Monday, September 21, 2009

Join a running group

I have put a lot of thought into joining a running club, but being that we live kind of out in the country there really is none in the area. I just don't see the need to drive an hour just to run a couple of miles, plus my day is very busy and I am not home enough to enjoy time with my family during the week.
So a friend of mine who I met as our kids are friends at school had mentioned that he started running with a couple of people out in our area. They get together a couple of days a week for a run. He invited me to join them and I jumped at the chance. They get together during the week but it is in the morning and, well I am a bit busy getting up, getting the kids ready for school and getting myself out the door to work. I did join them this past Sunday for a long run and it was great. I feel so much better running with someone besides myself. I learned that some of them are training for the Marine Corp and others just like to run. There are about 8 of them but I have only met 4.
The route that we did was a 6 mile out and back on the W&OD trail. We took a short break to get some water and fuel up then it was on the trail again for 14 mile out and back for a total of 20 miles. Well I only joined them for the first 6. It was my sons birthday and I wanted to get home so he could open up our gifts. Not to mention that I was not ready for a 20 mile long run yet.
So if you have ever thought of joining a running group I would say do it. So far it is working for me.
Thanks for reading.
I hope to post more soon.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Back to the Grind

Well, I have been bad not updating my blog. However, we are getting back to the "normal" grind with the end of summer so I should start to get things back to the way that it is suppose to be.
So this past week was good as far as my trianing is concerned. We were camping for the labor day weekend and packed up Monday to come home. I usually run at work during my lunch hour but since it was Labor Day I had to push my run til later. It was tough though, as we were invited over to a friends house for a late lunch early dinner cook out. We also had to get the trailer all cleaned up and packed away so I was a little anxious about when I was going to get to run. I did not want to wait until late at night. Well luckily I was able to get my run in at 6:00 pm just before it started to pour. It was raining very lightly off and on as I was running which was kind of nice. It was cool and not too cold. Well I got my 30 min run in and felt great, plus I did not have much else to do as the trailer was all cleaned and put away.
So on wednesday me and my co-worker did our normal 5k run at lunch, except this was not our normal run. We finally were able to go out and back in less then 30 mins, our fastest time to date. Of course it was very helpful that we were not stopped at all of the street crossings. It was a great feeling of accomplishment.
So I got home early enough on Thursday that my wife and I went for a quick run with our daughter leading the way on her bike. We got in 2.75 miles which brought my total miles for the week up to 9.5.
The weekend was a bit busier then it should have been. There was a party we had to attend that had been rescheduled from another day, and let us not forget about football. The one time that I actually sit on the couch and don't do anything else except watch TV. Most of the time the TV is on and I am doing other things. We all really enjoy watching football, especially the kids if it is on fox. They like cletus the robot.
Well that is all for now. I am probably going to one one last long run of about 10 miles before the half marathon. After that it will be mostly 5 - 8 miles for the one long run on the weekend.
I am getting excited and nervous.
Thanks for reading.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Spirit of Columbus Virtual Half

















Well I took the plung early and ran a half marathon.

This was a virtual race that I participated in. So it really was not a race but more of a guide for myself to see how I would do and guage my pace. It was also a good gauge as to how my body would react and recoupe. I mapped out a course that followed the Washington and Old Dominion trail. It was a good run. The temperature was good. Not too hot and not too humid. There were some other runners out there and just about all of them were real friendly saying hi, good morning or waving. There were also a lot of bikers who were not as friendly.

I was running with headphones on and maybe they thought that I had them turned up, but they did not acknowledge the fact that they were passing me. Some of them startled me a bit. There were times were I felt myself getting into a grove and then I would see a biker out of the corner of my eye or they would cough right behind me. Not cool. Oh well. I was not sure how long it would take me but I was able to complete the course in 2 hours and 28 mins and change. My personal record for a 10k, almost half the distance of a half marathon, is 1 hour 1 min and change. So if I am able to keep up that same pace for 13.1 miles I should be able to complete the half in about 2 hours 10 mins and change. Not sure if I can keep that pace up for that long. I guess that is why we train. Well I took some pics with my phone of the virtual start line, the turn around and the finish. I have posted them here.

Well I feel that I am ready for the Baltimore running festival and we shall see if I plan to do a full marathon. I am sure coach dennis will talk me into it.

Thanks for reading.