Today I headed out to the Buzzard course. My legs felt ok after last nights 5k. I arrived and was the only one there. Then my friend Bill and Stephan arrived. It was slow moving for all of us which was fine with me. I really wanted to get time on my feet - miles didn't matter. Bill ran with us until we hit the bridge - 5 1/2 miles - then turned around. We went left down the rail trail and took the water tank trail straight up to the top. Once we were up to the top a big helicopter flew over top. After it passed us the sound never really got that far away. It actually got louder after about a 1/2 mile. We looked through the trees and it was right on the other side in an open field. It was really cool to see a helicopter that close just hovering there. From there we headed down the road to the rail trail and back to the bridge. This was a long flat section that never seemed like it was going to end. My legs were tight and Stephan's IT band was giving him some problems. We hit the bridge and walked off and on the rest of the way back to the car. It was nice to just take it easy there and have some good running talk. After we got back to the cars for awhile another friend Randy was just finishing his run. Good times out there today and we missed all the rain.
Tonight the rest of the family went to the movies. I thought I would try another run to see if the legs were still tight. They felt a little better and I ran up to Pulpit Rock and did a loop around town. It rain a little off and on but nothing like the down pour last weekend. It was Good Friday to get in some long runs in.
4-22-2011 - 21.70 miles - 4:42 - run 4-22-2011 - 13.40 miles - 2:00 - run
Today I got out of work early so I headed right home to get some work done and then went for a hike. I did my normal 5 mile route. Not to much action out on the trail but it was a nice hike.
Tonight I decided to do a 5k. The family and I went to pick my dad up around 6 to go to the race. It is the first race of 6 in the series. One each month on the third Thursday of each month for 6 months. Tonights run had 300 finishers. My first mile was fast at 5:32, the 2nd mile was 5:55 and the last was 6:02 for a final time of 18:08. That time tonight was good for first in my age group. I really don't know how to pace myself in 5k's. I just go out fast and see what happens an just try to hold on. I really like jumping in these races because there is always someone to chase and you have to dig deep the last mile to keep moving. After I finished I ran back to my day and ran the rest of the way in with him. He is 67 and finished with a smile in 41:16. It was great to have family and friends at the finish.
4-21-2011 - 5 miles - 1:14 min. - hike
4-21-2011 - 6 miles - 46 min. - run
Time is really flying by. Every time I look at a calendar it seems like another day is gone. Right now there is less than 24 days to go. That gives me another 2+ weeks of training. After that I will be hiking the rest of the days - maybe;-) I'm not a big taper fan but I won't be running real hard if I do.
Tonight I went for a hike. The last 4 days I had 66 miles and I needed a break from running. I loaded my pack up with two water bottles and carried two bottles to get some more weight. I posted the 5 mile loop below that I have been doing on days I don't run. I really like this hike and the sites you get to see and tonight provided that. After taking a picture at Pulpit rock I hiked about 50 yards and I see a very colorful bird on the trail. I knew this bird should not have been here and I don't know how it got there. I quickly dropped my pack and bottles to get some pictures and some video. I later find out it was a Chinese Pheasant. It was really cool to see a bird with all that color up on the mountain. There was a lot of water on some parts of the trail heading back down to the reservoir. A great night for a hike and the weather was perfect for a hike.
Below I also posted all my mileage for the last 20 weeks. This month as of right now will be my biggest month so far. I also added my total hours for the last 10 weeks.
Tonight my legs were heavy and a little sore. The last 3 days really tired my legs out which that is what I was trying to do. Tonight was a nice slower run. I met my friend Donny out on my run and we did a loop around town and by the river. I think I am ready for an easy hike night.
Today I woke up and my legs were feeling really good after all the hills I ran yesterday. I wanted to get more miles in yesterday but I ran out of time and felt tired when I was thinking about a second run. I got dressed and ready to go but never made it out the door. It was a good decision because tonight I had energy.
I left the house around 5:45 and wasn't coming home until I hit 15 miles. When I go for a distance over 10 I usually head up to Pulpit Rock. It gives me one big hill and slows my pace down. It was cloudy up there tonight. I passed a couple of people but mainly I had the mountain to myself. After running back down I hit the road down to town. Baseball is in full swing and more people are around at the park. That is great to see because it has been a ghost town all winter. The river is up high after all the rain. I made it home hitting 15 miles in an 8:23 pace. What a great night of running.
Today I left the house around 11 a.m. to do hill repeats. The sun was in and out all day and the wind never stopped. Sometimes I had gloves and a winter hat on. Then when the sun came out from behind the clouds it got warm. I felt pretty good today and pushed them more then I usually do. I drank 3 full bottles of Gatorade, 4 gels and 4 electrolytes. There were a lot of people hiking today and that is always good for a conversation or two in passing. One girl was hiking with her family and rolled here ankle running down the hill. She seemed to be walking ok after I passed them later on. I ran everything but a 40 or 50 yard section on the last couple of laps. On those I tried to power hike the steep sections as fast as I could. The last lap I really worked hard to keep moving. After finishing my 10th hill I went over to Pulpit Rock to get a couple of quick pics and head back down to the car. If I stay to long I really get tight and cold. It is also quite painful to run the last 1.6 miles back to the car that way. 26 more days until MMT and a lot of work to be done.
4-17-2011 - 21 miles - 3:43 - run - elevation 6,720ft up/6,720 down
Today I met a group of runners at the Hamburg Reservoir at 8 a.m. We headed up the left side of the reservoir to a trail we don't run a lot. A little bit of bushwhacking was a fun way to start the run off. The trail doesn't get used that much so the growth was a little higher. From there we head down towards Eckville and then cut back up to the Port Clinton fire tower. We all grouped back together and then decided to run the power line trail. It goes straight down a very rocky section which was very slow moving because you could fall in between rocks. Then we went right back up the other side and that was one of the steepest trails I think I ever went up. Everyone was glad to be up at the top and it was cold so we had to keep moving. We ran the Appalachian Trail back to the parking lot from there. It was another great day with friends on the trail.
I went for a second run around 4. It was raining when I left. Splashing around town was a lot of fun. Then with around 3 miles to go I saw a flash and it was lighting. That made me run a little faster. Then the rain started to fall and the thunder started. I kept moving forward and made it home safe and soaking wet. It was a lot of fun out there before the lighting came. It was a good day of running.
4-16-2011 - 11 miles - 2:40 - run 4-16-2011 - 9 miles - 1:10 - run
