A Balance, Redefined

Two good runs in a row. Up at 4:55am again. Then out the door. It was very cold (21F) but felt nice anyway. I saw a shooting star within the first two miles and then just enjoyed the run. Very random route SW and back. Avg. 7:50 HR 144

I had trouble sleeping last night but otherwise all is good. I have a huge blister on my left heel that is making both running and walking not so fun.

Details to follow. Held the lead through mile 2.75. When I was passed I just couldn't respond. Overall the race was fun though. The guy who beat me was nice. I did a portion of my warmup with him and then we did part of the cool down together.

Details.

I'm currently in Orlando for the the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions. It's a meeting of about 20,000 people. Of which 530 ran a 5K and a number of others walked a mile this morning. The race is hosted by Novo Nordisk. For the race we did a loop of the SeaWorld parking lot and then went into the park before they were open for the day for a loop of that as well. It was pretty warm and very humid (my glasses fogged during the race!). A far cry from the snow and 21F that I left Salt Lake City in. With the time change and heavy meals (we went to a Brazilian steak house the night before), I was not expecting much. I met the eventual winner (Chip) on my way to the start and after a brief conversation knew this meeting race I was going to have a lot more competition than at the ADA in New Orleans. At the start ~20 guys busted out from the start. They kept the lead for about 300m and then I took the lead and kept it through about 2.8 miles. I heard someone coming up behind me at about 2.5 mi and just did not feel it. I was happy with the effort and was not going to kill myself for this race. When I realized it was Chip coming up I was not anymore motivated. He had told me about his previous marathons (and Ironman) and I did not feel like duking it out to the finish. In hind sight it might have been fun but the race was a good experience either way. I ran from the hotel to the start and after the finish back to round out the mileage for the day. Also, yesterday I did see the tail end of the rocket launch from the convention center.Tomorrow I present two of my studies and that will end the meeting...

Mile 1: 5:30 HR 186 (not sure if this HR monitor is also going...)
Mile 2: 5:49 HR 193!...
Mile ~3: 5:36 pace HR 194

This race had to have the most turns of any race I have ever run in my life. Leading in that was tough but it was fun running in an amusement park.

Link to pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/funwalkfunrun2009

Another hard night of sleeping. After a great dinner I would think I would be out like a log but I do not do well sleeping while traveling. That being said I slept in instead of an AM run. Then went to my poster session. It went super well. The only problem was that both my posters were in the same session so I had to run back and forth. After my session (and an extra hour of discussion) I went for a run. It was hot and humid but nice. When I got back I went straight to the pool and jumped in to cool off. Very nice way to end a run. Now back to the meeting for the final sessions... Avg. 7:42 HR 153

Up at 2:30 am SL time (4:30) to catch a cab at 5am FL time. I'm not one to sleep in transit so I worked on the plane. When I got back played with Kristen for a while before getting Kaitlyn from school and taking her for a SH run. I was very tired and only did one loop. Then had to make it into work for a few hours. Luckily tonight I will be able to catch up on sleep.

I forget how much travel puts you behind. I caught up on sleep but one night doesn't cut it. Very brain dead today. Didn't make my run as planned but was able run run with Kaitlyn while we picked up dinner and a movie.

It is always fun going long. My quads were not feeling it today. At least the weather held out for the run. I was afraid I was going to wake up to snow and it was still pretty nice and clear when I started my run. Avg. 8:22 HR 134