2011 was a return to consistency as a runner

Hey followers. Here's to 2011: It was a tough year, with the loss of my Grandpa and Dad, but also one that was blessed, with the birth of my daughter, Avery.

Running wise, I ran more this year since the days I was competeting year round, which would have last been 2004. With the Grand Prix series keeping me motivated all year, along with Thunder Road Marathon, I have enjoyed some great fitness these past 12 months.
I'm looking forward to Boston in 2012, and beyond that - I'm not real sure what lays ahead.

Since my last post I have had 8 runs, since Dec. 5th.

Tue 12/6: 6.38 miles, 7:19 pace. Solo
Thur 12/8: 4.12 miles, 8:24 pace. Stroller
Sat 12/10: 6.96 miles, 7:16 pace. Solo
Fri 12/16: 4 miles, 7:39 pace. Solo
Mon 12/19: 6.51, 7.44 pace. w/David
Fri 12/23: 4.46, 8.45 pace. Stroller
Mon 12/26: 4 miles, 8.08 pace. BeechMtn
Thu 12/29: 1.4 miles, 7:16 pace. Solo


No long runs or workouts, just runs ranging from 1-7 miles. I have taken Avery with me more lately in the jogging stroller, and that keeps the paces above 8. And the times I'm off alone, or with David, I have been comfortable clicking low 7's and some high 6's. (ppm). I had a nice run up part of Beech Mtn. the day after Christmas, and that brought me to a 9+ min mile.

I'm glad I haven't totally stopped running, and that my legs are in posistion to handle more running come 2012 when I start training for Boston.

Today, last run of the year, with David we ran:

6.57 miles
7:45 pace
50:55 time

Legs felt a little sluggish, but the ran was enjoyable as it was just a chill sort of run. Beautiful weather.

signs of hibernation?

In a few days I will be one month removed from my PR in the marathon. Where am I now? Well, I took almost a full week off, ran a few times, had a Birthday, became a little sick, and now am looking at another week of low mileage. Is this out of plan? No. You see, after the marathon, I had planned to take December as easily as I wanted in an effort to keep the running casual, if I felt like running at all!

The weather is and has been gross the last few days. Typical of December. Charlotte isn't fortunate enough to be pretty with white snow. We just get grey wetness. The kind of weather that encourages slothly behavior. Now since it's almost been a full week since I have run, I am feeling the itch for exercise! I think tonight I shall attempt a jaunt...how long? That will probably be entirely dictated in my present state once I am out and moving.

But catching us up on the last few excursions...

Wed (11/30):  Linked up with David and ran a new route. The pace was easy and light, and the new route was a nice combination of familiar streets, and a couple new over in the Southpark area. Here is the Garmin details: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/131955283
Time: 40:19
Miles: 5.36
Pace: 7:31

Thur (12/1): My last run as a 27 year old. This time I took Avery with me in the jogging stroller. The jogging stroller is a gift I got last Christmas, and have just now began to use. I am starting to enjoy it. I find the run is made easier for those days when you need to reel back the pace and let your legs rest. Also, my daughter loves it! It's also a nice treat for Mom where she won't feel dumped on with the baby just because I have to go get my run in.
Miles: 3.44
Time: 27:20
Pace: 7:57

Monday (12/5): Took Avery for a quick run/walk spin around the block.
Miles: 1
Time: ?

looking back at my training...

Here's a fun fact: I didn't hit 40 miles in 2011 until the first week in September!

That being said, my running Jan-Aug was nothing much to write home about, mileage wise. So, September-October (Marathon Training time period) my training consisted of:

112 miles in September. Highest week: 46.5
196 miles in October. Highest week: 51

From Oct. 22  through Nov 11th  I was on taper. (weeks of 33, 17) and marathon week I hit 35, which was boosted from the 26.2 mile day on Nov. 12th.

Only 1 week all year I hit 50+ miles!

I am a little surprised to see my sub 3 hour race given my modest mileage. 

2011 total miles through today, Nov. 28th: 1,178

Cool.

Catching up on runs last week:

Wed (11/23) 6.73 miles at McAlpine with David and Mitchell. Legs felt okay, kinda low on energy.
Pace: 7:30
Time: 50:39

Sat (11/26)
5.08 miles around my neighborhood. Felt good
Pace: 7:01
Time: 35:42

Sun (11/27)
4.25 miles around my neighborhood pushing Avery in the jogging stroller. Legs not bad, but needing to go slower
Pace: 7:58
Time: 33:52

"November Rain"

Strange weather we're havin, it n it?

It started to drizzle when i went out and started running. I was just out blowing leaves and couldn't tell it was going to rain at all. I didn't think about calling off the run, because it was unseasonably warm temperatures.

Immediatly felt fresh and quick. I was a little less than 100% on strength and energy, but my legs felt great. The rain picked up throughout the run, and at the end it turned into a mixture of night time rain, darkness and sheen off the streets, high spirits, and soggy shoes.

Easily could have run farther, but decided to come inside and see my girls.

5 miles
37:14 time
7.27 pace

awake to cold miles

the night before i slept soundly. I woke up around dawn, but napped until 9:30, then went immediatly for a run. Wanted to hit, and did, 5 miles. Legs started off okay, slow and easy for a bit, then on faster at the end nothing below mid 7 tho.

cold to chilly weather, but enjoyable. grey day, and leaves almost all off trees.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/129596281
now, I have a Saturday to look forward to with my daughter and anyone else that may arrive. My wife is gone for the day at the Southern Christmas Show.

#collegefootball

Feeling out the wheels

a warm stretch of temperatures the last few days, but today it was raining. I got out the baby jogging stroller and decided to take Avery for her second spin ever in the thing. David came to my house and the three of us set out on a wet, blackened jaunt.

initially i felt that my legs were not that sore. I wasn't going fast, but slow rather, with the comfort. after the first mile around 830, i started to get tighter on the second, but was a little faster. maybe high 7s. just did 2.7 miles. Probably helped to flush out some waste. Maybe i'll venture out this weekend. But for now, i'm enjoying myself.

Cheers!

Thunder Road marathon 2011

I read my recap of last year's Thunder Road 2 or 3 times last week as I was becoming more and more excited as this year's race drew near. I must say it was some pretty good writing, and I don't really think I can recap as well as last year - but I'll give you my thoughts nonetheless.

Just like I don't think I can give as good as a report on this years race, as I did last year, similarly I thought going into this year's marathon that I wouldn't be able to repeat with a race that was as good as I ran last year. Despite a full year of running, and racing, I didn't fully have the confidence going into the race that I would be able to PR (personal record). Fully, being the operative word. I knew I had a chance, but that thought was kind of deep down.

I think the main thing that I doubted was my ability to hold the pace required to get under 3 hours. Yes, anything under 3:00:40 would give me a new best, but if I was going to improve I really wanted to break the 3 hour barrier. Another thing that was keeping me from really believing and being pysched about it was the fact that Boston 2012 plans have already been made, and that the whole point - at least when I decided, back in the summer, to run the Thunder Road - was to have one more marathon experience so that I could really use Boston as the race to lower my PR. Basically, I was looking at Thunder Road as an "experience" marathon rather than one to focus on getting a PR. At least that was the thought process back then, and I found leading up to this race, that I was lacking a little confidence and fire to go run something great.

Yet, my old highschool friend and teammate, Josh Brewer, was in town, and he was thinking about trying to break 3 hours - so I knew that I would have some friendly competition to get me going, not to mention David Brinkly.

The weather was clear and cold at the start. Mid 30's, and warming up as the morning went on. Really great running weather actually. I found my way to the start earlier this year, and with the new corral system, there were no issues on getting out, like there were for me last year.

I knew the first mile was downhill and fast, from experience, so I decided to make it feel like a crawl as Josh and I strolled along to a 7 minute mile on the opening stretch. My Garmin beeped signaling "mile 1" some 8-9 seconds before the first course mile marker, and from there on my Garmin would measure each mile little by little further and further from the course markers as the race went on.

Josh and I kept it easy the second mile, and by the third mile I noticed he was dropping back, while I was keeping an eye on David. - I must say in taking inventory of how I felt, my legs felt fresh, breathing felt good, no aches or nagging pains, and I was settled in and the pace felt easy and comfortable - all positive check offs a marathoner looks for early on in the race -. I slowly reeled in David and Jamaar until I caught them around the 4.5 mile mark.

As the 3 of us came along the crowd at the corner of Providence and Sharon at the 5 mile mark, I threw KT my long sleeve shirt, and took my first GU Chomps. As we ran throw Foxcroft, we sunk into a pace that was heading for a sub 3 hour marathon. In this neighborhood, David and I came up to the pretty good sized pack of runners around the 3 hour pace group leader, an older man named Jonathon who sounded very British. I was talkative, and introduced myself, and he was not shy to talk either - for I'm sure he was quite comfortable being a pace leader.

When our pack passed the 9 or 10 mile mark where I had to use the Porta John last year, I was pretty excited that I didn't have to stop, nor think that I would anytime soon. I was hoping I could get through my first marathon without having to use the bathroom.

As we came down Queens and made our way onto Kings, I found myself a few strides ahead of the pack and restrained myself from growing the gap but also not slowing down enough to let them catch up. I turned, and they followed, up Morehead and the hill didn't seem to be anything of a challenge at this point in the race at all. I was still feeling good. My splits to this point were close to the 3 hour mark, but I was a little thrown off from the beginning since my Garmin was registering miles long before the actual markers. (later that night after the race, i found out I can still hit the "lap" buttong on my garmin to record intentional splits I choose, despite it telling me when i have run a mile or not...next race i'll do that!).

