Running in Portugal

05-07-07
Today I wanted to run fast, so I stayed in the hotel and just did the dreadmill thing. Not bad - 10 x 1200 in 4:47. Altogether 13 in 91 minutes. Tomorrow I'll explore.

05-08-07
I ran over to the university today. It's close, and there's some trails there. I ran around, getting lost a few times. It's probably a mile and a half around. I'll check that when I run *only* around and time it. I spent a lot of time trying, unsuccessfully, to get into the 400 meter track. Maybe they open it later. Decent but slow run overall - 1:03 - I'll call it 7.

05-09-07
For some reason my quads were extremely sore last night. Must have been Monday's speedwork or elliptical running. Strange that it didn't hit later Monday or Tuesday morning. They were still sore today, but I went over to the university again and did the trail loop 5 times. I figure each one is about 1.6 miles and the times were: 17:31 (with some extra), 13:47, 13:00, 12:57, 12:13. Along with the run there and back and a bit more extra, I'm calling it 10 in 82.5. I need to recover these quads and get in a long run, some speedwork and then a taper. All in a week and a half.

05-10-07
I set out in a different direction for a change, and - I found my way over to the big green hill. Didn't have time to do much else. I'll explore more there later.

05-11-07
20 on the dreadmill. I didn't have much more time than that, and I wanted to ensure a good pace. I also wanted to get this one last long one in before the race. Decent enough of a run. The last 9 were at MP. Altogether, I did the 20 in 2:26.

05-12-07
More dreadmill running. Not so great this time, but I wanted to get 6 in to get 60 for the week. Just barely managed.

05-13-07
This was a really nice run. I felt good and strong, but a lot of it was slow because of the hills and trails. I found my way to Monsanto park, like I did the other day. This time I hit the hills and trails a lot. The hills are pretty durn big. It's a beautiful park. I managed to run for 2:09, so I'll call it 15.

05-14-07
I only did 6 today - tough to get out the door. Once I did, I started slow, but then got moving ok. I did 2 loops around the university in just over 12 minutes each - not bad. Altogether a decent run after all. Here's something from today's post to DRS:

After being such a strong proponent of measurement, I suppose it was time to
get a GPS. So I ordered a Forerunner 305 just before the deadline for the
rebate. It's bound to be oodles of fun to figure out. I'm mostly concerned
with getting too caught up in technology at the expense of running enjoyment
and running improvement. I hope that this will not be the case here. Stay
tuned... details at 11.
ORN: I'm in Lisbon and I did a few loops of the university grounds. Nice,
soft dirt trails. Only problem is that there aren't enough of them. I figure
the longest loop possible is just over a mile and a half. But this was
pretty nice.
I suppose I ought to write about yesterday's run as well. I'd been able to
see this Big Green Hill from my hotel room. It looked pretty inviting. I'd
been running at the university, which has some nice trails, but I only wish
there were more of them. So this time I found my way over, past the zoo, up
and across a pedestrian bridge over train tracks and a highway, and up the
Big Green Hill into so-called Monsanto Park.
What a great place to run. The hills are big and bad, but it was very quiet
- at least on a Sunday. There are well maintained trails galore. I had a
really nice, peaceful but challenging Sunday morning run there.

Dan Horvath, Brunswick, Ohio, USA, but currently in Lovely Lisbon

05-15-07
I wanted to get one more speedwork session in before the marathon. So I did 10 x 1200 on the mill once again. It turned out not too bad - I did them at about 4:46 (15kph) with the last one just a bit faster. Altogether 12 in 82. Now I'm ready. I think.

05-16-06
Feeling very tired, I didn't get out as early as I wanted. So with only an hour to work with, I made it over to Monsanto Park to explore a bit more. I did go past one area where I ran Sunday. Lotso big hills and trails again. But it was extremely slow going. I'm calling it 7 in 63.

05-17-07
My last run for this trip, and it was a good one. As always, the weather was perfect. I got over to the university and did 6 loops. Each one generally got faster, and I did a few faster than any before, so I'm happy with this run. Here are the splits: 13:16,12:31,11:49,11:53,11:30,11:04. Altogether, 10 in 78.