It's over, man. Let her go.

Big fat nothin' for today.  I had planned on running right after my 4hr long meeting in the afternoon then head home, but something happened and I had to head home immediately, so I didn't go then.  Then I had planned on running when I got home and things settled down, but Costco was still open and I decided to make the run out.  Got back, got things sorted out and was finally going to go at 11pm but then I got "the look" and the voice of disapproval from my wife so I had to cave.  So, I stayed up until 1am doing some work I didn't get done during the day due to meetings.  Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to catch up on my work AND get in a run.  What a change that would be!

3:30pm, 35^o , slightly windy

1 out of 2 ain't bad.  Didn't get caught up on my work yet, but I did get a run in!  Definitely the more important of the two...shhhh!  My boss isn't on the blog...

Headed out after another day of meetings for a nice run.  Had to jog over to the local library (.5mi away) to return a book that I had found in the snow a few days ago.  After dropping that off, my run really began.  I did a nice loop on the city streets out to one of the 5 million bridges in Pittsburgh, and crossed over the river.  Right before getting to the other side of the 31st St bridge is a small island that I've always wanted to run on, so I hopped off the bridge early and down the ramp to the island.  Ran around the island...it's not huge or anything...then back up to the bridge, and then back into downtown.  The run itself was 5.26mi - did it in 50:31 (9:40 pace or so).  Faster than I had thought I was running, but I knew it wasn't 11:00 pace either.  Felt very comfortable and I didn't try and push it at all.  The achilles reminded me it was there every once in a while, but it wasn't telling me to stop.  No walking on this run, so I was feeling good despite being exhausted the last couple of days.

Oh, and the last mile?  My wife was heading back from the University on the bus and I was going to meet her at the car that I park 1.5mi from work so I can get some exercise walking in, and I was late leaving work so she was going to beat me there.  I decided to jog the last mile to the car with my backpack on so I wouldn't be too late.  So that's how I get to the 6.76 miles today!

Just a lazy 5k on the TM.  la la la

37^o, windy

Nice run today.  Warmed up on the TM then ran outside.  Relatively flat course but it was pretty windy through parts of it and traffic was pretty bad since it was rush hour.  Very easy run, no strain.  Here's the splits:

1 - 9:10
2 - 9:35
3 - 9:50 (windy)
4 - 9:10
5.15 - 11:19 (9:50)

Rest day tomorrow then a longer run on Saturday.

Feelin' so good today I decided to go ahead and sign up for the Half on the 27th.  Here's the course in case you want to join me!  :-)

Rest day today which is good since my boss is in town today for our annual performance reviews and since I'm behind on my work I'll need the time to get things orderly.  Not good since if my review isn't all I was hoping it to be I'll be wanting to go run like a banshee after he leaves.

On a related note, there's a woman that has to interface with me on occasion.  She can have a quick question, but it always turns into a 30+++ min conversation...usually with her complaining about something.  So, I found a great Dilbert (I love him) that has inspired me to handle things differently the next time she comes over to my cube.  Enjoy!

Update:  No need for a banshee run today...performance appraisal went well!

25^o, cold and clear - even sunny!

Wow...today's run was HARD!  Not the course...I purposefully made it flat at first then added some hills into the second half, but I was not feeling it today.  I kept hitting snooze on the alarm clock since I knew it was going to be cold and was hoping another 10 minutes would make a difference, and I was just plain tired after this week!  I felt like Cameron in Ferris Bueller's Day Off where he's debating whether to get up and go out with Ferris.  This was me, just with a lot less hair:

I finally got up and out the door because I knew I'd regret it if I didn't go.  I'm glad I went, but it wasn't pretty.

Turns out that the river trail still had packed snow/ice on it until I got to about mile 2.5.  No big deal, it just made for a bumpy surface.  The rest of the run was OK.  My achilles wasn't much of a bother, but I began to get some pain in my right knee (probably Runner's Knee), and right "behind" the outside of my ankle bone toward the achilles (who knows what, but probably just old age)...oh boy, here we go again!  I kept it slow to keep the pain in check and it felt like it was taking forever to run the 8 miles.  The 10:00 pace wasn't bad for my long runs, but this time I felt like I was running so much slower!  The splits you've all been waiting for:

Mile Splits:  10:19, 9:49, 10:18, 10:22, 10:09, 9:49, 12:13 (walked for a minute or so here), 10:59 (1.17mi - 9:24 pace)  10:16 Avg Pace

Last week's runs were awesome, especially Thursday's, so having this "bad" run today was tough.  We've got some really nice days coming up this week, weather wise, so I'm looking forward to keeping the schedule and enjoying the outside runs!  I'm gonna keep on keepin' on!  Peace out!

