trail runner
my friend Dave Dehart gave me a call late last week and said my mug was in the latest issue of Trail Runner magazine. turns out, the photo was of Dave & I from the 2003 Kettle Moraine 100 Mile where he finished third overall. i simply paced him from 62M to 81M. honestly, it was pretty cool to be in a nationally distributed running magazine. (i’m on the right with my head down so i don’t trip)
training-wise, i backed off a bit last few weekdays so i’d be ready to roll on the weekend. i still don’t have any firm racing plans but i’ve been able to maintain a solid level of motivation as of late without having a specific goal to shoot for.
6/1 – 5 miles (easy)
6/2 – off
6/3 – 6 miles (easy)
6/4 – 6 miles (spotted two deer wandering about in the brush)
6/5 – 15 miles (ran on the fox river trail averaging 8:30 pace, got rained on for the last hour)
6/6 – 8 miles (found a cellphone on the glacial drumlin trail. the owner picked it up later in the afternoon and gave us $20 for finding it.)
MTD – 40 miles
YTD – 788 miles
Odometer – 30,296 miles
finish strong
looking back, the most miles i had run in May was 206.5 in 2003. i figured i might as well extend my constitutional a bit so i could push past it. since i was a little tired from the fourteen miles the day before, i opted for a “flatter” route along the fox river recreation trail and covered the eleven miles at an easy pace.
looking forward, i’d like to cover two thousand miles this year but am currently eighty miles behind that pace. in terms of a near term goal, the most miles i’ve run in June was 217 back in 2001 – – which may be attainable for the upcoming month. something i’ve still got to work on is consistently getting in the longer runs on the weekends.
objectively, getting past 200 miles for the month isn’t much of a milestone, but it is an indication that i’m finally getting in some decent training. the last time i was over 200 miles for the month was August of 2008 – – which was also the last time that my racing performances were up to par.
MTD – 208 miles (27 runs in 31 days)
YTD – 748 miles
Odometer – 30,256 miles
follow through
as the month is nearing its end, my mileage is right in line for passing two hundred for the month.
5/26 – off
5/27 – 7 miles (listened to Operation: Mindcrime 2)
5/28 – 7 miles (west on the Glacial Drumlin Trail and back)
5/29 – 7 miles (ran to and around the Retzer Nature Center. trail running is good for the soul.)
5/30- 14 miles (ran to Wales and back on the Glacial Drumlin Trail. spotted a smaller turtle and many other cyclists/runners.)
MTD – 197 miles (26 runs in 30 days)
YTD – 737 miles
Odometer – 30,245 miles
the tortoise
since we had a busy weekend planned, my constitutionals got moved to the morning. while it takes me a few miles to warm up, it’s great to have that task crossed off the list for the day. i ran on the glacial drumlin trail on both saturday and sunday. on sunday morning, as i was headed west and spotted a big tortoise that was camping out along the side of the trail. seems like every year around this time i see these guys along the trail. on my way back home, i saw it again but this time it was walking along the paved trail versus hanging out off to the side.
monday evening i opted to run in town and improvised a few variations to a loop i’ve run to extend it a bit. sometimes it gets a bit boring doing the same route over and over, so mixing it up a bit helps. to throw a bit of variance into my tuesday evening run, i loaded a single album (Operation: Mindcrime) on my ipod and turned off the shuffle option. the album is a “concept” album that essentially tells a story in slightly under an hour. i used to listen to it alot (back in the day) but haven’t listened to it beginning-to-end in awhile. even twenty (plus) years later it still sounds good.
MTD – 162 miles (22 runs in 25 days)
YTD – 702 miles
Odometer – 30,210 miles
spring flies
’tis the season for all kinds of annoying bugs. since i’ve been running at dusk as of late, i’ve gotten more than my share of the recommended daily allowance. i’ve started wearing my clear lens oakley’s to at least shield my eyes – – which has helped.
my daily miles as of late have been…
5/17 – 7.25 miles
5/18 – off
5/19 – 7 miles
5/20 – 7 miles
5/21 – 8 miles
all in all, i’m finally putting together a decent stretch of training. for the month to date, i’ve run 18 out of 21 days and averaging just under 7.5 miles for each effort. i’d like to be north of 200 miles for the month, which may be doable with the memorial day weekend falling on the last three days of the month.
MTD – 134 miles
YTD – 674 miles
Odometer – 30,182 miles