100K

2 hours at the gym doing stomach, biceps and triceps. 5 mile run afterwards. Run was at about 7:30 mile pace. Definitely a little fatigued from gym. Also about 5 miles of bike riding between riding to gym and to work earlier in the day.

Was feeling the effects from 2 hour gym + 5 mile run the day before but pushed myself as much as possible for speed. Endurance was not there to maintain the pace I wanted with less effort.

Ran first 2.5 at 6:56/mile pace. slowed down for a bit then picked it up and averaged the 2nd half at a 7:20 pace. finished overall at a 7:05 pace. 

1.5 hours at the gym.  stomach and chest.

5 mile run on the trail. steady  7:25/mile pace. Finished with a time of 36:00

 Was running with relative ease though started feeling slightly fatigued towards the end. Most likely a result of not downing enough fuel for the day. Temp at start time was 85 degrees.

Dropped car off at Mechanic on the end of town. And instead of getting a ride back, I ran. Garmin showed 6.37 miles. did it in 48:21 Maintained a 7:35 pace average. Temp was about 89-90 or so, and running on asphalt with cars zooming by much of the way. Was working hard after about 3 miles. Not the funnest running conditions, but got it done.

Left knee is a little sore but not really. I was a little worried about it because after the 20 mile run last week, and then 3 days in a row of running this morning it was a little sore around the outer knee cap. Doesn't hurt when I run though, no sharp pains or anything, so that is a good. Stretched out after the run, and feeling pretty good. Not worried about it.

Had been drinking lots of water at work but I should have fueled up and drank some water right before the run, was getting pretty thirsty at about mile 4 fortunately found a water faucet on the side of a building. Immediately had a boost and picked up the pace. Ran at about a 7:20 pace the rest of the way. Feeling good about these 4 straight days of running. Will see how I feel tomorrow about a 5th straight one.

Garmin shows 5.15  miles in 37:40 for a 7:17 pace. I am pretty happy with that considering it was my 5th consecutive day of running. Was feeling pretty spent at the end though I feel I could have done another 5 miles in an under 8:00/mi pace. Temperature was 89 F.

 Feeling fine now. All systems are good. Knees are fine, muscles aren't hurting. No swelling, soreness, anything, anywhere. Body is holding up well to the increase in load. So far the days after have been fine, not feeling sluggish, sore, etc. I could use more sleep though.

 Definitely taking tomorrow off from running, want to see how well I am recovered on Thursday and see how fast I can go. Wondering if I should start being more systematic, I think I may be trying to run too hard the whole time, each time.

Didn't get a chance to do a full run. Rode my bike to the mechanic to get car. 6.4 miles. Had to back to work to finish a project up so ran. 1.5 miles total, very fast. About a 6:30 pace. 

started off slow, finished strong. 7:19 pace.

Rest day. 

Had a physical on Friday with a sports medicine doctor. The physical was a requirement for entry into the Bologna half marathon in Italy on Sept. 6th, which I will be running during my vacation in Europe starting on Wednesday. Also wanted him to check for any heart murmurs or abnormal rhythms because heart disease runs on my moms side of family and my uncle had valve replacement surgery recently and said we all need to be checked. Doctor said everything sounded good. But said that I should not run more than 5 times a week. He is not an advocate for anyone running more than 5 times a week. If I can get a Boston qualifying time running 5 times a week, I am happy with that. Doctor wants to schedule a checkup for next month to see how things are going and to see if I've experienced anything out of the ordinary.

Visiting my mom. Got a quick weightlifting session in on my old weight bench in her garage. doing biceps and triceps and chest.  Did that for about 45 minutes. 

Ran 6.4 miles. A lot of hill running this time very steep hills. Very grueling. Ran down from her place at an elevation of about 2500 ft. to the golf course 3.2 miles away at an elevation of about 1000 feet. Mixed up and down hills but mostly down. turned around and ran it all up hill. A couple of particularly steep inclines were menacing, but I got it hammered out. 1st one was roughly a 400 ft. incline over the length of 1/4th of a mile. 2nd one was about 1100 ft over the length of 1/2 a mile or so. Stopped for about 20 seconds after the first half mile which was a milder incline rate to catch breath and then attacked the big hill. did all of them at about an 8:15/mile pace or so, may have been less. got to the top and had a mostly mild downhill for the last half mile to her place, did that at about a 6:50/mile pace. Finished the run with an average 7:50/mile pace. All in complete sun and about 89 degrees. pretty tough run. But was feeling great after it. And definitely had a lot left in the tank. I think I could have done the whole thing again, though at a slower pace. 

