Training Log - Day 10

Time of Day - 4:30 pm
Weather - sunny, 70's, slight breeze
Route - St Vrain Greenway to 119th Street overpass
Distance - not sure
Pace - slow
Time - 57 minutes
iPod - 80's classic rock
Comments - right calf tight at start but loosened up during run. Upper body feeling good on almost all my runs...yea!

Run, Willie Run!

Training Log - Day 9

Well, it's been 6 days since my last confession. My excuses this week were the weather and a very sore left knee. Today, however, I was back at it! It was nice to get back out...I actually missed not training.

Time of Day - evening after work
Weather - comfortable; upper 60's; steady breeze from the west
Route - St Vrain Greenway to 119th Street overpass
Distance - don't know
Pace - moderate
Time - 49 minutes
iPod - Sugarland (took my daughter earlier this year to their concert - great show) and Carrie Underwood (she is as easy on the ears as she is on the eyes).
Comments - knee did not bother me at all. Left calf tight throughout the entire run. Going to be a nice weekend so plan on running couple days in a row.

Run, Willie Run!

T-297 Days

Today's run sucked.  Great weather, cool and clear, although a gusty north wind.  The problem was my right glute.  Yup... right side again.  It was very stiff and just made things miserable.  I cut the run just a little short and plan to rest tomorrow and hit a longer run on Saturday.  Blame it on the anus.

Time of Day - 11:42AM
Weather - Middle 60°'s, cool with a north wind
Route - Bogata loop, sightly abbreviated
Distance - About 2.5
Pace - Slow, initial mile at 8:12, tighten more after that
Time - 19:13 minutes, plus stretching, warm up and cool down
iPod -  Linkin Park, "Minutes to Midnight"
Comments - Covered it above

T-298 Days

Another day in the neighborhood.  Enjoyed the run today, no major issues.  Picked up a new dog friend, but he just seemed to like the way I smell!  As for the training challenge, once again I say "Let's do it!".

Time of Day - 12:05 PM
Weather - Upper 70°'s, warm and awesome
Route - Bogata loop, long version
Distance - About 2.75
Pace - Moderate,
Time - 22:06 minutes, plus stretching, warm up and cool down; faster than yesterday by a tad
iPod -  Saosin, various songs; felt aggressive
Comments - Still tight in my right lower back.  It loosened and I felt like I got stronger as I went along.  Strong finish today.  I'm going to bump the distance up again this weekend. 

Training Challenge

The wind has been howling along the front range both yesterday and today and I just don't have the motivation to get out in the bluster. Tomorrow should be better and I plan to hit the road.

Brian, in honor of the upcoming "conservative victory" on November 2nd, I have a training challenge for us! The challenge is to be completed by the end of the year and applies to one long training run each.

Challenge:
For every Republican seat taken (incumbent Democrat defeated) in the U.S. Senate we pledge to run 1 mile. We will add an additional mile for victories over Pelosi, Reid, and Frank. If all goes well, politically speaking, we could max out at 13 miles. However, that is probably a stretch. I will provide the appropriate training T for this particular challenge. Are you in?

GORE-TEX® TransRockies Run

Willie and I received some participant email today from the Run with some information and pictures.  This looks pretty intimidating, but I'm sure it'll be a great time. 

As a reminder, in 2011, we're going to be heading from south to north through some of the highest and most spectacular country in North America. The initial field limits are 200 teams for the GORE-TEX® TransRockies Run and 100 runners for the second edition of the three-day solo RUN3.  Unless I'm missing something here, each team member runs the full distance each of the six days of the event.  On that basis, the RUN3 solo folks are getting off light!  That being said, finishing the RUN3 sounds pretty darn impressive to me.

Here are some pictures they emailed our way:

http://tinyurl.com/28b397t

T-299 Days - Training

Trials and Triumphs.  That's as good a description for today as any.  What's up with the right side of my body?  My right lower back was quite stiff again.  Made my initial strides rather tender.  About a half mile in, it loosened but I knew it was there the entire way.  About a mile in, cotton mouth.  So hydrating with coffee (a known diuretic) is not such a good idea.  Scratch that for the next time.  Kept pressing on.  Side cramp (right side of course) about 2 miles in, check.  Another result of not hydrating properly.  Pushed through that.  Tightness in my right hip flexor, check.  Again had to press through.  Heavy calves, got 'em.  This time at least the joy was spread to both sides.  Kept lifting them.

Believe it or not, it was a good run and it felt pretty decent.  Maybe I like punishment.  The wind was not as much to contend with today as yesterday, so that was a plus.  The sky couldn't get much bluer.  My first mile clocked in at 7:04 and then the Nike + went haywire.  Sometimes it seems to stop tracking distance and everything gets knocked out of kilter.  I've been pretty steady on my pace and had a (small) kick at the end, so I don't think my last mile was really at a 48:46 pace.  Total distance about 2.75 I think.  Not quite time for an assessment, but getting close. 

Time of Day - 11:51 AM
Weather - About 80°, warm and sunny
Route - Bogata loop, long version
Distance - About 2.75
Pace - Moderate,
Time - 22:20 minutes, plus stretching, warm up and cool down
iPod -  Gin Blossoms, various songs from my own mix; Good old jangle-rock
Comments - Plenty of comments above; still pleased and having fun.  Improving all the time and that's all that I can ask for at this point.  Want to be running 6ish miles in about a month.  That should be attainable.  Goals are important!