October Totals

A hard run on the last day of October for me.

A good month, however, with runs in Liverpool, UK, Seattle, the beach in California along with quite a few at home.

The month total was 67.02, not bad, and giving me 619 for the year and puts me on pace for 743 for the year. A record year for me.

Day 1147

Hard run today. As soon as I started running, I felt a little weak, and my stomach was upset. Not nauceous, but upset and I struggled. Walked at the 1.5mi part for a bit and walked the last .2 miles as well.

26:45
2.39mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/75341796

Day 1146

Nice, long, slow run with my wife. Just jogging down the road on a beautiful day.

47:02
3.29mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/75342070

Day 1145

Quick run in the am, after lifting.

16:02
1.63mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/75342274

Day 1144

Running down Sunset Blvd, while the sun rose. A little ironic, and again, a slow start for the legs after a late night.

16:01
1.42mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/75342494

Running on the Beach

I arrived in LA, and immediately drove to Venice beach to run. It was a beautiful day, 70F after leaving a 15F morning in CO. I changed and headed down the sand, jogging along.

I thought about using the sidewalk along the beach, but decided to enjoy the wide, firm, flat beaches in CA and did a little over a mile down and then back. Great fun, and a treat to get a run at the beach, on the coast on the other side of the country from when I woke up.

Day 1143

Cruising down the beach in Venice, CA. Slow to start, but I warmed up nicely and had a great run.

28:19
2.6mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/75342854

Day 1142

The left calf was really tight today, a knot inside. I took it easy on the run, warming up more, going slower.

22:00
2.21mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/74626614

Day 1141

Nice run, easy, but trying not to push too hard today.

18:00
1.86mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/74471626

If I stopped today

I'd be 115 on the retired list of runners at the Running Streak Association.

115. 114 people bothered to track and send in their streaks and they'd be ahead of me. What's amazing is that if I complete this year, about 3 1/3 years, I'd only move up to 112. If I ran for 4 years, I'd only get to 106 or 107.

To break the top 100, I'd have to go about 4.6 years.

5 years gets you to the 96th place.

10 years required for 70th.

That's some serious dedication, and perhaps obsession.

Not sure where I'll stop, though I'd like to get through the end of this year. Serious skiing in Jan might make me think about ending it.

Day 1140

I can't believe it's 80F in late October in Denver. I took advantage of a non-windy day to go outside and take a nice long run. Felt great.

33:00
3.11mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/74260848

Day 1139

Quick one, waited too long to run with chores to do this am.

 

18:00

1.86mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/74079572

Day 1138

slept in, felt rested, then felt guilty seeing friends running on Twitter, so I got up, lifted a touch, and then worked out hard.

26:00
2.7mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/73912304

PhD Research

I got asked to fill in a survey from Ted Vickey, for his research and, I assume, dissertation. I don’t know if he wants others to answer, but here’s his site:

http://ht.ly/6YrFH

The questions on the survey were a little strange to me. I exercise because I enjoy it, want to stay fit, and it’s really my “hobby.” I use various fitness tools, mostly to track what I’m doing. It’s mainly because of this streak that I do it, otherwise I’d really slack off.

I am probably different than others, mostly using the tools to help me know when to taper back my exercise more than motivate to drive forward, but just as I love the feedback on time and distance on the treadmill, the same feedback from Runmeter does help motivate me to push through some days.

Day 1137

Struggling. Up at 5am and tired today. Slower, hard run

22:00

2.2mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/73771030

Day 1136

Nice easy run on a cool, fall, CO day.

24:00
2.44mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/73622996

Day 1135

A short one today. A little worn out and needing to relax a bit.

18:00
1.82mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/73419478

The Group Run

Last week in Seattle I ran with a large group, over 40 people and it was great. I was in the middle of the pack, moving around and talking to quite a few people during our two miles.

A picture of us warming up.

Day 1134

Cooking today. Felt a little tired, but viewed it as a challenge before I shut down for the night. Cruised at 6.6 to start and 6.7 for the second mile, finishing 2 miles in 18:05. Then pushed on for 4 more minutes.

24:00
2.54mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/73333706

Day 1133

Good strong run. With karate tonight, had to hold back.

22:00
2.28mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/73177214

Day 1132

In a hurry, so a quick one on the treadmill today.

16:00
1.61mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/72959652

Day 1131

Easy run late in the day.

20:00
2.04mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/72803642

Day 1130

Tired this morning, and struggling to get going.

