29 min on the 29th leap mileage to 100 for Feb.

I needed 3.5 miles to put my total at 100 miles for February. I also needed a recovery run from a tough workout yesterday. I usually don't run on Friday but today is leap day and how often do you get to run on leap day?

So today 2/29/08 I ran for 29 minutes and got my 3.5 miles in to put my total mileage for the month up to 100! February was a tough month that included only 4 miles in the first 9 days due to illness. I missed 2 days of work but was able to recover and get in a few good workouts including an 19 miler and a 13.2 mile time trial in 1:32. My tempo runs have been getting faster and I am looking forward to some great workouts in March.

March inlcudes 5 full weekends so the monthly mileage should be high. This coming month should be the toughest, hardest and fastest month of my training for Boston. March also includes birthdays for my father, son, sister, wife & sister-in-law, mother-in-law, and my wedding anniversary. Should be a busy month.

9 mile Thursday (1:03:46) Tempo Run

Clay took me on a great run today from his house up to the aqueduct and back. The first 2.5 miles were up hill and progressively steeper. Then a few miles flat on the aqueduct, and downhill back home.

I picked up the pace once I reached the aqueduct and kept the rest of my miles under 7 minutes (some way under). Mile splits were 8:14, 8:07, 8:04, 6:58, 6:49, 6:18, 6:20, 6:37, 6:13. Average pace was 7:05 which was great considering the hills we climbed at the begining. Total for last 6 miles was 39:15 and last 3 miles was 19:10. See Clay's blog for his entry for today.

We have had great running weather this week. I hope it lasts through the weekend.

60 minute recovery run

I was recovering today from two hard workouts this weekend. I started slow and built up into a comfortable pace. Ran 7.5 miles in 60 minutes (avg 8:00 pace per mile). I need more runs over an hour.

9 miles with wind, rain, and hills (1:07:57)

I wanted to get some better hill work in so I drove to Quartz hill in the morning. It had been raining since last night and was coming in from the side due to high winds. I parked at 50th and M, ran up 50th to N, then up N to 70th. I doubled back up 60th for another hill and went down and up 55th from M-8 for another .5 mile hill. Overall 4 miles of the 9 were good hills with 2 of them almost directly into the wind.

The goal of the run was to push the hills and recover on the downhill. You can tell by my splits where the hills were, 8:37, 8:20, 7:58, 7:05, 7:20, 8:03, 6:59, 7:27, 6:02. (Average pace 7:33). The last mile was slightly downhill and flat with whatever I had left.

I cut my run short as I had planned to go for 12 miles but the weather was pretty bad and I can't afford to get sick again.

Overall I was pleased with my weekend runs. I not really sore at all. I will do my fast finish long run next weekend.

2 minute intervals for 40 minutes.

I probably missed my opportunity to do a longer run this weekend because I slept in until 7am this morning as both my boys slept great last night. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain all morning with heavy winds.

I only had an hour to run so I went for the closest hills again and ran a 10 minute warm up followed by 2 minute interval workout of 2 min at 5k pace followed by 2 min comfortable (around 7:30 to 8:00). I repeated that for 40 minutes so I ended up running a total of 20 minutes at sub six minute pace. That included a few hills in the middle of the run. I ended with a 10 minute cool down with my dog Emma.

Total mileage was 8 miles with the first 7 in approximately 50 minutes. Mile splits were 7:46, 7:13, 7:11, 6:21, 6:47, 6:50, 6:32. The splits are deceiving as it depended on how many intervals at 5k pace were included in that mile.

I have been doing more research on the Boston Marathon and found a you tube video of the race course. There is A LOT of downhill and it will be tough to hold back the first half of the race.

Even if it is raining I think I will go to Quartz hill tomorrow to get some hill training in.

Watch the entire Boston Marathon course here in 16 minutes 30 seconds.

9 mile Thursday (1:02:58)

9 mile Thursday returns this week. There was a pretty good cross wind for most of the run. I felt really good this morning and held a sub 7 minute pace for the last 4 miles. I felt like I could have held on to that pace for another few miles. I was probably close to under 20 minutes for the last 5k. This is the kind of pacing that I want to sustain for the marathon. I averaged exactly 7:00 per mile pace.

My split times were 7:55, 7:34, 7:23, 7:01, 7:07, 6:47, 6:35, 6:18, 6:13. I was very pleased with the time and how I felt afterward. I need to get a battery for my heart rate monitor because I would love to know how hard I was working today.

The icing on the cake today was that Clay and I were able to attend the world premiere of the movie/documentary Ultramarathon Man in LA this evening. This documented the Endurance 50 that Dean Karnazes ran in 2005. I was fortunate to have run the 20th marathon (Valley of Fire Marathon) of his 50 marathons as he came through Nevada. I think I may have made the movie, although it was in a quick running montage. It was very inspirational. Dean and JB Benna, the movie director, did a Q & A after the movie. We even saw Chris Carmichael there for the screening of the movie.

30 min recovery / fartlek run

I have a loop around the neighborhood that Garmin says is 1.15 miles. I did 3 laps plus a little extra to make an even 4 miles in 30 min. The first lap was a slow warm up then I increased my pace on the long straight-aways in a fartlek type format of run how you feel with varying speeds. By the end I was able to get up on my toes and sprint a few.

I have recovered very well from my long run on Sunday. I plan on getting back to 9 mile Thursday with a few miles at marathon goal pace.

US Cross Country Championships was this weekend in SD. Click here for the results.

19 miles on the aqueduct (2:25:24)

My goal today was to run for about 2.5 hours. I figured I could sustain a pace of about 7:45 for that amount of time. I ran along the aqueduct on the dirt side to get off the road, and it felt great to stay off the pavement.

