Monday morning rode the bike 8 miles to the bike shop for some maintenance work. Should be ready Wednesday.

Rest day Tuesday. Not doing anything in the morning felt strange. It felt like I was missing something. Hoping a few days rest will help with the knee.

Led - Even though you didn't hit your goal, you're still getting the miles in. Running in the fog doesn't happen often but I enjoy it when it does appear. It feels so peaceful and relaxing.

AZ - Nice to hear from you. It's been a while. It's tough losing someone but when its multiple people in close succession it really hurts. Good that you are keeping in touch with your family members. The trip to MN should be interesting. Think of a different way and the new things you can see.

Rich - Looks like you might be getting some wet weather depending on how the storm tracks. I'm hoping the rest helps with the knee.

Tuesday, 8/25... took yesterday off and rode the mtn bike 10 miles on the trail this morning.   Same old routine, trying to recover from the last run so I can do the next one.   I've got a little over week left to train for the half and no closer to committing than I was a week ago, but who cares...Lol  Anyway, I'm hoping for another quality workout tomorrow, trying to get as many as I can in the time that's left...

 

Az!!... I thought you'd written us off as a lost cause! Lol   Nice to see a post from you, but holy moly the virus has been brutal to your family!    Good for you to be maintaining a decent level of fitness, especially now with so much on your plate!   Good luck with the stuff you have no control over, keep your chin up and remember, we're still thinking of you here.  Hopefully our lives will return to normal at some point and this little group will have a reunion.   In the meantime, hang in there and remember, friends are like stars, you don't always see them, but you know they're always there...

 

Hey NH!!  I miss your wit and humor! It'll take more than a stupid virus to write my running buddies off, LOL!!

So glad you are staying with the bike rides as well as the runs. Good luck on the half. We have to be realistic too so I totally understand the "who cares".... haha! Races are just not the same anymore. I've deferred mine to next year. I find myself not as motivated in my training anyway so I'm just taking it easy and run when I feel like it.

Being a mom and a daughter and sister, I worry about my family but I also know that I have to take of myself to take care of others when the need arises. It keeps me 'sane' and keeps things in perspective. The mt trails offer refuge and solitude, good cries and peace and comfort. I'm good as long as these places exist. I look forward to a reunion, yes!! Thank you...... very much Rich for the words of wisdom. I bought a card with that saying and sent it to a friend who needed to know the world is a better place because of her presence.

I absolutely appreciate each of you.

You take care.

A 4 miler early this morning on a hilly trail near my brother's home.

No rush. Just a run to nourish the soul and revive the spirit.

Each of you take care, stay cool and safe. Will chime in again when I can.

Hello to Altair and Ray.

I''m like 10 days behind in my comments, so here goes:

Rich - You seem to do hard training runs and then need to recover with an easy run or mtn. bike for recovery. You are really pushing the training so I guess it is wise to have some easy days. The other thing that struck me was how close are your warm up/ cool down paces (about 9:45) and your tempo pace (about 9:11). The Tempo pace is just 35 seconds faster. Anyway, those are great speeds, the questions are how close to that pace would you be on a 13.1 mile half and if you will decide to do it. Running out of steam on the 9.5 miler must make you consider if you are ready for the half, 3.6 miles longer. This early in my training I don't think I need to have a cut back week, but usually I feel behind and then overdo the quick ramping up of millage. I think at some point I will schedule some recovery weeks. The hill was a good workout for my short run, doing hills will help with strength and cardio and at some point I need to do more of them. I can see the dog owners getting offended by the barking squirrel remark! Better watch that smart mouth buddy, their other dog who was resting at home is a rottweiler! He'll take a chunk out of those running shorts!

Art- I don't place any leaves in my garbage, I usually put uncomposted leaves and grass clippings on top of my garden as a moisture retaining mulch, which I would think be even more important for you. In the spring I just turn everything into the ground. I don't know much about companion planting, just try to fit plants in. My cukes never produced much, the zucchini is just about done, but the yellow squash may still produce more. The squash bugs really took a toll on all those plants. Last week I cleared out dead plants and leaves and squished maybe 20 of those bugs. I put more soil around the roots. Maybe that will help lessen the infestation. Good news is one of my tomatoes looks red and ripe and I'll pick it soon! BLT sandwiches, yum! The variety is Brandywine, a sweet, tasty and juicy heirloom. My kale also looks good and I ate some in a stir fry last week. OK, this is not a garden group, back to the main topic! Some nice runs you did, but it seems you do more cycling right now. Will you run more often as the weather cools? Glad you got a little rain. Watch out for those nasty horns, glad we don't have then here, I'm sure I'd get them in my feet. I would change or repair a tire if I was a long way from home, but if just a mile or so away I would most likely walk it back. Perhaps wearing some sort of elastic band would give some stability to your sore knee. I do have a sweet tooth and find it hard to stop eating cookies, just as well I don't buy them too often!

Led - Nice to see you posting again! Great that you got some cool foggy morning to run in, a nice change from the summer heat. The bat in your home is scary. Make sure they are not resting inside your walls or attic. They fly around over my yard at dusk, I hope they eat the mosquitoes!

az - My condolences for your family members who died from the COVID virus, I am lucky no one I know has gotten it. Also sad the breakup of your son's marriage, but looks like he is working it out alright. More concerning is your Father in law, too bad he will not move closer so you could help him more. At least you have running and so many other activities to enjoy! I don't have much time to declutter, but I do read all the time, mostly science fiction. Latest read is "Ivory" by Mike Resnick. Based on the true story of the Kilimanjaro Elephant and his gigantic tusks which reside now in the British Museum of Natural History. The novel covers from 1898 when the tusks were sold and continues to trace the whereabouts of the tusks to like 10 thousand years into the future on distant planets where the last member of the Maasi tribe seeks to recover the tusks and free the spirits of his ancestors. It took me 3 days to read the 374 pages of the novel, the more I like something the faster I read it. I don't eat any meat myself, mostly vegetables, but do have seafood, eggs and dairy. I am considering getting a banjo, but I don't know if I have enough spare time right now to learn to play it, ditto on learning another language. Anyway, we all missed your stories and reports, hope you will report in more often now!

