The weather was absolutely perfect for a run — sunny with a very pleasant breeze — and it was one of those rare occasions when everything just clicked. Cool to watch my shadow lengthen on the soccer fields and interesting to see my pace get quicker and quicker. No real effort, it just happened that way. Totally enjoyable!

Splits:

7:52 7:35 7:35 7:31 7:23 7:13 7:08 7:04 6:59 6:57 6:53 6:38 6:31

For the record, most of the run was on the PAAC soccer fields. The soft grass was kind to the blister and the double-sock trick seemed to work well too.

I’ve also been using Anti-Friction Creme by MISSION Skincare to help relieve any fabric-to-skin irritation.

Anti-Friction Creme helps relieve irritation from skin-to-skin, fabric-to-skin, equipment-to-skin and footwear-to-skin friction. It is a vitamin-enriched formula, preservative/paraben free, doesn’t stain clothes and lasts forever!

I’ve also discovered another great use for the cream. In the past I’ve struggled to put on my Vibram Five Finger KSOs. My feet are a little weird in that the smallest toe is quite short and curls into the 4th toe. In fact, after much trial and error, I ended up purchasing a womens size 41 to compensate for my weird feet, as none of the mens sizes appeared to fit well.

However, even with the correct size VFF KSO, I found it difficult to marry up the last two toes with the last two toe pockets, but now after a quick application of MISSION Skincare Anti-Friction Creme, they slide in no problems at all!! Well worth a try if you too have problems pulling on the Vibrams…..

My exciting route is marked in red on the image below. To add variety, I’ll turn around and run counter-clockwise. What a novel idea eh? Good mental training I guess…

Anyway, back to the run. I decided on another race against the Garmin Virtual Partner and set the Forerunner 405 at 7:30/mile pace. This time the plan was to maintain pace right from the off and possibly speed up towards the end if I felt good. Thankfully there were no repercussions from yesterday’s 5k race, and the only soreness I experienced was from a 200 Squats workout earlier in the day. As you can see from the splits, I *did* feel good and finished off the grassy run quite strongly.

Splits: 7:29 7:27 7:20 7:13 6:48 6:21

Great way to end the Summer with a six miler — one mile for each week I spent in the boot. Bring on the Fall….

Oh yes, almost forgot to mention — rode the three miles home to finish off the workout. Great way to cool off and stretch out the legs.

The first mile was an easy 7:34. The temperature was a comfortable 68F, but I soon realized the humidity was still high, very high. My singlet was already saturated and I’m just glad my hydration level was good. Mile two felt no faster than the first one, but at 7:04 my plans changed from an easy 3 or 4 miles to a progressive 4 or 5 miles. Marathon training starts tomorrow and I promise to stick to the plan. I guess tonight was one last chance to run wild….

Mile three was a nice 6:34. No signs of any foot issues and I really felt comfortable as I headed for home. I finished with a couple of 6:15′s, absolutely drenched but very happy I decided to “log a few miles”.

Tomorrow is just an easy run to kick off the marathon training. 19 weeks of structured training courtesy of McMillan Running ending with a new marathon PR at the Richmond Marathon in November.

An easy 4 miler that somehow morphed into a progressive 6 miler. Would have run more, but ran out of time before work. Temperature was almost perfect and the morning breeze made the run a real pleasure.

Splits: 8:06 7:37 7:31 7:26 7:08 6:44 – 6.2 miles in 46 minutes.

Afternoon:

Nice relaxed 2nd run of the day. No Garmin Virtual Partner, but planned to average 7 minute miles for the best part of an hour.

Splits: 7:05 6:53 7:04 6:58 6:56 6:56 6:58 6:54 – 8 miles in 55:47

Humidity much higher than this morning and it looks like it’s going to storm [again].

Feeling pretty good despite 14 Newton miles for the day. Looking forward to the Ed Lowery XC 5k in the morning, but as I posted yesterday, I’m not really expecting anything special. Definitely not a priority race for me….

Nice progressive run to the local rec center, with each mile slightly faster than the previous one. As usual the first one was nice and slow (7:58), but followed by a quicker 7:30. I chose to run at mid-day in the hope of getting used to the warm weather we’re having at the moment. The forecast for Frederick next week is calling for possible temperatures in the 70s, and to be honest, I’m not ready to race a marathon in those kind of conditions. I usually handle the heat very well, as shown my strong finish at last years Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon and Richmond Marathon, but those races were coming off a hot summer and not a cool spring.

Anyway, back to the run. The next four miles were tough, but I thrive on the challenge of trying to beat the last mile split. Yet again, I didnt come up short:

7:16 7:09 7:02 6:55

Inside the rec center it was great to stand under a cool shower before jumping into the pool and swimming a mixed bag 1500m. I started with a couple of 100s, swam a straight 500m main set before finishing off with a few more 100s/150s.

