Gito-  "got in a quick 7 yesterday before work."      Those 2 words are never in the same sentence when I write Deb!  quick, and 7. 

 
Love all the festivals that Milwaukee has.  Enjoy!

Chantilly-  Good luck on your marathon.  You've put in lots of miles, so follow your plan!

MaryKay- enjoy SF, as well as the race!

NHRich-  Very nice pace, and nice pic!

I did get 7.5 this morning, but it wasn't quick.  The cooler, drier air certainly made it seem easer than the 4.5 yesterday.   so far this week has been good, even with another day or 2 nixed by lightning.  Still got about 24.

Enjoy the cooler temps.

rmcj001 nice 5 Km even with the time off. Tendon must be better, then.

NH Runner Those are pretty good numbers for your 6 miles.

gito57 Hope you have fun at the 5 Km with your son. (Is he the one with the big shoes?)

justrundan Hope you don't get any more lightning. Your totals are good after so many days off.

Race day ended up fairly warm by noon, 79F, so was glad that I wore a short sleeved shirt.

I'm always panicked about which shoes to wear, because all of them hurt after 2-3 hours anyways.

Ended up with a 6 yr. old pair of NB shoes with an insert and my left foot taped up, to try to keep the neuroma from hitting the pavement too much.

Started out with a 29 minute 5 Km, too fast, so cut back for the next 5, crossed the 10 Km mark at 61 minutes, not feeling bad at all.  Sunny, but I wasn't hot. Crossed the HM mat at 2:16 and continued onwards, but left foot was starting to get painful.

I stopped on a handy bench and removed the tape from my foot and loosened the laces which helped some.

Around 3 hours I had to begin walking breaks.

I had worn a little sign which told my new age group and received some nice compliments from other runners.  (you only look 50! .... You're such an inspiration!  

Finished in 5:04, but was 2/4 in the AG. 

I had a good day and am very happy.

I must have missed the tips for posting photos.  Could someone post them again?

Did a 6.2 mile training run Saturday morning with DW alongside on her bike.  Still warm and more humid than we're used to here in SoCal.

DD and I registered for the San Diego HM in March  This will be my second time (her first) running this event.

This is one of the photos I took on my bike ride a few days before the race, it shows part of the HM course with some of the 300 year old oak trees the race was named after. Thanks Mary Kay for telling me how to post photos!

 

DH and I returned last night from Philly.  My last run was last Mon. on the movil maze, 7.3 miles.  Tues:  Rest day, had physical and blood drawn.: all good    Wed: Rest day: exhausted from early flight.  Thursday:  we played tourist all day in the heat and humidity.  Even had a fortunate private tour of the Powell house where the VIPs of the early times when the U.S. was established spent many hours socializing, dancing, etc. (e.g. Washington, etc.).  DH had a comprehensive review for 2.5 days; very intense, non-stop from 7am-5:30pm!!  Poor guy, he was totally wasted by the time he got back to the hotel.  This was a rare trip where I just went along for the ride.  Been to Philly before but always a conference.  Anyway, I touched base with one of the organizers of a running club to join them for a 'fun run' Thurs. evening. The short run was to the expo for the first PHILLY 10k event to be held on Saturday.  I had the best conversation with another dirt trail runner!!  Ran back to hotel before it got too dark.  Finished about 6 miles.

Got up Friday, ran just over a mile to get to the 'river trail' where 'everyone runs, walks, and bikes.'  I was totally drenched by then!! BIG red flag!! The HUMIDITY and heat were unbelievable!! It put northern MN to shame!!  Wished I brought my 2 bottle waist hydration pack; only had my hand-held one but smart to have 2 packets of electrolytes.  Took walk break at mile 2 and mile 4 but I was losing energy and feeling crappy, and difficulty breathing in the humidity.   Found a convenience store and bought/gulped down cold chocolate milk.  After 6 miles, walk breaks after each mile.  There is the delicate balance of under/over hydrating too so I was being cautious of my body temp.  Another female runner stopped at one of the water fountains where I was refilling my water bottle, "This humidity is ridiculous, my pace is off by 2 minutes, I can't breath and I live here!!" she says. I didn't feel so bad after that, LOL!!  After 10 miles, I had to lay down on a bench for about 2 minutes!!  OMG!! The last 2 miles were like running through deep sand as I made my way through traffic on the way back to the hotel, thankful for the traffic lights this time, LOL!!  Finished 12 miles!!  It took the rest of the day to recover!!  This was the first time EVER that I had some beginnings of muscle cramps when I tried to stretch!! That's scary!!

