C'mon!

Time: 37:50
Avg HR: 158
Peak HR: 177
Distance: TBD
Start Time: 6:45 AM
Training Effect: 4.3
Temp: high-50s
Date: 5/30/07

I did my longer route today, and despite not walking -- I stayed strong -- I went out 4 seconds slower -- which is really nothing over 4+ miles. I tried to focus on nothing, and just enjoy the act of running, and the feeling of motion.

I was pretty successful with that and overall the run was pretty good. Interesting that the training effect was.5 less and the avg. HR was only 3 beats/min slower -- I probably kept a better pace over the entire run than the first time I did this route when I think I went out harder up front and barely hung on at the end (see: mental weakness, walking).

Speaking of giving in . . . where is everybody? This blog has reverted to a dialogue, yet again. Are 5 of the 7 of us on this blog-team not running/riding? Not blogging? Both? I've written this before. There is basically no traffic to this site anymore which means most of you aren't even checking in. It's totally fine, but the purpose of this thing was to provide motivation, maybe it's not, let me know -- though the blog motivates me. I'm interested in feedback.

Hey, I admit it, I'm grinding right now, looking for a spark despite the beautiful weather, but I'm not giving in to the complacency. I've said this before too -- we live in a society where it's easy to be soft. We're all getting older, boys -- it gets harder to get out, it gets easier to get weak. You don't have to run to post.
Did you ride? Did you erg? Did you mow the lawn? Trim bushes? Chase kids around the beach all day? Hike the 'Daks? It all goes to the bottom line of both physical, and ultimately, mental well being that comes from and being active healthy adults.

A bunch of years ago FreeArtist's family and mine went to see Holy Cross play Army at West Point. A spouse of a friend of FA's wife was training for NYC and he was doing it he said to provide an example to his kids of staying fit, of working hard, of seeing something through to the end. I was running at that time, but marathoning was far from my thoughts. However, that conversation always stuck with me -- even in my periods of non-running I think about that conversation and eventually it gets me back on the road. C'mon boys, start running, riding writing.

Marathon Results

So, the Burlington Marathon was Sunday, and I ran it. All.

I ended up finishing in 3 hours 45 minutes exactly, which is an 8:30 pace. It's better than I expected to do, but leaves room for improvement for the next one. Yup, I'm already thinking about marathon number 2, and I have the perfect race for anyone who still checks in on this site.

The New York City Marathon. The race is on November 4, and the lottery sign up closes on June 1. The timing is perfect. For an 18 week training schedule, you'll need to start on July 1. Perfect. Here's the link for anyone who is interested. Sign up. I just did.

http://www.nycmarathon.org/entrantinfo/applyfor2007_new.php

Here are my splits for the Burlington Marathon. It's tough to explain what it's like running a marathon, so I'll just let my times speak for me. They really say it all in terms of how I was feeling:
Mile 1: 7.46
Mile 2: 7.06
Mile 3: 7.02
Mile 4: 6.37
Mile 5 + 6: 14.46
Mile 7: 7.18
Mile 8:7.36
Mile 9: 7.34
Mile 10: 7.21
Miles 11+12: 15.55
Miles 13, 14, 15: 24.36
Mile 16:8.26
Mile 17: 8.42
Mile 18: 9.07
Mile 19: 9.50
Mile 20: 10.07
Mile 21: 10.02
Mile 22: 10.31
Mile 23: 10.54
Mile 24: 10.53
Mile 25: 10.52
Mile 26: 9.36
Final .2: 1.53

I went for a 25 minute trail run today, and it felt pretty good. Quads felt like someone was charlie-horsing me with every step for the first 15 minutes, but that pretty much went away by the end.

That's all from here. Sign up for the NYC race!!

Memorial Day Weekend

Here's my log for this past weekend:

Saturday, I cross-trained with Manual Labor. I worked in the yard for a good 4 hours, edging, spreading mulch, trimming various flora and planting a bush. It was good, honest, hard labor, very sweaty and dirty. I was beat the next day.

Sunday Played lacrosse-keep-away on the beach with my nieces. It was a good thirty minutes of stop and start sprinting. I almost blew out my knee, however, when I planted my foot in the sand and my knee locked because my foot didn't move. That would have been nasty.