There was the biggest crowd of the day so far when I came across the turnoff for the marathoners and the half marathoners. Speakers blasting some Switchfoot, and CRC and fans going crazy cheering. This electrified me and I started to grow the gap from the 3 hour pace group and found myself alone after the turnoff. The energy I got really increased my pace, and I started running away from the pace group, knowing I was flirting with the unknown as I was venturing farther and farther into sub 3 territory....so early too, as this was only mile 13. Mentally, after I crossed the half way point, I felt like the end would come soon, and I got agressive and decided to roll the dice. When my pace krept faster, I settled into that and didn't hit the brakes. I was going to try and maintain for as long as I felt in control, and hope I still had a good last 10k to bring it home to the finish line.

Keeping my spirits upbeat and quick, I passed Katie and my daughter and mother in law around mile 15 and started to reel in runners in front of me. The field was pretty thin, so I was hoping I would link up soon with someone going my pace to help me work. I passed a couple runners coming up Mint St., and as I passed Bank of America Stadium, I asked the runner who I just passed to come run with me, and what his goal time was. This would be Chris McFarlane (not to be confused with the creator of Family Guy). I remembered when he passed David and I around mile 5, and noted that he looked like he was a pretty good runner. Once he answered the call, he and I introduced ourselfs and talked about where we were in relation to pace, and how we wanted to finish. Realizing we both had almost identical PRs and goals, we decided we would work together forever how long we could for the rest of the race. Since I was pushing a faster pace at this point (having caught him), and keeping it there as I asked him to come up, Chris told me he was willing to try and stay where we were. This was a crucial point in the race. Looking back I might have talked to much in the race during my time with him, but perhaps it helped the miles go bye and me not dwell on how fast we were going, since we were doing the typical get to know you routine of our past. Pretty cool!

Chris and I clicked our faster mile for the race (at least mine) at mile 19 before we turned onto N. Davidson, and were quickly approaching the Wall zone, where runners start to bonk. As I took GU Chomps at miles 10 and 15 per the plan, I reached into my shorts and unleashed my last supplement - a GU Rocktain gel. I tried to suck/eat it around the 20th mile, but could only get about half of it down. I took some water and that helped, but the whole process wasn't as smooth as I would have liked, nor did it go down as easily as I had envisioned.

Again - I am reazling I'm not giving proper "props" to those fans who came to multiple spots like I did in my last blog, so let me apologize. Mitchell, Blackwoods, Family, and anyone else - you guys rocked and inspired me, so let me THANK you here. You guys posistioned yourself well along the course, and it was great to see you out there.

-now back to the race-

As Chris and I made our way on the Plaza, we were now into, I think, our 21st mile, and starting to come off the pace I had been pushing. I started to feel my legs getting tired and heavier as I ran down Plaza, turned onto Central, and made my way back into the residential neighborhood of Plaza Midwood. And during this stretch I was fighting bouts of nausea. Also, the conversation between us had stopped a few miles ago, and we were getting into the tough part. The mental zone. The fight to the finish.

I pushed through, and at the end of the 24th Mile, before we turned to Hawthorne, Chris passed me. As we came down Hawthorne Chris stopped quickly for a water/gatorade at the stop, and I passed him, and 2 others who had been ahead the whole race. This was short lived as Chris passed me back right before the Hawthorne Hill. While I was climbing said hill, I heard a guy yell "let's go shirtless!" Woah - could it be?! When I heard this I was shocked. I had left Josh Brewer - the only guy shirtless in the whole race - at mile 2, and had been looking behind throughout the race and hadn't seen him at all. Now, he's right behind me? I knew it had to be him. As I started the 25th mile, cresting Hawthorne and making my way towards downtown, Josh passed me like a flash. Another runner passed me soon after, and now I was watching "shirtless", Chris, and the Asian (guy who passed me after Josh) battle and pull away from me. I was hurting, but I wasn't dying. My pace wasn't getting out of control. I passed the 25th mile marker as the clock showed 2:50:xx and I knew that as long as I didn't fully fall apart, sub 3 would be mine.

As we made our way down the hill, and took the left onto the straightway which would run us up to MLK, where the race would finish, I was doing everything I could to keep it together. Just keeping one foot in front of the other, and knowing that I had to suffer because sub 3 was atainable. I remembered Theodan's mantra "you can tolerate more pain than you think you can". I was telling myself this the last mile, while literally shaking my head in an effort to snap out of the haze and push to the finish. As I made that last turn to the finish line, I felt my vision dwindle and my legs ache. My face was contorted and twisted and I read the clock tick from 2:58 to 2:59 and prayed I could get to the finish before it read 3. I didn't lock up for fall down, and I made it. 2:59.12. Thank God. I put my hands on my knees and couldn't move for a few seconds. I raised up, and hugged Josh who had broke 2:59 and congratualted him, as he did me.

I made myself keep walking down the shoot, and looked for David. He made it! A huge PR for him, and a BQ (Boston Qualifer), so that was just awesome.

As I got some water and gatorade, I kept walking around, hugged Katie, and waited for Jason. He made it too! just under 3:30 for his First marathon.

Marathons feel like Championships, as I told me wife earlier in the week. It's the culmination of long training, and the day is just so sweet. While I told myself during the aganozing stretch of this race that I would Never do another one, I'm already looking forward to resting and regrouping to attack Boston this april for hopefully another PR. Thanks again to everyone who supported me.

Here is a link to my Garmin Splits. You'll note it measured my race almost a quarter mile longer than a marathon.



Clock Time 2:59:17

Chip Time 2:59:12

Overall Place 14 / 907

Gender Place 14 / 605

Division Place 6 / 70 (3rd place age group award. A cool TR flag I will frame and put in my man cave!)

Pace 6:50

10Ksplit 42:33

13 1Msplit 1:29:30

20Msplit 2:15:33 / 13.1-20mil  46:03, 6.40 pace

2nd half(13.1mi) split: 1:29:42    /  last 10k 20-26.2mil  43:39, 7:01 pace

shake out friday

This day is filled with excitement and anticipation. I love this part of the whole process with the marathon. I was giddy, and slipped on my LunarRacers to get in some strides and mile jog. Legs felt good and am feeling upbeat about the race. especially to run with my old friend Josh Brewer for the first time in almost a decade.

easy and light

i've been reading my blog from last year to see what i did the week of the marathon, and last year I ran 3 miles the wednesday before. So today, I just ran 25 mins. More than 3 but less than 4. I left the garmin at home and just used a lap watch. legs felt good. Not like they were raring to go, but they didn't feel bothersome.

miles: 3.5
time: 25 mins
Pace; high 7's

night comes early

Hit the door in the dark cold air, and found myself for the first time in a long while running in the night. It was brisk outside, so my pace was a little quick in the beginning. Felt fresh though and kept it comfortable and easy. Just a little jaunt to keep the legs from getting rusty, while at the same time, getting them preserved for the race!

Miles: 4
Pace: 7.26

Santa Monica two step

This time I awoke, feeling rested, after a night out on the town. I was a little hazy when we started, but my legs felt good and the run wasn't a chore at all. It felt good to be out there!

Weather was perfect. Bohle and I ran up from Venice Beach to the Pier at Santa Monica. That was a 1.22 mile warm up.

There we met a LADC runner, and Justin Cross. Once we were all together, we went out for a run around the town. After Bohle and Cross called it a day after a 4 mile loop, Steve (LADCer) and I decided to take on some more. I wanted to complete 8-9 for the day. This run was 7.57

miles: 8.79
pace: 8:05

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/127251891
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/127251899

That was it for the week. I hit 16.65 miles on 3 days running (tue/thur/sat). Pretty light on the taper, but I was having fun in California and this wasn't really unintentional.

Now just marathon week awaits me! Just a couple light jogs, and then the race!

the ole treadmill

Awoke from a great nights sleep in my Hampton Inn bed, fully rested as I still not used to west coast time. It was a tad chilly outside and I didn't really want to be uncomfortable, so I decided to hit up the hotel treadmill.

Ran 4.5 miles pretty comfortably. about half in the high 7's and the other half in the mid 7s.

balboa lake squeez run, Cali

After getting fueled up on my favorite fast food, In -N- Out Burger, I arrived at my last appointment early and threw on my running clothes in the car and stepped out to the trails around Balboa Lake, which is up in the Valley of L.A.

Unfortunatly, I only had time for just over 3 miles, but that was better than the alternative of nothing!

Ran in my LunarRacers, which I will be wearing for Thunder Road. They felt good, and so did my legs.

Pace was comfortable and weather was great.

3.36 miles

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/127251887

a fun one! longer and faster

i was thankful for 720 paces feeling slow and easy. because of how I felt (good), I allowed the pace to stay very lax as I clicked off 730s because I now had plans to pick it up, at least the last 3rd of the run.

I figured I would try and run 14 miles and make the last 4 or 5 around marathon pace, if not slighty quicker. (thinking 650 here).

the run was familiar as I went through the neighborhoods towards dilworth and then downtown. It was a nice route coming back as well, as I came back down the greenway (just like yesterdays run).

i started up the quicker pace a little earlier than planned but dang it i was feeling pretty strong.

Just used the run as an occasion to get some work in while reaping the benefit of a happy mood and cooperative legs.

after the 14 miles I cooled down a mile and a half. I opted for a cooldown after my last mile was 558. Figured I needed it.

Miles: 15.5 (includes cool down)

pace - for 14 miles: 7:07

weather was pretty and I wore shortsleeves comfortably.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/125414297

freedom park out and back

okay, confidence is coming slowly back by this point. It's helping my hopes that my lapse in focus from last weekend until end of this week wont effect me too negatively.

nice to change the route up and get out towards myers park.

here are the vitals: 8.43 miles
7.07 ppm

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/125091592

back for more

hit up the neighborhood again to make it two days in a row. Even though this week is in the taper mode, I'm scrambling now to make it a decent week.

At least my legs felt much better today. I feel the cold weather helps a quicker pace right out of the gate, because you are trying to get warm.

4.06 miles in 6:59 pace. Felt comfortable.

resurfaced

thank you App State homecoming for de-railing me. (sarcastic).

I was in Texas earlier this week and didn't even bring my shoes.

When I got home on this day, I went out for a run, but I felt bad.

