I just felt like running

Got a late start on this run.  Day was busy.  Took down and boxed up christmas decorations.  Caught most of the Wisconsin Badger game (my alma mater) vs. Tennessee.  Good game- we were so close to a win.  Also watched the baby in the afternoon to give Liza some sleep.   At this point, the gift of a nap is better than roses to her.  Once she got up, I got the dog walked and headed out after dark.  Temp cooled off alot (in 30's and windy).  I had no energy (didn't think ahead) but I slogged through the run at around 9min pace.  Felt good afterward.  Watched the rest of Ironman Wisconsin on the DVR.  I'll have to do that someday.

Even colder today.  20's.  Ran at the fitness center at work.  Treadmill with HR monitor.  Targeted  145-150 BPM which ended up being 7:30-8:00/mile.   Ran with new iPod and listened to Science Friday podcast.  Earphones driving me crazy though.  New ones on the way -  Sony in-ear model.  hopefully they stay put better than the ones I have.

Nice run on the trails at work over lunch.    Sunny day and starting to warm up again (45F).

Plan to continue base training through January.  Ramping up mileage to 50/wk.  Once I let my body adjust to that for a couple weeks, I'll reintroduce VO2max intervals, tempo runs, Marathon pace runs, and cruise intervals.

My plantar fasciatis is showing signs of improvement.  The advice to wear the Superfeet insoles all the the time was the key.  I'll continue calf stretching and wearing splint at night (Strasburg sock and plant to try the 3M Nexcare neoprene split).  I need to get back into fascia massage via frozen tennis ball or frozen soda bottle  and also calf massage with The Stick.   After almost 10 months with this injury, I'm ready to put it behind me.

Late morning run from home to Pt.Mallard Park.  Ran path.  Nice weather again- high forties.

Used my new headphones.  These worked much better than my others.  I think I'll use them on runs from time to time.    I need to go to the larger ear insert size.  The ear hooks did very little- by the time the run ended they were completely off my ears.  The in-ear part held though. 

When I was getting near home, the science friday podcast I was listening to ended so I switched to music.  Spurred on my Enimem's Lose Yourself, I ran one fast lap around Walter Jackson Elementary on the road(~1000m).  Felt good (6min/mile pace).

Will take sunday off tomorrow like I normally do and then get back at it. Shoot for another mid-forties mileage week and then do 50 the next hopefully.

Lunch run from work.  Warmup continues.  High 60's now.   Stiff breeze out of south.

After warmup, I did two separate miles at Marathon pace with about 30 seconds rest in between.  The first one was directly south down Finley Island road right into the 20mph wind.  It was a chore to do that one in 7:10.  The return trip was much easier and smoother @ 6:52.   Overall pace was 7:50 for the entire run.

I had grand plans to wake up at 4:30am and get in a run but at 3am I switched my alarm to get one more hour of sleep.  I stayed up till 10:30pm watching the coverage of the New Hampshire primaries.  I should have gone to bed.

Had a good run from work.  Ran mostly on the trails- climbed the powerline hill a couple times and the paved hill from the pumphouse once.  Felt good.

I need to get a morning run in sometime this week in order to get 45 miles for the week.  I don't want to have to leave myself 20 miles to run on Saturday.  I'm sure I could finish that but I want to level out the mileage for now.

Lunch run on the trails - 4.9 miles.   8:30 pace. 

Tornado watch in the afternoon.  Raining.

As my birthday treat (36 YO), my wife let me stay after work for another run.  Went on treadmill since I didn't feel like running in the dark and rain.  As an easy run, I kept my HR between 135 and 145 BPM.  Pace was 7:50-8:00/mile.  This is 70-75% of HR Max.

Lunch run.  Averaged 8:01/mile.  Felt good.  Right calf is tight.  Need to massage on a regular basis.

Went over to Point mallard to run the trails.   Grady Tyler asked me to check out the new privet clearning the Park and Rec department had done.  Looked good. They nearly all of the native trees.  After running the trail, went down the golf course road to get water at T.C. Almon.  Headed out on the bike trail and looped over to Delano Park and then back home.

Avg Pace was 7:53/mile.  Felt easy most of the time.  Last 5 miles were harder.  Tried to keep each mile under 8:00.

High 30's and sunny.  Nice morning for a run.   With my Mom visiting, I took the day off.  After dropping Fiona off at pre-school and an errand at the post office, I ran from Rhodes Ferry Park.  Scouted out the 1st Baptist 5 miler again.  Heather had liked the Gordon Dr Bridge/Bike Path course so I ran that one.  I came within 2 blocks of 5 miles on the Garmin 205.   Pretty good.  The course has a stretch on Memorial Parkway which is a fairly busy 4 lane road.  We'll have to cone a stretch of about 3/4 of a mile to keep the runners in the right hand lane.  Shortest distance running would have them run into the left lane lane because of a couple left hand curves.  I'll meet with the folks at FBC in the next week or so to discuss their options.   I did a small loop over to Leon Sheffield school.   Church St. NW is a pretty good road to run on, nice and wide.  Towards the end there were a couple mean looking pit bulls - caged , thankfully.  I don't know if this would be good for a race - the Jaycees (Ledlow) are interested in a race in conjunction with River Fest and I'm scoping things out.   The foot bridge near the Dancy Polk House would be a fun thing to incorporate into a race. 

Goal this week is to exceed 43 miles.  46-49 would be nice.

Spend quite a bit of time yesterday working on my calf with The Stick.  Lower calf is pretty stiff.  need to keep at it.  Not 22 years old anymore.

I had a full day so I got in an easy run early in the morning.  Pretty cold -  high twenties.

Snowing!!  Couldn't pass up an opportunity to run in a snow shower.  Don't get that opportunity too often in Alabama.  It was a very wet snow - low thirties.

Ran after work on the trails with Bob.  We ran down to where the new trail will be.  Bob likes the middle distances so the pace was a little faster here and there.   Shoes got very wet.  I'll switch over to my new Kayano's and give the others a chance to dry a little.

Older Kayano 13 - (since Nov 10,2007)- 220 miles

Ran at Point Mallard afterwork.

Got a late start on this run. 1:30pm.  Ate a normal breakfast around 7am- yogurt and cereal.  About an hour into my run I was fairly hypoglycemic (rubbery legs, dizzy, etc..) , I took one cliff block and ate a dozen M&M's I was carrying and I recovered quickly.  This lasted another 4 miles and then the last 3 miles were a chore.  Still ended up averaging under 9min pace with breaks built in.  I should have eaten a mid-morning snack.

Bob drove by when I was running the Delano Park loop (www.delano12.com) and waited for me to finish a loop and invited me to Point Mallard to run.   It was nice not have to run alone for 6 miles.  He is working himself back into shape.  Pretty soon he'll give me a run for my money on 5K's.   We talked a little about doing a relay in the delano 12 hour.  Tempting.  It all depends on how many volunteers Jon and I line up.  Last year I was paranoid about turning the timing over to anyone else.  I had written a MS Access lap counter and couldn't pry myself away from it for more than a couple minutes at a time.  Maybe in the 2nd year I'll be a little more relaxed.

Running with new Kayano 13 now -  20 miles

We had a little quiet time in the house  before the Packers game so I headed out for a quick jog.  Pretty cold-  in the 20's.  Went in the refuge off the end of Meadowbrook and looped around to Stratford.   My right calf was sore- not helped much by the fact that I ran in shorts.  I need to look into the Paula Radcliffe compression sock to see if that is supposed to help with calf issues.

Packer game was tense.  We had our moments but the Giants were playing very well.   No SuperBowl this year. 

Lunch run on trails.  8:47 pace.  Right calf still tight.   I checked out Paula Radcliffe's calf compression socks on the internet- i think something I'll try.  They look kind of geeky but I like that sort of thing.  I guess its similar to me keeping my iPod headphones in place with bandages.

Rainy run at lunch.  Mostly trails but last mile or so on the road.  8:20 pace overall.  Calf felt a little better.  Right Lower calf/achilles now feels tight.   overall I felt strong though.

Getting excited about doing part of the Delano 12 Hour as a relay.    The course record for the 4 person team is easily in reach (64 miles).  I'd like to get close to 100 miles.

Six laps at Delano Park after work.  7:44 pace. 

Will watch the Spirit of Marathon movie tomorrow night. 

Lunch treadmill run at work.  Didn't feel like running in the cold (25F).  2 mile WU at 8:00 Pace, 2 miles at 6:39 (9mph), 0.3 miles at 5:40, and then cool down at 8:00 pace.

It is frequently the case that when I get on the treadmill, my workouts tend to become speed work even if I didn't plan it that way.  I just get bored and want variety and to get it over with.  The threshold part felt good. I've run a half marathon at that pace in the past and I couldn't do that right now though.   I haven't done speed work for 3 months so it will get easier.

I volunteered at the Mountain Mist 50k in Huntsville,AL.  Led the aid station at 21 miles (Land Trust).  It was fun.   I got a little running in before the race , during, and after to cobble together a long run.    Ran the course mostly which is fairly rocky .  (Land trust section between mile markers 18-21, the north and south plateau loops, mountain mist trail, and the stone cuts).  I love running (actually walking) through the cuts.  Its almost a cave--- very narrow trail cut between tall natural stone walls - goes about 75 yards.

Starting to warm up again here. Ran 4 mile warmup on trails ,2 X 1/2 mile intervals, 1 mile cool down.  I didn't do at exactly VO2Max pace but pretty close (3:06,3:04).  Trying to break into speed work slowly.    Calf and achilles on right leg felt tight again.

