not giving up on the comeback

an incredibly uninspired and cruddy run.  

4 @ 7:50 ish pace 

8 in the am!

6 miles after work -- no watch again 

felt good 

nice run in the rain this evening.  The temps are perfect - low 60's or something like that. 

6 @ no watch 

8 - no watch 

worked from home so I got to run at in the light~! 

Ran without the watch again - wanted 12 and somehow i got in 12.2.  It was rough but I got the time in...humid as crud sweated out 5lbs...

man I could run is this weather every day...

5.6 - no watch  pace felt pretty decent 

nice run in the rain after work - 

5.7 @ no watch 

1.5 to the track and then 1 in the dark on it.  Then the rest home.  Forgot to snack before hand and felt really cruddy around 2 miles in. 

oh well 

ran down to the Oakhurst village and then followed the fast group.  I don't think they were not as speedy as normal, which was just fine by me today. 

6 @ some faster pace 

My goal for this week is 35 so I just need 14 in the next 3 days, with one of those a longer run.  Not sure if I should take one of those days off or not.  I've done 7 days in a row, which usually is a bit long for me.  None have been difficult so not sure I need a rest day.  I guess we'll see what happens.  

nice little run around the neighborhood - chilly and a little windy.  cold is coming in 

5.1 @ some pace 

rested today

ran at 5:30 tonight just as the sun was going down.  Half was in the light and half in the dark.  All the late night snacking last night helped me have lots of energy.  Just plugged along

9.5 @ some pace 

hit my goal for the week - :) 

4.6 at piedmont park with JG.  Totally great weather.

had a nice run tonight 

6 up ponce to the higlands - decent run for a dark one

6@some pace  - it felt pretty good

ran with the local running club again although i was late and had to try to catch up the whole time.  had the faster guys in sight and then got stopped at two lights.  but i held a decent tempo pace (I guess) and had a nice up pace run

6 @ some faster pace 

ran over to the track and did 1.5 there then ran home.  It was just fine.  Passed on free beer on the company dime tonight for a run.  Good boy...

5.3 @ a decent pace 

Got out for a really pretty good long run this morning.  It has been a long time since ive run this route.  it is my old nemesis and my old friend - My frienemy.   I need to start doing this route on my long runs to get mentally tougher.  I think the pace was decent.  I never really crashed and brned like on my last 12 miler.  Next time maybe i'll take some fluids - but it wasn't bad today.  16 next time.  3 steady weeks in a row.  I like the consistency.  

14.25 at a decent midlong run pace 

6 at the park with JG -- a few pickups thrown in - good run

nice warm evening 

lots of walkers and me running

7.5 and a nice even pace

ran down to catch the others at the running store this rainy night and I got there a couple minutes late.  I ran hard to catch up the whole time and never saw any one.  Ran home for a 7.2 nice med hard run. 

well that sucked -- felt cruddy prior and it didnt get better.  then I went short.  

ugh 

felt much better on this run tonight. 

16 in the AM 

that's tha longest in a really long time.  It went ok.  Same route as the marathon will be - albeit 10 miles shorter.  It isn't easy.  This is the same route I did for my 12 a few weeks ago and this time was a lot better so there is some progress there.  

had a nice run tonight.  a little up tempo I think.  

went to run with the oakhurst group and of course I was late by a few min.  And I really tried to catch up but I never even saw the fast guys.  Not even on the long straightaways.  But I had a really good tempo run.  No idea of the pace.  the 5K on Sat should be informative.  

8 - around the 'hood 

signed up for the 5k on Saturday.  My legs are a little sore this morning -- leftover from the 16 on Saturday or from running a little harder than easy the last two days?  Not sure - but it feels kind of good.  Must be working harder than I have been... 

6 this evening - felt good - took it nice and smooth and easy 

felt kind of cruddy for this run - not sure why

maybe that's a good sign for the race tomorrow  :) 

got there nice and early (thought it started 30 min prior to when it really did), got in a good warmup, and then just tried to go out at a nice easy pace that I could hold.  I didn't really want to red line today.  This was just a way to see where I am with my fitness.  I think I brought back a few seconds in the last mile.1.  mile 1 6:20, mile 2 12:40ish.  So I must have run a little faster in the last.  cool.  

Still waiting for the official time - 19:08 - it should be at least 5 sec faster cause of where I started in the pack.  

Either way I am happy with this time.  It is my new 5K PR since I started all over.  :)

I had a little faster time in me but probably not more than a few sec a mile.  I want to get back under 18 for this distance.  I just need to keep training consistently and NOT get hurt.  

may go out for 6 later - wanted to do 10 but not sure I have the heart for that this afternoon.  