Very fast run today after work. beat my personal record of 5 miles by 16 seconds.  total time of 34:40 with a pace of 6:56/mile.

drove down to oakland afterwards to spend the night and get up and go to europe for vacation.

15 mile bike ride through beautiful countryside of the the Swabian Alb in Germany. Beat the jet lag in 1 day. stoked how the trip is going so far.

didn't have my garmin, but i estimate a good 5 mile run in the swabian alb. Awesome scenery to run through.Jet lag making my legs a little heavy early, but i got it done.

Same run through the countryside in Germany. Left knee was not liking a fast pace. shortened my stride and it was fine. Im concerned that this might start happening more. I thought these new nike nike pegasus was very comfortable shoes and worked well. maybe i am running too many days in a row without enough rest. not sure. Maybe the jet lag has  something to do with it as well.Either way, i am staying off it until the half marathon in Bologna. Wasn't feeling as heavy or jet lagged on this run.

10 miles along the Rhine river at a slow pace. Went across the swiss and german border and then back. what awesome running  scenery, and a great way to experience a different country. I didn't have the GPS going, but i imagine it was about 8:00/mile.  was keeping my stride very small and small steps and moving legs faster. knees were fine this way. i just hope i can maintain an efficient pace to qualify for boston this way. I'm wondering if it's the shoes. could also be that im hitting my heels too much by accident. could also be that i'm putting too many days a week in too quickly. whatever the case, im glad it didn't bother me after 10 miles, though i know if i started taking big strides and really pushing the pace, it would have caused a problem.

probably wasn't a good idea to run 10 miles before the half marathon on sunday, but i was enjoying the run so much i didn't want to stop. i would have gone another 10 miles easily if i had the time and no half marathon.

I was the lone runner from the Uniited States in this whole event!

had a great race and killed my previous half marathon record  ran in march by ~14 minutes. Huge improvement!!! Got to run through an Italian city and through streets and alleyways that were over 1000 years old. Got a great finisher's package including a medal, duffelbag, 2 asics running shirts (1 long sleave, one tank top) headbands, and sweat towl!  plus there was free gelato and lots of sports drinks.

I started way back. Not know any language. I realized about 1 minute before the start that i was well behind the 2:00 pace group.  doh!!! i was passing a lot of people in the first 5 miles or so. I was running at a good clip, and keeping my stride very small and controlled, while moving my legs faster. This, i have found out is a highly efficient way to run. Not only did i keep my heart rate and effort to a minimum, but my knees felt great. No problems at all, and I ran 10 miles only 2 days before.

 Caught up to the 1:35 pace group at around kilometer 13 and was totally stoked! I couldn't believe i had been running a faster pace than 1:35 throughout the whole race with such easy effort. Passed them up and pushed on. finally settled in with a group of runners that were keeping a strong pace and stayed with them until the last kilometer or so where they pulled away. I decided not to push myself and dig deep the last couple of miles, though  I knew I had it in me. I was more than happy with my pace to finish below 1:35. Finished the race feeling great at 1:32:46!!  well within boston qualifying pace. I'm going to be looking for the 3:10 pace group at the california international marathon in december and stick with that. I'm totally stoked on this. 

Great race, and great time in this city. Saw some unfortunate  scenes on the race though. The first being one of the elite women had to end the race early, and was limping back to the start after only 1 kilometer or so. the other being that one of the elite african runners had collapsed about half way through the race. an ambulance was there and people were attending to him. he looked pretty out of it. it got me a little worried about pushing myself for too long of a distance. I may have slowed my pace a little cause of that.

2nd day back from Europe, ran a 10:00/mile average pace with my friend along the West Oakland shoreline. Had to keep it slow for my friend as he is not a regular runner, he also has a lingering foot injury that was making it hard for him to run. Was still nice to get a run in though.