Beautiful 47^o, sunny and perfect!

I had a nice 5mi route planned out but then ran into some construction that made me detour which also put me onto a street didn't allow me to get onto the bridge to make my loop to come back, so I was stuck having to just turn around.  No biggie, I thought, but I had already gone a little over 3mi out (didn't know till I mapped it), so that made it longer than I had planned on.  It turned out to be a faster pace than I had expected too (9:40).  It was a great day in the neighborhood, but the knee is a little sore still.  I'm going to ice it and take some motrin.  Then tomorrow will be just a short, slow 3mi with some weight training.

Wow!  Gorgeous day!  I  love weather like this!  Yes, Burt, I love it so much I want to marry it.  :-)

Was planning just a short 3mi, slow pace run, but then I noticed this guy running about 20m ahead of me on the path and so I decided I'd keep up with him.  It was faster than I had expected to go (9:00 pace), but I couldn't just let him slip away, could I??  I mean, I was running at this level, right?  Then I saw the guy and I had to take it to a Whole 'Nother Level!

This has been a Public Service Announcement for FastRunningBlogs.com

Ran at the track.  Nice easy run.  Mile splits (8:13, 8:40, 9:20)

9:30am, 40^o - a little chilly with the wind & some rain

Decided to do about a 10 miler today and since the HS track is about 4 miles away I figured that would be a nice run up there, so a few laps and head back.  Hadn't run this route before, but it turned out to be a nice one with some hills, of course, since Pittsburgh is just one big hill with the exception on downtown which is flat as a pancake.

Here are my splits (pace):

1.04mi - 10:08 (9:44)
1.04mi - 11:51 (11:23) uphill
0.90mi -  9:21 (10:23) part uphill
0.96mi -  8:35 (8:56) part downhill

Track laps:
2:28
2:29
2:26
2:24
2:23
2:23
2:23
2:24
2:25

Return trip
1.86 - 17:47 (9:33) - part uphill - forgot to hit the watch at the first marker
1.04 - 9:09 (8:47) downhill
1.04 - 9:51 (9:28)

Overall, I'm happy with the run.  I was shooting for a 10:00 AP and had a 10:08, which isn't too bad.  I took it easy on the uphills and even walked for about 30 seconds on mile 2.  Otherwise ran it all without stopping.  I'm feeling pretty good about the Half in 2 weeks.  I'm not going to PR, but since I don't plan to taper and use the race as a training run, I'm fine with that.  BUT, if I happen to be feeling so good that it just happens, so be it.  :-)  2:08 for the Half isn't some killer time, so it could happen.  This route is a whole lot more hilly than the Half course is.

If you've hung in here reading this far, you deserve a story.  So I was running the last mile of this run and a car pulls up along side me and says something to me.  I pull out my earphone so I can hear what they're saying.  It's a group of 3 guys in a semi-beat up car, dressed in green hats and green shirts and stuff.  They yell out to me asking why I'm not home drinking and celebrating.  I told them because I was running (duh) and because I don't drink.  They said "well, are you going to be drinking later?"  I said of course!  I've got a gallon of Gatorade waiting for me.  They chuckled and took off.  I just looked up when Shamrock Day is and it's not until Wednesday the 17th.  Guess these guys were starting early...

This was a fun run. Nice cool weather! Love it!

There's a park with an overlook area at the top. The park is kind of like a dome with the overlook at the top of it. The road then winds down it and back up to the top. Total loop distance is 2.83 mi and I did that twice. I took splits at 1.29 and 2.83 miles. Here are the splits:

1.29 - 9:54 (7:40!!!!)
1.54 - 14:03 (9:06)
1.29 - 12:28 (9:41)
1.54 - 15:00 (9:45)

The first 1.29 was really "fast" for me. The second time around, I took it slower so I wouldn't injure the knees. Plus, it was dark by then and the potholes in the park are better than the rest of Pittsburgh but still ankle twistingly bad. Then on the final 1.54 section, I saw my life flash before my eyes. I got chased by a rabid raccoon. Ok, maybe not chased, but it was dark and it came running out of the woods to the road about 10' in front of me, paused for a second to give me the evil eye, then ran across the road right in front of me. I'm just glad he didn't attack me. I would have had to write up a "Why I wear my RoadID story." I don't have time for that.