Well they have me at 19:19 -- that's weird - 19:26 clock time.  I thought for sure I heard  19:09.  whatever

got slammed by the cold my daughter had last week -- 

sick

sick

sick - stayed home from work today - can't shake this thing

might be feeling a little better today - I am almost constantly hungry today.  Is that a good sign?  I hope so. 

I have 4 weekends before the marathon weekend.   Although i can't imagine running still today, I want to try a long run on Saturday.  I have to get up to 20 at least.  May be able to get to that twice?  

bad timing for a 7 day sick break.  That's the worst cold ive had in a really long time.  it just wouldn't go away.  

anyway - 6.6 today  

I'm planning the rest of the races for the year.  It is lining up to be a fun year of races both long and short.  I just need to stay healthy so that I can enjoy it.  

18 this Saturday, 20-22 next saturday, 16-18 the sat after that and then 1 week until the full on St Patrick's day.   

later in the day...

7 @ a pace that felt little faster than 7:30s

took 2 to the track then did 3x800 at an uptempo pace - with 400 in between

2 back

6 total

quads are sore after itakng last week off --  

ran with the running group tonight - started  out slowly and then ratcheted up to the mid 6s

felt pretty good but still too slow 

got out for a run - then I came home

none running today 

took Chrys to the airport and then did dinner with the kiddies 

long run today 

felt pretty good thie whole time - legs were more tired than anything.   It was kind of chilly and clammy out.  

no watch - but it was prob pretty close to 8 min pace  - I guess

6.5 with the running club -- a couple miles at 6:45or 6:50.  not feeling it tonight

cruddy windy and cold run

i really hate this weather - i cut out a switch back so I didn't quite make 20.  oh well.  

19.4

not looking too promising for the marathon on the 17th - ill hang with the 3:30 group as long as I can.  I need to eat more beforehand and fuel more during the race.  That's another thing I'm out of practise.  

i actually enjoyed this run-- high 50's - hardly any wind - and there was light 

huzzah! 

a little niggle on the bottom of my foot - achilles or pf?  anyway I didn't try to really keep up with the faster guys tonight.  It was mostly up tempo but not what I normally try to do.  it loosened up until about .5 to go.  I just bailed and went home.  need to try to keep this thing in line

6.1 

feeling good- a quick 5 before a school event tonight 

mid-long run a week before the full.  im very out of shape, that's all I can say.  

decent shortie in the rain- loving that it isn't dark until about 8pm...

Another 4 to keep thing loose for Sunday

Nice run after horrible traffic

I signed up for this race in late January as a way to get my act together a little.  I decided that I need to try to get out of my comfortable zone and back into some longer, tougher races.  The comfortable zone hasn't taken me anywhere but up in weight and to slower times so I thought a change would be good. 

My plan was to pick up the 3:30 group and run with them.  I started may 50 meters behind them and caught up in a half mile or so.  I passed them a couple miles later and was maybe 30 sec or so in front.  Picked up JG at mile 7 and he ran the rest with me.  It was great to have someone to run with and he really kept me going when my legs started to go.  I only stopped once to strech my legs - around mile 21 - and that was just for 5 or 10 seconds.  By the half I was at 1:42:xx - which was right ahead of plan by a little.  I knew that the last half was much harder and it certainly was.  After around 16 my legs and energy levels started to drop off.  Of course that coincided with the difficulty of the course.  

Long story short, I didn't stop and I only lost a little time in the last half.  Given my training losing time in the second half is not surprising.  

BIG thanks to JG for dragging me along for the last 19! 

signed up for next year's spring marathon  -  it was only $40 for the first 100

I'm back at it.  Took a full 7 days off.  Feel good and ready to go!

4.75 

5.6 in the cold and windy GA spring...I hate this weather

4.15@7:29 aVE...

Ran 13.25 today.  have a 50k on memorial day weekend so my goal is to do two on the weekends.  We'll see how it goes since tomorrow is Easter.  

ran over to JGs neighborhood and ran on the trails in the Morningside  nature preserve. was surprised by how much trails are in there.  some nice elevation change - did 2-3 miles in there a few repeats of the biggest.  

a really good start to the month and the week.  