5.5 miles around 7:50 pace and just unpleasant. Poor diet and just a build up of rust.

old stomping grounds

This is the meat of the entry

In college, I never needed to run this far. Now, I have run both sections of Moses Cone carriage trails, but not both in the same run. Today, David and I attempted it with success.

We parked at Trout Lake Friday afternoon at 3pm on the dot, and set off for our 20 mile run.

Nicknames for parts of the trail back in college have stuck, and that is how I still refer to the different sections.

The run was beautiful, and such a treat. My legs cooperated for the most part, and I was able to get it all almost done. The last couple miles were kind of a slow death march, but I managed to keep running. When we got to the car, we were just over 19 miles, and I decided I was finished. I know I set out for 20, and came up short, but less than a mile with the work I had just completed, I was content to call it a day.

This run served as a great trail for hill training, strength, endurance, turnover, and mental toughness. Click the link above to see the garmin splits and elevation to get an idea.

19.08 miles
2:26:53 time
7:42 pace

tremendous eleavation

Miles for week: 49.39 (wanted to run Sunday, as that was the plan, in order to hit my highest mileage- but App State Homecoming got the better of me.)

easy run, but feeling good!

just a shake out run as the workout was yesterday and the long mtn run in the following day. My legs actually felt the best they had in a couple weeks, but i kept the brakes on despite it - also because I was with Brinkley and he was wanting to keep it slow. No problem.

Miles 5.16
Time: 39:43
Pace: 7:42

track workout - 1 repeat

cool, but not cold....windy, and wet track. Would be doing this workout solo.

Warmed up about 3 miles and then put on my new race shoes.

Didn't have a specific time to shoot for, but for some reason within the first half of my first repeat, i decided to change it up. I was planning on doing 3x3200, but the first mile just felt too stiff, and i didn't want to stop twice and regroup and all that, and then feel like I had to go faster. So what did I do? I just ran 24 laps on the track and tried to hold pace without digging too much, and called it a workout.

I definitly felt better towards the end. Holding the pace was not a problem. I let off the brakes the last mile so my legs could breath and get some turn over. It felt good to do that.

Again, it was pretty windy on the back stretch of the track, and I was just out there running alone. I'm happy with it. It was solid workout, without feeling like I worked too hard for the result.

6:20, 6:16, 6:23, 6:26, 6:15, 5:44   =614 pace

cool down 2 miles

Miles for day: 11

signs of hope

don't call it a comeback...yet. But my legs felt a little better on this run, and while they were still nothing close to springy, bouncy, and light - the pace was quicker dispite that. We are heading back in the right direction!

Just did an out and back, with only enough time to get in 45 mins or so of running, due to having to be somewhere at 6:30pm.

you can see the run started off slower and I got stronger as I went along. Pumped the brakes at the end so as not to spend too much on the effort.

miles: 6.04
pace: 7.30

i've lost that loving feeling

grinding...I tell you what, it took me over 7 miles until my legs felt decent. Tightness, stiffness, and the like plagued my legs for most of this run, as I was struggling to hit 830 miles (hilly). While I had slight relief Saturday from taking Friday off, the 19 miles set me back a little bit on the road to recovery. But that's fine, that's why I am out here grinding for just a little while longer, until the magnificent taper.

Miles: 8.11
Time: 1:04.29
Pace: 7:57

Garmin  -

going long

Ah the weekely long run. The staple of marathon training. Nice to be able to get out to trails to get the miles in, as the week is filled with pounding the pavement. Anyway, arrived at McAlpine just after 8am to join David, Jason, and Mike Mitchell for a run. David had already started, as had Jason, and Mitchell was going to join and get a maintennce run in. His long run would be the next day.

As the week has found my legs empty and tired, I was hoping the day off yesterday would serve me decently in an effort to get in 18 or so miles.

The pace started off easy, and I could tell my legs felt better than they had. We ran out on the greenway to the course and back, and met up with Jason. Some got water and gel, but I just used the bathroom and was ready to keep going. 6+ miles into, we set off again, this time perhaps a little bit faster, and did another loop where we came back to the lot, as David was finished. He had just run his farthest training run at 22 miles. Now, being 13+ miles into the run, I stopped to take some GU Chomps and was ready to finish. Jason did a couple miles with me, then he was finished. He too had done 22 for the day.

With only a few miles to go before I hit my goal, I decided to add on a little more on the greenway, as I was doing my 4th out and back on that stretch of the trail. Ended up with 19 miles for the day, and the pace was stronger at the end.

The run wasn't too brutal, and I can say it was fine. Check out the splits:

Miles: 19
Time: 2:26:37
Pace: 7:43

Miles for week: 51

maxed out - need rest

just so when i look back and read this later, I will know how I felt during this stage of my running: not since college have my legs felt this tired. I'm in great need of a day off. Thankfully, Friday will be that day. As I have mentioned before, increased mileage, less days off, more workouts with races in a short span (8 mile tempo,15k,8mile tempo within 8 days), have all lead me to absolutley feeling tapped out.

Hoping I can get through my 18 miler Saturday, then just need to focus on one more solid week of training.

but today's run, here are the stats:

8.46 miles, 7:53 ppm

yep, my legs are officially beat up

Like the post title says, I can tell with some of my slowest runs of the year that I am not into a part of training that I didn't reach all calendar year unil now. And I know why. I have been running longer, harder, and more consecutivly the past 2, 2.5 weeks than ever, and the toll is being taken. The good news is not injuries are developing...just tired legs. My goal is to run 6 days this week, and that will mean I will take off this Friday. Last week I ran 6 days as well, and after this Thursday's run I will have run 7 days in a row. Through all that, we have had quailty long runs, workouts, and races. And higher mileage. I should get over 50 this week. Then I just have to gut it out for one more week where I hope to hit close to 60, then I can let my legs rest and taper until the marathon.
Garmin

Miles: 6.14,  ppm 8:17

hard training

Monday (10/10) set out to run 7 miles, easy - but how slow it would be I didn't expect. Perhaps my slowest run of the year. My legs were just trash. But I got the miles in.

miles: 6.92, 8:12 ppm

Tuesday (10/11) - another TEMPO RUN. after a 1 mile warm up, set off down Seneca with David where we "eased" into the quicker stride. A little faster than the beginning of last week's tempo, but not too quick. Dropped the pace the next few miles consecutively as we made our way around the Booty Loop. After 4 miles I was starting to feel it, and from here on in it became of battle of mental toughness. My legs didn't feel fully recovered after last weeks tempo and race, so here I was fighting to stay on pace. I actually dropped a quick 6th mile, but the 7th mile I really slowed down. The course was much flatter than last weeks, but I felt like I was really pushing myself harder. I was running pretty much solo after 4 miles, after David pulled away. Even though I felt like I was slow, my splits were not too bad. The last mile I dug down real deep and started to catch David, and so I focused on finished as best I could. Was happy to see I just got under 6 mins! Not terribly disappointed from the day's effort at all, and know that I have just a week and a half of crunch time before I begin my taper. Check out the Tempo miles splits and course here!

faster tempo than last week, despite tired legs: 6:30 ppm, (52.00 mins), 8 miles, 5:59 8th mile.
miles for day: 10.5

rest of: week of last GPX race. LungStrong 15k

Tuesday (10/4) met Brinkley (he jogged over) at my house and headed out for an 8 mile tempo. Not much of a warm up (for me), as we went right into the first mile at nice but conversational clip. The route was going to be hilly, as we were going to go out towards Huntingtown Farms, but do the standard loop in reverse. The second mile we brought the pace down a good bit, and started to hold it and ride it for the hills in miles 2,3, and 4. Mile 5 was pretty flat, as we were on the greenway, and mile 6 was the beast of Colchester Hill (which is .3 miles long and rises over 100 feet. Still, we held a strong pace, and miles 7 and 8 we dropped the hammer a little bit for our fastest splits of the day. The run was almost a progressive tempo with the splits, and with the hills, it was a GREAT workout. Found myself hurting, and having to push - something I haven't had in a while, and no doubt, it helped train me mentally as well. CHECK OUT THE SPLITS AND ELEVATION CHANGES. (9.12 miles for the day in total)

6.32 average ppm (for 8 mile tempo)

Wednesday (10/5) arrived in Dallas, checked into my room, and headed out the door for a warm easy recovery run. Legs were tired, and a slow pace was in order. Garmin stats.

6 miles, 7:55 ppm

Friday (10/7) got home, and slipped on my new racing shoes and jogged around for a few miles, making sure they felt alright. Shoes felt fine, and so did my legs. Ready for a good race.

3.19 miles, 7:54 ppm

Saturday (10/8) LUNGSTRONG 15k.
Last race of the Charlotte Run For Your Life Grand Prix 2011 series. I was 4th going into the event, and it seemed I would settle there unless I would run out of my mind and win or something.
The weather was perfect, and I had a decent week of training, sleep, and nutrition leading into the race. Warmed up with David and went to the line for a couple strides to loosen the legs. The gun went off, and I got with David and we settled into a nice comfortable pace of just over 6 mins. The first few miles clicked by easily, and it was actually conversational as David and I and the group would converse just a little bit as we got into the meat of the race. I was ahead of my time after 3 or 4 miles, from last years race, and I was feeling okay. In the back of my head though, I felt I might be pushing it a little hard if I was going to have a second half of the race that was just as quick or faster. I wasn't suede, and in the 4th mile I started to pull away slightly and only momentarily from David and the group. We started passing the group ahead, and once I was alone, I looked back and called up David to come join me. We ran side by side, with only Eric Bilbrey up ahead in our sights. I said, "let's go get him," and we focused on trying to reel him in. We encouraged one another until about 6 miles, when I started to fade and David got some gap on me. I could tell I was starting to hit my wall, and wasn't able to go with him. Now, I just was going to have to make sure I didn't fall apart. As the 7th mile split passed, I looked at my watch and thought I would have really slowed down, but was pumped up when I realized I hadn't fell off too much. I closed my eyes as I ran right into the sun going up the hills on the 8th mile, and felt as if I could have drifted to sleep, while my body kept being pulled to the center of the road. I was just trying to hold on here, and not let the group behind me, have an easy time catching up. The 9th mile, 2 guys behind me came up. The first guy I went with for mabye 200 meters, then he got a little gap on me, and I tried to keep it as close as I could. With less than half a mile to go in the race, another guy came up with me and this time I went with him about 300m and he pulled away. Here, we clicked the 9 mile split, and had .3 miles to go. I remembered last year I fell off at the .3, and decided I was going to have an all out kick. I started my kick and immediatly passed the guy who had just passed me, and started reeling in the other guy who had passed me about a mile ago. I caught him on the last turn to the finish, and sprinted in the last 100 meters with everything I had, and came across the line in a new 50 sec PR. I was happy.

