here's a pic from either PDR in September, or Rothman in November. which one? Looks like I'm working very hard, eh? I hate these pics, who pays huge money for these prints???
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Ramblin' Wreck
Yo, haven't written anything in a while.
*EDIT*
Been rockin' some long runs lately. 22 in freezing rain last Sunday. mostly roads, still hurting from that effor.t
2 weeks before that I did a 20 on the trails at Fair Hill, MD. Felt crappy almost right from the start. Got lost like friggin' 5 times. Hate that feeling of being off trail. Makes the day stretch out soooo f'ing long. They got some hills out there. Estimate course is 3,100 climbing over 31 miles. doesn't sound so bad when you say it that way. Felt so good toward the end after ditching hydration pack and tacking on a few extra miles. 16, 17, 18 were fun. Then fell down at 19. no damanage.
2 weeks b/f that did a 20 at BCSP. seemed to take forever. This was also a very cold rainy day. I seem tob e slowing down big time. My dream of 5.half 50k is way out. 6 or even 6.half is more like it. okay, watever. this ain't a race so much as a "can you finish it" sort of thing.
*EDIT*
I know that Positive Mental Attidude is important for these longer races, but i just cant seem to turn the corner. Seriously thinking of dropping from the 50k down to the shorter race. that will give me a mental advantage. I am completely unable to concentrate on my work, my home, or my running. Everything has gone fuzzy, don't know why.
i should delete this post, but will read it in the morning and re-evaluate.
*EDIT*
Been rockin' some long runs lately. 22 in freezing rain last Sunday. mostly roads, still hurting from that effor.t
2 weeks before that I did a 20 on the trails at Fair Hill, MD. Felt crappy almost right from the start. Got lost like friggin' 5 times. Hate that feeling of being off trail. Makes the day stretch out soooo f'ing long. They got some hills out there. Estimate course is 3,100 climbing over 31 miles. doesn't sound so bad when you say it that way. Felt so good toward the end after ditching hydration pack and tacking on a few extra miles. 16, 17, 18 were fun. Then fell down at 19. no damanage.
2 weeks b/f that did a 20 at BCSP. seemed to take forever. This was also a very cold rainy day. I seem tob e slowing down big time. My dream of 5.half 50k is way out. 6 or even 6.half is more like it. okay, watever. this ain't a race so much as a "can you finish it" sort of thing.
*EDIT*
I know that Positive Mental Attidude is important for these longer races, but i just cant seem to turn the corner. Seriously thinking of dropping from the 50k down to the shorter race. that will give me a mental advantage. I am completely unable to concentrate on my work, my home, or my running. Everything has gone fuzzy, don't know why.
i should delete this post, but will read it in the morning and re-evaluate.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
21 miles SLOWLY
I had my heart set on a long slow run for the end of last week. Friday I farted around all day and never got out for any run. The crapped weather played a part in that, altho I don't mind running in the rain too much. Then Saturday turned out to be a effed-up schedule because of all the rain storms over the past few days. Soooo, Sunday early a.m. I was ready to hit the trails for a maximum distance effort.
Decided to wear my new hydration pack for the first half. Ended up being 11 miles with pack, felt much better than before. Even stopped to stuff in an old bottle along the trail (yes, new hobby is bottle collecting. Sounds so olde fuddy duddy I know, but I like old crap, history, etc., and I've found a few spots in the woods with what I will call farm dumps (ok, so they're trash piles... but they're old trash piles so the stuff is like practically antiques!). Anyway, I'm getting comfortable with the hydration pack. And I came home with a circa 1940's ASCO brand vinegar bottle for me new collection.
21 miles never goes down too easy. Felt tired almost right away. Stopped back at the car every 3 to 6 miles for water, gatorade, Gu & cereal bars. Avoided most of the hills, total climbing over 21 miles was approx. 1200 feet. Time: 3:32 which is about exactly 10 minute pace. That includes a good 10 or 15 minutes of stoppage time for the car refueling pit stops. Quite muddy out there, but I purposely avoided the worst of it. Warm for mid-November; start 50 & end 60 degrees. Did a good bit walking - top of every steep hill plus a few short breaks in the last couple of miles.
My legs & feet feel remarkably good. The slower pace must really work for saving the body! Also I love these trail shoes - Asics Trail Sensor 3. Never dreamed I'd go back to Asics, but being forced into these shoes has worked out great. I am def buying another pair soon before they friggen change (i.e. screw up) them.
Overall impression: i don't know how the heck I'm going to do this 50k race that is now 6 weeks away. I hear the hills ain't too bad over at Fair Hill NRMA, but just the 31 miles itself is daunting. I didn't eat well the night before this 21 mile training run, so maybe I can get some energy there. Also, this is my longest effort since May, so maybe I can add to my endurance some more before taper begins. This run was 3:30 . . . I figure the race may take 5:30 so I really need to increase my 'time on the feet' over the next 30 days.
Anyone want to join me for a four & a half hour trail run next weekend? yeah, didn't think so! and I've got the last race of the year (Rothman 8k) so I guess that 4:30 LSD will have to wait 2 weeks.
Decided to wear my new hydration pack for the first half. Ended up being 11 miles with pack, felt much better than before. Even stopped to stuff in an old bottle along the trail (yes, new hobby is bottle collecting. Sounds so olde fuddy duddy I know, but I like old crap, history, etc., and I've found a few spots in the woods with what I will call farm dumps (ok, so they're trash piles... but they're old trash piles so the stuff is like practically antiques!). Anyway, I'm getting comfortable with the hydration pack. And I came home with a circa 1940's ASCO brand vinegar bottle for me new collection.
21 miles never goes down too easy. Felt tired almost right away. Stopped back at the car every 3 to 6 miles for water, gatorade, Gu & cereal bars. Avoided most of the hills, total climbing over 21 miles was approx. 1200 feet. Time: 3:32 which is about exactly 10 minute pace. That includes a good 10 or 15 minutes of stoppage time for the car refueling pit stops. Quite muddy out there, but I purposely avoided the worst of it. Warm for mid-November; start 50 & end 60 degrees. Did a good bit walking - top of every steep hill plus a few short breaks in the last couple of miles.
My legs & feet feel remarkably good. The slower pace must really work for saving the body! Also I love these trail shoes - Asics Trail Sensor 3. Never dreamed I'd go back to Asics, but being forced into these shoes has worked out great. I am def buying another pair soon before they friggen change (i.e. screw up) them.
Overall impression: i don't know how the heck I'm going to do this 50k race that is now 6 weeks away. I hear the hills ain't too bad over at Fair Hill NRMA, but just the 31 miles itself is daunting. I didn't eat well the night before this 21 mile training run, so maybe I can get some energy there. Also, this is my longest effort since May, so maybe I can add to my endurance some more before taper begins. This run was 3:30 . . . I figure the race may take 5:30 so I really need to increase my 'time on the feet' over the next 30 days.
Anyone want to join me for a four & a half hour trail run next weekend? yeah, didn't think so! and I've got the last race of the year (Rothman 8k) so I guess that 4:30 LSD will have to wait 2 weeks.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Snake Pit Wednesday
I did a small easy trail run today. Kind of an unfocused week for my training, so I decided I'd explore every new trail I saw that I haven't been on yet. Plus I did my usual yellow trail loop & red trail loop both backwards. Woo - hoooo, living dangerously! Total mileage 6, 4 running & 2 hiking.
Funny, when going the opposite direction you really do see things differently. Some side trails that typically look so minor were like open invitations to run down. And I did. Kind of warm day, and I saw deer, squirel & chipmunks all busy and scampering wildly when interupted by random human running down their trails. Most interesting sighting: one new trail led past an old house foundation. I stopped for a few mins and explored around. Stone bldg, with 'newer' front & back patios of yellow brick. Those looked to be 1950's -ish add ons to an older (1920's ish??) house. Basically I suck at knowing how to date these things so I could be way off. House collapsed both into the basement and along the sides. Piles of stones, just a few bricks. Up & just a few feet away was an old hand dug, stone lined well (more in a sec on that). Down the path about 50 feet was another stone foundation that appears to me as a work house of some sort. More crudely built and it's right over a spring that runs out an arch at the one end. Still standing, some wood & hinges intact. But back to the well. I peered down for a moment - hard to guess the depth but maybe 20 feet. Lots of sticks down there, no water visible in the bottom. The 'drum' which used to hold the rope & bucket have been dropped down into the well. Cool stuff, i like to explore old sites like this. Anyway I thought I saw something like maybe made from leather stuck in the wall most of the way down. Maybe some kind of climbing gear that was left behind by someone? Would I dare to climb down there and trust that I could get out? I moved to the other side to get a better view - and damn if the thing didn't move!! It was a big black snake. Very thick and strong looking. Then my eyes focused on several more down there. 2 big ones and 2 smaller. Three appeared black, at least one of those with a white underside. The forth guy was maybe a garter with short stripe pattern (not lengthwise), or maybe even some other type of snake. Freaky snake pit ! I wonder if they were getting ready to hibernate of if they've fallen in there and can't climb out?
Anyway, it was way cool as I like to explore & discover stuff like that. When I got home I quick grabbed my boys and we went back with flashlights so I could show them. We were all Indiana Jones snake-pit exploring style. I try to instill them with a sense of adventure with stuff like that. In fact, we were having so much fun that I lost track of time and my son was late to soccer practice. Oops.
I did alot of exploring around when i was a kid. The best line of the day: my younger son said, "I wish I could invent a time machine so that Joey & I could go back in time to when you were a boy. Then we could do nature hikes & explore with you when you were a boy."
Awesome.
Funny, when going the opposite direction you really do see things differently. Some side trails that typically look so minor were like open invitations to run down. And I did. Kind of warm day, and I saw deer, squirel & chipmunks all busy and scampering wildly when interupted by random human running down their trails. Most interesting sighting: one new trail led past an old house foundation. I stopped for a few mins and explored around. Stone bldg, with 'newer' front & back patios of yellow brick. Those looked to be 1950's -ish add ons to an older (1920's ish??) house. Basically I suck at knowing how to date these things so I could be way off. House collapsed both into the basement and along the sides. Piles of stones, just a few bricks. Up & just a few feet away was an old hand dug, stone lined well (more in a sec on that). Down the path about 50 feet was another stone foundation that appears to me as a work house of some sort. More crudely built and it's right over a spring that runs out an arch at the one end. Still standing, some wood & hinges intact. But back to the well. I peered down for a moment - hard to guess the depth but maybe 20 feet. Lots of sticks down there, no water visible in the bottom. The 'drum' which used to hold the rope & bucket have been dropped down into the well. Cool stuff, i like to explore old sites like this. Anyway I thought I saw something like maybe made from leather stuck in the wall most of the way down. Maybe some kind of climbing gear that was left behind by someone? Would I dare to climb down there and trust that I could get out? I moved to the other side to get a better view - and damn if the thing didn't move!! It was a big black snake. Very thick and strong looking. Then my eyes focused on several more down there. 2 big ones and 2 smaller. Three appeared black, at least one of those with a white underside. The forth guy was maybe a garter with short stripe pattern (not lengthwise), or maybe even some other type of snake. Freaky snake pit ! I wonder if they were getting ready to hibernate of if they've fallen in there and can't climb out?
Anyway, it was way cool as I like to explore & discover stuff like that. When I got home I quick grabbed my boys and we went back with flashlights so I could show them. We were all Indiana Jones snake-pit exploring style. I try to instill them with a sense of adventure with stuff like that. In fact, we were having so much fun that I lost track of time and my son was late to soccer practice. Oops.
I did alot of exploring around when i was a kid. The best line of the day: my younger son said, "I wish I could invent a time machine so that Joey & I could go back in time to when you were a boy. Then we could do nature hikes & explore with you when you were a boy."
Awesome.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
All Choked Up
Whoa - something super scary happened last night. I almost choked to death on a dried out "hockey puck" hamburger. No shit, the wife was already on the phone with 911 operator when the chunk of meat popped out.
Like 10 times since then I've repeated silently to myself "must take smaller bites & chew completely". I'm sort of not looking forward to lunch today (not normal for me). Haha, trying to keep the mood light. Here's how it went down... (or not!)
I got home very late, was very hungry & had to turn around to go pick up my son from religious ed. So I had called the wife and she had a burger cooking on the stove when I got home. I remember seeing her smashing it down in the pan with the spatula and thinking that's not good 'cause it always dries it out. But she was trying to speed up the cooking since I was in a big rush. I was wolfing it down, about halfway done when the fateful bite got totally wedged in my throat. My younger son & wife had already gone into the other room to watch Jeopardy & do homework.
I knew immediately something was very wrong. I was trying to cough but nothing was happening. After a few coughs I realized not a bit of air was getting in or out. My wife called in "are you okay?" and I couldn't talk or get any air in. Not breathing totally sucks! I started banging the table with my hand loudly. I remember getting up and spitting out a bite of burger back onto the plate, but that wasn't the bite blocking my throat. I could see a panic stricken look on my wife's face as she came into the kitchen. As I tried to cough it up, there was absolutely nothing happening. Thinking about it now I don't remember any sound. I was gagging and each time I just tried to get a breath in, but total blockage. I could feel a sort of vacuum pressure in my chest. I think I was trying to expand my chest to get even just a little bit of air to come in. In retrospect that was probably just wedging the chunk deeper into my airpipe by creating a suction from within the ribcage.
My wife asked if she should do the Heimlich - and I motioned for her to go around behind me. Unfortunately she was sort of on the verge of tears already and drew a blank on how to actually do the maneuver. The first thrust was with her arms around my rib cage. I pushed her hands down to my belly, but she moved right back up with her hands over the bottom end of the sternum for the second pull. I moved her clasped hands down again and tried to hold them there and indicate a motion to thrust from the lower position by pushing her hands in at that level. At this point I was getting a bit panicked myself. Why was she not doing this right?? She released her grip and said "can't you do it yourself onto the table or over a chair?" I thought yes, but wanted to scream "help me".... but of course couldn't say anything.
I pointed over to the phone and tried to motion for her to call 911. I was just thinking if she couldn't get this thing out of my throat then an ambulance had better get rolling because I wasn't going to be conscious for too much longer. Of course in hindsight the whole incident at this point had to be less than a minute. Maybe like 45 seconds, although I'm not actually sure. Thinking about it now, if the first responders on the scene would take 5 or 6 minutes, then another minute to take charge of the situation and Heimlich out the obstruction. Plus the minute I was already choking. That's like 8 mins. That's scary to think about 8 minutes without any breaths of air. I can't imagine how freaked out my wife & son would've been waiting for the ambulance with me unconscious on the floor.
I could see her talking to the 911 operator. I tried to calmly and softly get an inhaled breath to get past the blockage. Nothing. I tried again. Relax, slowly and softly just suck in a gentle breath. Nothing - but a building pressure in my chest. (I'm actually getting a bit jittery while typing this now). I threw myself down hard onto the back of the chair and immediately felt a change. I coughed, gagged, and got a breath of air. I remember that I swallowed, I coughed, and I took another breath and then started coughing. But now it was real coughing. I said "I got it." and I could see she was already saying "wait." It's okay, it's out. She told the 911 operator, "yes, I'll hold on." And she asked me if I was okay and I said yes. I could talk & breath in. I noticed she was crying. I saw my son for the first time. He wasn't crying, but he was standing against the wall and was looking really scared. I told him I was okay. I became aware of a instant splitting headache in my right temple. I remember looking around for the burger chunk... and then realizing that I must have swallowed it after it came up. I felt like I might puke, and my head was pounding. I burped a few loud belches. My wife asked if she should just hang up. I have no idea how fast or slow time was moving. I told her to just stay on hold to confirm that I was fine. I didn't want to sit down, I was gulping in big inhalations and then coughing on each exhalation. I was a little dizzy, but so relieved to be breathing in & out.
the 911 came back on and I spoke to them to say all was fine, crisis averted. It was over.
This morning my abs are a little bit sore, and my neck too. I have a scratch on my collarbone right at the throat - I don't remember how that got there. I still have that headache just on one side (weird) and my eyes are really really bloodshot.
A close call. Within 5 minutes we were all over it; our house returned to it's typical calm quiet harmony. We had a review of how to do the Heimlich once my older son was home. My younger son knows how to dial 911. I kind of wished I had motioned to him to place that call rather than my wife. But I know next time he'll be ready. Hopefully there's never a next time. "must take smaller bites & chew completely."
Please review with those around you how to perform the Heimlich.
Like 10 times since then I've repeated silently to myself "must take smaller bites & chew completely". I'm sort of not looking forward to lunch today (not normal for me). Haha, trying to keep the mood light. Here's how it went down... (or not!)
I got home very late, was very hungry & had to turn around to go pick up my son from religious ed. So I had called the wife and she had a burger cooking on the stove when I got home. I remember seeing her smashing it down in the pan with the spatula and thinking that's not good 'cause it always dries it out. But she was trying to speed up the cooking since I was in a big rush. I was wolfing it down, about halfway done when the fateful bite got totally wedged in my throat. My younger son & wife had already gone into the other room to watch Jeopardy & do homework.
