With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams...

Took a different route today. Out and back to a road that connects to the lilly pad pond run. Went off on a side road to run through a new subdivision being built.  Too much traffic from the big trucks and machinery on the road.  I won't take that side route again. 

But now I'm thinking of how I can connect the two runs for a longer run.  New routes are fun to try.

nice weather- very overcast with a breeze that I'd almost call cool.  great for running.

avg pace 9:22.  I like this pace and think I might try and make it my goal pace for the marathon.  Somewhere between 9:20 and 9:30.

road kill tally for the morning was pretty small.  One rabbit and one bird. 

well, it's time to make the donuts.... 

I felt so rested when I woke up this morning before my alarm clock went off.  Only to find that it had never been turned on, and it was already 8 am.  oops.

it looked overcast outside and the tv said it was still in the 70's, so I figured I'd try and run anyway.

It was warm and muggy but the cloud cover kept the sun at bay the first 3 miles.  Then out popped the sun, and I swear it felt like I was going to melt into the road.  Like a big gummy bear that gets so hot it loses it's shape and just slumps into a pile of stickyness.  Only my pile of sticky would be sitting atop my running shoes and wearing a garmin.

I went on an out and back down a road I haven't been on for a while.  My run today ended at a bridge that goes over the interstate, so I had one good hill in there.  The rest is flat.

tempo run for the first 4 miles.  The avg pace for those 4 miles was 8:58.  The last 2 miles I had to slow down considerably since I was turning into a gummy bear blob.  I did a 1 minute walk, 9 minute run those last 2.4 miles.  The avg pace for the entire 6.4 miles was 9:22.   splits were: 9:14, 9"10, 9:05, 8:17, 9:50, 9:58, 10:56 (last .4).

When I got home, I turned the hose on and put my head under the water.  it felt so good!  gummy bear re-shaping back into human form.  then I got a big bowl of cold watermelon and ate it all.  good stuff!

Only one dead bird today, but I was treated to a host of butterflies that were in the grasses on the side of the road.  Little yellow ones.   It's nice when nature gives us gifts like butterflies. 

Kind of hate not having #'s to put in the running part, but had a fabulous bike ride today with Wyatt.

We went all over- hit 3 counties, and a dog (not intentionally- he was just running with us for a while, then decided to come to a dead stop in front of my tire).

32 miles +/- since I stopped my garmin once and forgot to start it again.  I'm pretty sure we're only off by .5 mile either way.

Not much road kill, a couple of birds, a raccoon, and a snake that had been hit on the back 1/2, so he was still alive and trying to slither off the road.  Just a black rat snake, no copperheads.

Sit on place is a little sore from being on the bike so long (about 4 hours).  We had to call Wyatt's man a couple of times to make sure we were heading on a road that wouldn't take us too far from home.  Pit stop at McDonalds for a bathroom break.  We went really slow and easy, which made the distance seem like a piece of cake.

Beautiful mental pictures of the soy, cotton & corn fields, with cypress trees in the background, and birds flying overhead from out of the fields.  It's a place I'll go back and visit when I'm stuck in a boring meeting and need to escape.

I planned to connect my two runs from monday and tuesday.  turning the two out and backs into a loop.  I thought the distance connecting them was a lot more than it actually turned out to be, so my plan for 11-12 miles was cut short.  It was pretty humid & warming up,  so I didn't mind being finished when I got home.

Ran by this cypress swamp with lilly pads.  Really pretty.  The lilly pads are in the back of the swamp. 

Saw more dead snakes than I would have liked to have seen.  Most were really run over, but this guy was a pretty fresh kill.

And he's not a rat snake.  Not sure what kind he really is. Any guesses? 

Then of course there was the dead bird I'd already seen on Monday, and something in the middle of the road with a long tail.  Could have been a rat or little opossum...too much traffic for me to get a good look at him.

