6 miles: Hot

6 hot miles today. Trying to keep the mileage low until the leg is better. The heat helped me keep it short.

12.3 Miles. The heat is on.

Today I ran 12.3 miles. It was hot and sunny. It wasn't as bad as it's going to be but it still was hot.

After three days off, the leg is better but not 100%.  I might keep the mileage (for the week ) low until it's 100%.

10 miles: RC Cola Moon Pie 10 miler

(From race-shirt)

This morning I ran in the RC Cola Moon Pie 10 miler. I was rather unsure how this would go. My left leg is still bothering me. My progressive goals were a overall pace of 1) 10:40 2) 10:30 and 3) 10:20. The range there is about my pace in the last marathon to my target marathon pace. The idea was to try to dial in a good target marathon pace and do this run as a marathon training run.


I had to stop right off the start for a bathroom break and then joined back up with the run. I took liquid at miles 4 and 6 and skipped the other official water breaks. It was a warm and somewhat humid southern morning but nothing too bad. It was actually ok for part of the run when there was a light breeze.


I got some advice some veteran runners (and fellow runitfast club members) at the start to run a decent pace until the major hill around mile 4 and then figure out how much to push it after that. So that's what I did. 


I walked that hill. It was short but steep. I probably walked it faster than I would have run it. I felt good at the top and started to pick up the pace. My overall average pace was around 10:20 at the top of the hill.


I felt decent from miles 4-6. I was running around a 10:10 pace. Somewhere around mile 6 I started to feel good and picked it up and keep between a 8:45 to 9:30 pace the rest of the way.  My time as tracked by my Garmin was 1:38:25 for an average pace of 9:46 (and distance of 10.06). I'll update that if there are official results published later (Update: Official time 1:38:23, two second difference, likely a second for me to hit start and stop on each end).

*Update: It occurs to me now I may have feel good from mile 6 on because it was slightly downhill from there on.


I enjoyed this run much more than any 5K I have ever done. I didn't really even feel all that great until mile 6 and then felt better and stronger with each mile. I bet more people would be into distance running if they could get past the first few miles.


Race review:
It was a fun run and the overall organization was good. The one poor spot was parking. It cost 5 bucks to park but there was no information about this ahead of time. Five is fine but not knowing ahead of time wasn't. I was lucky to have cash on me. 


Race packet pick up and timing was fine. Run by Nashville striders (a club), so it wasn't surprising to see that part go well.  There was no signs saying which way it was to the start of the race. The start was out of the area of the town square. I had to ask a race official where the start was. It's a small town and so following the crowd would work but signs would have been helpful.


The start was on time (roughly). The course was rolling hills with one big one around mile 4. Water stops at mile 2, 4, 6 and 8. There was also an unofficial (I think) water stop at the top of the hill run by a local family (I'm guessing). They had great cold cold water. Another person had set up a water spray station (I ran in it of course).


Accents. Everyone seemed to have a good southern accent except me. It was "fun" to listen to other runners. Three people asked me where I was from because I didn't sound like I was from around there. People along the course were very supportive. A few cars on the road but that is understandable as they likely had places to be and things to do. It's a very rural county area. 


Race finish. There was a nice little hill at the start of the last mile to remind you it wasn't over yet.  Good finish with water provided right there.


Afterwards: There was a spread of food (moon pies?) but there was a line for it and I had to get going. I'm not really into standing it lines and didn't want to eat anything anyway. It looked fine for the people that were into standing in line for moon pies.


Overall: I will definitely try to do this run again next year. I now have a time to beat and had fun. The goal for next year is to beat my time and figure out what a moon pie is.

3.7 miles (Thursday night)

Just a quick note that I ran 3.7 miles Thursday night. It was just about getting some running in since I was going to take the next day off.

5 Miles: Blame the boy

Today I ran five miles. Since I have a 10 mile run this weekend a 5 seemed to be about right based on what I would do for a marathon this close.  Plus I had a decent amount of work to do today that would have prevented a much longer run anyway.


I took three days off. My leg is not really better but it's more clear what is wrong. I have a sore spot in the middle of the left thigh. I don't think it's running related. It's the spot my kid's heel hits when I pick him up. I think I got a heel kick I didn't notice at the time. It's the new theory anyway.

4.2 miles: Dead legs

Tonight I ran 4.2 miles over and back to the graveyard of the founder of Franklin. It was a fitting run as my legs are dead. Sometimes running on sore legs is the right thing to do, that kind of run is called a recovery run. Sometimes the best thing is not to run at all. The next two days, maybe three will be just that. These last few days of short, slow runs have not helped.

10.2 Mile dental run

Today after a dental check-up I ran into town and back for a 10.2 mile run. I have the 10 mile race next weekend so this distance was about that race. My legs are still a bit sore so I did not push this one at all.


I'll likely take it easy on Saturday and then try for a quick 5 on Sunday.  

5.5 Short run

Today I ran into town and back. Lots of work and sore legs kept this one short. Taking tomorrow off.

5.3 Miles (Tuesday)

Last night I ran into town and then around there a little bit before heading back home. My legs are still a bit sore. Might take it easy today and off tomorrow.

3.5 miles: Local hills

Tonight I did a 3.5 mile run around the local area trying to hit as many "hills" as possible. Good evening run. I just ran at a natural pace.  Might try for a faster run tomorrow.

5 mile Starbuck's run: marathon pace

Today I ran the 5 mile Starbuck's run. My legs are a bit sore but not so bad. Still, I didn't want to push it here but also didn't want to run too slow. I figured on doing a target pace that would beat my last marathon time, so doing that over 5 miles wasn't too hard but wasn't too slow either.  Good run.

28.4 miles: Garmin 205 verse iPhone's runmeter app.

(Photo above somewhere near mile 16 on map below)

Today I ran 28.4 miles. I didn't really plan to run that far (more like 20) but it was such a nice day (around 70) and mostly overcast I couldn't help myself.  I didn't even have a plan about where to go until I was about 2 miles from home.

I ran over to the Natchez Trace Parkway (about 9 miles) and then ran on it until the northern end of it (I also saved a turtle- go me). I was going to run out of water so I got off it there to resupply at an aid station (gas station). I took a short break there (Below) to eat and drink and then headed home!

I got a Garmin Forerunner 205 as an early father's day present! It's a GPS running watch I wanted for wearing during marathons, etc. I ran today's route using the old method (an iPhone 4 with the app Runmeter) and the Garmin. The iPhone recorded 28.32 miles and the Garmin recorded 28.41 miles. Both started and stopped sitting right outside my door. The difference is 0.3%. Great. I can trust both. 

(photo above taken around mile 8 on map)