The First Training Run of 2010

I know some of you have been using your treadmill lately to get your miles in. I don't have a treadmill or a gym membership, so I just get out and run on the snow and ice. It can get slick out there, but here is a slick way to modify running shoes to give you more traction.

Hopefully the snow and ice will be mostly melted before our run on Saturday. We are starting at Veterans Park again at 7:45 a.m. Advanced half marathoners are scheduled for 5 miles and Advanced full marathoners for 8 miles. The routes can be found on the RunnersWorld Tulsa website. I also created maps on the mapmyrun website. They can be found at the following urls.

Five mile route: www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/ok/tulsa/575125955918348819
Eight mile route: www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/ok/tulsa/596125955897477106
Here are the turn by turn directions:
Five mile route: Take 18th St. to Cincinnati to 19th St. to Swan Lake. At east end of Swan Lake go south on Utica to 21st. Go left on Utica and right on Yorktown. Turn right on 29th St. and stay on it until you get to Woodward Blvd (it zigzags to the right at Peoria). Turn right on Woodward and right on Madison. Left on 21st and back to Veterans Park.

Eight mile route: Take 18th St. to Cincinnati to 19th St. to Swan Lake. At east end of Swan Lake go south on Utica to 21st. Go left on Utica and right on Yorktown. Turn left on 26th St. and stay on it until you get to Florence. Turn right on Florence, right on Evanston, and left on 26th Pl. Turn left on Yorktown. Turn right on 29th St. Follow Victor, which becomes Forest Blvd, which becomes Terwilleger. Go left on 27th and left on Rockford. Turn right on 29th St and follow it to Woodward Blvd (it zigzags to the right at Peoria). Turn right on Woodward and right on Madison. Left on 21st and back to Veterans Park.

We are stepping back on mileage a little bit this week, but we are making up for it by giving you hilly routes. The hills will be good for you, building strength in your legs that will carry you through your marathon or half marathon. In the past, I have tried to give some encouragement on some of the hilly routes by marking verses from the Bible at particularly hilly spots. I won't do that this week because it will be too wet for the chalk to stay on the pavement. But, here are a few of the verses:

I lift up my eyes to the hills-
   where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD,
   the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip. 
(Psalm 121:1-3)

GOD, the Lord, is my strength;
   he makes my feet like the deer's;
   he makes me tread on my high places.
(Hab 3:19)

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
   the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
   his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
   and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
   and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
   they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
   they shall walk and not faint.
(Isaiah 40:28-31)

2nd Day of Christmas/Boxing Day Report

Not too many people out running with us this morning, the second day of Christmas. Just Sam and me to represent the Ethiopian Elites. The other groups were just as sparse. We did a little under 12 miles, and it was a little slower than our usual pace, but with all the snow and ice it felt like we were putting in a lot of effort. After Sam left, I jogged back on the trail until I met up with Joe, and I ran back with him. Total miles for me is about 13.5. That is also my total for the week. Rachel wimped out and ran a half marathon on her treadmill at home. At least she got in her miles. Rachel pointed out to me that Saturday was also Boxing Day, but I don't think she was wearing boxing gloves. I think she is more into knife fights. Seriously, boxing day is a holiday in the UK. My sister-in-law, who is from Bermuda says they celebrate it there too. It is also the feast of Stephen, the day that good King Wenceslas went out when the snow lay round about, deep, and crisp, and even. The snow sure was that today. Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 646 ft Location: Tulsa, OK Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 12/26/09 Up/Downhill: [+344/-344] Time: 08:03 AM Difficulty: 4.1 / 5.0 Weather: Fair 26 F temp; 54% humidity 26 F heat index; winds SW 6 Performance Distance: 11.78 miles Time: 1:48:11 Speed: 6.5 mph Pace: 9' 11 /mi Heart Rate: 150 bpm (Avg) Calories: 1503 163 bpm (Peak) Map Elevation (ft) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 44 +0' 33 6.2 -0.4 +55 ft 2 9' 22 +0' 11 6.4 -0.1 +7 ft 3 9' 22 +0' 11 6.4 -0.1 -7 ft 4 8' 46 -0' 25 6.8 +0.3 -62 ft 5 10' 30 +1' 19 5.7 -0.8 -20 ft 6 8' 47 -0' 24 6.8 +0.3 0 ft 7 8' 57 -0' 14 6.7 +0.2 +9 ft 8 9' 17 +0' 06 6.5 -0.1 -10 ft 9 8' 36 -0' 35 7.0 +0.4 +6 ft 10 8' 44 -0' 27 6.9 +0.3 -6 ft 11 8' 53 -0' 18 6.8 +0.2 +3 ft end 8' 59 -0' 12 6.7 +0.1 +23 ft Versus average of 9' 11 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

The Second Day of Christmas

Yes, we will be running on the second day of Christmas (Saturday, December 26). No need to bring two turtledoves, but bring two warm gloves and apparel selected so you won't freeze. We are starting at Veterans Park at 7:45. The schedule has the advanced full marathoners doing 12 miles and advanced half marathoners doing 7 miles. We will be running even if it is bitterly cold and snowing.

