Positive Running

Ran 8-miles with Wesley and Kevin.  It was a beautify morning with temperatures and dew point in the low-60's.

My Garmin said we averaged 7:42 per mile.  We ran the 7th mile in 7:36.  Considering I ran approximately 18-miles of hilly forest service roads on Saturday, I felt good about how fast we ran today.

Wesley and Kevin could have run much faster, but they consistently hold up for me.  They each have great attitudes and their helping to improve my running speed and endurance.

I only run every other day, with occasional exceptions.  I use different cardio machines on days when I don't run, and I record the calories I burned.  Today, I burned 362 calories in 30 minutes on the stationary bike and 400 calories in 30 minutes on the elliptical machine. 

A running buddy has asked for an explanation of dew point.  Dew point is an important factor when planning runs, especially on hot summer Arkansas mornings.  Dew point is the temperature at which water vapor (gaseous state of water) condenses into water liquid on a solid surface.  The same dew point can be viewed in the opposite direction -- evaporation of water from a liquid state to a gas state, which occurs at the same temperature as the dew point.  The higher the dew point, the hotter our sweat has to get before it will evaporate, that is, transform from liquid to gas.  Evaporation of sweat is one way our bodies keep cool when we run.  Hence, if the dew point is high and the temperature is high, our sweat has to be hotter before it will evaporate and cool us down.  So we risk the potential of overheating due to our bodies trying to cool down internally when the dew point is high, unless we drink cool fluids and/or slow down when we run. 

If anyone has a better explanation of how dew point affects runners, I would be interested in your comments. Thanks.

Easy run at 5:40 a.m. for 8-miles with Sam and Wesley, north of the Arkansas River.  The temperature was in the 60's with a fairly low dew point.  It was our first time running with Sam and he did great.  Tonight I am stretching and doing yoga poses.

Day off from running.  Took the spin class with Travis at the gym.  My first spin class in years.  It was fun.

Feeling good this week from having a sprained foot three weeks ago.  Plan to run some trails in New Mexico this weekend.

Travelled to New Mexico.  Sort of slept an hour on the plane to my lay over at Denver.  Hiked up to Spence Hot Springs, an undeveloped hot springs west of the Valles Caldera near Los Alamos, NM

My buddy Dave and I hiked two miles along the loop at the ancient Tsankawi Cliff  Dwellings.  Hiked 1.5 miles around the ancient Frijoles Canyon cliff dwellings and the Long House at Bandelier National Monument.  Then ran 5.8 mile each way to and from San Antonio Hot Springs with my Soloman Crossmax trail running shoes and my 45 ounce Camelbak hydration pack.  The water at the San Antonio Hot Springs was 102 degrees F.  We met some really nice people and stayed there for about 4-hours.  It was great!

Walked around the annual Jemez Pueblo Arts and Crafts Fair held each year over Memorial Day weekend.  Took the long tour of the ancient Puye Cliff Dwelling in the Santa Clara Pueblo near Espanola.   The tour requires about a 1000 feet elevation climb to see cliff dwelling, a Kiva House, and petroglyphs dating from around 900 AD to 1580 AD.

Very easy day.  Traveled to Taos.  Hiked 1.0 mile around Chimayo and the El Santuario (Lordes of North America), 1.5 miles around the Rio Grande Gorge, 2 miles including the walking tour through Taos Pueblo, 1.0 miles around the town of Arroyo Seco, and 1.5 miles from hotel to and around Taos plazas. 

Another easy day in Taos area.  Hiked 2 miles around Stagecoach Hot Springs near the Rio Grande Gorge, approximately 600 feet to the river and back up to the road, 1 mile to the Arroyo Hondo Hot Springs, 2 miles from the hotel to the Toas plazas and back, and 2 miles from the hotel to the Love Apple Restaurant..   

Very easy day.  Hiked 1.5 miles around the Randall Davey Audubon Center in Santa Fe, and 2 miles around various plazas in Santa Fe including the Palace of the Governors.

Worked out in the hotel fitness center, burned 500 calories.  Hiked 1 mile around the town of Madrid on the Turquoise Trail. Then, took the Sandia Tram and ran 4 miles from the High Finance Restaurant to the Kiwanis Cabin and the Sandia Crest and back to nearly the start of the trail near the tramway where I met up with my friend Dave D.  Then hiked the 4.5 miles to the Kiwanis Cabin and the Sandia Crest again, this time with Dave D.

Worked out at the hotel fitness center, burned 500 calories.  Took the 1 mile walking tour of the Acoma Pueblo, then hiked the 1.5 miles from the Acoma Pueblo to the visitor center. 

Hiked around and took the walking tour of Old Town Albuquerque.

Did yard work and took the day off.

Ran 8 easy miles at 8:00 per mile with Wesley and Kevin, burned 914 calories.  Dew point was between 66 and 69, and temperature was around 74 degrees.  I really felt the dew point after spending the previous week in the New Mexico mountains where the temperatures were primarily in the 70s with less than 10% humidity.  I was dehydrated after the 8-mile run. 

Also worked out in the evening on the elliptical machine for 60 minutes -- burned 725 calories for 3.5 miles. 

Worked out in gym.  Burned 360 calories on elliptical machine, 400 calories on bike, and 225 calories on treadmill.

Very easy run of 8-miles with Kevin and Abtin north of the river.  The weather was very nice, with a dew point under 60 degrees. 

Worked out in the gym. Burned 330 calories on the elliptical, 420 calories on the treadmill, and 200 calories on the recumbent bike.  Made arrangements to run the Lake Ouachital Vista Trail with friends on Saturday morning.

Worked out at the gym.  Burned 700 calories on the elliptical machine.  Prepared a draft speedwork monitoring form based on the ladder approach I used in high school and college.  Keeping good records of your speed training times is a valuable tool.

Ran 18-miles of the Lake Ouachita Vista Trail with George P.  George is in incredible shape and was great to run with.  The morning was beautiful and so was the trail.  The trail runs along the southwest end of the lake on a penninsula near Mountain Harbor, AR. 

We ran the first 9-miles at about 9 min 30 sec per mile, which was probably a bit fast for me on trails because I had intermittent leg and foot cramps starting at the 14th mile.  We slowed down to about an 11 min. per mile pace for the late 4 miles.

We started at 6:20 a.m., and by 8:30 the temperature was warm.  I consumed 40 oz. of Powerade and about 15 ounces of water and could have had 20 oz of more fluids.  I am going to use my Camelbak hydration pack for our next trail run.

One reason for the cramps may be that I need to build more endurance by running a little farther in weekly runs.  Other reasons may have been the heat and sweating out the fluids so that I was a bit dehydrated.  My next trail run will probably be during the last weekend of June. 

I spent a half-hour doing standing yoga poses following a Rodney Yee DVD called Ultimate Power Yoga.  These are excellent stretching exercises.  I can't do the poses perfectly, but I can do some form of each of the poses and it felt great. 

Ran 12 easy miles with Kevin on his 34th birthday, the day after my 54th birthday.  We started running with Abtin, but he told us to go ahead rather than slow us down.  However, from our perspective, we ran very slow (possibly as slow as 9 min/mi) because I ran in my Glycerin 8s, which don't seem to absorb a lot of energy and are very slow for me.  I usually run light-footed, and with the Glycerins my feet hit the ground like Clydesdales and require a lot of work for me.  But I'm travelling out of state for business today, so my Triumph 8s are packed away.  It was a warm morning with a high dew point, so I consumed a lot of Powerade.  Overall though, a good way to start the week.

Took the day off from running. Worked out at the hotel fitness center tonight. Burned 900 calories: 500 on the elliptical machine and 400 on the treadmill.  Read more of the book Wild by Cheryl Strayed while working out, which made the time go by pretty fast.

