It's over, man. Let her go.

Gatorade Steelers 5k

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Location:

Bliss,ID,USA

Member Since:

Jan 04, 2010

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Recover From Injury

Running Accomplishments:

In late 2008 I decided I needed to get in better shape and started running again.  I ran my first formal road race ever, a half marathon, in late 2009.

(unofficial) Track 1 Mile - 7:32 (4/24/2010)  6:56 (9/27/2010)

5k - 27:31 - Riverview Run on 06/11/2010
22:39 - Gatorade Steelers 5k on 09/04/2010

10k - 50:43 - Riverside Run on 04/10/2010

Half - 2:02:58 - Just a Short Run on 03/27/2010
1:51:47 - IKEA Montour Trail Half on 09/11/2010

Short-Term Running Goals:

2011 Races:

Sept 25 - The Great Race 10k (59:15)
Nov 5 - Dirt Monster 5mi (52:59)

2012 Races:

June 8 - Riverside 5k  (27:49)
Sept 2 - Gatorade Steelers 5k (route) with Steve!  (27:39)
Sept 30 - The Great Race 10k (route)  (53:48)
Nov 3 - The Dirt Monster 5mi (52:55)

2013 Races:

May - Pittsburgh Marathon (started, but DNF about the half way point)
June - Riverview 5k  - Bummed I missed signing up for this one. It's one of my favorites!
Sept - Gatorade/Steelers 5k. (Signed up!)
Sept - IKEA Montour Trail Half  (prob not, but leaving it on here)
Sept - The Great Race 10k (My Running 101 goal race)
Nov - Dirt Monster 5mi (Gotta do it again no matter what!)

Long-Term Running Goals:

Finish recovering from my injuries and build mileage.  That is all.

Personal:

My name is Wes, I'm married with two wonderful children. The nickname BaldNSpicy came from the fact that I have been balding for a (long) while now and spicy for my love of very spicy foods (Thai and extremely hot wings are my favorites).  If eating doesn't bring me near tears and leave me sweating, it's not worth eating.  :-)

Oh, and I'm also known for my doorags.

Favorite Quotes:

"Running without hills is like motorcycling without corners." - rAtTLeTrAp

"Excellence is not a singular act, but a habit.  You are what you do repeatedly." - Shaquille O'Neal

"A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else."  - John Burroughs

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
NB 758s #2 Lifetime Miles: 596.90
Brooks Cascadia 7 Lifetime Miles: 165.17
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
63.1921.3584.54
NB 758s #1 Miles: 53.20NB 758s #2 Miles: 33.44
Weight: 162.25
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
1.001.502.50

Workout:

Easy jog and a 400m warm up @ easy pace
Intervals done at interval pace (~ 100sec per 400m) with equal active rest between

800m - goal was 3:20, did it in 3:17
Active rest for 2:20
400m - goal was 1:40 (100sec), did it in 98sec
Active rest for 1:50
400m - goal was 1:40 (100sec), did it in 101sec
Active rest for 2:15
800m - goal was 3:20, did it in 3:22

Commentary:

Rode in to work today.  For the running class, we warmed up with a slow jog over to the 400m oval at the park then did intervals.  There's actually a semi-oval (more egg shaped) walking path that's exactly 400m.  Guess the designer was a runner.

Although not the fastest in the class, there were a couple of the guys that were falling off at the end and not hitting their goals.  I was happy to see I kept a pretty even pace at that pretty fast 6:15-6:25 pace.  Even splits throughout was my goal.  I could have done a few more intervals and/or done these a bit faster since I was feeling relatively strong today, but will call this my quality workout before the 5k on Saturday.  This was a workout I needed to get feeling better after a couple of blah days this week.  Tomorrow and Friday will be easy runs with probably biking to work.

NB 758s #1 Miles: 2.50
Weight: 0.00
Comments(8)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
2.000.002.00

Today was my suntanning run/walk day.  Started out thinking I'd do maybe 4, but after a mile I was just not feeling like it, so I took the shirt off and did some run/walk combinations while I enjoyed the 92F temps mid-day.  Got some sun, not much running, but that's OK.

