Donation Totals

Monday, December 28, 2009

Treadmill Tempo Workout

Well it wasn't that cold out temperature-wise, but with the wind as hard and bitter as it was, it felt MUCH colder. So once Cole went down for his nap, I ran down to the gym and got in a nice little treadmill tempo workout. I started out at 7.6 mph, picking it up to 7.8 mph after about a 1/2 mile. At the one mile mark I jumped it up to 8 mph, and from that point on I pushed it up 0.1 mph every half mile until I hit 3 miles completed. For the final mile I pushed it up 0.1 mph every 0.2 miles, then running the final 0.1 miles at 10 mph. Overall I finished the 4 mile run in 29:53, which is a 7:28 min/mile pace and finished the miles in 7:58, 7:33, 7:22 and then 7:00 min flat. To cool down I ran aa 1/2 mile at 6-6.5 mph and then walked back to my parents house. Felt pretty good overall, think next time I am forced to do this, I will try to beat my PR for a 5K.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Morning run with Betsy

With another morning of built in baby sitters (my parents), Betsy and I got out for another run, this time running in the other direction than our typical runs. It included some nice climbs on the way out. I ended up having to stop at a gas station due to some GI issues, which are still on going, but all things considered it was a great run averaging 8:03 min/mile for the almost 4.8 miles. Betsy is really getting her speed back, it is getting to be more fun to watch with each day!

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Morning run in Georgia

Got in yesterday and while still exhausted, am certainly better than I was yesterday. So after a bit of putzin' Betsy and I finally got out for a run. We were going to pick up a cake from our friend Layne who owns an awesome bakery Sweet n' Sinful in Avondale Heights, GA for my mom's birthday, so along with the fact that neither of us has been running recently, we cut it down to about 3 1/3 miles, which we finished at an 8:02 min/mile on a pretty hilly course. Good run overall, hope to get a few more in soon.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Trainer workout with Betsy.

Because of the blizzard (about 2 feet of snow at this point), we had to suck it up and do a trainer workout. We decided on Spinerval's Muscle Breakdown (much to Betsy's chagrin), which involves alot of sprint efforts, some isometric squats and some time trial efforts. Overall a good workout.

Lunchtime run before the blizzard!

They are calling for 30 straight hours of snow starting this evening at midnight, so it appears that getting a run in tomorrow or even Sunday is pretty well in doubt. So when Mike called just before 11 am to see if I was up for a run, I decided to go. We got out for our typical 10k route, this time maintaining just over an 8 min/mile pace (8:06). Felt ok, a little breathless and a bit tight, but on the whole it was a good run. Dissappointed about the weekend though! Guess I will be doing trainer work!

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Treadmill Track Workout!

Since I missed track practice on Tuesday, I decided to break at lunch today to get a track workout. But of course being a wuss and it being 30 degrees out, I decided to do the workout on a treadmill! And once again I had the good fortune of getting stuck with the treadmill with the TV that is stuck on Fox 'news' (quotes intentional). Well anyway I did the workout set out by Jerry, starting with a mile warmup at an 8:30 min/mile pace and then doing a 6:49 mile, a 5:00 min 3/4 mile (6:40 pace) a 3:12 1/2 mile (6:24 pace) and then a final 3:09 min 1/2 mile (6:18 pace) with a 400 jog at 8:30 min/mile in between each effort. I finished off with a nice 3/4 mile cooldown. Good workout overall!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Spinervals Big Gear Strength, OUCH!

Betsy met me at NRL after the postdoc poster session to give me Cole so she could get to track practice, so Cole and I came home and enjoyed a Man's Evening! After a bit of playing and dinner and then bed time, I hopped on the bike for Spinerval's Big Gear Strength workout, a series of efforts, both standing and seated, all in the hardest gear ratio, along with some squats. Wow what a rough workout.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Morning Recovery Run on the Treadmill

I have been having difficulty holding the pace down for my recovery runs, so I decided with the terrible weather to hit the gym this morning and put in a dreaded treadmill workout. I kept the pace to 8:30 min/mile and felt fine. Had to pee way too many times, so it broke the run up a bit and I couldn't change the TV channel from Fox News, so that was miserable, but overall it was what my body needed.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Long run on a relaxed week

Betsy and I had to switch off because it was too cold to take Coley along with us, so Betsy got started earlier and had by all accounts a great run, and then I got to run. I got out at a pretty nice 7:40 min/mile pace and then found that I was picking it up on mile two, knocking out a 7:29 pace, so I decided to slow down and put out a pretty solid 7:40 min/mile pace most of the way. Overall I put down a 7:43 min/mile pace after finishing with a strong 7:30 last mile. It turns out that overall this run was a PR for both a 7 mile effort and for an 8 miler! Great run despite the cold weather.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Lunchtime Run with Mike P.

WOW WOW WOW WOW WOWWOOWOOWOWO it was SOOOOO f'n cold out! Mike and I got started just a bit after lunch in the frigid weather for our usual 10k at lunch. We tried to keep a solid pace and over all succeeded. The hill was quite rough and I had to stop briefly for the restroom at the top, but then kept it going the rest of the way. Oddly enough, it turns out that it was our fastest on this course ever! Of course the cold weather led to a serious ache in my ears for the next couple hours, but overall it was worth it... of course until I do it again tomorrow...

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Terrible Run with Betsy and Cole.

I decided to try to avoid traffic on my return to NIST today and therefore went for a run with Betsy and Cole this morning before hitting the road. I have also been attempting to stop using my allergy medicine, an experiment which today's run clearly showed to be folly. Had a decent run as far as time was concerned, but struggled the whole way and had to stop a couple times to get some breath. Of course to continue on my day, my trip to NIST, which I was making later to avoid traffic instead put me in the midst of construction traffic on the Wilson Bridge, which took a 1.5 hour drive and made it close to 3. UGH... Anyway, it has been a very interesting day to say the least.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Tempo Run with Betsy and Cole

I worked from home today after a really terrible night's sleep. I think all in all I got about 4 hours of off and on sleep. However, I did hear that my paper got accepted, with some revisions, so that is why I stayed home to work on that. Therefore, Betsy and I decided to take Cole out for a tempo run this morning as a break. Considering I was pushing the stroller and the weather was in the mid 30's, I was quite happy with the 7:56 min/mile pace we maintained. I did labor a bit at places, but was able to put in a nice push at the end, so it couldn't have been that bad!