16:00
1.57mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/72577524

Day 1129

In a bit of a rush this morning, and didn't want to race down to run the waterfront, dodge cars, and get back at a reasonable time with an early morning session.

20:00
2.03mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/72577246

Day 1128

Group run through downtown and along the water today. Slower pace, but nice to chat and run with about 40 people.

30:48
2.26mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/72259604

Day 1127

Quick treadmill run before the conference starts in Seattle.

20:00
2.05mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/72259838

Day 1126

Hard run today, short and quick since I have to catch a plane, and I was feeling stressed. Struggled to get through it.

18:00
1.82mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/71889698

Day 1125

Nice run today, relaxing.

22:00
2.24mi


http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/71778390

Day 1124

Excellent treadmill run. Snow outside, but I cruised along for a nice long run

26:00
2.72mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/71634418

Day 1123

Struggled to get going. Did a few sets of back workout, but then wasn't sure I had the mental energy to run for 20 min. However started watching a DVD and got lost. Next thing I knew it was 14:00min and I was doing fine. Good run

22:00
2.23mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/71434072

Day 1122

Nice, strong, steady run today.

24:0
2.41mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/71309096

Day 1121

Trying to get my daughter a little more exercise, so I waited to run with her this afternoon. Nice, slow, pacing run for me. She alternated walking and running, but I ran in place a bit. Not sure what my total distance/mileage was, but this is the linear distance and right time.

22:31
1.53mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/71309648

Day 1120

Great long, fast run today

24:00
2.52mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/70964182

September Totals

September was a good month, with my pushing things for a long run every week and 2 miles most weeks. I ended up with 68.38 miles for the month, with a 3 3mi runs and a lots of 2.25-ish runs.

For the year, that brings me to: 552.8 a 730mi pace.

Maybe I will get to a2mi/day average.

Day 1119

A good strong run today, cruising along on the treadmill, despite being a little tired from the UK return.

22:00
2.26mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/70769472

Running in the UK

I have a Verizon, CDMA phone. I knew it wouldn't work in the UK before I arrived for this trip (I found out in July). However I was sure I'd get wi-fi from the hotel and could plan a route. No such luck, and it was a mistake to count on it.

No problem, I thought. I'll just run a simple route. It worked, mostly, in London, though I did miss a turn and run about 1/2-3/4 of a mile more than I expected. I thought I'd be more careful in Liverpool, but I wasn't. Or, I got confused.

I was traveling for about 24 hours of real time. According to the clock it was closer to 30 hours, but I'd had some sleep, and when I started out at 8pm, I was tired. I left the hotel, thinking I'd stick to one road, but after a half mile I hit a large intersection, one that didn't look like it had a good straight route, so I turned left. I thought I'd stick with that, but 1/4 mile or so that hit a large highway I didn't want to cross and I turned right. No big deal, I thought, thinking I'd recognize both intersections on the way back.

I went 9 minutes out, thinking I'd come back quicker, and not wanting to hurry. However I realized that I was also enjoying the run. When I came back, I think I hit the first turn to the left correctly, but then when I got to the next large intersection and went right, I knew I'd made some mistake. I backtracked a little, still jogging, but things looked funny. I think I looped around in a few circles, blowing past my 20 minutes to about 26 minutes before I knew I was lost and looked for a map. I found one and stopped my run at that point, trying to figure out where to go. I thought I had a route, but once I started, I knew I'd made a mistake again, and stopped jogging again to ask someone outside a pub which way to go.

I got pointed in the right direction, which wasn't the way I thought I should go. I wasn't far off, but I was off, and I'm glad I asked. I jogged back to the hotel, arriving only slightly late. Not too tired, and not an outrageous run since I was going slower than expected the majority of the time. I'd been warned about Liverpool being dangerous, but I never really worried about that while I was running. I stuck to well lit areas, and busy streets and things were fine.

The biggest issue was not really studying a map of the area I was in for 10-15 minutes and noting some large street names. I knew my hotel, but I hadn't even gotten the name of the two streets that crossed by it. A mistake, and one I won't make again.

Definitely an adventure, one I didn't want at 9pm at night, but which worked out OK and I had a good run that night.

Day 1118

Up early to run in the hotel before flying back to the US. Nice Lifefitness treadmill and some rugby world cup as I cruised along. That treadmill definitely felt quicker to me.

20:00
2.05mi


http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/70769718

Day 1117

Another early run, looping down by the docks in Liverpool.

15:00
1.33mi