I knocked out some very consistent 400s Tuesday. Ten of 'em between 1:43 and 1:49. Felt great. And that knotty problem in my right knee has subsided the more I run. Go figure. I guess there was a muscular deficiency that strengthened as a result of the increased use.
It is quite possible that I will have an RBF meet-up this weekend with the incredible Jeanne! Now she has been known for getting lost, being late for a rendezvous and not observing the obvious. I have personal experience in that regard but I love her dearly. We're soulmates ... or so says Facebook.
I'll be in the Great State of Mary Land this weekend for the Army-Navy Game and I am always looking for secret good local places to eat and run so maybe we'll get lucky. I'm definitely packing for some non-Florida weather.
Go Army. Beat Navy!
11.28.2007
11.25.2007
24 miles since the Trot
It was a busy running week for me. As much as I did in my run up to NYC, it seems.
I did the 5.3 mile 10K race last Sunday; five hill miles on Tuesday; the 5K Turkey Trot race on Thurday, nine miles on Friday at tempo pace and - so to keep pace with Runner Susan even though she hasn't confirmed she did it - I ran 15.1 miles today in rather balmy 70 degree temps.
I was pleased to put in the 15 without any problems. I feel very fit and the legs are as taut as ever.
I finished reading Again to Carthage by John Parker and found out this morning that Sunday running pal Chris has a copy of the original running invigorator Once a Runner by Parker. I went to his house today and traded books. We're both fired up now. Great motivation in those pages.
With today's run I have surpassed my record for miles in a year: 1,087. That's exactly an 100 mile month average (as of today). Much more to run in December as we ramp up for Ft. Lauderdale.
I did the 5.3 mile 10K race last Sunday; five hill miles on Tuesday; the 5K Turkey Trot race on Thurday, nine miles on Friday at tempo pace and - so to keep pace with Runner Susan even though she hasn't confirmed she did it - I ran 15.1 miles today in rather balmy 70 degree temps.
I was pleased to put in the 15 without any problems. I feel very fit and the legs are as taut as ever.
I finished reading Again to Carthage by John Parker and found out this morning that Sunday running pal Chris has a copy of the original running invigorator Once a Runner by Parker. I went to his house today and traded books. We're both fired up now. Great motivation in those pages.
With today's run I have surpassed my record for miles in a year: 1,087. That's exactly an 100 mile month average (as of today). Much more to run in December as we ramp up for Ft. Lauderdale.
11.22.2007
Thankscooking
That's what it really amounts to.
I picked up the West Pointer at the airport late last night. A grueling academic semester had him tuckered out. As soon as we arrived home and opened the garage door he finally smiled. There was his motorcycle - yes - the one that's been in my garage since July. He went for a midnight ride. I went to bed.
We were up by 6:30 a.m. for the Turkey Trot. It was the largest turnout in the 19 year history of the event - over 4,200.
We ran ... or trotted actually; when compared to our preferred times. T in 20+ minutes; me in 26+. It was hand timed so there are no official results.
The after-run was like a big hometown reunion. Lot's of former cross country runners from high school back from college or wherever and their parents, families of runners running or walking together, some of my Sunday morning gang, former neighbors who run once a year, etc. It took a long time to leave.
Once home I showered and napped. T went out on his motorcycle again. There'll be a lot of that.
Then we ate Mrs. T's exquisite Thanksgiving feast. Short of raising the turkey in the backyard it was entirely a from-scratch extravaganza.
Burp. Excuse me. Thanksforcooking Mrs. T.
#2 son C wants to go see a movie. I can do that.
Hope yours was good too.
11.21.2007
Spirit Week starts early
You are probably not familiar with this too much but it happens ... every year ... in any number of ways.
Army plays Navy in football next Saturday. I've never been to the game but I am going this time. The week prior to the game is historically known as Spirit Week when each academy gets all worked up about dissing on the other and pulling various pranks.
Well, this year, Army's team stinks so the most likely victory is in the off-field arena; and it's never too early to start.
It seems that somehow, a number of West Point sympathizers - and by that I am not ruling out the USMA cadets who attend Annapolis on an exchange program - have managed to kidnap (no pun intended) the Navy goats. All three of them. Notice the military issue flashlight in use.
Word is that the perps were not going to be released for Thanksgiving break until the goats were returned.
Stay tuned.
P.S. I finally saw the results of Sunday's 10K. Bill Rodgers (not Frank Shorter) ran in my age group for the win. I finished sixth behind him.
Army plays Navy in football next Saturday. I've never been to the game but I am going this time. The week prior to the game is historically known as Spirit Week when each academy gets all worked up about dissing on the other and pulling various pranks.
Well, this year, Army's team stinks so the most likely victory is in the off-field arena; and it's never too early to start.
