son of raging joe

Celebrating the 2nd Generation of Benvenuto Rage

[sonofragingjoe]

Training Log; May 14th - 20th

MONDAY

4.03 Miles, 30:13 Minutes. Outdoor Run. Got out after work, it was warm and cloudy out, slight wind. Did a 1.01 Mile warm up in 7:38, then started the PU rounds. Legs were feeling a bit heavy but I did my best to go all out, avg. min/mile pace for the 30 second PU rounds as follows; 5:41, 5:16, 4:43, 5:17. Made sure to get the 2 minute rest in between, still maintained between 7:15-7:59 min/mile pace in those rest periods. Finished with 1.78 Miles back home at 7:59 avg. min/mile pace. That stretch home was rough, legs were heavy. Foam rolled and did the RW Recovery Yoga routine when I got home, did 45 minutes in the Elevated Legs too.

TUESDAY

9.0 Miles, X:XX Minutes. Treadmill Run. Did this speed day at the gym on a Woodway, there were crazy thunderstorms in our area last night. Stretched before and MYRTL like always. Started with a 2 mile warm up at 7.5 MPH aka 8:00 min/mile pace. Set the speed to 9.0 MPH aka 6:40 min/mile pace. Maintained that for 3 miles (*did have to jump off quickly for a bathroom break at 1.6 miles, stomach has been a bit dodgy the last few days). Took the 3 minute cool down at 6.5 MPH for the first 2 minutes, pushed it up to 7.5 for the last minute. Next round again at 9.0 MPH pace, maintained for 3 miles, even pushed the pace up to 9.2 and then 9.5 for the last mile. Breathing was good, stride felt consistent, hard to tell on a treadmill, some tightness in the right soleus muscle. After that second speed round I was at 7.38 miles, cooled down the last .62 at 7.0 mph pace. Tired afterwards, the miles feel like they are adding up now. Took a steam and stretched afterwards, cold shower, and back home to get a PB&J, a protein shake, and then in bed at 8:30.

WEDNESDAY

REST. Stretched, did a session of Elevated Legs, and in bed early, lots of sleep.

THURSDAY

4.04 Miles, 31:26 Minutes. Outdoor Run. Got out in the evening, it was in the 60s, nice and cool. Took this run really easy, no headphones, just soaked up the scenery of JC on my regular route to Lincoln Park. Miles were as follows; 7:54, 7:38, 7:50, 7:49. Happy with the result, legs did still feel pretty heavy. Stretched, foam rolled, and did the RW Yoga routine afterwards, and got into Elevated Legs as well.

FRIDAY

REST DAY! Did some yoga, stretched, foam rolled.

SATURDAY

4.05 Miles, 29:50 Minutes. Outdoor Run. Was up early knowing there was heavy rain the the forecast, did my morning routine and just kept stretching until the radar showed a break in the rain. Ran with my rain jacket, because it was still drizzling/light rain. Ran the first 1.08 miles at an average pace of 7:43 min/mile. Average pace during the 30 seconds pickup rounds that came after warmup were as follows; 5:00, 5:33, 4:57, 5:38. Legs felt heavy, kind of like lead. Last 1.74 miles back home were tough, legs just keep feeling heavier and heavier, still maintained an average pace of 7:32 min/mile. Did some yoga and foam rolled once I was home. Spent the rest of the day in my Elevated Legs and using a new massage device I got off amazon.

SUNDAY

14.04 Miles, 1:45:49 Minutes. Outdoor Run. Forecast had rain in the morning and then clouds an 70s mid morning, so I waited it out. Left the house around 10:30AM once the rain stopped, but instead of clouds it was humid and sunny in the 80s. First 3 miles to Liberty State park went well, mile times were as follows; 7:29, 7:16, 7:29. Once I was in the park it was clear that I was gonna struggle to stay hydrated, I had already been hitting my bottle hard. Knew I wanted to stay around 7:15-7:30 pace for the entire run, but with the heat I decided not to push and stick to a 7:30 pacing. First loop of the park went as follows; 7:31, 7:30, 7:31. 2nd Loop; 7:34, 7:30, 7:29. After mile 10, which was 7:26, I stopped to refill my water which had been empty the last few miles, poured some on my head and body to cool off, took a few big swigs and then finished the final 4 miles back home; 7:32, 7:31, 7:33, 8:09. That last mile was rough, it covers the 100+ feet of elevation gain to get home, legs were heavy. Stretched, hydrated, foam rolled, and did Elevated Legs all afternoon, in bed early. Hoping this light week of running before the race will have me feeling fresh, because I am beat up. This was the hardest I’ve ever trained for anything, feel like I did everything coach laid out for me since we started January 1st. It will all pay off next Sunday in Buffalo!

[sonofragingjoe]

Training Log; May 7th - 13th

Monday

5.09 Miles, 37:02 Minutes. Outdoor Run. Nice and warm outside, did this run after work. Ran first 2.08 miles at 7:21 avg. min/mile pace. Started PUs once I got to the park, legs were a bit heavy. Avg. pace for the PUs were as follows, all kept to 30-36 seconds; 5:36, 5:38, 5:39, 5:42. Finished last 1.80 miles at avg. pace of 7:29 min/mile. Foam rolled and did yoga afterwards. Really feeling tired, going to try and wake up early tomorrow to get run in before my flight to Chicago.

Tuesday

8.0 Miles (*Garmin was off, prob more like 8.5), 56:46 minutes. Outdoor Run. Wasn’t;t able to get run in before my flight. Got to my Hotel at 10AM in Chicago, changed and hustled out to get this done before a noon meeting. It was hot out, sunny. Legs were heavy. Garmin was off immediately, all the buildings must have kept it from getting a clear signal until I was in the park running along the lake. First mile was off on Garmin, said it took 8:22, but that’s def not correct. The intervals then went as follows; 6:33, 7:13, 6:38, 7:17, 6:29, 7:27, 6:44. This was not my best run, felt dehydrated, tired. Obviously attributed to getting off a plane and running. Got a quick foam roll in when I got back, will be on my feet the rest of the day. This is gonna be a tough week.

Wednesday

10.07 Miles, 1:14:32 minutes. Outdoor Run. Tried to do this early in the morning, no dice… Was out til about 1AM the night before with clients, had a few beers. Set the alarm for 4AM, once it went off I smacked my phone and slept til 6:30. Had meetings all day, didn’t think I’d have a window to run. Got back to the hotel at 4PM, dinner wasn’t til 7, I had a window. Did a quick stretch and out the door. Legs were sore, soleus and quads felt tight, had to stop a few times in the first 3 miles to stretch. Garmin was off again at the start. Mile paces went as follows; 6:20 (*Garmin prob off here), 7:30, 7:48, 7:56, 8:02, 7:52. The first 6 miles were tough, really felt like I loosened up after mile five. Once mile 7 came it started to rain, a true sunny downpour, kept moving, the rain felt good on my skin, cooled me off, this next two miles were in the rain; 7:28, 7:05. Rain stopped and I finished off the last two miles; 7:39, 6:22. Truly a different run in the second half than the first, everything loosened up, legs got churning. Quick foam roll then out to dinner.

