was trying to pinpoint why these runs have been so good lately. I think the key to all this has been the recovery runs. More specifically, slowing the recovery runs down. I've really made an effort to keep the recoveries in the low 140s vs the low 150s and think it's paying off in a big way.

This was one of those runs where I just felt stronger as the miles went on. As much as this plan is intimidating me, I'm loving it all the same. Today's stats - 147 HR @ 9:19 with the last 4 being at 8:58.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Another 7 miles. Mostly at 8:45 for the first 5 miles or so. 8:00 or so for the last 2. Kept mostly in HR zone 2 but crept up at the end. Looking to get a longer run on the weekend.Probably stupid, but there is a half-marathon in 5 weeks. I haven't done nearly the miles to do it with a respectable time, but I think I could sneak in under 2 hours.

Did my first "Scooby Sprint Interval" workout in a month last night. 3 minute warmup at 10:00/m pace, then alternating minutes at 5:40/m pace and 10:00/m pace. Repeat five times, then do the whole cycle over again twice. I feel stupid calling it a sprint interval considering that elite runners run entire marathons faster than my 1 minute "sprint" pace, but whatever.Feeling it a bit this morning, so tonight is going to be an easy run.

You just did a 30 minute workout at a 7'50" pace. From there you just need to do your warmup pace minus 15 seconds and you have that covered. If you're not already a fast dude, you're a fast dude in the making.

Don't sell yourself short, scoob. You have some serious talent. You'd destroy 2:00.

Exactly. You shouldn't have much problem doing a 2:00 half.

 

[gruecd]

WTF picks flowers at 5AM?

What's funny is that she was probably thinking to herself, "WTF runs at 5AM?" Super glad to hear the program is working so well for you. And I agree; the focus on keeping the easy runs easy is what's allowing me to handle the higher mileage this cycle, too. Keep up the good work!

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Another super early Thurs AM run. I had a creepy experience at around mile 3. I do my first 5 inside the neighborhood on Thursday's since it's so damn early/dark (4:30). As I loop through I see what I thought was a witch statue in the front of someone's yard. I figured they were decorating for Halloween already, so I thought nothing of it. I got closer and was just about right in front of the house when she suddenly jumped and gasped AHHHH! at me. It scared the living #### out of me. I swear to god she looked like a statue. Turns out she was picking flowers. WTF picks flowers at 5AM?

Witches. That's who.

 

[Ned]

WTF picks flowers at 5AM?

What's funny is that she was probably thinking to herself, "WTF runs at 5AM?" Super glad to hear the program is working so well for you. And I agree; the focus on keeping the easy runs easy is what's allowing me to handle the higher mileage this cycle, too. Keep up the good work!

That thought crossed my mind as my HR sank back down below 200.

 

[scoobygang]

Another 7 miles. Mostly at 8:45 for the first 5 miles or so. 8:00 or so for the last 2. Kept mostly in HR zone 2 but crept up at the end. Looking to get a longer run on the weekend.Probably stupid, but there is a half-marathon in 5 weeks. I haven't done nearly the miles to do it with a respectable time, but I think I could sneak in under 2 hours.

Did my first "Scooby Sprint Interval" workout in a month last night. 3 minute warmup at 10:00/m pace, then alternating minutes at 5:40/m pace and 10:00/m pace. Repeat five times, then do the whole cycle over again twice. I feel stupid calling it a sprint interval considering that elite runners run entire marathons faster than my 1 minute "sprint" pace, but whatever.Feeling it a bit this morning, so tonight is going to be an easy run.

You just did a 30 minute workout at a 7'50" pace. From there you just need to do your warmup pace minus 15 seconds and you have that covered. If you're not already a fast dude, you're a fast dude in the making.

Don't sell yourself short, scoob. You have some serious talent. You'd destroy 2:00.

My issue is that I haven't run more than seven miles and change at a time in almost a decade (and I was much slower then). I've run one race that was longer than 5K, which was a 10 miler where the last three miles were a nightmare. I know I can probably cruise around at 9:00/m pretty much indefinitely, but I have no idea how my lactate threshold will work with anything approaching a hard effort going over nine miles or so.So, while I think if I decided to actually put in 12 weeks and train, I'd be able to beat 1:45 or so, I don't think I want to try to do that in a first attempt at the distance with only 5 weeks to train. In June, 8:00/m was my 5K pace, it seems a little ambitious to select that as a half-marathon pace in October.

 

[gruecd]

Another super early Thurs AM run. I had a creepy experience at around mile 3. I do my first 5 inside the neighborhood on Thursday's since it's so damn early/dark (4:30). As I loop through I see what I thought was a witch statue in the front of someone's yard. I figured they were decorating for Halloween already, so I thought nothing of it. I got closer and was just about right in front of the house when she suddenly jumped and gasped AHHHH! at me. It scared the living #### out of me. I swear to god she looked like a statue. Turns out she was picking flowers. WTF picks flowers at 5AM?

Witches. That's who.

 

[jamny]

**noob update**

So I'm nearing the end of Week Two for me. So far, so good. I was intending on sticking to a M-W-F schedule in the beginning, with some upper body work on the off days, but I felt so good this morning that I went out anyway. Earlier in the week I did a 60(run) 90(walk) for 20 minutes in the park but it was a bit too easy so I swapped it to a 90-60. That seems more like where I should be right now. So I'll do that with some one mile track runs on other days and maybe a mixture on others. Next week I might try some 100m runs too.

So far I haven't had any issues with my legs. It's my breathing that slows me down. I'm letting that dictate how hard to push myself and maybe I'm being too overcautious but a good cardio workout is what I'm looking for. So even walking is fine with me.

Going to pick up a pair of proper running shoes this weekend so I'm looking forward to seeing the difference with them. The ones I have are kinda clunky cross-trainers.

I'm enjoying following along with this thread. You guys really kick-### out there. I don't know if I'll ever approach those levels but it's impressive to read.

 

[Darrinll40]

Well after yesterday I decided to skip today's run during lunch. By the time I got home from work the run was back on, and this time I was taking it easy.

1- 10:10 40 sec slower, much better

2 - 9:39 14 secs slower felt great

3 - 8:54 41 seconds faster than yesterday. After 2 miles I felt so good that I decided to try and break 9. I actually did it without really going to hard.

Post run was much easier than yesterday, though it was 7 degrees hotter today. The humidity was 20 points less and probably made almost all the difference.

I am ready for the BC no, bring on that ##### and her 11.5 miles(my part, not total. Though I didn't pick it, I was assigned it).

Now I am going to kick back and watch UNLV kick some Badger ###......

Just kidding CG, I am a Big 10 fan all the way.