Change of Scenery is Nice... Weather is Not!

Yesterday I wrote of how I was looking forward to a change of running scenery since I have a dogsitting gig, and this morning I headed out into the great western expanse and the vast wildnerness that is the westside of Madison. Okay, so maybe that was a little too much hyperbole to describe the westside of town, especially from someone who lives on the eastside, but the scenery change was nice. It was nice to be able to run by Blackhawk C.C., down University and Old University Ave., past Camp Randall and up the shaded and wooded East/West Bikepath. It's a nice little nine mile loop that affords you a lot of different sights. What was not nice was the weather. It was miserably sweltering and sunny out... or as we from the Coulee Region like to say, "It was hot enough to knock a buzzard off a shitwagon." Okay, so maybe that isn't the most elegant of colorful metaphors that you've ever heard, but it gets the point across... it was hot! The only saving grace was that there was a nice directional breeze and the second half of the run was pretty well shaded. Those two things helped cool the body down a little. The only thing that was missing, and needed, was a water fountain. I really could have used a drink. One thing I've noticed is that there isn't an over abundance of watering holes on the westside. I'm sure I'm altogether wrong on that, but I sure as heck can't find them. I guess I'm just not running in the right places. Despite the oppressive heat and the lack of water, I muddled my way through my nine my goal. After the run, my watch said that I averaged 7:38 pace for the run, but it sure didn't feel like it... it felt much, much slower. Oh well, not all runs can be super smooth and fluid. The tough ones build character... at least that's what I tell myself. No matter, it's done and over with and one for the books.

Today's workout: 9.1 miles > 1:09:29 > 7:38 pace

Miles this week: 25.3

Dogsitting = New Running Routes

This morning marked the last run I will do in Monona for about five days. For those of you who don't know, I am what's known as a dogsitter extraordinaire. Some might even call me the Dr. Doolittle or the Ace Ventura of my generation... okay, so no one would really call me that... that would be stupid. Anyways, there are a couple of couples that I dogsit for regularly, and one of those couples just left for a five day joyride to Memphis. Dot and Mike are a retired duo that like to head south every so often to do a little gambling. They left this morning, which means I'll be bunking it with Ziggy the Wonder Dog for the next few days on the west side of Madison. Dogsitting isn't such a bad gig... it gets you out of your routine for a few days and, in the meantime, you make a few bucks on the side. Can't beat that. The other nice thing is that it's a nice change of scenery for my running routes. Don't get me wrong... I love Monona and all the nice running routes it affords me, but every once in awhile it's nice to shake things up a bit and run on some different sidewalks, paths and roads. If you don't do that, running can get really stagnant in a hurry. That's why I don't mind coming over to Dot and Mike's house to do a little sitting. It gives me the chance to run by Blackhawk Country Club, through Shorewood Hills, out to Picnic Point, along the Memorial Union, or down by Camp Randall Stadium where the Badger's play. They are all great places to venture to and they are all welcome sights to see. It's just the little "pick me up" that my training needs.

Today's workout: 5.1 miles > 37:35 > 7:22 pace

Miles this week: 16.2

A Necessary Run

Yesterday morning I did something I rarely have ever done. In fact, I can't even recall the last time I did it. I laced up my shoes, headed out for a run, and then a couple hundred yards into the run, stopped, turned around and walked home. Why you ask? A couple reasons. One was that even though is was only 8:30am, it was already starting to heat up, the sun was out in full force, and there wasn't much of a breeze. The other reason was that I was still feeling a little tired and sluggish after running at 10pm the previous night. Even though I only did four miles the night before, it was still only about eight hours in between runs and that's a pretty quick turnaround no matter how many miles you do. Tie that with the fact that my body was probaby still recovering from the hard effort I put forth from Saturday morning's race in Waunakee, and you can understand why I just up and stopped. Plain and simple... I just wasn't feeling up to snuff. So, instead of enduring the morning heat, my sluggish feeling legs, and what ultimately would have been a totally crappy run, I told myself, "Screw this, I'll run when I get home from work tonight." And that's exactly what I did. And let me tell you, it was worth the wait... sort of. Earlier in the day I had heard from our weatherman the the humidity might starting to come back in during the nighttime hours, but when I got off of work, I was pleasantly surprised with how ideal the weather actually was. There really wasn't a touch of humidity to speak of and it was great. It was actually cool and pleasant with a fairly steady wind blowing out of the north. Even though it was very ideal running conditions, it was still hard for me to get motivated to go for a run last night. I was tired from the day at work and I just wanted to relax when I got home and doze off to sleep. Despite the sheep beckoning me to count them, I for the second time that day, laced up my shoes and headed out. This time it was a necessary run to complete. The humidity was on it's way to Madison and I didn't want to run this morning with today being forecasted as the muggiest day of the week. Again it was necessary for me to get it done last night and at least assure myself of getting in one quality long run this week. If indeed last night was going to be the best time of the week to run, I had to take advantage of it. Who knew how many sultry days would lie ahead. It was a necessary run... and I took advantage of it.

