Busy, Busy, Busy

At work, I'm with a small, expanding company. My department (of which I am the head) has two permanent people, including me, plus a summer intern. We have enough work for five full-time people, plus the intern. I've been running, but not posting.

For a couple of days, I've had very tight, sore Achilles Tendons. I'm feeling better now, but I'll have to watch them for a while.

Brutal

It was almost 80 degrees this morning when I ran. That was at 5am. Once again, I came back soaking wet--I turned on the hose and let it run over my head for a few seconds. The humidity isn't too bad today, but the temperature willb e pretty high.

I got in a 3 miler this morning. This will be an easy week--most of my runs will be 3 miles or so, with one 4-miler and one 5 miler. Next week, a little more distance.

Congratulations, Lance Armstrong. Did you know that Lance, a native Texan, is not in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame?

Busy

I can't update every day, simply because I'm too busy. I'm planning a trip to Georgia to pick up my remaining belongings, which are in a storage unit in the Roswell/Alpharetta area. We refer to the storage unit as "Storgia," short for Storage in Georgia.

At the same time, the division I'm working in is expanding (the reason I was hired in the first place), so I'm working quite a bit, including weekends.

Anyway, I got out for 5 miles yesterday, and 3 this morning. My pace has been good, just under 8:00/mile. I'm hoping life settles down a bit in the coming weeks. I still have all my hair, but that may not last if this keeps up.

Keeping it going

I have to work on making the morning run into a habit again. It was very easy when I was staying with a friend to get out of the habit, but by doing it again and again, I can make it a part of my day that I will miss when I skip it. Some people say it takes a month, some say a week, some people say four days and it's a habit. I think I'm leaning toward the month idea. Keep it up for a month, and you can't go without it.

I got out this morning for four miles. 7:19 pace, faster than I had wanted to go, but not an uncomfortable pace. Perhaps it's time I revised my standards.

Settling in

I'm starting to get settled in at home, and starting a regular routine, which includes morning runs. I got out this morning for 3 miles at 7:30 pace. Oops.
I was supposed to run 4 miles at 8:00 pace today, and the 3 miles at 7:30 tomorrow. I guess I'll run the 4 miles tomorrow morning.

No chance for a run tonight--soccer game at 6pm.

Been gone a long time

So I haven't had much of an opportunity to post at all this month. Major upheavals in my life have just come to an end. I was offered a job--an offer I could not turn down--in June, and started my new job on July 5th. I moved (twice!) into a new house. Things have settled down quite a bit, though.

I did manage to get out and run about every two or three days over the last two weeks, but even when I did get out, the heat/humidity was stifling and I would be soaking wet after only a few hundred yards. I got out for only a mile and a half one day and came back looking like I had gone swimming. One nice thing about our new house is central air.

Now that I'm in my house, and settled in at my new job, I should be settling in. I got out this morning for about 3.5 miles. I'm using Gmaps Pedometer to get approximate distances for runs in the neighborhood.

I haven't updated since Tuesday. A lot has been going on, but not any running.

On Tuesday night, my dog died. She had been with me for 15 years, and had run with me for the first 5 of those years. She was probably between 16 and 17 years old--we never knew exactly how old she was, since she was a stray when we got her. She was a great companion--my wife used to refer to her as my girlfriend. I'm going to miss her.

Thursday night, we moved in with a friend, after putting almost all of our posessions in storage. We are now homeless,but sometime between the 10th and the 14th, our new house will be ready to moveinto.

I have a race on Monday, and I'm really not quite ready,since I haven't run much this week. We'll sehow it goes.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I got out for an easy 1.5 yesterday, and went 4 miles this morning. Hot this morning, temp over 70 degrees, and very high humidity. Supposed to be even hotter this afternoon/tonight. I hope the heat breaks soon.

Gag Reflex

Yesterday was hot. Temps above 85F by 9am. Temps topped out around 97F. I tried to get out for 4.5 at around 10am yesterday and the whole experience was miserable. Fortunately for me, there are quite a few people who water their lawns in the mid-morning on hot days. I had to stop and walk several times yesterday, so I can't even say how my time/pace was on the run.

Today, I got out at around 9:30 for the same 4.5. Still pretty warm, but below 80F. Finished the 4.5 in 32:48, which works out to 7:17 pace.

I've had a head cold for almost a week, now (Thanks Oed!), and while I was out, my sinuses loosened up just enough to start a major post-nasal drip running. When it started, it triggered my gag reflex, and I did have to stop for a few seconds. Later on, in the last mile of the run, a cottonwood seed drifted into my mouth, setting me off again.

I'll be glad when the cold and the cottonwood seeds are both gone.

Missed a day

Life is hectic right now. We're moving out of our house on the 30th and moving in to our new house sometime between the 10th and the 14th. Two week sublets are very hard to find in Rochester, particularly 2+ bedroom sublets. Two weeks in an extended-stay hotel would cost us more than a month's rent at our house, and that would be for one room. So, it's off to stay with friends.

