Doug's Running Thingy

11.7 miles on the mountain bike (12.1 mph) - added the north loop to the ravine trail/overstreet figure 8 I usually do.  Finally got a replacement bladder for the camelback - first ride with water and first ride of September - a glorious 71 degrees this morning - all added up to an average speed over 12.  Supposed to dip below 70 next 2 mornings - what a deal.

Cool air (still thick with humidity though) + rested legs = new world record on the New Trail!  Did ravine trail plus north loop (3.3 mi) on way to new trail, and then showed it who was boss - 9:20 for the twisty turny single track 1.35 miles.  Boychild tells me the XC team has taken to calling the new trail, Ho Chi Minh Trail, since it has a couple stands of bamboo and is generally thick and scary and very much in keeping with Indochina... they all are experts on Southeast Asia ya know.

Starting the workday enthused and full of energy. 

Ravine plus Overstreet starting from the track.  Middle 3 miles at 7:45.  Easing the pace down steadily over next few weeks.  Felt a bit tired in the last half mile uphill back to the track.  On the road bike and some track 300s tomorrow before heading to Gainesville to scoop up the daughterchild - will be the end of the longest period we've ever gone without seeing her - 2 whole weeks. 

Three mile warm-up and then a little track work.  Four times 300 with a 200 to start and a 200 to finish, for 1600 meters total.  Easy 100 meter walk/jog between - nothing fancy, but felt good to be out there.

20 miles on the road bike (16.6 mph) while the boy and a couple teammates did their long run.

First time running Red Bug Trail in several months - 9am was a bit too late to take advantage of cool temps... ah well.  Just over 4 miles on single track rooty hilly twisty trails, plus about a half mile to and from the track.  One of my favorite runs when I'm fit - getting there little by little.  Scale finally tells me sub 160 for second day in a row.  Maybe I broke through the plateau.

Ravine trail clockwise plus north loop (5:12) - all miles sub 7:45 - hey, its something!  Wasn't light enough to hit the trail until nearly 7 - at this rate, I'm gonna have to shift to running in the neighborhood soon.

11.7 miles on the mountain bike (12.2 mph) at 6:45AM - a bit dark for the road portion of the ride, but I was well lit, and the sky was well lit by the time I hit the trail portion.  Going to have to shift my work hours back a half hour in the next few weeks to accommodate the later sunrise if I'm going to stick with cross training one day during the week.  Time doesn't change until Nov 7th this year - sheesh.

After an inspiring XC parents' meeting last evening (all the usuals plus 6-8 new faces - this is my 3rd season as booster chair), I was fired up for a good run this morning.  Planned on working the middle 3 miles of my usual 5.4 mile ravine trail/overstreet loop course at about 7:35 pace.  I hit them at 7:33, 7:32, and 7:21, and felt pretty comfortable still, so I decided to maintain through the next mile as well and ran 7:33 again - not bad.  Cruised in the last half mile slowly and was rewarded with a silly little fawn that pretty much ignored me as I eased past about 10 feet away - always fun.

The better than expected race a couple weeks ago, dropping below 160 lbs, a hint of Fall in the air, and the kids' enthusiasm for the first XC meet on Saturday are all combining to help me ease the pace down on these 4 to 5 mile runs - very encouraging.  I will start adding in a "long" run (7 or 8 miles) next week probably, but still keep the milage not much more than 25/week for a while.

Ravine plus north loop plus new trail - nice steady 8 min per mile.  Track work tomorrow after the big meet and the big game.

3 mile warmup, 1 mile warm down, and 8X200 on the track.  Went 38, 38, 36, 35 for first set, 4 minute break and then 33, 33, 32, 31 with 70 to 90 seconds between each 200.  Was thinking about sub 30 for the last one, but at 100 meters I bailed on that effort and cruised in.  Good workout.

More importantly, spent the morning running around a cross country course in Marianna shooting pics of the boychild and team during their first meet of the season.  Travis went 17:28 for a PR by 7 seconds and a 12th place finish.  It was sunny and heat index 90 for the 9AM start, and he said he felt generally cruddy, so the result is pretty encouraging for his goal of sub 16:45 by mid November.  Team got 4th, a few points behind one other small school and two big powerhouses - not bad.

21 miles on the road bike (17.6 mph) out and back toward Georgia on 319.  Saw my first ever roadkill alligator in amongst all the roadkill armadillos and possums - doesn't get any better than that.

Limited energy this morning.  Maybe the fast 200s on Sat or the 20 miles on the road bike yesterday, but it was a bit of a chore to maintain 8 min/mile this morning.  Looked back and it seems I haven't taken a day completely off for 15 days.  I know thats not earth shattering for most, but its been quite a while for me since doing that - might take Wed off instead of the usual 10-mile mountain bike workout.

Well, tired legs Monday and no sleep Monday night convinced me to take yesterday off completely.  Worked out well as I had a really good run this morning - 66 degrees might have helped too.  Did my usual 5.4 in reverse order with the plan to drop the middle three miles down around 7:30.  Ran them in 7:22, 7:33 and 7:13.  The 7:33 was actually the most satisfying because it is all uphill and is the one that I ran 7:20 last week in the downhill direction.  Might set my goal at 21:30 for the trail 5K race next Saturday  - hopefully it will actually be 5K this year instead of the 6K it was last year - ooph.

Ravine trail plus north loop clockwise, with middle 2.5 miles done at 1 minute on (about 5K race pace) and 1 minute off.  Another nice coolish morning and good run to start the day.

Another nearly lovely morning on the trails.  Nice easy 8-8:15 pace.  Travis and the team races in the morning - the boys have victory on the mind... we'll see about that.

