Did you remember that this is Flag Day? Seems like it doesn't get much play these days.
I hadn't run with my club much lately for a number of reasons, so it was nice to meet and talk with some people that I hadn't seen in a while. The social part of running is a big motivator. I wanted an easy run today, so did 5 miles at a 9:26 pace, finishing with one other guy while much of the club were going for longer distances. The running conditions here continue to be so ideal that it's almost getting boring.
Taking a favorite route back through the woods along the Clinton River, I was thinking about all the turmoil and hand-wringing in this area with the auto companies failing and general employment issues; this is definitely one of those "interesting times" that the old Chinese curse refers to.
Then it occurred to me that right at that moment I was running along the abandoned embankment of the Michigan Central Railroad from the 1880s, which itself runs next to the abandoned bed of the Clinton-Kalamazoo Canal, dug in the 1850s and still visible. The canal era ended when the railroads took over, and the railroads in turn were largely eliminated by the improved highways and vehicles. All institutions eventually run their course and there's always collateral damage, but somehow we manage to survive and find something to replace them. This too shall pass...
Have a good day.
Doug, runnin' cycling in Rochester, MI
"Think blue, count two, and look for a red shoe"
Since schools are in session here in the Commonwealth for two more weeks, Flag Day is celebrated and there was even a parade at the kiddo's school on Friday. It's a quieter holiday, but still around. Speaking of school, I had the pleasure of dressing up as a triangle and appearing with Mr. CNYrunner in the kiddo's math class. It's a combined 7th/8th grade class and the kids had to work through various proofs. The kiddo got into the assignment with passion and made cardboard triangle costumes to prove a congruent angles problem. Anyway, it was a hoot.
As for running, I have been plugging away even though work travel is constant this month (including two running with Holly days in this coming week!). Today was the first of 4-5 pace tester/faster finish long runs. Today's assignment was 9 miles at 9:00 pace or slower and then 8 miles at 8:00 pace and the last mile at shuffle jog pace to ease it in. First 9 in 1:21 and then 8.4 in 1:07:13---18.4 miles total and the paces were pretty much right on. Rainy and cool, but humid--56º, very happy with this. The paces will get faster as the summer goes on. Coach is getting me back to knowing my paces and focusing on negative splits.
Good day to all
Has there been some mass abandonment of RA that I did not hear about? Really, what is going on here? The daily thread has never been this empty before.
I did my every other day gym workout today along with my elliptical and TM routine. My DW ran a few miles on the TM. Her legs are kind of shot at the moment. This will make four straight days of running for her which has not happened in some time.
Later DW and I head off to the newly established farmer's market in town. At the very least it is some afternoon entertainment and with some luck it will turn out to have better produce than the other places around.
Live like you are dying not like you are afraid to die.
Drunken Irish Soda Bread and Irish Brown Bread this way --> http://allrecipes.com/cook/4379041/
It has been very light here at RA the last few days. I hope it picks up as the racing season up north gets closer and training continues/starts.
I ran a last-minute decision 5K race this morning and it went pretty well. I'm taking dAAve's advice and running a bunch of races this Summer to toughen myself up for racing. Much needed and good advice from dAAve as usual.
Anyway, after a 2 mile warmup at MP, I ran the 5K. It was predictably hot and humid (76° and 85%) with no clouds to hide the sun. The plan was to focus on a number of runners who usually run my times or a little quicker and decided to see how many of them I could keep up with or (better yet) pass. With the weather I had no idea how the race would go.
Mile 1 7:28
Mile 2 7:28
Mile 3 7:20
35 seconds for the last 1/10 mile (5:50 pace? Not likely. Short course?)
22:51 (7:22 average pace, 178 Max HR) 3rd place in my Old Man's AG. 2nd best 5K ever, only off my PR by 19 seconds.
And best of all I passed everyone I set my sights on, including a few I've never beaten, and no one passed me at all during the entire race. I'll take it!
Bill
"Some are the strong, silent type. You can't put your finger on exactly what it is they bring to the table until you run without them and then you realize that their steadiness fills a hole that leaks energy in their absence." - Kristin Armstrong
Doug, I'm glad you announced FLAG DAY! I got up at sunrise to put out the flag.
10,000 GM retirees living here in Youngstown area and everyone was holding their breath for awhile but it now looks like the pensions are safe (some benefits lost however). Y-town took a big hit in 1979 on Black Friday when 20,000 steel jobs disappeared. A auto industry related company here went bankrupt 2-3 years ago & gave out 55 million in bonus's to the company top 10 fat cats. Bankruptcy Judge ruled that they earned their bonus but cut off retirees health care because it was a gift, even though it was negotiated with a legal contract ( seems backward to me ).