For those of you that don't know what the "aqueduct" is, it is a water filled canal that runs for hundreds of miles and is only about 6-7 miles from my house. There is an asphalt trail on one side and dirt on the other. I opted to run on the dirt side the entire time today, and was glad I did.

I won't bore you with 19 mile splits but highlight the half marathon split was (1:40:30) and I hit 18 miles in 2:18:00. I was very consistent with my mile splits, mostly between 7:25 to 7:40, with a few slower miles here and there but only the first mile was over 8:00. My average pace over all was 7:39.

Coach McMillan, out of Flagstaff, AZ has a great article on long runs. Today I decided to do a long steady distance run and try and get through the run without any carbs. I parked my car at 60th and the aqueduct and used that as a home base. I ran out for 4 miles, then back to the car for water, then out for another 4 miles in the opposite direction, then back for water, then out for 1.5 miles, and back to the car for water. It worked out well but I should have gone back to the car one other time as I was getting a little dehydrated.

Overall, I felt good but I don't think I could have gone much farther. I will try and get in probably 2-3 more long runs of at least 18 miles before the big day. My next long run will be a "fast finish" long run.

Saturday hill repeats

A 2.5 mile warm up to my hill at the end of 45th St. Then 3 x .5mile hills all around 3:25 to 3:30 with 2-2.5 minutes recovery to the bottom. Finished with the 2.5 miles back home.

Less rest in between the hill repeats and still able to maintain 3:30s up the hill. My calves were very tight the whole run. It is hard on the calves to jump out of bed and go run hills.

Total mileage for today was about 7 miles. I had some trouble getting a signal with the Garmin for some reason today. It's an old model.

See this link to Clark's Blog for the picture and write up on the free running clinic that Clay and I put on last weekend. We had a great turnout and plan on leading another one in a few months.

Thanks goes out to Wes, who I've never met before, for the link to runningwarehouse.com, its a great site for shoes and other apparel. Check it out.

Finally, another fun race predictor calculator from Jeff Galloway. Just enter a recent mile time trial and it will predict times for 5k, 10k, 1/2 marathon, and marathon distances.

I took my son Matt to Joe Walker Middle School in the afternoon for a photo shoot on the track. Then we played at Lane Park next door. He is wearing his USC track suit for his grandpa Crane. Here is some pictures.

Windy Wednesday

It is supposed to be windy for the next two days. Not just a little windy, I'm talking 30+ mph! I will set my alarm for 6am but if it is that bad I will roll back over in bed. Even I'm not that hard core.

Some interesting articles to check out.
Dean Karnazes had an interesting post on his blog today about the worlds running population.

Ever wonder what America's worst foods are? This site that lists the calories and fat grams for some of the absolute worst restaurant and fast foods.

Want to compare nutrition facts of french fries and more at fast food restaurants and find the healthiest option, if there is such a thing. Check this site out!

Interval Training 7 miles (50 minutes)

The weather has been beautiful here, no wind, with the highs around 70. I try and start my runs around 6am and the temp has been in the mid to high 30s which feels great once you get warmed up.

I did a 10 minute warm-up and then eased into my intervals today. The format was 4 minutes at 5k pace then 2 minutes easy. I repeated that for 5 times and then did one last 2 minute interval with all I had left. I cooled down for the last 8 minutes.

The workout totaled 7 miles and I ended at exactly 50 min, which is avg 7:08/mile. The pace on the intervals was around 6min/mile, some a little faster, some a little slower, but not by much. I felt pretty good and was tired by the end.

If anyone is looking for some new running shoes, some shoe sites have some great deals in their clearance section as the new models are coming out soon. Check 'em out!!
www.roadrunnersports.com
www.eastbay.com
www.finishline.com

Finally, looking for a new treadmill? If you have $75k lying around this new model, the G-trainer, might be fun. Run with near zero-gravity. The designed it with rehabbing athletes in mind.

Half Marathon 1:32:44

Today was a little test to see where I was at and if I had lost anything after being sick. I learned that I am progressing, but I still have a lot of work to do as it was not as easy as I would like it to be.

I ran a half marathon course that is overall uphill for the first half and downhill and flat for the second half. I ran my first mile in 7:30 and decided that I would go for a sub 1:35. My mile splits were 7:30, 7:09, 7:20, 7:22, 7:23, 7:17, 7:04, 6 :54, 6:51, 6:45, 6:57, 6:49, 6:39. You can definitely see a first half and second half there. I was pleased with the evenness of the splits.

I pushed close to my limits on this one and have some mild lateral right foot pain afterward. It is good to know that my speed is improving, but I need the endurance to sustain that pace for twice as long. 26 miles is no joke.

Average pace was 7:05. I should be able to run a 1:30 fairly easily as I will have to repeat that performace to run a sub 3 hour marathon. Also, Boston has a fairly hilly second half so negative splits is unlikely.

I am looking forward to getting back into my 4 day per week running routine and strength training programs that have slipped last week. If I feel good I may do some interval work on Tuesday.

Clay and I had our free running clinic yesterday which was a success. We had 28 people show up and although our video did not work the demonstrations were probably more effective.

Back and running!

I have recovered from the nasty virus I had over the weekend. I actually ended up missing two days of work as well. I can't remember the last time I had a fever for 4 days. I missed a full week of training.

I ran 4 miles today, my first miles in February. It was a beautiful day and just couldn't pass it up.

Illness keeps Karl off the roads

I have been sick for the last 3 days with a fever and cough. I missed the 18 mile run I had planned with Clay this weekend. This was a pretty nasty bug. Better now than in April I guess. It is raining pretty hard right now. We have had a lot of rain over the last month. I will ease back into my training once the fever is gone.