Saturday, April 18, 2009

Boston Tribute

The 113th running of the Boston Marathon is Monday. Best of luck to my good friend, Laurie Aaron who will be taking the 26.2 mile tour.

As a tribute to Boston and marathoning in general, here's the finish of the 1982 Boston Marathon, what has long-been referred to as the Duel in the Sun between Dick Beardsley and Alberto Salazar.




I met Beardsley at the Austin Marathon and it looks like he could still kick out a strong marathon finish.

Friday, April 17, 2009

OvC: Round II Results & Round 3

The votes are in and Round 2 of Original versus Cover ended in a deadlock. Lifted by Gwen Stefani's vocal work, the Brian Setzer Orchestra was able to hang in there with the King and Ann-Margret. This edition made me realize that the original will almost always have an advantage over the cover version ... just by virtue of being the original. It's the version we're familiar with so it leaves the covering artists scrambling to stack up.

Yes, that was Gwen Stefani's distinctive voice. You may know her better as the lead singer of No Doubt or more recently as a very successful solo artist. Or, for you Utah Jazz fans who still have no idea who I'm talking about, she sings the Sweet Escape (the woooo - hoooo song played during almost every time out). As Paige pointed out in a comment, I really like her voice (not necessarily all of her music). It's unique and has a very distinctive quality.

I didn't vote this week but I suppose I'm called on to break the tie. I like Elvis and A-M's sultry approach but I've got to come down on the side of the Brian Setzer Orchestra.

On to the Round III, this week's song is Summer Wine. Written by Lee Hazlewood in 1966, he originally performed with Suzi Jane Hokom. However, it wasn't until 1967 when Hazlewood was joined by Nancy Sinatra that the song became popular.

The challengers bring strong resumes to the game. Bono of U2 is joined by The Corrs, four Irish siblings. Of course, Bono himself is Irish. This is a strong performance by Andrea Corr, who has since ventured off from her sisters and brother on a solo career. I'm usually not a Bono fan but his styling seems near-perfect for this piece and the story it tells.

Let the voting begin.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Too Fast to be Easy

OBJECTIVE
6 mi.@ 8:09

ACHIEVED
6.10 mi.@ 8:01

6:10 AM 57° 94% 5 mph

Strange run this morning. Started slow and felt like it was going to stay that way but somehow started flying over the last half without really noticing it. This isn't what's supposed to happen on an "easy" run.

I'm becoming more of a subscriber to the Kenyan way in that they supposedly always start their runs slowly. So slow in fact that they're barely shuffling along. This is how most of my long runs start. I used to think it was a problem but have since convinced myself, "if it's good enough for the Kenyans, it's definitely good enough for me." So over the last couple of months I've found my warm up distance is somewhere around 2 miles. A two-mile warm up ... ??? ... that seems weird ....

Another strange thing is the Wimbledon Forest Out-&-Back route I've been running lately for my 6-milers. I used to despise this route but now I prefer it over the Wimbledon Forest Loop that takes me along the LONG straightaway that is Cypresswood Drive.

PRE RUN
water & Cream of Wheat w/brown sugar & 1% milk

POST RUN
water, multivitamin & oatmeal w/1% milk

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Keepin' the Tempo

OBJECTIVE
6 mi. including:
Warm up
4 mi. Tempo @ 6:51/mi.
Cool down

ACHIEVED
6.15 mi. including:
WU - 1.01 mi.
6:48/6:50/6:49/6:54
CD - 1.14 mi.

5:38 AM 48° 100% 0 mph

I sure don't mind running in 100% humidity when it's 48°. The past two days have been fantastic.

I am generally pleased with today's run. My only disappointment is that the last mile of my tempo was the slowest but it was only 6 seconds slower than my fastest. Besides the tight grouping of mile splits, I was right on top of my goal time of 6:51 per mile. I haven't used the Virtual Partner in my Garmin for a long time. I actually forget the feature even exists but I sure do respond to chasing the little stick figure on my display. Simple mindedness, I'm sure. I don't think I ever stretched out a lead of more than 54' ahead of my pace and I don't think I fell behind more than 1'. That's a pretty tight range over the span of a four-mile run. I really need to remember to use this feature for future tempo runs.

I'm considering buying racing flats for the half and upcoming 10K's. I already have my eye on the ones I want but I'm not sure they'll work with my feet, gait, etc. I need to go have them fitted to see how they feel. If they're not the right ones, I need to move on to something else. I really should start wearing them soon if I going to use them in Ogden.

An easy six miles tomorrow before resting on Friday. After my Wednesday workout, the running week always seems like an easy downhill glide.

PRE RUN
weight = 160.5
water & brownie (yes, this is a weakness but sooo good!)

POST RUN
water, multivitamin @ granola w/1% milk

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Another 6-miler in the Books

OBJECTIVE
6 mi.@ 8:09

ACHIEVED
6.12 mi.@ 8:04

6:54 AM 45° 100% 0 mph

Calves are still tight but left IT band feeling noticeably better after doing PT last night. Need to keep that up!

Tempo run looms for tomorrow.

Also, I'm most likely going to race on April 25. This will be 3 weeks before the half marathon and I want to get a gauge of where my fitness stands. There's a 10K in Orchard, Texas on some country roads that should serve nicely. Since it's so close to my goal event, I'm not going to hammer it but plan to run my half marathon goal pace and see how I feel. I'm considering carbo loading and hydration/nutrition intake; basically making it a dress rehearsal for the half.

PRE RUN
water & brownie !@#$%!

POST RUN
water, multivitamin & granola w/1% milk

Monday, April 13, 2009

OBJECTIVE
6 mi.@ 8:09/mi.

ACHIEVED
6.12 mi.@ 8:00/mi.

6:40 AM 55° 100% 4 mph mist

Calves are tight.

PRE RUN
water & lite, organic granola w/1% milk

POST RUN
water, multivitamin & 5-grain hot cereal w/1% milk

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Apr 12 – 18 Training Schedule

Sun: Rest
Mon: Easy 6 mi.@ 8:09
Tue: Easy 6 mi.@ 8:09
Wed: 6 mi. w/4 mi. Tempo @ 6:51
Thu: Easy 6 mi.@ 8:09
Fri: Rest
Sat: Long 11 mi.@ 8:09

Hello? This is your Body Speaking

OBJECTIVE
10 mi.@ 8:09

ACHIEVED
10.34 mi.@ 8:04

7:36 AM 70° 97% 9 mph light rain

My left IT band is reminding me I haven't been diligent in my physical therapy. Consistency counts!

PRE RUN
weight 161
GrapeNuts w/1% milk

POST RUN
SlimFast