So today's morning run didn't happen. I just can't seem to get myself to bed an hour earlier at night, nor can I wake up early in the morning. Hell, I'm late to work every day as it is. It will happen this week though. I have to move to mornings.
So tonight I ran an easy 5. Mostly roads, but maybe a mile of it on grass. Calves felt pretty tired, especially on the grass, but it was an alright run. Easy 5 miles isn't a foreign concept to me anymore, so that's pretty nice. Now if only I could comprehend "easy 10..."
Over the next few weeks, I'm going to work down the pace I'm comfortable with. I've been starting out runs right around 7:30 pace and working down a bit. I have no problem running a mile or so there on training runs, but I need to get down to the 7-7:15 range quicker. Once I'm comfortable there, I'll work on making somewhere around 6:50-7 my training pace by the end of summer. Though that is subject to change to the faster side.
Tomorrow or Wednesday is gonna be either a Fartlek or a two mile tempo. The other will happen later in the week, either Friday or Saturday. Saturday might be good for the tempo so I have time to drive around and find an open track. Rest of the week will look something like this: 6, 7, 5, 6, 6, 9 for 44 miles total. After that, it's up to 50 for the final days of July into August. If I adapt well and can work my pace down while upping the miles, then August could see some bigger numbers which would be nice.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
RAWR!
Ran with Matt this evening. I spent most of the day helping my brother move, so I was a bit tired. Was worried I'd feel shitty from that and my quicker run yesterday, but we kept things sorta easy to start out, and by the time I was warmed-up, I was feeling pretty damn good. We starting picking it up around 3 miles and it felt great. Grabbed some Gatorade at 6 miles, then headed over to the soccer fields for about a mile barefoot before heading back to the car to finish up. Ran for just under an hour, calling it 8 miles even though it was probably slightly over.
37 miles on the week. Bed soon, then a morning run.
37 miles on the week. Bed soon, then a morning run.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Hi, my name is Ben and I have an addiction
And it's not my leftover hydrocodone.
Tonight, a love was born afresh. I, Ben Silver, fucking love night runs.
I've always been somewhat nocturnal, and that habit spilled into my running during and right after high school. It began heading into my junior year running nearly every day with Breck and Andy. We frequently hung out and barbecued in the evening, not heading out for our run until nightfall. The summer before senior year was different only because I trained with York High School in the mornings.
With no job following my senior year of high school, I would typically wake up in the mid- to late-afternoon. If I was doubling that day, I'd get in a short run. If not, I'd play some computer games, head out with friends, etc. Dinnertime often saw my first meal of the day. I would run after dark nearly every night, sometimes as late as 2 AM. Often, I'd cook some spaghetti or rice following my run. My family was always baffled and humored by the remnants of my midnight dinner found the next morning. After my food, I'd usually hit the computer for a few hours before making it to bed as the sun began to rise.
Night runs were always peaceful. The air was calm and cool, it was quiet. The only real disadvantage was the abundance of road running. But I was young, healthy, and resilient, so I mostly ignored the daily pounding on my legs.
In college, I rarely ran nights, though I never stopped enjoying the tranquility of night runs. In the weeks prior to my surgery, I spent some nights jogging around Tufts. But those were mere jogs, not the training runs of years past.
Then there was tonight.
Tonight, after massaging my tender calves into action (with a somewhat worrisome pain in my left shin), I headed out the door just before midnight. The temperature was dropping through the 60s, and the air was just a bit moist. My legs felt fairly good starting the run, and I was soon in a decent rhythm. Since returning, I have often found it impossible to fall into a groove on my runs, so any run where it happens isn't going to be that bad.
