Good Times in DC Ranch

So, it turns out that running buddy Barry is... MORTAL! He complained on Friday about some sharp pain in his lower legs. Sounds like good ol' shin splints. Since the only thing to do is rest 'em, today was just Bill and I. We decided to get in some hill work in advance of The Other Half, which has a decent hill around mile 8. We decided to do the same 10-mile loop we did 2 1/2 months ago on July 13. I woke up at about 4:45AM and was pleased to feel nary an ache, pain or soreness-- not even so much as a niggle. The weather this morning was a cooler but still not "cool" 75 degrees. I picked Bill up at his house at 5:30AM, and he informed me that he didn't get home until 2AM the night/morning before. Ohhhhhhhhh, man! I would have punted that morning's run, but Bill decided to man up and do the run anyway. After dropping off some water at about the 7-mile point of our route, we arrived at the parking area at a little after 6AM. A little stretching and we were off. Today's theme music was the new Runnerfunker Podrunner mix. It was about average as far as my appreciation of it. Once that ended, I got The Pound Podrunner mix, which has become one of my faves. It had been a while since we did this run and I was looking forward to tackling the tough hills. From the parking area, the first mile or so has a slight uphill grade, which is a good way to get loose. I took the lead and we settled into a mid-8:00 pace. I turned around to check on Bill every now and then, and he seemed to be doing fine. At mile 2, the downhill section starts. You lose a couple hundred feet of elevation over 2 miles. It can be a real killer on your shins if you don't mind your form. I was feeling GREAT through this section, and we maintained our mid-8:00 pace. I was glad to see we weren't going too fast through here, as it can cause trouble on the return. We turned west at McDowell Mountain Ranch Rd. This section continues downhill, and our pace increased to the low-8:00 range. I was feeling just incredible-- my breathing was good, my legs felt good, I was in good spirits, etc. When we got to the entrance to West World, Bill overtook me and said, "I wanna stop and Gu." I asked how he was doing and he said, "Not real good. You should go ahead without me." I noticed he looked pretty flush and sweaty, probably a result of the previous night. I said, "Nah, I'll stick with you. I'll push you up that hill. What's the worst that can happen-- you puke?" After all the outings where I'm the one feeling overheated or sore or slow or whatever, it felt great to be the one feeling great! We started out again, and Bill took the lead. We resumed our low-8:00 pace through West World. When we turned onto 94th street, which features a mile-and-a half steady climb, I found out what Bill means when he says he's not feeling well. He's still an animal! He buckled down and started plowing up the hill. He opened up a small distance between us. I tried to close the gap, but my quads disagreed with the notion. We cruised up the hill at a pace that varied between low-8:00 and mid-9:00. We both did well, with Bill arriving at our water stop about 10 seconds ahead of me. We stopped for a couple minutes to refill water bottles, empty bladders at a fortuitously-placed Port-O-Let and eat a Gu. After our break, we started out again, heading up Union Hills Drive. This is about a half-mile climb of about 75 feet, a good warmup for what lay around the corner. I led through this section. When we turned back onto Thompson Peak Parkway, Bill moved ahead and started attacking the hill. This is the section that makes this run so tough. From Union Hills Drive, there is a one-mile climb with an elevation increase of about 250 feet. I have dubbed this hill F**kyou Hill. As we started climbing, I yelled, "F**k you, hill!" a little louder than I intended. A poor fellow walking his dog was startled. We attacked the hill, and only stopped for a couple very brief walk breaks of about 15 seconds. Cresting that hill is VERY satisfying. The terrain over the last mile and a half of the run has some slight rising and falling. We ran side-by-side for most of the way back at a mid-8:00 to low-9:00 pace. As we turned into the entrace to the DC Marketplace where we parked, I picked up my pace to about a 7:00 near sprint. As I made the final turn, I was surprised to see a giant inflatable FINISH line with a throng of spectators gathered 'round. "All this for our little ol' run?" I thought. It turns out there was a 3-mile walk to raise money for a kidney disease. We finished in 1:28:24, a full 9 minutes faster than the last time we did this run. I felt good from beginning to end and was very pleased with my time. I couldn't have asked for a better run. I think Bill was happy that we stuck together and I admire him for finishing this tough run with little sleep the night before. Hooray us! Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 1702 ft Location: Carefree, AZ Elev. Gain: +10 ft Date: 09/27/08 Up/Downhill: [+456/-446] Time: 07:09 AM Difficulty: 3.9 / 5.0 Weather: Fair 79 F temp; 42% humidity 79 F heat index; winds Calm Performance Distance: 10.04 miles Time: 1:28:24 Speed: 6.8 mph Pace: 8' 48 /mi Calories: 1662 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 59 +0' 11 6.7 -0.1 +56 ft 2 8' 32 -0' 16 7.0 +0.2 -59 ft 3 8' 16 -0' 32 7.2 +0.4 -125 ft 4 8' 24 -0' 24 7.1 +0.3 -53 ft 5 8' 24 -0' 24 7.1 +0.3 -91 ft 6 11' 00 +2' 12 5.5 -1.4 +29 ft 7 12' 26 +3' 38 4.8 -2.0 +95 ft 8 10' 19 +1' 31 5.8 -1.0 +101 ft 9 9' 45 +0' 57 6.2 -0.7 +102 ft 10 8' 48 +0' 00 6.8 -0.0 -36 ft end 6' 10 -2' 38 9.7 +2.9 -9 ft Versus average of 8' 48 min/mile

