Running in Life's Slow Lane

7.0 mi in 1:25:59 at 12:16/mi burning 791 calories.

Today's info ---

Distance	Pace	Avg Heart Rate	Max Heart Rate
1.0 mi	12:23/mi	120 bpm	130 bpm
1.0 mi	12:02/mi	130 bpm	146 bpm
1.0 mi	12:14/mi	137 bpm	144 bpm
1.0 mi	12:24/mi	141 bpm	154 bpm
1.0 mi	12:22/mi	141 bpm	151 bpm
1.0 mi	12:23/mi	147 bpm	155 bpm
1.0 mi	12:03/mi	152 bpm	165 bpm

A new distance PR for Teresa and I! That's 7 long miles my friends. Over 1/4 of a marathon. And I can say that my feet, legs and groin are definitely telling me exactly how much longer 7 miles is than 6 miles. Or perhaps more importantly, exactly how long 1:25:59 worth of running feels.

Incredibly nice run today though. We got out while the temps were still relatively cool and a bit of a breeze greeted us on the homestretch. The late summer wildflowers are gorgeous and we saw a few more monarchs making their slow way towards their migration grounds in Mexico. I tried to keep our pace consistent around the 12:15 mark since that seems to be a pace where both Teresa and I can run without stressing either the legs or the cardio system. We stopped and walked a bit at the 6.33 mark because Teresa felt she needed a "psych" break: nothing was wrong but her mind needed to celebrate surviving the 10K before continuing.

I hope everyone's weekend races went well.

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma

4.0 miles in 47:15 at 11:49/mi.

I ran today without any digital accompaniment other than my watch so I have little in the way of performance data. The first 2 mile loop was done in 23:30 while the second was done in 23:45. Too fast in both cases.

Legs definitely felt brittle after yesterday's long run: the right calf in particular. Once I hit the 3 mile mark I got distracted with planning my day's calendar -- and realizing I have too much to do -- so I stopped noticing all the aches and pains.

Another gorgeous late summer morning here on the prairie. Though I look forward to cooler weather I am going to miss the sights and sounds that have accompanied the last several months.

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma

3.5 in 39:44 at 11:20/mi burning 415 calories.

Today's info ---
1.00 mi @ 10:46/mi
1.00 mi @ 10:55/mi
0.25 mi @ 13:13/mi
1.00 mi @ 11:44/mi
0.25 mi @ 11:52/mi

The word for today's workout: punishing. While the temperatures were unusually mild the wind was fierce. We dealt with a N wind blowing a constant 20mph gusting at times to 40mph. On the way out the wind was square at our back and I found that I was fighting to keep my feet under me. This led to a very sore left heel as it seemed to be constantly trying to brake my speed. My knees also took some of the impact at odd angles since the wind was blowing me farther than my stride was planning to cover.

So I took a break at 1.5 miles trying to let me legs recover a bit. However, as I then started back uphill with my face in the wind I was forced to deal with straining calves as I tried to push forward against the gusts. The calves grew very tight and I was forced to stop at 2.25 miles and stretch. Somewhere around the 2.0 mile mark I stepped off the edge of a pothole and rolled my left ankle but it was my right leg catching the weight of my body as I tried to avoid hurting my ankle that was pulled painfully.

Yep, by the time my 3.5 miles were finished I was a rolling wreck. Nearly everything below my waist is complaining. I took a pair of Advil hoping to forestall a bit of the painful results of the pounding.

Just nature's reminder that while I will soon be getting the cooler temperatures, I will also be getting the 30+ winds on a daily basis.

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma

3.1 mi in 34:03 @ 10:58/mi burning 409 calories.

Today's info ---

Distance	Pace	Avg Heart Rate	Max Heart Rate
1.0 mi	10:55/mi	125 bpm	137 bpm
1.0 mi	11:18/mi	133 bpm	141 cpm
1.0 mi	10:53/mi	133 bpm	147 bpm
0.1 mi	09:00/mi	150 bpm	153 bpm

I ran too fast today! The paces should have been closer to 12:00/mi.

It's obvious that I have been spoiled by the unusual lack of wind this summer. Today's moderate wind was quite a challenge for my tired legs. Hopefully as I slide into summer I will adjust to the increasing wind speeds. Can't complain about the temperatures though. Any day I can run at 10:00am and have 70F as my temp is a good thing.

Tonight is the first football game for MacArthur High School, which means the first opportunity for Kristoffer to march on the field and play in the stands. This is something he has wanted to do since seeing his first MacArthur football game as a gradeschooler. We sat near the band and he watched the percussion line during the entire game. Now he is part of that percussion line. My how time flies.

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma

2.02 mi in 22:00 @ 10:52/mi burning 267 calories.

Today is my "off" day for this week but I wanted to give my legs a stretch before they get throw into tomorrow's 5K run. I don't have a personal goal tomorrow but I hope to pace Teresa to a 32:00 or better time. She's a strong runner and I think she can shave 22 seconds from her July 4th PR if the course conditions aren't extreme.

