The Free Market Jogger

I took 3 days off because I had no free time due to a work deadline which was today.  PM: 7 miles, slow (8:40/mi), but it was great to be out there.

10 miles @ 8:24/mi pace.  Lots of hills.  After mile 3, I ran 8:00 miles +- 10 secs for the remainder.  Felt good.

6 miles on the treadmill at 7.5 mph.  I'm a bit heavier (176) than normal (171/172).  Taking 4 out of 5 days off last week from running is probably the culprit.      

Ran 4.5 miles outside at an avg pace of 8:30/mi.  I'm growing tired of my running routes.  Probably a good enough reason to sell the house and move.  We'll see what my wife thinks of that logic.

Exercising at night at Yale's Gym is tricky b/c the 30 minute rule seems binding.  However, I managed 4 miles in 30 minutes which is fast for me.  

5.5 treadmill miles @ 1% incline in 45 minutes.  Did some situps and pushups afterwards.  Had to get back home as quick as possible b/c I had to take care of a sick wife (...hopefully, she reads this post).  

6.2 miles on the treadmill in 52 minutes.  No incline.  Hoo hum.  

Jogged 7.0 miles in 1:04 (roughly 9:05/mi):  four of which were 4-6 inches of snow.  Fun in the sun.

6.0 miles on the treadmill @8:00/mi pace.   

7.5 miles on the treadmill @ 6.8 mph.  Slower than usual and sweatier than usual.  

7.5 hilly miles on a beautiful sunny spring day.  Avg = 8:40/mi = slow.  First time running outside this week and I felt it.  My legs felt like two lumps of mashed potatoes.  

8 1/2 miles on the treadmill, avg pace between 6.8-7.0 mph.  Legs felt good and I was easily distracted by opining about my favorite Patriot being traded to the Broncos.  Say it's not so Wes.  

Just under 12 miles without my garmin.  I set a personal record this week for most mileage (drum roll please... 41 miles to be exact).  I think my added miles were due in part to running without my garmin this week.  As much as I love collecting minutiae about myself, I think I let the mileage or pace go to my head (usually in a negative way like my inter-monologue sounds like "god, I'm slow" or "I've been doing this for too long").  I'm not heading to ebay with the watch but I may strategically keep the battery power on low.

Ran for 10,000 meters on the treadmill.  Progressive run starting at 6.8 and ending at 7.5 = 53 minutes.

6 treadmill miles: 3 at 7.5 mph and 3 at 6.5 mph.  Plus, 6x50m or so strides on a itty bitty indoor track.  

PM: squeezed in 6 miles on a hotel treadmill.  

8 miles at an avg pace of 8:30.  Hilly route.  Everything felt good.

Mile	Pace
1	8:32
2	8:04
3	7:58
4	7:51
5	7:43
6	8:09
7	8:16
8	7:59
9	7:53
10	7:32
11	7:38
12	7:32
13 + .1	7:16
	Avg = 7:49

A big-time PR for me.  Finished 1:41:59 (a PR of 20 minutes).

This last minute decision to enter this half turned out to be a blessing.  I decided to enter because (1.) I was planning on jogging 13 today anyways and (2.) the course was near the West Haven beach and I desperately need to feel like spring/summer is coming.  The weather was sunny, temp in the high 30s/low 40s, and since it’s always breezy by the ocean, there was a manageable amount of wind.

I wanted to run (bad pun intended) into Marc Audet before the race, but I arrived at the convention center with less than 5 minutes to spare.  Before the race, I thought that running in 1:45 was a possibility and finishing at 1:40 or less was a pipe dream.

I liked the course layout. First 3: flat, next 7: rolling hills; last 3.1: flat.  This being my third half-marathon ever, I didn’t have a profound strategy except to go out slow and finish strong.  I decided early on in the race that I’ll wait until the last 5K to pick it up a notch.

So, I started at the back of the pack to force myself to take the first mile or so slowly.  At some point, I looked at my watch near the end of mile 1 and it read 10:30/mi: that’s when I decided to stop walking/scampering and to start jogging/running.  I tried to pair up with joggers who seemed to be going at my pace but, alas, no luck.  I spent most of the race in a little bubble between the folks behind and ahead of me.

The next stage contained a slew of rolling hills.  First, a little backstory.  Because I live in an incredibly hilly section of New Haven, I have no choice but to run up and down very steep hills.  I on occasion walk rather than jog up them and, on a regular occasion, curse them. But, today, I have a new appreciate for the local geography, because I flew by lots and lots of people on those hills.  Not one person passed me on a hill.  With that said, I’m not sure what was going on during miles 6 and 7 but I slowed down a bit.  However, I never felt tired out there so I must have been spacing out.  I don’t think my heel hit the ground on any hill.  

Once I reached mile marker 10, I aimed for 7:30 miles for the rest of the race.  Shockingly, I basically nailed that pace for two miles and the last mile was my fastest for the entire race.

So, needless to say, I’m very happy with this outcome.  Dare I say, I even think I could have run it a bit faster.  Ok, I'm getting ahead of myself.

6 treadmill miles at 6.5 mph.  My left heel is a bit sore but nothing too painful. 

5 easy miles with my new kicks (NB 890v3).  Very slow miles.

5.2 miles around the neighborhood at night.  Avg = 8:30.

I have a fair amount of pain in my left achilles tendon.  I was planning between 8-10 miles but my left heel wasn't cooperating.