Saturday, the HEAT AND HUMIDITY was WORST!!  I didn't make it to the Philly 10k to volunteer at 5am .  Took another city walk, I was drenched, should have brought a towel!!  Took refuge in the A/C stores and shade.  The walk loosen my muscles. Even 'ran' up the 'Rocky steps' at the Museum of Art. CRAZY!!   Worked out (weights, elliptical) in the hotel facility when I returned.  Can you believe I ran on the dreadmill!?!  4.5 'recovery' miles of torture AGAIN, haha!!  Rest day Sun: DH still had to finish, 7am-12:30pm!!  I packed our stuff and waited, stretching as much as I can.  We left Philly about 3 pm.

Monday, 9/8... 8 mile mtn bike railtrail ride.   I'm going back and forth between runs and bike rides for now, trying to slowly get my legs back into running shape.   I'm pushing just enough to get a good aerobic workout during these rides, so far, so good....

Chantilly... you set a blistering pace early in your marathon and held on nicely when your left foot started to bother.   Congratulations on a fine race, you ran really well!     Ol' "What's Her Name" from Baywatch would kill to be able to run that well...

WDWrich... nice run!

az... you've run marathons already, so you know there's no substitute for miles in the bank.   As an experienced runner, you also know how to get through 26.2 miles, but I doubt you'd enjoy it much.   My vote's for running the 26K if you can get in, there's a distance you'd be ready for.     Too bad about the weather in Philly, but attitude's everything and yours let you make the most of it, good for you!

Ok,  just to make sure message got through...

Had last two weeks off work and kind of through me off a bit.  So, this past week there were 3 races that I wanted to do, you know about the 5K on 9/1 - this was just the warm up (and it was warm for this race).  Race #2 was Friday, Palo Alto Moonlight Run 10K.  Race #3 was Sunday, Lake Merced Half Marathon.  I've done a couple of races in a week and even a couple of races in a weekend, but haven't attempted 3 in 1 week before - so a new experience.  I've done back to back 10Ks last year and it went pretty well.  2 years ago, did a 5m race midweek followed by a 1/2 on the weekend that didn't go so well.  So, to say I had any idea how this experiment might go - well it just wouldn't be true.

On Thursday I finally got a practice run in and it went so-so.  So, I didn't have a lot of confidence for Friday's 10K.  I spent Friday trying to relax and keep the nervous energy under control.  To understand a bit, this is the 30th year for the Moonlight Run and DW and I have done everyone.  I have never run this race to my ability, not sure why - just things seem to go bad.  In '87 might have been in best shape, but sprained ankle 3 weeks before spending 2 weeks on crutches.  2 years ago this was my target race and got stung by a bee.  Last year let the weather affect me.  This year tried to block all that history and just run.  Weather was good, around 65F at the start and I lined up about 2 rows from the front.  Figured it would be best to get out front and avoid most of the crowd.  When the gun went off I moved out at probably a 6-6.5 mpm pace and maintained it for 1/2 mile before I eased up on the gas.  I don't run with a light and try to let my eyes adjust at night.  1/2 the people have headlamps and that actually interferes with the process.  We wind our way off the roads onto the bay trails and then parallel highway 101 until mile 2.  At that point we make a left turn heading directly to the bay.  DS1 who started with DW catches up to me shortly after the turn.  We running side by side mostly by ourselves.   We get passed by a couple of runners and then somewhere between 4.5 and 5 miles we get passed by another runner.  Sensing that we're slowing a little I go with the guy and DS1 doesn't.  I spend the rest of the race trying to catch this guy (unsuccessfully).  Every time I speed up a bit, he seems to sense it and go a little faster.  Just before we hit the turn around and the 5K racers join in a woman passes me and now I'm chasing two people.  When the woman gets close to the guy he accelerates more.  As we make the final turn I know I'm not going to catch either and feel a woman on my shoulder.  I start my final sprint and she doesn't or can't go with me and I put some distance between us, I hit the tape in 43:52!  This is an over 50 PR for me and official time of 43:49.  DS1 comes in about 30 seconds after and dumps water over himself.  We grab water to drink and the head out to cheer in DW.  DW finishes about 10 minutes later.  We check the results, DW is 3rd in her AG and I got 1st in mine!  Satisfied, we head out for a late dinner.

