12 x 1/4 mile repeats

Speed work, running 12 x 1/4 mile repeats. Warmed up with a mile, then stretched, then started into the repeats with 2 minute walking recoveries. Wasn't too bad. First mile was in 9:46, then I had repeats at 7:35 pace, 7:17, 7:26, 7:17, 7:12, 7:16, 7:20, 6:59, 7:22, 7:25, 7:30 (up the overpass hill) and 7:25. I then cooled down with a 9:37 mile. Total of 6.8 miles in 1:07:24, average pace of 9:55, average heart rate of 153.

16 Mile Long Run

16 miles in the afternoon up at Creve Coeur lake. Legs were a little tired after the previous day run, and it was windy out. Ran figure eights around the meadows loop, adding a little bit up to the sailboat cove and back as well. Consistent run, after the first mile at 10:27, all other mies were between 10:01 and 10:13. Took a walk break every mile. Overall time of 2:41:52, average pace of 10:07, average heart rate of 154. Was beat by the end, but was able to maintain the pace.

Fenton City Park 7 Mile Race

7 mile race at the Fenton City Park, 5 laps around the 1.4 mile bike/running path. Rain, rain and more rain. Buckets and buckets. I was going to use this as a tempo run, so pushed it decently the whole way. With the rain I didn't feel thirsty so I didn't even stop for a drink. 6.97 miles in 1:01:45, average pace of 8:51, splits of 8:55, 8:51, 8:45, 8:56, 8:55, 8:52 and a 8:45 pace for the final .97 miles. Felt pretty good, small turnout because of the weather, probably 35 people or so. Results can be found here (pdf). I got 4th in my age division - if I had been 3rd I would have got a medal, hrmph. Average heart rate of 166, overall a good run.

Nice Easy 5 Miler

Took it easy this morning, but my pace was pretty good anyway. 5 miles in 51:05, average page of 10:13, average heart rate of 148. Very comfortable. Took 1 minute walk breaks every mile except the last one. Splits of 10:22, 10:15, 10:10, 10:17 and 9:58. Nice out, upper 40s, light breeze, 2 deer crossed the trail in front of me while running, spring is here!

8 x 1/2 Mile Repeats

Mixing things up a bit, doing speed work this morning, and then the 7 mile 'race' this weekend will be my tempo run. Ran while Judy was doing 5 miles, so had time for 8 x 1/2 mile repeats. Was a bit tired from yesterday's run, but made it through. Warm up mile at 10:17, then repeats at 8:01 pace, 7:58, 7:56, 7:56, 7:47, 7:54, 8:00 and 7:58. Finished with a cool down mile of 9:33. 7.27 mile (same as last 8 x1/2 mile repeats), 1:09:37, average pace of 9:34, average heart rate of 155. Doing an easy 5 miles tomorrow.

Record 5 Mile Run

Was tired this morning, so figured I'd run in the evening. Front was coming in so had to try to squeeze in the run, decided to do a fast 5 mile run. 5 miles in 42:36, 8:31 average pace, 169 average heart rate. Splits of 8:39, 8:12, 8:24, 8:48 and 8:32. Took a small walk break shortly after the 3 mile mark, then another short break during the final mile when my stomach was feeling a bit iffy. Was pretty windy out, and the final mile I was with a pretty good rain coming down. Overall a good run, perhaps some day I can get down to 8:00 pace for a 5 mile run, record 5 mile run by nearly 2 mintues. The 3.1 mile time was just over 26 minutes, and the 4 mile split was 34:04. The 4 mile split was a record for 4 miles, so moving pretty good.

10 x 1/4 Mile Repeats

Felt good, so figured I'd get in a speed work run. 10 x 1/4 mile with 1 mile warm up  and 1 mile cool down. Warm up mile at 9:47, then repeats at 7:27 pace, 7:23, 7:19, 7:27, 7:26, 7:30, 7:22, 7:20, 7:28 and 7:17. Cool down mile of 9:33. 9th repeat was up the overpass hill, was the toughest one. Overall 6.02 miles in 59:51 (not counting 2 minute stretching), average pace of 9:56, average heart rate of 159. Felt good getting out there.