Great way to cool off and relax a little after a challenging mid-day run.

I ended up running a tremendous 10 miler with the Newtons really on fire tonight! I started with an 8:20 first mile (which was actually slightly long as I had a few Garmin issues just after I left the house), but quickened to a 7:11 second mile.

By this time all thoughts of skipping the run were out of my mind and I pressed on thinking I’d run 4 or maybe 5 miles. I ended up running 10 and the remaining splits were as follows:

7:06 6:59 6:48 6:39 6:35 6:27 6:16 5:57

As you can see, each mile was progressively faster than the previous one, and it felt so natural. Half of me wishes the Frederick Marathon was this coming weekend as I’m not sure I can hold this form for another 12 days, but the other half is looking forward to a nice taper.

At the risk of repeating myself, I’m thoroughly enjoying the Newton running shoes and honestly feel they are going to take me to a whole new level.

7:02 6:54 6:51 6:29 6:18

Most enjoyable, and no aches and pains from the previous day’s race.

The unfortunate news; the pool was closed for a “floatarama” – a mass gathering of inflatables to keep the kids happy on a Sunday afternoon. My own fault for not checking the pool schedule before I left the house, so no complaints. Oh well, there’s always tomorrow for a swim…

Another character-building hot and humid run today; 5 progressively faster miles with a much needed cool down mile to finish. MotionBased hasn’t yet confirmed the temperature for my workout, but I would guess it was in the low 90′s. Humidity seemed high too and I was sweating uncontrollably before I’d covered half a mile.

The first mile was a steady 7:32, but I soon decided to pick up the pace a little as I headed over to the local soccer complex and the luxury of a soft, level grassy surface. Mile 2 was 7:13 and after a quick stop for a drink I pressed on for a 7:18 third mile.

At this stage in the game, I was half thinking of running another 5 miles to make it up to 8, but decided to head home and be happy with a six miler instead. I was feeling quite drained and with Day 1 of my marathon training plan due to start tomorrow, there was no real point in pushing myself too far.

I still pressed on and managed a couple of sub-7:00 miles (6:57 and 6:38) before calling it a day and “jogging” the last mile back to the house.

Total mileage for the week: 38.3 miles
Total mileage for the month: 162.5 miles

Looking forward to Day 1 of my custom marathon training plan tomorrow. Watch this space for more details…

After yesterday’s treadmill run, it was great to get outside again for a late afternoon run in the sun. With the temperature in the mid-80′s I knew it could be a tough workout, but I planned on averaging seven minute miles for eight miles if I could last the pace. To err on the side of caution I decided to run the first half slower than seven minute pace with the intention of picking things up later on.

The first mile came in at 7:30; right where I expected it to be. I quickened slightly for the next two (7:19 and 7:23) before taking advantage of a nice 10mph tailwind to record a 7:06. Well, that was the easy part over with – time to quicken the pace and see what was left in the tank. It turned out to be quite a lot and I enjoyed running free and easy back towards the house.

Two sub-7:00 miles (6:42 and 6:43) lowered the average pace to around 7:10 per mile, and with a crazy-fast 6:16 I’d met my goal. Now it was just a question of holding on, and trying not to think how thirsty I was.

Great workout and I’m feeling good about the upcoming 20-week marathon plan that begins June 30th.

At 84°F, tonight’s run was the coolest of the week so far. I planned on an eight miler at around 7 minutes 30 seconds pace, but ended up racing the clock and having a great workout. The first mile was a steady 7:26 which felt really, really easy, which I followed up with a 7:08. After a quick stop for a drink at a surprisingly cold and clean water fountain, I picked up the pace for the next two miles (6:59 and 6:52) and set myself a goal of averaging 7 minutes per mile or less.

After reading marathondudebill’s recent post about running in the heat (well worth a read before your next run in the sun!), I’ve been more careful about hydration and definitely more conscious of drinking as often as possible. With this in mind I ran a two mile loop to get me back to the water fountain for a second drink. Both of these miles were quicker than the previous four (6:50 and 6:48), and now my average speed was only just above the magic 7 minute mile pace.

Refreshed and raring to go, I stepped up the tempo again and headed for home. The last two miles were tough but there was no way I was going to let the pace drop and managed to finish strong with a 6:44 and a 6:39. Average pace turned out to be 6:56 per mile which naturally I was very happy with.

On a sad note, I had to retire my Adidas Adistar Cushion 5′s tonight. I ran in them last night and was surprised at how flat and unresponsive they were. My shins were sore today and I’m sure the shoes were the cause (not surprising as I’ve covered well over the magic 400 miles in them, which for me is about all I can expect from a pair of training shoes). Luckily I still have several other pairs on the go, so I won’t be heading to the local running store any time soon.