We were thinking we might skip the Lake Merced 1/2, but turned out DW at already entered it and forgotten.  This race is run by the Dolphin South End running club.  It is a small race (about 100 runners for the 1/2 and 80 for the 4.5m race) that circles Lake Merced 3 times.  For us old guys this is a very skilled set of runners, 2 years ago I was extremely humbled by the running a 1:48 half and finishing 12th (winning time for 50-59 was 1:21!).  This is not the easiest course and the runners are very fast.  I know I'm only running against myself in this one.  I don't know exactly how my legs will feel, they're not sore yet - but very tired.  They say go and I'm near the back, but smartly move forward.  Watch is visible for this race, so I have a good idea how fast or slow I'm going.  Mile 1 passes around 7:30 and mile 2 around 7:15.  At this point, I'm going slow down dude and ease up a bit.  A young woman I passed earlier catches up with me and couple of other guys.  I'm asking the two guys questions about what pace they trying to do.  They say 7:30 and then in the same breath, we're going a little fast.  Mile 3 clicks in at 7:37 and the 2 guys are now a bit ahead of us.  Turns out the woman is a Stanford physics student and this is her 2nd or 3rd half.  We're talking and I don't even notice when we started the 2nd lap.  Around mile 7 I'm sensing we're slowing a bit and pick up the pace.  She's unable to keep up and I'm pretty much by myself 'til the end.  As I hit the last lap I'm working on keeping pace up.  I'm now calculating how fast I need to go to get under 1:40 (my stretch goal). My calculations at this point are I'm going to be close.  Between mile 11 and 12 I get passed and just try to keep pace.  I'm regretting my decision to forgo the Gu I brought with me, knowing it's too late now.  Take the final turn and try to sprint across the parking lot to the finish.  The timing on this race is old school as one person calls out the number, as I'm crossing I hear him say Number 114 - 1:39:59.  I click my watch as I cross the line and it says 1:39:55!  This is my 2nd best time for a 1/2.  I start gulping down water and some food and wait for DW.  After DW finishes (just over 2 hours) we head to Chinatown to pick up some dim sum and then on to Hawk Hill to view the hawks on their migration path.

Don't know if I will ever repeat a week like this, but I'm a happy camper right now...

Ray - Great job on the races.  I don't think I'd ever attempt 3 races in a one-week period.  That's quite an accomplishment, especially considering the excellent times!

AZ - I know your spirit is saying to go for the FM, but if it were me, I'd go with the 26k.  You're an experienced runner, and you know that pushing through the FM when not fully prepared (physically or mentally) may ultimately have negative consequences.

Chantilly - Great finish in the race.  2/4 in your AG is wonderful!

NH - Mixing biking and running is a good way to train back up.  That's what I did last year when I injured my Achilles and it really helped get me back on track.

Deb - How did the 5k with DS1 go?

Dan - Amazing how cooler/drier conditions make a workout feel so much better.

Ran 3 miles early this morning before the sun was up with our black lab, and added some sprints and stair repeats for good measure.  May do some trail running this afternoon while DW does her power walk on local trails.  Still need some help on posting photos...