Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Run Track Mind

I had my mind set on running on the track today.
The clocks changed over the weekend to give us additional daylight.
It's April, should be getting warmer.
But the temp is 40 with a wind chill of 30, neither of which is good for speed work.
 
So maybe this is why TS Eliot said:
APRIL is the cruellest month
April is a big tease.
 
I did run.
No Pacers for company
I did not do much but it was a workout.
I left still feeling fresh which was the goal after such a week as last week was.
 
The field lights were on as there were about 60 school age girls with a few coaches out to do some lacrosse.
 
There were a half dozen or so walkers out doing their thing. Bundled up against the cold but walking and talking away.
 
The track was not a waste land tonight.
 
 
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Sunday, April 02, 2006

Resting

 
No long run today. As mentioned here this week, I have felt out of sorts. With the time change last night, and the NE Revolution playing their opening on the west coast, I got up to meet with the Pacers but did not hit the road.
 
I drew upon William Shakespeare who had Falstaff proclaim:
 
Oh yes, the Revs won at LA, 1-0. Go Revs!
 
 
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Saturday, April 01, 2006

Sign of Spring


Sign of Spring
Originally uploaded by shersteve.


If the flowers are blooming, then it must be time for spring or outdoor track?

Yes, it is. The first high school outdoor meet takes place today at Stoughton High School. The Franklin team will travel there to compete in the Hockomock Relays.

I'll be there with watch in hand and ready for the first event.

Ahh, spring! It is good to run outdoors when it is warm.

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Friday, March 31, 2006

Good & Bad

I did not have a good run today. I struggled to get past the first mile and then cut the planned course to run only three. I don't know what is up. I know I have not been stretching like I should and that at least accounts for the IT Band recurring in the right leg but the overall tiredness and lack of energy is currently unexplained.
 
Rest is best for this...
 
Fortunately while I did have a "bad" week running, I did have a good week at work so all is well with the world.
 
May the roads/trails be kind to you!
 
 
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Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Then there were three

Some days are great days to run. Like Sunday, I had something left at the finish of our 10 mile run.
 
Some days are just not meant for running. Like today, even after the warm up; even after the 1st set of hills, just couldn't get the legs going.
 
I am not sure what it was (or is). Did not spend a whole lot of time trying to figure it out. Just called it early and instead of doing the 2nd and 3rd set, did the warm down to call it a night.
 
Then there were three.
 
 
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Sunday, March 26, 2006

Good 10 Miles Today

There were a decent number of Pacers out today for our morning run. Some for the ten mile, a couple for some brick training (bike for 10 miles, then run for 3) and a couple of others for the normal 3 or 4-5 miles runs. As mentioned previously (but in case you are new here, we have a staggered start for these Sunday runs but they are timed to have us all finish about the same time). Another set of four runners were reported to be off on a Boston prep run with the Hopkinton Runners doing 24 miles on the course.
 
I was in the 10 mile group and we did well; managing to keep a conversation going most of the way and finishing in under 85 minutes.
 
The post-run conversation over Gatorade, coffee, hot chocolate, etc. at Dunkin Donuts helped to wind us down and get ready for the rest of the day and week to come.
 
May the roads/trails be kind to you!
 
 
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Saturday, March 25, 2006

CoComment Problems

I was wondering what happened to CoComment. When I pulled up my own pages, the CoComment section did not fil in. When I tried to use CoComment, I got nothing in response. No error message, no nothing.
 
Now, I finally find this posting on their own blog:

We current face massive DNS problems to www.cocomment.com. We are currently hosting our DNS as joker.com and they issued the following statement

Joker.com currently experiences massive distributed denial of service attacks against nameservers.
This affects DNS resolution of Joker.com itself, and also domains which make use of Joker.com nameservers.
We are very sorry for this issue, but we are working hard for a permanent solution.
Thank you for your understanding.

Unfortunately, we are also affected by this and cocomment.com is thus often not reachable from various locations. We are currently trying to move our DNS to another hoster, but that unfortunately takes time and as joker is quite busy it’s probably even harder than usual.

We are really sorry about this and apologize for any inconvenience you encounter. We hope the situation goes back to normal soon.

They have my email address. They could have sent me and each other user an email. Email is still functioning.
 
Maybe next time. (Oh, and while I hope there won't be one soon in this technical world, something will happen.)
 
 
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Friday, March 24, 2006

Foot strength + Flexibility = Improved Running

Speed is the calculation of stride frequency and stride length. There are critical factors in this calculation: (1) your flexibility, the ability to move easily in this running motion, (2) the amount of time actually in contact and the push off from the ground. At the USATF Level 1 Class recently one of the key takeaways was the question: "What brand of shoe do the Kenyans use from age 1 through 10?" Bare feet!

Foot strength is key to strength all the way up the leg.

Russ Ebbets provided a set of five foot drills that help to strengthen the foot. 4 of the 5 drills are done barefoot. The distance covered for each drill is about 25 meters. Each drill is done once a day. Each drill is recommended to be done on grass but any flat clean surface will work. The 5th drill is done with your shoes on. Total time shoes off/on, etc. about 5 minutes. Quick and easy with a big payoff.
  1. walk on the outside of your feet
  2. walk on the inside of your feet
  3. walk with a toe in or pigeon toe gait
  4. walk with the toes out (a la Charlie Chaplin)
  5. and with your shoes on, walk on your heels.
Doing this regularly will improve the strength of the feet and enable optimization of the stride.
For flexibility, a few key static stretches can be found in this Active.Com article by Reece Haettich. These stretches should be done after running. It is good to note that the standing quad stretch is usually done improperly. I'll confess that as I reviewed this text, I have committed the error.
You'll often see athletes make the mistake of trying to accentuate the stretch by leaning forward at the waist and pulling the stretched leg behind the opposite knee, at this point you've crossed into a different stretch in a poor postural position to do so. Stay straight and maintain a normal lumbar curve for best results.
Combining the foot drills and the stretches (post run) you should be able to improve your running stride and your overall performance.

May the roads/trails be kind to you!

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This posting was also part of the Passionate Runner podcast series and can be found here.

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Thursday, March 23, 2006

New Route

Tried a new route tonight. Normally don't do a new route in the dark without having run it during daylight first but made the exception tonight as I was able to drive over a portion of it before hand. The portion that I was not already familiar with. I was alone for the run so it also made it easier to try and go exploring, less risky.
 