Travel day from Houston to Little Rock.  Took day off to recover for runs on Thursday and Saturday.

Started at 5:30 a.m. and ran 12-miles with Wesley and Kevin at about 8 min per mile on a beautiful Summer morning at around 65 degrees along the Arkansas River. We ran 6-miles out and back.  It was a fun run with interesting conversation.

Wesley and Kevin could easily run under 7 min per mile, in fact, Wesley ran a mile segment of the course in well under 7 min.  I appreciate their patience running at my slower pace, and believe that running with them is making me faster.

Kevin and I each believe that weekday 12-mile runs are really helping to increase our weekly milage and improve our endurance.  Wesley runs almost every day (18 consecutive days as of today), so his weekly milage is already very good. 

Abtin ran with us for the first two miles.  He's is a hard working law clerk with Kevin's firm, and a fast runner who is working on increasing his running milage but isn't quite up to running 12-miles on a weekday morning.  I think Abtin will do very well when we start doing some speed work in the week or so.

I received my hardcopy of Scott Jurek's book Eat and Run while I was in Houston.  Looks like a great read.

Took the day off from running and did some stretching and stand-up yoga poses.

Met Josh, Stacy and Jenny at 4:30 a.m., drove to Lake Syliva (35 miles west of Little Rock, AR) and at 5:30 a.m. started running forest service dirt roads between Lake Sylvia and Lake Winona.  It was a beautiful morning, about 65 degrees when we started, as the sun was rising.  At 5:30, we could see about 60 feet in front of us and by 5:45 the sun had risen  completely.  In that 15 minutes, we saw and heard several deer and saw a small animal crossing the trail when it was too dark to clearly see, but that was the size of a skunk.

We ran 16 miles in about 2 hours and 45 minutes;  8-miles out and back.  Then the others ran another 2 miles out the in the other direction and back so they ran 20-miles.  But I had to get ready to go kayaking the 7-miles of the Little Red River from the JFK dam to the Swinging Bridge.   I returned to Little Rock around 9:00 and by 10:00 was on my way to Heber Springs to kayak the Little Red.  Overall, it was a fun and great way to spend a Saturday.

Today is a non-running day, so I burned 620 calories on the elliptical machine and did 30 minutes of standing yoga exercises.

Another non-running day.  Burned 850 calories in the gym:  250 calories on the stationary bike and 600 calories on the treadmill at an 8% incline for 1500 vertical feet and over 3.5 miles.

Ran 11 miles with Wesley and Kevin along the north side of the Arkansas River.  Ran the first 5.5 miles at about a 7:45 per mile pace on a 75 - 77 degree morning with the dew point at 68 (muggy!).  Ran the second 5.5 miles at a slower pace of about 8:20 per mile, for an average of 8:05 per mile for the 11 miles.

Felt good considering the heat, but it will get hotter and muggier in July.  Looking forward to doing some speed work later this week.  Haven't done speed work since 1994, so this should be interesting.  I'll take it slow the first few times to avoid pulling or straining anything.

Worked out in the gym.  Burned 660 calories on the elliptical machine.  Left knee is a little sore and tight.  Probably need to do some stretching tonight.

Burned 250 calories on the elliptical machine at the gym.   Then ran 10-miles with Kevin at a slow pace (8:25 per mile) along the North shore of the Arkansas River.  My left knee was tight so we started slow and I ended the last two miles slow.  Otherwise, most of the run was at around an 8 min. per mile pace.  We started at 6:10 a.m. and the temperature was 75 degrees with a dew point of 66. 

Kevin and talked about different legal cases, including some trademark cases and related jury reactions to various arguments and types of evidence.  We are planning to do some speed work tomorrow, and my left knee feel much better after the run.

Ran with Kevin for 7-miles on the trail north of the Arkansas River.  It was a good start to a muggy 74-degree morning. 

Ran the first 1.5 miles at 8 min per mile to warm-up. 

For 3 miles, alterated running quarter-mile intervals followed each time by a quarter-mile of recovery (walking/jogging).  I took it slowly because my left knee and hamstring are a bit tight.  My quarter-mile times ranged from 95 secs to 105 secs --  a little faster than a 10K pace.  My intent was to pace my body close to it’s lactate threshold -- the point in which your body starts producing lactic acid.

Kevin's quarter-mile times ranged from 78 secs to 82 secs -- much faster!

Ran the last 2.5 miles without intervals at 8:20 per mile.  I need to run speed intervals at least once per week to build up my speed in short distances.

Recovery day.  No running or working out in the gym.  My left knee needs a break.  I may need to change running shoes.  Will try a new pair on Monday.

Ran 6 easy miles in about 52 minutes, up a major hill (Rawlings to Chenal) by my house.  Nice morning with several people running the same running/bike path.  Could have run a lot further, but I need to go easy on my left knee so I can run several more miles tomorrow morning.

Ran 12 miles with Wesley on a 79 degree morning with the dew point at 70.  I tried a brand new pair of Triumph 8 running shoes, and my left knee felt fine afterwards.  So it's time to retire another pair of running shoes.  It was a great way to start the week.

Wesley told me about a brand of instant oatmeal I plan to try, since I eat oatmeal at least once nearly everyday.  I'm reading Scott Jurek's book Eat and Run.  Very interesting.  I've experienced a number of the same things running and training for short ultras (50 K runs).  I'm working on overcoming leg muscle cramps so I can run farther, and adding distance to my weekly running seems to be helping.

No running or working out today.  Time to recover.

Ran 11 miles on the North side of the Arkansas Rivery on a beautiful morning with temps around 62 degrees and a low dew point.  Met Wesley at the 7.5 mile marker.  I really felt good running in my new pair of Triumph 8's.  Didn't wear my Garmin, but figure we ran at about a 7:50 per mile pace. 

Put ice on my knee throughout the day, and it felt great for Family Night tonight.  We say the movie Brave, which was a good kid's animated story, at the Chenal Theater.

Ran 10-miles with Wesley north of the Arkansas River on a warm morning about 76 degrees with a dew point of 63.  Averaged 8:02 per mile, but ran the 7th mile in 7:48 and the 8th mile in 7:51.  I didn't know I was running at quite that fast of a pace.  Wesley ran 11 miles, including 6 miles with me and 5 miles at about 6:25 per mile (What a Gazelle!).

I feel great but will recover more tomorrow so I can run 20-miles of dirt forest service roads with some ultra friends on Saturday.

Today is a recovery day.  No running and no working out at the gym.

Met some running buddies at a local restaurant on Friday evening for some great conversations.  Stayed until nearly 10:00 p.m., which was late for me since I plan to wake up at 3:45 a.m. to go running on Saturday.

Woke up at 3:45 a.m. to meet Jenny, Deb, Stacey, Reid and Josh at Lake Sylvia at 5:00 a.m.  Lake Sylvia is in the Ouachita Mountains about 35 miles west of Little Rock, and the location of several forest service roads used extensively by ultra runners to train for the Arkansas Traveler 100 (AT 100). 

Ran 17 miles.  The frist 5 miles were an out and back run, then our group met up with another group including Po Dog, Tom, Rich, and PT, and we ran for 6 miles, at which point I turned back since I needed to be home by 9:30 a.m.  During the last 6 miles, I ran past several people I haven't seen since the AT 100 last year.

It was a warm, dry morning even in the mountains.  My car thermometer said 71 degrees at 5:00 a.m. and 82 degrees at 8:15 a.m.  I was very tired driving back to Little Rock so I'm glad I only ran 17 miles.