I knew immediately something was very wrong. I was trying to cough but nothing was happening. After a few coughs I realized not a bit of air was getting in or out. My wife called in "are you okay?" and I couldn't talk or get any air in. Not breathing totally sucks! I started banging the table with my hand loudly. I remember getting up and spitting out a bite of burger back onto the plate, but that wasn't the bite blocking my throat. I could see a panic stricken look on my wife's face as she came into the kitchen. As I tried to cough it up, there was absolutely nothing happening. Thinking about it now I don't remember any sound. I was gagging and each time I just tried to get a breath in, but total blockage. I could feel a sort of vacuum pressure in my chest. I think I was trying to expand my chest to get even just a little bit of air to come in. In retrospect that was probably just wedging the chunk deeper into my airpipe by creating a suction from within the ribcage.
My wife asked if she should do the Heimlich - and I motioned for her to go around behind me. Unfortunately she was sort of on the verge of tears already and drew a blank on how to actually do the maneuver. The first thrust was with her arms around my rib cage. I pushed her hands down to my belly, but she moved right back up with her hands over the bottom end of the sternum for the second pull. I moved her clasped hands down again and tried to hold them there and indicate a motion to thrust from the lower position by pushing her hands in at that level. At this point I was getting a bit panicked myself. Why was she not doing this right?? She released her grip and said "can't you do it yourself onto the table or over a chair?" I thought yes, but wanted to scream "help me".... but of course couldn't say anything.
I pointed over to the phone and tried to motion for her to call 911. I was just thinking if she couldn't get this thing out of my throat then an ambulance had better get rolling because I wasn't going to be conscious for too much longer. Of course in hindsight the whole incident at this point had to be less than a minute. Maybe like 45 seconds, although I'm not actually sure. Thinking about it now, if the first responders on the scene would take 5 or 6 minutes, then another minute to take charge of the situation and Heimlich out the obstruction. Plus the minute I was already choking. That's like 8 mins. That's scary to think about 8 minutes without any breaths of air. I can't imagine how freaked out my wife & son would've been waiting for the ambulance with me unconscious on the floor.
I could see her talking to the 911 operator. I tried to calmly and softly get an inhaled breath to get past the blockage. Nothing. I tried again. Relax, slowly and softly just suck in a gentle breath. Nothing - but a building pressure in my chest. (I'm actually getting a bit jittery while typing this now). I threw myself down hard onto the back of the chair and immediately felt a change. I coughed, gagged, and got a breath of air. I remember that I swallowed, I coughed, and I took another breath and then started coughing. But now it was real coughing. I said "I got it." and I could see she was already saying "wait." It's okay, it's out. She told the 911 operator, "yes, I'll hold on." And she asked me if I was okay and I said yes. I could talk & breath in. I noticed she was crying. I saw my son for the first time. He wasn't crying, but he was standing against the wall and was looking really scared. I told him I was okay. I became aware of a instant splitting headache in my right temple. I remember looking around for the burger chunk... and then realizing that I must have swallowed it after it came up. I felt like I might puke, and my head was pounding. I burped a few loud belches. My wife asked if she should just hang up. I have no idea how fast or slow time was moving. I told her to just stay on hold to confirm that I was fine. I didn't want to sit down, I was gulping in big inhalations and then coughing on each exhalation. I was a little dizzy, but so relieved to be breathing in & out.
the 911 came back on and I spoke to them to say all was fine, crisis averted. It was over.
This morning my abs are a little bit sore, and my neck too. I have a scratch on my collarbone right at the throat - I don't remember how that got there. I still have that headache just on one side (weird) and my eyes are really really bloodshot.
A close call. Within 5 minutes we were all over it; our house returned to it's typical calm quiet harmony. We had a review of how to do the Heimlich once my older son was home. My younger son knows how to dial 911. I kind of wished I had motioned to him to place that call rather than my wife. But I know next time he'll be ready. Hopefully there's never a next time. "must take smaller bites & chew completely."
Please review with those around you how to perform the Heimlich.
Monday, November 2, 2009
LSD for fun
I've decided to begin my long runs for January's 50k. I don't remember if I've even mention yet that I'm going to attempt a 50k trail run - this will be my longest run ever!
I've been racing quite a bit, and got some new PR's. The last race I've signed up for this fall is the Rothman 8k (same day as Philly marathon). After that I plan a phase of longer trail runs at easy pace. I just feel a bit burned out from the same old 5k / 10k race circuit so next year I want to focus on fewer races overall, with more trail races, and longer distances. Then maybe next fall I'll be ready for my marathon redemption.
The best of my recent racing was my PDR half marathon 1:31:13 in late Sept. This is a new PR by several minutes. That race was followed by an awesome 10 mile trail race, very challenging course. Next was the 15k which was a PR by about 30 seconds. Then Sunday - i haven't written the race report yet - I nailed another PR. This time it was 10k distance and only 9 seconds over the old PR. I ran some other races in the last few months, but those 4 are the highlites.
I like that the PR's came in order from longest distance to shortest. And the longest race was a PR by alot of time, and the short distance was a PR by only a few ticks. The race in the middle was PR'd by an amount in the middle. That's nice. It's not symmetry, what's the word for it? Fung shwei? NOT. Balance or harmony or something. Jeez, I wish I was better with the written word.
Anyway, I usually don't do long slow runs unless they're aimed at a speific target. Last Wednesday I headed out to the trusty woods for a scheduled 5 or 10 depending on how I felt. It was a crappy rainy morning, and I was very close to not running at all due to the weather. I didn't want to do the treadmill . . . but I wasn't really looking forward to the mud bath. I had actually mentioned to a few people in the morning that I was schedule to run long in the woods and was going to cancel. But I forced myself to get out there. I'm glad I did.
The rain was mostly over by lunchhour when I started. Light drizzle with huge puddles. Right away I felt good to be out there when nobody else was around. I planned to do a 5 mile loop back to the car and decide how I felt. I wore my new Coleman hydration backpack. After a few miles I was feeling much better about running in the weather. I purposely took the creekside trail. Wow, it was totally flooded. Some of the puddles were 8 or 10 inches deep, but i kept going. When I got to the creek crossing I had to turn back. The river had backed up so far that the creek was like 4 or 5 feet deep. No way was I going to try it. I was having fun but that was just too much to attempt. Not worth it. I could see the fallen tree that acts as a bridge. First of all it's grounded on the other side. Secondly, it just disappeared down into the murky water. So the prospect of jumping into there and hopefully landing on the log and then climbing up & out the other side was just too much. So I back tracked to get back up onto the ranger road.
Most of the rest of the run was uneventful. As the hours passed the sun did come out a few times. The warmth felt good. I ditched the back pack after just 5 miles. Pretty uncomfortable, will take some time to get used to running with that thing on. After 2 of the 5 mile loops and wanted to keep going. Luckily nothing scheduled for the afternoon that couldn't get done any other time. So I ate my 'after run' snack at 10 mile mark, and finished the last of my water ( I hadn't planned to go so far). And I headed back out. I saw a solitary deer. I felt the same as our paths crossed and we headed separate ways inthe woods. I found a light from a mountain bike. It was flashing on the side of the trail. Weird, but I couldn't get it to turn off. Later at home I took it apart, dried it out, and then it switched off.
In all it turned out to be 16 miles. Done in 2:41 - just about perfect 10 minute pace. About 2x3=6 minutes of that was refuel at the car. So actually running pace is closer to 9:30.
Followed up this LSD with a rest day on Thursday. Body feels good except for toes which took a pretty good beating. Then Friday 5 miles easy on flat trail in woods. Legs wiped out tired.
I've been racing quite a bit, and got some new PR's. The last race I've signed up for this fall is the Rothman 8k (same day as Philly marathon). After that I plan a phase of longer trail runs at easy pace. I just feel a bit burned out from the same old 5k / 10k race circuit so next year I want to focus on fewer races overall, with more trail races, and longer distances. Then maybe next fall I'll be ready for my marathon redemption.
The best of my recent racing was my PDR half marathon 1:31:13 in late Sept. This is a new PR by several minutes. That race was followed by an awesome 10 mile trail race, very challenging course. Next was the 15k which was a PR by about 30 seconds. Then Sunday - i haven't written the race report yet - I nailed another PR. This time it was 10k distance and only 9 seconds over the old PR. I ran some other races in the last few months, but those 4 are the highlites.
I like that the PR's came in order from longest distance to shortest. And the longest race was a PR by alot of time, and the short distance was a PR by only a few ticks. The race in the middle was PR'd by an amount in the middle. That's nice. It's not symmetry, what's the word for it? Fung shwei? NOT. Balance or harmony or something. Jeez, I wish I was better with the written word.
Anyway, I usually don't do long slow runs unless they're aimed at a speific target. Last Wednesday I headed out to the trusty woods for a scheduled 5 or 10 depending on how I felt. It was a crappy rainy morning, and I was very close to not running at all due to the weather. I didn't want to do the treadmill . . . but I wasn't really looking forward to the mud bath. I had actually mentioned to a few people in the morning that I was schedule to run long in the woods and was going to cancel. But I forced myself to get out there. I'm glad I did.
The rain was mostly over by lunchhour when I started. Light drizzle with huge puddles. Right away I felt good to be out there when nobody else was around. I planned to do a 5 mile loop back to the car and decide how I felt. I wore my new Coleman hydration backpack. After a few miles I was feeling much better about running in the weather. I purposely took the creekside trail. Wow, it was totally flooded. Some of the puddles were 8 or 10 inches deep, but i kept going. When I got to the creek crossing I had to turn back. The river had backed up so far that the creek was like 4 or 5 feet deep. No way was I going to try it. I was having fun but that was just too much to attempt. Not worth it. I could see the fallen tree that acts as a bridge. First of all it's grounded on the other side. Secondly, it just disappeared down into the murky water. So the prospect of jumping into there and hopefully landing on the log and then climbing up & out the other side was just too much. So I back tracked to get back up onto the ranger road.
Most of the rest of the run was uneventful. As the hours passed the sun did come out a few times. The warmth felt good. I ditched the back pack after just 5 miles. Pretty uncomfortable, will take some time to get used to running with that thing on. After 2 of the 5 mile loops and wanted to keep going. Luckily nothing scheduled for the afternoon that couldn't get done any other time. So I ate my 'after run' snack at 10 mile mark, and finished the last of my water ( I hadn't planned to go so far). And I headed back out. I saw a solitary deer. I felt the same as our paths crossed and we headed separate ways inthe woods. I found a light from a mountain bike. It was flashing on the side of the trail. Weird, but I couldn't get it to turn off. Later at home I took it apart, dried it out, and then it switched off.
In all it turned out to be 16 miles. Done in 2:41 - just about perfect 10 minute pace. About 2x3=6 minutes of that was refuel at the car. So actually running pace is closer to 9:30.
Followed up this LSD with a rest day on Thursday. Body feels good except for toes which took a pretty good beating. Then Friday 5 miles easy on flat trail in woods. Legs wiped out tired.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Tues'blues
Why is this cold hanging on for so long? It's really just a cough that won't go away, all other symptoms have cleared. Sometimes I have a little coughing fit that's followed by a moment of dizziness - which I don't like.
Monday was a day off to rest. But today I was supposed to run and I've blown it off. Tomorrow I may bail on the tempo hard effort in favor of something like LSD at an easy to mod effort. Just don't want to push too much effort until this cold is totally gone.
Monday was a day off to rest. But today I was supposed to run and I've blown it off. Tomorrow I may bail on the tempo hard effort in favor of something like LSD at an easy to mod effort. Just don't want to push too much effort until this cold is totally gone.
Monday, October 26, 2009
RaceReport: Radnor 5 miler
My running was in the crapper last week due to being sick. I skipped Wed-Thurs-Fri-Saturday and had already signed up for the Radnor 5 mile race. So Sunday morning, feeling less than 100% I headed up there to run.
The carpool was the most interesting part. I was driving up with Carole - and another club member, a new guy named Epi. A mutual friend put us together for the carpool, so it's a chance to meet another club member and runner. I was really hoping the Epi spoke english (which he did) and was glad that he was going to race because I've seen his name in the race results and he's fast. Our club needs more fast runners if we've gonna hang onto 2nd place inthe club challenge.
The race itself: I tried to go out easy. This course has several big hills. I was really hoping that I wouldn't go into one of my wheezing/coughing fits like the ones plagueing me the past few days. The first hill is from like .5 to 1.0 and my one mile split was 7:18. So mission accomplished on slow first mile.
Mile 2 is downhill; done in 6:32. Total 13:50 at 2mm, so avg 6:55 which I was happy with. Mile 3 has the nastiest hill. Steep near the bottom and then a long steady grind. 7:55 for that one. I wasn't feeling too good at this point. Note on course: this is right where you are passing some serious kick ass mansions. They've got some real wealthy types in Radnor, PA. I swear a few of the homes look like castles with huge acreage and personal tennis courts, Bentley's in the driveway, etc.
Anyway, mile 4 is flatish, with some small ups & downs. 7:18. Total time 29:03 which i realize is about 7:15 pace and the effects of my cold are obvious. Most of miles 4 & 5 I run along side a woman who is looking very strong. In the end she pulls away to beat me by about 5 or 10 seconds. She gets 1st a.g. 35-39. I struggle to finish. Basically I don't try to kick at all. It's more of a maintain pace while coasting on in. Mile 5- 6:48 so the final clock is 35:50 @ 7:10 pace. I don't care, given the situation.
Next weekend is the Bridge 10k - hopefully I can get a fast tempo effort mid week and then be in good health for Sunday's race.
The carpool was the most interesting part. I was driving up with Carole - and another club member, a new guy named Epi. A mutual friend put us together for the carpool, so it's a chance to meet another club member and runner. I was really hoping the Epi spoke english (which he did) and was glad that he was going to race because I've seen his name in the race results and he's fast. Our club needs more fast runners if we've gonna hang onto 2nd place inthe club challenge.
The race itself: I tried to go out easy. This course has several big hills. I was really hoping that I wouldn't go into one of my wheezing/coughing fits like the ones plagueing me the past few days. The first hill is from like .5 to 1.0 and my one mile split was 7:18. So mission accomplished on slow first mile.
Mile 2 is downhill; done in 6:32. Total 13:50 at 2mm, so avg 6:55 which I was happy with. Mile 3 has the nastiest hill. Steep near the bottom and then a long steady grind. 7:55 for that one. I wasn't feeling too good at this point. Note on course: this is right where you are passing some serious kick ass mansions. They've got some real wealthy types in Radnor, PA. I swear a few of the homes look like castles with huge acreage and personal tennis courts, Bentley's in the driveway, etc.
Anyway, mile 4 is flatish, with some small ups & downs. 7:18. Total time 29:03 which i realize is about 7:15 pace and the effects of my cold are obvious. Most of miles 4 & 5 I run along side a woman who is looking very strong. In the end she pulls away to beat me by about 5 or 10 seconds. She gets 1st a.g. 35-39. I struggle to finish. Basically I don't try to kick at all. It's more of a maintain pace while coasting on in. Mile 5- 6:48 so the final clock is 35:50 @ 7:10 pace. I don't care, given the situation.
Next weekend is the Bridge 10k - hopefully I can get a fast tempo effort mid week and then be in good health for Sunday's race.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Sick Day
I felt this coming on, but couldn't do anything to avoid it. I'm home sick today. Fever, nasty cough. I'm signed up for a race on Sunday so I guess we'll just call this lack of running my taper.
Who takes a one week taper for a 5 miler?
Beat L.A.
Manny sux.
He's right up there with this cast of characters:
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Del Distance Classic 15k RaceReport
A bit overdue, but here we go:
Weather was ideal. Cold fall morning, not a cloud in the sky. I think the start temp was around 45. Some runners had gloves or arm panties. I like to run in the cold so I was as bare as possible.
Since I know the course and this race is very close to my house I had volunteered to help with set up. I put up a few banners for our club (race sponsor) and the RRCA. But there really wasn't much else to do. Being a local race, plus the good club turnout, I saw lots of folks that I know. I pretty much said I would go out at a PR pace and just hope to hold it. This was based on PDR Half marathon 3 weeks earlier, and I felt rested/hadn't pushed too much in the week leading up to this race.
I did very minimal warm up - which for me is typical of 'longer' races. My outlook is "the first mile is the warm up for anything over 10k." Actually I farted around long enuf that I barely got my Gu on time & then changed into my race shoes before it was time to line up. I tried to be about 5 or 6 rows deep figuring that 50 or 60 guys in front of me is about right for the finishing order with a race of this size (300 entries). As it turned out I crossed the line 45th so that's just about right.
It's cool how during the first mile some of the runners along side will end up being far ahead, and others will be way behind. Only a few match my pace all the way. I enjoy noticing stuff like that. A few young kids were on the front line. I passed them within the first half mile. I fell in behind Greg Vitale (who I was introduced to after the race, but I already recognized from the circuit) who was obviously running together with a woman (maybe they are in the same club?). Anyway, as we approached the 1 mm he accelerated away never to be seen again, and I was left running alongside his partner. As things worked out, she & I spent the entire race trading the pacing efforts, spoke just a bit over the course, and met after the finish. Matching up with somebody about the same speed as myself is a huge advantage during a race. Keeping up with Mary, and trading the pace making with her, definitely helped me PR this race. The early splits:
1 - 6:45 PERFECT PACE FOR NEW PR!
