| Today was my first run since the Mesa Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day. Bill had a 19-miler on his calendar, and he wanted to do it on Sunday. We txt'ed back and forth a bunch of times and arranged for me to run 11 of that with him, which would leave 1 solo mile for me and about 8 for him. The plan was for Bill to start by the Scottsdale Shea hospital and run down the Green Belt. I would meet him where the Green Belt intersects the Canal (just south of Indian Bend Rd. at Hayden) at 7:00AM or so. I arrived at our meeting spot about 2.4 seconds before he did. Perfect timing! It was a brisk 51 degrees when we started-- much, MUCH better than the 80-degree heat of last week. After Bill re-filled his new Amphipod RunLite Hydration Belt (Merry Christmas, dude!), we set off on the Canal. I could tell right away that my legs were still tight from the race on Thursday. Not painful or sore, just tight. It felt really good to not worry about heat or hydration issues. If it weren't for the tightness in my legs I would have felt perfect! We cruised down the Canal past the newly redeveloped Scottsdale Waterfront. I noticed a couple restaurants that look worth trying. As we passed Goldwater Blvd., I could tell my legs really, really wanted a rest. But I resisted, trying to pick up my pace a little. As we neared our turnaround at Herberger Park, it got harder and harder to keep my legs moving. But I managed to do just that, and we reached the 5-mile point in a respectable 43 minutes, keeping a really consistent 8:30 pace the whole way. We stopped at the facilities at Herberger Park to rest and refuel. While there we talked to a couple of nice women who were out for an 18-miler. I felt like my 12-miler was wussy stuff compared to what they and Bill were doing! After a couple minutes, we set out on the canal again. My legs still felt pretty stiff, but luckily the rest didn't make it worse. On the run back, I took a couple 10- to 15-second walk breaks as we crossed streets. It's amazing how even a small break like that can help rejuvenate tired muscles. I ran the second 5 miles at about an 8:45 pace. It was slower than the first 5 miles, but I'm very pleased with my time considering how my legs felt. When we reached Hayden Rd., we headed north. I ran with Bill until we reached McCormick Parkway. Bill continued north along the Green Belt, and I turned around and ran back toward the Canal. When I reached the Canal, I was about a 1/2-mile short of my tarket distance. I didn't feel like finishing my run, but I forced myself to. I did a 1/4 mile loop on the Canal, pushing myself as fast as my legs would allow. I finished the 12 miles in 1:44, at an average pace of 8:44. After last weekend's bonk, today was a nice comeback. I am shocked that I had an 8:44 pace in me considering how tight my legs felt. A couple more training runs and I'll feel ready for the Fiesta Bowl Half Marathon in 2 weeks. I will focus on hitting the starting line as healthy as possible. Activity
  
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Sunday, November 30, 2008
12 Mile Recovery Run
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Mesa Turkey Trot 10K
I ran the 2008 Mesa Mi Amigo's Turkey Trot 10K this morning. The weather reports all week had been indicating thunderstorms for this race. My aversion to running in the rain is well-known. To increase the likelihood that I wouldn't sissy out of the race, I asked Bill for a ride. It was pouring when I woke up, but as I got ready to leave, the rain stopped and the skies cleared. By the time Bill arrived a little before 7:00, it was shaping up to be a really nice day for a race-- cool and clear.We arrived at the race site about an hour and a half before the start of the race. After picking up our numbers and T-shirts, we milled around the park. We ran into my boss Greg and some of his running buddies. After drinking some water and making a couple trips to the port-o-lets, we made our way down to the starting line and positioned ourselves near the front of the pack. The gun went off right on time, and we were able to get off to a good start. The first 2 1/2 miles of the race is a loop around the block that re-crosses the starting line. That section of the race went by pretty quickly and I was feeling pretty good. My bladder was pretty full and that kept me from pushing a faster pace. As we completed the first loop and passed the starting line, Bill started to pull ahead. I was feeling comfortable with my 8:15-ish pace and let him pull away. At about mile 3, I realized I wasn't going to finish the race without relieving myself (damn fun size bladder!). I found a nice big bush in a vacant lot just before mile 4, and took care of business. From mile 4 on, I felt really good. I was running between a 8:00 and 9:00 pace. I got some water at the water station at mile 4.5 and dumped it on my head. Ahhhh! At the 5.9 mile mark, the route crossed Brown Rd. and headed back into Red Mountain Park where the race finishes. I saw a seemingly fit woman off to the side puking her guts out. What a bummer to lose it so close to the finish! As I entered the park, I picked up my pace a little. The route makes a couple sharp turns as it winds its way through the park, which makes a little hard to finish with a good stride. As we entered the path where the finish line was, I kicked it up a notch and passed a couple people who had been ahead of me for the whole race-- despite their best efforts to keep me behind them.  I finished in 53:16, by far my fastest time for a 10K. I believe my previous PR was a 56:00-ish time at the Lost Dutchman 10K earlier this year. I think a sub-50:00 10K is in my very near future. I met up with Bill at the finish area. There is a person that runs the race in a turkey suit. You get a special certificate if you finish faster than the turkey. Unfortunately they ran out of certificates just before Bill got his, but he'll always be able to say he beat the turkey. Overall, this was a very fun race and a quality run for me. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Activity
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Sunday, November 23, 2008
Bonk!
