December 2011 Running Commentary

Once a month or so, I clear out some of the content on my Running Commentary, Random Thoughts, and 12 Notes pages and place them here on the main page to make room for fresh content on those pages.  This is the December 2011 Running Commentary.  Enjoy!

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This month:  251.34 miles.  Longest run: 15.2 miles (December 6th) Shortest run: 3.3 miles (December 25th)  28 runs in 31 days during the month. Average run distance for the month: 8.976 miles

2011 Mileage total: 2151.34 miles  Longest run of the year: 20.9 miles (September 18th) Shortest run of the year:  1.7 miles (January 24th, injury shortened). 284 runs on the year.  Average run distance:  7.575 miles

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I honestly thought that I had seen my best run month ever last month.

I was wrong.

I had 3 days off this month, I was expecting more days off, and was expecting cooler temps to both slow me down and shorten my runs.  Neither materialized, and that made it possible for me to push harder and longer than I thought possible in December.  I had ten runs over 10 miles this month, and only eleven runs under 1 hour despite working fairly regularly.  I was speedy throughout the month, and finished strong both distance and speed wise for the month and the year.

I had perhaps my best run month I’ve ever had in the best run year I have ever had.  More long runs than any other year.  I had my first 200+ mile month running.  Then my second, and third and fourth and fifth.  Nearly 1000 miles run during the last 4 months of the year.  The longest single run of my life in September, almost 21 miles.  I’m 44 years old, and I’m in the best shape of my life and that is absolutely friggin wonderful.

A truly great month and year run wise.

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Thur., December 1st:  Ran 6.92 miles in 53: 31.03, a 7:44.02 m/m pace.  35 degrees, cloudy, windy.  I didn’t feel like running the 1.01 lap regular hill run 3 times today, so I extended a different hill run.  I tried to be fast the whole way today, and this was as fast as I could move in this weather at this point.  I’m happy with it.  125 knuckle push-ups, 40 chin-ups, 250 front kicks, 375 reps deep knee bend/punch combo.

Fri., December 2nd:  NO RUN. NO EXERCISE.  Worked late.

Sat., December 3rd:  Ran 13.16 miles in 1:42:00, a 7:45.04 m/m pace.  41 degrees, partly cloudy, breezy.  Ran late for a Saturday run, started after 4 pm, finished near 6 pm, from sunlight to darkness.   I felt pretty damn good about this run before I saw the time, and see no reason to be disappointed by a number.  Mind you a 7:45 isn’t too bad, not for a half marathon run on hills the entire course, with the bulk of it run in darkness.  Not too shabby.  300 knuckle push-ups.

Sun., December 4th:  Ran 10.9 miles in 1:21:23, a 7:27.98 m/m pace.  41 degrees, cloudy, breezy.  5 laps in the park plus the run there and back has frankly never seemed so easy.  I was moving relatively quickly without much in the way of effort.  Now I thought about keeping my feet moving fast, and about stretching my stride, but the effort itself didn’t feel like an effort.  My hamstrings were sore pre-run, and are sore now, so that bears some watching.  Great run though.  150 knuckle push-ups, 48 chin-ups, 600 low, fast, front kicks.  The kicks never got higher than waist high, as I didn’t want to aggravate the sore hamstrings.

Mon., December 5th:  Ran 9 miles in 1:07:44, a 7:31.55 m/m pace.  49 degrees, cloudy, foggy, breezy.  It took all I had to run this pace today.  I tried to be as fast today as I was yesterday, and almost nailed it, but couldn’t quite pull of the pace.  Had a slight headache on top of the sore hamstrings, and just being tired on top of that made this run much harder than yesterdays.  Need more sleep, methinks.  That’d clear up most of the issues.  90 chin-ups.

Tues., December 6th:  Ran 15.2 miles in 1:55:30, a 7:35.92 m/m pace.  59 degrees, rain, wind.  8 laps in the park, 1 slow lap, 7 fast, the last perhaps my fastest of the day.  After one slow lap(my 3rd), I decided to pick up the pace, and motored after that.  Hit the last lap at a 7:20 pace, which is remarkable in that I had just run a half marathon’s distance in a 7:38.  I didn’t think I had that in me.  Nice.  200 knuckle push-ups, 64 chin-ups.

Wed., December 7th: NO RUN, NO EXERCISE.  Worked late.

Thur., December 8th:  Ran 9 miles in 1:09:28, a 7:43.11 m/m pace.  38 degrees, sunny, windy.  Pushed hard out there, but I also made the conscious decision to slow it down a bit.  Which is a hard thing to both say and do.  Hamstrings are sore, but they have been for a while, and that is one of the reasons to slow it down a bit, another being the dropping temperatures.  7:43 ain’t too bad, tho.  150 knuckle push-ups, 58 chin-ups, 600 deep knee bends.

Fri., December 9th:  Ran 6.78 miles in 53:34.01, a 7:54.04 m/m pace.  31 degrees, clear.  Ran as fast as I was capable this morning, which wasn’t very fast.  Hammies are still sore, I usually don’t run very fast this early, and it’s the first day that it’s below freezing since last winter.  I’m actually pretty happy with the time, given all of that.  I enjoyed the morning hill run today, good way to wake up in the morning.  No exercise.

Sat., December 10th:  Ran 10.9 miles in 1:24:59, a 7:47.79 m/m pace.  39 degrees, sunny, windy.  Right hamstring was an issue the entire run, Tightness limited my ability to stretch my stride, so this was my top end speed today.  The hamstring felt better at the end of the run, the last of the 5 park laps and the run home, so I picked up the pace there, and salvaged some kind of decent time.  Better’n nothin, I guess.

Sun., December 11th:  Ran 9 miles in 1:07:01, a 7:26.77 m/m pace.  36 degrees, sunny, breezy.  Pushed hard from the get-go today, and tried to keep the pace fast throughout the run.  I was surprised when I hit the first marker and I saw I was running sub 7:30, surprised and happy, and after that I did everything I could to keep the run that way.  First run in a while that I have not had an issue with my right hamstring.  Nice.  180 knuckle push-ups, 72 chin-ups.

Mon., December 12th:  Ran 10.9 miles in 1:21:59, a 7:31.28 m/m pace.  39 degrees, mostly sunny, breezy.  Great run today, for a number of reasons.  Ran well today, started fast and kept the pace quick the entire way.  A second day without pain in my hamstrings was a nice addition, but the best part of today is that this was a milestone run.  I hit 2,000 miles on the year on the 5th of 5 park laps today.  2,000.  That feels good, longest, strongest run year ever, and I hit the mark running fast.  Beautiful.  175 knuckle push-ups, 72 chin-ups.

Tues., December 13th:  Ran 5.62 miles in 43:24.65, a 7:43.46 m/m pace.  32 degrees, sunny, breezy.  Not a bad run considering this is technically my second run of the day.  Pushed hard on the hills, tried to keep my feet as fast as possible, and  it worked, by and large.    Got hit with a strong pain in my right side around 6 minutes in, had to stop for a minute. Went away as fast as I came on, didn’t interfere with the run otherwise.  80 chin-ups.

Wed., December 14th:  Ran 6.5 miles in 52:16.49, an 8:02.53 m/m pace.  34 degrees, clear.  Damn, I thought I was faster than that.  I really did.  I pushed hard out there on the hills, and frankly enjoyed the run, but I also felt like I was running faster than that.  Dammit.  No exercise.

Thur., December 15th:  Ran 12.8 miles in 1:35:32, a 7:27.81 m/m pace.  53 degrees, cloudy, windy.  I’m as happy about this run as I was unhappy about the previous one.  It was effortless early on, but after about the second lap I started to feel my right hamstring get tight on me again.  I pushed harder after that, not because I wanted to hurt the hammy but because I was moving fast and felt good enough to give it a push.  Fun run.  No exercise.

Fri., December 16th: Ran 9 miles in 1:08:21, a 7:35.66 m/m pace.  43 degrees, sunny, windy.  I gave as much as I had out there today.  Right hamstring was tight, but it wasn’t too bad.  I was able to run fine, might have slowed me down a hair.  Winds gusting to 40 mph, and always in my face and never at my back, made this one more difficult than normal.  Wind in my face and not at my back makes for better training, and I prefer it that way. 88 chin-ups. Better’n nuttin, but not by much.

Sat., December 17th:  Ran 8.22 miles in 1:00:03, a 7:18.32 m/m pace.  37 degrees, cloudy, windy.  I busted my ass out there today.  This was, like yesterday, everything I had.  1.26 miles down to the park, 3 laps and back.  I was not thinking of running super fast today, I just wanted to run, and this was the result.  Nice.  150 knuckle push-ups, 48 chin-ups.

Sun., December 18th:  Ran 5.2 miles in 39:53.51, a 7:40.29 m/m pace.  29 degrees, sunny, cloudy.  Would have gone longer but I didn’t start until very late, and I decided to cut it short what was initially a scheduled long run.  I just did not feel like running.  Ran to see if I could shake the feeling by running, but I couldn’t.  Dammit.