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Dead Legs

My legs felt really sore again this morning. My legs felt a little more sore than usual after our run on Saturday. On Sunday they were even more sore. "Huh," I thought. "I wonder what that's about." By Monday they were killing me. My quads and calves were just really achey. So much so that I didn't run Monday morning. When I woke up this morning, they were still sore! Sometimes the best way to cure sore legs is to go running. I was hoping today would be one of those days. Today was also the maiden voyage for my new Asics Gel-DS Trainer 13 shoes. I plan to run The Other Half in them, and wanted to get 20 or 25 miles in them before the race. They're light (3 ounces lighter than the Asics Gel Kayano 14 shoes I usually wear), they're lime green and they will supposedly make my race time a little quicker. And they have really, really cool commercials: Anyway, after a slow walk around the block, I set out on my run. I immediately felt my legs telling me to knock it off! I wondered if this was one of those days where I would do more walking than running, and I even thought about just stopping and trying again tomorrow. But I fought through all those negative thoughts and just kept going. After the first mile, I noticed my time was fine (8:51 for the first mile), but my legs still felt like two thick logs. I pressed on. The second mile was fine, too (9:18), but the ol' legs weren't feeling any better. Maybe even worse. I felt like I was plodding and shuffling, but my Garmin told a different story. I slowed down during the 3rd mile, stopping for a couple short walk breaks. I was still fine on time (9:28, even with the walking), but the legs still felt tight. Finally after mile 3, my legs felt like they were loosening up a little. I picked up my pace a little, and the legs seemed to respond. I even managed to do a 7:00 pace for the last quarter mile. I finished in a perfectly fine 37:25 (almost the exact time I finished the 2008 Pat's Run), which surprised me. I would have guessed that I finished in over 40 minutes. I took some ibuprofen after the run and hoped my legs would feel better. They still felt achey throughout the day. The funny thing is that I talked to 3 other people who said their legs were also not feeling well after running this weekend-- Barry, Greg and my neighbor Keith. Maybe it's The First-Day-of-Fall Blues or something. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow. Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 1093 ft Location: Phoenix, AZ Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 09/23/08 Up/Downhill: [+19/-19] Time: 06:20 AM Difficulty: 2.4 / 5.0 Weather: Partly Cloudy 80 F temp; 37% humidity 79 F heat index; winds E 7 Performance Distance: 4.11 miles Time: 0:37:25 Speed: 6.6 mph Pace: 9' 06 /mi Calories: 602 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 02 -0' 04 6.6 +0.0 -10 ft 2 9' 17 +0' 11 6.5 -0.1 +9 ft 3 9' 49 +0' 43 6.1 -0.5 +3 ft 4 9' 15 +0' 09 6.5 -0.1 -3 ft end 8' 12 -0' 54 7.3 +0.7 0 ft Versus average of 9' 06 min/mile

