8 Mile Lake Run

8 miles up at the lake, doing the same course as last time. Despite going before running, two miles in I needed to make a stop at the Sailboat Cove, stopped the garmin for that. Run was a bit better after that. Was a bit sluggish and felt heavy, and it was muggy out. Total time of 1:24:03, avp pace of 10:30, splits of 11:11, 10:15, 10:42, 10:35, 10:34, 10:23, 10:21 and 9:59. Took a walk break at the end of every mile excpet the last one. AHR was 158, though for the final mile it was 164, but still pretty good.

5 Mile Monday Morning Run

5 miles up at the lake, starting at the restaurant and going up to the sailboat cove and then back. Was by myself so I didn't need walk before or after (though I walked about a quarter mile at the end). Wanted to run about a 10 min/mile pace, and did so. 5 miles in 49:42, avg pace of 9:56, splits of 10:32, 9:52, 9:46, 10:00 and 9:30. Walked a minute every mile at the end except for the final mile. Heart rate average was 163, a bit high but not too bad.

Bix7

Bix7 in Davenport, IA, fun race. There were about 12K runners/walkers or so, with 10,565 finishers. Course is known for it's big hill at the start, and with it's out and back course that means running down the same hill near the finish. We got up early and headed down to the start area, getting there plenty early and hanging out until the start. The start was packed, hard to get in stride, but then shortly hit the hill anyway, and rather than weave around people and wear myself out, I walked up the hill. Then it was downhill for a while, but still the road was quite crowded so I couldn't really pick up the pace as much as I thought I would. The course then went uphill again for a bit, then back down as it got close to the river, then we turned around and came back. Shortly after the mile 6 mark, the course headed down the hill and I was able to kick it in a bit and let gravity get my going. The final turn and on to the finish line. 7 miles in an official 1:13:13 for a pace of 10:27. Splits of 11:42, 9:24, 11:01, 10:41, 10:58, 10:29 and 8:43. I walked up a lot of the hills. It was warm out but not as bad as it could have been (start was about 70F, finish upper 70s). Average heart rate was 160. Post race was crowded but there was no shortage of junk food - a mountain of twinkees and other similiar items. Waited for Judy to finish, then headed back to the car and then to the hotel. Showered and got on the road to the Amanas for lunch and then homeward. Was fun, will most likely do it again.

5 Mile Run

Overcast morning, sprinked very lightly for a bit, but the rain held off. 5 miles up at the lake, starting at the restaurant, going up the sailboat cove on the inside loop and a bit past, then returning. Took it fairly easy, avg heart rate was 157 overall, with mile averages of 151, 156, 159, 160 and 160. Legs felt a bit heavy, probably from 3 days in a row of running. 5 miles in 50:10, avg pace of 10:02, splits of 10:27, 10:08, 9:57, 10:01 and 9:36. Day of rest tomorrow, and then Bix7 on Saturday.

8 Mile Run

Another nice cool morning, 69F when we left the house. Ran up at the lake, starting at the restaurant, going up to the Sailboat cove on the inside loop, then down through the woods and out to the pool, then back through the woods, then back along the middle connector. 8 miles in 1:23:42, avg pace of 10:27, splits of 10:53, 10:39, 10:36, 10:36, 10:32, 10:19, 10:24 and 9:39. Average heart rate was 155, with all miles at or below 157 except the last one where I ran a bit faster and it was 161, still pretty low. Felt good out, had a bit of spring in my step. Wish every morning could feel like that. Took walk breaks at the end of every mile except for the final mile, and walked about a half mile at the start and end.

Much Better

Ahhh, so much better out this morning. It had rained overnight, and was overcast, but the rain was done for the morning run, about 72F out. Ran up at the lake, starting at the restaurant and going up the inside loop to the sailboat cove and a bit farther, then back. Walked about a half mile at the start and the end. 5 miles in 50:50, avg pace of 10:10, splits of 10:41, 10:07, 10:16, 10:02 and 9:42. Took walk breaks at the end of every mile except the last. Average heart rate of 158, with an average of 162 for the last mile, so overall pretty good. Good to see that my slowness and high heart rate on recent runs was because of the heat and not loss of conditioning.

