Holy Hills!!!

Well, I thought I had the perfect title for tonight's run, but that one will have to be used another time. Tonight's run was something I've never experienced before.

We drove up to Anchorage today and will be here through Sunday evening. I knew that I had to get out and do my 30 minutes no matter what. We got here just after 9, and dinner was on the table -- Salad and Spaghetti. Boy did it look good. But I knew that if I ate that, there was no way I'd get out of here and run.

So I Got out my gear and off I went.

Until tonight, I never realized how flat the course is I've been running on is. Tonight, at the first small incline, I noticed I was running up a hill before I even visually noticed it. There were a number of hills around this route. But even the slightest hill was noticeable.

Overall, the first 14 minutes wasn't bad. The second 14 minutes gave me a few struggles though. Including a bit of a side ache about 8 minutes into it. But I got through it. I may do the 14/1 again tomorrow night.

THe spaghetti was good thought. I hate eating late, but I was sure hungry. And it was good. And post-run meals aren't something I've started doing yet. I guess this was my first.

Wednesday Night -- Thirteen and One

Tonight was my Run 13, Walk 1 interval run. It went off pretty well. I ran a slightly modified route from one of my regular ones, and it seemed to go pretty well. I've been reading a book called Running for Mortals lately. Spent a few hours in it today. One thing that stuck out in my mind was to not over exert yourself or push too hard too early. Tonight, I was wondering for a bit if I was doing just that. About the 25th minute of my run, I was really starting to feel it. But I persevered through to the 27th minute, at which time I got a 1 minute walking rest before the 2 minute finale.

Total mileage covered tonight was 2.89 miles at an average pace of 10:22 per mile(5.8 MPH). I then had .11 miles left to walk to get home. I perfect 3 mile loop.

Family, Fish and The Perfect Loop??

Well, Saturday my youngest brother got married. And weddinges always mean family. The Reds are running on the Kenai River. And fish also means family. So, we've had a lot of visitors lately.

Today, I went dipnetting with my brother Jim and his family. It was a pretty good day. Two of my nephews were in town to fish too, but they slept in and didn't make it down until noon. Still, we all did surprisingly well. Jim started fishing at 6 AM when it opened, and by the time I arrived at about 7:30, he had 1 fish. I jumped in around 8 and got one pretty quick, and then there was a bit of a lull again. Finally, between 9 and 10, it started heating up. My nephews showed up around noon and we were pretty much ready to give up the nets to them. I figured if they got 3-4 fish each that would be pretty good. They ended up with about 25-30 total. And we ended up with about 4o or more for Jim's family. Not a bad day on the river.

Tonight it was time to do some 12/1 intervals. I left around 10:15 PM. Decided to change things up a bit, and almost found The Perfect Loop. My pace was a little slow tonight, but I did manage to RUN the whole time I was supposed to RUN. That's always a good thing. But I only covered 2.72 miles total. When I got back home, I had been going about 29:40, so I ran a little past, and then looped back. ALMOST the Perfect Loop.

I made two major mistakes tonight, although one was kind of intentional. FIrst, I forgot my heart rate monitor. Had the GPS on so I got the time and distance and pace all registered OK, just didn't have the heart rate info. Second, I ran without my music tonight. My blackberry was still in my wader pocket from fishing, and are buried too deep still in my brother's car. But I wasn't going to let that stop me from running. Gotta stay consistent.

Late Night -- New Route

I decided it was time to shake things up a little bit. So far, I have pretty much either run at the local high school track, or done a "loop" near my house. Last night, I decided to change that up a little.

I still ran a "loop," just on a few different roads than what I've used before. Overall, my run felt good last night. Was running 11, walking 1, repeat, and then finish with 6 miuntes. Total distance run was 2.84 miles, and despite a new loop, I still managed to finish within about a tenth of a mile of home. I walked the rest of the way home for my cooldown.

It was a late run too -- started getting dark near the end. I didn't leae until about 11 PM. I need to remember to run on the correct side of the road when running against the traffic. A portion of my run tonight was also on a sidewalk right along the main highway running through town. I've gotta avoid doing that in the future. The smell of the exhaust was pretty bad on that stretch.