Monday I went running with two of my favorite people -- my kids. I threw them in the double-jogger and went out for 36:43, with an average HR of 153 and a max of 168. We covered 4.2 miles and it went very well -- no real fighting and no real demands made by my little passengers. We had a nice chat and both serenaded me the whole way. When you figure that my little ones weigh a combined 60 pounds and the stroller weighs nearly 20, and you factor in blankets, snacks and stuffed animals I was pushing around 80 pounds and that changes the workout. I have to say though, that once you get the cargo rolling you actually have to restrain the whole thing -- so, while you're pushing, you're also holding back. We ran on the shoulder at times, in sand and grass, and that really added a whole different dimension to the workout too. Despite the fact that the Cape route is pretty flat, the off-road effort made it seem like running up-hill. I'd love to go out with my kiddies every week and given that they behaved so well, I think I will try it again this weekend.

How'd the race go VTR? I'm looking forward to the post.

Jitters

Tomorrow is marathon Sunday for me. I've spent the week on vacation in the Outer Banks with the family, and now that I'm home the pre-race jitters are setting in. It's all about the details for me at this point. Course map? Check. Confirmation email? Check. Pace wrist-band? Check. Clothes set out? Check -- you get the idea. It feels good to be getting my head into the game after a week away from every aspect of training routine that got me to race day.

This past week was interesting from a training perspective. I did an hour last Sunday and then three 3 milers, on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. The runs were up and down, mainly because my lower legs and feet were adjusting to spending so much time walking over dunes in deep sand. I almost cut out the beach because by convincing myself that excess sand-walking was going to sabotage me (different muscles, you know?) but then I got a grip.

That's all for now. More after the race.

Stretching It Out

Time: 37:46
Avg HR: 161
Peak HR: 177
Distance: TBD
Start Time: 6:51 AM
Training Effect: 4.8
Temp: not sure high-50s
Date: 5/24/07

I went out longer than normal today because I wanted to see what it would be like to stretch it out during the work-week. I ran for 37 minutes and it felt OK, though I gave in to some mental weakness on one of my last hills and walked for 5 or 6 steps -- I just really didn't feel like running at that point. I have work to do to stretch it out and get back to longer distances, but this is a good benchmark and it's good to know that I can go longer during the week. It's all part of the process of training the body to do what I want it to do. Onward and upward.

Canker Worms

Time: 26:25 (PR)
Avg HR: 156
Peak HR: 175
Distance:3.3 miles
Start Time: 7:07 AM
Training Effect: 3.9
Temp: not sure . . .
Date: 5/22/07

I was out late today. I'm having motivational issues, and feeling tired right now. I feel good when I get out, but it's hard to get out there lately. I need to explore new routes I think. Once I got out, I hammered it -- I knew I didn't have a lot of time so I went on my short loop and went pretty fast.

Running is such a habit, and really our lives are so habit-filled, that when I run at different times, or change it even a bit, you see different people going about their routines. This morning, the crowd was totally different than the one I normally see -- lots more kids heading to school, a different crew of walkers and runners. Interesting.

What I really want to write about though are the Canker Worms -- those little green inch-worms you see dangling beneath deciduous trees. In December, they emerge from the ground as moths, mate and plant their eggs in the trees where the caterpillars hatch in early May and then eat everything they find. They are non-native invasive species and they ravage trees. We lost a Maple on our property because of them -- they ate it so badly one spring that it was weakened and broke during a fall storm. I now spend $400/yr getting the trees sprayed to prevent damage and it works -- we have much less damage than last year. Where this pertains to running is that each run this past week, I've come in with one of these things on my shirt, and I think I swallowed one the other day. It's totally gross, and something else to think about (avoiding) while trotting.

Brothers, Running

So, my brother and his family were in town this weekend and we spent the entire weekend at our parents' house, the families all together. It was a great weekend and awesome to get that unbroken familial time. He and I took a 30 minute run on Saturday punctuated with a 7 minute stop at a downtown store to buy a top for his wife -- they had a dinner and she had forgotten to pack her dressy tops . . .