10 Mile St Charles Run

Step back long run, going 10 miles on the old St Charles course, making it all the out to the finish. Ran at a decent pace, runnign most of the time with Bob, Al, Vicky and Amanda. Took a few walk breaks, but they weren’t every mile, somewhat spread out. 1:38:15 total time, 9:49 average pace, splits of 9:36, 9:39, 9:29, 10:12, 9:40, 10:39, 9:42, 10:07, 9:24 and 9:42. Average heart rate of 160. Felt like an easy run.

9 Mile Tempo Run

Tempo run, didn't quite have time to do 10 miles, but worked in 9, 7 at marathon pace. Was a bit tired and my legs were tired, so ran in the 9:11 to 9:26 range rather than closer to 9 flat that I've been doing. Splits of 10:23 for the warm up mile, then 9:15, 9:13, 9:25, 9:26, 9:13, 9:11, 9:18 and finishing with a 9:22 'cool down' mile. Overall pace was 9:25, average heart rate was a surprisingly low 154, perhaps because I was tired, not sure. Plan on speed work tomorrow morning, we'll see how that goes.

Another Easy 5 Miler

Another easy day of running. Legs were tired but overall went all right. Warm up mile of 11:00 then splits of 10:39, 10:31, 10:35 and 10:34. A little slower than yesterday, average heart rate was 148. Taking tomorrow off, will run Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Easy 5 Miles

With going on call for work, I figured I better get in a run today so I can skip a day later in the week. 5 easy miles up at the lake, running south, then back north and out on the spur and back. Splits of 11:05, 10:21, 10:23, 10:23 and 10:24, average pace of 10:31, average heart rate of 149, with splits of 149, 149, 149, 149 and 150, so very consistent run. Legs were tired, but not really sore. Planning on running tomorrow morning before work, after that, we'll see what the week holds.

16 Mile Long Run

Long runs are getting longer, 16 miles. Bob from the running club was wanting to get a 10 mile run in, so he met us out at Creve Coeur lake and ran the first 10 of my run with me. I went a little faster than I might have solo, but it felt pretty good, so no problem. At the 10 mile point I took a quick break at the car and refilled my water bottles and had some shot blocks, but I didn't stop the garmin. 9:45 pace for the first 10 miles, when I got running again my pace was 9:54, which is where it remained for the last few miles. Total time of 2:38:36, average pace of 9:54, splits of 9:46, 9:36, 9:32, 9:42, 10:03 (west on bridge uphill), 9:33, 9:50, 9:59, 9:34, 9:47, 11:44 (water refill and shot block break), 9:46, 9:56, 9:47, 9:54 and 9:59. Took walk breaks every mile, average heart rate was 159 for the run. About 40F at the start, in the 60s at the end. Was good running with Bob, made the time pass by pretty quickly. I was tired at the end, but not completely dead, so I didn't run too fast.

St Patrick's Day Parade Run

St Patrick's Day Parade run downtown St Louis. Rand with Bob from the running club, start was a lot of weaving back and forth around people, but then things cleared up. 5 miles in 45:08, 5.03 miles according to the Garmin, 8:58 pace, splits of 10:01, 8:52, 8:39, 9:22 and 8:00, with 0:11 for the last bit. Garmin flaked out a bit near the end of mile 4, so the last 2 miles were probably more like 8:52 and 8:30 or something. Fun run, felt pretty good. Bob said I pushed him the whole way even though I was behind him the whole time, heh.

8 x 1/2 Mile Repeats

Speed work, 8 x 1/2 mile repeats, again following Bart Yasso's recommendation for target time. Warmed up for a mile at 10:05, then stretched for about 2 minutes, then light jog for 2 minutes at 9:32 pace, then 8 repeats with 2 minute walking, mile pace times of 8:00, 7:55, 7:59, 8:00, 7:58, 7:57, 8:00 and 7:58. I then had a cool down mile at a 9:35 pace. Overall pace for the 7.27 miles not counting stretching time was 9:34. Average heart rate was 158, with the repeats all in the 160s. Worn out by the end, even my arms are tired.

