Bret

AM - around 3 miles this morning before heading out on vacation in NC with the family. 

PM - after a nice drive to the mountains in North Carilina - I went exploring on some trails near the cabin we are renting for the week.  Really very pretty trails along a creek near Lake Toxaway and Gorges State Park. Guessing about 5-6 miles maybe more.  

AM - easy 2 miles with Finn around the neighborhood of the cabin before the family got up this morning.  Cooked up some bacon and made pancakes ahead of a day of hiking and canoeing. 

PM - after a 2 mile hike in the morning with the family and an excursion to the Ingles for groceries - Riley and I did a run on some trails in Gorges State Park.  Quite hilly and rocky. Riley was gassed on the climbs and so we wrapped it up early in time to get back to watch the Kentucky Derby.  

AM - 3 miles with Finn before heading up to Asheville to church and to spend the day exploring the downtown a bit. 

PM - a little over 6 miles along hwy 64 to view Toxaway Falls after spending the day in Asheville. 

AM - about 4.5 miles this morning- part of it with Finn.  He was spooked about something- and so he cut his workout a bit short - so I went back out afterwards.  Upper 40's - crisp mountain air.  Pleasant little run. 

AM - so yesterday ended up being just a one run day - as we did some canoeing and then later played tennis - and the daylight was gone before I knew it.  As a result I decided I would head out early before we got busy today.  Ended up heading down a couple of side roads which had some very aggressive dogs - and after a couple different efforts I just cut it short to slightly over 3 miles.  

PM - We traveled to Pisgah National Forest and did a hike that Delaney had done with a cross country camp at Brevard College a few summers ago.  I thought we were were doing about a 2 mile hike - which I planned to run down and then take an alternate route up for about 5 miles.  Again my plans changed, as we unintentionally took a trail that was 4.4 miles up to John Rock - which really was only runnable for a portion - with way too many roots and tight areas.  When we finally reached the rocky outcropping of John's Rock we had hiked for nearly 3 hours.  Our way back was a bit over 2 miles - which I later googled and found out we covered about 7 miles in total.  So I am counting it, since it took about 4 hours.  My puppy Finn came with us, and was a trooper - enjoying every minute of it.

PM - tired from the long hike yesterday so I slept in.  Went out around 4 pm with Riley to a different trailhead in Gorges State Park on Frozen Creek Road - we found a runnable trail called Catebreak - which in its full length is over 10 miles out and back - but she developed  a blister and was really not in shape for that distance anyway.  Good for 5 miles and some nice conversation. 

AM/PM - we went to Gorges State Park today for a 4 mile hike to see Rainbow Falls, which was really worth the effort.  Following the hike, which took a couple of hours, I had Tracy and the girls, take the jeep back to the cabin, and I ran back to tack on an additional 6 miles for the day.

AM - 1.5 miles with Finn before packing up the cars to head home.

PM - 4.5 miles late in the afternoon - thinking about doing a race tomorrow morning. 

Decided late yesterday that I wanted to race today.  There were several races to choose from, but I ended up selecting the MamaBear 5k in Buckhead.  When I was warming up, I ran into another race going on close by - a Race for the Cure event.   Riley and Delaney expressed vague interest yesterday evening in racing, but I was pleased that the both decided to get up and head down with me.

A bit disappointed with a couple of aspects for this effort.   1.  The time, of course, but more so with regard to the fading last mile; 2. Loss to a gent in the last tenth of a mile who I traded leads with for most of the race, and who ultimately was the overall masters winner.  Consolation was that he was 7 years my junior.   Have not run a 5k in ages, so the first mile was somewhat cautious/conservative at 6:37, second mile 6:32 (all of which made sense given my recent 3 x 2 mile workout in the same range), but the last mile ended up 7:07.  Little mental lapse in the last half mile resulted in me letting my competition pass me and let my pace drop off by 30 or more seconds.  

Overall, though, there were positives.  Course was very nice - not too hilly, and the event was well organized.  I saw improvement in pace per mile - since the 10k I did a few weeks ago (granted it was a 10k and not a 5k) - and felt stronger today then I did then.  And it seems that I have selected relatively small races in the last 2 - which have resulted in age group wins. 

My girls ran together and surprised me with a neck and neck sprint to the finish at 28:30.  They really enjoyed the race, and I love how even at their ages - they are still very close and enjoy each other's company.

I think I need to see where my speed has gone.  I will do a little work over the next few month in my training - with the hope of seeing more speed come back - but may ultimately have to adjust to "old man" times if things don't start to show improvement.  

PM - easy 4 miles shake out in the early evening on the golf course.

Took the day off from running to spend time with the family on Mother's Day.  Also was my daughter, Bradlea's birthday - who was born on Mother's Day 23 years ago.  Had a nice day.

AM - 4 miles with about 6 x 8 second striders.

PM - lunchtime workout on the treadmill. 8 x 400 with full recovery - with the exception of the first couple - I pretty much did these at 80-81 seconds or 5:21 pace.   This was a good workout for me.  Expect to feel a bit sore as this is the fastest that I have run in a while.  Normally I would have taken an extra day of recovery after a Saturday race, but I really felt like I had a workout in my legs today - and in hindsight, given that I was able to run these as well as it seems that I did; then I think my result on Saturday was more along the lines of not dialing in the right pace early on and not having done really any speed work in months.  And the fact that I was not sore or tired (although I did take yesterday off) I kinda feel like my effort on Saturday was more equivalent to a a short tempo run workout than a race effort.   Will do a few weeks of mixing in some more faster turn over/speed work and see how that impacts the next 5k result.