Nice easy, flat run along the river.  Beautiful sunny day!

Splits:

1.15mi - 9:45 (8:28)
1.05mi - 9:06 (8:40)
1.05mi - 9:07 (8:41)
1.15mi - 10:25 (9:03)

Felt really good, but knew it was "faster" than I should have been running it.  I figured I'd take it a little faster since I knew there's less chance I'll get in a run tomorrow with my schedule as it is.  I'll get in a little strength, but that's probably about it.  I was shooting for closer to a 9:00 pace...finally slowed down enough by the last mile.

Gotta get in my runs during this nice 50^o weather since we're supposed to get rainy this weekend and even a little snow late next week!  I hope it isn't rainy and nasty next Saturday for the race!

I was planning on about 6 today since I'll do a fairly easy 3 or so tomorrow before my 10-12mi long run on Saturday.  Sleep last night was awful, but my work laptop was having serious issues and would be out of commission for an hour or more so I decided to hit the road.  I picked a 5mi route with an extra 1.25 or so going around the best ball field in the US - PNC Park, home to the worst baseball team in the US - the Pirates - 17 consecutive losing seasons.  We love 'em though!  I hopped on the TM to cool down and they had the BYU NCAA basketball game on so I decided to do just one more mile at 10:00 to watch for a few minutes.  I was dragging after that mile!  Guess I should have skipped that last mile since it made me late to a meeting...

Anyways, according to my Garmun, here's my splits:

1.08 - 9:39 (8:56)
1.71 - 14:56 (8:43)
2.31 - 20:11 (8:44)
1.30 - 12:16 (9:26)
1.00 - 10:00 (TM)

Just did my nice 5k run around Pittsburgh.  Nice and easy!

Nice cool morning, perfect for running although it was a little chilly for shorts & t-shirt when I started out.  Ran it in 1:31 which isn't too bad, right at my 10:00 goal pace.  I'll have to blog more when I get back...gotta run out now and go help a family move.  The other guys in the ward are slackers and so I always end up having to go help since no one else will.

Glad to get it in today.

Splits:
1.0 - 9:03
2.0 - 8:47
3.0 - 8:53
4.25 - 11:20 (9:00)

Whew, just squeaking this one in before midnight!  Didn't get a chance to run during work, so I had to wait until I got home, but I got home late and didn't eat dinner until about 8pm so I knew I wouldn't be able to go run for at least 2 hours or I'd be hurting.  Finally headed out about 10:45pm.  I wasn't exactly sure how long this route was, but it's from near my house down to where I park for work and back.  I knew it was a little more than 3 miles each way, but thought it was closer to 3.25.  Turns out it was only 3.17 so my turn around split of 28:21 wasn't quite as fast as I thought it was.  But even at 8:56 it wasn't that bad considering the hills.  The return trip was slower at 9:48 pace, but not too bad considering I walked twice for about 15 sec.

I'll tell ya, I don't know if it was the yummy lasagna, the asparagus, or the super late start time, but this run felt awesome!  I was honestly dreading going out, and was trying to pick a route that wasn't very hilly (impossible in Pittsburgh), but was well lit.  This route was hilly, but I know the street well and although it goes through a relatively depressed part of the city, it's well lit. 

If I feel this good come race day, I may just have to push my "training run" and run a new PB!  I finished these miles and could have gone further.  Now, I'm really excited about the race on Saturday!

Another squeaker!  Got back a couple minutes before midnight!  I'm starting to feel like Dracula or something.  Anyways, a great run again.  I don't know why, but I'm feeling great about my runs the last few days and that feels good!  Nothing real fast again, but I didn't walk at all which was good.  I kept reminding myself that hills were my friends!  The route - again, starting and ending near my house  :-)

Splits:  9:57, 8:27, 8:42, 9:06, 8:47

Wednesdays are always the hardest days for me to get out with busy days at work then Mutual and scouts right after work.  I keep wanting to run between the time I drop my daughter off for seminary at 6:00 and when I get my son up for school at 7:30 but I either go back to bed for a few more minutes of sleep or I stay up and do some work.  I was determined not to let this day go without getting the run in.

