Bret

AM - 4 miles through Wood Valley and East Bluff.  Legs feel fatigued and I feel really slow at the beginning of my runs lately.  

AM - 3 miles easy on the trail..hoping to get some "rest" in my legs ahead of the Peachtree race on Friday morning.  Felt a little better today.  

AM - 2 miles on the trail - to allow for additional recovery time for my legs which are in need of a break; ahead of the Peachtree race tomorrow.   Also, I got a blister on my right achilles from using different shoes with no socks to cut the grass yesterday, and somehow slightly tweaked my right heel, right hamstring and right lower back yesterday jumping over a gap on the new trail bridges which are not yet completed.  Things that you would never give a second thought to doing when younger, always seem to have more of in impact when you are older.   Note to self - stop trying to do improptu steeplechase manuevers.  

Peachtree - 2025 was a decent solid effort for me.   Richie who has a lake house in Alabama now, decided late last week to drive the 3 hours or so to join me and run together.   Initially I thought we'd be going on the slower-side of things when he asked what my most recent tempo-paced runs had been (7:35-7:45) and he reacted by saying, he was not sure if he'd be up to it.   The first 2.75 miles of the race are net downhill, so it is easier than the second half, and we cruised the first mile at 7:35 and he seemed fine and conversational.   Mile 2 was 7:17 and sharper downhill, and both of us were easily within ourselves - but as we started the initial few hills, Richie dropped back a bit - and I checked on him, until I could not spot him, then as if he was just biding his time, he came up to me after the 4 mile mark and urged that we should keep grinding and picking people off.   Unfortunately, I was pretty much at my limit just to maintain my pace, and so gradually he pulled away, checking back a few times until neither could spot each other in the big crowd.  As it turned out we finished within 20 seconds of each other.  He actually just simply ran a much faster final two miles than I did, and that was cool because I had a negative/to even split running the last two miles in 7:37, 7:14 and 6:43 for the last .2 miles.  

Got to catch up a bit in person though we keep in touch via text and calls quite a bit.   We will be running together in 2 months at the Sydney marathon in Australia.

Day of rest. 

AM - very east 3.25 miles in the neighborhood  before church. 

AM - 4 miles easy on the trail with Dan and Rosie - good to catch up with him as we were both out of town on overlapping vacations.   

AM - a little over 5 miles solo this morning through up the trail through wood valley and east bluff.  Still getting memories of running or doing things with Finn - certain routes that he'd prefer or just things that he'd do that are pleasant reminders of the time we got to spend with each other.  

AM - just under 5.25 miles with Dan from his place this morning.   First mile as always was slow and uncomfortable, but after I got more warmed up most of the miles were comfortably in the 8:45 range.   Very warm and humid as you would expect this time of year. 

AM - 4.5 miles with Dan through WC and the golf course.  We ran in the reverse direction of our normal route on the course, which as it turns out felt significantly more difficult with seemingly more hills than in the usually direction.   

AM - 4.5 miles with Dan on the Milton trail.  A bit slower today as Dan was dragging a little.  

AM - 10 miles with Greg and Darryl from the Starbucks at Bethany Bend through Deerfield and up to Avalon and back through town.  We ran at a good pace but not too hard in the heat and humidity.   

AM - 5 miles with an improvised route using part of the trail and surrounding neighborhoods.   Did a half a piece of sourdough with some honey and .25 mile warm-up before the run - which kind of amazingly suprised me at how much of an affect that it had on the run.  Lately my day-after my long run is a slow shuffle - and as I have been complaining about deep muscle aches in my upper legs - the checklist of causes - I decided to do a little pre-run nutrition with a little natural sugar from honey - less than a teaspoonful - so today I expanded my run from a 3-4 mile easy run - to 5 miles at a more "normal" daily pace - and my upper legs were noticably much less achy.  

AM - met Dan at Milton HS for a run through Crabapple.  Did the same pre-run nutrition - and a short warm up before he arrived; and though we were slower in pace due to various issues Dan was having - I had a relatively good run with little achiness except for the first .25 to half mile.  The idea is to only do intake of natural sugars ahead of, during, or after runs; but not in any other part of the day unassociated with running or workouts; using the sugar mainly only for fueling and restoration.  

AM - 4 easy miles on the trail with Dan and Rosie.  He changed his travel plans instead of going to NYC for business, due to the bad weather/flash floods.  