Went to Quad Cities of IL/IA on business.  I checked the weather yesterday which predicted a high in the 40's for today but cooling off considerably tomorrow.    The weather report from the pilot just before arrival doused my hopes for decent running weather-  12F and winds 25-35mph with 45 mph gusts.  They say it was 50F at 9am but an artic front has pushed in.

  I was bound and determined to get in a run outside anyway -  three days of treadmilling was not an option.  I added layers and put on my running pants in the Airport restroom.   I knew my face would freeze so  I stopped by the local running store in Davenport,IA (Running Wild) and got a Wigwam face mask.   I ran on the Duck creek path - first into the wind.  After I warmed up, it was decent.  I had ice formed on the mask, eyebrows, and eyelashes by the time I returned downwind toward the store.     The mask worked great.  highly recommend it.

The wind is supposed to subside by midnight.  Maybe I'll get to run again outside tomorrow when the forecast is for a high of 18F.

Took a short run (2 mile easy) on the hotel treadmill before heading to the plant.  Watched some superbowl hype on espn2.  I'm not sick of superbowl coverage yet- suprising...

Weather forecast is for warmer weather today- hopefully wind will be less than yesterday.

Got back to the hotel at 5pm.  It was 10F but minimal wind.   I went out around the neighborhoods of LeClaire,IA for a an easy run of 5.35.  First bit was right along the Mississippi- very pretty.  Huge new houses.  Several canada geese-  I'd figure they'd have more sense then me and stay further south.

I listened to my first Podrunner.com track -  a 150bpm segment called Square One.  It took me awhile to get used to it-   I'm used to podcasts where I'm concentrating on every word.  After 5 minutes or so, it slipped in as a background theme song where I focused mostly on the road but was pushed along by the very percussive rhythm.  It was cool.     I've been struggling to find a good way to secure my ipod headphones-  the two earphones do not cooperate and I've had to tape them on to get them to stop jumping around while I'm running.  Today (and yesterday) I wore them under a hat which kept them secure.  I finally could forget the darn things were there and just run.

Hotel treadmill in morning.  I'm ready to be home.

Flights got delayed last night and then missed connection in Atlanta.  Spent the night there and got home around 9am.  Pretty tired.

Ran 4 miles on the trails at lunch.  Felt pretty peppy despite the lack of sleep. Someone scheduled a meeting right at noon so I had to cut the run short after 30 minutes.   I am not a big fan of noon meetings.

run actually on Sunday.

Came down with a cold or flu yesterday.  Daughter and son have it too.  Felt pretty weak today so I took it very easy.  Scouted out a 3.5 mile loop for the River City Run (www.rivercityrun.com).  It has historically been a 10k only. New race director is trying to expand to to a wide group of runners.  We discussed adding a half marathon as well but didn't do it this year.

Moved mileage to Saturday.  I like to track weekly mileage from Mon-Sun.  I plan on keeping all weekend mileage on Saturday from now on.

Flu (or cold?) is much better today.  Sunday afternoon was the worst.  Got the chills and ended up watching the Superbowl in two pairs of sweats and a ski hat.  Towards the end of the game, I got really got so my fever must have broke.  By Monday morning, my temperature was back to normal.  I took Monday off to recover.

I've committed to be on a 12 hr run relay team (4 person).  We need to average 7:12/mile to get 100 miles.  We are going to try 6 mile legs.  1 lap is a mile so we could conceivably change runner every mile.   I tried some 1/2 mile intervals with 15-20 seconds rest at this pace.  My chest was still congested so I think it was a good test.  I did 5 and then did a 3/4 mile interval for good measure.  1st couple were right at 7:12 pace and the rest at 7:00 minute pace.  Felt really good.  I had to force myself to ease up.

I'm going to try a practice 6 mile on the Delano Park course on Saturday as part of my long run.

Cold got worse again.  I could have run through it but decided to take the day off to recover.  Lots of chest congestion , coughing, and nasal congestion-  perfect things to make for a pleasant run.

Got another relay entry team in our 12 hour event.  A family team-  Father,Mother,Son.

Tried running at lunch.  My chest was so clogged it was hard to breathe.  Hopefully by the weekend I'll be fully recovered.  My daughter went to doc hull yesterday and was put on antibiotics for the same thing.

Weather today was beautiful and I was feeling a little better so I got back out there.  Still coughing a lot.  After a 1 mile warm-up, I did a 6 mile marathon pace workout at Delano Park to get mentally prepared for the 12 hour relay.  I need to so four of these with about 2 hours rest in between.   We need 7:12 per mile to get our 100 miles.  I was able to do  7:08,7:09,7:00,7:05,7:07,7:03.  It didn't feel easy but not too bad considering the current state of my lungs.  I was just hacking away while running especially when I was going into the wind.  Legs felt good though.  Calf not sore.

 This 12 hour relay is going to be really good prep for the Georgia marathon-  my goal is to get back under Boston qualifying time so I'll need to average 7:27.

I'll take my normal day off on Sunday and then hopefully I'll be recovered enough to get back on my 40-45mile/week pace.  I want to hit 50+ in February yet.

Good lunch run on the trails at work.  Felt good to get back into it.   Coughed quite a bit in 1st couple mile but it settled down.   8:30 pace.

Last couple days have been cold and very busy with work and family obligations.  I have found I don't have the energy or motivation to run before dark in the morning or after dark at night.  This would also involve reducing the time I sleep.  With the new baby, work, and being sick , I need to get at least 7 hrs/night.

This was a good workout.  Ended up doing 2 X 1/2 mile repeats after an easy warmup on the trails.  Held it under 3 minutes each time.  Felt decent.   Still have a nagging cough and nasal congestion.

Ran the 3M trails, up and down finley island road, and the BP trails.   I had been coughing nonstop during the AM at work but the coughing stopped when I was out running.   I got very weak towards the end of this run.  At the time, I thought it because of eating breakfast at 6am and running at 1pm with no food in between.  That may have been part of it but as the day went on my flu symptoms from the last couple weeks came back full strength.  Achy,fever, cough, headace, and a general zombie like persona.

Felt awful this morning.  No energy.  101+ fever.  Got diagnosed with sinusitis and possible pneumonia.  Stayed in bed all day except for 3 hours in the afternoon.  They have me a strong antibiotic(Leviquin).

Read a story in the newspaper on how ineffective the flu vaccine was this year.  The strains included formulation only covered 40% of the flu bugs this year.  It never is perfect but it commonly is in the 80% range.  What I have sure feels like the flu but the with the doc prescribing antibiotics it must not be the case.    I've had this sickness for 2 weeks straight- I'd have thought a common cold virus or influenza would have played itself out by then.

I'm feeling a lot better.  I'll take tomorrow off still and then may try running on Saturday.  No more fever and aching.  Coughing is almost gone as well.   Still some chest congestion.  My February mileage is depressing but I'm very glad this illness is about behind me  and my plantar faciatis is non existent.     I'm still hopeful a 3:15 Georgia Marathon is still in the cards.

Ran the Steeple Chase 8K course with Jon.  Nice day- around 40F.  Ended up averaging around 8:20pace.

Felt good to get out there.  Still a little chest congestion but nothing of worry.  Course was fun- Gordon Dr Bridge crossings will give runners a unique view of leaders and chasers at a couple points.  Certification should happen a week from now if all goes as planned.

At about 4 mile, had  sharp pain in my upper right calf.  I've never hurt exactly in that place before.  It felt almost like a cramp but it didn't spasm.  I stopped and stretched and pushed on.  After a half mile, it started in my left upper calf as well.     Calf pain is fairly common for me but never that high.     Both were sore about 3 hrs later.  I'll roll with The Stick and stretch again.

Ran some Delano Loops with Jon, Eric C. and Bob.  30 minutes before the run it was nice and sunny- mid 50's.  It turned cloudy, cooler, with drizzle.  All in all it was good weather for running.  Calves felt better which was a load off my mind.    It was going to kill me to have some freaky random injury on an easy day right after recovering from my sinusitis.

We gradually picked up the pace over each lap.  Bob and Eric went sub six on the last mile.  I got mine to 6:35 or so.   Felt good and got me excited about the 12 hour relay.  100 miles are definitely in reach.

Ran at point mallard after work.  Saw Joe Wallace and did a cool down with him.  We talked about doing a Sunday run from time to time.

I'm still not 100%.  Lungs not back and calves sore.  The weather is turning cold again.    Its good we are getting the cold out of the way now so it will be nice for the Delano 12 hour.  www.delano12.com

Ran afterwork on the 3M trails. It had snowed earlier but not while i was running.  I always like running in the snow.

Only had 25 minutes to fit in a quick run on the trails at work.  Even short ones are good to clear my mind and recharge for the afternoon.

Right after I got back I went to a meeting (process hazard analysis) so it was 2:30pm when I fnally got around to eating.

Went to the ice rink with Fiona (4 YO).  This was her first time skating.  She did well and left the rink with sore feet and wanting more.

She didn't go solo yet.  I was skating behind her holding both hands.  She mostly skate walked but liked it.

I took a quick run after I got home.  Finished at sunset.

I was pleased that running 8:00 min/mile felt fairly easy again.  The runs earlier this week were all in the 9min/mile range.

took an easy run with Jon around downtown before meeting Danny Michael to help certify the Steeple Chase 8k.  Felt good.  Great Day.