Avg pace was 9:22 again.  79 degrees & 80% humidity the entire run.  Thank my lucky stars that the cloud godess was smiling on me and it was overcast almost the whole time.

Now I'm off to make french toast for breakfast since I don't have anyone to take me out to eat after they weed my yard.

tried a fartlek today.  long run tomorrow.

I did a one mile warm up before I started "fartlek-ing."  Then every cul-de-sac I would run fast, and just tried to keep up a good tempo when I wasn't in the fartlek-ing mode.

It was about 5 degrees cooler this morning on my run and a nicer breeze today too.

kept it in the 'hood, so no roadkill to report from my run. sorry folks.

avg pace 9:47.  beautiful run, wonderful company.

and......a trail kill.  dead mole on the middle of the trail. maybe hit by a bike, or dropped by a hawk- not sure.  you know I took a pix.  Will post later.

here's a photo of Terri and I on the trail run today... this sign is right off the running/bike path....it's just a photo op waiting to happen!

stay tuned for the mole...oh, here he is...

you're welcome :-) 

92 degrees by the time I woke up.  Not gonna happen today.  93 outside during the evening news... Really not gonna happen today.

Finished reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo...interesting book.  Probably going to get the other 2 and devour them before I have to go back to work..

started slow, but eventually got in a groove.  Had to stop & take a phone call and forgot to stop garmin while I stood there & tried walking in circles.  That put my garmin pace off a bit.  It said avg pace was 9:49.  .3 miles of walking/stopping...oh well.

90% humidity 78 degrees.  glasses fogged up by .2 miles so I took them off & ran blind.  Not blind enough to miss the dead kitty.  Poor thing.   The cattle at the ranch were lowing at me today...usually they just stare.  I think they were cheering me on..."mmmrrrruuunnnn."

Hodge-Podge run.  A little of everything. Then a shred 1.

warm up mile, fast mile, recovery pace miles with hills, and a little walk in the middle to cool down because my red "engine overheating" light was on.  When will it cool down????

weather: hot & humid.  no cloud cover- sun was up.  I'm mmmeeeeeeellllllllting.

no roadkill sightings today. Lots of stubborn drivers who won't give me an inch of road to run on, so I end up trompling through the sand and grass of snakeland on the side of the road.

thank goodness for watermelons waiting at home :-)

This is a whiney pirate blog today, so if you're not in the mood to listen to me whine, walk the plank & abandon ship now.

It was hot and humid.  81 degrees at 5 am when I woke up. when we started running around 6:20, it was still around 80 degrees with 76% humidity.  It would have been okay for shorter runs I guess, but we were going long today and by mile 8, my shoes and socks were soaked and it felt like I was running in a swamp inside my shoe.  The sweat just pooled up inside my shoes..it was disgusting.  Luckily I didn't get any blisters.

I carried 2 water bottles, and had 1 gu at mile 7.  I think I could have used some gatorade somewhere in there too, but didn't have anywhere to carry something else.  I had my phone inside a ziplock back in my back pocket, and my shorts got so saturated with sweat and heavy that with the additional weight of the phone, they started slipping down in the back as I was running.  I looked like a gangster with my pants saggin' and baggin' on the back of my heiney.  It got so bad I had to stop and cinch up the drawstring super-tight around my waist to prevent un-due distress to Wyatt since she was running behind me. :-)

We ended up taking a couple little breaks to stretch out a side ache, take a road-kill pix, talk to the owner of the sheep that chased us last spring, etc.  The breaks were appreciated.  I don't think I let myself recover enough yesterday in prep for a long run today.  I could tell I was still sore from the shred video.  Tomorrow, I'm just going to bag running and take a nice long bike ride. 