7:22 ave pace on a good hilly route

aawesome weather 

6 miles -  out of shape

6.4 - really out of shape

7:44 ave pace 

day off - softball game and had to fix dinner after that...

suckage - can't breathe

sucky run - can't breathe right -- 

ran at work after work - more better today - cool and rainy,.  maybe that helped 

A little better 6 today

7:29 pace 

actually had a decent run - loving the weather too

8 @ 7:37 ave pace 

it was an ok, uneventful run

ran with the group - noone went any faster so it was mid 8 ave

ran over to the track and then did a few faster things. it has been a while -

5.2 around and around

Had a great morning - ran with my daugheter in her 2nd 5k.  She took off a lot of time this go around -- not fast but a great improvement!  Very proud of her effort! 

Then she went and had a great softball game -- two great hits and some good fielding.  We tired her out :)

I did another 10.3 in the late afternoon.  I did the 12-6 am shift and was running on fumes.  But I kept going.  It was just over 8 pace.  Not good but not the worst thing in the world.  At least I did it.  I just wanted to hit 40 for the week.  Even without the run walk 5k, I got it, so that's goal accomplished  - yea tim!  Got to build from somewhere, right? 

7 split into two parts - 7:27 ave pace

went out for a run and came back home

7:37 ave pace 

5.5 - 7:32 ave pace

5.65 -- 7:38 ave

6.25 - nice run in the cooler weather - 7:32 ave pace

nice run in the cool weather - 7:33 ave pace

ran after work by the office - decent run and pace considering the long hills on the route.  really nice running weather

7:25 ave pace 

ran with the oakhurst running group - got there late and tried halfheartedly to catchup.  Felt pretty good and ended up maintaining a decent pace until the end.  

6 @ 7:10  ave 

worked late and had a school function after that -- could have squeezed one in but just didnt want to bad enough i guess 

ran after work from the office.  it lets traffic die down a bit - so i actually get done with running and driving by 6:30.  then i dont have to ditch the family as long in the evenings.  decent run.  feeling better with my running - in general.

5.1 @ 7:33 ave 

I went out at around 4 this afternoon after doing a lot of work around the house and I was tired. But I really kinda wanted to get 40 this week so I ran down to the Beltline which is a old rail trail and ran 6 out and six back. I fell off on the way back. ..

12 @ 8:20 ish pace 

a good mother's day.  We had a nice day driving with grandma up to the mountains.  got a nice light lunch and then went strawberry picking.  It was a good time. 

alas, no running.

working the 1am-9am shift this week, so I have the whole day to nap, work around the house, and run.  Got in a nice easy paced 8 miler today. 

8 @ 7:44 ave

not feeling it this afternoon -- maybe the weird sleeping schedule this week.  But i kept plugging away at it.  I need to learn to just keep going.  

7.4 @ 7:52 ave  

zero energy -- zero - but i dragged my butt around the neighborhood for a while

4.1 @ 8:50 something 

got out before a nap today.   maybe thats the key for running on this shift - i actually felt reasonably decent.  i just tried to be steady the whole run  a few long hills

8.3 @ 7:50ish pace (forgot to stop the clock) 

bit of a jaunt around the town this afternoon

looking forward to normal sleep tonight

5.6@ 7:33 ave  --

Q runs in the Peachtree Jr in the morning - should be a fun time

Trying to talk the fam into running the fathers day week end 4 miler with me.  we'll see what happens.   i think i have q on board at least.  

Strange run - 

Q ran the peachtree JR 3k this morning along with a few hundred of her closest friends.  Actually one of her closest friends (and sis) were there.  That was very nice.  The kids run it all by themselves, starting in age groups 12-7.  The ATC does a really good job with this one.  And it is only $12 or something like that.  Nice tshirt and goodie bag along with it.  

Then I ran when they stopped on the way home for doughnuts.  That put me 4 miles from home - so to do a normal 12 miler I had to try to be creative.  Turns out I took a road and ended up running the wrong way for a half mile -- until I crossed over the interstate - instead of running back into the city.  

I took about 20 min longer than expected and I think my watch got turned off for a while.  I maped it manually to get the miles, but the time is way off

13.9 prob at 8 or a little slower.  I really sweated on this run and didn't have any water along with me.  some dang big hills in this route -

 biggest week in a while at least

Legs felt pretty strong today.  Maybe a sign of thing working.   Threesub 7:20 miles and then

6@ 7:22 ave 

Returned to this race after missing it the last two years.  I'm not injured this year, so I didn't want to miss it.  It is a beautiful course along and around the river.  

The family came along this time, which was cool  We got a hotel in Greenville, SC, which is about an hour and a few minutes from the race.  I left them sleeping at 5AM and headed out for the mountains.  It was a perfect morning, if not a little chilly.

I really had not trained for long distances since I did the marathon in March, so I just wanted to finish today.  I am not in the best of shape, so I thought maybe 7-8 hrs.  Plus my feet never seem to hold up for these distances.  The goal was just to get out there to see what happened.

