Tag Archive for tempo run

The Autumnfest Tune Up

November 21, 2007 planet3rry 6 comments

My interval run today was my tune up for the race tomorrow. I am fortunate to work very close to the Autumnfest course. In fact, I could run the entire course, if I had planned my day appropriately, but I wasn’t in running the whole course, just the finish line. This will be the 4th running on this particular course and it’s one of the flatter courses in the Knoxville Area. By no means is it level, but the last 2.5 miles of the course (I should have just said last half) is gently rolling.

The course is run on Neyland Drive and all though I couldn’t run on the road at lunch time, I did run on the generous shoulder and that was pretty close. I was in good spirits during the run and did some race day visualization for tomorrow morning. I was imaging, how I was feeling at points on the course, and I also started to this of some race say strategy on when to begin the final push toward the Finish Line and when to “engage” the boosters at the end of the race.

My Lovely and Talented Wife will be on the Finish Line crew volunteering and I will be part of the Day of Race Registration. This is one position that I can volunteer for and still run the race. It’s like double dipping!

So everything looks pretty good to go. I’ll need to eat a little extra tonight and have a solid breakfast in the morning. But other than everything else is about ready to go.

Don’t forget to play the It’s Race Week! Be a Winner contest

Life In General ,

Road to Recovery

November 2, 2007 planet3rry One comment

I mentioned yesterday that I was a little dinged up. And I was, but I found a miracle cure: Running Shoes. When I put on my running shoes yesterday before running (and I almost considered NOT running) the pain almost instantly went away. I was really amazed.

Once I was running, there were a handful of other things that arose. I had twisted my ankle pretty severely on Tuesday, I believe and it was making itself known during my run. I was having a weird light pain on the bottom of my foot, near the heel, something I had never felt before. It wasn’t a problem and did go away after a while. My Blister didn’t cause any problems, so that should take care of itself.

On Wednesday (shoe-less day), I could not move fast at all, it seemed like I was crawling an based on my relative split times, I was close to a minute and a half slower per mile the last 2 miles. And what was worse was that I felt slow and I felt like I was struggling.

Thursday’s run was much different. I did feel like I was going slower, in that I had more in me and could run at a faster pace, but even though my perception was that I was going slower, my pace was telling a different story. The loop at Lakeshore (where I ran) is 2.1 miles and has every terrain imaginable. There are flat areas, hills, big hills, steep hills with turns, gradual hills, downhills. It the variety pack in running routes. I was able to keep a consistent 9:03 average pace for the first two loops and then an 8:45 average pace for the last loop.

Hmmmm, I did some calculations on an estimated marathon time and it looks like I should be able to run a 4:05 or so marathon if conditions are right. Of course, if conditions aren’t good, then who knows… skies the limit on the high end. If I had a really good day, then I could break 4 hours, but that’s speculation at this point.

running ,

The Week in Running

October 26, 2007 planet3rry 6 comments

It has been a busy week of running for me. I was able to run 4 out of the 5 lunch day runs, which usually is just 3, so that was pretty nice.

Monday
I only had one rest day from my 20 miler and took Monday as an easy run day. However, my 9:07 average pace was not something I would consider easy. It felt easy enough but I was really thinking that 9:45 would be a lot easier.

Tuesday
Rest Day.

Wednesday
I could tell from the start that this was going to be a speedy day. My legs weren’t sore anymore from the 20 miler and I went out with a fury. Although the fury didn’t last very long my 8:01 average pace over the 4 mile course was enough to please the inner speed demon

Thursday
I was hoping to get around 13 miles in for the day. Soon-To-Be-Doctor David had to cancel on me and other things came up so I didn’t run after work. I was able to get in a 5 mile Tempo session (8:17 average pace). I wasn’t happy with the speed. Let me clarify, I was happy with the numbers, but I was not happy that I ran that fast. I came off a long run the Saturday before and now my body thinks that it can runs these excessive speeds everyday. That only leads to one thing my friends, injury.

Friday
Not too sure if I was going to get any longer distances for the week and so I was eyeing my 5 mile course. However, I didn’t give myself enough time and had to settle for my 4.32 mile course. I did try to slow down this run. After my sub-9 (8:52) first mile, I tried to slow down and that worked, kind of. I had an 9:03 average pace for the run, still not slow enough.

I do need to decide on whether to commit to November or December marathon or just not run one this fall. I have a feeling that I am more of a Fall Marathon kind of guy. Actually I am an Anytime Marathon kind of guy. I would run any and all marathons I could get to the starting line regardless of time. Now that I know how to survive a marathon with little to no training (but with an okay running base, ref: 2002 Mardi Gras Marathon), I would run them if could be there. However, I think that the weather/sickness variables are more in my favor in the fall and that if I try to train for a marathon in early spring (such as March/April) that I set myself up (but not guarantee) getting sick.

So now… I have to sit down and give a little think about what to run.

running , , , ,

A thing called running

March 12, 2007 planet3rry 4 comments

Pam said it best… muckymucks.

So your tuna fact of today is that in 2005, the total amount of imported tuna was 450.1 million pounds, so sayeth NOAA in their Fisheries of the US report.

