Saturday by the numbers

Lost Seven. I'm not where I should be in my training. Vacation put me behind when I skipped the long run last weekend. Then I skipped my Thursday run (seven miles) and only did the speedwork. It's payback time.
Long 16-18. The Marathonfesters sent me their training schedule, trying to coax me out with them. Today they were down for 16-18 miles. I'll save you the trouble of looking back to see when I last did 16 miles, much less 13 miles. It was January.
Fat 156. I have been carrying a lot more weight than I am used to. My average for the year had been below 150 until early June. It has risen steadily to 156 and, after today, is finally turning back down. It was bloody hot out there. About 75F at 6 a.m. and 82F when I finished.
Ten at Six. Jason and I convened on Dave's house at 6. We hadn't trained together since December, I reckon. Jason had the plan and took the lead. We were going ten down into Orlando around two lakes and home. It was great to see them again and to catch up on all the in-school stuff I never hear about. With opening day just nine days away, there is much going on to hear about.
Buck thirty six. To use descriptions of us as runners, there is the rabbit, the tortoise and the geezer. The tortoise classifies himself as a Clydesdale and is wont to ask if the pace is too high many times. The rabbit says it gets high because of the geezer. The geezer says he's just trying to keep up. Thererfore there is much checking and rechecking the pace. It's an ongoing comic routine. We covered what Jason said was ten mles in 1:36:33 which is a respectable 9:39 pace. I downed a Gatorade and stretched.
We saw quite a few other runners out. It is a brutal time in Florida to be training for fall marathons but it is better than a treadmill or sleeping in. Well, not sleeping in but then where would we be on race day?
Three more. Dave and Jason are running Chicago the week before my Marine Corps. We're off a week on the training plans so when I returned home I argued with myself about going out for the other three on my schedule. I did it. It wasn't too nasty until the third mile when I resorted to jogs and walks. I logged it as a recovery run with 12 minute pacing.
Napping 90. When I got home I cleaned up, had a second breakfast and started to read the paper. I fell asleep for 90 minutes. I was whipped. And now I have lots of catch-up in the home repair department after being away for three weekends. The pool pump quit among other things.
So see you later. Let's all tune in to see how 21st Century Mom did in San Francisco.

Down South again

Vacation ended way too soon but that is probably good news for my running. I ate way too much, ran less and less and developed a "who cares?" attitude. So it was with much self-pushing that I went out for a track workout yesterday.
The plan called for 6x800. I did four, surprisingly at the same pace as the last time I did 800s. Then the humidity chewed at my thighs and I compromised to do a pair of 400s to see how I felt after that. They were okay but you could see the entrails of my energy dragging behind me. So I finished with a 200 and walked home. So much for sustained stamina.
I did agree to go for a 10-miler Saturday morning with two of my principal running pals who are training for Chicago. I think we're using the same training plan so they're always a week ahead of me. I'm supposed to go 13 this weekend, them 10. If I feel fine after the 10 I'll challenge myself for more.
Vacation was very relaxing. I got to see Susie a few times, plus Jank and April Anne. My staff was ecstatic that I did not email them all week. They think now there is hope for me. I kinda agree. Last night I booked flights back to New England for Labor Day Weekend. Is anybody going to New Haven?