The first 3+ drop about 1100 feet and then you turn around and climb back up.  It is a good way to wake up the cardiovascular system.  I didn't want to take it too hard like I did in 2010.  I stayed behind people who i thought were at a decent prudent pace.  

After that section, there is a 10+ mile section without any aid station.  Of course I should have taken both of my water bottles, but I didn't.  It wasn't too hot so it wasn't a huge deal, just not as much liquid available as I would have liked.  I stayed behind one of the other runners for a while, until I had to stop to collect my heart rate.  I lost a few spots here but wasn’t too concerned about that.  I really enjoyed the section by the river.  It is very run-able and is quite beautiful with all of the waterfalls and such.  

After the aid station there is about 2 miles mostly downhill and then you turn around and run back up to the aid station.  Once you hit that, you have about 11 or so to the finish without aid.  Luckily some saint set out a Gatorade bucket at the road, with a mile to go.  It was a great way to spend the last hill climb/decent.  

I finished in 6:45:xx according to my watch.  It was within a minute of the time in 2010 which is really encouraging.   

I fought the concept of quitting a lot in the first 12 or so miles.  I wasn't hurting or anything.  I think it was just part of the lazy me that I needed to face.  So I just motored on as best as I could, doing the run walk thing as needed.  I think I hit 15 or 16 at 3 hrs and then slowed down a little after that, as expected.  

I felt mostly good at the end.  I was tired and started cramping in my calves but other than that, I wasn't totally wiped out, like I normally am at the end of a 50k.  And for whatever reason, I never really reached that point of total despair.  Usually in one of these long races I feel like just sitting down and not moving.  This time it was hard, but it never felt hopeless.  Maybe having my GPS watch this time helped put a concrete number of miles to go on the seemingly endless trail.  

After I drove back to the city we walked around Greenville that night and the next day before heading back to Atlanta.  It turns out that Greenville has quite a fun little downtown area.  

The biggest plus this year was that the soreness was much less than years past.  I'm not sure if it was because of my running strategy, wearing my regular running shoes, or that I'm in awesome shape ( :)  ).  I usually can't run or do anything normally for several days after a long race, but I was able to run very normally yesterday (Monday) and today.  

felt surprisingly good so I went on a run.  I won't complain about only needing one day off after the 50k.  

3.65 at 7:50ish pace 

Another short  run after work and dinner cooking..then off to the park to get the kids some exercise. 

7:40's pace

4

Q;s first softball tournament.  Had a good time  

took Sawyer to band camp at UGA.  

didn't mean to take off 4 days - oh well

7.9 miles after work - ran out of gas at the end 

one month until peachtree road race --  

Ran with the Oakhurst running group --

5 around the 'hood with 7:09 ave pace

Ate too much last night so my tummy was not happy on this one.  Dang humid this morning but not very hot.  

10.1 @ 8:02 ave 

ran between Q's softball games.  pretty flat area but not much shade and it was hot

5 before going to the braves game with S

eh i ran at least

no energy

Had another nice slow run today. Watched my lunch choice so my stomach wasn't totally angry at me like the last two days.  My energy levels just are not up there this week.  I feel like I'm jogging through quicksand.  At least I'm not skipping days.  

ran at 4:45 today -- pretty warm but sought out the shade

this is the best I've felt all week at least 

7.5 @ 8:03 ave pace  

14 mile bike ride - first in a while

just no desire to run -so i made the best of the situation 

Another 14 on my bike .  2 min faster tonight

I think sometimes that is a better workout than a regular ild 6-8 miler.... 

10k Peachtreee Road Race

mid 42 min --  

I'm just out of shape - not much more to say about things.  I had a fun time at least.  Ran with JG from the board.  He ran with his boy, so that was a good time.  I need to get my kids to start doing this one with me.  It is a really big tradition in Atlanta.  60k people running and walking on the 4th.  

5 @ 8 ave - first 3 were good then things tailed off.  I just need to keep plugging away

8 or 10 on the bike - 13.4 ave --man that is slow but it was a really good workout.  My little heart was just pumping up a storm.  

