Garage Sale Saturday

I won't say that I've expressly forbidden my family from ever having a garage sale again, but I will say that it's pretty close to that. Our neighborhood was having its annual garage sale weekend, and we did not participate. We've done so a couple of times in the time we've lived here, and each time it has been far less than successful. In fact, I remember twice where the weather was cold and windy and very few people were out and about, much less out and about for a garage sale. Today was certainly warmer, and the only reason I mention garage sales at all is because there was more traffic than usual to dodge in the neighborhood. I stay pretty alert for traffic when I run, so it wasn't too bad, but it requires watching out for people who are lost or who make sudden turns. People hardly signal around here anyway, and a day like today doesn't help matters any.

I waited until The Wife got home from her morning outing before I headed out, by which time the temperature was definitely in the 70's. I went 8 miles, not too long a run and yet not too short. I slowed it down a little today and kept the pace in the 9:15/9:20 range. That worked out pretty well. I'm listening again to the Hardcore History podcasts on Rome. Today was the second episode. The fifth in the series recently came out, so I needed to revisit the first few and catch up. This is good historical stuff that is also a really good distraction on a run. I love the story of the Germanic tribes attacking Italy who, as a show of strength, took off all their clothes and snowboarded down a mountain on their shields. Never mind that they eventually lost, but it was a cool story. It's amazing the things you can learn when you're out running.

Forgetting Runs

So I forgot to post a couple of runs. I ran last Saturday as I posted, but I forgot to mention that I ran 5 miles two days before that. It was pretty uneventful, because I clearly forgot about it by Saturday. Even now I'm having trouble remembering what was involved, exactly. At least I remember that I actually ran.

Then on Monday I had another run with The Wife, another 5-miler, and she was pleased with being able to run so far so early in the running season (for her). Again it was cool outside, and we discussed whether or not we'd be running in warmer weather anytime soon. We ran on Monday since Tuesday was The Boy's birthday and we knew we'd be playing laser tag instead of exercising. Although laser tag did feel a little bit like exercise.

Today was a good 6 miles with a little bit of wind coming out of the west. The temperature was 70 degrees, but it felt cooler with the intermittent clouds and the breeze. I had a Garmin burp, or actually a user error. When I set the workout I apparently selected a 5-mile run instead of the one I actually did. At mile 5 I noted the time and figured my overall pace would be 8:50/mile when I finished. A few minutes later I looked down to see my pace and my pace was staying the same, but so was the overall time and distance. Oops. I pressed the button to start it again and when I got to my stopping point I'd lost a half-mile. Not a tragedy in the grand scheme of things, just annoying. You'd think by now I'd know to pay a little better attention when setting up my run, but nooooo.

Finally, new Runner's World in the mail. Unexpectedly early. Sweet!

Still Cool

Global warming continued unrestrained this week as we had cooler than normal temperatures. See what I did there? An illogical conclusion paired with a premise from junk science. But let's not get political, because that's what the warming thing is all about. Let's just say it's still pretty cool outside. Today the temperature was in the mid-50's with a northwesterly breeze. It took a few minutes to get warmed up, but once I did a t-shirt and shorts were fine.

I went 8 miles in total and stayed close to my goal "easy" pace, finishing at about 9:09/mile. I felt like it was a good pace the whole way and never felt labored. I stayed up way too late last night watching a ball game that had been delayed by rain, so I waited until after lunch to head out. That seems in retrospect to have been a wise decision.

Still need to pick a race. The Wife is picking some events for herself. Guess I need to get in the game.

Cold Again

Just when you think Spring is here...

The Wife and I left the house for what turned out to be a 4-miler for the both of us, and before we were two houses down the street we went back because she wasn't dressed warm enough. I can't blame her because, well, it was cold. The wind was not helping matters. It was a good, slow run, and she did well for her longest run in a few months. I opted out of my extra miles because the suffering didn't seem worth the marginal benefit. Sometimes you just have to make adjustments mid-course.

Still not sure when or where the next race will be. I need to figure it out soon so I can make a specific plan. Plus I need to eat better. I've probably had more doughnuts in the past six months than I have in the previous six years combined. I'm at that point in-between races that leads to slacking off a little on the training and diet. Trust me, I don't want to be here very long.

Palm Sunday Run

I'd planned on running yesterday (Saturday), but it just ended up not working out. I slept in, which was much needed, and then took Daughter #2 to a friend's house. After lunch I ended up working on some trim here in the computer room, sanding and repainting it - and it looks nice! - and by the time I finished I'd been on my feet too much. It worked out better anyway since today I got to run the first 3 miles with The Wife and then final five by myself. I maintained my easy pace of 9-minute/miles once I was on my own and it went well. I had to slow down a few times to get back to that pace. We worked in the front yard today and even though I could have used that as an excuse to not run I knew I needed to get out and do it. I'm not planning on running Monday so today was necessary. Hooray for spring!

Spring Must Be Here

As always, I like to think I get smarter the more I run. I can scroll through the entries on this log and find plenty of examples otherwise, but today I did feel a little smarter. I know that if I have a bad night of sleep then the run won't go very well. That was the case this time around, so rather than set lofty goals I decided this day was prime for an easy run. I stayed with my overall goal of completing my easy runs at a 9-minute/mile pace. Spring has rolled in, or should I say, blown in, with winds over 20 mph. Even with that and a temperature in the mid-70's, I managed to keep my pace just below the goal. The only time I felt like I was laboring was when going uphill against the wind. Imagine that.

