Dr. Kakedasu

OHR: W7(b)D3 - W8D2

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremy) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 14:40:00 +0000

My chronicles have been slacking lately. I've been adjusting to a new work schedule, daylight savings time, weather, all kinds of junk. As it stands now, I'll have to get up at 4:00 or 4:30 AM if I want to run on any given Monday, Thursday or Friday. But I can sleep until almost 6:00 AM if I want to run on a Tuesday or a Wednesday. I plan on sticking with Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday runs and adjusting my start times accordingly.

My W7D3 run was pretty rough. I went after work and roughly two hours after a hefty lunch. It was also unseasonably warm that day. I took several walk breaks and vowed never to run on a full tummy again.

My W8D1 run was also pretty tough. I went in the afternoon while the kids napped and roughly two hours after a hefty lunch. I took several walk breaks and vowed never to run on a full tummy again again.

My W8D2 run was very nice. I rolled out of bed at 5:30, got dressed and hit the door. It was right around fifty degrees outside which I have recently decided is an optimal running temperature. My hip has been bothering me since last night. I'll probably hold off on my W8D3 long run until it lets up.

My new grand total is:

Distance: 142.3 miles
Time: 30:29:10
Avg. Pace: 12:51/mile

OHR: W7(b)D2

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremy) — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 13:33:00 +0000

I had a pretty awesome run this morning. Nothing exciting happened. I was pretty zoned out the whole time. But it was awesome nonetheless. It was right around 50 degrees again when I left this morning but it wasn't as windy as it was Wednesday morning. I ran for time instead of distance today. I made it 3.46 miles in 39:00 (11:16 m/m). I'm thrilled that (weather permitting) I'm FINALLY going to move ahead to week 8 of the program. Repeating week 7 for the last two weeks has been very frustrating. I've been thinking about what I want to do after I finish the OHR program. I'm leaning toward just repeating something similar to the last week of the program through the cold months and starting the Hal Higdon's Spring Training: Novice program once it starts to warm up a little (you know, in the SPRING). We shall see.

My new grand total is:

Distance: 127.9 miles
Time: 27:46:38
Avg. Pace: 13:02/mile

Re-Do-Over - OHR: W7(b)D1

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremy) — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 13:11:00 +0000

I'm just going to re-repeat Week 7 of the OHR program this week. I only ran one day last week (Wednesday) mostly due to the torrential rains we've been having. I *could* have run either day this past weekend, but I went in to work for a bit on Saturday morning and I didn't get up early enough to sneak out before the kids woke up on Sunday morning. I finally got back out there yesterday morning. It was about 50 degrees when I stepped out of the house. That has been the coldest run for me so far. I was shivering pretty good even toward the end of my warm-up, but once I started running, I warmed up pretty quick. It was still dark when I got back to the house. I'm looking forward to daylight savings time and watching the sun come up as a large portion of my loop is eastbound. I ran my regular three mile loop in 35:02 (11:40 m/m). My new grand total (including the half-assed runs I didn't bother to chronicle over the last week and a half or so) is:

Distance: 124.5 miles
Time: 27:07:38
Avg. Pace: 13:05/mile

Do-Over

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremy) — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 16:53:00 +0000

I'm just going to repeat Week 7 of the OHR program this week. Last week, I did my first run a day late (Wednesday), managed to oversleep the morning I had planned to do my second run (Friday) and then only did one short run this weekend (Saturday). I *did* haul ass on my weekend run though. My brother-in-law was in town visiting and, being an avid runner himself, suggested that we get up Saturday morning and run my route. One problem: he's considerably faster than me. We ran three miles (somewhere between our two paces) in 32:16 (10:45 m/m). On top of the faster pace, we were talking back and forth the whole time. By the end of our run I was huffing and puffing pretty good. I did, however, feel better when I saw that this run was only 16 seconds off of my three-mile-split from my first 5K a few weeks ago. I'm looking forward to getting back on track this week.

