12 miles going into 50 mile week

My second 12 mile run this morning. It went well in all regards except I got up too late. It got a little warm at the end of the run. I felt good the entire run and wasn't too tired at the end. This is going to be the biggest running week so far at 50 miles total Monday - Sunday. No run this week is under 6 miles. This is the goal that my trainer was shooting for in preparation for the marathon. I will be doing this two more times before the race. It is also time to get some new running shoes and I'm ticked that the style of shoe I've been running in since Christmas is no longer made... stupid shoe companies. Time to head to Solepeppers and Boulder Running Company to see what can work.


Listened to some The Devil Wears Prada yesterday.  Better than I thought it would be... I might get into that band.  I've listened to the new A7X on several runs and I do really like it.  Same with the new Iron Maiden.  The first time through I was a little down on it, but as it has come up on shuffle a few times, I know think it is one of their better overall efforts.  I have delved into more indie stuff lately as well with The Dig and Colour Revolt which is very good.

Let's get caught up...

A 5 mile slog
I think it is because I have had to get up so early this week to run before work, but I am exhausted. The downside is I still have a 12 mile up coming up on Sunday. My motivation is fine - I'm just super tired. I'm going to have to get used to these early morning runs before school.
I know... suck it up cupcake.

6 mile, 7 mile, and 5 mile

I got a 6 mile run in on Tuesday in the rain. It wasn't too heavy so it was nice to have it be cool temps. The issue on that run was the "code brown" mid-run. Thankfully, the fine City of Longmont planners put a public restroom at mile 3 of my run. Disaster was averted.
The 7 mile run went well, I felt I could have gone farther, but didn't want to push it with my tender ankle.
My 5 mile run wasn't too bad today. I was a little slow, but managed to end strong.
Two big milestones for me... 400 miles of marathon prep complete! 800 miles of running this year!

10 miles today
I needed to get my 10 mile run in and I had to be to work by 7:30... so I ran to work. It was a nice run and my best time on a 10 mile run. I do enjoy running to work, it saves a ton of time. My issue today was that I was so TIRED all day. Not from the run, but from getting up at 5:00 am. I need to start hitting the hay earlier...
Registration day went fine, but a lot of standing on some tired feet! Oh well.

Good news
I went out for a 5 mile run today and did not have much discomfort from my foot. The real test might be how it feels later today, but for now I feel like a dodged a bullet.
School starts back up in earnest this week. I think the big challenge for me will be getting up early enough to get these long runs in before school every morning. I might switch to afternoon runs if the weather cools down, but I never really liked running late in the day.
I am looking forward to teaching again this year and can't wait to get back at it.

Time for a bike ride

The ankle was definitely sore this morning, but no real swelling or bruising. I'm going to try to run tomorrow, but only a 4 or 5 mile run, nit the 10 mile I'm scheduled for. I think I'll see how it goes tomorrow and try to do the long run on Monday.
So, to get my exercise in a went for a bike ride. 17 miles and a flat tire. It was fun to be back on my bike, but even with trying to push my tempo, it isn't nearly the workout that running is.
Here is hoping tomorrow I feel good after running... I think I will.

Good news, bad news
I was in Alamosa on the annual sophomore class trip. The elevation is 7500 feet and I had a 7 miler and two 5 milers to run while we were there. The good news is that I had GREAT runs. The weather was nice and cool, low 50's and upper 40' for my runs, and the altitude didn't have any impact. I found a great trail that runs along the Rio Grande river and went out before 6:00 am each day. I felt great and the kids were amazed that I got up that early and ran that far each day. Well, pride cometh before the fall?
When I got back to school and was putting the bus away, I rolled my right ankle. It hurt a lot and it scarred the crap out of me. After the initial pain and fear wore off, I could put weight on it and walk normally. What a relief... and then after sitting for dinner, it really started to hurt. I'll have to see how it feels in the morning. Wish me luck.