Oh, and I biked in today.  Saw my marathon buddy when we were locking up the bikes this morning.  We chatted for a couple of minutes.  When I went for my run around noon, he was coming back from his run with Leah.  I was walking across the bridge.  I don't think they saw me which is good.  I would have been embarrassed.  They were flying and I'm sure it was their normal "tempo" pace probably.  This afternoon, I was falling asleep at my desk - this never happens but I was tired today, obviously - so I decided to leave a little early.  I was riding home at a fairly leisurely pace and who comes flying by me?  Yeah, Greg.  I don't think he realized it was me or he would have slowed down and said hello.  Again, I'm glad he didn't recognize me.  lol

NB 758s #1 Miles: 2.00
Weight: 0.00
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0.000.000.00

Scheduled rest day and race packet pickup.  Feeling OK.  We're hitting the Pirates game tonight since they're giving out fleecies (think Snuggies) and we're taking my daughter's new boy friend (she keeps telling me they're not 'going out' since she's not 16 quite yet) and my son's friend.  Should be a good time.  I've committed to myself that I am NOT going to eat a bucket of wings, but I may treat myself to a cone if I eat a decent meal sometime today.

Weight: 0.00
Comments(3)
Race: Gatorade Steelers 5k (3.1 Miles) 00:22:39, Place overall: 301, Place in age division: 29
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
0.003.103.10

Today couldn't have been more perfect.  Weather was cool - 58F and low humidity, some wind.  Course is completely flat and is considered a very fast course.  Garmin says the course was 3.20 mi, but I think that may have been a function of running a couple of streets with tall buildings on either side and a section where we were running under an overpass for about .15mi.  Bottom line, I got a great PR and everyone else I knew running it did very well too.

Splits:  7:10, 6:50, 7:19, 1:20 (0.20)

Got to the race with plenty of time and with the exception of almost forgetting my timing chip in the car, the warm up was uneventful.  My daughter came with me and she went in to get a good seat in Heinz Field (Steeler's stadium) where the finish line is.  I warmed up with some slow running and some high knees, butt kickers and some stretching.  They always start late from what I had heard and they didn't disappoint.  They had traffic on the course that the police were trying to get cleared.  The race was supposed to start at 9am but the gun didn't go off until about 9:35.  I don't know if they meant they'd start all the chatter, introduction of former Steelers players and coaches, national anthem, etc at 9am or whether they'd have that all out of the way and the gun firing at 9am.  Didn't matter too much to me.  The weather was great and I just kept moving to stay loose.  The last thing I wanted was to pull something and make next week's race miserable.

There were over 3,000 runners this year, up from about 2,600 last.  I knew with my 24:00 goal that I'd be in the first 1/3 or so of the finishers, but I also knew from my few racing experiences that I tend to spend too much time trying to get around people that start too far towards the front.  I didn't start far enough forward even though I thought I was pretty well positioned.  That stressed me out and I felt like I was playing catch up the rest of the race.  Part of me was upset at these people, but I realized that I am to blame for not starting farther ahead.  I just am not that confident with my ability to start out fast enough and then hold it.  I was passing lots of people even after the first 0.5mi that it took me to get out of the congestion.  I didn't look at my Garmin much in the first mile, so I was pretty surprised when I came past the first mile marker and they were yelling splits.  It was just under 8:00.  I was shocked.  It sure seemed a lot faster. I had my Garmin setup to show my HR, mile split avg pace, distance, and split distance.  I had heard the mile markers weren't exactly right, so I chalked it up to that and the slow start.

During this first mile, I latched on to a guy that had a shirt with a girl and a saying "Skirt Chaser."  I figured he had latched on to some faster chick and was chasing her, so I tried to stick with him.  As we were on our way back to the stadium, I was thinking, "man, this is going by quick and I'm cruisin!"  I was struggling some, but figured the end was in sight!  Then, as we ran past the door that leads into the stadium, it dawned on me that we still had to run around the stadium, back past the start, and down a street and back!  This was a HUGE mental blow.  I was about a mile from the finish at that point.

The last mile, I was trying to just keep my position.  I let a couple of guys go by me toward the end, but I did catch and pass the skirt chaser.  I didn't find the skirt, but I'm sure she was up there.  There was a point at about 0.3mi that I really wanted to just walk.   I knew I could walk it to the entrance to the stadium and still PR, but I knew if I did that I wouldn't be able to break 24:00.  I pushed through and as I entered the stadium, I saw 22:45 or so and realized that I wasn't going to be able to break 23:00 but I tried.  I hit the finish line at about 23:10 and stopped the Garmin.  Man was I disappointed!  I was so close to a sub-23:00!  Then I remembered the delayed start and looked to see what my Garmin said and I was totally stoked!  Yeaaa!

