It was 27 degrees by my thermometer when I woke this morning and my legs still felt stiff. I considered taking a rest day, but I needed 5 miles to increase my weekly millage. It warmed to 62 when I went for a run at 11:30 am. Sunny and the first mile or two was at a good pace, then my legs tired. I do not think the walk yesterday led to a complete recovery. The clouds started to move in, and the breeze increased. I struggled to finish and completed 5.07 miles and that gave me a weekly total of 32 miles plus 4 for the walk. Rested a while on my deck before a little rain started to fall.

Let's start the May pictures with this flowering tree

Some trees were sprouting little leaves. The thin clouds on the horizon soon darkened and moved overhead.

A nice-looking horse, white with brown patches

I ran straight down this road; this is looking back on my route, that yellow post on the left marked my turnabout point.

Here I am back on the village sidewalks a mile from my home. A lot more trees in the village look green, the woods in the country still remain mostly bare.

Led - Congratulations on completing the half and exceeding the 9mm goal pace, if only by a second (at least by race results, not sure why Garmin gave a 8:57 pace)! Mile 6 was impressive with the 8:20 pace! Great you were able to make up for slower miles. Interesting you met people you knew during the race. I assume 42 degrees was the temperature at the start and it warmed more during the race. Perhaps a long walk back to the car helped flush lactic acids for better recovery. Thanks for the interesting report!

My legs remain sore today, particularly my left calf muscle. I had considered doing a 7 miler, but now I'm contemplating a rest day. It is a difficult choice if to push forward with ambitious plans or would my progress be better with taking a rest day. Experience tells me I will see improved performance with more recovery time and perhaps that might be for the best. If weather conditions cooperate I think I may go outside and do some yardwork.

not sure why Garmin gave a 8:57 pace

Garmin doesn't completely agree with official results, due to GPS inaccuracy and perhaps due to my not sticking to course tangents. For races, I always change the Garmin values to the official results, which on a certified course, should be more accurate.

Another benefit: When you go to PRs here on RA, if you keep the GPS results, you might have a PR for 26.14, a different one for 26.2, and yet another for 26.25.  When you normalize the distances for all, you get one PR, and all your marathons (or pick your distance) show up in a single list.

Altair: thanks for starting May ....... that's a big jump from 20s to 60s in temp. Nothing like pressure to get out the door to get in some weekly goal miles. Struggling to get your miles in when you already feel your legs tired is something that I go through now and then. What works for me is resetting my mindset and incorporating 1 minute walk-breaks every 1-2 miles. It's the 'Galloway' method to get to the finish without feeling like you just did junk miles that doesn't offer much benefit except for next day's tired, sore and fatigue. As you body adapts, you will run much better longer. At least, that's the concept (simply put) and for me, it does work. The photos are starting to really show true spring/summer. Such manicured lawns. Does it get more humid as the temp rises? What kind of tree is the one that is sprouting white leaves?

I got 'er done. The race went really well. Got my goal, and really happy with my pacing.  RR is here.  And I'm posting in the May thread!

 

 

Led:  WOW!! You were a speedy one out there! Good job, virtual HIGH FIVE!!

HM time under 2 hours is always impressive, and all that training was worth it. Did you have a certain runner/pacer that you kept up with? It's amazing how many runners in your AG are as fast as you are. Cheers to them!  Funny how you had a brief chat with other runners while running, haha! That does happen in races close to home. Glad DW and gang got to the race in time to cheer you on mid-race! Do they make signs to keep you running fast?  It's nice to not have a LONG drive home (like from CO)? How did you feel post-race?

LOL, you did notice it was May......probably because you had a race, haha! 

 Led:  WOW!! You were a speedy one out there! Good job, virtual HIGH FIVE!!

HM time under 2 hours is always impressive, and all that training was worth it. Did you have a certain runner/pacer that you kept up with? It's amazing how many runners in your AG are as fast as you are. Cheers to them!  Funny how you had a brief chat with other runners while running, haha! That does happen in races close to home. Glad DW and gang got to the race in time to cheer you on mid-race! Do they make signs to keep you running fast?  It's nice to not have a LONG drive home (like from CO)? How did you feel post-race?

LOL, you did notice it was May......probably because you had a race, haha! 

Hi az - Good to hear back from you.  I had planned to go with the 2:00 pacers, but they were nowhere that I could see as we lined up. I assume they were a ways back, and I could see the 4:00 full pacers, so I lined up near them. That said, I didn't end up going with any pacers. I was pretty sure I crossed the start before the 2:00s, which meant I would have to finish before them. Got passed by the 4s, then re-passed them. Ended up just relying on my watch, which was showing good splits, so I kept with what I was feeling.  DW had no signs, but she has a LOUD cowbell!

As for post-race, does anyone here deal with a bunion? I seem to be developing one on my right big toe. I didn't feel it at all during the race, but boy, afterward I was limping. Next day it was much better after the inflammation subsided, and today it's fine.  Leg muscles are recovering nicely.

Az, no tornadoes near us.  A lot further south and into KS.  The one that hit Andover, KS is on the route we take to the Casino.  In fact we drive past the YMCA that got hit and it's a really nice one.

More storms tonight and into Thur, there's a flood warning but we aren't near anything that floods.  Of course I drive over two low bridges to get to work and one year the rivers were up so high they lapped at the edge of the road.  I hate driving on bridges.

Once I get back from my mom's I want to spend 2 days going up to the fitness center to use the recumbent bike, 3 days either on TM or the rower.  I'll probably need to keep the time short to begin with but want to get to 30 min finally.

Di - Good luck getting ready for your visit and I hope you find the time and energy to use the exercise equipment when you return. Glad you kept safe from the storms and floods! Tornados are frightening! They showed one from Kansas last week on TV and it was scary! About two weeks ago there was a low level (zero on the scale) tornado not too far east of here and there was a warning out just to the west near Buffalo this week during a storm. Locally the only disaster was not storm related, but a storage shed fire where three antique tractors were destroyed! The building was on one of my frequently used routes, so maybe I'll get a photo of the ashes during the coming week, but here is a picture from the internet of the fire:

Led - I also get different distance on my Garmin than the official race distance and change it in my logs. Interesting that sometimes Strada gives slightly different numbers than Garmin, although both are using the same data! I have bone on bone arthritis in he big toe of my left foot. Sometimes the joint can swell a little after a hard run, but not the same as a bunion! I think the hard area on the little toe next to it may be some form of a bunion. Putting a bandage over it before the run seems to help. Good you could pick up the sound of your DW's cowbell during the race!

az - Nice of you to declutter the neighbor's house, I think he will feel better to see it cleared out. You're getting in runs when you can, but I see you still don't like the winds! So you are running on trains now? Just kidding, I know you had a typo! The strong May sun can quickly warm the cold overnight temperatures. My sister sometimes uses the Galloway run/walk and some have good results with that method. I just try to keep running, although I will walk at water stations during a race. Signs of spring are definitely here! Some people use lawn services and have perfect lawns, I can't afford it and don't like the use of chemicals. I have not mowed yet this year, letting it get a little shaggy looking!  In summer we can get wet spells where the tomatoes start to get black rot from all the rain, or dry periods when the grass turns brown! It can be very variable like a box of chocolates. Some trees bloom in spring so the white is flowers not leaves! I think they are hawthorn trees, here's a close up of the blossoms I took during yesterday's run:

Art - I figured you have been busy! Good you still find time for some runs and bike rides!

I getting ready to accompany my GF into Rochester. We might have time for a walk in Highland Park so I'll take my camera. I'll have to report on my own runs later on!