Hills for breakfast, hold the gnats

Sunny day. 50F rising to 67F, with a few high clouds moving in.  (Felt hot to my winter trained body.)  Objective: easy, rebuilding mileage. 

That was about the limit of what I can run right now, especially after working hard in the garden for a couple of hours yesterday.  Not sure that was such a good idea.

Now that I've had some food and cooled off, the temperature feels quite moderate. We have our windows open to prevent the AC from kicking on (cooler out than in).  But, man, when I was running it felt like an oven.  These early warm days are always a bit of a shock. Bonnie, I know you are probably laughing your head off, with those "cool" 79F runs in AZ.  It's all what you're used to I guess. 

Keep blogging, you Ogden Marathon runners! We need to hear all about your sore muscles and your post race thoughts.  :)

6 AM: 50F, mostly clear.  Easy run.  20 min. strength afterward

As expected, the legs were pretty "dead" today.  It was good to get out and just loosen them up a bit.  Gorgeous morning.

Maybe it's because I'm feeling quite old today, but here are a couple of tidbits about age.

First an interesting article on Age Graded BQ Standards.   I learned about it on another forum, where someone suggested that there shouldn't even be a qualifying standard for 80 year olds: "they're 80 frickin years old! If they can run a marathon, they should get into Boston." LOL 

Does anyone get Running Times Magazine?  Speaking of older -- oops -- "Masters" runners, there is a piece about Yoshihisa Hosaka, the 60 year old record holder for the marathon (2:36:30).  He runs the same 2 workouts every day.  No hard/easy rule for him.  His workouts total about 20 miles per day, "with more than 10K at or faster than marathon pace."  It is a fascinating story, if only for a bit of healthy mind bending.

47F, light showers, occasional wind.  Easy run w/ form focus and a yikes-I'm-late accidental fast finish. :)  20 min. strengh, stretching & Stick.

That was some fun running. Still slow but who cares. Everything feels great.  At the very end of the run I was coming through a short-cut path next to some woods and startled 3 deer, who "ran with me" for about 25 yards. Very cool, though I was sorry to frighten them.

It is a great gift to be able to amuse oneself with so little effort.  I had to stop at the park bathroom this morning, but I told myself I could make it a quick stop, no problem.  For some reason the bow I tied on the drawstring of my running tights turned into a knot when I went to untie it.  So I'm rushing and trying to get these darn things over my hips, and it's really hurting, but the whole thing struck me as so funny.  I could not stop laughing.  Every solution that came to mind made me laugh even harder, like the thought of trying to chew through the string.  I eventually did a Houdini maneuver and got free, but then I had to get them back on again.  It's still making me chuckle.  I actually had to cut the drawstring when I came home. Hope it doesn't ruin the tights' usefulness.

I think I've chosen my fall marathon, in Victoria BC.   It is a race I've dismissed, probably because I glanced at the elevation profile, which looks quite hilly.  But yesterday I was just browsing through the top BQ'ing marathons on this list and there it was at #11!   It seems the hills are more like gentle undulations, though after 20 miles I usually think any rise at all feels like the Himalayas.  The race is very easy to get to from here, and the area is fun to visit so Support Crew will be happy.  It feels right.  And I have decided to stop thinking "this is THE race for my BQ," and switch to thinking "little by little I shall arrive." 

41F, mostly cloudy, calm.  (Rained  in the night; everything wet and fragrant.) Easy run.

Another splendid morning of running.   Project Magic Shoes has officially begun, and I will be wearing racing shoes for more and more of my training runs.   I believe that their effectiveness is not due only to their light weight.  It's the way they make the legs and feet work harder, or maybe more efficiently.  Or maybe both.  Anyway, I totally love running in them, even for a little easy run like this. 

Scary thoughts about:  How the Victoria Marathon May Have Gotten Onto the BQ List Without Actually Being a Fast Course (see yesterday's post):  First, there is a 5 hour time limit, which would tend to produce a bias in the field.  If you are a slow runner, you can sign up for the early start, but it still might limit the field I think.   Second, I just noticed that elites receive free entry.  I don't know if that would pad the field with a disproportional number of fast runners.  Elite is men @ 2:30 (masters 2:40) and women @ 2:50 (masters 3:00).   Shut up, brain.

42F, clear & calm w/ waning crescent moon sliver. Easy run.

The regular training shoes feel slow and clunky after 2 days in the racers.  I am experimenting with a downhill stride that involves a kind of sinking down into the quads to see if I can get a better pace.  If I can find a way to feel more comfortable on my heels I think that might work well.  Towards the end of the run I was pretty happy with it.

The Cat Who Must Be Obeyed got beat up pretty badly last night.  Lately he's been fighting another cat who has come into our yard.   I know it's not the worst of his injuries, but a piece of his little ear is missing! His beautiful ear will never be whole again.   :(  Here he is when he was whole...

46F, clear.  Easy to moderate effort.  Long warm up.  20 min. strength, stretch & Stick.

More happy running in the Magic Shoes.  Gorgeous morning. 

It looks like I may have to do my long run tomorrow instead of Sunday, but I am still not sure yet. My daughter has a 4H event on Sunday but the leader wasn't sure when the start time was so I will find out this afternoon.  I can do my usual Sunday long run if we don't have to leave too early.  That was on my mind this morning; I usually don't like to run the day before a long run.  I like that long run to happen on fresh legs.

Which leads me to some thoughts about the running club I just joined.  I want to support local running, meet some other runners, and get those awesome club discounts (and the shirt!), but the Saturday runs may not work for me.  I am planning to go to the first one, next week. After that, I'll just have to play it by ear.  If there is a short run option, or if I can sometimes make that run my long run, Saturday running would work I think.  But I do love to sleep in on Saturday and be fresh on Sunday.  I know some folks on this blog run 7 days a week; if that's you, I'd love to hear any thoughts you have about running daily, adjusting, resting, etc.   I'm like a little kid when it comes to change. My first thought is "no way!" and then I slowly adapt if I know deep down that a change is for the best or unavoidable.   In this situation, it might be that I just choose from week to week and practice "being flexible," another nemesis of my inner child. lol