Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Cycle, Cycle Too

Made it out of work at a reasonable hour Friday afternoon, and stopped on Jamestown for a run on the way home. I almost didn’t run – thought seriously about just taking a quick half-hour nap before driving home. It had been rainy all afternoon, I was tired, blah, blah, blah.

So, I made a deal with myself. Just an out-and-back; 15 minutes out, 15 minutes back. So I’d still have a couple of minutes to shut my eyes and listen to NPR if I really wanted to.

Sure, self. You’ve got a deal.

Grumble, grumble. Left the iPod in the car in case it started pouring again. Started the timer on the HRM, and ran. Kept the heart rate about 140 on the way out.

At about 14 minutes, I say to myself “Hey, why not go to 16 minutes, and try to make up the difference on the way home?” So, I blow on through 15 minutes, and keep running.

At 16 minutes, I say “Hey, why not go to 5 miles, or thereabouts?”. “Sure,” I say. Crunch a couple of numbers and decide that 22 minutes, give or take, should put me where I want to be.

At 22 minutes, I turned around, and kicked up the pace for the run back to the car. Decided just to go for the complete and total blow-out; rack the heart rate up to max, and just RUN.

Wow. felt good to feel fast.

18.5 minutes later, back at the car. There was a tragic bit where I’d looked at a nice, flat spot of the shoulder to get a little running on dirt instead of ashpaht in, only to realize, tragically, that the solid-looking dirt was really the deep, squishy mud. So, my shiny new Asics are now muddy. But, that’s the worst thing that’s befallen me running all year, so no harm done. I did a lap of the soccer field to cool down, then drove home.

This morning, I plugged it into GmapsPedometer, and was shocked, SHOCKED! to find that the total for the run was just over five miles, meaning that even on the out I was down to sub 8’s. And the way back was even better.

Sorry – work’s been a ton of fun, t-ball is a riot, I had a whole year’s worth of GMT (Gross Misuse of Time/General Military Training) to do prior to drill, and I’m awful fond of sleeping…

Tuesday, I had yet another run for the ages. Parked at Fort Wetherill on the way home, strapped on the sneaks, and hit the road. Just over 5 miles, and they flew past. The tunes were good, the weather was beautiful, and the miles were good. 5.1 miles in 43 odd minutes.
After the run, I walked down the boat ramp and waded into the water. It wasn’t nearly as cold as I’d feared, and I thought about taking an actual swim. But, there were a bunch of jellyfish in the water, so I didn’t. I don’t think they’re stinging, so I should have.

Skipped Wednesday. Thursday, I headed out from the office a bit after 5, intending to do about 5 miles on the Navy Base. Went through the gate about 5:10, and realized that they closed it down about 5:30. Crap. So, I pushed until 5:20, made it back to the gate at 5:30 before it closed. After I was back on the side of the fence with my car, I tried to slow down a bit, but man – I was bushed. Called it quits, even though I was only at a bit less than 26 minutes. Was shocked when I plotted it into gmaps pedometer and found it was 3.6 miles – can’t think of the last time I did 7 minute miles.

So, here’s wishing everyone a great weekend!

So, as good as Friday was, Saturday may have been better. Wake up, the wife makes her specialty French Toast (whole wheat cranberry-pecan loaf dredged in cinnamon-vanilla egg mixture, served with some real maple syrup), the boys and I putz around in the yard for a while, and about 10, Missy says “Hey, before you take a shower, why don’t you wash the dog?”

I say, “OK, but why don’t I run first?”

She says “Sure!”

I think “Man, I got the better end of those wedding vows…”

So, I lace up the sneaks, head up the hill through the neighborhood, and enjoy the absolute best Saturday morning run probably ever. Head down Cow Hill Road, bypassing the part of the hill that finally got Warren, and just kind of cruise down to the river. All cylinders are firing, the run is pure – no iPod, no watch, no heart rate. Not much better than this at all.

The cyclists pass me, head down, elbows pulled in, feet churning, and, for once, I’m not envious of them. Something’s snapped inside, I think I may be a runner after all (chances are more likely that it’s just that I’ve hit Mach-S and couldn’t be bothered with envy.

But everything was Holiday Weekend Perfect – after the foggy run yesterday, the sun was blazing, the humidity was up around 90%, and everything was set to get me in the mood for summer. 5.3 miles, pretty reasonable time (I’m guessing about 40 minutes based on the clocks in the house). Not sure if it’s the shoes or what, but for some reason, the body’s clicking. And the scale – after French Toast and the run – told me I was at 165, which I haven’t seen since September or October.

Oh, and in the continuing story of the T-Ball team, practice today was absolutely outstanding. Started off a little inauspiciously – only about 2/3 of the team showed up, which isn’t surprising given the holiday. Warm-up catch and the fielding drills were only middling, but when we plopped the kids out in the field and started hitting and fielding, something clicked, and the boys were digging it. No fights for the ball today at all, the kids were starting to back each other up, and there were a couple of cases where the ball actually got lodged in the mitt to count as a catch.

Technorati Tags: connecticut, Mystic, running

Wrapped up work a bit after 3 on Friday. Called the wife, told her I was grabbing the kitchen pass for dinner. Grabbed the keys to a friend’s apartment, told him I’d be back to the office to pick him up for supper around 5, and headed for a run in downtown Newport on the holiday afternoon.

The weather was absolutely perfect – cool and foggy; the last, desperate gasp of winter prior to the regularly scheduled arrival of summer on Memorial day weekend, and the legs were there. Rocked Prince’s new album on the iPod; eagerly anticipated the arrival of Nike integration, and the miles just seemed to slip by.

Admittedly, I haven’t been nearly so good about running regularly during the week as I’d like. Pitiful, even. But, there’s something that’s still clicking, some reason why when given the chance I’m blowing out epic runs. I’d like to be on more of a routine, but if this is what I’m stuck with, this is what I’ll take. Plus, the brain’s in a good spot.

Coming off of the Cliff Walk, I spotted a friend up ahead. Surprised her, and we walked a couple blocks to her stylist’s place. Finished the run blowing back through downtown, feeling sorry for folks who don’t live near the ocean. Running in the fog is about the greatest thing ever.

6.75 miles, 53+ minutes.

Technorati Tags: newport, running