Last week in running

This past week has been one of the biggest weeks for mileage that I have had. I managed to put in a total of 39.55 miles. Wow! Now let's recap.

Monday I ran with the Y group. We ended up putting in 10.5 miles. It was a good run at a descent pace. Jen's husband Jeff ran with us on the second lap, so it was a bit slower. Still a good run.

Tuesday Chris, both of my kids, and I headed downtown for the 2nd annual Shamrock 2 miler. This has become one of my favorite runs. It is a quick 2 miler followed by free green beer and door prizes. This year, like last, Chris had my number. Last year he got my by a step. This year he was feeling it and ended up getting me by 14 seconds. It must be the shoes! He beat last years time by a little over 40 seconds. Outstanding! He ended up running a 14:09 with me coming in at 14:23. A damn good run for both of us. As I promised, here are a few pics that Chris managed to get on the day of the race.

Wednesday I had my first official hill run. The new runners that Chris and I have started running with like to run up a couple of hills near where we work. They have been extending the invite for several weeks, but I have either had other things going on or just didn't think I was ready to do serious hill work. I will say that I was a bit uneasy about this run. When I arrived at Gary's office, which is the official starting place of most of the hill runs, I saw his car and one other that I didn't recognize. After a few more minutes, Norma showed up and walked into the office. Next thing I know Gary, Jen, and Norma are walking out and waving me over. How was I to know that I was supposed to head inside? After that we were off. The hill wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Since it was Norma and my first time doing the hill they took it easy on us. We ended up doing a total of 6.3 miles in a little over an hour. I will definitely be back for the hill runs.

Thursday and Friday I took off from running. Mainly because I don't have time on Thursday and Friday I spend with my wife.

Saturday was the 2nd leg of the Triple Crown of Running, which is the Rhodes City Run 10K. The group was going to put in about 13 miles and then run to the start of the race, which ended up being 6.55 miles from the Y. Chris and I had hatched a plan to run with them to the race and then just Bandit the run. We ended up running the 6.55 miles to the start of the run in 1:05:30. There were a few pit stops along the way for bathroom breaks and to pick up others. Once we got the the start of the race, it was only a few minutes before the gun went off. This really didn't matter much, since it took us a good 4 minutes to get across the starting line.

For most of the run we were running in a pack. Then Jeff and Jen started to fall behind. At about the 5 mile mark Shawna fell back to check on them. At that point Chris and I settled into a nice pace. If I had to guess, I would say we were running around and 8:30/8:45 mile. At about 5 and a half miles Shawna come blasting up between us and the pace quickened. We kept up with her until about the 6 mark when we just let her go. I figured we would just cruise in from there. But when I saw the finish line something just kinda snapped. Without giving Chris any warning, I just bolted. Not something that I normally do. It just felt right. I ended coming in just in front of Chris because I got the jump and I never let him know it was on my mind. Hell, I didn't know it was going to happen. I ran a 53:16 and he ended up with 53:30. All I can say is DAMN! We put up good numbers for running 6.55 before the race.

This morning I headed out for another hill run with Gary, Shawna, and Jen. The funny thing is, when I got the text about running with them, they didn't mention running the hill. They took me up a different hill this time. Jen seemed to be struggling with asthma today. We ended up putting in 8 miles in about an hour and a half that included more walking than I had expected.

So that was my week. Next week won't be as big. I am heading to Chicago with the family for Spring Break. So I will be gone until Thursday. I am sure I will be ready to run when I get back. I plan on taking some running gear just in case I get a chance to run while up there. We shall see.

Later

The Training Continues

With 6 weeks until the Kentucky Derby Festival Mini Marathon the training continues. So far it has gone better than I would have expected. I attribute this to two different factors. The first, and probably best, is that Chris is running it with me this year. Being able to get out and run with him several times a week has kept me motivated. The second is the group of runners that we have started running with. They have pushed long runs out of me almost every weekend. Which is a good thing.

Next Tuesday Chris, both of my kids, and I will be running the 2nd annual Jeffersonville Shamrock 2-Miler. Chris, Z, and I did this run last year and it was a blast. I mean really, how could a quick 2 mile run followed by free beer be a bad thing? I will definitely post an update following that one. And if I know Chris, I will probably have a couple of pics to share as well.

The week of the the 22nd will probably be my week of lowest miles this month. We are heading to Chicago with the kids for Spring Break. With all of the things that we are planning on seeing, I don't see that many opportunities to get out an run while I am up there. We will see. I may be able to sneak off for a quick run on a treadmill in the hotel.

I have also signed up to run the Papa John's 10 miler on April 3rd. This will be one of the last big runs before the Mini. I will end up putting in a total of about 16 miles that day, which will be the farthest I have ever ran.

So, that is how things are shaping up. So far this month I have put in 40 miles with another 12 - 13 on tap for this morning.

Later

February Wrap Up

February was not my biggest month for running, but there were a few things that factored into the lack of mileage. One being the amount of snow that we had, which was more than we have had in quite some time. The other being that I have realized that I am a social runner. My favorite running partner, Chris, was sidelined with foot problems. Since the group I run with meets on Monday and Saturday, that is when I ran with them. I found myself only running on Mondays and Saturdays. Not a good combo for getting in big miles.

With that being said, I still managed to get in 84.4 miles. Not too bad considering I only ran 10 days during the month. Here is how it looked:

Now that Chris is feeling better and the temps are on the rise, I look for the coming months to have more miles. That should keep me on pace to reach my goal of 1000 miles for 2010.

Later