Hope To Run Again Before End Of The Year

Shamrock 5K - Danville, VA

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Location:

South Hill,VA,United States

Member Since:

Oct 23, 1983

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Recover From Injury

Running Accomplishments:

1 Mile - 4:54 (16 yrs.) - 1986

2 Mile - 10:49 (16 yrs.) - 1986

5K - 16:44 (16 yrs.) - 1986

8K - 30:32 (16 yrs.) - 1986

5K - 19:36 (37 yrs.) - 2008

8K - 33:29 (36 yrs.) - 2006

10K - 42:38 (38 yrs.) - 2008

13.1 - 1:38:53 (38 yrs.) - 2008

26.2 - 3:31:26 (38 yrs.) - 2008

Short-Term Running Goals:

Train consistently and smart. Run some local races and hope to lower PR's every once in awhile.

Long-Term Running Goals:

I would love to see a 5:XX for a mile just one more time. Go under 20 in a 5K. And a sub 40 for a 10K.

Personal:

Born in 1970. Grew up in Richmond, Virginia. Ran high school track and cross country. Also lived in the Outer Banks of North Carolina for a few years. Now living in South Hill, Virginia. Married since 1995 and have two children. Have been a police officer since 1994.

Look for me on Twitter and FaceBook

 

 

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Asics Gel - Fortitude 3 Lifetime Miles: 422.92
Saucony Grid Shadow 11 Lifetime Miles: 357.21
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
201.010.000.000.002.33203.34
Weight: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
6.490.000.000.000.006.49

PR - 5K - 20:29 - as an adult / post high school

Earlier today I was bored and messing with the settings on my Garmin. I was looking at the Virtual Partner and the pace/distance workouts. I decided to set it up to run a 5K at 7:00 pace (21:45). I headed to the path around the pond. It is flat and at the bottom of a hill with the trees all around. The landscape would provide a buffer from the strong winds we were having today. After a 1.65 mile warm-up I set the watch for the 3.11 @ 7:00 pace. Also turned on the Virtual Partner guy.

After pushing the start button I took off. Because of the different settings the display was not the same as usual. At .1 it showed the running guy and 65ft. I figured I was already 65ft. behind the pace. Then at .2 it was 172 ft. Falling behind even more. So I sped up. I also changed the display. This screen showed a countdown of my mileage at the top some other numbers at the bottom. I remembered on the first mile I saw a 6:23 once on the bottom screen. At the time I thought, oh great, now I have to speed up to that just to catch the 7:00 guy. Somewhere between 1.5 and 2 miles I saw 6:42. Now I realized this was my current pace..cool! My previous PR was a 20:42(6:39 avg.). Now I was excited. Could I hold pace? Could I set a PR?

So now I was on a mission to set a new PR. I never heard my watch chirp at the mile marks so I had no idea what my splits were, just the average pace. And since I had not used this function before I wondered if it was accurate at recording the average pace while on the go. I knew my 2nd mile was slower than the 1st. I told myself to just maintain and save a little for the last 1.11. The path is .39, so 8 laps is 3.12. With 2 laps to go I picked it up. On the final lap I was dying. I just told myself one more to go and then I could finally stop running.

When I was done I saw where I had beat the Virtual guy by 1:16. I ran this same run a few weeks ago in 21:32. And I thought that was as fast as I could go. I guess I was wrong.

I am still having a problem at knowing my faster paces by feel. I can tell anything from a 7:50 to 8:20, but not when running faster. I mean how do I think I am running slower than 7:00 when I was actually running 6:29? I need to figure out a way to learn how to "feel" these faster paces.

So here's the final results:

3.11 - 6:29.72, 6:40.66, 6:36.59, 42:24 - 20:29.21 - 6:35 avg.

warm-up - 1.65 - 13:54

cool down - 1.73 - 14:25


Weight: 0.00
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
6.230.000.000.000.006.23

When I woke up this morning I was feeling like taking today off. Then a couple of hours later I thought an easy 4 would be nice. But I eventually ran a nice 6. I met John at the 1 mile mark. We ran the next 3.6 together. Then I ran the rest of the way home on my own.

