Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Pulse

It appears I still have one.  But that’s about it.

 

3 miles this morning.

 

Looking forward to a little holiday over the next 5 days.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Feeling not so good

Recovery run of 5 miles this morning.  Glad to be done.  In fact, I think I was dehydrated.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Just Good Old Boys

Ms. V shares her first 45 with us here, so I thought I'd share my first 45 too:




And the flip side?



Well, no American women came out to run today with us today. Just a couple of good old boys running through squall after squall. There must be some sort of weather traffic jam in Ireland as their rain and wind is starting to back up over here.

When I got up and saw the nasty weather I wondered if prudence didn't require a pass on this one. But then the challenge came across the ether in the form of an email subject line:

Still Willing?

There was the commander taunting me from across the Passamaquoddy Bay. Well, I'm not laying down for any Canadian, so I sent back a terse response:

I'm on my way.

I rushed out the door and therefore missed his reply:

You Fool.

So we two fools ran 12 miles in the pouring rain for the 2nd week in a row. Talking had to be shouting as we couldn't hear for the wind and rain. The hills were steeper than usual and the pace was above 9 minutes per mile. At 7.5 miles we turned out of the wind and had the pleasure of some help at our backs.

This time I remembered to bring some dry clothes so I was comfortable and able to hang out a bit and eat more of Mike's cookies.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Rocket Man

Last night's shuttle launch.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Shakespeare For Free

Today's run was aborted after 2.3 miles. I just felt tired. Fridays sometimes turn out that way being the end of the week and the sleep deficit gets too large.

But not all news is bad. I came across a great website called Speak the Speech. So download some Shakespeare and put it on your iPod! It's great!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Feeling good

A good run today.  I got in 15 miles @ 8:53 pace.  Caught up with Eric for the last 4 miles.  It felt good to do this distance again mid-week.  Yesterday I ran 5 miles at 9:18 pace and the day before I got in 10 miles at 8:52 pace.  Back to my slow paces again it seems but I’m trying to keep it natural.  I think I’m naturally a jogger.

 

It will be interesting to see when my average paces pick up again.

Sunday, November 09, 2008

Doing the soakey-pokey.

13 miles of torrential rain, sizzling lightning and deafening thunder.

That's what it's all about.

Holy cow. We started off at a crawl to accommodate my 4.5 hour sleep last night in a light drizzle. Fog was thick and the visibility poor. In fact Ozzie wasn't wearing his glasses because he wouldn't have been able to see through them and Mike was already in the doghouse for venturing to America in such dismal weather. Then Ozzie innocently mentions the possibility of thunder storms today.

30 minutes later we were in the thick of massive cell that dragged its bottom right through us and we were caught, caught, caught.

The rain came down so hard, the lightning flashed so bright, and thunder cracked so loud we couldn't see, hear, or do much more than keep putting one foot in front of the other. As we ran together in a tight pack we had to shout to each other to be heard.

It rained so hard I got water in my eyes and it wouldn't clear out. As I was frantically trying to regain eyesight I heard Ozzie yell, "I think my socks are damp!"

The deluge lasted for a few miles then let up. In a brief interlude between downpours Ozzie's daughter came out on a rescue mission. By then we were ok but I wonder what we would have said if she found us a few minutes sooner.

The rain picked up again but the frightening lightning and thunder was farther away heading for Mike's house in St. Andrews. He knew he was in double trouble with the coach. In fact, his fears came out in a slip of the tongue at the finish when he meant to say he was going to take a nap on the couch today. Instead he said, "I'm going to sleep on the couch tonight." Uh oh.

The violence kept the pace going for all of my tiredness and we finished the loop around the lake in 1:49. A long hot shower was on the schedule as soon as I got home.

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Back out

A few days off but I got back out for a creaky 5k this morning. Pace ~ 8:09.

Monday, November 03, 2008

Brief update

Sunday’s run was at 8:27 pace.  Forgot to put that down.  Also, I was sore all day afterward so no running today.  Feel good now so I’ll head out tomorrow for something.

 

47.2 miles last week.  Feel good about that.

 

Also, no reading update for October!  I got hooked into a thick book (War & Remembrance) and didn’t finish it by the time October ran out.  Hoping to log a few more books this month.

Sunday, November 02, 2008

Couple of days...

Missed out on blogging yesterday. After Friday's day off, I ran 5 miles with Eric on Saturday and 13 miles this morning with Jon around Boyden Lake. Felt good during both runs.

Watched the NYC marathon today online - always enjoyable. Good to see an American woman snag 3rd place.