5 around the neighborhood -- felt good most of the way -- 7:30 ave pace.. that pace is a little too hard at this point, but I'll keep at it.  Adding the bike every other day i think might help mentally and cardio-wise.  

bike day -- a little more energy today than the last time 

11 @ 14.7 ave pace 

5.5 at the beach in Miramar Beach, FL

had a great time with the family -- only one run but it is ok 

must have jacked my knee up on the kayak yesteday cause I couldn;t bend it after the run -- for about an hour 

ran after the t-storms passed  -- had a nice run - forgot the watch but it wasn't horribly slow

ran at work before tackling the traffic -

7:48 ave pace -- nice rain in the middle of the run - really helped cool things off 

24.3 miles on the bike - 14,8 ave pace - 

18.8 on the bike - 14.7 ave 

humid as crap out there -- but i had a decent run, i guess.  there are no real good runs anymore, but i need to keep pushing out of this 

my legs were dead after two days of long-ish rides (at least they were long for me) 

legs felt dead - not a good run

15th Anniversary -- no run tonight 

decent 6 miler at work -- first 2 were a struggle mentally but ALMOST felt good by the end.  

really decent ride to stone mountain today then went to lake lanier world for 9 hrs.  

22.5 miles - 15.3 ave pace 

really nice mid-day summer run going and then all of a sudden a giant insect lands on my upper lip and stings the **** out of me.  After a minute of swearing and hand flailing i decided to walk it home, but after the pain died down a bit I decided to get it over with and get home.  Turns out the pace home was the same as before I was attacked...

Lip looks like one of those ladys who had too much lip injections.  My son thought it was funny  :)

21.25 on the bike - 15.7 ave pace -- 

got in two short runs today -- how long has that been? 

7:32 and 7:27

 saw a pic of me from Nov 2009 - my marathon PR -- man I am fat compared to that...   

32.9 on the bike - had some time to kill cause of my work schedule and the kids are in school...

this one was a little hard cause the farthest I've biked before -- didn't fuel right I'm sure.  Took some new routes to Stone Mountain and in the park.  some dang steep hills there.  

time to do a longer run tomorrow -- won't worry about time 

about 9.6 at a new park - Arabia Mountain -- another big granite blob in the middle of georgia - this one appears to have been harvested mostly.  Stone Mountain is much bigger - but this was pretty cool.  not much for forest trails, but a really long bike path.

totally no energy or whatever-  took some pictures of what i found and generally took a long time to go almost 10 miles.   

7.9 miles on the bike - a quick 30 minute ride before heading out to Greenville 

Not too bad.

7:50 ave 

A littler slower today

8:08 ave 

Cruddy slow run but I got it done

Kind of a slow ride / 12.5 miles or something.  14.1 ave I think.  Right knee wasn't too much happy in it.  Didnt really loosen up like normal.  Maybe from more running this week.  

forgot to log these

7:59 pace 

decent 13 or 14 on the bike.  15 ave pace. 

Doing the evening shift this week so I have days open until 4PM.  Love it!

Went without watch for an 8 miler and had to alter my route so I got a bonus half mile.  No idea on the pace but I didn't have to walk at all, which is an accomplishment at this point.  I have resigned myself to the fact that I am starting over.  It isn't quite from scratch, but it is starting back to where I was maybe 6 or 7 years ago - maybe.  

This one wasn't quite as good as yesterday.  Honestly I'm not used to two 8 milers in two days anymore.  I walked a few paces but it was a good run overall.  No watch again.

Went out again around 1 this afternoon.  Went out with a goal of about 8.  I turned around at 3 and then took the long way home to stretch it a bit closer to 8.  Not the best run but it is in the books.  

turns out it was 89 or 90 when i ran today,  i thought it was supposed to be 82.  well that explains the run that will be forgotten...

6.3 slow miles

almost two hour slow trail run at Sweetwater Creek St. Park.  Nice to get on the trails again -- really need to eat and drink better before these runs --

stopped my watch and forgot to restart it a couple times -- im guessing it was about  .2 worth.  

really wanted to do 40 this week -- close enough

one of mybest feeling runs in a while -- 

7.85 - no watch 

sick

sick

school thing -- out late

ran at work after work -- 5.5

not bad run after 3 days off

"long" run today

11.4 miles that took too long

it is humid as snot out there...not used to it this year 

Ran this afternoon after a rain.  It cooled things down but it was still very humid.  

ok run -- getting better the more I run.  My lucky ankle might even start hurting again soon.  I can feel it coming along today.  :)

nothing outstanding but a good run - I can feel my stride coming together

5.7 - no watch

was working outside and lost track of time.  only time for 4 -- 

4 - no watch

made sure to eat and  drink before my run today

drove out to sweetwater again- this time is much better

10 trail miles  -- just over 10:15 ave pace

tired after yesterday and after working on a project outside this morning

5.4 - no watch

nice run after a week on vaca -- 

ran up my stairs funny this morning and f-d my knee up.  did a run anyway but im limpoin a little tonight... 

good times

55 min on the elliptical