Mega hill run near my mom's house. A good 2 - 3 miles of uphill running with some killer hills. GPS says an overall 7:27 pace. Totally stoked on that considering how much uphill there was.  Have done this 3 times now and each time It gets easier. Temperature was cloudy and cool, that probably helped since the other 2 times were 90+ and full sun. Heart was not pumping as hard to get up the steepest hill. Pretty strong overall uphill pace, and downhill and flat I was jammin. Really happy with this run. Feelin good. Gettin ready for the Wine Country Marathon on Oct. 11th.

Fast 5 miles.  36:18  Through the park. Left knee not liking it. Not sure why it was acting up. Was running this the same way I had been with the short stride. Going to switch to my old nikes and see if the shoes are the problem. I'll be damned if the $30 nike's perform better than the Pegasus (like they did against the Nimbus 10)

Strapped on my old $30 nikes that never gave me problems with my knees. No problems this time either, and my stride was bigger than normal too. I don't get it!!! cheap running shoes are better for me, this is ridiculous!  Oh well, saves me money. 

Tried to go for a sub 6:00 mile.  ran a 6:05 , blah!  Could have made it a sub 6:00 if I had been paying attention to the stop watch, but it was dark. I definitely had it in me to shave off 10 - 15 more seconds at least. I thought I had it though. Oh well. Ran another 5 miles after that. Long run on Sunday.

6 miles 8:00/mi pace. Wearing the old nikes and my knees were fine. I'm pretty sure that the problem with these more expensive shoes has been that they are more cushioned and more flexible. And for some reason or another my knees like a rigid and firm shoe.

 Only other thing I can think of is that switching shoes every 2 or 3 weeks will keep my knees in good shape. I dunno what else could be the problem other than running too much. But that doesn't seem like it's the case, considering it goes away after putting on different shoes. 

5 miles through the park, quick pace, using the old nikes. Left knee was doing better. Need to figure out what is up. Going to start icing them after runs.

1 hour at the gym doing chest and then 8 miles around the rack. 32 laps, how boring. After talking to Sasha and Dustin and John on the discussion forum, I have decided to sharply cut my pace and slow down. I thought I was going pretty slow, but I guess I was going at an 8:00/mile pace. Probably should get it to more like 8:30/mile. My knee was fantastic running in the Pegasus, no pain, nothin. Sasha was totally right. I have been training too intensely. I am still unsure if the $30 nikes are a better fit and that was contributing to less knee pain, or if it was just coincidental. Either way, I am glad to being closer to figuring out what is going on with it.

 Felt great, really happy about the run. Coulda ran all night at 8:00/mile Looking forward to my long run this weekend.  Icing the knee now. Going to make this regular routine. Need to get a girlfriend to get massages from.... will work on that.

12 Miles to upper park, beautiful views at sunset of Bidwell Park ridge. Workin it slow in the Pegasus, knee wasn't having any problems at an 8:30 pace. I did speed up to a marathon pace of about 7:10/mile pace for 2 miles and it started complaining a little. There is no way I could have ran the whole thing at that pace like I did in Bologna. I'm going to do my next run in the cheap Nikes, see if there is a difference.  Was feelin pretty spent by the end of the run, definitely should have fueled up a little more and taken some ginseng. But not a bad run.

I am so freaking stoked after this run! I was wearing the $30 Nikes, and had no problems with my knees. This means, While I still have some concerns about over training, I am 100% positive that the shoes are what's causing most most or all of my knee pain. On  Sunday, I ran 12 miles with only 2 of them being at BQ pace. At the end of those two miles I was getting the knee pain when lifting my knees. Tonight, I ran 14 miles, and 10 of them were at a BQ pace. And no problems, at all. I was even running up hill and downhill. Temp was about 74 degrees, and I was flying. Had about 1 and a half miles of solid uphill running and I rocked it. Overall pace was 7:23/mile  And that's including starting off at 8:00/mile.

 I basically had intended on running this at an 8:00/mile pace and then running a couple miles at BQ pace, then I just decided to keep going to see when the knee pain would come like it did with the pegasus, and it didn't. So I decided to see when my energy would give out... and it didn't. Coming off a 12 mile run on Sunday, I'm pretty happy with that level of endurance.