Mon., December 19th:  Ran 5.62 miles in 44:11.86, a 7:51.86 m/m pace.  26 degrees, clear.  Good, strong effort during a  pre-dawn run. I pushed about as hard as I could out there, hit the hills with everything I had.  I feel good about this one.  I could have gone longer, and thought about it, but decided to keep the run relatively short, and get back home early.  Enjoyed the cool, crisp morning.  Good run.

Tues., December 20th:  Ran 7.84 miles in 59.05.90, a 7:32.28 m/m pace.  46 degrees, cloudy, breezy.  Pushed hard out there during this pre-dawn run on the hills today.  But then again, it is easier to push harder when it’s nicer out, ’twas much harder to get any speed yesterday.  Felt good out there doing  those 6 – 1.01 mile hill repeats this morning.  Had fun out there.  56 chin-ups, as much as I had time for.

Wed., December 21st:  Ran 7.16 miles in 56:15.66, a 7:51.26 m/m pace.  48 degrees, cloudy.  Hit the hills again today, I wasn’t able to move as fast as yesterday, but I don’t have a problem with this time.  It’s as fast as I could move this morning, and the hills I ran were the steeper ones, so, no big deal on the slower time.  I enjoyed the run this morning, felt good out there.  100 Knuckle push-ups, it’s as much as I could do in the 5 minutes I had available.

Thur., December 22nd:  Ran 5.82 miles in 44:59.74, a 7:43.87 m/m pace.  49 degrees, partly cloudy.  Kept my stride length as high as I could throughout the run.  Tried to keep my stride rate high as well.  Hills made that tougher, but I think I was pretty good.  Fast on the downhill, slower on the uphill, but not all that slow.  Had fun out there.  No exercise.

Fri., December 23rd:  NO RUN, NO EXERCISE.  Long day.

Sat., December 24th:  Ran 12.8 miles in 1:40:57, a 7:53.20 m/m pace.  33 degrees, sunny, windy.  Long, happy, relaxed run.  OK, it wasn’t relaxed, I was trying out there, pushing, but I wasn’t stressing over looking at the stopwatch, or my stride rate or length.  I just ran to run, because it felt good, because it is good. It was an enjoyable relaxed run, twas a nice change of pace.  175 knuckle push-ups, 56 chin-ups.

Sun., December 25th:  Ran 3.3 miles in 26:13.17, a 7:56.71 m/m pace.  33 degrees, cloudy, breezy. Injury shortened run.  The left knee did it again, went out on me.  Got sore, had to stop twice, and run slower the rest of the way, and cut what should have been the second of 2 – 6 lap runs into a 1 lap shorty.  Ah well, I’ll go long tomorrow, the knee will be fine by then.  200 knuckle push-ups, 48 chin-ups.

Mon., December 26th:  Ran 9 miles in 1:08:26.82, a 7:36.31 m/m pace.  42 degrees, sunny, windy.  I felt colder than that out, wind made it feel like a real winter run, despite temps in the 40′s.  Pushed hard into the wind, and left everything out there today.  This was as much as I had today, the right knee got loose and almost stopped me before I went 3 miles.  I toughed it out, and the knee instability slowly disappeared.  New stopwatch give me 100ths of a second past the 1 hour mark, where the other didn’t.  Nice.

Tues., December 27th:  Ran 9 miles in 1:08:09, a 7:34.33 m/m pace.  42 degrees, cloudy, windy.  I opened up my stride a bit today, more so on the second half of the run than the first. I cut 8 seconds per mile off of the second half of the run,7:38 pace for the first half, 7:30 for the second.  Nice.  No issues with the left knee after 2 days of issues with instability there.  Double nice.  Oh, and did I mention I broke 2100 miles yesterday?  Triple nice!

Wed., December 28th:  Ran 7.1 miles in 54:22.32, a 7:39.48 m/m pace.  42 degrees, cloudy, windy.  Wind was howling today, made for a fun run.  Pushed hard out there late, took it easier than normal early, the first 1½ or 2 miles I took it slower than normal.  Busted my ass at the end of the run, gave it everything I had.  Both the early slowdown and the late pickup felt good. 300 knuckle push-ups.  A surprisingly un-strenuous workout, did it over the space of an hour, doing it whenever I had a spare moment.

Thur., December 29th:  Ran 10.9 miles in 1:25:38.51, a 7:51.42 m/m pace.  32 degrees, partly cloudy, windy.  Twas hard running today.  I pushed about as hard as I was capable, but I just couldn’t get any real speed going.  Felt good to get the distance done that I wanted to run, wasn’t sure I would be able to.  Time constraints and all that.   Finished in darkness, got started late.  Nice late December run.

Fri., December 30th:  Ran 12.8 miles in 1:36:18, a 7:31.40 m/m pace.  48 degrees, sunny, breezy.  Busted my ass out there today, really pushed with everything I had.  Feet are sore, right hamstring is a touch sore, all else is fine.  Nice weather for the last weekday of the year, and I took advantage of it out there today.  I went out of my way to step up the effort because of the nice weather, and because I am so close to hitting mile marker 2150 on the year, and 250 on the month.  112 chin-ups,  took my time doing them, despite the fact it was late and I was tired when I did them.

Sat., December 31st:  Ran 10.9 miles in 1:21:55.55, a 7:30:96 m/m pace.  52 degrees, partly cloudy, breezy.  Unseasonably warm temperatures made this a dream run.  I didn’t think I’d be able to run as fast as yesterday(I was faster!), and was hoping for a decent run for my last of the year, and got more than what I wished for.  Hit 250 miles on the month, and 2150 on the year with this run.   I couldn’t wipe the smile off of my face the entire run.  Nice.  300 Knuckle push-ups.

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That’s about it from here, America.  G’night.

November 2011 Running Commentary

Once a month or so, I clear out some of the content on my Running Commentary, Random Thoughts, and 12 Notes pages and place them here on the main page to make room for fresh content on those pages.  This is the November 2011 Running Commentary.  Enjoy!

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Tues., November 1st:  Ran 6.32 miles in 48:47.36, a 7:43.18 m/m pace.  44 degrees, clear. It was brisk out there tonight.  I wasn’t expecting it to be chilly out, but I was actually cold for most of the run, which was surprising.  But I was under-dressed, so it was entirely my own damned fault.  Still had fun out there, despite being amazingly chilled for most of the run.

Wed., November 2nd:  Ran 5.82 miles in 44:13.46, a 7:35.92 m/m pace. 49 degrees, clear.  It was a nice night for running. I got out late to run tonight, I almost didn’t run tonight, but I decided to go even though I was starting up after I usually finish.  The run was actually pretty quick, I’m happy with the time.  Had fun out there.

Thur., November 3rd:  Ran 6.28 miles in 48:34.66, a 7:44.11 m/m pace.  41 degrees, clear.  This pre-dawn run was actually relatively quick, it’s not easy for me to move with any speed when I’ve only been awake for 30 minutes, I tend to be slow early in these runs.  Tried to keep my stride rate fast on the 3/4 of a mile up and  3/4 of a mile back down.  3 of those plus the .89 mile run to the beginning turnaround point and the same for the run home.  It’s a fun run.  75 knuckle push-ups, 50 chin-ups.  All I could do in the 15 minutes that I had to work with.  Better’n nothin, I guess.

Fri., November 4th:  Ran 7.7 miles in 1:00:25, a 7:50.78 m/m pace.  47 degrees, cloudy, breezy.  Slow out the gate, and though I tried to pick up the pace as best I could, I just couldn’t generate enough speed to get under an hour for the distance.  Ah well, I put in as much effort as I could today, felt good to do that.  Hit the last section, the .82 mile run home, at a 7:20 pace.  That was nice.

Sat., November 5th:  Ran 15.36 miles in 1:59.23, a 7:46.34 m/m pace.  37 degrees, Sunny. I ran to the park to do my miles today, but the park guys were laying down asphalt on part of the run path, and they had it closed.  Ran it anyway.  Ran back home, for a 4.42 mile run.  Stopped in front of home for a few seconds, and went back out and told myself to hit the hills, and did.  5.47 miles out and another 5.47 back.  Pretty fast for a long morning run, at least for me.  Twas a good run.   80 chin-ups.

Sun., November 6th:  Ran 11.52 miles in 1:26:57, a 7:32.86 m/m pace.  52 degrees, sunny.  It was just a fast day today, just look at the NYC marathon times.  I really had fun out there, ran the 1.92 mile hill run(6x) about as fast as I was able today.  The conditions were about as good as it gets, perfect run weather.  That said, I’m amazed at the time.  This was MUCH faster than I thought I’d be able to go.  Nice.  250 knuckle push-ups.

Mon., November 7th:  Ran 7.4 miles in 55:58.07, a 7:33.79 m/m pace.  55 degrees, sunny.  Started out as a park run, but the park is still being worked on, so I had to cut the park portion of the run to a single lap.  Dammit.  1.26 to the park, plus one lap, plus the 1.26 back home, plus what turned out to be 2.98 miles around the neighborhood.  Kind of annoying to have to run like this, altering course after starting out.  Wish they’d finish working in the damn park.  96 chin-ups.

