Friday, April 23, 2010

Take me home country roads, er' air

Friday. I just spent the last several days in Denver Colorado. All work related, but I always try to make sure I have some fun. This time though the fun was limited. The days were filled with business meetings and doing the “grip and grin”. I felt the show was successful and it is always good when you get to spend time with your clients.


I really wanted to make certain I took any free time and put that to training. The Wednesday track workout was limited to the treadmill running mile repeats. The first mile was interesting as the treadmill said I was exceeding the speed limit, funny. I had to keep pushing the button to speed up. It did make the first mile pass quickly. Between the 1st and 2nd mile I switched treadmill. It was better and did not have a speed limit. I was doing 3 x 6:15, with a ¼ mile RI between. The second mile seemed to require some effort, but the third mile… tough. Halfway through I thought what is going on, why am I so winded.


I fought my body telling me to slow down or stop and held the pace. I was frustrated. It was not until I looked out the window and saw the Rocky Mountains and remembered, oh yeah… no O2 up here. I felt a lot better after that realization.


The next day I knew that I wanted to put some work in, I hit the stationary bike in the early morning until I had worked up a good sweat, at which point I hit the weights and did my core work. This was followed by a quick shower and shave and way too many meetings.


After the meetings ended I considered the chance of me actually making my 8-10 mile run happen on Friday with more work and a long flight home. I realized the chances were slim. Waiting for a Tornado (yeah a tornado) warning to pass, I grabbed my shoes and headed outside to trial. I was filled with exuberance, I like running in new places and Denver has great trails that run along creeks and rivers. There was a head to one of the trails near my hotel, lucky.


I knew this time my location so I told myself to keep the pace in check. Nope. It did not happen. I went out too fast. Within a mile I was dealing with leg pain, and it felt like I was breathing through a straw!


I kept running and cut the distance to 5-6 miles. Not exactly the workout I was looking for, but I did get a run in and I was working hard. All things considered, I’ll take it and move to the next week.

Heading home today… really looking forward to seeing Kim and the boys.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Life good... Menchies EVIL

I find myself on a plane yet again. The price of doing business, I do not mind the travel, I do mind being away from the family. I knew today would be a long day, starting at 5:00 AM in Atlanta, and ending late in Denver. That did not keep me from wanting to have a good run, especially after an inspiring run by my good friend Corey in Boston, a smoking 3:11:29 is impressive, even better he dropped 6 minutes off last year’s time. With thoughts of next year’s race in mind, it was easy to get out of bed and put on the running shoes.

I would be running alone this morning, thus I would not have the benefit of Jay’s Garmin. With the energy from hearing about Corey’s race, I knew I would have to temper my enthusiasm during the run. I planned on five miles at tempo with the first mile being just under 8. Sure enough I hit it just under 8 minutes, not bad, not fully warmed up I had a hill in front of me that would take care of that. I found myself breathing hard and more than warmed up at the top of the hill, my pace quickened and I averaged at about 7:30, basically I went too fast on the second mile. Mile three was mostly downhill, Mile 4 rollers and mile five trended downhill the last mile was run at 6:40, clearly too fast. My average was 7:17 for 5.38 miles. I was up and down on speed, but was happy that I was outside running and enjoying a great morning. I thought about the fact that Corey ran this for 26.2 miles… Nuff said. Humbling.

I will miss Wil’s soccer practice tonight, as well as a game of basketball with Jack. I have not spent much time on my journal in the last 30 days, but I have spent a considerable amount of time with Kim and the boys, I'll take that trade off. Though wish I had posted Wil’s game on Saturday, 4 goals! He is a very good soccer player, he knows where to be and understands passing and finding the goal. Fun Stuff.

This past Sunday I dragged Jack to the AYFA Combine, I only did it as I knew he would enjoy the experience, I was right. He was very excited to tell me how he was the top athlete in his group for the speed and agility drills, and top three in the 40 yard dash. He thanked me for working with him on speed and weight training. Good kid.

The family discovered a ice cream place call Menchies… we have already been twice, this could be trouble for my weight.