My pace for the run was the same as my pace for the Hit the Brixx 10k race, so that is something right there (although I was sick with strep thoat that race). I felt I ran as best I could, and I was happy.

Splits: 6.10, 6.14, 6.06, 5.59, 6.10, 6.03, 6.13, 6.20, 6.18, 1.47 (.3)       for what it's worth, I didn't wear a GPS watch, and recorded my splits as I hit the mile markers on the course. David, who was wearing a GPS watch, recorded the course as 9.44 miles. Also, I was in a group who went the long way around an island in the road as we made a turn, not taking the inside lane as the course intended, no doubt extending the distance we ran.

Cooled down 4 miles with John Compton and Brian Baum, and went and had a nice breakfast at Toast afterwards with the guys. It was a great day of running.

miles for day: 15  ;    race: 6.10 pace

last year's post: http://danjeggers.blogspot.com/2010/10/lungstrong-15k.html

Sunday (10/9) didn't get to my recovery shake out run until almost 8pm. Just did the standard 4 mile loop at just a hair under 8 min pace. Needed for the legs.

4 miles, 7:59 ppm

Miles for week:  41

first time running to work

Car back in the shop, and wife leaving early than I wanted, I chose to run to work and knock out a run. This probably will be it for the day for me. I think I need a nice recovery, and maybe the next time I run will be Tuesday night. Anyway, other than it being chilly, and having to carry a backpack, the run wasn't bad. Legs felt fine.

Miles: 3.92
Time: 29.52
Pace: 7.37

Looking back, I did 42 miles last week. A nice comeback from the lack-luster week prior. Also, good confidence from the 17 miler the other day.

shake out

easy little 4 mile run, standard loop, early this evening to shake the legs out from the long run yesterday. legs felt a little sore but my pace wasn't sluggish.

29.20 time
3.98 miles
7.23 pace

(42 miles for the week)

weekend update

Yesterday I flew in from Austin, TX and had to drop my car off at the shot to get some work done, so I swung by the house on the way back from the airport to change into my running clothes before dropping it off. From the shop on South Blvd, I did an easy run home. Started off normal pace, but slowed it down and just strolled along until I got back. 6.4 mile run

This morning I woke up at 8:15am after a great night's sleep, and downed a piece of bread with peanut butter, and met David outside to start the run shortly thereafter. Weather was perfect on this first day of October. I mean perfect. The pace was easy at first, standard in the middle, and quicker towards the end. I felt generally great on the run, and can't complain. Also, it was all on pavement, since we didn't do the standard McAlpine trails for this long run. Maybe it was good to get used to the long pounding with the Marathon in our sights, but nonetheless it wasn't too much of an issue. Did my longest for the year at 17 long run map and pace chart

catchin' us up

Well I finally got a Garmin watch. So far I've enjoyed it.

Listening to some Game R.E.D. album while I type here. Daddy fat stacks, big boi...aka ATLiens, let's go Braves! Get that wild card <---current song

sorry...

Tuesday (9/20) night I went out into the night with my new Garmin, since I had to watch for it to charge, the darkness all around...and let my feet dictate a new path. Rode Archdale up Park to Selwyn and went around Montford back up Seneca and home for 6.26 mi  check it out

Thursday (9/22) morning I got up, asked the receptionish about some local trails down the way from Asheville. Found Mills Creek North of Henderson in the Pisgah National Forest. Couldn't find any trails other than small paved Camp Site roads. Got on the "main" camp site road leading out the other way from the Parking Lot and it turned into a gravel road heading up the hill/mtn. Kept going, past some campsites as I climbed, then past the creeks rushing, and up into the mist/clouds, cloked humid heavy air. I got sweaty as hell, but I kept climbing, and noticed I was running some 8:30 into 9+ min miles, but I wanted to climb until I got to the top of the distance on my watch read "4.0 miles". Hit it and turned around, and road some nice downhill 6:30 miles. Kept the distance going after I got to the bottom. 15k   9.3mi    check it OUT Look at the Elevation GAIN

Saturday (9/24) my legs were treated to a nice flat recovery slow run around Oxford, MS before the gameday. Felt slow until the 4th mile or so, and just rode it out 5.62 mi

(28 miles for the week)

----
Tuesday (9/27) after FULL Recovery from the festivities of Ole Miss, I ran with David and felt really light and rusty. Also, my Garmin died so I had no watch. Other than that, I didn't care about pace - just wanted to run 10 or so with David if I felt alright. Guess my legs felt fresh after the days off and recovery run, cuz we started off low to mid 7 pace according to David. We just made a big loop around where we live around the southpark area. He gave me the time and distance when i parted and according to him, we clipped:

10.25 miles
in 7.22 pace

Wednesday (9/28) streak of 2 days, and I felt pretty hurry to get it over combined by just running some recovery miles (4.09) which didn't feel as good.

San Diego, Sickness, and a Race (Recap from 9/11 to 9/19)

9/11 Sunday - Flew to San Diego for a company meeting. The airport was quite and thin. Flight was fine, Thank God. Good day of rememberance and realizing the Panthers have a franchise QB!! No running

9/12 Monday - After the day's meeting, got out for a light run around San Diego. Had to watch the clock so I could make it back in time for the evening's events, but was able to squeez in 4.5 miles of running around the hills.

9/15 Thursday - With two days off (Busy and Tired as hell are my excuses!) I really needed to exercise the legs. Trying to salvage the week with a good race, I didnt' want to overdo it - as I normally like to take the day off 2 days before a race anyway. Just ran 3.5 miles easy, but could tell there were some cobwebs.

9/17 Saturday - Hit the Brixx Race 10K - So the day before I knew I wasn't being the smartest in terms of preparing for the race by going to the Incubus concert at Verizon Ampetheater, but with 11 races I'm not the kind of guy to let running ALWAYS get in the way. And on top of that, I started coming down with a sore throat Friday afternoon. The last couple days in San Diego whiped me out as I didn't get enough rest, and I just felt run down. But on to the concert I went, and had a very late bed-time!

So after 4 hours of sleep, and with a throbbing sore throat I get out of bed and hazily put my clothes on and get out the door. I was so tired, I just sat in a booth at Brixx Pizza (pre-race site) and watch others warm up, until 15 mins before the race where I sauntered out and forced myself to warm up for 10 mins.

That allowed me to at least get warm, and when I toed the line, I was just hoping for the best. The first mile was sort of downhill, and I felt alright as I settled in behind the faster runners and knew I really had to watch my pace given my condition. Hit 6.03 for the first mile, and that felt fine. Started to climb the second mile a little, but while I thought I was upping the pace, I actually slowed a tad and hit 6.08 for a 12.12 two mile. Rolled to another downhill, and as Vincent Arey came flying by I tried to mimick his light stride and pick it up. Didn't feel like I was able to drop a negative mile here, but was thinking I was just maintaing pace and could maybe drop a negative split for the second half of the race. A little disappointed when I hit 18.20 for the 3 mile mark (6.08 split).

The 4th mile saw a good climb in elevation, as well as a couple racers who passed me. This is when I got focused from Jason Martin who said "worry about the guys in front, don't look back." This stuck with me the rest of the race. I wasn't going to care who passed me I was going to keep my focus up front. The oldest trick in the book, but if you don't remember to do it, a race will get away from you in a heartbeat. Only with focus did I manage to hang on, because that 4th mile started to get me. Came through in 24.34 (6.13 split). The 5th mile we were on roads winding around Elizabeth where I had an awful performance earlier in the GPX series at the Skyline 5k, so I was keyed in to running these streets with a vengence. I started to gain on the runners ahead who passed me, while we also reeled in a couple from the pack way ahead who were slowing down. Throttled the 5th mile pretty good, and was getting geared up to stay strong the last mile. Came through 5 in (30.49 (6.14 split ??? Approx. trying to recall as my watch deleted my splits)). The last mile was a BIG climb up 7th Street, and I was fighting the whole way. I was probably most proud of my fight in this race than all the other races of 2011. I was moaning as I was climbing, trying to catch the guys in front, and not let the ones in back catch me. I was able to get 1, and keep off another. Hit 37.08 for 6 miles, 6.19 split (maybe toughest mile on the course). With .2 to go, I came up to Greg Shore and we really kicked it in. We were stride for stride, both building speed the the whole .2 until about 50 meters from the tape he got up on his toes a little quicker and got me by a second. Still a 1.07 for the .2 I will take anyday.

After the race, I was totally done for. I slept for 3 hours, and layed around the house until I decided I needed to go to Urgent Care because I believed I had strep throat. So after finding out I had a fever and my throat looked awful, I got a shot of penicllin in the buttox to cap off the day. Awesome.

Time: 38.15
Place: 23rd
Pace: 6.09

Miles for day: 9
Week: 17 (last week was 46!)

9/19 Monday - Still recovering, I got antsy and wanted to run. I meant to run about 4 miles, but go into a route which didn't let me once I got past a certain point, and ended up running 50 mins around the hills behind my neighborhood. Felt okay, but got real weak the second half of the run.