16 miles at 10:19 pace w/DW her longest run ever for the second straight week.
Off to a fantastic fruit farm...
Have a Great Sunday!
Courage ! Do one brave thing today...then run like hell.
Marathon Maniac #957
TomS – nice negative splits on your Friday run. I notice that you do that a lot.
Wildchild – good jom on the HM yesterday, even if it wasn’t so sproinky, still sounded like a nice run.
Runningsmarter – nice HM for you, too, even though you were just using it as a training run. I’d love to run with you sometime, but I’m not sure I can keep up with you…
Tammy – too bad about the relay for life. Will they reschedule it?
Breger – nice 5K! Congratulations on the AG placement! And you were saying something about having trouble keeping up with me? You'd leave me in the dust!
Sarge – great job to your DW on her longest run ever!
ETA - CNYrunner - a triangle? Very fun! I hope you got a picture...
No run for me yesterday, life got in the way with a late night before and early morning long drive to the airport with DS. His grandparents picked him up in Salt Lake City and are driving to their Wyoming home with him today. (There are no non-stop flights from here to Cody or Billings.) While I chafed at the extra $200 for the unescorted minor ticket, I feel relieved that they will hold him at the gate until he is personally picked up by myself or DH. The Cincinnati/Covington airport is huge, and you can’t get back to the gates without a boarding pass (or special permission, like this). I’d hate to have to wait out front for him to find his way out of there on his own.
I’ve only called him 3 times….
Normally, 2 weeks out from a marathon, I’d be doing a 16-18 mile LR with some at MP, but with the 50k last week, I’m in new territory. After my last marathon, I bonked at 12 easy-paced miles a week later, so I didn’t want to get too far from home, and Arf told me not to do any speedwork between the 50k and Seattle. I’m not sure if MP miles counts as speedwork, but I didn’t want to push it this soon, so I went with 14 easy-paced miles on the river trail (ave pace 9:47), then added 4 more miles on the TM @ 10:00 pace for a total of 18 miles.
Afterwards I trimmed DD’s hair out on the back deck, followed by both dogs…(different utensils, though)…..
Several weeks ago DH was supposed to take DD to see the Hannah Montana movie, but opted for bowling instead, so this afternoon I will take the Hannah Montana movie detail, as a treat for her end-of-term good grades.
Happy Sunday!
Life is a headlong rush into the unknown. We can hunker down and hope nothing hits us or we can stand tall, lean into the wind and say, "Bring it on, darlin', and don't be stingy with the jalapenos."
WoodsLady, the thought of a bear sighting on a run is not one I want to experience. WRFB, I hope the time you spend on the DL has its intended result of healing you. wild, your half may have been a PW but it was still a good effort and you were out there making the effort. Congratulations. bike, I'm anxious for your tri report. breger, good job on your 2nd best 5K and AG award.
Nice long runs for runningsmarter, CNY, and Sarge (with wife on her longest ever).
This morning, it was in the low 59s and almost calm. I took on some hills that I normall avoid and did 5 miles in about 47:30 for a 9:29 pace. I don't know if I've ever had a "spoinky" run but this one wasn't bad at all.
A good day and good runs for all.
TomS
hi everybody
I read the daily yesterday (didn't take long!) but sometimes I have a really hard time posting. And today... it's way too nice out!! (yes Doug. boring. ;-) ) Nice reflections this morning.
Karin, what a nice run. I owe you a WTG from about a week ago. WTG!!! Did you like being a triangle?
Byll, way to reel them in.
Denise, how did your new wetsuit work out? Yes, that was sweet of him.
Carolyn... I still think your HM was quite an accomplshment. PW is a relative thing. Thanks for your comments re my hilly runs... but my hills are a lot smaller than your hills. They're just significant to me because they're hard on healing hamstrings. I have to be really careful. Paved, though the sidewalks can almost make it a trail run.
will report, then go back outside. Yesterday (since I did 2 'hilly' days & everything was sore, including quads, a new thing) I did 2.25 recovery miles, nice with a light rain, then went to the gym for 40 min. of pool running. Erika, I kept trying to remember that we think "ahhh" when we do that. . Then about 40 minutes of assorted weight machines, etc. just the usual.
Today, 9.5 miles, ..... I wanted 10!!! just for you TomS, but couldn't do it. Well, probably could have but shouldn't have. Didn't. do I get some kind of award for that? Anyway... it was hard. I woke at 3 this morning & couldn't get back to sleep, then got busy with other things & didn't start till 8. I'll blame that. more H&H than I'm used to, but nothing compared to Bill, Tramps or Perch. Or Peter now that I think about it. Where is Peter? Ave. pace 10:13, max 8:42. ahr 166.