Easy loop around the 3M trail.  We are having a 12 week fitness challenge at work.  If you complete one of several goals you get a cash prize.   The running goals (Mile under 7:20 or 5K under 32 min) aren't a challenge so I want to pick a different one this year.  I considered trying the 5K challenge but running backwards.  Several people at work said that would be showing off and discouraged me from it.   5% weight loss is one but I don't want to be focusing on that during marathon training.   The inclined walk on treadmill and the elliptical challenges don't seem challenging enough either.  The one that remains is the bench press.  For my age, I need to press 80 lbs  26 times on a Harris machine.   The bar is on a rail with bearings.  Went to the fitness center to see how far I'm away from that.  I was able to do 6 the first attempt.  I jumped over to the treadmill and did 2 miles at 8.3mph (7:13pace) and then did 7 on a second attempt.  I have a long way to 26.   I talked to some guys that lift at work and one of them thought I had a shot to get to the goal in 3 months.  The other thought I had no shot at all.   There was some talk that the bearings in the Harris machine hadn't been greased in awhile so that gives me a little hope.  The bar had noticeable resistance on the rail as it moved up an down.  I have a week before I need to commit to a challenge.  I'm sore the morning after from the 13 bench presses.  I need to get stronger regardless of what challenge I do- I haven't incorporated any lifting into my routine.

one loop on the 3m trails

Ran part of a relay at Delano Park 12 Hour.   I did 24 miles which was the lightest load on the team.  I had the honor of getting the team to 100 miles on my 21st mile.  I averaged 7:04/mile though that point (legs of 6 ,5, 5, 4 , and 1 mile). The last mile was my fastest (sub 6:30).  Good marathon training.  I took it easy on the last three at 8-9 min/mile pace.   Overall, I averaged 7:17 pace and the team averaged 6:58. 

Beautiful day.  Went to the track to deliver a donation from 3M to the track team.  Did a good workout.  Calves and Hamstrings were sore so I cut it a little short.   Did an 800m and 1000m interval @6:00.  My hamstring started to really tighten up towards the end.  I'll be fine, I just haven't quite recovered from Saturday.

Another beautiful day. Did one mile at 7:30 pace to get a feel of what a 3:15 marathon pace will feel like.

I need to reprogram my pace from the 7:12 pace needed for the 100 mile in 12 hour relay  to the boston qualifier pace.

No running today.   My boss's boss's boss was visiting the plant today.   Her visit went went but I didn't have a free lunch for a run. 

CAUTION: MILDLY GRAHPIC INJURY DESCRIPTION!!

I did  something dumb in the evening.  I got the 2nd toe on my left foot black and blue during the Delano 12.  I have a history with this toe over the past 7 years.  On thursday , I got one edge of the toe nail to separate and it sprayed blood around the locker room.  It felt better after that and its color went back to normal.   I'm not one to leave well enough alone though.  The normal course of events with this toe is   gets black and blue and aches for awhile, pressure relief by some means (prying, tail clippers, the red hot paperclip technique), a period of healing,  and then it separates and I take the nail off.   Friday I tried to get more fluid out of there. At that point, only one side was separated.  For some reason, I then decided to bypass the "period of healing" phase and just rip the nail off.. After I saw the bloody nail bed I realized my mistake.  In the past, the nail came off to reveal another one that had already grown in.     I treated with alcohol (ouch!!), antibiotic, and a bandage.   In the morning, I switched to 3M Liquid Bandage.  Time will tell- my biggest fear is infection.  I may turn out lucky.

Had a short 4.5 mile run in the morning (8:50 pace).  It was cut short by lightning.  I made it home before a down pour.

Ran 8.67 in the afternoon.  (8:11 pace).  Warm here (63F).  Felt good.  Carried Cytomax in waterbottle (good stuff).    Toe feels fine (of course its probably not going to get infected in less than 24 hrs either).

In the morning, I went with Fiona to adjust the mile markers in the River City Run course (www.rivercityrun.com).  We had adjusted the finish so that it was off the main road at point mallard.  It caused a near accident last year once the Radio Controlled Airplane show started at the ice rink.

We had a good time prying up the old mileage spike, rolling off 259', and driving and painting a new spike.  Mile 5 is back in point mallard along the golf course.  Its over a half mile back there off of point mallard dr.  On the way back, Fiona started getting tired.  She had long since given up on carrying anything for me so I was lugging the hammer, nails, washers, clip board, spray paint, and mileage rollers.  This was fine and not my point.  She stopped to rest and I decided to go to the bathroom in the woods.  I walked towards the river and got maybe 6 feet into the leaf covered woods.  Completely out of sight.  I started to unzip to do by business when I heard some water spraying on the leaves right behind me.  I looked over my shoulder and didn't see anything.  It sounded just like the sound I was going to make while urinating.  I started in and had decided that there must be some sump that was pumping water back in the woods.  I kept hearing it but I went on with my business.  Once was finished,  I turned around at saw a black snake staring at me with not more than a foot from my sandalled feet.  Its tail was shaking away which was what was causing my imaginary "water falling on leaves" sound.  I freaked!!  I slowly backed up and it did the same.  I left the woods and took deep breaths as I got back to Fiona.   I'd estimate the snake was 3-4 ft long.  I couldn't tell if it actually had a rattle (don't think so).  I was too flustered to notice if it had the patterns of a cottonmouth.  It was a very dark colored snake.   Its amazing how non-agressive it was.  I jaunted in and stood within 1 foot of it and all it did was try to warn me and act defensive.  If it had wanted to dig into my calf, it would have had easy pickin's.  Nice snake I guess.

Now for my afternoon run,  I test drove a new figure 8 interval loop.  It has two blocks on either end - one a 0.67mile (1080 high def meters) and the other 0.81 miles (1300 meters).  Each is rolling.  Its designed for a active recovery with a 0.52 stretch in between each loop.  It worked well.  I did two cycles with a ~2 mile WU/CD on either side.  Paces were 6:35,6:46,6:29,6:29.  Active recoveries were done between 8-9 min/mile.  When I started out, my plan was to do the intervals at goal marathon pace (7:28).  That didn't work out.   Did cool down by out and backs on Brookside and Horsetree.   Horsetree is one of the prettiest streets in Decatur and has a nice little hill too.

Kayano 13's -  211 miles   I switch in early April to a new pair.

Easy run at lunch on the trails.  A little sore from Sunday.   I dropped by the fitness center to work on bench press.  I have 12 weeks to get up to 26 reps of 80 lbs for the 3M fitness challenge.

Up in cottage grove, MN for work.    I'm really working on keeping my sinuses clean on this trip.  Last airplane trip I took, I got sick a bad case of sinusitis and stayed that way for 3 weeks in February basically wiping out a month of quality training.   I'm doing decongestants and using a saline nasal rinse that my wife found.    Its a weird feeling to squirt warm liquid up one nostril and let it drain out the other.  Worth a try.

I ran from the hotel on a path along highway 61 to Cottage Grove Ravine Park.  I ran in the park on a paved trail that was covered with snow once you got in the woods.  It wasn't deep enough to get my feet too wet.  Pretty park.  I got lost on the way back but found Jamaica Ave. off of 80th St.

Slept in til 6:30 so I didn't leave myself too much time for a run before I need to go to the plant.  Went around neighborhoods behind the hotel.  Its around 30F with very little wind.  Good running weather.

Got two easy runs in today.

Morning was from hotel , south on Jamaica, west on 100th St to Ideal Ave.S.  Asphalt bike path the entire way.  Got pretty rural.  Did an out and back.  Listened to a podcast about the "Rubber Room".   The NYC education dept sends teaches to a "reassignment center" if some allegation of abuse or other infraction reported.  The teaches wait and sit  for days, weeks, months, even years at times until they get a hearing and they are either reinstated or fired.  Like jury duty almost but a lot longer.    All the time with full pay and benefits.    My synopsis doesn't do it justice.  www.thisamericanlife.org  

Evening was from hotel, south on Jamaica, west on 95th St., south on Hadley, East on 100th and back.  Listened to a podcast about retirement homes for Chimpanzees.    I hadn't thought about this but a chimp is one of the only domesticated animals that humans don't euthanize.  A TV or circus chimp can only be an entertainer for 4-5 years before they get too big , strong, and agressive.  They can live to almost 50 yrs.  The same is true for research chimps.   The Clinton Admin funded this multi-million dollar retirement home - the chimps have rooms with hammocks, TV's, meals cooked for them, along with an outdoor play area that allows for some natural foraging for food.  They say that since many of the chimps grew up around lab coated humans that their favorite TV show is General Hospital.

Ran my neighborhood figure 8 interval route (1100m,1300m repeats with active 0.5mile recovery).  Jon came over to run it as well.  He already had a 5K that day plus 4-5 miles.  I told him we'd do the intervals at marathon pace. As it turned out, the entire workout including recoveries and warm down ended up being faster than marathon pace (7:21 vs. 7:28).  Intervals were at 6:30,6:41,6:28,6:11/mile pace.   They felt good.  I will really need to focus on not going out to hard at the Georgia Marathon.

Started this one late so I had little in the tank.  Did bench presses at fitness center too.  Up to 90 lbs now (8 reps).   Ran on the treadmill at marathon pace (7:24) for awhile.   Treadmill running always seems harder for a given pace than on the road.

Had visitors from MN to the plant. Took them for a run on the 3M trails after work.

Just before we sat down for a dinner that night at "THE BRICK" I got nauseous.  I got some fresh air and was fine during dinner.  Once I got home, felt weak and layed down for an hour.   When I got up to get ready for bed, I threw up.   I threw up again at 3am.  The next day I was better but felt weak.

My goal was a 3:15 and I was on that pace until I had to stop at the port-o-potty at mile 4 (lingering effects from my sickness earlier in the week).  I lost a minute and was not able to get back on pace. I was not mentally prepared for all the hills- there were lots of them.  I ended up forgiving myself for a slightly offpace mile split by saying to myself that there will be easier miles later on (never happened).  I made it through the half marathon in 1:40:00.  I ended up being quite underdressed too- it was high forties but the wind and moist air made my shorts and short sleeved tee insufficient.  I really could have used gloves.

