Improving

I began by doing 4.25 miles easy around the new part of my subdivision with a 8:30 pace. I then did a temple run of 3 miles around the loop near my house. This was done at a 7:20 pace. I decided to do the 800m repeats tomorrow. I decided that Iwould like to do a marathon in late spring or early summer before doing the Texas (Kingwood) Marathon in January. Do any of the Texas bloggers have any feedback on what would be a good one to run.

         nap time? When do I have time to take a nap?

I decided to do mile repeats (more properly 1600m)instead of 800m this evening. I ran 2 miles from my house to the track at the new junior high school. I wanted to run each mile at about 7:10. The first one was slow at 7:19. It was not hard but I misjudged the pace. The rest went as follows:

2- 7:11

3- 7:09

4- 7:03 tried to run this one faster to make up for the first

I was pretty satified with the workout. The next time I will be hoping for about 7:00 per mile. I did 400m jogs of about 2.5 minutes between the miles. I then ran back at home the way I came.

I did 7 miles running around Spring Trails. The last mile I did in 7:10.

I did mostly a slow run at about 8:30 pace this evening. I did the short loop around benders landing. I plan on doing a long run of 22 miles early tomorrow morning. It was humid today, but some cool dry air is coming in tonight so tomorrow promises to be great running weather.

I hid some drinks along my planned route last night. This morning I drove to the post office parking lot in Panther Creek. I ran south on Gosling and then turned right on Flint Ridge. I ran until it intersected with Woodlands Parkway. I then ran on Woodlands Parkway west and then turned right on Branch Crossing Dr. I ran on Branch Crossing Dr all the way to Research Forest Dr. and turned right. I ran east on Research forest dr all the way to Grogans Mill Dr. I turned right and ran until I reached The Woodlands Waterway. I ran all the way around the waterway and then continued on Grogans Mill until I reached Woodlands Parkway and turned right. I then turned left on Gosling and went back to my car at the post office. The weather was perfect today. During the humid days of summer I will be dreaming about this great weather. For the last bit I picked it up to about a 8:00 pace. Otherwise I ran at a 8:40 pace.

Did the opposite of what I usually do and ran faster at the beginning of the run (7:25). In races it always takes me time to get warmed up so maybe if I start practicing running hard at the beginning this will help me. It is starting to get warmer and humid as spring is passing along here.

Pace: 8:35

I ran around Spring Trails early this morning starting at around 5:00 AM. The last 2 miles I ran at about a 7:50 pace. The rest was at a 8:40 pace. Sort of pleasant running through the fog this morning. Tomorrow I plan on doing a speed workout. I will either do 800's or miles. I have not decided yet.

I ran early this morning starting at 5:15. As always I tried to be quiet leaving as to not wake up my wife and children. I ran 2.75 miles from my house to the track at the new junior high they are building in Spring Trails. The track is now surfaced. Before this it was just asphalt. It feels like a really good track to run on. I did three 800m repeats with 400m recoveries.  

1- 3:27

2- 3:21

3- 3:22

I decided to do a mile on the last one. I pushed it some and did it in 6:37. I am pretty satisfied with my improvement since I decided to do speed work again about a month ago. I stopped doing races about 2 months ago when I ran a 5K in only 23:17. Now I think I will enter a race again soon, maybe a 5K this saturday.

I ran around the villages in Spring Trails and did the loop around the pond. The first 4 miles were at an 8:50 pace and the last 3 were at a 7:55 pace. Started running a about 5:15 AM. Really peacefull this early in the morning.

This morning I ran over to Benders Landing via the back way from Spring Trails. It was really warm and steamy even though it was only 5:30 AM. I then ran the loop around the lake and then came back to Spring Trails via Rilley Fuzzel Rd. Within the run I ran 800m 4 times at a 6:40 pace. The rest of the run was done at an average of an 8:40 pace. Tomorrow morning I plan on running the "Run The Woodlands 5K". However, I also need to try to get in a long run either before or after the race. Tonight a cold front (really a slightly cooler front) is moving through. It is supposed to be cooler tomorrow with lower humidity. Should be perfect running weather in the morning.

I ran the "Run The Woodlands" 5K this morning. It is a race that is run every other week throughout the year. It starts from Barbara Bush Elementary and loops around Alden Bridge Dr. The temperature was in the low 50's with hardly any humidity. The last time a ran this race I did it in 23:15. I started out the first mile maybe to cautiously because I have not ran a race in awhile. The first mile ended up being 7:15. The second mile I pushed it a little harder and passed a few more people. The last mile I just tried to keep up my current pace before pushing it at the end. I am pretty happy with the result but it seemed that I had too much left at the end. I probably could of ran faster the first mile and kept it up to the end. However, I improved my time by over a minute so that is good. The next time I run this 5K I will try for under 21:45. Before the race I warmed up for 2 miles and after the race I ran another 6 miles around The Woodlands.

1- 7:16

2- 7:07

3- 6:59

Last 172m- 42 seconds

This evening I ran 8 more miles. I ran 2 miles from my house to the track and did 17 laps. I then ran back home the way I came. No speed work, just confortable running.

I ran around my subdivision doing 4 800m sets in the middle of the run at a 6:30 pace. It was a very cool evening for mid April around here. Their was frost on the roofs and the cars.

