Steph and I decided we would get up early this morning, so we could run before work. We wanted to have the evening free to spend time in Columbus with some family. I told her I was only going run 4 miles because of time constraints (see yesterday's post). We got up at 5:15 so we could get a bite, and get on the road, to be running by 5:30. She said she wanted to try and do the full 4 with me. I don't see how people do this before work everyday. The run wasn't bad, but the early was. When we got back I was ravenous!!! I felt like I could have eaten my shoes.
On the run, we didn't see any people, no cars/traffic of any kind, and no animals. It was kind of neat to be running as the world lit up. We never got to see the sun break the horizon due to it being a little overcast.
After rising and running so early, I was tired all day - but it was worth it to get to have time with visiting family.
We did a total of 4 miles.
Saturday, August 04, 2007
Thursday, August 02, 2007
8-2-07 long and late
Reschedule, re-map, re-think, re-plan, re-reason, re-trace, then do whatever the devil feels right at the time.
Okay, obviously a running 'schedule' is just a great philosophy for me at this moment. We've (Steph and I) obviously gotten ourselves used to running later in the evening to avoid the heat, but this makes for some late runs. Late runs are fine, but the tend to make for early mornings, and when you couple a late run with a planned early morning, well, the morning just gets earlier - especially for those of us who aren't morning people.
The last part of my week was supposed to look like this - Th-4 miles, Fr-6 miles, Sa-8 miles. Life gets in the way. Steph and I have decided to run early Friday morning (before work) so we'll have the evening free with family. Since I'll have to run before work on Friday morning, I decided to juggle the schedule : just swap Th and Fr to make more time Friday morning. Then I got out there tonight looking down the barrel of a 6 mile run, which didn't happen the way I'd planned. Steph and I took separate vehicles tonight. We'd planned to run the first 1.5 miles together, then we'd split up - she could run back to finish her 3, and I'd run on to the 6 mile turnaround. Well, Steph ran a little farther with me so she could make a pit-stop at the visitor center. I turned on my mp3 player and ran on. When I got to the 3 mile turnaround, I decided to go on to the WP park entrance again (I might as well just define that as my turnaround). On the way back, I was feeling pretty spry, so I made a detour down to the boat ramp and into the adjoining picnic area - figuring that this would add more distance and maybe get me over 7 miles instead of the intended 6 miles (remember: plan, then ignore it). Once I got the apex of the loop, I could see out onto the river, and I could see the dam lit up (it was about dusk). It looked like it was 1000 miles away over the water - and I couldn't run a straight line back to it. But it was still pretty - the wind was blowing pretty good across the water, and I was glad to be out running.
By the time I got back to the dam, it was full dark, and the roadway was lit by foot-lights on the dam. After I crossed the dam (about 1 mile left), I saw the park sheriff closing the 'cow gate' at the other end (between me and the jeep). I can easily duck through the cow gate, but I didn't want to have the 'you shouldn't be here' conversation with the sheriff. I wasn't doing anything wrong, I just didn't want the hassle. The posted usage hours at the park are inconsistent, at best. One end of the park says it closes at sundown, one sign says it closes at 8pm, and one sign says it closes at 9pm. I've caught the gate closed as early as 7pm, and as late as 10pm (like tonight). One time I even stopped the sheriff while he was locking up and asked him - he basically said that the park closes whenever he can get around to closing all of the gates. Usually I don't' worry about it. As his car sat there while he locked the gate, he had his blue lights on, and the spotlights on his light bar were lit, and his headlamps on bright - which means I couldn't see ANYTHING, but 5 bright lights pointed at me. It washed out the whole road - so i couldn't see anything in front of me. He finished up, and drove on past me without incident, and I gave him a friendly wave as he passed.
Late night runs are interesting.
Okay, obviously a running 'schedule' is just a great philosophy for me at this moment. We've (Steph and I) obviously gotten ourselves used to running later in the evening to avoid the heat, but this makes for some late runs. Late runs are fine, but the tend to make for early mornings, and when you couple a late run with a planned early morning, well, the morning just gets earlier - especially for those of us who aren't morning people.
