Sunday Long Run in the Sun

Today's plan calls for a Long Run. 

DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Training, Long Run. Dist: (15.49)mi. Pace-avg: (17:48). Speed-avg: (3.4)mph. Speed-max: (6.0)mph. Burned: (1661) Calories. 

Plan: Run (12.0)mi. @ a (17:46) pace for a total time of (3:33:19)hrs.
Actual: Run/walk (12.0)mi. @ a (17:17) avg. pace, for a total time of (3:27:27.12)hrs., bracketed by a (1.0)mi. warm-up jog/walk, and a (2.49)mi. cool-down walk.
Fuel: Pre-run: 2x slices wheat toast w/ margarine and honey, 1x cup coffee; Mid-run: Honey Stinger Organic Energy Chews (Orange Blossom), GU Energy Gel (Mandarin Orange w/ Caffeine); Post-run: Chocolate milk, followed by fish sticks and steamed zucchini.

I slathered on the sunscreen, put on my mid-length running shorts, my orange Nike running short-sleeve running shirt and my Adidas running hat, then hit the road into the park for my weekly Long Run. There were plenty of people in the park today since it was bright and clear out, and (72+) deg.F.
(time passes)
I survived my Long Run, but just barely. I will post this now and maybe try and discuss it more tomorrow. I need some serious rest now, and maybe a mainline of coffee, and some ibuprofin. I did not expect to get this sore today.

Other News: I signed up for a new race in San Jose, The San Jose 408K, which is a week from today! It is an 8k, (4.97)mi., race in downtown San Jose that starts at the HP Pavilion arena, and ends at Santana Row, right across the street from Valley Faire Shopping Center. I am looking forward to it for a couple of reasons: I haven't run in San Jose (except once at the dirt track near Spartan Stadium at the SJSU South Campus, and that was literally only one occasion); I haven't been to San Jose in at least a year; and because it is a new race, which means I get to be one of the many first-time runners in this new race, which should be pretty cool all by itself. 

-Lancer!!

Super Bowl Sunday Long Run

Today's plan calls for a Long Run.
DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Training, Long Run. Dist: (12.0)mi. Pace-avg: (15:39). Speed-avg: (3.8)mph. Speed-max: (5.7)mph. Burned: (1256) Calories.

Plan: Run (10.0)mi. @ an (18:02) pace for a total of (3:00:25)hrs.
Actual: Run/walk (10.0)mi. @ an avg. (15:23) pace, bracketed by a (1.0)mi. warm-up walk, and a (1.0)mi. cool-down walk.
Fuel: Pre-run: Shot Bloks (Mtn. Berry), Sport Beans (Berry); Mid-run: Sport Beans (Berry), Clif Shot Bloks (Mtn. Berry); Post-run: Dinner!

Tonight's run went well. I decided to strategize a little: Instead of trying to run as much as possible at one time I used the Galloway method and ran one (1) mile, then walked one (1) mile, repeat till complete. It worked very well for me tonight and I did not develop any pain in the ball of my left foot. That intermittent pain is one reason I made a point to run/walk my workout tonight, and how I plan to run the rest of my long runs till the half-marathon in March. By race day I hope to be able to run longer continuous stretches, between three (3) to five (5) miles, and walk for one (1) to two (2) miles in between each leg.

I am a little worried that the pain in my left foot may end up being a limiting factor in future running pursuits. I hope I can build up my feet over time where this no longer occurs, but we'll just have to see how it goes. So far, the longest continuous stretch I have been able to run during my training was seven (7) miles before the pain became to uncomfortable; that was back around November, I believe.

Other News: Voomaxer seems kinda' broken, though there is/was mention of a software update/upgrade. I tried sending an email to the contact person, and the email delivery has failed after trying for three (3) days. I need to find a way to export my data so I can use a different application for keeping track of these things.


I have been using Garmin Training Center on my desktop, but haven't tried out Training Peaks. One reason I stayed with Voomaxer for so long was the option to keep track of equipment mileage, sleep data and weight data.

-Lancer!!

Rainy Day Long Run!