Miles: 6.5~
Time: 49.13
Pace: slow

weekend runs lead to biggest mileage week

Friday 9/9 - Shake out run
Miles: 2.5 miles
Pace: 7:50

Saturday 9/10 - Long Run
Miles: 15
Time: 1.52.03
Pace: 7.28

David's Link: (He did 1 more mile at the end  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/113236915 )

Met at 7am and had the pleasure of running with Jason, David, Brian, and Mike. From Old Bell we sauntered down the greenway to Harris Blvd, back thorugh the course, and back to the parking lot after 10 miles to take a gel and a sip of water. Went up Sardis and through Boyce trails to round out 15. Jason and David did 16.

My legs felt really good, and my breathing was great. The bones started to feel the impace the last couple miles, but that is to be expected. The gel really helped, as we were able to rip off some of our quickest splits at the end. The pace started easy in the high 7s, and was mid to low 7s the rest of the way.


46 miles for the week

I like hills

Yesterday I couldn't find my watch, so I ran without it. David ran with me and I was happy to not run alone, as I had been for a while. He has a GPS watch so I figured that would be good enough for me.

going into the run i wasn't totally sure how i would respond to the demands of 8 miles, with 5+ of them at a hard effort. (Still not feeling 100% and sleep interuptions).

I had the route all picked out. Going to get some hills in as we ran through Starmount, and would head towards the bridge which would lead us to the park and Huntingtown Farms where we would pick up that common route which is full of hills too. Purposefully, we took the first mile easy and clicked a 7.54 and I noticed my legs were feeling actually better than the day before.

From mile one, we started grooving into low 7 pace and kept it conversational. We actually clicked off a 6.48. Okay, a little quicker for mile 2 than desired, but nothing to do but keep the momentum going. Mile 3 we started to talk less and run faster aided by a lot of downhills. 6.22. Hmmm, quicker than planned - but not feeling too bad...yet.

The forth mile I seperated from David as I was trying to hold the 6.20 pace, and I probably slowed a little bit. Approximiatly 6.30 for mile 4, and now I was just trying to fight and hold and not slow up, despite my plans of progressing faster each mile.

As I hit the hills I was feeling strong, just not quite as fast as I wanted. I was happy with my effort, but was considering ending the push a little early once I got to the top of the hills and onto Old Reid. But once I came to the top, I made up my mind to keep the push going because I had a nice straight away I could work on my turn over, and then it was just one more big down and up, that I could end with.

As I slowed for the rest, David came up and told me we were 6.5 miles into the run. Okay, mission accomplished. Just a nice mile and a half cool down together and we were finished.

We talked about how the run was tough, and that perhaps we were a bit too quick early on...and how downhills can actually zap your strength if you are not careful.

I loved the workout though. I know that route so well, and it was actually fun to run it (the H-Town hills part) back to back days.

Link from David's watch. I was 1 minute in front at the end of 6.5, before we cooled down 1.5.

total miles for day: 8

new shoes, cool weather, cliff shots

despite all the positive things, as mentioned above in the title, this run wasn't a breeze. Since Friday last week, I have been slightly under the weather. My daughter has been worse. Last night she was up 5-6 times in the night battling a fever, so sleep was not solid for me.

I felt like I was pushing, but I was able to hold the pace evenly throughout the run. Ran the old standard hilly Huntingtown Farms loop. Since I know it's not quite 8 I tacked on some at the end to even it out.

Miles: 8
Time: 57.33
Pace: 7:11

beach runs

9/3 Saturday

started off kinda slow, as I just finished dinner and was kinda sluggish. Picked it up towards the end.

Miles: 7

http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/48911688

9/4 Sunday

again started off slow, as I had been at the beach and had a few drinks, but had some nice pick ups in the run.  Ran with the Iphone again and really enjoyed the music.

Miles: 5-5.5
Time: 39 mins

9/5 Monday

started the run at 10:45 and it was HOT and HUMID. The sun baked me as I ran, and most of it was on concrete in the open sun as I ran down HWY 17 towards the bridge into Georgetown, crossed it, and backed tracked home. Felt rough, but got it done, ever how slow and painful it was

miles: 13+
Time: 1 hr 38 mins

morning shake out before beach wknd

Getting out of bed this morning wasn't tough, but 4 miles was kind of tough. 12 hrs after a hard run, 4 miles at a pedestrian pace was a chore...but no injuries or anything, just some recovery miles and now 24 hours until I take to the streets again for my run tomorrow. #runningneverstops

Miles: 4
Time: 33.12
Pace: 8.15-20

Start of distance oriented work-outs

David is reading Advanced Marathoning right now, and when he and I both came up with the same type of workout independently, I felt good about my instints! haha . .. no, but I wanted to do some sort of semi long run with some tempo miles incorporated in there, and he read a workout that was right up that alley. We decided on tackling  a 9 mile run, with 4 miles in the middle at 15k pace.

He has never run a 15k before, and I have only ran one. Last year, I was at 6:15 pace and was probably in a little bit better shape at that point, so we settled on 6:20-30, just to keep it flexible.

Warmed up 3 mile just under 8 min pace (first time in a few days my legs were feeling a little beat up, so this was actually tough). I was a little worried about hitting the target times, but I was ready nonetheless. We decided we would go 6:30 for the first and try and work our way down.

Taking off down Little Sugar Creek Greenway towards Freedom Park, we hit 6:36 for the first mile. Didn't feel too bad. Mile 2 stayed flat, and we hit 6:29. We started going up the booty loop, and climbed uphill for 3/4 a mile, but fought hard and split 6:26. The 4th mile we were just straight shooting down towards Selwyn Pub, and we hit a 6.01. Not bad. After the third mile hill and push, I wanted to negative split and was thinking be in the 6:10-15 range, but alas it was a little quicker.

Cool down ended up being a little longer than expected, but that is okay.

Miles: 9.6
Total time: 1.10.34
4 mile workout: 25.33 (6.23 pace)

shake out from a good weekend

Well, after a pretty good race and a really nice long run, I took Mitchell's advice and ran on Monday. He likes to run after workouts and long runs, so as to get the legs used to running tired, and to shake out the junk. Work had me feeling sluggish, so it was somewhat of a chore to get out the door to run. Nonetheless, once I get going, I started to appreciate the run. I thought about only doing 4, then 5, then I ended up doing about 6.5.

My pace was about 745 in the beginning to probably 730 the second half of the run, if not faster the last mile or two.

No compliants, just getting some work done. Resting on Tuesday, then a longer/tempo run lined up for Wednesday night with David.

Happy running!

Miles: 6.5
Time: 47.31

a very positive 10 miler

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/110291365

One would think the pace would not be this fast after a race the preceeding day. Yet, running is funny sometimes like that. I'm sure the weather had a LOT to do with it. Low humidity and dew point, and high 60's on the thermomitor.

Hadn't run at McMullen in a while, and it was packed. Just a nice 5 mile out and back. Decline on the long run, as the last 3 weeks were a build up. Next Sunday back to the low teens.

The cool thing too is that the pace was conversational, and we were totally in control the whole run. After the first mile we were warmed up, and just started clicking off 7:10's and faster naturally.

splits: 742, 717, 710, 710, 656, 705, 712, 656, 705, 658

Miles: 10
Time: 1.11.37
Pace: 709

Race Recap: Greek Fest 5k

Good morning blog readers. Allow me to give you the story of the Greek Fest 5k...

This being my first ever full season of Run For Your Life's Grand Prix series, I can say that just getting through the season healthy is nice, but I had visions of myself breaking the 17 min mark back when I signed up in late winter. With two 4 mile races, the rest of the events have been comprizsed of 5k's. And I can say that the 5k's have been a struggle for me. I have run the 4 mile races at paces better than the 5ks, and just haven't had a good 5k all season. That all being said, I was really geared up to finish the last 5k (This Greek Fest) on a high note. Of course, given my race times this year, sub 17 was out the window as far as goal, but sub 18 was definitly something I wanted to accomplish, along with just competing against the field.

Since the last 5k nightmare, I have put in 3 good weeks of training. I am proud that I stuck to my plan, and stayed focused. I did 3 long runs every sunday morning with company in the morning; accomplished my work outs for the week; and hit my weekly mileage goals.

Now time to race. With the work being done, I needed to make sure I came up with the mental preparation that would allow me to squeez all the juice I could from the lemon. Noticing that I have done much worse when going out too hard the first mile (Blue Pts, Skyline, Twilight) and better when I went the first mile conservativly (Great Harvest, RFYC) I decided I would stay comfortable, and use David as a gauge whereby I would keep him in front of me to make sure I stayed in control. After that, I would try and negative split the second mile, and then give it all the last mile.

The week up to this race, I was in L.A. and didn't get back home until Friday night. Now, this was to be an Easy Week, as I was trying to really be rested after 2 solid weeks of high intensity/volume training, so with me missing my runs Thursday AND Friday I was sort of okay with it, although I would have liked to had a shakeout run one of those days. Along with that, the jet lag had me a little worried, as my body clock would feel like 3:30am when I needed to wake up for the race, since I was adjusting back to East Coast time from Pacific Time.

Pre race dinner: pizza...no complaints there. Pretty good nights sleep night be fore, can't complain. So the gun goes off...

I feel relaxed as I start off on the race, and happily find David up in front and from here just try and settle in. I felt way in the back, but I was sticking to the plan and would trust I would be passing a lot of these people in the not too distant future. The first mile felt more relaxed like I wanted, but I can't say I was exactly ready to hit it hard once I started on mile 2. My split was maybe still 5-10 seconds faster than I wanted, but it wasn't too bad. During mile two I tried to press the gas, but felt like I was just maintaining. However, I didn't feel like I was slowing at all, and still felt in control. Perhaps I fell asleep a little at the wheel, but David stayed equal distance ahead, and I was just trying to keep it that way until I made a final push. Also, I wanted to see what my second mile split was, before I set off too soon. Since I didn't feel as good as I wanted here, I was focusing on not loosing ground.

mile two was slower, but still not bad, and I started to really gain focus here. I recalled the workouts I have done and tried to get up on my toes more and work on my turnover. My areobic capacity is large, and I felt no trouble breathing. I did feel a little faster than my other 5ks here, but still never felt like I tapped into that next gear, which I still remember so well from my highschool and college days (the kind of gear where you start knocking off sub 5:30 miles). Anyway, I started to reel people in, and David came back to me some, but I could tell he was having a good race too and was fighting hard. The course turned us up East Blvd, and I could see the finish. See, yes, but it was very far away. Kind of a mirage, as you start to instinctivly pick it up, but then realize damn it's far away...I passed a few more people, but couldn't catch David, and tried to hold off the recent passings I just had done. As I saw the clock tick up as I approached, I dug deep and realized I was very close to accomplishing my time goal.

