fall is on its way
this morning’s effort was relatively uneventful. the most significant item was that the temps dipped into the upper 40’s so i dressed a bit more than usual. i headed toward town on the glacial drumlin trail, turned around at bethesda park and doubled back on the glacial drumlin. in all, i covered seven miles in just under an hour.
at the moment, there isn’t much pep in the step. i’m planning on running for about an hour tomorrow then ease back on thursday to 45 minutes and take friday off. saturday i’ll give what i’ve got for 4.97 miles at Al’s Run and sunday i’ll get in a quasi-long run.
weekend report
friday morning it was raining so i opted to go back to bed. if nothing else, a day off would help out with the planned long run on saturday.
saturday morning i met up with my friend dana at the eastern trailhead of the bugline trail.
![""]("http://www.lakefiveestates.com/BugLineMap.gif")
i had run portions of the trail in the past, but never that far to the east. we started heading west at roughly 6:30AM on the crushed gravel trail. i opted to carry a water bottle as we weren’t real sure of where we’d be able to get water along the route. about 2.5 miles into the route, the trail ran right next to an active stone quarry. bordering the quarry was a chain link fence, but it was an awful steep drop off from there.
at about 5 miles we crossed a bridge that was pretty high over some railroad tracks. i’m not a real fan of heights and this bridge shook as we bounded across it. shortly after 6 miles, we were on the eastern edge of sussex and spotted a gas station. we brought along some cash for water and stuff but opted to continue on our way.
once past the gas station, we ran about a mile through the town of sussex until we were on the western edge of town. we turned back onto the crushed gravel at the sussex village park – roughly 7.5 miles – and kept on our way. for the next 5 miles (2.5 miles further then back) it was really desolate out there with little to no development. we got buzzed by an inconsiderate mountain biker who was plugged into his music and by the time we made it back to the village park i needed to pick some stones out of my shoes.
i took an energy gel shortly after resuming running and we took a stop at the gas station we’d noticed on the eastern edge of town. i filled up my water bottle in the "bathroom" that wasn’t much better than an outhouse while dana downed some bottled water. i opted to get a can of coca-cola while dana grabbed another bottle of water. after some guzzling of my own, we headed back out on the trail.
i worked out some of the carbonation after a half mile or so and was telling dana how my high school cross country coach would run us to a local custard stand during two-a-days and buy us as much custard as we wanted. we (of course) had to run all the way back to school…which was his way of teaching us how to run through adverse conditions.
we motored along and crossed over the bouncy bridge marking 15 miles or so. the first 10 miles had been a net climb of roughly 150 feet and we were descending on our way back. unfortunately, it didn’t seem to make much difference in the way i was feeling. regardless, we soldiered on past the quarry and eventually back to menomonee falls. we ended up finishing in slightly over 2:45 for 8:15 pace. our half way split was roughly 8:15 pace so we ended up running the 20 miles at a fairly steady pace.
we shook hands and headed for home. i opted for a quick nap on the couch – post shower – as my wife & kids were out-n-about.
sunday, i didn’t get out to run until around 3PM or so. i dozed off a few times during the (yawn) Packer game and finally got going shortly after the winning FG was kicked. i headed west out on the glacial drumlin trail mostly because the elevation gains are pretty gradual. at four miles i turned around with 34 minutes elapsed. heading back, my legs were moving a little better and i made it back in a little over 32 minutes. overall, 8:20 pace – which wasn’t bad considering the effort the day before. i grabbed my lawnmower for my "cool down" effort and relaxed for the rest of the evening.
monday morning i got out for a very easy 5 miles. i was a bit sluggish so i just eased back and put some time in on my legs.
MTD – 87
YTD – 1505
Odometer – 25,843
my dad was up to 77 miles for the month…through sunday. he’s opting for a 5 day break before his last 20 miler this coming weekend.
i’ve got a 8K (4.97 miles) race on tap for this saturday. it looks like i may be a bachelor for the 2nd half of the weekend so i may go downtown sunday morning for the striders 16 mile group run.
where’s my OFF!
at 5AM, i stood out by the mailbox and waited a few moments for my GPS watch to get it’s bearings before heading out on my morning constitutional. no sooner than i stopped, i was swarmed with thirsty mosquitoes looking for breakfast. thankfully, my watch found the satellites and i was off and running.
temps were in the low 70’s and it was a bit muggy. i headed out on the glacial drumlin trail towards wales. the crickets and other bugs make alot of noise at that time of the morning, especially in the swampy areas along the trail. i made the turn at 3.5 miles in 29:30 and headed for home. my second 3.5 miles took about 27:45 and instead of walking to cool down, i headed straight for the shower.
morning conundrum
what would you do if you woke up an hour before your alarm is set?
would you…
A) roll over and attempt to go back to sleep
B) roll over and attempt to go back to sleep
C) roll over and attempt to go back to sleep
D) get up and run a bit longer than you normally do on a weekday
well, i chose "D" this morning. temps were in the low 70’s and you could see the moisture in the air – seemingly floating under the streetlights. one nice thing as of late is the clear skies that allow for the moon & the stars to be visible. about all i can pick out in the sky is the "dipper" not sure if it’s the big one or the small one.
i headed down commanche then up university. at about 1.75 miles, a truck coming in my direction noticeably veered in my direction. i jumped up onto the grass as the truck passed by. no doubt i was the source of some guffaws when that fellow made it to work.
i made my way up university and made the turn around at 94. heading back was fairly uneventful but i did pick it up through an intersection as a car was approaching. not many cars stop for stop signs at that time of the morning. i improvised an extra mile or so and ended up with ten miles at an average pace of 8:06.
catching up
saturday i ran 10 miles with my dad beginning a little after 10AM. it was a nice sunny day with temps in the low 70’s and we headed out and back on the glacial drumlin trail towards wales. when we got back to my house, we were looking to take my girls on a lap around the block. unfortunately alia got stung by a bee and wasn’t in the mood for running.
sunday morning we got started a little after 8AM. my dad & i ran down at frame park on a 1.65 mile loop, that way i could run with him for the first half and then run more of my pace for the second half. we went through the first 10 miles at about 10:30 pace then i ran the second 10 miles at 8:20 pace. i went through 4 gels over the 3 hours and 8 minutes i was out there.
monday we both took the day off from running.
today i got out at 5AM and ran down the glacial drumlin trail toward waukesha, made the turn at bethesda park and headed back home. i got stopped by a train and had to stand there in the wee hours of the morning getting stung by mosquito after mosquito. when the train finally passed, i continued on my way home and hit the shower. i tallied 7 miles in just over 57 minutes.
MTD – 37
YTD – 1455
Odometer – 25,793
(my dad finished july with 221 miles – 20 more than me. he’s looking good for a fast run at the lakefront marathon.)