Muscle Bound And Lean

I have been looking for something to replace the easy run on the treadmill this winter as I just don't like running on that thing. I am OK with the hill workout, intervals or even an occasional long run with a movie on the tread, but the easy run is only a short cardio workout with no other benefit.

So, I picked out a workout routine that is designed to give a well rounded jolt to the core muscles. It is easy when reading about the intended results to vision a muscular looking body with too many mounding muscles for the average man to count or even name.

Though I do not acually plan to become muscle bound as that would be detrimental to my running goals, I do think strong core muscles will help tremendously. At the same time my jiggly areas do need some attention so I kill two birds with one stone.

I started last night. Routine #1 seemed like it would be fairly easy and I assumed I would have to step it up quite a bit to gain results. I figured I would probably have to jump right into #3 after the first night.

The workout is actually quite short so I planned on doing it twice the first time. It is well rounded with a warmup, cardio, muscle tone, cardio and stretch. The fact that it was to last only 20 minutes seemed like a waste of time, but you don't know until you try.

OK...I stand corrected. How can a body that runs all the time be so out of shape? Halfway through the workout, my muscles were crying and whinning. You would think it was the first time they every had to work!

What I thought was going to be rediculously easy turned out to be on the cusp of killing me.....hey...only 20 minutes? It felt more like hours. The worst was the crunches. Even though I didn't see anything, I swear there was a 200 lb. invisible person jumping up and down on my abs.






I was so glad to finish and honestly I felt like a whimp. The thought of doing a second workout was long gone and only a wisp of a memory now. I guess what it does prove is that I need the work. The only thing that didn't bother me was the cardio, I was winded but not on the edge.

Today I have lame hamstrings, lame arm muscles and lame abs, they remind me of the hell I put them through eveytime I try to move......I guess that means I did some good huh? Even though it was only 20 minutes, the fact that I used weights and did not rest through the workout is why it is so tough.

In retrospect, I feel this routine is going to work well. I can't wait until I have a couple weeks behind me and I can tackle it with a bit more drive. I can only assume it will help immensely for trail running.

I suspect by spring no one will recognize me and I will have to introduce myself every place I go.....and then there are the women that will be throwing themselves at me...I guess I will have to learn to deal with that too. I am wondering though, if I run shirtless, what creates more wind resistance, a flapping flabbyness surface or a rock solid mass?

Girl Talk and Tough Chicks

Most people reading this probably know I am not one for much conversation when running. You see I do nothing but talk at work, so when I leave the office, my mouth gets a break and honestly I know my job so well, I could talk confidently for hours straight, but it is for work.

When on the trails one might hear some yes and no's with a few three word sentences thrown in from me,but nothing of much concern or consequence. I make fun of my wife when she gets on the phone and talks for an hour straight. I couldn't fathom what they could talk about for that long, but hey, that's girl talk right?







Well, I honestly do not know what happened, but Sunday I somehow ended up girl talking for an hour and a half! It's true.....I went to Bradbury for what I planned to be an easy, semi long trail run. I wanted an hour or so of running at no specific pace but not tempo or race pace.

Val and Linda were the only ones there when I arrived, no one else showed up so off we went. Linda was a bit worried as we started out, she had not run on these technical trails since September when she fell and hurt her back. She was apprehensive about falling again and we assured her that we would keep the pace managable.

Linda remarked that my slow was equal to her fast, then I said that Val's slow was my fast........somehow we let Val lead??......I know, it didn't make much sense but actually it worked very well and Val did and exellent job of not leaving us behind.

So a mere minutes after hitting the trails, we are suddenly talking up a storm and I couldn't seem to keep my mouth shut. We talked about a mother's feeling when raising kids, all kinds of stuff about being pregnant and having multible chidren, empty nest syndrome, Etc.

Suddenly, it dawned on me........this was ..well..girl talk! Now don't get me wrong, I am not being sexist or anything, but when the subject matter hinges on mother's emotions and such......well, most men are distanced from those conversations. Not because we don't care but probably we don't understand.

Not being a girl, I am sure I said many things that probably didn't make sense. Val and Linda were very kind and didn't bring my attention to it. Now we did hit on other subjects like coyotes, dogs and running, but still, I talked for the whole time.







These two are some tough chicks, Val second guessed a mud pit and smashed her knee on a large tree root. I could see by the look on her face,that it hurt pretty bad. She got up, checked to make sure her knee was still pointing in the right direction and went right back to running ......Damn, I am pretty sure I limped with psycological pain for at least 10 minutes.