Today's plan calls for a Long Run.

DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Training, Long Run. Dist: (12.01)mi. Pace-avg: (16:15). Speed-avg: (3.7)mph. Speed-max: (5.0)mph. Burned: (1255) Calories. Headlight.

 

Plan: Run (10.0)mi. @ a (17:34) pace for a total of (2:55:42)hrs.
Actual: Run/walk (10.0)mi. @ an avg. (15:55) pace for a total of (2:39:11.80)hrs., bracketed by a (1.0)mi. warm-up walk, and a (1.01)mi. cool-down walk.
Fuel: Pre-run: bologna sandwich w/ tortilla chips, glass of Gatorade (Orange); Mid-run: (water), Honey Stinger Honey w/ Cocoa+ (Chocolate); Post-run: Clif Bar (Chocolate Chip), dinner.

I finally got my Long Run in tonight. The temp. is currently at (51) deg.F., and it's not raining. During my run it did not appear to rain at all, so I missed that, though not intentionally. I did get out before sundown, so I had some daylight running for a change. Instead of trying to run as continually as possible, then walk the rest, I strategized! After my warm-up walk, I ran the first two (2) miles, then walked the next two (2) miles, ran the next two (2) miles, walked the next two (miles), then ran one (1) mile, and walked the last mile, followed by the cool-down walk home.

I kinda' caved at that last mile because I made a deliberate decision to not eat the energy snacks I brought with me. I almost made it, too. After running the last mile the hunger pangs got to me, and I cracked open one of my Honey Stinger "Honey with Cocoa & B Vitamins" (Chocolate). Since I first tried one of these earlier in the week, I fell in energy-snack love! They are so tasty. (I think I need to start buying these things by the box.)

Now that I am warmer and not outside, I better scarf down a Clif Bar before I chew off an arm. And then I better stretch out, finally. I haven't stretched out at all after any of my runs this week. Shameful.

-Lancer!!

To Long Run, or Not to Long Run...

Due to continued soreness from my hike in and around Pinecrest Lake on Friday with my brother, and my less-than-stellar re-introduction to Aikido on Saturday that resulted in me landing on the mat more than once with my rock-hard elbow between the mat and my ribs (totally my fault), with the attendant long-term discomfort that brings, I think I am going to skip my long run for today. I also considered riding my bike for a couple of laps through the park as a cross-training alternative, but feel that the rib-muscle issue is just going to make that plain uncomfortable, what with all the heavy breathing and all.

As mentioned previously, a half-marathon in Tracy that was supposed to be held at the end of this month is now scheduled for May 20, 2012 here. (I assume the date of Jan.29, 2012, that is listed on Active.com was just a placeholder.) So in the meantime I am looking at some other half-marathons in the region and ran across this one in Fremont (http://www.brazenracing.com/coyotehillscourse.html), but also this one in San Francisco (http://www.active.com/running/san-francisco-ca/kaiser-permanente-san-francisco-half-marathon-and-5k-2012), and this one in Davis: (http://www.active.com/running/davis-ca/30th-anniversary-davis-stampede-half-marathon-10k-5k-and-kids-fun-runs-2012). I am having trouble deciding on a race for which to register.

I'm wondering how important trail-running specific shoes are, or can I just use my regular street/road-running shoes on some of these well-used trails? Maybe I am just getting over-anxious to finally get out and run in a half-marathon since I bailed on my original goal of the Las Vegas Strip-At-Night run, although it's just a few more months till March and the Modesto Marathon and Half-Marathon. It's just making me a little stir-crazy.

-Lancer!!

Monday Long Run

Sunday's plan calls for a Long Run, but I am running it today, instead.

DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Training, Long Run. Dist: (10.00)mi. Pace-avg: (16:32). Speed-avg: (3.6)mph. Speed-max: (5.3)mph. Burned: (1061) Calories.