We had a good run and a good chat and off-set some of the caloric horrors of the weekend. He was a runner in high school and still has a runner-like body. He hasn't run in two months -- an infant and a surgical residency will do that to you -- but he's still in good shape, and the run came pretty easily to him. We haven't run together in a long time and it was great to do so again. It was nice to have a partner with whom to pass the time and especially nice that that person was my brother.

Century Killer

So my partner and therefore my ride bailed on me at 8:00pm last night, fearful of a rainy forecast that hasn't materialized. And I elected not to take advantage of the transporation alternatives, to be fair. So there is no century ride for me today. This post should be the last word from any of us about the Montauk Century. Thanks. Time to find a new goal.

Home stretch

Wednesday
3.2 miles
22 minutes and change

Thursday
7 miles
52 minutes and change

These two runs were about trying to get some speed in, and I incorporated various motivators in each one. For the first, guilt kept me going. Mrs. VT Runner and I worked out a plan in which she would pick me up at work (she's having work done on her car) at 6PM, which would give me enough time to run and shower. As often happens at the end of the day, time somehow accelerated, and I didn't get out of the building until 5:45pm. I figured I'd be ok because the run was only going to be a 5K and ten minutes late is not horrible. Unfortunately, I was totally busted. As I burst through the doors and started to run, I saw my wife and kids sitting in my car in the parking lot. They got there early! Man, did I feel like a loser, making everyone wait. Mrs. VT Runner's response? "Don't stand here talking to me, go run!" (in a pleasant, supportive way). Anyway, knowing that they were hanging out in the car gave me incentive to haul...and I did. Felt really good.

Yesterday, I ran with my running partner at his pace, which is very different from mine. He's looking to run a 3:10 marathon, which is somewhere around a 7 minute mile pace, so the motivation was just to hang with or at least within site of him. I stuck with him for the first 2 miles and then dropped back a bit. Still, the end result was something like a 7:30 pace for the 7 miles. Slightly painful and too fast for the race, but it was good to push.

Now I'm off to the outer banks for a week-long family vacation with two other families. I'm psyched to taper the distances, but slightly worried about the booze factor, given how much the guys we're staying with like to put back the brews. What the heck, beer's a carb, right?

FreeArtist, good luck this weekend! It will be epic!

Agricola, I'll plant this seed with you. If you're around on July 4th, think about joining me for the early morning (7:30am) race in my hometown in MA. It's a good 4 miler. Lots of fun with a 10:00 parade to follow.

Later boys.

Deep Thoughts

I updated this poston 5/22, the typos were embarrassing, and the time was totally wrong:

Time: 27:05
Avg HR: 155
Peak HR: 173
Distance:3.3 miles
Start Time: 7:00 AM
Training Effect: 3.9
Temp: 46
Date: 5/17/07


I left the HR watch at home so I don't have exact numbers . . .

Anyway, I went short and a little slower today. I had a drink with a former colleague last night and when I came home I got sucked into a silly movie with Mrs. Agricola. I went to bed at 12:45 and 6:15 came very quickly -- it took 45 minutes to get up and out the door.

The speed checking wagon was still out and it clocked me at a consistent 7 MPH so though I felt slow today I was maintaining my usual pace -- more or less.

The movie I got sucked into was "The Breakup" with Jennifer Anniston and Vince Vaughn. I know this is totally cliche, and unimaginative on my part, and I was thinking about this on my run -- Anniston is seriously one of the best looking actresses of our generation. As much as I want to not think so because I need to be contrarian, I can't deny it. Her body is killer and her face is just imperfect enough -- her nose is a little large -- that she's a totally believable beauty. There, I've outed myself, I'm no different from the majority of the men on this planet who think pretty much the same thing.

Century

Freeartist, your century is coming up fast -- 4 days away now. You feeling it? What's it like this week as you gear up for the event?

Looking forward to hearing about the ride day.