I got out for about 4.5 miles this morning, nice and easy. I ran about 4 yesterday, and got in a little over two with Electra after I got home. I don't know if she'll be running at all tonight--she's spending the day at Six Flags today with her class from school.

Oed has a soccer game tonight--I don't know whether I'll get in any miles at all tonight.

Rookie Mistakes

I ran in a 5K race yesterday. I made a couple of mistakes that I should not have been making at this stage. The first was going out too fast. I went out in 3:30 for the first kilometer. That's about 17:30 pace for a 5K. that's way too fast for the stage I'm at right now, and I was feeling it by the middle of the second mile. The other mistake I made was forgetting that mile two is the best laxative in the world. I was feeling that by the middle of the second mile, too.

All in all, though, I did pretty well. I finished in 20:23, about 30 seconds off what I was shooting for. If I had taken it ea little bit easyfor the first mile or so, I might have been able to maintain the pace, and finish in my goal time. As it was, I was the 14th masters finisher.

I talked to an old friend on Friday, the race director and president of a running club. The club requires members to "represent" the club in races at least three times a year and to work at a minimum of three races a year. Once I can get my 5K time down below 20:00 consistently, I think I'll join the club.

My 7-year-old ran in a race yesterday, too. My race finished in the baseball stadium, and all kids under 13 could run in a race with "Spikes" the mascot, who is a man in a bird suit. They broke it down into heats by age--first the under-3's (very cute), the 4-5's, etc. Oed ran his race and got a little participant's ribbon, which we pinned to his race number.


I got out for three miles this morning, making the same (first) mistake I made yesterday. I just felt so good that I went out too fast, and slowed way down near the end of the run. Electra and I are going to run together later today, and I'll probably run a few hundred yards with Oed.

Better today

I got out for another 4 miles this morning, and didn't have that leadlegs feeling. Nice, easy miles, coasting along. Electra says she'll be running later today. She has exams, so she's not going into school until 12:00 today.

Oed had his first soccer game last night. It was a lot of fun to watch, and he had fun too. He played forward for the first half of the game, and got one breakaway, which unfortunately did not end in a goal. During the second half, he was the goalie, and he was perfect in the goal. He had a lot of fun, too.

I won't be getting out to run tonight. My father and sister have birthdays in June, Father's Day is coming up, and of course all graduations are in June. We have developed the tradition in my family of having "June Day." We all get together and celebrate all of the June events at the same time. The restaurant owners love us when we have June Day--My parents, their 5 adult children and 12 grandchildren. Unfortunately, none of the grandchildren and only 4 children and one spouse will be there tonight, but a party of 7 for dinner is still a pretty good-sized check.

Couple Days Off

OK, I had a couple of days off to take care of some personal matters and haven't run since the 13th. I got out this morning for about 4 miles and my legs felt like lead. I need to get more sleep. On the bright side, the nighttime temperatures have dropped back down below 70, so I can sleep comfortably. Last night, the temps were all the way down to the 50s.

I'm thinking about entering a race on Sunday morning--it's a 5K to raise money for ALS research. The race finishes in the local AAA Baseball team's stadium, and after the race, there's a kids race against the mascot. Any kid who can beat a man in a bird suit gets a ribbon of some kind. I'm thinking about entering Oed in the race--he has said that he wants to run in a race.

Sounds like it could be fun.

A strange thing happened the other day. I went to the library and got out a book published in the late 80s for self-coached runners. I was looking at the training program for the 5K, and on the page opposite one of the training programs was a photo of one of my college teammates, who I have not seen since 1983.

Easy days

It has been so hot lately, that this morning I just took it easy. The temperature didn't drop below 70 degrees last night, so I didn't get much sleep. We live in a house which has 60+ year old electrical service, and I don't think the fuse box could handle the strain of an air conditioner. That's right, the fuse box. We don't even have circuit breakers. Anyway, we ran fans through the night, which didn't really do the job, and we were awake most of the night. The humidity has only made the heat worse, so I'm exhausted. I'm thinking of trying to get som esleep at work today--ha ha.

I got in about 2.5 this morning, and I'll get in at least a couple more with electra this evening.

My first time

I ran in my first trail race this morning. The race was the Powerbar Trail Race, held in Mendon Ponds Park. There were actually two races, a 4.5 mile and a 9 mile. Since I am not in any kind of shape for a 9 mile race, I opted for the 4.5.

I did pretty well--the hills took a lot out of me, and the logs I had to jump and duck also made my legs not want to continue. My finish was pretty good--I was 13th overall, and the second male masters runner. My friend Andy was about a minute ahead of me, 8th overall, and the first master. I ran the 4.5 in 39:19 by my watch. Time, of course, isn't really important in a race like this, since the terrain has so much of an effect on your race.

