MattKeutzer

I pushed up my GD run since I pushed up my 13.1 yesterday.  Extremely windy today.   The first 1.5 miles was uphill against the wind and I ran 8:59.   What a difference a turnaround made as I felt I was running very fast at one time seeing 7:04 as my pace.   That obviously didn't last long as I finished right under 26:20 with the last two tenths in a slow jog.  I am already modifying my training schedule but still feel pretty good since I skipped my "off day".   Going to do a 3 miler tomorrow and then school starts back again on Tuesday (my off day) so I am a little nervous about getting all my miles in while I get back into the swing of 2nd sememster.   1 week down and 15 weeks to go.

Whoever said "new shoes = love" was right on!!!  Love the news shoes so much I might go get a 2nd pair.  I hate to complain about the 30 mph wind since it is January and sunny /36 degrees but it was brutal.   School starts tomorrow and my "off day" couldn't have landed on a better day.  Decided against joining a gym (which will probably be packed for the next month anyway) as the weather continues to be tolerable.  We'll see how working and training goes, that job thing can be really inconvenient.

My first run after school today.  Rough parent meeting today so it was great to get out and clear my head.   Weather was good and I feel great.  8:33 miles so hopefully my time will continue to decrease.  Looking forward the next 4 days as it is going to get up to 60 degrees.  

Unbelievable weather... almost 65 degrees in January.   I was looking forward to my run all day (even snuck out a little early from work).   Average 8:38 and ran an extra 3/4 of a mile and just enjoyed the days.  Literally laughed at all those people in convertables with the top up!!!!   Rewarded myself with grilling and a few beers so that 226 may not be so accurate now!!! Looking forward to tommorow's similar weather. 

70 degrees today.   Tough day at school (it was a Friday, fire drill, warm weather) so kids were a little crazy (parents crazier).   Anywho, pretty good run today, slower than I would have liked at 9:08 per mile but another runner (extremely more experienced)  keeps telling me to keep putting in the miles and your time will come down / speed go up.  I am trusting blindly but I have my doubts.   As a quote from my favorite movie goes, "Pressure and time, pressure and time".

Felt very unmotivated and sluggish today but got my run in anyway.  Slept in and didn't get my p90x stretch in that I usually like to do.  The weather was great again for January but my left calf is feeling a little tight.  Hope it holds out for my 9 miler tomorrow.  Averaged 8:45 per mile.

43 degrees which was a little chilly (I know but my standards are pretty high considering yesterday we had 65 degree weather).  I ran 5 miles in under 45 minutes but then my Garmin started acting up.  I was messing with it to get it back to no avail.  I guess I started a new "workout" of 3.19 miles which I never fully completed.   Later checked on gmapedometer.com and it was a hair over 9 miles (9.07).  Anyway, my last 3 miles were pretty slow and think the whole run was somewhere under 1:25 but really have no idea.  I am trying not to think I will eventually have to do this exact run (almost) 3 times.   Nice frosty mug full of chocolate milk, a hot bath, my recliner, and NFL wild card football made it all better.

Also, thanks to my St. Louis Blues scoring 4 goals last night, my ticket is worth a free Big Mac so that 222.2 doesn't have a chance of holding up very long.  Either that (or because of the shutout) it is worth $5 off the bill at Dirt Cheap Cigarettes and Liquor.  I'll splurge on the calories of the Big Mac.

Recovery / glycogen depetion run today.  It went  pretty well but my left calf is a little tight.  Didn't get to stretch this morning before school as I slept in (daughter up in the middle of the night with an ear infection).  I am definitely gonna get my stretch in tomorrow.  Weather is starting to get colder so I may adjust my schedule and not take off tomorrow.   Ran down/ up a huge hill today.   So much the last 50 yards downhill I just went for it... leaned forward and was a bit out of control.  After I hit the bottom and started to flatten out, I glanced at my watch and saw 5:04 pace.  I guess this is what it feels like for some runners but they do it for an entire 26.2 / 13.1 miles.  

Good run today.  I really tried to focus on shortening my stride and making them quicker.  I felt pretty good and the pace jumped up to 8:32 so we will see if I can keep that up.  The weather was in the 50's so I decided to do my Wednesday run today.  Same weather tomorrow for my 7 miler and then snow expected on Thursday (my day off this week).  Got up early this morning to stretch and my legs are thanking me for it.

