Shoot for the Stars

Roegner Park. No time to run with BA today due to Mariners game. Ran solo at Roegner. Ran at about 7:45 a.m. Got pretty hot while running; poured water all over face a few times. No pain probs. 3-4 runners all in a group i passed. Ran reg. route plus extra loop 3 times then ran back to playset and back. 3 times out and back plus sm loop each time is just a little under 13 miles.

TT: 1:57:38                            Avg: 9:03 min                     Max: 5:41 min

Splits: 9:04, 9:00, 8:52, 9:15, 9:00, 9:02, 8:56, 9:00, 9:04, 9:10, 9:08, 9:04, 9:04

Mile 9 and 10 walked for just about 20 sec each. The last 3 miles were very tough! Had to put mind over matter and just finish! My legs got tight/stiff; tricky to keep going. Happy with accomplishment of almost 1/2 marathon:)

Game Farm Park. 5:20 a.m. Don't like it as light out, kinda scary but it's been fun doing the early morning runs. No people around the park. Only one black dog that watched me as I ran around the park 3 times. Also saw a black and white cat:) awww! Felt okay. Ankle slightly bothersome. Pretty good but felt I needed more sleep.

TT: 26:16                              Avg: 8:45                               Max: 6:34

Splits: 8:48, 8:49, 8:38

Game Farm Park. Ran afterwork today and after making errands. 5:30 p.m. ish. Lots of people at the park. Soccer practice for young girls, people practicing soccer, baseball for the youngsters, a group practicing batting, plus all the walkers and strollers, and one older man running. No pain to note of :) Felt actually fairly good for running after work and not getting much sleep this week. The endurance was there. Semi hot in the sun but was happy to have the shaded areas. Ran 4 full loops that include the dirt bumpy trail in the back. Plus I ran reg loop (wasn't quite 6 miles without extra part) to a little past kids placeground. I was careful to run slower on those parts so I wouldn't twist my ankle; almost did once or twice.

TT: 53:32 min                             Avg: 8:53 min                          Max: 7:08 min

Splits: 8:52, 8:56, 8:51, 8:56, 8:58, 8:43

Lake Wilderness Lodge. 7:34 a.m.  Met up with a new group for the first time in Maple Valley. I knew I would love this group because they run along the Cedar River Trail. One of the guys from the Balanced Athlete, Tony, told me about the group. There was just a small group this time because a lot of people were gone doing races. There were about 7 of us. A really nice lady there I got to know but she only did about 3-4 miles. I ran the full out and back route with Tony, Cliff, and Trav (I think that was his name). Dave and anther guy ran part of the way there. We ran on the Wilderness trail from the lodge, near the lake, which then merged into the Cedar River Trail. Weather was cloudy but good for running in. Lots of runners on the trail we passed. Cliff and his friend ended up going ahead of us on the way back after we got to the end of the trail. Tony stayed with me to keep me going. It was soooo hard on the last 3 miles. I was wanting to quit but pushed to keep going. Unfortunetly, the last 2 miles we had to go up a hill, Torcher, let me say straight pain/burn. My L knee and ankle kinda bothersome this time but not enough to stop. My legs just tighted up as I did the last 2 miles. My water bottle was rubbing on my back side some and gave me a little rash area. Started to breathe harder up the hill so we slowed down. I felt so good to be done!!! What an accomplishement, however, so hard to imagine I can run 26 miles, that is like double what I did this morning......ew!

TT: 2:11:20                            Avg: 9:29 min.                          Max: 3:48 min.

Splits: 9"26, 9:11, 9:1, 9:25, 9:25, 9:14, 9:42, 902, 9:02, 9:13, 9:46, 9:57, 10:23, 9:58 (I think the 9:02 times was when we ran with Cliff and Trav, they run fast; as you can see I really slowed down at the end; I just didn't have it in me to keep the same pace, esp considering we were going up hill)

TT