I just felt like running

This one started like yesterday.  Just slogged along the point mallard trail and couldn't muster any faster than 9 min/mile.  Listened to several stories from the Moth.org podcast.  This is a story telling club in NYC- all true with no notes.  Ranging from poignant, depressing, funny, etc...   One was from a guy who dropped out of college at UW-Madison (my college) after a semester and then slacked his way along in Madision for 10 years working as a dishwasher.  He started writing jokes for a local humor paper  which made it big time the year after I graduated.  He now is the Editor of the Onion.com in NYC.   The moral of his story is you can succeed even if you have no desire, no self-esteem, and no motivation.     All this listening to story telling, did not do wonders for my running pace so I decided to listen to my pump-me-up running playlist.  Nirvanna and RadioHead got me motivated enough to run several long stretches at near 6 min/mile pace. 

Ran the trail at work.  Nice and easy.  Felt good.

Lunch Run. 

Ran while listening to Podrunner (167bpm).  Middle three miles were at 7 min/mile.  Feeling good.  Legs not 100% but pretty close.

Went over to Jon's and ran with him after he got off work.  Good hills.  We took it easy.  Did a hard mile (6:30) at the end.

Run around neighborhood and Pt. Mallard with Elliott.  He is a great running partner.  He loves that stroller.  Held around 9 min/mile.

i wasn't a good example as a president of a RRCA club-   jog stroller and headphones.  I should have brought the dog and wore roller skates and I'll I'd get a lifetime ban from the road running club or america.   Do as I say , not as I do.    Actually I'm in complete agreement with the rules for races but on your own its different.

Lunch on trails.   Did pushup work out in conjunction with hill climbing.  0.25 mile up, 0.25 mile down , 15 pushups.  Repeat 4 more times.   Did 17 pushups at the end.   Pretty hot day again.  Sunny.   Didn't push the hills.

Lots of rain on the horizon so I opted for the fitness center treadmill.  2 mile warmup at 7 mph.  1.6 miles at 6:30 pace then 0.7 miles at 6:00 pace.  Cool down.   

I was in a daze after I got off the treadmill as one of my co-workers asked if I was lost.  I was over at the window just pacing around aimlessly.  His question woke me up. 

Ran around the roads at work.  Wanted to stay at 8min/mile but not much faster. Still a bit sore from yesterday.  Fit in pushup repeats of 15, 13, 11, 11, and 16 in between 90 second running recoveries.

Ran in the morning because I had an 8am doctor appt.  I'm in the habit of getting up at 5am to go to work early.  I had plenty of time to fit in the run since the doctors office is <5 min away.   Ran easy and around neighborhood.  Ran around Fiona's school twice- not much activity at 6:30.  

Easy run at work.  Got in pushups in between hill climbing (15,15,12,12,18). 

Spiders are still out.  Had a few full face webs.  Lovely. 

Went to Hurricane Creek with my Dad.  Garmin said 7 miles but it felt alot longer.  There are lots of trees, rocky outcroppings, and curvy trails that cause havok with GPS signals.  In the end, it doesn't matter what the Garmin says since I ran whatever I ran.

 Took a good tour of most of the trails.  There were several new insane MTB trails and jumps.  I'm happy to be able to stay on solid ground.  i have no desire to fly off a 6 foot high jump and land on a rocky downhill.

I ran up what is called the "Gauntlet".  It is a straight down for probably 500 ft of elevation change.  Its a little harder than some of the climbs on the Mountain mist course.  Very hard and by most reasonable definintions : not -runnable. 

Saw a 4 ft long black snake which made me jump.

The temperature on The south edge of the creek  dropped about 10 degrees.  Sheltered from sun and benefitted by exposed moist out croppings.  Went through Twilight tunnel and Heaven's staircase.   Cool. 

Still have more to explore upriver (to the east).

My dad hiked around and enjoyed it.  My mom, Liza, Fiona, and Elliott met us later for a picnic. 

Ran in the morning before Liza and I took Elliott to UAB.   Great weather,much cooler (Thanks Ike!).  Ran to point mallard and on the trail.  Did a 3 mile tempo run (~6:45pace) as part of the run.

Liza counted as a I tried to max out on pushups.  Got to 25.  I'm improving but its slow.   I could only do 18 two weeks ago.

Run on the trails at work.  Still cool weather but a bit warmer.  (70's at lunch time).  Did hills/push up repeats.  Hills were easy (1/2 mile loop).  I'm on to the 3rd week of the schedule on  onehundredpushups.com .   Today it was 20,15,15,13,21.  

Warmed up a bit but still OK.  Low 80's.   Did 3 1/2 mile intervals at 6:00 pace , one 1/4 mile interval, and one hard hill.  Wanted to do more but I felt weak.  I did give blood yesterday and have been under stress so I cut myself some slack.

Easy run.  Felt OK.  I did another pushup workout. Schedule called for 22,17,17,15,15  but I fell way short.  The 22 took a lot of out me.   I did the pushups on the boat dock at work.. Was cool to be out along the TN River. 

On trails at work.  Saving up a little energy for tomorrow.

Always one of my favorite local races.  A small race but well run and nice to see lots of other local runners.  Tried to take it easy on the 1st mile.  A ~10 YO girl sprinted out ahead, probably 4th overall.  She was flying-  maybe 5:30 pace.  One shoe was partially untied but didn't matter to her.  She was on fire and hyped up.  It never ceases to amaze me the enthusiasm young runners have in the start of a 5K.   Reality hit her after a little over a quarter of a mile and the steady veteran runners inched by her.  Later, I saw her cross the finish line in about 38 minutes.  Pacing in the early stages of a race is a hard lesson to learn and I think she finished her first homework assignment today.

I led a small pack and was holding about 5th place after a 1/2 mile.  Patrick Fagerman was in reach (maybe 5 seconds ahead).  Donald Bowman was way ahead and probably was about to put it in cruise control (later winning in 17:30 or so).  I finished the 1st mile in 6:04 and felt well within myself.  The 2nd mile felt good as well in 6:05.  I was sure I had a little left but my garmin told a different story.  I was able to take over 4th place with about 3/4 of a mile to go.  He kept on my heels the rest of the way and I had to sprint the last 20 yds to preserve my place.  Mile 3 was 6:17.  Felt good overall.  Nice to know I have my pre- 8hr race "speed" still intact. 

3M had a good showing.  4 of the 5 club runners got age group awards.  

After a warm-up, I kept it below 7min/mile for a decent marathon pace workout.   7:10 overall avg.  Did pushup repeats intermixed with about 0.3 mile repeats at marathon pace. Did 20,17,15,13 .  I still feel tired.

Ran the trails and did easy hill repeats with pushup repeats (20,15,15,13,17).  Its starting to cool down which feels nice.  Next week its really going to cool down.  I'm hoping to get in runs to and from work again while I can still do it mostly in daylight.  I think I'll start with one day per week (2X9 = 18 miles) and maybe get up to two by late October.  One of legs will be a marathon or tempo pace run)

Garmin battery went dead.  Left it on all night.  I missed it for awhile but got over it.  Ran easy on the trails and roads at work.  Felt a little weak- nutrition most likely.  Ate breakfast before 6am and didn't get out for my run until 12:45 with nothing to eat in between.

Took the morning off so Liza could go get a facial.  I'll spend time with Elliott and also go to lunch with Fiona at school.  They are serving Crispito with Cheese and I have to find out what that is.

Warmed up for a mile and then did a tempo run (2.8 miles) consisting of negative split 4 laps (0.7mi each)  paces were 6:51,6:45,6:36,6:32  felt good.   Temps were in the 50's.

Ran three on the roads at Hickory Hills.  Jon met me and we ran 10 more.  Chased three hot air baloons and finally caught them at the Priceville City Hall after 3.5 miles and a jaunt through a corn field.  Larry Fuller from work was one of the three.  Nice calm morning for baloon flying.  We stuck around for 5 minutes and pretended to help but they had it under control.  We worked our way over to Bethel and then then ran back to the Hickory Hills boat launch via the wildlife refuge jeep road.  I was pretty tired out when i got back.    Did 27 PU's in parking lot and then did another 15.  I may try to do a few more sets now that I'm at home while I'm cooking chicken on the grill.  We plan to watch Run Fat Boy Run this PM with the elmores.

Took a leisurely Sunday afternoon jog with Elliott.  I was prepared: strolled stock with water, diapers,wipes, bottle, formula, etc..   Per usual, Elliott was happy as a clam and didn't need any of it.  Ran over to point mallard, worked on the running club bulletin board, and then ran the golf course road back towards home.

Easy lunch run.  Stopped along the trail to do my sets of pushups.  I haven't progressed past my 20,15,15,13,16  pattern but I need to give it time.  Wednesday, I'll try 20,17,17,15, +max and see what happens.

Did the commute to work on foot today.

Started in the dark @5:45.  Weather was great-  mid fifties I think.  Carried our 3M club's Liz Hurley entries to the mailbox at Decatur general - 10 this year.  a couple first time 5K in the group. Felt good.  After mile 2 , I started to negative split each mile until I was in sight of work.  Miles 7 and 8 were 7:10 and 6:56.  Took the short route down Highway 24 because the train got me off course.  I regretted it.  Its a 1/4 mile shorter but that road is busy and has no shoulder.    Caught a few nasty whiffs while passing the Wayne Farms south plant (chicken kill plant) on ipsco rd.  I'm glad they make the chicket nuggets and not me. 

I felt tired at 4pm when it was time to head home.  I was well fueled though and it showed. Ravioli and trail mix for lunch.  Cliff Bars in the afternoon and plenty of water (some coffee too).  I stayed pretty steady  and averaged 7:34/mile on the 9.4 miles back (long scenic route).  Got a whiff of the other wayne farms plant (chicken cooking).  That was a pleasant smell.     Two other olfactory highlights were McCullom's seafood and a guy tilling his garden.  I love the smell of freshly turned dirt for some reason.  Its was considerably warmer in the afternoon.  Miles 8 and 9 were 7:14 and 7:22. 

Got home and then took the dog and Elliott for a 1/2 hr walk.