Tues., November 8th:  Ran 7.7 miles in 1:00:08, a 7:48.57 m/m pace.  49 degrees, clear.  Pre-dawn run, not the fastest, not the slowest.  It was about as much as I am capable of when beginning at 5:15 am.  Unhappy over the fact that I was actually slower on the second half of the run today.  I go for a negative split every run, and I missed today by about 23 seconds, dammit.  That is not what I was going for.  250 knuckle push-ups.

Wed., November 9th:  Ran 6.64 miles in 51:23.72, a 7:44.41 m/m pace.  47 degrees, foggy.  Hit the hills a might bit harder than usual today, ran a bit less distance to do it, though.  It was a little chillier than I was expecting, and the fog was a complete surprise, but it didn’t hamper things at all, as far as the run was concerned.  Ran the first half in 25:59, second  35 seconds or so less, so I didn’t have the same problems as yesterday with my split times.  Nice. 100+ Chin-ups.  I lost count of how many sets of 8 I did, but it was at least 13…I think.  So call it 100+ and call it a day.

Thur., November 10th:  Ran 10.9 miles in 1:20:08, a 7:21.10 m/m pace.  65 degrees, sunny, breezy.  Zoom and other such statements.  I was fast out the gate and did everything I could to keep the speed up the entire run.  I was hitting each 1.9 mile lap at less than 14 minutes per lap, which is very fast for me.  It took almost everything I had to do this, and dammit it felt good doing it.  No work today unfortunately, so I ran when the sun was up. 250 knuckle push-ups.

Fri., November 11th:  Ran 7.1 miles in 51:41.97, a 7:16.89 m/m pace.  42 degrees, sunny, windy.  I was zooming out there, second day in a row.  Feet were quick, my stride rate was high, and I was pushing very hard for much of the run.  Ran into a Veterans Day race in the park, twas inspiring to the runner and the American in me.  I was also keeping up with the guy who finished in 7th overall, so that felt pretty damn good.   Had fun out there.  No exercise.

Sat., November 12th:  Ran 5.2 miles in 38:23.2, a 7:22.92 m/m pace.  38 degrees, sunny, breezy.  Short run because I have a busy morning ahead. I pushed my speed as hard as I could today.  Surprised I was this fast, in large part because I woke up only a little while before I started the run, and that usually spells S-L-O-W for me.  Not today though.  First half of the run I ran at a 7:31, the second half in a 7:14.  Nice.  Long run tomorrow, methinks.

Sun., November 13th:  Ran 13.14 miles in 1:42:29, a 7:47.96 m/m pace.  55 degrees, sunny, windy.  I thought this was going to be longer, but this run was very hilly, so I’m not unhappy about it.  Ran the old neighborhood hill run and more.  Passed Jersey street, passed the one two oh, passed the ferry, ran to Victory Blvd, and all the way home, with a one lap run in the park added on.  That was a tough but fun run.

Mon., November 14th:  Ran 10.8 miles in 1:20:14, a 7:25.74 m/m pace.  67 degrees, sunny.  Unseasonably warm for a mid-November run.  I ran one lap in the park, but they were doing more road work on the run path, so I stopped at that one lap(13:58.63, a 7:21.38 pace.) After that I hit the hills I usually run for my pre-post work runs, ran 8.08 miles there, then ran the .82 miles home.  Close enough to the distance I wanted to run, and I hit the hills and ran fast.  Can’t complain, even if they took my park run from me… again.

Tues., November 15th:  Ran 11.9 miles in 1:30:52, a 7:38:15 m/m pace.  63 degrees, cloudy, breezy.  I didn’t push for speed today like I did yesterday, but I still pushed.  I ran a fairly large swath of the island today.  4 miles+ on Victory, 3+ on Forest, Richmond road from forest to victory, and almost 3 miles getting to victory and clove.  I thought the run was longer than this, but I’m happy with the result.  Haven’t exercised since Thursday.  Lazy Mikey.  Gotta work on that.

Wed., November 16th:  NO RUN, NO EXERCISE.  Worked late, no time to do either.

Thur., November 17th:  Ran 6.48 miles in 49:07.55, a 7:34:86 m/m pace.  40 degrees, windy.  Post work hill run, added the hill on Victory from Labau to Royal oak road, almost as an afterthought.  I pushed hard out there, but couldn’t muster the speed I thought I could.  7:34 is a respectable time, but I was hoping I was faster than that.  Felt colder than Saturday’s run, due in large part to the wind.  Weather had no effect on my time that I could tell.  80 chin-ups.  First exercise in a week, it’s as much as I thought I should do, given the extended layoff.

Fri., November 18th:  Ran 8.22 miles in 1:00:29, a 7:21.48 m/ pace.  40 degrees, sunny, windy.  3 laps in the park + the 1.26 mile run to and from the park.  Happy to be able to run in the park again.  I only ran 3 laps because I’ve already run 3 – 10+ milers already this week, and I plan on going over 10 tomorrow, no need to overdo it today.  I went over 1800 miles for the year today, quite impressive I think. 80 chin-ups, yesterday’s exercise was so nice, I had to do it twice.

Sat., November 19th:  Ran 10.9 miles in 1:22:47, a 7:35:68 m/m pace.  37 degrees, sunny, breezy.  I didn’t want to push too hard today, after some of the speed-work I’ve done over the last week, but I didn’t slack either.  Guess I’ve been pushing kind of hard all week,  my hamstrings are sore, and it affected the run early.  Soreness disappeared after about 3 of the 5 park laps I did today, but those first 3 laps were hard as a result.  Good run.

Sun., November 20th:  Ran 13.3 miles in 1:41:27, a 7:37.66 m/m pace.  62 degrees, partly cloudy, windy.  Started slow, not knowing how long I was going to go, and picked up the pace as I went.  I had a sore point on the top of my left foot, not actually painful, but enough of an issue that I thought about stopping a few times.  Didn’t.  I was sore in a number of spots before, during and after today’s run, if I wasn’t I would have gone longer.  Excuses, excuses.  200 knuckle push-ups. Did what I could in the very short space of time I had to actually do this.

Mon., November 21st:  Ran 7.1 miles in 51:58.78, a 7:19.26 m/m pace.  49 degrees, windy, cloudy.  Busted my ass out there today.  Would’ve gone longer today but worked called, I gotta get in and soon, so I shortened today’s run.  Happy about the pace, too.  Sub 7:20 is always nice.  No pain or issues with either the top of my foot, or the other sore points from yesterday.  200 knuckle push-ups.  Knocked it out in the few minutes I had before work, call it 17 minutes.

Tues., November 22nd:  Ran 5.68 miles in 45:29.80, an 8:00.59 m/m pace.  45 degrees, windy, heavy rain.  It was pouring out there tonight.  Pouring. Inch and a half in an hour or some such amount.  I didn’t even try to run fast tonight, didn’t want to.  Still somewhat disappointed that I only ran an 8 minute mile on this short a distance.  With that said, I dunno if I could have gone faster, given the conditions.  80 chin-ups.  Not bad, not great, good enough.

Wed., November 23rd: NO RUN, NO EXERCISE.  Unscheduled day off.  Could have run and exercised.  Didn’t.

Thur., November 24th:  Ran 12.8 miles in 1:36:09, a 7:30.70 m/m pace.  47 degrees, sunny, breezy.  Nice morning for a run, started a bit chilly at 40 degrees, warmed up as the run went on.  I had a boatload of little aches and pains hit me today, both knees, both hamstrings, left ankle, dunno why offhand.  Didn’t let it stop me though.  This was not my hardest effort, speed wise, but it was about as far as I could have gone today.  Excellent.  175 knuckle pushups, 56 chin-ups.  7 sets of each first time I’ve done both in one day in at least a month, gotta start doing that more often.

Fri., November 25th:  Ran 6.32 miles in 44:47.18, a 7:05.18 m/m pace.  59 degrees, sunny.  Best run of the year.  Period. Great weather, little to no wind, temps are near perfect.  I got out the gate fast, and had several instances where I had to push faster than I was running, and then, when I did move faster I kept up the faster pace.  I was flying out there, and dammit that felt great.  I really enjoyed this one.  Good run.  200 knuckle push-ups, 64 chin-ups.

Sat., November 26th:  Ran 11.74 miles in 1:30:29, a 7:42.43 m/m pace.  55 degrees, sunny.  Took the foot off of the gas running the hills today, after the effort that I put in yesterday.  Not a half-hearted effort by any means, but not the speed run that yesterday’s run was.  Right hamstring seems to be getting tight on me, but it’s not too bad at the moment.  Had fun running in the old neighborhood.  No exercise.