6 miles and updated money
A nice 6 mile run with a 9:14 average pace. I looked at my splits and at one point I ran a 7:38 in mile 4! Wow! I could see that early on one of the downhills, but mile 4? Fun.
I was able to get to the bank and as a result have been able to donate the money to my page. I will be re-setting my goal for $1500. Thanks to everyone who has given to me or to my running partner Tiffany!
Today is my 18th wedding anniversary, and we are off to a nice dinner at Salt... I'll have to run a little faster tomorrow to burn off the calories.

3-3-5

Nice to have a "recovery" week as school gets ramped up again.  The bigger challenge will be when I am leading the class trips in Alamosa and need to be running 5-7 miles each day.  The runs this week have been nice and relaxed, until today when I did the 5 miler with 8X 1 minute 5K pace/2 minute recovery pace and then ended with 4X100m sprints - ouch!

The old body seems to be holding up fine and talking to a fellow teacher who underwent knee replacement surgery this summer, I have no complaints.

12 Miles

So another milestone today - 12 miles of running!  I swear that there was a conspiracy against me finishing this today.  Many stoplights that went against me, it rained almost the entire time, and then the stupid train!!  It crossed the road in front of me - stopped, backed up, stopped, pulled forward, stopped backed up AGAIN and then did all this again!  I was stopped for no less than 10 minutes.

When I was finally able to move again, my legs felt like lead weights.  The next issue was my run meter getting turned off when someone called.  I noticed a few minutes later when I looked to check my mileage.  So, I ended up doing more than 12 miles, but not sure how much more.

The upside is that I felt good on the run and my endurance was fine.  No real soreness the rest of the day.

Party

Held our fund raising/ Marathon part last night and it was a tremendous success!  The number of attends was down from the rsvp's, but those who did come made up for it in spades.  We made over $1000 for the ABTA last night and I think everyone had a great time.  The biggest thanks goes to my wife who put hours into the planning and details.  I also would like to thank the many generous people who gave to the cause.  I'll be adding the funds - and everyone's names to the wall soon.

Ran a 3 miler today after a LATE night.  Put off my 12 mile run until tomorrow.  I'll report back with how that goes tomorrow.

Kindness of strangers

So, yesterday morning Shelly and I were driving through a Starbuck's and when we pulled up to the window we were told that the car in front of us had paid for our order.  They told the cashier only to ask that we do it for someone else in the future.  How nice and unexpected!  It reminds me of the kindness of everyone who has donated to the ABTA.org for me.  Everyone has had different motivations for giving, but the fact that so many people were willing to support this effort is really wonderful.

Did a 7 mile run this morning and it struck me that this distance is no longer intimidating to me.  I can't believe how far I have come since June 4th in my endurance!  Here's hoping it continues - 12 miler is coming up on Sunday and that IS intimidating to me.

Met the goal and ran Illinois.

Thank you to everyone who has given to my fundraising goal! I have just passed my original goal and I would love to hit $1000.

In running news, we have been in Springfield, Il for the weekend and I got in some vacation running. Yesterday and today I ran on the inter urban trail, a biking and running path through the country and into Springfield. It is a beauty of a run. No traffic and no noise and a bridge over a small bay of Lake Springfield. It was also humid! I left to run super early to beat the heat and was very glad I did.

4 miles on Saturday was uneventful except that I felt great - low altitude seems to help! 10 miles today had two events of note. First was a deer and a baby doe. They crossed the path not more than 15 feet in front of me. The doe stopped just a few feet in front of me to check me out. I stopped on the path hoping to get a picture, but they ran into the bushes across the path. The other event from the run had to do with band-aids. Or rather the lack of band-aids. At mile 3, my band-aids had fallen off and I thought I might be in trouble. But I didn't feel any friction or pain on my chest. I went on with the run and didn't think about it again until I looked down at mile 9 and saw the red on my white shirt. Now I'm sitting here typing with very sensitive and very sore nipples. I have since gone out an gotten waterPROOF not water resistant band-aids.

Painful lesson learned.

Otherwise the run was great and had very little soreness afterward.