I don't have final results yet to know where I placed, but I did better than I had expected to do, especially with the stressful week.  I'm glad I took the last two days off since that definitely helped.  I would have had to do sub-20:00 to place in my AG, so it will have to be next year.  :-)

Overall, I felt great and am happy with my PR.  There are mistakes I made (starting too far back & forgetting about the details of the course) that possibly could have gotten me close to a sub-22:00.  With some more race experience, I think everything will come together nicely over the next year or so.  2011 will be a great year!!

They didn't tell me there would be ice cream at the end.  I would have blitzed for it! (Sorry, pic is terrible, but it sure tasted great!)  lol

Edit:  Added Overall and Division places.  I got chicked 45 times over.  Still, 301 out of 2,861 isn't too bad.  There were wheelchair and walkers which put it over the 3,000 mark.  I would have had to be under 18:04 to place in my AG.  :-(  It's gonna be a while for that, I think.  In the 40-45 AG, I would have had to be under 17:38.  Dang!  It's not gonna get easier as I get older??

NB 758s #1 Miles: 3.50
Weight: 0.00
Comments(10)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
2.020.002.02

Just a lazy couple of miles on the track.  8:20 AP

NB 758s #1 Miles: 2.02
Weight: 0.00
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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
2.500.002.50

Just another couple of lazy miles on the track.  Tomorrow should be a fast workout with class.

NB 758s #1 Miles: 2.50
Weight: 0.00
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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
3.500.003.50

For class we did 3 x 5min tempo runs with 2 min rest between.

An interesting side note.  Two other guys in the class did the Steeler 5k on Saturday and they both finished after I did.   They both did 2 miles in the 12:00 treadmill test.  Not sure how that happens when I was only able to do 1.71.  They both did theirs in the mid 23:00.  I was really surprised.  They both were pleased with their times so I know they weren't just having a bad day.

Oh...forgot to add that we went to Phantom tonight.  It was incredible (as always)!  We even got busted for taking pictures with the stage in the background...before the show...when everything is covered with tarps...

NB 758s #1 Miles: 3.50
Weight: 0.00
Comments(4)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
5.780.005.78

Ran the river trail after work.  Beautiful, 72F day and overcast.  Goal was to just run an easy pace without walking, focusing on good form and fast cadence, all while keeping it easy.  Accomplished all of that with an AP of 8:45, HR avg was 152.  Felt good and it was pretty easy.

I'm hoping that the 60% chance of rain will hold off for Saturday.  It wouldn't ruin my day, but just being cool would be fine with me.  I'm debating my strategy for Saturday, considering my mileage hasn't been that high and my longest run has been like 8 miles or so.  I wish I had a few 10-12 milers under the belt to feel confident going into the race.

My projected HM pace based on my 5k performance on Saturday is about a 7:55 - 8:00, which is ~ 1:44:00 finishing time.  Considering the two halfs I've done were in the 9:15+ pace range, that's quite optimistic!  I don't think I can hold the 8:00 for the whole race, so I either go out trying to keep that pace for as long as I can then just do the best I can from there on in, or I start out conservatively at about a 8:45 and then just try and pick it up as I go, trying to finish closer to 8:10-8:00.  I don't know that I'm going to hit my 1:50 goal, but I could surprise myself.  I'm still debating, but that's what's going through my head.  Aren't you glad you asked?  :-)

NB 758s #1 Miles: 5.78
Weight: 163.00
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Today is packet pickup day and I've got a ton of work, so I doubt I'll run at all.  Yesterday made me slightly sore for some reason, so I'll just chill it.  Here are some videos for your enjoyment.

First off is Kermit and Justin on SNL.  It's one of my favorite JT skits.  There are others but with the exception of one word, this is family friendly unless you have a youngster that will be troubled by Kermit being "revealed." 

 

Next is one of my favorite Boyz II Men songs from back in the day.  It will remind me tomorrow that eventually I'll get to the end of the road and the race will be over.

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Race: IKEA Montour Trail Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:51:47, Place overall: 267, Place in age division: 26
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
0.0013.1013.10

55F and overcast at start.  Goal was to run a consistent 8:25 or so in order to come in under my goal of 1:50.  I didn't quite make it, but this was still a great PR and I feel good about the race.  Edit:  267 out of 729 total runners and 26 out of 63 in AG.