I also started reading a book last night, RUNNING FOR MORTALS, by John "The Penguin" Bingham and Jenny Hadfield. Should be interesting to learn his thoughts on running. Afterall, when he started running, at age 43, he was about 75 lbs heavier then when he wrote the book, not to mention he led a pretty sedentary lifestyle filled with overeating, and he was a smoker. I can relate to the overeating part of that, and the overweight.

My weight has been dropping pretty good the last couple months. I'm down 18 lbs since mid-may.

Tonight, it's time for 12/1 intervals.

Finally!! An Early Morning Run!!

So yesterday, I finally did it. My first morning running session.

It is mid-July, and in Alaska, that means one thing -- FISHING SEASON!! And I've let that slow down my running lately. Shame on me. It sure felt good to get out in the morning though. I woke up just after 5 AM, and decided to do it. Found my GPS Watch and the batteries were low, so I decided to let it charge for a bit before going. Finally, at about 5:50, I was ready to go, and off I went.

Today it was Run 10 and Walk 1 twice, and then an 8 minute run to finish my 30 minutes. I have a 2.85 mile loop that I've mapped out, and today I made it within one tenth of home before my time ran out. I walked the rest of the way home. THe first mile felt pretty good. I finished it in just under 10 minutes. About 7 minutes into my next 10, I was starting to feel it. The effects of the layoff. It slowed me down a bit. I thought about the need for CONSISTENCY. I have to keep my schedule and make the time for my running or I won't make my goal. For the first time, I started to have some second thoughts about doing this. But I can't let those thoughts creep in. I will continue to run. And be ready. For June 19, 2010.

One other thought I had while running this morning -- boy do garbage trucks stink. One drove by me at about the 28th minute today. It was awful. And to think it was early morning and that truck had bearely started collecting garbage yet.

The Early Morning Run

So last night, I decided to change up the time of day I would get out and do my running -- first thing in the morning. And I had every intention of doing so.

But it didn't happen.

For starters, I didn't set my alarm clock, but I awake early most mornings without one anyhow. I was also up a bit later than normal last night, and I'm rarely in bed before midnight as it is. So when I awoke this morning at about 6 AM, I told myself it was too late to go run. What was I thinking?!?! I could have done it. Especially given the route I ran tonight, when I did run. Yes, I DID run tonight!!!

Instead of biking to the track and then running there for my 30 minutes(9 Minute Run, 1 Minute Walk, 3 time), I decided at the last minute to just head out on the street running. It felt good, despite having not run for the past 12 days. Once my run was up, I was about .15 miles from home, and I walked it in about 3 minutes. My 30 minutes of intervals burned 567 calories, covered 2.71 miles, and I averaged a heart rate of 162 BPM and 11:04 minute miles. Not too shabby.

Perhaps tomorrow will be my first morning run. Only time will tell. I better do SOMETHING in the morning tomorrow, because my evening plans call for DIPNETTING at the river, hopefully followed by a few, or a lot, of hours of cutting fish!!

Time for a Time Change

OK, I've been HORRIBLE about running lately. So it's time for a change. Summer is just too busy at nights. So tommorow, I try something new. Early morning running. Should be interesting. I'm thinking 530 AM or so.

Two Nights in a Row!!

Well, I ran again tonight. This time it was 8 minutes running and 1 minute walking with a 3 minute run for the finale. I was hoping to get out a little earlier then I did, but didn't leave until just after 10 PM.

My 8 year old son went with me. He got a bit of a headstart on the track while I was doing my stretches. I caught up to him a little over half way through the 2nd lap. We ran together for a bit before he slowed down. He then walked across the track and met me on the other side at one point. Then we ran together a little more. He eventually dropped out completely, but then after waiting for awhile, decided to get on his bike. He started riding around and eventually caught up to me and we finished the last 2-3 laps together with me running and him walking. It's always fun to have someone else along.

After the run, we went and checked out a nearby geocache. \

I'm glad I got out and ran since the next couple nights I'll be out camping again. Somewhere I've never been before. I'm going out with a group of scouts to the Moose Horn Trail out across Skilak Lake. Should be lots of fun.