Describe Your Running Today, Part II

...not to mention the rock-rich location where we'll rock weeroking!!

driske, 'tis true about putting the 5Fs on and finding difficulty spreading the toes. When i tried them on for the first time some 2.5 years ago my toes were already spread out from the barefoot running, and still i had difficulty...maybe a product of jailing our forefoot in shoes for decades... Now i can slip them on like custom made moccasins especially my original pairs (still holding out rather well)

today: back to villa pamphili for a 1hr running chit-chat with Fabio, Franco, Giovanni, Fabrizio, Augusto. Easy, fluid even if hot and dusty... except for about 4ks with Franco where we both started to talk about family issues, kids, schedules, committments ect and we just sort naturally sped up started to breathe harder...a sort of getting things off our chest i suppose... Everybody is scaling down, ready to go on summer vacation. me too.

Happy bday to Gonzo's mom!

Well, today I did 16min jog + a few strides + 3000m at the Courtenay meet + 16min jog.

I didn't go hard on the 3000m, more of a "brisk tempo", but, it didn't feel wonderful. Some really fast guy showed up and lapped us all, and then it was me and a bunch of young-uns. The young-uns took off after the gun, and I was alone for a while, through 1000m in 3:29. Eventually I caught some of them, and hung out with them for a while, through 2000m in 6:58. Then I surged here and there, and left a couple of them behind, but a couple of others outdid me on the last lap. I finished in 10:22. The fast guy was 8:54.

I think I can do this pace for 5000m in a few weeks....17:15ish?!

So, glass half full.........but I have to honestly say that, based on how I've been running this year, sub 5min is going to be tough on Wednesday. I'll be shocked if I break 4:50. I keep asking myself, "what's the worst case scenario?" Answer: Wakelin beats me. Nothing could be worse than that. But, what the hell? Who really cares?

See you on Wednesday, Bitches.

_________________

5km + 4x100m + 4x200m + 5km

"I only need 5min to pack my running gear, Dear. Running is simple, unlike Triathlon."

A beautiful day and the trails were somewhat dry. A win, win!! Took the route of the last two runs and extended it onto a small trail loop. That bumped the total run to near 45 minutes. Followed with some medball work and other drills. Then some yard work! Quite a morning of activity. Ha, ha!

Skuj, why do you always preface your race reports with something like "I didn't go hard"? If you don't feel "wonderful," it's probably because your racing hard. Innit? Ha, ha!

Happy b-day, Mother of Gonzo!

Keep up the good work, all!

Add a 100-minute lawn mowing workout today.

Mother of G says "thank you" by the way.

Quick survey?

Best beverage to drink after a day's yard work?

OTHER than beer, thank you.

I personally mix Sprite and V-8 Tropical Splash juice

Ahhhh...

Many happy returns to mother of Gonzo!!

Yesterday, a club race but I deliberately started at the very back and comfortably rolled through in a gentle 28.44 for 6.5k. I wanted to have plenty for todays race. Also did 45mins on the windtrainer.

Today was our biggest club event of the year a road handicap over 6.5kms. All the Melbourne boys and girls come up for this one.

I felt pretty good but I never run as well on the road as the dirt. 25.22 on the hilly course. My last 2k was a sharpish 7.20-that's pretty much all downhill though.

The big surprise was that my son won the race. He ran 26.01 off his non training regime, holding on by just one second.

His best effort previously was over 27mins so he caught the handicappers by surprise.

We ran back the 6.5k to the car post race.

Fastest time was a 20.40ish by an ageing former 2.13 marathoner.

30-minute run, drizzling. Glad I mowed the lawn yesterday.

today: another hour in Villa Pamphili with Carmelo, looking forward to, if all goes well, to becoming MM70 world marathon chmapion next year. Exercises, bit of stretching. vacation coming up, posting could be interrupted for a while.

Anybody care to keep the MOARG counter going?

-616 days to Gimmelwald 2011 aka MOARG

Gonzo, Belated B-Day congrats to your Mom. Likewise , many happy returns.

mopak, Your Son seems to thrive on the X-training. Perhaps a bit to be learned here for many of us. Don't you love those handicapped events ocassionally?

At a handicapped trail relay last year a 6 lady team named the "Hot Flashes" won the handicapped title. Their jubilant display of sheer joy was wonderful. Jumping up and down ecstatically they reminded me not so much of 40 and 50 year olds,but of kindergarteners at recess.

Rue the day we ever fully lose that childlike wonderment.

tpcb, I will agree to fill in, but only until you return fom Holiday. Stumbled onto a website of interest

www.swisspanorama.com

AM. 1.5 mile cattle check.10:27. Cooler and less humid, a pleasant relief from the past few days.

ta driske, you are a true gentle man.

i know it seems kinda early but i might just have to get started on the yodelling... we could use it for a collective gathering ritual before the trail spiels we will no doubt engage in.

