Fun Cruiser

Distance: 9.6 mi.
Time: 1:13:58.
Pace: 7:42.

Not too much to report here, other than I ran too far for an easy route and I had loads of fun. I went from home down the greenway, through downtown, and then back through Dilworth to home. I was really able to get my form down and cruise for a good bit of it.

A Lighter Left Wrist

Distance: 9.00 mi.
Time: 1:07:59 - 7:34 ppm.

I intentionally left the Garmin at home this afternoon. I love using the watch but I'm beginning to get a hankering for a smaller one. The 305 is a very large watch. Anyway, I parked at the Dowd just before 12 and entertained ideas of running with Theoden and the crew from the Observer, but instead just took off on my own. I mapped out the route manually when I got home; it was just a tad over 9 miles.

For what it's worth, today is also the 30th anniversary of my baptism! 

Can't Get Out Of Dilworth

Distance: 9.63 mi.
Time: 1:12:08.7 - 7:30 ppm.

Despite Monday's run at near McAlpine, I have been a major road warrior these days. I believe simulation is best, and as long as my body doesn't feel the wear and tear, the roads may be the law of the day for awhile. Actually, that's complete crap; I'm just a creature of habit, and I've gotten in the habit of running in the roads around Dilworth and Myers Park for awhile now instead of hitting the trails.

At the end of today's run, I found myself side-by-side with a dad and his young son, who were on bikes. I couldn't help but overhear their conversation, as Dad was explaining to an inquisitive Junior that he needn't worry about the upcoming mountain trip - the family would be safe from the advances of Bigfoot. Now that's funny.

Tempo? Why not?

Tempo Run: 7.0 mi. in 47:43.01 - 6'50" ppm. Splits: 719, 723, 655, 646, 628, 623, 626.
Cooldown: 6.72 mi. in 21:12.4 - 7'48" ppm.
Tempo Run Map

I woke up a little late today; nevertheless, I decided to hit the road for some miles. I had tentative plans to make it a faster effort - a tempo run, I guess. I started out a bit quick but settled into it, and when I got to the hill on Morehead Street I picked up the pace. The next thing I knew, I was comfortably cruising at about 6:45-50 per mile. When the terrain leveled a bit, I picked up the pace even more, headed down East and through the Speed Loop. This is, of course, a very rolling neighborhood. When I came to an uphill my pace would shoot up to near 7' per mile, but when things leveled out or I had a slight downhill it would dip under 6. This was a pretty quick pace for me for a 7-mile tempo. I've gotten really good at pushing myself even when solo. My splits for the last three miles were 6:28, 6:23, and 6:26, with the latter including those sharp inclines on Queens West and Radcliffe Avenue. I was pleased with the proceedings of the day.

Run For Your Life 4-Miler

Disclaimer: I did not race today. I showed up to watch my friends run, cheer for them, and take some video of the race with my Droid. The footage turned out already despite some shaky handling of the camera by me and the cloudy weather. The videos are in three parts; I gave the files to Mike Kahn to upload to the CRC youtube channel because he's the video-editing pro.

If not for the pinched nerve in my back - which is starting to feel better - I may have signed up on race day today. It was cloudy and barely 70 degrees just before gun time at 7:30 a.m. The race would start at the Dilworth RFYL and run part of the "Speed Loop," as well as a section of East Boulevard, before coming back to where it started. I slapped hands with Brinkley, Eggers, and Paul before the gun and found a cheering spot with Jamaar and Layla that was, I would guess, about 600 meters in.

RFYL 4-Miler

Someone I'd never heard of - Bert Rodriguez, from DC I'm told - smoked the field by running 5:00 pace, all the while looking like he was on vacation. Paul finished 2nd after beating rival Bob Marchinko for the first time. Anne Marie set a new PR and got an age group award. Eggers ran his best race of the year; Mitchell showed up and hung with the chase pack of Billy, Chad, Rich Harris, and Jim McKeon.

Carolina Smoothie Run

My business partner somehow managed to contract the flu, strep throat, SARS, mad cow disease, and lord knows what else all in the same week, so I've been picking up some slack at work in addition to the fun stuff and the running responsibilities.  I didn't think I was going to be able to run today but being the diligent worker that I am I completed my tasks in record time.  I still didn't have much time to go very far but I really wanted a smoothie for some reason, so I headed up through Dilworth and ran a little over three miles from the Carolina Smoothies parking lot.  Since it was a short run, I ran about 7:03 pace through Latta Park and the surrounding areas before devouring a 32-ounce 120 volts with protein boost.  Gahhhhhh, I love that place.

There is something funky going on with my left leg.  I have put close to 400 miles on my shoes but while I know I need a new pair soon, I don't think that's the problem.  It bothers me some when I first get out of bed or when I push off suddenly but doesn't seem to hurt too much when I run, so it can't be serious, right?  If I spend some time stretching after I wake then it goes away.  I'm not terrified but it's more than just something to keep an eye on right now.

I've been monitoring my left leg so closely these days that I decided to take a picture of it.

Re-united....

The coolest thing about my renewed desire to run competitively is how I have been able to reconnect with old friends - such as Eggers and Oelz - and meet new ones, like David Brinkley.  This past Saturday, I met up with Brandon Hillis, an old friend from UNCW, for a long run all over Dilworth and Charlotte.

I followed Brandon from the Charlotte Running Company parking lot on East Boulevard through the Queens Road neighborhoods, then back through the center of uptown (Did we ever really decide what to call Charlotte's center city?  Uptown?  Downtown?  Funkytown?  I'll never get it.) on Providence Road.  This was pretty neat because we saw a lot of the competitors from the "Hit the Brixx" 5K/10K cooling down, hanging out, and milling about.  (This is where I would post a link to that race's website, because it's one of the better ones in the area, but the meet organizers still haven't posted results.  It's only been 4 days.  Geez.)

Brandon and I exchanged workout and training plans and talked about what some of our old friends were now doing.  He was no doubt a bigger help to me than I could be to him, seeing as how he has already done a marathon before and I'm about to attempt my first one (yeah that's right...details forthcoming).  He encouraged me to lower my goals for the race, which is probably a good idea, on the grounds that the marathon "is just a whole new world."  Alrighty, then.  Sounds like good advice; I haven't figured out what my goals really are but I guess I'll just focus on getting faster and preventing injuries for now.  We wrapped up a 14-miler by looping through Freedom Park and checking out the scenes from the Festival in the Park.  Brandon did 6 before I met him, so it was actually a 20-miler for him.  I suppose I'll get there soon.  That distance still seems awfully tough but it seems alot more doable now than I would have thought a month or so ago.  I ran my 14 at just under 8-minute pace.