My plan called for 10, so at least I was close. Maybe I'll be able to slip back into it next week. I ran with some people toward the end... we were all hydrating at our cars, (so handy being at a park) & they asked me to join them. All are training for fall marathons, but are way ahead of me. (doing one of Pfitz's advanced) They said I can join them if I like & gave me their times... I think they might make me push harder than I should, but it was kind of nice running with someone.
yikes, once I started I couldn't stop. Sorry!
have a great Sunday!
DG,
That sounds good for you to run with that training group. Give them your (accurate) times and they'll help you. As always, just be aware of injuries and back off when/if necessary. I'll be watching and cheering for you.
i'm lovin' it... MM#1949
Nice runs!
I always bow to Breger for his performances in the HHH. Nice 5K dude!
Yesterday I ran two 5K's at the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure. One a 7 am competitive. Managed 23:46 or 7:40 pace which is way off last year but no soreness anywhere so I'm thrilled. Now I can safely ramp up. Then at 9 am I ran the open 5K to stretech the legs and cool down but it was almost 80°F so i just got heated up again. 27:38 (8:55 pace, hot but relaxed)
I ran the second to give extra support to munchkin who, for the first time in 7 years could not make the race due to some back pains. Her cancer treatment seems to have things in check for the past 8 months. Her treatment could yield breakthroughs in cancer treatment as her DH explained to me. That's what the Race for the Cure is all about. They raised $2 million with that Raleigh race (the largest foot race in NC) 22,000 participants!
Today I ran 17 miles of hills in the HHH (77 humid and sunny at finish). 2 with the dogs then 15 at 9:50 pace. Overall 17 miles in 2:38:22 (9:54 pace, AHR 150). Now I feel worn out. 52.7 miles this week...oops.
Perch's Profile "I don't know if running adds years to your life, but it definitely adds life to your years." - Jim Fixx "The secret is to make in your mind possible what was not possible before. The secret is to make easy what was difficult, instead to make difficult what really is easy." - Coach Renato Canova
Only temporary for me. Very busy with work these days trying to get enough done so I can go on vacation next week. I haven't had time to post, let alone read, but the running continues. I'll be heading up to NH later this week to "run" Mt. Washington on Saturday and will stay up there the following week, taking care of some family responsibilities and getting some hiking in. Probably won't be posting until I get back, though.
Hope everyone's doing well!
Be safe. Be kind.
One day at a time
This is my last day of recovering from all my muscle soreness, so I will have more to post tomorrow!
A hard day for DS16 yesterday at the New England track meet in Burlington, Vermont. He was the third runner in the 4x800 relay, and the first two boys had set PRs. He was also on the way to a PR. He passed two boys on the last curve. As they jostled for position, arms were flying and suddenly he lost his baton! Oh, it was the saddest thing. They were in 4th place at that point, which would have been a wonderful finish for a team from Maine. He picked up the baton, but lost a lot of time. They finished 12th overall, out of 28 teams. It was this group's last time to run together, so it was heartbreaking. He also ran the 3200 later, but I don't think his heart was in it. It's hard to be a parent sometimes, huh??
Carolyn
Sarge, I agree that it's just not right when the executives get millions and the retirees lose their pensions. It's not like the executives would be hard up without that bonus, either.
dg, yes, you get an award for stopping at 9.5 miles if that was the right thing to do!
Teresa, so sorry to hear your DS dropped the baton. Reminds me of the olympics. I couldn't stand it when the reporters asked the American team, "So, how did it feel to drop the baton?" @#$%&* - how do you THINK it feels?
I did a nice 3 mile trail run with Tazzie and Ladybug in the state park, avg pace about 13mm. We took breaks at every creek crossing so the dogs could cool off.
I hammered down the trail, passing rocks and trees like they were standing still.
We ran a 5 miler 'Squirrel Run' yesterday. To my shock, my time for the first 2 miles was 18.10 then I slowed down to finish in 47.04, which was a PR! I've done no speed training and I've been hurting since Boston, so I have no idea why. Anyway, it was great fun - 2nd in age group (out of 4). Henrun ran and did ok considering the heat. A couple of great race walkers, did both the 2.5 walk and the 5.0 run.
today henrun ran around 8 and I played with a grandkid - a good w/e
marj
Renee the dog
Got up way too early after having some beer and blue crabs last night. Ran 5 mi (2 w/Renee).
Had house guests. Went to the beach twice. More beer and crabs at lunch. I'm beat. We also moved all my Mom's furniture to my other house so we have a place for it while we decide what to do with it. Move went very well -- my sister, our husbands, and 3 kids + one other cousin. Lots of laughs.
Can the weekend please end though -- all this fun is exhausting!
GOALS 2012: UNDECIDED
GOALS 2011: LIVE!!!