Time Flies.

Take it from the son of an aviator.

Thank you, driske.

Today, after the Qualicum Tri, I went for an excellent feeling, relaxed, therapeutic, 45min run about Qualicum trails and roads, shirtless, in awesome weather. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I thought about my racing "issues" so far this year, how I've drastically underperformed, how I know that I have not hit anywhere near my potential, for whatever reason/excuse. I thought about how this can change......rapidly. My ham is good, my attitude is renewed, anything can happen.

For the first time this year, I cannot wait to do an event: 5th St!

2hr 15mins of forest running. At 1h 30m I did a brief TPCB impersonation. My right shoe's upper tore very significantly. I took the shoes off and ran about 1/2 a km barefoot down a muddy trail. Chickened out on the rockier section though and put the shoes back on.

Tonight my son is getting tossed around by 100kg men in his Brazilian JJ and Mixed Martial Arts classes. Not sure that would be a good recovery for my old body.

What pleased him yesterday was that he got caught a km from the finish by a guy who ran 3mins quicker than him on actual times. He raced side by side for the last km with this guy then kicked in to win by 1 sec.

Most of our winter club races are handicapped. We have a small running population so evening the events up keeps everybody keen. Last week a 14 year old girl won our trail race, she's just started out but is really doing well. It's good for people to experience that winning feeling and also the pressure and excitement of coming to the finish with a victory in sight. It is different to just finishing midfield or back of the field.

Thanks for that link Driske, it is now added to my favourites.

I was a little concerned the other day when you mentioned there was a vulture overhead when you were running. I thought perhaps your injury was far worse than you had told us and the vulture was waiting for you to drop...

58F and breezy. Did the 10K loop in 50:45, finishing with a good head of steam. Kept the vultures at bay for another day, moving just fast enough to convince them there was still life in the critter below...

615 days to Gimmelwald

Another good day to run; not too hot, no rain, etc. I changed my route today and ran some different trails that ended at the nearby track. Hopped onto the oval for 4 laps of hollow sprints. Okay maybe not sprints; perhaps strides is a better descriptor. Ha, ha! Anyway it was a good exercise for a change. No timing the sprints, of course. And I never took my shirt of either. Don't want to upset the natives. Ha, ha! Jogged back to the homefront for a total of 50 minutes. Good stuff!

I still have no plans to resume higher level training. But I am thinking.....maybe a race this weekend? Don't worry....I wont' ask what you think I can run. Ha, ha!

Keep up the good work, all!

Today I did 32min jog + 4x75m grass accels + 8min jog. It felt good, and I had to hold myself back from doing something hard and perhaps silly. (In 2005 I did a 2:19 800m at the track just 2 days before 5th St, because I felt I needed a blast just before the race. I ran very well 2 days later. I honestly thought about doing a brisk 800m today, but, I'll be cautious. However, the fact that I'm even contemplating this means I feel better and more confident about racing now....I feel invigorated for some reason.)

I don't mind telling you what my race plan is for Wednesday. I'd like to hit 400m (the train tracks) at 71/72, and hopefully this will feel cautious and good. Then I'd like to concentrate on a strong surge to 1000m (Extreme Runners front door) in about 3:00. If I'm still feeling decent there, I can hold on and get high 4:40s for the finish. That would be good. Of course I'll have lots of pacing help to 400m, and usually I can hang on to someone or chase others to 1000m. I fully expect Doc to simply hang on to me as long as possible, and Keith too....hoping for me to fade after 1000m, or worse....get to 1000m slower than 3:00..... I don't care. Let's go, Bitches!!!

I've been taking a few days off starting this past Friday to let the swelling go down in my Achilles and let it heal. I'm planning on resuming tomorrow or the next day, its feeling much better. Swelling is down 80%, walking is pain-free, only I'm still not able to fully stretch it and won't know forsure that its ready until I run on it.

Good luck with running everybody! And avoid injury at ALL costs!

This thread seems to be dying finally...

3 miles fast today after physio. Easing back in, theres a spring in my step I haven't felt in over a month. Happy to be back! Also, heavy bike commuting today as well as upper body workout soon.

HR 123, It is great when the strength returns.

Please don't take a 1 day absence of posts as evidence of this threads demise. It's been edited , abused, and defiled, but manages to spring back like kudzoo time and again. Thanks, to all who take a regular interest in it, and I include RD/ skuj in those sentiments.

Cool relaxing 21 mile bike ride in the company of my spouse. 1;53 for the AM jaunt.

4C reported at the Shilthorn summit. 614 to Gimmelwald

Smog was bad earlier this morning in my area of L.A. I guess spending a 3 day weekend in San Francisco makes it more apparent.

Still got in my 6 easy miles at 7:00 min pace before work. Will follow up with 5 miles at a steady 6:00 min pace; combination of rolling hills on pavement and flat street surfaces.