Well, tired of writing now, I'll report on how the rest of my week's runs went later on!

Had a lovely, cool (61F) morning, and took the dog 2 miles and myself 10 on the MoPac.  Got me back over 40 for the week.  Local cross country teams were training, so the trail was a bit crowded.  It wasn't a problem. Lots of friendly people on the trail. There's always someone who tells me what a beautiful dog I have.

az -  I only taught in NM for a few weeks in the summer, but I did teach in southern Colorado (Alamosa area) for 14 years. Made the career change after that and moved to NE.

Rich - Sounds like your half training is going fine.  Tell your legs to stop their whining.  A bit of taper before the race and they'll be fine.

Altair - Quite a premise in that book, "Ivory". Apparently it's a real page turner.  I'll keep an eye out for it, if I get caught up on my other reading.

Last day of the month! So time to catch up with my posting before we start a new thread for September!

Last week my goal was to run 20 miles. So figuring I could do 5 runs that would average 4 miles each I started with a bit over 4 miles last Monday, sunny and 84 degrees. I had my car parked in the grass at the start of the road and it was about a 175 foot climb to the 2 mile turnaround point and then enjoy the decline on the way back. I get a call from the sheriff who says my car was reported by people driving by and he was checking to see if I was alright. I told him I was running and over a mile away. I asked if where I parked was illegal and he said.it wasn't but he was attaching a orange tag to my door handle to show he had checked it out. He says most people tie a plastic shopping bag around the door handle to show they will be back for the car.

At work I was mandated to work an extra shift through the night, but a coworker volunteered to split the shift. I got out early at 9 pm, managed to sleep for like 2 hours and then worked from 2 am to 7 am. During the night we finally got some needed rain accompanied by some hail, nearby areas got hit with 3" hailstones, but nothing like that here. After work I went for a short 2 mile run before I rested. Hazy sun ,partly cloudy and a cool 68 degrees as I tied the bag to my door handle. Now my pace has been very slow as I get back into shape typically around 13:30 to 14 minute miles. Maybe because it was cooler I found I did my first mile at a 11:40 pace! Seeing some improvement!

Wednesday I returned the favor by working part of the night shift from 12:30 am to 4:15 am. Got some sleep and I have the rest of the day off. I am thinking I am behind in my miles and there are scattered thunderstorms predicted for all day Thursday. So I went for a long run of 8.3 miles! The course increased in height by about 150 feet before the turnaround, a gentle slope. It was overcast and 75 degrees. I took it easy and finished with no problem, although the temptation was there to walk the last mile. My legs felt warm for a while after. I have noticed that the soreness and stiffness seems to occur after rest days. I had not planned to run over 6 milers for a while with the idea that the long run should not be more than 25% of the weekly distance, but circumstances made it that I had to go longer to meet my goal.

Alright, I am ahead of schedule and although it is cloudy on Thursday I don't see storm clouds. So I do a short 1.6 miles. It was 84 degrees but very windy so I did not feel too hot. Heavy rains and thunderstorms came late in the afternoon.

Friday, it was partly cloudy and a humid 72 degrees. I figure I have another 4 miles to go to reach 20. The course I ran increases 170 feet from the low to high points, but as usual I like to run the uphill as the first half. Saw a man cutting up a big fallen limb in his yard from the storms. So this gave a 20.3 total miles for the week, goal met!

This week my plan is to sign up for the virtual 5k race and run it like on Thursday or Friday. So I will be tapering back on the miles to be rested. Today I may do a short run with some at a faster pace to sharpen up. The Oak Tree 5k does have a hundred foot hill starting just at the end of mile one to like the 1 1/3 mile point. As I said my speed is rather slow, but I will see if I can do the race at a 12 minute mile pace or better.

Rich - The easy trail run was good, too bad you strained the back with the yard work, at least you got in the bike ride after. So you plan to run the half next Sunday?

Led - Glad you are back to he 40 mile weeks, although as Rich says sometimes a low millage week may refresh the training. Hope you kept social distancing on the crowded trail.

Monday, 8/31... 7 mile railtrail tryke ride today.  It shocked me to see it's already been a month since I've ridden the tryke, but my arms held up pretty well.   Not one to miss an opportunity to razz someone, when I passed the couple with the little dog that barks so much, I told the woman her dog sounded like a squeak toy today.  She didn't throw anything at me, so I guess she's ok with having a squeak toy for a pet...Lol   Legs weren't up for running again this morning, makes me think I might have piled on a little too much.  Or old age is catching up with me...Lol

Altair5... what did you think of your pace for those 3 miles?   I think your consistent build-up and running at an easy pace has made you quicker, do you agree?   At any rate, congrats. on running well under your goal of a 12 minute pace, you're running really well lately!   My back's waking me up at night if I move just right, so it surprised me I was able to row the tryke with no discomfort today, but if the half had been scheduled for today, I would have passed.  It looks like I'm probably going to continue to train and run a different race later in the year.  The race is a week from today, so I could still change my mind, but right now, it's not looking good.  You made mention of me running out of gas at 9.5 miles the other day, not a good omen...Lol