Lumberjack Days 10-Mile Race

Saturday, July 25, 2009:

Out of gas today. I had hoped to be able to run Stillwater's downhill Lumberjack 10-mile race at a pace of 9 minutes per mile, for a finish of 1:30:00. But I ran short of energy, and finished almost seven minutes over my goal and seventh of eight in my age group. Tsk. The last three miles are downhill, but I didn’t do well, walking a lot more than I would have liked.

Problem: I am serious about losing some weight and re-sculpting my body, so last week I followed the program and limited my calories, also tilting the meals a little more toward proteins and less toward carbs. Further, I ran a fairly fast three miles Thursday afternoon. The weight loss is going well, but I probably started the race without a full tank, and it caught up to me. That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it.

But what a wonderful race it was this year. Almost always too hot and sticky humid, this year’s 10-mile race was delightful. 68 degrees with a decent dew point and a nice breeze that helped more than it hindered. The organizers have this race down cold, too, so it goes off without a hitch. Many of my friends show up, and there is time to chat both before and after the race. I’ll probably do this race for as long as I can stumble to the finish, and then I’ll switch to the 5k and toddle to that finish.

Splits: 9:38, 8:34, 9:07, 10:11, 10:10, 9:42, 19:00 (2 mi), 10:36, 9:57, total 1:36:56, pace 9:42. It’ll have to do.

Thursday, July 23, 2009:

We three couldn’t run in the morning, and by afternoon the temperature was getting up there, so we went to the club for a short run on the indoor track, a tuneup for the Lumberjack Days races in two days. I ran a little faster than I intended, but it’s all good. No problems, no pains.

Splits: 8:51, 8:35, 8:21, total 25:48, pace 8:36.



We had a significant hailstorm Friday morning, some of the hailstones at least dime-sized. Less than a tenth of an inch of rain fell at the airport, but our gauge said 3/4 inch, all arriving in about ten minutes. No damage from the hail, and the rain is more than welcome.


Post-race fruit bowl: Blueberries, organic strawberries, organic grapes, banana, organic yogurt, dark chocolate. As good as it looks, it takes me at least a half hour to get around a bowl like this. A very enjoyable half hour, watching the Tour de France and grazing on this. It's a masterpiece!