My new grand total is:

Distance: 118.5 miles
Time: 25:58:05
Avg. Pace: 13:09/mile

OHR: W7D1

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremy) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:28:00 +0000

Man, that "Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess" game for Wii ROCKS. So much so that I stayed up until around 2:00 AM playing it Monday night. Needless to say, I skipped my Tuesday morning run and did it this morning instead. As further punishment, I tried to keep my pace a little faster than usual. I ended up doing my three mile loop in 33:52 (11:17 m/m) so I was a minute short of running for thirty minutes as outlined in the program. I'm debating whether or not I should run W7D2 tomorrow as scheduled or push this whole week back a day and get back on track next week. I'll ask the Zelda...

My new grand total is:

Distance: 115.5 miles
Time: 25:25:49
Avg. Pace: 13:13/mile

OHR: W6D3

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremy) — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 19:08:00 +0000

I had yet another pretty uneventful run this past Saturday. The weather was pretty 'bleh'. It has started to warm up again. I ran my first two miles too fast and I had to take two short walk breaks during my third and fourth miles. I still managed to come in faster than the usual pace of my shorter runs. This had me questioning the actual length of the 'one mile branch' that I added to my regular loop. I've checked and double checked it using several online mapping services and it seems to be in order. I guess I'll just have to make a very conscious effort to slow down during my longer runs. I ended up going four miles in 46:12 (11:33 m/m). Again, significantly off pace with my usual shorter runs but pretty close to (within twenty seconds of) my pace for the same distance last weekend. Interesting.

My new grand total is:

Distance: 112.5 miles
Time: 24:51:57
Avg. Pace: 13:16/mile

OHR: W6D2

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremy) — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 15:08:00 +0000

Another pretty uneventful run this morning. I got up at 5:30 and I was out the door around 5:35. The weather is still very nice. I had to go a little beyond my regular three mile loop to accommodate the extra three minutes mandated by the OHR program. I ended up running 3.2 miles in 38:08 (11:55 m/m). That's pretty consistent with my W5D2 run of the same distance. In lieu of a long drawn out post, here's a picture of me in the back yard:

My new grand total is:

Distance: 108.5 miles
Time: 24:05:45
Avg. Pace: 13:20/mile

OHR: W6D1

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremy) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:31:00 +0000

I sure hope this cool weather is here to stay. It was sooooooooo nice this morning. I felt like I could have run forever. Other than the terrific weather there was nothing unusual or exciting about my run today. I got out there around 5:30 so it was still pretty dark. Venus was shimmering brightly in the Eastern sky and the moon was waning gibbous (I think) directly overhead. I'll be glad when daylight savings time rolls around later this month. Today I ran my standard three miles in 36:16 (12:05 m/m).

My new grand total is:

Distance: 105.3 miles
Time: 23:27:37
Avg. Pace: 13:22/mile

OHR: W5D3

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremy) — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 14:30:00 +0000

While Saturday night might be alright for fighting, Saturday morning was perfect for running (say CHEESE!). I slipped out of the house around 6:30 or so and was greeted by the cool, comfortable morning air. I was excited to begin with because I knew that this run would put me over 100 miles for my grand total. W5D3 called for me to run a total of thirty-eight minutes. My regular three mile loop takes me around thirty-six minutes to complete with my five minute warm-up included. I decided to add an extra "out-and-back" one mile branch to my regular loop. That way, if I pooped out early, I would just have an extra long cool-down walk (of shame) back to the house. I started out nice and slow just as I had planned. Mile one passed without a hitch. Mile two was my new out-and-back branch. I groaned a little as I noticed that it was on a gradual incline. At least the "and-back" portion would be downhill. Mile three was quite pleasant. I was a little tired toward the end as that is where my body is used to shutting down. Mile four was not nearly as bad as I had expected. It was a little tougher than mile three but I never felt like I couldn't finish it. I had to tack on an extra three minutes to make it to the end but I felt great afterwards. Much better than I would have felt if I had stopped when the clock said so and took the extended cool-down walk (of shame). This run did a lot for my confidence. I was worried that I had gotten too comfortable at three miles. I thought I would have trouble adding time/distance since I hadn't tried in almost a month. The excitement I felt in the later weeks of C25K as I progressed through those "longer runs" has been renewed. I can hardly wait to push myself again in the Saturdays to come. Bring it on, OHR! I did my four mile run in 45:52 (11:28 m/m).