At the 5.9-6.0 mark a three kids were sitting on a curb. As I went by one of the boys, about 12 or 13, jumped up and started to run. I said, "Are you ready?" and he said, "yeah". He did not last even 25 yards. As I left him behind I yelled back and said, "you just got beat by a 38 year old man.". And the last thing he saw was the FRB commercial on the back of my shirt.

Run -

6.23 - 7:55, 8:39, 8:43, 8:37, 8:20, 7:11, 1:38 - 51:06 - 8:12 avg.

Weight: 0.00
Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
8.000.000.000.000.638.63

Had court in the morning. Got home and had a quick lunch. Picked Justin up from school and took him to the sitter. Then went back to the house and went running. Felt sluggish 1st and 2nd mile. Gradually started feeling better and went with it. Back home again. Changed clothes and headed to the pool. Swam 1000 yards freestyle. Due to the run and lack of pool time lately I went pretty slow. Was going to do another 1000 of a breast & free mix. But I had been feeling some "catches" in a foot, hamstring, and calf. On the 1st 100 breast I thought I was going to really cramp up in the legs. They may only last seconds, but the tenderness and soreness can linger for a couple of days. So I stopped swimming. Then went immediately to picking up both kids. So once again the yard work I need to do did not get done. And tomorrow is looking no better for it either.

Run -

8 - 8:20, 8:14, 8:00, 7:51, 7:46, 7:41, 7:32, 7:38 - 1:03:03 - 7:52 avg.

Swim -

1000 yards free - 18:30

100 yards breast - 2:11

Weight: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
7.500.000.000.000.007.50

Wanted to try and run 4 "faster miles" today. The plan was to warm up for 1, then run the next 4 at 7:30 pace. And a cool down at the end. But I am still trying to figure out pacing by feel when running faster. Trying for a 7:30 on mile 1 and it turned out to be a 7:10. Eventually I will get better at pacing myself....I hope. The other 3 miles were off pace as well, but I was just trying to stay about the same as the 1st.

Run -

7.5 - 8:11, 7:10, 7:08, 7:04, 7:06, 8:34, 8:25, 4:04 - 57:44 - 7:42 avg.

Weight: 0.00
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.000.000.000.001.131.13

I have a weird feeling or pain in my left leg. It has been there since Monday. It has been about 12 days since I took a running day off, so I took one today.

Last night I worked the 1st of 6 Midnight Shifts for this week. When I woke up today I did not feel like doing anything. But made myself go to the pool and swim.

Lack of pool time lately and the change in sleep schedule made it slow going. But it felt good.

Swim -

1000 yards free - 17:38

1000 yards free/breast mix - 18:29

Total - 1.13 miles - 36:07

Weight: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
7.100.000.000.000.577.67

Night 2 of Midnight shift is complete. 4 more to go....ughh.

Woke up this afternoon and ate a PB&J sandwich for breakfast. Then ran to the pool 2.1 miles. I decided not to wear a "swim suit" or take a towel. I swam in my running shorts and used some paper towels to dry off. The temps were around 70 so the shorts dried quickly once I got to running again after the swim.

Swam 1000 yards of a free & breast mix. Arms were slightly sore from yesterday's swim. Then ran 5 miles on the way back home.

Run -

2.1 - 8:01, 8:01, :50 - 16:53 - 8:02 avg.

Swim -

1000 yards free/breast - 18:24

Run -

5.0 - 7:52, 7:41, 7:55, 7:55, 7:38 - 39:01 - 7:48 avg.


Weight: 0.00
Comments(3)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
6.200.000.000.000.006.20

Bad rains today when I woke up. So I went to the gym and used the treadmill. I hate the treadmill.

Run -

6.2 - 49:36 - 8:00 avg.

Weight: 0.00
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
8.000.000.000.000.008.00

Woke up this afternoon and already knew there was a high wind advisory for the day. Looked out the window and saw the trees a swaying. Ate a PB&J sandwich then checked weather.com It showed rain was not too far away and the winds were 23mph with gusts up to 44mph....oh great!