Sun., November 27th:  Ran 11.4 miles in 1:22:35, a 7:14.64 m.m pace.  59 degrees, partly cloudy, breezy.  I think this may be a PR for the distance.  Nice. I didn’t thinking about running fast today, I just did.  Felt fast and light the whole way today, and I was able to let go and burn the entire distance. Double nice.  On lap 5 I felt a twinge in my left ankle and my right hammy, but it went away as fast as it showed up.  Last lap was my fastest. Triple nice.  225 knuckle push-ups.

Mon., November 28th:  Ran 5.68 miles in 43:25.77, a 7:38.76 m/m pace.  53 degrees, cloudy, breezy.  Early morning pre-work run.  I busted my ass out there today, just wasn’t as fast as yesterday.  Pre-dawn hills, when the coffee hasn’t kicked in yet, are hard.  Still wouldn’t miss it for the world, hills make me faster and stronger.  I’ve grown to really enjoy running them.  100 knuckle push-ups, 50 chin-ups.  It’s as much as I could do in the 15 minutes I had to actually exercise in.

Tues., November 29th:  Ran 6.64 miles in 52:38.46, a 7:55.67 m/m pace.  57 degrees, cloudy, windy.  Pre-work hill running.  I thought I was faster than this, I really did. I pushed pretty hard out there, I just didn’t move very fast.  Go fig!  No excuses, I guess I just can’t be fast everyday, especially during those pre-dawn runs.  I’ll try to be faster tomorrow.  No exercise.

Wed., November 30th:  Ran 7.7 miles in 58:54.90, a 7:39.07 m/m pace.  44 degrees, cloudy, windy.  After the less than quick pace I set yesterday, I made a conscious decision to push faster today.  Sixteen and a half seconds per mile faster felt good this morning, especially with the longer distance run.  It’s not easy to get moving fast at 5:15 am, but I did it.  Nice.  125 knuckle push-ups, 40 chin-ups, front kick and deep knee bend punching exercises.  First time I’ve done the punch and kick drills in at least a year.  Felt good.

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This month:  247.74 miles.  Longest run: 15.36 miles (November 5th) Shortest run: 5.2 miles (November 12th)  28 runs in 30 days during the month. Average run distance for the month: 8.847 miles

Year to date: 1900.00 miles  Longest so far 20.9 miles (September 18th) Shortest 1.7 miles (January 24th, injury shortened). 256 runs on the year.  Average run distance:  7.421 miles

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November was a great run month!  I had only 2 days off despite it being a busy month, had a greater number of 10+ mile runs than I thought I would have, and I nearly hit 250 miles on the month!  And my speed numbers really took off, I had a number of sub 7:20 m/m average runs this month, probably the first time I could say that in at least a year, maybe more.

Hill running has really helped me get my speed numbers up where they are, and have made it easier to do the distance running I’ve been doing.  I plan on keeping up the hill running indefinitely, seeing how much it positively affects my running in general, and it has become a regular part of my running repertoire.

Mind you, it won’t be as easy to replicate this months numbers in December.  Early morning, and post sunset runs when the temperatures are in the twenties and thirties will put a damper on speed numbers, at least a little bit, and I expect it will affect distance numbers somewhat as well.  I am hoping to hit the 200 mile mark for the month of December, which would put me at 2100 miles for the year.

That would be fantastic.

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That’s it from here, America!  G’night!

October 2011 Running Commentary

Once a month or so, I clear out some of the content on my Running Commentary, Random Thoughts, and 12 Notes pages and place them here on the main page to make room for fresh content on those pages.  This is the October 2011 Running Commentary.  Enjoy!

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Sat., October 1st:  Ran 7.1 miles in 52:58.16, a 7:27.62 m/m pace.  59 degrees, cloudy. Great day for a run, after several weeks of nearly 80 degrees and terminally humid, it’s nice to have actual autumnal weather to run in. Busted my ass out there most of the way, started a bit slow out there though.  If i had time I’d have gone longer.  150 Knuckle push-ups, 48 chin-ups.  Short workout for a lazy day.

Sun., October 2nd:  Ran 13.3 miles in 1:41:28, a 7:37.74 m/m pace.  58 degrees, sunny.  It was 53 when I started.  Great running weather.  One of the best run days of the year, and I ran a PR for this distance today as a result.  Nice.  There was mud and puddles everywhere, but that mattered not at all.  Nothing sore, no pain to speak of.  Double nice.  300 knuckle push-ups.

Mon., October 3rd:  NO RUN, NO EXERCISE.

Tues., October 4th:  Ran 7.7 Miles in 59:44.40, a 7:45.50 m/m pace.  59 degrees, cloudy, breezy.  Night run after work.  Ran the Royal Oak/ Rice ave. hill to Martling and clove 3 x + the run to Royal oak and back.  I forgot how much fun night hill running can be.  Perfect run conditions as well, 59, not too windy, almost no one around, truly beautiful.  Might run early tomorrow, same path, same distance, I’ll see.  125 knuckle push-ups, 40 chin-ups.  That’s as much as I could get in in the few minutes I had to exercise.

Wed., October 5th:  Ran 7.7 miles in 1:00:02, a 7:47.79 m/m pace.  57 degrees, breezy.  Beautiful pre-dawn run.  I was going kind of slow early on, really had to pick up the pace the last 3 miles or so to even try to get to a time under 1:01, thought I’d be closer to a 1:02 if I didn’t pick it up.  Almost did it in under an hour.  Nice.  Hill running when the coffee has yet to kick in is not easy.  lulz.  Had fun out there.

Thur., October 6th:  Ran 6.38 miles in 50:22.48, a 7:53.74 m/m pace.  44 degrees, nice.  Beautifully brisk morning run today.  Shorter and slower than yesterday, but I ran different hills today, this time the hills on Clove and on victory up to Albert.  Harder hills to run.  Didn’t push hard today, knowing I’ve got a long haul ahead of me today.  Exercise will continue when I can get time to do it.

Fri., October 7th:  Ran 7.7 miles in 59:26.89, a 7:43.23 m/m pace.  49 degrees, nice. I pushed pretty hard out there this morning.  I’m 40 seconds faster on the downhill vs. the uphill, and the hill is 1.01 miles long.  That is annoying, because I run just as hard going up hill, but still lose that much speed.  Ah well, I’ll find some uphill speed eventually, I hope.  Still, it’s a decent time for 7+ miles on the hills overall.

Sat., October 8th:  Ran 12.02 miles in 1:32:15, a 7:40.48 m/m pace.  52 degrees, clear.  5 park laps + the 1.26 mile run to the park and back.  Beautiful day for a run.  Felt fast today, so I pushed pretty hard the whole way.  Initially thought about going 6 laps, but I have things to do this morning, so I cut the run short to get them done. BTW, today I passed last years mileage total.  Last year was my longest run year ever.  Only 15.56 miles until  I reach 1,500 miles on the year.  Nice.  Go me!

Sun., October 9th:  Ran 6.78 miles in 53:37.96, a 7:54.62 m/m pace.  55 degrees, clear.  Another pre-dawn run on the hills.  Thought I was faster than this, but the time isn’t too bad, I guess, maybe.  I thought I was going relatively fast out there, but apparently not.  No worries though, can’t all be fast ones.  No pain, no soreness.  Nice.

Mon., October 10th:  Ran 7.7 miles in 1:00:28, a 7:51.16 m/m pace.  59 degrees, clear, breezy.  I pushed just as hard as the last few times I ran this course, just didn’t run it as fast.  Go fig.  I’ve been pushing myself extra hard, between lack of sleep, pre-dawn hill running, and a new work schedule, and I am a little worn out.  I can run this faster though.  No pain, so soreness.  Nice.

Tues., October 11th:  Ran 5.62 miles in 42:02.20, a 7:28.79 m/m pace.  65 degrees, clear.  Great run on a great night to run.  This one meant a lot to me, this is the run where I went over 1,500 miles on the year.  I ran fast as well today.  Pushed hard out the door, went for it, knowing I was going short.  Felt good just knowing I was hitting a milestone today, that pushed me faster.  Good run.

Wed., October 12th:  Ran 7.7 miles in 58:40.90, a 7:37.26 m/m pace.  58 degrees, windy, drizzle.  Tried to push fast today after a long day at work on the hills and it went pretty well, I think.  Hit the hills hard, picked up the pace after each uphill, hitting the uphill on the third go-round at around a 7:45 pace.  Usually I run a bit slower on the uphill, so I’m happy with that.  I’m going to start exercising again soon.

Thur., October 13th:  Ran 7.7 miles in 59:38.37, a 7:44.72 m/m pace.  63 degrees, drizzle, light rain, fog.  I couldn’t push as hard today as I did yesterday, I was running with a headache, made it harder to push for speed.  I did manage to pick up the pace the last 2½ miles or so of the run, as the headache dissipated a bit as the run went on.  Good run.

Fri., October 14th:  NO RUN, NO EXERCISE.  Worked late.