The route worked out nicely. It varied in some ups and downs early, nothing major just some nice rolls. The course settled in for a bit before making a gradual incline. The heights all came down rather quickly about 3/4 mile from the end before going up for a quarter mile then down for the last quarter mile. Always feels good to finish on a decline. Less effort to really pick it up for a good finish.
 
5.1 miles in 43 minutes, in the dark, alone: nice run.
 
Also nice because the temp was 52 F to start so I was able to wear a cotton long sleeve shirt on top and my yellow running shorts (for visibility) and not have to bundle up like I have been doing most of the winter. (Carried my little flashlight and wore my reflective vest to ensure I was about as visible as I could be.)
 
The route in Franklin for anyone interested can be found on MapMyRun at
 
May the roads and trails be kind to you!
 
 
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Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Guest blogging today at Time Goes By


I have the honor to be blogging today on Ronni Bennett's Time Goes By.

What you'll read is one of my longer story posts, my version of the 37Days challenge.

I hope you enjoy it.


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Monday, March 20, 2006

Map Comparisons Due

 
If you did take time to do your map comparison as outlined here and here, please submit your feedback to me via email (shersteve at gmail dot com) or via comment.
 
Send it in as soon as you can.
 
Thanks!
 
 
 
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Two Steve's - American Runners

This story out of Active.com is a good one. I remember watching Steve Scott run. He was exciting to watch. I wondered where he was, what he was up to. He is still running and that is good.

What follows here is the outline of my story, the other Steve, the less famous one. Over the coming months, I'll flesh out details into individual posts to cover each of the major periods of my running and accomplishments.

I guess I am in the historical mode recently. Run to Remember triggering my journey back through my first log book. I did not keep records during high school but I do have records from the summer before college (1972) through to current time. I kept a log of each day I ran, where or how far, sometimes including the weather and who with.

The first log is a small lined brown notebook. I used to see these frequently in the drug store stationary section. This log book lasted from 1972 through to 1980 with the exception of 1979. I have a notation that "the records will be kept in the new log until that is filled" and then the next entry in this book is January 2, 1980. I need to dig into other archives looking for this single year log book. It is probably one from Runner's World.

Most of the records for the 1980's I kept on a computer database. Yes, I had gotten my first computer in 1982 for use during my MBA studies. I still have the system and have the floppy 5 1/4 inch diskettes but have not turned the system on to get into the program to read the entries. I do know that most of the 1980's and 90's were weeks of 1-3 miles a day, no more than 9 - 15 miles per week. A few races here and there. My married life, new job, MBA during night school, and then the birth of our two daughters took priority over my running time.

The girls grew up and became active first with soccer, then swimming, and finally in high school switched to running. Only when they switched to running did I get a chance to do more than the minimum. I volunteered to help the middle school team learn the baton pass. I continued volunteering with this coach when he (and my daughter) moved to high school, actually getting an honorary letter for the help I provided.

Over time as our computers changed, I realized that if I really wanted to keep a log I would have to do better about transferring the data from one system to another. In 2000, I started an Excel file to keep the numbers on the days and miles, along with a hand written log to record the weather routes, etc.

As you may recall in the fall of 2004, I joined a local running club, the Norfolk County Pacers and began running with them in earnest. The girls no longer needed me to be home after supper to help them with their home work. Allison was away for her first year at college, and Carolyn was a junior in high school. I switched from running alone in the mornings to running in the evenings with the Pacers. This schedule evolved into Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday with the 3 day FIRST program and with a few exceptions is the norm today.

So for my historical running periods, I have no records of what I did during high school (other than the school yearbook). I have good daily records for college and the six years after that I was teaching and coaching. Once I switched to the business world, got married, etc. the miles tampered off but the 3-4 days per week activity was kept up. Then in 2004, I got into running with the club and am making progress in getting into something like the shape I had once upon a time.


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A coaching I will go - Updated

Completed the Level 1 USA Track & Field coaching class held this weekend on the Villanova Univ. campus. A whole lot of good ideas were captured in my notes. I have been feed plenty of food for thought on running and how to improve my own running as well as the performance of those whom I coach or have contact with.
 
The presenters were good. The organization of the sessions were somewhat frustrating. If the point of the class was to cover all the material to get us all on the same page, they did do that but not as consistently as they could have. One of the presenters clearly had not seen the material before hand and was unfamiliar with the format. However, he was one of the better presenters in that he just talked from what he knew and logically went through the event piece by piece. As he tried to go back to the presentation, he was able to see that, yes, he covered this, covered this, etc. If the point was to have some interactive demonstrations to answer questions on how to do this in that situation, then they were only partially successful.
 
It was a long weekend (class from 6:00 PM 'til 9:00 Friday, from 8:00 AM 'till, 9:30 Saturday, and finally from 8:00 AM 'til 1:00 PM on Sunday). But unlike other classes I have had, I did not feel overwhelmed or brain dead from it. I was alert through out the entire session.
 
So stay tuned for updates here on a variety of topics related to the class. I'll have some tips, tricks, etc, to share.
 
 
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Friday, March 17, 2006

Happy St. Patrick's Day

To all the Irish and friends of the Irish on this wonderful day, a Friday no less, you have an excuse to toss a pint of Guiness down.
 
Drink responsibly!
 
Love fully!
 
Live joyously!
 
 
 
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Thursday, March 16, 2006

A coaching I will go

Yes, this weekend I will be visiting Villanova to attend the USATF Level 1 Coaching class being conducted there.

I am looking forward to it. The schedule appears to have late nights Friday and Saturday so I don't know how much writing I'll get in while I am there.

I'll at least keep you posted on what happened after!

Catch you later....



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Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Reminder - Map Comparison

Friendly reminder that by now you should have visited about 3 of the 5 running map sites to map your run if you are going to be able to complete it all by the 19th as originally requested.

If you need more time, drop me a line.

For a recap on what we are about check out these:

Running Route Map Comparison

Running Route Software Survey


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Monday, March 13, 2006

Run to Remember

Ran Boston's Run to Remember on Sunday. 1209 folks finished in front of me and another 2800 finished after. It was a well executed event.
 
I was very impressed with the official pace runners. I stayed near the 8:00 minute/mile pacer and he got us to the mile right at 8, the 2 mile right at 16, and the 3 mile at 24. And this is working with the crowds through the start, multiple turns, some ups, some downs as we wound our way through down town Boston and out to Memorial Drive. I stayed on this pace but somehow ended up in front of them during one of the water stops. No matter, the 8 minute miles kept coming through the 8 mile mark at 63:50 then I started tiring.
 