12 Mile Hot Run

Whew, HOT. Got started a bit after 7, it was already 80 out with high humidity and not a cloud in sight. I took about 3 walk breaks every mile, so it was slow going. Legs felt fine at the end, but I was pretty beat overall. Stayed hydrated for the run, so all was well.  Ran mostly in the wooded area up at the lake to take advantage of the shade as much as possible. 12 miles in 2:21:29, avg pace of 11:47, splits of 11:03, 10:49, 11:04, 11:09, 11:59, 11:36, 12:18, 11:52, 11:56, 12:12, 12:52 and 12:35. Average heart rate was 162 overall, but that was kept down by all the walk breaks, when running it was getting over 170 frequently. Will need to get up earlier for the longer runs coming up.

4 Mile Run

4 miles up at the lake, 'with' the FFRC. Only a few people showed up because there was the No Boundries 5K today as well, but there were a ton of runners out as the Fleet Feet half and full marathon training groups were up there for a long run. 78F out and sprinking, so killer humidity. Overall an ok run, took it easy, 42:14 overall time for a 10:33 pace. Splits of 10:54, 10:42, 10:33 and 10:04. Avg heart rate of 157. Took walk break near the end of every mile expect the last one. 12 miles tomorrow.

6 Mile Run

6 miles up at the lake, starting at the restaurant and running up to the soccor fields on the inside loop, then past the sailboat cove parking lot, and around to the other side before returning on the same course. Felt sluggish and my heart rate was a bit high, around 75F but with fairly high humidity. Total time of 1:03:38, avg pace of 10:36, splits of 10:53, 10:30, 10:38, 10:27, 10:50 and 10:18. Took a 1 minute walk break every mile except the last mile. Average heart rate of 164, mile averages of 154, 163, 165, 167, 169 and 169. Overall an OK run, just felt slooooow.

4 Mile Neighborhood Run

4 miles around the neighborhood, felt warmer than 76F, and humity wasn't insane, but I was just slow, hot and my heart rate was high. Sun was out strong, so perhaps that was some of it. 4 miles in 42:09, avg pace of 10:32, splits of 10:32, 10:25, 10:36 and 10:35. Took a 1 minute walk break in all miles but the first one. Heart rate was 166 overall, with mile averages of 155, 165, 170 and 172. Will need to get running earlier tomorrow morning to make sure to get it in before it gets warm.

8 Mile Morning Run

8 miles up at the lake, starting at the restaurant and doing a big loop, plus running to the pool at the south end, and running up to the circle and back at the end to get in the distance. Started off a bit slow, but then hit my stride, though legs were just a bit tired. 1:20:11 total time, 10:01 pace, splits of 10:54, 9:43, 9:52, 10:03, 10:01, 10:14, 9:54 and 9:29. Took a 1 minute walk break all miles excpet for first and last. Average heart rate of 159, with the final mile average being 166, so not pushing it too much even then. Was about 70F out, sunny, a light breeze, felt pretty good. A few days off though I might walk Friday and/or Sunday. We'll see.

Morning 3 Mile Run

3.1 miles around the neighborhood, overcast in in the low 70s, so felt all right out, still a bit muggy. 32:00 overall time, 10:19 avg pace, splits of 10:41, 10:08, 10:05 and 1:04 for the last .1 mile for a 10:37 pace. AHR was 155, mile averages of 146, 157, 163 and 164. Tomorrow will make 4 days of running in a row, not sure the last time I've done that, if ever, we'll see how the legs hold up.

5 Miles In The Rain

5 miles around the neighborhood. Judy wasn't running today, and I got up late, so I figured I'd save time by not going up to the lake. Was raining most of the time, but was near 80 so when it wasn't raining it felt uncomfortable. 5 miles in 52:29, 10;29 overall pace, splits of 10:34, 10:06, 10:35, 10:44 and 10:27. AHR of 157 with mile averages of 147, 156, 159, 161 and 162, so fairly low there.

3 Mile Easy Neighborhood Run

Running at 8am and already feeling quite muggy out. Temp was 80F, dewpoint 70F, so farily high humidity. 3.1 miles arund the neighborhood in 31:37, avg pace of 10:11, splits of 10:32, 10:07, 10:05 and 0:52 for the last .1 miles. Heart rate was 158, with mile averages of 149, 160 and 164 (168 over last bit) ... max was 168. Legs felt a little tired from the half marathon, but wasn't too bad.

