Yeah, that wasn't easy

12 miles on tired legs.  ugh.  I'd still rather do that than put up Christmas lights, so I've got that going for me.  I was very thankful for a nice day (51 degrees F, sunny, 11 mph wind) although the wind coming from the south was not a joy to run into.

Monday:
Tempo run!

Schedule

6 @ 9:24

Picking the not easier

Which is easier: Running 12 miles today and eight tomorrow or running eight miles today and 12 tomorrow?  I would put forth the idea that the former would be easier than the latter.  So, even though I was tempted to run the 12 today on fresh legs, I resisted and only ran eight.

See?  Procrastination!  Sometimes it's a good thing!

Tomorrow:

Schedule

12 @ 10:27

Oh we're half way there

22 degrees F and sunny for this interval run.  Brrrr!  I wore my running tights (with underwear this time due to them causing chafing last Saturday), my thickest two long sleeve shirts, gloves, balaclava, ear warmer, thick running socks, and shorts over the tights.

I was dressed...appropriately.  I didn't get too cold, but I can't really say I was comfortable.  It wasn't "just right", but it was good enough.  I'm not really sure what I would wear different; maybe add a loose fitting long sleeve shirt because the second long sleeve shirt I wore was a bit tight on the arms with the underarmor type shirt under it.  shrug.

Tomorrow: Supposed to be 8 miles, but I'm pushing it to
Friday:

Schedule

8 @ 10:27

Title goes here

Run graphic goes here.

Text goes here.

Tomorrow's schedule goes here:

Schedule	2 @ 10:27
	4 X 1/2
	in 3:58
	1 @ 10:27

Week 3

It was a bit chilly out today (34 degrees F), so I wore two long sleeve shirts, gloves, and ear warmers.  And shorts.  I think if I had to do 10 miles, I might have gotten a little cold, but as it was, I finished the run before the cold finished me.

On another note, I had 4 undocumented miles last week.  Brandy started running, and as an encouragement to her, I ran/walked with her.  We did one mile on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.  That Saturday one was before I ran 11; all the others were after my run for that day.

I'll probably continue to occasionally run with her while she is still in the low mileage phase, but I think I'll have to skip it when she hits 10 mile runs...oh, and she is training for the Santa Hustle 5K that is run the same day as my Santa Hustle Half Marathon.

Tomorrow:

Schedule

6 @ 9:51

Eleven cold miles

27 degrees F with a 17 mph wind = wind chill of 14 degrees F.  Cold...No wonder I had to wear my balaclava, ear warmer, gloves, three long sleeve shirts and my running tights.  Brrrrrrr!

Other than that, it was a nice run.

Monday:

Schedule

8 @ 10:04

Didn't I just do this last Saturday?

Why yes, I did!  But I did it 18 seconds faster today!  See, that speed work paid off!

It was overcast, a bit rainy, and cool, so I over dressed with an underarmour shirt, long sleeve shirt, gloves and ear warmer.  After three miles, I had to stop and drop off all of the above except the long sleeve shirt.  I also added a baseball cap.

Tomorrow: OFF!
Saturday:

Schedule

11 @ 10:27

Easy 6

Not a lot to this run; it's kind of funny to think of this run as an easy six miler, but it was/is.

Tomorrow:

Schedule

10 @ 10:27

Always double check your schedule

Or you will do what I did and run extra!  I thought I had a one mile cooldown to do at the end of this run, but if you check what I posted yesterday, I didn't.

Of course, since I ran it, I had to add it to the schedule, and now it will live on in infamy as I copy and paste this to future schedule.  Thanks a lot for not checking, ya big dummy.  Ok, that isn't quite true as I've already made my schedule out until mid February, but me being me, I'll go ahead and revise it to add this mile and therefore complete the first part of the paragraph.

Yeah, it's not easy being me, especially when I screw up. 

Tomorrow:

Schedule

6 @ 10:27

Week 2...Start!

There was a pretty stiff wind out of the west today; add that to 50 degrees F, and you get a significant wind chill factor.  After two miles, I had to come back in to swap my baseball cap for my ear warmer.  I didn't need gloves, but I was glad I wore a long sleeve shirt.

Tomorrow:

Schedule	2 @ 10:27
	1 @ 8:04
	1 @ 10:27
	2 X 1/4
	in 1:55
400 recovery after each interval

Week 1 in the books

I took a bit to warm up, but after about 4 miles, I finally got over blahs.  Of course, the Indian food that I ate just two hours prior to this run did not help by constantly reminding me (burp) that I ate it.  Heartburn City, population: me.

