Seeking a better country...

9:30 p.m.  Jens rode with me to Freedom Hills.  He ran around the park while I did two switchbacks, then joined me for a third.  He almost kept up, so I was impressed.  The moon was full, so the headlamp was mostly unnecessary.  Then we ran/rode home, with numerous detours to get soaked by high powered sprinklers.  My shoes were soaked for the last couple miles.  Chest area is nearly fully recovered from the muggy 10k plus 8 miles on the 24th.  Also, used a garmin for the first time since UVM.  Am I really that slow?

I may have spoke out of turn yesterday about getting in 100 switchbacks and 100 tempo miles.  I think I can do the switchbacks, but might need to scale back the tempo.  

6/100,  0/100 

8:30 p.m.  Delivered 7 bills, not even $4 worth.  Warm, and I couldn't get in the sprinklers.  I guess it's more than I get paid for most runs.

Good long run with Andy and Tara, mostly on Main Street.  I ended up with some extra distance, which was a good thing, I'm told.  Just got a fan installed in the attic; it was about 150 degrees up there.  I should have done that earlier in the day.

7 a.m.  Jack and I ran to Farmington and back.  Warm.

7:30 a.m.  I stayed up too late watching Law and Order reruns.  When I finally rolled out of bed, the baby was still asleep, so I hopped on my son's bike and pedaled to Freedom Hills.  My knee and seat area don't agree with cycling.  I dismounted and did four straight zig-zags.  It was tough, but each one felt better than the first one.  The park was busier than I've ever seen it before, and there was actually one lady running up the switchbacks.  Then I pedaled home, so 6 bike miles.

10/100 

7 a.m.  Jack and Ash came with.  We ran to dinosaur park.  I did a few pickups, which was fine because Ash can generally keep up.  She had to be back for tennis by 7:45, so we went short.  I dropped her and Jack home and did 4 laps on the soccer field.  The first one soaked my shoes, so I took them off for the remaining three.  Football players on the west end and soccer girls on the east kept me going a bit faster than I would have with no audience.  From just those couple miles barefoot, my feet feel....not normal.  Tired.

8:30 p.m.  17 mile bike ride with J&G.  We rode to I-215 and back on hot, smoky Legacy.  It got dark.  I'm glad we had headlamps.  Their tri is in 3+ weeks...

9:45 p.m.  To Farmington and back. I ran a bit faster than usual.

8 a.m.  I got up early to run, but had to repair a lawnmower before the boys could go out.  I got that done, and left with Jack in the stroller to do 4 or 5 before work.  We went a little more.  He sat up straight the whole time, looking at everything.  Came home and picked perfect peaches, at some for breakfast, showered and made it to work after 10.  Oops.

Longest run ever with Jack.  I fooled myself into thinking that things cooled off enough last night to make this run ideal.  It was cooler, but not quite enough.  Inexplicably, Jack awoke at 5:50 a.m.  After a bit of a snack, we headed for destinations unknown.  He was pretty happy about the run for the first 7 miles, then finally fell asleep, slumped over folded in half.  I fixed him up so he was reclining, and he slept for 5 or 6 miles, and was awake for the warm, sun in your eyes jaunt up Pages Lane.  We ran a bit on the half marathon course today with the back of the pack.  Some ladies that passed us exclaimed, "Oh, isn't he the cutest thing ever?!"  I'll allow for the minute possibility they were talking about Jack, not me.

I estimate pushing him added 5% effort.  I was tired at the end.  Big shock.  Showered quickly upon return, and left to golf with my family one last time before my parents fly to Melbourne this evening for 18 months.  Bittersweet. 

7 a.m.  Tami dropped me at Freedom Hills on the way to tennis.  4 switchbacks.  Trips up took 5:00, 4:40, 4:50 and 4:50.  The 5 was my warmup, the 4:40 felt pretty tingly, and the 4:50's were okay.  I took it easy coming down.

I soaked in a sprinkler, had some powerade and set out for home.  I was dragging my butt along all the way.

14/100 

9:15 p.m.  Late start because we were busy with Max's Eagle Court of Honor.  Tami and Jens were going to play tennis, so they dropped me at Smoot.  I ran 1 mile to Freedom Hills.  By now it was completely dark.  On the way, Tami got me worried about snakes on the trail.  I ran 4 switchbacks worrying about serpents biting my ankle.  But none did.  I haven't seen any rattlers on the trails since May.  I think it's safe before 10 and after dark.  

After FH, I ran back to Smoot fast to catch a ride home.  They weren't there.  I was so mad they ditched me, I ran home fast, too. The fast running dissipated my anger.  

I don't know that 100 is going to happen in the next 6 weeks.  Maybe it's one of those goals that was a good idea at the time, but not very realistic.  Or it's one of those goals that if I stretched and worked to achieve it, it would be a worthy accomplishment

I remain undecided about Huntsville, pending Hobblecreek.  If I can't come in between 1:23 & 1:25, I don't think there's much point in going for broke at the end of September.  And if there's not much point in going for broke, I'm not all that interested in running another 3:12ish marathon; been there done that.  