2 - 6:58 small uphill
3 - 6:41 the downhill
4 - 6:41
It was during that forth mile that I really decided I would try to stay with Mary's pace. The water station at ~3.25 slowed me a bit (hydration is key for me when going longer than about 5 miles). I fought hard to catch back up with her along the Riverwalk boards section. I remember seeing my 4 mile time, 27:05, and thinking 1 minute under a 7:00 min mile pace ... 7x4=28 ... math is so difficult when giving 100% effort . . . wait for it . . . ah ha, 6:45 pace thru 4 miles. I knew this was right on track for a PR. But could i hold this pace? The middle splits:
5 - 6:48
6 - 6:59
7 - 6:56
There's a water stop just after the 5 mm - I really wanted to slow down and drink a full glass. It wasn't the water so much as I just wanted to slow down. Do you ever get that feeling during a race? It used to happen to me alot, but not often the past few years. Anyway, I knew I'd lose 5 or more seconds to Mary and so I just got a small splash to gulp down. She moved ahead on the small hill at 5.5 and I tried to make it back on the downhill side. I was pushing hard here and after the turnaround point we approached the same hill again. I forced myself to catch up with her before the hill. I felt like I was working very hard. I was actually weezing a bit at the top of the little hill, and then on the way down, past the 7 mm, I saw several runners going up from the opposite direction (they were at 5.5) and I got a boost of energy from exchanging greetings. Later at the finish line when Mary & I introduced ourselves she said "well I know your name's Dean from so many people calling out to you on the course." Mental math game #2: at 7mm my time was 47:48 which I figured was close to 48 mins. 7x7=49 so now I was still about one minute faster than 7 min.pace. Not good since i was slipping away from PR pace. I told myself I still had a shot if I could accelerate ever so slightly over the last miles. We were side by side thru the water station at 7.25 ... I didn't even think about any more water breaks. This race was oN!
Through the 8th mile Mary & I traded position several times and I tried to push the pace. The split was 6:52 Ugh, not fast enough to guarantee a PR. This was going to be very close. Starting at about 7.75 mm I decided to play the game where you try to pick off a runner (or 2) in front. We had been gaining on the solo runner in front of us, and so I put in a push to close the gap. We caught & passed at around 8.25. Turns out he was a runner I know thru some other folks (Chuck from Y). He didn't seem to be working too hard because he was able to give me a few words of encouragement to which I could only reply "garble gurgle". I tried to say something (what?) but I swear it came out all mish-moshed and I'm sure it was completely un-intelligent. Whatever. I'm working hard over here. He's striking up a conversation like this is an easy effort or something!
At this point I was no longer aware of Mary's location. She was behind me but I don't know how far. I focused onthe guy in front of me. But he began his own finishing burst and really took off away from me. As I approached the 9 mm there was no one in front of me within striking distance. That other dude had moved up to a small group and was passing all of them, but they were too far ahead for me to even think about it. I really focused on my own thing at this point. Strong finish, don't let anyone catch & pass me, run for the PR now. Mile 9 split was 6:44. Yes. I'm doing it. Total time now 1:01:24 with a third of a mile to go. Mental math #3: if the final stretch takes 2:30 I'll still get a PR by a few seconds. And if it's more like 2 mins flat then I'm totally rockin' this PR!
I cover the last .3 in a 2:09 and PR with 1:03:33 which is about 30 seconds better than last year's race. Chuck was only a few seconds behind me, and Mary another 5 seconds back. Wow, good thing I didn't let up because they both would've passed me.
I worked so hard during this race. This was an evenly measured out effort with the pain spread across the entire distance. I've certainly had races where I felt more pain, but those were all bad situations when I had gone out too fast and couldn't hold pace. I really worked my ass off for this race. This has got to be one of the best executed races I've ever done. Honestly, I don't know how i could ever get another 15k PR without somehow getting my fitness level lifted up one whole step to a new plateau. Because for the level of fitness I have now, this race was run to the max for the full 15k's. Very satisfying. But I'm not sure where to go from here and how on earth to get there? One observation of this race: I was focused 100% on the race effort for the entire distance. Usually that happens for me during a 5k or 5 mile, but longer races are always marked with a 'zone-out' during the middle somewhere. Usually I catch myself checking out the scenery, or spectators, or architecture, etc. This is the first time I remember almost nothing except the race effort itself.
Weather was ideal. Cold fall morning, not a cloud in the sky. I think the start temp was around 45. Some runners had gloves or arm panties. I like to run in the cold so I was as bare as possible.
Since I know the course and this race is very close to my house I had volunteered to help with set up. I put up a few banners for our club (race sponsor) and the RRCA. But there really wasn't much else to do. Being a local race, plus the good club turnout, I saw lots of folks that I know. I pretty much said I would go out at a PR pace and just hope to hold it. This was based on PDR Half marathon 3 weeks earlier, and I felt rested/hadn't pushed too much in the week leading up to this race.
I did very minimal warm up - which for me is typical of 'longer' races. My outlook is "the first mile is the warm up for anything over 10k." Actually I farted around long enuf that I barely got my Gu on time & then changed into my race shoes before it was time to line up. I tried to be about 5 or 6 rows deep figuring that 50 or 60 guys in front of me is about right for the finishing order with a race of this size (300 entries). As it turned out I crossed the line 45th so that's just about right.
It's cool how during the first mile some of the runners along side will end up being far ahead, and others will be way behind. Only a few match my pace all the way. I enjoy noticing stuff like that. A few young kids were on the front line. I passed them within the first half mile. I fell in behind Greg Vitale (who I was introduced to after the race, but I already recognized from the circuit) who was obviously running together with a woman (maybe they are in the same club?). Anyway, as we approached the 1 mm he accelerated away never to be seen again, and I was left running alongside his partner. As things worked out, she & I spent the entire race trading the pacing efforts, spoke just a bit over the course, and met after the finish. Matching up with somebody about the same speed as myself is a huge advantage during a race. Keeping up with Mary, and trading the pace making with her, definitely helped me PR this race. The early splits:
1 - 6:45 PERFECT PACE FOR NEW PR!
2 - 6:58 small uphill
3 - 6:41 the downhill
4 - 6:41
It was during that forth mile that I really decided I would try to stay with Mary's pace. The water station at ~3.25 slowed me a bit (hydration is key for me when going longer than about 5 miles). I fought hard to catch back up with her along the Riverwalk boards section. I remember seeing my 4 mile time, 27:05, and thinking 1 minute under a 7:00 min mile pace ... 7x4=28 ... math is so difficult when giving 100% effort . . . wait for it . . . ah ha, 6:45 pace thru 4 miles. I knew this was right on track for a PR. But could i hold this pace? The middle splits:
5 - 6:48
6 - 6:59
7 - 6:56
There's a water stop just after the 5 mm - I really wanted to slow down and drink a full glass. It wasn't the water so much as I just wanted to slow down. Do you ever get that feeling during a race? It used to happen to me alot, but not often the past few years. Anyway, I knew I'd lose 5 or more seconds to Mary and so I just got a small splash to gulp down. She moved ahead on the small hill at 5.5 and I tried to make it back on the downhill side. I was pushing hard here and after the turnaround point we approached the same hill again. I forced myself to catch up with her before the hill. I felt like I was working very hard. I was actually weezing a bit at the top of the little hill, and then on the way down, past the 7 mm, I saw several runners going up from the opposite direction (they were at 5.5) and I got a boost of energy from exchanging greetings. Later at the finish line when Mary & I introduced ourselves she said "well I know your name's Dean from so many people calling out to you on the course." Mental math game #2: at 7mm my time was 47:48 which I figured was close to 48 mins. 7x7=49 so now I was still about one minute faster than 7 min.pace. Not good since i was slipping away from PR pace. I told myself I still had a shot if I could accelerate ever so slightly over the last miles. We were side by side thru the water station at 7.25 ... I didn't even think about any more water breaks. This race was oN!
Through the 8th mile Mary & I traded position several times and I tried to push the pace. The split was 6:52 Ugh, not fast enough to guarantee a PR. This was going to be very close. Starting at about 7.75 mm I decided to play the game where you try to pick off a runner (or 2) in front. We had been gaining on the solo runner in front of us, and so I put in a push to close the gap. We caught & passed at around 8.25. Turns out he was a runner I know thru some other folks (Chuck from Y). He didn't seem to be working too hard because he was able to give me a few words of encouragement to which I could only reply "garble gurgle". I tried to say something (what?) but I swear it came out all mish-moshed and I'm sure it was completely un-intelligent. Whatever. I'm working hard over here. He's striking up a conversation like this is an easy effort or something!
At this point I was no longer aware of Mary's location. She was behind me but I don't know how far. I focused onthe guy in front of me. But he began his own finishing burst and really took off away from me. As I approached the 9 mm there was no one in front of me within striking distance. That other dude had moved up to a small group and was passing all of them, but they were too far ahead for me to even think about it. I really focused on my own thing at this point. Strong finish, don't let anyone catch & pass me, run for the PR now. Mile 9 split was 6:44. Yes. I'm doing it. Total time now 1:01:24 with a third of a mile to go. Mental math #3: if the final stretch takes 2:30 I'll still get a PR by a few seconds. And if it's more like 2 mins flat then I'm totally rockin' this PR!
I cover the last .3 in a 2:09 and PR with 1:03:33 which is about 30 seconds better than last year's race. Chuck was only a few seconds behind me, and Mary another 5 seconds back. Wow, good thing I didn't let up because they both would've passed me.
I worked so hard during this race. This was an evenly measured out effort with the pain spread across the entire distance. I've certainly had races where I felt more pain, but those were all bad situations when I had gone out too fast and couldn't hold pace. I really worked my ass off for this race. This has got to be one of the best executed races I've ever done. Honestly, I don't know how i could ever get another 15k PR without somehow getting my fitness level lifted up one whole step to a new plateau. Because for the level of fitness I have now, this race was run to the max for the full 15k's. Very satisfying. But I'm not sure where to go from here and how on earth to get there? One observation of this race: I was focused 100% on the race effort for the entire distance. Usually that happens for me during a 5k or 5 mile, but longer races are always marked with a 'zone-out' during the middle somewhere. Usually I catch myself checking out the scenery, or spectators, or architecture, etc. This is the first time I remember almost nothing except the race effort itself.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Hiatus
Ugh,
I haven't run in days.
Just got back today from a Cub Scout camping trip. Don't tell me boys I said this . . . but these trips are BRUTAL. Sleeping on the hard, albeit rain soaked, ground on the top of a bluff overlooking the Chesapeake Bay. Sounds like it would have potential, but then factor in the cold rain for the last 24 hours, gusty winds. Then there's the crappy food - which was only lukewarm (WTF?). Standing around waiting 'our' turn for archery, BB guns, etc. Paying $65 for the privilege of all this fun...
Crap, lack of sleep has got me just complaining. I know my scout had fun so that's the point of it. Warning to younger readers: once you have kids then you have to do all kinds of shit that is not fun and you never saw it coming. Don't say I didn't warn you! Oh, and they cost tons of $$ also.
Maybe tomorrow I will get out for a run. Wednesday was the last day I ran. Thursday was a scheduled day off.
Skipped F-S-S.
Ugh.
I haven't run in days.
Just got back today from a Cub Scout camping trip. Don't tell me boys I said this . . . but these trips are BRUTAL. Sleeping on the hard, albeit rain soaked, ground on the top of a bluff overlooking the Chesapeake Bay. Sounds like it would have potential, but then factor in the cold rain for the last 24 hours, gusty winds. Then there's the crappy food - which was only lukewarm (WTF?). Standing around waiting 'our' turn for archery, BB guns, etc. Paying $65 for the privilege of all this fun...
Crap, lack of sleep has got me just complaining. I know my scout had fun so that's the point of it. Warning to younger readers: once you have kids then you have to do all kinds of shit that is not fun and you never saw it coming. Don't say I didn't warn you! Oh, and they cost tons of $$ also.
Maybe tomorrow I will get out for a run. Wednesday was the last day I ran. Thursday was a scheduled day off.
Skipped F-S-S.
Ugh.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
thursday turd's day
I am officially in a funk as of today. I don't know why, but this seems to happen for a week or two after a good race. Perhaps the body is really tired and trying to recover? Usually the first few days I'm up on a buzz from good race, and then BAM! No motivation. I feel just 'blah'. Today the weather isn't helping as the mid day temp is 45 and there's been a steady rain all day.
I planned to have today off and then a scheduled 10 or 15 miler tomorrow. But my knee has been huring me for the last few days. It's a new pain... not one of the aches that I know so well that they are like an old friend when they re-appear. I don't need any new pains at this point. But I'll give it a few days and then hopefully it's adios to my new pain.
Supposed to have a Cub Scout camping trip this weekend but rain forecast to keep going for several days. I'm already secretly hoping that trip is cancelled. Lame, i know. But I'm a fair weather camper for the most part.
Here's two photo's from last weekend's DDC 15k. I'm psyched these 'freebees' look so good. In the first I'm running side by side with Mary B (fast woman!). We ran most of the race together which really helped me to hold the pace when I was beginning to fatigue. In the end I kicked to the finish and was about 10 seconds in front of her.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
15k PR . . . and having fun!
Of course, by now you have figured out that life has become very busy for me, and blogging is taking a back seat to my other stuff. But the good news is that I've been insisting that running should not slip off my priority list.
Since my PDR half marathon PR i raced an amazing trail race, the Conestoga 10 Miler. http://www.lrrclub.org/Conestoga.html the course is approximately 3,000 feet of climbing in just ten miles. Think "steep ass hills" and then don't forget the downhills which were really kind-of dangerous in places. I had fun. My legs were completely shredded for a full week. Photo above is about half a mile till finish line.
But I managed to recover in time for this past weekend's Delaware Distance Classic 15k race. It's like the only 15k in Delaware and the whole Phila,PA region that I'm aware of so I try to do it every year. Result: a new PR @ 1:03:33 (6:50 pace). Also very interesting that in these last 3 races I've run side by side with fast women. And that seemed to motivate me greatly. All 3 cases I met these competitors during the race; the situation makes me think that maybe I should spend time with fast women more often! {PDR was Urszula, Conestoga = Marsha, and DDC I paced together with Mary. That's one amazing trio of hot chicks}
More later, I'm running late again...
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Summer Trail Running+Pre-race Pasta@Mrs. Robino's=PR!
race report to follow, just a quick post:
I wasn'ty sure what would happen, but when out fast. Absolutely perfect weather for a run: cool & sunny September day. Had some issues mid race. After they cleared I was able to finish strong with a new PR! 1:31:10 on my own watch. Will wait to see what the PDR chip time is. Heard that Ryan Hall beat all the Kenyans to win with a 1:01:xx
I wasn'ty sure what would happen, but when out fast. Absolutely perfect weather for a run: cool & sunny September day. Had some issues mid race. After they cleared I was able to finish strong with a new PR! 1:31:10 on my own watch. Will wait to see what the PDR chip time is. Heard that Ryan Hall beat all the Kenyans to win with a 1:01:xx
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Upcoming Race Schedule
Did a 4 mile treadmill run today (easy pace_8:30) with good stretch and then hit the weights for a bit of upper body. I had actually planned 5 or 6 but my calves felt tight and I had absolutely no energy. Even after warming up, when the running then gets easier, I never really felt like I was in the groove. So i cut it a little short and figured this is supposed to be an easy week anyway. A bit of taper for the PDR half on Sunday.
I saw a few runners at the Y today that I know. Chris, Scott, Carole *and their crew*. It's nice to say a quick hi to fellow runners. Chris is running Philly this weekend...not sure of others. Carole, you are looking great - very fit & fast. What's your secret to staying so lean?? awesome! Also today found out that Ray (in run club ) is running Philly. He & I have done a few runs together this year. Ray's much faster than me at long distance races. I can match him in 5k's. I'd be tempted to run along with him on Sunday, but the end result might be too fast and then leave me busted/bonked/walking. It's tempting....hrmmmm....
Today I signed up for the DDC-15k on Oct.11th and the Conestoga 10 Mile Trail race on Sept.27th. I've mentioned the Conestoga in blog before (maybe? where is that post??). DDC could be an obvious PR attempt if the weather is cool. Conestoga, I've heard about this one for years. Although it's short for a true classic trail race, it's considered very difficult for the distance. Very steep climbs & descents, some just too dangerous for running...more like hand over hand climbing. I've hiked most of the course, never run it, and it really is a tough section of trail. My 10 mile PR is 1:07:30 but this race will be more about finishing without getting hurt. Estimated run time is double the PR time! Even the course record seems incredibly slow, something like 1:35?? but it's because there's some parts that you just can't run, too dangerous!
I saw a few runners at the Y today that I know. Chris, Scott, Carole *and their crew*. It's nice to say a quick hi to fellow runners. Chris is running Philly this weekend...not sure of others. Carole, you are looking great - very fit & fast. What's your secret to staying so lean?? awesome! Also today found out that Ray (in run club ) is running Philly. He & I have done a few runs together this year. Ray's much faster than me at long distance races. I can match him in 5k's. I'd be tempted to run along with him on Sunday, but the end result might be too fast and then leave me busted/bonked/walking. It's tempting....hrmmmm....
Today I signed up for the DDC-15k on Oct.11th and the Conestoga 10 Mile Trail race on Sept.27th. I've mentioned the Conestoga in blog before (maybe? where is that post??). DDC could be an obvious PR attempt if the weather is cool. Conestoga, I've heard about this one for years. Although it's short for a true classic trail race, it's considered very difficult for the distance. Very steep climbs & descents, some just too dangerous for running...more like hand over hand climbing. I've hiked most of the course, never run it, and it really is a tough section of trail. My 10 mile PR is 1:07:30 but this race will be more about finishing without getting hurt. Estimated run time is double the PR time! Even the course record seems incredibly slow, something like 1:35?? but it's because there's some parts that you just can't run, too dangerous!