Sat., October 15th:  Ran 12.8 miles in 1:39:33, a 7:46.64 m/m pace.  54 degrees, sunny, windy.  Felt less than great out there today early, but I got better as the run went on.  Lap 2 was bad, stomach was bothering me, and I felt out of sorts.  It affected my time early, but as I got better from about the 4.5 mile lap point on, my speed picked up.  Had fun out there, running as dawn broke on a Saturday morning, being the only person there.  It was really nice to have that time to myself.  Good run.  200 knuckle push-ups.

Sun., October 16th:  Ran 14.18 miles in 1:51.50, a 7:53.20 m/m pace.  62 degrees, sunny, windy.  Initially I was going to do 8 laps in the park, had to cancel that after I saw a bazillion people ready to begin a charity walk as I was going to begin my run.  Too many people to fight for space for my liking, so I hit the hills instead.  I ran about the hardest hill run I have ever run in my life, hitting the Richmond terrace to forest avenue hill no less than 8 times.  My left quad is sore as hell right now, hopefully it heals up before I run tomorrow night.  64 chin-ups.

Mon., October 17th:  Ran 5.82 miles in 45:01.22, a 7:44.12 m/m pace.  58 degrees, breezy.  I wasn’t sure that I was going to be able to run today, such was the pain and difficulty that I had from the injury in my left quad.  I was limping literally until I went to run, though the pain disappeared about an hour prior.  I went short just to play safe.   The quad hurt for a minute on the final downhill on the way home,  it was fine otherwise.  Longer tomorrow methinks. 150 knuckle push-ups, 48 chin-ups.

Tues., October 18th:  Ran 7.7 miles in 59:01.68, a 7:39.95 m/m pace.  59 degrees, nice.  I wanted to run fast today, just push and see what I had in the tank.  I had more there than I knew I had, felt good about the today’s time.  Nice temps along with no wind or other weather issues made this a great evening to run.  If I didn’t have things to do after the run I would have run longer.  Had fun out there. 150 knuckle push-ups, 48 chin-ups.

Wed., October 19th:  NO RUN, NO EXERCISE.  Worked late.

Thur., October 20th:  Ran 7.7 miles in 59:41.19, a 7:45.08 m/m pace.  55 degrees, nice. Started off slow and got faster as I went, I was going about as fast as I could by the time I got to the end of the run.  Hit the half way point running around a 7:57, had to bust my ass to get the time I finished with.  That felt pretty good. No soreness to speak of, the issue with my left quad from Sunday has completely gone away.  Nice.  200 Knuckle push-ups.

Fri., October 21st:  Ran 5.82 miles in 42:58.13, a 7:22.97 m/m pace.  52 degrees, clear. A great night for a run, albeit a quick one.  Tonight is the anniversary of the night I first met my wife, an anniversary we still celebrate every year.  I wanted to run but also wanted to take my wife out to dinner, so I ran shorter than I normally would have.  Great run, great night.  No exercise.

Sat., October 22nd:  Ran 12.8 miles in 1:37:15, a 7:35.85 pace.  54 degrees, sunny, breezy.  Great day for a run, absolutely gorgeous out.  Started out at 50 degrees, went up to 54, prime run weather, optimal conditions for picking up the pace.  I didn’t feel fast out the door, and I was on auto-pilot out there, so I could have run this faster, but 7:36 for a near ½ marathon isn’t anything to sneeze at.  This is a top 10, best run for the year.  Nice.  No exercise.

Sun., October 23rd:  Ran 12.8 miles in 1:34:28, a 7:22.81 m/m pace.  57 degrees, sunny.  I wasn’t fast out the door,but I got quick… err… quick.  I started hitting spots faster than usual before I hit mile marker one, and kept hitting them with speed.  I knew I was going at a hellacious clip, but didn’t realize I was going quite this fast.  Nice.  Sub 7:25 at this distance is, if not a PR, then it’s damn close to one.  I think I might have lost speed on my last lap though, which sucks.  225 knuckle push-ups.

Mon., October 24th:  Ran 5.62 miles in 41:25.42, a 7:22.24 m/m pace.  56 degrees, clear.  Fast runs, fast for me anyhow, 4 days in a row.  Nice.  Sub 7:25 3 of the last 4 days when I haven’t been able to do that all year, and have one of them be a long run is just beautiful.  To hit the 4th fast run in a row on the night I hit 1600 miles on the year is absolutely fantastic.  This has been a great year for running for me so far, hope it stays that way.  64 chin-ups.

Tues., October 25th:  Ran 7.7 miles in 58:06.90, a 7:32.84 m/m pace.  56 degrees, clear.  Nice night for a run.  Crisp, clear beautiful night, almost no wind to speak of, quiet for the most part.  I was fast early, not super fast but I was running at a decent clip, pushed hard and ran the second half of the run 30 seconds faster than the first.  I had fun out there tonight.  Good run.  225 knuckle push-ups.

Wed., October 26th:  NO RUN, NO EXERCISE.   Worked overtime.

Thur., October 27th:  Ran 7.7 miles in 59:24.23, a 7:42.88 m/m pace.  56 degrees, cloudy, drizzle.  Not too bad a morning for a pre-dawn run.  These morning runs are always slower than their nighttime counterparts, but I bust my ass just the same.  Less people and traffic as well, so it’s less of a hassle, even if it is a bitch getting up before 5 am to do it.  175 knuckle push-ups, 56 chin-ups.

Fri., October 28th:  Ran 7.7 miles in 1:00:18, a 7:49.87 m/m pace.  36 degrees, windy.  Hard early morning run with the 20 degree temperature drop.  Fun though, first real cold one of the season is always brisk and enjoyable, and this one was no different.  I felt slow, like I was sloughing through mud, couldn’t get them moving as fast I would have liked.  But that’s OK.  Still got my 7+ done today, and that’s the important thing.

Sat., October 29th:  Ran 13.42 miles in 1:46:02, a 7:54.06 m/m pace.  38 degrees, windy, rain.  Initially schedules to be a 12.8 mile run, which became a 10.9 run at 1:26:19 (a 7:55.13m/m pace) with a 2.52 mile run attached to the end of it, after the fact.  Added that 2.52 because I didn’t like the fact that the run had been cut short because there was no open bathroom at the park, and frankly felt cheated, that my full run had been taken away.  Felt great for that last bit of the run, 10 pounds lighter.  lulz.

Sun., October 30th:  Ran 4.42 miles in 34:07.15, a 7:43.15 m/m pace.  43 degrees, sunny, windy.  1pm run on a  Sunday, the day after a snowstorm.  Large tree branches, and some whole trees with power lines attached were down all over the place.  I stopped counting after I got to 2 dozen, and that was before I got to the park at the 1.26 mile marker.  Downed trees were the reason I cut the run short, I was hoping to go longer, but there was just too much stuff in the way.  200 knuckle push-ups, 64 chin-ups.

Mon., October 31st:  Ran 6.14 miles in 50:05.01, an 8:09.41m/m pace.  31 degrees, clear.  This was a cold morning run, spent running around the broken remnants of trees, ice and snow all over the run path.  It was a slow but happy one today, a winter run on a fall morning.  I expected to be faster than this, and I expect to get faster as the week goes on.  It will get warmer as the week goes on, and the ice and trees will disappear, so the times should get better.  250 knuckle push-ups.

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This month:  229.72 miles.  Longest run: 14.18 miles (October 16th) Shortest run: 4.42 miles (October 30th)  27 runs in 31 days during the month. Average run distance for the month: 8.508 miles

Year to date: 1652.26 miles  Longest so far 20.9 miles (September 18th) Shortest 1.7 miles (January 24th, injury shortened). 228 runs on the year.  Average run distance:  7.246 miles

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This was an amazing run month for me.  Despite working full time, and having to take several days off of running to work late, I still managed to run well over 200 miles.  Did it by running early and late, lots of night running, a large number of 7+ milers after work, and a number before work as well.  And trust me when I say that running over 7 and a half miles 30 minutes after waking up is not the easiest thing in the world to do.  It’s my best effort at something I love doing, and that makes it worth.

With any luck, I’ll be able to keep up this kind of distance running throughout the winter.  Hoping to be able to keep the monthly distance at or around 200 miles per month through November and December.  Should be fun trying.

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That’s it from here, America. G’night.

September 2011 Running Commentary

Once a month or so, I clear out some of the content on my Running Commentary, Random Thoughts, and 12 Notes pages and place them here on the main page to make room for fresh content on those pages.  This is the September 2011 Running Commentary.  Enjoy!

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Thur.September 1st:  NO RUN, NO EXERCISE.

Fri., September 2nd:  Ran 5.7 miles in 45:10.22, a 7:55.47 m/m pace.  78 degrees, sunny.  It was a spectacular day for a run today.  After 7 days off, i made sure that I was not going to go out and hurt myself by either going too fast or too long on my first run back from the break.  I stopped twice during this run, just to ensure I wasn’t pushing to hard, to give myself a break.  Ran those laps in 15:08, 15:17, and 14:45 respectively.  A few more short runs before I start adding serious distance, methinks.   200 (8×25) knuckle push-ups, 42 (6×8) chin-ups .

