Good Long Run

Took off this morning with some trepidation. My long runs of late have been pretty much a wash. Either I haven't been able to do the mileage or I've completed the mileage but had to walk. Last weekend, I had headed out for 12 miles but headed home early for 9 and, even then, walked a couple of times.

This morning, I felt good and planned to do about 12.75 miles -- I don't give up easily -- but just didn't know what would happen. I was running a route that I had run about a month ago and had really struggled, walking some during the last few miles. The temperature was a perfect 47° (cooled down to 44° by the time I finished) and 53% humidity, overcast skies, but a pretty good breeze in my face on certain sections. The route is pretty hilly.

It was hard but I ran the whole way -- a total of 12.9 miles at 8:23 mpm (1:48:16). That's almost the pace of my best half marathon. One thing that I think helped, besides the weather and my strong inner desire to complete it, was Gatorade'ing and Gu'ing. I decided to take a good swig of Frost Gatorade every 2 miles and eat a Gu (Chocolate Rage) at the halfway point of about 6.5 miles (do you really eat a Gu?). I seemed to feel the Gu kick in at about the 7.25 mile point. There was never a point where I was ready to walk -- there was a point at about the 5.5 mile point when I seriously contemplated cutting it short and heading home, to the point of calculating the approximate miles by doing that. But, I didn't do it.

So, I feel good about the run this morning and feel like maybe I'm back on track.

After running, we helped our daughter move -- she changed apartments. I was concerned that I would be in agony but the constant moving, even the up and down stairs, seems to have kept me from being too stiff and sore.

One month until the Ukrop's 10K. I'd love to set a PR and break 45 minutes. It's a pretty flat course and maybe my last chance ever to run this race.

Our Bible study class begins a study of Mark tomorrow and I'm leading. So, I'd best finish preparing.

Run well, y'all,
Bob

ZZZ-Mailing

If I ever send an e-mail that, the moment I hit "Send", I decide should not have been sent, I now have a plausible defense -- "zzz-mailing". This is great! The concept surely applies to other forms of communication, too -- zzz-Facebooking, zzz-blogging, zzz-training. I should never have to take responsibility for anything that I do, say, or write again -- Oh, you heard me say **that**? I must have been zzz-talking.

On a running note: I must admit that there's is a bit of perverse satisfaction in running in really cold weather, especially when you see the look of someone's face when they learn you ran this morning when the temperature was 19° (or 5° or whatever). There is definitely the personal satisfaction of having done it. But, I'm ready for some morning temps in the 30°s. I am most definitely NOT ready for summer -- I don't like hot and running in temps greater than 70° or so is more miserable than running when it's 5°. But, a tiny bit more warmth wouldn't be bad. This morning: 5.9 miles, 49:45, 19°F, 57% humidity.

Run well, y'all,
Bob

Tuesday at Tempo

Cold tempo run this morning -- 18°F when I left and 17°F when I finished. Goal was 6 miles total -- 1 warm up, 4 @ 7:27, 1 cool down. I got sidetracked on the first fast mile because of traffic and lost some seconds, but the whole thing was a real struggle and the first half of the last fast mile was uphill -- ughhh. Anyway, it was actually better than I thought. Here's the breakdown:

Tempo Splits
1.0 x 8:42.68 (warm up)
1.0 x 7:59.92
1.0 x 7:18.63
1.0 x 7:13.69
1.0 x 8:08.63
1.1 x 9:20.74 (cool down)

I am so bad at regulating my pace.

Run well, y'all,
Bob

Look Familiar?

This is an advert from the Flora London Marathon, but I've felt this way after a half marathon and even, one day, after a 7-mile training run. Oh, the joys of running:



Run well, y'all,
Bob

Cletus Take the Reel

If you like corny parody, then this might be right up your alley -- a parady of Carrie Underwood's, Jesus Take the Wheel. Personally, I love it:



Run, and fish, well, y'all,
Bob

Track Blowouts

I got to add another country to my list of Countries in Which I've Run -- Turkey. I was in a meeting last week in Belek, Turkey and ran 4 mornings. It was flat, flat, flat. The only hill was in the hotel parking lot. Actually, it was a good thing I ran -- those were the only times I even stepped outside the hotel. I saw a beautiful sunrise on Wednesday -- sunrise ahead of me, snow-covered mountains ahead and to the left of me.

Another set of track intervals/repeats out of the way. I got a call from our emergency answering service about 11:10 last night -- fortunately, it wasn't a major emergency but it did get my adrenaline going a bit. So, I was really tired. Fortunately, I knew there were people who would be expecting me so I got up and headed out in the cold (26°). The goal was to do the warm-up by running to the high school, then do 4 x 800 meters @ 3:20 with a recovery 400 meters between each, then to do the cool-down running home. On the recovery lap after the 3rd 800 meters, we decided to just do 400 meters for the last lap. These things are HARD!

Here are the splits:

1.50 mi x 12:31.87
 800 m x 3:20.08
 400 m x 2:27.49
 800 m x 3:18.90
 400 m x 2:28.83
 800 m x 3:21.01
 400 m x 2:31.62
 400 m x 1:33.52
1.50 mi x 13:10.99

Run well, y'all,

Bob

Snowfall

Well, Richmond is not a winter wonderland, if you define that as a place that has lots of snow. So, it doesn't take a whole lot of the white stuff to get me excited.

The prediction had been for snow but I really expected rain. So, when I got up and heard the sound of water falling, I got mentally ready to to to the YMCA and hit the treadmill. Grabbed my driving license and keys, opened the door, and was quite surprised to see the grass, steps, vehicles covered (albeit ever so lightly) in white stuff ... and more of it coming down with no rain mixed in. (The temperature was 33° so what I had heard earlier was melting snow falling off the trees.) Snow! Turned around, put the keys and license on the end table, grabbed my blinking light, head lamp, and gloves and headed out for a run in the falling snow.

Met up with couple of guys from our informal running group. They were running roughly the same route I had planned to run, so we stayed together and had a great run of 5.3 miles. (Thanks Drew and Owen.)

Run well, y'all,
Bob

Tempo Run

Today's run was a tempo run -- I had planned to do this on Tuesday but there is rain and freezing stuff predicted and I didn't want to miss the speedwork this week. The goal was 1 mile warm-up, 3 miles @ 7:26 mpm, and 1 mile cool down. I did it but wow! I had a cold last week and that's really sapped me. Here are the splits:

TEMPO SPLITS:
1.00 x 8:40.95 (warm-up)
1.00 x 7:28.46
1.00 x 7:21.32
1.00 x 7:15.26
1.26 x 11:25.64 (cool down)

To meet my goal time for the Ukrop's 10K, I have to maintain the pace of my 3rd tempo mile for the full race. I'm glad I still have 8 weeks to go -- even then it will be tough.

Run well, y'all,
Bob