I Really Love the Keybank Vermont City Marathon

My whole family has had such a great time going to Vermont for the marathon for the past 6 years. At first some came to see me run. But now my kids are older; my youngest is 19. They come now to compete. They bring all my grandchildren too. But if we don't get a relay place next year it may end. This year we did not get a lottery pick and we had to buy one late to get in. No one would be sorrier than me if that happened. I do have kids who can run the 1/2, which they may introduce next year, but it would be a stretch for some and they are getting older and may not want to come anymore just to watch. I don't blame them. I know no one from VT will see this but I write this for me and to remind me in the future why things may come about.
Our relay team came in 254/707, 8:54/mi., in 3:53:53 which is the results for all divisions. I thought it was a really good time for our first relay. We all see ways to make it better. Everyone wants to do better next year. Possibly by tomorrow we will see the results for Division 7, which was our division. They only list the overall relay results for all divisions right now.
For the marathon, I did really well too! It was my 2nd fastest time in Vermont and my 4th fastest in 26 marathons. I was 377/2700, the top 14%, and 10/107 in my age group. A 1:45:10 1/2 and 3:30:13 for the 26.2. I was hoping for a 1:45-1:47 1/2 to be on pace for a fast time.It was my 4th fastest marathon ever!!! I will now be in the 1st wave for Boston next year. Yea!

Last Run Before VT

I didn't run yesterday, my legs felt tired and I had a lot of work in the garden. I planted tomatoes, squash, daikon radishes and more bush beans. I rota-tilled for an hour to cut down on the weeds and expand the garden.
I ran 6.1 miles today in 50:17, 8:14/mi., 7.3 mph, 133 avg HR and 148 max HR. My legs felt good after warming up and if I get a good nights sleep Friday I should do OK. I'm going with the attitude to just have fun.

Hottest Day of the Year

I didn't run yesterday; I woke up after working and I felt so groggy that I decided to take the day off.
Today I ran early and bringing the grandkids to school; 8.1 miles in 1:08:21, 8:26/mi., 7.1 mph, avg HR 132 and max HR 146 bpm. I felt a little tired but picked it up by the end. It's 88 degrees right now and I have been on the computer reworking the web site I did for my latest class.

1 Week to Go

The VT marathon is next Sunday and I feel I have done all I can to be successful. I just got back from an 8 mile run in 1:06:05, 8:15/mi., 947 calories, Avg HR 131 bpm, Max HR 143 bpm and a total of 137.4 miles for the month. I worked in the garden, cut some grass and watched the 2nd half of my granddaughter's soccer game before running. Now it's back out to cut more grass and a little more work in the garden.

After a Day Off

I took Friday off as usual. My legs hurt at work, specifically my right knee. I went home at breakfast break and rolled my legs and changed shoes. But today with the other shoes my right leg was still bothering me so I rolled it again. I ran 7.0 miles after laying down in 57:55 an 8:16/mi. pace. I felt slow and tired at first but by mile 3 I was OK. I number my shoes since I run in Nike Air Max Moto 7's exclusively right now but I think I switched #4 and #5 because 4's have a lot more miles but seem better on my feet because the last 10 miler my legs were dead throughout and I wore the 5's but today the 4's which are suppose to have more miles felt better. It was hot and a little humid but a nice run except for the traffic. A lot more traffic lately for all my runs.

Heat, Sun and Running Long

Well I waited to run until noon today because VT is always hot and humid. I love the Keybank VT City Marathon but it can be draining. I ran 10.1 miles (my watch died before I left; the outlets in my house don't always seem to deliver the juice I think they did) so I ran a route I have run dozens of times in the past. 10.1 miles in about 1:24:00 about 8:22/mi. although I did feel tired and had no legs at first and it hit me again at mile 8-9. I received a call from my youngest daughter that she and my oldest daughter were at Target and they had found shirts we could all wear in the relay/marathon. I went over and they were perfect. Now we just have to get "Awesome A's" printed on the front. I hope the weather is good, sunny and a little cool, so everyone wants to do it again next year. My garden now has six 25-30' rows with carrots, peas, beets, kale, green beans and gords growing. I love gardening almost as much as running. It so cool to see things growing. Last year we seemed to grow a lot of bugs, bad bugs; I hoping this year that is not the case.
My 2 daughters ran about 3.65 miles after getting the shirts. I think they will do fine running 5+ miles in the relay.

