Recently in Training Runs Category

Yesterday was a crazy day somehow, I mean I reached a point by midday where my mind seemed to be in a whirl, trying to do ten things at once at work. Finally during my lunch break I turned off work for a bit and focused on something totally different for awhile. This helped restore balance and I could continue to work through the rest of the day.

My wife is gone for a long wellness weekend in the Black Forest with a girlfriend, so after work I headed over the local research center and ran three 6.6 km loops around the lighted complex. By the third loop my legs were no longer happy and the strong wind and rain did nothing for my mental state, so I called it quits after 20 kilometers. I ended up running at a pretty fair average pace for the three rounds, around 5:55/km. I completed the first two rounds at a very consistent 5:45/km pace (9:16/mi), which is a bit faster than I run my longer runs this time of year. All in all I think it was a good workout.

I think for the rest of the year I am going to continue to run four times a week, but limit my runs to a maximum of two hours or so. In January I will start training for next years races, hopefully peaking with a 100K race in the mid-year.

Last night I ran the two loops around the local Research Center on my own, as my running partner has a bad cold. I believe this was the first time since my vacation in October that I ran alone, it felt kind of strange...I have been really enjoying running with my friend - get well soon!

It was dark and brisk (9°C/48°F) as I set out on the first loop. I quickly picked up the pace, running about a half-minute per kilometer faster than when I run with my running partner. The time seemed to tick slowly by as I neared the completion of the first round. Near the last kilometer I passed a member of my running club coming from the other direction. He turned around and we ran about 10-12 minutes together before he headed home, this helped motivate me for the next round.

Halfway through the second loop my legs began to ache a bit, I'm sure as a result of the weight training from the past couple days - it's always that way when I start my training for the winter. I managed to keep the pace more or less to the completion of the second loop, then slowed down and ran 2 more kilometers, for a total of 15 km (9.5 mi.) at an average pace of 5:30/km (8:51/mi.).

This morning my legs are a little sore, but nothing out of the ordinary. This evening I need to bring my car to the auto dealer, the air bag light won't shut off when I turn the car on. I hope afterward I have enough time for a quick swim at the Blankenloch pool on the way home.

On Saturday morning I had an appointment for a haircut at 8:00 a.m. in the neighboring town of Linkenheim. Despite the 7°C/45°F temperatures I decided to ride by bicycle, it was only about 7+ km (4.5 mi.). After about 20 minutes I arrived at the barbershop half soaked with sweat rather than frozen as expected, I guess I was too warmly dressed after all. Luckily the young lady that cuts my hair was tolerant of my perspiration (her father is an ultra-runner).

Later on Saturday I met my running club at the trailhead for a run. We meet at 4 p.m. on Saturdays, which allows us almost an hour of light before darkness sets in. I started out with the mid-pack group that I usually run with, but after a couple minutes a few ran on ahead. I guess I got an adrenaline rush or something, cause I took off after them. I ended up with a good speed workout, completing the roughly 11 km (7 mi.) loop with an average pace of 5:06/km (8:15/mi.).

On Sunday I met my running partner and we drove to Rheinstetten, near where I work, and ran a 20K DVV/IVV "volkswalking" course. The route turned out to be closer to 19 km, but that was fine. The weather was a bit cool and windy, around 10°C (50°F). My friend wanted to keep the pace down, but I guess I was too motivated, we averaged around 6:06/km (9:45/mi.). I had a great time chatting away with my friend, I couldn't imagine a better way of spending a Sunday afternoon!

Later in the day I decided to do the daily Crossfit workout, which consisted of 5 rounds of 5 repetitions of the back squat (Rücken Hocke), whereas you try to build the weight up to you maximum.

Here is a list of my workout, which took about 30 minutes:

20- jumping jacks (Hampelmann)
20 - toe-touches (Zehen berühren)
3 rounds of 20 Push-ups (Liegestütz) and 20 sit-ups (Bauchmuskelübung)
10 - Pull-ups (Klimmzug)
10 - kettlebell swings (Kettlebell Swingen)
Crossfit workout: 5-5-5-5-5 Back squat @ 40kg/44kg/44kg/46kg/46kg
10 - pull-ups
10 - kettlebell swings
100 repetitions on rowing machine (Rudergerät)
6 minutes on the home (bicycle) trainer (Fahrrad Heimtrainer)

This workout left me pretty well whipped, especially considering the run I did earlier, but it was very satisfying - I feel pretty good this morning!

I was sitting in the train station on the way from work yesterday looking over my list of potential races for next year. I'm already signed up for a 50K race on January 31, but know this is very ambitious in the middle of the winter. I might try it anyway though, it is ten 5K rounds, so I can bail out if it gets too cold.

