Running Journal: Weeks 9 through 12 and Race Day

I have been remiss in writing about my running experiences.  For weeks 9 through 11, this was because of my absence from home (Em and I visited New Jersey/New York, Germany, Austria, and The Netherlands...I'll write about that later).  For week 12..well, I don't have a good reason. 

I found that training overseas was considerably more difficult than anticipated, largely due to my allergies.  It's truly spring in Germany right now, which made breathing difficult on its own, never mind trying to breath while exerting myself physically!  I did make it through the trip, and put in a few miles after getting back into the country.

The Meet Me Downtown Tucson 5K was last Saturday.  The race has been run and I have survived.  Here's a quick chronicling of the running that has taken place over the past month.

Week 9-12 Totals: 5 Runs, 10.90 Miles, 2:34:37

Week 9:
Thursday, 10 May - 2.00 Miles, 21:29

Week 10: 
No Running Took Place

Week 11:
Monday, 21 May - 2.92 Miles, 1:06:51

Friday, 25 May - 2.00 Miles, 22:40

Week 12:
Tuesday, 29 May - 2.12 Miles, 21:20

Wednesday, 30 May - 1.86 Miles, 21:17


Overall Training Totals: 35 Runs, 63.48 Miles, 13:40:26

Race Day:
Saturday, 2 June - 3.10 Miles, 35:37.6 (Average Pace - 11:28/mile)
998/1734 Overall, 65/81 in Male 25-29 Division

The race went fairly well.  It was hot (right around 90 degrees at the 7pm start time), and there were a number of local residents that were kind enough to turn their hoses on us as we ran by their homes.  There were also three watering stations, which was also a good thing.  While I didn't run the route as quickly as I would have really liked, I did considerably better than I would have if I hadn't put in those 35 training runs.

I've decided that I'm going to re-do the same 12 week training program, and see if my time improves.  I'm considering running a 5K on Labor Day to test my improvement.  We'll see how that ends up working out with the impending arrival of our first-born child in September.

Thus Sayeth Your Haus

Running Journal: Week 8

This was a week of ups and downs.  I had one of my best runs ever early in the week, and by the end of the week I was limping once again.  Luckily for me, the limping is coming right before a week where I will have to dial back the running, as there's not a lot of room to run on an airplane.

I also began using a new toy this week.  As I've brought up before, I use Nike+ to help record my runs.  Briefly, it works by placing a sensor in the sole of your shoe (I happen to wear Nike shoes, and they conveniently create a place for this sensor, but if you don't wear Nike shoes there are companies that make holders for this sensor that connect via the shoe's laces), and the sensor transmits a signal that is picked up by a receiver on/in an iPod (the receiver is an external unit on my Nano and is built in to my Touch).  Through the miracle of technology, the sensor can tell how far I've gone and send that information to the iPod, and I can then upload the information to the Nike+ Running website.  Now, the new toy for this week happens to be another gadget that will transmit data to the iPod, and will then upload to the website...a heart rate transmitter!  I had been wearing a different heart rate monitor previously, but there was no way to keep track of the data.  Now I can not only keep track of my heart rate while I run, but I can access the data again later and it's all contained in a single website.  These are good things, in my opinion.

The next couple weeks of running will be taking place in New Jersey and Europe (I'll become an International Runner!), and that means that I won't be writing consistently while I'm away (if at all).  But, I'll try to take a few pictures and write about something here that isn't just me running.

Here's how the week turned out for me:

Week 8 Totals: 5 Runs, 9.40 Miles, 1:53:53

Monday - 2.00 Miles, 20:47
Wednesday - 3.10 Miles, 33:00
Thursday - 1.43 Miles, 29:56
Friday - 2.00 Miles, 22:42
Saturday - 0.87 Miles, 7:48