What Did I Do Today?

Here I am sitting down, watching the Olympic gymnasts doing their thing, munching on my “fiber overload” for the night and just starting my blog for the day. I guess I have a “down, blue” feeling and I haven’t been able to shake it.

I should not feel blue today. My wife and I got a bunch of stuff moved around in our bedroom, our daughters got their rooms cleaned out well. My DD-6 is now riding her bike without training wheels and doing great.

So it all comes down to running. Running isn’t suppose to make you feel blue; running gets you excited and energized for the day. And I didn’t have bad “runs” today, but some of my hopes were dashed … and now I have to come up with an alternate plan for my first official 5K - post Iraq. It’s minor, but in some way, it matters to me.

I have Google mapped and found the route on Runner’s World for the Country’s Midnight Express. The problem is, all the maps list it as being over 5K. So, I had to know. After satellite recon of the target site, I came up with a hefty 3.28 miles. Drat!

Not good enough for me, I went for a recon this morning. My Garmins have been with me throughout 3 deployments. They have always been on time and on target, and I held onto my trusty Garmin 120 as if I was looking for a cache spot in the palm groves of the Tigris River. I lined up and took off. Mind you, I know that my goal is to race in a Marathon in January, and a 5K should not be of all that much concern, but …

… I want an official time of under 22 minutes, to verify my routines and to build on for progress. It helps my 2 mile Army Physical Fitness test run, which in turn helps me look better for evaluations. No matter that I did run on a certified mile track with a double GPS marked 3.1 miles and beat 21 minutes. It wasn’t an official race, therefore, I can’t list it as my time. But I digress …

24 minutes and 54 seconds and 3.29 miles later I was back at the starting line, taking a hit of my Propel and taking off again. Now, as Andrew is getting fit can attest too, a recon of your route is a good idea. There are lots of hills on this course that would make getting a good time tough even if it was a regular 3.1 miles. On my second go around, I was able to run more with the curves of the roads and plan ahead for the turns and hills.

25:25 and 3.30 miles later I was again standing next to my car and feeling a bit letdown. There would be no 22 minute 5K in my near future. I still am looking forward to the midnight event with luminaries lighting the streets and sprinklers going off on the sides of the road … but I was hoping. None the less, it will be a completion, and I hope that I can make it high up in my age group or in the top 10%

After my experiences out near Country BBQ, I knocked out an almost 5 mile run. I was on pace to break my 5 mile mark of 40 minutes with a 4.9 mile time of 39:13. I ended this week with 39.5 miles, just a hair shy of my 40-45 mile per week goal that I have for August. Only 3 months ago I was averaging 11-15 miles per week.

So, I shouldn’t be blue. Did I mention my youngest daughter is off her training wheels!

Peace!