My wife started the C25K program this morning. I'm so excited for her! I hope she enjoys it as much as I did although things are off to a rocky start. I told her she needs to get fitted properly for shoes but that she might be alright in her old shoes for the first week or two as the workouts are not too intense. I was wrong. She came back in this morning and showed me where the backs of her old shoes had rubbed blisters above her ankles on both feet. Hopefully we can get to the running store one day this week and get her in some comfy shoes.

My new grand total is:

Distance: 102.3 miles
Time: 22:51:21
Avg. Pace: 13:25/mile

OHR: W5D2

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremy) — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 14:49:00 +0000

OK it's a little late in the year for it to be as muggy as it was at 5:45 this morning when I left the house. I'll be glad when autumn quits teasing and actually dumps some here-to-stay cooler weather on us. Nevertheless I had a pretty enjoyable run today. I kept it slow and steady and had no problem tacking on the extra couple of minutes called for by the program. I even threw in an extra minute for good measure. I ended up with a total of 3.2 miles in 38:00 (11:52 m/m). Saturday looks to be a bit of a milestone. If all goes as planned, I will break into the triple digits with my total mileage. I'm not sure, but some sort of festivity or celebration may be in order (other than the "Rocky" celebration dance I'll be doing at the end of the driveway).

I think I want to enter the Pensacola Double Bridge Run in February. I don't know if I'll be ready to tackle 15K that soon. If not I can always fall back on the 5K single bridge run. They both sound like lots of fun.

My new grand total is:

Distance: 98.3 miles
Time: 22:05:29
Avg. Pace: 13:29/mile

OHR: W5D1 (and a brief "dogs suck" rant)

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremy) — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 13:49:00 +0000

"W5D1?", you ask. "Well, what happened to W4D3, mister slacker?" I think the 5K on Saturday was an adequate substitution. My shins, calves and my whatever-those-inner-thigh-muscles-are-called all agree with me. Deal.

It was a little muggy as I left the house this morning. I was kind of hoping it wouldn't be muggy before sunrise again until some time next spring. Oh well. I decided I would try and take it easy since I am still recovering from said 5K on Saturday. As I neared the end of my first mile, I noticed that the soreness in my legs was fading away. Further into the neighborhood, I also noticed an increased presence by the early dog-walking people. In particular, a gigantic rottweiler walking a one hundred pound elderly woman down the street and growling and steadily pulling her ACROSS THE STREET toward me. My apprehension must be apparent. She says something to the effect of, "Oh, don't worry! He won't hurt you! Hush now, Muffin (or whatever this monster's name was)!"

I'm not much of a dog person. Actually, I'm not much of an animal person. Fish are OK. We have fish and they suit me just fine. No poop on the floor. No loud noise. No hair. You get the picture. My biggest pet peeve are the people that say things like, "You don't like dogs? Well, you'd like MY dog. He's different... blah blah blah... wouldn't hurt a flea... blah blah blah..." Your dog is not "different". Your dog is not special to me. Please don't assume that because you are out walking your dog and for whatever reason he wants to bark at/sniff near me that I am OK with it or that I think it is cute. I would just as soon stab your dog in the face repeatedly with my car keys as let it sniff/lick/come near me after it's been baring its teeth and barking at me and dragging you toward me. If you walk your dog monster near me and I "smile" at you, it's not so much a friendly smile as it is a smug little "if that dog somehow breaks away from your control and comes at me, I will try to kill it with my bare hands (or keys)" sneer. OK. Enough about the dogs. Deep breath and count to ten.

