Upgrade!

Today I traded my beloved Garmin 205 for the heart rate version, the 305. I have been wanting to see what my heart rate has been on my training runs and now I can. I have always been a "pace runner" and I am sure there have been times that I have over trained. I am not too sure how I will incorporate the HRM into my training, but am open to ideas. Tomorrow's training run will be my first with this new device and we will see how it turns out.

As for my training, this week has been pretty good with nice strong runs. The weather was cooler mid-week and stayed pretty cool for my 9 mile long run on Friday. My long run made me more sore than normal. Nothing to worry about, but a little knee pain has crept in some.

Wednesday is July 4th and I will be out working. My City puts on a fireworks show in our City Park and I will be coordinating all of the security for the park. I will, however, get a chance to run in a local 5k called the "Firecraker 5". Many years ago this was a 5 mile race and I ran it a couple of times. This will be my first time with the 5k. I was scheduled for a 3 mile training run that day so this will work nicely.

I hope all enjoy a safe July 4th!

Back to the Grind

Time to get back to the grind of everyday living. Vacation was excellent! Spent a lot of quality time with my family as well as my friends. The major players of "F Troop" are pictured here. I also took the time to update the photo on my blog of my family at the same waterfall the previous picture was taken from. The week ended way too soon.

I was, however, very faithful to my training schedule. I had 4 runs scheduled for the week and was able to make each on of them. I really concentrated on taking it easy and enjoy the lite training week. All in all I did only about 20 miles. The highlight for the week of running was when one of the teenagers wanted to join me for a 5 miler. He plays football and thought it would be easy to hang with the "old guy". At a mile he asked when we stopped to rest. At 1.5 miles he suggested we cut the run to 3 miles. We did just that and had a nice 3 mile run at 30.18. He was sore and tired for 2 days. The young man said he enjoyed the running and asked me for tips on how to start his program. I gave him some tips and invited him along whenever he wanted a partner. It was fun to see the start of a new runner. I do have to admit that it was also fun for this "old guy" to show up the young teenager.

As anyone can see the scenery was "terrible". I took this picture just after hauling in a nice sized rainbow trout. For Charles, this is the tail waters of Stagecoach Reservoir.

I also want to mention my friend who ran with me in my "mini-marathon" completed the Coeur d'Alene Ironman, BIB 702, this Sunday. His final finish time was 14 hours 33 minutes and 31 seconds. He had hoped to finish in 14 hours, but there was considerable wind on the course. I was able to watch him finish on the live video feed. Man, do I love the internet!!!

ahhhh vacation!!

This week I am on vacation in Steamboat Springs Colorado. This is an annual trip we take called the "Father's Day" trip or also known as "F Troop rides again". Long story how that name came about.

This week is also an easy week for my running training. I ran 5.25 miles yesterday on a beautiful bike trail that follows the Yampa River through the town. I hope to stay true to my schedule this week. I can be a little difficult but I am committed to making it work. Now if I can only stay out of the wine everything should work out.

Happy training all....

Time on Legs - Priorities

Today my training schedule called for a 5 miler with speed work. But, since it was my daughter's birthday we went out for Chinese food. She is the best 12 year old I have ever known. My wife and I are truly blessed with such a sweet child.



As for the running, it has been going pretty good. The heat has been cranked up some which has led to slower workouts. But, it is all about getting some time on my legs as I train for my fall half marathon.



I have been tagged! Melisa has tagged me and the rules are 6 things about me that are weird.

1. I am afraid of the dark!
2. I always sleep on the side of the bed the farthest from the door.
3. I always sleep facing the door. (I guess first three are all related)
4. I don't like for my food to touch on my plate.
5. In a 22 year military career I served in all of the services except the Coast Guard.
6. I love to run. Some will say this is the most weird thing of all.

So there is the list. My wife had a lot of additional entries but will save that for another time.

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Time on Legs - Playing Hooky

Pardon my rant for a bit, but I am tired of spending all my time at work. 7 day weeks, 14 hour days is taking its toll and it was time for a break. So, I played hooky and took some time to go fishing with a couple of friends. I even caught a few fish. All of them were sent back to the river for another day. Thanks for listening.

The running has been going great! Each run these past couple of weeks has been really enjoyable. Sunday's run was a little freaky. I headed out for an easy 4 mile run. I started out on my usual route and after about 1/2 mile I glanced down at my Garmin to be surprised to see my average pace at 8:28! Wow!! So, like a dummy I kept up the pace for the entire run and ended what was supposed to be an easy 4.04 mile run with a time of 34:30 or a 8:32 pace. Even though I was proud of my time, I have to admit that if I keep on disregarding my training plan I am going to injure myself. It is the competator in me that pushes each day.

New blog out there for people to view. It is called "What's a few miles among friends". This blog is a place where those training this summer for the Phedippidations World Wide Half will share their training logs and comments about their journey toward the race. Check it out.

Fall Races

It is the season of summer running with the training for a fall race. I am in week one of my program for a race on September 16th. I will be running in the Crossroads Half Marathon. This race is in support of our local organization that helps women of domestic violence. I will be running this race with several of my running partners. I am told it is a pretty fast course and will be looking for a PR.

My good friends out in the blog world have suggested that I train for a fall marathon. Petra, Melisa and MarathonChris are all running a marathon this fall. Even Kevin is seriously thinking about it. My challenge this year is my summer schedule as well as an upcoming vacation. As a former Marine, I want to run the MCM and will most likely try for that in 2008. This summer is so crazy for me that I cannot figure out how I would fit in the training time needed. I am also spending 3 weeks of October in Europe.

So, I have settled for a half marathon for this fall and am desperately trying to figure out how I can participate in the Phedippidations World Wide Half. I will be in transit that weekend and cannot find an organized run the week before to enter. But the search is far from over. I will train as if I will be able to participate.

And so the training begins....