I’ve set out some ambitious goals for myself to get back into running shape this year. I had a couple of good training sessions this weekend that’ll keep me on track.

Saturday, I jogged over to the park for a fairly intensive cross country stamina workout. I jogged two miles over at an easy pace. After loosening up a bit at the park, I ran 12 x 400m repeats (essentially a 5k broken up into 400m increments). I rested for about 45-60 seconds between repeats. My goal time was 1:45 to 2:00 per repeat.  The first two 400’s I ran a bit slow (1:57 and 1:51). After that, I found the pace and I kept right around 1:45 for the rest of the workout. The last rep I picked up the pace a bit and ran about 1:35.  I walked around the lake to regain my breath, and then I jogged home two miles as a cooldown.

Sunday, I went out for an easier endurance workout. I went for a five mile jog – out to the park, around the lake twice, and back. My pace started out a bit quick for a long run (~8:30/mile), but I think I eased back to ~9:00-10:00/mile after the first two miles. The first three miles felt great, but I was really drained on the last two. Maybe it’s because those last two miles almost all up hill…

Today, I went out for another stamina workout. My legs were a bit tight in the beginning – I might have worked a bit too hard the last two days. I did a fairly easy steady state 3.25 mile run.  The first mile was at about 8:15 pace, and I eased back a bit to around 8:30 for the last two miles. After the first half mile, my legs loosened up and I felt pretty good the whole way through. My heart rate was elevated at the end, but my breathing was very regular until I kicked the pace for the last quarter mile.

Walking around this evening, I noticed my right calf is tight. I stretched it out a few times, but I’m going to have to watch out tomorrow and make sure I don’t overwork myself. It’s time for an easy day, anyway…