Then Linda went down hard as a root grabbed her foot, she not only got right back up, but she also won the battle as she managed to rip the root right out of the ground. Hey, I want these two around for my next bar fight!

In the end, I had a perfect run and perfect company. The pace was just what I bargained for and I felt great....well except for over dressing, but who knew it was going to be summer for one day? I should have been wearing shorts, one less layer of clothing and no hat.

I know Linda felt she was pretty fatiqued near the end but when I looked at the splits, I understood why. We acually picked up the pace in the last three miles and she was working much harder than she thought. We ended up with a good workout and with almost negative splits.......any coach would be proud.

Total miles:
7.24 @ 1:32:54 (12:24 pace)
splits:
12:03....140-153 (average HR and Maximun HR)
12:11....144-149
12:35....145-154
13:13....136-150
13:33....134-145
12:51....142-152
12:22....144-153
12:10....145-154 (last .24)

Exploring Naked Running (feet)

I read someone's blog the other day about training barefoot on the treadmill. The fact that I don't have Vibrams and that I am too much of a wuss to try running the trails with naked feet, I thought I would at least try the treadmill approach.

It seems to be a good way to expose the feet and body to the running change and work up from there. Of course I can't see myself running Bradbury but perhaps a course like Pineland would be OK.

Last year when I was on vacation, I did try running barefoot on the beach and experienced some pretty tight and sore archilles. The soft sand might have ben part of the problem, but also I think that is a weak spot for me as I had some severe problems with the right one a few years back when I was concentrating on speed and ran a lot of 5ks.

I would like to gain the benefit of running more on my toes and changing my natural posture to run better with or without shoes. After running a couple miles on the treadmill, it felt similar to the look of the Pose style of running except my stride was longer.

By two miles I started noticing hot spots on the balls of my feet and decided that was probably enough for the first time. As I was putting on my socks, I noticed how dirty the treadmill made my feet.....I guess I will have to wash the belt. I put on the running shoes and finished my workout with a one mile fast walk on 10% grade.

I guess I will continue this training one day a week and see how things go. I suppose this will fit in well with the times it is severely cold, a heavy blizzard or I just don't feel like running outside.

I finally pulled out my head lamp and ran Tuesday night. It was a great run as the air was fresh, crisp and the moon was still almost full. The only thing I struggled with was the extra heavy traffic which I contributed to the voting.

11/03/09
Tuesday

4.03 miles @34:49 (8:39pace)
splits:
9:10...148-165
8:35...147-152
8:33...148-157
8:20...153-157
6:27...158-165 (kick)

.4 mile cooldown jog

11:04/09
Wednesday

Naked feet treadmill run
2 miles @ 18:59 (9:30pace)
1 mile hill (fast) walk 12:28

I Think My Tape Measure is On A Diet!

This is not my best time of year when it comes to exercise and eating. My schedule is very hectic, so getting in the runs are difficult. Halloween brings all that fantastic candy, Thanksgiving brings more goodies, Christmas even more crap......on top of all that, I am pretty sure my tape measure is on a diet.

What is it with all this food that is bad for us but we can't help but devour all that we see? I am beginning to think that manufacturers are putting some chemical in the formular that tricks our brains in some way.

Lays potatoe chips actually used to advertise "you can't eat just one" HHmmmnn, perhaps they knew something we consumers didn't. It makes sense, because I can't eat just one of anything bad for me.

Hey, tabacco companies did it by mixing silica in the chewing tabacco to roughen up the skin in the mouth and promote faster obsorbtion thus causing a faster dependancy on nicotine. So, why wouldn't other large companies do something?

I actually thought that perhaps if candy companies were forced to make their product less atractive, it would help.....well then I realized even that wouldn't work when I came across these products...



























Kids eat this stuff?


This is awful to say and yes, there was a picture but I couldn't bring myself to post it here. There is a candy that consist of a paper diaper with some type of chocolate in it. OK, that is just going too far! If that doesn't stop kids from eating candy, I don't think anything will.

I totally planned on running last night. I had my head lamp ready, yet when I arrived home in the pitch dark, I just didn't feel like running. What is up with that? I am not training and surely not pushing myself, so shouldn't this be the time when I want to run just for the fun of it?

I don't understand, I have no problem saying no to foods that are good for me, I can say no to a refreshing nightly run under the full moon that is so good for my health, yet I can't say no to the peanutbutter cup. Instead I eat one while chanting to myself, "I will only eat one, how can that possibly hurt me?"

