Back from vacation.... and been a running fool !

I am back from our week plus vacation at our place in Wildwood, but fear not, I have been a running fool!
Let's see.. I ran last weekend a 4 miler on Saturday, and that brings us to Sunday.
Good ole Hurricane Bill was passing Wildwood, and I was hoping not to get caught in his wrath. I was out the door around 5:20am, to run my 16 miler, a longer version of the 14 I ran the week before, out and back to Cape May. When I started out, it was just a fine mist, still humid, and temps around 68deg. I was better prepared this week, for the heat & humidity. I picked up a few salt packets at the McDonald's on the boards the nite before, and took one before I started.
I was rain free, except for the mist, the first 3 miles, and then it started, and it got harder and harder. I stopped at a WaWa, to refill my handheld with ice around mile 6, and got back at it, and I was now in a full blown downpour! I hit the 8 mile mark around where the start of the Ocean Drive Marathon was back in March. I took cover under one of the local store's entrance, hoping to wait out the rain. I took the other salt packet, rung out my tank, and with the skies showing no sign of letting up, off I went.
On the way out of Cape May, I hit the WaWa to get more ice, and could see in the distance the sun! As I ran on the Ocean Drive, getting closer to the fisheries, I was rain free!
I did the 16 miler in 2:28:59, a 9:18 avg. No bonking this time!
My mid week runs of 6-8-6 where uneventful, just nice running at the shore. I ran my 6 miler at an avg of 8:06, 8 miler at 8:50, and last 6 at 8:30.
Saturday, we were back and I was out with the trail group.. running in the rain again... we did a nice 4 mile run in the hills of Clayton Park. I took it easy because I had 18 scheduled for today, Sunday.
Well I spoke to my bud Shoreturtle Saturday night, to see what he had on his schedule, and he had a 20 miler, so I offered to meet him and run the 20, what's an extra 2 miles? We met up at Mercer County Park at 5:30am, and he mapped out a 2 x 10 mile loops. We both decided to try and stay around a 9:15 pace. When we get together, we seem to enjoy pushing each other in a friendly competitive way. We started out running on the bike path, into the total darkness of the woods. Turtle was on it, bringing not only his headlamp, but a mini-mag lite, so we wouldn't soak our feet in the puddles from Saturday's rain.
The 1st loop seemed to fly by, and when we got back to the lot, we did a quick stop to change into a dry shirt, and refill our fluids. I also took a salt packet, and Gu.
We kept a pretty steady pace throughout the run. It was the longest run I have done since Philly last fall. I could feel it in the legs the last 2 miles, and was glad when it was over. It was nice to have a partner for the long runs. We did the 20 in 3:03:40, for an avg of 9:10!
Looking back at last year, I ran my 1st 20 miler in 3:26:48, a 10:20 avg. I was pretty amazed at the difference in time. While it doesn't seem it, I guess I am in better shape this year, than last.

One last thing.. I ran 167.89 miles for the month of August, which puts me at 835.41 for the year,

Dog days of summer are here!

The past week was my 1st recovery week, and it couldn't have come at a better time.

The 3H's have hit NJ.. Hazy, Hot & Humid !

Here is the week in review:

Sunday... 6 miles in the 3H's 8:57 avg.

Monday... off

Tuesday, I had 4 on the schedule, but I misread it, and ran 6, out and back to Mercer County Park... did it in an 8:22 avg. Nice tempo run.

Wednesday ... off

Thursday, I ran part of the 2nd half of the Philly Marathon course. Not long, just a 4 miler, in a downpour. It started raining as soon as I got to running. I think running in the ran makes me run faster... 7:39 avg.

Friday... off

Saturday, was trail running with the group. I only had to run 4, but we ended up running 6.4 miles. I think the trails, with the hills will help come Nov.

That leads us up to a new week of training.

Sunday, I was downashore, so I ran a loop from Wildwood to Cape May. It was 70deg with high humidity when I left the house at 6:15am! It was a long hard 14 miles!

I started out conservative, and ran miles 2-10 in a nice training pace range of 9:03 - 9:44.

I had stopped in a WaWa, on my way out of Cape May, to refill my handheld with ice. I got some free samples with my latest order from Hammer Nutrition. I use their Recoverite, after my hard runs, and I really feel it helps.
The free sample I used was called Sustained Energy. It says it's designed for workouts over 2 hours. I thought I would give it a try,since I had my run figured to be over 2 hours. It had a chalky taste, and the real negative of this product was it foamed up, so it made it hard to drink while I was running.

Mile 11, I could feel the heat taking it toll, and I slowed to a 9:57, and knew I was in trouble.

I had the drawbridge to cross in mile 12, and I started to mix in run/walks, something I haven't done pretty much ever. 10:57 for mile 12, and it was downhill quickly.