I am pleased though overall.  I really had not business thinking I could run a 3:15 given my training over the past 2 months.  Losing essentially all of Feb with sickness and then starting to build back in March didn't get me back to where I wanted to be.  Throw in a hard course and some midweek sickness and it wasn't in the cards.

The course was really pretty.  Lots of parks, great neighborhoods, great support.  Aid stations were superb - water every mile and gatorade every other mile.  Good fan support. The hills were tough though.   I put the degree of difficultly near or at the top all marathons I've run.   Definitely  harder than Boston, Country Music Marathon, etc..  Probably a bit harder than the Mercedes Marathon in B'ham.

feeling good today.  Only hamstring tightness from the marathon Sunday.  Will run tomorrow.

Wearing new Kayano 14s

easy run on the trails at work.  Ran with Bob after work. 

was after 8pm before I got this run in.  Took it easy.  Not ready for hard or long runs yet.

Ran with Jon in his neighborhood.   Did hills in the Montevallo area.  Tough.  Jon left me in his dust.  Nice run overall.

As a break from mowing the lawn, I ran to Point Mallard.  Wanted to get the start line set for this weekends 1/2 mile fun run at the 3M River City Run (www.rivercityrun.com) and also get a 1 mile split point for the 3.5 mile run.  These two races are new this year and are a complement to the 10K which is now in its 28th year.

busy day at work (a good busy though). Got to do my lunch run at 1pm but had a 2pm meeting to get back to.

Did two one mile cruise intervals (6:38 and 6:31) on Finley Island Road at lunch and one time up the plastics plant hill (0.12 long - 70sec).

Easy run after work on the trails by the river.

Making a new product at work.  Long day but it went well.

3M River City Run  went well.  Had about 250 runners.  Good turnout for the 3.5 mile run (new this year).  We may certify as a 5K or 6K next year. 

Long day.  Started at 4am and at park by 5am to mark the course.  Got the final results to the paper around 3:30pm.

Watched Dexter with Liza last night.  I had watched Season 1 on DVD and I wanted to see if she liked it so we watched episode 1.  She had weird dreams all night so I think she liked it.  It is an awesome show.

turning cold and windy.   Felt good to get back out for a run.

Had 25 minutes to run at lunch as I needed to get to a 1pm meeting.

After warmup, did four 1/4 mile repeats on the back straightaway road at work.  I got successively faster each one.   91,80,78, and 76 seconds.  I doubt I could have gone faster a 5th one.

Its cooled off.  Actually had a little sleet during the run but it was short lived.

Long work day.   7am to 10pm.  Very unusual.  I needed to get an operating standard written for a new process.   Its the sort of thing you need long stretches without interuption.  Late nights at the office are perfect.

Ran the paved roads at work.  Went over and back the hill to the PVDF plant twice.  Middle 3.5 miles was at 7:00 pace.  Felt comfortable but hard.

Ran easy at lunch on the trails .  4.3 miles @ 8:03 pace.  Nice day.

Ran  4 miles with Jon at night from the home.

Easy run at lunch.    Racing a 5K tomorrow.  Spent extra time stretching after a 1 mile warmup.

Ran the Re-creation run in Huntsville for the 1st time.  Course consists of 3 out and backs which is unique.  This made it nice to keep up on how Jon Elmore was doing.  He moved between second and third the entire race and was out kicked by Marty Clarke at the end.

My Garmin was dead so this was the first race is quite awhile that I didn't have it to help pace.  I normally run the same speed as Mike Greene and Brooke Pruitt (top woman) so I paced off them for the 1st mile.  I ended pulling ahead of them there and finished 10-20 seconds ahead of them.

For my first 5K since last September, I was pleased.  I felt good.  Tried out my new racing flats.  ASICS Ohana racers.  Like 'em.  I haven't had flats since high school (nearly 20 years ago).

I'm now optimistic that I can break 19 min at the Senior Cup since its a little flatter and I'll have a little more speed training completed.

Did mile repeats on the small perimeter loop at work.  The paved portion of the loop is slightly less than 1 mile and the gravel/RR tracks is 0.25 miles which I used for rest between intervals.

3X1 mile  with  1/4 mile (3 min) active recovery.

6:30, 6:14, 6:24  (target was more like 6:25-6:30)

8:05 pace,  down finley island road , BP nature trail loop,  warm day (78F and sunny)

Ran easy on the trails at lunch (3.5 miles).  Another nice day - 80's and sunny. 

Afterwork, I met Bob at the point mallard trail.  Talked to Joe Beams for awhile. It was good to see him jogging again.   Last 2.5 miles were at 7:05 pace.

After getting tickets at the Princess Theater box office for a local play "Enchanted Sleeping Beauty", I ran portions of the Steeple Chase 8K course.  Easy pace 7:50.

Easy long run.  8:12/mile avg.

Light sprinkling rain.  Supposed to rain heavy later today.  66F.

Ran to Delano park, past old johnston St. house, took bike path to point mallard,  scouted out a few possible course changes for the spirit run, and then headed back.

Dog on the 2000 block of Woodmont came out after me again.  Growling, bearing teeth and chasing me down the street.  He doesn't come closer than 3-4 feet but he is persistent and mean.  I need to talk to the owners- they are never out though.   I'd prefer to talk to them first before calling animal control.    If he ever touches me, that is a whole different ball game.  He really has already crossed the line coming out into the street based on city ordinances.

the city just raised rates to get dogs out of impound.  Used to be something less than $10.  Now its 30-50 dollars plus you must get your dog spayed or neutered to take it home.  Good move by the city council in my opinion.

Did 1/2 mile repeats at work.   Two were at 5:30 pace with the others a bit under 6 minute/mile pace.    

Easy run on the trails and the PVDF plant loop.   8:15 pace

Easy run at work.  Stiff breeze from the south.

Looking forward to Senior Cup 5K on Saturday.  Looks like it may be wet and rainy.  I like wet.

Senior Cup today.  Rained until about 45 minutes before race.  Made it pretty steamy by race start.

Went well overall.   I probably could have gone a little faster but there was 45 seconds of cushion ahead and behind me  so I was content to cruise and not push too much at the end.  Matched my time from last year to within a second.  Reassuring that I'm not getting slower.

Cooled down with Jon and Eric C.

In the afternoon, I took Elliott for a jog in the stroller.  Very easy.  He was quite content.

Vacactioning at St. George Island, FL.  Got in a run a right before lunch.   Sunny 83F with slight breeze.

Felt a little weak.  Got better as run progressed.  Averaged 8:15/mile pace.

Scouted out some trails to run later this week from a book I found "Hiking Trails of Florida's National Forests, Parks, and Preserves".   We are very near the Apalachicola National Forest so I'll focus there.

Drove east to the St. George Island State Park.   There was a 2.5 mile trail I wanted to checkout.

Got an earlier start which was nice.  Temp was 65F at start and only got to 75F by the end.  Path started at the back end of a campground.  It is best described as a sandy jeep trail.  Some shady as it went through a sparse pine forest.  End was a nice beach on the bay side.   Sand made for slow going in spots.  Pine needles and undergrowth on other spots made the footing better.

Took a new boardwalk on the way back which was nice.

Park is $3/day for one person and $5/day for 2-8 people.

The road ends about 5 miles from the "East End" of the island.    Untouched , quiet, beautiful beaches.

Got another early start so the weather was nice (under 70).  Did warmup with brother-in-law (John).  9min/mile.  He turned around at 1.5 miles.  Got out to Pine St (dirt/sand road).  Did a two mile marathon pace run (6:54/mile pace).  I felt a little fatigued from yesterday's sand run.   After the two miles, I drank some water and 1/2 clif bar and walked for a minute and then started jogging.  Did  1 mile hard (6:17) on the paved bike path.  This got me almost to the entrance of the plantation.  Cooldown back home.  Took a dive into the pool before having breakfast.  (Cereal, fruit, bacon, coffee)

Needed an easier run after yesterday. Legs tired. Spent quite a bit of time digging a tidal pool for the girls yesterday. It started with a hole but I tied in a trench to catch the waves.

Run started as a repeat of Monday's. Heading west on the bike path through the plantation. Made it to Sike's cut (manmade channel that now divides St. George from Little St. George) It is used by shrimping/fishing boats. Pace was 8:10/mile on they way there. Watched the fishing at the cut for 30 seconds and then headed back. Ran the beach the way back. Decent beach running- not a absolute high tide so there was some good hard pack to run on. It had a slope at times. Pace (at same effort) slowed to around 8:45-9:00. Nice breeze and clouds made it comfortable.

Not many people here. Passed no more than 15 people in 3 miles of beach running.

Father-in-law and my wife got an early start cooking bacon and pancakes. I couldn't resist an chose that breakfast over an early morning run.

I got my run in around noon (85F and sunny, pretty humid 72F dewpoint).

Got an early start.  Plan was to head east and get picked up at the far end of the state park at 9:30am.  Good running weather other than it was very humid.  Stayed on bike path past downtown.  Took in a Chocolate Almond Clif Bar at the lighthouse and refilled my water bottle.

