Weekend wrap up

Getting Out. I woke up too early Saturday morning (3ish) for my 600 run. I guess I redozed a little more but I just accepted it and finally put on my runners at 510. I had some Gatorade and half a bagel. I iced some more Gatorade in my cooler and grabbed some Gu. I was 8 minutes late to Dave's house but he was relaxing in a chair under the garage light reading the morning paper.
We were missing the tortoise who allegedly has a an ankle worthy of amputation. At least that's the way Dave made it sound by his acount of what he'd heard. The tortoise isn't on crutches or even limping much but his ankle is hurting and he's seeing a specialist. We can only speculate how long he'll be off the roads but we missed him.
The Run. Dave and I both had 14 miles on our run cards this weekend so I followed him on his College Park route. It turned out to be the same 10 mile route we did two weeks ago plus a 4-mile loop a little north of Dave's house. It was in the high 70s and progressively more humid as the morning wore on. When the sun came up it got hotter but knocked down some of the humidity.
I thought we were going fairly fast but we were yacking with each other a lot and I can't help but believe I run slower when talking. We covered it in 2 hrs 13 minutes. Best part is it is over and maybe (big chance of it) next week it will be cooler (hah!).
New Shoes. In the afternoon I went down to the Track Shack where I knew there were only two pairs of Kayano XIIs left in my size. The anniversary (20% off) sale starts Monday and I couldn't afford to wait and miss getting one of those last pairs. Best of all, the owner extended a special client discount which made it all worthwhile. Life is good.
I am liking this 3 runs a week plan. Tuesday speed. Thursday tempo. Weekend long. It all gets done, produces desired results and isn't killing me (yet).
47 States. I ran into a man I know at the shoe store who is in his late 50s/early 60s. He was buying his standard pair of New Balance shows in advance of his 47th marathon ... all in different states. He's not in the 50 states club but is in his own. Next race: Wyoming. I thought that was pretty impressive. He's done them on several continents too.
Flashbacks. I took son C over to the college yesterday. He starts there on Tuesday. We ran into the junior son of a friend of mine who lives in Philly. The son happens to be a resident of the same #1 popular/notorious dorm room that I had in my sophomore year. He took us up to see the Tower which is a solo fourth floor room with two balconies overlooking the library lawn and the chapel. I will not share any historical accounts of my time there but it was quite nostalgic to be back in the Tower again. I shot some pictures (which Blogger won't load) and sent them to my college roommate. It's only been a few decades. He'll freak.

Going Up!

So I ripped off a 5 mile tempo run this morning in near record time (2nd best for the route). I saw a gal who works at Mrs. T's office out for a walk and one of my city commissioners out for a run. He lives down the street and was running the opposite direction from me over by the college. With about a mile to go in my run I heard these fast footfalls coming up behind me and it was the commish. He fell in with me and we did the last mile together. His pace had me breathing transparently (see breathing definitions here).

Okay. I need some opinions. Jeanne and Bex, I am sure, can point me to their own blog recaps of the Marine Corps Marathon. A guy at the track the other day, after I told him MCM was my target race, said I better be doing some serious hill training. I looked at him and reminded him we were in Florida, as in Flatlands. So the questions are: how hilly is the MCM? and do you think some daily stair climbing in my office building (nine floors) will help?

I LOVE speedwork

I slipped on the Kayanos this morning at 515, checked the blog and emails while downing a tall glass of water; then headed over to the track. There must have been 75 people there finishing up their 1K repeats and warm downs. I arrived as they were leaving so ended up with the track to myself and one guy on rollerblades. Thankfully he kept to the outside lane.
I had a score of perky little 400s to do this morning. One lap around at near full throttle was just what I wanted. I kept a good pace throughout and managed to keep my between rest distances to about 80 meters before restarting. So it went fast. I love speed work. I love my Kayanos.
Target 1:55.0. Intervals: 2:01.0, 1:56.0, 1:51.4, 1:51.0, 1:49.1, changed to clockwise, 1:52.2, 1:50.3, 1:47.9, 1:50.2, 1:46.4.
Ahhhhhhh!

Cadet porn

Yearling cadets had a week off before the start of school next week so son T and his bud B came south for a week of Florida heat. They might have done better staying in New England (I would have) but it was nice to have them around the house again.
We did not get to go for a run together since I was working long and hard all week but they found plenty to do. Last night we celebrated T's 23rd birthday with a big ol' cake with sparklers on it. It had been six years since we last had a chance to do that. Much fun. I bought him a massage for a present. He's hooked on Sherlene now.
Saturday I went for a 10 mile run. I started a little late (630) but managed to pull off two five mile loops with a Gatorade stop in between. I was shocked and surprised to see that my pace was 9:12 per mile which is the first time I have hit the range of my targeted speed on the Hurry Up training plan. Best of all I am not hurting afterwards.
I think the difference is the shoes. I ran in my Gel Kayanos and not the Evolutions. I am going to switch back which means I need a new pair. Fortunately there is a sale next week.
Marine Corps Marathon offers Powerade on the course. Let me tell you how difficult it is to find any variety, much less supply of that stuff in Florida, home of Gatorade.

Catching a wave

In my renewed effort to get on schedule and in shape I went over to the fitness center at the college on Monday to exert myself on the machines to "enhance" the upper body that has been generally neglected for, oh, say 30 years. Mrs. T has reinforced that point off and on for long enough, albeit with some discretion, to drive me to a new level excellence. (albeit: isn't that a great word?)
So I ripped through the machines in 30 minutes and became familiar enough to move faster in the future.
Tuesday was speed work day and I went up to the track with hopes of running into the Marathonfesters so I could see who exactly was in the group. There must have been 30-40 of them. In the dark I couldn't quite tell. I did see four people I knew which was good. I may try to catch on with them on a weekend long run down the road from now. The Tuesday gang was there an hour before me so I know I won't be joining them in time to do the speedwork.
I did 3 x 1600 in "okay" times of 7:50, 7:40 and 7:45. The target was 7:30 but I am just not there right now. Maybe a little later. (Yeah right, old man!)