Yucky Roads and Fog

Roads were wet, slushy, and yucky today, and a minor emergency kept us away from the Stillwater Bubble before it closed, so we ran at the North St Paul Community Center. After three of my six miles friend Norm showed up, and we ran together while I finished my miles. I enjoy talking to Norm. He ran the mile at Meet of the Miles on Monday night, ended up coughing for days. I do that too - one of three reasons why I skipped Meet of the Miles this year, for the first time in several years. The big reason is priorities: my son was in town.

Anyway, six miles today at a pace of 9:03. I think it would have been under nine, but a group of adults with disabilities spent some time on the track, and I had to weave through them rather slowly from time to time. But I think they got at least as much benefit out of that track today as I did.

Splits: 9:13, 9:16, 9:04, 8:57, 17:48 (2 mi), total 54:18, pace 9:03 overall. 28 miles for the week. No pains, no problems. It’s fine.

Four More Miles

Stillwater Bubble again, just four miles this time, but still heading for 28 miles this week with a 12-mile long run (last Tuesday). I mixed in a few 100-meter sprints just for fun. I can’t sprint very fast, but I might get a little faster. Only one other runner in the bubble today, but lots of walkers - Wednesday is free.

I ran for 40 minutes, walking briefly after the sprints, and assume that the average pace was about 10 minutes per mile. No pains, no problems.

Today's breakfast, after the run.  Oatmeal beneath:

Feel-Good Run

Twelve miles in the Stillwater Bubble, at a modest pace, no walking. This is the longest run since the OBX Marathon last November, as far as I recall, and it went perfectly. Time 2:00:05, average pace about 9:45 (I timed a full loop three different times), so the distance was probably about 12.3 miles.

Best of all, no problems and I felt strong throughout. I could easily have gone farther, but the baseball guys were about to take over the bubble. Maybe a slight complaint from the right hamstrings midway (old injury), and another slight complaint from the right knee, on the inside beside the kneecap. Both went away and didn’t show up later in the run or later in the day.

It’s a masterpiece!

Isn't pomegranate pretty?  Adds a lot to the photo and to the breakfast.  Oatmeal under there somewhere.  The white is kefir, a very nice probiotic food.

Building Mileage

Saturday, January 9, 2010:

North St Paul Community Center, six miles at 9 minutes/mile. Not a great run, not especially easy, but I felt tired today and was running on a fairly full stomach. It’ll do. 81 laps, boring as can be, except that it was “open house” day and there were visitors on the track who didn’t know exactly where to be so there was some dodging around people. To occupy my alleged mind I counted down the laps on my hands in American Sign Language.

I started to get serious about Weight Watchers last Tuesday, January 5, with the goal of losing 10 pounds to get back to my best running weight. This morning I was down one pound, but of course the first few are easy.

Splits: 9:16, 8:59, 9:00, 9:05, 9:06, 8:37, total 54:03, pace 9:01. Not bad for today. No pains, no problems.

Friday, January 8, 2010:

Another run in the Stillwater Bubble, not quite so cold this time. I did end up running in just shorts and two technical shirts. 40:14 at a pace of about 9:30 (I didn’t time it today), for a distance of about 4.2 miles.

That finishes the week at 26 miles, ramping up to 30 in another week or two. Can I run even more? I used to run 40 regularly, but in the last year or two I start getting niggling little injuries when the weekly distance exceeds 30 miles. Now that I’m off the DEX, though, it might be possible to get back to 35 or 40. We’ll see.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010:

Gosh it was COLD in the Stillwater Bubble today. Normally I run in shorts and two technical shirts, but today I kept on the outer pants and an extra shirt. I’m thinkin’ it was about 35 degrees in there, maybe 10 degrees lower than usual. Brrrr. My hands got cold, even with gloves. I left on my pants and an extra shirt. On the other hand, it was balmy by comparison with the outdoor temperature of minus 5.

55:34 minutes at a pace of about 9:30 (I didn’t measure it today) gives a distance of 5.8 or 5.9 miles. No pains, no problems. That’s 22 miles so far today, more tomorrow or Friday, trying to build mileage slowly and carefully.

Salad as dinner:

St Croix Valley Recreation Center

Stillwater Bubble again, nice easy 8.3 miles. I was going for 10 miles, but time ran out and I had to head home. Pace was 9:15 the one time I measured it - I’m assuming that I slowed some and the overall pace was about 9:30 for about 1 hour 19 minutes. No pains or problems.