Last night's workout: 11.1 miles > 1:24:23 > 7:36 pace

Miles this week: 11.1

A Quick Little Run

After spending the entire day outside on Saturday running a race, going to a 3 on 3 soccer tournament in Middleton where two of my cousins boys were playing, and then going to the Mallards game Saturday night, I wasn't in to much of a mood to get up early and go for a run, even a short one, on Sunday morning. Sunday I also spent much of the day outside going to more of the soccer tournament and then to the Vilas Zoo with my cousin and his family. After they left for home, I decided to go watch the Capitol Mile down on the square and then headed to my friend David's for a cookout and a game of CLUE with he and his wife and daughter. By the time I got home, it was pretty late, but I still wanted to get in a little run before the day ended, so I strapped on my shoes and did a quick out and back down Monona Dr. I wasn't much more excited about running than I was earlier that morning, but once I got outside into the cool night, the run was enjoyable and it went by pretty quick. It was the culmination of a good week of running... I had a great race on Saturday morning and ended up running 44 miles for the week.

Last night's workout: 4.1 miles > 32:16 > 7:50 pace

Miles last week: 44.8

Redemption at Waunafest. A New P.R... Maybe?

Today felt good. It felt good to race again... it felt good to get another P.R... it felt good to redeem myself after last years horrible outing. The 10 mile race has always been one of my favorite disciplines. It's not to short... it's not to long... it's just about right. That's why it was so disappointing to run so miserably last year. Of course, part of last years poor performance was of my own doing. Don't get me wrong... I was in shape for it. In fact, last years Waunafest Run was my last true hard workout before I ran the Paavo Nurmi Marathon in Hurley, WI two weeks later. Leading up to last year's Waunafest Run, I had gotten in two solid 20 mile training runs in the previous weeks. They weren't as fast and easy as this years training runs, but they were solid... I should have been ready. It should have been a good measuring stick to see where I was fitness wise leading up to doing the marathon in Hurley... but it wasn't... and it wasn't because I was stupid the eve before the race. The night before the race last year, I went to a going away party for one of the many people who have left this grand tv station I work at. Normally, I wouldn't have stayed out too late but for whatever reason, I decided to stay out til 1am and have a couple beers in the process. With having a race the next morning, my body didn't really appreciate and adapt well to staying out late, having a couple of drinks, and getting up early. It was as if my body was saying, "After all the hard training you put me through, this is how you treat me the night before a race?" Yeah, I grant you it wasn't the smartest thing to do, but i did it of my own volition. The thing that made it doubly worse last year was that it wasn't an ideal morning to run a race. It was very sunny and extremely warm... some added punishment for my stupidity. Needless to say, I struggled through last years race. I finished in a time of a little over an hour and twenty minutes, which averaged out to something like an 8:03 per mile pace. Pretty pathetic when you think about it. Heck, I don't even run that slow on my ten mile training runs anymore.

