Day 1055

A good run, but hard. Wanted to finish the month strong, and started at 6.5, but had to slow down in the middle for 5 minutes or so because I was beat.

20:00
2.03mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/58783118

Day 1054

Late run today, tired after working in the yard for awhile, so this was a shorter, slower run.

18:00
1.79mi
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/58640340

Day 1053

A good day, which I started pushing at 7:00 to 6.6 and then 6.7, then 6.8 for most of the run to 18:00 min. Finished just ahead of the 9:00/mi pace for 2 miles.
26:00
2.72mi
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/58447370

Day 1052

Quick one, late in the day

16:00
1.61

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/58292340

Day 1051

A nice jog outside, on a cool Co summer day. Lots of clouds and just a touch of wind.



22:45
2.41

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/58055322

Day 1050

Late run today, after a late start and busy day. Struggled to run a bit and had a few times after 14:00 min where I used some treadmill supports to help me run for 0:15

24:00
2.47

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/57872188

Picking up the pace

One of my goals this year was to try and average 2 mi/day. I started with January, going 65mi for the month and I felt fine. So I kept going, hitting this mileage:
Jan: 65
Feb: 51 (short by 5mi)
Mar: 59 (slightly short)
Apr: 52 (short)
May: 61
June: 66
That’s 354 for the first half of the year, which is below the 360 I’d want to be at. However I’m tending to do a better job of hitting 2-2.25 mi most days, so at that pace I’d get to 720 by the end of the year.
I’m not sure I’ll keep running every day once ski season starts. I wanted to get through my black belt, and I’ll probably try to get through 3 years and into the fall, but at that point I’ll have to decide if I want to bang out a mile after some of those long days on the slopes.

Day 1049

Cruising slower today, with the body definitely sore after a look week. Struggled to get going, but settled into a good routine.

22:00
2.18
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/57641238

Day 1048

Struggling to run a little after yesterday. Yard work in the am didn’t help.
Started slower, sped up to 6.5 for much of the first mile, but had to slow down around 15:00 to 6.2 because I was struggling a bit.

24:00
2.44mi
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/57426476

Day 1047

I made it to the black belt test. No coffee, slower, easier run today. Now time to get ready for the test

18:00
1.77mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/57229272

Day 1046

Felt like going further, but a little windy outside and worried about contacts. So I decided to stick inside, and not push too hard, but get a good run in.
Hopefully I didn’t go too hard with the black belt test tomorrow.
26:00
2.68mi
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/57089252

Day 1045

I decided I wasn’t going to karate tonight. Feeling a bit worn out, and no need to stress. I started running, and felt better, and so I kept going. I did 6.6mph most of the way, then jumped to 6.8mph at 14:00 min to see if I could get close to 2.0mi at 18:30. I did, and beat it, though subtracting the walking, I was really at 18:17 of running when I crossed 2mi.
Kept going, though slower, for a nice long one today.
26:00
2.72mi
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/56927376

Day 1044

22:00

2.23mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/56724938

Day 1043

Tax form run day, an easy one, but shorter than I wanted because of time.

20:00
2.05mi
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/56538088

Day 1042

Hot  and slow, with a little girl pacing me on the bike. A good summer run.

22:38

2.02mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/56339260

Day 1041

Supposed to be the black belt test run, getting 2.0mi in under 18:00 done. No one showed up, and it was hot, but I decided to knock it out anyway.
Started too fast, getting lap 1 done in 1:50 instead of 2:15, and kept up a similar pace, knocking out a mile in 8:04, which was too quick. by 1.5mi I was struggling to keep at the 2:15 pace/lap, but I did manage to finish in 16:52 before walking a lap.

20:44
2.25
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/56122960

Lost in London

Thursday night my company rented a bus, packed it with books, beer, supplies, etc for the Friday SQL in the City event, and then drove about 15 of us down from Cambridge to the center of London. I read and napped a little, and then watched us crawl along the Thames, saw the London Eye, and a few more sights I remembered from my time in London. We turned into the city and passed Trafalgar square, before arriving at the venue and unloading at the Royal Society of London.

