I met up with the BARC crew on Sunday morning.  The sun was just coming up, and it looked gorgeous.  Even better than the sunrise was to see Craig on the trails.  Craig just had a heart attack on Wednesday.  He was released on Friday and back ont he trails on Sunday.  He wasn’t running.  He was out walking his dog.  Regardless, it was wonderful to see him. 

The run Sunday was suppopse to be an easy 10 miler.  I was running with Veronica and it seemed like we were moving at a pretty good pace.  She had taken 10 days off.  However, she seemed to have lose none of her fitness.  After seven miles with her at an 8:30 pace, I started my last three with some fast guys.  I stayed with them for about a mile.  I had a feeling that we were in the low 7s.  At some point, I realized that I was running way too fast for an easy day and simply fell back.  I have to admit, it was nice running with them for a little while. 

For the weekend, I put in a solid 40 miles.  The weather has taken a sudden turn and is rather wet and cold.  I started to head out the door a little before 5AM for an easy five miler.  Because I was not meeting Julie, I took one step out into the dreary morning and headed right back in.  The cold, wind, and rain was just too overwhelming.  Besides, I needed an easy day of cross training.

Running is once again fun.  I went out for a long one this morning and it turned into a 19 mile run.  I hit 5 miles at the end at sub-marathon pace.  It felt nice to run fast.  The first mile was an ugly 9:30.  It was dark and the sidewalks are bad.  The second mile was not much better.  But soon, I found myself in a nice and easy 8:40 pace.  I have to admit though that at 10 miles, my body thought it was maybe time to quit.  But, I kept on going.

When I hit mile 13, it was time to let the beast out of the cage.  I did tame it a little.  I was running at a 7:55 pace for the next 5 miles.  The last mile I took it easy, but turned it up a little and finished the last one at 8:20 pace.  Overall, a nice run with a good pace.

Yesterday’s run with Lisa was very energetic.  I have to admit running with her brings out the best in me.  Today’s run was a little harder, but i finished great.  I’m looking forward to an easy run tomorrow.

I ran in the GCRC 5K race yesterday.  I’m not sure what happened.  I hit the first half right at my target of a sub 21.  But, the turnaround just stopped me cold.  I’m not a fan of the hard turnarounds, and this one was really tough.  No complaints though, I came in second OA and finished first again in the Master’s category.  I also ran a little faster than last year. 

For the year, I will have set two more PRs.  My total number of races will be the best and the number of hardware won is also a best.  So really, I have no complaints.

I found out yesterday that a former employee of mine has passed away.  She was only 48.  She had some chronic respiratory issues.  I’m sad that she passed away.  She had two kids and although they are grown, they are way too young to be without a mom. 

And, in the running community, a fellow BARCer had a heart attack on Wednesday.  I’m happy to hear that he will be OK.  Again though, I have no complaints.

I enjoyed a very pleasant and upbeat run with Lisa today.  It was a little over 10 miles at an 8:12 pace.  The weather was gorgeous.  It reminded me of how lucky I am.

Last night’s workout was a 3X2000m effort at 10K pace.  It was a fairly nice night.  Temps were in the 60s, a little humid, with a slight breeze.  With it being a holiday, the crowd was little lighter than usual, but we still had about 8 folks at the track.  I started off at just over a 7 min/mile pace, and worked the next two down to 6:50, and 6:40.  Yes, it was again faster than my goal, but it felt good to run fast.

I look forward to a nice Thanksgiving Day Trot.  It should be some nice weather.  I would like to see if I can push it and go for that elusive sub 21 minute 5K.

Running on the trails is good for both mind and body.  Running in the woods certainly cleanses the mind.  There is no traffic, only nature.  It’s also good for the body.  The legs need to work a little harder on the soft muddy stuff, but, at the same time, it’s easy on the joints. 

I got up a little late on Sunday.  I ran around the neighborhood on concrete trails.  Although I ran 19+ on Saturday, I felt very good on Sunday.  I started with an 8:30 mile and soon dropped the pace down into the sub 8 minute zone.  Overall, I put in 9 miles at an 8:03 pace.  The temperatures were near perfect with very low humidity.  I knew I was moving, but the run felt easy.

Today was an easy 5 miler.  I got up early and ran with Julie around the neighborhood.  It’s good running with her.  We kept the pace right at 9 min/mile.  I was able to run pain free and it just felt nice.  It was another cool morning.  I actually wore a long sleeve tech shirt this morning. 

It will be interesting to see who all comes to the track this Tuesday.  I know that Nica, Julie, and Dotie are all out of pocket for the week.  In fact, it might even be tough to find folks to run long with over the weekend.  Well, at least my i-Pod is charged up!

