Wednesday, Aug. 31st . . . hard workout with barefoot warm-up

6 min. barefoot warm-up, then laced up the shoes and alternated between 5k and 10k pace running for 1 hr., finishing the last mile in 5:41 (also threw in 6x300 meter surges). I've significantly cut back on the amount of pace work I do and I've maintained my speed. Goes to show you don't need that much pace work as high level aerobic running is the most valuable (95% of my running). I use to do 3 race pace workouts per week but now I only do 1 race pace workout every 6-8 days.

Harry

Tuesday, Aug. 30th . . . put the shoes down

After 11 straight days of running my body called a meeting this morning, told me to not even think about putting on running shoes, and take the day off and of course I listened. It's the main reason I'm going on 3 yrs. of injury free running. I'm trending at about 10-14 days of consecutive running then a rest day.

Harry

Monday, Aug. 29th . . . pure recovery

Pure 30 min. recovery run. I call it the "blood flow" run to repair torn muscles. Only purpose is to focus on form with short crisp strides and to get the blood flowing after hard running with race pace intervals the past few days. My goal is to never run faster than a 9:00 pace on a pure recovery day . . . it's essentially a rest day.

Harry

Sunday, Aug. 28th . . . on tired legs . . .

1 hr. run. Not much left in my legs after yesterday's run but I pleased that I could keep good form and everything felt good. Picked it up the last 2 miles increasing pace every 800 meters down to a 5:30 pace. A bit faster pace than I would like on tired legs but I "run by feel" so my body must have been fine with it.

Harry

Saturday, Aug. 27th . . . blow off steam run . . .

I so needed this 85 min. run (a bit over 10 miles) to blow off steam after dealing with obnoxious tennis parents yesterday. It took all I had to hold back from letting one of them have it. Kids are wonderful but parents are a problem.

Harry

Friday, Aug. 26th . . . crusin' mach 13 style

I tried the new Brooks Mach 13 XC's this morning for the first time and did a nice 50 min. trail run and they felt great. I did acquire a few blisters which I generally expect in new shoes since I run sock-less. The Mach 13's feel really good and lock in the foot. I ordered a half size larger (11.5) than my true size and I thought they might still be too tight but not after running in them as they are designed to lock the foot for cross country running and they do just that.

It's early so we'll see how I feel about them after putting some real mileage on them.

Harry

Thursday, Aug. 25th . . . and yesterday . . .

45 min. run yesterday; 35 min. short run today as I had some muscle soreness so I took it nice and easy.

Harry

Tuesday, Aug. 23rd . . . fartlek with does of pace . . .

I felt like a good run to get the legs turning. Varied the paces from 5k to half marathon pace during this 45 min. run. Hit the hills hard and relaxed downhill.

Harry

Monday, Aug. 22nd . . . getting back into it . . .

My daughter's tennis dominated the weekend so my running schedule was off a bit and I had to take yesterday off so I decided to be very conservative 45 min. short easy run today, a bit longer tomorrow, then resume my normal stuff . . .

Harry

Daughter and Tennis trumps running :)

Had to take the day off as my daughter's tennis schedule is crazy today with her playing singles in multiple divisions resulting in 3-4 matches today. No running for me today but I get to do something even better which is be a supportive dad :)

Harry

Saturday, August 20th . . .long XC run

85 min . fun run on grass, dirt fields and trails. Finished the final 1 mile at 6:00 pace.

Harry

Why I don't run with a watch (garmin) or any technology

http://mzungofire.blogspot.com/2010/01/are-kenyans-wearing-heart-rate-monitors.html

Friday, Aug. 19th . . . trail tempo run . . . but it wasn't planned . . .

Headed out for a very easy run but after the first 600 meters my body said "go," and since I "run by feel," I listened to my body and it turned into a controlled 10k tempo type run (6:30 pace). I made sure to stay in my aerobic zone.

I ended with a good 15 minute warm down and some stretching. I never know what the day holds for me since I never predetermine my run . . . I just do what my body wants to do.

Harry

Thursday, Aug. 18th . . . nice easy run . . .

55 min. easy run and what I thought about while running . . .

I know I'm likely stating the obvious but I've been thinking a lot while running (nothing new there) about injuries and what causes it and specifically as it relates to speed and fast running and I think one of the major reasons speed increases the changes of injury is due to an insufficient warm-up and I mean a complete warm-up.

I've been taking note of myself and it can take me 40-60 minutes to warm-up before I can move into 10k or 5k paces. That's a long time which is why I only run race pace about 10% of the time because like many, I don't have enough time each day to properly warm-up then start a race pace workout. However, this is exactly what elite and professional runners get to do and we often overlook it, or a minimum we underscore it. I mean, you read that a 1-2 mile or 10-15 minute warm-up is sufficient and I call bull on that . . . it's crap. That's not enough time in my opinion especially for master's running like many of us.

This is one reason I often tack on race pace running at the end of my long run because I've spent up to 1 hr. of running nice and easy and my body is fully warmed-up and I often even stop and do 5 minutes of dynamic stretching then start to increase my pace.

This is one major reason I'm running so effortlessly because I'm completely given in to my body and I let my body dictate everything. I have no idea what type of run, how far or how fast I will run on a given day. I just head out and start running slowly and let my body decide the rest. At this point, all I know is easy, medium and hard running and that's all I need to know. Easy is obviously, medium is tempo; hard is race pace . . . I love the simplicity I've found.

I just thought I'd share it with others. I hear about the challenges many of you are going through and it's many of the same issues and challenges I faced for years and I really want to share all I can so that others can reach the point I'm at because it's heavenly. Running unconsciously, without serious pain or injury, then moving throughout the day without any issues. Honestly, I feel guilty because I want everyone to experience this . . . but the point is anyone can reach this point and each person's journey will be different but perhaps little tid bits from others that have gone through it will help along the way.

Harry

Day off and a quote

When my children were young, I ran for my sanity, I ran for myself, I ran to set a good example because they watched me move. Today they move alongside me. We run because we can.

Kristin Armstrong, Author and runner