But the good news? There’s no new infection. No script hijacking. No iframe injection. See my previous post for more details.

Fuck you ixwebhosting. That’s all I’ve got to say.

I don’t see any other explanation except that IXwebhosting’s servers are compromised, and their weak security was in turn compromising my site. I’ve had no problems with HostGator, and I love it.

I lined up at the marker that said “25 minutes,” so I figured the people around me would be trying to move at a decent pace.  Now I know to move up a bit in the pack.  I might not finish in 20 minutes (although by next year I hopefully will be better than that), but at least I can get out at a decent pace and get a more accurate time.

Nonetheless, it was a fun time.  I took a week or two off afterwards – finishing up a ton of work for my classes at Rutgers – but now I’m back in the groove.

The other day, I did some speedwork at the lake.  I want to get a feel for the faster pace that I want to run for the 800m, so I ran 4 x 200m at around 35 seconds.  The first one was quicker (~31 seconds), and the next three were all around 35-36 seconds.  I was happy with the workout, and I finished up pretty tired.

Today, I went out for a 5 mile easy run.  I didn’t time myself, but it was around an 8:30 pace overall.  I think I started out around 8:00 minute pace and slackened off closer to 9:00 by the end.  I want to get back in the habit of one longer run a week – 5 to 7 miles.  I’m not going to run any crazy long runs (8+ miles) like I did over the summer until next summer rolls around, though.

I ultimately chose ixwebhosting.  Two years later, I’m not sure why.  I’m pretty sure I read reviews and determined that they would be a reliable host.  That estimate turned out to be… dead wrong.

In the first year, I experienced a lot of issues with ixwebhosting.  Despite a “99.9%” uptime guarantee, there were times when a problem with the sql server rendered my sites (all database driven) completely inaccessible.  In my second year, these issues seem to have been worked out, but that first year left a real sour taste in my mouth.

Then, over the past year, I’ve been battling various infections to my website.  At first, they were iframe injections that would periodically crop up.  For a time, I wasn’t maintaining any of these sites (although they were still getting a trickle of traffic), and the iframe injection got me blacklisted from Google.  Eugh.

After I sorted that out, I got hit with something like a gumblar infection.  The research I did suggested that this was a local issue – that my computer was compromised and that some kind of trojan was sending my ftp information to a remote server, which then injected script elements into my website.  I cleaned everything up, cleared my ftp information out of filezilla, and then used the web-based control panel with ixwebhosting to change my ftp password.  Still, these script elements kept coming up.  I also put a fresh install of Windows 7 (which I love, btw) onto my desktop.  If there was some kind of local infection, this would have wiped it out – and it didn’t stop the problem.

By this time, I was convinced that something was wrong at ixwebhosting.  They told me that my computer was compromised and that this led to the injections, but it just doesn’t add up.  I tried several different virus/malware scans, and nothing was found.  I changed my ftp password (and never used it in my ftp client).  I even put a fresh install of Windows on the machine.  There’s no way it’s a problem on my side.

This month, my hosting account with ixwebhosting ran out, and I dumped ‘em.  I switched to HostGator and paid for 6-months up front.  So far, I’ve got no complaints.  But it’s only been a week, so I’m not quite ready to pass judgement on them just yet.

As for IXwebhosting?  I’m ready to pass judgement on them.  They suck.  Stay away.  I signed up for two years when I bought my hosting from them, and within a few months I regretted it.  If I hadn’t been locked in for two years, I would have dumped them long ago and switched to a new host.

Today was one of those days. I went out for a 5k run. It started off ok – I did the first mile in 7:30. I was kind of fatigued by the end, though, and it showed. The next two miles were both around 9:00 minutes each. /sigh

Oh well. It looks like next Saturday isn’t going to be a great race, but I’m going to go anyway. Bad timing with the flu and a couple weeks of lost motivation really take their toll. I’ll schedule another 5k in the spring and, hopefully, make a much better go of it.