"Muffin" walked its owner on down the street past me and the rest of my run was pretty uneventful. The sunrise was pretty. I hit my three mile mark at a very satisfactory 35:53 (11:57 m/m). I have been thrilled with my pace progress over the last few weeks. I'm sure a lot of the credit goes to the milder weather, but I also think that going ahead and doing those first 3 weeks of the OHR program that a lot of people seem to skip has been very beneficial. The increased performance gains at or very near the same level of effort speak for themselves. I can't wait for my first "real" longer run this Saturday (thirty-eight minutes versus my usual thirty minutes).

My new grand total is:

Distance: 95.1 miles
Time: 21:27:29
Avg. Pace: 13:33/mile

Pensacola Seafood Festival 5K Race Report

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremy) — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 19:56:00 +0000

I woke up Saturday morning before the race at about 5:30. Too excited to go back to sleep, I hopped out of bed and started getting ready. After about an hour of all the infomercials I could stomach (and tired of checking the clock every few minutes), I hopped in the truck and headed for the race. I arrived at about 7:00. The race was scheduled to start at 8:00, weather permitting (the weather did, in fact, permit). I'm not much of a chit-chatter so I started wandering around the streets of downtown Pensacola as a "warm up". As 8:00 approached, I made my way toward the starting area. I started pretty close to the back. I wanted to make sure I passed at least a few people to build a little confidence. The beginning of the race was a little hectic. Being boxed in by packs of slower runners was no fun at all. Luckily, it thinned out after the first half mile or so. I wasn't exactly blazing a trail through the pack but I could tell I was moving significantly faster than my training runs around the neighborhood. I wasn't gasping for breath so I decided to press on at the current pace for as long as I could stand it. I hit the first mile marker at 10:05(!). Most of the first mile was spent winding through downtown. All of mile two was run along Bayfront Parkway which, as you might have guessed, offered a gorgeous view of Pensacola Bay and the Three-Mile Bridge to the South. I declined to get mixed up in the mob of people vying for a little paper cup of water at the halfway point. I hit the two mile mark at 20:45. At this point I was starting to feel the effects of my increased pace. My breathing was getting pretty labored so I slowed way down for a minute or two to recover. I would take two short (twenty to thirty second) walk breaks and decline another paper-cup-of-water-grabbing fiasco during this third mile. I was feeling pretty tired as I hit the three mile mark at 32:00, but the race marshalls here were very encouraging and I tried to pick my pace back up in an effort to finish strong. I crossed the finish line a tenth of a mile later at 32:53, beating my goal of a sub-35:00 run by a little over two minutes! I staggered away from the crowd and grabbed a water and a banana and continued to mill around (in a daze) for another ten or fifteen minutes as a "cool down". After adequately cooling off and a little people-watching by the fountain, I hopped back in the truck and headed home. Today I was looking through the race pictures on the Pensacola Runners Association site and I think I ran across a picture of myself near the start:

I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I believe that is my red butt and white shirt behind the young lass in the light blue. Also, note the premium parking space I obtained by arriving an hour early for the race. My truck is prominently displayed there at the intersection parked facing the camera. Anways, I had a great time at my first 5K. I can't wait for the next one! I imagine I'll be shooting for a sub-30:00 time pretty soon.

My stats for this race are:

Distance: 5K
Time: 00:32:53
Splits: (1) 10:05 (2) 20:45 (3) 32:00
Avg. Pace: 10:35/mile
Placed: 420 out of 741

My new grand total is:

Distance: 92.1 miles
Time: 20:51:36
Avg. Pace: 13:36/mile

Pensacola Seafood Festival 5K Tomorrow

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremy) — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 22:55:00 +0000

And this is what the weather is doing as I commute home having just picked up my "race pack" from the race registration area. They're saying it is a go rain or shine. Sounds like fun either way! T-minus 14 hours and counting...

