29 March 2011

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After struggling with my alarm clock (the alarm clock won), I got dressed and went for a quick "half-naked" 4.5 miler. I am assuming you folks know what a "naked" run is, I had mentioned it in one of my previous posts. Well, half-naked means that I wore my Garmin Forerunner, but I did not look at at until I finished my run. The result was great. I actually ran this one at a sub 8 minute pace, feeling great the entire way. I didn't worry about pace or my heartrate or anything else. I just ran. The temps were perfect, although I was worried about rain moving in while I was out there. I got lucky, the rain held until after I completed this morning run. I've been taking it easy these past two weeks. It is my goal to pick it back up next week. Hopefully, taking it easy has eliminated some of those nagging issues I've been dealing with. Either way, I am ready to pick it back up.

24 March 2011

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Richard and I met up at my house after work for a short 4.5 miler around the UAH campus. Richard was still recovering from his Crossfit workout at lunch, while I was juist happy to be working out. I had had meetings during my usual workout times both Tuesday and Wednesday, so today was the first time since Monday that I did any kind of physical activity. I was starting to feel guilty and lazy. The coldfront that had move through the day earlier had now droped the temps to the low 50s, not what I expected to be running in when I saw the weather earlier in the day. Either way, we had a great run at an easy pace.

21 March 2011

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What a morning, 59 degrees and climbing. Once again, it appears we might have skipped Spring entirely and moved straight into Summer. I met up with James, Mike and Jay at their office for an easy 10K around research park. We kept an easy pace to keep the running group together and headed towards Slaughter Road. This run ha d a couple of very small, rolling hills, apparently just enough to make me sore. This must be the result of the adventure race on Saturday and the soccer match on Sunday. For some reason, I wasn't sore after this weekend, but I pretty stiff overall after completing today's easy run, very strange. Anyway, I am glad I got up this morning to stretch my legs. Let the summer runs begin! Gotta start bringing water along on the training runs again.

19 March 2011

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A Weekend in Paris...
I'm sure that's not usually how a race report starts, but that's what it was...well, kinda. James Duncan, Dan Brooks, Ryan Ezell and I met up at James' office parking lot on Friday at noon to load up Dan's van with our mountain bikes and gear to head to Tennessee for our first attempt at the Natchez Trace Adventure Race. We all had entered the exciting world of adventure racing for the first time last year at the Coosa River Challenge (a very novice friendly event) and kind of expected the same. At least I did.

18 March 2011

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Beautiful weather, 54 degrees as I stepped outside my house and drove over to Richard and Mike's office. We met up at 5:30AM for a nice 9 mile out and back to Rainbow Mountain. Instead, I ended up cutting my run short and turned around with after 2.5 miles for a nice and easy 5 miles in order to stay fresh for tomorrow's adventure, the Natchez Trace Adventure Race at Natchez Trace State Resort Park in Tennessee. James and I and a couple of other guys will be heading out later today to check in at the race and check out the transition area and other notable points of interest before taking part in this race tomorrow morning. Should be a fun way to break up my ultra training, if you want to call it that;-)

16 March 2011

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Met up with Richard at his office at 5:30AM and ran a very short 2.5 miles to loosen up my legs. Calves were a bit tight. Temps in the low 40s. Ran an easy pace just to get some leg turnover. Might add a treadmill run this afternoon.

14 March 2011

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Recovery, recovery, recovery. That was the mantra for today and I stuck to it. James and Mike were kind enough to hang back with me at an easy pace today, while Richard opted for a stomach virus and stayed home instead. Poor guy can't seem to catch a break.

We ended up running a very easy and slow 4 miles on the resarch park loop after meeting at their office at 6AM. I think I am still getting over the time change on Sunday morning. Physically, Im fine. I just feel sleepy, plain and simple. I am sure I will perk up as the week progresses. Aside from some rain early on there is nothing but sunshine and warmer temps in the forecast for this week.

12 March 2011

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Pre-Race
What can I say, I really didn't feel well prepared for this one, or maybe I just didn't uberprepare like I normally do. It had been a very busy week at work and I didn't get to bed until late both Thursday and Friday night. As a result, I wasn't as well rested as I usually am nor was I properly hydrated. I got up at 4AM, got dressed, had my coffee and headed to Decatur. I wanted to arrive in time to set up at a convenient location near the start of the race to place a chair with my gels and other race gear. I also still needed to pick up my race packet.