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10 Miles of Fun

Bill is out of town this weekend so he can witness the last game at Yankee Stadium (good riddance!), so it was just Barry and I running this weekend. We talked about what distance we would do during the week. He wanted to do 15 miles like he had the previous weekend. I wanted to keep the mileage down a little since I skipped my long run last weekend. I wanted to increase the pace, though, hoping to do between an 8:30 and 9:00 pace. We settled on a 10-miler on the Bridle Path and Canal, turning around at 12th St. As we were about to start the run at 6AM (which meant I got to "sleep in"), I realized that my iPod Shuffle wasn't working. Gaaaack! Barry loaned me his and he used his Nano. I listened to what sounded like a bootleg of the Led Zeppelin Knebworth 1979 concert. I also realized that it felt hotter and more humid than it had the previous week. Bummer! We started off pretty strong. Barry usually ends up pulling ahead right away, but I actually lead the way for a while this time. We did the first 2 miles at an 8:30-ish pace. As we continued up the Bridle Path, I could tell that it might have been a mistake for me to push that kind of pace. The heat was starting to bother me a little. Dammit! I can't wait for it to be 47 instead of 87. I still managed to do the next few miles at about a 9:00 pace, so I was still feeling good about making my goal. We reached the turnaround at 12th St. and picked up the water and Gatorade I left. After a short rest we set out on the return leg. I felt good for the first mile, and we were still on a sub-9:00 pace. As we reached the end of the canal and turned back onto Central, the sun was fully up and the heat was starting to get to me. I slowed to a 9:20-ish pace for the next mile, even taking a short walk break as we crossed Northern Ave. Shortly after Northern, I ran over some jerk's dog. He was walking in the same direction we were running, and the owner wasn't controlling his animal. The dog was distracted by another dog and ran right in front of me. I couldn't stop in time and ran right over it. Thankfully neither of us was hurt. My pace for the rest of the run was much slower. I told Barry to go on ahead because I just wasn't feeling like an 8:00 pace. I ran part of the rest of the run with a woman who was going the same speed. I took a few short walk breaks where the Bridle Path crossed big streets. Even though my pace was much slower, I was in great spirits. My mind was in a good place here, totally accepting that today was just a little too warm for me to run at the pace I wanted and having fun at the pace I could run. I'm just not built for running when it's hot, and it's much better to accept that than to get down about it. I finished in about 1:34, which was 5 minutes faster than the last time we did this distance. My overall pace of 9:15 was slower than I wanted, but the run was still fun. Managing to have fun on a day when my performance didn't meet my pre-run goal was great. My legs felts fantastic after the run, bareley even registering that they had just run 10 miles. When is this heat finally going to break...? Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 1201 ft Location: Phoenix, AZ Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 09/20/08 Up/Downhill: [+134/-134] Time: 07:18 AM Difficulty: 3.2 / 5.0 Weather: Partly Cloudy 87 F temp; 33% humidity 85 F heat index; winds E 7 Performance Distance: 10.19 miles Time: 1:34:18 Speed: 6.5 mph Pace: 9' 15 /mi Calories: 1582 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 34 -0' 41 7.0 +0.5 +19 ft 2 8' 33 -0' 42 7.0 +0.5 +26 ft 3 9' 05 -0' 10 6.6 +0.1 +29 ft 4 9' 07 -0' 08 6.6 +0.1 +20 ft 5 9' 23 +0' 08 6.4 -0.1 +3 ft 6 14' 17 +5' 02 4.2 -2.3 -3 ft 7 9' 22 +0' 07 6.4 -0.1 -3 ft 8 9' 44 +0' 29 6.2 -0.3 -36 ft 9 10' 26 +1' 11 5.8 -0.7 -22 ft 10 10' 14 +0' 59 5.9 -0.6 -29 ft end 9' 02 -0' 13 6.6 +0.1 -3 ft Versus average of 9' 15 min/mile

