From the Track

Time: 53:53
Distance: 8.05
Pace: 6:41
Map

I ran from the OU track this morning after catching up with the news online and drinking coffee at Starbucks this morning. The legs felt good while I was running on the Lloyd Noble Loop or "grass loop" as some call it. The pace was casual and it dropped as each mile was beeped off by Mr. Garmin. I got to run past Norman High School but there were no footballers out on the field this time. I finished up with a few moments to spare and caught the bus into work.

Nameless Loop

Time: 63:17
Distance: 8.77 miles
Pace: 7:13

Headed out the door and put some time on the feet with Meagan before going to work. She wants to call this loop "Meagan Loop" but that is completely unacceptable. The loop is about to be dead since I move in a few days and I will no longer be starting/ending at the Lodge. My legs felt pretty solid throughout and the pace was easy which is what I wanted. Our splits were 8:01, 7:26, 7:04, 6:56, 7:06, 7:09, 7:06, 7:04, 5:22 (for .77 or 6:59 pace).

Tonight we are heading up to McNellie's to spend our $450 tab that we won at the McNellie's Pub Run a few weeks back. I'm hoping to try some beers that I normally wouldn't purchase like Chimay and other Trappist style brews. It will be fun times with the crew.

This Run Needs a Clever/Standard Name

Time: 53:43
Distance: 8.80-8.85 miles
Pace: ~6:10 (estimated)

The two most recent times I've measure this run with the Garmin it has varied in distance. So much for the accuracy! Garmin can only get within .05? Terrible. Anyway, this morning I woke up extra early (5:20 am) for some reason, probably because I'm dehydrated or something. I packed up some stuff and drank coffee to hydrate properly. When I got out the door I was ready to run for a few reasons (a) I was wearing Oxysocks, (ii) I had been up for 2 hours already, (3) it was cold but not windy. I pushed the pace early on and felt relaxed running down Jenkins and past Scotty's house. I clipped off a 5:40 mile running north on Pickard and even though I backed off the final few miles I could tell the pace was honest. I'm not sure what I'll be able to run this weekend but I'm hoping to run a good first leg and finish the 20 miler strong (more on that later).

Lloyd Noble Route

Time: 57:15
Distance: 8.85 miles
Pace: 6:28

This morning's jog was a pretty standard loop through the streets of Norman. I decided to run the loop in reverse for some reason. I visited some familiar sites, but didn't see any familiar faces. There aren't that many characters out on the streets to make my runs truly laughable. I listened to some tunes and put the miles in solo. My splits were 7:28, 6:50, 6:31, 6:20, 6:22, 6:26, 6:11, 6:00, 5:02 (.85 miles or 5:57 pace).

Partially Rainy

Time: 57:29
Distance: ~9 miles

This morning I ran from the Lodge in towards campus to meet Holly along Brooks St. We crossed paths around the bus stop on the south oval and then we messed around in the neighborhoods and on a Lloyd Noble Loop. It was a bit chilly this morning but, more importantly, it was raining during parts of the run. The wind started out of the south which was huge time because had it been out of the north the run would have been miserably cold. At some point during the run the wind switched to the east and the return route to my apartment was frustrating.

Holly was trying to get in a 2 hour run as he plans to run the Phoenix Marathon in January. I think shortly after he dropped me off it began pouring on him. Luckily he planned to sit around the house all day and drink coffee.

Long Lloyd Noble

Time: 57:51
Distance: 8.5 miles

The running was slow tonight because it was savagely windy and the ground was soggy. The section of the run down by Lloyd Noble Center wasn't the best. The trail that you cut over on was quite muddy and slippery. I think the split along Pickard St. was about 6:30 into the wind. The weather and the legs weren't going to make it a great run.

Long Lloyd Noble

Time: 55:21
Distance: 8.5 miles

Standard run on a standard loop. Felt surprisingly good. Split a 6:06 heading north on Pickard St. It's a good feeling when after a hard workout the pace feels slow. After running a touch over 5 minute pace, an easy run just over 6 minute pace feels like a walk. I'm supposed to do a pretty solid workout tomorrow so no double in the evening.

Long Lloyd Noble

Time: 55:48
Distance: 8+ miles

Ran in the morning. Everything seemed to be feeling good. Legs weren't too sore. Surprised about that. Pace was decent throughout. I split 6:11 along Pickard. Ran past the site of the dog attack. No beasts to be seen.

Long Lloyd Noble

Time: 57:09
Distance: 8+ miles

After work I ran on what is becoming a pretty standard loop for it's timing. It takes just under an hour to complete and has a marked out mile along Pickard. Tonight I split 6:13 running comfortably. I have a big workout tomorrow and didn't want to over do it tonight. Legs felt fine.

Long Lloyd Noble

Time: 56:36
Distance: 8.5 miles

Same run as Monday morning. Weather was much better. Still a little cold, but not nearly as windy. I got a chance to chat with Scotty D. about his performance at the Little Rock Half Marathon over the weekend. He didn't have the greatest run due to a respiratory infection of some kind. Check out the recap of the race on his blogpost.

I think I split a 6:20 mile running north on Pickard. Legs were feeling a little sluggish and sore at the start of the run but by the time I was near the Lloyd Noble Center, they were feeling better.

