My Running Journal

A sore @$$ = GREAT TIME!

2009-07-23T22:01:00.000-04:00

seven
I'm sure that does not sound right. Anyway the reason I have been missing in action lately is that I have been participating in RAGBRAI. For those of you no in the know it's annual event that takes ten's of thousands of bike rides from the far West border of Iowa to the far East border in only seven days. It is an unbelievable fun time. We stop in many small towns that have parties going on and even stop at random farms along the way that are selling homemade pies. If you like to ride you NEED to do this at least once in your lifetime. There are people from all over that come to ride. If you do decide to join in the fun next year look for Team Death Race and make sure to say hi to me and my team mates.

Here is a view that is common in Iowa during the ride. You can see bikes for miles if you're on the top of a hill. Click the picture for a better view.
Here is the outfit that I wore on Tuesday. It was a great conversation starter. No I'm not that into Spongebob.

This is some of my team with our name wrote on our legs. We did not get our jersey's in time.
A few of us stopping to get some pie or more likely some beer.
Again it's a great time and I hope to see some of you out there someday on the road. I need find some Butt Butter.

I'm a triathlete!

2009-07-13T22:44:00.004-04:00

I completed the Iowa Games Triathlon. I did better then I expected. I was able to complete the sprint distance tri in 1:15:45. I was happy with that since my main focus in the swim was just to "not drown". So I could have swam a lot faster and also if I had a road bike that would take more time off. I did however catch and pass a LOT of people on the run. That was a great feeling at the end.

I have to say it was a little disappointing for me due to my own building it up in my head and it went by so fast that it was kind of a let down. I think I might be a race junkie. Who knew? :) I can say that I will for sure do another one. I will be looking to do a full distance next time to prevent it from going by so fast. It was just to fun to be done in only a little over an hour.

Here are some pics that my great family supporters that came to watch took. It was so awesome to have them there. Thanks fam!

Here I am about 15 min. before the race. I was still very nervous about the swim.
I had just go out of the water and was jogging the to transition area.Getting ready for the bike portion. I spent WAY to long in that first transition. Another thing to work on for next time.
Heading out for the bike ride. You can tell I was having fun.
I can't really remember were in the run this was. Like I said it just went by so fast.
And I'm all done. I'm really smiling. My dad just caught me at a bad split second.

On a nonrunning note... we have sold out house and have came to terms on buying another one. We are set to close and move in right at a month. So I will be getting a lot of packing cross training in within the next 30 days.

Last hard run

2009-07-05T13:53:00.002-04:00

Here is my last hilly hard run before my tri next weekend. It was a good confidence builder just with not having to stop had take a breath. The hills were long and steep as you can tell.

Elevation (ft.)

Pace (min/mile)

Splits

Mile	Pace (min/mile)		Speed (mph)		Elevation Gain
Mile	actual	+/- avg	actual	+/- avg	Elevation Gain
1	8' 11	-0' 25	7.3	+0.3	+43 ft
2	8' 12	-0' 24	7.3	+0.3	-78 ft
3	8' 48	+0' 12	6.8	-0.2	+39 ft
4	8' 41	+0' 05	6.9	-0.1	-56 ft
5	8' 55	+0' 19	6.7	-0.3	+102 ft
6	8' 40	+0' 04	6.9	-0.1	-63 ft
end	10' 00	+1' 24	6.0	-1.0	0 ft
Versus average of 8' 36 min/mile: Slower Faster Now I just need to do a few more easy runs this week with two more swims and three rides and I hope I'm will be good enough to finish this this thing next weekend.

First race since injury

2009-07-01T22:26:00.000-04:00

The day after we returned from our Colorado get a way even after the long close to 15 hour drive back my dad and I decided to test out how were with our 5K times. He recently set a PR at a race last month. I have been just getting back into running after my three month lay off. I have actually been spending more time focusing on my swimming due to my first tri next weekend and I'm not a strong swimmer.