The last five miles were where the "work" part of my long "workout" was taking place. 8:10, 8:20, 8:40, 9:10 and finally 1.1 miles in 10:00 to finish at 1:48:37. Not bad for these old legs.
 
The 8 minute mile pace group did pass me between miles 9 and 10 but I had to let them go.
 
A Norfolk County Pacer buddy came up between mile 10 and 11, and I had to let him go. He was a late entry to the race. I had not expected to see anyone from the club.
 
I dug out my old running log book to check on the half that I had run once before, actually in 1978 when I was preparing for the Ocean State Marathon held in Newport that year. In Westerly, RI on October 15th, I ran the half in 1:22:23. Those were younger legs!
 
While this will be a run to remember, I hope my legs try and forget some of this quickly. One of the reasons, I have no plans for another marathon is it simply takes too long to prepare and too long to recover. I prefer to do more frequent races (about once a month) at a shorter distance (5K or 10K). These are much more fun.
 
This workout showed me that I will be ready for some good runs this season. The first 8 miles were comfortable at that pace. There is some speed still left in these legs.
 
 
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Friday, March 10, 2006

Wrong turns

Running Thursday evening with one of my Pacer buddies, we did a route we had not done in a couple of weeks. I guess it felt like more than that as we took a wrong turn a couple of times. Just running along, in conversation, turning this way and that (it is that kind of a route), we turned and suddenly it did not seem right.
 
The first one was easy. It didn't take us long to realize where we went wrong. And how to correct it. And then shortly after that, we did it again... the fence was the key this time. We did not remember the fence. So we back tracked and turned this way and eventually it felt like we knew where we were.
 
Finally on familiar roads, the last one in particular, cruising along. Cars coming along infrequently to light our way. Three gentle slopes along the stretch to help us concentrate on the pace which was picking up slightly. Maintaining strides, matching strides. A shout out from one of the passing cars. This does not happen often. Maybe my yellow tights were too much for them this night.
 
May the roads/trails be kind to you!
 
 
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Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Running Route Software Survey

As mentioned the other day, here are the questions that you can provide answers for to make our comparison of the currently 5 different web sites to map your running route.

Check out the Map Comparison for the listing of the sites and introduction to the comparison.

For each site you can use the same set of six questions.
Be sure to include the site name with each set of your responses.

Site name:_____________________

Q1 - How easy was it to create your short (1 - 5 mile) run?
Easy, Okay, Hard (select one)

Q2 - How easy was it to create your long (6 - 26 mile) run?
Easy, Okay, Hard (select one)

Q3 - Can you name this route?
Yes, No (select one)

Q4 - Can you share this route?
Yes, No (select one)

Q5 - Would you recommend using this site?
Yes, No (select one)

Q6 - Why?
(please add some specifics that you liked or did not like about this site.)

What are the five sites?
USATF's "America's Running Routes"

Please send all responses to me by March 19th!

I'll compile the results and publish them before the end of March.

Thanks for your help in this!


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Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Half mile workout

I was running alone tonight so I opted not to do the hills but take advantage of no snow on the track to do some half mile interval work out there for a change.
 
It was dark on the track, no lights but those cast towards us from the middle school near by. A few clouds overhead but mostly stars in the sky. Too bad it wasn't a full moon.
 
Running in the dark was good. I was able to concentrate on pace and breathing. I have not thought about my breathing much. It just happens. Since my stride and rhythm seemed to be doing well, I decided to take note of my breathing pattern. For awhile I was able to. Kept drifting off to think about other things, could not stay with the breathing for too long.
 
Mile warm up, mile warm down, four times half mile with a quarter mile jog between. Clocked them at 3:35, 3:28, 3:32, and 3:34. Felt good. The second one felt fast; the breathing was heavier. After that I concentrated on keeping the pace steady and the third worked out perfectly even at 1:46, 1:46.
 
May the road/trail be kind to you!
 
 
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Monday, March 06, 2006

Einstein Endorsement


I do not recall hearing about Albert running something other than multiple calculations but this was on the internet so it must be TRUE!











Thanks to Phil for the linkage.


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Sunday, March 05, 2006

Map Comparison

If you have visited here previously, you may be aware that there are at least five different sites that all you to map your run. All five are mashups of Google maps. While all five are based upon Google there are significant differences in how you do the mapping and what the output is. I have played with the five thus far and have my likes and dislikes. I think it would be a good idea to try and do a comparison of these sites with your input.
 
What do I need to do?
Try each site. Map a short run (1-5 miles) and a long run (6-26 miles). See how it works for you.
 
When do we do this?
You can start now. I think two weeks should be sufficient time to do the mapping for the two runs (short and long) on each site.
 
How do we provide our input?
I'll provide a set of questions to answer and a scale for you to rate each site.
 
I'll the questions and scale posted by Wednesday March 8th.
 
You send your input back by Sunday March 19th.
 
You can email the input back to me at shersteve_@_gmail_dot_com. I'll compile your input along with mine and publish it before the end of March.
 
All those who provide input will receive recognition.
 
What are the five sites?
 
 
Have fun mapping your routes! Keep notes as you do and we'll share them here.
 
 
PS - There is a blog devoted to Google Maps, check it out here.
 
 
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FeedBurner issue/Resolved

You may have noticed if you visit Passionate Runner or Passion for the Good Customer Experience that the Feedburner headlines for Steve's 2 Cents is stuck.
The date keeps changing but the posting is stuck on "Watch this space for future items".
I have tried to troubleshoot my feed but it seems to be beyond me at the moment.
The capability to click through to the site works fine but even though I do post almost daily, it does not seem to reflect that.
Hopefully, I'll have some resolution soon.
Thanks for your patience.

Updated- thanks to some guidance from Rick Klau, the issue appears to be resolved! Thanks Rick!

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First Milestone This Year

I made it to 200 miles this year a week quicker than last year and I ran less days to do so. This time last year was averaging 5+ miles per day. This year I am averaging 7+ miles per day on the three day FIRST Plan.
 
A good ten mile run today with the Pacers closed out the week. Next week I run Boston's Run to Remember. On St Patrick's day, I drive down to Villanova to participate in a Level 1 coaching certification course with USAT&F.
 
The month is just starting but feels like it is almost over already!
 
May the roads/trails be kind to you.
 
 
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Thursday, March 02, 2006

busyness

Routine disrupted with busyness.

