A Bit Of Speed...In A Downpour

On Monday, I ran a little interval workout in the rain: 5 miles, starting with a 1 mile warmup, followed by 4 miles of 1/2 mile fast, 1/2 mile slow. The fast segments were:

3:35
3:27
3:15
3:14

The final two were tough; the last one being slightly uphill.
This is the last "fast" running I'll do this week, until Saturday's Fowl Fun Run 10k, in Mount Vernon, WA...which will also probably be in the rain. 'Tis that time of year here in the Pacific Northwest.

10 Mile Run

A cold, windy, and, for the last mile, wet run. First time in double-digits since the half marathon on Oct. 11th. Not feeling very peppy today, but gutted it out. Kept it fairly easy (8:23 pace). Unfortunately, I was back to the burning lung/coughing scenario I thought I was through with. Guess I still have "up" days and "down" days. Had a little more tweakage of the rt knee (IT band), which is a little troubling, since I noticed it the other day, too. Going to have to really work on the foam roller and stretching program to keep it at bay. Also may have tied left shoe too tight, since I seem to have a bone bruise on the top of my foot that hurts quite a bit. Hopefully it'll go away soon. Haven't taken an ice bath for over a month, and for some reason, they're not all that appealing at the moment!

I'll be volunteering at the Ron Herzog 50k tomorrow. If you're running it, good luck, and I'll see you there!

Mids

Today I ran a mid-week, mid-distance, mid-pace run. "Mid" enough for ya? 7 miles @ 8:09 pace.
I wanted to run about 1 min/mile slower than 10k race pace. Might have been just a tad quick, but effort-wise, it was right on target. Felt strong toward the end. Also found a solution to my Garmin 305 heart rate monitor issue (where it reads far too high for the first 2-3 miles). Got a tip from a runner on the RunningAhead forum to put aloe gel on the contacts. It worked beautifully!

I think I'm finally at the very end of a long illness. Any coughing I'm now experiencing seems to be for the purpose of loosening junk in my chest, rather than from still being sick. My breathing and lungs felt strong during the run...finally.
Beautiful day. Sun, 58.

Tempo Run & Training Plan

Today's run started with a 1-mile warm-up, followed by a 3.5 mile tempo run in 24:57 (7:07 pace). I started too quickly (6:59), then just tried to hang on. It ended up being a slightly faster pace than my 5k race back in June. I struggled the last mile or so, but I think I may FINALLY be near the end of this prolonged illness.

---

Over the weekend, I tried to design a training program that I can use for the foreseeable future. Roughly, it involves running 5 days/week. Here's how I laid it out:

Monday: Speed (fartlek, intervals, tempo, or hill repeats)
Tuesday: Short run at "recovery" pace (roughly 2 min. per mile slower than 10k race pace)
Wednesday: Medium-long at "easy" pace (roughly 1 min. per mile slower than 10k race pace)
Thursday: off
Friday: Long run (roughly 40-50 sec/mile slower than half marathon race pace)
Saturday: Short run at "recovery" pace
Sunday: off

I'll do strength training (something I've been neglecting) twice per week. On "race weeks", I'll probably drop the long run in favor of the race. This is all subject to change, but I'm going to go with it for the time being. I may even use a close version of it when my "official" marathon training begins. Given how my body has reacted to running so far this year, this plan seems sensible, but I'm open to any comments or suggestions.

Last Two Days

On Friday, I ran an easy 8 miles, which was the longest I've run since my half on 10/11. It felt harder than it should, thanks to the chest/lung stuff I've been fighting. Yesterday, I ran an easy "recovery run". I'm still learning about the purpose of different types of runs. So far this year, I've put in plenty of "easy" runs...but they weren't exactly "recovery" runs. So yesterday, I set out to run at a slower pace than I have all year: 3.5 miles at a 9:19 pace. I was proud of it. That's about a minute per mile slower than my "easy" runs. This type of run, long overdue, will be important in my arsenal as I start marathon training early next year. It's a great way to get in the miles, while helping the legs to actively recover from hard runs (i.e. hills, speed, long). I'm not sure why it took me so long to come around on this. I guess one positive thing about having an illness that seems to hang on forever is that it can force you to back off on the pace. My heart rate was nice and low, too.

Miles this week: 20.5
October mileage: 75.6

Speed Work...Finally...and a Garmin HR Monitor Issue

Got out to the Centennial Trail in Snohomish and ran a total of five miles, which included a 1 mile warmup, followed by 4x .5 mile fast, .5 mile slow. The fast half mile segments were:

3:24
3:23
3:14
3:25

I tried to keep them at about 5k race pace. Legs felt good, but chest & lungs are still a mess.

Okay, this has been irking me since I got my Garmin Forerunner 305 about a month ago. The HR monitor doesn't seem to settle into an "accurate" reading until about 2-3 miles into the run. Even when I'm running very slowly and KNOW that my HR is likely in the 130-135 range, it immediately jumps up to about 165 and holds there until that 2-3 mile mark, when it suddenly drops down to where it should be. I can remember ONE TIME when it seemed to read correctly the entire run. Does this happen to anyone else? If so, is there a way to get it to work properly? It's frustrating and, obviously, not very helpful.
Thanks!

The Hills Are Alive...With the Sound of Couging

Decided I was tired of running the same course six times last week, so I made the short drive over to a local park to run my favorite hilly, 1-mile dirt/gravel loop. I had planned on going 5 miles, but cut it short at 4. My legs feel fine, but my lungs and chest are still a mess. I coughed quite a bit and had that tight, burning sensation most of the time. I hate going to the doctor, but I might find my way there this week. I've basically been sick with something or other for about a month now. I think I'm susceptible to upper respiratory infections. I had one for two months last fall (when I wasn't yet running), for which the doctor put me on antibiotics. Might be time for a little deja vu, unfortunately.
Tomorrow, my plan is to run some half mile intervals within about a 5-mile run. Hopefully I can follow through on that. I'm itching to pick up the pace!

Rest is Best

Alas, the mini running streak came to an end at six days after yesterday's fatigue-filled run. I decided to give in to this war I've been waging against whatever illness I've had. My cough won't go away & I've been feeling weak & tired, so I'll probably be visiting my doctor soon. It's supposed to be rainy all day tomorrow (Monday), so the odds are, I'll be taking tomorrow off as well. I just want to get healthy again! This is getting old!
Congrats to those of you who raced this weekend. I've read a couple of good reports so far!

Day 6

Last night I had a slight fever of 99.9. My normal body temperature is about a degree lower than normal (usually 97.3-97.5), so it was noticeable. I had the chills, followed by the usual sweating. The fever broke sometime during the night. So, did I run today? Did I continue my silly streak, along with my "battle" against this illness? Why, yes I did! And I felt pretty sluggish and tired, too, even while only running 3.5 miles at an easy 8:43 pace. I'm not sure if I'm trying to channel my inner Nietzsche, but I may continue for a 7th day tomorrow, even with this cruddy cough...as long as the fever doesn't return.

Another Decent Run (While Sick)

Ran another 4.5-miler today. I haven't pushed the pace since my half marathon (coming up on 2 wks ago) and my legs were itching to let loose a bit, so I threw in a little surge during mile 2 (6:52). It felt awesome! I also pushed the pace up a 1/4 mile hill at about mile 4. What strikes me as odd is that I've been sick all week, but my runs are going fairly well. I've never been a "streak" runner (I once ran 16 days straight back in 1985), but this was my 5th day in a row and I felt stronger than in my earlier runs this week. I plan on keeping it up, although I'll probably continue to keep the pace and distance down until I get over this crud.