I wanted to make it the 3rd straight day of improving my pace time this morning. I was stopped short though. I’m not sure if it’s a cold or allergies, but my throat was a little sore both yesterday and today and I was a little bit stuffy. I was also very thirsty this morning. I slacked the last few days with water intake, and I surely felt it.

I did manage to get 2.25 miles in, which is pretty good work even if I didn’t go the whole 3+ miles. I got off to a very fast pace. Running a 8:12 for the first mile* and 9:06 for the second.

The CardioTrainer app acted up again, and reported a much faster pace at the beginning, which is why I put the little asterisk by my first mile time. I wrote the developers, but they kind of dismissed the problem. I searched around, and it seems a lot of other people are having accuracy issues with the app. It was spot on until about July this year. I made sure I turned off all other running apps and services and rebooted my phone. That had worked the last few times, but not today. Luckily only the first 2 or so minutes were off, then it seemed to smooth out. I definitely didn’t run 300+ yards in the first minute. But I was running faster than I have before.

The second mile pace time is legit. At the 2.25 mile mark, I pass my house. The combination of the thirst, stuffiness, the sight of my house,  and the fact that it still was 6:15 am, made me stop there and not continue on.

Hopefully I shake this cold/allergy thing and get back out Thursday to finish up my last 32 minute run. Then hopefully a 34 minute run comes this weekend. I might go to a track this weekend to mix up the scenery a bit.

This might become a theme. I ran this morning. Felt great. Again, it was cool and dry out. Again I hit new personal bests.

I ran 3.41 miles in 32:11 (a 9:25 pace). The splits were 9:15 for the first mile, 9:14 for the second mile, and 9:37 for the 3rd mile.

It was the fastest pace (and most consistent) and it was the longest I’ve ever run in my life.

I mentioned before that the CardioTrainer app reads out the pace every 2 minutes. Only twice during the entire run did it read back a pace over 10 minutes (at 27 minutes (10:01) and at 31 minutes (10:25)). The rest of the way was all under 10.

I have one more run at 32 minutes, then it’s up to 34.

What a difference the weather makes! Tonight was cool and dry. A welcome change from the heat and humidity I’ve faced from the start of this year’s quest.

I skipped the morning run in favor of a nighttime run due to my son coming down with a cold last night. I had to take care of the lil guy in the middle of the night, so I needed the extra sleep in the morning.

But I was determined all day to get the run in at night. I made sure 1) to eat only a little for dinner (before the run), and 2) wait over 2 hours after eating.

It all paid off. I ran 3.34 miles in 32:14 (9:38 pace).

I had 3 personal bests:

1. 9:38 is the fastest pace I’ve run, given the distance.
2. 3.34 miles is the longest I’ve run in my entire life.
3. All 3 mile splits were under 10 minutes a mile (I didn’t slow down much at all). 9:19 1st mile, 9:42 the second mile, and 9:45 the 3rd mile.

The run was nearly effortless the entire way. I felt real good. My stride was smooth. I’ve been hoping for over a year that there would be a time that I’d be able to go for a run that’s seemingly effortless. Well that’s done!

Also, only a few times during the entire run did I creep over 10 minutes a mile. I think the CardioTrainer app reads back the pace from the previous minute (not an average), and there were only 2 or 3 times I heard it read a pace over 10 minutes.

I’m really happy with the progress. On top of it all, I did add in the 2 minutes. Each week I’m going to add another 2 minutes until I reach 40. I felt strong enough tonight that I think 4 miles in 40 minutes won’t be a hard task.

After 3 consecutive disappointing runs, this morning’s run was my best run ever.

Previously, my best 3 miles has been with a 9:54 pace (back in November). Today I did 3.11 miles in 30:20 (9:45) pace. More importantly, the splits were 9:12 for the 1st mile, 10:06 for the second mile, and 9:52 for the last mile. I did not have one of my signature “brick wall” moments (when I slow down considerably). My last mile was pretty strong! Also, I felt like I could have gone further, but I decided to end it there.

The CardioTrainer app has been accurate lately, so I know the time is legit. Some of my previous runs this year have been off, and were recording a faster pace than actual.

I might reconsider the running every day idea. Instead I’m going to really dedicate the effort to adding 2 minutes on the every-other-day run each week, with the ultimate goal going 4 miles in 40 minutes. That means this Thursday, I have a date with 32+ minutes.

I’ve gone 0-3 in my last attempts at breaking 10 minutes per mile for 3 miles. I decided to try to run every day instead of every other day. Depending how I feel during the runs, I will either cut it short or keep going. My goal is not to run 3 miles every day, but alternate long and short days (but continue running if I feel really good and strong). Friday I was prepared to run only 2 miles, but was burping up the entire time. I waited about 2.5 hours after eating. Saturday I suffered the same fate, even when waiting over 3 hours after eating. I must have a very slow digestive system. I didn’t eat too much either day. I ended both runs at only a mile. Better than nothing I guess…

This highlights a major benefit of running first thing in the morning. I remember battling this last year. Although I don’t feel 100% energized first thing in the morning, a lot of distractions are out of the way.

Yesterday I was fully prepared to run 3 miles. I made it 2 before it started to rain hard. So I stopped. The first two miles were ok, not great. My pace was 9:16 per mile. I think I started out very fast, and I don’t think I could have maintained that pace for another mile. It was terribly humid from the rain all day, which didn’t help either.

I was going to pick up again this morning, but we had a power outage last night. My alarm clocks and cell phone were all dead, so there was no planning on waking up early. Plus the whole distraction of it all made me not want to run anyway.

Sooooo. Tomorrow morning I’ll be back on my routine. Given the two incidents, I’m going to run first thing in the morning on the weekends too.

Now that I’m technically done with the C25K program, I’m at a loss of what to title these posts. Is it running, training, health, cardio, all of the above? Who cares, right?

So anyway. Today’s 3 mile run was good. I feel like I’ve moved a step forward after a pretty stagnant few weeks. I keep looking back to last year’s logs, and sure enough I was going through the same exact things last year. Only last year it was all new to me (so it was all good then), and this year I’m a little impatient.

Today I finished 3.1 miles in 31:18 (10:06 pace). Very near the 10 minute per mile milestone.

Last year I used the term “brick wall moment” for the time during the run where I slowed down a lot. It wasn’t until a few runs after I finished the program last year when that point got pushed back and ultimately disappeared. Today I hit that point at about the 2.25 mile mark. I ran the first mile in 9:17, the second in 9:54, and the third in 10:56.

I’m going to keep my mind on that “brick wall moment” mark. Hopefully it gets pushed off all-together soon. Once it is, I’m going to start upping the distance/time by 2 minutes per week. My new goal is to get to 4 miles in 40 minutes or less. But then that’s it. I’ll simply maintain that distance and try to improve the speed.

As far as other training… I tried to wake up early yesterday to do the P90X cardio dvd. I surprised myself this year by being able to wake up early in the morning to go jogging. It was a major feat. An even more difficult feat is going to be finding the motivation to do workouts in the house. Needless to say I got through 5 minutes of the dvd before I turned it off, laid on my couch, and watched the news.

Part of the reason is because I thought I can do it barefoot, which I can’t. Part of it is that I hate not knowing what to expect. Therefore I’m going to sit and watch each of the dvds so I know what to expect from them. I’m going to also treat the workout like a run–I’m going to get changed into workout clothes first.