Last Run

7/30/08
Wednesday

Last run before the Beach to beacon. I decided to do the pit loop which is mostly off road running. This is a 3 mile loop that starts from my house. It is a good run that allows for some speed at the end but still has a couple pretty good hills in mile 2.

I hit the half mile mark at 8:22 pace but did well warming up as I reached the 1st mile at 7:33. At this point the course is a packed dirt road which has a little give as pushing off so it slows the pace some.

At 1.5 the course veers up a little hill into the woods behind an old gravel pit that is now a water reservoir. This is where the horse flies (some call them deer flies) are waiting for dinner. 6 or 8 were quite happy to have me meandering through the woods as they apeared quite hungry.

As the trail winds up hill the terrain becomes very soft sand and this is quite difficult to run in. I find myself landing more flat footed and leaning back a bit. As if the soft dirt is not bad enough, the trail starts up a pretty good grade and follows the rim of the pit.

The uphill is scattered with some loose rocks, many hidden by leaves, a bunch of dirt mounds (which I assume were created for anti errosion) many old branches and the occasional horse dropping. Plenty of things to keep your mind off the fact that the pounding of the breath precedes the fatigue of the legs and the slower pace allows the flies to catch up and swarm.

The view down the pit slop to the quaint pond below and the vegitation on the opposite bank always lift my spirits as I climb this hill. Once at the top one would think their problems were over, but there is a downhill that is plastered with various sized loose rocks. It is very difficult to negotiate a place for the feet in flat areas and not twist an ankle.

Once past the rock grove, you turn out onto the road for a 7/8 mile tar-road finish. Right at the turn you have to work a fairly steep but short hill then it is a slight downhill before a flat .7 mile finish.

I love the finish as I can get a pretty good kick and it ends right at my house so the walk is short to get in my pool cooldown.

I ended today at about a 7:45 pace ...I figure just fast enough to feel the workout but not so demanding that I jepodize my condition for the race in three days. probably the perfect workout.

After a short walk to catch my breath, it was very refreshing to dive into the pool for a few cooldown laps. The only drawback to the evening was watching the Red Sox fall apart....more errors than little league I think!

disapointed

7/29/08
Tuesday

I'm disapointed......missed track for a second week. What is it about Tuesday nights? Somethig seem to always happen. My mother went in the hospital yesterday and we went in last night to see her,thankfully it was not serious. I will have to leave sometime during the day Wednesday to give her a ride home.

Hopefully I will have time to at least get a run in after taking mom home. Perhaps it is a blessing that I didn't do a hard workout or perhaps I will not feel as sharp....who knows. The thing to remember is not to push to hard running Wednessday as it is only three days before the race.

Beach to Beacon (dry run)

7/27/08
Sunday

Met Amanda this morning at 7 am to run the Beach to Beacon course with her. She has never run it and wanted a dry run. We parked her car at Fort Williams and drove my truck to the start area.

We passed dozens of people running the course on our way to the start and many more preparing to run. I guess a lot of runners had the same idea.

The dry run works well as it gives perspective as far as hills, dificulty and course direction.

Amanda stretched as a few runners passed by us. I was anxious to get started, something about getting passed not sure what it is. We finally got going and planned somewhere in the 9:30-10 min range.

I thought the weather was going to be perfect but turns out there was much humidity today. Not a bad thing as it could be this hot next Saturday and that is what a dry run is all about...duplicating race day.

Within the first mile or so, we passed a few of the runners that passed us so I was feeling better. The pace seemed easy and I was enjoying the scenery. I explained the course to Amanda and even though she was feeling pretty good, I warned about the last three miles and the hills.

We passed a bunch of runners as we turned onto Ocean house Road and the downhill felt refreshing. The part of the course is very nice and there is a lot of shade.

Once we started hitting the hills, Amanda was feeling tired and overheated. She talked of walking the big hill in mile five as we were about half way up. I felt it was not wise to do that and sugjested she just slow down as much as she needed to.

It is more important to remember mastering this hill when she hits it Saturday rather than giving up on it. She made it to the crest but complained about the next hill coming up. I told to think of it as the last hill.

We crested that hill and enjoyed the down hill to the park entrance. She mentioned something under her breath about .."the last hill huh?" as we climbed the short but tough hill after the gate.

The rest was quite easy and she was feeling better as we discussed the mere .3 miles to finish. The end looked so different to me. I wasn't sure I was even going the right way. We turned back once as I thought we passed the turn off. Finally we found the finish sign.

