Friday, September 09, 2011

Another Friday Easy Run

Tonight's run is another Easy Run.

DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Training, Easy Run. Dist: (6.06)mi. Pace-avg: (16:22). Speed-avg: (3.7)mph. Speed-max: (5.1)mph. Burned: (657) Calories. No running lights.

Plan: Run (4)mi. @ a (17:17) pace, for a total time of (1:09:08) hrs.

Actual: Jog/walked (4)mi. @ a (15:39) avg. pace for a total time of (1:02:35.73) hrs., bracketed by a (1)mi. warm-up walk, and a (1.06)mi. cool-down walk. 
Fuel: Pre-run: Nothing (cold water); Mid-run: PowerBar Energy Gel (Strawberry-Banana); Post-run: Dinner!

Tonight's run went well. I warmed up with a set of (30) squats without weights, then (30) squats with an empty straight bar. I still can't recall how much it weighs: somewhere between (5) and (10) pounds, I think; I never weighed it. There were some people on the path tonight, even though it was growing overcast. On the return leg the wind picked up and it started to sprinkle, but no real rain. At one point the cool wind turned very warm, like a hair-dryer, which was actually nice, although I wonder where all that warm air actually came from. Bonus: there were flashes of lightning in the clouds on my way back home. That was actually pretty cool. No thunder, though.

I jogged the first (1.07)mi. of the Jog phase on the outbound leg, then had to walk a bit. Then I was able to jog for (1.53)mi., and had to walk the rest. The humidity due to the weather change kinda' got to me, but I also started out a little fast, initially: (13:28) pace. I should have set a (15:00) pace and kept at it, but I didn't actually plan that. As always, I am just trying to make sure I am going at a pace faster than the one on my daily plan.

-Lancer!!

Thursday, September 08, 2011

Another Thursday Easy Run

Today's plan calls for an Easy Run.

DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Training, Easy Run. Dist: (7.88)mi. Pace-avg: (16:14). Speed-avg: (3.7)mph. Speed-max: (11.7)mph [(6.8mph)]. Burned: (854) Calories. No running lights.

Plan: Run (5) mi. @ a (17:17) pace, for a total time of (1:26:25) hrs.
Actual: Jog/Walked (5) mi. @ a (15:11) avg. pace, for a total of (1:15:54.38) hrs. Bracketed by (1) mi. warm-up walk and a (1.88)mi. cool-down walk.
Fuel: Pre-run: GU Roctane (Pineapple); Mid-run: PowerBar Energy Gel (Strawberry-Banana); Post-run: Tall glass of Gatorade (Berry), then dinner.

Tonight's run went well. I left the running lights at home, because I knew it would not get too dark: Tonight's moon is still waxing gibbous, and larger than Tuesday night. There were still quite a few people in the park tonight since I actually left the house before sundown.

My Garmin Forerunner seems to be freaking out since it logged my max speed tonight at (11.7)mph. Tchya! As if. I mapped the data to Google Earth, and I see that the path logged by my Garmin also has me crossing through a couple houses, then back-tracking a bit, on my way to the park. Even bigger,"As if!" My Garmin locked in the satellites pretty quickly tonight, although that is not the first time it has been able to do this. I wonder if I should have turned it off, and restarted it. I did that earlier in the week (just in case), and it seemed to be as accurate as it normally is, so I will have to ensure I do that going forward. The rest of the data may be skewed a bit, but the graphs in TC look fairly normal. The tallest peak in the Speed graph actually reads (6.8)mph.

My total jogging distance tonight was (2.12)mph on the first leg of the jog, and then (1.84)mi. on the second, inbound leg; total jogged miles: (3.96) non-continuous miles. Something in my belly didn't feel quite right tonight, so I did not try to pursue my (4) mi. continuous jogging goal for tonight; not even the three (3) mi. goal. Since I went to the movies this afternoon, and tried to get out the door for tonight's run as early as I could, I may not have had enough water in my system, but I did not get sick, or anything, so it's OK.