I was a little over a minutes slower then where my 5K time was before I got injured. DANG! That is over 20 sec/mile slower! I guess what do I really expect due to not running for three months and since I have started in again not really done any speed work. Here is a picture of me finishing. I was able to take 5th overall in the race and second in my age group. The winner of my age group won the race.This is my dad finishing. It was a twilight run at 6pm (hot) and it was a hilly course so he was a little off of his PR pace. However he was able to come in at 9th overall and second also in his age group.
This my little guy who so badly wanted to "run the race with daddy and grandpa". So we waited until the walkers were coming in and let had him run the last two blocks or so. He LOVED it as you can tell by the smile on his face. Priceless!

Now my focus is turning to breaking my tri cherry. I believe as long as I do not drown I think I will have a good time.

High all week = no posts

2009-06-29T09:25:00.002-04:00

Not the high that gives me the munches. I was in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park. I had a great time with family and don't worry I was able to get in some good running. I went for a few runs by myself on the trails and also ran once with my dad.

I will get a post up of my race that I put on sometime this week. I left for CO the day after the race so I did not get a chance to post much. I WILL get a review up soon however! I know there were strong talks of opening up the course to the public this fall. So all of you Iowa and Neb. runs can come test it out if that happens

The views one the runs were unbelievable. I will share some with you in this post. My dad and I were also able to climb to the Keyhole of Longs Peak. It's the highest peak in the park just over 14,000 ft. It was a great half of a day climb.

Here are a few pics of some of the trails that I ran on.

I gave a name to this section the nickname "the Devils stairway" I used stopping to take a picture as an excuse to rest. It just went on forever!
These are some of the amazing views that I was able to enjoy while I stopped to try and breath in the thin high altitude air.
Taking this picture was a little scary. I made sure I kept my distance and did not make eye contact. I was not in any shape for a speed session.

Here is a short video that my dad was able to get of me running a section of the trail.

A few race pics.

2009-06-18T22:18:00.003-04:00

Here are a few race pictures from my 5K. I did not get many due to directing the race I was pretty busy. I did have our photographer out there on the course for both the student and staff run so I will post more when I get his digital copies.
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The run went very well. All the kids and staff had a great time. It is looking good for the possibility of opening it up to the public in the fall. So any of you that want to come and test out your hill climbing legs you just might be able to.

The punishing finish

2009-06-17T18:09:00.003-04:00

Here are a couple pictures of the end of my 5K run I'm directing. You ht the base of this hill right around the 2.9 mile mark. The picture does not really do it justice for you realize how steep of a climb this hill is. It is a climb up hill. It has been named Iorn Man.You can't run up it at all. If you look close you can see a rope in the middle of the hill tied at the top that goes about 3/4th of the way down. It is needed now and will really be needed on race day when the volunteer firefighters from town come to hose down the hill the night before the race. Shhhhhh.....

I think I have everything set in place and am ready for a great race day. If all goes well I will market it and hopefully some of you can come and test your trail running on my course.

Nervous

2009-06-14T09:15:00.000-04:00

Okay I'm starting to get a little nervous about my 5K this week. I'm pretty sure I have the trials in the woods and the creek crossings ready to go and looking good. I had about 20 co-workers test out the course with me last Friday over the lunch hour. They all had a great time. Except maybe for the nurse who claims she saw a "big" snake.

I'm really nervous about the possibility of forgetting some detail about race that would make it not go off smooth. I have been to countless races as a runner and have volunteered at a few. But putting it on as the director for an inaugural one is a little more work then I thought about when I was approached with the idea of doing it.

I'm praying I have thought of everything and that everyone will have a blat and be muddy as can be afterwords. I hope to have pictures for you after the race. Maybe even a little video if I can get someone to stand by the one big creek crossing. Wish me luck please.

Spectator race report

2009-06-08T21:46:00.000-04:00

My dad starting the race at the far right. It was pouring at this time.

Here he is finishing off his PR effort. That lady sped up at the last moment to block my picture and ruin my dad's PR finishing pic.

My dad ran the 5K this past weekend in the Council Bluffs half-marathon/5K. My dad did GREAT! He set a 5K PR by more then a min. and won his age group. And all that was done in a heavy down pour at times.