Sat., September 3rd:  Ran 6.29 miles in 48:47.95, a 7:45.49 m/m pace.  72 degrees, sunny.  Nice morning for a run, which was initially planned for the park, but there’s a big race in and around the park, the Celic as I recall, and the police had things cordoned off, so I ran random hills, including the two big ones, the pepper martin hill on forest, and victory from labau to Lil clove road.  Surprised at 7:45 here, thought I’d be running at least 15 seconds a mile slower than this today.  Pretty happy about that.   200 (8×25)knuckle push-ups, 56 (7×8) chin-ups.

Sun., September 4th:  Ran 8.32 miles in 1:04:52, a 7:47.78 m/m pace.  86 degrees, cloudy, humid.  Hit the hills today.  Hard.  They beat my ass.  This was random hills, I would have hit the park but they still haven’t gotten that last tree out of the way, so I said hell with the park, I’ll run around the neighborhood.  Hitting hills in the heat and humidity on my third run back after a week long break was very difficult.  Damn that was fun!  175 KPU burpees, 49 chin-ups.

Mon., September 5th:  Ran 9.82 miles in 1:16:54, a 7:49:85 m/m pace.  82 degrees, cloudy, humid.  I was going to go 6 laps in the park, but there was work going on that blocked a large portion of path there, trucks clearing trees, didn’t like running under a crane tenuously holding a log that weighs 50x more than I do over my head.  Managed one lap, and went hill running afterwards.  Just short of 8 miles out on the hills +that one park lap. 300 Knuckle push-ups.

Tues., September 6th:  Ran 9 miles in 1:10:03, a 7:47.00 m/m pace.  60 degrees, heavy rain, breezy.  4 laps in the park + the run up and back.  Felt good to get back to running in the park, and even better to be running in this weather.  Rain doesn’t bother, neither does a 10mph wind. I could run in 60 degrees and cloudy every day and be the happiest runner on earth.  And I had the park almost to myself.  It was great.  One of the ten best runs of the year, this one was.  104 (13 sets x 8 reps) chin-ups.

Wed., September 7th:  Ran 9.5 miles in 1:12:26, a 7:37.47 m/m pace.  68 degrees, rain, heavy at times, wind. 5 laps in the park.  Pushed pretty hard in the rain and wind, and got faster as the run went on, despite the running shoes being heavily soaked, adding a pound or 4  to them. Had the park to myself basically.  That was nice.  Toes on my left foot are sore, have been for a few days.  No worries otherwise. 200 (8×25) knuckle push-ups, 64 (8×8) chin-ups.

Thur., September 8th:  Ran 7.1 miles in 53:29.85, a 7:32.09 m/m pace.  68 degrees, cloudy, breezy.  Pushed pretty hard out the door and all the way around today.  The trail shoes today made the running more difficult.  They are an old pair, and heavier than anything I run in now.  No rain, so more people were out and about today.  Twas fine though.  Almost all were runners.   No pain in the toes on the left foot today.  Nice.

Fri., September 9th:  Ran 7.1 miles in 52:51.04, a 7:26.62 m/m pace.  81 degrees, sunny, humid, breezy.  If I pushed hard yesterday, I busted my ass today.  A very fast runner in the park inspired me to greater than normal exertion today.  I did not want to get caught and passed, and I didn’t.  Nice.   I am wiped out right now.  Double nice.  No pain in my toes and I was able to run in my regular run shoes after three days of mudder running.  Triple and quadruple nice.  100 knuckle push-up/ceiling kick burpees.  That’s some fun there!

Sat., September 10th:  Ran 7.1 miles in 53:22.14, a 7:31.00 m/m pace.  73 degrees, sunny.  Great morning for a run. I went out not thinking about speed, in large part because my hammies are tight, so a 7:31, while not fast per se, is something of a surprise, faster than I thought I would be.  Nice times overall for all three 7.1 milers over the last 3 days.  Longer and slower tomorrow, methinks.  200 (8×25) Knuckle Push-ups, 72 (9×8) chin-ups.

Sun., September 11th:  Ran 15.2 miles in 1:59:50, a 7:53.02 m/m pace.  66 degrees, cloudy, windy.  Longest run of the year.  I was tempted to go longer, but my right hamstring stiffened on me a bit, so I ended the run at 8 laps in the park.   I was actually quick out there in spots, and faster at the end of the run than I was at the beginning of the run.  Nice.  Negative splits are always fun.  325 knuckle push-ups.

Mon., September 12th: Ran 5.7 miles in 43:22.40, a 7:36.56 m/m pace.  77 degrees, sunny.  2 stops in 3 laps, run scheduled for 4 laps.  My left knee started to bother me near the end of lap 1.  I stopped for a minute, started back up and ran a slow lap, slowness caused by knee pain.  That lap I limped through.  I stopped at the end of lap 2, sat down and rubbed the knee and rested it for a few minutes.  Felt better, and ran a 3rd lap, the knee gave me no problem that lap, but I didn’t want to push, so I ended the run there.  Fast (7:23 m/m) on the 3rd lap.  Go fig.

Tues., September 13th:  Ran 7.6 miles in 59:24.49, a 7:49.01 m/m pace.  80 degrees, sunny,windy.  Stopped twice.  Second stop I walked home, took NSAID’s, relaxed a few minutes, and went back out and ran 3.8 more miles.  The left knee is becoming a serious issue,  a VERY serious issue.  One more time like this, and I’m taking a few days off to heal up.  This is the first time ever where the thing has acted up on me 2 days in a row.  Only good thing was that I was pain free for the second run.  NSAID’s are good for that though, don’t want to do them every damn day just to run.  175 (7×25) knuckle push-ups, 56 (7×8)chin-ups.

Wed., September 14th: Ran 9.5 miles in 1:16:33, an 8:03:47 m/m pace.  83 degrees, sunny.  Took it slow today. I went slow and told myself on each lap that this lap might be my last of the day.  The knee, unstable as it was the last 2 days, had me thinking I might need to take time off and give it a rest cure.  But I wanted to give it one more try, see how it was.  I was honestly surprised that I could get 5 laps out today, after the amount of pain I was in the last 2 days.  There is hope that the knee issue is behind me, time will tell.  Longer and just as slow tomorrow, possibly.  175 KPU burpees.

Thur., September 15th:  Ran 11.4 miles in 1:31:22, an 8:00.88 m/m pace.  66 degrees, cloudy, some rain.  Took it slow for about the first 5 ¼ laps.  Then some kid tried to run past me, and it was on.  Didn’t let him pass, and pushed as hard as I could the rest of the way.  After running the first 5 laps in an 8: 07, I ran that final lap in a 7:31.6.  Great test for the left knee, which didn’t bother me at all.  Nice.  Beautiful weather out there today.  Fall is almost here, baybee!

Fri., September 16th:  Ran 7.6 miles in 55:06.50, a 7:15.06 m/m pace.  63 degrees, partly cloudy.  After a few days of slow runs, picking up the pace felt good out there today.  Particularly with the weather like this. 63 degrees, but it was cooler than that in the shade and the park has a lot of shade.  It was beautiful out there.  Kind of weather I could run in all day, if my legs could hold up that long.  No knee issues made this an especially great run.  104 (13×8) chin-ups.

Sat., September 17th:  Ran 5.2 miles in 38:54.00, a 7:28.84 m/m pace.  58 degrees, partly cloudy.  Great morning for a run, kept it short because I have things to do.   I’ve run over 62 miles this week, which is (I believe) a personal record, or close to it, distance wise for a 7 day span.  Nice.  Pushed hard, but not too hard this morning, the hammies were a bit tight early, didn’t want to push them too much and tweak the damn things.  325 knuckle push-ups.

Sun., September 18th:  Ran 20.9 miles in 2:46:36, a 7:58.27 m/m pace.  62 degrees, partly cloudy, windy.  My personal longest run ever.  Previous longest run was 19 miles, which I ran 2 years ago.  11 laps in the park, which I thought was going to be more difficult due to foot traffic, but there were less people out on a gorgeous day than I thought would be out.  Sore, but not too sore. At least right now I am, we’ll see if that stays that way.

Mon., September 19th:  Ran 5.7 miles in 43:25.52, a 7:37.11 m/m pace.  66 degrees, cloudy, windy.  Took my time early, this was after all a recovery run.  I got the itch to run fast though, and hit the afterburners on the third lap, or as much as I was capable of in that area.  Think I ran about a 7:25 on that last lap.  Sumthin like that.  Didn’t want to overdo it today.  Didn’t.  Nice.  Outside of right heel is a little sore from yesterday, it warrants monitoring.  175 (7×25) knuckle push-ups, 56 (7×8) chin-ups.

Tues., September 20th:  Ran 8.22 miles in 1:04:01, a 7:47.27 m/m pace.  63 degrees, light rain/drizzle, wind.  I didn’t push too hard today, didn’t want to push in the rain this soon after Sunday’s run.  No pain or soreness in the heel.  Nice.  Rain had the park nearly empty, felt good to fly solo out there.  Had fun.  250 (10×25) knuckle push-ups.