Fabulous road kill today.  My camera phone is on the fritz, but we saw an opossum that was pretty much just fur and a backbone, an upside-down recliner on the side of the road that smelled like it might possibly have a dead person pinned under it, baby copperhead snake, baby fawn (super, super, super tiny...must have been a newborn), and a kitten that was so smashed up he could have been mistaken for a small panda bear or little skunk.  We hit pay-dirt on the roadkill.  It has a lot to do with the location of our run.  More country=more kill.

If Wyatt sends me copies, I'll put some of our treasure pix up.

We finished the run and had a tasty protien smoothy.  Then I showered and took my kids to the beach for the afternoon.  It was really nice, but I'm not sure I enjoy going in the water as much after watching shark week as I did before.  Next year, we might have to put a ban on shark-week viewing. 

sleep and bike ride- nice way to spend a Friday.

30.93 miles in 2:43.  that's a 5:16 pace! Avg overall was 11.4 mph. ..never gonna happen anywhere but on my bike.   Went out strong for the first 1 hour & 15 min.  Then I stopped to take a break from the heat and the seat.  When I got back on the bike, it seemed slow going.  I finally got my groove again, and then it was time to turn back north & head home.  Well.... there was a wonderful stong breeze blowing from the north.  It felt so good to have a breeze, but it did make my riding a little slower.  That and the fact that my legs were getting a bit tired too.

first lap 1 hr 15 min- 16.27 miles= avg 13 mph

second lap (after the drink break) 1 hr 27 min- 14.66 miles= avg 10 mph

glad to get home and walk off the bike a little

saw one dead rabbit, one dead bird, and one URK (unidentifiable road kill). 

wore a camelbak and liked the convenience of it.  Wondering if there are any good ones out there for running.   They're more comfortable for me than a belt & bottle combo.

I did my long run Thursday, so today was just a medium run.  I worked on trying to keep my pace where I'd like it to be rather than where it has been lately.  Not fast (gonna save going fast for Ricky Bobby) - just a pace that I know I can run effieciently at and is a pace I've found a groove in before.

I've never run the p-town by myself before, but ended up not having any problems other than dogs.  The lady sat on her porch talking on her phone while her dog ran out into the road and chased me.  I got the pepper spray ready, but he never came at me, just barked and chased me.  I couldn't believe the lady just sat there like a bump on a log.  Call off your freakin' dog, woman!

Paces were: 10:00, 9:14, 9:16, 9:18, 9:28, 9:25, 9:07, 8:36.  then I walked a little and finished with a cool down of .7 at a 9:40.   Miles  5 and 6 were where I stopped to get ice at the gas station (refill my water bottle) and where I stopped to gu.  I turned off my garmin when I did those things, but I think it made my time slower and made it harder to get back in the groove. 

overall avg pace was 9:20.  Pretty much where I wanted to have it, so it's all good.

On a non-running note, my daughter got a chicken last night.  It was a stray that was being chased by dogs.  The lady who found it has chickens, but they're all bigger than this little chick and were pecking on it (as chickens do...).  So now we have an ugly chicken.

Not sure if it's a boy or girl chicken yet.  Time will tell.  No name for it either..we just call it "ugly."  My daughter is in love with the little thing.  Here's a pix of her holding it.  Any suggestions for a name? (other than fartlek?)

nada- last day of vacation- slept in & it was 93^o out when I got up.

So we worked on building a chicken coop for Mimosa.  I figured out how to use the mitre saw, and that little shack is lookin' pretty good.  We got it all finished except for putting the chicken wire on the top of the pen area.  Gotta keep that ugly little thing safe from predators.

Did you know opossum will kill & eat chickens?  I had no idea.  The things you learn. 

It was a "reading rainbow" moment for me.

76^o 85% humidity- 4:35 am           Not too shabby.

Garmin quit working before .10 miles..batter low.  Oh, well.  I knew what the distance was because I'd just done it recently. 

I've never run this certain road in the dark by myself before.  But I couldn't bear to bring myself to run circles in the 'hood.  So I set out on the  "busy" street.  The first 6 miles, there weren't many cars.  12 total going out & back.  So avg one car every 5 minutes, but it wasn't really like that...there were some spots where I didn't see a car for 1.5 miles.  It is all fields with just a house here & there.  quiet & nice.