Got a good night sleep, which I needed.  Then recovered all day, which I needed.  I wanted to stretch and do some yoga poses, but ran out of time.

Ran with Wesley at 12:40 p.m. - 1:48 p.m. for 8-miles north of the Arkansas River in approximately 90 degree weather with the dew point at 65.  I'm amazed at the condition Wesley is in.  In extreme heat, Wesley can run as fast as ever and without a water bottle.  We started strong at a pace under 8 minutes per mile, but I slowed considerably after the 4th mile.  I took approximately a one minute break at mile 4 and turned back while Wesley continued to run for a longer distance.  I stopped for brief walks (under 10 seconds each) on 4 separate times at 5, 6, 6.5 and 7 miles; and consumed a 20 ounce bottle of Powerade.  Wesley caught up with me at the Broadway bridge and we each felt good after we finished.  A year ago, I could not have done that, but now it would be good to do an afternoon run every week or two throughout the summer to acclimate to hot weather.

Our buddy Travis is running in the heat in Florida in Air Force Reserve training.  While I was running, I was thinking of how Travis is doing in their afternoon runs.  Travis is young, fast and strong, so I'm sure he's doing well.

Ran 8 miles with Kevin, including 3/4 mile doing 9 uphill runs. We ran a 3.2 mile warm-up on by the Arkansas River.  Then, we ran hill repeats on a 125 meter section of Overlook Drive, one of the steepest roads in Little Rock.  We each ran up hill fairly fast.  Kevin ran the hill in about 45 seconds each time, and I ran the hill between 55 and 60 seconds each time.  We ran up the hill, and jogged slowly down it to recover, then repeated that sequence.   After 9 hill repeats (about 2500 meters including the downhill jogging), we ran the 3.2 miles again to cool down.  By the last hill repeat, we were each really struggling to complete the hill at the pace we were running.  But our goal is to extend the distance of the hill segment we run by August from 125 meters to 200 meters.

On an 80 degree morning with a dew point of 66, Wesley and I ran 14.5 miles from downtown Little Rock to the Big Dam Bridge in West Little Rock and back to downtown Little Rock.  The course runs along the north side of the Arkansas River.  Wes could have run at least a couple miles per minute faster, but I slowed us to approximately an 8:20 per minute pace.  Not sure why, but it seemed like we were moving faster than usual in the first 7.25 miles because the time just flew by.  Maybe everything else just was more still than normal.

By the time we reached the 7.25 mile point, my running shoes were soaking wet with sweat.  Running in wet shoes slows me down a bit.  To prevent dehydration, I drank 20-ounces of Powerade and about another 12-ounces of water.  I felt very good after the run and did not have any signs of calf cramps or other muscle cramps. 

Two months ago, I could not have run that far in 80 degree heat without cramping, so I was pleased with the run.  Need to run that 14.5 mile course once each mid-week until mid-September, then increase the distance to 16-miles to build my base.  Running with Wes is making me a much stronger runner.

On a hot morning with temps around 80 degrees and a dew point of 70, Kevin and I ran 9 miles at an 8 min per mile pace on the trail north of the Arkansas River.  We started strong averaging about 7:45 min per mile and I ended running about 8:10 per mile while Kevin ran the last three miles at about 7:45 per mile.  Kevin wanted to run hard because he had only run on Tuesday this week, when we did hill repeats.  Once I reached downtown Little Rock, I ran an extra half mile while Kevin ran to his new gym by the Arkansas State Capitol Building. 

Ran 11-miles on the north side of the Arkansas River with Alex Wan.  It was a warm 80 degree morning, but it rained for approximately 10-minutes which caused the temperature to decrease to the 70s for about 45 minutes.  By the time we were done, the temperature was up to 83 degrees.  We ran 8 quarter mile intervals between 82 and 90 seconds each. 

Alex had strained his hamstring while canoeing down the Buffalo River, since the water level is so low.  During the last quarter mile interval, Alex's strained hamstring caught up to him.  So after running 11 miles, we walked for 7 miles back to our cars. 

It was a great walk.  Alex is from Malaysia, has travelled the world significantly, and is very interesting to run and walk with.  We talked about the medicinal benefits of ice baths and ice packs, different running events, qualifying for Boston, foods to eat, places to see, massages and spas, and towns where we have relatives living.  It was a good time!

Recovery day.  Did not run or work out.

Ran 14.5 miles from downtown Little Rock to the Big Dam Bridge and back in 2 hrs and 1 minute for an average of 8:35 per mile.  It was a muggy morning with a dew point of 70 and temperatures around 76 degrees.  The morning was cloudy and there was very little to no wind.  I ran the first 7.25 miles at 8:10 per mile, but slowed down considerably on the return leg of the run, averaging 8:59 per mile for the second 7.25 miles.  The slower speed on the return was due to a need to build up my endurance for longer runs.

There seemed to be fewer people than usual on the trail today.  My guess is that the weather forecast that called for a possibility of rain gave people an excuse to stay inside.  Also, the fish were really biting on the Arkansas River this morning, with large bass jumping out of the water to feed on flies.

Another muggy and cloudy morning in Little Rock.  Ran 12-miles along the Arkansas River trail, scaring away the hundreds of Canadian Geese that had gathered in various spots between mile markers 5 and 5.5.  We haven't received much rain where I live, but the trail had three large sections with standing water this morning between mile markers 5 and 5.5. The temperature was 77 - 79 degrees and the dew point was 72, so it was a good morning for a slow long distance type of run.  I averaged only 8:40 per mile, after starting out running at an 8:13 per minute pace for the first 6 miles.  By the time I turned around at the 6 mile point, my shoes were soaked in sweat and I could hear the "squishing" of my insoles.  I'll take Wednesday off as a recovery day since I ran two consecutive days.  But I don't feel sore, probably because both runs this week have been at a slower pace than I usually run.  But I feel good that mile base of miles is staying consistent at the 50+ miles per week level.

Worked out on elliptical machine, burning 650 calories in the gym.

Tempo run of 8-miles with Wesley north of the river on a 77 degree morning with the dew point at 73 (very muggy).  Ran the first first 4-miles in an average of 7.53 per mile, and ran the second 4-miles with an averge of 8.08 per mile.  Ran the 6th mile in 7.52, so need to push harder to get the 7th mile under 8-minutes.  The weekday medium-long runs are helping to improve my endurance, but are also causing me to not be as fresh for tempo runs as I had been.  That's OK.  Wesley and I talked about whether temperature or dew point has a greater affect on runners.  We agree that high temperatures have a definite impact, and so do high dew points when combined with moderately-high to high temperatures.  

Ran 7 very easy miles with Abtin and Kevin north of the Arkansas River.  We averaged an 8:45 per mile pace in order to enable Abtin to keep up with us.  Kevin and I thought of it as a "recovery run" or warm-up, but Abtin was running hard.  We talked about lots of different things as we ran since Abtin just came back from spending approximately 10 days in North Carolina.  It was a fun way to start the day, and it started to rain just after we finished.  I wore my new Saucony Cortana shoes which felt great, but this was not much of a test for them.  I'll reserve my assessment of the Cortanas after I run a Tempo run on Monday.

Kevin sent us a photo of our buddy Wesley completely in the air as he was extending his stride during the Little Rock Firecracker Fast 5K, which Wesley ran in 5:35 minutes per mile.  The photo is a textbook example of outstanding running form that reminds me of short films we used to watch of world class runners when I was in high school and college.

Recovery day from the Full Moon Midnight 25K.

Ran 10 miles north of the Arkansas River with Wesley.  Averaged around 8 minutes per mile, but ran miles 2, 3, 7, 8 and 9 under 8-mins.  It was a warm morning at 80 - 81 degrees, and pretty humid with a dew point of 72.  I feel good to be able to run this well just a day and 1/2 after the 25K in the hills of Lake Sylvia. 