I was quite surprised as this did not look anything like I remembered and I have run the race 5 times. I couldn't believe this was the finish. In the end we ran about 9:30 pace so it worked out well for her. I was actually quite tired and had trouble visioning running at my race pace if I felt this tired at 9:30 pace.

I had hoped for a long run today but with a race in a week, it was not a bad idea to take it easy.

morning swim

7/26/08
Saturday

Enjoyed and early morning dip in the pool. Swam a bunch of laps then watched the sunrise....wish I had time to go for a run but I have a lot of work to do today.

Back on the trails

7/24/08
Thursday

Boy did it pour today.....probably the most rain I have seen come down all at once. They report was of thunder and lightning ...I hoped not as I planned a X-C run after work. I wanted to work on hills and cardio ...no better place than Pineland.

When I arrived at Pineland the rain was not severe, just a steady rain but no too heavy. I knew it would be much less in the woods. I really don't mind running in the rain. My body temp is much cooler and there are no bugs.

I wore my gortex trail runners and felt confident they would guard against wetness and slippery trails quite well. I was a little worried that my right Archilles might act up as these shoes were quite a bit stiffer than my trainers.

The trails were wet but not slimy and I was careful to place my feet in the best spots to guard against slipping or twisting and ankle. There was no-one else on the trail and I enjoyed the music of my Nike.

My plan was to run fairly fast and work hard on the hills....It did not take long for me to reach the end of my breath and also my energy. The legs felt quite heavy and my glasses were steaming up making it difficult to see the trail.

As time went by and the worst of the hills showed up I began to wear down some...I felt like stopping and walking but would not allow myself until I reached at least 3 miles....Funny, 3 miles seems so short when compared to running the 25K trail race but tonite my body felt 3 was plenty long.

I stopped at 3.5 caught my breath for a few seconds then ran anouther half mile at a slightly slower pace. Even though I called it a cooldown, my heart rate stayed right up in the 150-160 range....so not really a cooldown.

I was glad to climb in the truck wipe off the rain and sit down. I felt pretty satisfied with the workout tonite.....I think the cardio got a pretty good kick.

I celibrated by taking a hot shower and going out for a sandwitch and beer....
I don't feel ready for a pr at the B to B but would like to beat last years discouraging time of 50 minutes and get into my average range for the last 3 years of about 47-48 minutes. 46 would be fantastic but I don't expect that kind of speed.

Compared to L L Bean's 10k, I suppose I should be able to pull off a 48 for this one. I am going to run the Beach course with my daughter on Sunday as she has never run the course....I am thinking about running it twice to give me one last long run before the race. We will see how the day goes.

speed --interval or race pace?

7/22/08
Tuesday

I missed track today but decided to do a race pace run instead. I looked back at 2003 the weeks before my fantastic run at B to B. I ran a 44:06 which put my mile pace at 7:04. Why did I do so well? what was it about my training that allowed my to run that speed?

I looked back at my training the two weeks before in 2003 and it was not so different than this year. About the same amount of miles. A little shorter runs during the week at a slightly faster pace with kicks at the end of each run. My weekend consisted of a long run of about 8 miles and pretty fast pace of 8:10-8:40 ----so a little faster there to.

I ran more base miles this year, spent more time on the trails, did track workouts but I am about 5 lbs heavier. I didn't come close to my PR at Pat's 5 miler (about 2 mins slower) and only beat my slowest time by 1 minute. So it seems I will struggle to get a good run in at Beach.

On July 22 2003 I ran a 2.5 mile loop in 17:51 (7:09 pace)then swam a cooldown. I decided to try and match that tonite just to see if my slower times are partially due to me not pushing myself as hard rather than my training.

I started out pretty fast and felt the fatigue and pain right away...I had an uplifting moment at the 1st mile as my pace was pretty good. Then I had the two down hills which I exercised the down hill running style I learned at track.

The second mile was a tough long uphill but I pushed as hard as I could convince my body to and then worked a good speedup for the last half. I finished with a very good kick and then looked at my time.....unbelievable 17:51 right on the nose.....who could plan that?

I am not sure it means anything at all, but I was glad to see I could match that pace for a short run like this. Doesn't mean anything for the 10K. I matched the 2003 workout with 3o laps in the pool for a cooldown....

long (tired) run

I guess I am not the only one on the trails today.

7/20/08
Sunday

I decided last night to get my long run in today reguardless of the fact that I raced yesterday. I figured it would be good training to run tired as I could pace as slow as needed to guard against injury. My thought was to get in around 10 miles.