Yesterday, my wife and I drove out to Elite Runners & Walkers store to pick up my race packet and I talked her into getting some walking shoes since she committed to the 1 mile walk/run with her Goal Group at the Dirt Monster race in November.  To get ready, she's going to walk the dog every day, so we got her some nice Asics 2150s in purple.  She's excited about them and I'm proud of her for setting that goal!  The kids still haven't decided if they want to volunteer again or do the 1 mile walk/run.  I'll be running the 5mi race and it could be a AG finish for me since it's a pretty small race.  lol  Then we hit Olive Garden last night for their Never Ending Pasta Bowl and we came home and went to bed.

The race started at 8am out in Robinson, PA, which is about a 25 min drive from home.  Getting everyone up and rolling (including myself) was a little challenging, but we were out the door by 6:20am.  To "reward" the fam for getting up, we hit McDonalds for breakfast on the way.  We scouted out their parking location then went to the top of the hill where the start was to drop me off.  They would be at about the 0.8mi point and at the finish which would be perfect for picture taking.

I just needed to get my timing chip and use the Porta Potty and get some warm up in.  I got my timing chip at about 7:30am then looked for the line for the POP.  It was long too!  Crap.  I knew if I didn't use it now, I'd regret it on the course since I was going to have to use it in the next 2 hours.  By the time I got through the POP, it was about 10 min before the race.  I started walking over to the start line and saw my old boss from work and his wife.  His wife is a pretty good runner (she runs about a 4:00 marathon and ran Boston this last year), but he is a "plodder" (his word, not mine).  She was shooting for a 1:50 or under and he was looking to do 2:15 or so.  They both ran the Steelers 5k last weekend (her: 24:54, him: 27:34), which I just looked up.  I figured maybe I'd stick with her if I caught up to her (she headed towards the front to avoid fighting people on the trail).  I wasn't going to get in any warm up in the next 3 mins, so we chatted some and I did a little stretching.  I assumed they'd have the mats out to start the chip timing anyways, so it wasn't a huge deal to be a little farther back.

The gun goes off, and I bid my friend goodbye and start heading down the hill, waiting for the mats.  There weren't any, so I just started the Garmin.  I guess everyone had the same start time.  Oh well, no biggie.  There was a large mass of people going down this 0.8mi hill and everyone seemed to just be on cruise control.  I hadn't warmed up well, so I took it easy and used that as my warm up.  My plan was to give my long sleeved t-shirt and cell phone (I had been giving the fam updates on when it actually started, etc), but opted to keep the cell phone so I could let them know how I was doing and give them an idea of when to be at the finish.

Here's me at the hand-off.  A short hello and I was off again:


 

Mile 1 (9:09):  Coming down the hill and the 0.2 mi onto the trail was just warm up and the trail was pretty narrow for all the people running on it.  I restrained from doing a bunch of weaving to get around people.  I had plenty of time left to work my way up, but there were several times I chose to go onto the grass and risk a twisted ankle to get around some people.  Fortunately, I didn't have any problems. 

From the 1 mile point on, the course is a 6 mi out and 6.1 back on the crushed limestone surface.  It was more tightly packed than the trail I run downtown which I was happy about.  Not much foot pushoff slippage.  That always frustrates me since I feel like I'm wasting some energy.

Mile 2 - 7 (8:19, 8:20, 8:00, 8:24, 8:37, 8:23): From where you turn onto the trail to the turn around at mile 7, it's a slight uphill incline.  It's not that noticeable until it gets slightly steeper at about mile 6, but you can tell it's not flat.  That last mile seems like it will never end.  The trail is beautiful and with the trees still full of leaves, it stayed shaded for most of the run.  During mile 2, I wished I had brought my thin mittens since my hands were cold and they never really warmed up (my son commented on it after the race when he took my hand walking to the car).  My texts to my wife were barely understandable (texting while running is hard) and made worse by cold fingers.  I could just send a text "5mi im good".  I think she figured out most of them.

Knowing that my boss' wife was shooting for my goal, when I caught up to her at about 2.5mi, I just trailed her for a little while.  But she was going about 8:40 and I knew I needed to be faster than that.  I passed her and figured she'd catch me on the flip side.

There's this really cool tunnel you run through at about mile 4.  It goes through a big hill and used to be used to be part of the railroad track.  Funny thing was that as everyone reached about 3/4 of the way through it, you'd hear all these Garmins beep because they had lost the satellite signal.  Up to that point, the Garmin was right on at their mile markers.  After that, it would say the mile was about 50m before the marker on the way out, then 100m before the marker after going through it on the way back.  A little annoying, but I was using it more for pace and I had it set to give me 0.5mi splits anyways so I didn't care too much.

