Tired Legs

Like Mark, who blogs at Battlefield Running, I felt like a slug today. I think my legs were beat up from yesterday's 6.25 miles. Yes, I know, that's not a long run by normal standards — it's not even a long run by my standards, but at the moment, that's a long run for me.

Great morning for a run — 62°, 62% humidity, clear skies, moon still showing when I started — 4.02 miles at a pace of 9:38 mpm (Forerunner says moving pace was 9:34 mpm but I never stopped so I don't understand the difference).



Run well, y'all,
Bob

Good Start to a Saturday

Good way to start Saturday morning. While I really want to get my pace down, today's run felt better than any in a long time — 5:53AM, dark in Nairobi this morning, 61°F, 64% humidity, 6.25 miles at 9:49 mpm:



Run well, y'all,
Bob

Running Backwards

OK, not exactly backwards. I reversed my route in Jo'burg this morning. The advantage it gave me was a long (@ .7 mile) downhill before the last uphill (@ .6 mile). My overall time was faster than other runs this week -- 9:37 mpm. The Forerunner still showed a difference between the pace for total time (9:37 mpm) and for moving time (9:32 mpm). Not quite sure about that.



Run well, y'all,
Bob

Wednesday in Jo'burg

I don't get to Johannesburg, S Africa often, but when I do, I enjoy running this route. Not because it's fun, but it's quite satisfying to finish. There's a long (@.7 mile) uphill near the beginning. The next 1.75 miles are basically downhill with a few uphill segments. Then, miles 3-5 are all uphill with a **VERY** short downhill (maybe 0.1 mile) at about mile 4.25. And, this is at altitude -- 5300'-5500'.



Run well, y'all,
Bob

Running in a Daze

Flew to Johannesburg, S Africa, last night for a training conference. The only flight I could get was one that left Nairobi at 8:40PM and arrived in Jo'burg at 11:50PM (an hour behind Nairobi time), though we actually landed at 11:25PM. So, knowing that I wouldn't get to the guest house until 12:30AM or so, I had not planned to run this morning. But, at 5:30AM, I was awake -- it gets light a lot earlier here than in Nairobi! I laid in bed for another hour or so, dozing occasionally and finally got up and out.

It was intentionally short but turned out to be a faster pace than anything last week. Johannesburg is at a very slightly lower elevation than Nairobi but, at least where the guest is, there are these long hills. They are steep, just long, and they are killers. And, the guest house is at almost the highest point of the routes I run and definitely at the highest point in the neighbourhood where it's located. So, there is no way to avoid ending a run going up one of those long hills. It's a killer! But, hills are my friend, right?!



Run well, y'all,
Bob

Early Saturday Morning

Decent enough run this morning -- 61°F, 61% humidity. My legs didn't feel as tired as earlier in the week. Still slow -- I can't seem to lose the weight I need to lose. I'll just keep plugging away.

An interesting observation about the FR305 -- for some reason, there's about a 14 second difference in elapsed time and moving time even though I don't stop at all. There are a couple of places where I turn around, but I don't actually stop. So, perhaps that confuses the Forerunner.



Run well, y'all,
Bob

Thursday Run -- 4th Consecutive Day

My original plan for the week was to run Mon-Wed, rest today, then run Fri-Sat. Then, I found out that we have to meet someone at the airport for a 9:30PM arrival -- that means we won't likely get home until 11:00Pm and I'm unlikely to get to bed before midnight. That made a 6:00AM run on Friday less than optimal. So, I ran this morning.

I wasn't a really good run. It seemed harder even than other runs this week. However, at the end, my pace was faster and heartrate lower than yesterday. Of course, it was also a mile shorter than yesterday. :-D

Because of guests, I've given up the bathroom that I normally use so haven't had access to my scales for almost a week. I finally remembered to move them. Stepped on the scales this morning with great expectations that I would see some progress. Well, if moving higher is progress, then I made progress -- it's just not in the direction I'd hoped. I've never had particular trouble losing weight until the past 6 months. I'm beginning to wonder if it's an unexpected result of a medication I'm taking -- and the stubborn extra pounds could well be the reason my pace has been so disappointing. We'll see.

If you're interested, here's the Forerunner report for today:



Run well, y'all,
Bob

Slow It Down

I don't have any idea why running this week has been so hard. During all 3 runs, I've felt like I'm running the day after a long run. Just one of those weeks, I guess.

At any rate, when I headed out this morning, I decided to slow down a bit. My original goal was to keep my heartrate below 150. I actually managed that until about mile 3.25 or so. That was about when I started the final, long, uphill section. My heart rate did peak at about 161 bpm but my average for the whole run was 148 bpm. I did feel better but that meant a slow run -- better that, though, than an injury.

This was my 9th run with the Garmin FR305. I really like it but really have to be careful not to spend too much time watching it.



Run well, y'all,
Bob

Monday, 3 January 2011

Not a bad run this morning except that my body didn't want to go out the door. But, once I got my shorts and shirt on, the body submitted to the mind and got in gear. I pushed the pace slightly this morning, though it felt like more than slightly. Mile #2 was good at 8:54 mpm -- of course, it was mostly downhill.



Temperature: 61°
Humidity: 68%

My scales decided to work today -- first time in almost 3 weeks. The 196.5# was not a pretty sight -- too much divinity, too many sugared peanuts, not enough running around Christmas. I want to lose 25# this year, would love to lose that by my birthday in May.

Run well, y'all,
Bob

Sunday Morning, 2 January

Temperature: 60°
Humidity: 72%, patchy fog
Garmin data:


Run well, y'all,
Bob

CHARGED Marathon champion in the dock

I like interesting number sequences, so today is right up my alley -- January 1, 2011 or 1-1-11.

Not sure why this posted 50 times this morning. The originating site said it didn't post at all. Oh well.

This is a major blow -- Wanjiru had been phenomenal over the last couple of years. A later FB post from the Daily Nation said that Wanjiru and his wife have reconciled after the death threat. We'll see.

CHARGED Marathon champion in the dock


Olympic marathon gold medallisread more...

Wanjiru and wife reconcile after death threat charge

First run of 2011 — 6.39 miles at a slow pace of 9:42 mpm:

I would love to run 1000+ miles this year. It will take some doing to get there. Hang around and let's see how it goes.

• How has has 2011 started for you?

Run well, y'all,

Bob