I say the same thing when I eat the second and third one, "hey, only one more and that will be it." Lucky for me, I have been leaning more toward dark chocolate as they say it is good for you.....hey all kinds of good stuff like antioxidants and much less surgar.....finally, a healthy snack that I like! I found out the other day that Reeces now has a peanutbutter cup with dark chocolate....Yeah!!!

You see, I can get the antioxidant value from the chocolate and the protein from the peanutbutter. So if one is good for you then 10 or so is 10 times better ...right?

Daylight At 4:10AM

Each morning when I wake up, the first thing I do is turn on the ouside light as there are usually deer eating the apples that drop from one of our "wild" apple trees.
I am pretty sure at one time they were very fruitfull tress but now they bare some pretty nasty apples and are not edible (for humans). The deer love them though and this time of year there are apples all over the ground.



I was suprised this morning because I didn't even have to turn on the outside light as the full moon was lighting things up like crazy. If only I had time for a run this morning, it would be absolutely beautiful and I wouldn't need the head lamp. The ride to work was breath taking and I just couldn't stop staring at that bright moon. With all the talk lately about coyotes, I have expected to hear one howling!

I also forgot about hunting season, of course I wouldn't see any deer. It is so weird as I see deer crossing the road in three different places just about every morning. I actually drive with my high beams on, it seems to freeze them and then I don't end up hitting any.

When hunting season arrives, they disappear and I rarely see one in the morning. It is so strange, almost like someone posts warning signs to go into hiding for a month.
Of course if they were really smart they would set up camp right at the road edge as the hunters can't shoot them there.

It was an odd weekend for me as far as running goes. I planned a long run Saturday and hoped for an easy short run on Sunday. All together I wanted to get my weekly miles back up to the high 20s-low 30s. It didn't happen as it never seems to this time of year. I have so many things going on in November and December, I should know better.

10/29/09
Easy 2.5 miles with the Mrs. I didn't even bring my watch and we had a great time running and talking. I surely have come to enjoy these runs.

10/31/09
The battle plan was a long run but instead it was more a full body workout as I decided to stay off the trails and couldn't bring myself to run long on the road today. In the end I logged 3 miles and some very lame muscles from all the work around the house (who needs a gym when you can dig ditches instead?)

11/1/09

Decided on Bradbury Mountain for a hill workout. I am not sure what I was thinking as I knew I would be a bit lame from Saturday. All in all it went pretty good though I did cut the run a little short from what I was planning. The mountain seemed extra tall this morning and managed to slam me down onto a slippery rock on one of the downhills sections. Yes, it drew blood and I think I ruined one of my running shirts.

5.3 miles @1:01:42 (10:39 pace)
Splits:
10:56...134-148
10:44...141-148
11:30...138-148
12:09...137-140
11:50...139-150
9:58...145-162

It was such a beautifull day we drove down to Goose Rocks Beach and spent the afternoon walking and running around with my daughter's cute pup....
2 easy sandfilled miles with some wet salty water mixed in.

What Are My Chances?

I have wanted a chance to run the Boston Marathon since I started running 8 years ago. I figure if I wait until I am 99 years old, I will probably be able to qualify.
I am pretty sure all runners that age are just handed an entry number no questions asked. Qualifiying is being able to walk 26 miles.










Well, I may not have to wait that long. I entered a lottery to win a slot for 2010.
What do you think my chances are? I know it is a long shot, but I fear without some real strong luck, I will never have the opportunity to run Boston.





Yeah, I know what you are thinking.....lottery..right? You see I have bad luck with percentages, if I am givin a 50/50 chance, I will pick the wrong answer 100% of the time. I never get in the right line, wether it be the checkout at the store or the tolls on the highway. When it comes to names out of a hat, I think my name is always written in invisible ink.

My chances are nill yet I still have a glimer of hope....deep down inside I am thinking, perhaps this will be different, maybe my luck will finally change, it could be my time to win. Of course if I do win, I will still have to pay the $250.00 entry fee...I should start saving up this week!



10/26/09
Ran the 2.5 loop with Mrs. Pathfinder. She was bit tired as she had already worked out after work (something called Zumba). Still though she ran negative splits which shows she is getting stronger as a runner.

2.5 miles @28:18 (11:20 pace)
Splits:
11:34....132-140
12:05....124-134 (long hill)
10:57....133-140

As you can see by my heart rate, the hill was actually a rest for me.It was tough for the mrs. but she recovered good.