I continued the walk/running, and stopped at a rescue squad, to refill by handheld again! I was DYING!

Mile 13.... 11:26 ... one mile of hell left !!

I struggled to keep the legs moving.. walking a block, running a block. Calves where cramping a bit , and I completed 14 in 11:12 ! DONE !! 14 miles 2:18:08

From now on, I am out the door by 5:30am, on these long runs.

The next 2 long Sunday runs are 16 & 18 milers. No way would I have made it to 16 this past Sunday! One good thing, looks like once we get thru this week, the humidity and temps will dip a bit to a more manageable level!

I have added a 1/4- 1/2 mile cool down to the end of my runs. I figure it can't hurt, right?

Guts & Glory 5k Ocean City, NJ 8/8/09

One of the perks in having a place downashore, is that, as a runner, you can check the race calender down there. There were 2 races on Saturday, close to Wildwood, a 10 miler in Sea Isle City (see Joy's ) that was an early nite race, or an early morning 5k, in Ocean City. Since I couldn't hang around until 5:30, to run the 10 miler, I chose the 5k in Ocean City. That worked best into my schedule, as I usually get down to Wildwood early on Sat. mornings, one, to beat the traffic, and two, to run! I had 4 miles in the schedule, so a 5k fit perfectly.

The Guts & Glory 5k, was the biggest 5k I have ever ran in. It had 1375 runners/walkers registered. It ran along the ocean, on the streets of Ocean City, and finished with a lap on the Ocean City High School's track.

There were so many entrants, that this was a chip timed 5k. One of the local TV stations, NBC10, from Philly was there, broadcasting live during their morning newscast. I snapped a picture of an interview in progress.

When they lined us up on the street, one mistake I made, was a started a bit too far back in the pack. Since I figured this was a chip timed race, I thought starting back a ways, would allow for less congestion when you hung a sharp right into an alley way about 100 yards after the start. Well, as I found out too late, they only used the chips to help organize the finishing order.
It was like the start to the Philly marathon, with a bit of walking involved that 1st couple of 1/10Th's of a mile. You had a quick right, right, left, and then onto a straight road, where you could settle in to your pace.

I had a tough week of running, so I wasn't shooting for any particular time. I had the 6-8-6 on Tues - Thurs., keeping all my training runs in the 8:40-9:00min/mile pace. One crazy thing I did do, was meet up with Hurley and a few of the HATR's, early Wed, and do a cross fit circuit at the local high school track. That was tough, but I have made it a point to attempt to add core training this time around.

So after getting past a lot of foot traffic, I was able to settle into a comfortable pace. I was amazed at when I passed the 2-1/2 mile mark, and there were still people walking/jogging towards mile 1. There were a lot of people!
I also made it a point to not look at the garmin every mile, and just do the run, but when I hit the track, I did look at the finish line timer, and realized that there would be no PR today. It was around 20:50's, and I knew I wasn't going to run the last 440, in a minute. I finished with a respectable 22:12, good for 10Th in my old age group, and 82Nd outta 1196 finishers.

If I would have not got caught up in the first 2/10's congestion.... maybe it would have been a PR?

1 week down, 17 to go !

I would like to 1st thank Mother Nature, for taking most of the summer off, giving us here in NJ, a longer spring! It figures that as soon as it's time for me to ramp up my running, good ole' MN brings back the heat & humidity.
I got out and ran a wet 6 miles on Wednesday, and 7 on Thursday. Before I went on my wet run on Wednesday, I hit up the local RoadRunner sports store, for a new pair of running shoes. My Black Kayano's have about had it. I have heard nothing but good things about Road Runner, and their foot analysis that they do, so I wanted to make sure what I was wearing was the best shoe for me. The gal that helped me, was awesome, and after trying on a few different pairs, I settled on more of the same, another pair of the Asics Gel Kayano 15's. With my VIP membership, and an additional 10%, I got them for $116.00, they were reg. $139.00, so I got a great deal on them.
I chose to hold off running in them, until Thursday, no sense making the 1st run, a run in the rain!
I also purchased a new insole for them and they felt good. I can tell it will take a few weeks to get them broken in.
Saturday, I got out with the TrailRuns group. There were about 8 of us, and it was nice to have Shoreturtle back. He hadn't run with the group in 8 weeks. He was coming off a Achilles injury. While I only had 4 miles on the schedule, it was a long run of 7 miles with the group.
Sunday, I got out bright an early, at 5:45am. and got my 12 miler in before the rains came. And boy did they. I just missed a massive downpour by about 10 mins! I felt pretty good on the 12 miler, and averaged around 9 min miles. I started out slow, and built up as I went along. The legs were a bit heavy at the start, probably from the long trail run on Saturday.
Week 1 is in the books, with only 17 more to come!