Wonderful Run

Thursday, April 9:

Oboy, today was to be a semi-long run, working toward marathon distances again, and it worked out very well. Fourteen miles on my favorite rocky dirt road along the railroad tracks. Out and back four miles one way, then out and back three miles the other way. I love that quiet, solitary trail, even though (partly because) it gives my ankles a workout and takes a bit more effort than does pavement. Temperature was 52, with a slight crosswind - does running get any better than that? I saw a deer, an eagle, mallards, and plenty of Canada geese. A buddy to run with would have been good too.

The overall pace was 9:40, good enough to qualify for Boston if I could run another 12 miles without slowing. Maybe someday, but not today. Recently I’ve been running for pure pleasure, walking whenever I felt like it. This time, though, I decided to walk for 90 seconds after each mile. And it worked perfectly - I did not do any other walking. I did take water every two miles and gels at miles 4 and 8. No pains. !!!

Splits: 18:20 (2 mi), 9:02, 9:38, 10:55, 9:04, 20:09 (2 mi), 8:59, 9:09, 10:11, 10:00, 9:35, 10:13, total 2:15:14, pace 9:40. Very good. I’m a happy runner.

Tuesday, April 7:

Local roads, four miles. I wanted to do eight, but life intervened and there was time for only four. In fact I started out on a five-mile course, and then cut it to four in mid-run. No problems, no pains, I walked a little but not a lot. Overall pace was 9:02, so I must have been running faster than I thought when not walking.

Splits: 18:04 (2 mi), 18:02 (2 mi), total 36:06, pace 9:02. Way better than not getting a run in at all.



Dinner Salad: Organic chard with sweetened dried cranberries, parmesan cheese, cucumber, avocado, organic plum or nectarine - not sure which and it's gone now!

Indoor Run on an Outdoor Day

This was a strange day. We got a couple of inches of snow overnight, and the roads looked pretty sloppy. So we took our new car to the club and ran there. As we ran, though, the snow stopped and the sun began to peek through the clouds. By the time we finished our indoor run, outdoors was looking pretty good. So good that the roads were almost dry as we drove home.

So I wasted a fairly nice outdoor day running indoors. Tsk. Nevertheless I had a good six-mile run and can’t complain about it. I wasn’t full of energy, but enough considering that I ran yesterday. I’d rather have run outdoors, but this was a keeper. No pains.

Splits: 8:46, 8:41, 8:40, 8:42, 8:43, 8:27, total 51:58, pace 8:40.



Recent breakfast: Gluten-free oatmeal with dried cranberries, kiwi, organic strawberries, mango, walnuts, dark chocolate, organic fat-free milk.

Long, Slow Distance

Is walking allowed when running long, slow distance (SLD)? I'm not sure, but I'm finding that a little walking feels mighty good when I run outdoors. And I'm not really running that far, either.

Why is this? I don't walk when I run on the indoor track, so why do I want to walk when running outdoors? I don't have to walk, I suppose, but my breathing rate gets a little fast and I walk to calm it down again. I've been doing that even on the Gateway Trail, and so fat this year on every other outdoor run.

The good news is that I enjoy this kind of running. I like it. So for now I'll run a lot, walk a little, and have a good time.

Saturday, Apr 4:

St Croix Valley Runners, five miles. Nice group this morning, including Roy, visiting from Chicago. Nice to have him with us again. Despite the nice-sized group, I ended up running mostly by myself, behind the three fastest and ahead of the rest. I walked briefly three times, up little hills.

Time 44:12, pace 8:50. Last week, running with Paul, I finished this route almost a minute and a half faster, even though I thought I pushed pretty hard this time. This speaks to the incentive and motivation that comes with running with another person.

Thursday, Apr 2:

Thursday afternoon I ran ten miles on my favorite dirt road along the railroad tracks for the first time this year. Lovely. The dirt does take some energy away, as did the 14-mph westerly wind. But mostly my pace was slow because I didn’t FEEL like going fast. I took frequent, short walk breaks, and even stopped to gape at various goings-on in Lake Woebegone a couple of times.

I wore the new Brooks Summit shoes and they were OK, though I still like the old Burns better. I have one almost-new pair of Burns left, and will reserve those for races.

No pains, no strains during the run. Afterward the right knee hurt going down stairs, but that problem corrected itself the next morning. The first step down hurt, and from then on the knee was fine. Also I got good news at Mayo Clinic Thursday morning - the myeloma is still stable. It’s a masterpiece.

Splits: 1:19:06 (8 mi), 19:00 (2 mi), total 1:38:06, pace 9:49. Actually that's almost a Boston-qualifying pace for a runner my age. I’ll take it.