I was raised in the foothills of Colorado and have spent a lot of time hiking and running in the mountains of Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Utah.  Based on some pretty good experience, the mountain trails of Arkansas are comparable to many of the mountain trails out west.  If you haven't been to the Ouachita and Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, it is well worth travelling to.  The differences between summer running in the Arkansas mountains versus running in the Rocky Mountains are that (a) Arkansas is much more humid, and (b) the elevation is lower so people from Rocky Mountain states have a distinct advantage since the air is much thicker here.

Ran 8 miles with Kevin and Abtin.  We started with a 3 mile warm-up.  Followed with about 1.2 miles of hill climb repeats in which we ran approx. 120 meters up a fairly steep inclined paved road.  We did 5 repeats of hard uphill running and the reversed it and did 3 repeats of hard downhill running along the same 120 meter stretch of Overlook Drive.  We ended with a 4 mile cool down run.  Kevin runs hills extremely well.  I ran the uphills at about 3/4 speed to avoid straining my old reconstructed left knee.  Abtin did great and was able to run with us since we took the warm up and cool down extremely easy.  It was a fun morning to run.  Although the temperature was 79 and the dew point was 72, it did not feel as hot as yesterday.

Easy morning run of 11-miles at a 8:30 per mile pace.  The temp was about 80 degrees and the dew point was 72 (hot and muggy).

Ran 5 miles with Josh and Abtin in the Pleasant Valley (PV) area of west Little Rock.  It was Abtin's first time running with the PV group and he was suprised that the course was so hilly.  Saw Howard at PV, but he ran at a slower pace.  But we met up with Howard at the end.  It was good to see Josh and Howard.  I really ought to run with the PV group more often, since I hadn't done that since I ran with Josh about two months ago.

5-miles is barely worth waking up at 4:20 a.m., so I drove downtown to where I work and ran 6 more miles north of the Arkansas River. But I took that easy, running at an 8:30 per mile pace like at PV.

Ran 7.5 miles north of the river. Ran 6 miles with Wesley, who ran 8.5 miles, and walked 1/2 mile.  It is getting hot in Arkansas.  Temperature this morning was 82 degrees and dew point was 71 (74% humidity).  I drank 20 oz. of Powerade and was still a bit dehydrated at the end.  Ran the first 4 miles at an 8:06 per mile pace.  Ran the second 3.5 miles at an 8:53 per mile pace.  I'll take the day off from running tomorrow and reduce my goal to 45 miles for next week. 

This is the time of year in Arkansas when morning temperatures are in the low 80s and daily high temperatures exceed 100 degrees.  This will likely continue for the next three weeks.

Took Wesley's suggestion and had a recovery day in which I did as much relaxing and as little physical exersion as possible.  That seemed to work well.

Ran 20.25 miles in just less than 4 hours of AR forest service roads from Lake Sylvia to Lake Winona and back.  This was a training run for several expeienced runners of the Arkansas Traveler 100 mile run that will be held in the first weekend of October.  Everyone had a really good time.  Wesley joined us and will probably run with this group several times between now and the Traveler, and we hope he becomes a regular member of the group on Saturday mornings.  I was pleased with my running since I did not have any leg muscle cramps and ran the final 3.7 miles in 8:01 per mile. 

Got a good night of sleep.  Another recovery day.

Ran 9 miles north of the river on a pretty nice morning for mid-July.  Ran the first 4.5 miles in 35 min 50 secs, ran the return 4.5 miles in 36 min 54 secs -- overall 8.05 per mile.  Not many people on the river trail this morning and only one other runner.  The bicyclists came out late too.  I only saw one bicyclists before 6:30 a.m., but saw quite a few of them after that.

My 14-year old Black Lab kept me awake for two hours last night, so I didn't get much sleep.  The morning was 77 degrees with a dew point of 71 (another hot summer morning).  But I felt great with lots of energy, as I ran 14.5 miles from downtown Little Rock to the Big Dam Bridge in West Little Rock and back downtown.  Started miles 1 - 5 this morning at the following per mile pace for each consecutive mile: 1: 7:56, 2: 7:59, 3: 7:46, 4:7:53, 5: 8:01.  I  slowed down to an 8:11 pace for miles 6 through 9.  Met up with Wesley at mile 9, he continued west while I continued east.  Finished a little slower at 8:25 per mile fo the last 5 miles.  I didn't cramp and don't feel sore, so the increase weekly milage seems to be working.

Good night of sleep.  Recovery day - no work out.

It was a warm morning (81 degrees with a dew point of 72) to run 13-miles north of the river with Wesley.  We averaged 8:07 per mile, with the following 5 miles under 8-minutes per mile: mile 2: 7:29; mile 3: 7:30; mile 4: 7:46; mile 5: 7:57, and mile 11: 7:56.  My last mile crossing the Broadway Bridge and stopping at traffic lights was at 8:44, which slowed down the average for the run.  I drank nearly 50 ounces of Powerade and water to keep from dehydrating, and felt good after the run.  I was a bit surprised that mile 11 was under 8-minutes -- not sure how that happened.

Recovery day.  Feel good.  Would like to run, but know that a recovery day is better.

Met Cliff, Tina and Bridget at Lake Sylvia at 5:40.  They were late due to putting out water along the trail.  Started at 5:45 a.m. and finished at 9:30 a.m.  Ran from Lake Sylivia to FR132 on the Catsmacker Loop course, then took the Flatside Wilderness Loop to Brown's Creek and back to Lake Slyvia.  The Flatside Wilderness is a misnomer because it involves several miles of some of the steepest section of dirt roads in the area.  But the top of the mountain is flat for about 1/3 mile with a spectacular view.  We had an 8 minute stop for water refill, energy gels and other snacks at mile 13.  Bridget and Tina are consistent sub-3:30 marathon runners, and Tina is an experienced ultra runner.  Hence, they kept up with Cliff and me most of the time.  It was a good 19 mile run.  

Recovery day.

Ran 7.2 miles on the treadmill at lunch, which I almost never do.  But I had trouble sleeping last night so I skipped running this morning.  Plus, I knew it would be a hot morning with the temperature at 84 degrees at 7:10 a.m. this morning.  

Feeling good that I was able tor run 7.2 miles at a 1% incline in 52 min 20 secs or about 7:19 per mile.  Ran a couple of miles under 7 min per mile.  I had to cut the miles short due to lack of time, but felt like I could have maintained a 7:19 pace on the treadmill for at least 10 miles.  Looking forward to cooler weather.

Ran 15 slow miles in 88 to 90 degrees on a hot Arkansas morning.  Averaged 8:36 per mile, so the run took me 129 minutes. When I reached the trail north of the Arkansas River, I ran half the distance to the Main Street Bridge, turned around and ran to the Big Dam Bridge.  I ran pretty hard yesterday on the treadmill, so I was just trying to get in some miles this morning.  The sky was mostly overcast without a strong sun, so the heat index was about the same as the temperature.  I drank about 50 ounces of Powerade and water, but felt good and not overheated at all.

Got a good night of sleep.  Recovery day - no work out.  Our gym doesn't have a hip abduction machine, so I am looking to learn about hip abduction exercises.

Ran 13 miles with Josh north of the Arkansas River this morning.  Josh is an outstanding ultra-marathon runner, so it was good to run some pavement with him.  We ran the first half with the following times.  Mile 1: 7:02; Mile 2 7:18; Mile 3: 7:32; Mile 4: 7:42; Mile 5: 8:01; Mile 6: 7:48.  Ran the second 6.5 miles with an average time of 8:01 per mile.  Overall pace: 7:51 per mile.  I feel great and will probably run some more this afternoon or this evening.