Carolyn had her high school indoor track team season closing banquet tonight, a pot luck dinner event with lots of pasta (all kinds), some awards, a slide show and video highlights of the just completed season.

Missed my normal running night to attend, but with no regrets. The snow took care of that. A good couple of inches of white fluffy stuff dropped quickly on the area from about 4:00 - 7:00 PM making the roads nice and slick for the commute home. Would not have been a good night to be out on the roads in that mess anyway. I can make it up with a run tomorrow night instead.


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Sunday, February 26, 2006

Go Pacers!

A good bunch of Pacers are in Hyannis, MA today for the Half-Marathon which is due to start soon. It is 16 degrees here in Franklin with wind chill down to 1. According to weather.com it is slightly warmer there, 25 degrees with wind chill to 7. Good ol' ocean temperatures!
 
I wish you all the best today Pacers!
 
 
PS - I would be with them but need to take my daughter up to VT to spend an overnight on campus at St Michael's College so she can help to make her decision as to where she will end up next September.
 
Yes, it is a tough life but someone needs to lead it.
 
I did my run already this morning. I started at 7:00 AM and ran the alternate 10 mile route for the first time. It is a good course. A couple of good rolling hills in there to make it interesting but nothing unbearable and not as hilly as our Big Apple loops. I took me about 88 minutes to cover the 10.2 course so I did pretty well for a cold day alone.
 
 
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Thursday, February 23, 2006

Skipped hills Tuesday

My legs were still heavy and sore from the run on Sunday but I went to Tri-County willing to do the hills if any of the Pacers were there. No one showed up, so it gave me an easy excuse to back off. I did the warm up mile to see if any one would arrive late and then shifted to Horace Mann to run the Charles River loop from there.

Yes, I could have easily done about the same from where I was but the thought of going back up the hill to the car was a motivating factor.

The three mile loop was okay. I took it easy. My legs warmed up and stretched by the end but were still heavy and sore.

The legs are feeling more rested today. Looking forward to a good run tonight.

Monday, February 20, 2006

Foxboro 10

 
I ran the Old Fashioned 10 Miler yesterday put on by the Wampanoag Roadrunners. They did a wonderful job. I have run the 5K there several times and this year moved up to the 10 mile.
 
A good course, challenging, rolling, and very well done. Police and volunteers at all the key points. Good water stops. It was cold enough, 20's F, I was wondering if we would get ice but we got good cold water.
 
One Wamp running buddy I saw dispensing water at the 3 stop and then again at the 8 stop, nice double duty buddy!
 
A group of Pacers were there (as well as my daughter and her friend to run the 5K).
 
If you have followed my progress, this was going to be a good workout on the race course. I ran 10 in a "fun run" with the Wamps a few weeks ago in about 79 minutes so I want to do just better than that. Especially since each of the last two weeks, I had run 13 on Sunday, this seemed a reasonable goal.
 
Better pacing would have provided that result.
 
I started by working my way through the crowd, about 400 runners, to get into my rhythm and found the first mile at 7:30. Well, it was better than 8:00 so that was good. The second came along the same way as I hit two at 15:00. That was good, consistent. I did feel good. Not sure what happened during the next mile, maybe I was thinking of the 5K my daughter and friend were going to run. I hit three in 22:00 (7:00). Not good. So I backed it off a bit and hit four in 31:00 (9:00). Not good, backed it up too much, or did the rolling road have something to do with it? Back to concentration time and I found five at 38:30 (7:30). That's better. The rolls got a bit more pronounced but they were really only rolls. And whatever went up came down the other side so it was good to work. Six came by in 46:00 (7:30). Not bad, some consistency. The rolls continued and seven came by in 54:10 (8:10) Starting to feel the cold. There was a long hill during the eight mile and I felt it coming to the mile mark at 63:00 (8:50). Only two to go, let's get back to it. Started feeling a bunch coming up on me. For most of the past few miles I had been trading places with folks with little overall movement of folks going by me. But this pack was coming, or I was slowing, and I realized it was more me than them so that helped the concentration. I found nine at 71:00 (8:00). Better. Another group approached and as I stayed with some, some just went by that I could do nothing about. The home stretch was welcome and I finished but was glad it was only ten today. 78:54 (7:54). Halleluiah, now for some soup!
 
The first three at 22:00, the last three at 24:40. Not the negative splits I would have preferred.
 
Some of the stretches were into the breeze and I tried tucking in with whatever running buddy happened to be near to let them take the breeze. Some of them clearly did not appreciate this. They altered their stride to get ahead or fall back. I talked with one of them who did this drastically. I encouraged them to tuck in to me, but they grunted and fell further back. I will need to watch this in other races this season. Where is the cooperativeness on the road? Will also need to help reinforce this with some of the Pacer practices. If we get practiced at it, it will help us all, and maybe by example we can share the road better.
 
All in all, a good day. Cold yes but it has been colder.
 
Carolyn's cold bothered her so she did not run well. Her friend Laura ran real well in the 5K taking first female overall in the 99 finishers. Way to go Laura!
 
What's next? Back to regular workouts for a couple of weeks in preparation for the Run to Remember in Boston. Nice irony in that title, I'll need to remember my pacing advice to do this 13 miler.  :-)
 
 
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Saturday, February 18, 2006

New template today

What did you do?

Yes, it was about time. I needed I new look.

Work is busy or quiet, on or off, in or out, up or down, debit or credit.
Hey, all technology is even ones or zeros.
You get the idea.

So the new template is color themed green/white.
Green for the outdoors, the natural world where I run.

But rest assured, I will continue to try and run between, amongst, around, above, below, the line, etc.

With your help via comments, emails, and overall cooperative collaborative inspiration of course!

So that said: what do you think?Is this a keeper?

Let me know.


PS - with a little luck both Passionfor the Good Customer Experience and Steve's 2 Cents will get new looks this weekend also.

PSS - and many thanks to Thur Broeders for the template!




Friday, February 17, 2006

Long Weekend

Missed the normal Thursday run due to a work party for some folks leaving the company. Needed to hoist a few for the brave. Planned on running this evening to make up for it but the weather (i.e. Mother Nature) had other ideas. Something about 60 MPH gusts kept me indoors. Dinner was quiet (Chinese leftovers) listening to the wind howl and rattle the doors/windows.
 
Glad I was not running, I may not have been able to stay on the roads. May have even ended up like Dorothy. Toto, I don't think we are in Kansas any more.
 