I was getting hot so took off my shirt hoping that the westerly wind at my back would cool me more.  Run got really nice once I entered the park.   Ocean and beach on the right and the bay on my left.  Nice breeze.  Good cloud cover.    Lots of fisherman heading to the boat launch or the boardwalks.  At 9:10am, Hit 13.1 miles at the Sugar Hill Beach Area (end of pavement).  There was water there and shade so I called it a day.  I had a Powerbar Protein Bar in my waist pack.  I took two bites and couldn't eat any more.  Gross.    I'm done with any powerbar product -  the bars, gels, now this.  yuck.     I'm a loyal Gu person for gels.  I like the clif bars and their newer shots.   For races, I've stuck with Gu so far.

Today is our last day at the beach.  Long drive home tomorrow.

Easy evening run with Jon.   Went down to Eastwood and returned on 11th St. to 20th Ave.

easy run at lunch , busy week this week at work

quick lunch run,  slight cool down, felt good

28th annual Jesse Owens race in Moulton, AL.  Near JO's birthplace and home till he was 9.  After 1 mile, I tried to stay comfortable and save a little for the end.  Ran 6:20-6:30/mile from miles 2-5.  Another runner, Nathan G, got even with me at the 5 mile mark.  I paced off him for a 1/4 mile and kept my eye on him.  I surged and got a good gap and then relaxed for a little.  Once I got within 1/2 mile of the finish I surged again and ended up 15 seconds ahead of him. Last mile was under 6:10.

For fun, I did the two mile event as well.  Ended up around the same placing overall.  Won the 30-39 age group with a 12:20.

They put on a really good race.  Lots of community support.  Great weather and food.  Awards were very generous.

Easy run.  Still a little sore from Saturday.    I didn't do a cool down after the 2 mile or any post race stretching.   That would have helped.

Easy run.   Ran from home to Delano Park, did a lap, and came back.  Its starting to warm up here-  79F.

Hill interval run at work.  Ran the paved hill from the pump house to the pavilion.  0.20 miles, 100ft climb,  targetted around 90 seconds.  Did 4.  Felt pretty good.

Went shopping at Fleet Feet in Huntsville and then went for a run around south huntsville from the store.  Found some imposing hills  (Edgehill rd, Hickory Hill Rd, Weatherly, Visa)..  Garmin says 1400 ft of climbing. There were a couple 20+ degree climbs.  Biggest was around 160 ft up.  Took it fairly easy-  8:12/mile pace.   I had drank two bottles of Cytomax at home and then took a clif bar along.  Well fueled.

Making a last ditch effort to work on bench pressing for the our plants 12 week fitness challenge.  I have 10 days to get up to wear I can do 26 reps of 80lbs.  I did reps at 85,90, and 105.  I've gotten better - started being able to do 6 reps.  On Tuesday, I did 13.  We'll see.  A $75 reward hangs in the balance.   I probably should have taken one of the other challenges:   walking (6% incline @ 4mph for 30 minutes) , running (7:30 mile), or elliptical (30 minutes at a specific level). 

After my little weight effort, I ran the trails at work.

Did my second annual baloon chase run.   Every year Decatur hosts the Alabama Jubilee Hot Air Baloon festival.  Last year I was out for a run and tried to follow the baloons as they flew into Point Mallard.  It was alot of fun and make for running miles that were effortless.  Its hard to think about how far you are going when you are looking up.

Had fun again.  Took pictures of Larry Fuller's baloon (Spirit Chaser).  I'll bring those to him at work.

Helped out at Cotton Row setup in the AM.  I got my run in at 2pm so it was pretty hot (89F, 32C).  Felt good though.  Got a call from Liza during the run that she and the kids were almost home.  I turned around near Delano Park and got home 10 seconds before they did.  Nice to have the house full again.

Pushed Elliott in the stroller- our first run together!.  He had woken up crying from a nap but quieted down and went to asleep right when we started running.

Lunch run. Did two mile repeats - 6:30 pace.

Got this run in at 1am.  Following a new product run at work.

Nice sunny summer day. 82F. Ran a couple trail loops and then up to the plastics plant and back. 

This week will be back to normal.  Last week with the new product was a little crazy.  Starting Wednesday, I was at work for 16 hours, 14hours Thursday, and then 24 hours on Friday.   I spent Saturday sleeping and recovering.  Took Sunday off to help Liza catch up on sleep and do some gardening and mowing.

I plan to run to work one day this week.   I'd like to work up to be able to do this multiple days per week.   It will be nice in the mornings but the afternoons are now in the high 80's and low 90's so they will require some pre-hydration and carrying a bottle.   On the bright side, it is good conditioning for the Hot to Trot 8 hour run I'm considering.

Ran three laps of the trail.  Nicely shaded but no wind.  We have officially hit summer -  89F.  6 miles is about the limit for not carrying a water bottle.  I was ready for a drink when I got back.  20 oz Sun Drop and 20 oz of ice water.  I need to keep doing these lunch runs in the heat to get my body acclimitized to the heat in case I end up doing the Hot To Trot 8hr.

Helped pace Marlon in the mile for the company fitness challenge.  He did well.  Met his goal (7:15) with room to spare (6:35).  I didn't do as well in mine.  I benchpressed 80lbs 18 times versus goal of 26.  I improved alot from 6 times I could do when I started  but I still didn't get the $75 reward.  I will still work at getting there. I just didn't put in enough workouts.

Run went well.  Its still hot .   I've started carrying a bottle which I wouldn't normally do for short runs.

Paced a few more people in the mile run.  Jon T. met his 7:15 goal (7:01).  Shalana was on pace at the 1/4 mile but fell off pace and didn't make it.

Still hot but manageable with water and pacing.

Did three laps on the trail.  Hot and sunny.  91F.  Carried a bottled of 20 oz .chilled Cytomax.  Refilled with tap water halfway through and finished that too.

Have a little pain in my upper calf- outer edge (abaxial).  pretty near the knee.  Doesn't seem to impact running but i feel it when I stretch.

First big long run in awhile.  Tried a Jeff Galloway run/walk strategy.   1 mile run / 45 seconds walk.    Worked really well.  Got faster as the run progressed.  Was able to finish with a 7:20 mile.  Overall, I averaged 8:45 pace (including walks).

Started early to beat the heat.  Supposed to be 97F today.  Was 71F at start (5:30am) and got up to 83F by the time I finished.  Pretty humid.  Went through 6 water bottles and still lost 3 lbs during the run.

Fueled by 1 Gu Pack (25g Carbs) every third walk break.  Seemed good but ran out since I had only carried 4.  Had my favorite flavors- Vanilla and Espresso.

Doubled my normal post run stretch routine.  This got it up to a whole 5 minutes.

Took an afternoon run on the Point Mallard Trail.  A hot afternoon again (around 93F).  The trail is shaded so it didn't seem too bad.

At about 3/4 mile in, I tripped over my own feet and took a header on to the trail.  One of those slow motion crashes.  Very vivid , yet there is nothing to do.    Ended up sprawled on my back covered in dirt with a smile.  Both knees, elbows, palms  and a small bit of my back bloodied.  Not bad though. 

Crashes like this happen mostly during ultras for me.  Taking thousands of steps eventually leads to a couple duds here and there.  One foot not picked up enough or set down properly.  With so many steps in a long race, its amazing we humans can do it so well.

Lunch run at work. A little cooler.  91F.  We are on the verge of a cooling off.  No more 90's for a while.   I'm starting to get used to it though.

Ran a fartlek.  Took some 60-90 sec striders on the trail on uphills (7min/mile pace).  Felt good.  Right knee was a little sore from yesterday's fall but it will be OK.

Paced Amy B. in the 1 mile fitness challenge.  She was just back from England and was fatigued . Inspite of that, she met her goal of 8:12 and was able to collect her prize from the company nurse.

Lunch run.  Ran three laps on the BP Nature trail.

Morning run.  I was supposed to pace Rita in the 1 mile -  9:57 target.  She was a no show.   Ended up running laps on the 1/4 mile stretch where we do the test runs  and then did a loop on the trail.

Ran to work for the first time this morning.  1 hr 17 min.  Went well.   My wife talked me out of trying a roundtrip this time around.  I'll try that next week , especially if it cools down a little.    I'd like to get to where I don't drive at all for an entire workweek but that will take time.  I've never done more than 60 mile in a week and that would be 96.

Was nervous about a couple things on this run and none of them panned out.  Part of the run was past houses outside the city limits (almost in the country), I was worried there may be unleashed dogs that would chase me.  I passed 4-5 dogs which were outside but all were caged or chained.

My other concern was traffic.  This wasn't a big deal.   I went by the chicken plant before shift change which I think must be 7am.  State Docks Road (where 3M is) was the busiest stretch along my route but it again very tolerable-   less than 30 cars in a span of 1.5 miles (this was after 3M's shift change - 6am).

Initial mile splits were around 9 minutes.  Once warmed up, I settled into a 8 min/mile pace.  Last mile was 7:19.  Felt good.    So nice to run in a little cooler weather.

Took it easy today.  Race , Hills, and distance on Saturday.

Had a hard rain last night which dropped the temperature and brought in clouds.  That made for the best running weather here in several weeks.  Temperature never got above 70F during the race.  Even right now as I'm writing at 1pm, its only 77F.

The A&M course is quite scenic.   Heads down Chase Road, through a nice green valley, past the railroad museum, through a nice neighborhood before turning back and then doing two laps within campus.  It has a steep hill at about 4.1 miles which you then repeat at 5.8 miles.  I felt good.  Started easy and tried to maintain and finish strong.  I was pleased.

