Running in Life's Slow Lane

6.03 mi in 1hr 16min at 12:38/mi pace burning 628 cal

Today's splits ---
12:45
12:43
12:45
12:47
12:42
12:04

It was another nice day for a run. Clear skies, low humidity, beautiful sunshine and moderate temperatures kept us company for the entire 6 miles. Most of the scary dogs were inside their fences along our route. We actually made it from 45th street east to 90th and back which was a new route for Teresa and I.

The new route has enough trees along the route that there are a few more birds. Today I spotted a pair of Blue Jays in the short hackberry trees along a creek bank.

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma

3.5 mi in 38:04 for 10.52 avg pace burning 455 cal

Today's splits ---
11:14
10:57
10:19
05:33 (11:04 pace)

Today was very rainy so I didn't get to run until after 3pm. But, since it has been cloudy and rainy the temperature was pleasant. Teresa and I did a 5K distance then tacked on a bit to cool down to make it a round 3.5 miles. I got around a half mile in at the 8-8:30 range so I am psyched about that result. Hopefully I can slowly build up from there to doing a greater distance at that type of pace. Tomorrow however needs to be an easy 4 miler.

On a sad note, the road kill count today includes a jack rabbit! Those things are a bit rare around here and I only spot them about once a year. I hate seeing one taken out by a car.

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma

4.51 mi in 52:59 for 11:45/mi pace burning 547 cal

Today's splits ---
11:22
11:29
12:03
12:11
05:54 (11:35 pace)

I tried to time this run between the drenching rains of the early morning and the threat of thunderstorms later today. Temperature was near 70F and a nice cool breeze made it seem almost chilly. It is becoming a habit that I feel really lousy around the 3 mile mark. I guess that is a sign that the increased distance was needed.

The several inches of rain has seemingly driven numerous reptiles and amphibians onto the roadway as the roadkill count was high among these classes of animals.

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma

3.76 mi in 43:35 at 11:36/mi burning 448 cal

Today's splits ---

Distance	Avg Pace	Avg Heart Rate
1.00 mi	12:01	126 bpm
1.00 mi	12:03	131 bpm
1.00 mi	11:21	139 bpm
0.76 mi	10:44	146 bpm

Today was the first time in quite a while that I picked up the heart monitor. Looking at my chart in the Garmin Training Center, it appears I stayed right around the 75% mark for the majority of my run which is a little too high for a good endurance building workout. I need to work on slowing the average pace down closer to the 12:00 mark.

Took a slight different route today. Through the neighborhood a bit, then west on Highway 7 before crossing over north into the Community Access, Inc. parking lots, then back to the house. This route has the dis/advantage of running on several different surface types so we will see how the calves feel tomorrow.

Roadkill is always of a different character on the highway. Today there was just one big raccoon. I am still amazed that people can find those things "cute". When I look at them I just see big scary rats.

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma

3.0 in 36:43 at 12:14/mi burning 338 cal

Today's splits ---
12:07
12:20
12:07

Ugh. This was a hard workout and I am just thankful I made it to the 3 mile mark. For some reason I was very tired, very stiff and very achy at the start of the run which made for a very slow pace. The problems never went away and it was a struggle to get the pace up near the 12:00 mark. My goal for today is stick around the house, try to shake the general malaise that has come over me and be ready for a better run tomorrow.

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma

I purposefully took a day off to rest my body. I think as I work to increase my weekly mileage over the next few months, the occasional day off may be important. Many weeks I will get a day off as I travel but this week it was strictly self imposed.

3.70 mi in 45:29 at 12:16/mi burning 409 calories.

Today's splits ---
12:04
11:55
12:37
08:49 (12:35/mi)

Another hard workout to finish. Actually, I did not finish as I had intended to do a full 4 miles. The heat has returned and the morning was quite humid so my excuse is that I wilted in the sun. The only other reason I have for how difficult today felt was that I spent about 4 hours yesterday evening hanging theater light fixtures at the church. That meant 4 hours on my feet on the ever-rocking scissor lift about 27 feet above the floor, hefting lights, cables, etc. I imagine that may have worked my leg muscles a bit.

Oh well, tomorrow is the slow 6 miler so we'll just look forward to a good, strong run.

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma