Run to Swim my new Tuesday tradition.

Tonite my 2 boys had their swim lessons, so I decided to Run to Swim again.
I made sure to leave early enough, so I would be waiting for them, when they arrived.
With my marathon training starting in a few weeks, I have started to add mileage to my runs.
I have this run up to 5.8 miles, and during my training, I'll have to get this Tuesday run over 6 miles. It shouldn't be a problem to add. I'll just add a bit at the start.
I felt really good running tonite. It was nice to not have to deal with the humidity!
According to all the weather reports, it'll be back on Thursday.
I made sure to eat an earlier dinner, and drank plenty of water during the day. I felt like I had the bladder of a 80yr old, with how much I went this afternoon.
Well, I ran the 5.8 miles in 48:56 (8:27/mile). It was a comfortable pace. I seem to feel it in the legs, but my wind is not a problem.
What I need to do, is get better at stretching before a run. I am bad, no make it terrible at that. It's usually, throw on the shoes, stretch the hamstrings out a bit, and take off. That is something I will have to improve on, or I'll probably end up hurting myself.

Phanatic, Fireworks, Wildwood & Sunday - Longday!

What a busy weekend.

My father in law got 4 tickets to the Phils vs Diamondbacks game for this past Friday nite, which was also FIREWORKS nite! So my wife & I took our 6yr old & Pop-Pop to the game.

I had to be up at 6:00am to head to Wildwood Saturday morning, & Pop-Pop was up at 5:30 to go fishing.

So, what time do you think we get home? A 7:05 game should be done between 9:30 - 10:00pm, figure another 1/2 hr for the fireworks, and we live about 45mins. from Philly, we should be home and in bed no later than, oh 11:30.

WRONG!

Don't you know the game goes 12 innings! Good thing the Phils won!

By the time the game & fireworks were over, we finally got home about 12:45am.

The Phils had 2 fireworks nites this past week, and I read that they spent $72,000.00 on fireworks that were to last 18mins each. They were some of the best fireworks I have seen in a long time.

I have to give my son major props, he lasted the entire time. I never would have thought he would have lasted 12 innings + fireworks. Nice job E !

Well, by the time I fell asleep, It had to be close to 1:30am. Alarm rings at 6:00am, and I rolled over.

I got up and on the road to Wildwood about 6:40.

Did I happen to mention that our female beagle, Samantha, wanted to go out at 4:30! She never gets up at nite, so figures it would be this nite.(reminds me of Shoreturtle's "alarmcat").

I was told around the time we bought our place in Wildwood, that you buy a shore home for everyone else but yourself. Sure does seem like that sometimes.

I hit the boards for a run by 9:00am. As tired as I felt, late nite, 2hr drive, nothing beats the shore to perk you up. It was either the salt air, or maybe the Amp I drank on the way down.

The boards were alive with the vacationers, biking, walking, running, and checking out the weekend craft show.
I felt really good running, and did the boardwalk, 3.77 miles in 30:40 (8:15/mile). Then it was off to clean the house, see the current renter's out, and get ready for the next ones.

On Sunday, I got a later start than I would have liked for my long run. I liked getting out of the house by 7:00am, the past few weeks, but considering my lack of sleep Friday nite, and busy Saturday, I didn't get out the door until almost 9:00am.

I wanted to run 9+ miles today, but I just didn't have the legs. I ran thru Mercer County Park, and the park was buzzing with a huge lacrosse tournament.

It's amazing how many activities go on there each weekend.

My goal was long and slow, needing to build up my base for my upcoming marathon training.

I felt pretty good, until about the 6 or 7th miles.

It was starting to warm up quickly & you could feel the humidity building.

I ended the run at 8.39 miles 1:18:20 (9:21/mile).

While I was disappointed in myself for cutting the run a bit short, I have to look at the positives of the run.

It was my longest run so far, and I was around the pace I want to run.

Next Sunday I'll make up for my lost mile, and hit double digits!

RWJ Strides for Strokes 5K

Last nite was the RWJ Strides for Strokes 5k, or as my oldest son calls it, the "Pizza Run". One of our local pizza joints has been a sponsor of the run for years, and drops off pizza, my best guess maybe 100 plain, after the race for the runners & their families.
It was a decent nite, and the humidity that has been with us for the better part of a week, subsided. I've run this race in the past in oppressive July heat & humidity.
I finally broke thru the 24min mark! I've run 3 other 5k's this season, and hovered just over the 24min.
I was surprised at my 1st mile time, as I was stuck back in foot traffic for about a 1/2 mile. When I hit the 1st mile mark, I was 7:09. I'm sure a lot of that had to do with a nice downhill. I thought that I had taken it easy for the start, because I have the tendency to start fast, and pay for it at the end. I stayed true to form!
The 2nd mile included a nice uphill (the same one I had the cop behind me last week). At the 2nd mile, I was at 15:09 (8:00/mile). I knew that would be slower, though I tried my best to attack the hill portion. I felt I did better on this stretch than in the past. I have faded big time on the hill, getting passed by numerous runners, but this time it was me doing the passing! That is a great feeling. Nice to be the hunter, instead of the hunted.
The last 1.1 miles included a large downhill and an immediate uphill along the lake. I have as much trouble with steep downhills, as I do going uphill. I ran the final 1.1 miles in 8:13, for my best time in a 5k at 23:22.
I was telling my wife when we got home, and I checked the site for my exact time, that I am running better today, weeks shy of 42, than I did in my mid 30's.
I finally met Shoreturtle (Charlie) http://www.shoreturtle.com/blog/ .What a great guy. He had offered to pace me to break the 24min barrier. I didn't take him up on the offer, but I knew if I kept him in my sights during the run, I would accomplish that goal. Charlie finish a minute and change ahead of me at 22:10.
Charlie also introduce me to a running buddy of his, Bill & a blogger called Traveling Belgian http://thetravelingbelgian.blogspot.com/, I believe her name was Ann.
Bill, I found out, lives in the neighborhood across from me.
It's great to meet new people at these runs, and very accomplished runners, who you can push you to improve. That's one thing I've noticed, running alone, in a group atmosphere, you tend to push yourself more, than just doing it alone. I will definitely be taking Charlie up on his offer to do some long training runs together, when I get into my marathon training.
After the race, man my oldest son put away 3 slices of pizza, on top of eating a good dinner. Anyone who has kids, knows how picky they can be about eating, or not eating. He plowed thru the pizza, and wanted to stop at Carvel for ice cream on the way home!
It was great to have the wife & boys at this run. They are great at cheering myself and the other runners on.
If you live close by, I highly recommend you add this run to your to do list. It's a great time, with great pizza, and for a great cause!

Secrets of WILDWOOD !

In today's edition of the Philadelphia Daily News, they have a special pullout section, "Secrets of Wildwood".
For those who don't know about Wildwood, it's was voted the #1 beach in NJ. It's biggest claim to fame are the huge FREE beaches, the 2 mile long boardwalk, and the Doo-Wop architecture.
If you have kids, it's the Six flags or Disney of beach resorts.

Here is a link to the articles:
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/hot_topics/24174084.html

In the fall of 2005, I took a line from Tom Cruise in the classic movie RISKY BUSINESS, and said "What the "F", and go for it". We bought a place in Wildwood. We rent it on a weekly basis during the summer, and you can check it out in my links.
Our place reminds us of the kind of shore house our parents rented for us, when we were kids. It has some of the modern qualities we enjoy today, but it has that old school shorehouse feel. Very warm and cozy, unlike the modern townhouses that are going up everywhere.
We love it, and most importantly our boys LOVE IT!
So, my advice, take a trip downashore to WILDWOOD, you won't regret it!

5.21miles after dinner

After dinner tonite, our boys had their 1st swim lessons of the season. I knew the mileage was 5.21 miles to the class (thank you Runner's World online training log), so should I run to the class or afterwards?
Well, I decided to run to the class. I don't know what I was thinking, as I only left 1/2hour ahead of the wife & boys. For some reason I was thinking it was only 4 miles, but I knew it was 5+. Guess I was having a "senior moment". Well, I was a bit late. I realized my mistake about 3 miles into the run, as I realized how much further I had to go.
All in all, it was a bit of a struggle, as I should have run after the class. It was too soon after eating to run, especially in the humid weather.
The boys did great in their class, and I did the 5.21 miles in 44:50 (8:37/mile).
One thing I noticed about my runs, they are consistently between 8:30 - 8:45/ mile pace.
I'll throw this question out there to the seasoned marathon runners:
Is this a good thing? Should I start to add tempo runs? I'm still a few weeks away from starting my 18 week journey to Philly.
I have decided on a marathon training plan, and will post it in soon.

7.9 on the 5th

Hope everyone had a great 4th. Our township had our local fireworks on the 3rd, so we lucked out with the weather.
When I got up on Saturday, I checked my emails, and missed a chance to run with Shoreturtle (Charlie) & his buds from the Trenton Runs Club. They where to meet at Washington Crossings Park, around 7:30am, hope they had a good run.
I went out and did a 7.9 mile run from our house to Mercer County Park, and back.
MCP, was getting ready for their big "Freedom Fest" activities. They had a great lineup of bands, and of course FIREWORKS! One of the bands that where scheduled to play, where The NERDS. If you ever get the chance to see them, do it! They put on a heck of a show. Our neighbor was having a party, otherwise, we would have taken the boys to see them.
Anyway.. I ran the 7.9 miles in 1:09:26 (8:48/mile). It was a good morning run, with only a few sprinkles.
Today, the 6th, I got up and did an early run before the wife & boys got up. I ran 5.76miles in 48:29 (8:26/mile).
That's back to back early morning runs. Maybe I am becoming a morning runner??!!

Get off the Soapbox!

I went to Veteran's Park to do the Hamilton Hangover 5 mile course.

The park was loaded with workers getting it ready for the concert & fireworks scheduled for the 3rd.

Well, it was a pretty uneventful run, that was until I hit the 4mile mark ,and headed into the woods. This is the same woods, that I ran in the Fab Feat 5k, on Sunday.

Now for those who have never been to the park, I'll try and explain this short, say 1/4 mile wooded, hilly path. It's about 10 feet wide, paved asphalt. Wide enough for runners, walkers & bikers to share and pass comfortably. It can fit a car/truck, alone. I know the township plows & sands this path during the winter.

Well, I guess I was about 1/2 way thru this part, and I heard a car coming up from behind. Very odd for a park, but I just figured it was the township workers. WRONG! It was the POLICE.

The cop couldn't wait another minute, for me to finish the woods, get to the top, where the area opens up, and connects with another path to the lake. Nope this cop had to lay on his horn, making me to stop running, get off the path into the woods a bit, and allow him to pass. He took off like he was driving a NASCAR road course. He wasn't headed to any "emergency". His lights weren't on, he was just in a rush, using his "power", to get from point A to point B quicker.

A township pick-up also had to move for this guy. I think his actions where unacceptable. He could have allowed me to get to the top, where he would have had plenty of room to pass me, I had maybe 20 seconds until the hill was over. I had a biker pass me the opposite way, after the cop went by, and he just shook his head at me, because he also had to move.

OK, since I'm on my soapbox.. people who walk their dogs, need to keep their dogs a bit closer to them, when other people are around. Whenever I walk my dogs, if I am passing folks out for a stroll, I will shorten their leash, until they pass. Not the owners of the dogs out for a walk today in the park.

I'm a dog lover, but I don't need dogs nipping at my ankles, as I run by.

Alright enough of the complaining.. I ran the 5miles in 42:50 (8:34/mile). I felt good, and that's the most important part.