Ate a banana, apple, and took 2 ginseng capsules before the run. Had been drinking water all day. Had a LOT of energy, and was maintaining a solid pace the whole way, even sprinted the last quarter mile. Felt absolutely fantastic.... still feeling fantastic as I write this! 

8 fast miles around the track. 7:21 average pace. After 2 and a half hours at the gym doing a great workout. increased my number of reps on all weights and exercises. Definitely happy that I ran almost a BQ pace for 8 miles after that with no refueling. Could have pushed it to a BQ pace, also could have gone longer, but saving the tank for tomorrow's 20 miler.

Knees, joints, feet, legs, muscles, everything else is fantastic.

I was not correctly prepared for this run. After last night's intense workout at the gym and then the intense 8 mile run. I think a combination of 3 things contributed to making this run horrible. 1 -The gym workout. My muscles were healing from the workout, where I increased my max amount of reps all my biceps and triceps exercises. 2. I didn't drink enough water after the workout and run from last night, and I didn't drink enough water during the day before the run. 3. Not enough food during the day and not enough fuel. 

The whole run was difficult, I was fighting to keep an 8:30/mile pace,  after only 10 miles I hit a wall and had to stop and walk for a few minutes. I was thirsty and feeling dehydrated. I somehow managed to get 2 more miles at a slow pace. Luckily some people on the trail were just finishing a hike and had a lot of water left, they let me drink it, I drank almost all of their full canteen, which they were happy to give. My pace picked back up to 8:30/mile after that but I could feel my muscles shutting down, I needed fuel, bad. I had to walk again when I reached mile 14. Walked for .5 miles till I found a blackberry bush on the side of the trail. Most of them were shriveled up but there were some still ripe and juicy ones. I ate those, and a bunch of the shriveled up ones as well, they weren't bad actually. This gave me a much needed boost and between that and resting for about 8 minutes as I looked for juicy black berries.  Ran the last 2 miles at marathon pace and caught up to a few people who had passed me up while I was picking black berries. I have never been closer to collapsing. I got home and immediately devoured half my kitchen.

I hope I am fully recovered from this by next sunday, where I'm running a full marathon. I was originally planning on going 18 or 20 miles but the trail ended  at about 8.3 miles where I turned around and ran back. So it was about 16.6 miles or so.I'm glad I did not go any further. I know something was up. I just didn't have anything in the tank for this run. I think the biggest factor was not enough water or food during the day. If I had taken a cliff bar and drank a lot more water during the day before running, I think I would have maintained the 8:30 pace the whole way without a problem. So, total time was over 3 hours for only 16 miles. In comparison, on Tuesday, I ran 14 miles on the same trail in 1:40 minutes. And that was with 1 day of rest after running 12 miles.

Oh well, got it in the bank. pretty sure as long as I'm properly hydrated and fueled up, I will be fine for the marathon. I was glad to see that after only a small hadful of blackberries, I got a boost for a marathon pace for 2 miles at the end of the run after running horrible the previous 6 or so. Not too concerned about this, unless it's a slow recovery, but already I'm feeling a lot better after a large dinner.

Oh, and knees were fine.

  *edit* Forgot to mention that I was cold most of this run. I always go without a shirt and thought that there was enough warmth today, but Fall has definitely set in and the winds were a blowin. For most of the run I was feeling pretty cold, I'm guessing this was a factor as well. No more shirtless runs.

First run since my meltdown on Saturday. Not because of recovery, but because work has been ridiculous. I was ready to run on Monday.

Did 8 miles to upper park and back tonight. Wanted to go at a slower pace, but after 3 miles my body wanted to go faster, before I knew it I was running below a 7:00/mi pace and I finished with an average 6:45/mi pace over 8 miles, which is the fasted I've ever ran a sustained pace, as well as the longest. Everything was fine, knees, legs, feet, ankles, etc.Pretty sure I could have maintained a sub 7:00/mi pace for another 5-8 miles, and then who knows. My strategy for the marathon on Sunday may be to just go all out at first and try and get my half marathon time to about 1:25 and then cruise for the rest of the way at around 8:00/mi and finish up with a BQ if possible... but we'll see how I feel. Was pretty surprised with tonight because the first 2 miles were sluggish and I didn't have any vitamins and lunch was pizza and a beer, ugh. (company lunch)

Hopefully  I didn't overdo it with only 4 days to go till my first marathon, but I feel fine right now. Recovery for me is fast.Only going to run 2 more times before the marathon though, and both will be shorter and definitely slower. But very glad with today's effort and I know I'll be able to pull off an even better one on Sunday.

slow run, 4 miles. starting to load up on carbs. getting fully rested for the marathon.

loading up on carbs, resting.