Today was a different story, though. Today I went into the Waunfest Run feeling confident, super fit and race tested. More importantly though, I went in rested and not a drop of beer to be found in my system, unlike last year's debacle. The weather was even nice this time around. It was still very sunny out like last year, but it was a lot cooler out and a lot more tolerable. Being that it was an important race for me this morning, I wanted to make sure my legs were sufficiently warmed up before the race, so I even ran a couple of easy miles before the start. By the time cannon sounded (and it is a cannon they use) to start the race and subsequently scare the crap out of me, I was ready to go. The race started out as good as it possibly could. For the first five miles or so, my legs felt very strong and fluid. I was averaging about 6:30 per mile and it wasn't even putting a strain on my body... it was effortless. The second half of the race was a little different story. The second half is very hilly, and today a good portion of the hills had a decent headwind that I had to deal with. Even though I laboured a bit through this part and felt like I was slowing down a touch, I still crossed the finish line in 1:04:49, a new P.R. (personal record) for the 10 mile distance. That time averaged out to 6:29 per mile. That's nothing to sneeze at. I also finished the race 37th out of 349 runners and was fourth in my age group. Also not too bad. The main thing, though, was my time. I had beaten last years pathetic effort by 16 minutes. I think I got my redemption, and got it in a big way. Although I was excited for my new P.R., I was a little bit skeptical of the time because my GPS watch had the course measured a couple tenths short of 10 miles. That dumbfounded me a bit because it was the exact same course as last year, and last year it seemed to measure out ok. After talking with my brother Pete and my good friend Dave, they both convinced me that I shouldn't worry about it. Who knows, maybe my watch was off. Plus, this race has been around 30 years... you would think they would be able to know how to measure an accurate course in that time. So you know what... I'm taking this P.R. (my fourth one of the year) and not looking back. I earned it.

Warm up before race: 2 miles > 16:40

Today's race: 10 miles > 1:04:49 > 6:29 pace

Miles this week: 40.7

Sluggish But Steady

Well, yesterday I was true to my word... I took the entire day off from running and waited until mid-morning today before I hit the road to get in my last training run before the Waunafest 10 miler on Saturday. After stepping outside though, I had kind of wished I had run last night instead and run my fifth consective day in a row. The weather wasn't horribly hot this morning, but it was a little too warm and sunny for my liking. You know me, the cloudier and cooler, the better. It was my own fault though. I was actually hoping to get up a little earlier this morning, say around 7:30am, to get in a run while the temp was in the 50's, but when the alarm went off, I just couldn't pry myself out of bed. I was still pretty tired from work and from running for four days straight. By the time I was finally able to pull the sheets off myself and lace up my running shoes, the coolness of the morning had gone by the wayside and it was starting to heat up fairly good. It also didn't help this morning that my legs were feeling a little sluggish. Again, I think they still hadn't quite recovered from the workouts I had put them through in the previous days. They did start to feel a little better once I got three or four miles into my run, and my overall pace of 7:35 was a pleasant surprise considering I felt snail-like slow today. Tomorrow I am planning to give myself another day off from running in preparation for Saturday's race. Hopefully it will do my legs some good and I can have a good result on Saturday morning.

Today's workout: 7.1 miles > 53:51 > 7:35 pace

Miles this week: 28.7

A Day Off... Sort Of

Yesterday I was planning to take a full day off from running since I had run a little over 27 miles the previous three days, and although I didn't run in the morning, I also didn't take the day off fully. After I got off of work last night, I wasn't feeling particularly tired and it was such a beautiful night out, I thought it would be a waste and a shame if I didn't take advantage of it. The running conditions were just about as ideal as it could get. It was clear and cool out with a nice northerly breeze, and with the moon out, it made it seem even more calm and peaceful and even more of a joy to run. It hardly seemed like there was a soul out either, except when I passed by the Monona Terrace where there were a few people doing enjoying some late night fishing, or passed by an occasional watering hole where people were yucking it up and having a few libations. I also can't forget the wonderful young man who passed by me on his bicycle and having the IQ of a house plant blurted out, "What the%*#@ are you doing out running at night!" Brilliant. Makes a lot of sense, doesn't it, since he is out riding his bike at night. Normally I revel in that type of commentary and like to bark something back, but tonight I was feeling so good and enjoying myself so much I just said "screw it" and continued on my way. It wasn't worth the effort. Despite the minor interruption from the Pulitzer Prize Winner on wheels, it really was a great run last night. I felt pretty strong and fluid and was happy to circle the lake at 7:28 per mile clip. Even though that made it four consecutive days of running, there won't be fifth straight day. I'll finally give my legs a break and wait til morning... at least that's the plan anyway.

A quick sidenote: Today I signed up to run the 30th Annual Waunafest 10 miler on Saturday morning. I'm hoping Saturday's race will be a bit of redemption from last years poor performance. More on that Saturday, though.

Last night's workout: 11.1 miles > 1:22:51 > 7:28 pace

Miles this week: 21.6