Then a few of us went to the hotel to check in, with the others coming over later. It had been a long week, and I was tired, so I made to the hotel, checked in, got my one and a half bed room (yes, one and a half beds with a full and a small twin) and then decided there was nothing on TV, wi-fi only in the bar, and so I should get a drink before dinner.

I had a couple beers, people arrived and joined me, and we chatted along before heading to dinner “just around the corner”. I had to settle the bill, since I was the one that opened it, and walked outside to find no one around, crowds around a few pubs, and was unsure of what to do. I also wasn’t sure which corner, so I started to walk around one. Fortunately I ran into the CEO of our company, who had a address of the restaurant. That was my first time lost.

The second time was the next morning. I never sleep well before events if I have to be there early, being paranoid about oversleeping. It’s the same way with flights, ski trips, etc. So I was tossing and turning and around 6:15 just got up. Pulled on shoes, stretched a bit and walked downstairs. I wasn’t sure where I was, but my plan was to find a major street and then go down and back. So I headed down Great Portland Street, which was near the hotel and looked fairly large. However a couple of minutes later that T’d at Oxford Circus.

Hmmm, I thought, I’ve been here, and turned right to go down Oxford Street, which isn’t a major road, but close enough. I passed the Oxford Circus Underground station, which I remember from college. That same old brown, Harry Potter style building next to an alley leading towards a nightclub. I went down, ran about 10 minutes, and then turned around. I ran back, with all the shops of Oxford street a bit of a blur, and then realized I was at Tottenham Court Road. I’d run there last year when I was in London, but I hadn’t started, or passed it.

I was slightly lost.

I assume I had missed my turn, but I’d been looking. Since London isn’t a grid system, more like a grid planned, and named, by someone after 10 pints of beer, I turned again, heading back up Oxford Street. I did manage to find Portland Street, and it wasn’t bad, with me only going about 10 minutes longer than I expected. I showered, changed, and managed to find my way over to the Royal Society of Medicine, without getting lost.

I got to give a presentation in the main lecture hall, which was a treat. It’s quite a nice venue, and while I’m sure I am far down the list of important people that have given talks there, it was exciting for me to see the names of some famous medical doctors listed on the wall and think about how many amazing things were said from the stage I was standing on.

Fortunately I stuck with cabs and trains for my trip out of London and didn’t get lost again.

Day 1040

Traveling all day from London, getting here at 2pm and with no wife, did a quick treadmill run. Tomorrow may be my black belt run, so I took it a little easier, slowing down after a mile.

20:00
1.98

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/55979506

Day 1039

Up early to run before my event, I found myself pounding the pavement along Oxford Circus, dodging the people commuting to work early. And then got lost.

Still, a good run.

28:34
2.6

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/55980204

Day 1038

Good run, though on the hamster track with rain likely and chilly wind outside. A good black belt test run
22:00
2.35mi
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/55454370

Day 1037

A nice run along the river today. Back to pace, almost. A little slow, but the knee was aching slightly from the pounding. Might hit the treadmill tomorrow.
23:01
2.4
http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/41294600/

Day 1036

A morning trail run.

18:52
1.81

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/55044998

On the Trails

Over the last weekend (July 4), we went camping up near Red Feather Lakes at the Beaver Meadows Resort. It's about 60-75 minutes out of Fort Collins, CO, way in the mountains at around 8500-8800 ft of altitude. It's remote, with the camp sites lacking power, running water, and there's no cell service. Outhouses were around, and it's a nice wooded area.

We camped out, cooking over fires, and I managed to go running on the trails nearby. It was hard to run at altitude, and I felt sluggish for 3 days, only really running well the last day. I also struggled to get past all the flies and mosquitoes, which were constantly attacking.