I felt great on the way out, was pumped watching the runners coming back towards us after their turn around, and I was feeling like I could keep this up no problem.  I was passing people and hadn't been passed since mile 1.  In fact, it felt too easy at the turn around.  My only discomfort was the fine gravel in my shoes and the blister that I could feel developing on the outside/under my left big toe.  I'm not sure if it was more the rubbing on the shoe or the grittiness of the gravel that was making my blister develop.

Mile 8 - 10 (7:54, 7:44, 7:45):  I was feeling so good at the turn around and even knowing full well that I still had half the race to go, I decided I wanted to kick it up a little.  I could feel the downhill during this first mile so I started to pick it up some, then I just maintained that pace for another 2.  I started to pass a lot more runners and still wasn't being passed.  I saw my boss' wife around the 8mi mark and my boss a while after that.  She didn't recognize me, I don't think, since I had had on my long sleeved white t-shirt when she met me at the start.

Mile 11 - finish (8:01, 8:34, 8:50):  The miles were getting tougher - slowing down!  Dang it!  Terrain was pretty flat, but I was tiring.  I hung on through the tunnel but once I was through there, I walked for about 10 seconds.  This is when Speedy Old Guy (SOG) passed me at a pretty fast clip.  Once he was past me about 20m, he stopped and walked.  I thought that was odd.  So I started running again.  I had been passed by a few people which I knew would happen when I walked, but I had to rest for a second.  I took off again and passed SOG a short time later.  Every maybe 1/4 mi, SOG would sprint past me and stop a ways ahead and walk.  It was kinda weird.  This went on until the end of the race.  I don't think he had me targeted, but it felt like it.

The last two miles were tough.  I walked probably 30 seconds total during these miles and my legs were dead.  I was being passed by a few more people, but I was OK with that, all things considered.  I was really wishing I had prepared a little better for this Half with some longer runs at this point.  I just kept pushing through but wasn't able to kick much at all at the end.  I saw the time and was happy with it.  It was a PR and a good one at that.  I felt like I redeemed myself from my first two Halfs by getting over a 10min PR, my time was much closer to what I feel like I should have run it in, and I beat SOG, so it's all good.  :-)

It was a little sad because they ran out of finishers medals.  Apparently, there is another Half coming up next month that's fairly large and they were denied their permits and had to cancel.  So they had a lot of last minute registrations for this one and had based their purchase of medals on previous years.  They typically have about 600 I think, but apparently they got a lot more.  They said they'd be sending them out to the people that didn't get one, but still!  For those of us who aren't going to win or AG place, I look forward to that token of my achievement.  I would have been ticked if I hadn't gotten one at the finish!

Loved the race, the course was great, and the weather was excellent!  Many thanks to my family for getting up so early and just hanging out for 2 hours while I ran.  They're awesome!!!

Here's some pics:

Finishing!  (Yes, I got chicked.  She was standing in the POP line next to me and I chatted with her husband/boyfriend.  She didn't say a word to me.  I wondered if she spoke english or not.)


An "I'm so glad I'm done" photo:


Stretch-out after the race.  Hurt so good!


And the final photo by the flags:


NB 758s #2 Miles: 13.10
Weight: 165.00
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I was planning on a couple of miles this afternoon but work got in the way.  I may find a cemetery about midnight if anyone wants to join me.  I'll be running tomorrow for sure.  Purpose is just to get out and move some before Wednesday's class.  I think we're doing 6 x 400s at the point with 60 sec rests.

A little soreness in the hammies and achilles after the race.  Otherwise, I'm ready for the next one.

Weight: 0.00
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3.200.003.20

I escaped from my cube to get in a short run.  Took it nice and easy and it felt good.  AP was 8:50 with a pick up to 7:30 or so the last 400m or so.  A little tight in places at first, but those got worked out and I'm feeling fine tonight.  Looking forward to class tomorrow.  Ready to work it hard.  :-)

NB 758s #1 Miles: 3.20
Weight: 0.00
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Had class today. We did 5 x 400s with 90 second rests. Each of us did them at our prescribed paces. My goal pace was 100. I did all of them between 92-94. The legs were a bit rubbery after the 5th one. Then did some strength training with the medicine ball. That was a first for me. It was a good workout even without the higher mileage. I had considered a run this evening but I've been working crazy long hours this week at work and we had Scouts & YW tonight so I would have had to go out then. I chose not I flirt with the wife wrath by heading out about 10pm. I'll get in some miles tomorrow.

