wednesday’s scamper
the early morning featured thunderstorms and lightning so i opted to doze off for a few more minutes and packed a gym bag with gear to run at lunch. the fitness center is closed at the moment, but i was referred by a fellow employee to another locker room on campus.
i headed out and ran east to the lake then north. along the way, a mom was pushing a stroller while her toddler son ran slightly ahead of her, perhaps emulating the other runners they had seen. as i passed, he said to me "i’m being careful" as his mom had just instructed him not to cross the street. seemed like he was having a good time.
too often, the daily constitutional feels more of an obligation than a pleasure…especially when you’re training for a specific event. sometimes, it’s good to be reminded once and awhile.
btw…6 miles at a little under 8:15 pace.
frollicking in the fog
not that it’s real apparent in the dark of 5AM but it was really foggy this morning. temps hovered in the low 60’s with 100% humidity. i ran up and down university avenue for a total of seven miles in about an hour. (i took the day off from running on monday since i was a little sore from the 20M on saturday)
catching up
thursday morning i got out for 7 miles at 8:15 pace. i ended up running down the glacial drumlin trail to bethesda park and back.
friday morning i took the day off from running. dana had been up during the night and i got very little sleep.
saturday morning i met my friend dana down at frame park for a long run. we started shortly after 7AM with overcast skies, low humidity, temps in the 60’s and a nice breeze. we ran a 1.65 mile loop around the park 12 times, which may seem boring. the loop has two bathrooms and water fountains available plus it’s nearly flat which makes it ideal for a very controlled effort.
tracking the laps…
lap #1 – 13:48
lap #2 – 13:15
lap #3 – 13:08
lap #4 – 13:00
lap #5 – 13:05
lap #6 – 13:02
lap #7 – 12:58
lap #8 – 12:50
lap #9 – 12:56
lap #10 – 12:50
lap #11 – 12:42
lap #12 – 12:22
+36 seconds to make 20 miles
honestly, having someone else to run with plus watching the water ski team practicing on the fox river made for an entertaining way to pass the 2:36:38 of running. (7:50 pace) post-run, my right achilles was a bit sore. the effort was a much needed confidence boost to my marathoning prospects this fall. for this cycle, my previous long run was 16 miles recorded almost a month ago. the long run efforts in between the 16 and the 20 had been awful disappointing.
looking forward, i’d like to get in two more 20 mile long runs before tapering down for the marathon. (labor day weekend and either the 14th or 15th of september) in between i’ll work in some 16-18 milers plus an 8K race. hopefully that will be enough to give me a respectable showing at lakefront.
sunday afternoon i got out in between rain storms for another 7 miles at an easy effort. i ran out the glacial trail to bethesda park (again) and then made the turnaround for home. i noticed a little soreness in my legs, which is to be expected.
MTD – 133
YTD – 1350
Odometer – 25,688
running in the rain
i didn’t get out of bed at 4:30AM so i (again) packed a gym bag with the intent to run at lunch. i headed out the door shortly before noon with temps in the low 70’s and a light rain. i headed out on my normal course and nearing the drawbridge i had caught up to another runner. as i drew next to him, i struck up a conversation and learned that he had run over 60 marathons. we chatted for about a mile then i had to make the turn back to campus. overall, i ended up running seven miles at a little slower than eight minute pace.
off the reservation
first off, congrats to my dad who finished 1st in the 1500 for the 55-59 age group at the michigan senior olympics last friday.
also, thanks to double & ryan for suggesting i remove the lacing from the top eyelet of my shoes to ease the strain on my achilles.
now, on to the daily constitutional…
thunderstorms rolled through in the wee hours of the morning so i packed a bag with gear to run during my lunchtime. temps were in the upper 70’s with overcast skies when i bolted out the front gate. i headed on my normal route in a northerly direction, making the turn at north beach (3.5 miles – 27:45 – 7:56 pace). doubling back, a nice southerly breeze kept me reasonably cool so i ramped up the pace a little. The return trip of 3.5 miles took 25:33, which was 7:18 pace. overall, i ran 7 miles in 53:18, which turns out to be an average of 7:37 per mile pace.