Wed., September 21st: Ran 7.6 miles in 57:58.82, a 7:37.74 pace.   71 degrees, cloudy, windy, humid.  I pushed a little harder today than the last 2 days, felt more comfortable trying to put a faster effort together today. Kind of unhappy with my time, given the effort.  Thought I was faster than this.  However, there is no soreness or muscular pain to speak of, which is a happy thing.

Thur., September 22nd:  Ran 11.4 miles in 1:28:42, a 7:46.84 m/m pace.  75 degrees, wind, cloudy, humid.  Took my time early, picked it up late.  First 2 laps I ran at a 7:56.05 pace, middle 2 laps in a 7:51.31, and the last 2 in a 7:34.73.  Not too shabby a finish, I say.  I wasn’t going to run fast at all today, but my legs decided otherwise. No pain at all.  Nice.

Fri., September 23rd:  Ran 7.1 miles in 55:19.64, a 7:47.55 m/m pace.  70 degrees, rain, heavy at times, windy.  Fun run in the rain today.  I was in awe, I couldn’t believe how high the water at the lake and the creek got today, nearly spilled over the rim of the creek and the lake and ran through the run path.  Rain and wind slowed me down a touch, not too much though.  I’m a smilin, muddy mess right now.  Great run.

Sat., September 24th:  Ran 7.1 miles in 53:26.42, a 7:31.60 m/m pace.  75 degrees, cloudy, humid.  Over 200 miles this month(second 200+ miler this year!).  That’s a happy thing.  Over 68 miles this week, a personal best.  That’s two happy things.  I was able to chop nearly 16 seconds per mile off of yesterday’s time.  That is the happy hat trick.  Had fun flying around the park today. Longer and slower tomorrow, methinks.250 knuckle push-ups.

Sun., September 25th:  Ran 13.3 miles in 1:43:29, a 7:46.84 m/m pace.  80 degrees, cloudy, humid.  I was actually moving pretty quick early, but slowed down as the run went on, until the last of the 7 park laps.  It feels like I have a strained lower abdominal muscle, and it affected the run today.  First felt it twinge a week ago on the 20.9 miler, and it’s kept me from exercising most of the last week.  It doesn’t mean I’m gonna stop running, just means I have to be careful, not stress the area too much.

Mon., September 26th: Ran 7.6 miles in 56:52.07, a 7:28.95 m/m pace.  78 degrees, cloudy, humid.  Pushed hard out there today, took my foot off of the gas for a minute or two during the last lap because my strained lower abs were bothering me a bit, otherwise I pushed.  I would have preferred more speed, I know I can run this distance faster in cooler conditions, but this is as much as I had at this point, and that is just fine.

Tues., September 27th:  Ran 7.6 miles in 59:08.03, a 7:46.84 m/m pace. 75 degrees, cloudy, humid.  The temperatures dropped as the run went on, it was warmer than 75 as the run began, and cooled significantly as the run went on, temperature drop of at least 7 degrees out there as the run went on.  Took my time, didn’t care about the weather, or about my time, I just ran to enjoy myself.  Had fun out there as well.

Wed., September 28th:  Ran 5.7 miles in 44:25.34, a 7:47.60 m/m pace.  68 degrees, cloudy, humid.  It will someday NOT be cloudy and humid.  When? I dunno.  Srsly, my right hammy was bothering me from before starting out today’s run, so I cut down the distance on this run.  Best news is that the stomach muscles are no longer sore, exercising can now continue.  150 knuckle pus-ups, 48 chin-ups. Felt good to break a sweat exercising again.

Thur., September 29th:  Ran 11.4 miles in 1:28.14, a 7:44.38 m/m pace.  72 degrees, cloudy, drizzle.  Took it kind of slow early on, but started to pick up the pace after the second lap, and by the time lap 6 came around I was running pretty quick, not top speed mind you, but fast for the end of an 11+ miles run.  My right hamstring was a little sore, but not as bad as yesterday, got better as the run went on.  Ran in mudders, but it wasn’t necessary, could have used regular runners today.  300 knuckle push-ups.

Fri., September 30th: Ran 7.6 miles in 56:08.96, a 7:23.28 m/m pace.  76 degrees, sunny.  First non-humid day in over a week, took advantage and pushed harder than usual today.  Not 100%, but pretty close.  I could have gone longer, but not at this speed, I could have gone faster, but not at this distance.  This is all I could give here today, and I’m happy about how I ran.  No soreness to speak of, which is nice.  150 KPU burpees.

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This month:  253.35 miles.  Longest run: 20.9 miles (September 18th) Shortest run: 5.2 miles (September 17th)  29 runs in 30 days during the month. Average run distance for the month: 8.736 miles

Year to date: 1422.54 miles  Longest so far 20.9 miles (September 18th) Shortest 1.7 miles (January 24th, injury shortened). 201 runs on the year.  Average run distance:  7.077 miles

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My best run month ever. Over 250 miles for the first time ever in one month.  One day off at the beginning of the month, which turned out to be the only day off of the month.  Long runs, plenty of them, including my longest run ever, just shy of 21 miles on the 18th.  No injuries that kept me from running, though I  had a serious issue with my left knee getting loose on me in the middle of the month that forced me to shorten and alter the runs on the 12th and 13th.   I was fast enough in spots where I felt good about my ability to burn, but played it smart enough where I didn’t use that speed injudiciously, i.e. on the longer runs, where excess speed would have been counterproductive.

I won’t be able to get distance like this for a while. I begin working another job, this one hopefully one I can land permanently at, so I will not have the time to dedicate that kind of distance to, but so long as I am healthy, I will try to run every day that I can to match, if not the distance, then at least the intensity of this, my single best run month ever.

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That’s it from here, America.  More later, If I can.

August 2011 Running Commentary

Once a month or so, I clear out some of the content on my Running Commentary, Random Thoughts, and 12 Notes pages and place them here on the main page to make room for fresh content on those pages.  This is the August 2011 Running Commentary.  Enjoy!

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Mon.,  August 1st:  NO RUN, NO EXERCISE

Tues., August 2nd: NO RUN, NO EXERCISE

Wed., August 3rd: NO RUN, NO EXERCISE

Thur., August 4th:  Ran 11.4 miles in 1:29:30, a 7: 51:05 m/m pace.  81 degrees, mostly sunny.  After 3 days off due to a hectic work schedule, it felt good to get out on the road and get some miles in.   Being as sore as I am after the heavy work of the last 3 days, I was not sure how long I was going to be able to go.  Put a top end of 6 laps in the park at the possible distance I was going to go.  I went 6, and felt like I could go more.  Ran the first ½ in 45:10, and the second ½ 50 seconds faster.  Nice.

Fri., August 5th:  Ran 11.4 miles in 1:28:52, a 7:47.80 m/m pace.  85 degrees, sunny.  First back to back 10+ milers of the year.  Told myself to just run as far as I could today, and not worry about either time or distance. And with that I was able to go as long as yesterday, and faster to boot.  Nice.  Last year I hit the 1,000 mile mark on September 6th.  I hit the 1,000 mile mark on the year for this year today.  Most excellent.

Sat., August 6th:  Ran 9 miles in 1:08:35, a 7:37.22 m/m pace.  79 degrees, sunny.  I tweaked my left foot slightly near the end of lap 1 of a 4 lap run.  Stopped for a minute to shake it out, ran on it for a few minutes, the pain worked itself out, it was fine by the end of lap 2.  Time is faster than I had planned on going.  I told myself to take it slow and not sweat speed.  I didn’t but then again… 10 seconds per mile faster than yesterday after 2 10+ milers in a row on a 9 mile run with an injury stop isn’t exactly taking it easy.  Good run.

Sun., August 7th:  Ran 7.6 miles in 58:04.74, a 7:37.99 m/m pace.  87 degrees, sunny, humid.  Pushed hard in the humidity today. Slept more than usual last night and I still felt “blah” out there.  Might have something to do with the weather, or sitting in air-conditioning too much.  Dunno.  I was still relatively quick.  I could not have gone longer though, not at the effort level I was pushing at.    I had fun out there.  200 knuckle push-ups, 60 chin-ups.

Mon., August 8th:  Ran 9.5 miles in 1:13:23, a 7:43.47 m/m pace.  89 degrees, sunny.   I took my time in spots here, and busted my ass in others.  Lap 2 was slow, ran it in 14:58 (7:52.63 pace), ran the last lap the fastest, 21 seconds a mile faster(a 7:31.57 pace) than lap 2.  Nice.  Left ankle bothered me a bit during the run, but it was transitory pain, left as quickly as it showed up.  No other issues.  I wasn’t sure how long I’d be able to go, happy that I got 5 laps in.  150 knuckle push-ups, 60 chin-ups.

Tues., August 9th:  Ran 7.6 miles in 55:39.07, a 7:19.35 m/m pace.  82 degrees, sunny.  Busted my ass the whole way, and sprinted the final 200 yards to boot!  Nice.  No pain to speak of.  Ran down to the park today, untimed.  That warm up helped me move this quick.  Felt good to move this fast.  150 knuckle push-ups, 60 chin-ups.

