All about that pace.

7:30am

Yay! I got to sleep in this morning! I tried to start out slower than normal today, but I'm still amped up about my run yesterday and I kept speeding up every time I let my mind wander from what I was doing.

Pace 7:36

4:30am

It was very windy this morning. I don't know how this works, but the wind was in my face the whole way. Instead of thinking about how it was holding me back, I tried to imagine it as "ram air" for my breathing :)

Pace 7:48

4:30am

I am so tired today! It was raining hard too, but at least there was no wind. I don't know how I manage to keep getting myself up to run in the dark every day. Anyway, I'm on track for another 50+ mile week! My new running partner is going to be out of town this weekend so I'm on my own for the long run on Saturday.  Maybe I'll have a Garmin to keep me company if it gets here by then. 

Pace 7:58

4:30am

Tired, slow, cold, rain, wind...

Pace 8:02

4:30am

I knew I was in trouble when I saw the (full) garbage cans knocked over by the wind on my street. I actually had the wind at my back for part of the run today so I can't complain too much. It took some effort, but I was able to hold a decent pace through the whole run without feeling like I was racing.

My Garmin was delivered yesterday, which is strange since it didn't get sent out until Tuesday morning. Anyway, I'll have my virtual partner for Saturday's run if I can figure out how it works by then.

Pace 7:50

8:30am

It was sunny and beautiful this morning when I looked outside. Once I actually stepped outside I realized that the wind was blowing around 30+mph! I had already planned to meet Kym at the Y and I was committed to go, so into the wind I went... I planned a minimum 9.5 mile route to the Y and had plenty of incentive to improvise the course since today was my first run with the new Garmin GPS watch. When I got to the top of Chambers Creek Road hill I decided to hang a left and run around the Golf Course by the water. I've always wanted to run there so today I went for it. The view is awesome on the way down the running path which descends a couple hundred feet before curving around the golf course. The second half of the loop was really steep and even with the switchbacks it was a challenge climbing back out. From there I was still about 7 miles from the Y and pretty tired. I only put in total of 14 miles today but it was a lot more challenging than last week's 17 miler. I really like the Garmin, but I am even more impressed with the free Sport Tracks program I downloaded for it. I fat-fingered the setup for the autolap feature on my watch so when I was done today all I had was my average pace for one really long lap! Sport tracks found my mile splits, showed me my course on a map, and even created an elevation chart that looks pretty darn accurate.

Pace 7:46

7:00am

The weather was perfect this morning. No wind, no rain; it was cold, but the snow didn't hit until about 30 minutes after I got home. It doesn't look like the snow is going to stick so tomorrow shouldn't be too bad either. I raced my Garmin Virtual Partner a.k.a. THE CHEAT today at my marathon pace. That little guy doesn't understand what a hill is! He just kept trotting along at 7:38 impervious to any change in elevation. I like to run hills, but I've never put that much effort into holding my pace on them before. It felt pretty close to race pace following yesterday's long hilly run. My hard work paid off and I managed to to beat the cheat by about 20ft. I think this new toy is really going to help me focus on my pace and I really dig the elevation charts.

Pace 7:38

4:30am

A little snow, and a lot of ice this morning. It was a good day to take a nice slow recovery run. I found a comfortable pace and then slowed down a little more. It was kind of hard to run that slow, but at the same time it felt good. I think I could have ran all day like that.

Pace 8:21

4:30am

No ice today!

Pace 7:48

4:30am

30° today, but no ice :)

Pace 7:46

4:30am

10 miles this morning! It was so cold that the extra 15 minutes outside froze my hands. My fingers are still numb on my right hand and it's really hard to type. I think I need some of those fancy exothermal girlie gloves that Allie got :) 

Pace 7:53

5:30am

yay! No frozen fingers today! I spent 2 hours and 10 minutes in the pouring rain, but it was nice and warm at 40°. We finished the last couple miles at a brisk 7:00 min pace. I'm not sore at all and I feel pretty good about putting in 10 more before church in the morning. After the run I dried off (not sure why I bothered with that) and rode to my CMA meeting and led a motorcycle ride to the Vintage Motorcycle museum in Spanaway. It was a great day in spite of the rainy weather.

Pace 8:20

6:00am

When I went outside and saw the snow I did a U turn and went right back in. It was heavy snow and rain mixed and coming down a little sideways. I grabbed some heavy snow gloves, said a prayer and ran back out the door. I probably looked like a lobster running down the street with those gloves...too bad I didn't have a red sweatsuit :) The first couple miles went by at 7:13 and 7:05; I wanted to make sure I really warmed up before the weather started working on me. By the third mile my sweats had taken on a few pounds of water and my legs were feeling a little restricted so I slowed down to about 7:50. In mile 5 I inhaled a big snow flake and suffered through a major coughing fit for about a 1/4 mile. During the last few miles the snow, actually slush started piling up and every step would splash freezing slush on the opposite foot. I tried lengthening my stride, shortening it, nothing helped avoid the splash, but those last few miles went by at 7:30. What a whiner huh? I should get a gold star or something for this run:)

Pace 7:45

4:30am

No more snow, just wind and sideways rain today. Is winter over yet?

