Doug's Running Thingy

Planned to do 6X 2 min on 1 min off, but only got through 2 sets before my Garmin crapped out.  I continued with the workout going by best guess timing, and it went well... as far as I know.  Garmin was fully charged when I started, so about to hook it up and reload firmware or something.  Only two deer this eve and no turkeys or waterfowl - ah well.

Didn't get out until pretty late this evening, so I had good motivation to go fast to beat the sunset.  Did the ravine trail down to the overstreet dock and back to the track.  First mile just under 8, but then the next 3 at 7:41, 7:32, 7:19 - eased up the last half mile.  Pretty good effort for me.

Nothing on Friday but a bit of running around the XC course watching Travis and the boys and girls in the district meet.  Trav took the title in 17:02 (really good time on our course), and the boys secured their 12th championship in 15 years - on to Regions!

Yesterday was a bust as well, although very productive in the house and garage - thats something.

Just finished a real good 5 miler out to Lake Jackson and back up the hill.  First mile easy at 8:20 and then did the others between 7:30 and 7:45.  Good run on a beautiful early afternoon.  Was both inspired and stressed by watching Bret's progress in NY.  I'm sure you're a bit disappointed, but it was great fun watching and yelling at my computer screen  - good job.

Time change and cool mornings inspired me to rededicate myself to consistent training.  So far so good (first day).  Started at the track and did 1.25 warmup to start of Lake Overstreet trail.  On Overstreet I did 6X 2 min on 1 min off, with the ons at between 6:10 and 6:30 pace.  Final rep was uphill heading back to track, but it wasn't the slowest, so that was good.  Jogged it on in to the track to complete 5 miles total.

Successfully made it out the door two mornings in a row!  Ran the full perimeter run on my usual trails - just under 6 miles.  Not even the critters were up and about this morning.  I guess they haven't adjusted to the time change yet.

Morning workout starting from the track and then doing 2X ravine trail tempo run.  The loop is 1.7 mi and I went 13:05 first loop (7:40 pace) followed by 11:31 second loop (6:45 pace) with no rest between loops.  I was satisfied with the effort, but was breathing considerably harder than I would have hoped at end of second loop. Finished up with about a mile around the school and back to the track.

Off to Lake City tomorrow afternoon for Travis' region meet on Saturday morning.  He's very fired up, but quite nervous about being the expected champ - not a position he's used to.  Course is supposed to be pretty fast.  He's going to work through 2 miles comfortably hard and then try to steadily separate from the field. 

Really nice XC course tour this afternoon.  If Trav and the boys pay attention to the many tangent opportunities, this course can produce lots of PRs.  Check ya later.

I didn't plan on racing this low key charity 5K very hard, but there was one master dude that I generally compare well with, so I went out kinda strong just stalking him for a while.  The first mile was decent at 6:18, and then there was much curvy sidewalk and a couple roundabouts that the lead bike played fairly loose with, so those of us in/near the lead pack made some fairly liberal interpretations of the course I believe.  I went through the 2 mile mark at 11:46 and my garmin read 1.89 mi - oops!  Never did catch my nemesis, and fell off pace a bit late in the race, but still finished my 2.94-mile 5K in 18:55.  Something to shoot for on a certified course in the next couple years.  This was the graduation run for the beginning runners group that Lisa joined 6 weeks ago - she ran 36:37 in her first road 5K ever - wooo.

Speaking of first, Travis came through as expected yesterday and took the region championship.  He cruised through the first mile and then steadily dropped the pace, pretty much running alone for the last mile and a half.  Finished very controlled in 16:47.  Depending on how the leaders take out the race next week at the state meet, I wouldn't be surprised if he goes really low 16s.  He likely will need around 16:15 to make the top 10 podium. 

Nice run this morning, but most significantly, I encountered my first buck on the trails.  Been running out there for a billion years and have seen a million does and young males, but this dude was an 8-point buck and huge.  He popped onto the trail ahead of me and trotted along for 50 meters or so before bounding off to my left.  He went into the woods maybe 20 meters and turned to look at me.  I stopped to admire him and, after he stared at me way too long, I decided to move along so as not to provoke him into pummeling me to death... did I mention he was huge?!

Just one little doe this morning on my 6X 2 min on 1 min off workout on the trails.  Did a bit over one mile warmup then started the workout on the rolling Overstreet Trails.  All the "on" reps were right at 6:20-6:30 pace.  Finished up with an easy jog back to the track. 

Good run on the trails this morning. Pretty steamy for mid Nov.  Looks to be mid 70s in Dade City when Travis toes the line at the State Meet on Saturday - yug.

Easy 3 miles on the trails this morning while Lisa walked the track with a friend.  She wants to run a couple miles this evening in the neighborhood, so I will probably get at least 2 more in later.  The whole fam is doing the Turkey Trot 5K on Thurs morning.  I figure I'll shoot for a bit under 20 minutes again to wrap up this year's racing - we'll see.

Sneaked into the front area at the start this year so that I didn't have to bob and weave for the first mile.  Worked out nicely as I hit the mile in 6:18.  Eased up a bit through the 2nd mile in 6:25, and ran 6:14 for the last to finish up at 19:40 - best time (on a certified course) in a couple years, so Thanksgiving started out nicely.

Travis and our # 4 runner paced a younger teamie to a PR in a bit under 21 minutes - good deal.  Cynda and Lisa also ran the 5K, so now we are primed for stuffing our bellies.

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Charlotte NC - ran the complete Footlocker South Region course with the kids (three of our girls and Travis running the race) and then did a couple finishing 100s and worked with Travis on the ridiculous steep up and steep, turning downhill section at about 1.5 miles - big fun.

Charlotte NC, Footlocker South Region meet.  OK - this was an incredible experience for me - oh and Trav did well and had a great time too.  I'm definitely running the Open/Masters race next year.  Still in Charlotte and just on Lisa's laptop, so I can't post a pic of Travis grinning on the awards stand with his 22nd place medal and certificate.  He ran the Junior boys race and came through in 16:35, a much more satisfying result than last week.  After the first 4 or 5 boys, there was no more than 2 seconds between finishers all the way down to about 150th - 243 boys were in the race.  He said he felt like he was sprinting the entire first mile, but came through in a reasonable 5:09 in 50th or so. When I next caught up with him just after the 2-mile, he was in 32nd... top 30 receive medals.  I told him where he was and then I (and tons of other fans - this was major fun) sprinted to the next spot I sould see him, at about 600 to go.  He was in 26th with a firm trail around a lake to the finish line - very picturesque and I could watch the whole way.  He passed a few more boys down the line and got passed by one at the end - really fine racing in crowded conditions the whole way.  He was pleased and I was impressed - great way to end the season - whew - so glad he erased the bad taste of the state meet.  On to track!

Pretty sure the 2 miles estimated running is low - had to run to/from the jeep a couple times too and parking was a nightmare.

Brisk run from the track around the ravine trail plus north loop and then a couple more laps around the track.  Was 39 degrees and damp - guess its time to shop for a treadmill or get a gym membership... or just get fatter and wait for Spring.