Easy Sunday

No fast tempo for me today. Legs feel tired, and so do I. Instead of even trying to run fast I spent 47 minutes in foggy and rainy weather, and ran that 6 miler. Week was ~70 miles.

Bagel run

Weather was a joy, and was the run. I did easy 12.5 miler (~7.00/mile) with Tom, Matt and the Beast. Lower abs are really bad now.

Rolling hills, no thunder

Easy morning run. I was pacing S on her 5M tempo. In all 8 miles, and it felt fine.

2*Morning Run and then some Thanksgiving

Today I had a double morning. First, I did an easy tempo (3M 18.01) and some hills (5*80sec'350m) around 7.00 AM. Then had some breakfast, and started to gear up for Turkey Trott Prediction run. That's a 10k without a watch, only with a sense of time. The one who finishes closest to 11.00 AM wins that race. And the one ain't gonna be me...

Turkey Trott 10k 39.48. Again, I was late which has been the case in all runs during this week. Luckily, I saw Jason coming for his warm up (a 15k run...) and so we started together. I was originally hoping for a really easy run, but we had to start a bit faster in order to catch Mark and Joe, and to take care of finishing enough close to 11. After catching and running a couple of k's with M&J I think that we lost our gut feeling and increased the pace again. It was also partly due to listening to Phil. Hah. So we finished at 10.58,57, wayyy of the goal. But Mark was "4th" by missing the 11.00 by only less than 1.5 seconds... In all that was a fun race. Today with nice distance running was all together ~15 miles.

And happy thanksgiving!

Ez Wednesday

If Flotrack.org offers for us Wednesday workout every single Wednesday, my Wednesday seems to follow a pattern as well: Easy morning and easy/moderate afternoon. Afternoon is especially nice since it usually means a run together with a larger group of runners (HCSs). In the morning I ran with S an easy 7 miler and did some strides. Sun was shining...

Damn! My meeting with Forest Administration took longer than expected. Hence, I missed our group run by 2-3 minutes. No worries. Smart as I am, I tried to compensate this by running - of course - to wrong direction which hampered the chances to catch the others. But today was in total 15+ miles. Tomorrow is time to predict.

Fartlek day

Morning: Fartlek 8*2/2min. (on: 5.42-5.18/mile / off: 7.30-7.00/mile) + warm up and cool down = 8+ miles (7.22/mile).

Couple of faster (on-)runs felt really great, but on the contrary two of them felt quite heavy even if I was running them on a moderately flat course. Still farting during & leking made me happy.

Before the Sunrise

Another morning run at 5.00 AM. Fortunately, it was an easy 4 miler. I'll have to pay a visit at the campus, but I'm sure that there is enough time to run in the evening as well in addition to some core/circuit training. All in all, today will be easy in order to able to hit "the limits" on tomorrows fartlek.

Weekly race

This morning I was thinking about doing some faster run, but I wasn't able to make any decisions. Fortunately, there was a 5k at the Striders weekly race which was just suitable for todays goal. I ran that and some extra seconds as well due to not knowing the exact turning point. Hence, I'll take 12-15 seconds off the official time, 16.5x. That equals close to 16.40s in a grinding and hilly course. Faster would of course be much nicer but...

Week 76 miles.

Bagel run

What a nice, crispy morning, and accordingly, what a feeling. Bagel run felt also really nice, which it's partly because we just enjoyed the priviledges of easy pace with Matt. In all, I ran (only) 11.5 miles (7.13/mile). Based on the feeling on yesterday afternoon I expected a slightly different type of Bagel run. Fortunately, I was able to deceive that feeling. That's evil.

It's snowing

Easy 6 miler starting at 5 AM. Hence, I was able to avoid snow, but at the same time I kinda forgot to run some strides after the easy run. Well, there is a plenty of time for them later...

Oh, sweetie came home earlier and we went for a way-too-tired run. 7+ miles. But again I forgot to run those strides...

Ez Tempo + Hills

I gotta try some "new" tricks. This morning I did a new combination (for me that is). Easy tempo, 5k (~6.00/miles) and then some hills (75-80 sec). In all this workout was 9+ miles, which makes it a satisfying morning workout. At least for this time of year with brakes on. I just heard that they got 4 inches of snow in Finland.

Feels like home

It's freezing. Nice! It's like back in home but without snow and icy roads. We enjoyed this morning weather by running ez 6 miler. In the evening we'll have a group run. All in all this day is easy before tomorrows efforts. That's the usual role for Wednesday. [edit:] Evening was 8.7 miles (14km) rather easy, but at this time of year that's okay. Day in total ~15 miles.

Fartleking

On the Finnish (or European) scale it was below zero this morning. Freezing that is. I did a fartlek (2min. on/ 2min. off * 8) and honestly enjoyed this workout a lot. Hamstrings did not bother me almost at all. However, it still takes a while before the pace is something that it should be. This morning the "on"-pace was only around 5.20s. But I have no reason to complain - step by step. In all 8 miles (6.54/mile).

What a feeling

Sunny morning run, easy 6 miler (7.10/mile). Felt great to be honest. In the evening it's time for some core/circuit training instead of running. Or maybe if I just slip out for couple of miles...

Easy in the Sunday Morning

In the morning sweetie and I ran easy 11+ miles and then headed to Harpers Ferry for a short hike. A fun day.




Here is some videos from yesterdays XC race provided by Georgetown Running Company. Week 45 miles.

AC/DC!