Thursday

4.05 Miles, 31:53 Minutes. Outdoor Run. Got up early to run, last run along the lake in Chicago. Coolest day weather wise, but still warm, felt good. Legs heavy again in mile 1, Garmin again on the fritz most likely, miles times as follows; 8:10, 7:35, 7:44, 8:07. Happy to be done with running during a trade show, it was a lot to be up and moving all day long, be up late, and get runs in. Stretched and foam rolled after. Can’t wait to be home tonight and get in my Elevated Legs.

Friday

REST! YAASSS! Spent the day working from home, catching up on emails, stretched, and did a few round of Elevated legs. Ate clean all day.

Saturday

4.06 Miles, 29:14 Minutes. Outdoor Run. Misty and Humid. Felt good right away, the rest yesterday and two nights of good sleep really helped. Ran first mile in 7:04, and then started PUs. Felt really fast through all 4 rounds, like I had rocket boosters attached to my legs. Each round went between 30-36 seconds, avg. min/mile pace for each round were as follows; 4:32, 4:52, 4:20, 4:42. Yea buddy! Finished the last 1.74 miles home at an avg. pace of 7:44 min/mile. Going to foam roll and do the RW Recovery Yoga. Might even do that Yoga session again in the evening.

Sunday

20.30 Miles, 2:28:24 Minutes. Outdoor Run. Got out the door early (*9:30AM) to try and get this run in before the rain started. Goal was to keep all miles between 7:05 - 7:30 min/mile pace, felt it was important to keep this run as fast as possible without overdoing it, coach had advised not to be any faster than 7:05. Did the 3 miles down to Liberty State Park, times as follows; 7:14, 7:27, 7:12. Felt strong from the start, the rest Friday and all day Saturday following the 4 Miles w/ PUs served me well. Got dialed into pace in the park, had to do 4 loops in the park to get the miles in, each loop was 3 miles.. Loop #1 felt easy, pace felt good, no issues, times as follows; 7:21, 7:21, 7:29 - 22:11 Total. Loop #2 felt exactly the same, pace comfortable, not pressing, breathing easy, times as follows; 7:23, 7:21, 7:19 - 22:03 Total. Loop #3 was more of the same, comfortable at the pace, really zoned out, could feel I was going a bit faster, times as follows; 7:17, 7:09, 7:13 - 21:39 Total. Loop #4 was went I started to feel my left glute and IT band tighten up, just tried to breathe through it and zen out, not real pain just minor discomfort, totally manageable, didn’t affect pace, times as follows; 7:22, 7:12, 7:20 - 21:54 Total. Mile 16 was the peak of tightness in that left glute/hip area, had to stop and get a water refill anyway, so I took a minute to stretch it out quickly, Mile 16 time was 7:17. The final 4 miles were much better from a comfort standpoint, the quick stretch did the trick and alleviated a majority of the muscle tightness. Final 4 mile times; 7:16, 7:31, 7:09, 7:30. Finished the last .30 miles with a little speed, 6:39 min/mile pace in that last little third of a mile. Caught some rain in that last 2 miles. Let out a giant battle cry when I was finished, body served me well, but once I got in the door my legs were screaming for rest and recovery. Flopped on top of my foam roller and just wiggled around over that left upper leg/hip area for a few minutes. Took a hot shower, made a recovery shake, popped a few Advil and took a nap. Followed up nap with more stretching and couch time in my Elevated Legs. Felt great to nail that run!

[sonofragingjoe]

Training Log; April 30th - May 6th

Monday

5.18 Miles, 38:54 Minutes. Outdoor Run. High 40s, Cold, Raining, typical. First 1.69 miles were at 7:37 min/mile avg. pace, felt good, not too stiff. Worked into the 4 rounds of 30 second pick ups, ran at following avg. paces in the 30 second bursts; 5:23, 5:29, 5:16, 5:02. Felt a little slow in these PU rounds, did feel like I was warming up and getting quicker as I went along, but the conditions also played a part. In typical fashion the 2 minute “rests” in between were run at a fairly fast clip in terms of avg. pace; 7:30, 7:00, 6:55. Finished the last 2.21 miles at avg. pace of 7:51 min/mile, wanted to take it easy, not push too hard. Foam rolled and did the Runners World Recovery Yoga afterwards as well. Really trying to dedicate myself to doing that yoga everyday til race day.

Tuesday

7.82 Miles, 54:16 minutes. Outdoor Run. Sunny and 70 degrees! Finally! Wasn’t 100% sure how the mileage would breakdown on this run, went to Lincoln Park to run on the track but there was a high school meet going on, so just ran the 1.2 loop of the park. Ran first mile to the park in 7:25 and decided to kick it into gear and start the first interval, results as follows; 6:01, 6:01, 6:18 (*admittedly had to stop for a pit stop midway through, so the slow down and start back up prob affected my time here), 5:57. The final lap I was cruising, got into a crazy groove, legs were moving like I’ve never felt before. Did the 3 min rest inbetween all intervals, had a 1.63 mile jog back home from the park, ran between 8:07-8:15 pace on that. Legs felt great, no issues. Foam rolled and did the Runners World Recovery Yoga afterwards as well.

Wednesday

10.02 Miles, 1:20:32 Minutes. Outdoor Run. Another beautiful sunny warm day, 88 degrees! Waited to run until 6:30PM so it wasn’t too hot. Focus of the run was stay easy, stay consistent, don’t push, breathe. Very happy with the result, all mile were between 7:46-8:18 min/miles, and if you took out the fastest and slowest miles, which were actually mile 2 and 10, the range was even tighter, between 7:57-8:14 min/mile pace. Foam rolled and did the Runners World Recovery Yoga afterwards as well. Got 40 minutes in the Elevated Legs for compression therapy too.