Okay, so, not a bad race, and it looks like the training paid off. Wasn't able to catch my friend/competitor, but was at least satisfied to end these dreadful 5ks with this performance. Very happy about the last 2 races on the circuit: a 10k then a 15k! Let the training continue...

Splits: 5.44, 5.50 (11.34), 5.43 (17.17), .40 (maybe a shade long?) = 17.57

2011 5k PR and 45 sec improvment from race 3 weeks ago.

recap: last couple weeks up to today's race.

Monday 8/15
6 miles, time 44.26. Felt pretty good here, just a regular run. pace 7.24 i think.

Wednesday 8/17 - workout
6.8mi total for the day, 8x600m + 400m jog btw: Target was 2.05 which is 537 pace. Kinda warm, and met David at Marion Diehl track after work. I took the first one, he took the second and so on, until the last few when I felt pretty good and started dropping the time. 7.01 w/u,204,(209 rest),205,(212),205,(215),206,(215),206,(216),203,(220),202,(224),153, 1026 cd

Thursday 8/18 - wilmington, nc
4.2, 32.45, checked into the hotel and just had enough for over 4 miles in humid downtown wilmington.

Saturday 8/20 (hanging tree+trout lake lap)Boone, NC
9,108.32 (up in 31 min) Nice run with Mike Oelz at Hanging Tree (Rich Mtn). Hit it harder the last 2/3 up the mtn. Awesome to be up in the mountains and reliving my old college running days. Pace: 7.30-35 pace

Sunday 8/21
13, 1.36.29
Morning McAlpine run with Mitchell. First five miles were through Old Bell, then Up sardis, and through the Boyce Rd trails. Needless to say given the hills and technical trails where the GPS report is a little on the slow side the pace wasn't that quick. First five miles: 8.10,7.33,7.36,7.55,7.49. Once we hit the greenway we started hitting some solid paces. Here we ran towards Harris, did the course and came back. Last 8 miles: 7.19,7.19,7.12,7.03,7.19,7.01,7.09,6.58 (last 8 miles pace:7.10)

Monday 8/22
4.5, 32.44 - nothing big here, just a light run with David round the hood after work with some 720's last couple miles

Wednesday 8/24 - venice beach, CA
5.2, 40.20 ,7.45 pace - basically an out and back with some beach running thrown in. Legs felt okay.

keeping my word

I really didn't want to get up to run. I know I say stuff like that a lot, but this blog is my reflection of my running - so I'll keep it honest. It mainly stems from morning running. I just dread it, but I was happy I gave my word to Mike Mitchell the night before because wanting to honor that is what got me out the door. Despite my mind while I wake up in bed, I am ALWAYS feeling better on a morning run as opposed to an evening run (Assuming I didn't party harty the night before).

We met at Old Bell at 8am and started off with the "old bell hill loop." I thought it would be sick to start off with some hills, and cover some ground before we got on the trails in an effort to minimize re-tracing our steps. The pace started off pretty easy, and a few miles in we found a nice rythem. The temp was not high, humidity was still a factor though. We clicked off some nice miles at the end as we kept building our pace.

My legs didn't have trouble in going for the furthest run of 2011, and that is a good take away. After the run though, my legs were dunzo and it wasn't until I napped that they felt better.

Distance: < 12
Time: 1.27.32
Pace: 7.20-25

Accomplished my goal of 35+ miles , with 37 for the week. Off 5 runs. 1 LR and one Track W/O.

Goal for this week: Speed work (800-200s), 40+ week

taking what's given

The week days were solid, so naturally my legs were kind of beat up.

Thursday's workout really let them have it, and I was still feeling the burn 2 days later. Not running Friday didn't help recovery, but I chose to only run 5 days this week.

Ran after golf, in the heat. Compounded tired.

Miles: 6
Time: 43 min
Pace: 8.20

TRACK WORK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STORM!!

Lightning crashed and thunder clapped as I hit the door and took to the streets. The rain had just started, but as soon as I stepped outside, the rain started coming down in sheets. I ran from my house up to Marion Diehl track and as I left my neighborhood, I just tried to see where I was going through the intense rain.

I made it to the track a little fast, with the adrenaline pumping from the storm, and when I got there my shoes were already water-logged. But, as soon as I hit the track my next step was into my first interval. I had planned to start with 2xMile, but with the conditions, I wanted to knock it out with a 2 mile interval. I made up my mind for this about 3 laps in.

The rain was coming down so intense, the drops pelted my skin, and I was swaying down the home stretch as the wind blew, and it was a struggle to see. Still, I hit 606 for the first mile, and dropped a 551 immediately after for a 11.58. I was pretty happy about this as I was running. It was crazy being out there in the height of the storm, but it really got me going, and will be a memory I have for a long time - that perhaps can serve me well as I dig deep in upcoming races.

I wanted to keep the workout going and not stop at any point, so I decided I would go straight into a 400m jog after each interval.

This would give me 26 laps total on the track, continuous, and with warm up and cool down, gave me a good distance for the daily total.

The storm started to dissipate, and the second half of the run was just in rain.

Given my shoes weighed 18 lbs, I am happy with my times. I was spent the rest of the night, and really could feel the deep muscle ache from a hard fought workout.

Splits: (400m jog btwn each interval at 2.05-10)
Warm up: 4.52
3200m: 11.58 (6.06, 5.51)
800m x 2: 2.57, 2.51
400m x 6: 1.21, 1.17, 1.18, 1.22, 1.24, 1.16
Cool down: 5.56

Miles: 7.9

regular run

Another day, and my legs were feeling good still. Went shorter, but no problems, and run was enjoyable. Started off in the high 7's and ended in the low 7's for a nice pace to round out the run. Ran from home to David's, did a loop, then back home.

Miles: 4.8
Time: 36.23
Pace: 7.32

hot sunny hills

After Monday off, David showed up around 540pm after work at my house and we set out south out of Madison Park/Montclaire and into Starmount. Started off not feeling sore, just not feeling I had much turn over. Still we hit 7.25-30 for my first mile. Basically my legs felt kind of tired. After a mile I guess my legs woke up a little bit, as we hit just under 7.10. Yea we had some downhills but I was still surprised the pace was that quick. I felt fine from here on out. As the second half of the run has a lot of large rolling hills and elevation climbs, I was able to keep the pace despite that, and ended on a solid clip. We got back to my house and I was just under 6 miles for the day, and I wanted to run 45 mins regardless, so I tacked on a little bit while David ran home. Happy about my "performance" for this regualr maintenance run.

Time: 45.53
Miles: 6.4
Pace: 7.10

David's Run: (he started and finished at his house) I was pretty much with him for miles 2-6
The run I did, mapped out. Notice the "add on" at the end. Map My Run

good morning!

Coming off my new motivation to get the work done so I can see results, I meet David and Mike Mitchell at Old Bell at 8am (early for me!) to get in a long run. David was going longer, so he had done some running as I pulled in, and Mike, he and I took off down the trail. My legs weren't sore, just a little tired, but actually despite all things they felt pretty dang good. As we got going I found a nice rythm. Mike peeled off to begin his long run tempo, and David and I plodded along. Half way through the sun got pretty bright, and the humidity was taking it's toll, but I'm used to it. David finished, and I still had to tack on a mile to get in 10 for the day.

It was nice to hit double digits, and my legs responded nicely. I could have gone faster, but I stayed conservative and let the pace come easily and naturally, as David and I conversed.

Miles: 10
Time: 1.16.05
Pace: 7.40-45

Week: 5 days, 31 miles (pleased)next week's goal, build...35+

Frustration (Re-cap of Blue Pts 5k)

I'm writing this days after the race, so it's hard to capture the true emotion I felt right after the race.

Had a good speghetti dinner and beers and wine the night before, and was in bed and asleep by 10:30pm. That's good. My legs felt fresh from my most recent easy jog on Thursday. That's good. I got to the race on time, and was able to warm up exactly how I watned. That's good. However, the weather was warm, and VERY humid, as we had a storm blow through the day before. That's not good.

As the gun went off, I found myself try and find my pace, yet I noticed I was in the group of runners who useually are in the low to mid 17s. That's probably not real good. Anyway, I didn't back off too much, and low and behold I hit the fastest 1 mile split I have had this year by 10 secs (5:30). Good, I thought at the time, not good now looking back.

As the group I was just behind started to move on, and I started to back off, I could tell that the first mile was going to give way to a tough rest of the race. I don't know how long I felt "okay", maybe a mile and a half, but as soon as we turned up Morehead (long hill of a road) I already knew I was done for. Having this kind of thought didn't make matter any better. People started to catch me, and pass me. In the last race, when the one person who came up to me got beside me, I went with him and was able to race the rest of the course. Opposite of that was true for this 5k.

Still, I hit 11:30 at the 2 mile mark, and my pace at this point combined put me in good posistion for a seasonal PR, but I knew before I hit that 2 mile split that I was fading. More people passed me, and slower I became.

I wasn't able to fight, and mentally I threw in the towel. It wasn't racing. It was aweful. I would pass people cheering and taking pictures, and would joke arounud with them as I passed. I was not into it after mile 1. Yea, the first mile was a mistake and took out my legs, but I think my up and down training gave way this race, which can't be avoided from time to time. At three miles the clock hit 18:09, and I immediatly thought back to my 3 mile split in the RFYL 4 mile race where I hit 17:30, and realized what a sad performance this was.