I felt a lttle fatigued when I woke up but the thought of not running didn't even cross my mind. I geared up, drank some Heed and hit the road. It was a beautiful morning at 7am, sun was beaming and was already feeling pretty hot out. I figured the pool would feel quite refreshing when I return.

My plan was to do some easy road miles and I started out pretty easy. I ran down Doughty and then Greeley....as I neared the entrance to twin brooks my thoughts turned to trail running. I longed for the woods and decided to detour in and hit a few trails.

I didn't plan on encoutering so many deer flies. They seemed to really love the smell of my sweat today. I am sure I looked quite funny as I ran through the woods swatting around my head with both hands. I did however kill 8 or 10 of those buggers but re-inforcements keep coming. I could almost hear their bugle player anouncing the charge!

All and all the trip through the woods was pretty tiring as the hills began to wear me down. After about 2 miles, I decided to hit the road again and outrun those pesky flies.

The trip up Tuttle road seemed long and the last hill sucked the energy from me. I was glad I was nearing home and decided to cut my run short to 8.5 miles. It was time for a cooling swim.

I started out @ 9:55 pace and finished @9:01 so it seems I didn't overdue things too much.

Pat's 5 miler race

Me in the white shirt on the left (flying past the other guy!) Those seven people behing me were in front of me at the top of the hill.

7/19/08
Saturday

I woke up before the alarm today and could surely feel the results of the last two nights....why didn't I go to bed early and get some extra sleep....I think it has happened every time I run a race...something comes up and I don't get my sleep two night's before.

I am glad I'm up early as if gives me he chance to stretch a little extra and relax a bit before heading to Amanda's. I always second guessed my self when it comes to training before a race. Thinking about what I should have done different....I keep telling myself that it doesn't matter at this point ..it is all in the past..whatever I have done right or wrong, will show in my performace today.

It seems perfect this morning, overcast and a hint of drizzle....what better weather conditions could one have? I picked up Amanda and we parked at Rite Aid ...just a short walk from Main street. As we walked down, we discussed the race and her stradegy. Her Archilles was still a little sore so she plans on starting slow and feel it out. If need be she will just run this like a training session.

We got very little warmup as we ran into an old neighbor and somehow she felt the need to talk on and on...I didn't have the heart to say we need to go and run..so I waited patiently. We ended up running a half mile which actually was pretty heated as the sun broke through and the humidity fell on us like a large winter quilt.

Suddenly we realized the curse of Pat's was back...it always seeems to be a hot muggy day for this race.....mile three would surely be murder.

If I calculated my training, it would put at about 38 minutes plus for this race so I felt sure I would do mid 38s.....I would be happier if I could pull off something in the 37 range. Origonally I planned on running the cross country and getting into better core shape to PR this race...but today I knew it would take a miracle to run in the 36s so that was a long reach.....but 37s well if I had a good day, maybe I could do that....

All well and good until the sun and humidity showed up! So now I set my sites on beating my time of two years ago (I missed last year) 38:04 and if i accomplished that, I would probably be in the 37s.....so A good plan I think.

I didn't have a mile pace plan so much as I decided to start comfortably fast and judge each mile as it came. I didn't mind being a little conservative as I wanted a strong 4th and 5th mile.

My first mile felt good though I was passed by a lot of runners. My spit was 7:33, I was quite happy with that and the heart rate was in a good range(148-156). This got me a little excited and I decided to push a little more in mile two as I figured I should be able to run this race in the 160 range.

Mile two ended up at 7:25....OK, I was feeling a little hot but my heart rate peaked at 160 so I should be OK. This was looking good, If I could keep this up, I will beat 38 for sure. Funny though, I still had a lot of runners passing me.

Mile three is the long hill which beats a runner up when combined with the hot sun and humidity. This is where I am usually quite strong and in the past have had some of my better splits on this mile.

This year was diffenet though, I didn't feel as strong and held back a bit as my heart rate was hugging 163 and I didn't want to use up too much. I passed a few people and jockied back and forth with a few so I felt I held my own here. My split of 7:58 told the truth and was a bit dissapointing.

I crested the hill and felt pretty good. My plan then was to use the flat and up coming down hill to make up for the slow uphill of mile 3. A runner passed me right at the crest, I recognized him. He was an old buisness associate ...about 10 years younger than me and always a little faster. I let him go but stayed close...If I could stay close, I could surely out kick him at the finish.

