7-14-07

Interesting, but late run tonight. We went to dinner and a movie, so we got back late, and ran late. We decided to run in the downtown area tonight because of the street lights(there is not lighting at the dam park). We didn't start running until 8:30 pm, so it started to get dark almost immediately after we started.

I was supposed to go six miles today, but due to starting late, I decided to only run four. It was very humid, and by the end of 4 miles, my shirt weighed as much as a dumbbell. I kind of anticipated some problems tonight because me left foot has been bothering me a little. I cramped last night ( a little), and my left calf has been a little tight all day. But once I started running tonight, all of the little aches evaporated. I also thought since I'd run 6 miles for the last two night, that my legs might rebel, so the 4 mile short run was probably a good break. I'm icing my foot right now (rolling it on a frozen water bottle on the floor), to try and ease the discomfort in it.

7-13-07 (Friday the 13th)

Tonight was kind of hard. I was scheduled for 6 miles - which I completed, and a little more, but it was still pretty hard. We waited until later in the evening again so it would be cooler, and we ran the dam route backwards again, starting at the West Point entrance. I'm liking the reverse route just because it gives a nice flat area to coast on for about 2 1/2 miles in the middle of the route, and the beginning and end are the hills. I was determined to finish 6 tonight, but at about mile 3, my legs felt like lead - there was just no snap in them at all. I pushed on through and by about mile 4 or 5 things had gotten better. I even wound up doing about a 1/4 mile more to meet up with Steph.

She was doing a 25 minute nonstop run ( with 5 minute warm-up and cool-down walks), and instead of turning around at th 13 minute mark, she just ran on to see how far she would get in 25 minutes, then she'd walk back while I was returning. We crossed paths on my return trip, at about my 3.25 marker. When I got to the end, I knew she was still a good bit behind me, so I ran by the Jeep, picked up our Gatorade bottles, and started running back again - figuring that I'd meet her, let her have her Gatorade, and we'd walk back together. Great plan, but she walks faster than me - so I met her, gave her drink to her, and started walking back, but she was pacing much faster than me, so I let her go and took a nice slow cool-down walk.


All total - I ran about 6 1/4 miles. I don't have exact times (still not wearing my watch), but I saw Steph stop running when I was at about the 3.25 mark - this equals 35 minutes (her 5 minute warm up walk, and 25 minutes of walking). So I ran my first 3 miles about about 10:30 per mile (very rough estimate) - and it FELT like the last 3 miles went faster.

Another 6 mile run scheduled for Sat Night.

7-12-07 Weird feeling

It's so weird to feel this way. I was supposed to do 4 miles tonight, but there were no plans tonight, my daughter was away from the house, Steph had no big plans for the evening, and when I got to 4 miles, it seemed like too good of an evening to waste. I worked late, so we got to the dam later than usual, and the temp was nice. We started at the opposite end of the park, which put several hills early in the run, and gave a new scenery perspective.

When I got to the 2mile mark and was preparing to turn around, this little voice in my head ( I call it the stupid wrestler that I used to be) called out and said, "Hey, the dam is just a mile further down the road - that's a 6 mile run on a great evening to run...I'll meet you at the 3 mile turnaround." So, there I was, rocking along, singing a song, and adding 2 miles to my planned run. When I got back around and met Steph walking to meet me, she was just grinning - she knew what I'd done. My legs didn't bark at me, the pain in my hip/groin didn't make itself known, my feet felt good, the longer I ran, the easier it got and the faster I went - It was just a GREAT night running - I felt like I could have gone forever. That is a weird sensation, especially to someone who used to run because he had to do it.


Steph also had a GREAT run, she said that when she got to the halfway point, she was still waiting for it to get difficult. She's well into C25K (the original version), but instead of running 4 days a week, she's running 5 so she run when I do. Today was 25 minutes (I think), and she said it just flew by, and was very enjoyable. She's even talking about running a local 5K with me next year.

7-10-07

Late Post:

I almost forgot to do a post for my run yesterday!

Hopefully the schedule can begin to get back to a little more normal now - I was scheduled to run 6 miles tonight. I left the house around 5:30 because I had a commitment @ 7pm with family, and knew I would need more than an hour to cover the miles. I finished the 6 miles okay, but it was very hot and more humid than any person should have to deal with. By the time I got done with my run, it looked like I'd just gotten out of the sauna. The humidity was far worse than the heat, but I still would have liked to wait until later in the evening to run. I'm glad I didn't because we didn't get back home until after 10pm.

The 6 miles went alright, but I did notice a little discomfort in my hip (towards the front near the groin) that felt like a strained or damaged tendon. I've had the pulling pain for most of my life, but it's just been an annoyance more than anything. It didn't bother me for most of the run, but towards the end of it, I did notice it more. I iced the area well, as well as my thighs. As I was icing it, I remembered that I'd had a hernia repaired on that side when I was in high school - I wonder if what I'm feeling is related to the patching material the put in me back then? I'll keep a monitor on it.