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Mid-week 10K

I woke up this morning with my legs feeling antsy for a run. I figured I'd better do a longer run than usual to satisfy them. When I walked out the back door, I was greeted with a pleasant surprise-- the weather had cooled off. Ahhhhhhh, finally a break from the heat and humidty of the past 2 months. Unfortunately the battery on my iPod Shuffle appeared to be dead, so I would have to run without music. I set off south, as I have on almost every run I've ever done in my neighborhood. Right away, I could tell this was going to be a good run. The time off had let my legs heal from the pounding I've been giving them, and they were completely pain-free today. I continued south down to McDowell and then turned up 15th Ave. to Palm Lane. It had been a while since I had run along Central Ave. (and the last time I had, there was so much construction that it was very un-fun). I took Palm Lane down to 3rd Ave., and then went down to McDowell and over to Central. The construction from the Light Rail is 99% complete, so the part of my run along Central was funner than the last time I ran here. I decided to turn onto Encanto Blvd. and run through the Willo neighborhood. I got to 7th Ave. and felt good enough to turn north towards Thomas Rd. I turned west on Thomas, and turned into the Edgemont neighborhood. I crossed over 15th Ave. and did the loop through the Margarita Place neighborhood. I thought briefly about heading for home, but I spotted a fellow runner about a block ahead of me. I picked up my pace and gave chace. As I ran south on 15th Ave., I closed the gap between us with each passing block. Unfortunately, he reached Encanto Blvd. and turned east. I turned west on Encanto, and again thought about heading for home. This run was so fun, so I decided to keep it going. I headed south on Laurel Ave. into the Fairview Place neighborhood. When I reached Palm Lane, I headed over to 16th Ave. and figured it was time to head for home. I ran north on 16th all the way up to Virginia and then back home. When I stopped, I was surprised to see that I had run about 6.1 miles (about a 10K). I thought about the first time I ran 6 miles and what a mometous and difficult run that was. I looked it up, and that was on Oct. 28, 2007-- a little less than 11 months ago. I did this casual run 4 minutes faster than that one, and I didn't feel like I had been severely beaten like I did last year. Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 1092 ft Location: Phoenix, AZ Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 09/17/08 Up/Downhill: [+22/-22] Time: 06:13 AM Difficulty: 2.2 / 5.0 Performance Distance: 6.10 miles Time: 0:54:17 Speed: 6.7 mph Pace: 8' 54 /mi Calories: 888 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 32 -0' 22 7.0 +0.3 -10 ft 2 8' 48 -0' 06 6.8 +0.1 +3 ft 3 9' 34 +0' 40 6.3 -0.5 +3 ft 4 8' 44 -0' 10 6.9 +0.1 +6 ft 5 9' 26 +0' 32 6.4 -0.4 -6 ft 6 9' 17 +0' 23 6.5 -0.3 +3 ft end 8' 45 -0' 09 6.8 +0.1 0 ft Versus average of 8' 54 min/mile

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Spinning

I made it just in time to the 5:45 AM spinning class at Gold's Gym this morning. I didn't leave the house until 5:20 or so, so I guess I covered the 25 miles or so pretty quickly. I walked in to discover that we have brand new bikes. They look more modern than the old ones, but I'll have to get used to the different controls. When the instructor asks for more tension, it'll take a little while to figure out how much is a 1/4 turn and how much is a full turn.

It was the first exercise I had gotten in since traveling to Connecticut for a memorial service for my grandmother who passed away recently. I didn't bring any running gear with me because I wanted to travel light. There wouldn't have been an opportunity anyway because it was pretty rainy while I was there.

It was a good, tough class this morning. Even the instructor looked winded and sweaty. (What a cool job-- getting paid to exercise.) My legs felt like they were pretty anxious to get back into it. A little layoff is good every now and then, but 4 days (an no long run in a week and a half) is probably too long. I look forward to running again tomorrow.