In mile four, I felt pretty good. I passed a bunch of runners on the flat and used my downhill running skills to gain some time and I passed my old friend with ease. I felt good and fast. I knew this would help me as at the bottom of the hill was the trail and the trail can kill the legs. I rounde the corner to the trail and passed three or four runners. This felt like is would be a good mile and help me make up for mile 3.

I worked the trail well cutting corners and keeping the weaving down to a minimum. I continued to pass runners and felt quite strong. Mile four ends half way through the trail, but the worst part of the trail is in mile 5. My 4th split was discouraging. My Garmen said 9:12 pace but I knew it was wrong as it doesnt measure well in the woods sometimes. By my watch, I figured my 4th split to be around 8 minute (it actually ended up @ 8:10).

This didn't make sense....I felt good, I was passing plenty of runners...no one passed me and my heart rate was 161-166 ....in my mind I felt it should have translated into a 7:30-7:40 pace........not an 8 minute pace.

I started pushing a little harder and powered the next two hills of the trail. When I turned out onto Elm I worked the hill well and felt strong. I couldn't wait for the crest so I could start my speed up and eventually my kick on the downhill. When my friend passed me again on the Elm street uphill I felt a little unsure of myself. Was he starting his kick? did he save it all for the last mile? Would I be able to keep up with him? Was I running slower than I thought?

I pushed those thoughts out of my mind and tried to concentrate on my own running and breathing. I did feel strong and felt that I was running the right speed for this hill. I noticed him pulling further and further ahead and gave up on beating him. Right now I had to concentrate on the uphill.

I crested the hill and turned onto Main street. I felt I had some left for a kick and decide to start my pick up. It actually felt good to pick it up...almost like my body was so happy to change gears rather than dreading it. Should I have done this sooner? Did I allow my heart rate to hold me back?

I started the down hill finish and also my kick.....I felt strong and fast...I passed my friend like he was standing still.....what a great feeling....I passed at least a dozon runners......did I hold back too much? What a great finish....as I passed the last couple of runners, I heard some on in the crowd say "look at that guy go!" I assume he was talking about me. My finish felt fantastic, my fastest this year I think. My 5th mile came in at 7:38 so I feel pretty good about that....still can't figure out mile 4......why did it feel right but end up so slow?

My finish time of 38:34 is OK. I am not upset with it and it is where my training said I should be....I guess I just hoped for a little better so I was slightly disapointed. A few years back ....pre surgey issues, I would always shatter my time predictions and leave the races quite excited. Now that I pay more attention to my training tools, I don't seem to do as well.

Oh well.....move on and hope for a good B to B race..... Oh...so right after the race, It clouded up and was drizzly again......whats up with that?

One last trip on the course

7/15/08
Tuesday

Ran an easy run on the Pat's course with Amanda....last time before the race. We took it easy and ran about 9:10 pace...It felt good to just breeze through the course. There was a concert in the park so lots of interference with people and traffic.

We saw a half dozen people running also...they must be getting ready for the race too. I'm feeling pretty good this year .....No real injuries other than a slightly tight right archilles and a slightly tight left ham.... neither should bother me Saturday.

My best practice run was at 40 minutes....of course I ran a second 5 mile loop at 44 minutes right after so I didn't push too hard for speed. I hope to at least do better than 38 for the race but would really like to be 37 or less. We will see what Saturday morning brings. My results will tell me what to expect for the B to B......

I will just do some swimming and cross training for the rest of the week...Maybe a short easy run if it works out I have some time.....or maybe not.

Gearing up for Pat's 5 miler

7/13/08
Sunday.

Combining long run with tempo training run for the 5 miler next Saturday. Ran the 5 mile loop twice to equal 10 miles. I planned the first loop at around 8 minute pace and ended up at 8:04 with a pretty good kick at the end.

The second loop I started slow to catch my breath from the sprint and figured to run around 9 minute pace. I ran about 8:55 so again right on target.

My combined pace for the 10 miles was 8:30 so a pretty tough workout. I felt it at the end. Went home and swam some loops as a cooldown.....the water felt great!

The muscles were pretty tired and my right archilles was a little sore....will have to take it easy this week so not to affect the race on Saturday.

From my recent training, it seems I should expect a time of about 38 minutes. I would love to pull off a 36 but that seems unlikely.

Red Sox!

7/11/08
Friday

Left work at 1:00 today, Only worked 9 hours. Pretty excited as I am taking the train down to Boston. My grandson has never been to Fenway and we are taking him to see a game.