However I did enjoy the trails, cruising down wooded trails similar to those that I used to run at in some packs in my native Virginia. It was nice to move along, and I had my daughter for company a couple of the days as she rode her bike next to me. The hard parts were helping her up some hills there, when I had to struggle up myself while pushing a 100lb girl on a bike.

Still it was good, and it was the chance to see some beautiful scenery in Colorado. I stuck to similar routes, as I tend to do, mostly because I like a routine, and I have a chance to avoid any turned ankles by watching where I'm going and having some familiarity.

I don't love camping out there, but it was nice to get out and run, on my own schedule, without anything pressing on me.

The one memorable run was Sunday, when everyone else was fishing, I decided to get out and run before a thunderstorm. It had sprinkled a bit, and so I took off when the clouds cleared a bit. I managed to get out about .8 or .9 miles and then turned around. However the temp was dropping, a few drops hitting me from the sky, and my shirt was wet. The nipples started to hurt, and so I took off my shirt since I didn't have any lubricant. As I ran, the bugs attacked, forcing me to swing my shirt constantly, hitting my back to ward them off. Haven't had to do that since Seashore State Park in Virginia.

Day 1035

Flew to the UK, a short nap, and decided to run to wake up in the afternoon. Hard to get started, but then felt good cruising through the park at Jesus Green.

17:29
1.72mi
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/54899604r

Day 1034

In a hurry to leave the country, so a shorter run. I was going to go 2 min longer, but I lost all bandwidth for my movie and my wife wanted to talk, so shortened things up.

18:00
1.82

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/54714768

Day 1033

Cruising this morning for an early run before Kendall’s dance class.
Realized that I’m slightly slow for the karate run, where I need to maintain 6.7mph. Need to try a few runs at that speed.
26:00
2.68mi
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/54468762

Day 1032

Good run, struggling a bit to maintain pace. I think the black belt test run is weighing on my a little.
Or maybe it's the 5mi across 2 days along with 2 hard karate classes.

26:00
2.66mi
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/54322428

Day 1031

The new shoes went outside today, cruising down the road. Had a great run, cruising nicely and feeling strong as I ran up and down the few hills on my regular route.
26:31
2.61mi
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/54132028

Day 1030

Felt good, had a nice run, but stayed inside since I wanted to finish the Netflix DVD I was watching so I could send it back.
Strong run, cruising along.

20:00
2.06mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/53925036

Day 1029

Tired of bugs outside, decided to stay in. Nice, steady run, a little quicker and further than normal. Felt great.

22:00
2.3mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/53734640

Day 1028

Acclimating a little, despite a lack of sleep, and I ran quicker on my route, even taking it a bit further today. Felt good cruising along.

22:00
1.9

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/53724978

Running With Family

It’s a holiday in the US, Independence Day, and I’ll be running as usual. I’m camping up in Northern Colorado with family, and so far it’s been nice.

My sister-in-law and her husband are in from out of town, and the kids are up here with bikes. The adults joined me a couple years ago while I was working on year 1 and we camped near Sedalia, CO. This time they’ve come out again up here. The kids have joined in with bikes as well for one, and I’m hoping another today.

I enjoy my solo runs, but it’s nice to get others out there sometimes and make it social, go slow, work a little, and chat as we enjoy the amazing CO weather.

Day 1027

Ran through this one, up the hill a little further.

22:00
1.7mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/53724536

Day 1026

My daughter wanted a loop at at the campground, so we did one, but it was hard. A struggle to go with her up and down some hills and I ended up walking a bit, pushing her bike on some hills.

27:00
1.99mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/53153504

Day 1025

In the woods, near Red Feather Lakes, at 8500+ feet, hot, and I went through the woods with my daughter next to me on her bike. Never winded, except when helping push my daughter up a 100ft hill, but my feet were like lead and it was a struggle to run.

20:00
1.5mi