Monday run

6.1 miles
52 minutes
8:30 pace

Forgot to post this one earlier in the week. At this point, my schedule has me running Tues, Wed, Thurs, Saturday. I always move the Tuesday run up to Monday, knowing that life often gets in the way of good intentions. That plan worked out for me this week as yesterday was jammed at work and today is a wet, rainy day up here in Burlington. I'm going to try to get in a quick 3 miler after work, but only if the skies dry up. I may be into this running thing, but only to a certain point. Sloshing through a downpour is not my idea of fun.

7 MPH

Time: 32:35
Avg HR: 158
Peak HR: 178
Distance:4.02 miles
Start Time: 6:55 AM
Training Effect: 4.4
Temp: 48
Date: 5/15/07

I was not psyched for this morning's run -- the first in 5 days!

I went anyway, did the 4 mile loop and it felt pretty good to get out. I have an uncanny knack, however, of missing the good weather and running in the middling-to- poor. It was gray and spitting when I headed out but the rain held off -- and the air actually smelled really good with the bit of rain on the ground.

The best part of today's run however was that the local constabulary has one of those mobile speed monitoring wagons -- the kind that run on solar and sit by the side of road letting you know how fast you're going -- parked along my route. Well, today, it picked me up. When I first realized that it was recording my speed it had me clocked at 8 MPH. That realiztion made me lose a stride and I went to six, then bounced back up to 7 MPH as I pulled even with the thing for an average speed of 7 MPH.

It was funny because I was thinking about the fact that a pace of 8 minutes/mile equals about 7.5 miles per hour. The speed wagon thing confirmed that. Usually those things don't pick up people, at least in my experience, and I've run right at them to get a reading but all it did was throw off my HR monitor -- ~150 BPM to 264 BPM which basically means your heart is about to explode.

Co-ed run

Went out for what was supposed to be a stepped up two hour run last Friday with my buddy from work and two of his girlfriend's friends. These ladies are on the UVM cross country ski team, so I was fully prepared to get my butt kicked. At the last minute, my friend's girlfriend (fit, 22 yo yoga instructor) joined us, so I thought for sure I was a dead man.

As it turns out, the young wonders weren't in that great shape and weren't all that psyched about the run. Our pace was actually slower than I would have liked. With only 2 weeks until the marathon, I wanted to leave everything on the course for this, my last long run. Instead, I'm looking at this week and trying to fit in one more longish run before the main event. It makes me feel good to be in this kind of shape, but I'm even more psyched about my mental approach -- the fact that I'm scheming to get in more miles is a big deal to me. I haven't been this into exercise in quite a while, and it feels good.

I have to make a brief mention of a change in the running fashion landscape since we were in college. Remember when t-shirts covered the butt and spandex went from above the hip to above the knee? Those days are gone. College girls now wear spandex that would've easily passed as hot pants when we were in school. Coverage from below the hip to just below the butt. I have to admit that I was more focused on the run than on the scenery, but I felt this was another opportunity to reiterate how screwed we were by the fasion of the late '80's early '90's when we were young and on the prowl. We can only hope that baggy sweats and sweatshirts become THE thing again when our girls start to care about that stuff.

Early AM Saturday morning

Run in the morning again. I hate that my body is still not awake. Ran for 32 minutes and felt decent with a HR168. I am pretty sure it was over 3 miles. It better be, otherwise I am very slow.

Hustle

Great quote from a great article on ESPN:

"It doesn't take talent to compete. It doesn't take talent to hustle. Play hard and have fun."

-- Newbury College, Head Baseball Coach, Greg Sullivan (23 yrs. old)

Pace

After running with the mad Italian earlier in the week, I realized that I could push a little harder, so I decided to try out a faster pace on my short run yesterday. The hardest part was reminding myself to push rather than just glide along. The best part was being able to motor up some steep hills on my road (you know the ones Agricola) much faster than I've done in the past. The stats were something like 3.2 miles, 24 minutes and change, which is a good 2 - 3 minutes faster than I usually run that route. Cool to see such progress after a solid month of work.

On an unrelated note, I got a flier in the mail yesterday from Central Vermont Runners that listed upcoming races in the area. The timing was perfect because I'm starting to think about the next race for me. Plus, I have to admit that I was psyched to know I'm on their mailing list. Could I be morphing from a guy who runs into an actual runner? Not yet, but getting there.