He had a great experience and they came clos to winning ...down to the wire and set up for a grandslam...it didn't happen but it was still a fun time!

Day off

07/09/08
Wednesday

Day off today which is good after that track workout yesterday. Another hot and humid day. I wasn't in the office much today and the heat sucked the energy right out of me. I kept thinking all day "just wait till I hit that pool when I get home." It is the one thing that kept me going.

I daydreamed of that cool refreshing water and the chance to put in some comfortable cross training. I left work at 5:05, it was a blistering 80, as I wiped the sweat from my face, I thought of the cool refreshing water....just couldn't wait...like that ice tea comercial they had a few years ago ....the guy takes a sip of the refreshing ice tea and it shoots to a scene with him falling in the cool pool cloths and all.....that will be me later I whispered.....

Half way home the skys darkened up and the rain drops started falling. By the time I backed in the yard, the temps had dropped at least 20 degrees, the lightning was cracking the skies and it was pooring....the rain along wouldn't stop me but the lightning...well that is different.

After dreaming all day, I had to settle for a beer and a shower....damn disapointing!

Running hot..and speed work too!

We do form work and stretch before we run .... aren't we too old for this?

07/08/2008
Tuesday

Track day...Hot and humid. I tried to hydrate well during the day and even took some E-caps before practice.

Did a mile and a half warm up....(not that I needed to be any warmer!) I noticed my heart rate was high compared to the pace. This means my workout would probably be dificult and probably slower. I guess the humid temps create less oxygen content in the air and this combined with the heat drives up the heart rate.

The plan was 6x200 @110% (.45 secs) with 50 active recovery (3x200..passive recovery and 3x200 again) I did this workout @40-45 seconds (158-166HR) but it was tough.

Second, 400,800,120 @ 95% of mile time with active recovery (50 yards)
passive recovey
400,800,1200 again @ 95% ..50 yd active recovery.

First set I did good running 6:45-7:16 and 160-166 HR
second set I struggled a little with 7:47 - 7:28 (7:28 was the 1200) so I did better as the workout lengthened. Heart rate was 158-167

To finish we did 6x200s again @110% Because of the heat and the fact that I was dead, I decided to slow down a little and shot for .50 secs instead of .45
I averaged :49-:53 And 6:15-7:21 pace....heart rate 145-170 so I did OK

It felt so good to know I was done! I skipped a cooldown run and went home to do my cooldown in the pool...did about 15 laps and then watched the rest of the Red Sox game.....They won!

Surprise..I woke up early and wanted to run!

7-06-08
Sunday

I woke up at 5:50 am and felt like running. Surprising as I thought I would feel dead. I suited up and drove down to Yarmouth. Though a little tired, I wasn't surprised as I usually take a day off after a race.

I decided to start fairly easy and pick it up for a strong finish. My hope was to do a 43 - 44 minute run. I felt good and was happy to feel quite strong in the woods of mile 4. This is usually my toughest mile during the race.

My average heart rate for the 5 miles was 143 and a peak at the kick of 167.
My total time of 43:42 was very acceptable and my kick was quite strong.
Went home for a cooldown swim.

Pat's (tired) training

7-5-08
Saturday

Grumbled out of bed this morning at 6:00. Damn pissed at myself for planing a run the day after a race. Though I wasn't real lame, I was tired and really didn't feel like running. The last thing I wanted to do was drive down to Yarmouth and sweat through the Pat's course.

I decided to make a deal with the tired guy in me that just didn't want to get out there. I needed to run tired so the brain would adapt to the feeling during the important races. I decided to run the pit loop near my house and promised myself I would start real slow and just enjoy the jog.

Well that worked and I hit the trails. It was beautiful morning and the sun was beaming down causing my skin to feel nice and warm even though the air was a little cool.

I started real slow and just enjoyed the run. At first the leg muscles were tired and the legs felt heavy. After a mile or so, things started feeling a lot better and I think my body settled in quite well. I ran 5.6 miles in the trails at about 10:38 pace. This is so rare for me to take it easy like this.....but it felt real good and I enjoyed it.

If I feel like it tomorrow morning I will do a training run on Pat's course....we will see.

L L Bean 10K

7-4-2008
Friday

I think I was as prepared as I could be for the race today. I planned on a fairly easy start and to allow time to settle in. Hopefully leaving enough in the tank for the 4th and 5th mile hills.

