Thunder & Lightning

St Croix Valley Runners regular 5-mile run. Lots of people this morning, despite the Gopher to Badger Half Marathon, which always attracts several of our runners. We even had a new runner, Lisa, who ran way out in front with New Dave. Hope she keeps coming - I’m sure that several of our speediest runners can keep up with her or at least challenge her.

I ran a modest pace, intending to run a 1/4 marathon race (6.55 mi) less than an hour later. It was an enjoyable run, with breath enough to chat a bit with other runners. Time was 46:10, pace 9:14.

A half hour later we three showed up for the Huff & Puff 5k and 1/4 Marathon, just as the thunder and lightning also showed up. Believing that it’s about as smart to run in lightning as it is to golf in lightning, we just collected our shirts and drove home. As far as we know, no one was hurt. We certainly weren’t.


Post-run breakfast: Oatmeal and fruit. I do so love this season, when organic fruit and berries are so plentiful and fresh and delicious.

The Train Tooted

That’s such a trivial thing for a grown man of 68 to care about, but I love it. As I ran on my favorite dirt road beside the railroad tracks today a train approached, first seeming to peek around a distant corner, howling at each crossing, then growing in size until the engine looked enormous, magnificent, terrifying. I waved with both arms and the engineer tooted twice, just short toots mind you, nothing official, but we both knew who he was tooting at. Go ahead, make my day! I couldn’t see him inside the engine - the sun was wrong, but I suspect he was smiling - they usually are. The three-engine train thundered by for several minutes, traveling opposite my direction, car after car roaring and clickety-clacking, shaking the very earth that I was running on, until it finally ended with three more engines. The black diesel exhaust of those trailing engines implied that they were working too, pushing from behind. I wonder.

My two favorite running venues today, 7.1 miles on the hilly grass trails of the park and 6.0 miles on the dirt road by the tracks. Neither of those is easy running, but they certainly are free of motorized traffic. You might meet up with a horse and rider, or a hiker with his dogs, or the occasional mountain biker, and I met all of those, but no cars! Also three deer, a cottontail, a family of wild turkeys, a hen pheasant, several great egrets, canada geese in V formation, and lots more birds.

The 13.1 miles (accidentally the distance of a half marathon) went by in 2:25:00, for a pace of 11:04. I timed the railroad portion separately, and it came in just under 11:00. That part is flat, of course. I’m unable to run continuously these days, at least for that distance on dirt and hills, so the pace represents a combination of running and walking. I didn’t feel strong this morning, not like Tuesday when I ran after a 4-day respite, but this is the longest run in a month and I’m happy with it. We have a marathon coming up, and it’s time to build back up to a 20-mile distance. I’d like to run the marathon in less than 5 hours.

A slight pain in the right knee this morning - what else is new. No other problems, including and especially the left knee, which had acted up recently but is running smoothly again.



This guy (gal?) likes to hang around our watering buckets, especially when they have water in them. Is it a food thing? Do insects chance by, to become a quick lunch? Often we have seen his/her nose just peeking out of the spout.

Four Days Off

Grandchildren trump almost everything, including running, and ours has been in town. It might have been just as well, though, because during those days I had some pain in the front of my left knee, just below the kneecap, and I might have skipped running anyway. The pain started after some housecleaning, which included some kneeling. Sounds like the meniscus, but it could be nothing more than a ligament. Anyway it’s new, as far as I recall. Today I felt it a little at the beginning of the run, and then it went away. Hope it stays away.

I ran in the park again, on a grass trail with a bike-tire-and-hoof groove down the middle much of the way. No pavement except the parking lot. I expected wet grass this morning, but mostly it was dry, and my shoes remained dry inside. Temp 63 degrees, dew point 54, a runner couldn’t ask for much more.

But I got more. In a remote area I chanced across a family of wild turkeys feasting on horse droppings in the trail, mom with at least 10 middle-size chicks. As I approached, they moseyed off the trail, not in a particular hurry, just disappearing as I passed. I suspect they returned to their yummy breakfast immediately.

And four days off didn’t hurt my energy at all! 7.1 miles in 1:09:44, pace 9:49. That’s as well as I have run in those hilly grass trails all summer, except one run with Jim, who pulls me along whether he means to or not. Great run. Longer one coming up Thursday I hope. Enjoy this wonderful weather before it gets hot and humid, which is coming up next week.



Datura. The blossom lasts barely two days, but new ones keep coming.

Something Interesting Always Happens ...

Thursday, July 30, 2009:

Something interesting always happens when I run on my favorite dirt road alonside the railroad tracks. This time a train came, heading west as I was running east. I got to a street crossing before the train did. The crossing arms came down as I approached, and a pickup truck (blacktopping company) stopped. Then as I jogged along the track toward the train, crossing the street, the pickup suddenly zoomed around the crossing arms, nearly knocking me down. An opportunity for rarely-used language at high volume: The driver’s ears may still be burning.

And the engineer waved. All good. This was a long train, with several diesel engines on the front and three more on the back. It must have been at least a mile long, because I ran nearly a half mile while it passed in the other direction, going much faster than I was running. I wonder if the engines on the back are actually working, or if they are there just to make it easier for the train to reverse direction when it reaches its destination in the Twin Cities.