NB 758s #1 Miles: 1.75
Weight: 0.00
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Splits:  8:23, 8:15, 8:45, 8:42, 9:18, 9:30, 9:28, 9:40

Yesterday was crazy and I didn't get a run in.  Today, I tried to go during the day but that didn't happen so I finally got to the gym at about 5:15pm and wanted to do about 6 miles, just easy pace.  I ran out the river trail to the end (~3.5mi) and decided to make tonight my long run so I continued on the service road by the rail road tracks.  I thought I might go another 1.5 mi then turn around making it a 10 miler, but after about 1/2 mile of running on a very loose, large gravel/stones "road" and feeling like I was going to twist an ankle every other step, I decided to walk for a minute then turn around.  As I was turning around, another runner came by and asked about the bridge up ahead.  He looked a lot more stable than I did on the surface.

Anyways, headed back...carefully...and by about the 6-7mi mark I was feeling quite drained and my knees were a little sore.  So I took it slow but by then I was pushing the 6:30pm time and the gym closes at 7pm.  I got back in time and had just enough time to shower, chat with Frank and get out of there right at 7pm. 

Oh!  On the way back, I noticed some movement on the other side of a fence. I've run by here probably 20 times this year but never noticed that there was a BMX "park" over there. There were a couple of guys on bikes doing all their trickery and I was feeling tired enough I almost gave myself an excuse to stop and watch for a little bit.  I debated whether it was more important to watch them or to make it back to the gym in time to shower.  I slowed...but didn't stop.

Headed back up to the office to grab my bag and had several emails I have to return tonight. Dang.

NB 758s #1 Miles: 8.00
Weight: 0.00
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Watched Undercover Brother & Joe Dirt today.  Relaxing sunday.

It ain't no thang

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Got out after work.  Beautiful day but a little chilly.  Can't complain though since it will start snowing soon, I'm sure.

Ran it fairly easy - 8:22 AP but the legs were feeling heavy and tired.  What's up with that?  I let them rest Saturday and Sunday.  I think they're spoiled little brats.

NB 758s #1 Miles: 4.50
Weight: 161.50
Comments(2)
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I only had a little over an hour between meetings today, so I hurried down to the gym.  I forgot my Garmin which was probably best since I just hopped on the treadmill and did the 5k program.  Got a nice little PR on it today (23:33).  I haven't run it in a while and figured I'd just set the speed at 7.5 (8:00) and cruise through it.  But after 2k, I picked it up to 8.0 (7:30) and ran that for 1k, then upped it to 8.5 (7:04) for 1k then increased to 9.0 (6:40) by the end.  It was a good workout for the time I had.  Tomorrow is supposed to be an easy class since they're all running The Great Race on Sunday. 

Calling anyone that will be in Pittsburgh, within driving distance of Pittsburgh, flying through on a layover, or anyone that you know that lives in Pittsburgh, come run The Dirt Monster!  This 5 mile cross country trail race will "spank" you.  Pass it along if you're not fortunate enough to join me!  :-)

NB 758s #1 Miles: 3.50
Weight: 0.00
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3.600.404.00

Today was class and since everyone else is running The Great Race on Sunday, we had an easy day.  I didn't take my Garmin since I had left it at my desk but we did a 30 min easy run (probably 8:15 pace or a little faster) then did 5 x ~75m strides on the grass.  Felt pretty good but the "easy" run wasn't quite as easy as my prescribed "easy" pace (9:00).  It was fine though since it was just another training day for me and HMP is always a good pace.

I didn't count it, but I had to run to the car after work (again!) due to the thunderstorms.  This time I got to the car just before it down poured.   I still got plenty wet even with my compact umbrella...ella...ella, just not soaked to the bone like last time.  One of these days I'm going to get a decent full sized umbrella that doesn't collapse in anything over 5mph winds.  Shesh!  You'd think I'd learn. 

Oh, and I need to heed the weather channel text messages when they start coming in every minute saying that we're under a severe thunderstorm warning.  Today I left earlier than I normally would, but a lot happens in the 20 mins it takes me to get to my car with the winds we had today.  Thanks to my training, I was able to escape the down pour.  Until I'm as fast as Flat and Burt so I can out sprint the storm, it will always be a risk I take.  Livin' on the edge!

