Pete Tanguay

Heading out of town tomorrow so I wanted to make sure and get in a couple of runs before I go.  Ran an easy 5 with a few others rather than going to spin class.  My legs feel a little tight from the track run yesterday but they got stretched out.  It was nice to get out and run to start the week.  Pretty uneventful, just ticked off the miles.  Still had my watch set on .5 mile splits. 

Today was the hour track run race, the first Grand Prix race of the year.  I didn’t think I was going to be here for it but was glad to find out it was Sunday instead of Saturday.  I’m glad I ran but not very pleased with the results.  15 seconds slower per mile than last year.  I had not run this week and never really had the will in this race.  It was like I was out for a run, not running a race.  I didn’t really work hard and “leave it all out there” on the track.  No excuse for not having every lap under 8 minute pace.  The garmin was set on 1/2 mile laps – and miles 4-6 were awful.  Where was my will?

 It’s an interesting race, you start as a group and run around the track for an hour and they fire a gun to stop the race and everyone stops and you get the number of laps plus they measure the feet you are into your last lap.  I did just short of 30 laps at just under an 8 minute pace.  Last year I did a 7:44 pace. 

There was some wind which made it a challenge on one of the straightaways and into a corner but then it was behind you.  Nice thing about the track race – wind is with you half the way and there is an aide station every 1/4 mile.  I did work to pass one guy in my age group on the last lap and made this goal.  I have a 15k race coming up in a couple of weeks and I’ll see if I can do a bit better.  This will be a challenging year because I was in really good shape last Spring, up until the OKC marathon.  Racing definitely is a great component of a fitness program.

Today was hill repeat day.  Ran steady over to the hill and did 8 hard ones and then went one more with someone else.  Did not rest between them and worked on the downhill running as well as the uphill running.  Great group – probably 25 runners running up and down a hill in the dark.  Sweet.

3 of us ran 14 this morning, starting in the light rain which ended after the first hour.  Temps were good – in the 40’s.  Ran 6 and then 8 and kept a steady pace.  Had thought about running 20 but one guy wanted to stop at 14 and the other was going 20 but he was a bit faster than me and I was starting to slow so it became a choice between going to McDonalds and drinking coffee with a friend or running another 5 by myself.  The longer I stood in the parking lot, the easier that decision became. 

I realized today that my stiffness and “locking up” of my legs in longer runs has to do with not extending my leg out in the back enough as I get tired.  This causes my legs muscles to tighten up and then I am running with this real short, slow stride.  I’m going to work on that.  I need to start doing some weight conditioning – have been saying that for a year, wonder when I will actually do it!

Saturday runs are always great.  Get to sleep an hour later.  Run quick and short.  Breakfast at Stobys.  20-30 people at the start and some had already run some, lots of groups running different distances up to 20 milers.  Ended up in the second group running with a couple of others and a fourth caught up and I hung back with him a bit then picked it up in the last mile or so to do my typical run hard to the end.  I am trying to increase my kick at the end from the 1/2 mile kick to a mile and then will increase it again.  I have found that I have a different stride when I am kicking and if I can learn to run at this stride good things could happen.  It was a heat wave today.  Back in shorts.  Temps in the mid-40’s. 

Worked on running quieter and softer in the middle of the run.  As I was running to catch the group ahead I was using the image of an Indian quietly, softly, effortlessly sneaking up on a deer or a buffalo.  Soft touches with the feet, don’t keep the feet on the ground long, breathe easier, lean, relax.  Great exercise.

I was either a few minutes late or everyone left a few minutes early but I was playing catch up from the time I left the parking lot.  Thursday is probably the biggest group of runners, most run a 2-3 mile tempo run and run a total of 5 or 6.  I’ve been stretching it to 8 for the past few weeks.  When you arrive late you get to see all of the runners spread out on the route which is fun.  First I came across 4 walking about 3/4 miles out.  One that is coming back from an injury, one that is just back after 8-12 weeks of chemotherapy and 2 others.  You hear them talking and laughing as you approach them, say hi and they start running and you run on by.  Then a couple more, then the warm up is over and tempo starts and I passed a few more groups.  Caught up to a group that had stopped at the top of the hill after the tempo portion and ran the rest with them.  Another group extended to 12 miles. 