Beach Pond

We left Watch Hill early, at 345; just before it started to sprinkle. We made it home and changed for our appointed run.
An hour drive to somewhere never seen. In the rain. On winding two lane roads into the uplands of Connecticut. Crossing the state line twice.
Hot dogs and buns in the cooler. Rain slicker on the seat. Mrs. T and son C in the car, game for an adventure - even if it fizzled.
East on Ten Rod Road (named for the width of the road) from SR49, past the Pizza Inn Restaurant in Voluntown down a sharp hill, across the causeway, back into Rhode Island and over the water of Beach Pond.
Pulled in and waited. Bill called. He's stuck behind an accident. It is still drizzling. We agree to meet back at the restaurant.
Things get better. A small cheese pizza for an appetizer substitutes for hot dog grilling in the rain. The rain stops. Bill joins us. We drive back to Beach Pond just as April Anne arrives.
We say hello. Take proof of attendance pictures (which will appear here when Blogger cooperates) and Bill lays out the run. 20 minutes out one trail - mostly uphill, along a ridge, beyond the pond - then back. Mrs. T takes out a beach chair and settles in to read her book.
Off we go. Up an embankment right at the start that reminded me of trying to run up Turn 2 at the Daytona International Speedway. Quad-burning breath-stealing agony. And April Anne is trying to make small talk. I'm gassed just at the start.
I finally warmed up and caught my breath as we ambled through the woods, following the white blazed trees, skipping over roots, rocks and puddles in the cloudy canopied cover of the Arcadia Preserve. I was finally able to chat back with April Anne. Bill too.
Then the trail blazes turned yellow. Bill?
We crossed a highway and Bill said he knew where we were but not where we expected to be. Okay. I'm with him. More hills. Up. Down. Rocks. Is this Rhode Island or Rock Island? Son C is the smart one now, not allowing himself to train wreck down a hill full of tripware.
After 40 minutes we reach the road again and son C and I take the easy path back to Beach Pond. AA and Bill ramble through the woods some more, then go another 10 minutes back to Connecticut on the road just to put in a good hard 50 minutes.
The men swim. AA smiles. Mrs. T finishes a chapter and we have enjoyed our visit. The raindrops start again and it is time to go.
Since we left so quickly we did not share April Anne's strawberry, cakes and whipped cream dessert. She caught up to us at the Pizza Restaurant and turned it over to us on the grounds that it was too much for her to eat alone. Well I can assure you, it was eaten completely tonight at our house. Thanks AA!!!!
The restaurant was incredible. They had a full menu of exceptional food besides the pizza. I had baked scrod. Mrs. T had fried batterless scallops. So succulent. It was delicious.
Drove home in the dark having completed another successful RBF Run with two great people.

Walk it off

It is broiling hot here in New England (like it isn't most everywhere else??) so after yesterday's three mile out and back walk along the sliver of Napatree Point beach to see the WWI fort remains I was not in a hurry to run today. I walked instead.
The fort was very cool and just slightly more overgrown than the last time I was there - 40 years ago (maybe less). I have been reading a book, Sudden Sea, which is a recounting of the 1938 New England hurricane that did more damage in America than any natural disaster in the 20th century. It bounced off Florida, zipped up the Atlantic coast in 24 hours, pummelled Long Island without a weather forecast warning of any hurricane and essentially wiped out the state of Rhode Island and eastern Connecticut. Of the hundred of homes lost along the coast, my grandparent's home where I am right now was one of the few to survive. Holy smokes.
Anyway, after the long beach walk, the social event of the summer last night (nothing to get jealous about) and the arrival of Susie, I took the next morning as an occasion to walk with Susie and see how life is treating her. We went 3 miles, caught up on things and then visited her parents.
The afternoon was spent soaking in the ocean to stay cool or sitting under the umbrella on our beach. Sure beats a day at the office. I finally took my watch off so I officially do not care what time it is.

Foggy

I set out at 700 this morning in a heavy shroud of fog. It sat on the pond and rolled up the roads too. The morning was quiet but for a few cars out and about. They came up quickly to my eye though I could hear them far sooner.
My run took me along A1A for five miles. We know it as the Shore Road though it doesn't touch the ocean, only the pond shores. There are swales, as best I can describe them, along the route which made for some good work on my quads.
At Winnapaug Road I headed south to the ocean and tried my first Cliff Block (in some berry flavor). It was okay but I did not have any water other than the fog misting on my tongue. Once I reached the ocean the cars were lining up to pull into the state beach park when it opened. I was there at 800 and they hadn't swung open the gates. What were they waiting for?
I took the opportunity to run through the parking lot and drop into one of the restrooms to pull some water from the sink. That helped clear the Cliff Block. I continued along Atlantic Avenue all the way to the breach way and found a convenience store open. A young lady gave me a plastic bowl of water like one would give a small dog. She could not surrender any inventoried cups. I had no money. I got what I wanted. It was cool.
I worked my way back inland and east to home. The last 3/4 mile was great as it was all downhill. 11.5 miles. 10:00 pace. Book it. Felt good.
The rest of the day was spent at the beach. Ahhhhh.

Note: ankles are tender this evening, especially the left one.