It's over, man. Let her go.

9:42 avg pace

Trip to Michigan to relax, visit my wife's cousin and see some Detroit, Frankenmuth, etc. Didn't run outside, despite finding a cemetary a couple miles away. The hotel gym had tv monitors on the machines and my son wanted to run with me, so I did a couple miles. Great times!

Still on vacation. Wasn't feeling like running, but Zayne wanted to workout. Best part was soaking in the hot tub for 45 mins.

Spent time in Detroit then drove the 6 hours home. Also finalized our Pittsburgh Pirates tickets. Can't wait to see Boyz II Men and Styx!!

Oh, and I gained about 8+ lbs on this trip. Time to get my booty in gear....

Hopped on the bike tonight.  Figured if I was going to watch some TV, I'd might as well do some working out.

Gorgeous day and it felt great to get out.  Decided to go long and I'm feeling it a little, but glad I got out of the office and on the trail.  Walked probably 1/4 mi of this, but managed just under a 10:00 pace.  After gaining more than a couple of pounds the last two weeks, I decided it was time to kickstart myself again and what better way than with a long, slowish run?

First, congrats to each and every runner that endured the heat of the Boston Marathon.  While I would have loved to have been there with you, I am kinda glad I wasn't.  I would have spent more time in the medical tent than on the course.  That or I would have wimped out.  

True to my Facebook post, though, I did my 26.2 (minutes) as well.  It wasn't pretty, but I got the job done.  I gotta get rid of these extra 15 lbs...then lose another 10.  Weird how they just snack...I mean...sneak up on ya! :-(

Dropped the car off at the shop and ran home.  Nice night, but got colder as I got closer to home and could have used my lightweight gloves.  First time running with my new orthotics and they felt pretty good.  Similar to the last set, just a little softer.

AP was 9:47 which isn't too bad considering I had to walk a couple of times and I forgot my headlamp so was having to really watch the sidewalk when I couldn't run in the street.  I ended up with a little blood on my shirt anyways from wiping my face and not noticing I bit my lip or it cracked or something.

The weight is coming off a little, but my legs were SO tired afterwards and remained that way the next day.  My cardio needs help too since I'm hitting high 160s, low 170s and feeling like I'm maxing out at a much slower pace than I used to be running at that HR.

Lots of work to do, but now that my othotics are here, I'm heading to get new shoes and finalize my target race schedule.  Probably just a few 5 or 10ks with a fall half as the focus.  As much as I'd like to get a full marathon in this year, I don't think it's going to happen.  It will have to be 2013.

Beautiful day today and got a nice 2.7mi walk in.  Started from work, over to the Pirates PNC Park stadium to exchange some tickets, then over to near the old Mellon Civic Arena & new Consol Energy Center where the Penguins play to the Boy Scout office to pick up a copy of the boy's advancement records and a couple items from the store, then back to work.

The Pirates' Monday night game was rained out so they moved it to today as a double-header.  They beat the Colorado Rockies yesterday, then won one and lost one today, so they did pretty good!

Once or twice a season, Mrs. BNS and I like to hit an afternoon game and treat ourselves to the All You Can Eat seats.  Unfortunately, the Mrs. got a bug last night so she was iffy for the game(s) and ended up not feeling well enough to come down.  Fortunately, since we're "season ticket holders" they were kind enough to switch the tickets to the afternoon game in May, even though the tickets are non-refundable, exchangeable, etc.

I was certainly looking forward to stuffing my face for 18 innings, but maybe next month.  I should be closer to my goal weight by then and can afford to add a few pounds to work off over the following week(s).  :-)

Nice run after work.  About 60^o and drizzling with some wind.  Ran an out and back on the trail which is basically flat.  Goal was to not walk until the turn around, then take a 30sec walk, then run back.  Goal achieved. 

I forgot my Garmin at home, so no HR so I just threw the headphones on and tried to keep it easy and conversational.  Turned out to be faster than I thought (8:26 pace w/o the walk time).  I was sure I'd be closer to 10:00+.

I'll see how I feel tomorrow, but I'm looking forward to a longer run on Saturday.

Thanks to a fairly open day, I got out during the work day for a run.  It was a little chilly, but sunny so near perfect conditions.  Took it easy since I still plan to run tomorrow.  I kept the HR in the mid 150's, except for the time I looked down and something was freaking it out - it was showing 197...198...199.  I knew I was still alive, so an adjustment of the sensor fixed whatever was wrong and it dropped down to a reasonable 156.

Pace was easy on the fairly flat route at about 9:40.  No walking, so I was pleased with that.  Chatted it up with my buddy Greg at the gym after his run.  He's just getting back into it after Boston, which he noted were the worst conditions he's ever run a marathon in, and he's run several.  He's planning to defend his title at the Montour Trail Half, so it will be fun to run that one with him since it's my goal race this year.  Of course, I'll only see him at the start and as he comes flying past me on his way back from the turn around...

