Running in Life's Slow Lane

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma

A third day of 0 miles in a week of very inconsistent mileage. While I can certainly list a long line of excuses the harsh truth is the lack of miles accumulated. Hopefully I will begin to remedy the situation tomorrow evening with a jog in Orlando, Florida.

Looking at the Sight and Sole 5K as a possible activity for 29 March. It is to take place in Altamonte Springs, Fl not far from my hotel. I will try to call the group tomorrow and get more details since some websites list it as a walk while others list it as a run. There are other 5K races that weekend but the Sight and Sole 5K has the advantage of being close to "home".

3.30 miles in 42'12".

Fresh from the airplane trip I arrived at the hotel, tossed on the shorts and shoes for my run. Started out a bit too fast doing 2 miles in 23'47" and had to walk 0.5 miles to let my legs calm down a bit. Finished up the last 0.6 mile jogging at a slower pace to finish the 5K distance. My time for the 5K distance was 39'19.8". Jogged/walked the last 0.2 mi very slowly to cool down.

3.48 miles in 43'13".

1.0 mile in 11'04".
1.5 mile in 16'40". (11'07"/mi)
walked 0.25 mile to recover
Picked up jogging again at 2.75
5K at 36'21". (11'44"/mi)
walked to cool down

So, I definitely think I have a 36 minute 5K in me. I probably could have gotten there today if I hadn't taken the 0.25 mile walk in the middle.

The Sight and Sole 5K I was originally hoping to run on Saturday has been demoted to just a walk so I signed up for the 8th Annual NSBF 5K Run/Walk on Sunday instead. It is associated with a convention so there are lots of people from out of town registered for the event. Hopefully I can get my sub 36 5K done on Sunday!

Location: Orlando, Fl    

4.5 total miles in 1:03:00.

Why do I even try to plan  my workouts? Today was supposed to be a slow 4 mile jog. But for some reason when I run alongside traffic I pick up my pace. Probably fear of the crazy drivers near the University of Central Florida.

So I did my first mile in 12:04. Two miles in 23:45. A quicker pace than I had planned for sure. I then walked 1 mile, ran another 0.5 mile and by then my left knee was complaining. It may be that I have done too much on the sidewalks in the last 3 workouts. I finished up by walking the remaining distance back to the hotel and will take an ibuprofen for dinner hoping it soothes the knee. I may coast tomorrow to give the knee extra rest since I definitely want to be healthy enough to do Sunday's 5K.

Location: Orlando, Fl

3.0 miles of trail running, 2.6 miles wandering lost

Okay, so today's story is not so much about the distance or the pace. It was the adventure.

Figuring that running alongside traffic was keeping me running a bit too fast, I located the Little Big Econ State Forest not too far from the hotel and decided to run on the trails they had there. Trail running slows me down as I have to navigate the twists and turns or the trail as well as whatever flora or fauna may present itself. Dutifully I set the GPS and started off through the tropical wilderness following the orange blaze marks.

Everything went well for the 3 miles I jogged. Around 2.5 miles my legs were feeling the strain of the terrain and I was beginning to stumble a bit more on the exposed tree roots or whatever cropped up in the trail but that was expected. At 3 miles I encountered a water hazard blocking the trail and thought it would be a good point to start back towards the car. I put my GPS on back trace and began following my footsteps on the trail using the GPS to pick the right direction when my memory failed me. After about 15 minutes of this, I found myself in a section of the jungle that I distinctly knew I had not visited before though I was right on top of the GPS plotted track. I wandered a bit further and realized something was quite amiss when my GPS heading read due east but I was walking right into the sun at nearly 7:30pm!

Yes, somehow with an incredibly accurate GPS in hand I had gotten lost. I gave up on the GPS and relied on the ol' internal navigation to pick trails back towards the car while never finding the original route. The orange blazes would occasionally pop up (on more than one occasion on small trees that had been leveled into piles along the trail) yet never consistently. I suffered the bites of huge Florida mosquitoes and was fairly dampened by sweat before I finally reached the car. The GPS said I was about 0.5 mile from where I was. Maybe new batteries are needed? Or maybe just the dense foliage was giving it problems.

One unfortunate result -- I consider the humble pie I must eat a good thing -- was that I ran some stretches in the very silty dirt/sand that passes for soil in this area. It filled my running shoes and socks to the point where it wore some tender spots on my feet. Nasty! It was like running through powder. Not as hard to push through as sand but very fine and hard to get footing on.

Location: Orlando, Fl

4.77 mi in 1:00 for a 12:35/mi pace.

So, I decided to go out an push myself through a full 5K trying to beat 36:00.
1.0 mile - 11:13    (11:13/mi pace)
1.5 mile - 16:25    (10:57/mi pace)
2.0 mile - 22:30    (11:15/mi pace)
3.1 mile - 35:44.3 (11:32/mi pace)
I am definitely happy with those results. A 36:00 or better mark is my gold star goal for Sunday's 5K!

Walked 0.67 miles to recover from the jog and then did another 1.0 mile of slow jogging to work the distance while I felt good from the day's success.

There was definitely some crankiness in the knees however I think that was more the result of yesterday's stumbling trail run than the workout today. My right ankle was also a bit tweaked this morning yet seemed to wear off later in the day. So, tomorrow I am going to rest, keep my adventures to a minimum, maybe go shopping at a running store nearby and get to bed early for the 8th Annual NSBF 5K.

Location: Orlando, Fl

No running today but I believe I may have set a personal record in the sleep category.