I ran the first mile in 7:34 and felt like I was beginning to drop the pace. I was surprised when I crossed the next mile in 7:28 as I thought I had been moving faster. I worried that I was going to have trouble over the next 4 miles, so I tried to relax. And that's exactly what I needed. I hit the next two miles in 14:12. By this time I was feeling great and really starting to roll. I also was in familiar territory and could feel my way back home. I began moving a bit faster. By the last mile, I was rolling pretty good. I only started to feel a bit drained in the last three quarters of a mile or so. Closed the last two miles in 13:12 for a total of 42:27 for 6 miles.
I felt well in control the entire run and was never really pushing beyond what was comfortable. While I certainly didn't run fast, I did run faster than I have since last September, and that's a great feeling. I also gave myself confidence that I can nail my tempo run next week.
Tomorrow could be pretty nasty as I need to help my brother move during the day. I should try to run just before dark and maybe hit the trails. Then Monday I start morning runs. As much as I love night runs, they just can't happen very often if I'm to live a normal schedule. Maybe I'll go to bed after work every day at 5 PM and wake up to run at 1 AM. Or not.
Tonight, a love was born afresh. I, Ben Silver, fucking love night runs.
I've always been somewhat nocturnal, and that habit spilled into my running during and right after high school. It began heading into my junior year running nearly every day with Breck and Andy. We frequently hung out and barbecued in the evening, not heading out for our run until nightfall. The summer before senior year was different only because I trained with York High School in the mornings.
With no job following my senior year of high school, I would typically wake up in the mid- to late-afternoon. If I was doubling that day, I'd get in a short run. If not, I'd play some computer games, head out with friends, etc. Dinnertime often saw my first meal of the day. I would run after dark nearly every night, sometimes as late as 2 AM. Often, I'd cook some spaghetti or rice following my run. My family was always baffled and humored by the remnants of my midnight dinner found the next morning. After my food, I'd usually hit the computer for a few hours before making it to bed as the sun began to rise.
Night runs were always peaceful. The air was calm and cool, it was quiet. The only real disadvantage was the abundance of road running. But I was young, healthy, and resilient, so I mostly ignored the daily pounding on my legs.
In college, I rarely ran nights, though I never stopped enjoying the tranquility of night runs. In the weeks prior to my surgery, I spent some nights jogging around Tufts. But those were mere jogs, not the training runs of years past.
Then there was tonight.
Tonight, after massaging my tender calves into action (with a somewhat worrisome pain in my left shin), I headed out the door just before midnight. The temperature was dropping through the 60s, and the air was just a bit moist. My legs felt fairly good starting the run, and I was soon in a decent rhythm. Since returning, I have often found it impossible to fall into a groove on my runs, so any run where it happens isn't going to be that bad.
I ran the first mile in 7:34 and felt like I was beginning to drop the pace. I was surprised when I crossed the next mile in 7:28 as I thought I had been moving faster. I worried that I was going to have trouble over the next 4 miles, so I tried to relax. And that's exactly what I needed. I hit the next two miles in 14:12. By this time I was feeling great and really starting to roll. I also was in familiar territory and could feel my way back home. I began moving a bit faster. By the last mile, I was rolling pretty good. I only started to feel a bit drained in the last three quarters of a mile or so. Closed the last two miles in 13:12 for a total of 42:27 for 6 miles.
I felt well in control the entire run and was never really pushing beyond what was comfortable. While I certainly didn't run fast, I did run faster than I have since last September, and that's a great feeling. I also gave myself confidence that I can nail my tempo run next week.
Tomorrow could be pretty nasty as I need to help my brother move during the day. I should try to run just before dark and maybe hit the trails. Then Monday I start morning runs. As much as I love night runs, they just can't happen very often if I'm to live a normal schedule. Maybe I'll go to bed after work every day at 5 PM and wake up to run at 1 AM. Or not.
Welcoming shin splints
Shins have been hurting something fierce all week, but I've gotten in my miles thus far. Shin splints are much better than the shin pain I had on-and-off for 18 months.
Tuesday, July 7 - After taking Monday off, I was hoping to feel pretty good. That wasn't the case, but I got through the run at a little quicker pace than most of my runs last week. Did 5 miles including 4 strides on grass in my Speedstars.