AM - 3 miles with Dan early before Tracy and I headed out to travel to WV for her annual family reunion.  

AM - 5.5 miles from my in-laws house in WV.  Did a short warm-up - started from the pen and ran up the river trail to Glen Dale and looped back down the hwy.  

AM - 3.25 miles with Delaney and Riley on some trails in Grand Vue state park in Moundsville WV.   Here for Tracy's annual family reunion which is at a new venue - and quite nice - staying up on the hilltop in some cabins.  The trails were not very well groomed and probably better for an easy mountain bike - and Riley was concerned about rolling her ankle as she frequently does on terrain such as this.   We ended up taking it very slow on the downhills and in where there were lots of roots or rocks - but decided to end it at a 3 mile effort. 

AM - ran from Grand Vue Park down into the town and over to the 12th Street ball fields around the running / fitness trail that goes around the perimeter of that park and then through town to meet Riley and Delaney who drove down to the trail head to run along the Ohio River trail.  Did about 4 miles with them and an easier pace and then they drove back (stopping at Dunkin for everyone at the cabins) and I made my way back up the hill to the Park which was a little steeper and longer than I remembered from prior visits.   About 1.5 miles with an average gradient of around 10%.   No switchbacks, pretty much straight uphill but I think I managed it well.   As a benefit multiple family reunion early arrivals drove by me in their cars/trucks up the hill either with words of encouragement or bewilderment.  

AM - heading back home today - and sore from the run yesterday, but wanting to get a shake-out in, I drove down to the Walmart and ran and loop the length of the town and back, picked up breakfast and headed by the the cabins.   Good weekend. 

AM - 5 miles with Dan on the Milton Trail.  Good to catch up with him after both of us were away for lengthy weekends.  

AM - 5.75 solo miles this morning starting with a light jog up the trail to the clubhouse before starting my watch.  Mostly uphill the first couple of miles and though I was not especially fast, or in a flow, not too much to complain about with the training modifications I have implemented since last week with a small bite to eat with some honey before my run and a short warm up before formally starting.   I think this adaptation to address the upper leg fatigue, including dropping midweek workouts, is getting me back to feeling better overall.

AM - just over 4.5 miles on the trail with Dan and Rosie this morning.   Had calf muscle cramps late yesterday evening following mowing my yard after work in the heat and humidity that were quite painful and severe, causing me to quickly hop up from my recliner, lose my balance and fall into an end table cracking my ribs.  Legs were fine once I got started today, but the ribs will be painful and sore for a few weeks I suspect.   

AM - 4.5 miles with Dan through Crabapple - decent pace - good conversation. 

AM - 5.25 miles through Wood Valley and East Bluff - very humid today and did not eat any pre-run toast and honey; really felt the absence of fueling today. 

AM - just under 7 miles with Dan who wanted to try for a longer run which went well for him - and then I did another 7.5 miles on the treadmill.  It is just so warm and humid - so doing that second half indoors was a relief.   

AM - 5 miles easy to moderate before church...partly on trail.   Legs felt ok, but overall I was a bit fatigued - still ended up running reasonably well the last 3 miles. 

AM - 4.75 miles with Dan and Rosie on the trail.    A bit slower than usual for us, but that was fine as I really did not feel all that into it today.  Very warm and it is supposed to reach the upper 90's today.  

AM - 5.25 miles with Dan from his house out to the horsefarm trail roads.  Good conversation and good pace after the first mile.  

AM - 7 miles in NYC up the Hudson River path/trail toward the GW Bridge.  Heatwave in full force and over 80 degrees to start at 6:15 am.  Oddly though, I ran way faster than I had expected or planned to.   I noticed about a mile in, that I was passed by a couple of runners, and checked my watch expecting to see a slower pace when in fact I was running below 8:20.  For some unknown reason I continued with that effort attempting not to "lose" anyone who had gone by me and eventually those that passed me either stopped or made earlier turnarounds - leaving me with no one to "catch."   I maintained the pace after turning around at the 3.5 mile mark, and despite the increasing heartrate effort in the heat. finished with what looks like an intentional progression run at tempo effort (though short of tempo pace).   

AM - 6 miles going south on the Hudson Eiver path - again found myself running much faster than I should have for the conditions.   I blame it on the other runners and feeling pulled along by the faster paces.