Day # 34: 2.5 Mile Warmup + 5 Mile Road Race + 2.5 Mile Cooldown = 10 Miles

I accomplished the goal today of running 10 miles. I showed up at Fresh Pond in Cambridge, MA. to run the 2.5/5 Mile weekly 10am Road Race. The race happens rain or shine every Saturday morning, and is free. 1 loop around the pond is exactly 2.5 miles...if you raise your hand at the finish, they give you your time and popsicle stick with the place you finished. If you want to run 5 miles, you keep running through the finish line. That was me today. I arrived at 9:25 with 76 degre temps and started with running the 2.5 mile loop once for a warmup in 19:50.

I then stretched, and got ready to compete in the race. I completed the first 2.5 mile split in 17:21, and during the second lap started to fade a bit. My second 2.5 mile lap was 17:41, giving me an overall time of 35:02 for 5 miles. Thus making my per minute pace 7:00. Awesome pace for 5 consecutive miles. Finally, I finished with another lap for my cooldown in 21:07. Adding it all up, I ran a total of 10 miles in 75 minutes and 59 seconds.

Day # 32: Hardest Track Workout in Over 2.5 Years

I arrived at the Bentley track tonight anxious to test myself against the clock in a true 3 mile run. I certainly was a bit excited as I ran the first mile in 6:29. Realizing the split, I backed off on the second mile and ran through 8 laps in 13:43 (7:14 split). Stepping up the tempo on the third mile, I crossed the finish line in 20:34 (6:51 split). Although I went out too quick, I was extremely satisfied having averaged a per mile pace under under 7 minutes for 3 miles, without anyone pushing me.

As I was cooling down, 2 old Bentley track teammates (Spinney and Johnny Cal) showed up and asked if I wanted to do some speed work. Reluctantly I agreed, and we started by running an 800 in 2:34 (74 & 80 splits). I then paced the back-2-back 400 splits for Spinney's 800's in 74 & 72 respectively. A great evening of running.

I must say that I have surpassed all of my expectations of my training program thus far, and I'm only 4 weeks into training! However, I am far from becoming complacent. I will continue to push myself with the end goal of reaching the finish line of the Philadelphia Marathon with my brother Scott.

Day # 31: 4.8 Miles in 40:38

I worked on setting a slow tempo this morning, knowing that I ran 2 hard 10K runs over the past 4 days. The slow pace worked as I felt comfortable for the duration of the run and finished without forcing myself to push the pace.

Day # 30: Cross Training Day

I hit up Gold's Gym this morning for 20 minutes on the bike (6.8 miles), 200 situps and 100 pushups. Was nice to have a day off from running today, especially considering that my left hamstring is pretty sore. In the coming weeks, I really need to concentrate and pre and post run stretching to keep from getting injured.

Weight = 170

Day # 29: What Recovery? 6.2 Mile Run in 45:59!

So much for a recovery run! After temps in the 80's combined with humidity levels in the 60% range over the weekend, today the temps were in the low 70's with no humidity, perfect summer weather running conditions. So, I went for what I hoped would be a 6.2 mile recovery and relaxation run. Well, it didn't go as planned. 1 mile into the run, my muscles felt surprisingly great, and my spirits running high, so I decided to slowly push the tempo and look to continue the pace for the duration of the run. I ran a solid pace of the various hills on the run, and did not even push hard at the end. I finished in 45:59, easily my best 6.2 loop run ever! Calculating it out, the pace turns out to be around 7:25 per mile! That just goes to show what the combination of the humidity and course difficultly did to my 10K time this past weekend. I am extremely satisfied with my run today. 4 Weeks ago, that time would not have been possible even pushing it hard.