8 Mile Tempo Run

8 mile run in the afternoon, 1 mile warm up, 6 mile tempo run, then 1 mile cool down. Ran out on the spur, but there was a head wind, so I ended up running back and forth quite a bit to avoid running into the wind for too long. Splits of 9:46, 9:03, 9:02, 8:50, 9:03, 8:59, 8:53 and 9:26. Total time of 1:13:07, average pace of 9:08 and average heart rate of 164. Record 8 mile run, but wasn't really going for that.

5 Miler

5 easy miles up at the lake, running south then back and out on the spur. 49:50 total time, 9:58 average pace, 155 average heart rate, splits of 10:17, 9:57, 9:57, 9:56 and 9:42, was nice out, was able to run in shorts.

14 Miles In The Wind

14 miles up at the lake, 70F out, 30+mph winds. Ran a figure 8 around the meadows loop 3 times, adding in an out and back on the spur each loop to get a bit more distance. Decent run, was pretty tired by the end. 2:24:53 total time, 10:20 pace, 159 average heart rate. Splits of 10:31, 9:50, 10:13, 10:26, 10:19, 10:05, 10:19, 10:15, 11:20 (shot blok mile), 10:13, 10:14, 10:17, 10:21 and 10:23. My leg muscles were not really sore when I was done, but my legs were very tired all over - I think running in the wind mixed up my stride quite a bit. Was a tough run, but overall felt pretty good, the last 2 miles it was more work to maintain my pace, but I was able to do it.

6 Mile Run in St Charles

6 miles with the FFRC on the old St Charles Course, heading out 3 miles then back. Took a few 1 minute walk breaks, legs were tired so I didn't push it too much. 59:08 total time, 9:51 average pace, splits of 9:56, 9:51, 9:29, 10:03, 9:50 and 9:57, average heart rate of 159. Was tired afterwards, took a nap after getting home and showering.

Speed Work, 8 x Quarter Mile

8 x 1/4 mile repeats, with 1 mile warm up and cool down, and 2 minute recovery walks between the quarter miles. Was shooting for 7:30 pace for the repeats, was able to hit them. I ran most of the repeats with the wind, the final one was up the overpass hill, but the rest were flat. 9:56 for the first mile, then 1/4 mile repeat pace of 7:29, 7:16, 7:04, 7:08, 7:08, 7:08, 6:57 and 7:16, then a cool down mile at 9:27. Average heart rate of 159. the repeats were in the 160s, max heart rate was 178 during the final repeat. Overall a good run. Was abut 50F out with a 10MPH or so south wind, cool enough I still wore running pants, but spring is getting near.

7 Mile Pace Run

7 miles up at the lake, going out on the spur and back. Warm up mile, then 5 miles at pace, then a mile cool down. Overall pace of 9:26, average heart rate of 164. Splits of 10:44, 9:02, 9:03, 9:05, 9:04, 9:03 and 9:59. Was getting tired near the end of the 5 faster miles, but was able to hold the pace. Cool out, right about freezing with a south wind, suppose to be warmer tomorrow, which will be nice.

5 Mile Run

5 miles up at the lake, going out on the spur and back. Took it fairly easy, 50:34 overall time, 10:06 average pace, 157 average heart rate, splits of 10:28, 10:08, 10:04, 10:14 and 9:38.

12 Mile Afternoon Run

12 miles in the afternoon, starting at the restaurant and going out on the spur, then southwest on the Katy Trail, then returning. I took it somewhat easy, and there was a good wind coming from the north, so mostly headwind the first half, tailwind second half. Splits of 10:42, 10:32, 10:34, 10:48, 10:21, 10:30, 10:38, 11:25, 9:57, 10:18, 10:09 and 9:46. Overall pace was 10:28, average heart rate of 158. I was pretty worn out by the end, even though it was 'only' 12 miles. We'll see how things go as I ramp up the mileage.