Initially, I had problems with iframes popping up on my pages. I cleared the themes and deleted the iframes, and periodically they would re-appear. This was annoying, and it was also damaging to my sites (although not a huge concern, since I didn’t update them regularly anymore and I wasn’t really expecting to earn much profit/traffic from them). Then, I noticed that script tags were appearing in the pages, and the whole situation got even more aggravating.

I would remove all of the script tags and clean up the entire server (replacing three wordpress installations and cleaning up three wordpress templates). A few days later, the script tags would be back.

What the heck? I eventually found some reading on the topic – start with this post about Gumblar and then look around Unmasked Parasites. I repeatedly scanned my computer with different virus programs, but I was unable to find any kind of parasite that would transmit my ftp information to a remote server.

Nonetheless, I decided that something like this had to be the problem. I again cleaned up the server, replacing all three wordpress installations and cleaning up the templates. I then cleared all of the passwords out of my FTP client (Filezilla). Finally, I went to my hosting account through my web browser and changed my FTP password to something new and never used it in Filezilla.

So far, so good. It’s been a week or so, and the virus hasn’t cropped back up. Oh, I hope it stays away…

Here was the plan:

Warm-up.  Easy 800m run, some dynamic warm-up/stretches, and some strides.

Medium intensity 400m run to finish warm-up (~90 seconds).

2 x High Intensity 400m run, with 10-15 minutes recovery (~75-80 seconds).

The last time I did a 400m workout, I followed the same pattern and my two workout quarters were in the 70′s – a time that I was more than satisfied with. Today, I warmed up and felt fine. The warm-up 400m went well, and I came in at 92 seconds.

The workout 400s were a bit slow, though.  The first one was 82 seconds, which wouldn’t have upset me if the next one was an improvement. But, the last 400 was slower – around 85 seconds.  In both of the workout quarters, I felt like I came out too slow because my legs felt dead. I picked up the pace over the last 200m, but it was too little too late.

I also tried to run through the end of the last 400m, extending it to 600m or 800m. Hah!  That wasn’t going to happen. I made it about 50m past the mark, and I couldn’t maintain the pace.

Just like yesterday, I’m going to chalk this workout up to recovery from the flu and time off. I’ll run a couple steady state runs this week, and hopefully next weekend I’ll be back on track. I only have three weeks left until my 5k race, so I’m running out of time on that. I do, however, have plenty of time before I need to run my 400m and 800m races in June.

Two weeks ago, my luck ran out. I was getting ready to enjoy a nice four day weekend – in other words I was going to get a lot of work done. But Friday I came down with a nasty cough, a horrible headache, and eventually a steady fever. This seemed like a good time to take a few days off.

On Sunday, most of my symptoms were improving, except the cough. I thought I’d go out for an easy jog to stretch out my legs after a few days of sitting around the house. It felt good to get out and stretch, but my legs were so dead I made it about a mile before I stopped and walked home.

Over the next two weeks, I didn’t go out and run.  The first week, my cough was still so bad I didn’t want to run hard. The second week, I intended to go out and get a couple easy workouts in, but I was too busy catching up on work that I missed while sick.

But, finally, I got out yesterday morning for a workout. I went to the park and warmed up. At first, I planned on some speedwork, but after my warmup I didn’t feel quite up to it. Instead, I thought I’d do some 800-meter cruise intervals – a medium intensity stamina workout.

I warmed up with a half mile jog (~4 minutes). My goal was to run six 800 meters at a pace of around 3:20 to 3:30 (around my goal 5k time) with a short walking recovery (2-3 minutes) between each rep.

The first one was good, coming in at 3:27. The second one, my legs felt decidedly fatigued, and I struggled through at 3:40. By the third lap, my legs were really dead and I just barely came in under 4 minutes. At that point, I decided it was time to call it an early day, stretch out, and head home.

It definitely felt good to get out and run, but my legs are definitely worn out from sitting around for a week or two without any exercise. Hopefully a few days of training will whip that fatigue out of them, because my 5k is coming up in just a few weeks – December 12.

I plan on going over to the park later today for a workout, so we’ll see how that goes.