Monday, September 14, 2009
Man vs. Mt Bike
Sunday I did get out into the woods for my planned 8 miles. Tried to take it easy on the pace. Had fun out there, lots of mud & downed branches. Several very large trees down including one huge oak that fell across trail (near the upper boulder area of Eden ridge). I like these obstacles to climb over, but i'm pretty sure they will clear them out quickly like always.
I did have a near miss head-on collision with a dingbat on a mtb bike. Crazy bee-otch! At the end I happened to see her & bf/hubby in parking lot. So I very nicely go over, strike up a conversation and steered topic to rules of trail/priorities. They were like immediately, "yeah, we know, but hadn't been out in a while and sort of forgot the courtesy of always letting hikers & runners take their line first. The dude was nice enough about it, but the girl never actually apologized. This is a perfect example why bikers should be banned from most single-track trails around here...too many users already...no manners (on & off the trails!)...and everyone knows the bikes do the most damage to the trails. It's losers like this lady that give mtb riders a bad name!
I did have a near miss head-on collision with a dingbat on a mtb bike. Crazy bee-otch! At the end I happened to see her & bf/hubby in parking lot. So I very nicely go over, strike up a conversation and steered topic to rules of trail/priorities. They were like immediately, "yeah, we know, but hadn't been out in a while and sort of forgot the courtesy of always letting hikers & runners take their line first. The dude was nice enough about it, but the girl never actually apologized. This is a perfect example why bikers should be banned from most single-track trails around here...too many users already...no manners (on & off the trails!)...and everyone knows the bikes do the most damage to the trails. It's losers like this lady that give mtb riders a bad name!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
week end miles
Like a first run after a long layoff, I have to ease back into this blogger thing. Start slowly and hope to feel good after an easy warm up.
Today I ran 5 around the neighborhood. Was to be easy pace but got running a bit faster than planned. Typical.
Lots of folks out cleaning up after thunderstorm Friday night. A house in the back of the neighborhood burned down about 2 weeks ago, this is only the second time I'm going by it. It's still the same looking as the other day. They need to knock down what's left (not much, family got out safely, grill too close to siding and unattended).
Other news items: Cub Scout popcorn sale began today. woo-hoooo. We had fun standing outside grocery store for 2 hours today selling. big fun. Also... my older son scored a goal in his soccer game today! This is his first goal since joining the travel team last year. He was usually about 2 goals per season in the recreational level, but has been mostly on D or midfield since moving up to travel.
Tomorrow I plan on 8 miles in the woods...we'll see how muddy I am when I come home!
Philly Distance Run is exactly one week away. I have come around full circle since signing up for this race back in June. First I was going to nail a PR 'fur-sur'. Then I was going to focus my fall racing on trails instead, and so PDR was just for fun/nothing serious. But after some encouraging workouts I'm back to taking this race serious. A true PR attempt is still a dicey proposition - I don't want to blow up late in the race and finish in misery. When it's this close between maybe PR or not the weather & other race day situations will be key factors. So I'll probably wait till last minute to decide on pace. The pace needed for a PR is 7:05 (my current PR is 1:33:57).
Today I ran 5 around the neighborhood. Was to be easy pace but got running a bit faster than planned. Typical.
Lots of folks out cleaning up after thunderstorm Friday night. A house in the back of the neighborhood burned down about 2 weeks ago, this is only the second time I'm going by it. It's still the same looking as the other day. They need to knock down what's left (not much, family got out safely, grill too close to siding and unattended).
Other news items: Cub Scout popcorn sale began today. woo-hoooo. We had fun standing outside grocery store for 2 hours today selling. big fun. Also... my older son scored a goal in his soccer game today! This is his first goal since joining the travel team last year. He was usually about 2 goals per season in the recreational level, but has been mostly on D or midfield since moving up to travel.
Tomorrow I plan on 8 miles in the woods...we'll see how muddy I am when I come home!
Philly Distance Run is exactly one week away. I have come around full circle since signing up for this race back in June. First I was going to nail a PR 'fur-sur'. Then I was going to focus my fall racing on trails instead, and so PDR was just for fun/nothing serious. But after some encouraging workouts I'm back to taking this race serious. A true PR attempt is still a dicey proposition - I don't want to blow up late in the race and finish in misery. When it's this close between maybe PR or not the weather & other race day situations will be key factors. So I'll probably wait till last minute to decide on pace. The pace needed for a PR is 7:05 (my current PR is 1:33:57).
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Great Expectations
I really wish I was going out for a run in the woods today; however, with a busy schedule, a plan for 10 miles tomorrow, and my hip pain still nagging at me... there's no running today on my scheduled day off.
God, what an awesome early fall day! I'd love to be free to do as I wish. There is literally not a cloud inthe sky. Totally clear bright blue. It's so beautiful that it's almost making me sad that I don't get to enjoy it. Why do I react that way?? Some of my younger fb friends occasionally post "fml" (Fuck My Life). It's not all that bad, but I'd really like to ditch it all today and just run free 'n easy in the woods.
Recently I've:
not posted in a along time,
ran a fast 10k race,
had a red tailed fox cross my path,
got my mtb tuned up,
dreamed of a falcon soaring overhead,
caught a praying mantis & a bullfrog (younger son wouldn't touch first & dropped second after getting pee'd on by his first frog),
jumped in the surf of the Atlantic,
passed a test,
carved a piece of oak with my pocket knife,
got caught in a total cloud-burst downpour,
had dirty no-holds-barred 'secret' sex,
saw a big black racer snake,
been listening to The Gaslight Anthem,
found a small box turtle,
drove my car real fast,
got off trail & had to scramble over an unexpected boulder field,
got drunk all by myself & almost cried,
fell asleep on the couch & left the front light on,
been touched by a friend,
bought a new pair of trail shoes,
had some higher highs & lower lows.
God, what an awesome early fall day! I'd love to be free to do as I wish. There is literally not a cloud inthe sky. Totally clear bright blue. It's so beautiful that it's almost making me sad that I don't get to enjoy it. Why do I react that way?? Some of my younger fb friends occasionally post "fml" (Fuck My Life). It's not all that bad, but I'd really like to ditch it all today and just run free 'n easy in the woods.
Recently I've:
not posted in a along time,
ran a fast 10k race,
had a red tailed fox cross my path,
got my mtb tuned up,
dreamed of a falcon soaring overhead,
caught a praying mantis & a bullfrog (younger son wouldn't touch first & dropped second after getting pee'd on by his first frog),
jumped in the surf of the Atlantic,
passed a test,
carved a piece of oak with my pocket knife,
got caught in a total cloud-burst downpour,
had dirty no-holds-barred 'secret' sex,
saw a big black racer snake,
been listening to The Gaslight Anthem,
found a small box turtle,
drove my car real fast,
got off trail & had to scramble over an unexpected boulder field,
got drunk all by myself & almost cried,
fell asleep on the couch & left the front light on,
been touched by a friend,
bought a new pair of trail shoes,
had some higher highs & lower lows.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Slip & Fall
Not only have I fallen behind on the blogging yet again, but today I had a nasty fall while on a long hike along the Conestoga Trail. Took the wrong line thru a creek crossing and was on some slippery mossy boulders when I lost it. Actually went over a small (very small) water fall and down to the next level. Landed hard, bounced over a few other rocks and finally stopped in a sitting position - right in a mud puddle. Got up & climbed out of there to quickly get moving again. Then started assessing the damage. Could've been worse.
Monday, August 3, 2009
7 mile progression
I wasn't sure what type of run to do today until I had started into it and was completely warmed up. The schedule said 5 easy or mod on treadmill. But workouts have been going good so I ramped it up some more.
After 2 miles at 8:30 I increased speed to 8:10 pace. Mile 4 was 8 flat. Then next @ 7:45 and mile 6 was 7:30. The last was 7:00 even. I don't usually end fast without a cool down mile or two, but just walked it out for about 5 mins and then did my stretching. Ended up being total of 7, and faster than scheduled. I'm calling this a progression rather than one of my cookers because the last mile didn't really feel all that tough. I didn't want to push any further and just ended it with something held back in reserve for tomorrow/whenever. Feel really good about this workout. That's 4 days in a row - good for me. And miles are up: 10 easy, 5 moderate, 6 mod. on trails, 7 progession. Forgot to bandaid up the nips, some lite chaffing... ouch, I don't want that to become an issue again. Later, I felt some aches in knees. Price to pay for trying to get my speed back.
After 2 miles at 8:30 I increased speed to 8:10 pace. Mile 4 was 8 flat. Then next @ 7:45 and mile 6 was 7:30. The last was 7:00 even. I don't usually end fast without a cool down mile or two, but just walked it out for about 5 mins and then did my stretching. Ended up being total of 7, and faster than scheduled. I'm calling this a progression rather than one of my cookers because the last mile didn't really feel all that tough. I didn't want to push any further and just ended it with something held back in reserve for tomorrow/whenever. Feel really good about this workout. That's 4 days in a row - good for me. And miles are up: 10 easy, 5 moderate, 6 mod. on trails, 7 progession. Forgot to bandaid up the nips, some lite chaffing... ouch, I don't want that to become an issue again. Later, I felt some aches in knees. Price to pay for trying to get my speed back.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Fri-Sat-Sunday notes
Moving backwards to record my recent workouts:
Sunday - 6 miles trail run. Worked hard on the uphills. Started to feel really good after the half way point but resisted the urge to add on extra miles. Went out there to get 5 or 6 at medium hard effort and got it done. Weather 70 degrees & 95% humidity.
I'm just taking these workouts one or two days at a time. Not 'planning' or scheduling anything to far in advance. Enjoying it, and damn well hope it leads somewhere!
Saturday - 5 miles easy around neighborhood. Got out there early, weather pretty good after yesterday's massive thunderstorms. Surprised to see some of the splits were quick (in the 8:00 to 8:15 range) but the effort was easy.
Friday - 10 mile hike at medium pace with 3x 5 mins. breaks. This is my first official training hike in prep for the SSH challenge. Since I have a knack for getting lost in the woods, I hooked up with a few other hikers. I feel like I now know this half of the course pretty well and next time on these trails I'll be running (where possible - tough trails here). My legs were feeling a bit of a pump at the conclusion of this 10 mile hike.
The following is a detailed report of these trails. I do this as much for any others who plan to cover this ground as just for myself so that I can remember the tougher sections. We hiked S2N, so I'm reconstructing these notes because the race is the opposite direction.
Beginning from Otter Creek Campground: first of all, we skipped the the first mile loop up to Osprey Overlook thinking that any one of us could come back on our own to do that piece anytime. Sooo...
the trail literally goes right thru the campground. Blaze marks are blue. Uphill from 'lil store thru a few sites and goes into the woods toward Sawmill Run behind campsite 92 (or there about). Immediately you get some thorns & stinging nettles for a short patch, then woods along creek to wooden bridge. Nice view before steep short climb to logging road. This is State Game Lands(SGL) 83. Road is muddy, deep potholes/puddles to be avioded. About half mile run up to left turn where Furnace Run joins Sawmill. Now along different old road...more grassy/overgrown. This is about a mile long gradually climbing & changes from grassy to wooded alongside creek. Parts have slippery rocks.
In general, long stretches of this trail are rocky. And these rocks are often in speckled sunlight making them tough to see. And sometimes wet and/or mossy (i.e. tricky footing). Generally most the running is in the first half of the course (from stories I hear about 2nd half)...and on the first half I can see that most running is early - i.e. first quarter of this race will be faster whether you go out too fast or not!
Now the trail climbs very steep, then short flat ridge before coming out to an utility road. Turn left, this is easy running segment, third of mile, then thru gate, right onto paved road for 150 yards, crossing road into woods. Look for blue blaze mark, and big poison ivy patch. Short rocky/choppy section in woods, left turn to a total bitch of a section along the side of a corn field. Really overgrown with p. i. and some thorns. I sent a message to the local trail club that this section really needs to be cleaned up before race day; otherwise, maybe corn crop will be done and we can run where the first row used to be. You pop out at a "T" intersection and go str8 across onto Newcut Road (slight uphill). The next mile is roads: gravel (Newcut) then paved (Posey) then gravel (past Blaine jct). A right takes you into SGL 181. This is a wide grass/gravel road. Shade, uphill, nice.
This is mile marker 6, and first water stop here. Then thru gate & start downhill. Longgg steady downhill... old road now has become thick, high grass. Still very wide. This is like a beautiful old country road to nowhere. There's a bend in the road, and when you go around it then the grassy road looks like it just goes down down down forever. This should be the fastest running mile of the entire 25 mile course. No kidding this is almost a mile of steady downhill grassy old farm road with the last half mile straight as an arrow down into dark heavy woods and with woods lining both sides all the way down. Awesome! Wouldn't it be great to run downhill all the time? When you enter the woods at the bottom the trail goes left alongside a creek- this is Oakland's Run. It's like at least 15 degrees cooler in here compared to out in the sun. There's a huge rock I call the "Steamship Rock" which is practically all by itself on the forest floor and jutting out from a hillside toward the creek. (btw, there's a geocache find exactly here if u r so inclined). Anyway, you follow the creek down hill at least one mile toward the mighty river. At one point you cross creek and then climb several steep up & down sections. You're moving from a Hemlock stand, or grove, into what i can only describe as a Rhododendrum Forest. I've never seen so many rhodo's all together. Must be awesome in springtime. Rocky stretches & unsafe footing for running as you get to the bottom of the run and then turn right as the trail goes alongside the Susquehanna for about 1 mile. When you start to pass a few little cottages, the trail begins to change into another grassy old road. When there's a fork, stay left along the river. This didn't seem well blazed/signed...stay left. The road becomes more of a gravel road. You will pass the hydroelectic dam and a few DANGER signs - no swimming, duh. Just after the damn, look for a right turn off road up into the woods. This is well marked. Climbing uphill steady, then more steeply. Cross under 2 electric power lines - this area is steep with unsure footing and somewhat overgrown with p.i. and thorny patches. Finally levels out for a short piece, but then very steep downhill on some newly cut-in switchbacks. Loose footing - dangerous. At the bottom is Mill Creek. You hug the side of the creek for a few minutes. Rocky and slippery. At the bottom where the trail joins a gravel road is a great waterfall but you'll have to stop & turn around to look back up at it... just when the road offers the chance to run once again.
Big sections of this trail are not 'runable' because it's just too steep up (or down) or because of slippery rocks. You have to pick your spots. And be ready to slow down as soon as you see terrain changing. Be ready to walk/hike. If this was a shorter race you could attack every hill, but this is 25 miles amigo!
Take a right when the Mill Creek hits the gravel road. Almost immediately look for left down a short embankment. There's a very old looking stone foundation here, and a guardrail along this side of road. Short descent gets you onto trail alongside the big river. Slippery rocks for a half mile until the Historic Lock 12 area. Should be able to run along here, pay attention to trail...not views. Arrive at playground/restrooms/parking lot and this is water stop #2. Course is a bit of mystery after here, but assume you go uphill thru both parking lots, left on gravel road, left onto highway and then across Rt 372 big bridge. I don't see any other trail leading up onto bridge approach. Plus that would round up the mileage to make this side of the river 12 miles ( and other side will be 13). Other side is supposedly more challenging climbs & descents. Look forward to that next week. I may need to invest in a machette for the overgrown parts of this course!!
Sunday - 6 miles trail run. Worked hard on the uphills. Started to feel really good after the half way point but resisted the urge to add on extra miles. Went out there to get 5 or 6 at medium hard effort and got it done. Weather 70 degrees & 95% humidity.
I'm just taking these workouts one or two days at a time. Not 'planning' or scheduling anything to far in advance. Enjoying it, and damn well hope it leads somewhere!
Saturday - 5 miles easy around neighborhood. Got out there early, weather pretty good after yesterday's massive thunderstorms. Surprised to see some of the splits were quick (in the 8:00 to 8:15 range) but the effort was easy.
Friday - 10 mile hike at medium pace with 3x 5 mins. breaks. This is my first official training hike in prep for the SSH challenge. Since I have a knack for getting lost in the woods, I hooked up with a few other hikers. I feel like I now know this half of the course pretty well and next time on these trails I'll be running (where possible - tough trails here). My legs were feeling a bit of a pump at the conclusion of this 10 mile hike.
The following is a detailed report of these trails. I do this as much for any others who plan to cover this ground as just for myself so that I can remember the tougher sections. We hiked S2N, so I'm reconstructing these notes because the race is the opposite direction.
Beginning from Otter Creek Campground: first of all, we skipped the the first mile loop up to Osprey Overlook thinking that any one of us could come back on our own to do that piece anytime. Sooo...
the trail literally goes right thru the campground. Blaze marks are blue. Uphill from 'lil store thru a few sites and goes into the woods toward Sawmill Run behind campsite 92 (or there about). Immediately you get some thorns & stinging nettles for a short patch, then woods along creek to wooden bridge. Nice view before steep short climb to logging road. This is State Game Lands(SGL) 83. Road is muddy, deep potholes/puddles to be avioded. About half mile run up to left turn where Furnace Run joins Sawmill. Now along different old road...more grassy/overgrown. This is about a mile long gradually climbing & changes from grassy to wooded alongside creek. Parts have slippery rocks.