Short Quick One

I struggled to get out of bed this morning. All these pre-dawn wake-ups are starting to catch up with me. Luckily I had already pulled out my running clothes, so once I swung my legs out of bed I was able to get up and out the door. My legs and back felt great this morning. I was a little suprised because I ran 13 miles Saturday, another 5 Monday and I did an intense 1-hour spin class yesterday. I didn't want to ruin the streak of not hurting, so I figured I'd do a 5K this morning, but I would do it at a really intense pace. After a walk around the block to clear out the cobwebs, I set out. I immediately cranked up the pace, and within 1/10 mile, I was running at a 7:45 pace. I kept it between 7:45 and 8:00 for a little over a mile, and then I slowed it down for a short distance. I did the next mile at about 7:30 - 7:45, and then slowed down again. I did the last 1/2 mile or so at less than 8:00, too. I ended up doing 2 1/2 miles, because I forgot to make a turn for my 5K route. I was still pretty happy with this run. Oh, and the weather was simply FANTASTIC!! Hooray, fall is here! Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 0 ft Location: Phoenix, AZ Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 09/10/08 Up/Downhill: [+0/-0] Time: 06:38 AM Difficulty: 0 / 5.0 Weather: Partly Cloudy 81 F temp; 54% humidity 82 F heat index; winds Calm Performance Distance: 2.46 miles Time: 0:19:47 Speed: 7.5 mph Pace: 8' 03 /mi Calories: 364 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 7' 49 -0' 14 7.7 +0.2 -- ft 2 8' 33 +0' 30 7.0 -0.4 -- ft end 8' 02 -0' 01 7.5 +0.0 -- ft Versus average of 8' 03 min/mile

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Round and Round

I did a spinning class at Gold's Gym this morning. I think these classes will really help with my endurance and stamina. And they also seem to aid in my inter-run recovery. It's intense physical activity but it's also low-impact.

Today't class was one of the more intense I have taken. The instructor used just about every technique I'm familiar with (runs, jogs, sprints, jumps, glides, etc.). There was a 7+ minute climb section that was a real killer.

When it was done, I was super sweaty, but my legs felt great!

Monday Morning 5-miler

I woke up this morning expecting to be too sore from Saturday's 13-miler to do any running. My calf hurt pretty bad during that run and was still a little sore the day after. But when I woke up, my legs felt pretty good so I decided to give it a go. I walked outside expecting it to be miserably hot and, sweet fancy Moses, it wasn't! It felt like it was in the low 80's and the humidity didn't feel bad at all. It might've been even drier were it not for the thunderstorm I could make out in the distance. I set out without much of a plan, except I hoped to do about 5 miles. I have no idea why I picked that distance.... At first my legs were completely pain-free and I thought I might turn in a 7:00 pace. :) After a half mile or so, I could "feel" my calf a little but it was more tight than sore. I need to start doing some yoga or something. The tightness increased over the next couple miles, but after mile 3 it loosened up again and I felt great. I noticed that I did a little historic district mini-tour, running through Del Norte Place, Fairview Place, Encanto-Palmcroft, Willo, Edgemont and Margarita Place. As I finished the last mile, the sun had risen and I passed no fewer than 4 (FOUR!) other runners. That's 4 more runners than I usually pass, so I was pretty excited. I finished the last mile particularly strong, turning in an 8:45 pace. I was very happy that I dropped a 5-miler 2 days after running my fastest 13 miles! About a year ago, I remember psyching myself up for my first ever 5 mile run. Now I can run that midweek with no problem at all. Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 1092 ft Location: Phoenix, AZ Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 09/08/08 Up/Downhill: [+16/-16] Time: 06:14 AM Difficulty: 2.7 / 5.0 Weather: Mostly Cloudy 87 F temp; 30% humidity 85 F heat index; winds SE 7 Performance Distance: 4.99 miles Time: 0:47:40 Speed: 6.3 mph Pace: 9' 33 /mi Calories: 746 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 11 -0' 22 6.5 +0.2 -6 ft 2 10' 12 +0' 39 5.9 -0.4 +3 ft 3 10' 09 +0' 36 5.9 -0.4 +6 ft 4 9' 33 +0' 00 6.3 -0.0 -9 ft end 9' 03 -0' 30 6.6 +0.3 +6 ft Versus average of 9' 33 min/mile

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