It was an inaugural event so I will have to look past the unorganized aspects of the race. I will harp on that next year if I participate and some of the things are not changed. The biggest over site that I can not get past is the lack of bathrooms at the race start. There were NO portta johns! There was just a restroom that was at the local park to use and it just had two stalls for each gender. The TP was gone by 6am and the race did not start until 7am for the half and 7:15am for the 5k. Not good.

However I have heard from others that the race course was flat and fast. My of course thinks this due to the PR. But I'm sure he was set for a PR no matter what due to him being in great running shape.

I was able to meet and talk to Adventure Seeker after the race. Great job on the PR also! I have not idea how you can PR at a half and then plan to complete a 70.3 the next weekend. More power to her. She did GREAT!

I also was able to, at the last moment, see Cross Country Squared sprint to the finish line for a PR. I however was unable to meet her due to my son was busy watching the kids come in from the fun run. There must have been some magic in the air due to all three people I was cheering for ended up with PR's.

Am I back?

2009-06-03T11:31:00.000-04:00

I'm so scared that typing this will jinx me into being injured again. I just wanted to let everyone know that I have been running (well a lot of jogging I guess) and have not had any pain in my calf. It only took three months. The longest three months of my running life.

I'm still on track to compete in my first triathlon next month. Before then I will also run my own 5K course in a few weeks and then later in the month I plan to run another 5K. I don't think that I will push the pace to much for either race just to be safe. I really just want the feeling of racing again. I miss the atmosphere.

I'm so excited to get my own personal racing season started after reading about all of the good times you all have been having.

Cool find

2009-05-28T22:09:00.002-04:00

This is that baby deer that we found when we were out clearing part of the trail for my 5K adventure run. I almost stepped right on it. Of course we went around it and will clear out that section another day. It was a great find.

Course pics

2009-05-15T22:23:00.002-04:00

Here is one of the creek crossings that the runners will contend with.
The rest of the pictures are just of random trail breaking that we worked on today. There will be more to come.

One addiction for another

2009-05-11T22:19:00.000-04:00

I have decided to not attempt the whole "active recovery" by attempting to run easy miles during the healing process. I have choose to wait until the end of the month to see how I feel before I hit the road again.

However for my birthday my wife allowed me to purchase a road bike. It's a performance hybrid Trek that I have started to use frequently. Since I have been unable to get my exercise running like I love to do I have started to ride a lot more. I have even started biking to work and back.

It's a 40 mile round trip to work and back. Last week I only drove to work twice. I figure I'm saving money on gas and keeping in a little bit of shape. I must admit though it does not match the feeling I get from running. I hope to keep this routine a little when I can get back to running to continue to save some money and allow myself to cut back on weekly mileage running in hopes to prevent another injury from arising.

I also plan to use my new baby in the Iowa Games Triathlon and RAGBRAI. I still need to name her. So if you have any idea's let me know.

Also, I plan to soon have pictures up of my 5k course that I'm planning.

Exciting

2009-05-02T10:34:00.003-04:00

I received word last week that I will be the race director for a 5K race that my school is putting on. I scouted out the course I want to use and it was accepted! It will not be a normal road course 5K. It will be a half adventure race. Think Living History Farms.

The first mile and a half will be a flat road course. However the second half of the course will be be on trails that include four creek crossings a one very steep uphill climb. I'm hoping that it will be a heck of great time. I hope to have pictures up soon of parts of the course for you guys to see. I'm pretty pumped.

Riding the so slow road to recovery.

2009-04-22T11:06:00.003-04:00

Wow has it actually been a month since my last post?!? I guess this whole non running life has kept me busy. I didn't realize how much time I really spent running and thinking about running. I have been getting a lot of extra work done around the house hoping it sells soon so we can move into the house that we have and offer currently accepted on.

I have been very slowly starting to run about twice a week or so. I keep it slow about 8 - 8:30 pace. I plan to not push the pace until about mid next month. I have to say that my "easy pace" is about 20 seconds slower then it was when I stopped running at the end of Feb. A little frustrating but I knew that was going to happen.