Plan: Run (8.0)mi. @ an (18:02) pace, for a total time of (2:24:22)hrs.
Actual:  , bracketed by a (1.0)mi. warm-up walk, and a (1.x)mi. cool-down walk.
Fuel: Pre-run: Tea with honey, toast with peanut butter; Mid-run: PowerBar Energy Gel (Banana-Strawberry), Clif Shot Blocks (Lemon-Lime); Post-run: Gatorade (Fruit Punch), then dinner.



Despite my slack-tastic nature I pulled myself out of the doldrums, got over the prospect of running in the cold, cold air outside, and went out for an afternoon run. It is clear I have lost some of my running gains and was unable to run continuously for even one (1) full mile, but I expect to make that up in short order. There were several other runners in the park this afternoon, and most of them were dressed less warmly than I. All the same, I was very happy that I had layered up as if I was going out running after sundown. I think I will have to go back to Fleet Feet and investigate the Goretex running gear I saw there last time.

Once again that nagging ache in my left foot, at the ball of my foot, sprang back to life during my return lap. I made sure to pull up my ankle socks, and adjust the tongue of my left shoe, but to no avail. I experimented a little bit with different strides/forms and found that really picking up my feet and stepping forward actually made a serious difference, and the pain subsided while I maintained that motion. Trying to maintain that form, however, was much more aerobically challenging than my usual style of gliding forward as much as possible; and my quads and hams felt the difference, too.

Onward and upward! B-)

Other News: I am registered for the 2012 Zazzle Bay to Breakers, so I am very excited about that.

-Lancer!!

Sunday Long Run No.13

Today's plan calls for a Long Run.

DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Training, Long Run. Dist: (14.88)mi. Pace-avg: (18:00). Speed-avg: (3.3)mph. Speed-max: (4.7)mph. Burned: (1595) Calories. Running lights.

Plan: Run (13)mi. @ a (16:44) pace for a total of (3:37:42)hrs.
Actual: Jogged/walked (13.0)mi. @ a (17:51) avg. pace for a total of (3:52:05.66)hrs., bracketed by a (1.0)mi. warm-up walk, and a (0.88)mi. cool-down walk.
Fuel: Pre-run: Glass of Gatorade (Fruit Punch); Mid-run: PowerBar Energy Gel (Banana-Strawberry), Honey Stinger Chews (Orange Blossom), Sport Beans (Grape); Post-run: GU Energy Gel (Mandarin Orange).

Ouch. Today's run was actually painful. It started out pretty good, but the last half was all pain. I jogged (7.0) consecutive miles, maintaining a pace between (14:59) and (16:31) for those seven miles, but then was overcome by pain in my left foot again, between my 2nd, 3rd and 4th toes at the ball of my foot. The last time this happened I had skipped all my runs during the week, then ran my long run (and did not finish). This week I again skipped all my training runs, then over-confidently went out for my long run. Clearly, I need the weekly build up to help maintain my running gains, so I will avoid ditching out on any training runs in the future.

I am still not signed up for the Las Vegas Strip At Night run in December, and after tonight's run I am thinking strongly of pushing back my half-marathon race till later in December, or maybe even January, so I can make up some of my lost training time from September/October; I also need to get in more strength training in the gym.

Friday afternoon I went shopping at On The Run again, and actually bought something: a Saucony Epic Run Vest. I wore it for the first time tonight, and it helped keep the chill off, though I did have to throw on my running shell, too, on the return leg of my run. The two (2) front pockets on the vest offered good storage space: I kept my running lights and my ninja hood in the pockets till after sundown, so I didn't have to carry them in my hands, or put them on my running belt; bonus. The vest also has a media pocket, and a hole for the earphone cord on the inside of the vest. The reflective surface on the Saucony vest appears to be pretty substantial, compared to the Brooks Essential Run Vest I had been looking at previously. Another bonus: the Saucony vest has a clip-on USB-LED light that can be recharged by plugging it into a USB port. It was much brighter than I expected.

Tonight's run started out at about (65) deg. F. with the sun nice and bright, then dropped down to (50) deg. F. by the time I got home four and a half hours later.

-Lancer!!

Sunday Long Run No.12

Today's plan calls for a Long Run.

DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Training, Long Run. Dist: (14.84)mi. Pace-avg: (17:38). Speed-avg: (3.4)mph. Speed-max: (5.3)mph. Burned: (1636) Calories. Running lights, new batteries.

Plan: Run (13) mi. @ a pace of (16:50) for a total time of (3:38:52)hrs.
Actual:  Jog/walked (13.0)mi. @ a (17:33) avg. pace for a total time of (3:48:07.41)hrs., bracketed by a (1.0)mi. warm-up walk, and a (0.84)mi. cool-down walk.
Fuel: Pre-run: GU Roctane (Pineapple); Mid-run: Honey Stinger Chews (Orange Blossom), PowerBar Energy Gel (Strawberry-Banana); Post-run: Honey Stinger Stinger Waffle (Vanilla).

Tonights's run went alright, but my feet definitely ache after that effort. *oof* I made sure to put fresh batteries in my running lights before I left the house, and by the time I got back the lights were pretty dim. There was a waxing crescent moon out this evening for most of my run. That was nice.

I was able to jog continuously for the first (5.01) miles this evening, which was not as far as last week @ (6.03)mi. before I had to slow down and walk. After walking for a bit, I picked up the pace again for another (2.64)mi. before slowing down again. I managed to jog for another (0.65)mi. again during the last mile. This gives me a total of about (8.3) aggregate jogging miles during tonight's run. I really need to add some strength training and cycling into my weekly workouts so I can build up to more continuous jogging mileage on my long runs.

Tonight I wore my running pants again, along with my long sleeve running shirt and running ball cap. I also carried my running shell, my ninja hood, and neck gaiter to make sure I would stay warm enough once I needed to put those on. Frankly, tonight's temperature was low enough that I was feeling pretty chilly even with the running shell zipped up all the way, and the running shirt zipped up all the way, too. My shoulders seemed to feel the coolest tonight, so maybe I will need to add another piece of tech gear to my running collection in preparation for next weeks long run. I'm thinking maybe a Brooks running vest.

Realistically, though, I should have started earlier, before the sun went down, to try and maximize the warmer temps. The temperature readings I am getting now say (55) deg. F. and (60) deg. F. I don't know which is correct, but it feels closer to (55) at a guess. It felt like it was in the low (70) deg. F. around 5.00pm, or so.

Weekly Mileage: Plan: (30)mi.; Actual: (32.76)mi.

Training week (19) completed. Week (20) is all Easy Runs, all week. That will be nice.

-Lancer!!

Sunday Long Run No.11

Today's plan calls for a Long Run.

DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Training, Long Run. Dist: (10.64)mi. Pace-avg: (17:13). Speed-avg: (3.5)mph. Speed-max: (6.0)mph. Burned: (1165) Calories. Running lights.

Plan: Run (13)mi. @ a (16:55) pace, for a total of (3:40:00)hrs.
Actual: Jog/walked (9.64)mi. @ a (17:18) avg pace, bracketed by a (1)mi. warm-up walk, and a (0.0)mi. cool-down walk.
Fuel: Pre-run: PowerBar Energy Gel (Strawberry-Banana); Mid-run: Honey Stinger Stinger Waffle (Honey); Post-run: PowerBar Energy Blasts (Strawberry Banana).

Tonight's Long Run went OK, but was incomplete due to a persistent ache in my left foot between my 3rd and 4th toes at the ball of my foot. I'm not sure what caused this to begin with, but this was only my second training run using my new Brooks running shoes. Maybe my shoes need a little more break-in time, or maybe I was overcompensating in some way by pushing off with my left foot more than in the past. Tonight the pain did not begin till I was well into the return leg of my run, so I got some good mileage out of the run. This intermittent pain sometimes occurs when I walk around the house barefoot too much. In any event, I did not want to just suck it up and power through the pain: It is only (6) weeks till the Las Vegas Half Marathon and I do not want to create more injuries before-hand.

Do you think the cars will see me?

I hope the drivers can see me on the road.