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Weekly long run

After the snow yesterday and the really cool morning weather this morning (low 30's) Betsy and I didn't feel comfortable taking Cole outside for a run, so we Auntie Elana came over to watch him while we went for our run. Betsy decided to do a new route today, so we took off heading out towards the Potomac, with a quick jut out on Accokeek Rd. Once down to the river, we stopped for a minute and had some Sports Beans and then got going again. I had some really bad tightness in my hips and quads, but we still averaged 8:14 min/mile overall. Had one tough mile on the way back climbing Berry Hill where our pace dropped to 8:44, but overall we never dropped to a pace slower than 8:20 min/mile otherwise, knocking down the miles in 8:14, 8:08, 8:20, 8:16, 8:05, 8:17, 8:02, 8:20, 8:09, 8:44, 8:07 and 8:07 min. We did stop briefly after mile 11 because of tightness in Betsy's insole, but otherwise we had a good finish. Feeling very rough right now, but it was good to get out for the long run.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Trainer workout with Betsy!

For a nice new treat, Betsy joined me this morning for a trainer workout due to the SNOW that we are getting. Since she hasn't done any trainer work in well over a year, she wanted to do a recovery workout, so we settled on Spinervals Recharge, which includes a lot of long intervals at steady pace (3 and 1 min efforts) finishing off with some nice short sprint build work. It was really enjoyable, distracting at times watching Cole play around (a good kind of distraction!) and the time past really quick, then off to some friend's for a Pirate-themed birthday party and then home to watch the UF vs. Bama SEC Championship game!

Friday, December 4, 2009

Trainer workout

It is supposed to snow tomorrow and we have a birthday party and some people coming over after that for the UF/Bama game, so I wanted to make sure I got a workout in tonight. Therefore I put in the Spinervals Zoot Suit Challenge workout, which involves some standing sprints and lots of super spins. Felt pretty good. Overall glad I got it in.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Terrible morning run

Beautiful day, it was in the 60s yet I still couldn't get any kind of rhythm going. Felt tight, rough, and had a terrible run. Wanted to go for a 5-6 miler, but quit it around 4 because of how terrible I felt. UGh...

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

No Track? How about a Tempo Run?

Well it turns out that Elana couldn't watch Cole for us tonight so Betsy and I had to cancel on our trip to track. So instead I headed over to Bolling AFB to get in a nice tempo run as replacement. Overall, I put in a nice 6 miler at a pace 7:33 min/mile, breaking in easier with a 7:50 first mile, then dropping down to 7:31, 7:33, 7:34, 7:33 and then finishing off with a final 7:21 min/mile. Good run considering I beat my previous PR by well over 2 min.

Monday, November 30, 2009

4th Quarter Update!

Hey everyone!

So the year is about to come to a close, only one month left for 2009! I wanted to write and update everyone on Mary Payton's status, a new fundraising method that we all can do without spending a cent and where we are for total mileage and fundraising! First, the new dosage of her medication has been working fairly well, dropping the frequency of her extended seizures (20-60 sec in length) to about 1-2 a day. She still is having a number of myoclinic and lip smacking seizures, but progress is still progress. If you check out the website (www.marypaytonsmiracle.com) you will also see that the research group at Cornell University has agreed to initiate the gene therapy treatment with only a 20% downpayment, allowing the cost to be paid over a period of years. However, with about a $2.5 million dollar cost to treat five children with Batten's Disease, significant fundraising is still required. As always, if you would like to donate, even $5 is a huge help.

I of course realize with the current state of the economy, giving is more difficult than it has been in the past. However, there is a way for you to help out financially without spending a dime! There is a search engine on the internet called GoodSearch that is powered by Yahoo. As with all search engines, websites pay the search engine for traffic directed to their websites, however, unlike all other sites, at Good Search 50% of all money raised is donated to charity! Furthermore, you can designate which charity you want the money made from your web searching to go to! It would be wonderful if you would all be willing to use this website and designate Mary Payton's Miracle as your charity and help the Vigil family get the gene treatment for Mary Payton and four other children stricken with Batten's Disease, strictly by doing something we do every time we are online! Furthermore, Goodsearch also includes GoodShop, where between 2-6% of all purchases made online through GoodShop will be donated to the charity you chose! Further, as an added bonus, it pops up with any available online coupons to that store when you do the search!!! So if you do any of your Christmas or Holiday shopping online, simply by searching and purchasing through GoodShop for the retailer you are interested in, you can save a couple bucks while you help out at the same TIME! Finally, GoodSearch does have a downloadable seach menu bar for your web browser if you prefer to have it up there!

As for our efforts, we are still doing quite well! Overall, together we have raised $3443 to date and I have gotten in 5061 charity miles! This has included a marathon, a 10 miler, Muddy Buddy, an Olympic Tri (in which I won my age group for the first time ever) and on Thanksgiving a Turkey Trot 5K in Charlottesville VA. To all of the donors and well wishers, thank you again for all the help and support. For those of you still wishing to give or who now find themselves in a better position to do so, it is never too late and every dollar raised is used 100% towards helping Mary Payton and others battling Batten's disease. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and hope this year has been as productive and enjoyable as it has been for Betsy, Cole and I!

Josh Caldwell

Trainer Workout: Spinervals Recovery and Technique

I wanted to go running this morning, but woke up a bit late and couldn't quite swing it. Of course, by the time I got into work and got going it was pouring rain outside. It kept raining all day, not stopping until well after 6PM. So after getting Cole to bed, I decided to do a trainer workout before watching my Pats on Monday Night Football against the undefeated New Orleans Saints! Since I hadn't been on the trainer in months and I am still recovering a bit from the combination of the hilly 5k and our 10 mile run on Sat, I decided to do the Spinervals Recovery and Technique workout. Lots of one leg drills and super sprints. Good workout overall, felt pretty decent and nice and easy to work my way back into the trainer efforts. Track tomorrow!

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Morning Long Run with the Fam!

We returned from Charlottesville yesterday and took the day off from workouts so that we would be prepared for our long run today. As I didn't sleep well (got to sleep around 2am) on Thursday and Betsy didn't get to sleep until after midnight last night, we slept in a bit this morning and therefore didn't get going until almost 10:30! With the chilly weather though, it wasn't really that bad of a deal to start a bit late. So we hit the road with Cole for our 10 mile run. I felt quite good most of the way, having a bit of soreness in my hips, but nothing too terrible. We kept a great pace, finishing in 1:22:17 (8:13 min/mile), with out miles in 8:21, 8:17, 8:09, 8:07, 8:14, 8:18, 8:14, 8:14, and then an 8:04 min mile. Betsy was a bit rough at the end, but finished strong despite it all! Great long run to get back into the swing of it!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Charlottesville Turkey Trot 5K