[edit: I got my math wrong. You know, trying to figure out how many hours were left until race time. Real complicated math. And this from a land surveyor who does math for a living. Sheesh...]

OHR: W4D2

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremy) — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 18:51:00 +0000

It was a little chilly again this morning. Just fine with me. I told myself from the onset that I was going to take it easy today for fear that I would twist or break or pinch or torque something and not be able to run in my first 5K this weekend. I am quickly becoming a huge fan of not-running-in-the-blazing-heat as today's three mile trek (taking it as easy as I could possibly stand, mind you) took me 37:41 (12:33 m/m). I was quite surprised. AND I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL SATURDAY! Even though I won't be anywhere near the front of the pack and even though I'll probably be too excited and burn myself out way before the finish, I still can't wait. Hopefully I'll remember to take lots of pictures and junk.

My new grand total is:

89.0 miles
Time: 20h 18m 43s
Avg. Pace: 13:42/mile

OHR: W3D3, W4D1

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremy) — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 16:34:00 +0000

Each of my previous two runs has been pretty exciting for me personally. My wife was probably sick to death of hearing me mention that my W3D3 run on Saturday morning had established a new personal record by several MINUTES thanks mostly to the gentle weather we in the Florida panhandle have been blessed with for the past few days. I ended up running my now standard three mile route in an astonishing (for me, anyway) 36:54 (12:18 m/m). I also did a little yard work and we took the kids to the zoo this weekend so I went ahead and took a two day break from the running.

This morning was the first morning that I actually felt pretty chilly when I stepped out the door. I took off around 5:45 just as that first hint of orange started to graze the eastern horizon. I felt a few little shivers as I started my warm-up walk. I first noticed that I was a little ahead of my normal pace at the end of my warm-up. I was a good two or three houses down from where my watch usually gives me the go-ahead to start running. As I was toughing out my first mile, the knowledge that I had a head start of at least two or three houses on my fastest time to date (albeit from two days ago) kept me wanting to push just a little harder. The weather was certainly conducive, so why shouldn't I? "After all", I kept telling myself, "this will be good practice for running a little faster at my first race this weekend when all of the excitement might inhibit my ability to control my pace." I breezed through the second mile and was only slightly more fatigued than usual as I ended the third mile in a personal-best-shattering time of 35:57, making for a blistering (FOR ME) average pace of 11:59 m/m! This of course marks the first time that I have kept my pace under 12:00 m/m and as such has made what would have been a horrible day (I have a dentist appointment in a few hours, ughhh!!) a very, very pleasant one that I will probably remember for quite a while. My new grand total is:

86.0 miles
Time: 19h 41m 02s
Avg. Pace: 13:44/mile

Oh, on a completely unrelated note, GO GATORS! (kiss the ring, UT...)

OHR: W3D2

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremy) — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 14:29:00 +0000

I decided to skip a rest day to get myself back on schedule. I also had my start time at work change from 7:00 AM to 8:00 AM starting today. Consequently, I left the house to run at 6:10 instead of 5:10. What a difference an hour makes! Running through the neighborhood an hour later wasn't an option. Wayyy too much traffic. Instead, I walked from the house to the neighborhood park where I did most of my C25K, ran 3 laps and walked back for a total of 3.17 miles in 40:20 (12:43 m/m). I could tell I was running a little faster than my usual pace. I guess I was trying to show out for the stuck-up old ladies who frequent the park in the morning. I definitely prefer the solitude of my usual route through the neighborhood. Maybe I will continue getting up at the earlier time and try to squeeze in a nap before work or something. I dunno. I do know that I would like to start cross training or weight training or something on my rest days from running now that I will have the extra time in the morning. It should be a blast.