I thought it was 10 days, then I realized that it was more like 12 days, but now looking at my log, it has been 13 days since I have ran! at all! I was not expecting that… 3 days is quite a bit of time in the world of running, especially when you haven’t been doing it. So, I am contemplating running the 5k this weekend. Not only would it be a little difficult and I might not have a pleasant time, I didn’t mail in the registration form, so I will have to pay full price $20.

But, when I look at the race schedule, there is nothing until the April 14th (which has its own problems!). So I could do race running on my own, but it doesn’t replace the race and the race conditions. All my races lately have been long distances, it’s been 6 months since my last 5k. So, I think that if my babysitting holds, I am going to race. If it doesn’t then I will just run on my own.

Today’s run was absolutely beautiful! It was 62F and gorgeous to run through Market Square. It was the first day that I had short sleeves and wasn’t cold at all. Since I knew that it was 10 days (and a little more) since I had last run, I wanted to run a slow tempo run. Slow tempo in the fact that you are concentrating as in a regular tempo run, but without being winded during the run.

So my slow tempo run worked out pretty well. My overall time was 35:17 for 4 miles, which is a 8:49 mile or so. My first mile was in 8:00 minutes and if it had been a 5k race, I might have been able to keep that pace, but since I wasn’t racing, I decided to take walk breaks every now and then. So all in all it was a good run, especially since my absence from running.

running

Not a train wreck

January 12, 2006 planet3rry No comments

It wasn't all that bad today and like normal, I started out too fast. I could tell in the first 0.5 miles that I was in trouble or would have to cut the run short. I was going to run 4 miles, but ended up running only 3 miles and that was a good thing. I had enough juice to make it up the Lake Loudon hill without any problem. I'll be sore tomorrow but if the weather holds out I will be running again tomorrow. Saturday if a babysitter can appear! Poof!

Here are the split times:

Split Split Distance Overall Distance Split Time Split Pace Overall Time Comments
1 1.0 1.0 7:32 - 7:32 TOO Fast!
2 1.0 2.0 8:06 - 15:38 &nbsp
3 1.0 3.0 8:41 - 24:19 I am most happy with this time because of the hill

Upcoming Races:
01/28 Calhoun's 10 miler (Loudon, TN)
02/18 Strawplain's 1/2 marathon (Strawberry Plains, TN)
03/26 Covenant Health 2nd Annual Knoxville Marathon
(indicates potential Personal Record for distance)

Life In General

Sweet 0.7

November 30, 2005 planet3rry No comments

Today was a leisurely stroll along the waterfront. And when I mean leisurly, I actually mean that I ran fast for the first mile and then went from there. Actually, Marty (aka Beer Boy) and I decided to meet up today for a short jaunt along Volunteer landing. It was very convenient since he actually had to do some Brewmaster duties at the Calhoun's at Volunteer Landing and I could still get the mileage in that I wanted.

I met up with Marty just before the 1.5 mile mark and we ran my normal 5 mile route at Volunteer Landing. The only exception is that at the regular turn around point, we went on to the end of the James White Greenway which added about an extra 0.7 mile. So all in all I ran 5.7 miles, sweet!

I was breaking in a new brand of running shoe that I plan on using at the 5k this weekend. I'll talk more about them later once they are broken in and I can truly evaluate their performance.

So, Here is how it breaks down:

Split Split Distance Overall Distance Split Time Split Pace Overall Time Comments
1 1.0 1.0 7:08 - - &nbsp
2 1.0 2.0 8:45 - - Met up with Marty Here
3 1.2 3.2 11:06 9:15 - &nbsp
4 0.5 3.7 4:27 8:54 - &nbsp
5 1.0 4.7 8:57 - - Beer Boy stopped here to get back to work
6 1.0 5.7 8:03 - - Not too bad up the Loudon Hill

I got a call just a while ago that Beer Boy thinks he might have some yuckiness with his lungs. He was wondering what my symptoms that I had when I had pneumonia earlier this year. Hope all goes well!

Life In General , ,

Monday's Cold Rain

November 21, 2005 planet3rry No comments

Okay, I have procrastinated enough to put this post online. I looked at the empty Entry: box screen thinking about what I was going to put into the box. So why don't I just start typing perhaps I can regurgitate what is in my brain on here…

The forecast today was rain, cool around mid 40s.
The run today was in rain and about 44 degrees. Rock on Weather Dudes! Tomorrow the forecast has little snowflake icons in the small picture picture forecast. Thank goodness that tomorrow is a rest day in preparation for Autumnfest. The Weather Channel has the forecast for Thursday as Mostly Cloudy and the temperature around race time will be a balmy 38-40 degrees. Nice.

About today's run… since it was rather cold and rainy, I decided that I would minimize the amount of time that I would be out in the elements. I limited my run to 20 minutes, which should put me somewhere around the 2.5 mile mark if I ran 8:00 min miles. I also decided that I would stay on campus as well, as I would never be too far away to abort the run and head back to the aquatic center. I tried to protect myself from the rain by wearing a semi-impurvious jacket and went for the LS coolmax shirt instead of the LS cotton shirt. I also had my MP3 player setup to the 2nd and 3rd podcast of Runcast Weekly, as I have come up to date with the Phedippidations podcast. Oh, a side note, in Podcast #19, my description of Phedippidations is read at the close of the podcast… tres cool!

So, I was already for the wonderful scurry through the wet weather. I was surprised at the number of students that were out and about during my run, I am guessing that they are only getting to and from class and the number of students actually being leisurely was next to, or equaling nil. As with most all places in Knoxville, there are hills. “The hills are alive with the sound of… runner's breathing…” but the campus is no exception and in fact the annual Trideltathon is ran on campus among some of the less runner friendly hills. So, what that meant was about 1/2 through my run I was feeling the effects of Saturday's long run. What was I doing? Why was I running in this weather? Well, the reason is that I have come to realize that before any race where I need to perform well, I need to take 2 days, and 2 complete days, off mfor my best performance. Well, maybe I could get away with 36 hours, but I think that would be the minimum for optimal Terry performance. Also, if I didn't run today, I would go nuts in my mini taper that would case me to over analyze and basically self-sabbotage my performance on Thursday. Thanks to all the speedwork Monday following the lack of running weekends that I was able to see… I run faster on Monday after 2 days of rest than after only one… cool.

I only have an overall time of 19:23 seconds for 2.3 miles giving me a 8:26 pace per mile. For the perceived effort… I'm scared because it should have been faster, but I have two days to rest and get stronger.

I waited too long and now I have to run…sigh. Perhaps it has been the full moon that has been affecting me…. after all my wife likes to make fun of my uni-brow.

Upcoming Races:
11/24 Autumnfest 8k (Knoxville, TN), Goal time 37:30
12/04 Reindeer Run 5k (Maryville, TN), Goal time 21:55
01/28 Calhoun's 10 miler (Loudon, TN)
02/18 Strawplain's 1/2 marathon (Strawberry Plains, TN)
03/26 Covenant Health 2nd Annual Knoxville Marathon,Goal time 3:59:59
(indicates potential Personal Record for distance)

Life In General ,

Wednesday

November 16, 2005 planet3rry No comments

Considering that yesterday the weather was in the mid-70s and now it is in the mid-40s, one might say that the cool weather is hear to stay. After all, listening to Christmas songs in 70 degree weather is a little unorthodox for East Tennessee. Anyway, it was a layering day to say the least. I actually layered quite incorrectly today. I ended up wearing a LS coolmax shirt and a LS Cotton race shirt and found myself quite warm. I probably only need one or the other but both was a little much.

I took today as a easy meandering run through the Fort Sanders Area and Downtown. I actually was on a portion of the Knoxville Marathon course and passed by my corner where I served as a Course Monitor for the 2005 Marathon.

I realized that halfway through the run, I never started my watch back on after stopping for a traffic light. Oh well, I shouldn't have been running against the clock anyway. My calculated time for the first 1/2 mile was 7:53, so I was a little slower than normal, but not by much. I mapped out my route and figured that I went about 4.4 miles… and I was shooting for only 4. I need to figure out a nice course through downtown and UT that is only about 4 miles.

I am not sure what I am going to do tomorrow. I think I mentioned to my brother that I was going to do a 2 mile speed work. Maybe that'll be on the track. Hmmm… that sounds like a plan!

Life In General

Wednesday Run

November 9, 2005 planet3rry No comments

Today I decided to have a change of pace on running. I wasn't quite as sore as I thought I would be yesterday after that stellar performance but I wasn't taking any chances. I took a totally different course today then I have before. I incorporated the Neylan Greenwat, then through World's Fair Park and then through downtown and Market Square back to volunteer Landing and then back to the Aquatic center. I'll have to map it for the total distance… I should do that now.

okay, here is what I found: 4.57 miles and here's a map:

Total time for this run was 39:30 for an average pace 8:39 per mile

Life In General

Monday Tempo

November 7, 2005 planet3rry No comments

I was a slacker this weekend, in other words, I failed to run on Saturday or Sunday. I had taken Friday off as a rest day but my chance never materialized on Saturday and Sunday was taken up so I got to do nothing. This is why I switched Monday from a Speed Day to a Tempo day and ran 4 miles instead of 3 miles. With the Chickamauga 10 miler coming up on Saturday, I need more mileage than speed. Although I am officially going for a PR time at the race, I can't get any faster for that race in 5 days, but I can get experience at what that distance will feel like and get some quick conditioning. The race will be the most significant mileage that I have ran since May 1st when I almost went 10 miles (9.6). More on the race in a few days.

Here are my split times

Split Split Distance Overall Distance Split Time Split Pace Overall Time Overall Pace Comments
1 1.0 1.0 7:31 - 7:31 - &nbsp
2 1.0 2.0 8:01 - 15:32 7:46 &nbsp
3 1.0 3.0 8:06 - 23:38 7:53 &nbsp
4 1.0 4.0 7:59 - 31:37 7:55 Holy Elevators Batman! Look how fast you got up the hill to finish the mile. Sub 8 is always nice for that last mile
Life In General ,
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