We arrived at my mother in law's for Thanksgiving yesterday evening and knowing we were going to be here, we decided to run the 5K in Karen's neighborhood. As it was close by, we started with a nice easy jog from Karen's house down to the start line, keeping about an 8:40 min/mile pace. After stretching and waiting a bit, we pushed our way to the start line and then got started. I took off pretty quickly, getting out a 7:05 min/mile, then hit the hills on the second mile (grades up above 10% multiple times), which slowed me down to 7:41 min mile. Following the completion of that mile, I was able to get it going again and put out a final 7:15 min/mile and then finished the final 0.1 miles at a 6:08 min/mile pace, finishing in 22:23 overall. Considering this was my first 5K outside of a triathlon since 2004 and was an extremely hilly course, I was quite pleased with the overall result! Will get my placement tomorrow! Betsy on the other hand finished in about 24 min, which last year would be enough for a top 3 finish in her age group! It will be interesting to see how she finished tomorrow! Afterwards Betsy and I did a nice easy cool down run home.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Afternoon run at Bolling

I wanted to get in a nice run just to loosen up before heading out for Charlottesville tomorrow, so I headed over to Bolling to get the run in. I got started at the fitness club, keeping a nice 8 min/mile pace pushing off through the general's row, then down to the water along the path. It seems like they finally finished the trail, with it extended past the DIA into the Anacostia Park! However, the downside of this was I kept on running and got to a point where I had some trouble finding my way back. I ended up figuring it out, but only after spending an extra 1/2 mile running around trying to find my way. It ended up being about 5.5 miles at a pace of 7:49 min/mile overall. The miles were completed in 8:08, 7:53, 7:50, 7:49, 7:42, and finished the final 1/2 mile at a 7:24 min/mile pace.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Afternoon Tempo Ride

So today has been a great day, started off with Betsy having training for Behavior Watch with the Lion's at the National Zoo, so Cole and I had a morning to ourselves. We started off with church, where he was the best behaved little boy a daddy could ask for, only uttering a cute little 'Uh Oh' when he dropped his milk, which of course got quite a few giggles from the congregation. After hitting Lowe's for a new chisel, we got a bagel as a treat at Panera before heading home for a bit of play time and then lunch and a nap. After Betsy got home, I got out for my tempo bike ride. I did really well heading out, with a really strong tail wind, averaging 20.9 mph over the first 10 miles. Of course when you have a tail wind on the way out, you have to have a head wind on the way back. Which of course beat me into submission over the next 19 miles, dropping my average to 17.8 mph, ugh... Overall, I still averaged 19.3 mph, so not too shabby. Now for a beer and an afternoon watching the Pats play the hated Jets with Betsy and Cole!!!

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Saturday Long Run

Colvin had a really rough night, between teething and a bit of a cold, so Betsy and I slept in and decided to not take him for our long run. This of course meant that Betsy and I needed to run separately, so Betsy went first, while Cole and I sat at home dancing and playing (he now sings to Cold Play's Viva La Vida!!! SOOOO CUTE!!!). Betsy got home and I then got started. I was planning on running 9 miles, but by mile 2 I was already realizing that I should have eaten something more before I left and my run through Hard Bargain Farm was not quite as long as anticipated, so it ended up being 8 mile instead. No matter, the hills still did me in, pushing me out to >8:20 min/miles for miles 3,4, and 5, before digging back in and pushing out about 8 min miles from there on out. I did die out with about 1/2 a mile left, but overall still finished fairly strong. Considering this was my first real long run since Sept in Helsinki, I was pretty happy with the effort.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Easy run with Mike P and Bill A.

Got out for our usual lunchtime run together, but with Mike having a marathon in Philly on Sunday and Bill recovering from a hamstring injury we kept it short. We put in a nice easy paced 5 miles, keeping it to about 8:19 min/mile.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Morning run pushing Cole!

I was still a bit groggy this morning after my migraine and headache medicine from last night, so my attempts at working this morning while Betsy was at the dentist were a bit less than could be desired. After finishing up an additional section of the ebeam lithography mask I have been working on, I decided to go for a run, despite still being a bit sore from yesterday. It was a bit chilly and I never completely loosened up, tweaking my right knee once again at about mile 2.5, but overall it was a decent effort. I ended up averaging a 7:46 min mile, with the actual miles completed in 7:59, 7:44, 7:43 and 7:42, so a nice consistent increase in pace for a decent negative split. Think I might need a day off tomorrow though as I am now planning on reinstituting my long run on Saturday!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Afternoon Bike Ride

I had a dental appt today, so I had to leave work early. Upon getting home, I figured I would go for a ride and then do some work when I got back, so I took off on the Mt Carmel ride and felt really good... initially. But the wind was rough and took alot more out of me than I anticipated, dropping my avg speed down to 17 mph for the last few miles. However, it was still nice to get out for a bit. I did feel a bit of a twinge in my right knee towards the end, but it seemed to loosen up towards the end.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Morning run with the Family.

I am working on a mask for a lithographic patterned array for work, so I decided to stay home with Cole and work on this while Betsy drove Alex to the airport to save Cole from having to get in the car for ANOTHER long car ride. Got a good deal done before Cole got up, then was able to actually keep working while he ate and then played. Once Betsy got home, we took a quick break and hopped out with the Bob for a nice 4 mile run. Got off to a good start, putting in miles in 8:11, 8:01, 8:02 adn then 7:45 min/mile! Felt pretty good and it was a perfect sunny day for a run.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Morning 'long' run with Betsy and Cole.

Well, funny how the definition of 'long run' varies depending on the level of running effort that I have been putting in recently. Of course with the reduction in running mileage this month with the recovery from the race season, the trip to Europe, getting sick and the terrible weather recently, I need to take a step back to rebuild some of the endurance again. This morning, Betsy and I got out for our old Marhall Hall 10k route, keeping an 8:23 min/mile pace, being treated to a Alex Sink prepared Cappucino upon our return! Good times! And the Pats are on Sunday NIGHT FOOTBALL!!!

Friday, November 13, 2009

Treadmill running… ugh.

It has been raining all week, so I finally broke down and headed over to the gym to get in a short 4 mile run on the treadmill at an 8 min/mile pace. Overall it was a decent run. Need to get more in over the next couple weeks.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Lunchtime Run with Mike... First time back on the road in a week!

I was feeling much better today, so I decided to try a run and see how it went. Well, it went ok. Had to ask Mike to roll the pace back a bit because I still had a bit of crap in my lungs, but still had a good run. We finished miles in 8:19, 8:05, 8:53, 8:14, 8:19, 8:22 min/mile, finishing the 6.15 mile run in 51:23.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Home alone, recovering from a cold, lets go biking? Yeah I am an idiot.

So I had to stay home from our planned trip to Shannon's art show because I felt terrible pretty much all week. But going right along with Murphy's Law, once Betsy and Cole left, I felt much better and now realize I could have gone. Anyway, so what does this mean? Well how about I go for a bike ride? Of course. What comes out of that? MY Cough is back... Good call Josh... really good call... It was an ok bike all things considered, but I hope I didn't set myself back another week by going...

Monday, November 2, 2009

Lunchtime run with Mike.