My new grand total is:

80.0 miles
Time: 18h 28m 11s
Avg. Pace: 13:52/mile

OHR: W3D1

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremy) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 11:57:00 +0000

Well I almost got my first taste of running in the rain this morning. Not more than five minutes after I made it back home "the bottom fell out of it" as we say here in the south. I'm a little excited/nervous about finishing up OHR week three in a few days. On the one hand, it will be nice to "push myself" again adding time/distance and on the other hand running for thirty minutes has just become "comfortable". I haven't decided if I want to do one more week of 30 minute runs and start OHR week four after the Seafood Festival 5K or just "man up" and start week four when I finish week three. Anyway, I had a very pleasant run today. Nothing out of the ordinary to report. I did my three mile trek in 38:51 (12:57 m/m) bringing my total to:

76.8 miles
Time: 17h 47m 51s
Avg. Pace: 13:54/mile

OHR: W2D3 et al.

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremy) — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 14:52:00 +0000

Boy oh boy! Weekend recap:

I planned to get up Saturday morning and run. I didn't quite make it. I was recovering from a Super Paper Mario binge the night before that lasted well past my bedtime. "That's ok.", I thought to myself, "I can just make it up Sunday morning." Saturday was still slightly "running-productive" in that we went to the mall and I found a few compression shirts and a light jacket on the clearance rack at the Old Navy. I'm not familiar at all with the quality of their athletic wear, but for 2 or 3 bucks per item I will give it a chance.

So I get up Sunday morning and start getting ready to run. Not gonna happen. One of my chillrenz went ahead and woke up a few minutes after me and was just UP. She wasn't going back to sleep and I didn't want to wake my wife who had just come off of a long shift at work at about 4:00 in the morning. "That's ok.", I thought to myself, "It's (allegedly) cooling off a bit. I can go this afternoon." WRONG. Well not completely wrong. Technically, I "went". Around lunchtime, I took the same child that woke up with me at 6:10 in the morning and buckled her into the jogging stroller and we set out through the neighborhood. We made it about 3/4 of a mile and turned around. It was WAYYY "too hot, daddy! too hot!", as my daughter put it and she was absolutely right. [Note about the jogging stroller: I don't like it. It just doesn't "feel" right. If I can't swing both my arms, it throws me off. Plus I occasionally kick the back of it with my gigantic feet and throws me off as well. That was only the second time I have ever attempted to use it while running and I'm pretty sure it will be the last. I'd almost rather have a 40 pound backpack.]

I FINALLY made it back out on the road this morning! I hit the garage door button expecting a nice cool breeze to come blowing in. Instead I got a sticky blast of muggy drizzle-wind. Not one to be discouraged, I plunged into the pre-dawn and took off down the street. The drizzle stopped a few minutes into the run but the mugginess was there to stay. It usually takes me about 15 minutes to start sweating really good. Today I was sweating before I finished my warm up walk. I tried to stay chipper but I knew it was going to be a pretty tough morning. I ended up taking a few short walk breaks here and there and made it home absolutely DRENCHED in sweat having completed my three mile loop (pretty close to my average pace!) at 39:40 (13:13 m/m). I was pleased. I also gained some confidence that I won't die if it's still this hot in a few weeks when I hit the Seafood Festival race.

My new grand total is:

73.8 miles
Time: 17h 09m 00s
Avg. Pace: 13:57/mile

Nyuk, Nyuk

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremy) — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 15:51:00 +0000

The boy got a haircut today. Mommy won't let them shave his head like daddy so he ends up with kind of a Moe Howard look. And now back to running and junk...

Run Three Miles! Eat Some Scrimps!

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremy) — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 18:31:00 +0000

Online registration for the Seafood Festival 5K is complete. There's no turning back now! I sent out email invitations to my boss and a few other fellow employees after I registered. My boss has committed, but I haven't heard anything from the others. It should be a killer time. Rock!

OHR: W2D2

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremy) — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 13:39:00 +0000

My run this morning was fantastic. The rampant heat and humidity (yes, even at 5:00 AM. This is Florida, after all.) is finally starting to subside. I was a little worried that my lack of proper sleep last night might affect my performance but this was not the case. I felt like I could have easily kept going another mile or so by the end of my run. All in due time. Today I ran my three miles in 39:11 (13:03 m/m).