The route directions are as follows:
Advanced Half: 7 miles. Go to Boston Ave. and north to 15th Street. Turn right on 15th. Turn right on Madison and then left on 19th. Go around Swan Lake and return to Madison via 19th Street. Go south on Madison and turn right on Woodward Blvd. Turn left on Cincinnati and right on 25th. Turn left on the trail. Cross the river on the pedestrian bridge and go south to the first water fountain. Return to pedestrian bridge, cross river, and follow the River Parks Trail back to Veterans Park.


Advanced Full: 12 miles. Go to Boston Ave. and north to 15th Street. Turn right on 15th. Turn right on
Madison and then left on 19th. Go around Swan Lake and return to Madison via 19th Street. Go south on Madison and turn right on Woodward Blvd. Turn left on Cincinnati and right on 25th. Turn left on the trail.
Cross the river on the pedestrian bridge and go south past second water fountain and go across the creek with the bridge covered with chain link fence. Turn around at that point and follow the trail on west side of the river to 11th Street. Cross the river, and follow the River Parks Trail back to Veterans Park.

Click here for the map of the routes.

I hope everyone has a great Christmas. We have family in town and are having a great time so far. We just finished having a party tonight with family and some friends and had a great time singing Christmas carols. I think my favorite is "Hark the Herald Angels Sing."

Hark the herald angels sing

"Glory to the newborn King!

Peace on earth and mercy mild

God and sinners reconciled"

Joyful, all ye nations rise

Join the triumph of the skies

With the angelic host proclaim:

"Christ is born in Bethlehem"

Hark! The herald angels sing

"Glory to the newborn King!"

Christ by highest heav'n adored

Christ the everlasting Lord!

Late in time behold Him come

Offspring of a Virgin's womb

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see

Hail the incarnate Deity

Pleased as man with man to dwell

Jesus, our Emmanuel

Hark! The herald angels sing

"Glory to the newborn King!"

Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace!

Hail the Son of Righteousness!

Light and life to all He brings

Ris'n with healing in His wings

Mild He lays His glory by

Born that man no more may die

Born to raise the sons of earth

Born to give them second birth

Hark! The herald angels sing

"Glory to the newborn King!"

The Sing Off

Okay, this isn't running related, but I watched the finals in The Sing Off tonight, a competition for a cappella groups. The group that won, nota, was very good, but I kind of liked the fourth place group, the socals. They won me over with this Journey medley a few days ago.


The Beelzebubs, who ended up second, were also pretty good with this Who medley, at least with "Behind Blue Eyes." I'm not sure I really like their name, though.

Nota did a great job on this Jackson medley.

Saturday Before Christmas

We had more people out yesterday than the previous Saturday. Among those present were three runners who did very well in the White Rock Marathon, Rachel, Curtis, and Kaci. I would post a picture here, but my daughter, Becky has my camera. We also had Chuck and Rob joining us. Dave, Holly, Jill, and Sam were back for their second Saturday. Brian also ran with us, as did Kurt. Many of our group stopped after about 6 miles. Brian, Kurt, Chuck, Jill, Sam, and I then did an out and back to 41st and Riverside after the 6 mile loop. Here is the record of our run: Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 632 ft Location: Tulsa, OK Elev. Gain: -3 ft Date: 12/19/09 Up/Downhill: [+380/-383] Time: 07:58 AM Difficulty: 3.8 / 5.0 Weather: Overcast 37 F temp; 72% humidity 37 F heat index; winds NW 10 G 16 Performance Distance: 10.79 miles Time: 1:33:08 Speed: 6.9 mph Pace: 8' 38 /mi Heart Rate: 149 bpm (Avg) Calories: 1373 162 bpm (Peak Map Elevation (ft) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 41 +0' 03 6.9 -0.0 -29 ft 2 8' 31 -0' 07 7.0 +0.1 +10 ft 3 8' 25 -0' 13 7.1 +0.2 +3 ft 4 9' 29 +0' 51 6.3 -0.6 +23 ft 5 8' 54 +0' 16 6.7 -0.2 +27 ft 6 8' 27 -0' 11 7.1 +0.2 -33 ft 7 8' 41 +0' 03 6.9 -0.0 -23 ft 8 8' 37 -0' 01 7.0 +0.0 -3 ft 9 8' 27 -0' 11 7.1 +0.2 0 ft 10 8' 17 -0' 21 7.2 +0.3 +3 ft end 8' 29 -0' 09 7.1 +0.1 +19 ft Versus average of 8' 38 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

My training for the week went like this:

Monday: 5.5 miles @ 8:02/mile

Tuesday: 5.2 miles @ 8:22/mile

Wednesday: 10.0 miles @ 8:14/mile

Thursday: 5.8 miles @ 9:58/mile

Friday: 6.4 miles @ 8:45/mile

Saturday: 10.8 miles @ 8:38/mile

Total: 43.7 miles

Next Saturday's distances are 7 miles for the half marathoners and 12 miles for the marathoners. Have a merry Christmas everybody!