The big news I have is that due to all the cross training I have been doing in the pool and on the bike I have decided to do a triathlon in July. It's just a sprint tri but I'm saying to myself that I have to start somewhere. If I don't drown and enjoy it I'm sure there will be more. I have even been given the okay from my wife to go and purchase a road/hybrid bike for my birthday. Any recommendations? I'm a virgin to racing with my bike. If you don't include the family races on vacations. I have also been lucky enough to use the veteran runner and tri athalete Steve (great blog) to answer many random questions I will have about the tri.

That is my good news. My bad news is that if anyone has noticed I have reduced the planed races in my side bar for this year due to my injury. I took of two marathons and one half-marathon. I believe the Gala days 5K maybe in jeapordy of being cut also. I'll see how the speed work comes along next month. Or I may just run it for fun at an easy pace. Who am I kiding? I know my competative spirit would get the better of me if I did that. So I guess it is a wait and see thing. I'm related to that race director by marrige so I know it can be a last minute sign up if need be. It's not what you know, it's who you know. (amazinly great blog) with questions about the upcoming experience.

Hope everyone have a great day. The weather here is calling for lower 80's unitl Saturday. I can already smell the grill.

Adjusted

2009-03-23T13:32:00.000-04:00

Due to my injury I have come to the sad and frustrating conclusion that I will need to skip a few races this year. This will be the fist time I have ever had to skip a race due to injury and it is so much harder then I thought it would be. I have ran a few races in the past with mild ankle sprains.

So far I have decided to miss this years Doughnut Run which is very sad to me because it is a really good time and I hounded Steve to join me this year and now I wont even be able to run it. The next race that I have choose to miss is very hard also.. the Lincoln Marathon. I knew there was a PR there but I have started to really think that no race is THAT important to rush back to get in shape for and set myself up to hurt myself even more. What makes this sad is that during the Lincoln Marathon I was planning on looking for fellow bloggers Kelly, XContry2, and Adventure Seeker. I wish all of you the best of luck and hopefully can see you all next year. Or better yet...come join me in this falls Living History Farms Race! There you will for sure have a blast.

So that is the down side. I've been trying to focus on the positive which is the fact that the Dam to Dam race was really just a question mark this year but now since I will not be going to Lincoln I just might be able to easily talk my wife into letting me do that one. I have yet to run it before even though everyone that I know that has ran it says it is a great time.

My injury does finally seem to be on the mend. There are times when I don't really feel it and kind of forget about it. But then there are the times that it just shows up out of nowhere and is sore for hours. I guess just add more ice and elevation.

I'm here

2009-03-18T22:36:00.002-04:00

and still alive. I have been engrossing myself in many nonrunning activities while I'm waiting to heal. I have been putting extra hours at work in order to gain some extra money. That money is hopefully going towards purchasing a new house.

We have found a house and the current owners have accepted our contingency offer. Now I'm just praying that we can get our house sold in time before someone else comes in and takes it from us.

I have started to realize I really put a lot of time into my running when I could due to all the free time that I have noticed lately. Don't get me wrong though. I REALLY want to get back out on the road. I have had some good signs during the past two days with having minimal pain and discomfort while walking. I have vowed to myself and family that I will not attempt to run until at least 4/28/09. I want to be completely healed. If it takes longer I will wait longer.

I'm so sorry I have not got around to reading and commenting on all of our blogs for about a week now. I promise I will get it them soon! I have noticed that when I can't run it is hard to read about how much all of you are enjoying your runs. I'm happy for you I'm just a little jealous. :)

H2O running issues

2009-03-08T11:36:00.003-04:00

Well with all the positive responses I have decided to try and continue the pool running until I can hit the road again. This is coming with some issues that I don't normally have with my regular running.

First of all is the chafing issues. (Of course I had to bring this up first.) There are all the normal places that you all would think of. Then there is the rubbing of the floaty thingy. That has my sides pretty raw. I have been thinking of wearing a shirt to see if that would curb the rubbing but I just can't bring myself to wear a shirt in the pool.

Then there is the boredom factor. However it's not as bad as the suckmill which I thought it was going to be. I mean I get to turn around and often chat with others throughout. Mostly I'm just responding to questions about what I'm doing and how someone "my age" can get tendinitis.

With being in the pool so much and the colder dry air outside I have been dealing with some pretty severe dry skin. Of course lotion has been doing it's magic with this issue.