10 March 2011

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Short and sweet. That describes both today's run and my training log. I did 4 miles on the treadmill at the university gym. I kept milage very very low this week, but increased the pace a little for first time since Rocky. I started at 9 min per mile pace and increased speed every .5 miles by 30 seconds until I ran the last half mile at 6 minute pace. Average heartrate was reasonably low, but obviously started to climb towards the end. Now it resting until Saturday morning. The weather for the Delano Park 12 Hour race is supposed to be excellent, dry conditions with highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s in the morning, just perfect.

08 March 2011

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Richard an I met up at my house at 5:30AM and decided to do a short 4.5 mile run. He was still recovering from a speed workout on his treadmill the previous day and I was just happy to get in a couple of miles. After all, I was supposed tobn e tapering anyway for the Delano Park 12 Hour race in Decatur, AL this weekend. Another great ultra event within 10 minutes driving distance from my house. If you're into ultras, North Alabama and the surrounding area has plenty of races to offer within a short 90 mile radius.

Posted by Ultra Kraut

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06 March 2011

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I really did not plan on running this race at all. I was double-booked already for this afternoon, I had already run a little over 7 miles this morning and it was freaking cold and windy on top of everything else. However, my other commitments (soccer games) got cancelled due to inclement field conditions and my run with Richard this morning was at an easy pace and since I had planned to run between 15-20 miles for the day anyway, the UAH Spring 10K road race was actuallt perfect for my training. I hadn't been running fast lately and I hadn't done any short distance road races in a while either, so there really wasn't any pressure to run any PRs today.

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Richard stopped by my house at 9AM. Initially, we had planned a run to Decatur but these plans changed for reasons outside our control and we decided to just do an out & back from my house. As soon as Richard arrived, I realized that he was still not anywhere near over his bronchitis. So after going out for 16 as originally planed, we cut it short and logged just over 7 miles. The weather reallt didn't help our efforts either. While it was freezing cold as we headed out for our run, the wind was blowing into our backs nicely so we were actually kind of pushed along.

04 March 2011

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Mike, James and I met up at their office at 6AM for a scheduled "easy" 5 miles. Richard was out, still trying to recover from that nasty cold/flu. With temps in the low 50s already, I had opted for a long sleeve tech shirt. That proved to be the wrong choice as the wind was blowing extremely hard when I exited my car at the office parking lot. Mike and James on the other hand had opted for windbreakers. We took off at an easy pace as indicated by my training schedule. Obviously, this pace was way too slow for James and I had the hardest time trying to hold him back;-) Anyway, we ran the "old" Target loop, passing by Target (hence the name, duh!) running a short offroad section between the Midtowne neighborhood and the Indian Creek Greenway, before reconnecting with the research park loop and heading back to the office. While I got used to the temps after running about a mile, the wind was unreal today. I am glad today called for an easy run and not any speedwork. That would have killed me, trying to run fast into this type of wind. If I'm feeling fine by tonight, I plan to add another short and easy 6 miler to my daily mileage. We shall see.

03 March 2011

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Today's workout called for some speed, a one mile warmup, followed by a "brisk" three miles and another mile cooldown. Richard came by my house and we went out on the UAH loop to get this workout in. The weather was perfect, mid 60s with no clouds in the sky. We met up after work, Richard was still recovering from a severe case of bronchitis, hoping to just hang on...and he did. I felt pretty good throughout, but I was disappointed that a three miles at marathon pace felt like any type of effort. This is clearly a sign that I have to get serious again about my training, sticking to the speed & hill workouts during the week with long runs on the weekends. I want to get faster and there is only one way to get there....speedwork. Tomorrow callsforan easy 5 miler with a long run on the weekend.

01 March 2011

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My second marathon training workout called for a slow 5 miles and, once again, I gladly obliged. I had just started my second week of adding cross training to my training schedule, so any easy days are welcome. I ran a new route today while waiting for my son to finish his soccer practice. I ran a straight out & back on Hughes Road in Madison. The weather was mild with temps in the high 40s or low 50s. This type of running might just be what the doctor ordered. Purposeful training and cross training might just be the key to recovering properly, but I won't know for sure until after the muscle soreness from the cross training starts to subside.

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