I was all ready to run in the hour between when I got home from work and had to pick up my daughter from a school activity and still have time to get a shower in before leaving for Mutual (according to my family I stink after running). I got all decked out and was going to hit the track for the 4 miles today, but wouldn't you know it, when I got there there was the high school track team on the track!  I would have just went down there and ran, but they had those "keep the not-at-all-flexible old balding guys off the track" hurdles set up. The nerve of them!!!  Who do they think they are??  Shesh!  Go North Hills!

I wish I would have seen this cartoon before tonight when my 9 year old Bear Scouts were making fun of my bald head.  (BTW, it's 2 Kings 2:23-24...there is no 4 Kings...duh):

Scheduled rest day.  Did nothing today, but did talk about the race with another runner.  He hopes to PR (his current PR is 1:16 I think).  I'm thinking maybe I'll hurry through the first 8.1 mi then wait a few minutes to when he comes across the finish line.  I was mentioning how I thought it was weird that I wasn't lapped last year (the course is a 5k, then two laps around the lake - 5mi each) by the winners.  But then I realized that I must have passed through the lap/finish line mere minutes before the winners hit the tape.  I should have stopped and watched the finish!  Had I known....  Unless I'm on pace to go under 2:00, I may just do that this time.

So my debate right now is whether to get a Garmin 305 or not.  Anyone want to weigh in on it?  :-)

Did my couple of miles before the "race" tomorrow.  Thanks to my newly purchased Garmin 305 :-) I averaged 9:01 pace.  I'd love to average that tomorrow to put me under 2:00 so we'll see!  Felt pretty good after the first mile so I think I'll need to make sure I warm up with a mile or so before to feel good right off the line.

Yes, I looked at the watch several times in those two miles, but that's mostly to see if it was handling the curve where I hug a cliff and see what my heart rate was up to.  I have to admit the auto split at 1mi was nice.  I didn't have to worry about hitting the lap button or waiting until I got back to see what my split time was.  I'm a total data nerd, so once I get used to using it and the software, I'll be loving it even more!  I doubt I'll look at it a whole bunch during my runs after a week or two of using it only because I know it's working and getting all the data so I'll be able to analyze it when I get back.

Anyways, I'm going to leave the HR monitor at home for the race tomorrow. It was fine today, but that was just 2 miles and I don't need chafing issues or wanting to take it off half way through and not being able to put it somewhere.  Maybe next time.  This time, I'll focus on the race and keeping my paces below 9:05 if possible!  Gotta get to sleep!

This was a pretty good run.  I'm happy with my finish time since it was a PR (by about 5 mins), but I was well on my way to a sub 2:00 finish until about mile 10 when my feet started killing me.  It's a known problem that I'll need to get fixed now that this race is over.  But I was getting a little fatigued too, so I know my endurance wasn't where it needed to be either.  When the 2:00 pace group passed me about mile 12, I was upset, but they finished about 2:01:30 so my chip time may be closer to 2:00 but I'm sure I didn't beat it.  Either way, it wasn't bad considering my training up to this race was recovery from my achilles pain.  I really only had 3 weeks of decent training that didn't include any speed work or any real distance.

The course was great.  There's a hill shortly after the start, but I was surprised it was over before I realized it had really gotten started.  When it leveled out, I figured there was more too it, but then I realized instead of heading up the next hill ahead, the course took us around the corner and down the other side.  I took it slow out of the start.  I stuck with what I thought was the 2:20 group, but turns out it was the 2:10 group, so when I left the group and caught the next, I was surprised to see it was the 2:00 group!  I passed them in the 2nd mile since my pace was comfortable and I figured if I gave myself some space I'd still be OK if I had to slow or needed to make a pit stop.

Through the 9th mile, I was doing great.  The last 3 miles were increasingly painful, and I was disappointed when I couldn't keep up with the 2:00 group as they passed me.  But I hung in there the best I could.  I didn't have much of a kick at all at the end.  I was just glad to be done.  The PR is great, and I'll be so excited to crush the 2:00 goal in October when I run this course again!

