track fan

Not a good day for me ... sometimes you have good races, sometimes bad. Today was a bad for me ... but the mark of a good athlete is to think about it, but not dwell on it, and move on.  So, I am moving on.  The course was super hard. I was running with my friend Merry.  The first  mile is uphill, then a short downhill of about 1/2 mile and then 1/2 uphill (these were about 6% grade hills - worth about 10-15secs) and then downhill the last mile.  I hit the first mile at 7:00, the second at 6:58, and then disaster struck.  I stopped to pee. I shouldn't have, I know I shouldn't have, I should have just pee'd my pants (TMI I know).  It was the toughest part of the race and I let myself get distracted.  I am angry with myself now.  I knew I wasn't going to PR, but I should of hung in there (pee and all) anyway.  Oh well ... thankfully, I don't make my living running.  My last mile (after pit stop) was 6:54, as I desperately tried to catch Merry (and more importantly, this woman that I have traded races with a few times).  They ran about 21:28 or so, I ran 22:03. I blew my 9th place streak - and fell to 10th.

2 mile wu/ 7+ mile cd with Merry.

Happy Sunday bloggers!

easy 4, did not wear a watch.  I have to change up my week because I am on my way to DC today.

Made it to DC ... very long travel day.  Even longer day tomorrow.  

Have a nice week bloggers!

1:37:30. Shhhhhh... don't tell Greg, I was only supposed to run 70` today, but after being cooped up on a plane all day Monday and in a conference room for 13 hours yesterday I was just SOOOO happy to be outside that I did not want to turn around at 35`.  I had to get up super early again today, but I knew we would be finishing up around lunchtime so  I thought I would just run after the meeting was over.  Right after the meeting I had to run up to my room and finish a project that I couldn't finish into the weee hours last night (because I was so tired) - finally, I was able to get outside, and what a beautiful day.  It took me about 20 mins to get to the Rock Creek Park trailhead, but it was such a pretty day ... I did not even might all the traffic.  And the trail was heavenly.  I saw a deer and a fox, the deer was so close, he did not even run when I came up on him ... these city deer are hard core ;-). 

Now I have to shower before my 4PM conference call and tonight I am going into the city to have some dinner with friends ... yea, just like old times.

Hope you are all doing well, I miss you, I will get caught up this weekend!

1:03:51.  I tried to find a trail that I saw signs for ... unfortunately it wasn't really a trail, more like a sidewalk that went along Rockville Pike (a very busy intersection).  After a little zigging and zagging I did find a pretty nice bike path that could possibly take me to the Rock Creek Trail, I might have to take some time to investigate this next time.  For a big city, Washington DC (metro area, including Northern Virginia and Montgomery County Maryland) is a pretty nice place to run, lots of good places to choose from (many off roads and with dirt surfaces).  

AM: (14.5, 2:03:40). 29:39 wu/28:45 cd +  Aerobic capacity intervals 8 x 1200 w/600 recovery.  So, I do practice what I preach, I knew going into this workout that I was not really going to hit the "recommended pace" - these are just not my forte, as this gets into the true "speed workout" paces that are just a challenge for me.  Gregs calculator puts these at 4:55-5:10 (6:32-6:52 pace).  I figured I could probably hit about 5:11-5:12.  The radio weather forcast called for strong winds building up to 30-40 mph this afternoon.  I did not really feel it too much on the way to the track, but then after I got there I realized it was because it was a tailwind -- it was gusting up to about 10-12mph ... it hurt and it got worse as the run went on, right now it says 12mph but I swear on some laps the gust shot up and I felt like I wasn't moving forward at all.  Going this fast is struggle anyway, let alone if 200 meter of every lap basically blow you backwards.  Since my recovery jogs were 600 meters I started from opposite sides of the track every 1200, and you can tell from my splits which ones were the hardest - when I started into the headwind it was easier than when I had to turn into it on the back stretch.  Anyway, not the best in terms of speed, but a good solid workout none-the-less, I guess.  It sure was long ;-).

5:12 (3:24), 5:11 (3:19), 5:11 (3:22), 5:12 (3:20), 5:13 (3:23), 5:18 (3:19), 5:12 (3:02), 5:18

PM: (easy 3.5).

Happy Friday bloggers, I have meetings all day, about 1 every hour until 6 tonight (4 with students who are either trying to finish masters theses or projects or getting ready for their first professional meeting presentations).

AM:(8 miles, ~70-75 mins). I did not wear a watch today, I needed to run extra slow and the main reason I wear a watch on days like today is make sure I don't go too fast, I knew that wouldn't be a problem today, yesterday kicked my behind.

PM:(easy 4).

 
Now I need to go enjoy my breakfast, an awesome fresh fruit smoothie (made with fresh melon, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, a banana, and some frozen peaches, all blended with no sugar, no concentrate, organic apple juice) YUM!!!  Dean is going to start to incorporate some principles of the Paleo diet (basically do away with grains, legumes and milk) - I can't really go all the way without not being a vegetarian, but I am going to go less on the grains and milk, and incorporate more nuts and fruits.  I want to see if some of my stomach issues (that I have had all of my life) might be sort of a low level gluten problem.  Anyway, I love my fruit! 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!