Thursday

Heavy rain late in the evening when I was able to get out to train, had to call an audible and just take a rest day. Did yoga

Friday

Rest day, did yoga, stretched

Saturday

.5 Mile Warm Up, 6.2 Mile Race, 38:21 minutes. Outdoor run, Sunny and 60s, perfect race weather. Didn’t have my watch so only can report times based on what I saw at the mile marker race clocks. First 2 miles were both under 6 min pace, somewhere in the 5:55 range. Right ankle felt sore after 2, so I pulled back on mile 3 just so I didn't risk injury and gave the ankle a chance to loosen up. Prob ran mile 3 at 6:30 pace. By mile 4 it loosened up so I started to pick up the pace a bit and attack a few guys (*there were only 3)I could see ahead of me. Caught the first at mile 5, the second at 5.5, and the last guy in the final half mile. Finished and felt great, not overly tired or sore in anyway. If such a thing as finishing with a PR and having it feel effortless and like if you were pressed you could have run faster, than that’s what I experienced. Foam rolled and yoga afterwards. Went to the Red Bulls vs. NYCFC match in the afternoon and a quick post match Cinco de Mayo party after that.

Sunday

17.18 Miles, 2:09:45 minutes. Outdoor Run. Cool day outside, 60s, cloudy and windy. Ran to Liberty State Park and did a few loops to get the mileage in. Really got into a groove, ran comfortably, nevner pushing. Stayed close to the 7:33 avg. pace throughout the run: Miles 1-3 to get me to the park were 8:00, 7:21, 7:47. Miles 4-9 were the first 2 loops of the park; 7:52, 7:48, 7:47, 7:31, 7:40. Miles 10-12 I started to increase pace slightly; 7:32, 7:29, 7:25. Miles 13-15 I wanted to push the pace a bit more; 7:13, 7:12, 7:11. The final 2 miles I backed off a bit before finishing the last .18 with a little flurry; 7:24, 7:31, and in that last .18 I was at an avg. pace of 6:44. Foam rolled and did yoga afterwards, felt good, just general tired from the race and soccer match socialization on Saturday. Got good rest on the couch rest of the day.

[sonofragingjoe]

Training Log; April 23rd - 29th

Monday

5.05 miles, 35:11 minutes. Outdoor run, early morning in Tucson, AZ. Decided not to attack any trails or hills today, went to the Rillito River Park bike/run path. Amazing how quickly it warms up as the sun rose over the canyon, really a beautiful morning, perfect conditions. Did 5 rounds of PUs, 30s each, paces were between 4:47-5:43 min/miles. For the rest of the run I was maintaining pace between 7:02-7:13 min/miles. Felt good afterwards, sad to leave Tucson, wish I could train here full time.

Tuesday

7 miles, 50:02 minutes. Treadmill run. Decided to do this workout on the treadmill so I could dial in the speeds precisely. The progression runs are always fun and keep you constantly engaged because of the gradual speed increase. Started at 7:40 pace and dropped 10 seconds after every mile, so last mile was at 6:40 pace. Some tightness in the hamstring, but gave a good stretch and got in the Elevated Legs in the evening.

Wednesday

10.05 miles, 1:19:01 minutes. Outdoor run. Ran down to Liberty State Park, it was warm, 58-60 degrees, and misty out. Really tried to zone out and settle into an easy pace. Was very happy with the result, stayed between 7:41 - 8:03 min/mile pace the entire way. Felt effortless.

Thursday

4.01 miles, 31:15 minutes. Outdoor run. Woke up early, legs were a bit heavy, was still warm outside and misty. First mile was 8:11, legs woke up a bit after that; 7:38, 7:37, 7:47 over the next 3 miles. Felt easy, didn’t feel like I was giving a lot of effort.

Friday

REST. Woke up feeling exhausted and sore. Might want to space out runs next time, I had finished the 10 miler at 7:30PM on Wednesday and was up running the 4 at 5:45AM on Thursday. That may not be smart. Trying to get through the work day with minimal steps, will be in bed early tonight.

Saturday

5.16 Miles, 35:56 Minutes. Outdoor Run. Out the door early at 6AM, it was warm out. Got the first 1.84 miles in at an average of 7:12 min/mile pace before starting the PUs. Did 4 rounds of PUs for 30 seconds with 2 minutes of rest inbetween; paces for the 30s PU rounds were - 4:57, 4:51, 4:50, 4:59. The 2.05 miles after was done at an average pace of 7:11 min/mile. Felt strong.

Sunday

15.09 Miles, 1:42:37 minutes. Outdoor Run. Woke up at 5:30AM in CT to try and get this run in, it was cold in the 40s and pouring rain, decided it would be smarter to wait out the rain and just head back to JC where the weather forecast was sunny and high 50s. Got out at 2PM, it was windy ass f*ck, per usual, but much better conditions than I had experienced in CT. Initially I had thought about just running 7:30ish pace for the entire run, first  mile came in at 7:13 and at that point I decided to run close to 6:50 the entire way to simulate a 3 hour marathon pace. For miles 2-7 the miles were consistent between 6:35-6:51, really focused on the turnover of the legs, making sure to get my knees up and legs kicking up behind, to engage all the muscles in my legs. I was running in Liberty State Park and had to do a second loop around the park, so obviously on the second loop I felt energized and noticed the next few miles were coming in faster but I wasn’t giving anymore effort; 6:29, 6:31, 6:33. The wind really picked up as I got out of the park, and was running in the canyons of downtown JC and waterfront, smacking me right in the face over the last 5 miles; 6:59, 6:53, 6:46, 6:58, 7:01. Finished strong with a kicking sprint the last 1/10th of a mile home to cap off a great run. Left hamstring and glute was tight after, did a serious foam roll session, and got into the Elevated Legs for an hour of compression. Later in the evening I went through the Runners World Post Run Yoga routine DVD that runs about 30 minutes. Felt strong on the run, Excited to run that fast that long and still feel fresh. Gives me a lot of confidence heading into these next weeks of training before Buffalo.

[sonofragingjoe]

Training Log; April 16th - 22nd

Coming off the Half Marathon, took it easy this week:

MONDAY - REST

TUESDAY - REST

WEDNESDAY - 5.18 Miles, 40:20 Minutes, 7:48 min/mile avg. pace. Outdoor Run, in Jersey City, easy pace.

THURSDAY - 4.01 Miles, 32:13 Minutes, 8:02 min/mile avg. pace. Outdoor Run, in Jersey City, easy pace.

FRIDAY - 5.07 Miles, 36:08 Minutes, 7:08 min/mile avg. pace. Outdoor Run in Tucson, AZ. 5 Mile run with 4x 30s PUs, speed work. It was hot out, kept PU paces between 4:56-5:05 min/mile pace for each 30 second round.

SATURDAY - 9.0 Miles, 1:08:00 Minutes (*approx time, Garmin didn’t work on the first half), 7:24 min/mile avg. pace. Outdoor Run in Tucson, AZ in Sabino Canyon. Easy pace, 600+ feet of elevation gain over first half of the run, challenging, beautiful day.

SUNDAY - REST

[sonofragingjoe]

Training Log; April 9th - 15th

Monday

REST.