Well, I did it! I ran my first marathon and qualified for Boston at the same time. Not an easy course either. There were so many hills it was ridiculous, at least 40%-50% hill terrain, with a 1 mile stretch of hills that was crazy. I bet heartbreak will have nothing on that mile. The last 2 months of hill training paid off in a big way for this.

Got to the start with only 10 minutes till gun time @7:00am. only had 5 hours of sleep, did not sleep well. Did not get to stretch much. Only a about a 1/5th of a mile warm up run. Definitely not the way I wanted to prepare. About 500 runners total, most were for the Half Marathon. Loaded up on a cliff bar, apple, and banana, a packet of emergenc-c, and 2 ginseng capsules. (Naturemade ginseng is great stuff, highly recommend! Also emergen-c is very good, B-vitamins to help convert your food fuel into energy, and vitamin C to boost your immune system, also some electrolytes, though not recommended as your only source for that)

 Garmin was low on battery, didn't have time to charge. Glad I didn't because I really enjoyed not constantly looking at my time, just ran hard.

My strategy was basically to go all out from the very beginning, knowing I could maintain a sub 7:00 pace for at least 15 miles. Then I'd let that carry me for the next 11 miles being able to go over an 8:00 pace for the majority of it.

Mile 1 through 5 - I started near the front. Only about 30 runners ahead of me. Didn't know it at the time, but only 1 was a running the full, the rest were halfs. Hitched on with a guy with a stop watch, we ran at a 6:50 pace for 5 miles. Had a little conversation but not much, we were both working hard. At mile five either he picked up the pace or I slowed down slightly, either way, I did not want to burn up to fast. I was still easily going sub 7:00 though.

mile 6 - 9 was just non eventuful running alone, got passed by 2 halfers, asked me if I was running the full, and I said yeah, they were all "ah get out of here!!!" heh. Still probably at a sub 7:00 pace at this point. The halfers headed off to the half course, I continued. Going strong at this point still stomach was still full of carbs, didn't need any gels and only a little bit of heed. (that's good stuff!)

 10-13. Still running strong but closing in on 7:00/mi pace. No pain. nothin, stride still efficient.

14 - The 1 mile of huge hills, this is where my pace definitely went above 7:00 and did not get back under. still running strong at this point, still running on my initial fuel loadup. and water and heed. Started taking heed at nearly every aid station. got passed by 1 guy in the opposite direction at the turn around point. Amazing! was I really in second place? He was only about a 1/2 a mile ahead of me, maybe 3/4th, he was running strong, and had a bicycle pacer with him. That or it was an official race volunteer to make sure he was ok? I dunno. He went on to finish with a 2:44 time.

15 - Course was not well marked in spots!!! Made a wrong turn! doh, put on an extra 25 - 30 seconds. Luckily a bystander caught up to me, since I didn't hear anyone yelling to turn around. Had she gotten to me 8 seconds later I would not have qualified for boston. 16 seconds was all it would have taken.

16-18 Goin strong, but feeling the wear. heals startin to hurt a little. But overall I'm functioning at 85% or so, still doing good. probably 7:05 -7:15 pace. or so. Going back the same way, lots more hills, oh boy. No cramps or anything though,s taying well hydrated.

20 - Gel time. Grabbed a hammer gel. I'm rapidly losing movement from my muscles.energy is running out. Nobody has passed me though. Looking back every so often, nobody is in sight. No cramps, all systems functioning well, but lower energy.

21-23 same thing. Energy goin down, well over an 8:00/mi pace at this point. I am totally breaking down, and am fighting to move my legs, but there is no way I'm gonna stop. Had the thought a couple of times to stop and walk or take a quick break at an aid station, but kept saying no, I'm gonna finish it all the way through. Gel seemed to slow the energy decline a bit.  Nobody still in sight behind me. 2nd place is in the bag, I'm stoked, even if I don't qualify for Boston, I get 2nd overall. still no cramps, have not had to take a bathroom break the whole way, everything feelin good as far as inner systems.

