Saturday

I didn't run this morning, but I'm planning to do the Summer Solstice 5K tonight at 8pm. I'm not really where I want to be, in terms of preparation, but it should still be fun.

At least it won't be cold!

2009-2014 The Lost Years

So... I used another blogging platform starting in 2009 until I stopped w/ the blog around 2011; unfortunately, that's all been lost.   I can tell you this: I ran and worked out and did a lot of stuff to stay in shape. You didn't really miss much except for a lot of miles logged.

Friday

Ran 4 miles yesterday, and then I ran 6.5 this morning.  I think I'll try to do 7 miles easy in the mornings for a bit until I feel back to my old self.

 

Lift weights tonight.

 

Rick leaves for his ROTC summer camp next week, so I can change my schedule back.  I've been lifting with him instead of cycling... but I really have enjoyed getting stronger.  I  am going to think about my new training program. Here are the things I want to do, in order:

 

-run

-lift

-swim

-bike

 

I'll work on a schedule for it post it tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday

I'm back from Nashville. Didn't get a chance to run, even at the hotel. Just a lot of hard work and long hours.

So... about 7 days of no running at all. I'll run at lunch today, then again tonight and get back into it. I was looking forward to the 5k on Saturday but that's real iffy right now because of another commitment. Just have to wait and see.

The older I get, the harder it is to run after a week's layoff. At least the weather is cooperating!

Monday

Still in Nashville!

Local Runner in Western States 100

John Teeples from Fortson is running the Western States 100 Endurance run. They started out at Squaw Valley, CA this morning. This is an awesome race and just the fact that he's doing it is very inspiring, at least to me.

You can check his progress here. I have been checking often (I'm currently working on a project in Nashville) to chart his progress. The Western States 100 website is here.

Thurs-Fri-Sat-Sun ?

Living out of a motel in Nashville for a few days... ate at Morton's last night. Not doing a whole lot for my running!

Tuesday

Ran early this morning. 6.2 miles, the first 5k at 9:00 pace and the second 5k at 7:45 pace. Nice and warm outside. Went to the pool afterwards.

Probably swim at lunch, then lift tonight. Rick is in Athens until tomorrow visiting his GF. I was planning to run tonight, but it looks like bad weather is moving into the area.

Saturday

I'd planned on running 13 miles this morning but felt pretty good, so I just kept going and ended up with 14.2 miles @9:00 avg pace. It was a little warm and I went through all 70 ounces of half water/half gatorade from my Camelbak, but when I weighed myself afterwards I was exactly the same weight as when I left.

I left the 11th Street Riverwalk starting point and ran about a mile before a group run overtook me, and I ran with them for about a mile until they turned around. Kept going south toward Fort Benning. I passed Rotary Park (2 mile point), went over the concrete bridge (3 miles), past the water park (4 miles), past the Water Works (5.2 miles), through the woods alongside the big open area (6 miles), and made it to the golf course before my Garmin beeped 7 miles and I turned around.

There were tons of runners, walkers and cyclists on the Riverwalk today. Lots of people I recognized. One of the coolest aspects of going to the Riverwalk on a Saturday morning is that you'll see a lot of people.

So I've been lifting weights with my son at the YMCA each nighgt for the past 5 weeks, and I've actually gained weight. I'm to 180 now and I started out this month at 174. Feels pretty good!

Thursday

5 miles on the North Riverwalk at lunch. Weight training in the evening with my son.

Friday-Saturday-Sun looks like 8-13-7, but we'll see. I was derailed by the weather once and by my alarm clock once; I'm sure by Sunday morning I'll regret giving myself an 8 miler on Father's Day.

Wednesday

Will run hills today at lunch, then lift tonight.

I've posted a couple of new links. One is to Stephanie's journal. She's just starting out running, doing the couch to marathon program. Please check out her blog and give her some encouragement. The other link is to Trey's blog. He's running in Valley-Lanett area during the days, actually in about the same places I used to run when I worked in West Point. He's getting ready to run the Country's Midnight Express run. Check his entries out as well.

Tuesday

I got up like usual and was getting ready to run when all hell broke loose!  I thought I was under a mortar attack, but it was just mother nature trying to kill me and everyone else in Columbus with one hellacious electrical storm. Oh well. Maybe I can run later.

 

 

Monday

Got out early this morning for 7.36 miles.

 

My son is in Athens for a few days, so I'm left to my own devices for lunch & evening workouts.  I'll probably go to the gym tonight and lift.

 

 

Sunday

Ran at 5:30 am and then swam to cool off. Nice. Saw a coyote running along the airport runway, near the fence across from the Spectrum on Moon Rd.

A year ago I was running 9:45-10:00 pace, now I'm averaging about 8:50 or so on my long runs. Progress is a wonderful thing.