| I hadn't run since my 10-miler the previous Saturday. I'm still trying to get my circadian rhythm back on Arizona time. I've been falling asleep super early and waking up super early. I've forced myself to stay up late the last 2 nights in an attempt to finally get back on track. Meanwhile, I just have NOT felt like running during the week. Barry was out of town this week, hiking in the Grand Canyon. Bill was busy, too, volunteering at the Ironman Triathlon Arizona. Incindentally, those people are NUTS! Swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles and then running 26.2 miles?!?!? I tip my hat to you folks! Anyway, Bill and I put our immense anyalytical brains together and figured out that if he started at Granada Park and ran a 7-mile out-and-back, I could join him for the last 11 miles. The only problem is that he had to attend a volunteer meeting at 9AM on Saturday and would be at the Ironman all day Sunday. So the only opprtunity we would have would be Saturday afternoon. The forecast called for temps in the low 80's. That didn't seem so bad at the time. Boy, were we wrong. Bill started his run at about 11AM, running west on the canal from Granada park. He turned around a little past Central Ave. and headed back toward the park. I arrived at the park at around 11:45 and was waiting for him when he arrived. I thought he looked a little sweatier than I expected, but I shrugged it off. After filling up his water bottles, we headed east on the canal. We started off at a good, moderate pace. I had the typical little aches and pains pop up in various places in my legs, but everything loosened up pretty quickly. The first 2 miles were pretty uneventful. We chugged along at about an 8:45 pace. The first sign of trouble came as we were crossing 32nd Street. As we crossed, Bill seemed to cross a little slower than I would expect. "Was he... walking?" I thought. I asked him if he was feeling OK, and he gave me an unconvincing nod. A half mile later, I turned to say something, and saw Bill walking. What the...? He confirmed that he just wasn't feeling it that day. The rest of the way down to our turnaround at 56th Street we alternated good, strong pace (e.g. we were at a sub-8:00 pace as we approached 40th Street) with short walk breaks). When we got to 56th Street, I asked Bill if he had bonked. "Yep," he said. Bummer! We walked over to the restroom, and cooled off with some water. For the first time I could feel how hot I was. Even though it felt nice out, it was a real crummy day to be running. The water I splashed on my face felt really cold, meaning I was really hot. The run back was a slower affair than the way out. We alternated running and walking, trying to be careful not to overdo it. When I thought Bill was on the verge of quitting, I would tell him some story to keep his mind off it. It seemed to work okay, and we run-walked together for the 5 mile return trip. Bill did better than I did when I bonked on this same route back in the spring. With about 3/4 mile to go, Bill talked me into running the last segment myself. I took off and hit a 6:05 pace. Yikes! The heat hit me in the face like a punch. I slowed to a slow jog for a couple seconds, and then took it to the finish line at a more reasonable 7:00 pace. Bill finished only a couple minutes behind me, and he came in running. I did my 11 miles, and he did his 18. The heat made this a pretty tough run for both of us. Bill seemed bummed about it, but I figure that days like this remind us that we're mortal. I'm reminded of the Hebrew folktale of King Solomon, from whence the phrase "This too shall pass" comes. I'm also reminded of the quote from Dean Karnazes I have on the top of my blog: "Run when you can, walk when you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up." Amen! Activity
  
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Sunday, November 16, 2008
There's No Place Like Home
| After traveling to two of the most beautiful places on planet Earth-- Moab, Utah and Paris, France-- I was actually looking forward to running on my home turf. There's just something about the familiar sights, sounds and smells of home that can't be beat. Barry sent me a teasing e-mail before I came back from Paris that said, "After running along the Seine and under the Eiffel Tower, are you ready to run along the canal and under the SR-51 freeway?" Absolutely! The original plan was to run with Barry at 5:30AM on Sunday. Unfortunately, I had to shuttle my in-laws to the airport at 7AM and that didn't work. So I decided to do 10 miles myself along the canal, starting at Granada Park. It took about 20 minutes for my Garmin to pick up a satellite after going from Arizona to Utah to France and back. Once it finally synchronized, I was on my way. I felt really good