This was my "long" run for the week, just ten miles, and I took it slow, running three minutes and walking two, taking water every 15 minutes, and one gel at mile 4. 60 degrees with a little breeze, good running on the dirt road despite the overnight sprinkles. No pains of any kind whatsoever, and I felt stronger at the end than at the start. Breathing easy. End of 30 miles for the week. Next week 30 more, including a longer long run, probably 12 or 14 miles.

Splits: 55:38 (5 mi), 54:49 (5 mi), total 1:50:27, pace 11:03, includes two brief stops to pee. It’ll do just fine.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009:

Short run on local streets, just enough to hopefully keep the muscles in tune. What a beautiful, breezy, cool morning. Perfect running. No pains, no problems. 3.9 miles in 36:36, pace 9:23. Breathing easy most of the way.


Today's post-run breakfast: Gluten-free oatmeal with raisins and cranberries, organic strawberries, pineapple, organic apricot, blueberries, organic walnuts, organic plain yogurt, dark chocolate, organic nonfat milk.

Six Miles in the Park

Another warm run in the park today, 6.25 miles in 1:04:47, pace 10:22. Temp 77 degrees and rising, with a full sun. Jim picked me up and we ran together, though it’s an easy jog for Jim. To underscore that, Jim finished the Lumberjack 10-mile race a full 30 minutes faster than I did. Imagine. Three minutes per mile faster.

I find my speed to be limited mostly by breathing these days, and have to drop to a walk when my breathing rate goes too high. That happens a lot now, though I don’t really mind it. Today’s pace was also affected by the heat, a too-recent breakfast, and no doubt by yesterday’s 10-mile race. But it’s plenty good enough considering the hilly, soft, grass & dirt trail. All good.

I did feel a twinge behind the right knee today, possibly one of the cruciate ligaments. It spoke up sharply yesterday as I rolled out of bed, and muttered a little after the 10-mile race was finished. Today it complained softly as we started the run, but then quieted completely and has been silent since. I think I slept on it wrong, and it will heal by Tuesday.

Now, a few hours after today’s run, I feel a twinge in the right achilles’ tendon. Huh. Hope that’s a short-lived thing. Tomorrow is a day off from running, and a day of stretches and upper-body resistance training.


Lunch: Leftover free-range bison with carrots, rice, and herbs, gluten-free pasta with organic broccoli or maybe Jim's broccoli, organic sweet potatoes with a litte pineapple, organic ranier cherries, organic mustard.

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!

Way Too Fat

Me. Because of the dexamethasone (DEX) cancer treatment I have lost muscle mass, that's what it does, but at the same time I have gained weight - it does that too. Twelve pounds since the summer of 2006, when I was racing my best and ran TCM in my PR time of 3:36. The result is fat, a layer of fat on my belly and chest, exactly where it goes on men who let themselves go. Since 2006 my marathon time has gone up by almost an hour and a half, and my 1-mile race time by at least a minute and a half. I have NO doubt that this fat is at least partly responsible, along with the reduced muscle mass.

Fortunately, I have a plan. I'm a lifetime member of Weight Watchers, and still go to meetings every month with my sweeties, so I know exactly what to do. I just need to DO it! I started last Sunday, and so far so good. I've started twice before in recent months, but fallen off the wagon. Perhaps this public declaration will give me the incentive to stay on. 12-pound goal, then we'll see if that's enough.

Challenge:

Anyone want to join me? Consider it a challenge if you like - we are challenging ourselves, of course. Choose your plan (Weight Watchers is one of many good plans) and set a goal, then leave a comment here. I'll report my progress every week or two, and you can too if you wish.

Sunday, July 19, 2009:

Another trek in the park, but hot enough that I cut it short. Jim picked me up and we drove to the park to run a route on trails that neither of us has seen in a few years. It started out OK, and the new trails were as lovely as any. Mowed grass, like the others. We intended to go about 9.6 miles on a combination of the old trails and the new.

But I started to overheat in the 82-degree afternoon sun. When that happens my face becomes flushed, and I can feel it getting hot. Slowing to a walk helps a lot, and we did that with increasing frequency. Finally I decided that it would be safer to shorten the run and turn back toward the parking lot, for a total of about 6.0 miles instead of 9.6. That was a good decision. Jim seemed fine, but I wasn’t. Maybe it would have made a difference if I hadn’t eaten lunch just 90 minutes before the run, or if I had brought a water bottle along on the run. Lessons learned. Six miles in 1:00:30 for a pace of 10:05. Faster than I thought, considering the walking.

Saturday, July 18, 2009:

St Croix Valley Runners, five miles again. We tried my big-loop route for the second time, and for the second time the roads didn’t match either the map or Google Earth. New construction. So we had to reverse ourselves once and then cut across a lawn. I’m going to have to actually TRY a route before leading a bunch of runners on it. Tsk.

But I like the route. It does have one tough hill, but that’s not all bad of course. Needs a little tune-up to avoid cutting across a lawn, but I think that’ll be easy. It doesn’t include any roads with speed limits above 30, it does include a lot of trails, and it will be exactly 5 miles when it's tuned up correctly. There’s a good chance that it will be open in the winter, too. We’ll see.

I finished the route last, in almost exactly 46 minutes, for a pace of 9:12. Good enough - it’s a masterpiece.


Recent lunch: Organic chicken, vidalia onion, Jim's broccoli, Jim's beans, organic winter squash, organic slivered almonds, organic black pepper, sea salt.