The second part of my run, the last 3 miles, were in the other direction on that road, and it was busy.  It got busier as time went on.  I guess it was around 6 when I ended, and by then people were up & driving to work.  This part of the run has houses & neighborhoods along the road almost the whole way. I had 21 cars and one school bus go by in those 3 miles.   

I think in the future, I'm better off going back on the farm end of the road. It would be repeating the same path, but there probably won't be as many cars. 

No road kill, just an empty can of cocktail weiners.  probably made out of roadkill!

No idea what my pace was, but I could feel that I was changing gears and speeding up after a couple of miles warmin up.  I'm confident that I had a good pace- and I was pleased that I finished feeling strong.

got home, stretched, and did 100 crunches on the ball.  Then I got ready for work, and looked at the agenda they'd sent for the week, and noticed that we are starting an hour later today than normal.  I could kick myself in the butt...I could have slept in another hour!!!  AAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!  

But it gave me time to work on this little blog and I got to eat my chocolate oatmeal breakfast again.  Haven't had that for a while :-)

Now it's off to work I go..... I sure did enjoy my vacation.

4:50 am 78^o , 80-84% humidity.   It's sad when it feels like a sauna at 4:50 in the morning.  Lately, I've felt like the simplest breeze is a tender mercy of the Lord sent just for me.

progressive run.  I was supposed to do 2 speed miles, but I did a lot of rationalizing and figured since I was planning a longer run tomorrow, and did a good pace yesterday, that I should take it easy today.   So I started out at a recovery run pace, but I found that the longer I ran, the better I felt.  So it just progressed.  The last mile I tried running at my speed mile pace and was pleased that I actually managed to go faster than my goal.  The last .22 miles was just to get back to the house and for fun.

It was cool though, because I haven't seen a 6 in my pace (unless it was on my bike) all summer.

avg pace 9:35.  splits: 11:23, 10:15, 9:54, 9:43, 9:26, 9:04, 7:52, 6:56 (yeah baby, yeah!!!)

Ran in the hood today- evidently over the summer, the stray cat population has increased- there were cats everywhere.    I like it when the headlamp reflects in the cat's eyes at night.

off to do my crunches & then to work...no hour delay today :-(

9:56 avg pace- ran with Wyatt...late work start today

6:30 am 74^o 94% humidity

kept it simple because I have long run tomorrow and want to have plenty of energy for it.

Fartleks.  I only meant to do 3 miles, then when I was almost home, I looked and was at 3.77...so I just finished to 4.  Too early for my brain to think straight I guess.

avg pace 8:55.  splits 9:59, 9:01, 8:24, 8:17.  Progressive Fartleks I guess.  Only 9 speed sessions of fartleks.  I'm not sure how often I'm "supposed" to do them, but I just do them when I get to a cul-de-sac... except once when I was thinking of something else and realized I missed the speed part after I finished the circle. 

Glad it's Friday. 5:30 am, 75^o - 93% humidity

this 14 was better and easier than last week's 14. 

70-72^o with 92% humidity.   Dew point was always 2^o below actual temp and it was foggy, foggy, foggy until the last 4 miles.

met up with the black lab dog we've seen before at mile 4.5.  He followed us for the next 5.5 miles.  Once we were back in town at the gas station, I went in for ice, and he found someone else to follow.  At that point he was only about a mile from home.  Wyatt figured he probably knew his way around town & back home.  I hope so.    He actually came in handy when another dog that didn't look so friendly came charging out towards us.  Black lab came up to the dog & distracted him so we could run off.  The only thing I didn't like was that the dog was back & forth in the road with all of the cars.  Surprised he wasn't hit.  And I imagine most people assumed he was our dog and we were being irresponsible running out there with him off a leash.   If they only knew...