The last part of my week was supposed to look like this - Th-4 miles, Fr-6 miles, Sa-8 miles. Life gets in the way. Steph and I have decided to run early Friday morning (before work) so we'll have the evening free with family. Since I'll have to run before work on Friday morning, I decided to juggle the schedule : just swap Th and Fr to make more time Friday morning. Then I got out there tonight looking down the barrel of a 6 mile run, which didn't happen the way I'd planned. Steph and I took separate vehicles tonight. We'd planned to run the first 1.5 miles together, then we'd split up - she could run back to finish her 3, and I'd run on to the 6 mile turnaround. Well, Steph ran a little farther with me so she could make a pit-stop at the visitor center. I turned on my mp3 player and ran on. When I got to the 3 mile turnaround, I decided to go on to the WP park entrance again (I might as well just define that as my turnaround). On the way back, I was feeling pretty spry, so I made a detour down to the boat ramp and into the adjoining picnic area - figuring that this would add more distance and maybe get me over 7 miles instead of the intended 6 miles (remember: plan, then ignore it). Once I got the apex of the loop, I could see out onto the river, and I could see the dam lit up (it was about dusk). It looked like it was 1000 miles away over the water - and I couldn't run a straight line back to it. But it was still pretty - the wind was blowing pretty good across the water, and I was glad to be out running.
By the time I got back to the dam, it was full dark, and the roadway was lit by foot-lights on the dam. After I crossed the dam (about 1 mile left), I saw the park sheriff closing the 'cow gate' at the other end (between me and the jeep). I can easily duck through the cow gate, but I didn't want to have the 'you shouldn't be here' conversation with the sheriff. I wasn't doing anything wrong, I just didn't want the hassle. The posted usage hours at the park are inconsistent, at best. One end of the park says it closes at sundown, one sign says it closes at 8pm, and one sign says it closes at 9pm. I've caught the gate closed as early as 7pm, and as late as 10pm (like tonight). One time I even stopped the sheriff while he was locking up and asked him - he basically said that the park closes whenever he can get around to closing all of the gates. Usually I don't' worry about it. As his car sat there while he locked the gate, he had his blue lights on, and the spotlights on his light bar were lit, and his headlamps on bright - which means I couldn't see ANYTHING, but 5 bright lights pointed at me. It washed out the whole road - so i couldn't see anything in front of me. He finished up, and drove on past me without incident, and I gave him a friendly wave as he passed.
Late night runs are interesting.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
7-31-07 Yay !! - longer feels better
It's late, and I just got back from my run (post shower, of course), and it was a pretty good run. We waited until a good bit later than last night to go for our run. Tonight we didn't go out until about 8:30pm because we wanted to avoid the heat we encountered last night. It worked, but it put my running pretty late through the wooded part of the park - not that I minded. I ran the first 2 miles with Steph ( we went a little longer together to avoid some park traffic), and I ran the remainder of my 6.4 miles at my own pace. Running later made it more interesting in a couple of ways:
First, at dusk, the animals start to come out. We ran right past a full grown whitetail doe, and were close enough to hear her breathing (probably less than 10 feet from us). She watched us as we ran past. She never took her eyes off of us, but she never ran either. We weren't making any effort to be quiet as we passed her, but I guess she figured we weren't any threat. Later on (less than a 1/4 mile), we saw 2 more very small dear, but we didn't get nearly as close, since they were crossing the road a good ways ahead of us. I also noticed a lot of bats pretty close overhead, but that was probably due to all of the bugs in the air (we both swallowed quite a few bugs)
Second, once the park starts to shut down, there is a little more auto traffic, but not as many other people out on the roadway. So I was free to sing as loud and run as fast as I wanted without worrying about disturbing anyone. It made for a much more liberating run.
The air was cool, and there was a firm breeze off the water, so it felt like fall, but my shirt was still drenched by the time I got back to the Jeep. As I came back across the dam at about 9:30, it was a surreal moment - no one on the water, not wind, the surface was like glass on the high side of the dam. The low side was calm, and I could see the bedrocks peeking above the surface down from the spillway. The day use area at the base of the dam was lit up with street lamps, and they were reflecting off of the surface of the kids fishing pond. I could see walking trails in the day use area and the road winding like a ribbon through the trees and around the pond, and along the shoreline of the river. Picture this tranquil scene under a cloudless sky with the stars twinkling above...Now picture me - bouncing along, singing along with Airborne Ranger Drill Instructor cadences like a madman, and shattering the tranquility of that moment!!! And loving every step of it!!!.
I had only planned on going 6 miles, but when I got to the 3 mile turnaround, the park entrance just seemed too close to let go - - I could see it, and the lights illuminating it calling me to turn around there, and add a little to the night.
I hate that I got back home so late from a run, but I enjoyed running in the cooler air. Tomorrow is a rest day, the Thurs, Fri, and Sat are 4, 6, and 8, respectively - - may still need to evaluate the prudence of the 8 miler on Sat (due to fitness level, and to a packed scheduled weekend).
It just hit me, I really enjoyed this night run, and I'm training for a night race!
