Deer Data, Stuff n Puff and where do we go from here

I haven't written anything in a while. Part of that is due to not having done any workouts. I was in deer camp last weekend, and although there was no running, there was some walking of hills. I did not log more than a mile any given day though. I was wearing the HRM when I saw and shot my deer. I thought the data was pretty funny. You can see an almost instant jump from 80 BPM to about 150 BPM! So much for remaining calm under pressure! I am happy I had it on because I was curious and hoping I'd see one when I had the watch running. Oh, I did kill the deer too, so it's not like he got away.

On Saturday I did the Sullivan Stuff n Puff. I had not run in over a week so I was not expecting to do very well at all. I did hope that I would not walk any of it, but that did happen. I walked far too much for where I should be in my training. I don't know why, but my shin muscles were just tight. I did not feel like I had the lung capacity I should have had. This 5K course is short, always has been, but that's ok. Its a nicely run event, the people are friendly, and I generally have a good time. I'll probably keep doing it each year. I did talk my cousin into running it as well, but I don't think she had any fun. Jill's teacher and her husband also ran. I had a good time, but I need to push harder if I am going to do a half in under 2 hours. I ended up with a 2.98 mile time of 28:20 - probably my slowest race time ever. My first mile was ok at 8:47 and then it went to pot with 9:36 and 9:56 being my next two splits. I was trying to some fartleks in those miles, but it wasn't working so well. I did keep off a sprinting finisher at the end to finish 93rd out of 150+ Not great, and really, not even good.

Next up for me, is the Siberian I think. (maybe?) There is a New Year's eve run in Decatur and Lana (Mrs. Croy) mentioned something about the "frozen five". I don't see the intelligence in signing up for a 5K if I am going to walk it, so I will probably pass on the Santa Chase next Saturday.

I don't have the pictures from the deer hunt on my computer or I'd load it up. Maybe I'll get that done some day.

Mid Afternoon Run

This was my longest continuous run in awhile. I had been just doing 2 mile quick runs, this time I went 3 and then did some sprint type fartleks in the fourth mile. I felt pretty good overall. I could really tell the headwind in mile 2, but the corresponding tail wind helped during mile 3. Calorie burn was an amazing 636. Splits were 8:59, 9:42, 8:40 (wow!) and then 9:46. Little surprising that my sprint/recovery mile was almost as fast as my slow mile. I did spend less time in recovery than I had been. That most likely made up the difference. I then jogged out another 52 seconds covering 464 feet to end the workout at 38 minutes even.

Veterans Day

Gorgeous morning for a run. I was on limited time due to laying around awhile and Beth needing to go to work so I only did a 2 miler. I again surprised myself in my first mile, noticing that in the first qtr to half I was between a 9 and 930 mm pace I was surprised to finish it in 845. I was determined to make the second mile better (working on the negative split thing) and was again hoping for a sub 8. I did not make that but did make it in 8:30 so that counts for something, right?
I did a recovery/cool down for the last qtr or so and ended up with a 20 minute run and 351 calorie burn.

This 2 miler was a bit slower than the one I did on the 8th. Not by a lot, but noticeable.

What's up Google?

So, a couple of days ago you (Google) have a special thing on your "iGoogle" page for the birth of X-Rays - but today - nothing for the birth of the Marine Corps? You once had a tribute to pac-man.

Are you guys un-American or something? How can you not do something to mark the origin of one of our great fighting forces? Shame on you Google. Shame on you.

What a rush!

I started out this run not knowing how far or how fast I would go. I just wanted to run. I had not run since last week Tuesday and I've been feeling very sluggish, slovenly, and guilty. My back has started talking to me to, and I can only surmise it is suggesting the spare tire really needs to go. So, I went.
I started out at a pretty slow to moderate pace, the first time I looked at my watch, I think it said 9:49 or so. I didn't consciously make a decision to speed up, but I did and it felt good. I am terrible at guessing my pace - even after more than a year of running I havn't a clue. I checked it again at about qtr mile in and was surprised it said 8:38 or so. I decided at that point I was going to run a quick 2 and try to make the second a sub 8. I failed in that goal, but I did run the fastes two miles I have in awhile at 16:47 - 8:33 for the first mile and 8:13 for the second. I did a little .2 cooldown at that point to round it out for a 19:00 workout. It was fun and I hope to run again in the a.m. I feel so much better when I run, why don't I do it more? The 345 Calorie burn was nice too. :)

The voting run - and back again.

3.01 Miles - 28:47
I started out nice and sloooowww. I really didn't take advantage of the tail wind I had either. Of course, with where I am, I have more cross and headwind than tail wind. Such is life. It was cool and even though it was 50 - I wore my jacket. Of course I worked up a sweat, but I'm ok with that.
I must say the ladies at the polls were very nice and friendly. Well, all but one, but that's all I'll say about that. I was number 164 to cast the ballot here. I don't know if that is high or low and didn't ask. My splits:
10:13
9:19
9:08.
Negative splits....I'm cool with that. This run was good for a calorie burn of 474.

I voted. I wrote a long post about that - but I had an internet error - and lost it. I lamented about the quality of our candidates - and their lack of campaigning. Since it was a bit of a rant, I'll leave it off this edited version.

3.03 miles 28:40
What an interesting return run. I started off, and of course it was still windy. I didn't pay much attention to the watch on the run out, probably paid too much attention to it on the run back. Anyway, I was making pretty good time in the first mile and thought at one point I might have a sub 9 MM. My pace ranged in that mile from 11 mm at the start to 8 MM at the end of that mile and a total time of 9:16. (analysis after downloading) In Mile 2 of the return, I ran the first .2, and then decided to do some strides, recovery and a sprint or two. This resulted in a split of 10:02 for that one, which is not bad for as much walking as I did in that split. Then came mile 3. It started on a walk break (according to the data) and then I sped up. I started the last quarter at just over an 8 MM pace and then finished it out at just over a 7 MM pace. Overall, this split ended up as 9:00 even. This closed out a 6 mile run and I'm pretty excited over the performance. Tonight I shall go and watch the returns. I only hope I can stay awake long enough.
This return run was 465 calories burned for a total of 939. Not a bad day off.