Ran this morning instead of running last night.  This was a slow easy run north of river just to add some miles.  Started at 6:30 a.m., which is later than usual, so it was fairly warm. 

Ran 13.5 slow miles with Josh and Joe from Two Rivers Bridge to the Riverview Skate Park and back.  It was good to run with Josh and Joe.  Hadn't run with Joe since we ran the Full Moon 25K in early July.  Compared to Joe's running times last year, his 8:58 per mile pace for this morning was outstanding.  When we returned to Two Rivers, Joe and Josh went to Panera Bread for breakfast.  

I continued and ran the 7-mile loop (6.85 miles) at Two Rivers Park at a 8:17 per mile pace, not including two water filling stops.  What made that pace good was that the trail between the bridge and the loop was very crowded with walkers, a few runners and a lot of bicyclists.  But most people were confining their activities to the shaded trail between the bridge and the loop.  Hence, once I reached the loop, due to the hot weather and lack of shade on the loop, there were very few runners, walkers or bicyclists on the loop.  It was a good run on pavement.  , I ran by Joel P twice during the two legs of the run this morning.  Joel looks like he's training pretty hard.  When I returned to the parking lot, I talked with my buddy Alex who had just finished running for 17 miles.  AT the parking lot, one of the bicyclists commented that he saw me getting water and then running pretty fast around the loop.  He saw that I was out of water as I reached the parking lot and gave me an ice-cold bottle of water.  That was nice.

Another recovery day.

Ran with Josh from Two Rivers to the mile 4 mark north of the river.   I started us at a leisurely 7:46 to 8:00 per mile pace for the first three miles, and in retrospect, should have started slower for Josh.  Ran miles 4 to 6 in about 7:55, then met up with Josh and ran at about 8:35 for two miles, then ran mile 9 at 7:50 and mile 10 at 7:07.  I circled back and Josh and I walked in the last half-mile together.

Josh had just eaten dinner before we started at 6:40 p.m., and he lost his dinner at mile 5. But Josh continued running.  Plus, Josh had run a total of 48 miles in the two previous days, so he was looking for  a recovery run. It was good running with Josh, who is an extremely good ultramarathon runner who runs sub-7:00 miles with no problem when he isn't worn-out and sick to his stomach.  Josh will be running two 100 mile runs in the next six months, and pacing a friend of ours in the Arkansas Traveler 100.

Started a little late at 7:15 p.m. and ran 10.5 miles on a 90 to 94 degree evening with Wesley.  Averaged approximately 8:05 per mile, but ran mile 8 in 7:21, which felt good.  Wesley and I are running much better in the heat this year compared to last year. 

At Wesley's suggestion, we ran the Burns Park loop at dusk and nearly were sprayed by two skunks, came close to cornering a racoon by a tree, and supprised a squirrel that jumped like a frog in the brush.  The skunks got into position to spray us, but we ran far enough from them that they must not have felt threatened. 

Saw Jacob at Two Rivers on Saturday morning, and Monday and Tuesday nights.  Saw Joel there on Saturday and Monday.  The park is consistently really busy, and that's a good thing for Little Rock. 

Ran 7 miles on a sunny 95 degree afternoon in 59.16 or 8:28 per mile.  Just trying to add some miles for the week, without pushing hard.  Kind of a recovery run.  Saw one of my ultra running friends running in the opposite direction on the Broadway Bridge.  She was just finishing as I was starting at 11:45 a.m.  Otherwise, not many people on the trail at lunchtime today.  Just a couple of bicyclists. 

4th consecutive day of running - I rarely do that.  Ran 12 miles in 8:09 per mile north of the river. ran 3.75 miles with Kevin, who ran great considering he hasn't been running much in the past month.  Ran the first mile slow, but ran mile 2 in 7:50 and mile 3 in 7:36.  My mile 4 was 7:59 but that included slowing down when Kevin decided to turn back and I decided to continue.  To my surprise, my Garmin says I ran mile 7 in 7:41 just after the turn-around.

I feel good, but I need a recovery day prior to running 20 miles on Saturday with the ultramarathoners at Lake Sylvia.

Recovery day. 

Watching videos of Olympic running events to see what I can learn from the running form of the top runners, 

Ran 20 miles on the lake to lake trail at Lake Sylvia.  Took a right at SR 114 and saw a bear track about three miles from the intersection of SR 179 and SR 114. A nice morning - about 65 degrees.  Saw Carl Baldwin and met up with Stacy, Cliff and Jenny. 

After running 16.75 miles, I kicked in some additional effort and ran the last 3.25 miles in 7:13 per mile, which was faster than I thought I could run on dirt road. Overall, a nice morning and a nice run.

Started at 6:20 at Two Rivers and ran to to the BDB parking lot and back to Two Rivers (about 3 miles).  Then ran the 7 mile loop on a beautiful late summer morning at about 65 degrees.  Met Kevin after the run and before he was about to run up the hill at Overlook Drive.  Lot's of people at Two Rivers for a Sunday morning, Nice way to start the week.

AM:  Ran 5 miles on the treadmill.  Central Arkansas received some much needed rain overnight and early this morning. 

LUNCHTIME:  Ran 6 miles north of the Arkansas River at 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. with temps around 94 degrees.  It seemed fairly dry considering we had rain in the morning.

Should be a nice day tomorrow.

This morning was 72 degrees with a dew point of 61, which was terrific.  I'm surprised more people weren't outside enjoying the morning.  I ran 13 miles in 8:34 per mile (slow) but averaged 8:23 per mile for 11 miles, not including the first and last mile.  Overall, a comfortable pace considering that I've run 54 miles in the last four days.

Recovery day.  In The Woodlands on business.

Tempo run with Pam and Mike in The Woodlands, on a hot (82 degrees) and humid Texas morning.  Warmed up with 2 miles at 8:47 per mile.  Ran 1.75 miles at 7:04 per mile.  Walked for 20 seconds because I was running low on energy.  Ran 1.25 miles at 7:26 per mile, while Pam ran the same in 7:00 per mile.  Ran the last mile at 8:21 per mile.

Pam has been training by doing tempo runs like this and could easily have completed the entire three miles at 7:00 per mile without stopping.  I have worked on endurance all summer, and am just starting my tempo run trainning.  So this was a good test.  I'll be doing two tempo runs per week like today's run between now and the first week of December (St. Jude Marathon), as I try to improve on the distance I can run without stopping at 7:00 per mile.

Overall, it was a good run.  I'm a bit fatigued from all the running I've been doing and will appreciate when my tapering for the Philly HM starts the week after next.  

8.5 mile recovery run on the Arkansas River trail on a beautify 82 degree afternoon at an average pace of 8:28 per mile.  It was a lot more humid yesterday morning running in The Woodlands.  I ran a fairly consistent pace between 8:20 and 8:35 per mile.

Ran with the Arkansas Travelers 100 (AT 100) ultra marathon training group. Started from the Lake Sylvia trailhead and ran up Browns Creek Road(probably 70% of that section is a 3% to 7% uphill grade). Ran an extra mile and a half beyond the Ouachita Trail crossing (we just ran past it) and ran back and found the trail crossing. Then ran and walked (in slick sections) the OT for 8 miles. The entire route is part of the AT 100. It started to rain during the 7th mile and didn't let up until approximately the 14th mile.