In general, long stretches of this trail are rocky. And these rocks are often in speckled sunlight making them tough to see. And sometimes wet and/or mossy (i.e. tricky footing). Generally most the running is in the first half of the course (from stories I hear about 2nd half)...and on the first half I can see that most running is early - i.e. first quarter of this race will be faster whether you go out too fast or not!
Now the trail climbs very steep, then short flat ridge before coming out to an utility road. Turn left, this is easy running segment, third of mile, then thru gate, right onto paved road for 150 yards, crossing road into woods. Look for blue blaze mark, and big poison ivy patch. Short rocky/choppy section in woods, left turn to a total bitch of a section along the side of a corn field. Really overgrown with p. i. and some thorns. I sent a message to the local trail club that this section really needs to be cleaned up before race day; otherwise, maybe corn crop will be done and we can run where the first row used to be. You pop out at a "T" intersection and go str8 across onto Newcut Road (slight uphill). The next mile is roads: gravel (Newcut) then paved (Posey) then gravel (past Blaine jct). A right takes you into SGL 181. This is a wide grass/gravel road. Shade, uphill, nice.
This is mile marker 6, and first water stop here. Then thru gate & start downhill. Longgg steady downhill... old road now has become thick, high grass. Still very wide. This is like a beautiful old country road to nowhere. There's a bend in the road, and when you go around it then the grassy road looks like it just goes down down down forever. This should be the fastest running mile of the entire 25 mile course. No kidding this is almost a mile of steady downhill grassy old farm road with the last half mile straight as an arrow down into dark heavy woods and with woods lining both sides all the way down. Awesome! Wouldn't it be great to run downhill all the time? When you enter the woods at the bottom the trail goes left alongside a creek- this is Oakland's Run. It's like at least 15 degrees cooler in here compared to out in the sun. There's a huge rock I call the "Steamship Rock" which is practically all by itself on the forest floor and jutting out from a hillside toward the creek. (btw, there's a geocache find exactly here if u r so inclined). Anyway, you follow the creek down hill at least one mile toward the mighty river. At one point you cross creek and then climb several steep up & down sections. You're moving from a Hemlock stand, or grove, into what i can only describe as a Rhododendrum Forest. I've never seen so many rhodo's all together. Must be awesome in springtime. Rocky stretches & unsafe footing for running as you get to the bottom of the run and then turn right as the trail goes alongside the Susquehanna for about 1 mile. When you start to pass a few little cottages, the trail begins to change into another grassy old road. When there's a fork, stay left along the river. This didn't seem well blazed/signed...stay left. The road becomes more of a gravel road. You will pass the hydroelectic dam and a few DANGER signs - no swimming, duh. Just after the damn, look for a right turn off road up into the woods. This is well marked. Climbing uphill steady, then more steeply. Cross under 2 electric power lines - this area is steep with unsure footing and somewhat overgrown with p.i. and thorny patches. Finally levels out for a short piece, but then very steep downhill on some newly cut-in switchbacks. Loose footing - dangerous. At the bottom is Mill Creek. You hug the side of the creek for a few minutes. Rocky and slippery. At the bottom where the trail joins a gravel road is a great waterfall but you'll have to stop & turn around to look back up at it... just when the road offers the chance to run once again.
Big sections of this trail are not 'runable' because it's just too steep up (or down) or because of slippery rocks. You have to pick your spots. And be ready to slow down as soon as you see terrain changing. Be ready to walk/hike. If this was a shorter race you could attack every hill, but this is 25 miles amigo!
Take a right when the Mill Creek hits the gravel road. Almost immediately look for left down a short embankment. There's a very old looking stone foundation here, and a guardrail along this side of road. Short descent gets you onto trail alongside the big river. Slippery rocks for a half mile until the Historic Lock 12 area. Should be able to run along here, pay attention to trail...not views. Arrive at playground/restrooms/parking lot and this is water stop #2. Course is a bit of mystery after here, but assume you go uphill thru both parking lots, left on gravel road, left onto highway and then across Rt 372 big bridge. I don't see any other trail leading up onto bridge approach. Plus that would round up the mileage to make this side of the river 12 miles ( and other side will be 13). Other side is supposedly more challenging climbs & descents. Look forward to that next week. I may need to invest in a machette for the overgrown parts of this course!!
Saturday, August 1, 2009
4 Irish Cream
I couldn't figure out how to add a photo into my comment on your blog, so here's a link 4U:
USDA Prime Cut of Beef. The marbled fat in this aged steak will practically melt in your mouth. Cook rare over open grill flame. Congrats 'lil Irish, and Best Wishes.
Damn . . . a little drip of saliva is just right on the tip of my tongue!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Tempo Tuesday
Did my planned tempo run today. Even tacked on something extra, was feeling pretty good.
Running short on time, here's the quick version:
One mile warm-up. 3 x 7:00 which the first mile I had some trouble getting into the groove. Then began to feel relaxed and just cruised along. Started the cool-down 5th mile, but after a few minutes decided to do a quick 800m interval to take advantage of feeling some speed. Was about 4 mins of recovery and then half mile in 3:10 or 3:15... I actually lost track of time but I know it was 3:15 at the slowest. May have been closer to 3:05_ish. Then cool-down mile. Total 6 in 46:40.
Hit some weights today. Had big salad for lunch!
Running short on time, here's the quick version:
One mile warm-up. 3 x 7:00 which the first mile I had some trouble getting into the groove. Then began to feel relaxed and just cruised along. Started the cool-down 5th mile, but after a few minutes decided to do a quick 800m interval to take advantage of feeling some speed. Was about 4 mins of recovery and then half mile in 3:10 or 3:15... I actually lost track of time but I know it was 3:15 at the slowest. May have been closer to 3:05_ish. Then cool-down mile. Total 6 in 46:40.
Hit some weights today. Had big salad for lunch!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Weekend Recap
Fell behind on updates (again)...here's a quick post covering the weekend:
Sat- 5 mile trail run. EZ effort. It was very humid in the woods from rain the night before. My shoes got quite muddy (and stinky). The regular muddy spots are becoming swamp mud sections! Bunches of people out today, mostly hikers/walkers. Several dogs running loose; owners with the same old "he's harmless" excuses.
Sun- 5 miles on the roads through my neighborhood. This was also supposed to be an easy effort but it ended up averaging around 8:00 pace. The wife rode along with her bike, which is becoming more of a regular thing. It's nice but I've noticed the pace is a bit faster when she's biking.
Last week's total hit 36 miles. Very happy with that number. Now if I can just my average weekly up to that number then I'll be in good shape. This coming week is planned to be easier intentionally/rest week. Then pile on the miles beginning in August.
Sat- 5 mile trail run. EZ effort. It was very humid in the woods from rain the night before. My shoes got quite muddy (and stinky). The regular muddy spots are becoming swamp mud sections! Bunches of people out today, mostly hikers/walkers. Several dogs running loose; owners with the same old "he's harmless" excuses.
Sun- 5 miles on the roads through my neighborhood. This was also supposed to be an easy effort but it ended up averaging around 8:00 pace. The wife rode along with her bike, which is becoming more of a regular thing. It's nice but I've noticed the pace is a bit faster when she's biking.
Last week's total hit 36 miles. Very happy with that number. Now if I can just my average weekly up to that number then I'll be in good shape. This coming week is planned to be easier intentionally/rest week. Then pile on the miles beginning in August.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)
(Stones song title4 today) Ever feel like just running away from it all? I have the day off today, but tons a little things to get done before heading to the Phillies game tonite - WOOO Hoooo!!
But the break in routine made me skip my run this morning. Now there's just not enough hours left in the afternoon to finish what i have to do and squeeze in my workout. UGH, don't u just hate that?
If I can get 5 miles run tomorrow morning then I'll salvage 36 for the week. I'm fine with that total. But I'll have to take it easy at the game so that nothing interferes with running in the a.m. And I had actually woken up at like 4:00 this morning, couldn't get back to sleep. I got up and looked outside and momentarily thought about do a very early morning run. But laziness held me back and now I'm imagining how nice that would've been. bummer. On a bright note I've already hit 100 miles for this month and so my mileage is up. Certainly will be my biggest miles month of the year! Then even more in August will set me up for a fine fall race season.
A friend had a bad wipe out on her bike. Broke her collarbone... no running for 4 weeks. Now that's a bummer! I've got to be extra careful out there on the streets. Yesterday I did about 17 miles on bike (which I count as 5 miles for running log). It was just spritzing a bit off & on during the last 30 minutes. I'm not sure if the timing is the same, but this may have been when T hit a slippery patch and went down hard. I've never had a bad bike fall on roads. Had plenty of wipe outs on trails (which is why I rarely ride on the trails anymore!).
But the break in routine made me skip my run this morning. Now there's just not enough hours left in the afternoon to finish what i have to do and squeeze in my workout. UGH, don't u just hate that?
If I can get 5 miles run tomorrow morning then I'll salvage 36 for the week. I'm fine with that total. But I'll have to take it easy at the game so that nothing interferes with running in the a.m. And I had actually woken up at like 4:00 this morning, couldn't get back to sleep. I got up and looked outside and momentarily thought about do a very early morning run. But laziness held me back and now I'm imagining how nice that would've been. bummer. On a bright note I've already hit 100 miles for this month and so my mileage is up. Certainly will be my biggest miles month of the year! Then even more in August will set me up for a fine fall race season.
A friend had a bad wipe out on her bike. Broke her collarbone... no running for 4 weeks. Now that's a bummer! I've got to be extra careful out there on the streets. Yesterday I did about 17 miles on bike (which I count as 5 miles for running log). It was just spritzing a bit off & on during the last 30 minutes. I'm not sure if the timing is the same, but this may have been when T hit a slippery patch and went down hard. I've never had a bad bike fall on roads. Had plenty of wipe outs on trails (which is why I rarely ride on the trails anymore!).
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
When I Come Around. . . later & later
Here's something I've noticed recently, don't think I've mentioned it yet: It's been taking me longer & longer to warm up. Over the last few years I've incorporated "my plan" to begin each workout with some easy running. Usually one mile; sometimes two. Prior to that I would always just launch right into whatever pace I felt like.
Well lately I've been feeling tired & sluggish at the beginning of a lot of runs. But then I feel more comfy after one or two miles. . . then really feel ready to crank it up after the third or forth mile is complete. I hope this doesn't get stretched any further because then I'll be doing like a 5 or 6 miles warm up! WTF?!?!
I'm not sure if this could be a bit of over-training in the immediate cause, or maybe just plain getting older in a broader view. Maybe combo. What other reasons come to mind? Maybe all the months of marathon LSd (with hardly any speedwork) has somehow reset my internal engine to need the long warm up/?
Today's plan was 5 easy to moderate on the treadmill at the Y. The first 3 were at 8:30 pace, tread set to 0.5 incline. Was feeling blah & achey just until I came around to the end of 3rd mile, then started feeling much better. Increased speed so that mile 4= 7:50 and then #5= 7:25. At this point I was feeling so good I wanted to rip into a really fast final mile, and planned to tack on something for a cooldown. Mile 6= 6:50 with the final 1/4 being an ever increasing pace. Very easy last mile, total today 7. That's 26 so far this week. Shooting for 2x5 to finish week with 36.
Next week will have to be a drop-back week in mileage. My knees & feet are feeling some general discomfort. But I'm having a great mileage month!
Well lately I've been feeling tired & sluggish at the beginning of a lot of runs. But then I feel more comfy after one or two miles. . . then really feel ready to crank it up after the third or forth mile is complete. I hope this doesn't get stretched any further because then I'll be doing like a 5 or 6 miles warm up! WTF?!?!
I'm not sure if this could be a bit of over-training in the immediate cause, or maybe just plain getting older in a broader view. Maybe combo. What other reasons come to mind? Maybe all the months of marathon LSd (with hardly any speedwork) has somehow reset my internal engine to need the long warm up/?
Today's plan was 5 easy to moderate on the treadmill at the Y. The first 3 were at 8:30 pace, tread set to 0.5 incline. Was feeling blah & achey just until I came around to the end of 3rd mile, then started feeling much better. Increased speed so that mile 4= 7:50 and then #5= 7:25. At this point I was feeling so good I wanted to rip into a really fast final mile, and planned to tack on something for a cooldown. Mile 6= 6:50 with the final 1/4 being an ever increasing pace. Very easy last mile, total today 7. That's 26 so far this week. Shooting for 2x5 to finish week with 36.
Next week will have to be a drop-back week in mileage. My knees & feet are feeling some general discomfort. But I'm having a great mileage month!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Legs are beat up
This is a recap of Sunday, Mon., Tues since I've been busy and not blogging.
Tues: whew, my legs are sore. Some aches & pains in feet & knees, but nothing too bad. Main problem is quads very beat up from Sunday's long trail run. Glad I did it, but paying the price of DOMS today. Rest day, no workout.
Mon: Legs tired & sore from yesterday's really long hard effort. But I really forced myself to get out there and put in a few miles. Alot of times Runner's World and/or other sources say to clear out the legs by running a few miles the day after a tough effort. We'll see if there's any truth to that. I've always taken the approach that easy 'junk' miles are counter productive and so instead will usually just take rest days totally off to recover. I can see the mileage benefits of a more active recovery... just hope the body holds up okay with this new approach. 5 miles ez.
Sunday: Great long trail run - done solo - with plenty of hills. 14 miles total, about evenly split with flat sections and hills. Some hills very steep. Really took my time, 10 minute pace. Also took 2 five minute breaks back at the car to refuel/hydrate. So that would make it more like 11 min.pace but I stopped my watch during these breaks. Total climbing approximately 700 - 1,000 feet. I just looked at the Topo maps and seems to be closer to 1,000 ft. Also add the same for downhills, some of which were very steep/not traditional trails.
I am toying with the idea of a very long trail race/hiking challenge in Sept. The Susquehanna Super Hike is a running and/or hiking event. It is 25 miles and features 4,200 of elevation gain (8,400 total up and down). Link is here. I came to find out about this by chance, but it's interesting. Problem is that the PDR 13.1 is 8 days later. However, I am increasingly doubtful that I can take a real shot at a new personal best because my workouts just don't seem to be showing me that I've got it right now. So the trail race is appealing in leiu of a PR attempt.
So I'm thinking about it. And the long long trail runs with tons of steep hills can't hurt no matter which way I decide ... right?
Tues: whew, my legs are sore. Some aches & pains in feet & knees, but nothing too bad. Main problem is quads very beat up from Sunday's long trail run. Glad I did it, but paying the price of DOMS today. Rest day, no workout.
Mon: Legs tired & sore from yesterday's really long hard effort. But I really forced myself to get out there and put in a few miles. Alot of times Runner's World and/or other sources say to clear out the legs by running a few miles the day after a tough effort. We'll see if there's any truth to that. I've always taken the approach that easy 'junk' miles are counter productive and so instead will usually just take rest days totally off to recover. I can see the mileage benefits of a more active recovery... just hope the body holds up okay with this new approach. 5 miles ez.
Sunday: Great long trail run - done solo - with plenty of hills. 14 miles total, about evenly split with flat sections and hills. Some hills very steep. Really took my time, 10 minute pace. Also took 2 five minute breaks back at the car to refuel/hydrate. So that would make it more like 11 min.pace but I stopped my watch during these breaks. Total climbing approximately 700 - 1,000 feet. I just looked at the Topo maps and seems to be closer to 1,000 ft. Also add the same for downhills, some of which were very steep/not traditional trails.
I am toying with the idea of a very long trail race/hiking challenge in Sept. The Susquehanna Super Hike is a running and/or hiking event. It is 25 miles and features 4,200 of elevation gain (8,400 total up and down). Link is here. I came to find out about this by chance, but it's interesting. Problem is that the PDR 13.1 is 8 days later. However, I am increasingly doubtful that I can take a real shot at a new personal best because my workouts just don't seem to be showing me that I've got it right now. So the trail race is appealing in leiu of a PR attempt.
So I'm thinking about it. And the long long trail runs with tons of steep hills can't hurt no matter which way I decide ... right?
Friday, July 17, 2009
run-bike-run
this post is from 2 weeks ago, while reviewing July's totals (stellar) I noticed these workouts were never mentioned.
Wed.15th - planned to ride my bike today but just wasn't feeling it. Decided to mix it up by running a few, transition onto bike, then finish with a few more run miles. Went ahead and laid out the gear needed and then hit 2 miles at just under 7:30 pace. Very quick shoe change, helmet, and onto mtn bike. Did 14 miles (out Shipley & then around neighborhood twice) in under an hour. Got back to garage and changed back into my Brooks. As I started to run my legs felt soooo weird! I was like all pumped up in the quads and the legs just were not doing the usual thing. Felt stiff legged. Must've looked funny to my neighbors, if anyone was looking. However, the feeling/not feeling it didn't seem to impact the speed because the first split was 7:26. Began running 'normal' and the second split was a comfortable 7:21 only pushing the final 200 yards.
Very pleased with this workout!
Fri. 17th - i skipped yesterday but still having a decent mileage week. 4 easy on treadmill today. Hit the weights a bit after, and a good stretching. Plan to take a rest day tomorrow and hit it hard for a trail run on Sunday.