So the log will be short a day and a few miles, oh well. The long run Sunday should be a good one. 10 Miles in Foxboro with the temperature at sunrise forecasted to be in single digits (6 F). It will take me a bit to get warm for sure but it will be better to run 10 in the cold than in 90 plus humidity. (Remember Falmouth?)
 
 
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Wednesday, February 15, 2006

More Route Mapping Software

For example, I found mapmyrun.com and then heard about two other route mapping tools using Google maps.

I found Google Map Mania which is a collection of sites extending Google maps to applications you would not normally think of. On this site the "new" two route mapping sites are listed, and guess what, they are not alone.

There are more!

Check these out: Favorite Run Walk, Jog, Run




Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Two for 6 on Tuesday

 
A little fun with numbers and alliteration tonight.
Two Pacers out on the roads.
Exploring. In the dark.
Found a new section of a development that I had not known existed before.
Cool!
Well, yes, it was, but not bad. Still in the 30's.
Roads wet, no ice to worry about.
No breeze to fight against. A nice night to run.
The moon was rising.
Waning but still almost full. Peaking through the trees at first.
Above the trees as we finished and we were not gone long.
Approx. 6 miles worth to add to the log book.
 
The schedule starts to get a bit crazy.
I won't make it Thursday.
Foxboro's 10 Mile and 5K run on Sunday (2/19).
School vacation follows.
Then Hyannis is the Sunday after (2/26).
Some Pacers are going to each of these runs.
We may not see some folks until the dinner in Providence on March 4th.
 
May the roads and trails be kind to you.
 
 
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Running Community

For my entire adult life (and maybe even before, if you count my high school XC team) I have found/chosen/created an intentional family through running that has helped me feel seen and known and safe. Currently, my running brothers and sisters are the Trailheads and seejanerun, but at any given time in my life, it was always a running friend - out there on the trails or track or road, with real-life flesh and blood and sweat - “who was there to listen and be sorry with me, to be happy with me, to share all that there is to share.”
Read the full posting here.
 
In preparing this, I checked for the link to her About me and it was different from the last time I visited.

So, what does the future hold? At the Freihofer’s Master’s 5k National Road Championships in Albany, NY, I met a 75 year-old runner named Toshiko d’Elia. What an inspiration! Toshi ran a sub 3-hour marathon at age 50, a sub 7:00 mile at age 65, and is still going strong at age 75 … breaking the National 5k 75+ record with a 27:02. I told her a little bit of my story, mentioning how I once participated in an “elite distance runner’s” test study, only to discover the one category where I was near the top was foot plant. Not very glamorous, I laughed, foot plant. Toshi’s eyes glistened like Yoda’s when she prophesied, “You will have perfect foot plant in eternity.”

I left that meeting knowing the full impact of her words. Yes! Yes, Toshi, I know who I am and where I’m going. I will always be the “loser” who tries too hard and who risks having beer cans thrown at her, but I will keep on running – with perfect foot plant – into eternity.

Read the full About me section.

 
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Sunday, February 12, 2006

FIRST Program - 1/2 Marathon Plan

Dave Kuehls writes at Runner's World in the March 2006 issue:
Last August we published a three-day-a-week marathon-training program developed by researchers Bill Pierce and Scott Murr called the Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training program, or FIRST plan. After 16 weeks on this no-frills program, 13 veteran marathoners improved on their most recent times by an average of almost 20 minutes at the December 2004 Kiawah Island Marathon in South Carolina.
It was the August issue where the FIRST program was written about by Amby Burfoot.

Avid readers are aware I have been running the FIRST program since September 2005 and doing quite well with it. I took my 5K PR down twice since I started and in addition ran PR's on 2 courses, bettering the previous year's time by almost 2 minutes in both cases. My mileage this year has been averaging over 20 per week and over 7 per day. The speed/pace day (Tuesday), the tempo day (Thursday) and the distance day (usually Sunday) have combined to bring my fitness level to a point where I was in my 20's. (Note, regular readers may recall that I am in my 50's now.)

The Pacers switched the long run from Sunday to Saturday this week, in advance of the blizzard and it was a good thing they did so. This was my second run at 13 miles since 1978 (the first was last week). We ran the same time as last week but this one felt so much better. After ensuring the group at the back of the pack knew the course, I used Vine St to catch the front pack. It felt good to be able to pick up the pace and catch them. It felt even better to be able to stay with them for the remainder of the run. It felt still better to feel that if the push came to it, I could still have found another gear.

So the FIRST program works. If you have not looked at it closely, I would encourage you to do so.

Only three days to run per week?
Yes, but the days are quality runs.

What kind of mileage can you reach?
Look at the marathon plan, they peak at 32 miles in a single week and then look at the results!

What about the results?
13 marathons improve their times by 20 minutes and in the second test, 14 of 17 marathons run PR's.

But I need the longer mileage?
You think you do, but you would better without it!

Why is the program successful?
Let me ask you this: Have you ever seen a home without doors or windows?
No.
Good, I did not think so. Did you ever get hurt from resting?
No.
Good, I did not think so.

What is the secret?
The secret to the program is proper rest. A big house doesn't do you any good with out a door to get in or out, or windows to open and let in the light and breeze. So the logic goes with the FIRST program: The days you run, you run quality. The days you rest, you are better prepared to run quality the next time you lace your shoes.

So it comes down to your choice: high mileage, multiple days, with results that depend upon staying healthy or three days, quality mileage, results almost guaranteed. (Nothing is ever a guarantee, even if they say so... there is no such thing in life as a real guarantee!)

This issue of Runner's World has a half marathon plan according to the FIRST program.

I also crafted a 10K plan and a 5K according to the FIRST program. Both were of shorter duration and based upon a fitness level of about 20 miles per week. If you need any modification to these plans for your own goal, let me know and I would be willing to craft one for you.



Wise choice

The Pacers made a wise choice to switch the long run from Sunday to Saturday this week. As the forecast started appearing Thursday and evolved into the major blizzard that is upon us today, the email was almost as quick as good pack running; each new instance, another runner pushing to the front, drawing more attention, drawing another runner to challenge the pack and continue to the push the pace. Ah the glories of pack running! Competitive in the good sense, together we accomplished more than we could have pushing alone.
 
This was pack running on Saturday. Three of us met early for 3 miles and joined up with four others for the 10 mile loop. Good conversations over the first 6 miles, the pairs changing amongst the seven of us. The hill on Arnold St separated the pack for the final time, four leading, three behind.
 
