after the latest long

so it's been a few weeks now that i've managed to run with the pacemakers. very interesting it's been. i'm certainly among the slowest, if not THE slowest, so i don't really hang out with them very much. mostly i follow their route, and at the end there are one or two who might talk to me. but still, having a defined route to follow, knowing that at the end there'll be others who've done the same, not bad.

so this week's was 15+ and i have to say, i felt far better at the end than the first two. the first one i remember being pretty dead most of the second half, actually, doing lots of walking. part of that was lack of fuel, but not only, i'm sure. the second week i ran with them, i was so frustrated at the convoluted route...i guess if i was running with the group it wouldn't have mattered, but being all by myself, i kept having to stop to look at where i was, where i was supposed to be, so it didn't feel right at all. this week, it was through familiar territory, i had the new water pack, a couple of granola bars, and all in all did a million times better, running pretty much the whole way. ok, up northern from falls to cold spring beat me, but c'mon!

i have to pull myself back to reality on days like that. i did the half-marathon distance in less than 2:30 this time (2:26). i know, some will finish the entire marathon in that time, but for me, who came into this thinking ok, i just want to finish, 7 hrs is plenty but maybe i can try for 6ish, now i'm thinking 5, or to be honest, remembering lw and that 446...hmm... if i do that i'll probably kill myself so need to ground back to thinking just finish.

i don't know what to do about time. i seem to jog at 10 minute miles. the reason i'm slower in aggregate is that i have to stop periodically. all those years on the couch, the thyroid, and yes, all that smoking, i do have to remember are dragging. but i'd rather be doing 8's and resting than 10's. oh well, maybe the goal for this year is to finish, for next year is to finish and not walk so much, and for year three is to run a bit faster. do i have the patience for that? who knows. feels like a decent plan tho. (nyc in 2010, chi in 2011?). don't get too far ahead. let's just get to this one without any more injuries, get thru it, and then see what happens. yeah, good plan. ok, another day.

btw, bmsamson on garmin connect, mapmyfitness. if anyone does stumble by and wants to check out my progress, there it is...

been a while

ok, so it's been a while since i added anything here. not that anyone is looking, but still the exercise is interesting and i may want to read this front to back when it's all done.

1. i hit the actual 50 a couple of weeks ago. the earth didn't move, my hair didn't suddenly fall out or turn white (it's mostly white already, truth be told). i didn't suddenly turn into an ancient decrepit. i just got another day older. no biggie.

2. on the other hand, when one of my neighbors the week prior mentioned that he was selling his motorcycle, told me what it was and for how much, i snapped it up. some say, aha, there's that midlife crisis again, me, i just saw a bargain and jumped at an excellent investment opportunity. that it's fun, well, that's just gravy :)

3. the running. the original purpose of this. so, i managed to recover from the foot injury. did mostly as the doctor ordered -- that is, took my anti-inflammatories, threw out my shoes and bought another pair, rested a week or so, and started back relatively easy. it's been all good since. no injuries at all. on the other hand, this heat is a bear, especially now as my mileage is climbing.

actually, i hit something of a plateau after coming back from the injury. that is, kind of 4 or so mile days several a week, and then 5-6 or so on the weekend. couldn't do those 8, 10++ long saturdays. well, we went on vacation, other things got in the way, but really, i just didn't think i could.

so i found a group online of folks in the neighborhood, seemed open, so i figured i'd try them to kind of push myself for the long run. calendars finally worked out this past saturday.

well, that was my longest run ever, i think. 13+ miles. ok, so i didn't run the whole thing, especially nearer the end when i ran out of what to drink and the heat got worse. but the 10k split time was better than my race a month or so ago, which is a good sign, and even the whole thing paced out to a decent for me time. and no, i didn't finish last of the group, though only a couple behind me. not to worry, it's no competition, except with myself and survival

what else. so i went this weekend and bought a garmin forerunner 305. did my first run with it tonight. love all the data, and how much better it tracks than the iphone, and of course, easier to carry/wear. will take some time i think to get it programmed for what i want, actually to figure what i want, but for now, just gathering and looking at data is worth it. observations -- the steady 9-10min/mi pace at which i tend to run, i've got it pretty consistent. wish it was in the 8's, but maybe next year. how when i was getting like i wanted to walk a bit, invariably the garmin said i was at 85+% max heart rate, and once i got it below 80, i was ready to run again. but how to keep it in the sub 85% zone so i can keep it up and not want to stop, that's the challenge. run even slower? i'll have to tinker with the alerts and see if i can get there. everything i read says training at 85% just doesn't work, certainly for prolonged periods, so i have to get to where i can keep it below that so i can go longer. like this weekend, when i think i did pace myself pretty well (though no garmin, indeed no iphone, so hard to tell).

ok, i'm getting off. the good news is that after that 2 1/2 hr, 13+ mile excursion on saturday, i felt ok, and running tonite, no lingering aches to speak of. will i run with them again this saturday? hope so. i need to keep building the miles to make it thru the end of this, plus i want to see the data a long run will provide, tech curious data geek that i am.