Good news/Bad news

Good news: My Jillian Michael 30 Day Shred DVD came in today! So much for April 2nd.

Good news: I saw deer on my run today AND I had my camera with me!

Bad news: I injured myself. My thigh starting bothering me about 2 miles in. I tried adjusting my stride but it didn't help. It didn't stop me from running but when I was done with my 5.70 miles, it hurt. I'm gonna roll it out tonight. I already starting rolling it out and could feel the pain of where it originates. So because of this pain, won't be doing the first day of Shred tonight. Maybe tomorrow.

Good news: I got checked out on my run today! A guy was walking towards me with his dog. As I passed him, I waved and he was looking at my left hand. I have a gold ring on that hand but it's on the middle finger. I'm pretty sure he was looking at my hand, cause I looked at him directly in the eye and noticed his eye was looking down at my hand. Unless he was looking at my stomach/chest/groin and I mistook his glance.

Man they hide very well when they need to!

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 859 ft Location: DeKalb, IL Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 03/26/09 Up/Downhill: [+216/-216] Time: 05:10 PM Difficulty: 2.6 / 5.0 Weather: Partly Cloudy 50 F temp; 60% humidity 50 F heat index; winds SW 10 Performance Distance: 5.70 miles Time: 0:53:37 Speed: 6.4 mph Pace: 9' 24 /mi Heart Rate: 179 bpm (Avg) Calories: 606 189 bpm (Peak) Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Heart Rate (bpm) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Heart Rate Elev Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 11 -0' 13 6.5 +0.1 165 +23 ft 2 9' 22 -0' 02 6.4 +0.0 175 -20 ft 3 9' 30 +0' 06 6.3 -0.1 180 -10 ft 4 9' 30 +0' 06 6.3 -0.1 183 +36 ft 5 9' 39 +0' 15 6.2 -0.2 186 +7 ft end 9' 10 -0' 14 6.5 +0.2 186 -36 ft Versus average of 9' 24 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: aches and pains, deer, DeKalb Nature Trail, pictures

It's been a while

I haven't blogged about running since Thursday but I have ran twice since then; just this week.

This past weekend saw me heading down to Dayton, OH. I was going to bring my running clothes with me but decided against it. Good thing too. The time change did me in. I went to be at 1am EST (which is midnight my time) and got woken up at 6am EST and finally got up dragging my feet at 8am. Ugh. I don't think I could have woken up any earlier and ran. And it was really icky out that morning.

The next time I ran was Monday night. I signed up for 45 minutes at the YMCA (which you're not supposed to do), 15 minutes after I got on (at 4:30p) and was set to leave the treadmill at 5:30p (so yes I cheated). I ran a little bit of a speed work unexpecdtly the first time but then I kept it up.
0.0-0.75mi - 6.5mph - 9:14min/mi
0.75-1.0mi - 7.0mph - 8:34min/mi
1.0-1.75mi - 6.5mph - 9:14min/mi
1.75-2.0mi - 7.1mph - 8:27min/mi
2.0-2.75mi - 6.5mph - 9:14min/mi
2.75-3.0mi - 7.2mph - 8:20min/mi
3.0-3.75mi - 6.5mph - 9:14min/mi
3.75-4.0mi - 7.3mph - 8:13min/mi
4.0-4.75mi - 6.5mph - 9:14min/mi
4.75-5.0mi - 7.4mph - 8:06min/mi

Now by the end, I was getting ti-red! But I held out and decided that I could squeeze in another mile in my allotted time. Then this lady comes over at 5:15p saying that she has my treadmill at 5:15p. I didn't object, I figured that they caught on and erased my last time slot initials and she got in there. So I speed up just a little to hurry up and get in my 5 miles. 45 minutes almost exactly! Average of 9 minute miles! So I get off and walk over to the sheet. Nope, there's my three initials, saying that I have it until 5:30p. So I walk back over to her, she's already on the treadmill and I tap her on the shoulder and get her attention and then tell her. She scoffs at me and I explain that the first time slot is when you start. You don't start at the time in the row before you sign up. She offers to get off and I tell her it's too late. I've already stopped, and you've started. I just wanted to let you know how it works. And I was all excited to run 6 miles. I got in the zone again on the treadmill. Doesn't happen often you know.

This morning, I packed my bag for another run at the Y. Then I got to work and realised that my socks were still at home. So I decided that since today was a nice enough day I'd run outside. Came home, changed and out I went.