Ran a modified version of the Capitol City Classic course with Jacob W and Kevin.  Jacob has been reading Mastering the Marathon:  Time-efficient Training Secrets for the 40+ Athlete.  Following that book, we ran at a pace between 8:40 and 8:50 per mile.  From Kevin and my perspective, we ran a relaxing recovery pace only I was the only one recovering.  Kevin, Jacob and their friend Joel are training for the Tupelo Marathon on Sept. 6 and the St. Jude Marathon on Dec 1, and Jacob is hoping to beat a 3:30 time for each race.   I had to cut the run short at 11.25 miles to get ready to perform Head Usher duties at church, but Kevin and Jacob continued for a 15 mile run.

Ran 11.5 miles with an ultramarathon running friend south of the river.  Ran 2.25 miles in 9 intervals (with 20 to 30 second rests between sprints) and in those miles we averaged 6:42 per mile.  In beautiful 88 degree weather, we ran 8 miles at an average 8:07 pace.  Although my Garmin reported a 6:42 average pace during the intervals, our actual interval pace was around 6:05 per mile during intervals of 0.2 to 0.5 miles.  Then I drove 3 miles down Riverfront Dr. to the BDB and ran 3.5 miles, averaging 8:15 in the first 1.5 miles and cooling down at an average pace of 9:09 for the final 2 miles.  These were good intervals tonight and I feel that I benefitted from them, but I really need to learn how to pace myself better so I can run a little slower like 7:00 per mile intervals. 

Recovery day, after 56.25 miles in the past 5 days.  I thought I would really feel some muscle soreness after the run yesterday, but I feel pretty good.

Unseasonably cool morning for Arkansas in August - approx. 69 degrees.  Ran 10 miles north of the river with Wesley.  People were out on the trail this morning and Wesley commented that cool mornings like this make it easy to get up early and run.  Wesley is running very strong.  We ran miles 2 through 5 at 7:30 per mile or less we think, but neither of us had our Garmins so that's a guess.  Ran the second 5 miles at closer to an 8:15 per mile pace.  So overall, we averaged under 8:00 per mile.  I held back a little in the second 5 miles since I will be running tomorrow morning.  For me, I've run a lot of miles in the past two months and need to start tapering for the HM in Philly in mid-Sept and to focus more on speed work in the next three weeks.

We met a guy in his late 60's who grew up about 1/3 mile from me in Littleton, Colorado - it's a small world. 

Recovery day with no running or work out.

Ran 12 miles north of the river with Wesley.  Started by running 5.5 miles including a 4 mile tempo run with an average pace at sub-7:20 min per mile.  Then met up with Kevin and ran 6.5 miles at a 7.43 min per mile pace.  Overall, we ran the 12 miles at a 7:40 min per mile pace, which is within the aerobic zone of Wesley and Kevin.  The 20% upper limit of Wesley's aerobic zone is 7:47 min per mile and of Kevin's aerobic zone is just a little over 8:00 min per mile.  

The 20% upper limit of my aerobic zone is 9:27 min per mile, so I am training to improve my pace so that when I run with Wesley and Kevin, each of us gets a solid aerobic workout.  My running form needs improvement, and I'm struggling to run with good form throughout a medium-long run.  Please let me know if you have ideas on how to improve running form.

It was good for all three of us to run together, we haven't done that much throughout this summer.  However, Kevin has moved 20 mile closer to downtown Little Rock, so we should be able to start running together on a more regular basis. 

Ran 11.25 easy miles, 7 miles with Abtin from the Big Dam Bridge to the soccer fields on Riverfront Dr. and back, and 1.5 miles with Reid Landes. Abtin is running very good - at a pace of approximately 8:50 minutes per mile despite having runner's knee. He's on track to run the Soaring Wings HM at the end of October.

This morning I saw a number of people on the trail. Amy and Austin in the parking lot at Two Rivers, Joel P on the trail, Howard H on the trail, Sanjeev J. on the trail, and Reid on the trail.

Reid is a solid ultramarathon runner and will be running the Arkansas Traveler 100 on October 6. I saw Reid ahead of me just after the Big Dam Bridge and caught up with him. He had run the North Little Rock side and Abtin and I ran the South side of the river. Overall, it was a good recovery run.

Warm muggy mornings have returned to central Arkansas. Ran 11-miles in an average pace of 8:04 minutes per mile. Started at Two Rivers, going over the Big Dam Bridge, and running to mile marker 4 north of the Arkansas River then returning back to Two Rivers. Spoke with James T of Acxiom who we see almost every morning when running north of the river during the week. Saw Karen Hays, and ran the last mile with Leah T at a 7:07 minute per mile pace. While running with Leah I realized that by picking up my knees more and extending my stride I can achieve the goal pace I am targeting with a lot less effort than I've been using. Saw Baker K at the Two Rivers parking lot. Overall, not a speed run but a solid effort for a Sunday morning.

Recovery day.  Wanted to work out in the gym but couldn't due to work involving preparations for TS Isaac.

Ran 15 miles north of the Arkansas River with Wesley in 1:53:42 or an average pace of 7:35 minutes per mile.  Ran the first 7.5 miles in under 7:20 per mile, inlcuding mile 3 at 6:55 per mile and mile 4 at 7:07 per mile.  I had no idea we were running that fast.  I was please to see that we ran mile 12 at 7:44 and mile 13 at 7:43 per mile.  It helps a great deal to run with Wesley who just cruises at these paces without a heavy breath like a stroll in the park.

I was a warm (79 degrees) and very humid (muggy) morning.  I'm looking forward to cooler and dryer mornings in the next month.

Ran an easy 4.5 miles with Abtin north of the river.  Abtin has a great attitude and is working through the pains that everyone goes through when ramping up their weekley mileage.

Ran 13 miles north of the river at an average pace of 8:22 minutes per mile. Didn't want to run too hard because I have at least one long Heart of the Traveller training run this weekend with the AT 100 training group. Also, wanted to run before central Arkansas begins receiving rain from TS Isaac, which should begin around noon today.

Rainy day in central Arkansas due to tropical depression Isaac.  Ran 7 miles on the treadmill at an average pace of 7:40 per mile, with 5.5 miles at a 7:30 per mile pace.  Saw Wesley at the gym.  He runs on the treadmill a lot more often that I do and makes running at 7:00 per mile look very easy.  I tried that pace and don't have confidence in my novice treadmill skills to maintain that pace.

I have chronically high potassium levels (which I have known about for many years) and want to control my blood-potassium level through diet only.  So I'm having to take Clif bars (Builder's Bars and Energy Bars) out of my diet.  I'll have another potassium test in about a month.  I'm looking for suggestions for low potassium protein and energy bars.

On a whim, I decided on Friday night to run the Labor Day Arkansas 5k Classic with Kevin, Mark and Jacob.  My last 5k race was the St. Patrick's Day Westport-Kansas City 5k which I completed in just under 22 minutes.  Now, 21 years later I decided to run a 5k as a form of speed training.  Kevin finished first in his age group, Mark finished second in his age group, Jacob finished second in his age group, and I finished third in my age group.  I started my Garmin just as I reached the start line (I started about a third of the way from the front of the pack) because it took about 13 seconds to reach the starting line.  I ran the 5k officially in 21.51 or 7:03 per mile, which includes the 13 seconds waiting to reach the starting line.  My Garmin said 21.37 or 6:58 per mile when I crossed the finish line.  Not bad for a warm (81 degrees with a heat index of 86) and muggy morning (humidity at 90%) in Arkansas.   

Ran 7 miles with Mark at Two Rivers Park averaging 8:00 per mile for the run.  Mark is a very strong medium-long distance runner, but we are both recovering from our 5k yesterday and planning to run tomorrow.  Mark and I are fairly even in our running abilities, with Mark faster (about 20 seconds per mile in a HM) than me and my long-run endurance is stronger than Mark's.  We also saw James T, and talked about his growing up in the northern suburbs of Detroit, the great Arab restaurants in those suburbs, and his commuting between Little Rock and Wilmington, DE.  Overall, a good recovery run at a marathon pace.