Then there is the time thing. I mean, I'm not able to just throw on some cloths and head out the door and come back and be done. I lose a lot of extra time with packing a bag, driving to the Y, showering before I can in the pool, showering after, bringing extra closes to the Y to change into, then driving home/to work.

I have started to come to accept this change in order to be in or close to running form once I'm able to be on the road again. I just so badly fear the possibility of having to work so hard again at rebuilding my mileage base n order to enjoy my running once again once this is all over.

I'll be in the pool early tomorrow morning. Anyone want to join me?

Working on my mood.

2009-03-05T17:16:00.004-05:00

I want to first of all thank everyone for all your supportive comments and advice. I have been tempted to take Xenia's advice and take up Crochet for some cross training. However after long thoughts and some soul searching I have choose another activity.

Thanks to Vava's help I have been doing some pool running. I was a little curious at first regarding how it would be accepted at my local Y as I have never seen anyone doing it. Lucky I do not get embarrassed very easy. So I got there and put the little floaty thing around me and got in the pool and started running in the deep end.

I have to admit that I felt like a pretty big tool at first with all the older swimmers out there doing laps by me. (Is that a pun?) It actually seemed like it was a pretty good workout due to I could feel my heart rate go up. The one thing that I question regarding how good of workout it is is how my legs don't really feel tired at all afterwards. My legs are not normally REALLY tired after a run however, after the pool run I don't hardly feel anything. I don't know. If this is the best and close as I can get to running until I'm healed I guess I'll take it. I just really don't see myself doing a 2 and half hour long run in there.

Warning: some self pity material

2009-03-03T22:12:00.002-05:00

I hate doing this however I have to write it down in order to just get it out of me. Then hopefully I can be done with it.

I have been injured and have not run for more then 6 days. This is the longest I have gone without running for more then three years. I have started to feel things lately that make me wonder if I was truly addicted to it. Not obsessively pushing myself and all but to the point of where my body really craved and needed it.

I have tried to fill the exercise void with different activities like spin classes (my @$$ hurts), swimming (my arms are tired), and lifting more (praying I don't hurt myself more). However nothing seems to fill that void.

I even have been having this weird feeling while I'm driving to and from work or just around town like I've lost some of my freedom. I can picture myself running down each and every street that I drive on (I have pretty much covered them all) and it makes me sad.

I have even noticed within the pas two days that at work I seem to lose focus quicker and struggle with motivation to get back on track at times. I seem to be okay when I'm home for the most part due to playing with the kids and my wife. It's just hard when I go to bed and always end up thinking about how the weather for the next four days is to be in the 50's and how I will not be able to take advantage of it.

Okay that is over. I would love to hear any advice from anyone else has gone through this or knows something that may help. I will try anything at this point. Thanks for stopping by and I apologize for the downer. I promise to work on my mood and be in better spirits next time. I jst needed to throw it out there.

WHY?!?

2009-03-01T15:00:00.004-05:00

It's been a while since I have last posted. Mainly due to the fact that I have some bad news. I have a bit of achilles tendonitis. I have went through many emotions throughout the past few days. I have bee in a lot of the whole why me attitude.

I have now missed my past three raining runs including todays 11 mile long run. In marathon training I HATE to miss long runs for anything. I have been following the RICE method as much as possible and have been praying for a speedy recovery. I guess I should be glad that it happened now if it was going to other then in a few weeks which would very close to the marathon it self.

Has anyone else had to heal and come back from this? How long should it take? It' painful to even do slow easy runs and at times just to walk. I'm really hoping that with rest and all I can be back n form within a few weeks. If I'm forced to miss the next few weeks long runs I might have to seriously take a look at possibly bowing out of the marathon. Any advice would be great if anyone has some. I'm off to play with the kids to get m mind off of this.

Thanks

2009-02-22T22:54:00.000-05:00

I have to say that my long run today was a much bigger challenge for me then last weeks long run that I was so proud of. I started to struggle with my pace and to fight off boredom around the 8.5 mile mark of my 15 miler today.

