weekend warrior
it’s funny how i still opt to set the alarm for 6AM on saturday morning to go for a run. admittedly, if i wasn’t meeting Jeff & Dana for a long(er) run i would have slept later. that said, we met up in the next town west of my house (Wales) and headed west along the glacial drumlin towards Dousman. as we rolled into downtown Dousman, we were a bit surprised to see that it was overrun with bikers – – the spandex-clad pedal-pushing variety. continuing on our way, we decided to make a 180 and head back to our cars after a little past six miles.
while the pace was pretty relaxed, i was starting to “feel it” past ten miles as (quite honestly) my fitness level isn’t where it should be. regardless, we got back to our cars then improvised a little more distance until we had covered 13.5 miles. without question, a long run with good friends makes time pass much more quickly. that said, before committing for another junket with these guys, i really need to roll myself into better shape.
i wasn’t quite as eager to be an early riser on sunday morning as i had spent saturday afternoon working in the yard. by the late afternoon i got up the motivation to gear up and head out for a constitutional. i opted for another jaunt on the glacial drumlin, this time headed east towards Waukesha. conditions-wise (sunny & sixty degrees) i couldn’t ask for much better as i rolled another seven miles then cooled down by mowing the lawn.
MTD – 104.75 miles
YTD – 644.75 miles
Odometer – 30,152 miles
technology overload
ok – – gotta admit i dig gadgets. i recently ponied up for a new smartphone (HTC Incredible) and have been digging for some running apps to run on it.
so this morning i see an article on a blog i follow titled “New Droid Commercials Showcase Two Awesome Apps [VIDEO]” so i check out the commercials – – one of which is a running related app.
sounds neat, eh? so i download the runstar app and gear up for an easy evening run. for the sake of comparison, i brought along my Garmin 301 GPS watch to compare how well the smartphone/app calculates distance. i also grabbed my ipod shuffle and for good measure –my Oakley shades. yep, i had three electronic devices strapped to my body for a seven mile run – – a new personal record.
the run itself was rather uneventful. i ran west out the glacial drumlin and said hello to bicyclists as they rolled by. as i rolled seven miles on my GPS watch, i pressed the stop button on it and the runstar app which was running on my smartphone. the runstar app cited that i had covered 8.6 miles to the 7 miles i actually ran. awesome app? nah – – epic fail. nice presentation but falls way short on execution.
regardless, i must have spring fever as i’ve gotten much more habitual with my running this month. so far, i’ve run on 12 of the 14 days and have mustered a tad over 84 miles for the month. again, no firm racing plans at the moment but i would like to pile on the miles this summer to prep for some longer races this fall.
MTD -84.25 miles
YTD – 624.25 miles
Odometer – 30,132 miles
dodge goose
while the title of this post doesn’t refer to the latest playground game for elementary schoolers, it does refer to an encounter i had with two geese about eight miles into my saturday morning run. my route was out and back on the fox river trail in the greater green bay area. as i made my way along the paved trail, an open field was being patrolled by two canadian geese. since they were at least 50 feet away from me, i didn’t pay much attention to them as i approached. i must have been too close for their comfort zone as they began to race towards me hissing and flapping their wings. thankfully, i was able to sprint clear of them without incident. this time of the year those birds are awful aggressive.
catching up on my progress during the month of may…
5/5 – 6 miles
5/6 – 7 miles
5/7 – off
5/8 – 10 miles
5/9 – 7 miles
no firm racing plans as of yet, but am looking at a 4 miler over memorial day weekend if we’re visiting my in-laws.
MTD – 59 miles
YTD – 599 miles
Odometer – 30,107 miles
night vision
as of the past few weeks, i’ve been doing just about all of my weekday running in the evening starting just as the kids go to bed. honestly, in some ways it’s easier than getting up at 4:30AM but i prefer to have the miles in the bank before heading to work.
april went by way too quickly and i only mustered 126 miles in 19 days of running. my longest run was 10 miles and i didn’t have the chance to race.
onwards to may. during the first four days of the month i’ve done 7, 7, 8 & 7 miles respectively. at the moment i don’t have any racing plans but really should pick something out so i’ve got a goal to shoot for.
MTD – 29 miles
YTD – 569 miles
Odometer – 30,077 miles
thirty thousand
…miles that is. after covering six miles on thursday evening, i needed only 6.25 miles to roll 30,000 miles on my odometer. once our kids were tucked in bed, i geared up and headed out with temps in the lower forties. my route took me out and back on the glacial drumlin trail. honestly, it was a rather quiet and otherwise unspectacular effort. no hoopla. easy pace. left, right, repeat…
MTD – 78 miles
YTD – 492 miles
Odometer – 30,000 miles