Well after my extended European business trip and a week to get back into the swing of things, I finally got out for a run with Mike P. We went out nice and easy with the other Mike, picking up the pace around Mile 3. Kept going around the 8 min/mile pace the rest of the way, finishing with a time of 51:18. For a recovery run, just what the doctor ordered. I did get a twing of pain in my left knee on the way down the hill, but that righted itself by the end. Overall it was a decent run the day before track work tomorrow.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Nice easy run with Cole.

Got out while the weather was still decent for a nice easy recovery run with Cole. Felt really tight and my lower back and quads were really in a bit of a twist initially, but after about a mile loosened up. Overall, 8:10 min/mile was my pace, so not too shabby.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Awesome morning tempo run!

Well I got out for my first tempo run of my winter training and it was a doozy! I woke up at 6 am as is my new habit ever since returning from Europe and had to wait around a bit for the sun to rise. Once I could see the light of day, I got started and put out a personal record for the Accokeek Access Loop, knocking out the miles in 7:23, 7:11, 7:31 and 7:13, for the total run in 29:38, or just under two MINUTES faster than my previous personal best!!! This worked out to an average pace of 7:18 min/mile. This would have been a 22:49 5K, nothing to beat my chest about with my fastest having been a 21:20, but still it is showing that I am getting close to the fitness I had at my peak in Florida...

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Treadmill run at the Gym.

It was pouring all day today, so after work I decided to get my run in at the NRL gym, putting in a 5 mile run at an 8 min/mile pace. Felt pretty good, but started to get a blister on my left little toe. I definitely need more mole skin.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

State side again... time for a windy bike ride!

We got Cole down for his nap and Betsy got in a short run before I decided to head out for a quick bike ride, putting in the 19 mile out and back to Indian Head. It was semi rainy and fairly warm, so not ideal weather, but the wind certainly put a damper on things. Wind gusts were up to 25 mph and in my face the majority of the way, but overall, I put in 19.1 mph average, increasing my pace for each 5 mile section. I decided this winter to push for improving my speed, so once a week I will be trying to put in a tempo run and this bike ride to try and finish my previous times. Goal is to get my 4 mile pace down below 7 min miles and above 22 mph for the ride by early spring. Lets see how it goes!

Sorry for the missed updates, didn't have the best internet connection and Betsy and I were trying to enjoy the trip! Hopefully I can put up some of the maps from my previous runs in Europe.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Running through Vienna City Center



Well the talk I wanted to attend just before noon was cancelled, so I decided to take the additional time to head back to the hotel and get in a quick 5 mile run. I started at my hotel, running up towards the Am Augarten Park, but then heading west towards the city center, crossing over Rembrandtstrasse bridge. This brought me over towards Votivkirche, a beautiful old church in the NW of the city. After taking a few pictures, I headed back past the University of Vienna and Petersplatz and Stephansplatz before taking a swing through Stadtpark, after which I headed back across the river towards my hotel, where I put in a very quick last two miles to end up setting a PR for a 5 mile run! An '*' is required however since I was aided by the multiple slows and stops at lights and for pictures, but still an impressive run, with miles finished in 7:48, 7:52, 8:08, 7:23 and 6:55 min. The 8:08 mile was in large part due to the many many stops, but whose complaining right?

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Running about in Vienna!

Sharka and I arrived in Vienna this morning around 9am, got checked into our hotel and after going to the conference center to register, I walked back (Sharka took the metro). After getting rather lost (even with the GPS!) I got back to the hotel and planned a different run than the one I had planned, heading up through Am Augarten Park, through the historic section of Vienna and then back through Prater park. got to see a good deal of the city, really enjoyed it! Was pretty consistent in pace, despite a number of road crossings, keeping the pace right about 8 min/mile. Overall it was a great run and got me a bit more familiar with the lay of the land around here!!!


Saturday, October 3, 2009

Hiking in Nuuksio National Park (by Espoo Finland)

Sharka and I woke up early and took off for the train very quickly this morning, wanting to get over to Nuuksio for our hike. After a nice breakfast at the hotel, we took the train and bus out to Nuuksio before walking about 1.25 miles down into the park to take 'Hawk's Trail', which is a 2.5 mile loop around Lake Haukkalampi. It was a gorgeous hike over many cliffs with plenty of beautiful scenery, especially early on when the lack of wind meant a completely flat lake! Got some really nice photos! Anyway, finished the hike and the trekked the 1.25 miles back out to the road to meet the bus before heading back to Helsinki. Once back we walked over to the market and caught the ferry over to Suomenlinna (sue-ma-leen-a) island, which is an old fort that participated in the Sweden-Finland, Sweden-Russia, and then the Crimean Wars. Really neat grouping of four islands with great scenery and with a narrow storm front coming in between two areas of beautiful weather in the distance meant some wonderful photos!

Friday, October 2, 2009

Long run over the Bay of Finland!


After meeting with some collaborators this morning, Sharka and I returned to the hotel and spent some time trying to decide what to do tomorrow. One possibility was to find a flight to Lapland up around the arctic circle, but I ended up nixxing that due to finances, so we decided to do a bit more touring in Helsinki today and heading out to Nuuksio National Park to search for flying squirrels and see some of the country side. After going out and checking out some of the cathedrals and monuments, we headed back to the hotel and I got dressed and headed out for a run. I decided to do the long run to the east, passing over a number of bridges effectively encircling a portion of the Bay of Finland. It was gorgeous. Sunny weather, still quite chilly, but beautiful and it turns out most of the run I had planned was on nature trails. In fact it led me onto the island of Seurasaari, which apparently is some historical site! Quite beautiful and lots of old finnish architechture (see facebook for photos). Kept a great pace, right around 8 min/mile for the run and carried my camera to catch some photos along the way. I really hope we get back in time tomorrow for me to get in one more run, but I am starting to plan my routes for Vienna as I write this. Wish we had a bit more time here. On another note, had food at three restaurants the past three nights and all three were FANTASTIC!

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

First day in Helsinki!




Didn't sleep more than an hour on the plane and then immediately headed off the plane, through customs and on the taxi to the hotel to check in early. The hotel is quite nice (small bed, but still...). Unpacked a bit and then got dressed for a run in the cold weather (40's with a stiff wind off the Baltic Sea). I started off heading south toward the water, scooting along the coast to get a nice view before climbing up into a park to see an old observatory. I climbed back down to the coast to run along the shore and then cut back into the city through another park, taking in the sites along the way. Beautiful city. Got to see a number of really old and beautiful Gothic churches and really old medieval looking buildings. The streets are all cobblestones or separated stone, so it was a bit of hell on the knees, but still well worth it. Later on took a long walk through the city taking photos (see facebook) with Sharka before heading back for a short bit before dinner. Exhausted now, really hope I sleep well tonight!!! Anyway, overall I averaged an 8 min mile, despite some reasonable climbs into the various parks and got to see alot of beautiful scenery too!