Long Lloyd Noble

Time: 59:04
Distance: ~8.5 miles

I'm not entirely sure on the distance of this run, but I'm confident that it is between 8 and 9 miles. I'll map it when I have time. I wasn't looking forward to stepping out the door because I could hear that the wind was whipping the siding of my apartment. When I peaked out the blinds I saw that he snow/rain was coming in from the north almost horizontally. That doesn't make for fun running. I was just trying to put time on the feet and wasn't concerned about the pace. Legs wanted to run faster but the 30 mph breeze limited things. A classic Oklahoma day.

Lloyd Noble Loop

Time: 55+
Distance: 8+ miles

The Timex watch that Owen and I love to hate failed me once again. I noticed that the watch failed to start at the corner of Classen and Brooks. I usually get to that mark between 9:00 to 9:20. I finished the run in 48:38 that goes by Scotty D's house and back Pickard where I split 6:13 for the mile. Legs felt decent as I gradually picked up the pace as the run went on.

This evening I have some 200s to run on the track under the lights just to build some speed.

Morning Run

Time: 59:40
Distance: 8+ miles

Ran the Lloyd Noble Loop with the add on that goes by Scotty D's house. As I was running by he was coming out his front door to begin a warmup for a workout. I slowed the pace that I had been running which probably was a good thing considering it had been less than 10 hours since my tempo run last night. We had a good chat before going out separate ways. Legs felt a little tired but nothing out of the ordinary.

Morning Run

Time: 60:05
Distance: 9+ miles

Ran from the Lodge on a loop that started out on the Lloyd Noble Loop, but when I got to Chautauqua I headed in towards Scotty D's house. I made my way over to Pickard and split a mile of 6:17 before heading home on Brooks. I wanted to get in about an hour so I looped around the parking lot until my time was up. Felt fairly good. It wasn't too bad this morning. I got out there without a jacket, just a long sleeve and some gloves.

Alternate Lloyd Noble

Time: 56:38
Distance: 8-9 miles

Ran from the Lodge on what started out being the standard Lloyd Noble Loop. Once I got to Chautauqua I decided to swoop through Scotty D.'s neighborhood and come back on Pickard St. I took a mile split along Pickard and hit 6:20 into a slight breeze. I was trying to keep the pace easy and let my body recover.

Last night I spoke with Tom and we decided to only do the 6 x 400 workout this week. He also informed me that a tornado ripped part of his roof off. Beautiful.

Lloyd Noble Loop

Time: 50:47
Distance: 7 + miles

Ran in the morning on the standard loop. Nothing much to report other than that it was another windy day here in Norman, OK. The legs were feeling decent. Took it nice and easy for the most part.

Lloyd Noble

Time: 73:15 (not including strides)
Distance: 11 miles (~12+ including strides)

Today was a little different. Tom is keeping me on my toes. Not really. I was instructed to "run easy and do strides." Instead of having to stride on pavement I designed a different run, that wasn't really different at all. I first did a loop out by Irving (one similar to what the bus does), then I ran in towards campus and ran Lloyd Nobe ending at the track. That was a total of 50:02 at a fairly easy pace. I spotted Scotty D. around the corner of Jenkins and Lindsey but he opted to not come this time.

At the track I stretched a little, mainly the larger muscles. Did a few drills that I'm working into the routine. Then I ran 10 x 100 meter strides with the wind at my back. I wanted to feel as fluid as possible, so I ran down the home stretched and jogged back to the start. I wasn't pressing, simply working on turnover and form.

After the strides I looped back out onto Brooks and finished the run with 23:15 of easy jogging back to Campus Lodge. I ran in the normal route but turned just before the elementary school and ran the bus route in reverse. I stretched out a bit and did some abs.

Later in the day I got a chance to speak with Mr. Neil Hamel about his struggles of getting back into shape. I urged him to write about it and he has put together a blog for all of us to enjoy:
http://neilhamelbackontrack.blogspot.com/

Lloyd Noble

Time: 46:01
Distance: 8 miles

After taking a few days off, I wanted to get out the door and put some time on the legs. Schoolwork is rough at the moment but I found some time to put a run in. I figured I would just go on a standard loop but do it quicker. My legs felt amazing. I can't remember the last time that it felt like I had that much pop. I usually get to the corner of Brooks and Classen in a touch over 9 minutes if I'm running well, sometimes it is a little over 10 minutes if on a warmup for a workout. Today, I hit the mark in just over 8 minutes without pressing too much. I finished up the run no slower than when I started. Felt good to put some quicker miles on the legs.

Run

Time: 56:07
Distance: 9 miles

I'm not totally sure where I did this run. Even though this post is going to say I ran on 12/2, it's really 12/16. Two weeks ago is waaay too long to remember. Perhaps I ran Lloyd Noble with an add on past the elementary and middle schools. In fact, that's what I think I did. If I'm correct, the pace was pretty steady. This was one of the few runs in the month of December before finals.

In Search of...

Time: 58:03

Distance: 9 miles

Ran in the morning from the Lodge on the Lloyd Noble Loop. I hadn't done this standard run in quite some time and it was nice to get out there. I added on by turning left at the elementary school and running up to Vicksburg past Irving Middle School. I wasn't even concerned with the anal 1:57 that would have taken me to 60 mins. The pace on the run was a touch quick anyway.

I chatted with Tom last night and expressed that I didn't have a good workout and school is getting rough. He told me to scrap the tempo run we had planned to do this morning and just run as much or as little over the next couple of days. For the next few weeks running just needs to serve as a stress outlet and not something that I need to focus on. We decided that on Sunday we will possibly do a "Michigan" workout if I'm still interesting in running Dallas.