Thinking back, at Great Harvest and the RFYL 4 miler a few weeks ago, when I hit the first mile, I knew I had another gear and could start racing. At this race, when I hit the first mile, I knew I couldn't go faster, and could only HOPE to hold on. So, again, I need to learn to be true to my training (which isn't much) and respect that and go out slower, and try and keep it more even. That's part of it. I think the other part is that I was able to skate by and run off fresh legs at Great Harvest and the RFYL 4Miler, because my training during those weeks leading up to it was very minimal.

My training recently has been a little more consistent, with-out bachelor party and 4th of July trips, so my legs might not be ready for peak performances, and when you combine that with too agressive first miles, not to mention some of the worst racing weather we have had with the humidity, it kind of gives reason as to why I couldn't keep my legs going.

But mentally, it was not a good effort. So, I have 3 races left, and I am focused on finishing the series on a high note. Dedication to long runs, and consistant training, and workouts and keeping my mileage higher and still looking to build, as there are still a couple of months to go.

With .1 to go in the race, more people came up to me, and this time I fought them off. I closed in 32 secs, which is my best .1 of the year, so that right there tells me I just folded mentally.

Miles for day: 7
Race: 18.42
Pace: 601 (530, 600, 639, 32)

i useually don't

...run 2 days before a race, but figured I'd switch things up and run today, and take the day before the race off of running. Again, adhearing to running for time, simply did 25 mins today. My legs felt good, so I had to work on keeping it casual.

Time: 25 mins
Miles: 3+
Pace: 745

running for time

When we approach our daily training, most of runners set out to accomplish so many miles, or whatever measurement of choice. But the goal is useually a distance. "I'm going to run 6 miles today", etc. With GPS watches so prevelant now a days, this is the case more than ever, I would surmise. Yet, I read somewhere recently that the body doesn't know distance, as much as it knows time. If you go to run, say, 6 miles, you could be across the board as far as how much time you are out there training - where your time could be really good (short, 36 mins) or really bad (long, 54 mins). And of course completing the goal of distance can give you an aray of time on the feet, and overall, exercise.

So what I was reading was that in normal training runs, it's better, says the author, to run for time. If you go out to say, run for 40 mins, your differentiation will be in distance, where you could have had a fast run (7 miles, quicker pace) or a slower run (say, 5 miles, slower pace). But despite the difference in distance, your body is out there working up to run for certain periods of time, and getting used to being on the feet longer, and becoming more efficient in giving the body oxygen, and working the cardio/pulmenary system for longer periods of time. I think you get the idea.

But he was saying that aligning our training based on time, where the body can get used to being on the feet and running that period of time, and where we can up the time, rather than up the distance...well he was saying that the body is more in-tune in this fashion, and will eliminate some of the vagaries of our upward trending endurance.

It was an interesting perspective, none-the-less. Something I think I might try and implement. It will be easier for me since I don't have a GPS watch, and therefore am not slave to looking down and feeling as if I have to hit certain round numbers of distance.

Anycase, as I ran for 35 mins yesterday on an out and back, I decided to hit my normal neighborhood 4 mile loop, and tack on until I hit 40 mins. I hit one mile in 745, and pretty much stayed right at that pace for the rest of the run. Legs were a little tired, but I could tell my body actually began to feel like it was getting looser and recovered as I clicked off the last 10 mins of the run.

Time: 40 mins
Miles: 5+
Pace: 745ish

quality 5 miler

Was aiming to come through in low 7s the first mile and stay there for 35 mins of running. I split 652 my first mile and held on until i turned around at 17.36. So I was doing an out and back. I came back faster until a half a mile to go and i fell off the pace. I split 7 flat, so I was running 650 pace until then. Still a solid run.

Legs felt pretty fresh here, and it was warm and hot but not ridiculous. I wasn't swimming in sweat afterwards.


Time: 35.18
MIles: 5+
Pace: 650-55

A good run with my brother up in Brooklyn

After sleeping in until 10am Sunday morning at my brothers townhome in Brooklyn, I woke my brother Philip up, and we then ate a little bowl of cereal to prepare for our run. I was excited to get out and run yes, but moreso, to get out and see the city of which he now lives. Also, a run with my brother is always special.

We started off down from his residence, at a slow comfortable pace and headed south-west toward the water. After half a mile of so of passing smaller brownstone houses, we suddenly passed, what my brother called, the mafia houses. Yes, stand alone houses in over the top decor, out of nowhere. After climbing down some stairs to the next street, we were almost at the water. We turned left and started running down from a peir with a beautiful view of Lower Manhattan which would now be at our backs. We were on a bike and walking designated path, with benches lined down the road for as far as we went. After curing around south and east along the water, we saw the Verrazona Bridge and ran towards it. Once we were under it, we turned around and headed back, this time with the cool breeze in our face, and the sun at our back - and the City view in front of us. A very pretty run. Before we got to the turn around spot, Philip tried to peel off and say he wasn't going to run as far, but I was able to easily talk him into it. When we made our turn it was exactly 26 mins into the run. We kept the pace going back steady, but picked it up the last mile. Philip was able to hang no problem. Not bad for him, as his runs have just been every now and then, and really no longer than 2 miles. Guy is good!

When we reached the pier, we decied to rest, as I wanted to take in the view. We cooled down back to his place and called it 6.5+ miles in around 53 mins.

definitly didn't want to run

after a nice night out in Florence Alabama, I woke up and really didn't want to get my run in, yet this was the only time of the day I could. I set out and managed to get in 27 mins of running. Felt like a chore and my legs and body didn't like the consumption of beer from the night before, which was evidence of a nice night out on the town while being away from home.

time: 27+
miles: 3.5
pace:750-8

.."runnin' in memphis"...

Set out around 11am, a hot part of the day, and noticed it was 93 degrees...and it felt very humid. Was able to get in a nice out and back on the neighborhood streets of East Memphis.

Felt like I was close to 8 min pace going out, and turned around at 16.19, but came back in 15.28(approx)

Miles: 4+
Time: 31.47
Pace: 7.45-50

slime on your body after

started off in the low 720's and dropped it down to sub 7 the last couple miles. Managed a nice clip, and averaged 7.13 PacePerMile(PPM). Enjoyed the company of Mitchell and David.

Legs were able to do it without much trouble, but it wasn't a total easy run.

Weather wasn't as hot as its been, and by that i mean it was like low 90s and not high 90s.

Miles: 6
Time: 43.20
Pace: 7.13

pushing through

Saturday was an awesome day. Golf and pool party, and of course, beer. Sunday I was recovering, got to sleep in a little bit (8:45am), and layed low. I did go sit out by the pool in the afternoon, which was a suana. So after all that, I got back home from being at my in-laws, around 6:30pm. I was ready to attempt my long run. I decided on 9 miles, because I have done a few 8 milers recently, and just wanted to barely 1 up it.

The pace was slow from the beginning. Immediatly I felt fatigued. I tried to stay smooth and relaxed and just find a groove mentally where I could knock this out. I started off going up through Starmount, then came across the bridge to Huntingtown Farms, and down Park Rd to Park Rd. South where I got back on Old Reid Rd., and headed back towards Archdale. The last mile in Montclair to my house was measured at 8 min pace, and here I wanted to pull the plug, as I was 7 miles in and not feeling it. However I kept going and actually opened up a little bit on my stride. I kidn of got a second wind the last couple miles, and finished at about 9.3 miles for the night.

All said and done I was proud of myself for getting through it in the heat and after a weekend of fun.

Miles: 9.3
Time: 1.13.20
Pace: 7.53

For the week that put me at 31 miles and some change. Not bad for me, actually the most in a handful of weeks. 5 days of running and a workout and a long run. Sounds like legit training for once. We'll see how next week goes with a lot of travel across the country.

Friday feeling fatigued

Today was supposed to be short and easy, but it was really slow and short. I was aiming to do 4 miles, but settled for probably just under 3.5. Basically I just cut my standard 4 mile loop short. Maybe it was the Beast Ice I had an hour before, but I think it really was being over tired from not enough sleep at night, thanks to the baby. Not a complaint, the baby is worth it!

miles: 3.5
time: 26 min
pace: 7.55

HOT HOT HOT track workout

had to modify it. Original plan: 1000, 1000, 800, 800, 600, 600, 400, 400.
What we did: 1000x2, 800x2, 400x2, 200x2

Jogged over to Marion Diehl track from home and tacked on a little bit to get me about a mile warm up. honestly i didn't care about the warm up. It was 110 heat index and i was dreading just being outside this time of day ( we were doing this right after work at 5:30pm!).

anyway the first 1000 felt okay, then we just took a 200m jog and went right into the next 1000 to knock it out. we needed rest after that, and got through the 800s but we were feeling it bad after the second one. Here we decided, in order to not die, that we would go into the 400s. Anything after a lap at this point was torture. We were able to do that, but on the second 400, we knew we only had 200's left - and that wasn't so bad an idea as we really wanted to work on pure speed anyway.

We finished (David B. and I) and sweated pounds of water. It was wild.

Splits: 3.39, 3.42; 2.53, 2.59; 1.22, 1.28; 35, 30.
because my watch sucks, i don't have the rest splits. apparently it didn't save the whole run, but I remember the intervals as listed above.

Miles for day: 5.5

effort scale

I was thinking about this while on my run. on a scale of 1-10 I can pretty much break down my runs for the week into a few different groups, based on effort with 1 being the easiest and 10 being the hardest.

Saturday: 4-6 (easy to just middle of the road for something shorter than next days long run)/ Saturday Race: 8-10 (Hopefully I am able to tap out a 10, but getting all the juice out of the lemon doesn't always happen).
Sunday: 4-6 (keeping the same effort, but increase on the miles...long run).
Monday: 3-5 (recovering from the Long Run and or Race)
Tuesday: 4-6 (just an honest effort here, easy but can go over a "5")
Wednesday: 5-7 (I like to keep the pace quicker than the other easy runs and get my legs used to NOT always going easy and recovery-ish)
Thursday: 6-8 (workout of some sort. I don't want to dig too deep into the well on workouts, although you do want it to hurt. Save the 8-10 for races.)
Friday: 3-5 (easy recovery from workout).