Monday, September 28, 2009

Afternoon run with Colvin!

I ACTUALLY got home at a reasonable time TODAY! Anyway, got home and got to grab the baby boy and get out for a quick 4 mile run! Just went out nice and easy, keeping about an 8 min/mile pace. Felt pretty good and had a good time playing with Cole! The GPS did run out of battery half way through though, so my pace is just a guestimate...

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Photos from Gen Smallwood Tris!

Here are some Photos from General Smallwood Olympic Triathlon Last weekend!Getting stretched out for the 1500 meter swim. Water Temp in the Potomac was 71C, hence the wetsuit. I did get a kick out of the 'No Swimming' sign...

And we are off!

Even Cole got into it, he wanted to do the race too, but it wasn't swim floaty or tricycle legal, but he did the running NO PROBLEM!!!

Out of the swim and getting the wetsuit off. It was a LONG transition, about 1/4 mile run from the water to the bikes!

After a good transition, I got on the bike and started going. Kept my average up around 20 mph the whole time...

I don't remember being this happy at the start of the run, guess seeing Cole and Betsy made me smile temporarily?
Heading toward the finish line... yeah that is more like it...
An adoring fan! Did I mention how much I love my little guy?
First place in my age group! 20th overall! Picture from the awards ceremony!

Long run from Gravelly Point to Haines Point!

Well after dilly dallying all morning, Betsy and I finally motivated to go run around 9am. But because of the overcast skies and cool weather (high 50's) it wasn't so bad. But we both wanted to do something different, so we started up at Gravelly Point by National Airport, letting Cole watch the planes fly in overhead for a bit before we got started. HE ABSOLUTELY LOVES IT!!! Anyway we got going without any definite plan for where to go, so when we got up towards the memorial bridge, we quickly thought that running over by the Mall might be nice. Once across (me taking time to explain to Cole who each of the monuments is honoring... why because I am a dork), we headed down around Haines Point before heading back over the 14th ST Bridge to get back on the Mt Vernon Trail for the last little bit back. Overall, we put in an 8.8 miles in 1:14 for a 8:25 pace for our final long run before I head to Europe. Looking forward to my trip, but definitely not looking forward to the extended time without Betsy and Cole.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Lunchtime run with Mike P

After months of not meeting up wiht Mike for running due to scheduling, weather and travel related issues, we finally got together for one more run before I leave for Europe. With me still recovering from the triathlon last weekend and Mike being towards the tail end of his taper for his upcoming double marathon in 8 days, we tried to take it really easy. Got going and enjoyed the run as more of a way to catch up after not hanging out for a good long while, talking about Zoe and Cole, races and work, we kept the pace at about 8:20 min/mile for the 10k. It was a good run, no side stitches and felt fairly good the whole way through. Looking forward to running in Europe now!

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Running in Cleveland.

I am giving a colloquium on my research at the Materials Dept at Case Western University today. Following a wonderful dinner with my host last night, I got in and went through my talk once more before closing up for the night and hitting the sack after the Daily Show. I got up around 6 am to realize that sunrise isn't until after 7:15 up here, so I dallied around a bit before hitting the road on the course I designed last night on mapmyrun.com. I accidently went in reverse though which led to a great deal of confusion for me and caused me to stop a couple times. There also was there terrible side stitch kicking in my gut towards the beginning that slowed me down some, but overall it was a fairly reasonable run. I got in just under 4 miles, putting in a solid 7:45 min/mile pace and got to see alot of the university while I was at it.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

General Smallwood Triathlon!!!

Wow, what a day and what a race! I was beginning to dread this race this week, feeling tight from soccer and the mountain riding out in WV, late work nights, difficulty sleeping and just stress with all my presentations coming up. In fact, had you asked me last night if I woudl take a refund if it was offered, I wouldn't have thought twice about taking the cash! But wow, did I ever surprise myself! Got down to warmup for about a mile, feeling ok then pulled on the wetsuit, tested out the water and then prepared for the inevitable. It was an in water start, with 71 degree water, so it was wetsuit legal, and when the whistle got started. Typically the swim is my strongest part, but without having the pool at NRL to use anymore, it was a bit tougher to get the necessary workouts in in the time I had. I felt pretty crappy during the swim, getting the inevitable swimmers crawling over your back at times, and even getting punched in the goggle to the point that I thought I was bleeding and getting a black eye about 1/2 of the way through. But when I climbed out of the water for the 1/4 mile run to the transition area I looked at my watch to see a 28:38 swim. Not fantastic, but still only about 15 sec off of my time at this course in 2006 when I was able to get much more swimming in. I felt pretty rough on the run to the transition area, but had a quick switch, and getting on my bike and going within 4:02, besting my 2006 time by about a min, so I was now in the black time wise in my attempt to beat my time here 3 years ago. Once I started on the bike things started to click, I was consistently surpassing 20 mph on the relatively flat course, passing a number of other racers while only getting passed by 3 or 4 myself. I started to labor towards the end, getting a pretty nasty side stitch and feeling nature calling pretty terribly. I got back in with a time of 1:15:33, a full 3 and a 1/2 mins faster than my 2006 effort! The second transition was pretty quick, about 1:21, but it could have been better with me looking for my hammer gel for a good 20-30 seconds of that, which I never found. It must have been eaten by the guy next to me on the bike rack. Oh well, I grabbed some sports beans and hit the run. The run started off pretty tough, with me deciding after about half a mile that I had to stop to take a pee in the hopes that it might cure my side stitch. Oddly enough, it did. After the nature break, I fell into a pretty comfortable pace, regularly knocking down miles between 7:25 and 7:51 min/mile! I finished the run in 49:03, a great time for me. Overall, I finished the tri in 2:39:02, my fastest Olympic ever!!! Furthermore, I found out that I finished 20th overall and 1st in my age group (and NO I was not the only one in my age group!). This was by far my best race ever, I couldn't have asked for more!!! Betsy has the sprint race tomorrow! Will give an update and upload some photos tomorrow.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Lesson to all... Don't trust idiots...