I felt a little sluggish today.  Tuesday speed work always takes a lot out of me, even if I take Wednesday off.  I continue to work on breathing and relaxing, especially trying to run with my legs relaxed. 

Tuesday we alternate speed work and hill work and today was speed work.  As often is the case when it is speed work day I think “who can I convince to just go for a run” and skip this speed work.  But when we get into it, it’s what I need.  We have 1/2 mile distances marked in a neighborhood and go run around this loop, stopping and resting after 1/2 mile and then doing it again.  The people in the neighborhood probably think we are crazy, 15 runners sprinting by their house at 5am when they are leaving for work.  I have a pretty consistent 6:45 pace at speed work and want to keep this until I can do 10 or 12.  I used to try to do them as fast as I can but have decided to focus on doing as many 6:45’s as relaxed as I can.  According to Bart Yasso and his Yasso 800’s that means I’ll be able to do a 3:26 marathon.  Hmmm, I’m not feeling that this is in the cards any time soon but that’s where you have to take the mind out of the equation and let your body go do what it can do.

Met up with a runner who was in my 2:10 half marathon pace group a couple years ago who was out running and I skipped my last 800 to run and talk with her.  She won the over 60 age group again this year but said she missed me being there.  She was looking at the clock at the end and someone in front of her slowed (my thought is she started sprinting, looking up at the clock) and did a face slide into the finish line.  She said she heard “paramedics to the finish line” on the loudspeaker and remembers trying to explain to them that she had to get her timing chip past the finish line but they wouldn’t let her get up.  What an awesome story. 

Heading out of the neighborhood I hear a couple runners yelling to me to do one more lap, a “recovery” lap, so I say sure and around we go.  Add to that coffee with the group at the fitness center when we get back and it’s been a good day already and it is only 7am. 

Good spin class this morning.  I’ve had a little pain in my right leg the last couple of days, possibly from pulling something running in the cold.  Took yesterday off and have tried to stretch.  Got on the bike in spin class and it felt a little tight.  I remembered Bob’s advice – when your left hip hurts, think about how good your right hip feels.  So I focused on how strong my left leg was feeling and worked hard in class before I knew it I had a little pain in my right knee, but wait – my right leg is feeling great now.  Focused on the left knee.  Burned some good calories and worked hard.  Working on keeping my knees in to build the supportive muscles for running.  Looking forward to be backing out tomorrow for some speed work at the track.

With the different training schedules runners are showing up at different times and running various distances.  Today a group started at 5:30 to run 8, then 12 more at 7.  I ran 5 at 6 and joined up with this group to run 6 with them.  I had only planned on doing 10 but go 11 in which was fine.  Temps were very cold (10-15 degrees) and we stopped for about 5 minutes between the runs and I got a bit cold and never really warmed up.  I thought about running the entire 12 with them as the pace was easy but I started getting cold and tight.  Never had this happen before but my elbow was super cold.  I realized when I was done that the sweat on my shirt from the first 5 miles had frozen and it was like I had 2 arm casts on.  I enjoyed running the slower pace and really focusing on my form trying to run as efficiently as possible.  When you are going slow you can really focus on what it takes to exert minimal effort and experiment with different leans, leg movements, breathing, etc.  Hope it is warmer tomorrow!

Nice 8 mile run this morning, dodging patches of ice in the streets and on bridges.  I’m having a recovery week so I didn’t do a hard tempo today.  Instead I hung back with a runner who is training for the New Orleans marathon.  I had only planned to run 6 miles but she had 8 on the schedule and so we did 8.  I am really focusing on form, relaxation, breathing and being aware of how my body is doing in the moment.  I did not want to get up and run today but am very glad I did. 

I am writing posts for the Conway Running Club website that I redesigned for them and wrote one today on Running on Ice.