I waited until 11ish to run today and though I feared the warmer temps, the day is absolutely marvelous. Warm if you are in the direct sun but in the shade with the light breeze it is too good a day to waste indoors. Unfortunately, now that I have completed my run I must shower and get back to work. BAH!

Happy weekend all.

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma

3.1 mi in 30:25 @ 9:49/mi burning 360 calories. New PR!

What a wonderful day for a race! And a nice wonderfully flat course to host the race. Teresa proved quite the champ -- finishing 2nd of 9 in her age group -- as I pushed her pace pretty hard throughout the entire distance. She would have broken 30:00 if the "Cadence Competition" hadn't slowed us down as the units chewed up nearly the entire roadway leaving us fighting through oncoming traffic of strollers and walkers. I finally had to stop at one point and wait for Teresa who had gotten stuck in traffic.

Amazingly, the first three female finishers were under the age of 15! They were aged 12, 14 and 11. Apparently we grow some fast girls in this part of the country.

So now, with any luck I will clean out a bit of the garage before traveling to see the Oklahoma Redhawks compete in the first round of the playoffs this evening.

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma

Next Race: Platte City Duck and Run 5K, 20 Sep 2008

No miles today. My right heel has bothered me a few times after long runs and it was tender after yesterday's race so I decided to rest it today.

Instead I will work on the garage today.

3.18 mi in 35:11 at 11:04/mi burning 411 calories.

Today's splits ---
0.50 mi in 5:57
0.50 mi in 5:49
0.50 mi in 5:42
0.50 mi in 5:36
0.50 mi in 5:30
0.50 mi in 4:58
0.18 mi in 1:38

Excellent run. Legs are still tender from Saturday's exertion but they will get better as the week progresses. Beautiful weather as we move from the heat of late summer to the cooler temps of early autumn. Highs are dropping from the 100s into the low 90s each afternoon and the mornings are cooler as well. The surest sign that fall is coming is the flocking together of the doves in the area. We live amidst grain pastures so we have lots of doves around us as we run. Today, three mid-sized flocks flew over us as we ran. I am sure dove season must be just around the corner.

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma

Another day off this week. The morning was lost in Kristoffer's trip to the orthodontist for braces and then I got busy with work. Good to rest the legs though and I plan to be pounding out the miles again soon.

No miles again today. Rain, work and set building combined to keep me off of the streets.

3.0 mi in 33:38 at 11:10/mi burning 384 calories.

Today's splits ---
11:08
11:15
11:05

Ran in the mist and rain today. The temperature was nice enough but it was still and humid. I couldn't tell for sure whether I was getting wetter from the inside or outside of my shirt. Right knee was troublesome. Enough so that a couple of times I actually "skipped" when I felt it weaken as I shifted my weight. Rather scary but I think it is just a freak occurrence.

I look forward to getting back into the groove in the coming days.

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma

3.18 mi in 37:37 at 11:48/mi burning 394 calories.

Today should have been a long run but I couldn't find the motivation for more than 3 miles. In addition, volunteer projects at the house needed finished before Sunday evening. Just getting out and running has been a challenge lately as I have been seriously lacking in motivation. Hopefully I can get focused again this week.

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma

3.2 mi in 35:48. I ran without any way of measuring time and distance but we ran our standard 5K-ish loop. Teresa ran with her iPod so I took the time it reported for our run.

Absolutely gorgeous evening and the terrain was incredibly colorful. It felt good to stretch the legs as I pushed the pace quite a bit during the last 0.5 mile.

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma

7.5 mi in 1:30:35 at 12:04/mi burning 860 calories. I had only planned to do around 6 miles for this week's long run but I got onto the wrong street at one of the confusing 5 way intersections in the technology park near the hotel. When I realized my mistake I was 4.85 miles into the run. I had to backtrack a bit to find my way to where I had originally planned to run, resulting in a bit too much distance.

Didn't phase me too much though to run the 7.5 miles. Hips are a bit tired and the groin will be tender tomorrow. The hills around the hotel are fairly steep but I tried to keep up a steady pace knowing that Sunday's race will likely contain hills as well.

I ran through some absolutely gorgeous countryside and the weather couldn't have been better.

Location: North Kansas City, Missouri

4.0 miles in 47:58 at 11:56/mi burning 480 calories.

Nice run this evening after work. There is a 0.75 mile track around a set of ponds in the business park so I ran around that a few times before setting off on the streets. Plenty of ups and downs so I got a real good workout.

A little warmer this evening with very little breeze but still a wonderful late summer evening.

Location: North Kansas City, Missouri

4.0 mi in 43:31 @ 10:51/mi burning 513 calories.

Today's splits ---
10:15
10:35
10:48
11:43 (too fast! I wanted closer to 12:15 for a cool down mile)

I intentionally pushed the first 3 miles pretty hard as a warm up to Sunday's race. At 3.1 miles I stopped to stretch and let my heart rate settle a bit before continuing on for what I had intended to be a slowly paced cool down. On the hills around the hotel I have a hard time keeping a consistent pace.

