alabama master

After work and before dinner quick run. 28:34/7:09

9am: The temp will be dropping as the day goes on, so I got a morning 10 mile run in thru the neighborhood, the "monte hills" and oak lea. Kept prety much sheltered from the NW wind. 1:14:55/7:29

11am: Went to the funeral of Joe Shartung today. I coached his two boys in track lthe last two years and Joe hepled out at the meets. He was a long jumper in school and really helped the kids out in teaching them the mechanics of the jump. He was a devoted father and husband and will be deeply missed.

2:30pm: More sad news, I just found out Gina McCreless passed away from brain cancer last night. Gina was a member of the River City Runners and helped out tirelessly in making sure the River City 10k and Spirit Runs went off smoothly. She was a regular fixture on the Point Mallard running trail which she loved dearly. She will also be deeply missed. 

4pm: Did some sprint relays with the kids at track practice. I let them talk me into having practice indoors in the upstairs hallway of the school because of the cold and wind. We also worked on starts. Every day they hear from teachers "Don't run in the hallways", so when they get to do it they have a blast.

9pm: After "Chuck" with the family, and "Heros", just Lily and I, I got another 10.17 miles in. From home to Wilson Morgan Park-3 loops- then back home, all flat. The weather had deteriorated throughout the day with the wind picking up speed and scattered showeres popping up. My am run was in shorts, double layer long sleeve tech shirt, gloves and runners hat, pm run was shorts, long sleeve tech shirt, Mizuno Breath Thermal pants, Boston jacket, smartwool crew socks, gloves and Delano 12 Hour fleece hat. 1:19:28/7:49

Noon time run to try and take advantage of warming temps, but with the wind still howling out of the NW it was still cold. Ran an out and back on the Pt Mallard trail continueing on the bike path close to the 6th Av overpass on market street. Once I got away from the wooded trail and on the bike path the wind made itself known as I was running straight into it for 3+ miles. But I knew as soon as I hit 6 miles I could turn and let it push me back to the park. I was feeling a little sluggish from yesterdays runs so I was just trying to maintain 8 min pace. Thanks to the tail wind I was able to neg split the last 6. I did  a lot of brainstorming to think of some way the River City Runners could memorialize Gina, her visitation was tonight and funeral tomorrow, Kelly and I were both able to get off work so we can attend. 1:34:23/7:52

Did two laps (1/3 mile) and ran some relays with the kids at track practice, left knee bothered me a little, I'll RICE it before bed.

Left knee is fine but left hamstring was nagging at me all day so I waited until 9pm to run to give it more rest. After 3/4 of a mile it warmed/loosened up and I ran comfortably. Did a ladder down easy tempo starting at 8min pace going down to 7min pace thru neighborhood and oak lea, avoiding all the steep hills. 54:33/7:30.

Kelly and I went to Gina's funeral today. Before she died she was able to get in touch with the pastor that was at her church when she was a child thru her teens. He did a wonderful job. As we were leaving the the grave side, Gina's Mom told Kelly to get a rose from the casket bouquet, Kelly picked out a beautiful one in a color that Gina would have loved.

School loop after work and before heading to the AHS track meet to volunteer. I knew I had to get something in before hand because the meet and clean up afterwards usually last close to midnight.

The girls stayed at the in-laws last night and Kelly and I got to sleep in til 7:30am! We headed down to Hartselle to join them for breakfast. Kelly's brother Will was there with his 2 yr old lil' Will. We ate and visited then I ran home. I took the long way, thru town then out Bethel Rd to Indian Hills Rd, went thru the refuge on Red Bank rd. My bottle was close to empty so I ran up Hwy 31 to my work place to fill up, then headed home via Central Pkwy and Tammy. 14 miles with some significant elevation changes. 1:46:05/7:35

Got home and Kelly and Brother were ready to run, so I joined them. She is still having problems with plantar fac. in her left foot so we stopped after 2 miles at 9:47 pace.

River City 10K tomorrow, well rested, not so much. No predictions beside I'll finish.

4am wake up call advising me one of my co-workers called in sick and I needed to come in @ 6am. This took running the 10K off the agenda. I was able to get some of my pre-race volunteer duties taken care of before going in. A big thanks to Eric for covering for me on my missed duties. I really wished I could've been there.

Kelly spent the day and evening at an away track meet in Pelham AL. The girls hung out at home then Kelly's mom picked them up and they spent the rest of the afternoon in Hartselle. Avy got to do another egg at Pat and Paul's church. I got off work at 3pm and picked up race stuff from the park and visited w/Eric to get the race recap. Dinner w/the girls in Hartselle, then home to wait on Kelly's return. Did some last minute egg dyeing when she got home around at 10pm.

Got an easy 2 in around the neighborhood. This marks the end of my lenten 40 day streak of running, 272.69 miles. A 100K this past week, my longest training week ever.

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday, HE IS RISEN!, and a day of rest for me. Peace.