Reversible

Time: 32:10
Avg HR: 159
Peak HR: 177
Distance:4.02 miles
Start Time: 6:40 AM
Training Effect: 4.8
Temp: warm & muggy
Date: 5/10/07

Ran hard again this morning, but reversed my route. It's very interesting to see your route from the opposite perspective from which you normally run. You get a better understanding of the hills etc. My normal route has a set of three hills, pretty much right at the start -- a big down, a good sized up and a moderate down. The middle portion is a couple of false flats and a small rolling section. Then it flattens out for a while before heading down pretty good, then up with a big turn and a small roller then into a challenging though not steep, but long and bendy-up that peters out into flats with a small roller and an uphill finish in front of the house.

Reverse it and it ends with the big up and the typical uphill finish. It was challenging and I dislike the last big hill, but I gutted it out and finished strong with an 8 minute/mile pace. In bigger news though this was a sweat run -- I was soaked and it felt good to sweat like a fiend. I typically do, but the warmth and humidity of this summer-like day was great, and wearing only shorts and shirt, sweat rolled freely.

Early morning run

Hit the morning run again, yesterday as I wasn't able to sleep much due to all three of my children being up at some point during the night. 28 minutes on the road, HR 170, and a very pleasant run in the early morning dew.

Achievement

So this woman who works in my office....26 years old, she swims, bikes, does yoga, would probably fit in with VT Runner's new friends from the UVM ski team....she told me this afternoon that she achieved a personal record on three Park laps, 1 hour on the nose. So damn me if I didn't have to chase that. I hit the Park hard tonight and did three laps, 18.71 miles, in 1 hour, 5 minutes. I didn't have a PR on three Park laps, a common time trial for NYC cyclists, so I'm taking it, and since I am more than a fair bit older, heftier, and less fit than my associate, I am psyched. I needed to feel like I had achieved something this week, and I am satisfied.

Athletic achievement is not familair to me. That's why I'm doing the Century and I find that the more I achieve physically the more it is motivating. More on this later, I am taking my sore ass to bed.

Distance: 18.71 miles
Time: 1.05.06 hours
Mx Speed: 26.9 mph
Av Speed: 17.2 mph (I am really pumped about this stat, in particular.)
Mx bpm....hit 180 at one point, on the Great Hill. Hmmmmm.

Scenery

One of the guys I run with just stopped by and was almost giddy with the news. He and I are planning to run a 2:15 loop on Friday afternoon, and he just got confirmation that two friends will be joining us. Apparently, they're his girlfriend's friends who are on the UVM cross-country ski team, running the BTV marathon and not bad on the eyes. I'm thinking I'll get my ass kicked on this run (my buddy is 23 and ran a 3:20 Boston marathon in the driving wind/rain this year), but at least I'll have some good scenery to distact me.

I'll keep you posted.

Surprise

7.2 miles
54 minutes
07:30 pace

Went out for 7 yesterday with two colleagues, one a multi-marathoner from Venice. My buddy actually apologized about inviting the Italian wonder because he knew that our pace would have to step up. In the end, I was glad for the challenge. I definitely pushed almost every step, but I never felt really uncomfortable or overmatched. In the end, I had us pegged at a solid 8 minute mile pace and was surprised when he put us at a 7 30. I honestly didn't think I had that in me, but if Gmaps and Timex are accurate, he was right. Nothing like an unexpected, unplanned breakthrough moment. Love that.

So now the next challenge is to push a little more on my next short run tomorrow, and see what I can do on a longer run this weekend. With the marathon coming up fast, I'm starting to think about the next race. I haven't been this into running in a long time -- want to keep it flowing.

Trail run

53 minutes
6 miles and change

I ended up doing about a mile more than I wanted to on this run because I took a wrong turn. No big deal since I was running in some beautiful woods along Lake Champlain, but it made me realize (again) how important the mental aspect of running is to my performance. When I realized that I took a wrong turn, my pace definitely slowed as I tried to figure my way out. I knew that the detour would only add about a mile or two to my total, but not knowing what was around the next corner or where I'd end up tapped my motivation. Once I got back on track, my pace picked up.

