A heated long easy run

While the Disney Marathon drew 24,000 (including 4:49 Rachel; Good job!!) the Cady Way Trail drew me. I had to put on some miles and I knew it wasn't going to be easy. First of all it was a balmy 70+ degrees and all I could think of was sliding over to the beach for some solar massage. As late as I got up I almost succumbed to the temptation. I had not planned my morning run very well. I started by having a half banana to compensate for the lack of proper fueling the night before (an NBA game, hot dog and beer). Then I dressed as if I'd run if I had to. Then I put on my HRM watch and knew I'd better go now or never. I drove to the Trail and started my run at 1000. It was toasty and sunny. I imagined I was jogging on the beach. Distant highway traffic stood in as the sound of waves. There was no breeze.
I packed a plain Gu gel pack for emergencies. At mile 2 I was thinking I might need that boost earlier than the 40 minute mark I targeted. At 25 minutes I could tell I was going to be dragging if I didn't stoke up so ... riiiiiip. Now I'm moving. I used the HRM to track my rates and times at the mile markers along the trail. I stayed safely below my max nearly the whole way. I stopped about 4 times for water and more Gu gel. Yea for me - I managed to run it all the way back to the trail head where I started (it was an out and back 7 miles). I took 1:09 which is slow. Who cares. I missed the easy run between the speed work and the long run so I was okay with it.
Today I signed up for Race 1 in my triple header schedule through February (5K-15K-10K & steak). Therefore - all is well.
Carry on.

Rachel's Celebrity Marathon blog

How could I have known one of my few blog acquaintances is a celebrity of sorts. Of how many tens of thousands of runners in the Disney Marathon this weekend, who would have suspected Rachel would be the one to receive the good pre-race publicity? Well there's mighty good reason when you read the column at the Orlando Sentinel link: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/columnists/orl-locowens08010805jan08,1,273750.column?coll=orl-news-col&ctrack=1&cset=true

Picking up the Pace

Now that I have 3 races in mind my brain and body are starting to communicate about the mission ahead. Beat myself! On the stopwatch that is.
Today I decided it's been too long since I did some speed work so I headed to the track to do a simple 1600/1200/800/400 session. I wore the new heart rate monitor to see what speed work did to the ol' ticker. My My. In comparison to previous lap times I kicked axx! Every split was a record time. My 1600 was a 7.48 followed by 6.01, 3.57 and 1.47. The HRM exceeded my top range on the shorter distances as I pushed to finish strong. I felt good but not necessarily fast so I have to do it again to see if it was real.
The best part today was after I came in and stretched before my shower I took a little extra time and made a point to relax my brain and not "force" the stretches, just letting them happen and relaxxxxxing throughout and enjoying them. I haven't had such a rewarding stretch in a long time. Stretching had become a chore. I remembered how it can be a nice bridge between the workout and work.
The Disney Marathon is this weekend. I feel for all who run it in the heat. Take it slow, my friends. I will do a private long run and think of you.

Don't Back Down

I'm moving nicely out of the holiday indulgence mode - consuming fewer adult beverages, eating the right stuff and less sweets, taking all my supplements and vitamins. I'm even reading Runner's World before bed to inspire me to get up in the morning and run. Gosh, I might turn healthy again.
So this morning, I got up and ran, although if it weren't for my son's alarm clock going off at 615 I might have overslept and missed the chance to run before work. [aside - I cannot run any other time of day] I went the 4-mile course again, as I did Monday, without the heart monitor. I figured all it did was encourage me to kill myself with that tantalizing red zone beeping. Besides it was too dark to read the numbers at that hour.
The temps were high 50s here and quite comfortable. Spring has sprung in Central Florida. Was that an azalea I saw blooming? If it was it's sure to wilt in the next Canadian arctic blast. Regardless, my run was slow and easy - aimng to do as RW suggested about easy runs: finish with a sense that you could still run another 4 miles and not feel tired. When I looked at my stop watch after I came in I saw that I did stroll through the course today. I realized I was just out to enjoy it.
My race schedule came to me last night too. My personal PR in a 5k was set in the Park Avenue 5K which is 10 days from now. Then there's the Gasparilla 15K on February 5 in Tampa followed by the Outback 12K Classic on Feb 19. The steaks they serve after that race make it all worthwhile!
Rachel (Rachel's Marathon Blog) goes for the big race at Disney this weekend. I'll go for 3 smaller but equally fun runs after her.

I love that third mile

Oh, the weather outside is delightful. The running mood is right-ful.
Despite being lazy on a Sunday morning I had special interest in going out this time - to test drive my new Polar heart monitor. Thank you Santa!
First I entered my mid 20th century birthdate. Out came a maximum HR of 168. Okay. Off I went starting at about a 110 rate. It gradually rose as I ran myself through a 2 mile warm up. In miles 3 and 4 the heart monitor was beeping like crazy as I stayed in the 160 rate zone. I wasn't sure if I was going too hard or my heart was reacting to exercise after too many cheesecake helpings and holiday chocolate splurges. No matter, the effort was worth it and now I have lots more new numbers to record. All I have to do is figure out what good they are.
Anybody got any ideas?