I ran from Spring Trails into Benders Landing and did the big loop. Another cool morning with low humidity. We have had great weather for 4 days now. I did 3 miles in the middle at a 7:40 pace. Otherwise I ran at an average of 8:25. I felt really confortable running today. I plan on doing a speed workout tomorrow.

I ran from my house to the track at the new junior high they are building. It was another cool dry morning but no frost today. We may not see frost again until November or December. Once again I did 4 800m runs with 400m recoveries in 2:30. My goal was to average 3:20 per interval.

1- 3:18

2- 3:21

3- 3:16

4- 3:12 tried to push it harder on this one

Then I coasted back to Spring Trails and did the loop before returning home.

I decided to an 8 mile run at marathon pace. I ran over to Benders Landing the back way and did 3 loops around the lake and then came back. It was warmer this morning but still nice. I felt strong and wished I could of ran longer, but I had to get ready for work.

Pace- 7:53

I went around Spring Trails this morning going into each section. At the beginning of the run I did 4 800m pickups at an average of 6:23 pace. At the end of the run I did 1 mile at 7:47. Otherwise, my pace of the easy miles was 8:15. It was raining heavily some of the time but it felt good. I feel that my running has been improving the last couple of months because I have been doing speed work and also putting pickups and temples into my runs. Tomorrow morning I plan on doing a long run of at least 20 miles. Tonight after work I will hide a couple of Gatorades along my planned route.

I did a long run this morning. I ran from Spring Trails to Legends Run. I did a loop within Legends Run and then Legends Ranch. I then ran around the new parts of Imperial Oaks and then back to Rayford Rd. After that I came back to Spring Trails and did one loop. I then came back home. My pace averaged 8:24 per mile until the last 3 which I did at a 7:44 pace. The weather was perfect. It was in the high 40's with low humidity.

I ran this morning around the different parts of Spring Trails. Within the run I did 3 800m intervals at an average of 6:21 and I did 1.75 miles at a 7:47 pace. Otherwise, I ran the easy miles at a 8:20 pace. It was a little warm and humid but not too bad yet.

As a side note it was great to hear about Joan Benoits last race in the Olympic Trials Marathon at age 51. She ran a 2:49 and broke the 50-54 age record for the United States. It is amazing that she is still this good at this time in her life. What a great inspiration for all runners. I saw film of the race and the fans were cheering louder for her than the leaders.

It was warm and humid even at 5:00 AM this morning. The temperature was 75 degrees with 90% humidity. I did 10.25 miles at marathon pace. It started getting a little hard the last 2 miles but I made it through. Tomorrow I plan on doing a speed workout at the track.

Pace- 7:50

I ran from my house to the track at the junior high and did 4 800m repeats with 400m taking 2 1/2 minutes in between.

1- 3:18  a little slow

2- 3:09

3- 3:09

4- 3:07

My average is gradually getting better for this workout. I hope in about 3 weeks that at least one of them will be under 3 minutes. Also, I think I will do 5 starting next week Another warm and humid morning but pleasant never the less.

I then coasted back home and to the shower to get ready for work.

I ran around Spring Trails this morning starting at 5:00 AM. I did three 1/2 mile surges in the middle of the run averaging about 3:20. slightly less warm and humid than recent mornings. Saw an armadillo on the road alive for a change. I thinking about doing the "Run the Woodlands 5K" again Saturday morning to see if I can get under 22 minutes. I want to run some 10K's and half marathons but there are not many around here (probably heat and humidity) until October when I will run the Huntsman Half Marathon. In January I will run the Texas Marathon.

I ran the back way into Benders Landing this morning and ran 2 loops around the lake and then came back home. Another warm and humid morning but nice anyways. The last mile I ran in 6:54. Otherwise I ran at an average of 8:10.

I ran the "Run the Woodlands 5K" once again. It was warm and humid this morning but no wind. Once again I started out to slow and I missed my goal time. Part of the reason is that I forgot my Garmin, but also I am having trouble with running by feel at the beginning of races. I had a lot left at the end so I know I could have ran the first mile faster and kept it up. It was still fun however and I always have the next race. Overall I know that my fitness is improving and that I will run the longer races better this fall and winter.

1- 7:21

2- 7:00

3- 6:57

.1- :43

I warmed up for 2 miles before the race. I did 6 miles around the "Woodlands Waterway" and "Market Street" following the race. This evening I ran 6 miles around Spring Trails.

I ran to Benders Landing via the back way through Spring Trails. I then ran around the lake five times and then came back home. Within the run I did 4 800m surges at 5k pace. Besides that my pace averaged 8:15 per mile. A cold front came in last night so it was cool (mid 40's) with low humidity for so early in the morning.

I did the big loop around all the main subdivisions this morning. It was cool and dry but it will be warmer and humid again starting tomorrow. I did the last 3 miles at a 7:40 pace. Otherwise I did an average of 8:15. I am trying to increase my mileage to 70 this week by getting up a little bit earlier in the morning. Tomorrow morning I plan on doing a speed workout at the track.

This morning I ran out of Spring Trails to the track at the new junior high. I did five 800's with 400m recoveries in about 2:30.

1- 3:16   Slow the first one

2- 3:12   warming up

3- 3:03   happy with this one but want to keep it up the last 2

4- 3:02   good, consistent with the last one

5- 3:06   a little worn out but glad to finish

I then ran back to Spring Trails and did one loop before returning to home.