10/28/09

Ran Tempo at pineland east side then an easy run after.

4.1 miles @34:33 (8:26 pace)

splits:
9:28...150-158
8:28...147-159
7:42...154-161
8:10...154-161 (hill)
7:59...160-162 (kick@7:40)

2.2 miles easy @24:48 (11:16pace)
splits:
12:39
10:37
9:00

Suprisingly it didn't rain like the weather forcast said but the air was quite chilly. I must say that the 4 mile run was quite enjoyable and I didn't realize I was running at that fast of a pace.

Even though the east side at Pineland is more of a wide X-country course than a technical trail, I still feel quite good when I manage under 9 minute pace there.

Hitting A Trail Caldesac

It dawned on me that I never posted a picture of my 50K cowbell, so here it is.





I started out 2009 with a certain idea and goal in mind. Training for the 50k as a strong base that would catapult me into some fairly fast shorter races and perhaps even a few new PRs.

I figured staying off the roads for most of my running would ward off injuries and not only tone up the core muscles but put me in great shape for a few road races. In the end I had hoped to be peaking for the Bradbury Trail Series.

In my mind it seemed like a straight trip, bee-lining to speedy races. or perhaps more like a pyramid with the winter running and 50k being the large base of it then progressing to a point as the summer turned to fall, thus reflecting my peak.

With all that behind me, I have some time to reflect. I didn't really reach the speedy finishes I hoped for but still had a pretty good year. Though I did have numerous surgeries that slowed me down at times, I actually had no injuries other than the normal aches and pains.


The suprising thing in the end was the trip. Instead of a staight line or even a pyramid, I realized if my 2009 running and racing was laid down flat on a map, it would be much more like a trail caldesac or a protrayal of a lost person in the woods with no compass.

I started out determined with a certain vision in mind. I felt as though I was traveling straight and during the trip would have stated ademately that I was heading point to point. Instead, I meandered for a while then without realizing it, I came full circle.

It was as though I set out to climb this great mountain The signs kept stating "summit this way" It sure seemed like I was climbing up and that the summit was just around the next corner, but suddenly I ended up back at the trail head with out ever reaching my goal.

I did pretty good all year but never quite made it to great. So, here I am contemplating my late fall and winter running, gearing up for long slow distance and thinking back to this same time last November as I came off a fairly large surgery.

I am almost in the exact same place as last November. It went by so fast and I feel now that I didn't take enough time to enjoy the moments. Other than the 50k I don't feel anything else stands out over the rest. They were all just a bunch of fun races
that were more like training runs used as stepping stones while I headed toward the great race......only the great race never happened.

Perhaps I didn't put in enough effort, I should have pushed harder at those key races. Is it possible that training for long slow distance has changed my racing attitude? Maybe I no longer possess that drive to hindge on the edge of oxygen deficit.

The two years I ran my fastest races, I trained for speed in every run. I was so used to running on the edge, that it seemed natural. Even in my long runs I didn't slow things down, I still ran at the edge. I also had chronic injuries during that time and because of that, my only enjoyment when running was at the finish line.

I embraced the suffering days after the race as a trophy of my accomplishments. Because I didn't train properly for my body to recover, I was in pain constantly.
I am sure I was not training right and feel that I have a much better handle on it now. Do I have to give up that speed as payment for feeling good and enjoying my runs?

Again that is exactally what I said last November and that is when I thought the long slow distance training for the 50k was the answer that would give me both pain free enjoyment and eventual speed.

Right now I am not in a hurry to critique this delema as I plan to enjoy some great fall running with no goals other than gaining as much enjoyment as possible. It seems the best place to allow my brain to solve this is on a nice long easy trail run.

10/21/09
easy run with the Mrs. who by the way ran at a pretty fast clip beating her best time by a couple seconds.
2.5 miles @ 26:57 (10:47 pace)

10/24/09

I hit the road early in hopes of beating the heaviest rain while still geting in at least an hour of running. It was a cold rainy start, yet I was enjoying the run from the first step onto the road. I opted out of trail running today as it was youth hunting day.

I decided to just run whatever felt comfortable and left the garmen home (though I did wear the Nike as a timer and to show splits) I felt great on this run and the splits show that. I was however looking forward to a nice hot shower when I finished.
There is something to be said for an easy road run as I didn't have to think about foot placement and obstructions, so my brain was allowed to wander for a while.