Met some ultra running friends at 5:00 a.m., drove about 1.5 hours to the base of Smith Mountain.  Met up with at least 40 other runners and ran the second leg of Heart of the Traveller -- a 24 mile combination dirt road and trail run from the base of Smith Mtn to the near the top with approximately 2,000 vertical feet of uphill running.  Ran the 24 miles in 4 hours 20 minutes, and finished 5th among the all the runners.  Saw a lot of great people involved in the AT 100 who I don't visit with enough.  It was warm in the morning and hot in the mid-morning, but I kept hydrated and felt good after the run.  I very much enjoyed the run and am looking forward to pacing George P for the last 33 miles of the AT 100.

Rest day.  My back is sore due to carrying the hydration pack yesterday.  I need to look into changing the way I wear my Camelbak.

Another rest day.  My back feels much better but I'm still a little stiff.

Ran 8 miles in The Woodlands with Mike and Pam.  It was a warm and muggy morning.  I ran miles 3, 4 and 5 at an average pace of 7:23 per mile.  Overall, Mike ran the 8 miles in 64 minutes and I finished about 30 seconds behind him.  This was my last hard run before the Philly Rock 'n Roll HM, so the rest of my runs for the next week will be easy.

Rest day.  Beginning mini-taper for the Philly HM. 

On a cool 68 degree morning (coolest morning in over a month), ran with Joe C, Josh B and SuperDave (our blind running buddy) around the Two Rivers loop and over the Big Dam Bridge and back.  It was a nice slow recovery run with the first 6 miles at about 9:10 per mile and the second 6 miles (including the bridge/hill) at 8:35 per mile.  Hence, from Joe's perspective, we ran a solid negative split.  Josh and I ran a 2 min fartlek at a 6:20 pace to stretch some muscles after the first 6 miles, and I ran another 1 minute fartlek after 11 miles at a 6:50 pace to stretch some more.  

Ran 13.7 miles with Kevin on a beautiful cool morning south of the Arkansas River and at Two Rivers Park.  Started slow because it took me a while to warm up and my left knee continues to heal from the Smith Mountain run.  Ran mile 2 through 7 at 8:11 to 7:57 per mile. By the end of 7 miles, I felt warmed up.  Ran each mile from 8 through 13.7 in under 8:00 per mile, with mile 12 at 7:29, mile 13 at 7:20 and the last 0.7 miles at 7:28 per mile.  I had quite a bit left, but didn't want to push too hard with the HM next Sunday.  After I finished, Kevin ran the 1.5 miles to the BDB at approx. a 7:00 per mile pace -- AWESOME running strength!

Overall, it was a good last hard run before the Philly Rock n Roll HM next Sunday.  It's going to be easy runs for the rest of this week as part of my mini-taper.  I am looking forward to Sunday morning speed workouts based on Brad Hudson's book Run Faster, starting on 9/23/12.    

No run, just a long work day. Early morning - woke up at 3:45 to catch a 6:20 a.m. flight.  Traveled to Rhode Island for work. Provided training at a power plant until 6:30 p.m.

Started to taper for the Philly Rock n Roll HM by running 6 miles in the evening around Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island.  Bryant U. has a 2.5 mile cross-country trail around the campus that includes various running conditions such as grass, sand, dirt roads, pavement, hills, and flat sections. My left knee was extremely stiff and weak throughout the run, which was a real slog averaging 9:25 per mile.  Afterwards, I ate a great baked lobster dinner at a local restaurant.  Then, I put my left knee on ice off and on for a couple of hours. 

Ran 6.5 easy mile around Bryant University.  My left knee was a little stiff tonight, but not nearly as bad as last night.  I took a solid two miles to warm up and averaged 8:50 per mile for the run.  But each mile was successively faster up to the 5th mile at a 7:20 pace.  The variety of running surfaces on the trail tend to slow down the pace a lot.  College students and some older people (possibly faculty) were watching me run the trail as if they don't see too many people in their mid-fifties running that trail so fast.  The students were courteous and several made encouraging comments. Afterwards, I went back to Paretti's Restaurant and had their scallop stuffed baked lobster with sweet potato fries and a salad -- the same dinner I ordered the previous night -- it was soo good.

Rest day.  Did not run.  Recovering for the Philly Half Marathon.

Rest day.  Recovering for Philly HM.

Ran 3 miles around the Rutgers University - Camden Campus,  Felt good.  Ran second mile in 7:20 per mile.

Ran about a mile warm up prior to the race, and should have run an extra half mile of warm-up.  Ran the Philadelphia Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon in 1:34:47.  Placed 738 out of approx 22,000 runners overall and 20 out of 562 in my age group. It was a beautiful morning around 67 degrees with low humidity.  The course runs along some very nice parts of the city from the Philadelphia Art Museum to downtown near the Convention Center and then goes north along the Schuylkill River.

Started at the 2514 position and passed around 1,000 runners in the first mile, which caused that mile to be about one minute slower than any of the other mile in the run.  Had a strong negative split and ended the race strong, running between 7:05 and 7:10 for each of the last 4 miles.

Rest day, but walked nearly 5 miles around Manhattan in NYC. 

Ran 3.5 miles in Bernards Township, NJ where I lived until I was 13 years old.  Would have run further, but we had a busy day around Liberty Corner and Benardsville, NJ.

Ran 12.25 easy miles in a good recovery run around the Cooper River Park in Collingswood, NJ.  The park has a 3.7 mile running trail and a cinder running track.  Ran most of the miles between 8:05 and 8:25 per mile. 

Rest day.  Walked several miles with Aunt Margaret, including most of the Philadelphia Art Museum.

Rest day.  Walked several miles with Aunt Margaret, including most of the Franklin Institute.

Travel day.  Lot's of walking between trains and in airports.

Ran on a nice afternoon from Two Rivers Park to the Skateboard Park, along the north side of the Arkansas River.  The temperature was about 73 degrees and the dew point was moderate.  Had to avoid a skunk that slowed me down a little.  Overall, averaged pace was 7:50 per mile.

Rest day.

Ran two times around the Metro Bank Building, then met Wes and ran along the north side of the river on a muggy 70 degree morning.  Wes is tapering for the Sleeping Bear Marathon, so my pace was good - on the slow side of Wes' aerobic zone.  We averaged 7:40 per mile, including a slow mile warm-up and a slow mile cool down.  We probably ran most of the miles around 7:30 per mile.  I am still recovering from the Philadelphia HM and the Smith Mtn ultra training run.  Hence, I think my fast switching motor units are getting a work out, which should be good for marathons in the future. 

Ran 8 miles with an average 7:57 pace, with Wes and Kevin north of the river .  Ran 6 of the miles between 7:34 and 7:47 per mile, which is on the high side of Wes' aerobic zone.  Kevin was recovering from a tempo run yesterday in which he ran 4 miles at a 6:30 pace.  Wes and Kevin ran 4 or more striders, but my knees were so tight that I decided to skip the striders for today.  It was great to run in the morning with Kevin, who is beginning to solidify his weekly milage base.

Rest day.

Ran 14.5 miles total.  Ran 14 miles with Wes on the north side of the river at a 7:25 per mile pace.  Ran miles 8 and 9 with Wes at 7:14 abd 7:18 per mile.  Felt tight at first, and still using fast switching motor units from having run Smith Mountain and the Philly HM this month.

Ran 6 times around Black Swan Lake.  The course includes a 1/3 mile hill. So, it was in part like running 6 hill repeats, one for each lap around the lake. 

