1st Westerly Fun Run

I've managed two more runs since Monday's post: the first (for me) Westerly fun run Wednesday night and more intervals today. It felt good to get myself and Julia out Wednesday night - It's not easy with two kids. Julia did great - despite the difficulties getting us both out the door with food and on time. I finished the 2.95 miles at 22:28, good for a 7:37 pace. Not the fastest - but not bad considering I was pushing the stroller.

Today I did intervals by myself. The weighted average was 6:12.5 - which I'm very happy with. The trend is certainly downward: 6:25, 6:23, 6:19, 6:17.5 and 6:12.5. The race is 2 weeks from next Tuesday - which gives me 2 more interval runs to practice.

Coming up? I'll probably miss next Wednesday's run, and will probably miss the Sailfest run next weekend. Pretty lame - I suppose the next runs will be the Track mile and then 'Blessing of the Fleet'. Here is the updated schedule:

Rising Temps, Slowing Times

As one of my many/only blog readers mentioned the other day, someone with a black cloak and a sythe may be following me on my runs of late - or so it seems. Having said that, Friday's intervals were once again an improvement over the previous weeks: 6:17.5 for my weighted average pace. Today, however, was another story - a sad 8:01 over 4.25 miles...

The good news is the water temps are rising - so I'll soon ditch one of these runs and replace it with a quick swim with the sharkies.

Other news: missed the 'Tour de Noank' do (mostly) to weather - and partly to having a family. I may try Julia in the jogger one of these Wednesdays over in Westerly. She's a bit a fidget for 3 miles - but I think she may enjoy the schedule if we can make it a weekly thing. Another thing I noticed, if you search 'pratchett' in google images - you get a boatload of hits.

More Humidity

Growing up in Arizona, I never thought I would think 75 degree days would seem hot - but running in this soup sure seems difficult.

Had a weird run last Wednesday with Dave and Larry: our 4.013 miles were at 29:39 (7:23 pace) - not bad considering the hill at the end. Dave and Larry took off after the first mile and I managed to catch-up at the 3.5 mile mark and pass them.

Last Friday, I thought I was dragging Larry on my intervals - but it sort of turned out to be the other way around. We did the 200,400,600,800,600,400,200 ladder again - and my weighted average time was 6:19/mile - a good 5 seconds over last week. It certainly pays to run with friends.

Finally, today I paced Dave to a 7:35 pace for 4 miles - hopefully a good easy tune-up for his Chase Corparate Challenge this Thursday. With my buds gone Thurday, I'll be on my own the rest of this week - and may try and make the Tour de Noank(.pdf) fun run this Saturday.

Improving Intervals

I ran another interval ladder last Thursday, and noticed some further improvement. My average pace decreased from 6:25 the previous week to 6:23 and the 1/2 mile interval was 10 seconds faster. Today Larry and I did the 'Sneakers Mile' again, and 5.85 miles total. We took the mile pace a little slower (7:01), but the overall pace was the same as last week, 7:54/mi over 5.85 miles. This worked out well, since I wanted to get a distance workout in, but the interval should help the mile runs coming up. In a week, the Westerly 3 mile fun runs start and the 'Cannonball' 1 Mile run in Preston is suppose to be June 22nd - although I don't see it on any of the calenders.

My other source of motivation is a new inkling to do a triathlon, or at least start swiming in the sound. However, a quick check of the coastal water temps suggests that maybe I should wait a little before embarking on that. Perhaps after the Westerly track mile in July, I'll start some biking and swimming, which would make getting exercise during the hot months a little easier. I figure I can (1) bike to and from work once or twice a week, (2) do a swim/week, and (3) 2 jogs a week (distance and intervals). We'll see.

A Great Start to June

I've managed 3 runs since my last post: A pretty weak 4.5 mile 'mileage' run on last Wedneday, a fun interval run last Thursday and a very nice 6 miles today which included a 6:11 mile interval. The 'mileage' run was at an astoundingly pokey 8:24 pace - so I will speak of it no more. The interval ladder was fun: 200, 400, 600, 800, 600, 400, 200. The corresponding paces: 6:00, 6:19, 6:25, 6:35, 6:17, 6:22, 6:17. The 1/2 mile was difficult and I was a little worried, until today.

Today I went out with Larry and Dave from work and did the first 3.5 miles at an easy 7:50, then blistered the next mile at a 6:11 pace. I've never run a mile this fast before - so I'm really thrilled with that - although part of me wonders if the GPS goofed-up. I was hoping to run the track mile around 6:20 (with 6:00 as my 'stretch goal') - so running 6:11 in the middle of a long training run is a bit of a surprise. I then walked a bit to recover from the interval, then coasted in. I'll next go out on Wednesday, I'll probably do my intervals.