Wed.15th - planned to ride my bike today but just wasn't feeling it. Decided to mix it up by running a few, transition onto bike, then finish with a few more run miles. Went ahead and laid out the gear needed and then hit 2 miles at just under 7:30 pace. Very quick shoe change, helmet, and onto mtn bike. Did 14 miles (out Shipley & then around neighborhood twice) in under an hour. Got back to garage and changed back into my Brooks. As I started to run my legs felt soooo weird! I was like all pumped up in the quads and the legs just were not doing the usual thing. Felt stiff legged. Must've looked funny to my neighbors, if anyone was looking. However, the feeling/not feeling it didn't seem to impact the speed because the first split was 7:26. Began running 'normal' and the second split was a comfortable 7:21 only pushing the final 200 yards.
Very pleased with this workout!
Fri. 17th - i skipped yesterday but still having a decent mileage week. 4 easy on treadmill today. Hit the weights a bit after, and a good stretching. Plan to take a rest day tomorrow and hit it hard for a trail run on Sunday.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Philly Distance Run - the preview
I am excited to go up to Phila PA and run a workout on the PDR course. I volunteered to lead a road trip from here (Del.) so that we can get familiar with course... and generally for something new & different to do. Here's the club announcement.
This is open to anyone - so feel free to join us if you're in the area. Here's a link to the course map. I love that the elevation profile shows range from low of 24' and high of 55'. Did I mention that i don't run hills very well?
Although my enthusiasm is being cut by the fact that I'm not sure how I'm going to pull together a PR attempt. Based on my recent hard effort work outs I have lost all my speed. I traded in my speed for marathon long runs... and now I can't seem to get the speed back. Here's a summary of last Sunday's long run, second week in a row that I did this workout. This was intended as a Cooker (but ended up more of a steady simmer?)?
July 12 - first 6 miles averaged 8:30 over varied home neighborhood loop. 75 degress & 75% humidity.
mile 7 - 8:05 includes one hill
mile 8 - 7:59 big hill
mile 9 - 7:46 why am I not going faster, and when will this end?
mile 10 -7:40 is this measured correctly? Feel like I'm working much harder than 7:40.
tacked on one extra as a cool down. I got noticably slower compared to last week. Maybe the trail run the day before took something out of me? Maybe a bit more heat & humidity too. This workout felt good, but the times are just not what i was hoping for.
I'm going online to search for some half marathon training schedule/plan. At least the preview is no Hills at PDR - hoping for no Heat or Humidity.
This is open to anyone - so feel free to join us if you're in the area. Here's a link to the course map. I love that the elevation profile shows range from low of 24' and high of 55'. Did I mention that i don't run hills very well?
Although my enthusiasm is being cut by the fact that I'm not sure how I'm going to pull together a PR attempt. Based on my recent hard effort work outs I have lost all my speed. I traded in my speed for marathon long runs... and now I can't seem to get the speed back. Here's a summary of last Sunday's long run, second week in a row that I did this workout. This was intended as a Cooker (but ended up more of a steady simmer?)?
July 12 - first 6 miles averaged 8:30 over varied home neighborhood loop. 75 degress & 75% humidity.
mile 7 - 8:05 includes one hill
mile 8 - 7:59 big hill
mile 9 - 7:46 why am I not going faster, and when will this end?
mile 10 -7:40 is this measured correctly? Feel like I'm working much harder than 7:40.
tacked on one extra as a cool down. I got noticably slower compared to last week. Maybe the trail run the day before took something out of me? Maybe a bit more heat & humidity too. This workout felt good, but the times are just not what i was hoping for.
I'm going online to search for some half marathon training schedule/plan. At least the preview is no Hills at PDR - hoping for no Heat or Humidity.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Blogger World
I've been noticing some of my eFriends have much nicer blogs than me. :( How do you guys find all those gadgets, and get them onto the sides of yer page? I must work a bit more on that.
Especially since about 2 weeks ago a reporter was at a local 5k and he's since contacted me back about a featured article. Yes, I've already told him that I'm interesting enough for an article. But he says he wants to run a series on {normal} everyday runners. Here's another thing to figure out= how do u's get font changes like 'strike-through' that I see in other blogs? That adds a humorous element but blogger seems so limited. I just tried to type it in MSword, and copy & paste over here, but doesn't work. Assume not supported font type in blogger. FRUSTRATION.
Alert:
Check out Marlene's blog here. I've read this a few times, but for some/whatever reason hadn't put on as a fav. Done today. She has reached #500 blog entry and is having a gift give away to celebrate! She recently set a 5k PR, and was 1st overall woman for the first time ever. I never realized her entire story - has lost enough weight to be basically (assuming here) half the person she once was! Inspirational runner.
Especially since about 2 weeks ago a reporter was at a local 5k and he's since contacted me back about a featured article. Yes, I've already told him that I'm interesting enough for an article. But he says he wants to run a series on {normal} everyday runners. Here's another thing to figure out= how do u's get font changes like 'strike-through' that I see in other blogs? That adds a humorous element but blogger seems so limited. I just tried to type it in MSword, and copy & paste over here, but doesn't work. Assume not supported font type in blogger. FRUSTRATION.
Alert:
Check out Marlene's blog here. I've read this a few times, but for some/whatever reason hadn't put on as a fav. Done today. She has reached #500 blog entry and is having a gift give away to celebrate! She recently set a 5k PR, and was 1st overall woman for the first time ever. I never realized her entire story - has lost enough weight to be basically (assuming here) half the person she once was! Inspirational runner.
Monday, July 13, 2009
True Confessions
Okay, this day has finally arrived. I've been holding out a secret piece of info from you, my readers. This may be a bit embarrassing but here goes: I'm a huge SpongeBob fan.
They say the first step toward recovery is saying it out loud. So I've made it that far.
This comes up because I was reading Lindsay's post about her blister. (in addition to 18 miles on treadmill - that would be a PR for me as well ... but another confession here is that I routinely go 10 or 12 miles on the wheel. Sports Ctr and other mindless channel surfing (and people watching) at the Y help pass the time).
Anyway, back to the blister: I'm thinking how can I describe this situation in a comment back to L for her blog. Personification of an inanimate object gives human qualities to stuff around us. "The sea was angry that day" or "the couch was so comfy...it wrapped its arms around me and I found i couldn't get anything done all day". Etc. I like coming up with a good juicy personification every now & again. So I'm trying to come up with something clever to say. I'm thinking: blister. sister blister. blister baby. blister buddy... BINGO. That reminds me of my friend SB. Episode 23B - February 3, 2001: "Bubble Buddy" in which SB creates his own friend...everyone else doesn't like him & deny that he really exists. Of course then silly antics ensue.
A bubble & a blister are practically the same thing, so let me suggest you name it Bubble Buddy! BTW, watch the episode. They come at Bubble Buddy with all manner of needles, pins, and other sharp objects. But Bubble Buddy is a very slippery fellow!
As I'm looking thru my SB show titles I'm seeing some other good running related topics:
Squeaky Boots - patterned after Poe's Tell Tale Heart. Is there anything worse than a pair of running shoes making an unusual noise? Haunting.
Something Smells - apparently a sea-onion sundae smells worse than Lindberger cheese. And so does that guy at last weekend's 5k race who obviously hadn't washed his shirt in a month!
Pre-Hibernation Week - Sandy gets a little nutty before hibernating. Also describes that last good week of mileage before 'insert excuse here' happened.
Krusty Love - unsuccessful snot rocket which unbeknownst to you has dried onto your face/shirt.
No Weenies Allowed - Nike's Women's Marathon.
Survival of the Idiots - this was me in the last miles of my marathon.
The Great Snail Race - some of these are just too easy.
These really are the titles from SB episodes! How much fun? Mostly I'm procrastinating from getting out there for my run today. Why? Don't know. I farted away the morning, then got busy but told myself I'd make time this afternoon. Now been sitting here for like 2 hours reading blogs and trying to come up with a funny entry for today. I must end this and finally get out there for my run! Ugh, very much like my hero SpongeBob I am an expert at killing lots of time with very little to show for it. That fact has never bothered me near as much as it does my wife, my boss, etc.,etc.
They say the first step toward recovery is saying it out loud. So I've made it that far.
This comes up because I was reading Lindsay's post about her blister. (in addition to 18 miles on treadmill - that would be a PR for me as well ... but another confession here is that I routinely go 10 or 12 miles on the wheel. Sports Ctr and other mindless channel surfing (and people watching) at the Y help pass the time).
Anyway, back to the blister: I'm thinking how can I describe this situation in a comment back to L for her blog. Personification of an inanimate object gives human qualities to stuff around us. "The sea was angry that day" or "the couch was so comfy...it wrapped its arms around me and I found i couldn't get anything done all day". Etc. I like coming up with a good juicy personification every now & again. So I'm trying to come up with something clever to say. I'm thinking: blister. sister blister. blister baby. blister buddy... BINGO. That reminds me of my friend SB. Episode 23B - February 3, 2001: "Bubble Buddy" in which SB creates his own friend...everyone else doesn't like him & deny that he really exists. Of course then silly antics ensue.
A bubble & a blister are practically the same thing, so let me suggest you name it Bubble Buddy! BTW, watch the episode. They come at Bubble Buddy with all manner of needles, pins, and other sharp objects. But Bubble Buddy is a very slippery fellow!
As I'm looking thru my SB show titles I'm seeing some other good running related topics:
Squeaky Boots - patterned after Poe's Tell Tale Heart. Is there anything worse than a pair of running shoes making an unusual noise? Haunting.
Something Smells - apparently a sea-onion sundae smells worse than Lindberger cheese. And so does that guy at last weekend's 5k race who obviously hadn't washed his shirt in a month!
Pre-Hibernation Week - Sandy gets a little nutty before hibernating. Also describes that last good week of mileage before 'insert excuse here' happened.
Krusty Love - unsuccessful snot rocket which unbeknownst to you has dried onto your face/shirt.
No Weenies Allowed - Nike's Women's Marathon.
Survival of the Idiots - this was me in the last miles of my marathon.
The Great Snail Race - some of these are just too easy.
These really are the titles from SB episodes! How much fun? Mostly I'm procrastinating from getting out there for my run today. Why? Don't know. I farted away the morning, then got busy but told myself I'd make time this afternoon. Now been sitting here for like 2 hours reading blogs and trying to come up with a funny entry for today. I must end this and finally get out there for my run! Ugh, very much like my hero SpongeBob I am an expert at killing lots of time with very little to show for it. That fact has never bothered me near as much as it does my wife, my boss, etc.,etc.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
EZ Day, really very easy
Oh wow, I've missed a whole week of blog posts. I had a somewhat busy week, but thinking back on it now it doesn't seem that busy. Anyway, I'll try to go back and make some notes. Meanwhile I had a nice easy run this a.m. that deserves an immediate write up. Sometimes writing blog entries feels too much like homework - and I don't like that feeling!
In an effort to build some club spirit/unity/visibility we (the board) decided a few months back to host a series of group runs. Open to members and the public, anyone/any ability. Today was my second time hosting. The first one was a flop due to late notice posted and the weather. Last month was so rainy but now it seems like 2 weeks since we've had a drop.
We had great turn out for this morning's trail run, 12 runners. The weather was perfect for July (cool, dry, clear blue sky). Ultra Margie made it a point to talk up that fact that she'd be there. That helped alot. She's modest when talking about her running, but anyone that goes 50k, 50 miles, 100k and 100 miles is a rock star in my mind! We were also joined by another ultra runner - Fast Fred - who did his ultras from the left coast during the 90's. {Note that I am making up these nicknames myself, I've got to learn everybody's nicknames still}
At the other end of the spectrum we had a few folks that were either new to trails or needed to run slower paces. And I was somewhere in the middle. I tried to keep tabs on everyone but feel I didn't do a real great job as host. Luckily we all came back together at the end. Only one person fell, in the first 5 mins, and I know he's tough enough from plenty of other falls to be fine. On the whole it was very sucessful group run.
Personally the effort was too easy for my liking. I'm calling it 5 miles, but it very well may have been less. At times the pace was slow. . . then other times it was waaay too slow. There was some other runners in the woods, a group from DRClub, and I felt the urge to speed up and fall in with them. But I resisted and tried to be the good host. This 5 today makes 20 for the week. Okay, that's about what i expected after last week's big #. And the plus is that I should run tomorrow morning to get the new week off to a good start.
I'm not used to doing easy miles like today. It's much more of my style to do all quality miles. I've gotten by for years on low mileage because of the fact that all miles are 'fast'. Or at least all miles have a specific purpose for the workout. Today felt more like a social thing and not a workout at all. It was really nice meeting some new runners (Bob B, Fred, Dan, Laura, her friend (Jenny??, sorry-not good w/names) and also running with folks I don't see often (Margie, John, Rachel). And a shout out to my good old crew Tuckin, McC, el Presidente.
In an effort to build some club spirit/unity/visibility we (the board) decided a few months back to host a series of group runs. Open to members and the public, anyone/any ability. Today was my second time hosting. The first one was a flop due to late notice posted and the weather. Last month was so rainy but now it seems like 2 weeks since we've had a drop.
We had great turn out for this morning's trail run, 12 runners. The weather was perfect for July (cool, dry, clear blue sky). Ultra Margie made it a point to talk up that fact that she'd be there. That helped alot. She's modest when talking about her running, but anyone that goes 50k, 50 miles, 100k and 100 miles is a rock star in my mind! We were also joined by another ultra runner - Fast Fred - who did his ultras from the left coast during the 90's. {Note that I am making up these nicknames myself, I've got to learn everybody's nicknames still}
At the other end of the spectrum we had a few folks that were either new to trails or needed to run slower paces. And I was somewhere in the middle. I tried to keep tabs on everyone but feel I didn't do a real great job as host. Luckily we all came back together at the end. Only one person fell, in the first 5 mins, and I know he's tough enough from plenty of other falls to be fine. On the whole it was very sucessful group run.
Personally the effort was too easy for my liking. I'm calling it 5 miles, but it very well may have been less. At times the pace was slow. . . then other times it was waaay too slow. There was some other runners in the woods, a group from DRClub, and I felt the urge to speed up and fall in with them. But I resisted and tried to be the good host. This 5 today makes 20 for the week. Okay, that's about what i expected after last week's big #. And the plus is that I should run tomorrow morning to get the new week off to a good start.
I'm not used to doing easy miles like today. It's much more of my style to do all quality miles. I've gotten by for years on low mileage because of the fact that all miles are 'fast'. Or at least all miles have a specific purpose for the workout. Today felt more like a social thing and not a workout at all. It was really nice meeting some new runners (Bob B, Fred, Dan, Laura, her friend (Jenny??, sorry-not good w/names) and also running with folks I don't see often (Margie, John, Rachel). And a shout out to my good old crew Tuckin, McC, el Presidente.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
RaceReport- Rooney's 5k
Realized I never did race write up for my last 5k. So i'm back-dating this posting.
I am not an evening runner, but in the summer time there seems to be a trend of 5k's during the week. This race is a Thursday 7 p.m. affair. This was the 3rd in my effort to get back some of my speed. Since I'm writing this 2 weeks later, I know now that it was the last 5k because I skipped the other weekend ones. And now I'm in the mindset of longer workouts. 5k speed is no longer the focus since we're getting closer to the fall race season (PDR in Sept. then 15k in Oct. and probable 26.2 in November).
First time I've ever done this race and/or run this course. Lots of races in our town are run over the same few courses, but this one is not oft used. Downhill first mile, then flat #2, uphill at end but the finish line is 25 to 50 feet lower than the start (i.e. net downhill). Mile 1 = 6:24 and most of the regular crowd went out faster than me so that I passed them between .5 & .75 or so. Guess I should've gone out faster. Mile 2 = 6:59 (13:23) I felt under control, holding something back for uphill finish. Mile 3, fatigue setting in; saw someone ahead of me who has been beating me lately, but I used to get the better of our races last year. Slowly closed gap and passed before 3mm. Time 6:56 (20:19). Uphill .1 = 41 seconds. Had plenty left to sprint final 100 yards. Wasn't going to kick it in until I saw another guy that usually beats me this year. I got in front of him just before the line! I know he's a lot older than me, he always gets a.g. award, but I still try to beat him when I can. 21:00 even (but online race results shows 21:01).
Tried to be social and hang out at bar afterward, but I knew I wasn't getting any a.g. medal with a 21:00 because there's always tough competition for M40-49. Had 2 beers, ate food . . . they ran out which isn't cool. If ur gonna have an evening race then you gotta expect runners to be HUNGRY. Anyway, that's my fastest of the year. One minute slower than last yr's best, and about 40 seconds slower than last yr's typical. Where has my speed gone?
I am not an evening runner, but in the summer time there seems to be a trend of 5k's during the week. This race is a Thursday 7 p.m. affair. This was the 3rd in my effort to get back some of my speed. Since I'm writing this 2 weeks later, I know now that it was the last 5k because I skipped the other weekend ones. And now I'm in the mindset of longer workouts. 5k speed is no longer the focus since we're getting closer to the fall race season (PDR in Sept. then 15k in Oct. and probable 26.2 in November).
First time I've ever done this race and/or run this course. Lots of races in our town are run over the same few courses, but this one is not oft used. Downhill first mile, then flat #2, uphill at end but the finish line is 25 to 50 feet lower than the start (i.e. net downhill). Mile 1 = 6:24 and most of the regular crowd went out faster than me so that I passed them between .5 & .75 or so. Guess I should've gone out faster. Mile 2 = 6:59 (13:23) I felt under control, holding something back for uphill finish. Mile 3, fatigue setting in; saw someone ahead of me who has been beating me lately, but I used to get the better of our races last year. Slowly closed gap and passed before 3mm. Time 6:56 (20:19). Uphill .1 = 41 seconds. Had plenty left to sprint final 100 yards. Wasn't going to kick it in until I saw another guy that usually beats me this year. I got in front of him just before the line! I know he's a lot older than me, he always gets a.g. award, but I still try to beat him when I can. 21:00 even (but online race results shows 21:01).