9.8 miles @1:28:42 (9:04 pace)

splits:
9:21
9:02
8:53
9:04
8:50
9:38 (Oakhill)
9:06
9:14
9:04
8:02 (7:30 kick)

Slow poke Rodriguez

10/20/09
Tuesday

I spent most of the spring and a good part of the summer running track on Tuesdays. The speed workouts were difficult and It was quite tiring, yet I felt accomplished after. I honestly did not notice a difference in my trail racing performance and my road races were mediocre at best.

Near the end of the summer I started speed workouts on the trails. I think that helped more than track but still not a huge improvement. It seems I should re-think my training for next spring. I just am not sure what I need to do to bring back my lost speed. I'm not sure, but it appears training slow for the 50k has changed me.

I ran at Pineland and honestly felt like slow poke Rodriguez. It was a tempo run and I felt like I was pushing but no exciting results. I did enjoy the run and I felt like I worked quite hard .......I just had no speed.

I think I am lacking focus for what type of running (racing) I really want to be doing. perhaps it is time to take a break to just run for fun for a while and let my goals come to me rather than chasing them.






It is only October but I am already stressing about the hunters in the woods. I guess I have no trust in people anymore. Even though I ran at Pineland (where there is no hunting) I became nervous after I heard gun fire near by.

Now, I know that they can only use bows right now and gun fire probably means practice shooting, but when I heard the shots, an image of Homer Simson flashed into my head. I think there are a lot of "Homers" out there hunting nowadays.


The next thing that flashed into my head was the thought of my white hair and how it might resemble the white tail of a deer as I am running through the woods....think I should wear a hat till the end of November?

I am sure an arrow or bullet through the side of my head would slow down my running quite a bit. I am seriously thinking about singing loudly while I am running trails. Of course then people would think there was an injured animal close by and I would probably attract more attention than I want or they would shoot anyway to put the poor animal out of it's misery!


Recent runs:

Monday
2.5 miles (road)with Mrs. Pathfinder
28:48 (11:31 pace)

Tuesday
Pineland trails
3.5 miles @32:17 Tempo(9:14 pace)
splits:
9:40...145-163
8:52...151-157
8:54...151-159
8:42...157-161 (kick@8:02)

1.75 miles @18:52 easy/cooldown (10:46 pace)

Mrs. Pathfinder ran by herself on her 2.5 loop.

Gloves...and Hats....and Pants...Oh My!!

10/17/09
Saturday

I knew my only chance to get in a good run this weekend would be early Saturday morning, anything beyond that would be pure luck. I had a busy schedule and I honestly did not cherish the thought of running in a cold rain. I woke up at 6 am and saw the reflective sparkle of frost on the vehicles as I switched on the outside light.

As much as I didn't want to give in to the weather change, it dawned on me that I would be smart to wear my cold weather gear today....this meant things like gloves and long running pants. I didn't want this, I wanted a nice sunny 60 degree run through the woods.

I am in my recovery season and am concentrating on base running. Normally I don't start recovery and base until after Thanksgiving, but ths year I am changing things up a bit.

The good thing about no immediate racing goal is the chance to run for fun and not have any guidelines to the run. As I stepped out the door and felt the cool briskness of the air, I could feel my nostral hairs freeze as I pulled my first breath into my lungs. I knew immediately this would be a great run.

I slid on the gloves and headed for the trail. I had no expectations other than wanting to run for at least an hour. I felt absolutely fantastic as I watched my frosty breath being forced out into a fog then slowly expanding until it dissapeared.

It was about 7 tenths of a mile to the pit road which gave me a chance warm up the bones a bit before hitting the trail. As I rounded the corner, the gravel pit wall was to my left and before I knew it, I was scaling the damn thing.

I remember thinking that this was not what I anticipated for an easy run yet I did say I was going to have fun .......what is more fun than climbing a loose gravel incline that tries it's hardest to send you sliding back to the bottom?

The pit wall is steep enough to force the climber onto all fours at certain points and as much as I tell myself not to grab at small vegitaion for support, I instintively grabbed a small tree and quickly found that it did not have enough root support to help me hurl my body up the slope.

Luckily I caught myself before barrel rolling the whole way back to the bottom, but still had gravel and dirt all over me. By the time I reached the top, I felt like I had run a marathon ... there wasn't enough air in the world to satisfy my lungs cravings.

I rambled around the pit trails for about 4 miles then ran a dirt road to the base of my killer training hill....Oakhill doesn't look like much and it isn't really that long but for some reason it is tough to run.