Saturday

Ran 10.2 miles on the Riverwalk this morning. Ran the last mile or so with Kevin Hicks. He was finishing his 12 mile run.

I started about 7:15 am and it just seemed a lot hotter to me than what I've been experiencing... the heat started to get to me a little bit. I always run with my Camelbak on Saturday, since sometimes the water fountains are broken and sometimes I decide to go farther than planned. Glad I had it with me. I carry 70 ounces in mine, and it's half gatorade/half water with a little bit of salt added. "mighty tasty".... my stomach doesn't like straight gatorade, and just water doesnt do much for my electrolyte balance. This is as much about wanting to work out later today and run tomorrow etc as it is just getting through 1 run. I hydrate w/ electrolyte so I can workout tonight and then run 8 miles again tomorrow morning. It helps my recovery.

Anyway... swim after I leave work tonight.

Swimming Notes

I've been a swimmer for years and have done a number of triathlons. I have been concentrating on running and lifting, since I promised my son that I would do that with him until he leaves in early July, but after that it's run-swim-bike again for awhile. I will still lift, just not as obsessively as I have been these past 2 months.

I swim at the YMCA. There aren't a lot of options in Columbus for lap swimming. The only lap swimming available to civilians is the YMCA, but the YMCA has good facilities and is a great value. The 11th Street YMCA has 4 lanes; the one on Warm Springs Rd has 8. Both are 25 meter pools. Neither are crowded, but you need to pay attention to the scheduled lap swimming hours.

The 11th Street YMCA is also very close to the Riverwalk. In the winter, I usually go there after my long run on Saturdays to take advantage of the steam room and shower. It works out really well. An individual membership to the YMCA is $29 per month.

Double Churches Pool hosts a Master's Swim program during the summer. I checked and found out that it's already in progress. 6-8 am, from what I understand. The cost is $100 for the summer plus the cost of a US Master's Swim membership. This includes very good coaching, I'm told, and use of the pool during those hours.

Luckily, I'm also a member of the pool board for the neighborhood pool where I live. It's a 25-yard pool. I open it early, when I finish my morning run at 5:45, and open the pool's parking lot gate at 7:15am each morning so that any lap swimmers belonging to the pool can do their thing. Our pool opens before Memorial Day and closed last year in October.

If you're in the military, you can swim at the Bryant Wells pool on post. The new gym opens on June 29th and has 2 pools, including a lap swimming pool. It will be the finest gym in the Army, from what I read in the newspaper- a really great facility. I know that everyone on post is waiting patiently for that gym to open. I've seen it from the outside, it's huge.

Friday

Ran 7.46 miles today, so I'm at 27 miles so far for the week. 13+ gets me over 40 for the week, so I'll probably run 10-12 tomorrow and then run Sunday morning again. Going to the pool right when I finish running makes a huge difference. The temp at 4:20am was 72° but the humidity was in the 80's.

Catra's blog (Dirt Diva) is pretty interesting. She's running the Pacific Coast Trail, trying to set the record. She's 43 and has quite a story. It's interesting to me that despite all the planning, little things have come up but nothing has derailed her. I check it every day to see how she's doing and to help keep my motivation up as well.

Thursday

Swam and lifted weights yesterday; ran 6 this morning. I'm going to try to run again this evening, since I won't be lifting tonight. Still not sure. I may ride my bike.

Beautiful morning, glad I got up to run!

Tuesday

Another nice early morning run: 7.46 miles, starting at 4:30 am. 73° and about 70% humidity, but with a breeze. Clear skies and the moon's visibility made the run very nice. Miles 4, 5 and 6 this morning:
4 8:30
5 8:22
6 8:15
7 8:28

we don't want to talk about miles 1, 2, and 3... all I can say about them is that it's early in the morning and despite the coffee, I'm still waking up.

I'll try to swim at lunch, then lift weights tonight w/ my son.

Monday

Well it was a waning moon this morning, but it still looked pretty large up there in the clear night sky as I did my 7.26 miles through the streets of Columbus at 4:30 am. 74° w/ 68% humidity. Pretty nice. Mile 6 this morning was at 8:48.

OK so once again I'm going to TRY to do 7-7-7-7-7 through Friday and then a long run on Saturday. Swim at lunch, lift weights at night as usual.

Saturday

2 hour run this morning, on the Riverwalk. Got to 13.5 miles, so it was a very comfortable pace for me and a nice enjoyable run. I have been slowly adding to the long run now and finally got back to 13+ miles. The next ones will be 14, 16, 18, 20 between now and August with some shorter ones thrown in.

I had 2 unscheduled rest days from running ( not xtraining ) because I slept thru the alarm. I'm at 35.5 miles for the week and can hit 40 again pretty easily with a shorter run tomorrow.