24-25 - 2nd wind is coming on, getting closer and the gel is doin it's thing, or the mind is, either way, I can smell the finish. Last aid station- get some water, decide to stand still to drink it, savor it, make sure it all goes down.

home stretch - Gettin the pace back to 7:30 or so. last uphill done. Ending 1/4 mile is down a steep hill, fly down it and pick up the steam.Crowd is cheering, the announcer on the PA system is screaming my name telling me to run as hard as I can and the Boston Qualifying time is within reach, I can see the finish line and the clock reads: 3:10:45!!! Is that really true! yes it is!!!! BREAK INTO FULL SPRINT AS THE CROWD IS GOING WILD, I CROSS THE FINISH AT 3:10:56!!!!!!!!!! I FLY THROUGH IT GRAB THE MEDAL BEING HELD IN MY DIRECTION AND RAISE MY ARMS IN A V AND PROCLAIM "IM GOING TO BOSTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  

After that I'm just all smiles, getting my finishing photos, high 5s from strangers people asking me how I'm doing! All is awesome!!! Then I look down, and my band aids had fallen off and I'm wearing a white running shirt with nipple blood all over it, lol. how embarrassing.

went to the medical aid tent, got some bandaids, and an ice pack to ice everything down for 10 minutes or so. Not in any pain but I do it as a precaution now.

Started texting all my friends and my mom and brother telling them I qualified for Boston, including my friend that lives on the route of the marathon! I'm going to have a place to stay, and a personal aid station at mile 22, how sweet it will be!

Got a nice bottle of wine as my 1st place in age division prize.

FYI: This course sucks!!!! I mean, it's beautiful scenery, but the road sucks!! could they add one more hill please? Cause you see, after the 100th one, I just was dying for another! Also a lot of slanted road. It is not the easiest course.. though that makes me even more stoked that I qualified for Boston at it. however, if you want an easy win, this is the place to go. I mean.. my 3:10:44 takes 2nd place overall? lol, that's not that deep of a field.

Thanks everyone here for your encouragement and advice, especially Jon, Sasha and Dustin with your tips on my training.

Mission Accomplished.

gym - first time doing any exercise since the marathon, legs arent sore or anything, but i can tell energy level is still tapped a little. did stomach, chest and shoulders at about 75% intensity.

gym - still gaining back energy. did biceps and triceps at about 85% of normal intensity. 

First time running since the marathon. Was feeling a little sluggish at first, but picked up the pace and was cruisin after a couple miles. Ran up to monkey head, about a 400ft elevation climb over the course of a mile. Really rough, rocky terrain, was loving it. Feeling the effects a little more but overall doing great. Ran the last couple miles at a 6:30 pace and finall 300 yards at a full out sprint. Going to run tomorrow too.

12 miles up to upper park again. a good 2 miles of up hill rocky trail running. makes for a very fun run. Knees take a beating on the down hill though not sure im going to keep doing this every week. Love running up on the ridge at sunset though. Ran the first 2.5 miles in 17 minutes. Slow down a bit and then attacked the hills. Feeling a little more worn than a normal 12 mile run should leave me, but thats understandable, the marathon is still lingering, plus i didn't have much fuel or water. 

6 mile bike ride, 2 hours at the gym. 6 mile run afterwards at the track started off at an 8:00/mile pace. did the last 2 pretty fast and finished with a 7:50 average pace. Pretty stoked that I had plenty of energy to run after 2 hours at the gym, also didn't get to eat much before. Came home and pigged out on baked tofu, quinoa, baked potato, bread and olive oil, and an avocado sandwich. good stuff..

 planning so big hill running saturday and sunday at my moms.

8 miles, lots of steep hills. attack mode.pretty happy with the run. was a little harder than i thought, but i worked out for 2 hours plus ran for an hour on friday. will be taking it easy this week in preparation for my 10K on sunday.

did about a 10K or so in 43 minutes. was hoping to get it under 42:00 but this wasn't that bad considering the energy i exerted on the hills yesterday. i was a little sore from them. 

going to keep mileage down this week in preparation for a 10K this weekend. last year i got 4th in my age group with a time of 46:26 so i'm looking to slash at least 3 minutes off that. getting a sub 40:00 or 41:00 would be awesome. and definitely good for a placing in my age group. maybe i can win back some money it cost to enter.