I was able to jog continuously for the first (6.03)mi. of tonight's run, then I walked about (0.22)mi., then resumed jogging for another (1.76)mi. before I had to stop and just walk the rest of the way. I wore my new Nike Element Long Sleeve running shirt with the tall collar and was suitably impressed: It kept me warm enough and cool enough at the same time; I did not overheat and oversweat. I brought along my new Brooks night running shell just in case it cooled off too much by the river, but it did not. It was very handy to have it folded up in its storage pocket and carrying it in an add-on pouch on my running belt. It's almost time to change the batteries again in my running lights. I was able to run long stretches in the park without the lights to conserve battery life, but some sections were too dark without the lights. No moon was out tonight, but there were several cyclists on my return leg that had multiple high power LED lights on their bikes and helmets. It was nice to see other people taking safety seriously.

-Lancer!!

Long Run No.10

2011-09-18, Sunday

Today's plan calls for a Long Run. [Yes, I skipped my Friday Easy Run. Bad Lance!]

DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Training, Long Run. Dist: (14.72)mi. Pace-avg: (17:03). Speed-avg: (3.5)mph. Speed-max: (5.1)mph. Burned: (1599) Calories. Running lights.


Plan: Run (12) mi. @ a (17:16) pace for a total time of (3:27:21) hrs.
Actual: Jog/walked (12)mi. @ an avg. pace of (16:48), for a total time of (3:21:40.86), bracketed by a (1)mi. warm-up walk, and a (1.72)mi. cool-down walk. [Jogged a total of (6.7)mi. in aggregate.]
Fuel: Pre-run: PowerBar Energy Gel (Strawberry-Banana); Mid-run: PowerBar Energy Blasts (Raspberry); Post-run: Honey Stinger, Stinger Waffle (Honey).

I left the house a bit after sundown, but there was still light in the sky. Throughout the park it was mostly a twilight illumination. There were quite a few people at the main picnic tables tonight, but they were mostly gone when I looped back around later. Tonight, instead of jogging all the way to the end of the county road the meets the end of the bike path, I tried multiple laps through the park. That seemed to take  longer due to the repetition. My running lights crapped out on the first return lap, so I relied mainly on ambient light, with a few zaps of my new SureFire LED light, from time-to-time.

On my return leg, the fourth leg, the moon finally rose. It was a waning quarter moon, but nice and bright all the same. Surprisingly, there was a police cruiser in the lot near the picnic tables. I don't know if they were there to chase off any late-night park people, or something else, but I did see the red and blues light up when two (2) cars drove down into the park. One turned around immediately, the second thought he'd just loop around the lot anyway, then leave. There was no apparent incident.

Now that I'm home, sitting here writing my blog entry, I feel like a creaky old man, so I better get stretched out, eat and shower.

Weekly Mileage: Planned: (24) mi. Actual: (22.29)mi. Missed it by that much.

-Lancer!!

Long Run No.9

2011-09-04, Sunday

After blowing off the rest of my scheduled runs this week, it is now time to execute my Long Run, anyway.

DC Bike Path/Surface streets: 1/2 Marathon Training, Long Run. Dist: (13.09)mi. Pace-avg: (17:09). Speed-avg: (3.5)mph. Speed-max: (5.9)mph. Burned: (1440) Calories. Running lights.

Plan: Run (11) mi. @ a (17:22) pace, for a total time of (3:11:07) hrs.
Actual: Jog/Walk (11) mi. @ a (16:58) avg. pace for a total time of (3:06:34.89)hrs.
Fuel: Pre-run: GU Roctane (Vanilla-Orange); Mid-run: Sport Beans (Berry); Post-run: PowerBar Energy Blasts (Strawberry-Banana).

I have been a little down in the dumps all week, possibly because I have not been running, or exercising at all, this week. Clearly, this has been a mistake. Tonight, while getting prepped and dressed for my run I was actually getting pretty excited about it. Perhaps I should just make sure I dress for my run, even when I don't feel like it, to make sure I stay motivated to get out and do it.