Well after realizing that a couple of the choices I made for my ride yesterday to deviate from the published rides on Mapmyride.com didn't turn out to be quite such smart choices, I decided for my ride today that I would follow the roads that were used in many of the rides posted. Well, you can't win for trying they say. I started off down the same path as yesterday, with the sharp initial descent, but instead of turning toward the town of Wheeling at the base, I headed NE, up the first climb of the day, a 1.1 mile 4.4% grade. Nothing too terrible, although the grade did hit up to 9% on two occassions, but for the most part it was just a spin fest to the top. I then started the descent, a nice trip down on smooth pavement but turned at the wrong place losing all my momentum before the second climb. Luckily, while this was the longest climb of the day, it was also the easiest, only keeping 2.7% grade, although just about at the top I got chased by a huge dog causing me to stop at the steepest section, a 19% grade. Trying to get started after that was fun, but I did it and then quickly started the second descent, this a fairly steep trip down on fairly rough pavement. Here is where the idiots on mapmyride got me. So I am now about 7 miles from the hotel, behind me are three dogs that wanted a piece of me and the road that multiple people told me to turn on, even those who commented on their rides, turns out to be GRAVEL!!! What are these guys smoking? Thank GOD again for the GPS. I looked at the map, quickly rerouted and cut across, in effect shortenting my ride by about 8 miles. This cut me through a nice smooth valley where I was able to get the speed up again and get into a rhythm and start to really feel good before hitting the 3rd, and by far the worst, climb of my entire trip. This was out Cherry Hill Rd and Table Top Ln, which combined amounted to a 1.2 mile, avg 7% grade, where instead of the typical peaks and valleys to burn you and then give you a break, it just stayed at a constant 6-9% the entire way up. By my estimations this would have been rated at about a Cat 3 climb. I then started the next couple miles of rolling hills, hitting the highest elevation of the day, 1271 ft up, before dropping into a nice slow descent before starting the final climb back up to the hotel. This is where for some reason the GPS crapped out on me and I restarted it and for some reason it didn't restart time even though it displayed the map again. Not sure what happened, but overall it missed about 2.6 miles of the end of the ride, which stinks because I was solid the whole way up, unlike yesterday. Anyway, I averaged somewhere around 16.5 mph for the ride, not too shabby for a coastal rider! When I got back I even went out for a few hours of soccer with some of the other guys here for the conference and despite it being my first time playing since grade school I scored twice!

Monday, September 14, 2009

Climbing four mountains near Wheeling, WV

I slept terribly last night and woke up this morning drained and soon to be dissappointed when I looked out my window to see a thick fog covering the ground. Definitely not a good morning for a bike ride. So I decided to be productive and got working on my proceedings papers before heading down for the conference around 9am. Well after lunch there was a brief industrial demonstration session that I decided to skip to hit out on the roads for my ride. The weather was great, low 70's and sunny, a bit windy, but nothing too terrible. Got started following a 20.6 mile route I found on www.mapmyride.com, starting off with a steep decent into the valley near Wheeling, before turning up into the first climb of the day, a 556 ft climb over 2.45 miles for an average grade of about 4.3% with grades hitting up to 10% (approx. equiv to a Cat 3 climb). After reaching the top I reached the decent where I deviated from the online course... BIG MISTAKE. WOW, terrible road conditions on the descent, had to ride my breaks the entire way with a ton of pot holes and debris. Well then I reached the intersection where I turned left into the second climb of the day, this one starting off more moderate, a 2 mile stretch to start climbing only 160 ft so I was able to just keep the cranks turning and drive my way up. About 1/2 way up I turned onto my second deviation from the online route, again BIG MISTAKE. THis one I quickly figured out as I was chased by 2 dogs and forced to turn around and adjust my ride. Thank GOD for my Garmin Edge 705. I was able to use the map to make the adjustment without getting lost, picking up on the route shortly thereafter. This deviation of course also led to a more difficult effort, as the grade quickly steepened, leading up to a difficult finish, with the final 1/2 mile at an average 5% grade with values up to 11%. This descent was actually rather enjoyable and led quickly to climb three, a brief (0.8 mile) climb, but the steepest of the four, with an average grade of 6.9% and multiple sections > 10%, which is consistent with a Cat 4 climb. This led to the final descent, a nice winding drop into the valley before the final climb back to the hotel. This was a 1.2 mile, 5.3% climb, again another approximate Cat 4 climb. Tough riding and has made me realize that I need to reconsider my route length and choice of path for tomorrow. Will be figuring it all out shortly. Overall, a really challenging, yet enjoyable ride through some new country with significantly more difficult terrain than I am used to!

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Running at Oglebay

Got to the resort in West Virginia just in time to get in a short ride before the evening reception. Got in a quick 4 1/3 miles. Wow it is quite hilly! Anyway, got started from outside my building and just ran around some of the trails cutting in and out of the golf course here, running by the lake, the horticulture garden, the zoo and other places. Really was quite enjoyable! Anyway, got the miles in 8:13, 7:39, 7:53, 7:42 and then the final 1/3 mile at a pace of 7:37 min/mile. Looking forward to an early morning bike ride tomorrow!

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Long run on the Newly FINISHED Indian Head Rail Trail!

I got an email from the President of the Oxon Hill Bike Club yesterday saying that the county had finally finished the Rail Trail, so I talked Betsy into doing our long run down there! So we hopped in the car, with Betsy initially saying she still wanted to go to Belle Haven, but then at the last min changed her mind and turned south. It turned out to be a really nice run, nice and cool, not much traffic, hardly anyone on the trail and wonderfully flat (until the very end!). Went out from Indian Head about 6 miles and then came on back. Put out some really nicely paced miles, knocking them out in 8:17, 8:16, 8:19, 8:11, 8:14, 8:10, 8:12, 8:08, 8:13, 8:24, 8:18 and finishing the last mile in 8:20 for a total time of 1:39:04 for an 8:15 min/mile pace! Overall a great run and to top it off spent some time at the playground with Cole afterwards!

Friday, September 11, 2009

Brick workout at the NRL Gym

I wanted to get out for a run at the end of the day yesterday, but by the time I got home, I ended up getting a migraine and missed most of dinner, bedtime, and then slept right through the night. So I had hoped to get out for a pre-work bikeride. But, as I should have expected it was raining. Not to be deterred, I decided to do a brick workout at the NRL gym. I started off doing 30 min on the stationary bike, getting in 10.8 miles, with the first 15 min doing the 'cardio +' and the second 15 min doing a manual workout. I kept the cadence around 100 for most of the ride, with the exception of a few min when the cardio + session increased the resistance to some ridiculous level. I got off and quickly switched over to the treadmill, running 4 miles in 31:08. I felt really great the whole way, looks like I am prepped as best I can for the Triathlon next weekend.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Track practice

3x1 mile.... ugh... I hate that practice, but it went fairly well just the same. Got in a 1 mile warmup with Betsy and then stretched out some, before getting into the workout. Got the first mile in in 6:31, then 6:29 and then finally a 6:39. Of course the GPS showed them to be longer than a mile (1.06-1.08 miles with lane changes) and estimated my pace at around 6:06 to 6:09. Perhaps I need to map out a mile and see what I can put in for a time now, maybe I can finally break six minutes?

Monday, September 7, 2009

First ride pulling Cole in the Bike Trailer!!!