7-8-07 - Didn't run tonight bacause my knee was bothering me. I probably bruised it a little during the race, and the run Steph and I did after the race on Saturday. I'm scheduled to run 6 miles on Tuesday, so hopefully it will feel better by tomorrow night.

7-7-07 Beulah 5K Race

This morning was race day. I decided to go ahead and run the Beulah 5K - this a race sponsored by local high school to support their athletic group ( I think it's the athletic dept. - another race is held in November for the band). I figured it would be a small race - it consisted of a 1 mile fun run, and a 5k race. I had not set any firm goals for my time - I would be happy with anything under 30 minutes. This was to be a 'practice' race to see how bad the race day adrenaline would affect my pacing. How badly would I roar out of the gate, and burn out before the end of the race. I was not particularly worried about finishing the race because I usually train at between 4 to 6 miles a day, and still increasing mileage every week.

I arrived an hour before the race started so I could complete my late registration, and look around a little before the race started. There wasn't much to see, and there weren't' many people there yet either. I didn't get my shirt, and just figured I'd pick it up later since I didn't come for the T-shirt. They ran out shortly after more people showed up and registered late, but they said they'd mail it to me - if they do - great, if not - no big loss. The race got started a little late because of problems with the big clock.

By the time the race started, there looked to be about 60 to 70 runners for the 5K. I had planned on wearing my bright red VBS shirt from church, figuring that Steph could pick me out of the crowd at the finish line if I was brighter. Just before the race started, a light drizzle moved it and turned the area into a sauna. I did a short warm up run - probably only about 3/8 mile and I was drenched. I thought it might rain some more, so I elected to run shirtless - I had seen a few other runners come out of their shirts so I didn't feel like it was inappropriate to do the same.

I got directions from the coordinator ( I had no idea what the race route would be - luckily it was pretty well marked at the turns - firetrucks make great signposts), and lined up about 2 rows from the front. I didn't feel like I started much faster than my training pace (adrenaline), and I watched the people around me to find someone at a similar pace. The route took us immediately to a very rough dirt road - I later heard some of the runners commenting on how they had not prepared for that, and were not used to running on loose rock dirt roads. I didn't mind the dirt road, luckily the rain had knocked down any dust so it wasn't like running in a dust storm - although it was still pretty warm very early in the morning. The route went back to asphalt pretty quickly ( probably within 1/2 mile)

I was aiming (roughly) for a 30 minute race, which is about 9:30 per mile - at my 1st mile split, I was cruising along at 8:02 - - MUCH FASTER THAN I FELT I SHOULD HAVE BEEN GOING. I didn't feel like I was pushing to hard, so I just tried to maintain. At the 2 mile split, I was at 16:24 - I had lost 20 seconds off my pace - not surprising given my speed. It's worth noting that on last night, I only ran 2 miles, and tried to run them fast to get an idea of what I could do in a pinch, I was only able to post 8:45 per mile - so the race got me somewhere between 20 and 45 seconds worth of adrenaline boost - WILD! We had to run past the final turn and come back to it to finish and I'd decided to give my final boost at the top of the last hill. That would give me a little over a 1/4 mile to run out the last of my reserves. In that last 1/4 mile or so, I passed about 5 people. I crossed the line @ 25:23 - more than 4 minutes ahead of my loose target. I was thrilled with the time. I ended up winning 1st place for my age group - although there were only 2 in my age group. I finished 26th overall. I had a blast, and am looking forward to Country's in August.

My race time presents a small problem - but it's a good one to have:
In January when I started this, I had set the goal of 27 minutes for the Country's race. Obviously I can make that now, but I just set a time of 25:23, which means I need to train to break that time at the Country's race. I figure I'll target a flat 25 minutes for that race.

7-5-07

Late post - -

Tonight was my first run after returning from Tennessee. I got up early this morning and drove for 6+ hours getting home, but we got home by 3pm. I tried to take a short nap after I got home (with little success) in preparation for the evening run. I planned on doing just 4 miles since I figured I'd be tired and worn from the traveling (I was right).

We got to the dam about 6:30pm and it was already starting to cool off pretty well. After the warm up walk, I decided to run really slowly to get my legs under me, and it worked pretty well. When I got to the 2 mile turnaround point, I was feeling pretty good, and decided I would go an additional half mile, but on the return trip, I realized that the extra distance wasn't a good idea. I had to cut back to my original 4 mile goal - I was just too worn out from the drive, and heavy food. It was still an okay run - I just hated making the commitment to another half mile in my mind, then having to back off of it. Usually when I add distance in the middle of a run, I immediately think it was a mistake, but I won't let myself decide to cut the distance until I get to the full mileage, then I'll decide if I can go the extra mileage. This time, when I got to the 4 mile mark, it was over - there was no going the extra half without it being more difficult than it needed to be.

I'm going to run the Buelah 5K on Saturday, so I'll probably only go about 2 miles on Friday. I just want to get my legs warmed up.