Melanoma Research Foundation (MRF)

I was interviewed by Matt today from the MRF for either the head coach or assistant coaching job. He was concerned about injuries and injury prevention. I gave hima a few suggestions and will hear from him by early next week. I hope I can help them. Really the only sticking point I feel is that they require you to raise $1400 to be part of the run. But they may let me help train people for no amount raised or a lesser amount. I don't believe in my present financial situation I could raise that much money.
I met with him after I ran 6.7 miles this afternoon in 55:27 for a 8:16/mi. pace. I felt great at first but a little slow later on. I did recover to run in the high 7s by the last mile and 1/2. My HR was exactly where I want it to be; 129 avg and 143 max bpm.

Tired **

I'm too tired to run today. I was out in the garden planting and realized my legs needed a day off.
I was thinking today about being a pacer in a marathon. I read an article,http://www.examiner.com/x-40326-Marathon-Examiner~y2010m3d15-A-day-in-the-life-or-a-marathon-pacer  and thought that I could help people run a 3:40 marathon. I have to look into it.
I also read an article about warming up before a race and how there hasn't been and studies with conclusive evidence if it helps or not in a long race. The link ishttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/18/health/nutrition/18best.html

A Very Sunny Monday

Just finishing up a plate of ww pasta and kidney beans after running 7.2 miles in 59:48, a 8:18/mi. pace. HR avg 134 and max 170 bpm. I guess for a 58 year old it may be a little high but since I have been running for years and I don't ever feel stressed I'm sure it's OK. I had to wear sunblock today since I got a little too much color this weekend. I looked back to last year and I am running much faster for the month of May. I just have to be smart in VT and I should be able to beat my 3:38:41 from last year. Although I did have several quicker times before Boston last year and did it over 4 minutes faster. I'm a little behind my last years total miles at this point and I hope to make it up in June and July.

2 Weeks Until VT

I was a little tired today. After working, running, cutting the grass and gardening I made supper and went to one of my grandson's baseball games. I slept well but I felt tired today so I waited until after my granddaughter's soccer game to run. 7.5 miles in 1:02:10 a 8:17/mi. pace which surprised me, avg HR 132 and a max of 160 bpm. I'm going out to do more gardening and hopefully cut the remaining grass I left from yesterday.

I Love to Run!

I had to work this morning and I did not sleep well last night. We did a double at work - unloaded 2 trucks simultaneously first thing. They had coffee and bagels for our lunch break and I had another bagel at our next break. 3 coffees altogether, about 18 oz.
I felt a little tired when I got home but I decided I wanted to run. I took enough supplies for 10 miles. At first I didn't think I would run more than 7 but I felt good at 3 miles and I was going great at 5-6 miles. The end result was 10.0 miles in 1:21:55, an 8:11/mi. pace 7.3 mph avg HR 134 and max 151 bpm. I also ran 48.5 miles for the week, the highest weekly mileage since the middle of January. The week before my class and the last week of my class. I feel good right now and I have to cut the grass. Chicken, ww toast and PowerBar energy bites for lunch.

Ascension Thursday

Last night I had my last class for Web Design II. I was mostly sad even though I was really stressed this semester. I found out that most people in the class did not have any more time to do the work than I did. When I presented my project there were a lot of good suggestion from my teacher and my classmates. I hope to incorporate them in the site in the next 2 weeks. I will miss some of my classmates even though I did not get to know more than 3 or 4 of them. I received an A+ as a grade. I wish I hadn't started out with 3 classes. A few of us had a beer after; I always think that you should get together in an informal setting before and it would have been nice to do before this class too.
Today I went to 9 AM Mass for Ascension Thursday, the church was filled with all the students from the school associated with the church. I love hearing all the kids sing.
I was tired and my legs were tight, I almost didn't run. But I did go just now back from 6.2 miles in 52:13, 8:25/mi. pace, avg HR 132 max 192. Yes 192 bpm, a little too high. I don't know if the Garmin is accurate but I assume it is. I didn't get enough sleep and I probably should have drunk more water this morning.
Tomorrow I'll take the day off.
I'm going to wait to post the link to my class project site until I work on the suggestions.          