Tonight's run went quite well: There was no one else on the trail in the park tonight, so that was quite nice. The batteries in my running lights need to be changed already (too many night runs). I did turn off the lights during long sections of the path tonight, and there was still enough light to see the trail, even with no moon out. I was thinking of running on surface streets around the perimeter of the park (all the way out and back), but decided that with the Labor Day weekend there will definitely be too many inebriated knuckleheads out on the roads behind the wheel, and running in the park poses no danger of being run-down by said knuckleheads (at least, so far). Besides, running on the streets means breathing far too much exhaust from passing cars, and that would just suck; so fie on that.

I read this article earlier in the week on active.com, which mentioned "sugar belly" from consuming too much sugar in ones hydration and fuelingand was glad I was not overdoing the sugar in my "training diet": for hydration on my runs I stick to straight filtered water, although my fuel definitely has sugar in it.

Weekly Mileage: Planned: (23) mi. Actual: (13.09)mi.
Shortfall: (9.91) mi.

Post-run Weight: (197.8) lbs.

-Lancer!!

Long Run Sunday No.8

Time for yet another Long Run.

DC Bike Path/Surface streets: 1/2 Marathon Training, Long Run. Dist: (13.17)mi. Pace-avg: (16:42). Speed-avg: (3.6)mph. Speed-max: (5.3)mph. Burned: (1428) Calories. Running Lights.

Plan: Run (11) mi. @ a (17:27) pace, for a total time of (3:12:07) hrs.
Actual: Jog/Walk ((11) mi. @ a (16:29) avg. pace, for a total time of (3:01:18.54) hrs. Bracketed by a (1) mi. warm-up walk and a (1.17) mi. cool-down walk.
Fuel: Pre-run: PowerBar Fruit Smoothie Energy bar (berry Blast) [2-hrs. pre-run], GU Roctane (Mandarin Orange); Mid-run: Sport Beans (Orange), GU Chomps (Strawberry); Post-run: Whatever is quick.

Tonight's run went pretty well. I slept very late into the afternoon so I did not get out the door till after sundown. I noticed one of my running lights, the one that got dropped earlier in the week, was dimmer than the other one. I think the LEDs might have been jostled loose when the unit was dropped, but it's hard to tell for sure. Anyway, the lights still work well, though I have noticed a good deal of dimming since my last run. I was hoping to get more life out of the batteries, but that may not be the case after all. We'll just see.

There were surprisingly few people out on the bike path tonight. Usually, I run across at least five, or more, groups during the course of my Sunday long runs. I think I only came across three this evening. The first group I encountered was on my outbound leg, and they were not carrying lights at all. The second was a cyclist with a bike light, and the third was a BMXer with no lights at all, and I startled him out near the orchard on my return leg because I had turned off my lights to exercise my night-vision. Frankly, we startled each other. I checked my heart-rate data in TC, but I don't see any unusual heart-rate spikes due to that last encounter.

My best jogging effort this evening was (3.44) mi. continuously. The splits for that are: Mile (1): (14:14); Mile (2): (14:31); Mile (3): (16:51).

Weekly Mileage: Planned: (22) mi. Actual: (30.72) mi.

Well, now I am pretty tired and very hungry. Better stretch out and eat, post-haste!

-Lancer!!

Long Run Sunday No.7

Went out for my Long Run today.

DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Training, Long Run. Dist: (12.38)mi. Pace-avg: (17:00). Speed-avg: (3.5)mph. Speed-max: (6.2)mph. Burned: (1358) Calories.

Plan: Run (10) mi. @ (17:33) pace, for a total time of (2:55:34) hrs.
Actual: Jog/Walk (10) mi. @ (16:49) avg pace, for a total time of (2:48:06.62) hrs. Bracketed by (1) mile warm-up and (1) mile cool-down walks.
Fuel: Pre-run: (2x) PowerBar ProteinPlus (Reduced Sugar) Bars (Chocolate Peanut Butter); Mid-run: (1x) pack of Sport Beans (Grape), had half the pack at around (3.5) miles in, then the rest on the return leg around mile (6) or (7); Post-run: Banana-Chocolate-Strawberry-Honey Smoothie (homemade), then dinner of leftover pizza and salad.