Tuesday

6.26 Miles, 42:43 Minutes. Outdoor Run. Cold and windy again, really tired of this weather. Warmed up for the first 1.57 miles to Lincoln Park, avg. pace was 7:18, prob a little fast, but I was coming off two rest days, felt fresh. Started the tempo in the park and took it onto the track. Went for 15:44 minutes and covered 2.64 miles, with an avg. pace of 5:58 min/mile. Felt fast, felt easy, wasn’t pressing at all. Something about getting on the track just makes me glide. Finished off with a 2.05 mile cool down back home at an avg. pace of 7:34 min/mile. Stretched and did elevated legs when I got home.

Wednesday

5.08 Miles, 42:13 minutes. Outdoor run. Cold but manageable this morning, out the door just before 6AM, still bundled up as it was 35 degrees, but no wind! Really wanted to go “slow” and be super easy per coaches orders. Miles broke down as follows; 8:37, 8:18, 8:01 (*that was on the track), 8:18, 8:21. Happy with result and ability to take it easy. Did a quick lift at the gym in the evening, quick circuit of biceps, shoulders, chest, and loads of crunches.

Thursday

5.12 Miles, 40:19 Minutes. Outdoor run. It wasn’t cold this morning! Went out in full cold gear, shed layers after a mile, so nice to run in mild weather for a change. Focused on taking it easy, controlling breath. Mile breakdown; 8:13, 7:55, 7:23 (*this was on the track), 802, 7:50 - Mission Accomplished. No issues on run. Got a lift in the evening, did a circuit of biceps, shoulders, chest, and loads of crunches.

Friday

REST

Saturday

5.11 Miles, 37:33 Minutes. Outdoor Run. Absolutely beautiful day, high 60s and sunny, was able to wear shorts! Ran to Lincoln Park; 1.70 miles at avg. pace of 7:39. Started 4 rounds of of 30s PUs, was really flying during each round; avg. paces for the bursts were as follows - 5:13, 4:53, 4:43, 4:29. Finished with a 2.1 mile easy run home at an avg. pace of 7:48. Feeling fast, feeling loose, no pain.

Sunday

1.3 Mile warm up jog to the starting line. 13.29 Mile Race, 1:25:41 minutes. Outdoor run. Welcome to the 2018 Rutgers Half Marathon, temps in the high 30s/low 40s w/ steady winds of 10-15 MPH & gusts of 20-25 MPH. Weather was brutal, prob should have worn tights to keep the legs warm, and I definitely should have had gloves on. Got out to a comfortable pace right away and settled into the 6:20-6:30 pace range. Miles went by quickly, pace felt easy, fighting the wind was a chore. Had the expectation of doing the first 9 and evaluating after that, mile times were as follows; 6:24, 6:31, 6:13, 6:33, 6:21, 6:29, 6:15, 6:27, 6:27. After mile 9 I wasn’t feeling all that great, I was cold, legs never really warmed up so they felt tight, figured I’d continue to maintain pace and reevaluate after each mile. Miles 10 & 11 were in a section of a park and fairly flat and protected by trees, so putting in times of 6:23 & 6:24 weren’t overly taxing. Once I broke out of that park it was all uphill grade to the finish, and the wind picked up along the river, I was exposed and suddenly felt like I was working a lot harder to maintain pace, so I let up, and slowed down to 6:41 on mile 12 and then 6:45 for mile 13. Totally fine with that decision, knew if I had pushed there was a greater likelihood of injury, and heading into mile 12 I knew I had a PR in the bag, and this wasn’t he race to empty the tank on, Buffalo is 6 weeks away and that’s the goal. Gave a slight surge at the finish doing the last .29 at 6:15 pace. Really happy with the race result, a new PR, and it felt cool knowing I could easily run a half a minute or two faster with better conditions. Hands were froze in a half fist, had trouble manipulating my car keys to get in and warm myself up. Earned a hot shower and couch time.

[sonofragingjoe]

Training Log; April 2nd - 8th

Monday

3 miles, 25:44 minutes. Treadmill Run. I wanted to get a few miles in this morning before the V02 Max test tonight.

V02 Max wrap up; went for 13 minutes, pushed myself really hard, the last minute at 12.5 incline was tough, just tried to focus on 10 seconds blocks, legs eventually got wobbly and I was leaning back, did a semi collapse on the treadmill. Results we extremely positive, got great insight on what heart rate zones I should be training in. figured with the warm up and test I did another 1.5 easily.

Tuesday

5 Miles, 38.25 minutes. Treadmill Run. Set the pace at 7.5 MPH, went for 2 miles and then started the PUs. For each round I set the speed to 11.0 MPH and went for approx 30-60 seconds for each round and then rest at 7.5 for 2 minutes. Finished the rest at 7.5 MPH. Felt strong, no issues.

Wednesday

10.20 miles, 1:07:30 minutes. Outdoor run. Garmin was def off, just a hair in the beginning which is always frustrating, but it was 6:45 PM when I got out the door so whatever. It was super windy, 20+ MPH gusts, and it was a crosswind so I never really had it “at my back on the track” so I had to dig hard. Did the 2 miles to the track (which Garmin read as 1.8) at an easy avg. pace of 8:12 min/miles. Once I was on the track I got into the intervals, I marked out 2.5 laps for my 1K distances as not to rely on Garmin. Result from each round; 3:48, 3:54, 3:55, 3:53, 3:55, 3:55, 3:49, 3:50. Was very happy with these times, avg. pace was between 5:49 to 5:55 min/mile. I would pull back for the 2 minute rest period, giving myself 1 lap around the track to recoup, in most cases I was able to make that loop last 2 full minutes. Once I was done I had to run over to the Honda dealership to get my car, so that added another 1.14 to my run. Tired afterwards, little tight in the left hammy. Stretched a ton and got in Elevated Legs afterwards.

Thursday

5.10 miles, 39:51 minutes. Outdoor run. Up early to bang out these miles, it was cold and windy again. Kept the pace easy; 8:20, 7:46, 7:24, 7:42, 7:54. Hammy still tight, gonna try to take it east today and get a ton of rest tonight.

Friday

4 miles, 31:12 minutes. Treadmill Run. started out at 7.5 MPH for the first 1.5 miles, did 4 rounds of PUs lasting 41-56 seconds at 11.2 MPH, with a 2 minute rest back at 7.5 MPH. Finished the last 1.25 at 7.2 MPH. Felt dehydrated near the end, but oddly strong during the PUs. Stretched before and after. Very tired, long week, planning on being in bed early.