Tried to be social and hang out at bar afterward, but I knew I wasn't getting any a.g. medal with a 21:00 because there's always tough competition for M40-49. Had 2 beers, ate food . . . they ran out which isn't cool. If ur gonna have an evening race then you gotta expect runners to be HUNGRY. Anyway, that's my fastest of the year. One minute slower than last yr's best, and about 40 seconds slower than last yr's typical. Where has my speed gone?
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Mixed Bag of Firecrackers
The weather was absolutely great on Sat. morning for my 10 miler. Got started a bit late, but otherwise prep was good. Wore my new pair of Brooks Glycerin 7. Doing a 10 spot for their first time out was a mistake...major blister on Achilles/heal area of left foot. Felt it during the last few miles but what can you do?
Temp 70 with 50% humidity. Bright sunshine! Really glorious July 4th day. The first few miles the wife rode her bike alongside me. That's the first time ever - it worked well - it's good to have crew handing me a water bottle on the fly. She quit at end of 5 miles. Those 5 plus #6 were averaged at 8:00 pace. Initially it felt quick and I had trouble settling into a rhythm. But the further into this workout I got, the better I was feeling.
Decided to make the second half into a 'cooker' workout. I've heard most folks call this a Progression run...basically cut the pace on each successive mile. I prefer Cooker because that's the way it feels to me. The temp inside the pot gets hotter & hotter with each passing mile. By the end it's pretty damn uncomfortable.
Mile 7 = 7:41
Mile 8 = 7:28
Mile 9 = 7:10
Mile 10 = 6:55
I ran one last untimed mile for the cool down. I'm really pleased with this run. My knees didn't hurt much at all (during or after). Those last few splits aren't far off from some recent splits during 5k races! Very encouraged by this effort.
I've been battling a minor cold for a few days. Last weekend I was doing alot of yard work and several times noticed myself huffing & puffing while surrounded by a cloud of dust/dirt/fine particulate matter. Within a few days I started coughing up bits of mucus. Kind of reminds me of morning smoker's cough (yes, I'm a reformed ex-smoker). I hope this clears soon, although it didn't seem to impact the running today.
Eleven today makes this my first week over 30 since April (except marathon week). Next week I have to re-focus back tothe speed. I'd like to do 2 or 3 more 5k's before leaving speed for LSD marathon training.
Temp 70 with 50% humidity. Bright sunshine! Really glorious July 4th day. The first few miles the wife rode her bike alongside me. That's the first time ever - it worked well - it's good to have crew handing me a water bottle on the fly. She quit at end of 5 miles. Those 5 plus #6 were averaged at 8:00 pace. Initially it felt quick and I had trouble settling into a rhythm. But the further into this workout I got, the better I was feeling.
Decided to make the second half into a 'cooker' workout. I've heard most folks call this a Progression run...basically cut the pace on each successive mile. I prefer Cooker because that's the way it feels to me. The temp inside the pot gets hotter & hotter with each passing mile. By the end it's pretty damn uncomfortable.
Mile 7 = 7:41
Mile 8 = 7:28
Mile 9 = 7:10
Mile 10 = 6:55
I ran one last untimed mile for the cool down. I'm really pleased with this run. My knees didn't hurt much at all (during or after). Those last few splits aren't far off from some recent splits during 5k races! Very encouraged by this effort.
I've been battling a minor cold for a few days. Last weekend I was doing alot of yard work and several times noticed myself huffing & puffing while surrounded by a cloud of dust/dirt/fine particulate matter. Within a few days I started coughing up bits of mucus. Kind of reminds me of morning smoker's cough (yes, I'm a reformed ex-smoker). I hope this clears soon, although it didn't seem to impact the running today.
Eleven today makes this my first week over 30 since April (except marathon week). Next week I have to re-focus back tothe speed. I'd like to do 2 or 3 more 5k's before leaving speed for LSD marathon training.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Easy Day Before Long Run
Today's workout called for just an easy 4 miles in advance of tomorrow's 10 miler, which will be my first long run post-marathon. I went to the Y seeing as the 10 will be on the roads.
My knees have been a bit achey all week. The bike ride Wednesday didn't do anything to help the situation. I was feeling a few twinges of pain during the early part of today's run. Then after totally warmed up the knees were fine. I was watching the TV's and went right past the 4mm. Pace varied between 8:20 & 8:45. I decided to keep going and make it a 5 miler. I really like to write down my mileage in whole numbers!
Finished with a good stretch session and an upper body circuit on the machines-light effort on the lifting. Later, after dinner, iced my knees because they don't feel great. This is the same type of mild, non-specific pain I've experienced in the past. Always connected with too much hard workouts especially speed work. The pain is along the top edge of the kneecap. Kind of concerned about tomorrow's long run . . . but might do it as a real easy effort.
My knees have been a bit achey all week. The bike ride Wednesday didn't do anything to help the situation. I was feeling a few twinges of pain during the early part of today's run. Then after totally warmed up the knees were fine. I was watching the TV's and went right past the 4mm. Pace varied between 8:20 & 8:45. I decided to keep going and make it a 5 miler. I really like to write down my mileage in whole numbers!
Finished with a good stretch session and an upper body circuit on the machines-light effort on the lifting. Later, after dinner, iced my knees because they don't feel great. This is the same type of mild, non-specific pain I've experienced in the past. Always connected with too much hard workouts especially speed work. The pain is along the top edge of the kneecap. Kind of concerned about tomorrow's long run . . . but might do it as a real easy effort.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Ham for Paparazzi
Managed to track down a pic of me just after last Saturday's 5k race. Still would like to see a photo while running, but this will have to do. Feeling like 21:11 not too bad in that outfit.
Today: rest day.
Yesterday: first bike ride of the year! Felt good to be on wheels. Nothing noteworthy during ride. 17.5 miles @ 14 mph. I'm writing this down on my mileage log as equivalent of 5 miles running. I'm on track for a decent week as long as I do that long run on Saturday.
Peace. Here's a couple of shout-out's to fellow bloggers:
1. Very funny post from Joy, RN in NJ
http://runjoy.blogspot.com/2008/11/i-need-life.html
I went back to read after she reported this week on a successful snot rocket !
http://runjoy.blogspot.com/2008/11/i-need-life.html
I went back to read after she reported this week on a successful snot rocket !
2. Congrats to Lindsay... a comfortable 200 mile month...oh, and btw, engagement. http://www.chasingthekenyans.com/2009/07/june-2009.html
3. Denise could use your help fundraising for BackOnMyFeet. She's doing her first Ultra, only been running for like about two years. http://run-denise-run.blogspot.com/2009/07/246-for-june.html
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
June '09 review
The year is half done; I've logged 482 miles which is well ahead of last year, but still short of breaking 1,000 for the year; however, the biggest mileage months still lay ahead of me so I'm still confident on hitting 1k miles in 2009.
June 2009:
This was forecast to be a transitional month starting with marathon recovery and ending in the midst of summer speed work. Things went surprisingly to plan... weird.
Total miles: 87 Happy with this #, wasn't sure what would happen/didn't have a set goal.
Avg. = 22 per week (4 weeks). Ran on the majority of days (first time that's happened all year!)
Races (3): an 8k then two 5k's. Times were all unimpressive, but this year has been focused on distance, not speed, so didn't have great expectations. The trend of the paces is good: approx. 7:10, then 7:flat, then 6:50. It would be nice to continue that pace trend!
Long runs= 1x 8 miles on a trail run.
Highlites/Lowlites: I wanted to lose wt - didn't happen. I wanted to begin a lifting program at the gym - didn't happen. I wanted to recover from marathon without injury - Achieved, with footnote that lower abdominal strain is still occasionally bugging me. I wanted to have decent monthly mileage with speedwork - Achieved.
July Goals: I want to have my highest mileage month of the year. Got to get over 100 miles this month! Going to begin some bike rides and get weekly workouts up to average 4.5 or even 5 per week. The first 2 or 3 weeks I'll continue to work on speed and/or 5k races. By the end of the month I'll be focused on long runs for buildup into marathon training.
Fall goal races for new PR's are Philly Distance Run Half Marathon Sunday Sept.20th, then DDC_15k three weeks later (Oct.11th), then Philly Marathon six weeks later (Nov.22nd).
June 2009:
This was forecast to be a transitional month starting with marathon recovery and ending in the midst of summer speed work. Things went surprisingly to plan... weird.
Total miles: 87 Happy with this #, wasn't sure what would happen/didn't have a set goal.
Avg. = 22 per week (4 weeks). Ran on the majority of days (first time that's happened all year!)
Races (3): an 8k then two 5k's. Times were all unimpressive, but this year has been focused on distance, not speed, so didn't have great expectations. The trend of the paces is good: approx. 7:10, then 7:flat, then 6:50. It would be nice to continue that pace trend!
Long runs= 1x 8 miles on a trail run.
Highlites/Lowlites: I wanted to lose wt - didn't happen. I wanted to begin a lifting program at the gym - didn't happen. I wanted to recover from marathon without injury - Achieved, with footnote that lower abdominal strain is still occasionally bugging me. I wanted to have decent monthly mileage with speedwork - Achieved.
July Goals: I want to have my highest mileage month of the year. Got to get over 100 miles this month! Going to begin some bike rides and get weekly workouts up to average 4.5 or even 5 per week. The first 2 or 3 weeks I'll continue to work on speed and/or 5k races. By the end of the month I'll be focused on long runs for buildup into marathon training.
Fall goal races for new PR's are Philly Distance Run Half Marathon Sunday Sept.20th, then DDC_15k three weeks later (Oct.11th), then Philly Marathon six weeks later (Nov.22nd).
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Race4Time @ Joe's Crab Shack
The family decided to join me for the 5k race this morning, although sans son #1 because he's now officially got the teenager attitude and it just isn't cool to wake up early and be seen with the P's at a race. That makes all my years of effort being a 'good' parent seem so satisfying!
Since we were expecting about 20 of my Pike Creek run club members to be here, we had all decided on a Mardi Gras Beach Party theme. It was either that or everyone go in drag... which I just hate wearing a wig & makeup when I'm trying to run fast. (insert drum rimshot: bum-bum-crash)(insert laugh track: hardy har har). For this reason I ran the race in a Hawaiian shirt with a couple of lei's around my neck & a large silly balloon hat. Might have slowed me down a bit, but not more than a few seconds. I've never run with any type of costume, it was fun! Not sure if or when I'll do it again, but sometimes you just have to go for it.
As to the race, started well back from the front. Good thing too becuase there's a lot of fast people at this race. The age group 1st place is a nice gift certificate to the local running shoe store. 2nd & 3rd get small GC too. Took it out sensibly & under control. I could see a few runners ahead of me that I hoped to be finishing with. But I didn't push the pace early and figured I would catch them later. This course is totally flat. Temp was around 72-75 or so and half sun/half clouds. First mile in 6:41 which seemed great because I was feeling good. The RD was at the 1mm taking photo's but he seemed to be having an camera issue so didn't get me. I really wanted a pic of me running in my zany costume but it didn't happen. other race pics here. As the second mile came back around to the riverwalk path I could tell that I was losing ground to everyone (Theresa, Jack, Ivan plus unk's) in front of me except Ray. This is where the typical 5k discomfort began to set in. That fact tells me that I should've/could've gone out faster in the first mile. Reach 2mm in 6:50 (13:31) which seemed fine; Ray was about 10-15 seconds in front of me.
The 3rd mile I felt like I was running my race, slowing pulling up towards Ray. I could see Jack was battling someone from his own a.g. and they were pulling farther away from me (he would finish 36 secs ahead). Was I didn't figure is that Ray was actually slowing because my split was 7:01 (20:32). When I saw that I was over 7 mins I knew that i wasn't working hard enough. The 3mm was just where I was catching up with Ray. i called over to him "c'mon - finishing kick" and then he proceeded to out sprint me to the line. Final .1 in :39 - which is good kick... again indicating that I should've worked harder earlier. 21:11 is not bad. 20 sec improvement from last weekend, but still not this year's best time. And about one full minute slower than last year's times.
This coming week I plan to take it a bit easy, cycle down then build a big week the one after. June has been a nice transition from post-marathon recovery into summer speed. A few more weeks of speed and then fall marathon training begins! Tomorrow will be a gentle trail run done solo & early morning. Looking forward to that.
Since we were expecting about 20 of my Pike Creek run club members to be here, we had all decided on a Mardi Gras Beach Party theme. It was either that or everyone go in drag... which I just hate wearing a wig & makeup when I'm trying to run fast. (insert drum rimshot: bum-bum-crash)(insert laugh track: hardy har har). For this reason I ran the race in a Hawaiian shirt with a couple of lei's around my neck & a large silly balloon hat. Might have slowed me down a bit, but not more than a few seconds. I've never run with any type of costume, it was fun! Not sure if or when I'll do it again, but sometimes you just have to go for it.
As to the race, started well back from the front. Good thing too becuase there's a lot of fast people at this race. The age group 1st place is a nice gift certificate to the local running shoe store. 2nd & 3rd get small GC too. Took it out sensibly & under control. I could see a few runners ahead of me that I hoped to be finishing with. But I didn't push the pace early and figured I would catch them later. This course is totally flat. Temp was around 72-75 or so and half sun/half clouds. First mile in 6:41 which seemed great because I was feeling good. The RD was at the 1mm taking photo's but he seemed to be having an camera issue so didn't get me. I really wanted a pic of me running in my zany costume but it didn't happen. other race pics here. As the second mile came back around to the riverwalk path I could tell that I was losing ground to everyone (Theresa, Jack, Ivan plus unk's) in front of me except Ray. This is where the typical 5k discomfort began to set in. That fact tells me that I should've/could've gone out faster in the first mile. Reach 2mm in 6:50 (13:31) which seemed fine; Ray was about 10-15 seconds in front of me.
The 3rd mile I felt like I was running my race, slowing pulling up towards Ray. I could see Jack was battling someone from his own a.g. and they were pulling farther away from me (he would finish 36 secs ahead). Was I didn't figure is that Ray was actually slowing because my split was 7:01 (20:32). When I saw that I was over 7 mins I knew that i wasn't working hard enough. The 3mm was just where I was catching up with Ray. i called over to him "c'mon - finishing kick" and then he proceeded to out sprint me to the line. Final .1 in :39 - which is good kick... again indicating that I should've worked harder earlier. 21:11 is not bad. 20 sec improvement from last weekend, but still not this year's best time. And about one full minute slower than last year's times.
This coming week I plan to take it a bit easy, cycle down then build a big week the one after. June has been a nice transition from post-marathon recovery into summer speed. A few more weeks of speed and then fall marathon training begins! Tomorrow will be a gentle trail run done solo & early morning. Looking forward to that.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Rest Day for the busy
Not finding the time to run today. Sort-of having a crappy week. But I'm thinking of this as a bit of extra rest leading to my 5k race in the morning. Shooting for 6:45 first mile & maybe 21:10 finishing time. That might be a stretch but we'll see what happens.
More Than This
Wednesday's workout: Tempo Run. Thought about neighborhood loop but decided to head for the treadmill at Y because my feet have been achey since Monday's run (why?).
I wanted to do 3x sub-7 minute pace this week. Incline set to .5 uphill grade. This definitely felt easier than last week. That's a good sign! 6:55 - 6:58 - 6:48 were the splits. During the cool down I did 4x 30 secs. at approx 6:30 pace. Full recovery between each of these (2 or 3 minutes). The last accelleration was close to a full minute but then I reminded myself that this workout isn't a race. Good stretch, light upper body weight circuit, went home to eat lunch but suddenly realized I was running late for appointment. Burger King lunch. Ugh. BTW, i've gone way off my diet this week and haven't stepped onto the scale outta fear of what it will say.
Last night we went to a minor league baseball game. I always bring my glove, but hve never in my life caught a foul ball. So in the 8th inning, after paying pretty close attention all game, I was momentary distracted while a batter was at the plate. Sure enough a screaming liner came right into our section! It hit the aluminum bench so hard that their was a major dent (2 rows behind & 4 seats over). The family next to us almost had a hospital visit, but they didn't get the ball either because it bounced around and the next family further over ended up with it. I had my glove on, so if I had only been paying attn there's a good chance I would've made a nice play on the ball. What had distracted me? A clown was working the stadium making balloon animals for the kiddies. I gotta get my head check. Maybe it's adult onset ADD??
Thurs: supposed to run 4 easy but I ran out of time. Hopefully find room to squeeze that into Friday somewhere...
So anyway... I feel some 'minor tightness' on outer knee area (right leg) which is probably an IT band issue. I need a few easy days before Saturday's 5k race + plenty of stretching to make sure this doesn't develop into anything more than this.
I wanted to do 3x sub-7 minute pace this week. Incline set to .5 uphill grade. This definitely felt easier than last week. That's a good sign! 6:55 - 6:58 - 6:48 were the splits. During the cool down I did 4x 30 secs. at approx 6:30 pace. Full recovery between each of these (2 or 3 minutes). The last accelleration was close to a full minute but then I reminded myself that this workout isn't a race. Good stretch, light upper body weight circuit, went home to eat lunch but suddenly realized I was running late for appointment. Burger King lunch. Ugh. BTW, i've gone way off my diet this week and haven't stepped onto the scale outta fear of what it will say.
