Running Report for the Week

I didn't run this week until Thursday. Tuesday I canoed 16 miles down the Current River in Missouri from Baptist Camp to Akers Ferry. Thursday at noon I did 5 miles at a brisk pace. It was hot and humid, and it took a lot out of me. Thursday evening I did 6 miles with the RunnersWorld group. I ran most of the way at a relaxed pace (about 10 minutes per mile) with Chris, who may be training for a triathlon, and Lisa, who is training for a marathon, and with Brian. With a mile and a half to go, I let them go ahead while I got a drink. The last mile I was pretty fatigued, so I walked a lot with Brian. Back at the store I drank probably four or five cups of water, then I ate handfuls of grapes, and a couple of pickles. Then I drank pickle juice and then some more water. Then when I got home I ate a bunch more grapes and drank a bunch more water. I didn't stay for the nutrition clinic, but I did eat hot dogs at home. Nutritious meal, right?

Friday I did 3 slow miles. When I got to a red light, I did push ups until the light turned green. Must have done a total of at least 50 push ups. At Veterans Park I did pull ups on the soccer goals.

Saturday was the Poker Run. I showed up with several others at 5 am to help set up. Wished I was still in bed. The marathon group did 3 miles and then the 5 mile poker run. I ran some with Ken, but he was having some bathroom issues and told me to go on ahead, so I caught up with and ran with Linda, Rachelle, Sandy, and Jennifer a ways, then at the water break I went on ahead and caught up with Deon, Lisa, Jason and a couple of others, then I went on ahead back to Veterans Park. For the Poker Run, I ran with Lisa Butler for about a mile at a pace that I probably could not keep the whole way, so when I picked up my first card, I let her go on ahead, and I ran with Tom and Bill until the turnaround. At the turnaround a young girl forgot to turn around, and by the time I thought about going after her, it was quite a distance. I kind of sprinted until I caught her, and that about wiped me out. On the way back, I ran some with Aaron and with Rita. I didn't stay for the prizes, but Patty, Kathy, Craig, Paula, and I put in some extra miles, going through Woodward Park, around Swan Lake, back to Veterans Park and then some more on Riverside. Total of 14 miles for the day and 28 for the week.

It was a pretty fun week.

Weekend Report

Saturday I ran with the RunnersWorld Marathon Training Group. Started out at 5:40 am and ran three miles alone - through Woodward Park and around Swan Lake. It was soooooo humid! I about died and really didn't want to run with the group after that. But I did run 8 miles with the group, and then Joe and I ran/walked back to make sure everyone was in, which added a couple of miles. Total of 13 miles for the day, 43 for the week. Paula and her daughter showed up as we were just getting ready to leave, and I considered doing another 6 with her. By that time the humidity seemed better, and I almost decided to go with Paula, but Joe talked me out of it, luring me into eating pancakes served up by the Lyons Club of Brookside. Joe, Ken, Kathy, and I all went for pancakes. It was a fun morning.

On the fourth of July my nephew, Parker, swam in the preliminaries of the 50 meter freestyle in the Olympic Trials. He, along with the other swimmers, was given one of those fast Speedo suits that cost over $500. He swam a PR and beat a few guys, but still didn't make it past the prelims. It was a good experience for him, though.

My daughter, Sarah, is now in India on a mission trip. I don't have a whole lot to say about the trip, but the photo is of her in India.

I won't be there for the Tuesday run. I will be canoing on the Current River. I guess I can count that as cross training. I probably won't get in too many running miles this week.

Fourth of July

I missed running with the group on Tuesday and Thursday because I've got relatives in town, but I still managed to get in some miles. Tuesday and Wednesday in the early afternoon I did a loop around Zink Lake , which is about 4.4 miles. Thursday at noon I did the same loop, but started and ended downtown, so it made the distance be 6.5 miles. It was hot every day.

Thursday night I met with a group at the parking lot at Turkey Mountain. Trail Zombie has a good blog entry about our run. It started with helping a guy who was in a motorcycle wreck. (See Ken's blog for more details). We (Vicky, Ken, Brian, Bill, and Glen) ran about 4 miles on Turkey Mtn. Then I did about another 6 on paved trails with all but Brian - also Kathy was with us on the paved trails. I've decided I need to get a brighter headlamp. The one I got was from Walmart, and I got it last year for Ken's birthday run. I haven't changed batteries since then, so maybe that had something to do with the light being a bit dim. Ken took the picture below. Apparently Kathy didn't put on enough bug repellent, and she is being bit by a big one.


I enjoyed running with the whole group, but I think the highlight of the run for me was running with Kathy. It has literally been months since I have run with her, and it was good to run and chat together. I'm looking forward to pacing her at night in the Mother Road 100, and this was a good practice run. I also plan to pace Brian in MR100, but that will probably be during daylight hours.

I hope everyone has a happy holiday!