Lil' Rhody Runaround - 8 Mile Trail Run

Today I headed out for the lil'Rhody Runaround - an 8 mile trail run through Burlingame State Park in Rhode Island. I almost didn't go due to illness - but this was my last possible race of the year so, good or bad, I decided to head out.

I started ok, tried holding back a bit, and realized at 17 minutes that I was in for a long day. About 1 minute later I stubbed my right big toe hard, shooting pain through my foot. I managed to regroup and keep chugging through the next few miles. Around mile six, I again missed a turn and was fortunate that someone close behind called out. Soon after that we hit a series of small, but difficult hills and more technical trail: the trail was knotted with hard, tree roots about 1 inch in diameter, that I noticed had given me a bad blister in my left foot. 2 miles to go - more of the same for another mile, then mercifully, the paved road back to the Burlingame parking entrance: 1:08:32. Not great, but certainly better than I was thinking throughout most of the race, and pretty decent considering (1) the cold/flu I've had and (2) the technical make-up of most of the course.

Game Day Pick

Our yard doesn't look like this anymore.

Getting into Shape

Well - this week was my last week of running 'seriously'. And even then, it didn't amount to much. I did 5.1 miles Tuesday, Wednesday, and then did a quick 4.3 today. So the total was only 14.5 miles - down from my average. I felt pretty 'blah' today - so tonight I did my long lost workout: 2x60 seconds 'wall' with 20 calf lifts, then 4x12 shoulders and curls with 3 planks in between sets (30-60 seconds each), before finishing with 2x60 seconds 'wall' and 20 toe-in calf lifts. A good workout. I've had some very motivating blogs: Walsh racing, his woman and Amateur Endurance. Hopefully I'll stay motivated post surgery.

Moderate Loops

Yesterday and today I did the same loop (including both Avery and Jupiter). Yesterday I was pretty tired and running alone: 43:30 (8:32 pace). Today I had company including a much faster runner: 39:30 (7:45 pace). Pretty amazing. Not certain what I'll be doing the rest of the week - kinda depends on the weather.

Friday Long Run

I forgot my shorts! That was the thought as I sped into work today. Fortunately my buddy let me barrow a pair. We made it out for both loops: Avery and Jupiter, going the reverse route. The weather was unseasonably warm and felt a little humid. We did the total loop in 42:46 ~ 8:13 min/mile pace. More importantly, it pushes my weekly mileage up to 21 miles - which is pretty good for taking it easy. I'll try and keep it up next week and include a long run home if the weather allows.

Easy 5 Miler

Election day - a beautiful day! I took advantage of the nice weather to do a longish 5.2 mile route that included both loops - very slow: 8:45 min/mile pace. The legs were still pretty sore from Sunday, but I'm glad I made it out. Need to pass a few minutes, check out PhotoFunia which is how I created the image of my daughter on the billboards above - pretty cool.

Tarzan Brown Mystic River Run, 2008

Yesterday I ran the 33rd running of the Tarzan Brown Mystic River run. In the past, this has been my best run of the year in terms of performance, but I took a bit of a step back this year, finishing in 37:40 good for a 6:51 min/mile pace. This was about 20 seconds off of last year's time and my worst time in the past 3 years - although it was pretty close. There is no great way to analyze the results. I thought I trained pretty well for it, and I was in the ballpark - I just didn't get it done. I think to keep improving, I need some sort of leap in either weekly mileage or perhaps better overall fitness (more strength training). I'll probably lean toward the latter - since it'll likely be difficult to pile on more mileage.

The race itself was again one of the years best: picture perfect day, lots of familiar faces, great crowd and a decent party after the race. A number of the local toddlers even did the 1k race - maybe I should consider having Julia run in one of those soon.