The coffee, hot chocolate and Gatorade was refreshing and enjoyed over some more relaxing conversation in Dunkin Donuts after we finished and joined with those who ran the 6 mile or 3 mile loops.
 
Now we can relax and enjoy the warm, cozy interior of our homes away from the blizzard raging outside today.
 
 
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Sunday, February 05, 2006

2006 - New Milestones

The first 100 miles was covered this year as I completed today's 13 mile run with my buddies from the Pacers. I am running better than last year averaging over 7 miles per day on the 3 day a week FIRST program.

The 13 miles today was also the longest single run I completed since... well, since 1978! Yes, lots of reasons for that but it felt good to do it today.

I had registered for the Hyannis Half-Marathon but won't be able to run it now that Carolyn has an accepted students overnight at St Michael's the same day. Instead, the week before, I'll run 10 mile course at the Foxboro Old-Fashioned 10 Mile put on by our partners at the Wampanoag RoadRunners.

Boston's Run to Remember in March will be my new race attempt for the half-marathon, not so much for the race but for the workout.

May the roads/trails be kind to you!



Saturday, February 04, 2006

Running Route Maps

Thanks to some comments and email, we now have three different running map software/web sites to use. They are all based upon Google maps but each takes a different turn.

As I continue to explore them, I'll compile my thoughts on the pluses and minuses of each.

You are most welcome to join in this discussion. Let me know what you like/dislike about each of these.

So far we have:

MapMyRun

America's Running Routes

Gmaps Pedometer


If you have another one, let's throw that into the mix as well.

The more the merrier!



Thursday, February 02, 2006

Two for the tempo

There were three guys on Tuesday but only two for the road tonight. The ladies must be busy. I'll look forward to the stories when they return. In the mean time, it was just the Pacer guys cruising the Franklin roads in the dark.
 
The weather Tuesday was icy, chilly and a fine "almost frozen" mist. We bagged the hills and went exploring this way (through Charles River and back) and that (along the hill ending up on Daley Dr) covering about 6 miles before we were done.
 
Tonight the two of us found our Pacer jingle bell route in the dark successfully again and cruised along conversing about oil changes and stolen cars (no, we weren't think of doing it... just because we were running in the dark doesn't make us hoodlums, crazy maybe, but then that's another story!).
 
We appreciated the warmth tonight (still in the 40's at run time) and that there was no breeze to challenge us. Really can't complain thus far about winter. Haven't really had to run in bad weather too often. But winter isn't over yet. Punxatawny Phil saw his shadow today so we get at least six more weeks of winter, assuming his forecast is good.
 
 
 
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Monday, January 30, 2006

map your run

I found this really cool web site to plot out and map your running routes. As you click to follow the road, it calculates the distance. Slick.

A free site, registration required. Elevation is planned for a future release.

Allows for comments and ratings of the routes. This will be good for use with the running club, the Pacers.

In fact, the Pacer run yesterday inspired me to look for something like this. We did a 10 mile route for the first time and it turned out it was not 10 but rather 8.5. Oh well... things could have been worse.

So anyway, now with this web site, the route has been adjusted and calculated to be a full 10 miles.

I am already putting together a wish list for the site:
  • the ability to make mile markers
  • the ability to post the route on a window where it can be viewed without scrolling
  • the ability to resize the route/window to print
You can check out the Pacers running routes here.

If you ever find yourself in Franklin, you'll have a choice of running routes.



Thursday, January 26, 2006

Solo safety, winter running

It is good to see other publications providing advice similar to what I have put forth. An Active.com article covers how to be safe when running alone in the dark and dressing appropriately for the winter weather.

Read the full article here.


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Cross training marathon plan

The Active.com newletter has this article on Cross-training Marathon Plan.
Here's your conundrum: You want to run a personal best marathon, but every time you build up to the running mileage you believe is required to achieve this goal, you get injured. Should you just give up and find another goal to pursue?

Not at all! By taking a cross-training-based approach to training, you can run a lifetime-best marathon on just three or four runs a week. Incorporating non-impact cardio workouts and functional strength workouts into your program will reduce your chances of getting injured not only by limiting your running mileage, but also by increasing the stability of your joints (as joint instability is the primary cause of most running injuries).

Your cross-training workouts will also enhance your running performance, more than making up for the running miles that are cut from your program to make room for cross-training.

Yes, this sounds just like the FIRST plan we have been using since September, 2005. You may recall it was written up in Runner's World July issue.

Must be a good thing especially if someone else has come up with it in their own way.

 

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Tuesday, January 24, 2006

5 Guys 5 Miles

No women tonight to keep us company for the Pacer workout. Some of them had a nutrition presentation to attend to. The guys would have offered to come by for snacks but the thought of carrot sticks and tofu without washing it down with some good cold beer wasn't all that appealing. We stuck to the work at hand on the hills. :-)

The night was good. In the mid-30's for temp. No breeze to challenge us on the long hill corner. The ups and downs were covered. The warm up and warm down were talked through.

5 miles. 5 guys.

Simple.

Effective.

Then it was over like that!


Sunday, January 22, 2006

Glorious 10

Yes, the wind abated. The fears of yesterday were relieved of their duty. The day dawned gloriously here in MA.

Some of the Pacers joined with the Wampanoag Roadrunners and the Hopkinton Running Club for a joint club run today. We started at D&B Sports in North Attleboro, the meeting point for a good bunch of the Wamps' runs.

There were about 15-20 of us that headed out for the 10 mile run. Another group was starting later to go 6. Others also joined along the way to do their runs and all finished back at D&B Sports for coffee and chatter.

I felt really good. It was a new route for me. A couple of good long risers but nothing I would classify as a real hill compared to what we do at TriCounty or along the Big Apple routes.

I was in a group of about 5. 2 split off and went ahead of us. 1 of them we reeled in on the way home as the 3 remaining runners talked and made our way along the roads.

Traffic was light. There was ample room on the shoulder so we mostly ran two or three abreast.

On the return, there was one short "hill" section and as we topped out I caught up with and then stayed with the one we reeled in. I knew we were heading back but really did not know the mile marks or what we had left. I was surprised to hear him point out that the stop sign there was the 8 mile mark. I looked at my watch and saw 63 minutes and change.

Are you sure?

Yup, this has been wheel measured.

Wow! sub-8 minute pace and I feel good.