I hurried and left so I could get done before the rains came. I could certainly feel the wind when it was on my back. It was literally pushing me along. And it was tough when it was in my face. I tried to apply the BS Rools when it comes to a headwind, but it was not easy. I saw two houses with gutters ripped away and banging against the houses in the blow.

I ran 8 today and did have an incentive to run a little faster than normal...beat the rain. But while this run was not "easy" it was not as hard as it used to be only a month or so ago. I ran this same route, plus a 1/2 mile, on February 23rd. The average pace that day was 7:26 and today was 7:25. On that day I had felt worn out at the end, but not today. I am taking this as a positive sign that my fitness has improved.

Daylight Savings Time means I only have to work 7 hours tonight while getting paid for 8 !!

Run -

8 miles - 7:44, 7:42, 7:32, 7:21, 7:26, 7:17, 7:12, 7:10 - 59:25 - 7:25 avg.

Weight: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
7.230.000.000.000.007.23

Wanted to get in some easy miles today. The splits were just a little faster than I thought they should be...wanted to stay at 8:10 - 8:20 pace. But they still felt easy.

Run -

7.23 - 8:17, 8:02, 8:07, 8:04, 8:07, 7:54, 7:51, 1:46 - 58:09 - 8:02 avg.

Weight: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.000.000.000.000.000.00

Tomorrow was my planned rest day for the week. But Midnight Shift is over ans I am trying to revert back to a normal sleep schedule. I was feeling bad from the lack of sleep today. So I took today off, and will resume again tomorrow with a long, easy run.

Weight: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
10.000.000.000.000.0010.00

Ran 10. At times the pace seemed harder than it should.

Run -

10 miles - 7:55, 7:43, 7:45, 7:53, 7:41, 7:51, 7:44, 7:45, 7:53, 7:54 - 1:18:02 - 7:48 avg.

Weight: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
7.000.000.000.000.007.00

Set out for 8. Felt bad. No energy. Chest got tight, so I slowed and cut it short a mile. May be due to cold I have had for at least a week now. But this is the first time I had felt any effects from it while running.

Run -

7 miles - 7:45, 7:41, 7:38, 7:40, 7:54, 8:27, 8:16 - 55:22 - 7:54 avg.

Weight: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
3.270.000.000.000.003.27

After yesterday's run I decided to do an easy 5. I felt absolutely great when putting my shoes on. But once I got running it was bad. I was huffing and puffing on the first mile. That should not have happened at that pace. I was so dead legged. They felt heavy as well with some burn it them. I am not sure what is going on. I have been so excited about my race on Saturday. But these last two runs have left me wondering..........

Cut this run short as well. I wish I knew what was going on with my body right now.

Run -

3.27 miles - 7:56, 8:08, 8:08, 2:04 - 26:16 - 8:02 avg.

My mileage for this week will not be good it would seem.

Weight: 0.00
Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
4.000.000.000.000.004.00

Not much time to report. Ran a little faster on purpose to see if I could. Breathing still labored more than it should. Legs still not fresh as I would like. Wondering if it is the high concentration of pollen in the air???

4 - 8:00, 7:35, 7:40, 7:42 - 30:57 - 7:44 avg.

Weight: 0.00
Comments(1)
Race: Shamrock 5K - Danville, VA (3.1 Miles) 00:19:36, Place overall: 12, Place in age division: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
3.100.000.000.000.003.10

"Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great" - Steve Prefontaine

I saw this quote last month on someone else's blog and it just stuck with me. I would find it popping in my head randomly. I just knew I could apply this thinking to my race today. My goal was to break 20:00, which would need to be a 32 second PR. And if it did not happen I knew I would have at least given it my best shot.

So this story starts on Friday night. I had to work until Midnight. After getting home it usually takes a little while for me to settle down before going to bed. I laid down at 1am and fell asleep pretty quick. But at 1:30am I woke up coughing a lot. I took some cough syrup and tried to fall asleep again. After another 10-15 minutes of coughing I decided to sleep on the reclining couch. I sat upright and that seemed to stop all the drainage from my sinuses that were causing the coughs. Woke up again around 5am and laid down. The alarm went off at 6:40am. After getting ready John came over and then we picked up C.B. Now we had an 80 mile drive to the race. Thankfully it was a 10:30am start time.