Last night I met my running club at 6 p.m. for an 11km (6.8 mi.) loop. It was the first time since my 50 mile (80 km) run in June that I had run in the dark, but we were blessed with a full moon and relatively clear skies. We were only about a dozen runners, but most of us ran together, so we had a good time. I hadn't seen several of the group since before my vacation, so it was nice to catch up with each other.

Later I met some of my club at our monthly meeting. My wife tagged along and met a friend of ours in the restaurant that is moving to Morocco at the beginning of December, the evening went by way too fast.

Tonight I want to try to do some cross-training, maybe I'll start the hundred push-up challenge. I have a couple 10K races on the calendar for December, but just as fun runs, it's off-season for me.

After work yesterday I picked up my favorite running friend and we drove over to the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (Karlsruhe Research Centre) and ran a couple laps around the facility. The 6.6 km (4.1 mi.) asphalt road surrounding the facility is well lit and provides an excellent place to run in the dark winter. We encountered several runners and walkers on the way, I guess it is a popular place to run. The time flew by fast, as it always does when I run with friends. I found myself wishing we could have done another round or two...

Later, I was taking my turn at the ironing board and found myself trying to think about where I want to take my running and training over the next months and year. I have lots of ideas, some plans, but also lots of uncertainty. For example, I would like to run my first 100K race and add some more marathons to my success list. However life, in particularly work, may place hurdles in the way, we'll see what happens.

Anyone doing the 100 push-up challenge? Being old army, I do push-ups before and after most runs, so am seriously thinking about doing the challenge. I might had sit-ups to the list too, my stomach could use some work.

Actually I am doing really well at holding my weight in check. This year I managed to bring my weight down to 70 kg (155 lbs) and have pretty much maintained it, weighing in at about 71 kg (157 lbs) this morning.

I have also been over at crossfit.com getting ideas for some workouts. For me the winter time is the time for upper and total body training, and I'm way behind.

It seems like my life is in catch up mode in the moment. Three weeks vacation, followed by three days at a trade show have left me trying to view over a pile of work that needs to be done, both at my job and at home. My training is also taking a beating, I wanted to start up with swimming and other cross-training at the beginning of this month, but I haven't found the time yet. Oh well, I'll get everything sorted out soon and then I can settle down to some kind of routine.

My running was actually not too bad last week, despite being gone for three days. On Tuesday I ran 13.2 km (8.2 mi.) with a friend. On Saturday I ran the 11.8 km mountain race, then ran back down the mountain for a total of 23.3 km (14.5 mi.). Yesterday I ran the kilometer to my friend's house, whereas we ran 15.5 km, then I ran home again - for a total of 17.5 km (11 mi.). That gave me 54 km (33.5 mi.) with three days of running, not bad for the off-season.

Yesterday's run was kind of tough though, my legs were still tired from the mountain race on Saturday, so I struggled through the last several kilometers. My friend did a good job at keeping me moving, I am thankful for that. We still managed to maintain an average pace of 5:55/km (9:30/mi.), I was surprised, I thought we were moving much slower.

Tonight I think I will take a rest night and chill out. I need to spend some extra time catching up with work from my job anyway.

I have been planning on running a half-marathon on December 6, in nearby Bruchhausen, but may downgrade to a 10K race if I don't feel up to it. This is not the time of the year to push too hard, so I will probably decide at the last minute - in any case it will be a "fun" run.

I'm back...back in Germany, back to running and making an attempt to get back to normal life. It hasn't been easy, my mother's death has left a void in our lives, we will miss her.

We arrived Friday morning in Frankfurt, Germany and managed to make it home by 11:00 a.m. I was exhausted so had to lay down for awhile. My wife had managed to sleep on the airplane so caught up on the pile of mail and newspapers that a neighbor collected for us in our absence. After an hour or two I crawled out from under the covers, another one of our neighbors invited us for a late lunch.

Later in the day my wife took a nap and I went for a run. My muscles were sore and tight from the overnight flight and I could only manage a mediocre pace. The run at least made me feel better, along with a hot shower and some food.

We slept almost 13 hours on Friday night, waking up around noon on Saturday, it has been a long time since we slept so long. I puttered around the house for a few hours, then met my running club at 4:00 p.m. for a run. It was a German holiday so the group was small. I still wasn't fit, so ran a leisurely loop with some friends.

On Sunday after church I met my running partner and we went for a run on the hilly trails in Weingarten. The leaves are still on the trees and in full color so it was an incredibly run. The sun did it's best to peek between the clouds and I caught up with the latest news from my friend.

I spent the rest of the day reading e-mails, blogs and just chilling out with my wife. I slept very poorly last night, so ended up driving my car to work this morning. This allowed me to sleep an hour later to compensate for the sleeplessness of the first half of the night. I hope that I can settle down and get back on my routine by the end of the week.