I'm surprised that I (and others who ran with me in college) haven't run more of these trail races. We used to run training runs that were quite a bit like these trail races. Maybe organizing them and making htem into races is what's keeping everyone away.

Anyway, I got a nice little piece of hardware for my trouble, and, since i didn't put down a T-shirt size on my entry, a shirt for Electra.

Later works better

I got out last night to run--I ran the first half-mile or so with Electra, then the lightning started, so we cut it short. She turned around and went straight back, while I took a slightly longer route--she went about a mile, while I wne a mile and a half--and we raced to see who would get home first. I won, but only by a hair; she was walking around the trees at the corner when I reached the driveway.

Later on, after the thunderstorm had passed by, I got out for another three milesat a good clip. My feet feel pretty good, no pain this morning.

I took today off, and I'll get in a run tomorrow, probably in the morning.

Timing is off

My inspiration for today:

"The goal of the runner is not health. His objective is the fitness necessary for maximal performance. Health is something the runner goes through on his way to fitness."
--George Sheehan, Running and Being

I find that running is easier on my foot when I run in the afternoon. I got in about 2-2.5 miles with my daughter last night. Tonight I'm going to try for a 3 miler after I get home. That'll probably be late tonight, since my son has a soccer practice tonight at 7:15.

This week has been the week from hell (hebdomas horriblis) for me when it comes to technology. Earlier this week, I spent about two days cleaning the malware out of our home computer. I still don't think it's all gone, but our firewall is stopping access to the internet from the two remaining programs. I had some trouble with the dryer this week--gremlins or something opened the door after about 5 minutes of the cycle. I tried to get my cell phone switched from a NYC area code to a Rochester area code--the customer service person sent me a SIMM that was set up for a Rochester area code and a Manhattan ZIP code--the SIMM could not be activated, and my phone does not work. That night, the "Check Engine" light in the car came on--it just needs a new PCV valve, and we're having some preventive maintenance done--when the car is over 104,000 you can't be too careful. Now today, my battery-powered toothbrush fell apart in my mouth. Fortunately, we had a spare in its package available. And just to add one (hopefully) final kick, today, while I was riding the elevator down at lunch, the car stopped on the 12th floor, the doors opened about an inch, and the car just shut down. Again, I was fortunate in that the doors closed and the elevator started to function again after a few minutes, but I'm almost ready to go live in a hut in the woods somewhere and never use anything electronic again.

Missed a day

I missed posting yesterday, mainly because I was running ad-aware and spybot:search and destroy on our home computer. Damn spammers.

I got out for two miles yesterday morning, followed by a mile with my daughter after work. I'm taking it very easy, to avoid further injury. I'm also icing my foot after each run, whether it hurts or not. It seems to be working--the pain is much reduced, almost unnoticeable now. I got out for another 2 miles this morning, and I'm hoping to get out with my daughter again tonight.

She's joining her school's cross-country team in the fall, and she signed up for the 300-mile club for the summer. Apparently, her school has a 200, 300, 400 and 500 mile club--she'll be trying to run that distance over the summer in preparation for the season in the fall. I'll be doing everthing I can to help her out.

Stupid, Stupid, Stupid

Einstein is supposed to have said "Only two things are infinite: the universe and the human capacity for stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." I saw someone today who would seem to confirm that statement.

First things first. I got out for about two miles this morning. My foot felt pretty good, it hurt a little bit in the first few hundred yards, but quickly settled down. I'm going to try another two tomorrow morning and see how it goes.

Today there was a race I wanted to get into. The Temple Beth El 5K. It's part of a trifecta of 5K races in the area. The second is the Father Murphy 5K, which is at a Catholic church, and the third is the Fish and Loaves 5K, which is at an Episcopal church. An old college friend of mine is the race director of the last, so I'm almost definitely running in that one. Unfortunately, with my foot the way it was, I didn't think I'd be running at all by today, so I didn't enter and I forgot all about it.

Now for the stupidity. On about my second mile, I saw someone riding a bike in the street. He had on no helmet, was wearing headphones, and was riding east in the passing lane of the westbound side of the road. On top of all that, he spent most of the time I could see him turned around in the seat, watching where he had just come from.

I am always amazed at how stupid people can be.

Running on TV

This Sunday, June 5, at 2pm (EST) the Prefontaine Classic will be broadcast on NBC. Track & Field only gets an hour out of the broadcast day, but they are sure to be showing the men's 2-mile race. Alan Webb, the best miler in the US, Dathan Ritzenhein, the best 5k runner in the US, and Hicham el Gerrouj, the world record holder in the mile, will all be in the race. In addition, Paula Radcliffe (yes, that Paula Radcliffe) will be racing in the women's 1500 meters. I had no idea that she was that versatile.