Ran 7 times around Black Swan Lake, including the 1/3 mile hill that I ran with each lap around the lake.  Also ran (4) 200m striders which stretched out my hamstrings.  On this second day running around Black Swan Lake, my quads are slightly feeling the steep downhill sections. The steep uphill and downhill sections of the course seem like a good warm-up for the AT100 course next week.

Rest day.

Ran 8 miles with Wes along the north side of the Arkansas River Trail at a pace of 7:36 per mile.  We started at 1:40 p.m. and I hadn't eaten since breakfast, so I was a little low on energy.  Ran the first mile a bit fast at 7:25, then ran the second mile at 6:36.  I took an energy gel 25 minutes before we started running, but was a little low on energy when we started.  So the fast start took some wind out of my sails.  But the overall pace was what I wanted to accomplish for the run.

Ran 8.5 miles including 3 laps around the Metropolitan Bank Building and 8.1 miles on the Arkansas River trail on the north side of the river.  Ran 4.07 miles with Wes and Kevin in 31.29 for an average pace of 7.44 minutes per mile.  Ran the second 4.07 miles in 30.01 for an average pace of 7.24 minutes per mile.  Overall pace for 8.1 miles was 7:33 minutes per mile.  Ran mile 6 in 7:05 and mile 7 in 7:08.

Rest day.  Worked out for 30 minutes at the gym.

Rest day to be ready for pacing in the AT100.

Had planned to be a pacer in the AT100, but my running buddy dropped after just 42.6 miles.  He had completed the AT100 at least three previous times, but this year the Leadville 100 and Bartlett 50 miler proved to be too much prior to the AT100.  The weather was cold and rainy - which added to the already difficult course.  I helped out with the event through Sunday.

Helped out at the AT100.  Ran 6.5 miles afterwards, including the Rawling Road hill and some hills around my neighborhood.  Started a little stiff but warmed up after about 1.5 miles.  Didn't run very far because I plan to run Monday morning.

Morning:  Ran 5 miles in 40 minutes on the treadmill at 1% incline.  Busy Sunday night due to travelling out of town on Monday, and cool and wet morning in Little Rock.

Evening:  Ran 5 miles up and back on Oakhurst and Maplewood Roads in The Woodlands.  Beautiful evening about 75 degrees.  Nice way to end a busy day.

Ran 6.7 miles down streets called Oakhurst, Maplewood and Patsy after work on a beautiful evening in The Woodlands.  Continuing to run this week at an easy pace with 5 miles at between 8:08 and 8:42 per mile.  People here have been very polite -- driving their cars around me and waving as they pass by.  The roads here are mostly pavement over concrete and concrete (without an asphalt cover), so they are quite a bit harder than I'm used to.

Rest day.

Rest day.

Ran 7 miles with Wesley north of the river at an average 7:41 per mile pace in light to moderate rain with temperatures in the high 70s.  We probably ran a little farther, but my Garmin 405 doesn't work well in the rain due to water hitting the bezel. 

Wesley ran great today considering he is recovering from having been the overall winner of the Sleeping Bear Marathon in 40 degree weather with 30 minutes of downpouring hail.  I'm still a bit stiff, with sore hamstrings from all the hard running I did in September.  But this was a great way to start a weekend of running to get back on track with running at a solid weekly base.

Ran 8 miles with Kevin north of the river.  Kevin wanted to run at an 8:00 min/mile pace, and we averaged 7:58.  Kevin has built his weekly base up to over 50 miles.  It was 81 degrees and muggy this afternoon, but it felt cooler than some of the conditions we ran in a month or so ago. 

Ran 18.5 miles north of the river and at Two Rivers Park in 2:30:17 for an average pace of 8:07.  Ran miles 8 through 11 at an average pace of 7:48.  Was stiff when I started running the first two warm-up miles in 9:00 and 8:58.  Also, cooled down the last 3 miles at 8:14, 8:22 and 8:32.  Overall, it was a pretty good long run, but I really felt the need to increase my weekly base milage back to 60 miles or above.

Rest day.

Ran 11 miles with Chris north of the river.  Ran 6 miles in 7:36 and 5 miles in 8:15.  Chris is still recovering from having run the Arkansas Traveler 100 one week ago.  Ultramarathons are a very different type of endurance running from road marathon training, so it will take a few weeks for Chris to recover and get back his road legs.  Overall, it was a beautiful morning for running in the low 60s with few clouds.

10.2 mile progressive run north of the river with Chris.  Ran 1 mile at 6:50. 2.2 miles at 7:27, 3 miles at 7:41, and 4 miles at 8:05.  It was a beautiful moring for running, around 60 degrees with the dew point around 55.  Chris was much stronger this morning than yesterday, maybe because it is the 10th day since the AT100 and he is beginning to recover. 

Rest day.

Ran 21 miles with Wesley on a beautiful but windy day.  We ran the first 10 miles against a steady wind from the west that ranged between 15 and 25 mph.  We started fast (7:47 mile) then running against the wind slowed our pace down to an average 8:12 per mile for the first 10 miles. We ran along the Arkansas River trail taking a detour to run around some soccer fields at Burns Park then ran over the BDB and turned around after running through the Two Rivers parking lot.  With the same level of effort, we ran the second half of the run at a pace approximately 30 seconds per mile faster than the first half of the run, with miles 13 - 19 at a pace primarily between 7:30 and 7:45.

This run was a great confidence builder for me because I felt great after 19 miles and believe I could have maintained the 7:40 pace for another 7 miles.  It was also good because I'm getting close to refining my plan for food, fluids, salt and gels during the Memphis St. Jude Marathon.  I plan to keep one long run per week on my schedule for the next three weeks, with six weeks to go before the Memphis St. Jude Marathon.  I still need to determine what my optimal pace will be for that race.

We had a great run and extended it to 21 by running over a bridge near the River Market.  Running with Wesley is a lot fun.  Wesley is full of encouragement and he ran very strong today.  His pace could easily have been better than a minute or more per mile faster.   

Rest day.

Ran a 16 mile progression north of the river at an average pace of 8:04.  Ran the first 8 miles against the wind at an average pace of 8:17 per mile; ran the second 8 miles with a 4 mile section at a 7:55 pace and miles 13, 14 and 16 at an average pace of 7:35.  Had two ten minute breaks to talk with friends who I saw along the run.  Overall, I felt strong at the end of the run and feel like maybe running 16 miles again tomorrow morning.

Ran north of the river with Chris and Tim.  Tim ran for 6 miles since he is tapering for a half-marathon on Saturday. It was good to run with Tim.  Chris ran the 5k with Tim last week.  Tim took a year off from running, and now he is improving rapidly.

Chris and I ran for progression 16 miles, averaging an 8:20 per mile pace.  We ran 3 miles at 8:00, 5 miles at 8:15, 5 miles at 8:25 and 3 miles at 8:30.  Chris is running well having completed a 100-mile run just two weeks ago.  This run was a confidence booster for Chris, who knows that when he is fully recovered, his long runs will likely be at a sub-8:00 per mile pace.

My fast switching motor units probably got a work out this morning.  Overall, I probably slowed Chris down by 5 seconds a mile, but I feel good and am ready for a 6-mile tempo run tomorrow.

Easy 6 mile run with Chris north of the river with an early 5:15 start.  Average pace was 7:56 per mile on a nice 66 degree morning.  Ran miles 2 through 4 at a 7:40 pace, but Chris was suffering from leg fatigue after running 16 miles yesterday.  I ran behind Chris during part of the way back to watch his form and see if a change in his running form might improve his speed. 

I felt better on this third consecutive day of running than I did yesterday.   I've run 58 miles since Friday, so probably should take a day off.