It's over, man. Let her go.

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.

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...

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

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.  :-)

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.

40F - AP 8:53 (splits to come)

It was a nice chilly day today.  I slept really poorly last night.  Didn't get to sleep until almost 4am.  Woke up at 8:30 and knew I needed to get out on my run by 9am if I had any chance of getting even a few miles in today.  My daughter has Homecoming tonight and we have the Homecoming Carnival at the H.S. at 11am. 

The right big toe joint was still pretty sore this morning but I had hope that with the slight X-acto carving I did on the orthotic last night and the newer shoes would keep the foot happy.  Legs were really sluggish this morning, but I kept going.  About the 2 mi point, the toe was growling a little.  I decided to start heading back so I didn't get too far away if things got bad.  They didn't get better so I just bagged it.

I think I'm going to find a new podiatrist or even an orthopedist to go see.  My podiatrist (she's seen 3 of the 4 of us for several years now) is very good, but the deterioration of these orthotics has really upset me.  I love them, don't get me wrong, but my big toe joints have worn through the top cover layer where everywhere else looks and feels firm.  I've put 700-800 miles on them over the 10 months I've had them.  Other runners that wear them have them for 5+ years and are putting 80+ mpw on them.  I think these are just more "general" use orthotics that would be fine if I weren't running in them.

I know that my right leg is turned in slightly (looking straight on, the right knee points in more than the left).  I'm pretty convinced this is the reason my right foot always has the issues.  An orthopedist might be the best route so I'm on the hunt for a good one that is a runner.  I need to get this solved before next year.