Unfortunately, those plans were hampered by shopping.  Boo.  Had to buy some new shoes and go with the wife to pick out a new couch.  By the time I got home, the sun was going down, and there are no lights in the park.  I didn’t want to be running in total darkness.

Instead, I ran the usual 5k steady state run. It started off great – about 7:00 for the first mile. Although the second mile seemed to start off fine, I definitely lost some time somewhere. I pulled in to the second mile at a disappointing 15:35 – about 8:35 for the split. The third mile was just as slow, and I hit the 3 mile mark around 24:05. That works out to an approximate 5k time of 25:00.

This is somewhat disappointing. On Monday, I had a great run and finished in around 24:00. I was hoping to do the same or similar.

But, on the other hand, it’s still a sign of long term improvement. Just a month or two ago, I would be struggling to complete the 5k in under 25 minutes. Now, it’s a problem of getting the pacing right. I have a feeling that taking the first mile out so fast led in part to the disappointing miles. I plan to hit up some 800m repeats at the park on Saturday, and hopefully that will help work out the kinks.

It would also be nice to run a course that wasn’t quite so hilly… but I can’t do much about that.

The first mile I took out far faster than I have in the past. I pulled up at the stop light (the one mile split) at about 6:55. Woot! A mile in under 7 minutes. Not incredibly fast, but I think that’s the first time I’ve run a mile that fast since high school… and I could still happily breath and keep running afterwards.

I did, however, end up slowing down a bit. I tried to push it over the next mile, but the hills and/or the fatigue from the first mile kept me from going too fast. I hit the 2 mile split around 15:05 and I hit the 3 mile split around 23:05. Although those last two miles were a bit slower than I’d like (I was aiming for 7:30-7:45 for each mile), the overall time is clearly better than my previous runs.

I finished the entire 5200m loop in 24:45 – the first time I’ve run the loop under 25 minutes. At the pace I was going, I’d estimate the actual 5k time to be somewhere around 23:45, which is getting closer towards my goal (21-22 minutes in December).

One thing I was disappointed with was the kick at the end. I sped up over the last 400m (which is uphill). I don’t know that I gave it quite all that I had, but I pushed pretty hard. I covered the last quarter in about 1:40.  It’s definitely faster than the pace I posted for the last 2 miles (~2:00/quarter), but I want to finish a little faster than that – at least around 90 seconds for the quarter.  Oh well, something to work on for the future.

So, instead, I decided to shift to a speed workout. I only have a little over a month before my race, and I’m looking ahead to my goals for June (better times in the 800m and 400m). So, I guess a little speedwork is in order.

I went over to the park, warmed up, and intended to do 4 x 400m. My goal was to start with an easy 400m (< 1:40) and then move up progressively towards my goal time (1:30, 1:20, and <1:20).

Well, as usual, I took the first one out way too fast. Doh! Instead of a slow 90-100 seconds, I came through at 83 seconds. I was also running well below 100%, so even though it was faster than I intended I was happy with the outcome. I decided at this point to drop my workout to 3 total 400ms, and aim for 2 quality 400s under 80 seconds.

I walked the rest of the way around the lake and recovered for about 7 or 8 minutes. The next 400m I ran considerably harder – especially through the last 200m – and I came in at 76-77 seconds. At this point, my legs were feeling pretty dead, so I took an extra long recovery (~15 minutes) and went out harder for the last lap. I had to push myself to keep up the pace, but I managed to improve the time, and I came in at 73 seconds. Woot!

Sure, that’s not an excellent time. But this is the first speedwork I’ve done in a few months – I’ve been working strictly on endurance and stamina since June. It suggests to me that I’m also on pace to meet my goals for June. I was running 80-90 seconds last Spring when I first started running. If I’ve got another six or seven months to train, I think I should be able to shave that time down to the low 60′s.

I’m also thinking that this is a good addition to my weekly routine until my 5k. I’m going to try to stick to two stamina runs a week (5k steady states, around 24-25 minutes during the week) with one speed workout (3 x 400m) on the weekend. To round things out, I’m planning on an easy endurance run on Sundays – 5-6 miles to stretch the legs out and keep up the endurance.