First, at dusk, the animals start to come out. We ran right past a full grown whitetail doe, and were close enough to hear her breathing (probably less than 10 feet from us). She watched us as we ran past. She never took her eyes off of us, but she never ran either. We weren't making any effort to be quiet as we passed her, but I guess she figured we weren't any threat. Later on (less than a 1/4 mile), we saw 2 more very small dear, but we didn't get nearly as close, since they were crossing the road a good ways ahead of us. I also noticed a lot of bats pretty close overhead, but that was probably due to all of the bugs in the air (we both swallowed quite a few bugs)
Second, once the park starts to shut down, there is a little more auto traffic, but not as many other people out on the roadway. So I was free to sing as loud and run as fast as I wanted without worrying about disturbing anyone. It made for a much more liberating run.
The air was cool, and there was a firm breeze off the water, so it felt like fall, but my shirt was still drenched by the time I got back to the Jeep. As I came back across the dam at about 9:30, it was a surreal moment - no one on the water, not wind, the surface was like glass on the high side of the dam. The low side was calm, and I could see the bedrocks peeking above the surface down from the spillway. The day use area at the base of the dam was lit up with street lamps, and they were reflecting off of the surface of the kids fishing pond. I could see walking trails in the day use area and the road winding like a ribbon through the trees and around the pond, and along the shoreline of the river. Picture this tranquil scene under a cloudless sky with the stars twinkling above...Now picture me - bouncing along, singing along with Airborne Ranger Drill Instructor cadences like a madman, and shattering the tranquility of that moment!!! And loving every step of it!!!.
I had only planned on going 6 miles, but when I got to the 3 mile turnaround, the park entrance just seemed too close to let go - - I could see it, and the lights illuminating it calling me to turn around there, and add a little to the night.
I hate that I got back home so late from a run, but I enjoyed running in the cooler air. Tomorrow is a rest day, the Thurs, Fri, and Sat are 4, 6, and 8, respectively - - may still need to evaluate the prudence of the 8 miler on Sat (due to fitness level, and to a packed scheduled weekend).
It just hit me, I really enjoyed this night run, and I'm training for a night race!
Monday, July 30, 2007
7-30-07 Back to the miles!
Today was my first run of the week to get back to the longer miles. I ran 5 miles today at the dam, from the 'Start' line. I ran the first 1.5 miles with Steph at her pace, then ran the remainder at my own pace (not that I'm sure that's much quicker). It was hard getting back to longer miles, but I think it was mainly due to the heat. We ran about 6pm, and it was still pretty warm. We did have the benefit of some shade, but a couple of the miles were in 0% shade. There was no breeze, so the heat just built up - I was extremely thankful for my bottle of Gatorade at the end of the run.
It was good to do a longer run, and toward the end of the run, things started to 'sync up'. During the 1st 3 to 3.5 miles, it felt like my legs had forgotten how to run. It felt like I was running barefooted. The footfalls felt like they were un-padded, but not painful in any way, just not any rebound. I guess my legs will 'learn' again - amazing they affects of 1 week of not doing longer miles. At least my thigh's didn't hurt any during the run.
It was good to do a longer run, and toward the end of the run, things started to 'sync up'. During the 1st 3 to 3.5 miles, it felt like my legs had forgotten how to run. It felt like I was running barefooted. The footfalls felt like they were un-padded, but not painful in any way, just not any rebound. I guess my legs will 'learn' again - amazing they affects of 1 week of not doing longer miles. At least my thigh's didn't hurt any during the run.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
7-28-07 New Route
Today was the last day of me recovery week. Steph and I opted to not run at the dam, but rather went to the rails to trails paths. We hadn't measured the route off, but figured that if we ran for 35 minutes, it would take care of her 3 miles. It was an interesting run, because from where we started, it was almost ALL uphill for the first half - it wasn't a brutal uphill, but it was persistent. The good thing about running all uphill of the first part, is that the last part is mostly cruising downhill. We enjoyed the run pretty well, although it did make us get to dinner a little late.
Next week (Monday) I start back with my regular mileage. I'll probably run about 1.5 miles with Steph for my warm up, and then run the remainder of my mileage at my own pace.
Someone had marked the R2T route, but the must have started DEEP in Riverview. The first marker Steph and I saw was for 5 miles, and they had marked 1/4 mile increments. I'll investigate further and probably use their marks when I want to not run at the dam.
Next week (Monday) I start back with my regular mileage. I'll probably run about 1.5 miles with Steph for my warm up, and then run the remainder of my mileage at my own pace.
Someone had marked the R2T route, but the must have started DEEP in Riverview. The first marker Steph and I saw was for 5 miles, and they had marked 1/4 mile increments. I'll investigate further and probably use their marks when I want to not run at the dam.
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