March 31, 2006

Stop, Geese!

Last night as I was driving home from the commuter parking lot, I had to stop to avoid hitting geese that were trying to cross the road. The geese turned around and went back to the grass, safe and sound. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for two cars in the lane next to me. One car had slowed down almost to a complete stop and was rear-ended by another car whose driver must not have been paying enough attention. No one was hurt.

This morning's run was 10 miles. Other than Monday, every run this week has been 10 miles, giving me 48 for the week so far. I was thinking that since my goal race is months away, it would be a good idea to have some shorter term goals as well, kind of a way to measure my progress. The goal for this week is 70 miles.

March 27, 2006

Crazy Weekend

I still haven't figured out that if I want to run on Saturday, I have to get up and do it before everyone else gets up. If I sleep in, there's just too much going on during the rest of the day and it's hard to coordinate two small children's eating and sleeping schedules. So Saturday's running was a big fat zero. Saturday wasn't all bad, though. It was J's birthday, and we did go out and have a nice dinner sans children at Landini Brothers in Old Town Alexandria.

Sunday was spent taking care of the kids. I think they both have some kind of stomach bug. When Puff woke up and got out of bed, he was very lethargic, when usually he's going a hundred miles an hour. He ate a little breakfast and then got sick. B, who is now eight months old, is spitting up at times too. J coaches lacrosse and her team had a game, so she was gone from morning to mid-afternoon. Sunday was another big fat zero.

I did run this morning, eight miles out and back along the parkway. I'm sad that we have to set the clocks ahead this coming weekend. It's nice to see the sun coming up while I run, and I would gladly give up an hour of light in the evening for an hour in the morning while I'm running.

March 22, 2006

Seven More Miles

This morning was another seven mile run; actually it was the same loop I ran yesterday. I don't know what happened to spring, but when I got up this morning there was a dusting of snow on the groud and a strong wind was blowing. The wind didn't turn out to be too bad. It was only blowing hard in my face for a small part of my run. I picked up the pace for the last two miles so I was running a strong aerbic pace. That's something I need to do as much of as possible. The more I'm able to do that, the more productive my base building will be.

March 21, 2006

Ft. Hunt 10k--Race Report

The events prior to the race did not go as planned. I was late leaving the house because J was sick and I took some time to make sure she didn't need me to stay. I had to stop for gas, and then I had a directional problem. I knew where I was going, but when I got off 495 I thought Route 1 intersected the road I needed to turn on to, but it actually ran parallel. I didn't get too far before I realized my mistake.

I got to the race about 15 minutes before the start. I just had time to register, use the facilities, and get changed. The course was 5+ laps around the perimeter road of a park. It sounds like it might be boring, but that wasn't the case. The lack of a warmup made me decide to make my race plan run 6:30s and try to pick up the pace for the last mile or two.

I was able to execute my plan quite well. My splits for the first four miles were 6:33, 6:37, 6:32, and 6:32. I was feeling strong and in control. During the fifth mile, I made a move. Picking up my pace, I caught up to two runners who had been ahead of me for most of the race and passed them. My split for the fifth mile was 6:29. During the sixth mile I continued to press and open up more of a gap. I ran the sixth mile in 6:18, and then ran the last .2 miles in 69 seconds to finish in 40:13 (watch time). I know my splits don't add up right; I truncated the decimal points.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this race. I felt very strong aerobically and only felt like I was breathing hard as I kicked in the last .2 miles. I want to continue to increase my mileage and be as strong as possible for the marathon.

This week is a cutback week. I had planned on higher mileage before the race last week, and even though that didn't work out I'm still taking this week easy. Both Monday and Tuesday were seven mile days.

March 20, 2006

Ft. Hunt 10k

I ran 40:13 according to my watch, 40:15 according to the results, and finished in 13th place. I was hoping to break 40, but was pleased with how the race went. More details to come.

March 17, 2006

After It's Done

I really need to refrain from using the word should in my blog. It seems that every time I say that I should be doing something, it never works out. So, since I stated "I should be in the mid to upper 60s this week..." in my last post, it should be no surprise that it won't happen. I haven't run the past two days. Family issues came up that prevented me from getting very much sleep, and I just wasn't strong enough to will myself out the door. So from now on, I'm only going to mention things after they're done.

March 15, 2006

Resurfacing

Even though I haven't said anything about it for the last two weeks, training has been going well. I've become so set in my routine that it's almost automatic. Mileage-wise, my last three weeks have been 66, 53, and 63. I should be in the mid to upper 60s again this week, since I've started this week with three ten mile days. I'm planning on racing a 10k this weekend, if for no other reason than I haven't raced since December and would like to see how I'll do. The main goal for the year is my marathon debut in Richmond, so everything is going toward that.

March 02, 2006

Grrrrr...

My alarm didn't go off this morning. I thought it was all set, but when I did wake up about 40 minutes after the alarm should have gone off I found I hadn't turned it on last night. That's odd, since I'm compulsive and usually check it twice before I fall asleep.

Because I got up later than I wanted, I only ran five miles this morning. As I was in the median, crossing the road to head back to my house, one of my friends pulled up in the left turn lane. We talked for a minute while I waited for the road to clear, then I crossed and headed home.

Yesterday, since it was Ash Wednesday and I was fasting, I only ran four miles. Tuesday was a ten mile day. At the beginning I didn't feel too great, but once I was about halfway I felt better and when I was done I was thinking that wasn't bad.

I've been thinking a lot recently about a quote from Pattisue Plummer I read on Zeke's blog--"Workouts are like brushing my teeth; I donĂ‚’t think about them, I just do them. The decision has already been made." I have a good streak going, and I feel like I'm just getting up and going in the morning--there's no question about it.