18/100

6:50 a.m.  For the first time in years I drove somewhere to do a run.  I didn't have time to run to FH, and I wanted to get in 5 switchbacks.  1 mile warmup, then 5 up and down.  4 and 5 were tough.  This may not be the most genius thing to be doing 2 days before a half I'm pretty serious about...

I got home in time to take my son to a tennis thing, then fed Jack and played with him for a while.  I managed to show up at work by 9:30, and I still want to throw up.  Good workout.  23/100

6:30 a.m.  1 mile warmup, 5 switchbacks.  I was probably faster with the jogging stroller a couple weeks ago than I was today.  Luckily I didn't have my watch to find out.  My legs feel a bit more shredded than they did yesterday.  The uphill was fine; the downhill was a little less than fine.  No harm done, however.  So I guess I'll register for a marathon today.

28/100

8:30 p.m.  6 more switchbacks.  I got two done before it was dark enough to break out the flashlight.  I ran into two ladies and a dog who were coming down, other than that, I was on my own.  I didn't see any snakes, but one big huge spider.  I should have stopped to inspect, but the willies overcame dispassionate scientific interest.

Now I'm sitting home killing time awaiting treadmill delivery.  The window was 9-1.  I hope it's closer to 9.  

34/100

8:30 p.m.  No switchbacks for a change.  I needed a break.  Those are doing a lot of good, though.  I just ran tonight; a couple miles with my son, then 6 or 7 by myself, easy loping along.  .2 miles on a new treadmill.  It took 3 hours to set it up, but should have only been 2.  The power went out at work, so I got home with time to kill.  We killed it, all right.  Reading the instructions is a great idea, at least that's what Grace and I discovered.  Everybody wanted to help, including Jack.  He was walking around with wrenches and screwdrivers, trying to put things together.  The only damage was Gus and Anna pulled a curtain rod out of the wall.  I got after them too much.  

I wanted to do 5 but it got too dark. I figured not breaking an ankle coming down would be better than doing all 5. My legs feel completely dead, but I kept the ups at 5:00 +\- :10.

38/100

Mueller-North Canyon Loop with Twinkies and Tara.  Good times.  The climb was pretty good, the descent was decent.  I couldn't keep up with Matt coming down; he's a real billy goat.  We looped back to the car, and I headed back for 4 more on the Blvd.  My internal GPS works pretty well; I was only off by .1 on my turnaround for 2 miles.  Coming back to the car for the second time I dropped a 6:50 mile, which was nice to do 17 miles into the run.  We had good chats about racing and race day psychology and mental preparation.  More than ever before, I'm locked into finishing the switchbacks by marathon day.

When I got back to the car for the second time, I went to the creek and made a sufficiently deep wallow to sit in the cooling and soothing waters of Mill Stream.  I've never felt this okay after a long run.  That's a good sign... 

I can't wait for the TOU half reports to start rolling in.  

6:30 a.m.  8 switchbacks.  On the first one I saw a skunk, which startled me, big time.  I'm glad he was facing me, rather than looking at the south end.  For the next couple, I carried a rock to throw if he/she reappeared; no additional sightings.  All the times I have run on this trail, it never occurred to me to worry about anything except snakes...

I was reading Burt's blog, and decided I need a new goal: to beat his 1992 mile PR.  I'm coming for you, Burt!  4 sub-75's in a row, how hard can it be?  

46/100

a.m. 6 with Ash. Her donut was pretty tasty. I wore new shoes; gotta get them ready for the marathon.

p.m. 3 on the new treadmill. It's so quiet compared to the previous edition. As an added bonus, MLB is selling the last month of league pass for 10 bucks, so I bought it and have limitless baseball for the next month, including archived games from the entire season. Have I ever mentioned I like baseball?

6:30 a.m.  My alarm sounded, and I stayed for a while before dragging my tired carcass out of the sack.  5 more switchbacks.  It was a hot morning, so I soaked in the sprinklers 2x.  For only the second time, I saw another sadist running up the trail.  I clapped as she went by.  

Long run Saturday (18-22 miles) on the Huntsville Marathon course.  I have a fast group and less fast group going.  Let me know if you want to be involved.   

51/100 

5 more switchbacks, then laps around the park, grownup running through the sprinklers before the crack of dawn.  It was a cloudy sky all over this morning.  Very nice.  My recovery Dew is in the freezer getting cold right now.  I wish it was the marathon already.  Things are looking nice for Saturday's run on the Huntsville course.  I'm still working out the details, but tentatively hoping to be running by 6:30 or 7 at the latest.

56/100

On the mill. It tracks vertical feet, and I did an "intensity" workout. Well, it took 4 miles to get as many feet as I do on one switchback. Cubs beat the giants, which helps the dodgers.