Author: Mark Allman

A misty, damp morning for an early run. Temperature around 43 degrees. Whatever.

The goal for today was to get out and put in some distance without pushing too much. Imagine that it’s the first part of the upcoming race on Sunday. Manage the pace and the energy level.

Today’s run was an 11 mile rolling hills route. Pace was 10:04. Weight was 146.0.

A rather cool morning, especially for May. Temperature around 40 degrees. Nice clear skies though. Perfect for a relaxed run.

The knee is “sore.” Odd. I suspect that I hyper-extended it slightly. One of those things you notice when it happens but doesn’t seem to be an issue at the time, so you forget about it. Annoying. Something to keep an eye on but not something that changes any plans.

Today’s run was a 5.12 mile hills route. Pace was 10:06. Weight was 146.2.

Cool morning for a run. Temperature around 42 degrees. Lucked out and managed to get out and back before more rain rolled in.

Things aren’t feeling too bad. The right knee is getting better. I’ve “rested” about as much as I can spare.

Today’s run was a 12.5 mile rolling hills route. Pace was 9:48. Weight was 147.2.

Nice, mild morning run. Not too crazy. The right knee is a bit sore. Fortunately, I don’t notice anything while running.

Today’s run was an 8.05 mile rolling hills route. Pace was 9:39. Weight was 144.8.

Decided to take a day of rest for the knee yesterday. The route I’ve been running around the house has a 10+% grade hill, and it’s a real beating on the joints going down. Monday I ran up four times and down four times. I think I’ll tweak the route to run each 3.1 mile loop, which includes one run up and one down, to two up and none down. Save the beating for races.

Today’s run was a 12.5 mile rolling hills route. Pace was about 9:53, with several stops at intersections and a 10 or so minute stop for a long freight train. Never a dull moment. Hard to estimate the actual time, and who really cares about down-to-the-second accuracy for a training run. Weight was 144.8.

An early morning slog of a run. A bit tired from the work yesterday on the bike. “Just sit back and relax — we’ll be out here a while.”

Not bad conditions at all. Temperature around 46, an easy breeze and mostly cloudy.

Today’s run was a 13.1 mile hills route. Total climb a bit over 1000 feet. Pace was a slow 10:22. Weight was 146.6.

Decided to switch to the bike for a day. It’s a good workout and doesn’t stress the back much at all. It was annoying that my back complained a bit yesterday, but ignoring an issue rarely makes it better.

Today’s ride was a 46 minute ride on the indoor trainer. Weight was 145.8.

A nice, mild morning for a run. Traffic on roads on the weekends isn’t crazy, but people are out and about running errands. Lots of cars, SUVs, trucks, etc. No issues, but it does require more attention and focus. Early morning weekday runs are less busy. Often I’m running down pretty much the center of the road.

Today’s run was an 8.68 mile route that mixed in some hills with a few flatter sections. Total climb of around 440 feet. Pace was 9:47. Weight was 146.0.

I decided to take a few days and rest the right knee. I was feeling a little pain going up steps. Nothing bad at all, but also something to pay attention to. I hate losing days, but better a few now than months later.

Today’s run was a 5.24 mile hills route. Pace was 9:41. Weight was 145.2.

Still a bit tired after Sunday. Took a while to get things going. As with many people, the most challenging part of the early morning training regime is getting up at 4AM. We must be nuts.

Today’s run was an 8.05 mile rolling hills route. Pace was 10:07. Weight was 146.2.