No problems traveling there. The weather was great. Sunny, light wind, and 55-60 degrees. The course was completely flat. It was a paved path that followed along a river. It was out and back. I spoke to someone before the race and he said the course had been measured with a wheel and was right at 3.1. Also he said they followed good tangents so try to run smart so as to not add any extra distance.

The race started on the narrow path. I was about 2 or 3 deep from the starting line. There was some slight jostling for position at first, but it spread out pretty good by the end of the first 1/4 mile. I would say no one passed me from the from about the .4 mark. I gradually picked off a few people by the end of the race. But mostly I was running on my own, but still close enough to hear some people behind me. I had a difficult time measuring my effort. It is much different running in a pack than training on my own. I really thought breaking 20 was going to be a bust until I heard my 1st mile split. It was a 6:29. Well, I thought, I still got a chance at this if I can just go a little faster. Mile 2 was 6:19. That was a relief to hear. Now I just knew I had to maintain my current pace and the 20:00 barrier would be broken. 3rd mile was in 6:24. My watch measured 3.07. So either I hit better tangents, or the GPS lost signal in the heavy tree lined path. The last bit was in 23.60. So the final time was 19:36.62

I was very happy with my time. Especially considering how poorly my workouts were during the middle part of this past week. Not sure what was wrong with me then, but everything was a GO today.

At the end of it all I found out I won my age division. No prizes though. And I got chicked. The 1st place female finished 2 seconds in front of me.

John and C.B. set PR's today, but I do not know their times.

Race -

1 mile - 6:29.02

2 mile - 6:19.88

3 mile - 6:24.12

the rest - 23.60

Total - 19:36.62 - 6:19 avg.

Weight: 0.00
Comments(6)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
4.100.000.000.000.004.10

Easy run. Something to get the legs moving.

Run -

4.1 - 8:17, 8:03, 7:45, 7:38, :46 - 32:29 - 7:55 avg.

Ran into the wind on 1st 2, and it was on my back the 2nd 2.

Weight: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
8.000.000.000.000.008.00

Felt good running today. Windy in spots. Breathing was good.

Run -

8 - 7:54, 7:55, 7:41, 7:46, 7:40, 7:40, 7:15, 7:28 - 1:01:17 - 7:39 avg.

On the 7:15 mile it was flat/downhill and the wind was on my back. It felt easier than normal at that pace.

Weight: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
8.350.000.000.000.008.35

I have a 5 mile race on April 19th. The course has more hills on it than I am used to. As a matter of fact I hardly ever run any hills in my training. And the hill in my area are not even very big. Today I ran around my block 5 times. Each loop gives me 4 hills. I was surprised at my splits today. They were faster without seemingly any extra effort. After the loops I ran a 4 mile out and back course.

Run -

8.35 - 7:37, 7:28, 7:20, 7:18, 7:44, 7:36, 7:38, 7:25, 2:54 - 1:03:00 - 7:32 avg.

Weight: 0.00
Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
4.000.000.000.000.004.00

This evening I ran my "got to get home in time for dinner" pace. But it felt good. Even though not a lot of miles today, I am still on pace for a good week.

Run -

4 - 7:26, 7:14, 7:14, 7:06 - 28:59 - 7:15 avg.

Weight: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
13.100.000.000.000.0013.10

Windy out today. Long run planned. Was going to do 12, but then I thought today would be a good day to run my very first half marathon. So if the accuracy of my Garmin is acceptable, that is exactly what I did. This is the longest single run in distance and time I have ever run. I stayed comfortable throughout. At 10 miles I seemed to freshen up a bit, and it was smooth sailing from there.

3/20/2008 - 13.1

Weight: 0.00
Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
10.300.000.000.000.0010.30

Started working dayshift today. It will last through next Thursday. I am going to try and do some doubles this week. So I got up this morning at 5:30 am. I am certainly not used to running this early in the morning. It was slow going, but felt good.