I love the company & not having to run by myself.  I just need to get our pace up.  Or quit worrying about it and enjoy the journey.  I think I may go with door #2.   Wyatt may  do the same training plan I'm on.  She's considering a marathon in Nov as well.

lots of baby turtle road kills.  I wonder if it's related to the recent rainstorm we had. 

4:40 am  74^{o -} 90% humidity

avg pace 9:08

splits: 10:05, 9:18, 9:20, 9:24, 9:09, 8:56, 9:01, 8:43, 8:19

beautiful moon

4:45 am   71^o - 90% humidity

recovery run  avg pace 10:15  

remembering how nice it is to run quietly in the moon light

4:40 am  69^o - 88% humidity

warm up, tempo, cool down

avg pace 8:47

4:40 am  71^o  89% humidity

8 miles- avg pace 9:29

saw a little pair of eyes reflecting back at me from the edge of the soybean fields...... I wasn't the only one up early today!

easy/recovery

5:30 am 10:27 avg pace  70^o    88% humidity

left headlamp at home on accident...ended up not even needing it.

beautiful moonlit morning

ran with Wyatt.  pretty uneventful for the first 14 miles.  our dog friend from last week wasn't out (what a relief).  more dead turtles this week, and a couple snakes squished on the road.

between 14 & 15, we came upon a lady & little girl on bikes.  they also had 2 large dogs that looked like pit bulls.  the dogs weren't on leashes.  when the dogs saw us, they ran away from the lady & girl, out into the road and right at us.  one of them came right at me.  I sprayed it.  the dog ran off, but didn't seem really bothered by the spray the way some dogs do when they get sprayed.  He trotted off and kept his distance after that.

The lady got so mad and started screaming and cussing at me for spraying her "friendly"  dog.  i just told her (as we ran by) that I was sorry, but I'd been bitten by "friendly" dogs before.  Wyatt said something to her too.  The lady just got more angry and threw down her bike and started screaming profanities at us.  She didn't chase after us, she just stood there screaming.  Wyatt had a few things to say back to her like, "you need to have them on leashes"  and  "look at you using that kind of language in front of your little girl." to which the woman's last comment was, as she screamed out loud at us (because we were pretty far away by then) "Well, look at you running; you look like skinny bit****."

We had to give eachother a high 5 and shout out "woo-hoo!"  Because we're so shallow that we love it when someone calls us skinny.

I don't think we'll be running down that road again for a couple of weeks.  This was our 3rd week on that road.  we go out & come back on it.  We've never even seen anyone on the road before, but from the looks of it, she couldn't have been too far from home.

Just as we finished our run, we came across a woman out running on the same road.  It is so rare to see any other runners.  We spoke with her shortly.  She is training for triathalons.  Very nice lady.  Good to see others out there enjoying the road. 

pace was a little faster than last week.  I hope we continue to improve in that department.

It's my easy week.  And Woo-Hoo I had temps under 70^o this morning.  First time ALL summer!!!  It was heaven!!

4:40 am 66^o  with 83% humidity  

avg pace 9:21  

splits: 10:24, 9:18, 9:18, 9:18, 9:06, 9:16, 9:06, 9:06.

How's that for consistent?  I feel like my real avg pace is better than 9:21, but that warm up mile always pulls it down.  I enjoy the pace I ran at today.  I hope I can work on keeping that pace for longer distances.  Legs were a little sore but not what I'd consider "sore legs."

x-train/rest day

did shred video first (after fighting with the dvd player for 10 minutes)

then 4 mile easy run.  avg pace 9:41.  My legs felt a little trashed from just doing the shred.  Felt like I'd already been out running 12 miles (especially when I started).

splits: 10:33, 9:33, 9:28, 9:05           5:20am  69^o  with 82% humidity

had a 9.23 mile bike ride after work.  Took the long way home...it was great.