Thanksgiving Day Run

Well, after my tough run on Tuesday at the YMCA on the treadmill, I wanted to run here in Iowa. So off I went on Thursday morning later than I had planned. I wore Under Armor leggins, a UA cold weather shirt and my jacket on top of that. Then my gloves, fleece hat and my fleece neck gaiter.

I took off to the bike path (a rails-to-trails project) and ran around a lake. It was 2.14 miles for one loop. Around 1.5 miles I took off my gloves. My neck gaiter I had to keep pulling up and down though. The fleece was making my breath stay in the gaiter and the moisture too, which was then hot and warm going into my lungs. It would also get too hot at times and hard to breath. So then I would pull it down and the air would be all cold and my face would get cold again. It was not fun. The sun was shining very brightly and I actually started to get quite warm out there but I kept my jacket on.

So today, dealing with the Black Friday madness, stopped off at a sporting goods store. I found a few moisture wicking face masks however when I pulled it down under my jaw, it would be tight and I think hard to run with it. Finally located the Under Armor mask and tried it on. It's made so that if you want to pull it down, you can just pull it down and there's enough loose fabric that it just sits under the chin. Very nice indeed!!

So tomorrow will be my 8 mile run. I think I'll wear my Warm Weather shirt under my jacket instead of the Cold Weather shirt. Last big run before the marathon! Then next week is just Monday & Tuesday & Wednesday at work. Here's my running schedule:
Monday: 3mi
Tuesday: 4mi
Thursday: 2mi
Friday: a lot of walking at the St. Jude Expo and St. Jude Hospital tour.
Saturday: 26.2

I'll write more about the events planned for that weekend next week. :-)

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 834 ft Location: -- Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 11/27/08 Up/Downhill: [+52/-52] Time: 09:20 AM Difficulty: 2.0 / 5.0 Performance Distance: 5.00 miles Time: 0:47:14 Speed: 6.3 mph Pace: 9' 27 /mi Calories: 518 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 58 -0' 29 6.7 +0.3 -6 ft 2 9' 36 +0' 09 6.2 -0.1 +6 ft 3 9' 33 +0' 06 6.3 -0.1 -7 ft 4 9' 31 +0' 04 6.3 -0.0 +4 ft end 9' 37 +0' 10 6.2 -0.1 +3 ft Versus average of 9' 27 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: 5 miles, accessories, Iowa, St. Jude Marathon

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