Sunshine's homemade mostly-organic chicken chili. Organic chicken, organic beans, organic carrots, organic spinach (!), organic tomato, onions, chili spices, slivered almonds. Quite a treat. She should write a cookbook. Title: "How To Eat!"

Bad Weather

Rain, snow, slush, and 30 degrees sent us to the club today, where I ran just six miles. With better weather I’d probably have run outdoors and tried to go farther, but when I got to the club I didn’t feel very peppy and just motored around the 81 laps until they were completed. No pains, no problems, plenty good enough.

I’m thinking that March must have come in like a lamb.

Splits: 8:51, 8:43, 8:34, 8:36, 8:38, 8:35, total 51:56, pace 8:39.



Dinner: Wild-caught haddock with Sunshine's mango salsa, organic sweet pickle relish, organic squash, organic tomato salsa.

Cool, Crisp Saturday

Twenty degrees this morning, but no snow on the ground and the St Croix Valley Runners had a nice group. Two Daves, Paul, Scott, Candy, Tom, & myself. I ran with Paul, as we are about the same speed these days. We finished the five miles in 42:32, which is an 8:30 pace and faster than either of us thought we were going. Not bad, even if we did finish last. No pains to speak of.

We watched the sun rise as we ran through the windless morning. When Paul and I arrived at the finish, the others were gathered in a circle, chatting, with a column of steam rising above them - a fascinating sight.

Later in the day we three went to a Saturn dealership and bought a new Aura to replace our 2002 Saturn L300 with 120,000-miles on it. The new car will be safer, quieter, and significantly more economical. We like Saturn and their no-hassle attitude, and we’ve put at least 250,000 miles on Saturns with a generally happy experience all around. The Aura is very similar to the Chevrolet Malibu, but with features that we preferred. It is in the same class as Camry and Accord, and not only does it compete quite well on features and quality but it is made in the USA by an American company. Now we’ve done our share to stimulate the economy.

Our car is a lot like the one in the photo.

It’s snowing again!

So we ran indoors today. I broke a tooth yesterday, so I had a dentist appointment today and, by chance, my sweeties also had dental appointments today. And I did some work on the bathroom remodeling too. By the time that was all over, the light snow had begun and we zipped over to the club instead of trying to run outdoors.

Six miles, not so easy this time. For some reason the first mile was faster than usual, but I didn’t feel like I was pushing the pace. So I just kept the level of effort about the same for the remaining five miles and ended up with a great overall pace of 8:23, actually better than I did in the Human Race 8k a few days ago. Odd.

Breathing was four footfalls per full breath, indicating a tempo pace or slower, but it was on the edge of three footfalls in the last four miles and indeed it went to three in the last half mile. Legs felt good all the way though - the energy was there. No pains. This was supposed to be a long run, but I’m happy enough with it. 25 miles for the week - hopefully 30 or more next week.

Splits: 8:29, 8:24, 8:24, 8:23, 8:25, 8:12, total 50:17, pace 8:23. It’s a masterpiece!



Lunch: Target organic blue-corn chips, organic greens, pineapple, organic tomato, Sunshine's guacamole, organic peas, organic beans, organic cheese.

The Gateway Trail

It’s wide open! At least the four mile section that we ran today. We parked at the Hwy 96 bridge and ran north to milepost 16, then back past the car to 12, then back to the car. That gave us the chance to cut the run short near the middle in case of heavy rain, or add a shirt in case the wind was too cold, or whatever. But neither of those was necessary and the run was great. I love the Gateway Trail, built on an abandoned rail line, with a paved lane for people and a gravel lane for horses. I think of it as a flat trail, but in fact most of it is slightly sloped one way or another, and there are short (very short) hills in a few places. It’s a wonderful run through the woods.

Eight miles in 1:14:15, for a pace of 9:17 overall. The splits are below, but the mileposts on the Gateway are not located very precisely so the total time is probably more important. I walked a few times, imagining that I was being kind to my big black toe, but in fact it felt good to walk anyway. Mostly I ran. I did stop for perhaps a minute to look back when a couple of strange-looking guys were walking toward my sweeties, but the guys passed them by without incident and we all continued running.

Splits: 9:24, 8:39, 8:45, 10:06, 9:18, 9:31, 9:41, 8:51, total 1:14:15, pace 9:17. It’s a masterpiece.


Recent dinner: Sloppy joe mix with no-hormone no-antibiotic bison and Sunshine's homemade organic catsup, organic mustard, Target organic blue-corn chips, organic tomato, asparagus, and sweet onion.