30 April 2009

The Shins Attack!

So, today was an easy 4miler with Belinda. I was doing okay for the first two miles and then my shins started to hurt. I've been fighting off shin splints, with some success, for a little more than a week now. I'm icing them when I can and trying to stay off my feet. Other than that, it was a good run. We finished just under 40 minutes.

This puts an end to the month of April. I didn't quite crack the 100mile marker this month. Came in at 98.4 miles. Though, I would have been over if I hadn't cut my 7-miler short last week (stupid shin splints!). Just looking ahead at the training plan...I should be well over the 100mile mark next month. No post tomorrow because its a rest day. Saturday should provide a long post. I'll be running the farthest I ever have, 17 miles. Wish me luck!

29 April 2009

Tempo Day

Today I ran an 8 mile tempo. It went much better than I thought it would have. My goal was to finish somewhere between 8:00 and 8:20 pace (since I did 10 miles at 8:27 last Saturday).

As usual when I run outside, I went out a little quick. I passed the first mile marker in 7:31. After that I settled into an 8:10's pace for the next 5 miles. I managed to cross the 10k marker in 51:16. Then I picked it up the last 1.8 miles to finish in 64:44 which is 8:05.5 mile pace. Oh, did I mention the temperature was in the upper 30's?

I've been feeling really good about my running lately. Hopefully, that is something that continues. Tomorrow is an easy 4 with my first 17-miler on Saturday. On a side note, we did tripod headstands in yoga this morning!

28 April 2009

The Difference Time Makes

Today's run went well. The weather was not good. Its almost May and it was snowing. That's what I get for going to school in Montana. Since it was snowing, I decided to run at the gym on the trusty old treadmill. I managed to complete a 4 mile build up. The first mile was somewhere in the 7:40's and the last mile was about 7:05. Overall, my time was 29:41, about 7:25 mile pace.

This made me think of my first half marathon back in 2005. I ran it in 7:26 pace. I had to really push today to make 4 miles at that pace. Granted, I was running a build up not a smooth 7:25 pace, but still. It makes me realize how much that year off from running hurt my overall fitness. I still feel like I am in the best shape I've been in since that race. I think I'm going to shoot for 3:49 for the race in June.

27 April 2009

A New Beginning....Sort of

So, today marks the beginning of my tenth week of training for the Seattle Rock-n-Roll Marathon. Up to this point, I had been using Higdon's novice training plan. Lately, I felt I haven't been running enough. After some discussion on the Runner's World forums, I decided to step it up and use Higdon's intermediate plan for the remainder of my training. Then today marks the beginning of my new training plan.

Last week was a good running week. Tuesday I managed 4 miles at 7:30 pace. Wednesday I was going to run 7 miles but had to cut it short at 4.3 due to shin splints. Thursday was the Kim Williams 5K here in Missoula. I wanted to run between 7:00 and 7:20 pace. I went out a little quick, probably around 6:50, and ended up finishing in 22:13, which is about 7:09 pace. I was happy with my time. I never thought I'd say that about running 22:13. In high school I ran 19's and even dipped in the 18's during my freshman year of college. But, I didn't run for nearly a year for medical reasons so I'll take it. Tomorrow is another 4 miler.