Sorry, no commentary to go with this entry, but I wanted to get the miles logged.

The plan was to run this morning, but other activities got in the way, so it turned into a late night run.  I wanted to get MILES in, so I drove down to the end of the river trail and started out about 10pm.  Right off, I could feel soreness on the sides of my lower legs...not shin splits, futher to the outside.  I remembered this happening back when I first started running a couple of years ago.  After a mile or so, I stopped and stretched them and they didn't bother me the rest of the run.  I must have forgotten to stretch them after the run yesterday.

I kept it easy, not really focusing on pace as much as HR and it stayed in the mid 150s - 160.  The fastest sections were definitely when I ran past the casino - it's all glass on that side and so I had to look good for the drinking crowd that were partying!  :-)

I thought of doing 8mi but then decided I'd go 3.5mi, walk a little and turn around to the 3.5mi mark and run back.  But after .18mi walking, I decided to just start running from there.  I was tired when I got done, but happy with my run.  Only walked for 15 sec or so two other times, so things are coming together again.

Another late evening run. After increasing my mileage last week by so much and a little soreness in the knees after Saturday's run, I was going to go do 3-4mi with some decent hills. I headed over to the Riverview Park where they have the upcoming Riverview 5k that I ran a couple of years ago. It's a loop through the park and is basically a mile downhill, then a mile back up the other side. For the race, they add a mile before the loop.

Anyways, as I was turning into the park entrance which is a street with some very nice, older homes. As I drove past a group of kids near the corner, I heard a huge bang on the car. I knew I'd been hit by a rock so I quickly turned around and the group of kids were still walking along acting like nothing happened. I figured they would have taken off in all different directions. Oldest looked about 14, the others between 8-12. I parked on the opposite side of the road and yelled at them come over here. An older couple, probably in their 60s sitting on their stoop told them to keep walking because they didn't know me. I explained they threw a rock at my car and the man came over and apologized and said it's been happening a lot around there. He's called the cops on boys - not sure if they were the same ones - for throwing rocks at the busses. I thanked him, left and found the boys again - they split off in two groups, but I found the kid I wanted to talk to.

I think I scared them with my skull & crossbones doorag or something because when I was talking...actually lecturing...the one kid, the others took off then came walking back with "something behind their backs." The kid I was talking to said, "now you're gonna get it, they've got knives."  I could tell by the way they were smiling that they were acting, so when the other boys got close enough so I knew they'd hear me, I repeated myself again that I wasn't planning to call the cops but doing something stupid like pulling a weapon on me would escalate this way beyond where any of them wanted it to go.  Again, I said all I wanted an apology from the one that actually threw it. This whole time, I'm giving the kids a lecture on setting an example to the younger boys, that not "giving up his homie" that did it doesn't help him or the actual vandal, that they need to be responsible for their actions regardless of the consequences, etc.

Long story short, while everyone else was gone the one I was talking to finally owned up to throwing a rock up in the air but that it was another kid (younger) that hit my car.  When he realized that I wasn't leaving and the others were coming back, he changed his story and said that he was the one that hit it.  I'm quite certain he was covering.  I didn't apologize when I asked the two youngest looking kids, "you two must be what...8 or 9?"  They were obviously offended and said, "No, we're 11!"  LOL

I told them I run down here often and if I ever see them throwing rocks or doing anything they shouldn't or suspicious I'm going to...and before I could finish my sentence, the oldest says "kick our a**es?" I looked at them shocked and confused and said "um...no, I'll call the cops. Do you really think I'm going to beat you up and go to jail? Of course not, I'm not going to jail for you or anybody." Yes, I had to quote Wayne's World even though I knew they wouldn't get it.  LOL

After that exchange and them knowing where I was headed for my run, I was reconsidering my route that night since it was getting darker now. I didn't feel like coming back to my van after running and having the tires slashed or something. Just so happened there was a city cop stopped on the street right near that older couple's house - not sure if they called him or not, but as I slowly passed him, I told him about the boys throwing rocks and where they were and he took off after them.

For the entire run, I kept thinking how it's really sad that there are kids out roaming the streets doing things that their friends might think is "cool" but will just land them in jail one of these days if/when it escalates. I treated them with the respect that I would hope that someone else would show my kids if they were ever in a situation where they or their friend did something dumb. Watching them, I think I actually got through to one of them, but that lifestyle isn't an easy to break away from.

For my run, I decided to head to my familiar running route that's fairly flat, run 1.25mi out where there's a hill the last 1/4mi, then do a couple reps up and down it before heading back. Felt pretty good, no knee or lower leg soreness like on Saturday's run. Not real fast, but I got a couple of good sub-8:00 "sprints" in there too.  For the next week or two, I'm going to skip days between runs so I don't over do it and sideline myself.  I'll focus on doing some core work on the "off" days.