I want to say thanks to three fellow bloggers who helped get me through my run this after noon.
Runner's rambles, A Runner In The Making, and Running Journal. I will explain.

What I ended up doing during the run was thinking about a recent post from each one of your blogs and that helped give me motivation to finish.

I thought about Runner's Rambles post regarding her recent long run that she did so well in with her negative splits and all. It didn't happen that way for me by far but it helped.

A Runner In The Making's blog post regarding his recent long run with hills and he was able to attain the elusive 5.0 rating performance from BIM. That made me push harder due to I really want to be able to say that I have done that also. (I earned a 4.8 today!)

And last but not least due to the cold temps and wind that I ran in today I was reminded of Running Journal's recent 12 miler in which she froze her face. Then she went out and won an age group award not long after. That helped me not just stop and walk the rest of the way in.

Thanks again for all the motivation. Here are my not so impressive stats.

Activity:

Run

Date:

02/22/09 12:01 PM

Distance:

15.00 miles

Time:

2:06:26

Speed:

7.1 mph

Pace:

8' 26 min/mile

Calories:

2188

Heart Rate:

Activity Goal:

None

Weather:


Fair Temp: 27 F Humidity: 48 Heat Index: 27 F Wind: NW 12

Difficulty:

4.8

Mile	Pace (min/mile)		Speed (mph)		Elevation Gain
Mile	actual	+/- avg	actual	+/- avg	Elevation Gain
1	7' 54	-0' 32	7.6	+0.5	0 ft
2	7' 58	-0' 28	7.5	+0.4	-14 ft
3	8' 00	-0' 26	7.5	+0.4	-20 ft
4	7' 54	-0' 32	7.6	+0.5	0 ft
5	7' 59	-0' 27	7.5	+0.4	-3 ft
6	8' 12	-0' 14	7.3	+0.2	-13 ft
7	8' 20	-0' 06	7.2	+0.1	+30 ft
8	8' 16	-0' 10	7.2	+0.1	0 ft
9	8' 27	+0' 01	7.1	-0.0	-7 ft
10	8' 26	+0' 00	7.1	-0.0	+3 ft
11	8' 37	+0' 11	7.0	-0.2	+14 ft
12	8' 52	+0' 26	6.8	-0.4	+3 ft
13	9' 02	+0' 36	6.6	-0.5	+13 ft
14	8' 56	+0' 30	6.7	-0.4	-23 ft
15	9' 12	+0' 46	6.5	-0.6	+13 ft
end	7' 13	-1' 13	8.3	+1.2	0 ft

Training paying off?

2009-02-21T09:46:00.002-05:00

I was able to get outside right when I got home from work yesterday and ran a seven mile easy run. The first half was down hill and in the light of the fading day. The second was up hill and in the dark. Thankfully I had the wisdom to bring my headlamp along.

As I was running I noticed something that I had not really ever noticed in a while. I think it's been since last spring. I noticed that even when I was trying to slow my pace down to make it an easy run, my natural pace kept increasing and holding about 20 seconds per mile faster then I normally do my long runs. What I really found odd was that it was not bothering my breathing or overall fatigue.

Heck, even when I completed the run I thought it was odd that I wasn't even breathing hard. It was like I just ran around the block at an easy pace. Then the really weird though came to me. I had a hard time remembering the run. I mean, normally I can revisualize most of a run like what I saw and at what times I felt good and when I struggled.

However I ha trouble with recalling much of anything. I don't know if the second half being in the dark had something to do with it due to most of my focus was on watching the ground about feet in front of me once it got dark. It was just a really odd and pretty cool feeling to be able to go out and run 7 miles and seem like it never happened. Trust me I looked at my Sir Garm to make sure I actually ran the whole 7 miles. Twice.

Mile 1: 7:51
Mile 2: 7:46
Mile 3: 7:58
Mile 4: 8:02
Mile 5: 8:03
Mile 6: 8:03
Mile 7: 8:00
total 55:55

Creepy

2009-02-19T13:26:00.002-05:00

I did my mid week long run yesterday out in the cold and realized that I did not have enough layers on halfway through. I think that I was used to the recent speed work I had been doing and that always seems to get my body temperature a lot warmer. However, for this long run I was just doing it at an easy pace.