We continued to hold the pace and finished in 79 minutes and change.

I am mighty pleased. This was a glorious 10.

I hope your run today was a good one!



Saturday, January 21, 2006

Weather or not

The wind is blowing. There is a high wind advisory for our neck of the woods through midnight.
WINDS WILL SHIFT TO NORTHWEST BETWEEN 5 PM AND 7 PM ACROSS RHODE ISLAND...CONNECTICUT...WESTERN AND CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS AND SOUTHWEST NEW HAMPSHIRE. FARTHER EAST...WINDS WILL SHIFT TO THE NORTHWEST BETWEEN 6 PM AND 8 PM ACROSS EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS...WHICH INCLUDES THE GREATER BOSTON AREA AND CAPE COD AND THE ISLANDS.

AT THAT TIME WINDS WILL REACH 25 TO 35 MPH...WITH GUSTS REACHING 50 TO 55 MPH. WINDS WILL DIMINISH FROM WEST TO EAST AROUND OR SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT.

It was almost 60 degrees again today. This is not what one would call "normal" New England winter weather. But you know, times have changed. Recall it was a year ago, we got buried with a blizzard.

The weather changes are here to stay so runners need to adjust. Bundle up, change time of day, change direction, whatever works to keep on running.

And hope the forecast is accurate: that the wind will dimish overnight. I got a long run scheduled in the morning and it would not be fun in this wind.

 

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Get Your Geek On

Wil and Tri-Geek Kahuna have put together a podcast, the first of a series.
 
Some fun stuff! Have a listen!
 
 
 
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Thursday, January 19, 2006

Another tempo run

Two in a row... yes, but that's okay. It was not as much a pushed tempo tonight as it was Tuesday but still good. More conversation along the way. More steady conversation than the halting one Tuesday. Covered 5 miles so that was good.

Discussion for a portion of it was on the first mile. How especially in winter it is tough to get started. One to get loose. Two to be dressed properly. I mentioned that I liked Joan Nesbit Mabe's suggestion of putting her clothes into the dryer for about five minutes to warm them up before going out the door. This helped her be warm to start and then not have to peel off a layer once she got going.

It was the getting going part where the conversation got interesting. We seemed to conclude that it is pretty much a matter of your fitness level that helps to determine when you are warm. Do you follow that?

That if you are capable of doing 3-5 miles, you might reach your warmth point further a long the way than if the same person was capable of running 8-10 miles. That your warmth point, ready to run point, is related to your level of fitness.

I'd be curious to see what you think about this.

What is your experience in this area?



Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Quick Tempo Tuesday

A couple of Pacers gathered on Tuesday and we opted out of the hills to do a good tempo run along Pond St. We managed to have a halting conversation part of the way out and then more of the way back. The rest of the time we were moving too quickly to converse haltingly or otherwise.
 
Weather called for rain after midnight but we caught some sleet on the return. I had my head band on to catch my sweat as it was mid-30's and I did not think I needed a hat. It was okay until it started sleeting then I was wishing for my visor cap to keep the sleet off my face.
 
Clocked out at 6.5 miles it felt good.
 
 
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Monday, January 16, 2006

Take the Technorati Survey

Please join me in providing input, feedback, direction... From Niall Kennedy at the Technorati Weblog

We'd like your input! Please take a few minutes to answer all or part of our 33-question survey to contribute to the future of Technorati.

 

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Sunday, January 15, 2006

Not so bad after all

There were hardy Pacers out there with me today. A couple of buddies joined me for the 10 miles. The first part of the first loop was the most difficult as it crossed an open stretch and the wind made things difficult but not impassible.
 
We were joined by two others for the 6 mile section and changed our course to go out into the wind instead of the normal loop. This was a good move. Coming back with the wind behind us was almost pleasant.
 
One draw back was returning via Pond Street. We were faced with a long gradual hill. Yes, it is long, it runs over a mile but as it is gradual it just wears on you.
 
Back to the start for coffee and those cinnamon things to bring home for my ladies. At home, I got out of my wet stuff and took a shower in my daughter's bathroom. (They have a tub/shower. Ours is a shower stall.) I let the water run hot and fill up the tub. This warmed my toes very nicely and I came out feeling much better for having done the run.
 
The weather really wasn't all that bad and the forecast calls for the temp to continue to drop and the wind to continue to increase. Knowing that made it easier for me to go out the door this morning. This was a good as it was going to get today!
 
I hope you have "runner friendly" weather for your runs today!
 
 
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Saturday, January 14, 2006

Running forecast

 
The National Weather Service has this from its most recent update for Franklin:

LIGHT RAIN WILL CHANGE TO A PERIOD OF FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET AFTER 3 AM TONIGHT ACROSS INTERIOR SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND. MIXED PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO CHANGE TO SNOW AFTER 6 AM. TEMPERATURES WILL QUICKLY FALL INTO BETWEEN 25 AND 30 DEGREES BY DAYBREAK.

LIGHT TO OCCASIONALLY MODERATE SNOW WILL FALL AFTER DAYBREAK SUNDAY MORNING. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON SHOULD RANGE FROM 2 TO 4 INCHES WEST OF INTERSTATE 95 WITH 1 TO 2 INCHES POSSIBLE SOUTHEAST OF INTERSTATE 95 TO CAPE COD.

The Pacers are scheduled for their loopy runs in the morning starting with the first loop at 7:00 AM. It could be interesting weather to run.

I hope your weather will be more runner friendly!

 

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Thursday, January 12, 2006

Great finish

Bob Schul won the 5000 meters at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, one of only 4 American track distance medals. Via Joan Nesbit Mabe at Songs of Experience, you can view this short video clip of the finish.

Truly inspiring!



Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Craziness of Idle

Joan Nesbit Mabe writing at Songs of Experience got me to comment as follows:

Two trains of thought come to mind: (1) There was an article recently that went on to elaborate how the greatness of individuals in sports is usually debatable, except for track & field. Was Joe Nameth a better quarterback than Tom Brady? Wilt Chamberlain a better center than Shaq? There could be and endless discussion. They were from different eras, never met on the field.

But in T&F, that is a different story, the race was run in a time recorded for all to compare with or a distance, or a height. No dispute, sure there can be discussions around the conditions and training methods but the performance is recognized and comparable to today.

(2) Running allows for more participation than other sports. You are one of nine in baseball or you spend time sitting; one of five in basketball or spend time sitting, and so on. But when you run, even if you don't compete for the varsity, you still run. You still sweat. You still get from here to there...