Knocked 6 minutes off my PR for a 10K great race. was hoping to go sub 40:00 but I'm pretty happy with a 40:29. Ran pretty hard the whole way. Started off a bit too hard I think, First mile was in 6:06 I think I heard the split called at. Didn't pay attention after that. I may have been able to squeeze a little more out during the middle of the run if I had been paying attention to a watch and running a little harder, but I definitely gave it nearly everything I had. The last mile I turned back up the intensity and finished the final 1/4 mile at the same pace I started the race at and a sprint for the final 100m.

 Not really interested in doing too many more 10K's, but we'll see.

8 mile night run, love night running. 7:26/mi pace. had a couple miles in the middle that i felt a tiny bit fatigued which was a result of weight lifting last night and maybe not eating any fuel before the run. if i had had a banana it probably wouldn't have happened.

 really enjoyed the run. had about 1 mile of gradual incline ran upo it strong, ran down it very fast. im hoping that the CIM has a lot this type of downhill.

Just finished registering for Boston, woohoo!!

9 miles up to monkey head and back. practically sprinted up a quarter mile of uphill, had to slow down and catch my breath after that. I was also fighting off a cold this week, and looks like i made it, so that's good. 

had a solid run to upper park on the north rim trail. 8:15/mi pace overall with about 3 consecutive miles of uphill running on rough terrain and went very strong up it. seems like i go stronger uphill than on flat.

Felt pretty good, though was wearing down a towards the last mile. Understandable considering the 9 miles the day before and i hadn't  really prepared fuel wise. just about 40oz of water during the day before the run and an emergen-c and ginseng + an apple and some quinoa. Got me through pretty well with only 2 breaks for water at mile 3 and mile 10.

I probably could have kept up at least 3 or 4 more miles before really starting to break down... which is great since that's about where I started breaking down during the marathon and i was fully loaded on carbs and heed and emergen-c. as well as being fully rested for the run. i can definitely feel myself running a lot stronger lately. Im thinking a sub 3:00 marathon is very possible, but we'll see. I know I'm going to easily knock off 3-5 minutes off my PR at CIM.

Night run, 7:40 pace. had a dentist appt. today, bleh. ran with soreness and numbness in my moutth. hope it's ok after being recently shot up with novicaine.Was hoping the run would speed up the de-numbing, but it doesn't really seem to have an effect. looks like im eating dinner late.

4.5 miles about a 7:50 pace at lunch. Needed to get a quick run in, cause I'm probably not going to get a chance this weekend.

15.35 North Rim Trail. Started off at about a 7:30 pace. Got to the uphill at pace went up to about 8:30 for 4 miles of continuous uphill. Then downhill got it back down to 8:10. Garmin mighta been a little messed up, but I finished the run at an 8:20 overall pace. Was kinda tired. I've been fighting something off I think. I've woken up with a stuffy nose 2 days in a row, but I've been eating good, and the run cleared it up too. Think I'm ok. Lotta people sick lately. Only 2 weeks to go till CIM.

So I ran a benefit turkey trot the day after thanksgiving. It's for an at risk youth group home in Monterey County. 

Course was at Manzanita Park in Prunedale and it was quite a challenging course. All sandy/dirt with a lot of uphills. It was more than I bargained for.I started out fast, everyone was aware that I was a marathon runner and most people barely ran more than a few miles a week. So I started fast and ran hard. My friend followed me and I kept encouraging him to keep up with me, he managed to stay within a minute behind me. There were 3 large hills in this, and they were quite a challenge. I was actually very happy about this because it gave me a chance to get some seriously intense uphill running in in preparation for my marathon next weekend.