I also noticed on this run that it takes me a solid 30 minutes to warm up. I felt slow and sluggish for the first 30 minute of this run, fast and loose for the remaining 23 minutes.

That's all for now. It is gorgeous today, soI'm heading out for a quick 3 - 5 miler with a colleague.

Later boys.

Short & Sharp

Time: 26:58
Avg HR: 158
Peak HR: 178
Distance: 3.3 miles
Start Time: 6:57 AM
Training Effect: 4.4
Temp: mid-40s
Date: 5/8/07

Well, I lowered my 3.3 time again though this run was a little different. I bumped into a neighbor who also runs. He was cooling down and I was just coming out the door. We chatted and walked a bit so I didn't start at my usual spot but a bit further down the road. I added in a little extra piece to cover the distance which was probably more than I actually walked with the neighbor.

This guy is mildly inspiring to me. I'm not sure what his running history is but when we first moved in he used to basically walk around our neighborhood, sometimes alone, sometimes pushing his kids and I always sort of wondered what he was up to. Well, it seems that he was laying the base and now runs pretty regularly and he told me about a good 7.2 mile loop near our 'hood. He's worked from seemingly nothing to that (when time permits) -- it's impressive.

Anyway, I went out short today. I woke up sore for some reason -- perhaps my labor and my runs caught up to me. But then I went out sharp and worked on attacking the hills on the run. It was a good workout and I'll go back to my 4 miler on Thursday and keep working to add the miles.

Built To Spill, "The Plan" kept running through my head today; but just the first line:

"And the plan keeps coming up again . . . "

The next three lines are:

And the plan means nothing stays the same
But the plan won't accomplish anything
if it's not not im-ple-mented

Sort of fitting for running.

Mint Juleps

Time: 33:10
Avg HR: 155
Peak HR: 175
Distance: 4.02 miles
Start Time: 8:39 AM
Training Effect: 4.6
Temp: mid-40s
Date: 5/6/07

Legged out another four on Sunday. It didn't feel that good but the time was there.
I intended on going long(er) on Saturday but multi-projects prevented that. Then the Kentucky Derby and the obligatory Mint Julep happened at 6ish. I was feeling the Julep with every step -- Juleps go down easy, but they extract a price the next day.

Anyway, did the run, then worked my tail off the rest of the day -- finishing a carpentry project with my Father, helping Mrs. Agricola finish a rocking project of her own that have the front beds looking amazing, then mowing the lawn. It was a busy, active, excellent day -- that we capped off with dinner with neighbors and a Martini . . . luckily Monday was an off day!

Ouch

Approximate stats:
20 miles
3 hrs 20 minutes
1.5 Gatorade, 1 Lemonade, 2 Gu

I did the longest run of my life on Saturday morning, and I felt every step of it. Coming off a great 14 miler last weekend, I was somewhat excited for this run, but I now realize that 3 hours of running is very different than 2 hours. I'm slightly nervous about what the 4+ hours on marathon day will do to me. Luckily, I had a buddy run with me from miles 6 - 12. Without the companionship, I wouldn't have stuck it out.

So, what's the big story with the run? Nothing, except it was damn hard. I never really hit my stride, never felt fully comfortable. I'm not sure if that was because I was tired from a big running week (40 miles total) or if I was psyched out knowing that I had 3 hours ahead of me. Ok, the two beers I had the night before also could have contributed, but they were worth it -- how could I not BBQ on such a gorgeous Friday night, and how could I not drink a couple of hefeweizens while I grill?

Whatever the cause of my discomfort, I finished the run with a deeper level of respect for anyone who has completed a marathon. I'm only in the training phase, and I realize completing the race is going to be a damn hard thing to do. I definitely glossed over that fact since almost everyone I run into these days has done at least one. It's to the point that doing a marathon has almost become cliche these days -- just one of those things to do before you turn 30, 40, whatever. But the fact remains that it is hard work.

Trust me, I'm not tooting my own horn here because because I haven't actually done it yet. I just felt it was important to acknowledge and congratulate the marathoners, century riders, and other endurance sports folks around us. For this blog, that means you Agricola. Nice job on that NYC marathon. FreeArtist, you and I get to join the club soon.