Well Betsy and I decided to take out the boy for a bike ride and some time at the Bensville Rd playground this morning. We got up around 8am, letting ourselves sleep in a bit and then we packed up the bikes and the bike trailer and hit the road, starting at the parking lot of the playground, dropping down the hill and hitting the Indian Head Rail Trail. We started off riding towards White Plains, getting to the end and turning around and riding out all the way to 227 before turning back. Let me tell you, that trailer is quite tough to pull around, REALLY adds to the workout! Anyway, finished off the ride by pulling Cole up the hill to the parking lot and then running over to the playground for some time on the slides and swings!!! Cole now can slide on his own, climbing the steps,crossing the troll bridge, sitting down on the top of the slide and pushing himself down to start! He is SOOOO proud of himself too! After Betsy and Cole left, I started back out to get a bit more of a ride in. After the ride with Betsy and Cole, I got going for the final push to get home from Bensville Rd. I started off down the Rail Trail, out past Bumpy Oak Rd (they finished a lot more of the paving!), getting down a bit before I realized that they hadn't finished the whole route. I started around and came back to Bumpy Oak and climbed the hill before finishing home. There were some heavy winds on the ride, guiding me to a great ride in one way and a rough one going back. Overall it was a great ride and so glad I got to finally take Cole out in the trailer!!! What a great end to such a wonderful weekend!

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Hiking from Skyline Drive to Mary's Rock in Shenandoah National Park!


Betsy and I got up nice and early drove out to Shenandoah National Park to take Cole for a hike in his new Deuter Kid Comfort II carrier (my father's day gift). It started off with some extremely steep sections, hitting grades up to 31% at points. I was quite surprised how comfortable the Deuter really was and Cole seemed to really like it as well! The views from Mary's Rock were fantastic, and we took a few min to let him run around, take some photos and eat some snacks before heading back down. Initially we were thinking of hiking down to Thurmond's Gap, even starting down that part of the trail a bit before realizing that Cole not having a nap this morning was doing him in. So we turned around and started back to the parking lot. Well it wasn't long before he let his head down and fell asleep allowing us a bit of an outshoot to Byrd's Nest Lookout, before we took off back to Skyline Drive. Afterwards we drove down to a picnic area, had some lunch and played a bit before heading back home. Great hike and great time with the baby boy and Betsy!

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Long run... UGH... That was rough!

We got up early this morning, but turned out a bit later than we wanted (again), not getting started until about 8am. Of course that meant it was already 70 degrees by the start. It was rough. We ran north through Old Town until we got out to Gravelly Point, just past National Airport, where we took a bit of a break to let Cole watch the planes fly over head. HE LOVED IT. Watching the planes litterally pass right over is really pretty cool, even if you aren't a toddler infatuated with planes! Anyway, seems we stopped a bit too long, letting the legs settle too much, so when we finally got going again, the quads were REALLY sore. We kept up the pace, averaging an 8:19 min/mile, but by about 10 miles we ran out of water and had to call Elana to meet us on the trail so we could refill. The ironic thing is that both Betsy and I mentioned that we needed a second water bottle in the stroller and STILL forgot it. Anyway, by mile 12, my quads were screaming, but we stuck it out, finishing strong with an 8:08 min mile. Overall, we finished the miles in 8:28, 8:10, 8:26, 8:15, 8:17, 8:19, 8:15, 8:26, 8:17, 8:35, 8:16, 8:14 and then the 8:08.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Mountain Biking at Rosaryville

After a long week, and finally a few days without rain, I got out to Rosaryville State Park for a morning bike ride. Felt a bit out of sorts, but took the opportunity to explore some additional trails that I haven't done before. One trail was quite nice to know about, the other two... errr... brought me to new areas, out to a farm in one case, but not really useful for additional rides in the future. Got to do some technical sections once again, quite nice ride. Overall, looking forward to heading out again...

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Swimming Test at Bolling

Well the Olympic Tri is in two weeks and I had yet to swim anything further than a 200 yd stretch without taking a break, so I decided to get in a 2000 straight. I felt pretty strong, my arms holding up well, even getting in a good sprint for the last 50 yards or so. Hope to get one more swim in before the pool closes on Monday.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Afternoon recovery run

Went out for an afternoon run with Cole after working from home for the day. I decided against track due to the recent soreness from this weekend, good thing too. Had a decent run, keeping just under an 8 min mile, but after one of the stops I got going and my left knee gave out a bit. Stopped for a few mins before getting going again, and despite it being a bit weak, I still finished fairly strong. However, I did end up getting some nasty blisters again. Looks like me and mole skin once again.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Annapolis 10 Miler!!!

After beers, football and fence working yesterday, the 5:00 AM wake up for the ride to Annapolis didn't strike me as very enjoyable, but no matter, got up and took off just the same. Got to the stadium and felt pretty tight and rotten in general and didn't anticipate a great race. After meeting up with Dana and working our way towards the front, the race began and we got started. Went out a bit quick, with the first two miles in 7:25 and 7:29, so I forceably pulled myself back some slowing up to finish the next miles in 7:41, 7:46, 7:59, 7:54, 7:40, 7:58, 7:46 and then despite a stabbing pain in my side, a final mile in 7:34, for a final time of 1:17:25, besting my PR by over four minutes! Afterwards we hung around for a bit to listen to some music and head over for brunch with Dana!!!


Saturday, August 29, 2009

Easy run to loosen before Race tomorrow!

Got out for a nice easy 2.5 mile run to loosen up for the Annapolis 10 miler tomorrow. Took Cole again in the mildly humid morning, but once again he loved it (me not so much). Anyway, kept an easy 8:06 min/mile pace and felt ok the whole way. Hopefully that translates into a great race tomorrow.

Friday, August 28, 2009

2nd Morning Ride with Betsy in three days?!

Well Karen stayed an extra day, so after taking the day off yesterday (and thoroughly pigging out at all you can eat chinese) we got up this morning for another 20 mile ride. The wind was better today, but the weather was pretty much crap. It was relatively decent temp wise, about mid 70's, but it was misty/drizzly and overcast and just plain ugly. Being a bit short on time, we decided to do the same route as last time, although this time we cut off of 225 on the Indian Head Trail and took 210 all the way back. It was a decent ride, especially considering what I wanted to get out of it, but on the return up 210 I ended with a flat. It was a nice touch after the horrid day I had yesterday! Anyway, with self sealing tubes on my bike, I pulled out the offending piece of wire and used a CO2 cartridge to pump it back up, then had once more after that for good measure... so much for the self-sealing business. Anyway, that did wonders for slowing down our pace and then dropped our pace down to 18.3 mph. UGH... oh well, still good to get out.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Biking with Betsy!

With Betsy's mom in town, Betsy and I got out for a rare joint bike ride before work this morning! With track last night, we decided to take it easy and just get in a 20 mile ride, so we took off out to 224, back 225 then 210 then threw in Marshall Hall and Berry Hill to finish it off. Felt pretty flat, not terrible, but definitely not on top of my game and it felt like there was a stiff headwind initially. However, after a slow initial 5 miles, we picked up the pace maintaining >19mph most of the rest of the trip home. Overall, considering my goal for the ride, it was a decent workout. I think we have another morning to benefit from Karen, so I believe we will be biking again tomorrow morning!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Track!!!