It seems that somehow, a number of West Point sympathizers - and by that I am not ruling out the USMA cadets who attend Annapolis on an exchange program - have managed to kidnap (no pun intended) the Navy goats. All three of them. Notice the military issue flashlight in use.
Word is that the perps were not going to be released for Thanksgiving break until the goats were returned.Stay tuned.
P.S. I finally saw the results of Sunday's 10K. Bill Rodgers (not Frank Shorter) ran in my age group for the win. I finished sixth behind him.
11.20.2007
Maddy tagged me
Maddy tagged me with the latest meme. I could swear I've done this twice before in other time warps. Five oddities of my world:
1. I was always the home team for neighborhood baseball games when I was young. I had the best field. We played in my dad's church cemetery and used grave stones as bases and markers as surplus fielders. Hit the marker on the fly and you were out.
2. I used dual purpose tactics in my run for election as student government vice president in college. I targeted the sorority houses and girls' dorms for my door-to-door campaigning. How could that not be successful - one way or another? I won the election and married a co-ed.
3. In a similar vein, in boarding school where there was "coordinated education," meaning the boys campus was by the river in the valley and the girls school was seven miles uphill on the mountain top, I formed a cross country club team which allowed for off-campus training runs. That's when I developed an affection for hill work.
4. I was never in better shape in my life than the summer before seminary when I worked on a stripping crew. (When was the last time you saw seminary and stripping in the same sentence?) The stripping crew pried out the wood forms from under highway bridge overpasses after the concrete set in the road surface above. I learned a lot about the hardscrabble life in that short period.
5. I have the humiliating distinction of having dropped a Vespa motor scooter seven times in five weeks. It was in Martinique where a bottle of French wine was a standard for every meal. To this day and all those ahead, you will never see me riding a motorcycle.
I am not one to tag someone so you are spared. Spared except for having to read my odd stories to get to here.
Repeats. As I wrote yesterday, I am aching to run long. Today I bagged the 1600 intervals even though I love the track. I wanted to do something else so I ran over to the Chelton hills which is a lovely little neighborhood with pricey well-kept homes that surround a former sink hole. I have a perfect one-mile circuit there that includes three ascents and descents per lap. I did four of them in succeedingly faster times. From 9:25 down to 9:00 for the last one. With the 3/4 mile warm up and cool down from the house to the hills I was feeling challenged enough cardiovascularly to take the edge off my ache.
Tomorrow I'll go easy for a few. Thursday is the Turkey Trot race; and this weekend I will go about 15 (Yes!). I realized that the following weekend will be a mess as I head to the Army-Navy Game in Baltimore. I just hope I don't have the same problems as Runner Susan and can find someplace to run 10 miles or so.
1. I was always the home team for neighborhood baseball games when I was young. I had the best field. We played in my dad's church cemetery and used grave stones as bases and markers as surplus fielders. Hit the marker on the fly and you were out.
2. I used dual purpose tactics in my run for election as student government vice president in college. I targeted the sorority houses and girls' dorms for my door-to-door campaigning. How could that not be successful - one way or another? I won the election and married a co-ed.
3. In a similar vein, in boarding school where there was "coordinated education," meaning the boys campus was by the river in the valley and the girls school was seven miles uphill on the mountain top, I formed a cross country club team which allowed for off-campus training runs. That's when I developed an affection for hill work.
4. I was never in better shape in my life than the summer before seminary when I worked on a stripping crew. (When was the last time you saw seminary and stripping in the same sentence?) The stripping crew pried out the wood forms from under highway bridge overpasses after the concrete set in the road surface above. I learned a lot about the hardscrabble life in that short period.
5. I have the humiliating distinction of having dropped a Vespa motor scooter seven times in five weeks. It was in Martinique where a bottle of French wine was a standard for every meal. To this day and all those ahead, you will never see me riding a motorcycle.
I am not one to tag someone so you are spared. Spared except for having to read my odd stories to get to here.
Repeats. As I wrote yesterday, I am aching to run long. Today I bagged the 1600 intervals even though I love the track. I wanted to do something else so I ran over to the Chelton hills which is a lovely little neighborhood with pricey well-kept homes that surround a former sink hole. I have a perfect one-mile circuit there that includes three ascents and descents per lap. I did four of them in succeedingly faster times. From 9:25 down to 9:00 for the last one. With the 3/4 mile warm up and cool down from the house to the hills I was feeling challenged enough cardiovascularly to take the edge off my ache.
Tomorrow I'll go easy for a few. Thursday is the Turkey Trot race; and this weekend I will go about 15 (Yes!). I realized that the following weekend will be a mess as I head to the Army-Navy Game in Baltimore. I just hope I don't have the same problems as Runner Susan and can find someplace to run 10 miles or so.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
