Just a Run

No epiphanies, no breakthroughs, this morning was just a run. I took the east Creek Turnpike trail again--I'm liking that stretch more and more each time I run it. This morning, I decided to keep my eyes off the Garmin and to simply run a comfortable pace. My hope was that I would look at my stopwatch at the end of the run and it would say 49:59, but alas, that did not happen! It was nice to run without thinking about pace, and despite having awakened at 2:45 this morning and tossing and turning for about an hour, I still felt pretty good. It was a few degrees cooler this morning which was also nice. And that's pretty much the extent of today's run.

6-24-09
Distance: 6.02
Time: 51:34
Avg. Mile Pace: 8.33

Back with the Group

Last Thursday's run was pretty eventful. A hot, humid 6-mile on the Creek Turnpike trail west.

Saturday's run was much more interesting. I was finally back with the Runner's World group, and with the FOB 4 in particular. It was a tough 7.8 miles-heat, humidity, and hills. But there's just something about running with a group that makes it makes it so much more enjoyable. It was good to reconnect with my old running partners and to meet a few new people. I have to admit, I do have concerns about hitting a 4-hour marathon, but my thought is, if I train for a 4-hour marathon, I may end up much better than I did at OKC.

I was up at 5:00 for this morning's run (and i was still late to work!). Same story: hot, muggy. I ran east this time--I think it's has few more hills than the western route.

One thing I've realized lately that serves as kind of a discouragement to me in my distance running is the futility of miles already run. That is, as I hit the 4 mile point for example, I realize that those 4 miles do not matter at all with regard to the rest of the run. The only thing that matters is the remaining miles. It's just something with me--I want for the previous 4 miles to mean something, but all they mean is, I'm not finished. As a matter of fact, I'm better off simply forgetting those four miles because all they are is steps already taken. They are essentially "sunk costs." They don't mean I'm going to finish, they don't mean I'm necessarily going to do well, they are simply necessary fixed assets already paid for. I really wish that somehow, with every step I take, there was some sort of compensation, like a commission on steps taken. Like every step I take means a 5% easier step in the future, but the steps actually become tougher over time! Anyway, I'm trying to shift my mindset. The knowledge that with every step, I'm closer to the finish, is not especially reassuring because the very realization of that necessarily reminds me that I'm not yet finished. Of course, this discouragement is not anything that's going to make me quit. Just a discouragement to push through.

6-22-09
Distance: 6.03
Time: 50:48
Avg. Mile Pace: 8.25

6-20-09
Distance: 7.8
Time: 1:12 (est.)

6-18-09
Distance: 6.04
Time: 50:44
Avg. Mile Pace: 8:24

6-16-09
Distance: 6.01
Time: 53:03
Avg. Mile Pace: 8:49

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

Back from Vacation

Following a week-long vacation, I'm back to blogging. And while I did take a vacation from blogging last week, I did not take a vacation from running--although at times, I have to admit, I wanted to.

One of those times came about 5 miles into my first run at St. George Island, FL, the site of my family vacation. I was scoping out potential running tracks as we drove in. Fortunately, there was a nice track that ran directly in front of the beach-house we were staying in, and it wrapped around with a nice view of the water on the back half. So I started off last Saturday to run my 7 miles, just as my running group back home (FOB 4) was. It was a typical warm, humid coastal Florida day. Of course, while these conditions were typical for coastal Florida, there were not typical of Tulsa, and it felt as though I were swimming from the start. Five miles in, I decided to walk a little, as the humidity was just killing me. I picked it back up again, walked one more time, and finished on a run. The spoils of such a tough run: a dip in the ocean to cool off.

On Monday, I was a little more mentally prepared for the heat and humidity, and I knocked out a little over 5 miles with relative ease. Tuesday, different path, four miles, a little easier.

On Wednesday, I knew I had to take better advantage of my beachfront locale, so Wednesday evening, I left my shoes at the boardwalk and took off down the beach barefoot. I knew my feet would be hurting by the time I finished, but I just could not pass up the opportunity to take a run barefoot in the sand on the Gulf of Mexico. It was pretty dark by the time I reached my turnaround--the island water tower. I checked my Garmin to see how far I had run, intending to run the same distance back in the dark. Sure enough, my Garmin had died. So I turned around and ran blindly back to the boardwalk. One note: because of sea turtle migration, all water-facing house lights were supposed to be turned off at dusk. Obviously, there were no street lights, so my return run was very dark. Fortunately, I had taken note of a few landmarks near the boardwalk, so I knew when I was near. The boardwalk itself was completely hidden by the time I returned, but a quick question to a friendly family helped me find it again (my wife would have been proud).

My feet, especially my toes, were killing me, and when I returned to the beach house, I discovered I had blood blisters on the second toes of each foot. They hurt, but I saw them as a trophy or souvenir of a special run that not a lot of Okies get to take. I ended up mapping the distance in the van the next day: 4 miles.

I ended up missing this morning--late night, 4:00 wake up call from my daughter, and the need to get into work early this morning to get caught up (and to blog), but tomorrow, I'll be back on track again. Looking forward to running with the Runner's World group, and specifically, the FOB 4 this coming Saturday.

6-11-09
Distance: 4

6-10-09
Distance: 4.07
Time: 35:25
Avg. Mile Pace: 8.41

6-9-09
Distance: 5.18
Time: 45:40
Avg. Mile Pace: 8:48

6-7-09
Distance: 6.46
Time: 58:25
Avg. Mile Pace: 9:01

Getting More Than I Bargained For

This morning, I shifted my run westward a couple of miles. I started at Sheridan this time, and I ran west toward Riverside. My purpose in making the shift was to hit the hill out by what I think is Lewis? (There is no Creek exit there, and no street signs, but the crossing road terminates south of the bridge with a gated community.) Of course, I hit the short, sharp incline between Sheridan and Yale right away and continued on across the stretch of the trail that, it seems, I always stop short of, both in my runs with the Runner's World group (from the west) and my own weekday training runs (from the east). I began rethinking my decision to continue working on this stretch of the trail, because once I crossed Yale, it was not offering the challenge I was looking for. Keep in mind, I was running west on the trail as these thoughts were going through my head.

So I hit the sharp decline of the hill at the mystery street bridge and continued on to the bathrooms near Riverside where I turned around. Now, time to run up the hill at the mystery street. That's always tough. Crossed over the highway and headed east again. As I ran, I realized why the run west was not overly challenging--I had been running on a gradual downhill for much of the western stretch. This was made abundantly clear to me as I would peer ahead running east and think to myself, "Am I still going uphill? I don't remember this on the way out!" Anyway, it was a good run. Nice to hit a long, steady hill. I'm sure Kansas City is going to have plenty of these, so I was glad to have discovered this stretch.

On Saturday morning, I ran with the Runner's World group for the first time since before OKC. It was great to see the old group again, and I was surprised at the number of faces I did not recognize. Ran with Daryl and his friend Dennis (about whom I have heard much, but had not met until Saturday). Caught up with Daryl for 2 miles and then we parted ways. I was able to eek out 8 not so easy miles. I will really miss being at the kickoff run this coming Saturday, and then again the Saturday following, but I think that running on the beaches of a secluded Florida peninsula will soothe the sadness sufficiently.

6-1-09
Distance: 6.05
Time: 52:22
Avg. Mile Pace: 8:39

5-30-09
Distance: 8.25
Time: 1:15:43
Avg. Mile Pace: 9:10