Got a chance to try a little race tactics with a local 22 year old, Sam Koudriavtsev.  I came even with him at around 3.5 miles and tried to pass him.  He was determined to stay with me and hugged the curb.  I pushed a little and gapped him on the first hill climb and built a 15 yard lead.  That held on the gradual downhill and by the start of the 2nd attempt at the hill was maybe 10 yards.  I stayed steady up the steep grade and tried to pick it up as the grade lessened.  I could hear him coming so I decided to ease up a little to let him catch me.  (I didn't have to ease a whole lot).  He pulled even with me and got a few strides ahead right at the crest of the hill.  We had only 0.2 miles to go.     Thinking he had just expended quite a bit of effort in the pass on the climb , I surged hard past him as I headed down the gradual grade and the finish.  My only hope was to break him as I didn't have the legs to keep the pace to the finish.  He blew by me 15 seconds later and I was the one broken.   He ended up beating me by 6 seconds.  I did almost catch Jon (4 seconds ahead of me).  That hardly ever happens at shorter distances.

Jon and I ran after the race around campus and through a couple neighborhoods.

easy day.   pushed elliott in the stroller for 4 miles.  Called my dad on the speaker phone for fathers day.  I knew if I didn't do it then, it would be 9pm before I'd get the chance.  Worked pretty well- I ran slow 10-11 min/mile while pushing  so I could talk without breathing heavy.

Later in the day I ran a little at point mallard.  Jon and I were finalizing the start for the Spirit of America 5 mile run.  We will do a little over a lap on the soccer field before heading down the paved road between the golf course and the forest where the trail is.  It will return on the trail like it normally does.  It will end up over 1/2 mile grass, 1.5 paved, 3 miles trail.

easy run at lunch.  felt pretty weak.  Temp back up to 89F.   Good  Hot to Trot 8hr training.

The biggest issue is I was not hydrated and under fueled.  I get to work and indulge in a little too much coffee.   Drinking coffee all morning, no water, and then 89F conditions don't bode well for a perfect run.    When I actually run the 8hr, I'll be much smarter.

I'm going to run to work and then back home in the evening on Wednesday.  This will be 19.2 total  plus any pacing I do for the company 1 mile challenge.  Hope its not too many 7 minute milers.

Took it easy.  Big day tomorrow. 20+ miles if all goes well.

Starting to cool off .  Already 71F.  Supposed to get down to the high 50's.  My morning run to work will feel soooo good.

Ran to work and back.  Nice way to commute.   Coming home was easier than going there.  I felt stronger and better fueled.   Also in the morning I had some stomach issues and was in a frantic search for a restroom at one point during the run.

I paced Bailey and Jamie in the 1 mile when I got to work.  Nice 10 mile warmup and then a 7min/mile.  I felt pretty weak but was able to pull it together and get both of them to their 7:15 goal.  Jamie needed some strong encouragement at the end to keep it going but he made it in 7:10.

I pass a large garden on the corner of Miller st. and Cockrell on the way.  So far they have cabbage for sale.

Water refilling is a issue on the return trip.  It will be hot and there are no parks or visible water spiquots.  At about 4 miles in , I walked into McCulloms seafood and asked to buy some sweet tea to go.  The nice lady at the counter took my bottle and without hesitation filled it with ice and then sweet tea.   "Free of charge" and in southern style called me "sweetie and sweetheart" through the process.  That hit the spot.  Southern sweet team is very sweet and almost too much so for running.  It tasted so good and my pace picked up.

I met Jon at the church and ran the remaining 3 miles home with him.  He brought me orange gatorade which also hit the spot.

Trail run at work.  Nice weather.  Cooled off.

May flies have hit.  They peaked yesterday so I didn't ingest any today.  They are so prolific for a day or so and then they disappear and die.

lunch run.  Did 2 one mile repeats.  6:18 , 6:16. 

Ran with Jon and Bob over to point mallard, on the trail, and then back.  Did a lap on the soccer field to figure the distance.  Inside perimeter almost exactly 0.5 miles so it will work for the 1 mile fun run next weekend at the spirit run. 

Run felt pretty good.  I was dragging a bit on the trails but got my second wind on 13th street and ended up doing one sub-7 minute mile.

Evening run  for no other purpose other than to keep up my unintended running streak.  21 straight days and counting.

With my trip to Minnesota this week, I should be able to get in some good runs. probably a couple two-a-days.   Temps in the 60's and 70's will be nice.

easy run from the hotel .  Ran a section through Cottage Grove Ravine Park-  nice surface- shaded with soft dirt/grass base.   Thought I was lost for awhile and ended up running a little longer than I planned.  Once I found my way, I picked up a the pace and did 2 miles at 7:04 pace.   Around 8 min/mile pace overall.

Easy 3.1 mile run in the morning from Hotel.  90th St. to Inwood to Hillside Trail to Point Douglass (Hwy 61 frontage road) and back to hotel.  Quiet residential streets.    Nice.  Flat. 

Did 6.6 mile loop after work.  Getting hot here too.  85F and humid.  Felt ok.   90th street on bike path to Ravine Park.  Big Hill to climb.  Ran through the park on the bike path.  Very nice.  Started hearing gunshots or fireworks echoing through the valley.  Got louder as I got to the lake at the bottom of the ravine.  I was sure it was someone setting off firecrackers in the park but no smoke.  As I exited the park and climbed out the ravine, I saw the 3M rifle range across highway 61.  Several people out there.  It had to be a mile or more to the park but the sound carried.  I may have to drive over there to see what the range looks like.  I could see a little lodge or shelter but it was across the highway and a field from where I was running.

Used my travel perdiem to buy muscle milk (chocolate, 12g carb, 22g Protein, 11g fat) and bananas.  Figured it was better than the Wendy's hamburger I had last night.    I'd generally prefer a recovery drink to have more carbs (80 Carb/20 protein) in it.  It tasted OK , maybe it would be better if chilled. May try Boost.   My goal in all of this is to find something I can stick in the fridge at work so I can have it after I run to work. 

Started at about the 25.5 mile mark of the Twin Cities Marathon Course on Summit Ave.  Ran backwards on the course to the river at around the 22 mile mark.  I went downriver a little to Princeton Ave and started to head back.  Nice shaded residential streets.  Princeton deadended into Macalaster College.  Went south to St. Claire Ave and continued back east.  Ended up in the Crocus Hill neighborhood (very nice old stone homes).  Finished up on Grand Hill/Summit Ct. and back across to Summit Ave.

Ran at 4am from the hotel before heading to the airport to catch a 6:45am flight.

Took two days off to catch up on sleep.  Two nights with about 4 hours sleep in the past 3 days.   Traveling, Spirit Run, and furniture moving now behind me.

After warm-up , did two one-mile repeats  (Loop Springdale,Acrilane,Brookwood,Pennylane plus a little more on springdale).  6:15 first mile,   6:05 second mile.  Felt decent.   Good to get back to training for the 8 hr.

We had to take Liza's car to the shop-  batch hatch wouldn't open.   To avoid having Liza drop me off and then pick me up, I ran home.   Went well.  Wasn't super hot  (83F).   I had to push it because I needed to meet Liza at church at 6pm and then I'd push Elliott in the jog stroller back home.  I kept every mile under 8 minutes.  Had one under 7.  Felt good.   Pushing Elliott home was nice and easy 9:30 pace.    I had one Gu at mile 2 (about 5:15pm).  I almost completely had a blood sugar crash from mile 9 one.  Very weak.   When I got home, I inhaled 6 chocolate marshmellows and  a 20 oz Gatorade. Walked the dog and pushed Elliott for about 3/4 of a mile while munching on chips and a few oreos.  I was back to normal by the time I got home.

Ran over to the Austin HS track from home.  Jon was over there doing 300m repeats.  I did a few at 53-55 secs and then jogged while he finished his six.  I paced him for the first 200m of the last one.   He's really fast right now.

Morning run on from home to the point mallard path.  Still a little tired from last nights track workout.

Easy run.  Went over to Delano Park, Old Decatur, and then to the Point Mallard path via the bike trail.   Checked out what was going on at the Spirit Field to see if putting on the Spirit Run on 7/4/09 would be an option.  There were alot of vendors set up on the permimeter, several chairs in front of the stage, inflatables in the infield.  Not many people milling around.   It probably would work.  I'd need to clear with Parks and Rec Dept and Spirit Festival committee.

Easy run.  ran out and back to Chesnut Grove School via veterans, central parkway , tammy, tanglewood, way thru the woods.   8:08 pace.   Ran negative split on 2nd half (7:58 pace)

7 miles,  mostly on trail.   Hot again.  around 90F.  Drank 3 water bottles.

Hot again.  Did two miles at marathon pace (~6:45 pace) on Finley island road.    Felt worn out and very hot.   Cold shower hit the spot.

Ran an easy loop around home in the AM. 4.2.

At lunch, ran over to the fitness center (0.6 miles) and then ran on the treadmill.  After a 1 mile warmup at 8min/mile, did 1 mile at 6min/mile, 1/4 at 8 min/mile , 1/4 at 5 min/mile , then cooldown.

Ran Trails at work.

Ran 3 miles easy at lunch.

Evening race along on the Tennessee River at McFarland Park.  Very pretty. Flat.  Good portion was shaded.   Out and back course with a 180 degree turn around at each end.

Felt good.  5:50 1st mile.  Held pretty steady throughout.  Finished 6:03 avg pace.  My best 5K time since 2006.  It was a warm night (conditions for the 7pm start 91F ,48% humidity, no wind)  but with a race this short it wasn't a factor and may have helped a little.

Highlight was watching Jon Elmore break the Alabama State Record for 42 year olds in the mile.  He bested the previous record by over a second in a time of 4:55.8.    He had run a 4:20 before in the 1600 m (high school) so he understood what it took.   He's been focused on this all year so it was great to see it pay off for him.

