Running in Life's Slow Lane

2.08 mi in 25:00 (12:01/mi) 'downhill leg'
walk for 5 minutes
1.15 mi in 15:00 (13:02/mi) 'uphill leg'
walk for 3 minutes
0.86 mi in 11:00 (12:47/mi) 'homestretch'

Total time: 59:00

Running avg pace: 12:28/mi
Total avg pace: 13:10/mi

Nice run. No major aches or pains. Happy with the pacing too. I really need to see about getting some data off of my GPS and attempting to figure out what sort of grade I am running on. After being in mostly flat Florida and Virginia for a few weeks these hills seem steep.

Started the run at 60F and finished at 78F. Today's high is predicted at 90 but tomorrow is slated for 101F. Guess I had better learn to love morning runs.

Tomorrow I am back to a shorter 35 or 45 minute run.

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma (running next to a wheat field)

2.91 mi in 35:00 (12:01/mi)
walk a bit to the house

Nice smooth run. Not too bad for the day after the long run. I think the Nike+ may  be a bit generous as I certainly don't feel like I ran the entire distance at 12:01 pace. The roads I have been running have definite ascents and descents to them so with my poor hill running skills I am skeptical.

No major aches or pains again. At least running related ones. I seem to have stressed a muscle in my left rib cage area sometime during my return home on Friday. Every few hours I have a nasty set of spasms.

Temp at start 70F. At finish 77F. Summertiiiiiime .... and the livin' is ..... eeeeeeasyyyyyy

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma (where the wheat is so golden in the morning sun)

1.63 mi in 20:00 (12:16)
walked 3 minutes
jogged 15:00 (didn't keep track of distance)
walked to the house

We averaged right around 12:00 over the first 2.0 miles. 11:20ish in the last mile which included the downhill leg towards home. Not bad for starting the run less than 30 minutes after finishing the lawn at the office.

Teresa and I are set to run in the Allie Reynolds 5K in Oklahoma City on Saturday. Teresa's goal is 35:30 or less and I am still hoping to best my 34:50ish time from Orlando.

Of course, we are hanging the light fixtures for the upcoming summer musical production at Cameron University on Friday afternoon. So I should have my upper body nice and tired for the race.

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma


 

Okay, the last of my "goof off" days and I decided to go run at the Wichita Mtns Wildlife Refuge.

3.14 mi in 38:30 (12:16/mi) *it's cloudy, breezy and wonderful!
walked 15 minutes *clouds go away and it is sunny, hot and breezy
0.87 mi in 11:00 (12:39/mi)
water stop at the Visitor's Center
1.13 mi in 15:00 (13:17/mi) *full of water and tired as heck
walked rest of the way to the car

So I covered a total of 7.0 miles of which I jogged 5+ miles. My total moving time was 1:32:45 which I was happy about.

Wildlife spotted today included 1 yearling deer, 2 elk, herd of buffalo, the back end of a western diamondback rattlesnake (he was leaving and I didn't bother him).

A US Fish and Wildlife Service employee at the Visitor's Center told me I was an inspiration to be out running while a mom with her van full of kids told me I was brave for running by the buffalo herd. I just said "Thank you" but the reality is that I am as wary of the buffalo as anyone else and had watched their behavior as I approached. The herd gave me all the clear signs of "Oh, you are nothing to worry about." so I kept going.

Dale has got me looking at the Ragnar Relay site more than I should. Looking at their training plans for the Texas relay it looks like my current activity matches about midway through their beginner training plan. I might pick up their plan and work my way through it in the weeks ahead.

Enough of this goofing off. People expect me to be writing code.

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma (Where the buffalo roam...)

Asics Gel 1120 -- 400.59 - Holy Cow!

Well these are NOT the results I had hoped for in today's race. While I am excited because both Teresa and I placed 3rd in our respective age groups, my time was way too slow.

I have lots of excuses but when I boil it all down, I was just not in the mood to perform better. The last week or so has been a tense one for me personally. It all culminated with a pretty stressful day Friday and it carried into today's race. My anger just got the best of me and I let it ruin my race experience.

Chalk this up to good experience.

On the good side: I survived running on my 42nd birthday. I then went to a running store and got some new shoes and some new shirts.

Location: Bethany, Oklahoma