Pace 7:46

4:30am

Today's run can be described in two words:

soggy chafed

Pace 7:51

4:30am

No rain this morning!!! I managed to knock out 10 miles wearing a heavy layer of bodyglide. I think I'm going to survive this "injury" after all :)

Pace 7:45

4:30am

Good run for being so tired. I got called into work at 1:30am to fix a server and about 3:30am I was back in bed for a whole hour before my run. So, on the bright side, I didn't get rained on even though it was pouring cats and dogs earlier when I drove to work and back. I'm tired, but I'm also really glad I didn't skip the run today. I feel pretty good for running 6 days in a row and I'm looking forward to the race on Saturday!

Pace 7:50

9:00am

Today's race was awesome! The weather was perfect (no rain, no wind), and my beautiful wife and son even came out to cheer for me as I ran by our house. They also came to see me at the finish line 1hour, 27minutes and 16seconds after I started! I crushed my goal of 90 minutes and beat my best 15k pace by 4 seconds per mile! I only placed 4th in my age group, but I got 3rd place for the overall series. What I lack in speed I made up for with persistence.

Mile splits: 6:56, 6:45, 7:03, 6:41, 7:05, 7:06, 7:13, 7:05, 7:16, 7:03, 7:06, 7:06, 2:43

I also had a motorcycle event to attend after the race and it was kind of funny all the weird looks I got this morning when I picked up my race number wearing big clunky boots and leathers. No, I didn't run in them, but that would have been impressive huh? Maybe next year.

Pace 7:01

7:00am

10 slow miles today. My calves are tight and I have a blister on my toe. Poor me.

Pace 8:02

4:30am

Still moving a little slow. Blisters suck! I have two of them now and one is under a hard earned callous; that's just not fair!

Pace 7:57

4:30am

Hard run this morning! My calves were still tight for the first 3 miles and it felt like the wind was in my face the whole way. It was blowing so hard I could barely hear my mp3 player. ...and what is the deal with these blisters? I have another one now. Could my shoes be shot already?

Pace 7:46

4:30am

Rainy and windy today. I wore my old shoes to see how they feel with all these blisters. I think I'll wear them again tomorrow. Today was my fastest time ever on my 10 mile training route. I felt really strong at the end and finished the last two miles at 7:17 and 7:03.

Pace 7:34

4:30am

Another new blister today :( This has got to stop! Tomorrow: rest + massage = happy feet

Pace 7:38

Check out the new elevation charts that Sasha added to the course tool: 10 miler

6:30pm

Yay! My daughter is home from college and wanted to run with me today. We did 4.32 miles to the park, around Waughop Lake and back home. Fun :)

Pace 9:44

6:00am

I got called in to work again this morning at 4:30am and barely got things squared away in time to meet Preston for our run at 6:00am. We did our usual route around Gravelly Lake and a couple laps around Steilacoom Park. It rained pretty hard for the last few miles, but it wasn't too cold and I felt great through the whole run. It was a nice way to end the week with over 70 miles. Now I'm going shopping for some new blister remedies and spending the rest of the day with Kym at the Northwest Ministry Conference.

Pace 8:12

7:00am

What a beautiful morning! I should have worn my sunglasses on the the run today. I did wear my new Asics Nimbus socks and used some Body Glide Liquid Powder on my toes. My run was nearly painless for the first time in over a week! I also got a pair of Wigwam Ironman socks that I'll try tomorrow. Now I'm off on the motorcycle to the annual ABATE swap meet. What a great day for a ride!

Pace: 7:31

4:30am

The ironman socks didn't cut it this morning. They are too thin and my little toe on the right foot flared up again. I can hardly walk on it now! It figures that the asics I wore yesterday are more expensive, but I guess my feet are worth it. My toes are starting to resemble shredded mini wheats and how can you put a price on that? :) Aside from my toe, I felt good on the run and it seems like I'm getting a little faster with less effort. Or Maybe its just adrenaline from the blister pain...

Pace 7:40

4:30am

The sideways rain today really made me appreciate yesterday's dry weather. It's too bad that I was so wrapped up in my other issues that I didn't stop to appreciate that. My toe still hurts, but it will pass.

275 miles this month? I never thought I would be able to do that!

Pace 7:38