Ran over to Pt. Mallard to watch a little of the Wet Dog Triathlon. Will run long tomorrow.  Two more long runs before the Hot to Trot 8hr.

Long run.  Went pretty well.  One big loop of Decatur.  

I was disheartened to find the Farmers market restroom closed.  I guess its not open on Sunday.  No water.  I filled it off of the Morgan County Jail sprinklers.  That didn't work very well.

Got some blank stares from a couple ladies sitting on a porch at 6:45am on 6th Ave NW.  I was like an alien to them.

Saw some colorful graffitti on the pedestrian bridge between Chadwell and Northmeade SW.  Austin High must have a good art dept from the look of it.  Its not as poetic as the grafitti on the new bike trail behind the Decatur Utilities building - a youthful philosophy there is "F*** fear, drink beer".  Words to live by for someone apparently.

Got water from a guy washing his car at 7:45am-  his car was egged the night before: " must be my lucky day" was his explanation.   His water tasted like hose but it hit the spot.

Started to see signs of life around 8:15am as people were heading to early Church.  After I got water from the Elmore's front spiquot, they passed me on their way to Sunday school on Central Parkway.

As I got home, it started to sprinkle.  A big glass of chocolate milk waited for me on the back patio thanks to Liza.

Ran the trail.  Just long enough to get loosened up.   Spiders are pretty active.  I picked web out of my hair all afternoon.

Ran the trail and roads at work at lunch.  It was in the high 80's. Felt good.

Sidney loaned me her ipod and headphones since she knew of my difficulty in not finding headphones that I could run in.  They worked great so I ran off to Target with Elliott and got a pair (only $15).  I have some $50 sony ones that sit in the drawer.  They will stay there.  These are Philips SBC HS430   (ear clips).   I am planning on going to the library to get an audio book so I can transfer it to my ipod for the 8hr race or just for training.

easy run on the trails at work

tried out the new headphones at lunch.  They worked well.   No more tape or bandages to hold the headphones on!    I'm going to go to the library over the weekend to get a audio book to listen to.

Long run again Saturday.  last big push before hot to trot 8hr.

Got going before 5am.  Best weather you can expect in Alabama in the summer.  Stayed cloudy and below 75F the entire time.  

Tried out a different run/walk strategy.  Instead of Run 1 mile/Walk 45 sec , I did Run 3 miles/Walk 2:15.   After one trial, I think the more frequent breaks are better.  Felt pretty good though.  Jon had left me cold gatorade and water which I got to at mile 16.  By mile 17, I was feeling great.   I think I was a little underfueled (had been doing 1 Gu/30 min) and the cold water hit the spot.

We on one of my favorite loops.  Central Parkway to Bird Spring/Mud Tavern, to South Chapel Hill, then return on Chapel hill.  Saw one of Joe Wallace's new developments (on south chapel hill)  " Manor park" I think.  He had 3 houses partially built.  Didn't look like any sold yet.  Nice location though.

hottest day of the year so far.  Went out at noon for an easy one.  Legs feel fine.  Temp was 96-97F.  Drank lots and stuck in the shade for over half of it.    Cold shower afterwards felt great.

Evening run at work before a business dinner at Logan's.  Its been a busy work week and it was a good opportunity to test the theory of "if a little tapering before a race is good, then a lot of tapering should be even better" 

Pushed Elliott in the stroller so Liza could get a nap.  Hot and steamy.  Nice run.

Morning run over to point mallard, running path, back on golf course road, and back home.  I'm listening to Clive Cussler's "Sacred Stone".  Good story.  CIA,MI-5,Terrorism, etc...  Fun. 

Easy run at lunch. Very hot. Made me realize I need to bring a bandana and sponges to Hot to Trot. My eyes were stinging from all the sweat.

A little cooler today.  Just an easy tune-up run.  Everything feels fine.   My cold is getting better.  Should have no effect.   If I were running a 5K or a mile, I think I'd feel it a bit in my lungs but they are at maybe 95% so for an ultra its a non-issue.

Jon Elmore and I got to the race well rested and fueled. We had gone to Figo's on College St. in Decatur,GA the night before. I got Gnocchi di patate which have to be the most dense pasta I have every eaten. I didn't think I'd even finish my bowl but I kept at it - just like an ultra-- and polished it off. I've I do this race again I'll be back for more. Cool restaurant. www.figopasta.com

At the race start it was 75F, as we headed down the narrow pine straw covered trail. It was mostly single track the entire way with the shoulder mowed down. The course took a 90 degree turn on a wooden boardwalk which was slick with leaves in the early morning. After more pinestraw trails weaving around trees, there was a one very short hill followed by a curvy descent. After another boardwalk stretch, the back stretch was a straighter single track run on the backside of a pond. This was the only part of the trail with minimal shade so it got hotter as they day went on. A sharp left, a boardwalk bridge, and several curves and we got back out on the road for a 0.1mile on pavement up a slight grade past our car and to the aid station. That was 1.12 miles. Get your lap counted and repeat.

A young guy , Jon Obst, shot out at the gun and quickly built a gap. I stayed relaxed as it was going to be a long day. I ran with one of Obst's friends during one of the early laps and he told me that Obst had his sights set on the course record. I commented that he started like he was after something but that ultras are rarely won in the 1st hour. Jon Elmore stayed on my heels for the 1st couple laps - it was nice to have a friendly face. I let the top woman get ahead of me as a just got in a groove.

My garmin lost signal at 5 laps so I took it off. I didn't need a distration. I would just run it on feel- no need for a external voice telling me to speed up or slow down.

I had a plan in mind to start walking 45 seconds every lap after the 1st three. The Jeff Galloway technique. I had done it in training with good success. I felt strong at the end of each long run and was not sore the day before. In the race, I got passed by several people the 1st couple times I took my walk break and that made me mad. I just couldn't take getting passed so I scrapped the strategy quickly and reverted to my "just keep running" mantra.

So within 1 hour, my Garmin and pacing strategy was out the window. All that was left was my plan for eating and drinking and my desire to just keep pushing. 1 Gu every three laps, 1 S-Cap every three, 3 20oz bottles of water per hour, throw in a few potato chips and accelerade here and there. When I felt the need, I doubled up on Gu or S-caps. When the day was over, I had nearly emptied my 24+ bag of Gu's.

As I trotted on, I started picking people off. From around 5th, I worked my way up to second within the first couple hours. I finally caught a glimpse of the leader, Obst. Within the next lap, I passed him at the Aid Station. Obst took his time at the aid stations. Not me, I didn't window shop- knew what I want and got out of there quick.

By 11am, it was 85F. By 1pm, 90F and kept rising the rest of the race finally peaking at 93F by the time the race ended at 4pm.

After catching Obst, I kept steady and was never passed again until very late in the day. With it being a lap course, I got used to passing others. the runners were so courteous. Some , getting off the trail before I even got there. Most, all it took was a short "on your left" and I was by. I started to relax and enjoy it a bit once I lapped Obst and then lapped him again. I may actually win this thing.

That was until my leg problems started. If I took too long eating or filling my water bottle, my left leg (IT band, lower/outer hamstring) seized up something fierce. Ouch! After a scream, grimace, hobbling, a little rubbing, some stretching, I'd slowly force myself to start a trot again. After 50 yards, I was pain free. This happened 3-4 times until I wised up and just didn't stop running again but for a second or two. Each time it happened- my inner voice said its all over, you are not finishing, so much for your lead if you can't keep going. It don't listen to that voice. Its not over until its over.

At one point, I took a nice spill - a trip followed by a header and a soft landing on my left side. Luckily , I was able to grimace, chuckle, and get back at it.

Once I got within 30 minutes of the end, I knew I had it in the bag. After pushing through a 1/4 lap, I shut it down and walked it in. Obst passed me but I was OK with giving up a lap to him. Jon Elmore caught me too and we ended up walking in together. I could have ran and may have been able to get another lap but I was done and it was good to walk like 90% of the other runners had resorted to.

Once the results came in, I had won with a two lap margin and set a new course record (by 40 seconds over Jack McDermott's performance last year). 51.34 miles is not bad for 8hrs of work in the Georgia heat. This was my first ever win in a running event of any sort and it felt good. Jon Elmore ended up finishing 9th in over 41 miles which is amazing since he did this race on a whim with very little distance training. His support kept me moving as well as a short visit from my family- wife,father-in-law, and kids. The course is very spectator friendly.

The aftermath was minimal all things considered. Quads were shot but they got over it after 4 days. My adidas shorts had got sweatier than normal which caused some havoc with my soft moistened skin. The waist band dug a horizontal line across my entire front. The tag ,which hung down on the front right , cut two parallel lines along each edge of the tag. These were more amusing than painful that is until the post race ice bath and shower.

Eric Schotz 8/11/08

I went down to the Cullman Midnight Run with Jon.  After not running a step since Hot to Trot, I was excited to get back at it.  This run is always an oasis in the middle of the summer.  This was no exception with temps down in the 60's.

My legs didn't cooperate.  From my first warmup, my hams were very tight.    They never loosened up so I went to the back of the pack at the start and decided to take it easy.   I pushed it too hard at times - I tried to keep the hamstring pain manageable the entire way.   I didn't see my time and didn't turn in my time card.  I was somewhere around 22 minutes.

the next day, I was sore.  My left hamstring had a big bruise (3" diameter) right above the knee.  I definitely overdid it.  Must have strained or sprained it a little.  More time off.  Maybe I'll test it on Monday.  Its supposed to be cool this week so it will be hard to keep away from running.