I decided to suck it up and finish the whole run even though I so wanted to just take the shortest route there was that lead to warmth. When I finished I went to my local Y and thought I would warm up for 15-20 minutes in the sauna. I LOVE that thing in this winter weather after a long run. Just the thought of it(being in the warm sauna) carried me through most of the last four miles.

The sauna is fairly popular and therefor well used by many members. I have come to know most of the members from seeing them on a close to daily basis in the workout rooms and so on. But yesterday when I walked into the sauna there was a guy I had never met before sitting the far left and next to him a guy that I run into there regularly. I took a seat next the guy I knew with the new comer on the other side of him.

Here comes the "creepy" part. After being in there for maybe only 20 seconds I started to notice that this new guy is a VERY heavy breather. And it was not normal breathing either trust me. I gave my friend the look of "what the f*#K"? He just shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. I tried to block it out as best I could but it started to get worse. When I glanced over I noticed the new guy had his eyes closed with a little smile on his face. Not a good smile. A creepy smile. And the breathing was still going on.

Once he started to seem a little restless by moving around a lot I had to go. Maybe it was just me. But I was starting to get seriously nervous that the guy was going to suddenly start humping my leg. I pray that this horrible experience dose not leave a permanent scar on my many great sauna memories.

Any one else have any advice on what they would have done? Just to make it clear I did check the news this morning and no one died in the local Y's sauna last night. That was one thing that came to my mind after I left.

Long run saved

2009-02-15T21:54:00.003-05:00

I was looking forward to my 14 mile long run all week since I had a buddy commit to joining me for at least 8 miles it. Then this morning I received a message that my friend had to sadly take his daughter to the ER this morning for her not being able to shake the flu and being very dehydrated. So he was not going to be able to join me.

I felt bad for him and his poor daughter and then selfishly felt sorry for myself about not having someone to keep me company for part of the distance. I sucked it up and headed out the door anyway. I wanted to keep it nice and easy. I already had some unexpected speed sessions this week. So I was aiming for a pace around 8:45 or so.

When I was out there I felt pretty good and noticed at the half way point I was moving a little faster then I planed to so I made myself let up a little. Then I got the idea at about the 8 mile mark to try and speed up to and hold my marathon pace (8 min) after the 10 mile mark. That of course would be holding it for the last 4 miles.

I know I have read somewhere that this prepares both your legs and you mind to be able to push the pace once your legs are already tired. I thought, heck, I have done speed work all week this week anyway it seems and marathon pace wouldn't really be "speed work".

As you can see I attempted this and was proud of my efforts for only getting one of the last four miles in under 8 min. I think though if I continue to try this I should be able to do it successfully. Does anyone else do this? Anyway below are my splits for the run with totals of 14 miles / 1:57:10 / 8:22 avg. pace

Mile	Pace (min/mile)		Speed (mph)		Elevation Gain
Mile	actual	+/- avg	actual	+/- avg	Elevation Gain
1	8' 09	-0' 13	7.3	+0.2	+7 ft
2	8' 18	-0' 04	7.2	+0.0	+16 ft
3	8' 26	+0' 04	7.1	-0.1	-3 ft
4	8' 24	+0' 02	7.1	-0.0	-23 ft
5	8' 29	+0' 07	7.1	-0.1	-6 ft
6	8' 22	+0' 00	7.2	-0.0	-40 ft
7	8' 30	+0' 08	7.0	-0.1	-49 ft
8	8' 47	+0' 25	6.8	-0.3	+49 ft
9	8' 33	+0' 11	7.0	-0.2	+40 ft
10	8' 34	+0' 12	7.0	-0.2	+6 ft
11	8' 13	-0' 09	7.3	+0.1	+17 ft
12	8' 12	-0' 10	7.3	+0.1	+10 ft
13	8' 11	-0' 11	7.3	+0.2	-13 ft
14	7' 53	-0' 29	7.6	+0.4	-10 ft
end	6' 40	-1' 42	9.0	+1.8	0 ft

Hey Bill, this run got me a 4.1 rated performance from BIM! I so want to hit a 5.0.