When you sit yourself in the backseat, have your spikes in your bag, race singlet ready, and then driver (in this case Tom) switch on AC/DC, that's it. Just like in the old days. I'm not sure what's my relationship with AC/DC today (I will miss their show this evening in DC!!!), but I tell you that on almost every race trip in 90s we had that same thing going on. Some Whole Lotta Rosie and Let There Be Rock spiced up with TNT, Sin City, Highway to Hell, and of course finalizing the spirit with that "newer" piece Thunderstruck. Damn I sometimes miss those days... so big thanks to you Tom!

And then race. I did not have any specific goal for today, since I'm still coming back from that marathon disaster. But XC is anyway different thing compared to road race. My only option was to start easy with 5.30s, and that's what I did. Yet that pace was still a bit too rough for me, and that story has only one ending. But I was able to keep myself in a reasonable range to Tom, Carlos, and Izzy. I catched Izzy and Carlos, but Izzy taught me at the finishing straight. In all the race was the most fun. The course included rolling hills, grass, mud and windy back straight. Today was 8 miles (oh and that 8k took 29.34... while the winner timed 26.03).

XC

We did this morning only some easy shake-off. Maybe only 3 miles, but easier start won't hurt too much. Tomorrow is time for some XC. My last serious XC race is from 2001 or 2003...

After seeing and realizing the strong role of XC running here in the US, it's a real pity that in Finland XC is not a big thing. Even if we have had two XC World Champs, our XC season lasts nowadays for 1-1,5 weeks in the mid-May. For some it starts and ends on that one day in the Nationals. One would think "living close to the woods" would increase the populatiry of XC running but what do you know. Luckily we have been participating in the Nordic and European XC champs now and then. Hence, I hope that tomorrow Finnish team will kick some serious butt in the Nordic XC champs in Denmark.

Slow morning

Oh man I enjoyed running yesterday. No pain in sight. Only both ACs were hurting badly but I've been here before many times... Pace felt a bit ruff after five days of easy jogging in Florida, but it was not that bad.

This morning I ran 4*3 min. w/ 2 min. ez jog. On-pace was 5.35-5.28 while the off-pace was crawling at 7.45s. Hamstring were a bit tight. On Saturday I'm racing at the "XC Pre-Nationals" in Derwood. Dunno about the pace yet, but I'm just glad to be around.

Home sweet home

Okay. I'm back home. Our vacation in Florida was a busy time. And exhausting. We did only some easy runs here and there. The weather was amazingly warm, sometimes even hot, but not humid. You do the math. Last week was 56 miles and most of it was easy. Tuesdays' workout was a mistake after Grapevine, but I tried to compensate that with an easy weekend. And what do you know... a long run on a beach in almost 85 degrees does not feel easy. Not at all. So I seem to leap from one mistake to another... But in reality it was really neat to run with Finnish and Finnish/German buddies. Would not change that no matter what!

Now it's time to start the training again with a schedule. Even if hamstrings still require some serious strengthening, I feel confident. I'll just have to... My pace is yet not so fast, but I'm sure that it will improve in time. Maybe then my ranking (35-39) improves as well.

This is it

I haven't been hurting this much for a long time. Nice.

The Unknown

I don't know what today will be running-wise, but this far it has been full of emotions. First, we were watching Darby's fight in warm hell hole called Clearwater. Okay, the conditions were the same for everybody, but...

And we just heard that Anssi "the Man" Raittila was fourth in the 100k World Champs held today in Italy. And with a new Finnish record 6.56. Great job, dude!

And own dudies are completed as well. 7 something miles (8.05/mile, incl. 1 mile sub 6.00).

Time to cheer!

This morning we (Juki, Andila, Em, S and I) enjoyed the cosy morning in Clearwater, FL. We ran a really easy 6 miler. Tomorrow our triathlon hero, Darby, will be O FIRE, and our morning will be of course spend along the race course. Go, Darby, Go!!!

Morning tempo

Steady easy tempo 10km (38.50; 19.40/19.10), last two k's were a bit faster (sub 6.00/mile) in relation to my present form. Morning total 10.5 miles (7.02/mile).

This was supposed to be an easy tempo, but... I was paced by my heart. Morning proved to me that it will a surprisingly long way back. To where? Let's see that later. Now the next stop is Florida.

Two heavy ones

Easy 7 miles (7.42/mile). Legs were pretty heavy after yesterday. Or maybe it is because of the historic moments witnessed...?

Vote!

Fartlek (2/2) 6 miles (38.20). Only the last three "ons" were faster. In all 9 miles (6.58/mile). I liked that. Afternoon is dedicated for massage! On weekend we are heading to Florida. Great!

From an outsiders perspective it's a bit amazing that the voting lines were that long already 6.30 AM.

And it's on

Easy and loose 4 miles (7.29/mile). And then I added some core training without jumps. To be honest yesterday was not easy even if I was comfortably slow, and thus, this day was easy. And full of joy.

Run Through the Grapevine

The buzz around this race is enormous. Words like brutal, fun, different, extreme and just tough have come up in the related discussions. And man, they were not wrong. I have had some tough races, but this one is really something. As an excuse I was carrying "oh well, it's only three weeks after 26.2" -badge on me, and so I did not expect any wonders to happen. But one did. I was almost getting beaten by Mr. Lang, but I was somehow able to gain same speed during the last 1/2 mile. Otherwise the race was all of those adjectives describing it, and it was after all really fun. I was silently hoping for 6.00 pace but I ended up with 30.35 (6.07/mile). Oh, and there was also one big, special moment to be witnessed during the awards ceremony...

Warming up

Easy 6 miles (7.30/mile) in a surprisingly warm weather. After that we spend some moments distributing race packets for tomorrows Grapevine race. So that means a race for us tomorrow, as well. I wonder how does it feel only three weeks after marathon. I think that once I had a test run of my life (sub 32.00 10k) after three after marathon, but that's waaaaay back then...