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Jacksonville, FL, United States
In Life as well as in running the secret is Pace.

Monday, November 28, 2011

4 day weekend




If Judi knoew how much Peanutbutter Jimmy and I ate while she was in Deleware we would both be in big trouble


Wow!

I think if every weekend was four days long I might just, as my Granny used to say, wear myself down to a nub… 

The crew

the ugly shirt

Thursday:

We all did the local Turkey Trot…  specifically…  I did the Subaru Distance Classic ½ Marathon while my kids, along with my oldest daughter’s boyfriend did the 6K.

I knew that I just didn’t have the speed in my legs that I had last year http://allaboutpace.blogspot.com/2010/11/race-report-outback-12-marathon-2010.html

With that knowledge I had a bit of a hard time motivating myself….  I’d probably have skipped the race had it not been for the kids and the tradition…  Since I love them both…  my kids and the fact that a couple of teenage girls would want to get up on Thanksgiving morning to go do a race with their old dad…  we signed up and got the T-shirt.

Just after the national anthem (man I have a real hard time with folks who mill about while our anthem is being played) I tossed my shirt over a tree branch and started to slip up the line as close to the front as I could get…  I didn’t get too far before the cannon boomed…

The race itself was, for me, more like a tempo run…  I tried to stay relaxed in the early miles…  with the plan being to turn it up a notch and finish strong…  which is the exact opposite of the way I tend to race.  The plan worked…  nice and smooth for the first handful of miles… knocking off 7:4x…  funny thing tho….  As I tried to pick up the pace…  I began to tire…  my head said go 7:30 pace…  my legs said 8…  we compromised at 7:45.

End result was a 1:42 half…  no too bad.

Even passed a guy in one of the ugly race shirts in the final turn.


Looking like a cooked turkey
After the race we drove home and packed the car for our trip to Grandma’s house…  our part was Broccoli casserole that I cooked the night before and frying the turkey (yes we fry everything here in the South)

 
Once packed I hopped on my mountain bike and rode the 16 miles over to their house…  my daughter followed later in the car.  I had the rare experience of a whole ride with a tailwind and made it there in less than an hour…  even with tired legs.


Friday:

Rode 45 or so…  about half of which with one of the local groups… 


Saturday:

I got to Hannah Park about the time they opened the gate and 2 hours later I had ridden most of the trails there crashed 5 times including one endo! And run 3 miles.

In the woods
At noon we picked up Judi from the airport (the highlight of the weekend)

Sunday: (long run day)

Got a bit of a late start but as Judi put it:

 
“I have 20 miles in my brain and that’s what I want to do”

in action self portrait
So we ran…  From Jax beach…  South to Mickler’s landing in St Johns County…  back north through Sawgrass…  then North for a couple of miles…  and finally a quick out and back to even it off at 20.  Not pretty but well done.  Judi had cramping issues but fought through like a champ.

Monday:

I’m kinda happy to be sitting back at my desk




































Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Judi and Michael's Rails to Trails 50k


What: Judi and I are going to run the Jax-Baldwin Rails to Trails plus a little extra to make the run 50k

Where: We will Start and finish at the Imeson Road trailhead in Jacksonville, FL



When: January 21st 2012 at 0700

How:  Basically a self-supported run.  There are facilities (restrooms and water fountains) along the way roughly at 6, 12, 14, 18, and 25 miles.  You will be responsible for not getting lost and keeping up with your time.

Who:  all are welcome.  Let us know if you plan to attend  

Why:  Because it's there...  and it's 28.sonething miles round trip...  why make it 50k?  Well...  Judi has yet to do an ultra.  We couldn't find one nearby in January so we made up our own.

Notes From the Feild

1. Started the weekend with a spin class followed by core and stretching before going out to dinner… A good idea but I think that after 15 years of spin classes I’m just getting sick of it… We have bikes in our gym where you can basically give yourself a spin class… I’m liking that option more and more.

2. Reverse Brick last Saturday… 10 mi run @ Steady endurance pace followed by a 35 mi ride. It was a really good idea but for the fact that we did the return leg of the ride into a 25mph headwind….

3. 17 mile run on Sunday… with the last 4 progressively faster

4. I ran with my youngest Monday after work… we just jogged 2.5ish miles and talked… I dig that kid

5. Really bumping up the run mileage this month… over 100 already. Hopefully will pay dividends later.

6. A final thought:


Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Doing what I love and lovin what I do...

.

Yesterday I was reading this post from Big Daddy Diesel…

I know where he’s coming from


and while I do get up…  make lunch for my kids… and do the 9-5 M-F corporate grind…  it’s just a small part of my life…

the rest is illustrated by this past weekend.

Judi and I got in a nice 7 miler at lunchtime on Friday just to get a jumpstart on the weekend.

Somewhere near Lake Butler, FL
We followed that up with a 3 mile run on the site of our Next Ultramarathon (more to come on that later).  We had planned to run 6 but had a challenge or two getting out the door… . then had a planned meet-up with a few of my old work buddies from Winn-Dixie for a 75 mile ride.

The ride was heckawindy…  and the forecast of sunny and 72 by noon was way off…  it was barely 55 when we finished... but we did and had a good time catching up with some of the old WD IT crew.



Sunday morning we ran 16 in even higher winds than the day before…  despite that we nailed our planned pace and felt strong at the end.

Post Sunday morning run
In between all this training we also cooked (and ate) some really good food…  watched a couple of good movies, some parenting, and did some mindless chores around the house… 

Took the girls out to lunch
And loved every minute of it…





Jimmy did zero training this weekend


Friday, November 4, 2011

Bike race or cult


As Judi and I headed to the car last night after cross an older gentleman who had been playing tennis stopped to ask us what the ruckus around the park was about.  We explained the basics of cyclocross, the course etc… as we were leaving he said “I really was not sure if it was a bike race or a cult”

I assured him that it was probably equal parts of both.

My friend Mark joined us last night as well…  I think he had a good time…  hopefully he will blog about it…  he is much more entertaining than I am.







Mark, Judi, me







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