Saturday

13.01 Miles, 1:35:27 minutes. Outdoor run. Got a ton of sleep last night, feeling refreshed. Cold and windy outside. Kept the first 8 miles consistent between 7:30-8:00 min/mile pace. No issues at that pace. Kicked it up for the final 5 miles; 6:37, 6:49, 6:29, 6:40, 6:50. Last mile had the uphill, but felt like I was really digging deep for these miles, worked hard. Got a long session of Elevated Legs post run, spend the day resting and relaxing.

Sunday

Went to the gym for a light circuit lift and long stretch.

[sonofragingjoe]

Training Log; March 26th - April 1st

Monday

4.01 miles, 31:27 minutes. Outdoor run. SO COLD AGAIN, when is it gonna warm up in the morning? Really tried to take this slow, mission accomplished; 7:55, 7:35, 7:56, 7:59. Easy, slow, under control, but very cold.

Tuesday

4.03 miles, 29:24 minutes. Outdoor run. Broken record alert; it was super cold. Started out easy and controlled for first 1.25 at avg. pace of 7:44 min/mile. Started the 4x30s PUs; 34s @ 5:19 pace, 35s @ 4:58 pace, 41s @ 5:33 pace, 37s @ 5:15 pace. Felt faster than last week during PUs, did those 2 on a treadmill, much different to go all out on the road. Seriously feeling faster in general, the burst is real. Finished 1.5 miles at avg. pace of 7:25 min/miles.

Wednesday

8.25 miles, 50:27 minutes. Outdoor Run. After mile one I saw the time of 7:05 and thought “crap, went too fast, can’t waste energy on the slow ones.” But there wasn’t time to dwell, had to pick up the pace; mile 2 - 6:12, awesome, dead on pace! 2 miles had me at the Lincoln Park track, and I would finish the remaining 6 Miles there, figuring it would be easier to gauge pace there. Mile 3, an “easy one” felt easy and comfortable, but I clocked in 6:01! What is happening?! That felt so easy! So I maintained pace; mile 4 - 6:03, mile 5 - 6:05. Now I’m dialed in, these 6 min miles were just pouring off me, and some other dude just got on the track and he’s running a good pace too, so I just decide that we are racing and I wanted to not only pass him, but lap him. Staying in control, with even breathing and cadence I rip off the last 3 miles; mile 6 - 5:58, mile 7 - 5:57, mile 8 - 5:45, and for good measure a final lap/.25 miles - 1:19! Let’s go!!! I felt like a beast, and it felt so easy, like I could have gone faster!

Thursday

4.06 miles, 32:33 minutes. Outdoor run. It wasn’t cold this morning! It was 49 when I walked out the door. After last night's killer workout I knew today had to be slow. Really took it easy and gave my body a break; 8:20, 7:51, 7:59, 7:57. Felt good, legs weren’t too sore or tired. Extra stretching tonight when I get home.

Friday

Lactic Threshold Test at Custom Performance in NYC. Started on Treadmill at 5.5 MPH for 3 minutes, then went up to 7.5 MPH, and every minute after that they increased speed .5 MPH until we hit 10.5 MPH where I stayed for 7-8 rounds. Did the math and I covered approx. 2.9 miles. Meredith surprised me with this, but I was prepared to run, so it all worked out extremely well, the team that was evaluating was impressed.

Saturday

13.1 miles, 1:42:46 minutes. Outdoor Run. It was sunny but cold, low 40s, and windy. Put on an audio book and just stayed relaxed and comfortable, just wanted to be locked into a 7:45-8 minute pace the whole way. Mission accomplished. Felt strong, didn’t feel like I was giving a ton of effort, miles just sort of melted into each other. Was happy I stayed consistent and even throughout. Lots of stretching afterwards.

Sunday

REST DAY!

[sonofragingjoe]

Training Log; March 19th - 25th

Monday

4 miles, 31:11 minutes. Outdoor run, cold and dark, another 30 degree morning. Excited to kick off a new week of training after a great weekend race. Stayed consistent on this 4 mile; 8:07, 7:42, 7:42, 7:40 min/miles. No issues, body is getting used to these morning sessions now.

Tuesday

4 miles, 30:13 minutes. Treadmill Run. Tough day at the office, carried that into my run. Started out at 7.5 MPH pace for the first 1.5 miles, did 4x60s PUs at 10.5 MPH pace with 2 min rest in between. Was working off some of the frustration from work, really wanted to push hard. Felt strong. Finished the last mile after PUs at 7.5 MPH pace.

Wednesday

6 Miles, 41:37 minutes. Treadmill run. This may have been my favorite running workout ever. Was originally kind of bummed I had to do this on a treadmill, but it made it easier to dial in the speed, and because the pace changed every mile it kept me on my toes and engaged. I stayed to the higher side of the paces for each stage; mile 1 - 8 MPH, mile 2 - 8.2 MPH, mile 3 - 8.5 MPH, mile 4 - 8.9 MPH, mile 5 - 9.2 MPH, mile 6 - 9.6 MPH. Crushed it!

Thursday

4.07 Miles, 29:22 minutes. Outdoor run. Got home late from the office, thought about skipping this workout, but as I walked home from the subway I fought that urge, got home, changed quickly and got out the door. What was suppose to be an easy pace turned into a faster workout; 7:03, 7:13, 7:23, 7:18. Proud of myself for doing this run. These are the days that will make the difference on race day.

Friday

4 miles, 30:47 minutes. Treadmill run. Another tired day, really wasn’t excited for a treadmill session, but in typical fashion once I got going it all fell into place. Warmed up for first 1.5 miles at 7.5 MPH pace. Did 4x 60s PUs at 10.5 MPH pace with 2 min rest at 7.5 MPH in between. Finished the last 1.22 miles at 7.3 MPH.

Saturday

12.06 miles, 1:23:38 minutes. Outdoor Run. Sunny cold day. Felt really strong right out of the gate. Wasn’t paying much attention to my Garmin until mile 3 when I clocked a 7:03 and was feeling completely comfortable and in control. Decided to maintain pace just to see if Garmin was out of whack. Next miles were; 7:04, 7:05, 7:08, 6:56, 6:56, 6:44, 6:38, 6:46, 6:48! Couldn’t believe that I kept hitting these splits! I had so much in the tank, legs were like machines. Felt like I could have gone out and done another 12 or more. Stretched afterwards, rested all afternoon.

Sunday

Slow Flow Vinyasa Yoga class, perfect end to the week. Got a great stretch, lot of shoulder and hip openers.

[sonofragingjoe]

Training Log, March 12th-18th

Monday

5.05 miles, 38:49 minutes. Outdoor Run. Did my route to the waterfront and back, cool weather, some wind. Did my best to maintain a controlled pace, but did get caught up in posting negative splits after my 2nd mile was slower than my first; 7:47, 7:59, 7:42, 7:37, 7:23. Felt good, some initial tightness in the left soleus area but faded as fast as it came on, also felt tight in the right plantar fascia at mile 3, but it faded as well.