After cresting the hill I hit the Mushroom trail which for some reason was the slowest mile of my run. Usually the hill is my slowest and I pick things up in the trail. Perhaps it was the pit wall climbing catching up to me.

Anyway it is a mile on the road to finish this run off as I was already beyond my hour mark. Though I don't cherish road running, I was looking forward to the easyness of it. I was ready to just let my legs fall forward without thinking about foot placement. Sort of a cooldown I guess.

As I turned down my driveway, it dawned on me that a run with the Mrs. would be a perfect cooldown. It did not happen though as she had already taken her shower and getting her to run now would be fruitless.

I piled my clothes up semi neatly just in case she changed her mind or I got a chance to squeeze in a short run later in the day......it never happened, which is why I try to get my runs in first thing. Schedules tend to overlap and the running is suddenly pushed to the wayside. I guess this what happens when you have a family and obligations.

8 Miles 1:20:10 (10:02pace)

Splits:

9:35....128-155
9:37....145-157
10:32...149-159
10:01...147-151
9:46....148-156
12:22...147-160(I am suprised but this split....not sure why I slowed down?)
8:54....147-154

I Need Either A Bigger Engine, Or A Smaller Body.

I Want To Be This.........





But I Feel Like This!



Of all the things I could do to, increase my stamina, race better and run stronger, it is my weight that probably matters the most. I have a cumbersome spare tire and a lot of bouncing flab.....it causes not only fatigue but also chaffing. Since there is no way to buy a bigger engine and searching the internet has not produced an add on human turbo charger, I suppose I will opt for a smaller body.

I have been pretty level as far as weight for the last 4 or 5 years. Only fluctuating 6-8 pounds through winter and summer, but still at least 10 pounds heavier than I should be. I want to lose the extra....what I refere to as my "Wide Load"

In the construction industry we need to obtain a special permit to travel the roads with a wide or oversized load. That is how I feel with my running. Since I can't secure a special permit to allow me a "handicap"(thanks Jeff for putting that word in my head) when running, I must find a way to trim the excess unneeded pounds.

I was down to Florida a couple years ago running without my shirt on and a car full of girls drove by. One had her head out the window and yelled...."euwww, put your shirt on!" They were all laughing.....but I wasn't.

Now, don't get me wrong and don't get A mental picture of a beach ball waddling down the side walk, knocking over innocent pedestrians and blocking traffic. I am not really overweight by todays standards and at work I am actually considered a skinny guy, but for running efficiency I am hurting.

It's funny how relevant things are ....it all depends on what you are comparing to. So, compared to the average fast and efficient runner, I am out of shape and no matter how much hard work I put into my training, I will not reach my maximum potential until I find a way to trim up and shed at least 10 pounds.

I say all this merely minutes after devouring a nice french toast breakfast sprinkled with cinnamon, lathered in butter and saturated in maple syrup (what's wrong with this picture?) Of course I threw it away and ate a peach instead.....YEA......Right!

Now that I have decided to sideline my racing goals and concentrate on my running, I am determined to solve my weight issues......I have all winter to transform into a lean runner that can run shirtless without causing the passerbyers a puke fest.

In my training I feel that if I lose the weight, everything else with automatically fall into place. I know this to be true because I looked back at my history and found that most of my fast PRs were in 2003 (my second year of running) and looking at my success at the time I noticed that I was quite a bit lighter .... about 10 pounds to be exact......Hmmmnnn...that number does sound familiar.



I have been running the roads quite a bit in the last week and I suddenly realized how much harder the surface feels and how the body fatigues much quicker than on trails. I was thinking about ways we could soften up road running when I came across this photo (below).....wow..that would work and it qualifies for the new "green" movement. We could go green ...literally!







Ok, I suppose I have to leave room for my running stats....

10/13/09
Tuesday
I ran 2.5 miles with Mrs. Pathfinder as a warmup and then strolled off for a faster paced workout.

2.5 miles @27:52 (11:08pace)
didn't get splits
4.4 miles @36:01 (8:12 pace)
Splits:
8:14....146-157
8:34....155-159 (hill)
8:32....151-155 (hill)
8:22....153-160
7:55....156-159 (kick@7:11p)
1/2 mile cooldown.

10/14/09
Wednesday

Another run with the Mrs.
2.5 @28:39 (11:27 pace)
1/2 mile cooldown walk.

I was going to bang out a faster run after but something came up and it didn't happen.