NB 758s #1 Miles: 4.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(6)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.250.004.25

My son and I are headed up to Campaganza this afternoon until tomorrow night, so I ran after taking my daughter to seminary.  It was nice and cool and the run felt great.  Wish I could have gone farther since it's not likely I'll get in a run tomorrow, but it will have to do.  AP was 8:27.

Scout camp should be fun tomorrow, but the "highlight" of the trip is that Smashmouth will be performing.  I sure wish I had a Shrek costume...

NB 758s #2 Miles: 4.25
Weight: 0.00
Comments(5)
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0.000.000.00

Goals for this week:

1)  Turn 40 tomorrow
2)  Get 30+ mpw and 5+ days with 2 quality days

Had a great time at Campaganza with Zayne.  Tons of fun stuff to do, he found some friends so I was able to hang out (aka find a soft spot in the grass and take a nice nap) and enjoy the food.  They had great wings and fries (I had two helpings and finished off some of Zayne's).  I got a nice sunburn on my head.  It was nice and cool and I didn't take seriously their suggestion of sunscreen.  Oh well, I'll need some extra color for the winter.

Because we're LDS (aka Mormon) and had to leave on Saturday instead of staying over until Sunday, we had to camp in a huge field across the road from the parking area.  Everyone else camped down in the sub-camps.  Our area was nice soft, green grass with nice trees.  We also had real bathroom facilities with showers.  The sub-camps were all mowed down fields of hay or something rough like that.  Plus, everyone was packed in like crazy.  They didn't allow any Saturday departures from the sub-camps.  There were a few other LDS groups that camped near us, but we were all really spread out enjoying our space.  :-)  I woke up to a dead car battery Saturday morning, but that was easily remedied with all the scouts there looking to do a good turn that day.

Here's some pictures:

Zayne in the "Mouse Ball"

 

 Zayne throwing axes (they had a ton of EMS folks on site)

 

 Zayne hitting the button at the top of the rock wall

 

 Zayne kayaking for the first time!

 

 A lame picture of Tyler Bryant, the opening act before Smash Mouth.

 

Weight: 0.00
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2.752.004.75

Happy 40th Birthday to me! Today begins my 5-year (or less) journey to my BQ time of 3:20.  I intended to start this journey with a run during the day today, but the run didn't start until about 8:30pm.  We ate a late dinner at my favorite Mongolian BBQ restaurant, which was great, but I knew I'd be regretting the very hot & spicy foods and stuffing myself beyond full when I ran.  I figured I'd hit the cemetery since it seemed fitting and what better way to celebrate with a little Thriller while running through the dark cemetery?  The cemetery I wanted to run is huge and I hadn't run there yet.  The gates were locked.  Dang!  It's up near the track so I just parked and jogged to the track.  It was all downhill and I felt like I was flying!  Woo hoo!

Got to the track and jogged an easy lap.  As I was jogging, I contemplated how cool it would be to get a track mile PR on my birthday.  I figured I'd try for a 6:30 mile.  I started out like a rabbit but I couldn't hold the pace after the first 800m (3:06) so I walked for a lap, then I tried it again.  This time I told myself I'd take it slower. Again, hit the 800m mark and stopped (3:20) with some bad stomach cramps.  Better, but still not what I felt like I could hold for a mile, especially with the cramping.  I was running clockwise on the track for these 800s and I think that messed me up psychologically, as well.  So I decided to start again and not leave without a PR.  Heck, I've hit sub-7:00 (barely) in races, why not on the track?

One last time, going the right way on the track.  Serious cramps after 800m that made me wonder whether I'd lose it out of one or both ends.  All I could think about was coming back home and blogging that I tried for my PR but didn't get it.  I knew I'd kick myself all night for giving up without going the whole distance.  So despite the pain and discomfort, I wouldn't give up.  Not as fast as I'd like, but it's sub-7:00 so now I consider myself fast (note:  no quotes).  Next stop is sub-6:00 so I can be like Burt and his 5:57 mile.  Here's the splits for my birthday mile PR:

6:56 (1:51, 1:45, 1:44, 1:36)

I ended up at a 6:10 pace at the very end, which was great after those fast 800s.  I just had to start out a little slower.  I am surprised the 3rd quarter wasn't slower because I purposefully slowed down - or thought I did - so I could finish the mile.  The negative splits look good.  :-)  The run back up the hill to the car burned the quads.  I'm realizing my legs just aren't that strong.  Gotta work on that.