Wednesday, July 8 - Took me forever to get out of the house tonight. I wanted to do a Fartlek similar to the one I ran last week with maybe a few more minutes of hard running tossed in. After warming up for 2 miles, I switched into my Speedstars. The Fartlek didn't go too well. I don't know if I was starting out too fast or just drained from the work day, but after 4 x 1 minute hard, 1 easy and a 2 minute hard effort, I was drained. Jogged it back home, got a granola bar and stretched a bit, then cooled down for a little more than 2 miles. 6 miles on the day.
Not satisfied at all with how I was feeling. Need to get morning runs going.
Thursday, July 9 - Felt a bit better than the last couple days, but not great. Started out on trails with Paulie. Started slow around 7:45 pace the first mile or two, then probably dropped to around 7:15. After about 4 miles on the trails, Paulie was done and I stopped to talk for a couple minutes. I then took the roads over to the high school for maybe 5 minutes on the grass before heading back for a total of 7 miles.
Friday, July 10 - Waited till late to run and had a good one. Ran 5 through my neighborhood. Shins were still pretty bad and my breathing wasn't great, but didn't feel as labored as earlier in the week. Had a pretty easy day at work, so I'm sure that helped.
Thoughts on the week so far: I need to run mornings next week. It's a bitch trying to wake up, but it'll be better in the long run. I also need to cross train. I've been tired as hell after running, and that has discouraged me. Moving the runs to the morning will help that. I'm also adding in a 7th day of running next week which means I won't be upping daily mileage more than a fraction of a mile on running days. Hopefully it will allow me to adapt just a bit and be able to hit some evening rides or swims.
I'm about to take a nice Saturday afternoon nap, and then I'll run 6. Maybe try to throw in some faster stuff if I'm feeling okay. I need to try a tempo next week. Goal is 2 miles at 6 minute pace. I know I can run that without a problem, but I don't know if I can run it how I want to. I need it to be somewhat controlled, and I maybe haven't run enough faster miles to be able to do that. I'd like to add in a mile each week to that tempo run so that I'm running 5 miles in 30 minutes the first week of August. Not sure if that's realistic or not.
8 miles tomorrow to cap a 37 mile week in 6 days of running.
I'm running on the roads a bit more than is ideal, but that's not without reason. I feel that a lot of my shin pain is coming from overworked calves. They work even harder on soft ground. So there are tradeoffs. I think over the next week, I'm going to hit my calves really hard with ice, massage, and stretching in an attempt to ditch the roads for the most part.
More thought on my calves/shins: I'm a forefoot striker, and I'm overweight. Not a great combination. But as I'm trying to look at the bright side of everything, I have found a silver lining. As I lose weight, it could be even more significant than if I were a heel striker. I could just be talking out of my ass with that, but I don't see too many big guys forefoot striking, and I think the potential gains in my calf strength could be significant come late August when I'm 15 pounds lighter than when I began the summer. But "every silver lining has a touch of grey." I worry that my running form (which was so great when I was in race shape) leaves me more suceptible to injury at 175 pounds.
Anyway, off I go for my nap.
Tuesday, July 7 - After taking Monday off, I was hoping to feel pretty good. That wasn't the case, but I got through the run at a little quicker pace than most of my runs last week. Did 5 miles including 4 strides on grass in my Speedstars.
Wednesday, July 8 - Took me forever to get out of the house tonight. I wanted to do a Fartlek similar to the one I ran last week with maybe a few more minutes of hard running tossed in. After warming up for 2 miles, I switched into my Speedstars. The Fartlek didn't go too well. I don't know if I was starting out too fast or just drained from the work day, but after 4 x 1 minute hard, 1 easy and a 2 minute hard effort, I was drained. Jogged it back home, got a granola bar and stretched a bit, then cooled down for a little more than 2 miles. 6 miles on the day.
