The totals from last week:
Big week for Chaka, it seems -- enjoy the gold star, although I'm thinking Aaron is going to want it back! And Nanxin looks poised to join the fight.
Brisk morning temps, but will they last?
"I want you to pray as if everything depends on it, but I want you to prepare yourself as if everything depends on you."
-- Dick LeBeau
Big week for Chaka, it seems -- enjoy the gold star, although I'm thinking Aaron is going to want it back! And Nanxin looks poised to join the fight. Brisk morning temps, but will they last?
I am not in that club yet. Last week was my peak week for the Thunder Road (I should run 70 mi, but just managed to have 60mi), I may run one or two 60+ week and then that’s it. I will return to my normal 40 something after Thunder Road.
Scheduled Races:
Tokyo Marathon (March 2020)
Boston Marathon (April 2020)
Are we there yet?
I ran a 10K today to honor Richard's win at the Stanley Creek Massacre 10K.
Finally seeing some results from all that slogging through this summer.
I ran a 10K today to honor Richard's win at the Stanley Creek Massacre 10K. Finally seeing some results from all that slogging through this summer.
HappyFeet... you should have come out and ran the race with us Saturday... it was fun except for (as always) the running part. Quite a few people from the GCR there though.
So who all is running LungStrong this week? I'm in for the 15k. Lynwood already mentioned he wouldn't make it this year. Any others running it? Seems to be one of the big races for this time of year.
Richard Hefner Past Race Results (Athlinks)
Nice PR Mike!
Yeah, Richard, I hate to miss LungStrong, but I'll get geared up for the 5K. Family calls, and it will be fun to get my daughter to another race. It looks like a fast course I think. Anybody ever run the Big South 5K? I don't remember hearing of it last year.
And, last Thursday, I got to hang out with all those crazy GCR's!
Oh yeah....and tonight on my own organized Monday run I got called a natural sweeper. Had to laugh at that though. I did run easier but still, that's cold....
Mike, congrats on the PR!
Lynwood, if I don't see you tomorrow nite at the Wed nite run, I drove that Big South course last year (I had heard it was "fast" but this was based on their promotional literature). When I drove it, I concluded it was not "fast" (at least for me). From what I remember, the course goes into the surrounding neighborhoods around Blakeney. There were several sharp turns (and I remember I had to stop at points and turn back as I drove off course which is not a good sign if your driving a course with the course map printed out next to you), some of those streets had a higher degree of camber, there were several speed bumps in some sections and it's hillier than advertised. Its close enough where you should give it a drive to see for yourself.
Cliff/Clive, how goes it with you and injuries? Are you mending and building back up to running?
Rob
Little by little. My Grade 2 ankle sprain (which still pisses me off!) is much improved -- so glad that modern science has more to offer than I got back in '83 when I shredded ligaments the first time. I'm transitioning the focus from cycling back to running and slowly ramping it up. Looking forward to a 5k at the end of the month -- first race in nine months.
Cliff/Clive, good to hear your back on track. I knew you hurt your left Achilles. How did you hurt your ankle like that? What race are you planning on at the end of the month as a fyi?
Clive, I'm glad to hear you're getting better.
Thanks Rob, I'll try to drive it. I suspected that area might be a little hilly.
Back in 1983, I twisted my ankle running in grass; tore one ligament completely and a second one partially. Back then, options were limited and it was the end of my budding running career. Since then, I've had the firm rule that I do not run on trails, as I don't want to sprain my ankle again and risk tearing what's left holding it together.
On September 19th, I met a couple new guys from the tri training group for a run at North Meck Park. The "running trail" they mentioned was, I thought, the paved path that bounds the soccer fields and presumably goes around more of the park. Not so -- they meant the mountain biking trail that runs through the woods there. Rocks, roots, and pretty much no place for a size-12 shoe to be placed without stepping at least partially on something wobbly. I was not big on that at all, what with My Rule and all, but I didn't want to be the big sissy-boy who drives all the way out there, shakes hands, then bails at the first sight of an exposed tree root. So twenty-eight years later, I broke my rule.
Not thee minutes into the run, I sprained my ankle pretty severely. Must have been a dirt-colored rock, because it looked like plain ground when I checked back. Like an idiot, I ran the rest of the loop -- 3mi -- and turned it again in that time. Limping after 2mi, and it was swelling very nicely by the end of the run. Doc said two weeks off, then a gentle return. Ironically, I'd just emailed my coach earlier that morning, telling him I thought I was finally past the Achilles issue and had a huge appetite for running.
But it's better now.
Running the Fall Harvest 5k in Huntersville. I've done the 10k the last couple years (it was my first race when I started running again), but I don't think I have the endurance for that distance right now.
Cliff/Clive, that is good to hear that your mending! You mentioned your "coach" -- are you subscribing to an on-line or in-person coach (former HS coach) or?
Lynwood, you were making such good progress! You started to log your workouts daily (vs. aggregating weekly). And you began to build your mileage, incorporate workouts and had a big week last week. But what happened this week (flashbacks fr the air race show in Reno)? Are you back to your old ways? Do we have to schedule an(other) intervention for you (so would it surprise you that a film crew show up at your place of work in a few weeks to film a "documentary")? Jeff Von Vonderen has committed to this. We're assembling the team. We'll have you show up to the group run on Wed night but instead bring you into the Charlotte Running Company store for the actual intervention. And if you agree for help (assuming you don't freak out, walk out or commit physical harm to Richard), we'll then put you in a car where you'll start your treatment (you will be driven out to McAlpine for an easy 6 miler).
That's funny Rob. I will always accept intervention, especially running related. Not carbing up afterwards though. I had to miss this Wednesday to get my daughter to Freedom Park for her cross country meet. By the time I got all that done, and homework, etc, etc, I was too tired to run. Ran easy Thursday with the group though. You should come over to the P-Stone run on Thursday sometime. I think we had 100 runners or close to it. 4.5 miles and easier than the Monday Run.
I did PR with a 22:17 this morning so I'm happy with the progress so far. I'll plan a long run tomorrow and get some decent mileage in this week, but had planned on making this an easy week since I took a big jump to 40 last week. I didn't know if my legs would fall off or something. They didn't.
And...I got to shake hands with the famous Mike Kahn this morning at the award presentation. He finished a little a head of me.
@Lynwood... Congrats on the new 5k PR! Dang... we're gonna have to start keeping an eye out for you. Next stop sub-22!
The LungStrong 15k was great and I had an all-time 15k PR at 1:04:47 -- more than 3 minutes faster than I ran it two years ago! Han Zhang (xanxin) was even faster... he passed me about halfway through the race and finished in 1:03:44.
@Cliff/Clive (or is it Clive/Cliff?)... Your story about the trail injury made me cringe a little. I've always disliked running on trails and swore I never would again after taking a pretty hard tumble on one of the handful of trail runs I've done. But I'm going to visit my son in Hawaii the first week in December and it just happens that the XTERRA Trail Run World Championship Half Marathon will be while I'm there about 10 minutes from his house. So, not wanting to miss the opportunity I decided to run it (you don't have to qualify). I'm hoping I can finish standing up and not break something along the way, but I watched the video on the website and I knew I'd regret it if I didn't give it a shot.
http://www.xterraplanet.com/xduro/championship.html