Slower run today, 9:02 pace.   I thought a lot about this weekend as the cold weather is coming plus a 15 is looming on Sunday.  Thank goodness we are off school on Monday.   Pushed up my Thursday run to today as snow/ ice is coming.   I will take my day off tomorrow and rest up for a colder 4, 3, and 15.   Another teacher told me about a 10K on Saturday so I may just look into that.   Also, a bunch of friends have decided to go to Vegas over Spring Break in March.  I am thinking about declining for various reasons including: having to do a 20 miler that weekend.  Wtf am I thinking?

Thank goodness the sun came out about noon cause the snow and ice was bad in isolated spots but for the most part it was ok.   The sun also helped warm it up a little also and very little wind helped even more.  I ran pretty cautious and loss traction a few times so my pace was 9:10 which I am ok with.   My garmin went into satellite mode again so I wasn't sure how far I was running (hence the extra .25) until I was completely finished.   Feel pretty good and very thankful for my day off yesterday.  Looking forward to it warming up for my 3 tomorrow and even warmer for my first 15 (this will be my longest run EVER).  Can't wait!

I spent the morning watching my former volleyball team that I coached in a local tournament with the family.  Needless to say at noon, we left and everyone was starving.  Can you say Taco Bell before a run?  I came home and took a nap before heading out in the 30 degree cloudy weather.  I have to say this was the first time I actually didn't want to go run.   The first mile was rough and slow (9:40 ish).   I ended up running 8:45 pace.  I guess it is nice to know I can run 3 miles even when I don't want to. 

Looked at the weather tomorrow and can either run my 15 tomorrow early in 20 degree weather or 40 degree and sunny weather in the afternoon.

Well, it wasn't pretty and kind of slow but I feel good and that I got it done.  Started at 7:00 am this morning in 20 degree weather and the sun came out and warmed up to about 25 degrees.   Got a good stretch in this morning before and a great warm up.   Had trouble with my Garmin as it only wanted to keep the time, not registering the distance.   Some quick math and a well marked trail helped get me a little more than 15 so I am happy with my farthest run thus far.   Finished in 2:23 with about a 9:47 pace.  I read somewhere that you should do your "long runs45 seconds to 1 minute slower than the pace you want to run".  I sure hope those people know what they are talking about.    Some snowpacked parts of the trail with a little ice in patches and a "rest stop" about 45 minutes in.  A nice frosty mug of chocolate milk and a hot bubble bath helped (yeah, I know a little feminine but wth if it saves my legs).

Dropped the car off at the Honda dealership and ran 3 mile recovery today.  Temperature was in 50s although it was pretty windy.  I took my time since I had 45 minute wait anyway and averaged about 10 minute miles.  Feel pretty good and looking forward to my rest of the week.

Running at 5 am in sub 15 degree weather was not as bad as I thought it was going to be.  Besides the fact that I was very slow, it wasn't that cold as I bundled up pretty good.  My eyelashes were frozen at the end which I thought was pretty cool.   Ran 9:50 pace and got it done.  Yesterday was interesting as I bought a new truck.  Last night, I didn't sleep very well as my excitement as well as my son had a few bad dreams and was screaming out thru the night.  Looking forward to some warmer weather this weekend.

Got to run during my 45 minute lunch period which was followed by my planning period.  Tried 1 minute "pickups" followed by 4 minute recovery intervals.  The first few were great.  The next few not so great.  The last few were brutal (basically running straight up hill).  I think my watch said 11:23 pace at one point during my "pick up" interval.   LOL.   Actually averaged 8:53 which I am happy with right now.  I weighed myself after the run so I am sure I will bounce back to the mid 220's by tonight but if this continues I hope to be around 210- 215 by April and raceday.   Weather was not to bad as I continue to overdress.  Tights, shorts, running shirt, longsleeve shirt and a hoodie.   Looking forward to an easy 5 tomorrow and Saturday and then 11 on what is going to be a gorgous Sunday afternoon.

Got my 5 in before the sleet and rain came today although it was cold and windy.   I was told to take it easy and averaged 9:43 but I feel really good so I am not worried about the pace.   Looking forward to warmer weather tomorrow and Sunday.  

