Wednesday, September 26, 2007

couldn't think of anything funny or smart to title my blog today so I just left it blank.

I didn't run Tuesday. My legs were a little weary after running on Sat, Sun, Mon. Since I am not really training for anything in the near future I figured I'd take the day off.

I ran this afternoon. Only 4 miles but at least it's something. I ran a couple of miles with my neighbor Dom who is training for Rocket City Marathon in December. Lucky for me he was doing a recovery run and moving slow enough that we could run together. Afterwards, I did some yardwork. A very nice relaxing evening. Susan invited me over for dinner but it was after 6 when I finished running and figured by the time I got showered and drove across town, it would be bedtime for the girls, so I decided to stay home.

Monday, September 24, 2007

I'm back

Wow . . . . Sept 4th was my last blog. Today is Sept 24. Boy, am I ever red-faced over that!

I have been running during my MIA for the last three weeks. I have been trying to keep the mileage in the high teens and under 20. I had a week near 20 several weeks ago and my hips and knees hurt for a week so I decided to tune it down by a couple of miles. I know you'd think that a couple of miles would not make a difference but it does. This is just the painful exercise of "building base". The last three weeks have been a blur and I really don't recall all my runs or anything specific about them to brag on.

This past weekend, Susan and I ran on Saturday and Sunday. She picked the route on Saturday. It was a very hilly run in the neighborhood of 4 1/2 miles, give or take. I don't think that there was ever more than a 1/4 mile stretch where we running on flat land and though I didn't admit it to her, my legs took a pretty good pounding on the downhills. Running uphill is tough but not that bad on my legs. It's the downhill that kills me. I try all the tricks that I know to minimize the pounding . . . . keeping the knees bent and run in sort of a squatted position (this makes me look funnier than I already look), running with my body perpendicular to the slope (this forces me to pick up speed and will eventually lead to me achieving terminal velocity), tacking (zig zag) to reduce the angle of the hill (this leads to running hundreds of extra miles). Regardless of method, I still take a beating. Anyway, we survived the run and she took me out for an early Birthday dinner (Oct. 1) to a very nice restaurant.

Sunday after church, we did a recovery run of 3 miles in the light drizzle. I enjoyed running in the mist and cooler weather. It was a good run to make the legs recover from the hills on the previous day.

I am planning on running this afternoon. I'll let you know how it goes.

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

How was your weekend?

Labor Day. The last day off of work until Turkey Day and Christmas holidays. Unless you're a government worker which means you probably get Columbus Day, Veterans Day, and whatever other holiday is on my calendar. I'm surprised the government does not take off for Ramadan. Enough spouting about that. Sorry to all my blogger buddies who happen to be employed by the US government.j

Mine was sort of so-so. Susan and the girls were in Atlanta and I stayed home to tend to chores. I was a bad boy and did not get a run in over the three day weekend except for my Saturday morning run. I did work most of the day in the yard on Saturday and I also did yard work after church on Sunday. I got on the bank behind my my house to do some clearing. A couple of trees had gotten so big that they were shading my roses and that just won't do. So I climbed down the 12-12 slope with my chainsaw to cut trees. I was victorious over the viscous trees that were hurting my roses. However, I did do a back flip down the hill. Fortunately, I had enough presence of mind to throw the running chainsaw away from me. I'm just glad my neighbors were out of town, otherwise I'd be hearing the story the next couple of years. Monday, Susan, the girls, and I went to my dad's house for his birthday. What do you get a man who has every tool ever known to mankind? Wine, top shelf cigars, cheese, olives, crackers. I just hope that when I'm that age, someone will contribute to my delinquency! After getting back to Birmingham, we went to one of Susan's friends for a light dinner and to let the kids play in the pool. Overall, it was a nice, relaxed weekend.

Oh yeah . . . . this is supposed to be about running. I did run this afternoon. I finally bumped it up from my routine 4 miles and actually did a 5 miler. Still no watch. Just building base. I felt pretty good about it. I think that I sped up each mile or at least the perceived effort was increasing every mile. I think the weather is about to break back to normal. The temperature was in the low 90s instead of the low 100s. It's amazing what 10 degrees difference makes. I cannot wait until the 50s and 60s roll around in December.

Hope everyone has a great Wednesday. I'm planning on another 5 miler!

Saturday, September 01, 2007

Long weekend

It is Saturday night and I'm sitting here watching my Auburn Tigers stink it up agains K State. Not taking anything away from K State but everyone expected a little bit more than what we're seeing. It's half time and I wouldn't be surprised to see my Tigers get beat. For some strange reason, they never start good out of the blocks.

At least the good thing is that I'm watching it by myself and if I let a blue word slip, it's okay. Susan and the girls are in Atlanta this weekend. MAC is playing in a soccer tournament . . . the Atlanta cup. With the age groups and the boys and girls, there are over 400 teams playing. They won their first two games today and one to play in the morning. If they win in the morning, they make it into final rounds and play on Monday. I had planned on going but decided to stay home. We figured it would be a mad house with all the little girls and soccer parents running around like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off.

It was a good week this week as far as running goes. I ran Sunday and Monday. I also ran 4 miles on Wed. I was going to run 4 on Thurs but lightning chased me in after 2 1/2 miles. I ran 4 miles this morning.

Total week is 18.5 miles. I know it's not much but more than I have been doing. My hips and knees are feelig it a little bit so I'll probably do the same mileage over the next couple weeks and let my body adjust. As much as Susan wants to run a marathon on New Years Day, I don't think that she can get ready in time and I'm trying to convince her of that. With the soccer schedule eating up her Saturdays over the next 8 weekends, she will not be able to do due diligence.

I might play golf tomorrow after church and then get a run in tomorrow evening. Not sure yet, but I might either go to my parents or invite them to dinner or Monday since it is my dad's birthday.

Hope everyone has a nice holiday weekend.