Afternoon workout since the boy and team raced late morning - more on that in a minute.  2.5 mile warmup and then a track workout  - 4X300 with a 200 at the start and the end.  First 200 in 36, then the 300s at 58, 57, 55, 52, and the finishing 200 at 30 secs - all under good control.

The 10:30am start this morning was unfortunate, with heat index easing up to 90 - bleh.  Travis eased the PR down another few seconds on a much hillier course than last week, with a strong first mile (5:26), and a finish at 17:24 - 3rd on the squad only 17 secs behind our 2nd boy.  Must go eat now - later. 

14.3 on the mountain bike at the greenway trails - great location, nice morning ride while the boys did 12 miles easy

With the exception of the unintended 9 mile adventure in Gainesville a few weeks ago, this was my longest run in probably 9 months.  Not all that much longer than my usual 5.4 mile figure 8 course, but its a step up.  All miles were under 7:50, with the fastest at 7:37, and not at all challenging - good deal. 

The weather for Saturday morning's trail 5K in Thomasville is looking acceptable - upper 60s for a low, so maybe not more than 75 by 8AM.  I will try a goal race pace mile in the middle of my run tomorrow just for giggles... 6:50 or so. 

Overstreet loop plus south side of ravine trail there and back, from the track.  About 66 degrees on the trails this morning - getting nicer and nicer, shame its also getting darker and darker.  Took the first 1.5 real easy with the plan to go sub 7 for the first mile of the Overstreet loop.  That mile is slightly rolling with a downhill start - I hit it at 6:56.  Was actually shooting for 6:50, and felt real good, so I worked the next mile as well.  It is a very flat section with limited turns and good footing - did that one in 6:46 - better.  Wasn't nearly as dead as I expected I would be for the mile and a half back to the track - good run.

The XC team was just finishing up their cool down/stretching after the morning workout when I got back to the track - 5X1200 at goal 5K pace - didn't get a chance to chat with Travis yet, but he was fired up about it before I went out for my run.  I saw the first 1200 - #1 runner went through at 3:45 and Travis led a couple others through at 4:05 - pretty solid since his goal 5K is 16:30 this year.  Can't wait to hear how the other 4 reps went.

11.7 miles on the mountain bike (11.4 mph) - slow going until the trails were light enough to see where I was going.  I'm thinking that was my last morning trail ride for a while.

Lake Overstreet trail from the track.  Easy 1.5 miles out, then minute on / minute off for 2 miles - a little better than 5:20 pace or so.  Finished with a stronger than expected 1.5 back to the track.  Will do an easy 4 tomorrow and then a 5K trail race on Saturday, followed by running around for a couple hours shooting pics of XC runners - I do love cross country season.

Easy 3.5 around the neighborhood early this morning confirmed how much I prefer running on the trails.  Ah well, new inserts for the shoes and plug away on the roads until the time change I guess.  

Quite pleased with the effort this morning, and thankful that the open race went off at 8am when the skies were overcast and temps were low 70s.  Trav and the boys team ran 2 hrs later under bright sunny skies at mid 80s - bleh.  I went out a bit faster than hoped (6:35), but felt pretty good so didn't back off much... at least I didn't think so.  Second mile, however, was 7:05, and I still felt good, so picked it up and left the group I fell in with during the 2nd mile (I blame them for the slow mile - heh).  Ran the 3rd mile in 6:31 and finished up at 20:52.  Goal was 21:15, so it was a good day.

Travis let the heat and hills get in his head, and never got into a rhythm.  First mile wasn't too bad (5:32, but wanted 5:25), but at the 2nd mile, his team mate whom he had beaten the past 2 races, came around him strong and Trav kinda folded.  Finished up cruising and placed 6th at 18:24.  The boys took first with their top five in 2nd, 6th, 10th, 11th and 12th.  Plenty of good to take from the race, so he was fine...  over a minute better than he ran this race last year, and the team raced strong and won, even without 3 of their usual top 5.

11.2 miles on the mountain bike easy ride around Tom Brown park while the team did their long run.  Calves and quads were pretty sore from the hills yesterday, so the bike was a welcome workout.

Well now, that was fun!  The car informed me that it was 58° as I drove the 3 miles to the trails at 7am - thats downright chilly for Tallahassee in late Sept.  After racing Saturday, riding easy Sunday, and failing epically yesterday in doing anything at all, I figured it would be a good day for a strong 5 miler, so I went out fast (for me right now) from the start.  First mile was 7:36, and from there I dropped to 7:22, 7:18, 7:16 and 7:18, with an easy cooldown the final .4 back to the parking lot.  I wish that I got a run in yesterday, but this run was very satisfying, and I'm not sure I would have been up for it had I run the 6 miles I was planning for yesterday.  Pace was about 20 seconds per mile faster than the 8K race a month ago, and I felt much better this morning than I did during that race.

Followed it up with a nice breakfast visit with Bret who was in town for a meeting.  Things are tripping along nicely - have a good day. 

Too dark this morning at 0630 to hit the trails safely.  Did my old standby 6-miler around the neighborhood.  Became very familiar with that loop when training for my first marathon several years back.  Took it nice and easy at about 8-8:15 pace.

Easy first mile, then 2 miles of minute on, minute off - quicker/more efficient than recent similar efforts.  On the neighborhood roads, I was more able to focus on form and pace than when I do this workout on the trails.  I must admit to this being a better effort than on the trails... not sure the joints will agree later today or tomorrow.  Finished with another easy mile back to the house where the boychild was just leaving for school in his "new" Maxima for the first time - huge smile on the punk's face.  We've been telling him for months that there was no way we were getting him a car on his 16th birthday.  Earlier this week, a coworker offered a well-kept '02 Maxima for $4K.  Tough to pass up when the interweb suggested 5-7K for similar vehicles.  At least its actually 2 whole weeks after his 16th - heh.