Middle of the Week Running

Yesterday I didn't have time to write. I did run 6.2 miles and took it slow. My legs hadn't recovered from the weekend so I decided to run until my legs loosened up which was mile 5. I then ran home. 53:55 total at a pace of 8:42/mi. My HR avg was 125 with a max of 158.
Today I felt good and my run showed it. 11 miles in 1:30:33 a 8:13/mi. pace avg HR 133 and max 157 bpm.
I started breaking in a new pair of shoes yesterday too.
My web site for class is rounding into shape; today we present them since it's the last day of class.

Happy Mother's Day

I changed my plans twice today and I was able to run 15.1 miles in 2:07:35. A 8:27/mi. pace with a HR range of 132-156 bpm. I hope all the running moms were able to run today. It was windy and cool, good really for a long run.

Saturday Night

I celebrated Mother's Day at lunch today with my wife and 3 daughters. It was a wonderful time. We went to Olive Garden in town, it was mother's choice. It was the best time for all my daughters to get together.
I worked 6 hours today and then came home and ran 10.2 miles in the pouring rain and thunder and lightening. Well the T&L was in the distance and I was having too much fun in the rain trying to miss puddles and cars ;)
10.2 miles in 1:24:40 at a 8:18 pace HR avg 129 bpm and a max of 143. 1215 calories burned and a total of 34.1 miles for the week since I took off Thursday and Friday. BUT my legs felt great today!
I am having problems with Leech FTP my site is up but only if you put the full link in and not through my page on the server. I hope to have it fixed by Monday and I'll post the link.
No word yet from Fleet Feet. I'm sure I will hear soon.

I had Nothing Today

I was beat today, I probably should have taken the day off. I wish my watch hadn't died yesterday because I think I ran faster than I thought. Today I turned around early and ran 4.1 miles in 35:43 a 8:43/mi. pace. My HR avg was just 126 bpm and my max was 135 bpm so that tells me I was too tired to run. I haven't got a lot of sleep the past 2 nights. I hope to rebound tomorrow and take Friday off.
I put up a slide show on the site because I was playing with a slide show generator for my class project. It OK just a little small. I'll have to see if I can adjust the size.

Dark Clouds and Then...

I brought the dog in before I left for my run this afternoon because I thought it would rain. Of course the sun came out bright and beautiful. But at 6 miles the dark clouds rolled over me and then the rain came. It was thundering and the rain became heavier and heavier; right when I was running through puddles and my glasses were totally covered, the sun came out and the rain ended. My watch's battery died but I think I went at least 8.2 miles in approximately 1:09. That's 1 hour and 9 minutes. I felt good and fast for the entire run, I really love this time of year. I hope I can break 3:40 in VT. My first 2 marathons were a little slow and I don't like to use an older time for Boston for next year.

Enjoying the Heat *

I didn't have a lot of time to run but I felt great after the first 1/2 mile. Ran 4.1 miles in 32:36, a 7:57/mi. pace. Avg HR was 132 bpm. I wore compression socks at work today to help keep my legs fresh.
I read a news article that a 63 year old grandmother ran 27 marathons in 27 days, a women's record after it is verified. Here's the link, http://news.oneindia.in/2010/05/03/grannyenters-record-books-after-completing-27-marathonsin.html

Saturday/Sunday *

Yesterday I ran 8.3 miles after 2:30 because of work. I picked the hottest time of the day. I needed sunscreen for the first time this year. I use Nature's Gate Aqua Block SPF 50 which is very water resistant, it won't drip in your eyes. It took 1:09:23 to complete the run a 8:21/mi. pace. Avg HR 140 and max 166 both a little higher than normal probably because of the heat and the 8 hours of work. It does make it tougher to run getting up so early and being on your feet the whole time at work. I ran a different route to break up my routine. I do hope to get out today but I have lots to do.
I just finished reading In a Single Bound by Sarah Reinertsen a good quick read I do recommend it!
So I did get out at 1:30 to run. It was hot but I did not seem as hot as yesterday although my legs felt tired. I ran 7.5 miles in 1:03:14 for a 8:26/mi. pace. My HR was near normal from the beginning but I just couldn't push it like I have all week. I probably should take another day off this week. I'll see what the weather is like and how much more I have to do on my school project. I'll link to the web site I'm building when it is done so please view it and suggest ways I can make it better. I have to post it on Wednesday and some of my classmates will be helping me improve the site. I really want to help my nephew increase his business so all suggestions are welcome.