Week Five Report

Monday started with a new weight routine provided by my son. Tough stuff even though I'm using light weights (and moving through the various lifts quickly). The back exercises were the most difficult which obviously means I have a lot of improvement to make there. Also, he gave me three different routines for the week, so I won't get bored for a while with this. I had to look a couple of the lifts up on the internets (loving reference to our recent past prez) because I had forgotten what they were. Now, I've got it going on! That phase of the week worked well.

We had volleyball camp for the boys this week and I got to meet some great young men who love the sport. One of them even has his own sand court at his house! These guys have great physical ability. Now, if we can get them to perfect their passing skills we should be able to craft a great season.

The running program went well with a 4 mile run on Tuesday, then a regular 3 miler on Wednesday and track work on Thursday. The track work was 7 X 400m. The pace I was trying to reach was below 1:50 per and I managed to do that. I even hit 1:42 on lap 4!

I rested Friday and then ran a 5K at pace in JB Park. It was challenging (hills, you'll recall) but I did it at 9:10 per mile - exactly my target pace for the 1/2 marathon. Good so far.

Then came Sunday. I piddled around well past sun up and got on the trail around 8:30 a.m. Way too late! By the time I got to mile 2 I was fully engulfed in bright sunlight. It wasn't particularly hot (low 80s) but it was taking a toll. Miles 2 - 6 were completely exposed on the hot asphalt. My pace slowed with each mile and by the time I got to my water at mile 5.5 (had dropped water at 2.5 miles so it was available to me twice on my out and back route) I was really wasted. At that time I was just a few seconds off my 10 min/mile pace but the fight in me was done. I took a minute and a half getting water here and then continued toward the finish.

I fought for the next mile just to keep my legs moving. I knew that there was water ahead and I was closing in on the last mile so I refused to quit running. When I got to the water fountain there were two people in line ahead of me. I tolerated the first person because she drank her water and took off.

The next guy was a real jerk - a blader who obviously couldn't see what was going on around him. He actually filled his water bottle, drank some of it and then filled it back up. All while I stood there huffing behind him! It actually cost me two minutes of time! I did resist the urge to comment, however. Perhaps my body was secretly rooting for him!

I finally got back on the trail and pushed hard for the finish line. I had a guy pass me (the second of the day!) just as I hit the 3/4 mile marker and I decided I would let him drag me in. I was able to pick up the pace a bit and my last mile was the fifth best time of the day.

The times were as follows - 9:53.60, 9:49.46, 10:09.13 (quick water stop), 10:06.49, 10:49.12, 12:43.15 (water stop), 13:18.35 (water stop-stood in line!), 10:44.83 = 1:27.34.

I missed my goal of getting 10 minutes per mile on each of my long runs but this points to the amount of work I need to be doing to reach my goal for Lewis and Clark.

It also highlights the importance of my early morning runs. I need to get out there before the sun does. I've been doing that for a couple of weeks now but hadn't really understood the value of that tactic.

Another thing I was thinking that could have been a contributing factor was my nutrition. I had eaten at the regular time - 5:00 a.m. That meant that 3 1/2 hours later, when I was just starting my run, I was pretty much running on empty. Not a good thing, I'm sure.

The upshot of the nutrition story is that I'm down to 167 pounds now. I don't think I've weighed this little since I was in high school. I may be getting to the place that Allison (my daughter) warned me about - having to chose between losing more weight and running better times. It may be time to up the calorie level.

Anyway, that's the story so far.

BTW - Not to sound like an old lady but "Geez, I wish my arm skin didn't flap when I run!"