First long run

Well, 8.96 miles in 1:10, if you call that a long run. The ankle is a little sore today. Other than that, I felt and still feel pretty good.

Help!!!!

No time to run... End of year exam upon me! It is an oral exam in front of a panel... like the inquisition!

Aggghhh I cant wait to be done!

I will be in chi-town for 5 days, May 20 - 25...

Bloomsday....hills & hills

After a decent performance last week at Ravenswood, it was time to head west to Spokane for the Bloomsday Run 12k. I was assured of a PR on this course because it was the first time that I had ever run it. Unfortunately, the "seeding" priority for this race makes the second seed very challenging to make, thus putting me back with the masses. Lots of new running shoes with cotton socks. Additionally, with the second seed was the "Corporate Cup" runners , aka slow people running/walking 5 wide for their company competition. I was dodging them less than a mile ahead even though the staged the waves by 5 minutes.

Bloomsday is a good race, nice course, but the hills are legitimate leg burners. The course starts with about 3/4 mile flat followed by another 3/4 mile of significant downhill. You are repaid by a bi-level burner that is about 1 1/4 mile long. Another 1/2 mile of flat, 1/2 mile of downhill and then Doomsday. I would rate the first hill as more challenging, but Doomsday comes in at 5 miles in and with exhaustion factor, I could see it taking its toll.

I slipped in a 49:34, about 95 seconds slower than I'd hoped, but reasonably satisfied. Additionally, Dani and Jen cruised in around 1:13 with a bathroom break that might even make Ed proud. Photos and course elevation below. I think this would be an interesting run to get a "crew" to attend next year or the following. With 45, 000 participants, it is a legitimate big run with some good pain sprinkled in......

Treats Are For Winners

Today Bosco Gibson showed the rest of those "loooser dogs" how it's supposed to be done. Bosco was 1st dog to cross the finish line today in the 13th Annual Bark in the Park 5K. You can see just how exhausted he is from the whole ordeal.

Fine, it might not have been a race per se. There were no official times, and technically you're supposed to walk it. But c'mon people! B-Dog don't roll like 'dat. Only 3-5 people actually ran the race, but it's not B's fault if the slacker dogs in the back didn't bring their "A-game". BTW, the grand prize for taking 1st was a 20lb bag of dog food from PetsMart. Sweet!! Mmmm, kibble.

Tues LT Report: 5 Miles @ 6:54

Good LT on Tuesday. 3 Miles were into the wind.

Feeling good. Must disclose that I took 3 days off running this weekend to go to Jazz Fest in New Orleans. My training took a hit, but it was worth it.

1,2,3,4,PAW;1,2,3,4,PAW...

So, that was my workout for the day. About three miles total with lots of repeat 100s focusing on gait. Bill has a new 1,2,3,4,PAW drill. Good stuff. I'm worn out.

Gibson, sharpen the claws. I took little Gretchen on her first run this evening. Well, Rick and I did for about 1.5 miles. Of note, she took a healthy dump only a 1/4 mile into the run. She's going to be a good dog on the path. Probably not a Bosco.

More good stuff tomorrow.

Reporting on a Hilly 10K

Did a 10k at groton Mass, a lovely community famous for its 10k. A difficult course, lots of ups and downs, including a lengthy hill at the last mile...
The good runners were there, and I barely got 78th place. Note our fastest runner (Hank) who could give all of us a serious thrashing and routinely nails the masters division. He was not "racing" this, usually he runs about 5:15 - 5:20 per mile. I quote the "copy" from our club email:

Race #2 in the Grand Prix series was yesterday in Groton , a 35 mile trek from Cambridge . While, part of our crew inadvertently took a scenic tour of town (and got a sneak peek of the 10k course) due to road closures during the earlier 5k race, we did arrive in time to take part in the race with over 900 other runners.

The 10k race substituted a musket fire over the routine gun to start the race – coursewise, nothing too challenging. A series of rolling hills throughout and a 200m sprint on the high school track to the finish line.

Overall, our mens team finished 13^th in the team competition. Jay, Daniel and Eileen all recorded PRs. And then we crashed the famed Blue Ribbon BBQ in Arlington for a post race meal.

Groton 10k Results:

Place No. Name Ag S Div/Tot Div Town StTeam Name Time10k Pace

44 844 HENRY SCOLLARD 43 M 10/198 M4049 CAMBRIDGE MA CAMBRIDGE RUNNING CLUB - 067 34:37 5:35

78 2030 EDUARDO LEDESMA 34 M 19/129 M3039 CAMBRIDGE MA CAMBRIDGE RUNNING CLUB - 067 36:47 5:56

Normally, a recovery run

I didn't run yesterday. I intended to, but woke up too late. Shame.

Today, however, was 3.4 miles. The Garmin says a just under 8:00 pace. That included street crossing stops. The one uninterrupted mile on the lake front was a 7:33 pace. The heart rate hovered between 80-84% which is high, and much higher than it felt.

I'll be a speed training tomorrow night. 6:30. CARA Board.

Workout: 3 Easy // Total Mileage: 3.4 // Avg Pace: 7:53 // Avg HR: 80-84%

My first day back

I'll give a post-run report, but this is my first weekend back running. I feel good. I weigh in at 127-128 lbs this morning. That's about 10-15 lbs lighter than this time last year.

Update:

I have a long way to go.

Workout: 3 Easy // Total Mileage: 3 // Avg Pace: 7:30 // Avg HR: 78-82%

I will do another 2 miles tonight and will see whoever tomorrow morning at 7:30. I will be doing a run/walk thing for an hour or so.

Atta boy rick

I have not run in 3 days and I am starting to feel plump already... I shall be transitioning to a full muffin top if I'm not careful (or was that a pack of hot dogs on my neck?)

Rick I'm glad you were finally able to break the 7 minute barrier even if for just a few miles. Your former self (and even an improved one) is just around the corner...

Now lets see how low i can go in the next 2.5 months!

Ed