Not satisfied at all with how I was feeling. Need to get morning runs going.
Thursday, July 9 - Felt a bit better than the last couple days, but not great. Started out on trails with Paulie. Started slow around 7:45 pace the first mile or two, then probably dropped to around 7:15. After about 4 miles on the trails, Paulie was done and I stopped to talk for a couple minutes. I then took the roads over to the high school for maybe 5 minutes on the grass before heading back for a total of 7 miles.
Friday, July 10 - Waited till late to run and had a good one. Ran 5 through my neighborhood. Shins were still pretty bad and my breathing wasn't great, but didn't feel as labored as earlier in the week. Had a pretty easy day at work, so I'm sure that helped.
Thoughts on the week so far: I need to run mornings next week. It's a bitch trying to wake up, but it'll be better in the long run. I also need to cross train. I've been tired as hell after running, and that has discouraged me. Moving the runs to the morning will help that. I'm also adding in a 7th day of running next week which means I won't be upping daily mileage more than a fraction of a mile on running days. Hopefully it will allow me to adapt just a bit and be able to hit some evening rides or swims.
I'm about to take a nice Saturday afternoon nap, and then I'll run 6. Maybe try to throw in some faster stuff if I'm feeling okay. I need to try a tempo next week. Goal is 2 miles at 6 minute pace. I know I can run that without a problem, but I don't know if I can run it how I want to. I need it to be somewhat controlled, and I maybe haven't run enough faster miles to be able to do that. I'd like to add in a mile each week to that tempo run so that I'm running 5 miles in 30 minutes the first week of August. Not sure if that's realistic or not.
8 miles tomorrow to cap a 37 mile week in 6 days of running.
I'm running on the roads a bit more than is ideal, but that's not without reason. I feel that a lot of my shin pain is coming from overworked calves. They work even harder on soft ground. So there are tradeoffs. I think over the next week, I'm going to hit my calves really hard with ice, massage, and stretching in an attempt to ditch the roads for the most part.
More thought on my calves/shins: I'm a forefoot striker, and I'm overweight. Not a great combination. But as I'm trying to look at the bright side of everything, I have found a silver lining. As I lose weight, it could be even more significant than if I were a heel striker. I could just be talking out of my ass with that, but I don't see too many big guys forefoot striking, and I think the potential gains in my calf strength could be significant come late August when I'm 15 pounds lighter than when I began the summer. But "every silver lining has a touch of grey." I worry that my running form (which was so great when I was in race shape) leaves me more suceptible to injury at 175 pounds.
Anyway, off I go for my nap.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
I woke up a bit late today and watched the Tour de France replay before heading over to the running store. Still looking for another pair of shoes to replace my New Balance 826's. Thinking about getting a pair of Mizuno Wave Riders to trade off days with my Asics Speedstars.
I was pretty tired when I got back from the running store, so I napped... for like 3 1/2 hours.
Ended up feeling pretty weird on my run and not in a good way for most of it. Ran on the roads just after dark. Felt surprisingly effortless to begin, and that never turns out well for me. By two miles, my legs were hurting pretty good. Felt a bit better the last two miles and sped up just a bit. After a 7:30 first mile, I turned the watch off. Probably about 7:10 pace towards the end.
I'm trying to avoid using my watch often on runs where I know the miles. I don't need to be overly concerned with my pace yet. When I'm watching my splits, I tend to push myself just a bit harder at each mile, and that's not what I need right now. I do need to push myself, but I can do that enough by feel. Besides, I don't need to be getting down on myself if I have days where I feel shitty and split 8 minute miles. I'm giving myself until at least August before I pay much attention to day-to-day pace. That's not to say I won't check splits occasionally to know where I am, but at this point, my fitness is changing so rapidly that splits do not matter.
I was pretty tired when I got back from the running store, so I napped... for like 3 1/2 hours.
