alabama master

Night progression run thru neighborhood and oak lea. 7:48 down to 6:42. 49:46/7:07

Made it thru half of a 16 mile run when I got bit by a stray dog. Three minor puncture wounds on my left ankle. I was on Pleasent Hill Rd just north of Old Moulton Rd.(out of the city limits) As I ran past the house I saw the dog in the yard, he was barking and running along a hedgerow of kudzu and I lost sight of him. The next thing I see is him cutting down a trail thru the kudzu to the road and he was right on me. He had his teeth bared and before I could spray him with my water bottle he got his teeth into my ankle. Right at the point where I was bit the road takes a steep decent and I was running out of control down the hill. I was about to tumble head over heels when I veered of into the ditch and made a sliding stop scrapeing up my left forearm on the gravel. There was no major damage done so I ran on about 3/4 of a mile to the water authority where I was able to clean myself up. I was going to continue my run, but thought it best to report the incident so it wouldn't happen to someone else.

I had an officer come pick me up and we went back to the house where the dog was. The lady came out and said "don't worry about this dog, he don't bite", to which the officer said "don't say that maam because the guy in the back of my car was just bit by that dog." The dog had no collar and had no shots, and after the lady heard that it bit me denied any ownership of it. That worked in my favor, as now county animal control could take the dog, put it down and have it tested for rabies.

I got a tetnus shot and a script for antibiotics at the ER. Now I just wait for the outcome of the dogs' rabies test.   

1:07:44/ 7:51

Reviewing my garmin at the point in yesterdays run when the dog chased and caught me, I got my pace down to 4:01/mile, unfortunatly that was total out of control running for about 100 yards, with an abrupt and painful stop, but still 4:01 pace!

A not quite tempo run. I just wanted to get out and pound the pavement for a while to see how my leg felt, which turned out to be fine. At about the eight mile mark I attacked the big hill off vestavia and continued up the Bell's driveway. That kinda killed my avg pace, but it felt good to be able to do it.  1:12:18/ 7:14

37:35/ 7:31

Monte Sano 15K: When I left Decatur @ 6:30am to go to the race the temp was in the mid 60's and slightly overcast skies. As I go 3/4's up the mtn I drove into the clouds and the temp dropped about 15 degrees. The weather would remain that way for the rest of the time I was up there. Running inside a cloud equals high humidity, my bane, but thankfully the cool temps kept me from bonking during the race. I went thru 10K faster today than I ran the Elkmont 10K 2 weeks ago. I felt pretty good throughout the race and kept my pace steady even with the rolling hills that make up much of this course. I did have one mental lapse during the 9th mile and took a wrong turn that allowed two runners to catch up and pass me. I let that effect me too much and was unable to make back the places. My time was better than last years, so that is a confidence booster for my up-coming 1/2 marathon on the 31st. 

 I got some more miles in running back out on the course with Eric Charette to find members of the 1/2 marathon training group and his wife Laura. Then a little over 6 miles trail running on part of the X-Terra 15K course that I wil race on the 25th. 

On Monte Sano: Ran the X-Terra 15K course with Eric C and Tim V, plus a little extra. The race should be fun, no major long climbs, but still some challenging ups and downs.

 1:26:14/ 9:03

3x Monte hills with warm up and cool down. 51:15/ 7:19

3+ miles over to the hill at my work, then ran the 1.15 mile loop 9X. Approx. a 200ft elevation gain and loss per loop. 2:05:27/ 7:51

A quick 5+ in the cold dark night. Progressed it down from 7:51 to 6:32, with the .41 as a cool down. 38:26/ 7:06 

Nice long run on the South Wheeler Trail. Dropped in some short MP pickups during last 3 miles. 2:43:40/ 7:48

I had such a good trail run yesterday that I decided to do it again today. This time I had running buddy Wayne Heckler out with me. We went a little farther today but kept the pace reasonable. The pace for miles 20-23 was dropped to 7:40/mi, but after 4 miles of that I was tired and went back to 8+'s. I'm feeling pretty good for my upcoming 50+ miler.

3:29:03/ 8:22

Through the hills of bird spring and danville rd. Warm and humid after the rain. 1:13:49/ 7:23

Flat 4 thru neighborhood. Cold front came thru overnight, back to cool, dry weather. Should be ideal for the 15K trail race tomorrow. 29:09/ 7:18

A rare Sunday morning event here in the Bible Belt. The race was advertised as a 15K, but all who wore Garmins had it a little over. The start was on roadway for about .3 miles then we hit the single track steep downhill switchbacks, making for a 6:30 first mile for me. I was in 6th place when we hit the trail and was able to hold onto this position thru the second aid station at 6.5 miles. My plan was to just run how I feel and hope to finish in the top 10. Some short steep climbs started to take a toll on me in the last 2 miles and three runners passed me. If a Masters division would have been included in the results, I would have been third in it. Overall a fun race, and a nice opportunity to run fast on trails.

Easy run thru oak lea. I'm in taper mode for the 1/2 marathon this Sat. and the 50+ mile Mtn. Masochist on Nov. 7th.   35:43/ 7:09

A brand new 1/2 Marathon in N Alabama (Florence). I certified this course last June, so I had to run it. Going in I told myself to take it easy as I will be running Mtn Masochist 50+ miler next weekend. So I stayed comfortable, and comfortable today was 6:20 pace. I was in 4th place at the 1/2 mile mark and that is where I stayed the remainder of the race. On the long straight streches I was able to see ahead to Heath White and Tim Vinson(2nd,3rd) but I was not trying to catch them as this would have been detrimental  to my pacing. Most of the good hills are in the last part of the 11th mile and then rolling hills all the rest of the way. That section is where I fell off pace a  little, but still remained somewhat strong and was able to bring it in for a new PR! Tim was technically 1st Master, but awards were 3 deep for Overall and they didn't have double dipping, so I got first Master. Tim and I got a 5K warmup and a 4 mile cooldown to get in a 20+ day.

My wife Kelly ran a 5K in Hartselle this morning and won the Master award as well, PR'ing in the process with a 24:52.

We had a great day of running. Only thing that would have made it better is if we ran in the same city!