Several other runners in the dome today, ALL of them running faster than me. One woman was running when I got there and still running when I left - good for her! Most ran for shorter times. With an outdoor actual temperature of minus 8, the dome was the place to be.

I’m the only person I’ve seen running in there without leg cover of some kind. Most runners are in tights. The long-distance woman runner today appeared to be wearing panty hose with shorts over. My only tights are pretty warm for inside the dome, I’m guessing 45 degrees, but I suppose I could try panty hose. Probably won’t, though, because my legs really don’t get cold. I worry about my knees, but they haven’t complained at all.


Breakfast. There is oatmeal under there:

Welcome 2010

Sunday, January 3, 2010:

First run of 2010. Do you ever wonder if, for some magical reason, everything could change at the turn of the new year? Maybe I wouldn’t be able to run at all, but I’d be able to do something else, like lose 15 pounds overnight, or write with humor.

Didn’t happen. Good run today, though, on the upstairs track at the club. Eight miles at a pace just faster than 9 minutes/mile. I ran with friend Norm for the first two miles, and might have mis-counted laps, thus running one too few. If so, the pace is still about 9. One lap is 40 seconds at that pace.

Slight pain in the right knee before, during, and after the run, especially on stairs after the run.  But I think it's temporary - slept wrong on it last night or something.

Grandson J is back in Portland by now, despite Delta Airlines’ several screwups. The house is a lot quieter, but we miss him and his dad & mom.

Splits: 17:32 (2 mi), 8:53, 9:02, 9:04, 9:00, 8:53, 8:54, total 1:11:20, pace 8:55. Good enough!

Thursday, New Years Eve, 2009:

Last run of 2009, in the Stillwater Bubble again. This time I ran for a little over an hour, going about 6.7 miles I think, and then the family showed up, including grandson J, who is four. What a runner HE is! For a full hour he ran and ran, mostly at full tilt, much to the amusement of most of the others in the bubble, not to mention his grandparents and his dad. Too bad J has to go home soon.

2009 is a masterpiece! See you next year.

Organic lunch:

Two Runs

Tuesday, December 29, 2009:

Stillwater Bubble this morning, just trying to get in some quality miles. No sprinting, no walking, just running. I measured the pace twice, and both times it was about 104 seconds for a full loop, which calculates to a pace of about 9:11. So I say the overall pace was probably about 9:20, and I ran for 73 minutes, for a distance of about 7.8 miles. I was shooting for 8 miles, but time ran out. This was close enough! No pains, no soreness. It’s a masterpiece.

Then it was 10:00 am and the softball guys’ turn to have the bubble. I watched a little as I cooled off and did my stretches, and was surprised to see that it took more than three outs to get a side out. Turns out that they play two innings per side, just to save the time required to change teams on the field. If a batted ball hits the ceiling of the bubble or one of the wires that go across the middle, the ball is playable nonetheless, but very difficult to catch and therefore good luck for the batter. "Just a bunch of old guys having fun," said one of the players. They sure were enjoying themselves, and not all of them were old. What a great use of that facility. I’ll just have to get there early enough to finish my run before 10:00 am.

The outdoor temperature Tuesday morning was about zero, but the bubble is partially heated and I suppose it was between 40 and 45 degrees in there. Someday I’ll bring a thermometer. I was comfortable in shorts and two technical shirts, one of them long-sleeved, plus gloves. Most of the runners wore tights, and the walkers were mostly dressed in their winter coats. The temperature got boosted a bit for the softball games, to maybe 55-60 degrees.

Saturday, December 26, 2009:

St Croix Valley Runners after the snowfall. We got about a foot of snow, mostly Christmas eve and Christmas Day. So we ran the normal "old" route, which is mostly on plowed roads. No problem. I picked up Jim and we ended up running together, with Gauss and Dave following behind at a much slower pace. Five miles in 47:25 for us, which comes to a pace of 9:29. I thought it would be a little faster, actually, because it seemed like a lot of work, but it’s hard to make good time in winter clothing and on ice and packed snow. It will do.

These days we get to watch the sunrise as we run, and this was a pretty good one. It’s a masterpiece.


Would you believe mac n' cheese?  Gluten-free and mostly organic.