Ended up feeling pretty weird on my run and not in a good way for most of it. Ran on the roads just after dark. Felt surprisingly effortless to begin, and that never turns out well for me. By two miles, my legs were hurting pretty good. Felt a bit better the last two miles and sped up just a bit. After a 7:30 first mile, I turned the watch off. Probably about 7:10 pace towards the end.
I'm trying to avoid using my watch often on runs where I know the miles. I don't need to be overly concerned with my pace yet. When I'm watching my splits, I tend to push myself just a bit harder at each mile, and that's not what I need right now. I do need to push myself, but I can do that enough by feel. Besides, I don't need to be getting down on myself if I have days where I feel shitty and split 8 minute miles. I'm giving myself until at least August before I pay much attention to day-to-day pace. That's not to say I won't check splits occasionally to know where I am, but at this point, my fitness is changing so rapidly that splits do not matter.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Easy run
5 miles, way easy. Left calf is pretty sore, but the run felt alright. Drinking tonight for the 4th. Happy birthday, America! FUCK YEAH!
Friday, July 3, 2009
First workout
After Tuesday's day off, I ran 5 miles on Wednesday. Ran about 4 miles, then 5 minutes barefoot, then switched to my brand new Asics Gel Speedstars for strides. The strides felt good, was able to get up to a good speed. Felt good overall today.
Thursday was 4 easy including a mile at the end in my Speedstars with a few pick-ups. Felt fine.
Friday it was time for my first workout, a 3 mile Fartlek meant to begin getting my body comfortable with a faster pace. I ran after lifeguarding most of the day, so I was a bit tired as I made my way over to the trails. Warmed-up for 15 minutes (2 miles), then went into the Fartlek.
I divided the Fartlek roughly into three sections by mile. I started with 1 minute hard, 1 easy for 8 minutes. The hard was probably faster than the 6 minute pace that I was aiming for. I was moving pretty well and didn't feel TOO bad. The recovery started a bit slow, but moved down to around 7:15 pace I'd say. Next was 8 minutes of 2 hard, 2 easy. This time, I was probably right on 6 minute pace for the hard portion and around 7:30 or slower for the easy. I finished with 3 more 1-1's, still faster than 6 on the hard, but not as fast as the first section. 1 mile slow cool-down.
Overall, I feel that the workout went quite well, and I did exactly what I was looking for. Over the next few weeks, I need to work into tempo runs and this is a good start. I will probably do a similar workout to today's twice next week. The week after I'll trade one of those out for a short tempo and then work the distance of that tempo up week-by-week.
My left calf feels all kinds of sore, but I don't think it's anything I can't work though.
Thursday was 4 easy including a mile at the end in my Speedstars with a few pick-ups. Felt fine.
Friday it was time for my first workout, a 3 mile Fartlek meant to begin getting my body comfortable with a faster pace. I ran after lifeguarding most of the day, so I was a bit tired as I made my way over to the trails. Warmed-up for 15 minutes (2 miles), then went into the Fartlek.
I divided the Fartlek roughly into three sections by mile. I started with 1 minute hard, 1 easy for 8 minutes. The hard was probably faster than the 6 minute pace that I was aiming for. I was moving pretty well and didn't feel TOO bad. The recovery started a bit slow, but moved down to around 7:15 pace I'd say. Next was 8 minutes of 2 hard, 2 easy. This time, I was probably right on 6 minute pace for the hard portion and around 7:30 or slower for the easy. I finished with 3 more 1-1's, still faster than 6 on the hard, but not as fast as the first section. 1 mile slow cool-down.
Overall, I feel that the workout went quite well, and I did exactly what I was looking for. Over the next few weeks, I need to work into tempo runs and this is a good start. I will probably do a similar workout to today's twice next week. The week after I'll trade one of those out for a short tempo and then work the distance of that tempo up week-by-week.
My left calf feels all kinds of sore, but I don't think it's anything I can't work though.
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