Finally got in my Long Run, even though it was later in the day than originally planned. It went pretty well overall, though my running lights crapped out on the return leg. Pretty sure it is the batteries, but I will have to check that out later.

OK. I just replaced the batteries that shipped with my KnuckleLights(tm), Panasonic Carbon-Zinc AAA batteries, with some good old-fashioned Duracell Coppertop AAA batteries. I tested them in the dark backyard and the light appears to be even brighter than with the Panasonic batteries. SWEET! Now I am really looking forward to using these on my next after dark run. I hope there will be even more depth of field visibility when jogging over uneven blacktop, et al.

While I was still on the return leg of my training run I was ambivalent about trying to jog in the dark, even though I had my SureFire with me. Once I got past the fenced off orchard and onto flatter ground I decided to give it a try. Dark as it was I was still able to see the dashes on the blacktop. There was plenty of ambient light pollution for some visibility, even without the running lights. I did use my SureFire for illumination from time to time, but not quite as often as in the past.

I met some goals today: I was able to jog continuously for (30) minutes or more on two parts of this evenings run. On the outbound leg I "jogged" [fast-walked, speed-wise, but it felt more like jogging] for (2.42) miles over (37) min. @ about a (15:33) pace. And on the return leg  I "jogged" (2.04) miles over (31) min. @ about a (15:33) pace. Both times I was trying to maintain the pace for a full (3) miles, but fell short.

I didn't eat much today before my run. For breakfast I had (2) slices of wheat toast with creamy peanut-butter, and two (2) mugs of tea with honey. I drank a good amount of water during the afternoon. Then I had the (2) PowerBars about one hour before my run. I did not feel weighed down and heavy at all during the run, but I was a bit worn down during the final cool-down.

OK, better stretch out before my muscles get too cooled off. Good night!

-Lancer!!

Long Run Sunday No.6

Sunday is back again, and it's time for another Long Run [The -real- Long Run No.6, I previously miscounted. D'oh!]

DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Training, Long Run. Dist: (11.88)mi. Pace-avg: (16:54). Speed-avg: (3.5)mph. Speed-max: (4.9)mph. Burned: (1302) Calories.

Plan: Run (10) mi. @ a (17:39) pace for a total time of (2:56:30) hrs.
Actual: Walk/Jog (10) mi. @ (16:46) avg. pace, total time of (2:47:41.84) hrs. Preceded by a (1) mi. warm-up walk, and followed by a (0.88) mile cool-down walk.
Fuel: Pre-run: PowerBar Energy Bites, Chocolate. Mid-run: (2x) PowerBar Energy Gels, Strawberry-Banana.

Feeling mighty whipped right now. Need to rehydrate and refuel, stretch and shower. A tall glass of orange Gatorade, followed by a glass of water hit the spot.

Weekly Mileage: Target: (20) mi. Actual: (22.43) miles.

Today's Weight: (199.0) lbs. post-run.

Other News: I did not go to the gym on Saturday. :-/

-Lancer!!

Long Run 2

I continued my half-marathon training today with my second Long Run:

DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Trng, Long Run: Dist.: (9.07)mi. Pace-avg: (17:08)min./mi. Speed-avg: (3.5)mph. Speed-max: (5.3)mph. Burned: (1003) Calories.

The plan calls for a distance of eight (8) miles at a pace of (18:01)min./mi., or whatever is close to this, and comfortable. I kept my pace at about (16:54)min./mi. to (17:08) min./mi., or so, for most of the distance. I tried going a bit faster at one point on the return leg of the run, but it was already getting too dark for comfortable footing. Tonight would have been a great night to have those Knuckle-Lights. I'll have to order them soon.

I would have gone out earlier in the day but I staid up late, and it was over (100)F. today, so I put off the run till early evening. It was pretty comfortable temperature-wise during the "run", so that was good. As I mentioned previously, an (18:01) pace is walking for me, and a (16:00) to (17:00) pace is closer to a brisk walk. [Actually, Garmin TC says this is just Walking pace. *shrug*]

-Lancer!!