Marvelite Run

Tulsa Running Club had their annual Marvelite Run last night, and I had a really good time. RunnersWorld runners were out in force. Brian has posted a slideshow on the RunnersWorld Tulsa website. Below is a map and elevation chart of the 5.75 mile run.

Map Elevation (ft)

Posted from bimactive.com

On another note, I went for an MRI on my shoulder Wednesday. Haven't heard the results yet, but when I left the imaging center I took a look at the wristband, which I scanned, and you can see below. Looks like I am a female! I was so excited. Competing as a female, I should be able to win some races, and I am already qualified for Boston. Yay! On the other hand, my wife wasn't so excited about it.

First Training Run for Oklahoma City Marathon

This morning we had our first training run for the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon and Half Marathon. The Ethiopian Elites was represented today by Dave, Holly, and Sam, who are training for the half and by Jill, Andy, and me, who are training for the full marathon.

Above is a picture of   Dave, Holly, Sam, and Jill before we began. We started right at 8 a.m. at about an 8:45 per mile pace. The temperature was mid 30s with a south wind of 9 mph with gusts to 18. Our course (which is displayed on the map at right) started south along Riverside into the wind. At 31st we headed east to Cincinnati, south to 34th and then east to Peoria. The Jingle Bell Run 5k was today, and we passed the start/finish line about an hour before the race began. Because it was the Jingle Bell Run day, I ran with a green and red elf hat with bells that jingled as I ran. Dave and Holly peeled off from the rest of us at about 45th Street and headed back to the Jingle Bell Run to see Holly's husband run. The rest of us headed back to Riverside, south to about 61st, and then back to Veterans Park.

Sam has just recently started running, and his longest run before today was about 6 miles. He would like to run the half marathon at an 8 minute pace. Judging from how he did today, he will have no problem doing that. We covered 9.3 miles with an average pace of 8:41, and Sam seemed like he was cruising along comfortably the whole way.

The picture above is the group that finished the 9.3 miles together - Jill, me, Andy, and Sam.

I hope to have more people with our group in the coming weeks. We have at least three from our group that missed today's run because they are doing the White Rock Marathon tomorrow. Good luck to Curtis, Kaci, and Rachel! It will be Kaci's first marathon. After that, she will train for a half marathon in the spring.

Thursday Night Run

Eric and I ran in the neighborhoods behind RunnersWorld for our Thursday night run. It was cold, so we started off pretty fast. Before the run I bought some really neat gloves at RunnersWorld. They have an led light in the right glove that flashes. I thought that having that blinking light would make my run safer. I took the picture at left with my cell phone, and the flash went off. Looks like there is quite a bit of reflective material on the gloves as well as the led light. They must have worked. My hands were warm, and I didn't get hit by any cars.

On our run we were treated to many Christmas lights. After about 2.5 miles I stopped and took a picture of one house that was brilliantly lit. Good, because I needed a short break.

The route was pretty hilly, and we were averaging just under an 8 minute pace most of the way, but then the last mile and a half was flat, and we picked up the pace to just over 7 minutes per mile. We finished the run having logged 5.7 miles averaging a pace of 7:44 per mile.

Ready to Start a New Training Session

In just a few days we kick off training with RunnersWorld Tulsa for the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. I am already registered for the marathon. I expect it to fill up because it is the 10th running.

Our run on Saturday is a 9-miler that is pretty flat. We will start at Veterans Park at 8 a.m. (be there early so we can leave right at 8). From there we go south on Riverside to 31st, then east on 31st, south on Cincinnati, east on 34th, south on Peoria, past RunnersWorld, through the neighborhood to Hwy 44 and Riverside, south on the trail until we hit the construction, and then back north to Veterans Park.

I cut back on my mileage after the Route 66 Marathon and have just started to pick it up a little. Here's what I've run so far in December:

Dec 3: Two runs in Little Rock. The first was a hilly 6.7 miles at 8:15 pace. The second was 3.3 very hilly miles at a more relaxed 9:34 pace.

Dec 5: Total of 12.3 miles. About 7 of those were on a hilly route with Curtis. Average pace of 8:39.

Dec 7: 4 mile hilly tempo run from downtown Tulsa through and past Owen Park at 7:40 pace.

Dec 8: Easy 4.5 mile run south of downtown at 8:39 pace.

Dec 9: Brrrr! An easy, but hilly, 4.1 mile run north on Denver and back on Boston. Average pace of 8:57.

I am now using my Garmin on most runs, and I have started an online training journal that has all the details. I have included it in my links as bonesinmotion Training Blog.