Tuesday

4.0 miles, 29:43 minutes. Treadmill run. Didn’t have time to get another mile in, big trade show in town today and tomorrow. Did 5 rounds of PUs at 10.5 MPH, so 5:43 min/mile pace, the last PU I went up to 11.0 MPH or 5:27 min/mile pace. Felt good, strong, just didn’t have time for another mile, hopefully not a huge deal...

Wednesday

3.25 miles, 27:38 minutes. Treadmill run. Legs felt heavy as lead, really struggled almost immediately to get into any kind of comfortable groove. At 2.5 miles I sent a message to coach to let him know how I was feeling, he advised to just slow down and stop between 3-4 miles, stressing that these miles aren’t that important and that getting good rest would be a priority that evening.

Thursday

4.04 miles, 32:56 minutes. Outdoor run. Spent the night before in my Elevated Legs and stretching, in bed by 9PM and woke up feeling refreshed at 5AM. It was bones cold outside, 28 degrees and dark. Did my route to Lincoln Park and back. Maintained a comfortable pace; 8:32, 8:03, 8:00, & 8:09 min/miles. Didn’t try to “finish fast” just wanted to focus on staying at an easy comfortable pace. Great success. Happy to run outside, I needed a break from the treadmill. Went to a Vinyasa Flow Yoga class, high level class, lots of hip work and arm balances.

Friday

4.0 miles, 30:43 minutes. Outdoor run. Woke up feeling really loose in the hips from yoga, but legs were a bit sore from all the stretching. Cold outside, again, but happy to deal with cold over treadmill. Opening warm up of 1.2 miles at 8:14 avg pace, did 5x30s PUs with 60 second rest. Didn’t feel like I had a ton of burst, but it was also so cold the legs never really “warmed up.” Still a good result. Went to a Vinyasa Flow Yoga class in the evening, real hip opener.

Saturday

5.6 miles total; 2 miles warm up, 3.1 mile race, .5 cool down. Cold and windy but sunny. 18:23 in 5K! New PR!I didn’t have the auto lap turned on so I don’t know the splits. Lot of quick hitter hills, used them to overtake 2 runners, gave a burst and passed on the inside of turns after uphill chase down. Couldn’t catch guy in first. Gave a burst at the end. Awesome feeling, so happy with 2nd overall. Feel like my running swagger is officially back! 

Sunday

4.02 miles, 30:11 minutes. Outdoor run at 10AM, sunny and cold/windy. Felt great, legs were strong, negative splits and it felt easy; 7:39, 7:32, 7:28, 7:24.

[sonofragingjoe]

Training Log, March 5th - 11th

Monday

3.10 miles, 24:55 minutes. Treadmill run. Struggled on this one, didn’t feel my hydration was good all day, felt weak. Stopped at 2.5 and took a good 2 minute break to try and gather myself to finish off the run. Got up to 3.10 and felt completely gassed, thought it was smart to just call it a night.

Tuesday

4.04 miles, 29:43 minutes. Outdoor run, 32 degrees, cold. Wasn’t very confident as I left the house, but once feet hit pavement I felt good. Did the first 1.20 miles at 7:59 pace, stride was beautiful. PUs went extremely well, really keyed in on coach’s feedback and tried to push harder

Last 1.52 miles at 7:27 pace to finish the run. Very happy with this run, going to hydrate like a mother f’er all day so I’m ready to go tomorrow.

Wednesday

Treadmill Run, on the Woodway. Completed workout: started with 1 mile warm up at 8:28 pace. I used the track image on the Woodway display to gauge the distances, it had the ¼ mile track with lines showing each 100M section. 1K, went a little too far, clocked in at .64 miles in 3:47, target hit! 2x 800M, nailed each of these dead on; 2:53 & 2:54. 4x400M, nailed these too; 1:20, 1:20, 1:19, 1:21. 4x200M, these were tricky just because it took the treadmill a little time to get up to the speed, but I tried to wait to hit my watch lap until it was fully cranking, also running at that speed and concentration on stride made it tough to see when I’d done 200M; 0:34, 0:47, 0:40, 0:35. Finished with a half mile cool down. Assessment; When I saw this workout I thought for sure it was designed to make me fail. I had limited confidence I would be able to complete. The moment of greatest weakness was the 2x800M into the 4x400M, that’s when I thought I wouldn’t be able to keep pace, but I was able to dig deep and make it work. Really happy with my performance, wish I could have done this outside and not on a treadmill, especially for the 4x200M section, I think that needs to be real world and not treadmill. Stretched before and after, MYTRL before as well.

Thursday

4 Miles, 32:00 minutes. Treadmill Run. Set the pace at 7.5 mph, so dead on 8:00 min/mile pace. Settled in, boring run on the treadmill, struggled to stay mentally engaged in this one. Did a quick circuit lift afterwards; hammer curls, incline dumbbell press, seated shoulder press, tons of crunches.

Friday

6.65 miles, 59:16 minutes. Outdoor Run in Central Park with Rambling Runner aka Matt Chittim. Saw he was in NYC, hit him up on Instagram and we made plans to meet at his hotel around 6AM. Took a cab up to Central Park and just set out at a comfortable pace, fluctuated between 8-9 minute pace. Had a lot of fun talking and swapping stories. I never get to run with someone, so to get to a chance to run with him was awesome. Didn’t do the PUs, but I’ll make sure to finish fast tomorrow on my 11 mile run.

Saturday

11 miles, 1:22:50 minutes. Outdoor Run along the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, ran the Marathon Route. Awesome run, totally killed it, felt good the whole way. Was sticking tight to the 7:30-8:00 min/mile pace. It was windy and cold along the river, but it was great to enjoy the route, I felt like during the Marathon in 2016 I had blacked out the last 8 miles so none of it looked familiar. In the final 4 miles I picked it up, got passed by a guy and felt like he’d be good to pace myself against, stayed tight to him for 2 miles, and then pulled ahead and pushed a little harder to widen the gap and prevent him from surging ahead. Love getting into those kind of “unspoken” races, helps you push harder.