Commentary:

I had camp all weekend, then Sunday was a crash and burn day trying to catch up on sleep.  Didn't get much sleep, but I did rest some.  I needed to do some work this weekend, but that didn't happen, so I didn't log on at all.  I forgot I had a 7:30am meeting this morning and didn't log on until almost 8am to realize it.  Birthday miracle - the 7:30am meeting was moved to Wednesday.  Whew!

Camping was awesome and we both had a great time.  I'm exhausted still, but will try and get a little more sleep this week.  See the pictures from yesterday...

NB 758s #2 Miles: 4.75
Weight: 0.00
Comments(3)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
6.340.006.34

Great run tonight.  Today, tomorrow, and next Mon - Wednesday are all-day vendor presentations & "follow-up meetings."  After an 8:00 - 6:15pm session of sitting in a chair "watching a demo" (Ok, I was answering emails and troubleshooting servers) all day, I was ready for a nice run tonight.  It was nice and cool, about 55F with a light drizzle.  I love running at night.  I ran down to North Ave and back. It's a rolling set of hills and I just wanted to run easy after yesterday's speedy workout.  Figured I'd average about 9:15 or so, maybe closer to 9:30 with the hills, but I ended up faster than that.

8:38 AP (8:50, 8:27, 7:59, 8:47, 8:30, 9:15, 8:20 pace for .34mi)

I wasn't trying to go fast at all, the pace was completely conversational.  Even on the uphills where I was averaging about 9:30-10:00, I'd just keep the cadence high and the steps shorter.  I was never out of breath at any point in the run and I didn't walk at all.  Everything was feeling great.  It must be because I'm a Masters runner now.  Why didn't you old guys tell me?  No wonder you're all so fast!  ha ha

NB 758s #2 Miles: 6.34
Weight: 0.00
Comments(4)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
3.300.003.30

Sunday was the Great Race, which is what the class was training for so today is the last class until they start the class again in January to train for the Pittsburgh Marathon in May.  Everyone did really well!  The two instructors:  Greg took 8th with a 31:58, and first place in his AG.  Leah took first for the ladies with a 35:35.  Here's her finish pic:

 

Everyone was happy with their performances and felt the class was very helpful.  I'm sure glad I didn't sign up for it since I was DEAD on Sunday after the weekend camp out.  

We just did an easy run today, which was nice.  As we came off the Fort Duesquene bridge, Erin (she works with Greg & Leah) was coming down the stairs and joined us.  She's a pretty speedy chica too.  If I had run the 10k, she definitely would have chicked me too.  LOL  Run was great, about a 8:10 AP and I got some time in chatting with Greg.  Weather was beautiful.

Mon - Wed this week I've been in all-day meetings so I was really glad to be able to get to class and out of my seat.  I had hoped to get a few more miles in after work, but this was better than nothing.  I think a few of us may still try and meet up once a week for a run.  It's fun to run with a group, especially for those tempo or intervals.  And, I think Jake and I will still try and get in an easy Friday run since it keeps me from doing something harder than I should before my Saturday runs, which will be even more important as I get into my marathon training - starting as soon as I figure out my plan.  :-)

NB 758s #2 Miles: 5.00
Weight: 159.50
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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
6.450.006.45

Disappointed today for a couple of reasons. 

1)  my foot was slightly sore this morning but during the run it was killing.  Could be that my 758 #1s are broken down too much.  I had hoped to get more miles in on those, but maybe they're past their prime.  I dunno.

2)  maybe this one should be #1 since it was a bigger disappointment but I wasn't able to get out until this evening and it was AFTER the rain stopped.  :-(

Splits:  8:18, 8:17, 7:45, 7:34, 7:57, 8:06, 8:28 (.45mi)

I was trying to keep it slow-ish but then the foot started hurting more and I decided that if I was going to take tomorrow off of running so I could get in a long run on Saturday then I'd better get some decent tempo speed in.  Still nothing fast enough to be true tempo, but it was a fun run.  No real plans on where, just shooting for about 6mi.  The last 2mi were on the trail and with the puddles and wet surface, I was picking up a bunch of pebbles in the socks and shoes.  I realized then that I need to wear longer socks when I run the Dirt Monster.  It's fun to learn things on runs.

NB 758s #1 Miles: 6.45
Weight: 0.00
Comments(3)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
63.1921.3584.54
NB 758s #1 Miles: 53.20NB 758s #2 Miles: 33.44
Weight: 162.25
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