Beautiful, peaceful night. For some reason I felt really homesick and miss the family. It's killing me to know that I am missing the big football game tomorrow night.

Location: North Kansas City, Missouri

No miles today.

I DID wear my running clothes for 1.5 hours though. Doesn't that count for something? When I got to the hotel room I changed into my running clothes but then got distracted looking into some work stuff. As I finally paid attention to my hungry stomach it was already too late to run so I declared it a rest day. Tomorrow I need to get in a solid 3+ mile today to get 25 for the week.

Oh, I decided to try the hundredpushups.com way of building to 100 push ups according to a 6 week schedule. I measured my "baseline" today and was able to do 15 good form push ups.

3.16 mi in 35:58 at 11:24/mi burning 383 calories.

What was intended as a simple workout to stretch the legs turned into a struggle. For some reason both of my calves were very tight today. I stopped twice to stretch in the short time I ran. Hopefully this will not be an issue tomorrow morning.

I have been reading through the 6 pages on www.mcmillanrunning.com that explain the different ranges of running, different types of workouts and gives you an idea of how to build a training plan. With nearly a year of just running in the books, I thought it was probably time to start a few focused workouts each week.

Oh, and I finally reached the Silver level in the President's Challenge. Now I have probably 3 more months before I finish up the Gold level.

I should pass 750 miles for the year this week. Is that crazy, or what?

Location: North Kansas City, Missouri

3.1 mi in 37:24 @ 12:04/mi.

One word best describes today's effort in the Duck and Run 5K: OUCH!

They started us off with a substantial downhill run and in trying not to let gravity overwhelm me I managed to hurt my left knee within the first 0.25 mile of the race. I continued running and wasn't terribly bothered by it until we got to more up/down hill segments. In this race, we were always running up or down a hill and some of them were monstrous. Eventually I recognized that my knee was not going to let me run on any of the steeper hills so I ran when I could and walked when I had to.

Apparently this is a tough course as my 37:24 time was good enough for 4th in my age group and third place was at 35:44.

After the run I showered and went to see the KC Royals. The knee was still an issue in climbing any stairs but now it is more a feeling of weakness than the sharper pain I had this morning during the race.

Location: Platte City, Missouri

2.0 mi in 24:36 at 12:18/mi burning 231 calories.

Sadly it appears that the knee issue is going to take a little while longer to completely resolve itself. Today was a bit better than yesterday in the fact that uphills did not seem to bother me but the knee still felt wobbly when taking my weight on downhill stretches. No real pain. Instead just a sense that the knee wanted to "give" as it took the full weight of my stride.

Location: North Kansas City, Missouri

No miles today as I am resting my knee in hopes that it will recover from the recent "injury".

3.08 mi in 38:26 @ 12:29/mi burning 327 calories.

It was a challenge to get 3 miles out of my legs today. The left knee definitely felt stronger and only troubled me in a few downhill locations. Kept the pace nice and slow though it made the workout seem to go on forever.

Location: North Kansas City, Missouri

4.0 mi in 49:33 at 12:23/mi burning 437 calories.

Today's splits ---
11:37
12:11
12:03
13:39

No real problems from the left knee today. Still keeping my pace nice and slow. For the first 3 miles my goal was 12:00/mi and I treated the 4th mile as a "cool down" run. Looks like the next few days will be very busy so today may have been my long run for the week. Next week is going to be a challenge as I try to get back to the higher mileages.

Oh, YAY! for me. Today marked my 750th mile in 2008. Is that not the craziest?

Location: North Kansas City, Missouri

The Garmin ran out of battery power 4.47 seconds after I crossed the 3 mile mark but running on a familiar route I know I did a total very near 3.5 miles.

Tonight's splits ---
11:58
11:48
10"56

First run in Chesapeake, Virginia and while the temperatures were comfortable I was definitely feeling the humidity. It actually rained on me for a short time but without a breeze it didn't do much to cool or comfort me.

Going to experiment with my Garmin to set my "zones" to match the ones given to me by the MacMillan calculator so that I can try to track my miles in a new way.

Location: Chesapeake, Virginia

4.08 mi in 49:25 at 12:11/mi burning 340 cal.

Today's splits ---
11:34
11:49
12:52
12:33

The run seemed tough on the legs today. Most likely due to starting out a bit too fast. Once I got my pace under control the pain seemed to lessen. And I was just telling my coworkers how nice it was running yesterday without any sort of pain from the recent knee injury. Bah!

Location: Chesapeake, Virginia

3.5 mi in 42:21 at 12:06/mi burning 355 calories.

Today's splits ---
11:59
12:19
12:15
05:47 (11:34/mi)

A nice run with Kyle and Dave this morning while watching the traffic stack up behind a wreck on the Monitor-Merrimack Bridge. It was a new route for me and I have to admit to being a bit intimidated by running alongside some very fast traffic. Thank goodness I had Dave to chase for most of the run because my legs were achy enough that I kept trying to convince myself to stop and walk a bit.

I'll try to get up for another early morning run tomorrow.

Location: Chesapeake, Virginia