Sunday

REST

[sonofragingjoe]

Training Log, February 26th - March 4th

Monday

REST, stretched and foam rolled

Tuesday

5.13 miles, 37:37 minutes. Outdoor Run. Up early for this one, out the door at 5:45, it was cold, 32 degrees. First mile was just about warming up, stride and cadence were on point. Started the 1st PU after mile 1, ended up doing 5 rounds of 30-40 second PUs with 2 minutes rest between. Finished last 2.28 miles strong. Quick stretch afterwards. (*hit” lap” instead of “end” at the end of my run by accident, so it shows an extra 9.8 seconds)

Wednesday

6 miles, 40:45 minutes. Outdoor Run, sunny but cool outside. Ran 1.53 to Lincoln Park at avg pace of 7:42 min/mile and started my tempo session. It’s about another .5 through the park to the track, which is where I did the remainder of the run. Felt strong, pace felt comfortable, didn’t feel “winded.” Every time I looked at my watch I was well under goal pace. Finished off the 20 minutes, covered 3.30 miles, avg. pace was 6:05 min/miles! Finished last 1.18 on the track at avg pace of 7:35 min/mile. Really happy with this workout, ran faster than I ran my 5K a month ago! Had extra energy so I went to the gym and did a quick circuit lift and an workout.

Thursday

Was violently ill early Thursday morning, praying at the porcelain alter for a good 5 hours. Had a fever of 101 all day. On the shelf for a few days.

Friday

Still recovering, lost almost 6 pounds in 24 hours.

Saturday

Walked around today, feeling better, trying to re-hydrate.

Sunday

5 miles, 40:03 minutes. Treadmill run.

[sonofragingjoe]

Training Log, February 19th-25th

Monday

5.10 miles, 41:22 minutes, 8:06 min/ mile avg. pace. Outdoor run, weather in 40s but misty rain and overcast. Really tried to take it easy, was feeling tired. Settled into comfortable pace, finished strong.

Tuesday

Rest

Wednesday

6 miles, 40:17 minute. Outdoor run on the track, it was HOT outside, Garmin had the weather listed at 79 degrees! There were a ton of high school teams on the track, which always kicks my competitive fire into gear. Did a 2 mile “warm up” and was moving fast at the start, avg. pace 6:53 min/mile. Then the speed work kicked in as prescribed. Realized I didn’t have my Garmin display set to view current lap time, so I just figured I could do 2 to 2 ¼  loops around the track in 3 minutes. See below stats. Heat did start to get to me, had a few “maybe I should chill out” moments, but having all these 16 year kids sprinting around the track gave me extra motivation to keep pushing hard. Finished with a .87 mile cool down jog at 7:57 min.mile pace. Looking at the stats I’m really proud of myself, can’t believe how far I’ve come in only a few months. Hard to believe back in December I was only doing 5 minutes on a treadmill at 10 min/mile pace, and now I’m crushing a track day! Tons of stretching at night. Click here for link to data

Thursday

4.08 miles, 32:56 minutes, 8:04 avg. min/mile pace. Outdoor run, back to being 46 degrees outside, how is that possible!? Needed to get this run in early today bc I’ve got a work dinner tonight. I’ve never been a morning runner. Got up at 5:45 and was outside running at 6:10. Did my standard 4 mile route to the park and back. Hit the lap marker at the halfway point to see if I could run the 2nd half slightly faster than the first half, added challenge being it’s all downhill the 1st half and then obviously all uphill the 2nd. 16:51 for 1st half and 16:05 for the 2nd half, mission accomplished. Felt good, loose, some soreness in the ankle/soleus area but nothing like pain. Might try to do more morning runs for the “easy runs” on the schedule.

Friday

4.07 miles, 29:32 minutes. Outdoor Run. Did another morning run, think I could get used to this. Cold and rainy morning. Forgot if I was suppose to do 4x or 6x on PUs, did 6 just in case. Felt good out there running, was surprised at the pace I ran in my PUs. Kind of blows me away to see the paces I run at in these bursts and then drop right back into a comfortable low to mid 7 min/mile pace. Quick stretch when I got home and off to work. Was tired the first few hours at the office admittedly.  Click here for link to data

Saturday

Rest

Sunday

10.01 miles, 1:16:08 minutes, 7:37 avg. min/mile pace. Outdoor run, cold, wet drizzle. Dreaded running in this weather today. Once I got outside and warmed up over the first mile I was feeling comfortable in the elements. Took a route into Liberty State Park. Really wanted to focus on being consistent on pace. It was 2.5 miles to the park, through the first 7 miles I was running between 7:42-7:48 min miles. The last 3 miles I wanted to run negative splits and try to build speed at the close, last mile was 7:09! Felt really strong at the end, feel like I could have run much longer. Body was cold when I came in, foam rolled and kept stretching and moving around the house, took a hot shower and stretched some more. Great day out there, can’t believe how strong I’ve gotten since we started. Need to put the injury behind me and relish in what I’m doing now and what lays ahead.

[sonofragingjoe]

Training Log, February 12th-18th

Monday

4 miles, 32:45 minutes, treadmill run. 7.3 MPH pace for 2.75 miles, increased to 7.4 MPH for last 1.25 miles. Quick stretch before run, felt comfortable pace wise, some tightness in that lower calf/soleus area, but felt like normal soreness after all the running and walking over the weekend.

Tuesday

REST, did stretch and do some push ups

Wednesday

Crushed it! No discomfort in the calves or hamstrings. Felt great on the track, first 1K interval was blazing fast, tried to pull back on each subsequent 1K interval to get closer to the 5:50-6:05 pace. Did a 2 lap warm up and then ran a few extra laps to cool down after last interval. A few buddies were on the track doing the same so we talked during the cool down. Click for link to data

Thursday

4.08 miles, 32:46 minutes, outdoor run. It was cold! Kept fairly consistent pace, no issues with anything. Stretched before and after.

Friday

4 miles, 27:34 minutes, outdoor run on the track. Another cold day! Warmed up with a brisk 6 laps on the track at 6:50 avg. pace. Didn’t mean to go that fast, but it was cold and I needed to warm up. Tried to go as hard as I could for each pick up, and would hold on beyond 30 seconds until I couldn’t maintain the speed: PU1 - 0:50 seconds @ 4:29 avg. pace, PU2 - 0:43 seconds @ 4:26 avg. pace, PU3 - 0:35 seconds @ 4:33 avg. pace, PU4 - 0:41 seconds @ 5:13 avg. pace. Last PU felt like it took a ton of effort to get up to speed. Finished with 4 laps at 7:51 pace. Stretched before and after.

Saturday

8 miles, 1:01:50 minutes, 7:44 min/mile avg. pace. Outdoor run from home down to the waterfront and back. Easy pace, felt comfortable the entire way, really working on maintaining form and not getting sloppy. Felt like I could have kept running, but I was happy to stop at 8. Stretched before and after.

Sunday

REST!

