Where's the Donuts?

Back in Bremerton, my brother's friend Emily from Alaska is staying here so she and I went out for a mid-morning run. Decent temperature, in the low 40s and cloudy. She's a pretty fast runner, sub-40 10k, so the pace was good. We kept just above 7/min most of the way. Two bridges route, then down to Bachmann Park and home. 38:12

supernova red -- 112

A Sunday morning fun run in Bremerton, this one is especially 'fun' because they don't keep the time or places. And you can decide during the race whether you want to turn around and just do a 5k. Not real serious competition, it's just a relaxed little thing the Y does to get people outside in the cold (and as an excuse for a post-race potluck, though I skipped it to make it to church. What a sacrifice). But I wanted to show up because it's in the neighborhood, and I'll count it as a 'race' even though it was more like a tempo workout.

The field didn't look too imposing as we stood there, most people had just stepped out of their cars. I think 4 of us even did striders before starting. Luckily one guy went out strong, so I had someone to run with. He was a triathlaloner and in pretty good shape. We stuck together the whole race but weren't really 'racing' as much as pacing each other. The route was basically the Illahee State Park run I do from my house, but shorter based on where it starts. Roads were a little slick and icy so I held back a bit from really getting my stride going, at least until I was on sand left from the street crews last week. It's a real hilly race, almost always heading either up or down.

I had warmed up 1.5 before we started, then we held the pace just over 7 minutes for the race. Felt fine, was able to stay consistent throughout. The other guy surged on one of the hills right before the finish and pulled away just enough to hold me off. He opened up about 5 seconds with 1/2 mile left, I let him go thinking I'd get him back on the big downhill to the finish, but couldn't quite do it. Finished right behind him. Oh well, they don't keep results so no one will know. A good morning though, and I was just happy to get out and push a little bit. 59:57 total.

supernova red -- 120

Snowed overnight here (although by tonight it's just about gone) so I headed to the Y. 4 on the treadmill, started around 8/min and worked down to 7:35. 7:45/avg., felt good, sort of a recovery day so I stopped at 4. 31:00. 

supernova red -- 124

Morning run at the Y, started at 8/min pace and moved down to 7:40. Legs felt nice and relaxed. 31:30. 

supernova red --  128

4 on the Y treadmill. Nothing fancy, but at least it's consistent. I was a little slow getting going, left calf and hipflexor kind of stiff, but after the first mile I woke up and settled in to a 7:45 pace. 31:20

supernova red -- 132

This morning was the Slug Club annual meeting, so we met at one member's house instead of the dock. Easy 3.5 miles as a group on some country roads, then we ate more breakfast than an easy 3.5-mile run justifies. Good waffles though. It was great to get back together with people, hear about race plans for 2009 and agree to start running more miles. So now I'm inspired again, and luckily did not get elected club president. 

supernova red -- 135

Morning treadmill at the Y. Started with a slow mile, then 7:40s. My legs feel good although my left achilles is a little tight after I finish. It might just be the number of days recently on the treadmill, I've had some little twinges like this before when I don't vary it up. 31:40. 

supernova red --  139

Four on the Y treadmill, started a little slower than usual for some reason. That's about it. 32:25

supernova red -- 143

On the Y treadmill again. It's warm enough to run outside, but so dark. My legs and lower back were a tight during the day yesterday, which I was blaming on the treadmill, but everything's alright this morning and the miles felt good. 8/min average, just took it easy so I can keep building up some mileage. I'm going to pass on the Nookachamps 10k this weekend, I'm just not ready and it would eat up my weekend to go all the way up to Mount Vernon. But I should be able to get outside for a weekend run, at least. 40:00

supernova red -- 148 

Got out in the dark today to meet Mike and Dale (not the FRB's Dale) at Annapolis. Big crew of Slugs on the course today, everybody is emerging from hibernation and ready to start the new year. 

Good January weather, in the 40s. We ran a faster pace than planned, Dale is one of those single-gear types who doesn't know easy miles (or his easy miles are just a lot faster than mine). So we were at 7/min pace pretty much the entire run out to about 3.5 and back, the last mile was 6:58. It felt fine, my right hip still is mildly sore at times, it's an odd thing that comes and goes since last October. 49:09 total. If I would have run in the Nookachamps race today as originally planned, I really probably wouldn't have run that much faster.

So a good run, and we got to talking about the coming year and plans at breakfast, which was inspiring. I've updated my blog at the left with my preliminary goals and race plans for the year, hopefully I can stick to them to some degree.

supernova red -- 155

Day off from work so I stayed over in Seattle and ran on the Burke-Gilman Trail. The fog was still dense when I went out, which was too bad because it turned into a really sunny day an hour later. But five miles on the loop I do around Husky Stadium and a little nature preserve, no watch because I forgot it. 

supernova red -- 160 

Five at the Y on the treadmill, it's like fog soup outside today. But a good run inside, had the room to myself, plenty of NBA highlights to keep me entertained, my body felt loose and relaxed and my legs felt fresh and springy. Ran at 7:45 pace, 39:00. 

supernova red -- 165 

Back on the treadmill at the Y for an early morning run. The usual pace I've been running lately, felt fine. 39:50. 

supernova red -- 170

Early morning Slug Club run, first pre-dawn meeting down there in awhile for me. Chilly out, but not too bad and it was dry and it was light for the return on Beach Drive. Met Mike with ten easy miles in mind. We started slowly, then hit our target pace for the most part, between 7:10 and 7:25. Maybe one or two closer to 7/min., which felt like we pushing a bit. My legs felt good for the most part and fitness was there, even if those 7/min. miles felt a bit labored. I can tell I'm still getting in shape at that distance. That'll come, we'll probably do ten again next weekend before increasing the mileage on long runs. 1:14

supernova red -- 180

Five on the treadmill, we had a little snow this morning and the wind is whipping it around. Started out easy, around 8 minute miles, then started increasing the pace and got down to 7:35 for the last one. Finally felt like I was stretching my legs out a bit. 39:40. 

supernova red -- 185

Almost a 13-hour day today, but I manged to sneak out of work for an hour (when the content management system goes down, you have an excuse to leave) and get in four at the Y. I would have kept on for two more but felt guilty and needed to get back. I'm a little behind now on what I planned for the week so I'll stretch it out tomorrow hopefully, then 10 (at least) on Saturday. I ran faster than usual for the treadmill, 7:30 the whole run. Felt good though, I could tell I was a more warmed up than at 6 a.m. 

supernova red -- 189

Went up to the Y, but ran around the indoor track with a friend of mine instead of on the treadmill. It's a short track so you can't really stretch your legs, but we were going along alright and there wasn't too much gray-haired traffic on the loop. And it was a nice feeling to not be on the machine, legs felt more loose. Ran for 40 minutes, so it's in the neighborhood of five miles. 

supernova red -- 194

Early morning down at Annapolis, I met Mike in the dark and was really glad it wasn't raining (it was when I went to bed). I only slept about 5 hours because of an upset stomach, so it was a challenge to get moving. Once my head cleared up we ran a pretty good pace, most miles right around 7:05. One under 7, one or two 7:15. I was pooped afterward, but that's more from the lack of sleep. Legs were a little tight and my hips were a little uncomfortable out there. Four minutes faster than the same run a week ago: 1:11.

supernova red -- 204