Nice to get back running.  My hamstring felt good.  I was quite tentative and stopped a few times at the slightest twinge.  It definitely felt better than at the Midnight run.  In a week or so, I should be able to resume normal training with alot of time before the Rocket City marathon and a fall ultra.

easy run on trail.  felt better,

Hadn't run in almost a week due to work and family obligations.  It was good in that I really needed a breat to heal up completely.

I got a little excited in my run-  combination of ipod playlist, good weather, and a pent-up desire to run.     I did a 7:10 mile and then a 6:30 paced quarter mile.  My hamstring started to tighten so I backed it off..

It felt the best it has since my 8hr run.

This evening its sore.

easy run at lunch.  Nothing crazy like yesterday.

Slow run but I'm running.  And essentially pain free.

Lunch Run at work.  In between hill repeats (slow ones), I did 5 sets of pushups (15,13,13,10,and 18).  I've made it through week one of six in the hundredpushups.com training plan.  When I started 10 days ago with a fitness test, I could do 18 max  so I feel good about now being able to do 18  after 4 sets. 

My hamstring is feeling much better.  Not quite ready for intervals or racing yet.

Pushed Elliott in the stroller.  Weather was overcast so it felt good inspite of the fact that it was 85F.   Elliott is such a good passenger.  He's so laid back- not a peep for over an hour.

Pushed Elliott in the stroller for 4 mile, walked to dog while pushing elliott, and then got in a little over three miles by myself.  A little cooler today.  We had some tropical storm effect rain this morning.  Pretty good breeze out of the east (15-20 mph) so it made the starting stretch down woodmont a tough warmup.

Tropical storm Fay is hitting Alabama.  A steady rain started in mid-morning and hasn't let up yet.   Tried out a mix from Podrunner (itunes).  Its techno dance with a consistent cadence.  In this case it was 180 bpm.  This led me to start out the lunch run at a quick pace, my fastest pace in over a month.  3 miles at less than 7 min/mile.  Felt pretty good.  The rain made it fun.  I slowed down and did my pushup workout (12,12,9,7,11) with 60 seconds of jog recovery.

Ran the CC course .  Felt good.

Ran around here and there during the Austin Cross Country meet at 3M.  After I got the course marked and volunteers trained,  I could enjoy it.  Great day.  Very hard course.  We didn't have a boy break 19 minutes this year on the 5K.

birmingham all day

Was pretty tired today.  Spent all day yesterday in Birmingham seeing doctors and having tests run on my son.   Good to get out on the road and clear my head.  Even if it was slow.

Not a good run.  I got to Delano Park (about 2 miles) and was very weak.  Had to stop and walk.   I'm sure it was a combination of lack of sleep, stress, and fueling.  I slogged through it and rebounded alittle.

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.

Easy run on the trails at work.  Fit in 5 sets of pushups (22,17,17,15,17)  .  First time I was able to do this volume.  Pretty soon I'll be up to 100 pushups per day -    far cry from 100 continuously but I'm making progress.

Warmed up on the trails and checked out the loop that we'll use tomorrow for the company picnic 1/4 mile race.   Its more like 0.2 miles but its casual. It was in good shape.  It curves around through the woods and has a short downhill and uphill.  We do 5 separate races for different age groups.

Did pushups inbetween 1/4 mile intervals.  Paces were 5:44,5:45,5:42,5:28.  Pushups- 22,17,17,15,17.  Felt good to get some speed work in.  Legs feel good.  

Next race is the 15K at MonteSano - 10/11.  It'd be nice to beat last years time- 1:03:10.

The Liz Hurley 5K is the weekend after.   I'll shoot for the same goal .  2007 race was 19:17.  Under 19 would be nice.

Nice cool weather.  Perfect for an easy long run.

I really need to get up and do a few 20 milers but I didn't feel up to it today.  

Elliott had a fever so he and I skipped Church.  We enjoyed a beautiful morning (high 70's).  Averaged around 9:20 pace.  Pretty good for stroller pushing.   It sure heats up fast- it was low 50's at dawn.

Easy trail run at work intertwined with pushups.  Did 25,19,19,17,19 which was my best pushup set so far.  When mentioning to Liza and my mother-in-law (pinkie), I realized it was 99 pushups for the day.  I had to hit a 100 so I did 21 more that evening.

commute to work.

Got out of the house before 5am so I did the morning run entirely in the dark.  It was fine other than the sections through the industrial park where there was traffic.  I kept having to hop onto the shoulder which was uneven.  It'd be nice to have seen where I was stepping.  Made it in 1:17:29 for 9.34 miles (8:18/mile pace).  I ran all the way down 16th Ave to 7th St which turned out to be more direct than my more scenic route.   Got a good whiff at the chicken plant which reminded me of my youth when my dad had us butcher chickens.  Not a guts smell but the odor of dipping headless chickens in boiling water right before you defeather them.  Very distinctive odor.  not unpleasant.

It rained during the day but I missed it all on the way back.  Just humid with some slick spots on the road.  Ran fairly hard from the start.  Ended up running a little farther (didn't cut across Fort Decatur lawn and down prospect). Total mileage 9.52 in 1:08:10  (7:10/mile pace).  Had to come to a dead stop waiting for cars at a few points (Beltline, Hwy 24, and central parkway) so I probably lost 30 seconds.  Anyway, it was my fastest commute yet.  Felt decent.  My achilles and one hamstring were complaining just a bit though.  They'll get over it.

Feel pretty good about the 15K this weekend since I did that distance twice today.  I have a decent shot to get close to 1 hr. 

Easy run on the trails at work.  Tried benchpressing at the company fitness center.  Gave up- got bored.  I am just not a gym rat.   The only excepting being if I go with someone- Liza and I have talked about doing this sometime and getting in a routine.

Lunch run.  Did the big road loop three times.  Did one mile at 6:27.  The rest around 8:00/mile.

Ran the trails and road at work.  easy pace.  saving up energy for tomorrow.

Nice day for a run.   Ran with Jon during the race - he was after a 1 hr 15K as well.  We broke it up into 3 20minute 5K which worked well.  The course is really pretty but it is fairly difficult.  The other race around here that is of similar distance (Rocket Run) is much easier- it is perfectly flat with very few curves.  This zigs and zags as well as being nearly continuously rolling.  No hill more than 20 seconds? maybe but it takes it toll.

Jon and I held to the plan well through the 1st two 5K's.  The stretch from mile 5 to mile 8 is the hardest and it took its toll.    We caught up with Brett Addington at around mile 7 who promptly put it into high gear and ended up finishing almost a minute ahead of me.  As we got to Monte Sano Blvd (~7.5miles), Jon started to suffer a little and dropped back.  I held steady and felt confident I'd meet the 1 hr goal.  Turning into the parking lot at the park, I had to sprint to the finish to get my 59:59.  It felt good.  Jon and I did a cool down by doubling back and running back in with Kelly and Sooi repectively.  We did the south plateau loop as a final cooldown.

Easy Sunday run with Elliott.  Listen to "This American Life".  Nice day. Felt great.

Easy run at work mixed with pushups (5X 20).

ran home from work.  1:15

ran to work.  Very easy.  1:20.  Lifted weights at fitness center during lunch.   Leg presses, extensions, curls  and a little upper body stuff.

Easy run at work.   Ran two laps of the base trail followed by the out and back to the plastics plant.  Nice day.

On a whim, I tried a new pre-race nutrition strategy.  At 5am, I toasted a bagel from panera.  While it was toasting, I scrambled two eggs.  I buttered the bagel and put the egg on it with a little ketchup.   Also, I had my standard two cups of coffee (Starbucks Sumatra).  The ketchup gave me a little heartburn during my 7am warmup.  I had a Gu Roctane thirty minutes before the race.

Temps were cool.  Low 50's at the start.   I started fast (for me) but it felt good.  Both 1st and 2nd miles were 5:45.  The 3rd mile is hillier and I slowed a bit.  I stayed strong and did a good surge on the final hill and also a couple on the 1/2 mile decent to the finish.  

This was my best 5K in 30 months and was within 9 seconds of my PR.  I was hoping to break 19 minutes so this way exceeded my expectations.  I'm doing something right in my training,pre-race, pacing, etc...  . 

It was a very competitive race with 8 runners under 17 minutes.  They had over 500 men and 1700 women compete.

Had a nice family walk in the refuge and got some yard work done.  Trying to keep pace with all the leaves dropping.

Got in an easy run as the sun was going down.

Easy run on the trails and roads at work.   Did one mile at marathon pace  and pushed a couple hills.  Mostly goofing around.  didn't feel like running too hard today.   Got in  5 X 20 Pushups.  Was easier than last week.

its going to be a busy next couple days at work so I got in a early morning run before heading in to work.

Ran to and from work via 14th street bridge and 8th St.  Ended up being longer but it was a nice change.  

 ran by Littrell lumber on the way there.  Freshly cut wood smells soo good. 

Got rained on the way there.  Caught shift change at Wayne Farms so there was a fair bit of traffic to go along with the rain and minimal shoulder.  I enjoyed it though.

Went by the Moulton Heights Rd Pig farm on the way home.  Piggies were very happy.   This is right by Littrell Lumber off of Old Moulton Rd.  The traffic got bag near 5th Ave, 14th St, Central parkway so I'll probably avoid this way back in the afternoons.   Not a good combination to be tired and have to cross several busy streets with the sun going down. 

Early afternoon run with Elliott.  Nice and sunny.  Low 60's.   My garmin 205 has died.   I believe it was due to water damage from Friday's run to work.    Haven't decided whether to upgrade to the 405 , repair this one, or buy another 205.   In the meantime it will be a switch for me to run without a gps. I probably haven't done three runs in a row without the garmin for several years.   I'm hoping it is a nice change of pace.