That's 36 miles for the week, and I feel really good about this new pace.

Monday:

Schedule

8 @ 10:27

Half and half...and half

Half mile intervals, as promised on Tuesday.  Sunny and 52 degrees F outside demanded that I wear a short sleeve shirt, so I did.  I was a bit cool at the beginning, but warmed up soon enough.

So, how about those intervals?  I can definitely feel like I'm much faster than before.  Yes, I was huffing and puffing at the end, but I felt like I maintained the speed better.

Saturday:

Schedule

10 @ 10:27

Third run, same as the first

This run was a full 11 seconds/mile faster than I was supposed to go, so I'm not doing so good at keeping my new pace.  But, on the flip side, I felt great during this run, even after those splendid quarters that I tossed at you all yesterday.  I'll keep the new pace where it is (10:27), but I won't beat myself up if I happen to do better while feeling great.

If I start to wear down or tire out, I'll definitely look at maintaining a more disciplined approach to my base pace.

A side note, if you happen to be on Garmin Connect, hit me up with a friend request to rysteranch, so you can see the breakdown of all my runs.

Tomorrow: OFF
Thursday:

Schedule	2 @ 10:27
	3 X 1/2
	in 3:58
	1 @ 10:27
800 recovery after each interval

Here's a quarter

or four.  See that 1:49?  Yeah, bookin' it on that one.

I was really happy with the pace of this run; I actually feel like I'm running instead of just jogging along.  Yay.  The weather was pretty nice too: 50 degrees, overcast with scattered raindrops.  It's supposed to drop into the thirties for a high sometime this week.  YES!

Tomorrow:

Schedule

7 @ 10:27

Early start to week 1

I have to take Wed off, so I started the schedule one day early to accommodate for it.  Who says I'm not flexible!  Anyways, this was a great run!  It was in the mid 40's and sunny.  I didn't have any aches or pains and the miles just seemed to float on by.  It was a comfortable pace too!

Tomorrow:

Schedule	2 @ 10:27
	4 X 1/4
	in 1:55
	2 @ 10:27
400 recovery after each interval

Recovery Week, run number 2

Again, no pace alarms, but I did glance at the watch occasionally to see how fast I was going, and I also looked at my time for each mile.

Next week starts the five week training schedule all over again with new paces.  Those paces will range from a base pace of 10:27 to a race pace of 9:24 and a quarter mile pace of 7:36.  Whew!

Monday:

Schedule

7 @ 10:27

Recovery week

A nice little run, this one.  I turned off my pace alarms and did not look at my watch the whole run.  If I would have looked, I'm sure I would have sped up that first mile.  As it was, I sped up at the end so I could be under 29 minutes...

Friday: 5 @ moderate pace

Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon PR*

*official time was 2:14:28 due to two bathroom breaks.

I ended up running this race with one of my co-workers's 14 year old son.  He was faster than me, but had somewhat of a weak bladder.  We ended up taking bathroom breaks at 3 and 8 miles; I needed the first one, but not the second.

At mile nine, my copilot decided to speed up and ended up with a 2:12 finish.  I did buckle down and speed up for mile 13, as you can see.  I also ran farther than I had to because I like to take the outside of turns so I keep up my pace instead of slowing down for the tangent.

I felt really good about this race.  I didn't have any mechanical issue like cramps, pain, or the sort.  I dressed appropriate for the weather with a long sleeve shirt, baseball cap, and gloves.  I timed my gels right with one at the start and one at 6.5 miles.  I thought I could maintain a 9:50 pace and set my watch for that.

Things I can do better next time would include managing my bladder so I don't have to stop during the race.  I plan on getting in the potty line about 20 minutes before the race so hopefully I'll time getting my bladder empty with the start of the race.

I also thought I went out a tad fast, but after further review, my second half (adding half of mile seven to the first half and half to the second half and ignoring the .21 at the end) was 27 seconds quicker than the first half.  Overall,  a good split.

So...PR!  I'm claiming it even though I had two rest breaks; I will need to back it up Dec 15th in the Santa Hustle Half marathon.  My training schedule is tailored around a 9:24 pace.  Hopefully I won't have to take any bathroom breaks this time!

Wednesday: 3 miles moderate pace.