My Nike+ is really irritating lately. So I re-calibrated it to match my Garmin. 1 mile exactly. Then I started it again and kept on running. Unfortunately, at the end it was a full .1 mile over my real distance. Usually it was .1 under my real distance. I think this was because I was cold when I started running and I was shuffling so my feet weren't picking up a whole lot. Then at the end, I was warmed up and feeling good so then my stride was longer and it just messed it up somehow.

I was thinking of bringing my camera on the run but decided against it. Especially since I will have my iPod in my hand to calibrate it. But of course, wouldn't you know, I saw a lot of deer today. I was running in the road, around half mile into it, I came around a small turn and there were 3 deer crossing the road and cars were stopped coming from the other direction. 2 does & 1 buck. I jog closer and I see that they are joining another deer already in the woods. Then I look at where they came from and I see another doe & buck. The buck looked funny because he was missing half his antlers! They were staring at me and as soon as I passed them, they ran behind me and to their waiting friends. Later on the trail itself, about 2 miles into the run, I saw more deer in the woods. I counted 4 but they blended into the trees very well. Digging through the snow and one was scratching it's head.

All together it was a good run. I also remembered a few things on my run to pack for this weekend.

Speaking of this weekend. I will out of town again in St. Louis probably until Saturday or Sunday. So all running will be by ear. No running Wednesday as I'd be driving down. I might be able to squeeze in a 3 mile run on Thursday morning before 9am. Then on Friday afternoon I could run, if I needed to. Saturday morning I definitely want to get in a long run. I want to run 10 miles. I don't think I could run on Grant's Trail since it runs through a couple big roads and that's a lot of stopping. But I could go up to the Creve Coeur Lake again and run there. I really dig that place! I will have to remember to bring stuff with me; gels & Gatorade and water bottles.

Like I said all playing it by ear. I will bring plenty of variety of clothes with me because there is also the option of running at the YMCA as well. It never seems that busy and I could hit that up on Friday if I needed it. Then Monday & Tuesday will be in southern Illinois so that will be outside somewhere, either in Dix or Bluford.

It's gonna totally mess up my marathon training. After this weekend, I have all of March to get up to 20 miles run. I have no idea how since I haven't even done double digits yet! This marathon is soooo gonna suck. Hardc0re.

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 860 ft Location: DeKalb, IL Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 02/24/09 Up/Downhill: [+209/-209] Time: 04:38 PM Difficulty: 3.0 / 5.0 Weather: Fair 36 F temp; 69% humidity 36 F heat index; winds S 15 Performance Distance: 4.40 miles Time: 0:39:43 Speed: 6.6 mph Pace: 9' 02 /mi Heart Rate: 171 bpm (Avg) Calories: 468 180 bpm (Peak) Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Heart Rate (bpm) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Heart Rate Elev Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 50 -0' 12 6.8 +0.1 164 +23 ft 2 9' 11 +0' 09 6.5 -0.1 168 -7 ft 3 9' 24 +0' 22 6.4 -0.3 172 +13 ft 4 8' 55 -0' 07 6.7 +0.1 175 -3 ft end 8' 13 -0' 49 7.3 +0.7 176 -26 ft Versus average of 9' 02 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: Ballwin, deer, DeKalb Nature Trail, nike+, speed work, travel, treadmill runs

guess who I saw today?

Tonight, I ran. Usually that's not a big deal. I run every Monday night. But tonight I ran 8.14 miles. I don't know how I did it. I started running at 6p and it was 60 degrees and rainy. It was perfect! I didn't care about the rain or the temperature. I dressed for it and I was fine. I got done running, ended my workout on Nike+ and Lance Armstrong was in my ear saying Lance: "Congratulations you have run your farthest distance yet!" Me: "Thank you, Lance!" I still don't know who the first lady was in my ear back in August.

And I saw her again! The doe! I was running on the side path, didn't see anything. I came out of the side path and running towards Rt. 23 and then I see 3 deer. The doe, her fawn (only bigger this time) and they had company this time! Since I was wearing my rain jacket I put my phone in my pocket before I left (in case I fell on wet pavement or something). So I'm struggling for my phone, still running towards them, I couldn't get the zipper undone, kept getting stuck on the fabric because it was soaked by this time. They scampered off the bike path and I'm like darn it, I didn't get it. I paused my workout, stopped, got out my phone finally and looked through the woods and saw one deer. I snapped a picture. :-) You can barely see the deer but I got it!