Oh! I discovered via the coolrunning.com messageboards that I can proudly combine my new passion for running with one of my oldest passions: CHOCOLATE MILK! Yet another plus in the running column.

I was on the fence about a small 5K this weekend, but I think I am going to pass on it and just focus on the bigger Pensacola Seafood Festival 5K coming up on the 22nd (16 days!).

My new grand total is:

70.8 miles
Time: 16h 29m 20s
Avg. Pace: 13:59/mile

OHR: W1D3 & W2D1

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremy) — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 18:03:00 +0000

My Labor Day weekend included two scheduled training runs.

Saturday was W1D3. I completed the first "evening run" of my career on Saturday. Just for the goof, I decided it might be fun to run my usual route backwards. This decision led to several important discoveries:

1.) My "usual route" contains a nice, long, slow, gradual, invisible-to-the-naked-eye, downhill elevation change.
2.) Running that route backwards reveals a glaringly obvious, long, slow, gradual, uphill elevation change.
and lastly:
3.) I DO NOT LIKE RUNNING UPHILL NOT ONE SINGLE BIT.

I think (at least for now) I will stick with my nice, comfortable, counterclockwise, downhill route. Despite three walk breaks and lots of labored breathing, I managed to finish the "uphill battle" right at my average downhill pace. I did three miles in 39:55 (13:18 m/m).

I took two days off following this run as I experienced a little more soreness than usual due to the "vertical challenge" and the fact that I had done a couple of hours of yard work earlier in the day as well.

Tuesday morning was W2D1. Nothing too terribly unusual to report. I did cut my run short due to a very urgent personal problem stemming from supper the night before. I'll spare you the gory details, but I extended my "cool down" walk, took a shortcut and finished a barely respectable 2.5 miles in 38:08 (15:15 m/m) for a new grand total of:

67.8 miles
Time: 15h 50m 09s
Avg. Pace: 14:01/mile

OHR: W1D2

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremy) — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 12:26:00 +0000

Today was pretty routine. I got up promptly at 5:00 and was out the door by 5:10. Forty minutes and three miles later, I am home again. I have been running roughly three miles a day, three days a week for two and a half weeks now. My typical three mile run goes something like this:

My first mile always sucks. It is unfortunate that at this point in my "career" mile one is 33 percent of my entire run. But near the end of mile one my legs are properly warmed up, I have fallen into a comfortable rhythm and my mind starts to wander a bit. My second mile is currently the most enjoyable part of my run. I maintain my comfortable rhythm (being careful not to "accidentally" rev up my pace) and just enjoy the sacred solitude. Mile three can go either way for me. If I am able to maintain a comfortable pace, mile three is generally just as enjoyable as mile two. If I didn't get enough sleep, I ate crappy the night before or I am not properly hydrated (either of the first two are very possible on any given day for me), mile three is where I begin to feel it. If I do "accidentally rev up my pace" during mile two I either start to burn out, or I look at my watch and notice that I am ahead of my usual pace and push a little harder to try and set a personal best (again depending on my sleep, my previous dinner and my level of hydration).

Today was just slightly faster than average. Just fine with me. I did three miles in 39:39 (13:13 m/m) bringing my grand total to:

62.3 miles
Time: 14h 32m 06s
Avg. Pace: 14:00/mile

nifty

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremy) — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 20:21:00 +0000

Here's a picture of the sunrise above my neighborhood park/running track from a few weeks ago. That is about 5:45 in the morning. It was already 80-something degrees at that point. Florida is stupid hot. Just thought I'd share. And I wanted to play with the photo adding thing (blogging is new to me).

Update: It works just dandy.

overslept.

noreply@blogger.com (Jeremy) — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 16:52:00 +0000

I didn't run this morning because I overslept. I am a total flake. I only got a few hours sleep and I ate way too much yesterday so it probably would have been a crappy run. That's what I keep telling myself anyway.