Teenagers are just one segment of the population that needs this but they are not the only one that benefits from running!



Tuesday, January 10, 2006

3 x Mile on the hills

The Pacers had two groups out on the hill at TriCounty tonight. One group (3 runners) did the "normal" workout, 3 times each up the long hill and short hill. The other group (4 runners) did 3 times the mile which was up long, down short, turn around up short and down long.

It was a good workout for all. Both groups got together for the warm up, the start of each mile and long hill run, and then the warm down. The weather was cooperative. The temp was in the low 30's. The traction on the roads was much better than last week.

I felt good. I probably could have done a fourth repeat on the mile although I hesitated to say it out loud for fear someone would actually say, let's do the fourth! It is too early in the training to add some extra pushes to the workouts. Nice and steady is just fine.



Sunday, January 08, 2006

Good Sunday Run

A bunch of Pacers were out on the loops today; some doing the three loops (10 miles), some the two (6.5 miles), some joined us for the last loop (3.5 miles) and some hung around for some conversation over refreshments at Panera's.

Cool start. The temp was in the 20's F.

A light snow was falling, helping to quiet the world for us to make our footsteps in the early morning.
  • Catching up on what happened over the holidays.
  • Sharing the Chris Smithers/Stephanie Corby concert at the Circle of Friends Coffehouse last night.
  • Discussion on the merits and drawbacks of running on a tredmill versus the wild outdoors.
  • Discussion on the coming running year; what events would be targeted, renewing some old favorites, trying some new events.
And 10 miles went by quickly...

I had something left at the end.



Friday, January 06, 2006

Mileage log available

I have redone my Excel spreadsheet for the new year and have a clean copy if you would like one to track your miles run. The main sheet allows for the entry of the miles on the date. The second and third sheets are charts built with automatic calculations to show the miles per week and days run per week.

If you would like a copy, let me know via comment or email and I'll send it to you.

May the roads/trails be kind to you!




Thursday, January 05, 2006

Tempo run & then some

There were going to be 4 Pacers for the tempo run tonight. The tempo run usually varies in distance from 4 - 7 miles. We were going to start a half hour later. With the late start, I was not sure what distance we would end up with so instead of driving over to our meeting place, I decided to run over. Running to and from the meeting place would give me 4 miles plus whatever we did.

We started out to do a 3.5 loop and then changed to do a 6 mile loop.

No problem, I felt good and did 10 overall.

Longest night run for me!

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Frozen Hill

3 other Pacers joined me in the endeavor as we went back to the hills tonight at Tri-County High School for the first time in several weeks. Jogging in the parking lot we realized that it could be an interesting evening. The surface was very slick with ice. We strode gingerly along keeping our center of gravity low and our strides short.

As we went down the long side of the hill on our warm up loop, it became readily apparent that we would not be using this side of the hill tonight. You know that I like to run but I do not like to ice skate when I should be running.

Fortunately, we made it down without incident and the rest of the loop through the neighborhood was fine. Oh, snowy, with icy spots here and there but nothing like the sheet of ice we just were on. We made our way around to the short side of the hill and started up, checking it out as we went. It was okay, clearly not as exposed as the long side, less windy and with a better surface.

Hence we decided upon reaching the top (completing our warm up loop) that we would adjust the workout and only use the short side of the hill for our repeats. We would extend every other run up the short side by going towards the front entrance of the school to still give our workout a "long" run and a short one. This did shorten the overall workout a little but considering we were still slipping some here and there, as cold as it was, in the dark (okay, queue the violins....) I kept the record for my log as 5 miles. No need to quibble about a quarter mile or so in these conditions.

A good workout, one to talk about now as the one where the ice was so bad...

How bad was it?

So bad, that we did not do the long side of the hill!



Snow today - Updated

The almost four inches of fluffy wet snow shoveled this morning was lighter than the almost one inch of slush that I cleared (with Carolyn's help - thank you!) at lunch time.

It is still snowing but little or no accumulation is expected while the temperature will drop into the 20's over night.

So we dodged this one...

Running tonight will be cold. My shoes and socks will likely end up wet from the slush. I should bring some dry ones to change into when I finish.






Snow today

Yes, the wintery mix is upon us. Some forecasts call for 4-7, others 8-10... stay tuned and we'll let you know how much we really end up with.

I completed the 1st pass at shoveling the driveway and moved 3-4" already. It is coming down steadily. A heavy wet snow that shovelers have to really be careful with but kids will love to play in. School has been called off for Franklin today.

Scheduled to run later today. Running in this will be a challenge. Hopefully most of the roads will have been cleared by then.





Monday, January 02, 2006

Initial race outlook for 2006

This is what the year looks like thus far:

January
no races, plenty of training

February
Old fashioned 10 Mile, Foxboro (PDF)
Hyannis Half-marathon

April
Groton 5K

The Pacers have not decided if there'll be a grand prix this year so that will factor into some planning.

The Corp Challenge in Boston (June), Crackerbarrell 5K (September), CVS 5K (September) and others are all possible. I'd like to do a minimum of one per month. So we'll see how the calendar develops this year.




Different road to close 2005

Spent the last few days out in Danville, PA with some long time family friends. This gave me the chance to run a new route through their neighborhood on Saturday. I combined their regular "walking route" (almost 3 miles) with an out and back section along their main road.

Carolyn came along for the first part. We did the "walking route" easily. She had her MP3 player on and we just cruised along completing the loop in 22 minutes (hence it should be less than 3 miles as we were doing about an 8:30-9:00 minute pace). I left her at the house to do the out and back. This interested me as it would take me to the bridge where their road crossed over Route 80. This turned out to be conveniently about 2 miles from the house. I went out in 18 minutes and returned in 16. It felt good and comfortable. I continued past the house to redo the first loop, this time without Carolyn to keep me company. This time around it took me 20 minutes.

Allowing for some rounding, I logged it as a 10 mile run.

A good rolling course. Mostly broad gutter along the road to run away from the traffic (although there was not much to speak of) without running on the road itself.

A good workout in a different place to close out 2005.

A total 980 miles
Ran in 13 races
5 races had been run at least once in previous years.
In all those 5 races, my best time came down about two minutes from the previous best.

I have moved to a new level of running.

A good year.

Now I am ready for 2006!

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Happy New Year

Welcome to 2006!

Check back often, there will be a lot to write about this year.

May the roads/trails be kind to you.