Joker's Wild Half Marathon

Joker's Wild Half Marathon this morning. Was suppose to start at 6am, but they piddled around and didn't get things started until 6:25, boo to them. Race went pretty good, but I didn't push it much. Ended up with a 2:12:17 time (unofficial for the 13.07 distance according to the garmin. AHR was 164, which is low considering it was starting to get warm, but like I said, I took it fairly easy. Took walk breaks about every mile while walking up hills, and there were hills. A big one going up Dorsett, and a smaller one near the end of the loop. Since it was a double loop course, hit them twice. I took my Shot Blocks break the second time around on Dorsett, during my 9th mile.

Splits were as follows, 9:53, 10:11, 10:05, 9:05, 9:35, 10:11, 9:51, 10:18, a 0:53 split to try to get the garmin back to matching the markers, though it reality I just hit a marker that seemed to be off, 10:54 (shot blocks mile), 10:12, 10:07, 10:03 and a final lap of 10:53 for just short of a mile. The final mile included a decent hill coming up to Westport Plaza that I walked up for about 4 minutes or so, but I was walking briskly then kicked in the pace when I got running after this. Overall happy with how I ran. Post race, I waited for Judy, then we got yummy pancakes, and then stopped by and saw who was left of the FFRC at St Louis Bread Company to say high and give an on the spot race report.

Prerace, I give it a C (chip pickup the morning of the race? no timer at start so no chip time? nearly a half hour late on the start?), race support I'll give a B (a bit thin on volunteers but they did fine), course I'll give a C (dull area, double loop), postrace I give an A- (they had towels, but ran out before Judy and I finished, which would have been nice on a sweaty day). With the price, seems like the prerace should be handled better, but other than that, pretty good. Weather was very nice, but was starting to get warm near the end, if only they would have started on time... heh. I'll edit with official results when they're posted.

Plan on running the miles this next week, but taking it fairly easy.

Edit: Results, Overall 236 of 340, 150 of 185 Men, 28 of 34 Age Group (35-39). Yes, I'm still slow, heh.

O'Fallon Firecracker 5K

Ran the O'Fallon Firecracker 5K this morning. Been a while since I ran 'fast', so thought I would push it a little. Several FFRC members were there, and I started off running with Vicky and Bob. Vicky was going a bit fast for me and after the first mile at 8:17, I slowed down a bit, as did Bob. Second mile was 8:37 and Bob passed me around this time, and I more or less ran right behind him the rest of the way. 3rd mile was 8:38 and then the final .13 miles on the Garmin was in 1:10 (though I didn't hit the stop right away) which was a 8:57 pace. Garmin time was 26:42, official time was 26:29 for an overall pace of 8:31. Average Heart Rate was 171, with mile averages of 164, 174 and 175, with 177 over the last bit. I finished 23 of 51 for my 30-39 age group, 113 of 195 men, and 162 out of 369 overall. Was my best 5K time and wasn't pushing it 100%.

3 Miles

3.1 miles up at the lake, starting at the restaurant and heading towards the sailboat cove, along the inside loop by the lake. 30:12 total time, avg pace of 9:44, splits of 10:10, 9:45 and 9:26, with a 8:11 pace for the final .1 miles. I've clearly lost a bit of my 'speed', because the 8:11 wasn't a pace I could have kept for long. Average heart rate of 158, so a bit lower, which is good. Even over the final .1 miles the avg was just 171, which is pretty good.

5 Mile Morning Run

5 miles up at the lake, idea being that we had more time today than tomorrow, so got in the longer run today. Got going a bit late, about 9:30, and the sun was out and strong, temp wasn't too high, but it felt pretty warm. Run from the Restaurant to the Sailboat cove by the soccor fields, then on the way back took the inside loop closer to the lake which is more shady. Didn't run with water, so just after 3 miles I was at the sailboat cove restrooms, so stopped and drank from the fountain for about a minute, left the timer running. 49:16 total time, 9:51 avg pace, splits of 9:41, 9:21, 9:34, 10:37 and 10:01, avg heart rate of 167, though it was 171 for mile 3 and 5. Overall a decent run.