I got up early and headed out to Brazos Bend State Park with Julie and Dotie.  There was a fair amount of rain on Friday and early today.  There was suppose to be a bunch of us heading out, but most folks backed out because of the rain and possible trail slop.  However, I thought it was about perfect.  The rain stopped when we got out there.  Some of the trails were a little wet and had some mud.  But, for the most part the trails were in good shape.  I did hit one spot where I lost a shoe in the mud.  One of the other trails had some slick mud that made slipping and sliding fun.  But, other than getting a little dirty, no one fell.  In fact, I would call the day a perfect day for running on the trails.

We put in just under 20 miles and kept the overall pace at 8:44.  There were a lot of miles that we were able to run in a low 8 minute pace.  Even the other muddy, slicker trails, the pace never got much above 9 minute miles.  The only disappointment was that for the last mile or so, I felt like I was gassing out some.  I just could not run fast in the last mile.  However, I think this may have been due to the fact that I only had one Hammergel and I ran out of water.  Overall, it was a very enjoyable run and I would give it an ‘A’.

After the run, we stopped off in Alvin at Joe’s BBQ for lunch.  It was nice to have some meat after a long run.  In fact, it kind of felt like we captured our prey after a long hunt.

With being out last night after work, I was not able to get in my usual Wednesday night run.  Running this morning was out of the question because of last night.  And, I really could not wait until tonight to run because of my Friday early morning run.  So I decided to go ahead and run at lunch.

I’ve only run two other times at lunch since I started to work in Texas City.  With the weather making a turn to nice, I need to take the opportunity to run a little more during my lunch break.  I headed over to a park in the city.  There are a couple of easy loops to do around the park.  It may be repetative, but it’s an easy way to get in 5 or 6 miles.  Also, from the park, I could head into town on the bike trails. 

It was a little warm today.  But I got in a solid 5+mile run.  For the week, I wound up in the mid 50 mile range.  I plan on going for an 18 mile run this weekend.  It will be on trails.  The pace will be kept pretty easy.

Alright, I have no discipline.  The training plan called for 8X800m with 400m recoveries.  My thoughts were to run the first 5 or 6 at a tempo pace but not to push it too hard.  If I felt good, I would run a couple in the 10K pace range.  Well, the first one we dropped at 3:23.  We hit the next five in the 3:22 to 3:27 range.  The last two were at 3:18.  Every single one was below my 10K pace.  So much for easing back into speed work.

The weather was very nice tonight.  It was cool, temps in the 50s, low humidity, and no wind.  We also had a great turnout of 17 people.  I ran my intervals with Julie and Chintan.  We really pushed each other very nicely.  I had no pain running tonight at all.  All in all, it was just a terrific night.

The track group contunes to grow.  We were missing a few of the regulars.  However, we were 17 strong.  ALso, with the cooler weather and the sun setting early, there were only runners on the track.

The last two days of running have been on the Seabrook Trails.  Yesterday was a little more than 10 miles with Lisa and Julie.  We ran an overall pace of 8:28.  Today, I was back on the trails with BARC.  I was a little more serious this morning and took off fairly quickly.  I ran for a total of 14 miles.  The first 7 miles were just above an 8 minute mile.  The last 7 miles were a little slower, but not bad.  All in all, it was a good weekend for me in terms of running.  I put in just over 30 miles.  My body is coming back together.  My big toe still hurts some.  Although I’ve drilled it, it still keeps on pouring out fluid.  The hamstring felt pretty good.  It’s not perfect yet.  However, it is starting to feel much better.

Yesterday was interesting in that I headed over to Brazos Bend to do some bike riding with Irene.  I wanted to get my annual pass, and I wanted to check out the trails again.  We rode the bikes for a little more than 12 miles.  Very nice trails, and I look forward to heading over there for a run.

I’m still planning on easing back into the speed work.  I would like to get in a 18 miler during Thanksgiving week.  I’m undecided about running a turkey trot.  I think it is most important for me to keep it easy and hold what I have until Houston.  Time will tell.

What a week or two.  My hamstring has been strained again, I run a 50K, I get a black toe-nail, and top it off with a bee sting.  All in all, it’s been a good week.  The time running easy has helped my hamstring a lot.  I ran Monday easy with little problem and I was at the track running a little harder.  After 15 years, I finally had to get a toenail drilled.  My toe started to hurt bad on Monday and got very painful on Wednesday.  I went to the doctor yesterday to get it drilled.  It feels much better now.  And, the process of getting a nail drilled is rather easy.  So easy, I took care of my running partner’s toenails yesterday.  All you need is a paperclip and some heat.

This morning’s six miler felt pretty good.  The toe hurt a little, but it was not too bad.  And, the hamstring feels OK.  I was back at the Chiro today for some more treatment.  It also felt pretty good.  It was not very painful at all.  I still plan to take it easy this coming week.  I’m hopeful that by the end of the month I might be able to get in some speed work.