I know some people like Garmins and others don't, but for me, I love it!  I got a 305 yesterday and used it on my 2 mile run that day.  Today, using it for the race was awesome.  It was so nice to just focus on running and not worrying about where the next mile marker is to make sure I hit my lap button, then trying to remember the previous splits to see if I was on track.  I could just run and as I heard the beep, look down to see my split time.  I had the average pace displayed too, so I knew that as long as I kept that under 9:05 I'd beat the 2:00.  Granted, I looked at it a few times, but I looked at it less than I do my regular Timex.

Thanks to my Garmin, here are my splits:

1 - 10:06
2 - 8:19
3 - 8:35
4 - 8:51
5 - 9:03
6 - 8:49
7 - 8:53
8 - 8:49
9 - 9:23
10 - 9:28
11 - 9:16
12 - 10:22
13 - 10:16
.3 - 3:46 (12:22) - forgot to stop the Garmin...

Had to plug the blog even though I'm no where near "Fast"  Hoping I won't embarrass the blog...

Looking good at 3.5 miles...declaring victory early!

 Part of my fantastic pit crew giving me some much needed Gatorade!

 Dang, missed my 2:00 goal, in pain, but glad I'm done!!

Posing with my two wonderful kids!  

And posing with my wonderful wife!  Thanks for all the awesome photos, honey!

2010 will be a great running year!!

 Update:  Official time is updated now.  Not the 2:00 I was looking for, but closer!  451 total HM runners, so about mid-pack.  26 out of 37 in my AG.  Splits were 5k - 28:00, 5mi - 45:04, 5mi - 49:55.  So, I definitely slowed down the second 5mi but I wasn't too far off.  Had I run that first mile in the 8:15 range I would have been very close to my 2:00 goal.  Next time, I'll be going out faster!

Nice fun run at Midnight.  Well, not exactly at Midnight...11:30pm until after Midnight.  So, I was cruising up Cemetery Lane, but I was disappointed to find that all the entrances to the cemetery were locked...so I had to alter my course to go past the small cemetery near my house to just run up and down in it while listening to Thriller, just for Burt.  I didn't include that time or distance since running amongst the undead doesn't count, or so I'm told.  Here's the course in case you're interested.  :-)  I broke in the new pair of 758s that I got late last week.  Love those shoes!

I had to drop my car off for some new tires tomorrow morning, but after a full day of work, waiting for our friends to drop off their parrot, running necessary errands, and getting some dinner, it was 10:30.  So, I decided that going out late was better than not going at all (Sasha's list of excuses haunts me).  My wife thought I was nuts (when doesn't she?) for going out so late, but I'm addicted to running and don't want to lose my momentum! 

I've got to get my concealed weapons permit so I can carry while running this late.  Until I get in the groove of running at 5am, late night is what it's going to have to be.  Hopefully soon I can convince my body that before work is better than super late at night.  Not sure if it's possible, but I need to try!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

No running today.  :-(  I had hoped to get home in time to run before my Podiatrist appointment, but no luck.  

Saw the doc and it looks like I may be able to get away with 2-3 rounds of cortizone shots rather than killing the nerves with an alcohol based solution.   This is good in that I'll just have to go back every 3 weeks or so 2-3x, rather than every week for 6-7x.  Both nerves in both feet are extremely inflamed and so I had to get two shots in the top of each foot.  Freakin' painful!

I shouldn't run "until the weekend," according to the doc.  So, since I'm only working a half day on Thursday and I have Friday off, that means my weekend really starts on Thursday, so I'll be giving it a go then.  :-)  I don't see how running will make a difference since the cortizone is in the foot and running isn't going to change that, and if walking doesn't dilute it or move it around the foot, then I don't get it.  But I'll take a couple days off and work on my pectorals and gluteus maximuses (or is it maximi?).  Might as well get looking good so I can wear the FRB singlet without a base layer.  :-)  I could lose a little of the muffin tops, but that will have to wait until I'm running more miles.  lol

I knew everyone would be sooo interested in my foot adventures, and you were waiting with baited breath to hear my diagnosis, that I had to update all of you immediately.  Stay tuned!

10:30pm - the weekend came early today!  Nice run but I was tired and would have rather skipped it.  Had to run the car out to the shop for its inspection, so I decided to run home.  Just coming straight home would have only been about 3mi.  Instead, I took the long, HILLY way.

Gotta get to sleep, so here are the splits:  8:58, 8:30, 11:09, 8:40, 9:33, (0.87) 8:46.