Anyway this was the 5-7 deal, and I'd say this run was about a 7 on effort given I had to work hard for this with the heat.

Miles: 5.8
Time: 42.01
Pace: 7.13

MMR Link: map/stats

and still a new neighborhood untapped

even though i've been running from home for 2 years, I haven't discovered all the roads within my reach.

Went down Archdale, cut up to Huntingtown Farms like I do a lot, but kept going down Old Reid Rd and took it across Park Rd, and Park South, all the way to Sharon Rd. Turned up to the Harris YMCA, then cut into Beverly Woods neighborhood and did a loop which connected me back on the road back to H-Town and back towards home.

Tacked on a few more minutes until I got to 8 miles.

Legs felt alright, no complaints. Pace was not too fast, just cruising. My legs actually were not springy, and I could tell they need the recovery from the race last Saturday.

Miles: 8
Time: 1.00.07
Pace: 7.31

MMR Link: map/stats

Recap of RFYL RFYC 4 Miler

Fueled up on Mellow Mushroom pizza and a couple pints of beer at dinner, then while watching a movie in bed - decided to snag one more slice before i went to sleep. This was all done so I could sleep in and not have to eat breakfast!

I purposefully did a shorter warmup (1 mile), as I was thinking that perhaps I could save some energy and be just as warm as I would with going 2 miles (typical). It seemed to work. I got this idea after I felt like I ran better at Great Harvest 5k with no warm up.

Gun went off, and I found a comfortable pace posistioned accordingly amoungst the field. The people who should be in front of me were, and I just settled in. The first mile was uphill, and luckily my internal pace clock was on target as I hit 5.58 (just where I wanted to be). With the effort not feeling too hard, and having the climb out of the way, I made a push to drop the pace. I felt smooth as I ran down East Blvd., and here my racing partner for the day would come along side and really help me stay focused the rest of the race. An older man with a blue tank top, grey hair, and neon yellow shoes came up on me quick, and I just went with him. We both settled in after I decided to go with him, perhaps as he just wanted to do a surge and see if I would drop. I came through in 11.30 for 2 miles (5.32 split), and was pumped as I was running well and feeling well. The next mile sort of rolled along, and David Dye (His name I would later find out) and I ran side by side to bring home the third mile in 17.26 (5.56 split). I noticed that had this only been a 5k, I would have run a seasonal PR. With a mile to go, and my pace faster than expected, I battled with David the next half a mile as we rolled up our last hills. On the uphill I pulled ahead, and on the down hill he caught up and we ran together. He seemed to make a move with about a half mile to go, and I followed suit, opening up my larger stride and passing him back. Here I realized I was closing in on another runner, and tried to make up as much ground as I could. I seemed to have started my kick a little bit early, and the runner in front of me started his kick late....right when I got near, so I couldn't catch him. But I did stay ahead of David Dye. Closed the last mile in 5.53...not really fast, but the last half mile had to be much faster. Happy with my kick.

32 second improvement from the 4 miler back in March, so I'll take it.

18th overall out of 450+
Finishing time: 23.20

8 miles for the day (w/u+c/d)

easy shake out

Miles: 2.5
Time: 20.xx
Pace: 8

legs felt pretty good, as I was thinking about the race and hoping they would be ready to unleash.

cooled off with the hose

so hot, i was led to the front yard garden hose to turn it on and douse myself in cold water.

felt comfortable the first 2.5 miles. last mile slowed, but pace was still good. blister on myleft foot from running with no socks yesterday. bad idea. rest until 8+ min miles/shake out friday.

Miles: 4
Time: 28.09
pace: 7.02

all this fuss

listen, i have lived in charlotte my whole life (except college), and i've been here before. as a runner since highschool, i've been running in the summer since 99 so i've been here before. yea it's tough, but as long as your properly hydrated it's doable to run in this weather. yea, you have to acclimate to it. you don't want to go run for the first time on july 12th. anyway, my legs felt fresh for the first time since Saturday. Sunday and Yesterday they just didn't have that pop. I started off in the high 7's for mile one, but brought it down to the low 7's for the rest of the run without trying hard. Nice having David Brinkley live .75 miles away from my house now - I ran over to his house and he ran with me for a few miles.

Time: 36.49
miles: 5
pace: 7.15

mini workout for the sake of time

the window of time i had to run today (since I didn't get up early) was either 5-545, or after 9pm...which i didn't want to do since I wanted to hang out with my wife. so i chose the former, with the accompanying 73 dew pt, 100 heat index, and 91 temp. here we go:

warm up jog to track (time) 5.50
600m: 2.24
200m jog: .54
600m: 2.15
200m jog: 53
400m: 1.31
200m jog: 56
200m: 40
cool down home: 7.13

total: 22.40

distance: 3.25~

That is all I could do. I could have run maybe 10 more mins or so since I had the time, but the heat told me that was all for the day.

fatigued (sp?)

a little sick, hungover, tired, and you get a

19.49 time duration of a run that was about

2.5 miles in length.

group run through swampy air

Miles: 7.25
Time: 57.01
Pace: 7.51

Felt good, as the pace was easy as dictated by the group of Mitchell, Shue, Oelz, Brinkley, and Lamperski.

Beach run #2

Got up and was out for my run by 830am...drove to the beach access so I could do it all on the sand. The first 40% of the run was against the wind, so my pace was rather slow. The rest was quicker, especially the last 5 mins as I really really picked it up and got some fast running in. Was just moving to the music.

Link to the run

Miles: 5.47
Time: 43.45
Pace: 7.59

Beach Run #1

It was hot, as I went out for my run around 1pm, but the ocean breeze made it tolerable. After going along the coast on the roads, I hit the beach access and did some good miles on the hard packed sand of the beach. The only reason my pace was a little slow was because it was 2 days after the mountain climbs. Generally felt good though.

Link for the run

Miles: 7
Time: 54.05
Pace: 7.43

twin peaks

Flying in to Charlotte-Douglas, I was looking out the window at Crowders MTN, thinking it would be cool to go try and run up it. Well, with some unusal free time, I went straight from the airport to the gas station, got a gatorade (frost blue) and a power bar (chocolate peanut butter), and then drove to Crowders MTN state park.

The last time I was there was about 2 or 3 years ago, so once I started making my way, I wasn't exactly sure which way to go (right or left) once you go about a .1 mile into the trail. I chose right (the path to the top of Crowders), and soon realized that this was a way I didn't remember. About .8 of a mile into the trail, I came to a road, and saw a sign for the RockTop trail which would lead me to the top. As I started up that trail, it became very rocky and steep and I was soon walking. I would run as much as I could and walk when I had to, but I made it to the top in about 25 mins. My Iphone showed it was just over 2 miles up. I think I rose in elevation about 660 feet. (900 ft to 1560 ft). Made it down in 22.09.

Map:
Part 1 - 3/4's of the way up: http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/39434864 7% grade, 12.58 ppm
Part 2 - last bit up: http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/39435658 8% grade, 12.14 ppm
Part 3 - Descent: http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/39438500 10.34 ppm

Well since that wasn't what I was looking for, I decided while running down, I would stop by the car get some gatorade, and do the other climb - where I go left at the beginning. Also since I had only done 4+ miles I felt I could do it.

The rest helped my legs come back a little bit, and I set off again. This was the trail I remembered, and knew it wasn't as rocky, although just as long and high. 2+ miles to the top, and actually this peak (Kings Pinnacle) is 80 feet higher than crowders. I made it up just under 21 mins (20.53 by my watch). It wasn't as hard, but I did have to walk after about 15.45 into the run, and alternate until I got to the summit. Rise of (650+ ft). I made it back down in 19 flat.

Ascent: http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/39442210 11.27 ppm 6.8% grade
Descent: http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/39446876 9.42 ppm

Miles: 8+
Time: 80+ mins
Elevation Gain: 1200+ ft.

As I write this Friday morning, my legs haven't felt this sore since Thunder Road Marathon. What a great day of something new for a run! I encourage everyone to try this, walking or running.

lightning crashes

840 pm, sunset, I hit the door. First off, I picked up dinner and went to the park with wifey and babe for an outdoor picnic. luckily there was shelter - that was round 1 of the rain. It stopped, and I was happy it had cooled off. Around 8pm as I was getting ready to go run, it started up again....heavy. lightning, thunder, the whole shebang. Anyway, just after 830 it ceased enough for me to get out there and get my run in. It rained the whole time, but it felt good, and wasn't coming down crazily at all. The lower temperature naturally made it easier and more comfortable, and the water felt amazing. my shoes got heavy the last mile but i still logged a good clip.

im trying to keep the pace low so it doesn't feel fast, and so my body adapts. i think i'm heading in the right direction.

miles: 4
time: 27.33
pace: 6.54

another long full day

similar to Sunday...and this doesn't happen ever on Monday's...but for "work" all I had to do was get up to Boone, get with an Agent, and go play golf up in the Mtns. After 6 hours of sleep last night (11pm-530am), I drove the 2+ hrs up the mountain, tee'd off just after 9am, played 18 holes, had lunch, and drove home. Was back around 5pm. Decided it was too hot to run so I was going to wait...till after dinner. Katie cooked tortilini and made salad. Had a light portion, then after an hour or so and some yard work, decided I would knock out my run around 8pm. My legs started off feeling sluggish from the start, but after a mile I was starting to warm up. I just went off random turns around the neighborhoods, not knowing my splits or pace, and just wanted to run for 40+ mins. I was kinda rolling the last couple of miles I must say.

Nice to be able to keep getting after it. I know that my mileage has dropped, but my quality of runs (pace) has improved, and im feeling more fit.

Time: 43.22
Miles: 6.07
Pace: 7.08