[sonofragingjoe]

Training Log, February 5th-11th

Fully log was lost on Google Docs... but I do have the mileage log to share:

2/5 - 3.37 miles 2/8 - 4 miles 2/9 - 4 miles  2/10 - 8.64 miles

Week total - 20.01 miles This was a weird week because on that first run on 2/5 my left lower calf/soleus muscle area cramped up on me and I couldn’t push off. Coach adjusted the schedule and I rested a few days, made sure to stretch and foam roll the area. For the 3 other runs that week we worked off a conservative game plan, and all other runs were at an easy pace.

[sonofragingjoe]

Training Log, January 29th-February 4th

Monday

Rest, quads sore from trails over the weekend.

Tuesday

Treadmill Run, 32:07 minutes, 4 miles. Started at 10:00 minute pace, increased by .2 MPH every 10 seconds so I got get to 7.0 MPH quickly. Increased to 7.4 MPH for mile 3 and and then up to 7.6 for the 4th mile, ended the last few minutes at 8.0 MPH. Legs felt heavy, quads were sore, didn’t really feel like running, at mile 3 I snapped out of it and got dialed in, mile 3 and 4 I just built off that energy, finished strong and fast. As always, continued work on foot strike, stride, and then turnover rate as the speed got faster. Foam rolled, stretched, and warm up/cool down before and after. Did a MYRTL before as well.

Wednesday

Treadmill Run, 40:13 minutes, 5 miles. Set treadmill to 7.0 MPH for the easy running segments. Mixed in the pickups after mile 2.5, for round 1 I went for 30 seconds at 10.0 MPH pace, after 2 minute easy run break for round 2 I went for 40 seconds at 10 MPH, round 3 for 50 seconds, and the final round was 60 seconds. Felt great to run that fast, no issues with hamstring. Foam rolled, stretched, and warm up/cool down before and after. Did a MYRTL before as well.

Thursday

Outdoor Run, 24:50 minutes, 3.16 miles. It was nice enough outside, went for my standard 5K route to Lincoln Park and back. Mile 1 - 8:21 pace, Mile 2 - 7:41 pace, Mile 3 - 7:50 pace, final .16 mile - 6:18 pace. Felt good to be outside, it was brisk to say the least. Went out in shorts and a long sleeve top. No issues. Foam rolled, stretched, and warm up/cool down before and after. Did a MYRTL before as well.

Friday

Treadmill Run, 24:38 minutes, 3 miles. Set the treadmill to 7.0 MPH at the start, worked up to 7.5 by the end of the 3 miles. Foam rolled, stretched, and warm up/cool down before and after. Did a MYRTL before as well.

Saturday

Race Day, Outdoors, Penguin Pace 5K in Wayne, NJ. 19:19:32 minutes, 3.2 miles. Did some stretching when I woke up, went through my normal routine. Arrived at the race and continued to stretch in my truck with the heat blasting until I heard to call of runners to the start. At was approx. 17 degrees on the lake at the start, slight breeze and the water made it feel colder. Got out in front with another runner at the start. It immediately climbed 80 feet in the first 3 minutes. Really tried to stick with the other guy, but he pulled ahead on the climb. Mile 1 was prob too fast, 6:04, so I pulled back a bit on mile 2 at 6:30. 3 guys got in front of my during mile 2, we were a tight grouping, but I didn’t want to get caught up in racing them, this wasn’t the day to do that. Mile 3 I made a move to jump into 4th place, just by racing smart and making straight lines out of what was a very curvy course, 6:12. Finished strong the last .1, 0:33 seconds. No pain in my legs, my hands and feet were pretty frozen, didn’t have much feeling in them, and my throat and lungs were hurting from breathing all that cold air. 4th Overall, 1st in my age group.

Sunday

Treadmill Run, 51:04 minutes, 6 miles. Very simple run, put the treadmill on 7.0 MPH and didn’t touch it until the last half mile, pushed it up to 7.4 to finish strong. No pain. Foam rolled, stretched, and warm up/cool down before and after. Did a MYRTL before as well.

[sonofragingjoe]

Training Log; January 22nd-28th

Monday

Lifted at the gym; seated hammer curls, incline dumbbell press, shoulder raises, tricep dips, pull ups, crunches & situps

Tuesday

Treadmill Run, 34:04 minutes, 4 miles. Started at 10:00 minute pace, increased by .2 MPH every 20-30 seconds so I got get to 7.0 MPH quickly. Increased to 7.2 MPH for mile 3 and 4. Legs felt good, no real nagging tightness anywhere. Continued work on foot strike, stride, and then turnover rate as the speed got faster. Foam rolled, stretched, and warm up/cool down before and after. Did a MYRTL before as well

Wednesday

Treadmill Run, 39:48 minutes, 5 miles. Started at 10:00 minute pace, increased by .2 MPH every 20-30 seconds so I got get to 7.0 MPH quickly. Increased to 7.2 MPH for mile 3, then jumped to 7.4 for the last mile, gave it a few notches up to 7.5 for the last half miles Legs felt fucking great, got into a great groove, no real nagging tightness anywhere. Continued work on foot strike, stride, and then turnover rate as the speed got faster, really feeling my foot flex and open up, getting some banging on my hammer toe, but I think my shoe was just loose, wearing my Correct Toes all day today to get feet back in line. Did a quick stretch before but I was pressed for time, for this run in between meetings.

Thursday

Treadmill Run, 24:34 minutes, 3 miles. Went right to 7.0 pace for this session, had to make it quick. Quickly went up to 7.4 and ran comfortably. Gave it another kick up to 7.6 for the last mile. Legs felt good, hammy and glutes were tight from sitting in meetings all day, but was able to shake that off. Toes felt better having been in the Correct Toes all day. Did a little stretch and a quick foam roll post run.

Friday

Rest

Saturday

Woke up in Joshua Tree at Indian Cove, went for a run to warm up the body and check in at the Ranger Station - 29:40 minutes, 3.0 miles at an easy pace. 2nd run of the day was on the Jumbo Rock, Skull Rock, Face Rock, & Split rock trails - 56:48 minutes, 5.22 miles. Was running at a good clip, ranging from 8-10 minute pace, stopping to take photos and soak up the terrain. 3rd run of the day was up Ryan Mt., which was 1,050 ft of elevation gain - 24:36 minutes, 1.5 miles. After a well deserved break on top I bombed the descent - 19:22 minutes, 1.5 miles. Final run of the day was around Carter Damn, nice easy pace - 13:41 minutes, 1.32 miles. Legs felt great. Had so much fun running trails, need to do this more!

Sunday

Woke up and did a “warm up the body” jog around Jumbo Rocks; 10:39 minutes, 1.06 miles. I was tired, but had to get the body moving. The 3 hour drive back to LAX didn’t help the legs, got out of the car and almost fell over, not to mention the 5 hour flight.. Some well needed rest on tap for tomorrow.