Looking forward to being able to say, "I ran a marathon."

(even as I'm secretly dreading the actual event)

The Best Laid Plans

So the plan called for 48 miles in the Park early this morning. Other plans got in the way.

We hosted a long-planned dinner party on Saturday night and we all had a load of fun and afterwards discarded lots of empty bottles. So we didn't roll out of bed today until 10:00am, then Church, then a planned visit with neighbors. By the time I suited up and headed out, Isreal Day had overrun the bottom half of the Park and the riding was dangerous.

As an alternative I focused on climbing - not my favorite thing - with 5x 'round the Great Hill-102 St Trancept loop.

After a tough week away, it was not the auspicious return to the bike that I had anticipated. Mildly digusted with myself, I didn't bother to record the stats.

Perfect day

Got in a great 5 miler that was a combination of wooded trails, bike path and a few roads. It was awesome. The lake was rolling and the air temp was somewhere in the 60's. Pace was probably around 8:30. Not much else to report. Big run tomorrow with two colleagues joining for parts. Should be a hoot.

FreeArtist, how's the biking going?

Oh, and what about getting our act together for this this year?
http://www.rtbrelay.com/index.shtml

Turkey Trot

Time: 33:36
Avg HR: 155
Peak HR: 178
Distance: 4.02 miles
Start Time: 6:54 AM
Training Effect: 4.7
Temp: mid-40s

I went out longer today -- adding in a couple of extra blocks and about 6 minutes onto my run -- I'm now just over 4 miles which is good. It was a beautiful day. A cabby asked me for directions but I didn't know what street he was looking for -- I stopped my watch while I spoke with him. Nothing major to report, no deep thoughts, but I was delayed this AM because there was a huge turkey in our yard. I got a couple of snapshots of her before heading out and that delayed me a bit.

The turkey is cool and we've seen her a couple of times over the past week or so. It's kind of cool to have such a large animal foraging on the property.

Churning

6:40 am
42.02 minutes
I'm calling it 5 miles

12:00 pm
41 minutes
I'm again calling it a 5-er.

As I've been saying in recent posts, these next few weeks are all about getting the miles in. I was feeling a little sore yesterday, so I took the day off. My body felt much better today, which is good because I had 10 miles on my chart.

I ended up splitting the mileage into two five mile runs, and I'm finding that I enjoy getting in a couple of workouts in one day. It makes the run less of a big event and more of a scheduled activity, like a meeting, call or whatever. It's just something I have to get in. The bonus is that I get the nice endorphine boost twice. In terms of training, the guy that I ran with this afternoon says that two short runs might actually be better training than one long. The rationale is that your body works harder at the start of a run and since you're starting twice, you get more out of it in terms of conditioning. I'm not sure I buy it. I'm just glad to have more flexibility.

Happy trails, boys.

May Day

Time: 27:03
Avg HR: 154
Peak HR: 177
Distance: 3.3 miles
Start Time: 6:59 AM
Training Effect: 4.4
Temp: mid-40s

What a nice morning for a run. I wore shorts, and a couple of poly-pro shirts, my hat and some gloves -- I'm a wimp about cold hands on runs. I didn't really need the hat I don't think, but I'd rather have it and not need it . . . I didn't pull it down over my ears and I'm sure I looked a dork, but it served its purpose. I came in near my PR and if I'd hit the button more quickly at the end then I might have equaled it.

Now that I'm solidly beneath 30 minutes for +3 miles I need to stretch out the run more. That's my new goal, just start moving the regular runs out to about 4 miles. It will probably also help me with my pacing which around the 3 mile mark is challenging -- I go out and try and burn it and there's really no need to, it's all about duration. When I trained for New York I could run at 9 minutes/mile and it was just a rhythm that I could hit -- but I usually hit it around 4 - 5 miles. Things got comfortable at that point and I could go for a long time at that pace.

Falmouth Road Race Sign Up
On another note, today starts the registration/lottery for the Falmouth Road Race on August 12. I'm printing out my entry form right now and mailing it in today -- you have until 5/15 to get your form in for consideration.