 The course was unforunately marked poorly at spots, including the final 1/4 mile where I made a wrong turn and wound up adding an extra 1/4 mile - 1/2 mile to my final time. The nearest person behind me finished just as I was getting to the finish, and they finished with a time of 19:45. I was easily in the 18:00 range. I still got 2nd place even though I really was the fastest. Oh well. I won a poloroid digital picture frame! it was sweet. 1st place was an ipod shuffle, which I have no need for, so all the better that I made the wrong turn. It was the best prize I've gotten for a race so far! Well... that bottle of 2005 Souverain Pinot Noir wasn't bad either.

I am totally looking forward to running this next year, especially with awesome prizes like that! 

8.5 miles at my moms. 7:45 pace. Lots of uphill, LOTS. Great run, really attacked the hills. Amazed at how well I did with not having really fueled up during the day. A good run before the CIM.

Super fast pace. Did not time it, but it was below 7:00/m mile. I basically ran it at my 10K pace. Went very strong. Trying to get a couple speed workouts in before the marathon. 

This ended up being a pretty difficult race for me. It was 31 degree at start time and a strong headwind for about 40% of the run. I wasn't properly geared up, and didn't have gloves or a beanie. My hands and legs were very cold at the end.  I ran a sub 3:00 marathon until  mile 18 where I quickly broke down after a particularly long hill and heavy wind area and was passed by the 3:00, 3:10 and 3:15 pace groups in the last 8 miles. 

 I took a GU gel at mile 15 and I think that helped fuel the crash. Gu is not good IMO. Loaded with artificial junk and processed sugar. Hammer Gel is much better and didn't cause a crash for me. Either way, I think I should have waited till mile 18 or 20 to take the gel. Also, they only had gatorade for the race, another poor product. I think if I had been drinking heed, or a better sports drink, I would have been in better shape. But what really got to me was the cold. Either way, 3:15 is not a bad time, even though I was hoping to get a PR. It's possible my training hasn't been as strong as it was leading up to the first marathon, but I think it was. I had also been doing a lot of hills and had a lot of endurance with them. I should have gotten a few 20+ milers in though.

Raining like crazy so I hit the treadmill at the gym. First run since the marathon. I had a stuffy nose this morning so I really wanted to get my heart rate and body temperature up and burn out whatever bug might be trying to get me. I ran at a sub 7:00 pace for most of the run and then a 6:15 pace for a mile and then a 5:45 pace for a quarter mile. Got the ol' heart rate up to 180.  Woke up this morning and I'm feeling much better, this bug doesn't have even a fighting chance.

Got a good run to upper park in the rain. Definitely was feeling a lot more tired than usual after only 9 miles, but I made it. I had more in the tank. This is a good thing considering I did a 4.5 miles super fast run 2 days before, and then a full marathon 1 week ago. I'm thinking that I am in shape enough to run 2 full marathons 2 weekends in a row now. If I had fueled up and more water I would have been fine on that run for a full 26 miles, though at a slower pace. I think I'm going to start running 20+ milers each weekend now and see how long it takes before I can do 3 20+ in a week.

9 mile run in the rain. Kept it around 7:30/mile pace. Ran in the cold and rain, but I was prepared. Got myself a running beanie, running gloves and a colder weather long sleave running shirt. Was nice and toasty. Good run, not bad for only 9 days after the marathon though I could feel that my legs were feeling the effects of the run fairly early. I'm going to wait till Friday to run again.... maybe Saturday.

Didn't have my Garmin, but it was at least 10 miles in the cold, at night.  Had my gloves and beanie, was nice and warm. Running at a pretty strong pace throughout most of it, slowed down around mile 6 for a couple miles and then finished strong the last mile and a half or so. energy levels are stronger, also resuming going to the gym. A little tougher for me to run in the winter, with the lack of sunlight. Need that sunlight for my solar power.

 need to start getting in some extra long runs again. 15- 20 miles. Will go for a long one on Christmas at my moms.

Run at night. In the cold. Temp was about 42 degrees. Legs don't like that after a while, they tend to tighten up in anything below 55 it seems., but otherwise I was nice and warm with my brooks gloves and asics beanie.  

 Knees seem to be a little less happy about running lately. I think a few things are up. One, I've been running on a lot of concrete lately and I probably came back a little strong only 5 days after the marathon. (8 mile run 5 days after, and then an 11 mile run 2 days after that.. probably should have waited a little while) Could also be cause I've been cracking my knee joints a lot lately while sitting down at work. Not a good idea I don't think.