Wed., August 10th:  Ran 5.7 miles in 41:48.37, a 7:20.06 m/m pace.  81 degrees, sunny.  I was going to go long today.  Thought that would be a good way to ring in my 44th birthday.  Then I ran my first lap faster than I expected to run it.  I said the hell with it, I’m not going long, I’m gonna try to run fast.  Ran 2 more laps and called it a day.  If I can relax like that and say f*** it one day, it is today.  So I did.  150 standard (KPU) burpees.

Thur., August 11th:  Ran 9.5 miles in 1:12:58, a 7:40.84 m/m pace.  78 degrees, sunny.  Took my time out there today, after 2 relatively fast days.  Felt good to take the foot off of the gas.  Hammies were a bit tight as I started, but loosened up as the run went on.  They’re fine now.  Temps under 80 degrees made this easy running weather. Lose 10 more degrees, and I’ll start going ùber long (should I have the time to.)  Good Run.  No exercise, back pain kept me from it.

Fri., August 12th:  Ran 10.68 miles in 1:22:17, a 7:42.26 m/m pace.  80 degrees, sunny.  Ran all over the place today,  all over the old neighborhood.  Nice day for it.  Had pain and soreness in my left anterior compartment, but like all minor running pain, it went away after a few minutes, maybe a mile or so.  Hills weren’t too bad.  I could have gone longer.  200 knuckle push-ups.

Sat., August 13th:  Ran 7.1 miles in 52:54.24, a 7:27.07 m/m pace.  77 degrees, partly cloudy.  Initially I was just going to run at an easy pace, but it was nice out, and I sped up as I went on.  By the time I got to my last of 3 park laps, I was motoring.  Couldn’t quite catch up to Tuesday’s pace, but this isn’t a bad time.  No pain, which is nice.  200 knuckle push-ups.

Sun., August 14th:  Ran 11.94 miles in 1:33.33, a 7:50.10 m/m pace.  69 degrees, rain, heavy at times.  This started out being a park run, but the park is a mess from the rain and wind, so I only did 1 lap there (+the run there and back, 4.42 miles total)  Ran home, then past “home sweet apartment” and ran some random hills.  Home to Victory to Manor to Forest to Bement to Lafayette to the Terrace and back.  3.76 miles each way.  What I wanted today was 1½ hours of run time, weather be damned, and I got it.  200 standard (KPU) burpees.

Mon., August 15th:  Ran 8.22 miles in 1:04:00, a 7:47.15 m/m pace.  73 degrees, light rain/ drizzle.  3 park laps +1.26 mile run to and from the park.  The park was in better shape today then it was yesterday, though the paths were still a mess.  Wore the mudders for a second straight day.  Calves are a mite bit sore, all else is fine.  100 knuckle push-ups, 100 beginner (KPU) burpees .

Tues., August 16th:  Ran 9.2 miles in 1:09:39, a 7:34.24 m/m pace.  71 degrees, cloudy, humid.  Happy hill run in the old neighborhood today.  I wasn’t planning on going quite this long, I just did.  Ran fast when and where I could, and I didn’t think I was moving at a 7:35 pace, thought I was a fair bit slower.  I hit the 1,000 mile mark on the year 11 days ago, I hit the 1,100 mile mark today.  I hit 1,100 miles last year on October 13th.  Nice.

Wed., August 17th:  Ran 7.6 miles in 57:56.06, a 7:37.37 m/m pace.  81 degrees, mostly sunny.  Right hamstring is a wee bit sore, overuse I think, just pushing too hard, or more aptly put, going too long too many times without a break.  Waking up sore everyday.  I think the time has come to put the brakes, at least somewhat, on the 7+ milers.  I’ve only had one sub 7 mile run so far this month, and I’m 2 ¼ miles per run over my average for the year so far this month.  That is too much too soon.  A day or two with shorter runs could do me good.

Thur., August 18th:  Ran 5.2 miles in 38:22.52, a 7:22.79 m/m pace.  77 degrees, partly sunny, humid.  Hamstring is feeling fine, like nothing was wrong with it.  Not sore waking up this morning, which was a nice change of pace for me.  Quick pace today for the short run, I didn’t run all out, but I was pretty close to it, overall hard effort.   Good run.

Fri., August 19th:  Ran 5.2 miles in 38:09.20, a 7:20.23 m/m pace.  77 degrees, humid, cloudy, rain as run ended.  I did what I could to get a run in before the seemingly nightly thunderstorms came in.  Got done as the first of the major lightning strikes hit the area.  Short runs are fun, they make it easy to go for speed, I tried to open up my stride, though the results were not uber fast, they’re better than some of the times, i’ve run this month.  I think I did well.

Sat., August 20th:  Ran 7.1 miles in 53:47.59, a 7:34.59 m/m pace.  69 degrees, sunny.  Beautiful morning for a run.  I was feeling all sorts of out of sorts early, sore, tired, stiff, achy, which had me moving slow out of the gate, but I managed to pick it up a bit and get myself in gear somewhat as the run went on. I was busting my ass by the time the end of the 3 park laps came around, and hit the hill home hard.  Good run. 150 knuckle push-ups(6×25), 42 chin-ups(6×7).

Sun., August 21st:  Ran 10.9 miles in 1:24:31, a 7:45.23 m/m pace.  77 degrees, partly cloudy, humid.  Started out slow, picked up the pace as I went along, nothing uber fast at any point, but I was moving at a good clip at the end of the 5 park laps.  Could have gone longer.  I have work tomorrow, so I decided to stop at 5 laps rather than go 6 or 7.  Had fun with the early Sunday morning run.  300 knuckle push-ups (12×25) .

Mon., August 22nd:  Ran 6.32 miles in 45:27.94, a 7:11.63 m/m pace.  73 degrees, partly cloudy.  Busted my ass the entire way.  Park was packed, nearly ran one guy over who literally jumped in front of me.  Idiot.  No other issues.  No soreness or pain to speak of, which is nice.  I was surprised I had this much in the tank, but it was really nice out, and that made speed all the more easier.  150 knuckle push-ups, 42 chin-ups.

Tues., August 23rd:  Ran 11.4 miles in 1:26:59, a 7:37.80 m/m pace.  73 degrees, sunny.  Took my time early, really picked up the pace for the last 2 laps.  Ran the first 4 laps at a 7:45 pace, the last 2 at just under a 7:23 pace. I’m kinda surprised I could hit that pace after running for over seven and a half miles, and after the speed-work yesterday.  Fun running out there today.  100 ceiling kick burpees.

Wed., August 24th:  Ran 5.9 miles in 43:23.83, a 7:21.32 m/m pace.  73 degrees, party cloudy, windy.  A slightly different path to the park today for today’s post work run.  Normal path is .7 miles, this one is 1.05 miles, mostly hill run.  I felt fast, and it feels good to run in low 70′s and windy, beats hell out of 90′s and humid.  Fun run tonight.  150 knuckle push-ups, 42 chin-ups.

Thur., August 25th: Ran 5.2 miles in 39:55.59, a 7:40.69 m/m pace.  76 degrees, cloudy, humid.  Slow at the outset, got motoring after I hit the ½ way point.  I felt out of sorts when I began, which is why I was slow, started to feel better as I went, which is why I sped up, pretty simple, that is. I could have gone longer, but I started late, and wanted to get done and eat dinner. No exercise tonight.

Fri., August 26th:  NO RUN, NO EXERCISE.

Sat., August 27th:  NO RUN, NO EXERCISE.

Sun., August 28th:  NO RUN, NO EXERCISE.

Mon., August 29th:  NO RUN, NO EXERCISE.

Tues., August 30th: NO RUN, NO EXERCISE.

Wed., August 31st:  NO RUN, NO EXERCISE. (These days off are a result of the combination of Hurricane Irene and its aftermath and being busy at my temp job)

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This month:  183.66  miles.  Longest run: 11.94 miles (August 14th) Shortest runs: 5.2 miles (August 18th, 19th, and 25th)  22 runs in 31 days during the month. Average run distance for the month: 8.348 miles

Year to date: 1169.19 miles  Longest so far 14.7 miles (May15th) Shortest 1.7 miles (January 24th, injury shortened). 172 runs on the year.  Average run distance:  6.797  miles

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When I ran this month, I was spectacular out there.  The month of August had the longest average run distance I have ever had during any month that I have ever run.  I would complain about the time off at the end of the month, bemoan the cruelty of being at the mercy of the elements, but to be honest, I needed a break.  I was sore all over, just plain beat, woke up sore and in pain, had trouble bending down to pick stuff up.  That went away after a few days off.  Mind you I would not have minded having one or two more run days, but the extra rest felt good.

I did 100 miles in 11 days at one point this month.  That was GREAT.  The running was excellent this month.  Here’s to September being even better!

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That’s it from here for the moment, America.  Later.