Ran again this afternoon after work. My left quad is a little sore. I will keep an eye on it.

am -


pm -

Weight: 0.00
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
6.200.000.000.000.006.20

It had been good running weather all day. But when I got ready to go for my run I noticed the wind had really picked up. Looking through the windows at the front of my house the sky was blue and out the back windows it was dark clouds. I checked the Weather Channel and saw a small storm cell headed towards us. I figured I had just enough time to get in a run before it hit.

I pretty much started out running fast right out the door to beat the bad weather. Today was supposed to be an easier run. It started to rain hard, and my GPS showed I had only been 339 feet. The rain continued, but was down to a drizzle by the end of the 1st mile. It drizzled until the end of the 3rd mile. I was still hurrying along. The Sun came back out on the 4th mile and stayed around for the rest of the run. I should have slowed once the weather got better, but the pace was already set in my mind. My legs were tired after the run. I am really looking forward to my day off tomorrow.

Happy Easter !

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.000.000.000.000.000.00

Happy Easter !

Planned day off.

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
10.000.000.000.000.0010.00

Well today was supposed to be the day I start running some 2 a days. But before bed last night I checked the weather and it showed it was going to be raining in the morning. So I skipped the morning run, and did longer on the afternoon run. Still got in my mileage goal for the day.

On today's run I fell into the trap of running faster than I should have due to having fresh legs from the day off yesterday. But I felt so good. The legs tired some, but the cardio was good the whole run.

Now if I can just make myself get up before sunrise for that morning run tomorrow.......

Weight: 0.00
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
10.440.000.000.000.0010.44

I actually woke up early this morning and went for a run before work. I wish I would enjoy the experience more, but I would rather sleep in. Ran a very easy 4. There was no soreness in the legs from yesterday's run.

After work I ran again. And my legs were very sore. I believe driving a car for 6.5 hours out of an 8 hour shift caused it to happen, combined with my previous two runs.

With the soreness, I am looking even less forward to my morning run tomorrow.


Weight: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
9.000.000.000.000.009.00

My legs were so tired and sore. Monday's run was of the best feeling runs I have ever had. But I am sorely paying for it now. I had planned on 10. But at 9 I could see my house and called it a day. Tomorrow will be shorter and slower.


Weight: 0.00
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
6.200.000.000.000.006.20

Came home from work and checked the thermometer. It was 78f ยบ outside. So I decided to treat the residents of South Hill to a special treat. I ran shirtless. Two teenage girls rode past in a car and yelled something. I will pretend it was a compliment. And a boy about 5 or 6 yelled for me to put my shirt on. I wonder if his mother prodded him or if he said it on his own.

The legs were still a little sore. Mainly on the downhills. But they were not as dead as yesterday. Probably another 6 miles tomorrow. Then a long run on Saturday.

Weight: 0.00
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
6.200.000.000.000.006.20

Ran just before dinner, so I had to make it quick. Everyone was waiting for me when I got home. This pace was harder to hold than it was a week ago. The soreness was almost completely gone. Not enough to slow me down.

Weight: 0.00
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
15.000.000.000.000.0015.00

Longest run of my life today. My legs felt good. Then sore. Then better again. A blister has formed, or at least a tender spot, on the outer edge of my right foot. Never had problems like that before. I am pretty much drained of energy now. Tomorrow an easy 4. Monday about 8. And Tuesday off is my plan for the next few days. I start Midnight Shift on Monday. I doubt I will feel like doing anything Tuesday. So I will try to do something tomorrow to make up for it.

Weight: 0.00
Comments(3)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
6.000.000.000.000.006.00

Legs were only a little sore. Which surprised me. I figured they would be so stiff and dead I would not be able to get out of bed today. They actually had some pep in them despite the slight soreness.

It rained on me the entire run and it was cold. I was feeling good though. Got a little crazy on that last mile.

Weight: 0.00
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
201.010.000.000.002.33203.34
Weight: 0.00
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