right off the bat. I hadn't been doing a ton of running in the past few weeks, so my legs felt good and fresh. I didn't have any time or pace goals in mind, but I found myself doing a sub-9:00 pace for the first half of the run. I felt pretty good, but it started to get up into the mid-70's around the 3 mile point, and I started to heat up. I didn't have a ton of water with me, so I decided to slow it down a bit on the way back to make sure I didn't overheat. At about the 6 1/2 mile point, I fell in behind a woman that was doing about the same pace as me. After a while, she let me pass her. Then she passed me. And then I passed her again. We exchanged like this several times until I passed her for the last time at about the 8 1/2 mile point. At that point, I passed her and identified someone about 1/8 mile ahead of me that I wanted to catch. I kicked it up a notch, passing her at about 9 1/2 miles. I finished strong, kicking a 7:15 pace over the last 1/4 mile. I did an overall 9:15 pace on the return trip, and I finished the run at 1:31. It's definitely good to be home, and I'm looking forward to the Mesa Turkey Trot 10K on Thanksgiving and the Fiesta Bowl Half Marathon on December 14. Activity
  
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Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Paris Farewll Run
After two glorious fun-filled weeks, today is the day we bid farewell to Paris. I woke up early so I could sneak in one last run before we leave. Before I get to the run, I just wanted to relay some trivia about French eating that I've learned on this trip:
OK, on to the run.
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Monday, November 10, 2008
Paris 6-Miler
| I'm pretty happy with my decision not to try my first full marathon in January. This vacation has NOT been conducive to running, and the lack of running I have experienced in Paris would have been disheartening. It has rained almost every morning we've been here (luckily, it usually clears up by the time we head out for the day). As anyone who knows me knows: I DON'T DO RAIN. Luckily, we've walked around Paris to the tune of 5 to 10 miles per day, so all of this fabulous food hasn't left TOO much of an impression on me. Like I had for the previous 4 days, I set an early alarm. Unlike each of the last 4 days, when I awoke to find rain, I saw only clouds and puddles. "What the hell," I thought. "Let's give it a shot." I strapped on my shoes and headed out. I wasn't sure what my legs would have in them because of all the walking we've done. I walked down to the Palais de Chaillot in the Trocadéro because my Garmin won't pick up a signal in the dense streets of our neighborhood. I walked down the steps of the palace, now a museum, and headed down toward the Seine. I started my run at Pont d'Iéna and headed southwest down the Seine. Even though it was cloudy, breezy and a little chilly, it was a good day for a run.  I kept heading down the Seine until I got to the Pont de Grenelle, where I crossed over to the other side of the river. About halfway across the river, the bridge passes over the Île des Cygnes, which has a small replica of the Statue of Liberty (which was a gift from the French). When I crossed the river, I headed back in the direction I started. When I reached the Pont d'Iéna, I turned south and ran under the Eiffel Tower (!!!). I headed up the Parc du Champ de Mars to the École Militaire. I paused to admire the Eiffel Tower (it really is cool!), and then headed back towards it. There were 3 runners ahead of me, and I gave chace. I caught and passed 2 of them, but the lead guy was too far ahead. When I got back to the Seine, I headed East, running past the Musée du Quai Branly, one of the few museums we haven't visited in Paris yet. (The Picasso Museum is another, but we're going to that one as soon as I finish this blog entry.) I continued along until I reached the Pont Alexandre III, and turned right.  I headed up the Esplanade des Invalides, which offers an awesome vista of Les Invalides. Just a splendid sight. When I reached Les Invalides, I paused to admire it, and then headed back down the Esplanade. This offers an awesome view of the bridge with its cool gold statues and of the Grand Palais with its amazing glass roof. I crossed the Pont Alexandre III, and headed back toward my starting point. This part offers one of the best views of the Eiffel Tower. I just love that thing!! When I got back to where I started, I decided to sprint up the long ramp that leads up to the Palais de Chaillot. It's pretty steep, so it provided a good challenge to finish the run. Over all, I could tell my legs were a little sore from all the walking we've been doing, but it was a good, fun run! Activity
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