This was the best run I have had in a long time (maybe ever). I felt really great (maybe the warming up weather, maybe the hour nap righ before the run, possibly didn't overdress).   Either way, I will take it.  I never had a 5K time and after 2 miles of running, I decided to go for it.  25: 25 unofficially (downhill and a very flat trail).  Again, I will take it.  Ended the run with a 8:20 average pace after a long uphill the last 3/4 of a mile.   I guess I will see if I pay for this tomorrow when I do 11 miles.

It didn't warm up like I had hoped (damn weathermen/women).   My 2 and 1/2 year old daughter was up all night last night puking so I didn't get a very good night sleep.  It was a very lazy morning.   Anyway, I got the first 5.5 miles done in 48 minutes and 8 miles done in 1 hour and 11 minutes and then Garmin started acting up.  I finished in about 1 hour and 40 minutes (I think).   I feel pretty good although my right knee is a little tender.  Stretching it out helped but everything else feels pretty good. 

Good recovery / fat run.  It probably didn't help that I had 2 helpings of lasagna last night at dad's birthday dinner.  The 226 was before the run this morning.  45 degrees at 5:15 am isn't bad but the 40+ mile per hour winds didn't really help.  Ran 3 miles in 29 minutes today including a 'rest stop'.   Saw 3 deer down on Gran't Trail which was pretty cool.  

Tomorrow and Thursday calls for rain all day so I thought I would push my 5 miler up today and take off Wednesday or Thursday (depending upon how bad it is raining).  Rough day at school today (lying kid and enabling parent believing lie even though proof says otherwise) so the 5 miler was good escape.  I am starting to put running in the same catagory as golf (although not nearly as expensive or frustrating) in that you can really just "get away from your problems" and escape.  I feel really good although I ran a little slower (average 8:55) so I my have been taking it too easy.  About 30 minutes in, I saw a parent of a player I coached years ago so I stopped to talked to him for a minute or two.  I felt like a brand new runner after my mini-break.    I have read about walking thru water stops during a marathon, I might have to think more about doing that.

Rain, windy, and about 37 degrees.  I tried quarter mile pickups followed by three quarter mile recoveries.   The first one went pretty well and I think I was run faster than 7:00 pace.  Recoveries were in the high 8.   By the last ones, I think I was closer to 8:20 and 9:30.   Finished in 1:00:35 with an average pace of 8:34 so I am pretty happy with that.   Looking forward to getting my 4 miles in tomorrow early (maybe at lunch) so I can go to happy hour.  Been a long week but I know HH won't help my 3 miler on Saturday and 17 on Sunday. 

Snuck out during lunch for a 4 miler.  I felt really good.  Finished in 32 and 1/2 minutes so I guess I averaged about 8:07 pace.  Feel really good after a tough week.  Heading to a much needed happy hour with some co-workers.  3 tomorrow and 17 on Sunday. 

Today was a windy, sunny 43 degrees.  The outside of my right foot felt weird when I started but it went away before  my first 1/2 mile.   The first half of the run I was running into the wind.  Averaged 8:20 and I didn't feel like I was pushing it to hard.  I feel really good and am looking forward to my 17 tomorrow.  I might be getting a little bit of confidence (although I have a long way to go) so I hope tomorrow doesn't kick me in the butt for being cocky. 

Well, being so confident yesterday kicked me in the rear today. The first 5 were gonna be a warm up, followed by 7 at goal pace, and then 5 for a cool down.  I ran the first 5 averaging about 9:33. The next 7 were under an hour (about 7:54 average pace) and then the next 5 was over an hour (ouch!!).   All 17 took 2:44 which is the longest I have ever run.  I started at 5:15 am this morning in 35 degree weather and bundled up pretty good. 

60 plus degrees in January.  I really enjoyed this run and didn't pay much attention to my watch.  I ended up stopping to see some former colleagues about 3 miles in.  I did go a little farther then my scheduled 3 miles and averaged about 8:37.

Might have to run again tomorrow on my off day as it is going to be similar weather.

I got an early start today on my "day off".  Ran five miles at 4:30 am but the weather was about 45 degrees so a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie did the trick.  It was a pretty slow as I was focusing on what was right in front of me at that hour of the morning.  Finished with about a 9:12 average pace.   Weather is going to be nice for the next couple of days with rain on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Looks like I might have to take off Friday and run my 13 miles in the rain before the SuperBowl.