I planned on running at or around lactate or 150-160 Heart rate. I hoped this would at least put me under 8 minute pace and hopefully if I can 7:50. I knew that the first mile would be fast as it is a down hill start. I guess I was pretty anxcious as I ran 7:00 for the first mile.

I realized 7:00 was too fast for my training but my heart rate was averaging 145, so I wasn't too concerned. I forced myself to slow down in the second mile to be sure I did not depleat my energy for the tough part of the race (mile 4 and 5). The second mile was 7:55 and 157 average HR. The third mile was 7:47 with no change in the average Heart rate. This told me I was settling in well and should be able to maintain close to that average for the finish.

Mile 4 and 5 were tough but not as grueling as I remembered. I strongly feel the X-Country running was the reason I felt better on these hills. I did both miles at 8:12 pace and kept my heart rate at a 158 & 160 average. My heart rate peak at the end of mile 5 was 169.

Mile 6 felt harder as I tried picking up the pace for a strong finish. I started picking off runners and passing as many as posible. I passed at least 20 runners during mile 6 and had a 7:51 pace with HR average of 163.

Once I could see the finish I decided to go for all I had. This was my strongest finish so far this year. My last .2 was 6:31 pace and a heart rate peak of 174.
Surely if I had pushed a little harder on the second and third miles, I might have gained 20 or 30 seconds. Of course it is so easy to look back after the race and say coulda--woulda--shoulda---I did lose about 25 seconds to stop and re-tie my right shoe...normally I would not have stopped but I had the chip on that shoe.

I am pretty happy with this race and plan on a 5 mile run tomorrow and Sunday (at the Pat's course)to simulate running tired....Right now all I wanted was to go home and do a cooldown swim.

Running out of running titles!

7/01/08
Tuesday

Didn't make it to track today so decided to run a race pace 3-4 miler to give myself some work at lactate without pushing the speed and getting hurt. Don't want to miss the 10K friday.

Our work our was 6x200@110% and 8x 400 @95% so pretty tough....probably good I didn't make it.

I started my run at what seemed to be a pretty fast pace, I felt it in my breathing
and legs. I felt slow, labored and heavy legged. After the first mile I felt better and seemed to settle in a little.

I hit the pit loop and planned a double hill ran by running the left rim of the pit. I felt pretty good on the hill the first time but was plagued by horse flies (some people call them deer flies) They just drive a person crazy!

Luckily on the hill, the woods close in and the tree branches are quite low so the flies couldn't fly around my head like they were on the dirt section. I felt tired but still pretty speedy as I ran down the rocks and headed for the left side of the pit rim.

I was surprised on the left side as the last time I ran it, it was quite open. Appearantly no body runs/walks on this side and the grass has grown right up causeing a little difficulty as I had to lift my feet higher and I couldn't see the uneven terrain.

The second time up the hill was quite a bit tougher, I was glad when I crested and hit the rocks. I powered up the tar hill fairly easy and finished with a pretty good kick on the flats.

I felt the lactate edge, was quite winded and hugging around 167 heart rate ...so pretty much the workout I planned. Problem is the pace wasn't what I expected...should have been around 7:30- 7:40 pace but I clocked at 7:54....not sure I will get the results I am looking for in the race Friday.......now I hope to at least beat 8 min....was shooting for 7:30 or better.

I have muscles there?

6/28/08
Saturday

Helped my son move ....planned on about three hours..what was I thinking? They lived on the second floor with small doors and curvy stairs. The crew consisted of myself, my son, his girlfriend, my daughter and a couple of kids...

Guess who did all the heavy lifting and negotiating the stairs....yup just the two of us....could have used a couple more man types. Finally got them moved at about 4 pm......damn tired.

After supper went swimming....that felt great!!!

6/29/08
Sunday

Planned on a 10 miler this morning, got up at 5:30 and found out I had new muscles in new places that were not too happy that I used them yesterday....Almost thought about just going for a swimm.

I forced my aching body out the door and figured I would just start slow and see how I felt. I actually felt pretty good but fatigued. I ran the first 5 pretty slow (9-10 min) and then forced myself to pick it up 6-10 miles with a little kick at the end.

Odd thing though, usually when I am tired, my heart rate will be high for the speed I am running. I felt pretty tired from yesterday and felt I would normally be around 145-155 for the effort I was putting in... instead I was averaging 132-144......strange..why was my heart rate so low if I was working so hard and so tired?

Anyway, I got the 10miles in .....worked my pace down to 8:30 and ran a little cooldown all before 8am.....the coffee tasted great!!