Kerry's Running Blog

Met Richard this morning at 5:45 for our Monday run. He has been out with bronchitis the last two weeks so he was having a little harder time of it today. We stopped and walked a few times, but not for very long. After separating at the flag pole, I pushed a little faster than normal and even felt stronger on the hill at the end (nine percent grade for three tenths of a mile). I always try to run pretty close to all out on the way down just to increase my leg speed.

Absolutely perfect morning for a run. Clear skies, temperatures around 50. Just light enough to see clearly. I felt just a little bit achy starting out, but felt fine after getting warmed up. Enjoyed the sounds and smells of Spring, especially running through the park. A buck and a doe popped out of the underbrush about twenty yards ahead of me and then ran back in when they spotted me. Started to have some bowel issues about half way into the run that caused me to slow down a bit, but I was planning on running a little easier today anyway. Saw lots of runners, joggers and walkers out this morning.

The daily run is definitely feeling easier. By the time I reach the hill at mile 5, I feel like I can still push it. I'm going to focus on improving my time on the mile that begins at the bottom of the hill on Redwood Drive and that finishes at the end of the parking lot in Heritage Park. In includes 211 feet of ascent and 228 of descent. Today I ran it in 8:14 and hit 5:18 pace on the way down (it feels good to get the legs moving that fast). 

 It's looking like my race on Saturday will be a little less of a race as Laureen has a very sore Achilles tendon and as she will probably not be able to run with my daughter Amelia (age 11), I'll take over that responsibility. Amelia has a greater enthusiasm for running, but not so much for training at this point. She would really like to do a half marathon this year, but so far she's had a hard time getting in the training that would make that possible. Maybe when school's out it will be a little easier. On Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays I could run with her in the late morning after my usual early morning run. We'll have to see how it works out.
 

Took it fairly easy this morning as my resting heart rate has been a little higher than normal and has not come down during the day. It was a beautiful morning, as it had rained overnight and the streets and paths were still wet in many places. Temperature on the cool side at 40 degrees and RH was 89 (which accounted for the mist rising from the ground in many places). Finished about five minutes slower than usual. Weight appears to be coming down.

I really didn't want to get up this morning as I didn't get a very good night's sleep. It seems that my daughter had turned up the thermostat on the downstairs furnace (after she made a root beer float) and I didn't know about it or even think to check. The problems apparently started when the furnace kicked on during the night, the hot air rose to the upstairs thermostat (which was set to air conditioning on a separate unit) and so it got alternately hot and cold during the night. We'd half wake up to throw off the covers only to wake up a little while later and pull them on again. The dueling thermostats carry on their war so stealthily that it's only when you wake up in the morning, find the dog under the covers and talk to your wife that you realize what happened. 

Well, I must be in the 5:40 habit now, because my body got up and dressed while my brain  was hitting the snooze button. Before I knew it, I was out the door and mile or so into my run. The clouds were low and dark in the north and I thought it might rain before I got back. If anything, the clouds pushed further north. I pushed it a bit on the way back and felt a little soreness in my left inner knee, but it hasn't bothered me since. I think I'll increase my Monday, Wednesday, Friday runs to seven miles next week and run the hill on Tuesday and Thursday with a longer run on Saturday.

Laureen, Amelia and I drove to Salt Lake this morning to run in the Race for the Cure. It was kind of cool when we left the house (35 degrees), but the skies were clear and it warmed up comfortably when the sun came up. I was really hoping that it would be a good experience for Amelia as this was her first 5K. I was a little disappointed to learn from their website that there would be no official timing, but that didn't turn out to be that big of a deal. We stood in line at the Union Pacific train station for our tee shirts and numbers and were a little surprised to find out that everyone had exactly the same number (2008). I ran the tee shirts and extra clothing back to our car while the girls were finding a bathroom. There were LOTS of people milling around prior to the race and I was a little bit concerned that I wouldn't find them again. After a few anxious minutes they arrived at the designated meeting place and we walked down to the start where they were just beginning a group stretch and aerobics warmup. It was a fun atmosphere with six or seven thousand people from a wide variety of backgrounds. 

The announcer started the race with a ready-set-go, but when she tried to pull the trigger on the start gun, it didn't go off, so some took off and others waited to see if she could get the gun to go off. Eventually, she was able to fire it off and we took off (kind of). Many people were there with no intention of running any part of the course and some of them were at the start (and some of them were walking arm-in-arm three or four abreast). It was good in a way because we started off nice and slow. Amelia has had a tendency to take off like a shot only to be exhausted and nauseated less than a mile later. Laureen's Achilles tendon was still sore, but manageable, so we were able to stay together for the first mile  (we took a short walk break after about half a mile). We were all feeling pretty good and following the same run/walk pattern, we made it to the aid station for a quick drink. Laureen was hurting by that point and told us to go on ahead and after getting assurances that she wouldn't be far behind we took off again. At the two mile mark I was surprised how well Amelia was doing with so little training. Our walk breaks were not infrequent, but in most cases they only lasted for 20 seconds or so. Approaching the three mile mark, I could sense that Amelia was ready to make a dash for the finish. She was tired and out of breath, but apparently determined to beat some boys her age that were running just ahead of us. We finished strong in 37:46 and got her a drink and an orange. She was excited to have finished and I think a little pleased to see how many finished after she did. We didn't see Laureen finish, but met her in front of J.Jill's (one of her favorite stores a short time later). All in all a fun experience and one that I think whetted Amelia's appetite for more. We stopped for some bread at Great Harvest in Draper on the way home and I then ran a few more miles while the girls were showering (about half of it at marathon pace).