8 miles

A few hills and mostly a 9:00 pace. Three miles at 8:30 pace.

Calf felt tight in spots but there was no pain. Slowing down and then speeding up again seemed to loosen it.

Pain was notably less sharp this morning when I rolled on it. Hoping this is a good sign. Maybe by the middle of next week I can start slowly picking up the speed again.

Started strength training last night. Will do that 3 or 4 times per week from here on out.

Back never hurts anymore now that I stretch and roll frequently.

7 miles easy

Three days of rest. The calf feels better today but it was sore just laying in bed this morning.

Looks like I pushed myself into an injury. Dumb.

7 miles on a very flat road. No real pain, just an ache. This week will be a very slow and cautious one.

10 miles intervals

Very tired from poor sleep. Hit MoPac so that I'd get a good idea of what's going on with my sore areas before hitting hills again.

Rolled much of the day. Gentle stretching before run. Iced right knee for an hour.

The muscle just below and behind my right knee...the high calf, I guess, continues to ache. In addition, the my left groin has ached for a couple of days. Heat on the groin...ice on the knee. These are not bad. Just something to monitor.

Need to do the strength drills in Trail Runner. I am probably overcompensating as my faster speeds start to work new muscles harder. They say 8 weeks of strength workouts makes a notable difference.

Also worth noting. I can hold a 7:00 pace without too much struggle. Heart rate remains at about 165 and breathing is easy. Legs do feel heavy in spots but it feels like a pace I can maintain for good distances.

12 miles

Body was very tired today. I decided to go easy and let my muscles recover.

12 miles at slow 8:30 pace. Hillier than Sunday. 1,300 feet elevation change as opposed to Sunday, which was 800 feet.

I am taking off tomorrow entirely to rest and stretch.

Different parts of my legs hurt each day, with the exception of my right calf, which has been tender on and off for a couple of weeks now.

At this point things seem to be going well.

Monday 1/23

My first real attempt at intervals. 8 miles.

2 for warm-up at around 8 minute pace.
2 faster, at around 7:15.
2 at 8.
2 at 7 and then sub-7 speed.
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Why was my heart rate HIGHER at the beginning of the run...it leveled off the last three miles. I was pretty comfortable at the 6:40 pace, but that was just single mile.

Good workout. With longer distances and more hills I could see how this would make you much stronger and faster.

1/22 12 miles

12 miles with a few moderate hills. First six into the wind; much faster coming back with the wind. I felt tired but maybe mostly because of no sleep.

1/20

First attempt at heart monitor pickups. Really only a couple of miles but very hard. Will probably stick with intervals, which are basically the same thing.

1/19 12 miles

12 miles, easy hills, slow pace at about 8:00.

Now it's Friday morning and my body feels pretty tired as a whole. My legs are droopy.

8 miles

8 miles, fairly hilly but no long hard hills. Maybe lumpy is a better word.

First workout with GPS watch. For the first time I have a good idea of how fast (or slow) I can run.

This was a moderately hard pace. Took me around 56 minutes. Tomorrow will be an easy day.

12 miles easy

12 miles on low hills.

Body was tired in the morning but got better by run time at 3.

After six my legs felt pretty heavy. It was slow going but good to be out.

8 on Trails

8.3 on trails. 8:06 pace. 1:07 total time.

Stopped a couple of times to catch my breath. I have to start out more slowly -- my tendency is to panic and take off at full speed, which catches up to me in a hurry. But once momentum gets up to speed, I feel much better. Need more sleep, less beer, and more stretching. Very rough day mentally, at least in the first three.

Friday run

This was my mid-distance run. 12 miles on 84th. Significant hills out there.

1:35. 7:55 pace.

Stopped 8 or 9 times to catch breath. Once to pet a nice dog.

So basically it turned into a long string of intervals. Legs felt very dead in places.

1/12

6 miles on gravel. Stiff north wind and 15 degrees. Had to stop multiple times to mess with clothing. Aggravating.

Trying to high-step some of the hills now. That's apparently for building quad strength.

1/11/12

6 miles horse trails, not timed. Feel great in spite of the 50 miles on Saturday.

Finally created a training regimen based on Joe Bowman / Hal Higdon. Starting with parts of the core Bowman workout. Then shifting to Higdon's 12-week schedule on Feb. 18, provided I'm on track with things.

Marathon goal: 2:50. That's a pace of about 6:40 per mile.

Bowman stresses not putting all of your eggs into one basket, in case of poor weather or just an off day. So I will start looking for other possible marathons in that time frame.