AM - 5 miles very easy this morning in a light rain.  Did not feel too sore after yesterday's workout. 

AM - 3 miles easy before work.

PM - limited time - 6 miles at lunch.

PM - had to get to work early this morning, so no morning run.  10 miles on the treadmill at lunchtime.

AM - 4 miles in the morning with the sunrise on the golf course before getting ready for work.  A bit tired and tight for some reason - but the softness of the surface was nice.

PM - So I decided to do another workout this week.   I thought it went well.  4 x 1200 at 6 min pace per mile or better with a 4 min recovery on the treadmill following a 15 min warm up. Did the first three at the following ppm 6:00, 5:54, 5:49 (so between 4:28 and 4:21 for the actual time per rep) and then on the last one instead of stopping at 1200, I decided to complete the full mile at 5:49 pace.  Finished with a mile cool down.

Granted, these are on a treadmill, but I still felt good about my speed and ability to sustain the pace for the workout. 

I have noticed over the last several workouts, that I am really fatigued and tired the second day following the hard effort both mentally and physically, but then I am ok by the third/fourth day.  Much more so than when I was younger.  

Trying to strike the proper balance the benefit of the workouts against the potential for injury and fatigue (a constant in this sport, I well know) - is to me a more profound challenge I am encountering as I near age 50.

AM - nice easy 10 miles this morning with our house guest Nick - who is here with his with and baby daughter for the weekend.  Went out after for about a 3 mile walk with Finn who got "fixed" this week and by doctors instructions is not permitted to run for at least 10 days.  

Took the day off.  Busy with new house guests and a birthday dinner for Riley who turns 21.  

AM - 4 miles easy before work.

PM -  6 miles at lunchtime just before a thunderstorm.  

AM - 4 miles easy this morning on the golf course just before sunrise.

PM - at lunchtime, good workout.  10 x 400 at 79-80 seconds with a 2 min rest following a 2 mile warm up and short cool down.  On the treadmill.  

Celebrating a quarter century of marriage to my lovely wife today.  

Work and life prevented any running opportunities for me today. 

AM - just time for 4 miles early before work and travel. 

AM - 6 miles of an exploration adventure run in the city of Edinburgh Scotland - I surprised Tracy with a trip to celebrate our 25th anniversary- We arrived early this morning - and as she took an extended nap- I went out for a run.  Really very interesting landscapes and sites.  Ran through a park called the Meadows and then to Holyrood Park which is a hill/rock outcropping where Arthur's Seat is located.  Cool run with great panoramic views of the city and the surrounding area.  Will post some  photos later.  

AM - 7 miles or so running around Edinburgh.  Really nice weather - no clouds or wind and in the upper 50s.  Lots of walking expected for the rest of the day.  

AM  - around 7.5 miles this morning...climbed the Arthur's Seat - which is about an 800 ft in  elevation climb over a short distance.  Super windy today, nearly lost my balance at the top.  

AM - around 10 miles this morning before heading to the airport.  Ran down to the water - the Firth of Forth ("firth" means bay or similar type esturary) which connects to the North Sea.  Cool morning, nice run along the promanade on the shoreline and then back to the hotel.  Happened upon a really nice track, with a stadium around it.  No football or soccer in the center - just a purpose built stadium for "athletics".   No college or school associated with it either as far as I could tell.  I like that.  Unfortunately, the gates were locked so I could not get in for a trot around the track.  

Anyway, we had a really nice visit to Scotland.  Happy to head back home now though.

PM - 4.5 miles at lunchtime.  Late return flight yesterday required additional time for my body to rest/sleep acclimate; so no run this morning before work.  

AM - did a workout this morning, because I had planned to do one last night after work on a track, but heavy thunderstorms and a very warm dinner of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and carrots awaiting me as I got home, caused a change of plans.    

Anyway, today is going to be a busy workday with an offsite litigation meeting, so I opted to do the following early, before work:  12 x 1 min on (using the Garmin workout feature) with a 1 min rest; after a short warm up and a mile or so cool down.  These were approximately 300 meter intervals on the road and I averaged about 5:40 pace for each, (some faster, some slower) given the hilly route I choose.  So not too far off from the pace I was doing on the treadmill for 400's last week.  Happy with the effort.

AM - 4 very easy recovery miles this morning on the golf course.  Still dark when I started, and the trees are so thick now, I wore a headlamp to see my way through the woods.   Sunrise by the time I finished on a cool morning after an overnight rain. Only me and a lone deer on the course.  Convinced that this is one of the prettiest places on earth that I have every been. 

PM - just under 7 miles at lunchtime.  Much warmer.

PM - roughly 8 miles after work.

AM - 2.5 miles of walking with Finn - then 4 easy - then a day of yard work including distribution of about 3/4 of a palet of mulch. 

PM - 7 miles in the evening.  Had to squeeze it in before a nice dinner Tracy prepared outside on the grill. 

Unexpected day off from running.  Took Finn for a 2 mile walk before church.