Fartlek Time!

I decided I needed a little bit of speedwork, this being Tuesday and all, but nothing too serious. I set out with The Wife to start the run, and she lasted with me until just past 2 miles. I continued down the road as she went back into the neighborhood to do some hill repeats. Once I got past the development I started a series of 1-2-3-2-1 fartleks. I didn't go ultra-fast, between 7:30-8 minutes/mile. I felt pretty good, although my last one was uphill so I walked a couple of minutes after that. The temp was in the upper 70's and I'm working to become acclimated to the heat again. By the time I headed back into the neighborhood I was feeling the effects of a warmer weather. I ran into a neighbor who was running as well, pushing his daughter in a stroller. All in all, I think I had it better than he did, at least running-wise.

Burning Off Work

Today was another easy run that ended up at less than 9-minute/mile pace. And again, that seems to be my new standard for an easy run until it gets hotter outside. And just like my last outing, it was a crappy day at work calling for some running time to burn off the stress. Seriously, something has to change because I don't know if I can keep running this fast until I retire. When I started out I had a little pain in my left shin but it quickly disappeared. My calves still feel a little tight - I know I keep saying that and I need to look into what it's going to take to stretch them and keep them from cramping in races. Since I don't have anything planned right now I guess I have the time.

An Easy Hard Run

Today was the first day back to running since last Saturday's race. It was raining when I walked out the front door, so I danced around under the porch for a few minutes before trotting out. It was one of those very frustrating days at work, which are all too common lately. What was supposed to be an easy recovery run was a an easy 6 miles at an 8:47 pace. And really, it was pretty easy except when running into the wind. I was a little surprised. I thought this was a run to work out the soreness of the race and take it easy, which maybe I should have been more mindful of. Thinking about work kept me pretty riled up. Why can't I be independently wealthy? Anyway, I need to be more careful, especially with hot weather on the horizon. I guess it's okay to keep up a good pace while the weather permits, though, since once it's hotter I have to slow down.

Rocking the Parkway

When I felt the twinge in my right calf at mile 9, I said out loud, "Oh, no." I knew it would cost me, but at that point I didn't know how much. That became apparent less than 35 minutes later.

It was almost a perfect day for a half-marathon. I didn't run the Rock the Parkway race last year, but apparently it was raining that day. This time the conditions were much better, with temps right around 40 degrees at race time, and no wind whatsoever. That is such a rarity in the midwest that we must celebrate it when it happens, and so I did. A week ago the forecast was calling for 20 mph winds with 30 mph gusts. I'm so glad the forecasters were wrong. In the starting corral the body heat of 6,000+ people kept it bearable with the cold temperatures, but once the race started I was wishing I had my knit mittens. That became less of a concern about two miles into the course.

The first few miles were too packed. I like wave starts much better, and with that many people it's something the organizers might want to think about. After Mile 3 the field started to spread out and I started to move up. As I mentioned earlier this week I wasn't going to think about a PR unless conditions were good, and they were. So I started out with the 2-hour pace group so I wouldn't go out too fast, and that worked pretty well at the start. Passing people was tough, but by Mile 6 I'd passed the 1:45 pace group and my goal was to stay in front of them. I continually saw the 1:40 group ahead of me but never drew closer than a minute or so to them. The last time I remember seeing them was about Mile 7.

As goes with most races in KC, the course was full of rolling hills. The worst was after the turnaround about halfway through the race. That's the point where you should start feeling better because you're seeing everybody behind you, but that uphill was tough.

I was trying to keep my pace between 7:30-8:00/mile. By the time I got to Mile 9 I was closer to the latter than the former. And then came that familiar twinge. This time I did something different.

I walked 30 seconds and then started up again. That seemed to work and held true for a while. I walked for a few brief seconds at water stops and then had to walk another 30 seconds at about Mile 11.5. Those 60 seconds are what cost me.

Early on I knew I wanted to beat my 1:49 time, and if possible to get below 1:45. It would be tight, but that was my goal with the great conditions and what was described as a "fast course for Kansas City." When I reached Mile 12 and put the hammer down I definitely knew there wasn't much wiggle room.

Looking at the Garmin stats, in my last mile I stayed below 8 minutes/mile, and mostly well below. But it wasn't enough to break the 1:45 mark. My finishing time was 1:45:41, and I'm pretty happy with that. I knocked four minutes off my PR, and that's a good start for the first race of the season. Plus it leaves room for improvement. In other stats from the Garmin, my heart rate was 90-95% most of the race, with the exception at the end when I was in the last tenth of a mile when I was redlining at 100%. Which explains why I felt like I wanted to throw up as I was running down the chute.

I'm fully convinced now that the only way to get faster times is to train faster. My overall pace was 8:01/mile. I don't feel like I'm in the best shape possible, but I do feel like the speedwork has paid off so that this guy in his mid-40's can keep setting PR's. Whether or not that leads to a BQ time remains to be seen, but by golly I'm going to keep working at it. And obviously I need to come up with a game plan for my cramping calves. I've said that before, but it's even more critical now. I'm not sure yet what my next race will be, but I'm sure it will be another half. I'm going to keep working on speed and we'll see where that takes me.