My Last Hawaiian Run

I made it out again this morning about 5:30 am. It was wonderful - about 70 degrees and clear. I ran 3 one mile repeats at about the pace I was supposed to - 9:30 ish. I was supposed to be doing 9:50 but I have a hard time pinpointing my pace. Jeff G. suggested 3/1 and I didn't like it as much as the 3/30 sec. as I would up only doing two full 3 minute stints in each repeat. I walk a quarter mile between repeats which breaks up that third minute group. Will talk to him about that as I have more mile repeats in the coming month.

Hawaii is wonderful - love running in the clean air. The birds are great at 5:30 am. Some remind me of India. Just a great place to be a runner.

Hawaii

At 6:00 am it is in the 70's. Beautiful. Of course, it is humid too. Still beautiful. I had a great run yesterday and an okay one today. We are in the midst of a huge resort - that takes some adjusting too - but it does provide a two mile plus road with relatively little traffic at 6:00 for running.
Since we are on the Big Island, there is lava rock everywhere and, unless you are doing the Ironman, you want to finish up running before that rock radiates heat back at you. I had the thrill of watching the Ironman one year and it is incredibly hot - I am in awe of those that compete!

Back to my run - it went well. I am now in the phase of building up mile repeats at marathon pace when I am not doing long runs. Since I am only doing 3 or 4 at the moment, I tend to be faster than marathon pace, but I expect that to change as the repititions increase.

Next week I am back in upstate New York where thunderstorms will be my main concern. I am just going to enjoy this week of heat and humidity.

Short fun run

This morning was supposed to be a quick 20 minute easy run. Decided to stick to the 20 minutes since I am fitting it in between two harder workouts - working around my travel schedule still this week. I decided to experiment with 3 minute run and 30 second walk as Jeff G. would like me to run my mile repeats using that rubric next week. I was pleased that I came in at 2 miles in the 20 minutes. Since my pace for the marathon needs to be 10:18 approximately, it is doable for me to run a marathon pace while incorporating that walking. I figure that if I practice that routine enough, I could manage to drum it into my body for the marathon.

17 Miles

Monday I did my 17 mile run. I really lucked out. The forecast was for rain all day. But, I headed over near the Iron Butterfly and decided to use that as a base - so I could head inside if necessary. However, it got brighter and brighter out. I ran a 9 mile circuit down to Mendon and then did another circuit weaving in and around Fishers. I really appreciated getting to run outside.

There was traffic on the Mendon circuit but a good deal of the Fishers part was near ponds and forests. The birds and the frogs were singing. Quite a difference from my Manhattan run on Saturday! Plenty of greenery in Central Park but the birds are a little harder to hear and frogs are few and far between.

Central Park

Today I am in NYC and the forecast is for 90 degrees. So, I was out at 6:30 am. I did an easy half hour as I am allowing a tight hamstring to loosen up. I headed for Central Park not sure exactly where I would run. It was filled with runners and I decided to do a loop inside the park. I was having so much fun I finally headed back out to the street as I was concerned I would run too long. Monday I have a 17 miler so I didn't want to do too much.
The hamstring/peraformis is definitely tight. Looking forward to seeing the fellow who does muscle release work on runner this week. I am spending at least 15 minutes working on the various muscles each morning and I definitely feel the muscles responding. I would rather not have the aggravation of the tight muscles but I am dealing with it acceptably. Hope it works itself out soon.

Bouncing Back

Amazing what a few days of stretching will do. I ran this morning and my leg felt fine. I was able to do the short speed workout that Jeff G. suggested. I was just glad to have the confirmation that this was not going to be a run-stopping injury. For the next few days I am traveling and catching runs along the way as I can. When I return, I have a 17 miler next Monday.

A Hot Mile

At 5:30 am it was 70 degrees. That is hot. I was scheduled to run one of Galloway's Miracle Miles so I was at the track by 6am. I did the warm up and, so nice, the sun came out from behind a cloud just as I started by first quarter. I haven't done any track work in a few weeks and I thought the heat would slow me down so I started out at what I hoped would be a 2:00 for the first quarter. Instead it was something like 1:45. So much for starting out slow. I reined in a little and continued along. Got a bit confused on what my start line was so I lost track of the half but did walk 7 seconds as recommended. On the third quarter I debated stopping as it was hot but I was 3/4 done so I just hung in there. I finished in 7:40. That is 16 seconds better than my last mile and that was done in cooler weather.

I took it easy for the rest of my five miles (prescribed in my plan) and then headed home for a wonderful day of relaxing, yard work, a little sewing and a massage. My left hamstring is tight and it seemed good to take care of it.

I found an article in Runner's World that indicated some stretches for my tight legs so I am going to work on stretching for the next few weeks and see what impact that has.

Tomorrow I am due for a 20 minute easy run. That sounds good as the temps are supposed to be even higher tomorrow.

It's Hot

This morning it was 75 degrees at 5:30 am. Needless to say, I got up and got out to run. I was due to do a hill workout and I didn't exactly embrace the idea of hills and 80 degrees.

I am gradually increasing my mileage. I asked Jeff G. about the amount of time I was running during the week - two days of 30 minutes and one day @ 20 minutes. While he assures me I can be ready to run with such short times, he did say that it was fine to increase the time on those days. So, I started bumping up the 30 minute runs to closer to an hour. Probably I will leave one at 45 and do an hour for the other if my workload permits.

Despite my crazy travel schedule, I am sticking with the program. I have had to rearrange when I do my long runs but I have been getting everything in. And, if I hesitate, I look at the Boston bracelet and lace up my shoes.