Tonight's splits: Mile (1): (14:07); Mile (2): (14:12); Mile (3): (16:59) walking; Mile (4): (14:57); Mile (5): (15:50).

Other News: I finally got out to the movies and saw Captain America, The First Avenger. It was really good, and I am glad I saw it on the big screen. I still regret not seeing The Green Lantern on the big screen, but it'll no doubt be available on disc in time for Xmas.

-Lancer!!

Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Another Easy Run Tuesday

Back to a better start this week: I went out for my Tuesday Easy Run, after sundown.

DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Training, Easy Run. Dist: (7.72)mi. Pace-avg: (16:47). Speed-avg: (3.5)mph. Speed-max: (5.0)mph. Burned: (839) Calories. Running lights.

Plan: Run (5) mi. @ a (17:17) pace, for a total time of (1:26:25) hrs.
Actual: Jog/Walk (5)mi. @ (16:05) avg. pace, for a total time of (1:20:26.21) hrs. Bracketed by a (1) mi. warm-up walk, and a (1.72)mi. cool-down walk.
Fuel: Pre-run: Late lunch at Panda Express; Mid-run: PowerBar Energy Gel (Strawberry-Banana); Post-run: Home-made Belgian waffle with butter and Strawberry-Apricot jam.

Tonight's run was good. I went out after dark and only encountered a couple of folks on the trail tonight. Tonight's moon is waxing gibbous and there was plenty of light out for my run, even without my running lights. I was surprised that it was still in the low (90s) when I left the house about (2000) hrs. Looking at weather.com now, I see it is still (80) deg. F. outside. So, the warm summer nights are here.

Other News: Went to the dentist today for a check-up and cleaning. Had a good time talking to my hygienist, who also enjoys running, but with two (2) young children at home, does not get enough time to go out and run, even with the stroller. I wrote down a couple of running blogs for her to checkout, including mine. Maybe she'll even get time to check them out.

-Lancer!!

Monday, September 05, 2011

Long Run No.9

2011-09-04, Sunday

After blowing off the rest of my scheduled runs this week, it is now time to execute my Long Run, anyway.

DC Bike Path/Surface streets: 1/2 Marathon Training, Long Run. Dist: (13.09)mi. Pace-avg: (17:09). Speed-avg: (3.5)mph. Speed-max: (5.9)mph. Burned: (1440) Calories. Running lights.

Plan: Run (11) mi. @ a (17:22) pace, for a total time of (3:11:07) hrs.
Actual: Jog/Walk (11) mi. @ a (16:58) avg. pace for a total time of (3:06:34.89)hrs.
Fuel: Pre-run: GU Roctane (Vanilla-Orange); Mid-run: Sport Beans (Berry); Post-run: PowerBar Energy Blasts (Strawberry-Banana).

I have been a little down in the dumps all week, possibly because I have not been running, or exercising at all, this week. Clearly, this has been a mistake. Tonight, while getting prepped and dressed for my run I was actually getting pretty excited about it. Perhaps I should just make sure I dress for my run, even when I don't feel like it, to make sure I stay motivated to get out and do it.

Tonight's run went quite well: There was no one else on the trail in the park tonight, so that was quite nice. The batteries in my running lights need to be changed already (too many night runs). I did turn off the lights during long sections of the path tonight, and there was still enough light to see the trail, even with no moon out. I was thinking of running on surface streets around the perimeter of the park (all the way out and back), but decided that with the Labor Day weekend there will definitely be too many inebriated knuckleheads out on the roads behind the wheel, and running in the park poses no danger of being run-down by said knuckleheads (at least, so far). Besides, running on the streets means breathing far too much exhaust from passing cars, and that would just suck; so fie on that.

I read this article earlier in the week on active.com, which mentioned "sugar belly" from consuming too much sugar in ones hydration and fuelingand was glad I was not overdoing the sugar in my "training diet": for hydration on my runs I stick to straight filtered water, although my fuel definitely has sugar in it.

Weekly Mileage: Planned: (23) mi. Actual: (13.09)mi.
Shortfall: (9.91) mi.

Post-run Weight: (197.8) lbs.

-Lancer!!