Fitness Run

Distance: 4.25 miles
Time: 44:44
Pace: 10:32 min/mi

Comments: The temperature is scheduled to climb pretty hard today so I wanted to get  out the door early and take advantage of the cool part of the day. Add in the sun actually showed up and it was pretty much perfect, actually.

I focused on cadence most of the way and felt pretty good about the effort. About a quarter of this run was at Z5 heart rate, which is pretty good for a non-intense, mid-week effort. Particularly with the hills on this route.

One more day and then a rest. I'm ready.

Fitness Run

Distance: 4.25 miles
Time: 45:08
Pace: 10:37 min/mi

Comments: Up a bit earlier to get this one done. The trail gets pretty crowded by mid-morning these days and I need to get ready for early runs when the temps start to rise.

I have been running all of these a bit faster than the training plan calls for (but significantly slower than my regular runs). I'm feeling more comfortable with it but still have trouble dialing into the specific pacing I need.

The county issued a shelter-in-place order overnight. I detoured to the highway overpass and the lack of cars on the road at rush hour was downright creepy.

Fitness Run

Distance: 4.03 miles
Time: 43:42
Pace: 10:51 min/mi

Comments: Finished off a full week of runs for the first time. With race training on hold, I really want to build a strong routine and hitting the five-days-a-week goal is critical.

With the rain this morning, fewer folks were out than have been lately. But I get a lot more waves from people just walking and such. One dude even yelled "Inspirational!" at me as I went by. That's a first.

Kept it reasonably close to the long run pace and had no issues. A nice finish for a strong week.

Long Run

Distance: 6.03 miles
Time:1:02:05
Pace: 10:18 min/mi

Comments: The training schedule I intend to use does not call for super long "long" runs. Instead it uses back-to-back weekend ones with one a bit longer than the other. So my plan this weekend is to simulate that.

The question is which day should be the long run? Usually it's the second day but I decided to get it done today. The cold front brought significantly cooler temperatures back and rains had moved through for the day. Might not be so lucky tomorrow.

It went well. I'm not trying to dial in the pace for now; just get the distance. My heart rate was very controlled until the end.

Fitness Run

Distance: 4.02
Time: 40:28
Pace: 10:04 min/mi

Comments: The increase of walker/runners on the trail is officially a "thing" now. And there are a lot more folks bringing their kids out on bikes and such as well.

At one point I tried a detour behind a hedge to avoid folks on the sidewalk and there  were three kids tearing right at me. They instantly held up and I changed my track to go way around them. The parents right behind gave a wave as I went by.

I am still doing these a bit on the fast side but that shouldn't be an issue for now. I got the three-in-a-row and that's all I wanted for now.

Fitness Run

Distance: 4.02 miles
Time: 40:01
Pace: 9:58 min/mi

Comments: Alright, I have been doing lunch runs on this trail for two years now. I have never seen as many other runners and walkers out at the same time as I have this week. It will be rather ironic if being forced to stay home actually led to folks getting healthier.

Pretty much all of them are keeping that six-foot distance automatically. The best thing? All the damn dogs are on a leash and there aren't any of those 'long leash' walkers.

This was definitely a little on the fast side. No major issues though.

Fitness Run

Distance: 4.01 miles
Time: 41:08
Pace: 10:16 min/mi

Comments: Since current events have pretty much wrecked my hopes of a marathon in May, I am back on the 'maintaining fitness' train. I talked to my coach and the plan is to keep the same schedule framework but eliminate the increase in intensity on the later sections for now.

So, for now, I am dumping the detailed workouts completely and just trying to get the rhythm of the five-runs-per-week schedule. After a week or two, I'll start adding the specific pacings and, later, the detailed workouts.

This one went fine. It would be nice to see some sunshine for once but  no dice. Also, it seems there are a lot more folks out on the trails than usual for lunch during the week.

Long Run

Distance: 6.02 miles
Time: 1:03:45
Pace: 10:36 min/mi

Comments: Welp, with the onset of coronavirus a lot has changed pretty quickly. The likelihood of the marathon even being held in May is dimming by the day. That's a problem because I don't want to increase the intensity of my training for a race and then it just doesn't happen.

The disruption of the recent events has pretty much shot my training consistency anyway. On the other hand, social distancing, particularly the 'stay at home' aspect, makes the need to be running regularly a priority. Getting out of the house and getting exercise is going to be important in the coming weeks.

The plan today was to get a good run in and see how my legs are holding up. It's been raining an chilly (not helping with consistency either) but I got a break around noon. I got to the three mile mark and decided  to make it a long run since my legs felt pretty good.

Fitness Run

Distance: 4.06 miles
Time: 43:51
Pace: 10:48 min/mi

Comments: After getting back from Gatlinburg, my intention was to segue right into the next week of training. Well, current events had something to say about that. As the seriousness of the coronavirus crisis became more evident, I spent a good part of the week taking care of preparations.

I went to local stores and stocked up on stuff we needed. A lot of it is just getting a backup of necessities but some store shelves are already looking bare.

This run was an attempt to get back into training. Tuesday is the detailed workout but I chose to skip that and do the more straightforward requirement of the Wednesday workout. I did a pretty good job hitting the pacing but it was unusually warm in comparison to recent efforts. Gonna have to acclimate to that pretty soon.

Training Run: Long

Distance: 6.68 miles
Time: 1:09:04
Pace: 10:20 min/mi

Comments: The long run today consisted of two out-and-back laps of the Gatlinburg Trail. Even though we went early when it was still very chilly, there were a number of folks out walking. Only one or two runners, though. Perhaps they got their workouts in early.

I ended up doing this a bit faster than the required long run pace. That's partly because of the cold and partly because it's tough to hold pace with the changing elevation. Still, I never got to the point of pushing fatigue, the effort was very constant.

The scenery on this trail is really very nice but I still wish I could have done some of the more challenging trails while in Tennessee.