Last night we went to a minor league baseball game. I always bring my glove, but hve never in my life caught a foul ball. So in the 8th inning, after paying pretty close attention all game, I was momentary distracted while a batter was at the plate. Sure enough a screaming liner came right into our section! It hit the aluminum bench so hard that their was a major dent (2 rows behind & 4 seats over). The family next to us almost had a hospital visit, but they didn't get the ball either because it bounced around and the next family further over ended up with it. I had my glove on, so if I had only been paying attn there's a good chance I would've made a nice play on the ball. What had distracted me? A clown was working the stadium making balloon animals for the kiddies. I gotta get my head check. Maybe it's adult onset ADD??
Thurs: supposed to run 4 easy but I ran out of time. Hopefully find room to squeeze that into Friday somewhere...
So anyway... I feel some 'minor tightness' on outer knee area (right leg) which is probably an IT band issue. I need a few easy days before Saturday's 5k race + plenty of stretching to make sure this doesn't develop into anything more than this.
Monday, June 22, 2009
99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall
I had such a good Father's Day weekend that I think it fitting to write blog posting #99 about just that.
Friday night dinner out just the wife & I. That rarely happens but now that the older son is officially certified to babysit for his younger brother we might enjoy more dinners out. Saturday a.m. was a 5k race. Some good quality "me time" that I enjoy. That evening we had family movie night - Mall Cop. Silly film that the kids enjoyed. Well, we all got some good laughs to be honest. Sunday afternoon was the neighborhood father & son baseball game. This is a very informal 'pick-up' game. There was 7 boys & only 3 dads, but we had a good time out there. I knew it was going to end up hurting me the next day. Remember that lower abdominal strain that I hadn't mentioned recently? Sure enough I strained it again. Not too bad. Also have some issue going on with right ankle & calf. I'm not used to so much pivot, sprint, jump, stretch type of movements.
Great weekend. I'm looking forward to blog posting #100 and then another 100 after that!
p.s. thanks to Ray's beer bottle collection for these photo's. I've been to Ray's house for a pre-race pasta dinner ... it's quite a scene with the decor mostly devoted to running & beer.
Strong Energy
Today I felt like a million bucks out there on the pavement. Planned to run 5 or 6 easy miles around neighborhood. Instead turned into a hard effort as I felt alot of strong energy.
First two miles more or less level @ 8:28 then 7:40. The 3rd & 4th miles each have a significant hill climb. 7:50 then 7:45. I was really looking forward to miles 5 & 6 which were downhill and then flat. Done in 7:31 then 7:41. If you drop the first 'warm up' mile then this is a pretty fast workout for me. Hopefully I feel this good again on Wednesday when it's Tempo run day.
Plan to run 5k on Sat. Course should be flat, weather might cooperate... or might be hot & muggy. I'd like to take 20 or 30 seconds off from the last race but we'll just have to see...
First two miles more or less level @ 8:28 then 7:40. The 3rd & 4th miles each have a significant hill climb. 7:50 then 7:45. I was really looking forward to miles 5 & 6 which were downhill and then flat. Done in 7:31 then 7:41. If you drop the first 'warm up' mile then this is a pretty fast workout for me. Hopefully I feel this good again on Wednesday when it's Tempo run day.
Plan to run 5k on Sat. Course should be flat, weather might cooperate... or might be hot & muggy. I'd like to take 20 or 30 seconds off from the last race but we'll just have to see...
Saturday, June 20, 2009
You Can't Always Get What You Want...
But if you try sometimes
you just might find
you miss by a second or two?
The summer of "Stones blog titles" continues with today's installment. The other day my younger son was getting ready to leave from camp and I overheard him talking to another boy. Andy was collecting his things/toys/crafts and the other boy wanted him to leave something so that he could play with it. "You can't always get what you want" was my son's reply! When I asked him about it in the car he said - you know, Dad, like that song you were singing the other day. 8 years old. Cool.
I had sort-of predicted that I'd finish in the range of 21:15 thru 21:30 but my time was 21:31 so I just missed. It started raining 15 mins before gun time; it started pouring cats & dogs 5 mins before! They delayed the start about 10 mins but there was no end in sight. So we ran in a downpour. Course: downhill .2 miles, then up over 9th street bridge, then mostly flat until a large hill at 1.5 miles. Then exactly back the same way.
I purposely went slow, controlled at start. In retrospect I could've gone faster like I typically do. My plan was to crest the bridge then settle into a steady working pace. That went fine. Mile 1 in 6:55 and feeling fine. I let up a bit as we eased into the hill...then slowed it down on the steep part. At no point did I feel that I was pushing into the 'red' zone. Then downhill to the 2 mm @ 7:09 / 14:04. I was expecting that. My conservative plan was to yield a mediocre reslut...but you can't have it both ways.
I thought I was working real hard during the 3rd mile. Set my sights on a guy with blue & white stripe shirt...caught & passed rather quickly (he must've gone out too fast?). Then there was a kid in red shirt about 10 yards in front of me. Slowly made up that ground...passed him with less than half mile left. I could hear his footsteps behind me as we turned onto 9th street for the bridge. As we crested same I saw that the next person in front of me was just rounding the next corner - a full block in front of me! I went down the hill fast, turned onto the finishing str8 (uphill couple of blocks). At this point I was just coasting with no one in front & no one right behind me. 3 mile split 6:48 / 20:52.
I felt like I had worked pretty hard, but it was that 2nd mile where I should've pushed a bit more. It's tough to measure it out evenly on the first 5k back. This is alot different than marathon running! I found some way to push the final tenth - done in 39 seconds - and the race director got a photo of me finishing. Blurry pic, but that's the way it was because I'd forgotten my hat and was taking full rain the face/glasses. Blurry race.
21:31 gives me plenty of room for improvement. Overall I finished 22 out of 295. But I'm only happy in the perspective that this is the first in a series of 5k's this summer. So the bar was set semi-low and I did what I did. Now I've got to step up the training and the race mentality. I was 6th in my 10-year age group. 6 of the top 22 finishers were men 40-49.
you just might find
you miss by a second or two?
The summer of "Stones blog titles" continues with today's installment. The other day my younger son was getting ready to leave from camp and I overheard him talking to another boy. Andy was collecting his things/toys/crafts and the other boy wanted him to leave something so that he could play with it. "You can't always get what you want" was my son's reply! When I asked him about it in the car he said - you know, Dad, like that song you were singing the other day. 8 years old. Cool.
I had sort-of predicted that I'd finish in the range of 21:15 thru 21:30 but my time was 21:31 so I just missed. It started raining 15 mins before gun time; it started pouring cats & dogs 5 mins before! They delayed the start about 10 mins but there was no end in sight. So we ran in a downpour. Course: downhill .2 miles, then up over 9th street bridge, then mostly flat until a large hill at 1.5 miles. Then exactly back the same way.
I purposely went slow, controlled at start. In retrospect I could've gone faster like I typically do. My plan was to crest the bridge then settle into a steady working pace. That went fine. Mile 1 in 6:55 and feeling fine. I let up a bit as we eased into the hill...then slowed it down on the steep part. At no point did I feel that I was pushing into the 'red' zone. Then downhill to the 2 mm @ 7:09 / 14:04. I was expecting that. My conservative plan was to yield a mediocre reslut...but you can't have it both ways.
I thought I was working real hard during the 3rd mile. Set my sights on a guy with blue & white stripe shirt...caught & passed rather quickly (he must've gone out too fast?). Then there was a kid in red shirt about 10 yards in front of me. Slowly made up that ground...passed him with less than half mile left. I could hear his footsteps behind me as we turned onto 9th street for the bridge. As we crested same I saw that the next person in front of me was just rounding the next corner - a full block in front of me! I went down the hill fast, turned onto the finishing str8 (uphill couple of blocks). At this point I was just coasting with no one in front & no one right behind me. 3 mile split 6:48 / 20:52.
I felt like I had worked pretty hard, but it was that 2nd mile where I should've pushed a bit more. It's tough to measure it out evenly on the first 5k back. This is alot different than marathon running! I found some way to push the final tenth - done in 39 seconds - and the race director got a photo of me finishing. Blurry pic, but that's the way it was because I'd forgotten my hat and was taking full rain the face/glasses. Blurry race.
21:31 gives me plenty of room for improvement. Overall I finished 22 out of 295. But I'm only happy in the perspective that this is the first in a series of 5k's this summer. So the bar was set semi-low and I did what I did. Now I've got to step up the training and the race mentality. I was 6th in my 10-year age group. 6 of the top 22 finishers were men 40-49.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Up Tempo 3 @ 7
Today's planned workout: 6 miles; middle 3 Tempo run @ 7 minute pace... assuming that I could hold that effort. Last week had planned the same run, but fell short on speed. Decided to modify (reduce) the total distance due to my feet being achey and I'd rather rest, even a little bit, before racing on Saturday. Total was 5 miles.
This is a treadmill tempo run. Warm up 1 mile ez. Mile 2 felt controlled & comfortable at 6:58. Began to feel it during second mile but at 7:03 I was still very happy. At beginning of last mile I was trying to talk myself into hanging on to be able to finish it. But then fell into a zone and the time passed quickly. Began to dial up the speed at the end, but it was too late to really make any diff. 6:54 and I definitely had more energy left in the tank - hopefully that will still be there for me on Sat morn. Good stretch and lite weight circuit for upper body.
This workout makes me think my 5k will be between 21:15 - 21:30. Factoring in unknown intangibles (weather, hills, me) maybe a wider range like 21:00 - 21:45 because I'm really not sure what might happen!
Good news: I've lost another half pound. This is a huge relief just to see that the scale does move back down. Still scratching my head about gaining weight during marathon training phase. This makes one full pound in 3 weeks. Basically just trying to eat less. My problem is that I just plain eat too much. Less food = less calories.
This is a treadmill tempo run. Warm up 1 mile ez. Mile 2 felt controlled & comfortable at 6:58. Began to feel it during second mile but at 7:03 I was still very happy. At beginning of last mile I was trying to talk myself into hanging on to be able to finish it. But then fell into a zone and the time passed quickly. Began to dial up the speed at the end, but it was too late to really make any diff. 6:54 and I definitely had more energy left in the tank - hopefully that will still be there for me on Sat morn. Good stretch and lite weight circuit for upper body.
This workout makes me think my 5k will be between 21:15 - 21:30. Factoring in unknown intangibles (weather, hills, me) maybe a wider range like 21:00 - 21:45 because I'm really not sure what might happen!
Good news: I've lost another half pound. This is a huge relief just to see that the scale does move back down. Still scratching my head about gaining weight during marathon training phase. This makes one full pound in 3 weeks. Basically just trying to eat less. My problem is that I just plain eat too much. Less food = less calories.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
There isn't always a tomorrow.
Another day that I somehow was too busy in the morning to get out for my run. Lunchtime came & went and no running. Bummer. But I vowed to do it in the afternoon. I feel very motivated to run lately. This is another example where in previous cycles I would easily fall back onto any old rationalization to skip a day. Hey, there's always tomorrow. But my new approach is "today is already tomorrow" i.e. there's no more waiting. I don't have endless time to run fast races...no one gets unlimited time. There isn't always another tomorrow.
City Runnin'. 4 miles downtown. Parked along Union St. Stopped in at the local running shoe store to drop off my entry for Sat's 5k! Woo- hooo. this is the first local 5k I've done in almost a year. So psyched! But i'm also knowing that this isn't going to be much of a show, even by my standards. I'm thinking of this as more of a first race to establish a baseline. Something to build from...and let me know exactly where my fitness is at right now.
Eased into the pace. 1=8:30 or 8:45, then 2=8:30 or a bit faster. 3=opened it up here, about 7:30. 4= 7:15 with the last stretch really moving fast. I'd like to run 7 min pace on Sat for approx. 21:45 but that really doesn't sound very fast *(at all)! I've only done one 5k in like the past 6 or 8 mos. Haddonfield in March - looked up my time - 21:08. Have I really gotten signif slower since then?? Lack of speed work/tempo runs has really impacted me.
City Runnin'. 4 miles downtown. Parked along Union St. Stopped in at the local running shoe store to drop off my entry for Sat's 5k! Woo- hooo. this is the first local 5k I've done in almost a year. So psyched! But i'm also knowing that this isn't going to be much of a show, even by my standards. I'm thinking of this as more of a first race to establish a baseline. Something to build from...and let me know exactly where my fitness is at right now.
Eased into the pace. 1=8:30 or 8:45, then 2=8:30 or a bit faster. 3=opened it up here, about 7:30. 4= 7:15 with the last stretch really moving fast. I'd like to run 7 min pace on Sat for approx. 21:45 but that really doesn't sound very fast *(at all)! I've only done one 5k in like the past 6 or 8 mos. Haddonfield in March - looked up my time - 21:08. Have I really gotten signif slower since then?? Lack of speed work/tempo runs has really impacted me.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Whew - legs dead tired.
I couldn't get to the Y until late afternoon yesterday - not the time of day that I typically run. Plan called for 4 easy miles on tread, with stretching & weights. Those easy miles were tough! My legs just felt dead tired. I think Sunday's trail run took more out of me than I'd thought.
Went slow, took the dreaded walk breaks (even on treadmill now?!?) and I got it done. Wiped out tired. Didn't do any weights. I fell asleep on the couch at about 9 p.m. Had a tough time getting up this morn too. Today is a scheduled rest day - thankfully. Back at it tomorrow.
Went slow, took the dreaded walk breaks (even on treadmill now?!?) and I got it done. Wiped out tired. Didn't do any weights. I fell asleep on the couch at about 9 p.m. Had a tough time getting up this morn too. Today is a scheduled rest day - thankfully. Back at it tomorrow.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Damn Walk Breaks Again
Sunday morning I headed out for the planned 6 mile trail run. Was met by friend Ray who informed me that he needed to go 10. I wasn't sure that I could stomach it but figured that he would just tack a few onto the end...and I could go a few extra to help out.
It had rained very heavy late yesterday so the trails were really muddy immediately. The big puddles & slippery goey mess type of muddy. During the whole run neither of us fell, but there was some slidin going on! We had the trails almost totally to ourselves until we got to the park ranger road down along the river.
Uneventful run. Barely saw any wildlife - a lone chipmonk; then a turkey vulture getting breakfast from a way-past-expiration-date deer on the side of the road by Thompsons Dam Bridge. Water in river was very high. Nobody out in canoes/kayaks - thank God. (Last storm 2 idiots went out for a thrill and the authorities are still looking for the one guy's body.)
I felt like we were working a good 9:00 min pace but Ray wanted to go a bit faster. I need to run with faster folks more often. Around mile 5 we picked up the pace as we came back from the other side of the river. Almost immediately I started to have bad stomach issues. Probably the food from last night (baseball game fare - hot dogs/pretzels/ice cream). I felt stomach cramps & uncomfortably bloated. Just before this I had realized I hadn't drank any water for miles and maybe I chugged too much too quickly. Anyway, it worked out as we were on a straight section and Ray went ahead without me and then doubled back so that he got 2 or so while I got 1 or less with a good walk break. There's those damn walk breaks again. Since the mega-walk marathon I can't seem to shrug off these pesky walk breaks. Sad, very sad indeed.
I feel like I was working pretty hard, but only have 8 miles to show for 90 mins. Very humid, sweated out a ton. Took in extra salt dose with post run food. As this is my longest run post-marathon I'm considering this a 'long run'. Next weekend I should probably plan on a 10 or 12 miler so that my legs don't forget long runs. Made prelim plan to go up to Philly in August to run on the PDR course - I know that will help me have a good race day.
It had rained very heavy late yesterday so the trails were really muddy immediately. The big puddles & slippery goey mess type of muddy. During the whole run neither of us fell, but there was some slidin going on! We had the trails almost totally to ourselves until we got to the park ranger road down along the river.
Uneventful run. Barely saw any wildlife - a lone chipmonk; then a turkey vulture getting breakfast from a way-past-expiration-date deer on the side of the road by Thompsons Dam Bridge. Water in river was very high. Nobody out in canoes/kayaks - thank God. (Last storm 2 idiots went out for a thrill and the authorities are still looking for the one guy's body.)
I felt like we were working a good 9:00 min pace but Ray wanted to go a bit faster. I need to run with faster folks more often. Around mile 5 we picked up the pace as we came back from the other side of the river. Almost immediately I started to have bad stomach issues. Probably the food from last night (baseball game fare - hot dogs/pretzels/ice cream). I felt stomach cramps & uncomfortably bloated. Just before this I had realized I hadn't drank any water for miles and maybe I chugged too much too quickly. Anyway, it worked out as we were on a straight section and Ray went ahead without me and then doubled back so that he got 2 or so while I got 1 or less with a good walk break. There's those damn walk breaks again. Since the mega-walk marathon I can't seem to shrug off these pesky walk breaks. Sad, very sad indeed.
I feel like I was working pretty hard, but only have 8 miles to show for 90 mins. Very humid, sweated out a ton. Took in extra salt dose with post run food. As this is my longest run post-marathon I'm considering this a 'long run'. Next weekend I should probably plan on a 10 or 12 miler so that my legs don't forget long runs. Made prelim plan to go up to Philly in August to run on the PDR course - I know that will help me have a good race day.
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