Fifteen Miles Yesterday!

Well, we hit another milestone yesterday.  Amanda and I started at Lamar and North Loop, ran down to the lake, across to IH35, back to the Pfluger Pedestrian bridge, then up Guadalupe and back to our starting point.  Total distance was right at 15 miles.  Last week I struggled to do 10, but I felt great after the run yesterday.  Still today I feel good, a little stiff, but good.

The goal at this time is not speed, but total workout time.  We will do 5 tomorrow morning, ten Friday and repeat the 15, 5, 10 next week.  Then we will move to a 17 mile run for 2 weeks, and hopefully hit 20 miles by mid-November.  That is when the serious training will begin.  Once we hit 20, our goal is to spend less time walking and to increase the speed of our runs.  My goal is to get to 9 minute miles, which I can do now, but cannot sustain, and to sustain that time throughout the race.

With this new milestone, I am feeling more and more ready for the race.  Unfortunately, the time running takes away from blogging time, which means that my writings seem to be fewer and farther between.  However, I will try to make the time to keep posting where I am, as I really appreciate all your support in my training.

Take time to check out my other blog, http://revmjq.blogspot.com/2010/10/musings-of-methodist-minister-luke-189.html, as well as the blogs of my running partner, http://amandastovall.blogspot.com/ and http://www.dishevelledstars.com/.

It's Been a While

It's been about 3 weeks since my last long run.  Two weeks ago today I did 8, and it was a struggle.  I've run with my running team a few times since then, including one timed mile run.  I have been pleased that my timed runs are getting faster.  In about 3 weeks I've gone from a 12:26 mile to right under a nine minute mile!  I ran with my daughter last week in Lubbock.  She warned me about a hill we would be running up in Lubbock.  Really, Danielle?  Over the course of a half mile we climbed maybe 10 feet!  It was fun to run with her, though, and we did a decent 3 mile run.

This morning I decided it was time to get back out and do the long run.  I would have done this Saturday, but we were pushed for time with a big work event, so Saturday's run was only 3 miles, but at a fairly quick pace.  Today I met Amanda under the MoPac bridge and we took off.  Her goal was 7, so she went with me to IH-35.  We stopped briefly at South First for a water break, then went on our way.  We walked a short piece across IH-35 and said our good byes, then I took off for Longhorn Dam.

Up to this point I have been doing about 13:30 minute miles on my long run, but we were averaging 12.25 on our first 4 miles.  Unfortunately, I had to stop for about 6 minutes to wait to be able to cross IH-35, so I had significant time added to my run.  Despite that, however, I still averaged 12:57 miles, taking about 5 miles off my run time!

I have to say the cool weather helped quite a bit with this.  It was 54 when I left this morning, chilly with a lite breeze.  Having people to run with helps, as well.  I will be doing a timed mile Wednesday, and my goal is 8:15.  Saturday when we do our group run, I will be doing ten again, and I believe Amanda will be doing it with me.

As for the rest of you, stay active!  I hope to see you at the finish line February 20, 2011.