Early 9 Miles

Today is Labor Day. I didn't have to go in to the office but there was still plenty of work to do as we move closer to the September 15 deadline.

I previously volunteered to be a driver for the Boy Scouts this morning as they took flags out and posted them throughout our neighborhood. I've done this a few other times and enjoy the project. The flag raising exercise begins at 7 am.

This made for an early start to my run. My Garmin recorded the start time of my run as 4:43 am. Frankly, this really isn't that big of a deal for me. Mornings have never been an issue. Perhaps I can thank my early days milking cows at 3:30 am before going to school ... ???

Anyway I needed to finish my run in plenty of time to "do flags" at 7. I started from the Y again as most of my morning runs do. But instead of following the bayou all the way for 4+ miles, I followed an old ChampionsFit route that I had loaded into my GPS. The route broke from the bayou at 3+ and wound through a couple neighborhoods until I hit 4.5 miles then returned the same way I came.

I know today was supposed to be an "easy" run. But since I was feeling pretty good from Saturday I set some goals for myself. Since the scheduled pace was 8:51, I decided I'd run the first 3 miles at 9:00. Followed by 8:50 for the next 3 miles then 8:40 for the final 3. It didn't quite workout as planned:

8:53
8:58
9:07
8:53
8:30
8:51
8:52
8:45
8:33

So I'm not sure what to make of it ... probably nothing. I got my 9 miles in and was able to hit my training time of 8:51 (actually 8:49).

I wouldn't call it a "real" easy run but it wasn't a killer workout either. I should mention that I ran with sunglasses for the first time today. Thought I'd try them out so I picked up some Optic Nerve Banshees. Now why would I run with sunglasses at 5 am? Well, the lenses are interchangeable so I had the clear lenses in. So what's the point? Well, I wanted to see how they felt. You know if they bounced around or fogged up or irritated my ears or nose. Thankfully, none of those were a problem. In fact, they were quite comfortable. I wanted to try them out a couple times in case I decide I want to use them on marathon day.

Don't remember if I already mentioned that I returned the Asics Cumulus 9's that I bought a while back. After a couple, runs it felt like the ball of my right foot was getting "bruised" each time I wore them. It wasn't something I wanted to deal with or adapt to so I returned them. I absolutely have to get new shoes so I can run a bit in them before the marathon. The shoes I have now are well over 500 miles and are permeated with an indescribable and very powerful stink! Last Friday I ordered a new pair of Mizuno Wave Rider 10's in red. Yes, that's the exact shoe I now have. And, yes, this is the same shoe that seems to cause me blisters. But they're light (much lighter than the Asics I just returned). Hopefully they show up later this week and I can start the breaking in process.

I'm considering going to the track Wednesday for 10 Yasso 800's instead of the scheduled 9 mile easy run. A series of Yasso's is supposed to offer some insight into a realistic time that can be run for a marathon.

On Saturday there is a 5K sponsored by Cameron's high school. I need to get 9 miles but there is mounting pressure to run in the Bearkat Bash. I haven't figured out what I'm going to do yet.