I have added several Nike+ widgets to the About Me section of MySpace. I signed for challenges that they have on their site. I think it'll be fun. Strange ones like Carnivores vs. Vegetarians (veggies are winning); The Office Challenge - you pick a character and the amount of miles you run will count towards that character; I picked Jim. I joined one that is Apple vs. Microsoft vs. Linux. I picked Microsoft. That one doesn't start until October. Then I have real ones like Fastest 10k run. Which is soo not going to be me but I'll try. I also added a goal for myself of running 55 miles in a month, 28 days. That was a while ago. With my unexpected mileage today, I am far ahead of schedule! Anyway, they're on my page.

Saturday's are my long run. Last Saturday I only ran 6.4 miles. I wanted to run 8. I couldn't do it. I started late(r) and it got to be too warm. I was feeling down because of it. But tonight was something else. It turned me around and now I must tuck it in my memory to pull it out when things are bad again. I was so happy, I immediately called Brother John and told him. Then my dad. Then my other brother David! Finally emailed my running list to get their opinion. I was kinda afraid that I might have done damage or something.

Anyway, I'm all excited. I should be able to sleep well tonight. Muscles will be a little sore but that's why tomorrow is a rest day! :-)

Categories: 8 miles, deer, nike+

funny thing happened while running yesterday

I ran across the same deer! I took the side path going down and didn't see anything. But on the way back I took it again and was looking around and lo and behold I saw her through the woods and behind someone's house. She was looking right at me. I wished at that time I had my camera because she had a baby with her! Yes, a fawn! So cute, still had it's white spots on its flanks and everything. It was staring at me and was a few feet away from the doe and just kept glancing every now and then back at me and it's mother. But she didn't move one bit while I was there. I actually stopped and watched her for like 30 seconds, a minute something like that.

I received my water belt on Thursday and couldn't WAIT to use it on Sunday. it's 4 bottles of water and I didn't have to hold it in my hands, tiring out my forearms. I couldn't run until 11:30a because of the rain but it was totally worth it. Only 66 degrees and just a little damp. I put on a raincoat and headed out. I LOVED IT! Ended up running 7.62 miles and only stopped that one time to see the deer. Once I ended the run on my Nike+, this lady comes on saying congrats, you've ran the longest workout to date. I was like Who are you talking in my headphones! It wasn't the normal voice that tells me how many miles I've gone. That was weird. I need this weather more often! Well, maybe not the rain, it didn't bother me but the temperature was perfect. From now on I'm bringing my cell phone with me, I have the pocket now in the belt.

Categories: accessories, deer, milestone

funny thing happened while running today

I run on the bike path between Rt. 23 and 1st Street. There's this side path that breaks off the main path. (It goes behind Michaels). I wear a hat when I run. I keep it low on my face so no one can see who I am, I guess. But this also means that I usually look down and don't look up to see what's coming too often (it plays with my head).

Well, I'm running on this side path and it's definitely more in the "woods" than the rest of the path. I go around a slight bend and look up under my brim and "Holy shit!" There's a deer (a doe) in the path. It was seriously not that far from me and it was in the path, getting ready to cross and looking straight at me. I don't know what to do. I slow down a bit and then she scampers off. She took a while to move even though I kept heading towards her. She had the "deer in the headlights look." HAHAHAHA. Anyway, then as I pass the place where she's at, I see she's barely gone into the woods. I run past and she flickers her ears and put her head towards the ground.

Then I keep running and come up to the other entrance to the main path and there's a bench. I see that there's a guy sitting on it. He's barely moving, except his head which is bobbing back and forth. I think he was drunk. That was weird. A carton of orange juice is near his feet too. I tried not to make eye contact or look his way so I didn't see much. I come running back past him (didn't go on the side path this time) and he was still there, same position! More weird.

Yesterday was shopping day. Online and offline. It was great. Best thing is that I bought a water belt for my running so I don't have to carry a full bottle with me all the time. I bought a sponge bathtub mat because it feels so good on my feet when I'm taking a shower after a long run. And then I bought 2 books on biking in Illinois and Wisconsin. And I'm looking at a hydration pack (read: Camelbak) for my biking/hiking. I have a few different models that I'm looking at. Don't know if I want one with more storage or if I should go with a smaller profile since I'm probably going to do a lot more biking than hiking.

OK, that's it from me tonight.

Categories: accessories, deer