Finally got back out for track after well over a month not being able to make it. So Betsy and I showed up to TC Williams and started with an easy mile warmup (8:24 min/mile), then stretched out and got into the workout, which was 2x1200 (5:00 and 5:06; 6:22 and 6:35 min/mile) then 4x600 (2:20, 2:24, 2:23 and 2:32; 5:44, 5:59, 6:08 and 6:29 min/mile), then a nice 1/2 mile cool down. Felt really good, legs were moving well, finally felt like I wasn't overly tight and overall am really happy with the workout! Great workout...

Monday, August 24, 2009

Afternoon run with the boy!

Got home and even though it was a bit later than I had hoped, I got out for what was to be a nice easy recovery run. We got started and after a couple quick stops to pee and adjust, got moving and finished off the 4 mile run in 32:54, keeping pace at 8:09 min/mile. Was quite amazingly consistent, putting miles in 8:07, 8:08, 8:11 and 8:12! Felt pretty decent and was happy that I was able to give a nice recovery effort without ending up pushing harder than I wanted. Felt great overall and looking forward to the Annapolis 10 miler this weekend.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Sunday Ride with Dana!

Went out and did the Mt Carmel ride with Dana! Got going pretty well, keeping a >19 mph avg for most of the ride, but just before the hill on Bumpy Oak, Dana started having some issues with dehydration making the last 10 miles rather rough on him. There is nothing worse than bonking on a ride. Anyway, we still had a great ride and it was great to get back out with him, it had been a long time! Got back, had some grilled cheeses, some gatorade and the a beer before heading over to a friends for a cookout.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

13 mile long run... UGH...

We had a huge thunderstorm this morning around 4 am, extending my streak to 5 days, oh sorry thats the streak of days where I have woken up around 4am and not gotten back to sleep. Didn't help that the thunderstorm was so loud that Shelbi freaked and tried to hide under my bedside table, then me, before finally settling on hiding under the bed itself. But she has always been afraid of thunder, so can I really blame her? Anyway, we got going a bit later than we wanted, starting to run around 7:45 or so, but because of the rain and the continued overcast we didn't pay too dearly for it. We decided to run north on the Mt. Vernon trail, getting to our typical turn around point and deciding that we would rather continue on to get as much in on the northern swing before turning around, in the end deciding to just run 7 miles north, turning around to finish the 13 miles just before we got back to the car at Belle Haven. Felt really tight and tired again, so it was quite a tough run, with me having to stop and stretch a couple times along the way. Either way though, we finished and kept the pace around 8:30 min/mile, finishing miles in 8:33, 8:11, 8:27, 8:28, 8:17, 8:25, 8:25, 8:45, 8:28, 8:38, 8:26, 8:22 and then finishing at 8:44. Now, nap time.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Riding before work

I missed out on my workout yesterday due to a really long day at work, so with us going to dinner tonight, I wanted to get my bike ride in first thing this morning. Got out and was still debating where to go ride, first thinking to bike down to Indian Head, then changing my mind and thinking I would do the short Mt. Carmel, but after dropping down the hill on 227, I noticed that the Rail Trail was paved off of 227 going towards White Plains. Wow, the wind was rough and my legs were TIRED. Couldn't ever really get going, but still had a decent 25 mile trip, putting in an avg speed of 18.4 mph. UGH, anyway, road out to White Plains before turning around and taking a couple different roads back. Got home in time to shower and then head out to work, but still don't feel very recovered... And long run tomorrow... should be fun.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Muscle Breakdown on the Trainer

Well, today was a test of patience. I was supposed to go running with Mike on the Track at Bolling just after noon, but I forgot my wallet and CAC card at home. So Mike and I were going to go do the 10k loop, but when we were supposed to meet it started to pour. I was then going to go for a run when I got home, but it started raining again. So it ended up coming down to a bike ride on the trainer after Cole ate dinner, taking a break about 1/2 way through to help put Cole to bed. Did the Muscle Breakdown workout and felt pretty good the whole way through. I was going to go mountain biking tomorrow morning, but that won't happen with all the rain. Think I will plan on a bike ride before work...

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Morning run

Tom, Donna, Dakota and Jacob got into town last night, so I skipped my workout to hang with them. With them coming over for breakfast this morning, I decided to get in a quick 4 mile run, breaking it up kind of like track, putting in three 1 mile intervals with a short break afterwards and then two 1/2 miles. I started off quicker than I anticipated, finishing the miles in 7:54, 7:34, 7:37 and 7:01 min, for an average pace of 7:31 min/mile. Not too shabby. It was getting really hot very quickly though, so it was a definite tough run.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Swimming at Bolling with the Family!

Well Betsy got to head into the lap pool first, while Cole and I (after a quick pee on the locker room floor) got some time in the baby and kids pool. After Betsy finished, I got in 2000 yards, finishing six 133's in 2:12, 2:20, 2:19, 2:18, 2:16 and 2:20 min. After that, I put in 6 200's in 3:36, 3:37, 3:43, 3:45, 3:48 and 3:47. Good workout.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

'Long' Run after Georgia and Flu

Well we left Georgia on Wednesday morning, driving straight through until we got home late in the afternoon. I went to work Thursday, planning to get in a run with Mike, but of course after missing most of the week I had a bunch to do to catch up again. I gradually felt worse as the day went on and by the time I got home I was feeling quite terrible, actually going to bed by 7:30PM and cancelling mountain biking for Friday morning with Alex. Work was rough on Friday, but I got a bunch done, so I left around 1PM to come home and crash again, not really feeling remotely better until that night. So when I got up feeling much better this morning, I really had to question if I was ready for a run, even a short 'long' run of 6 miles. Well I went anyway of course, but with the heat (it will hit 91 degrees today they are saying), it was pretty rough, but we finished well, keeping a 8:24 min/mile pace throughout. Will be taking it easy tomorrow, maybe just getting in a light bike ride.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Light easy run with Betsy

After what turned out to be a long day yesterday and a late night last night, Betsy and I got up early and got out for a run. We didn't really care to do much, just wanted to loosen up and get out of the house. Got out for an easy 3 miler putting in easy miles at 8:46, 8:14, 8:15, and then finishing the final 1/10th of a mile at an 8:33 min/mile pace. Once again, Atlanta is really hot...

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Hot Hot Hot run in Georgia.

Got to to Atlanta to visit with my family last night, so after waking up this morning I got out for a short 4 mile run. Wow was it hot. Slept in a bit, so I didnt' get going until 9, so that didn't help, but wow I forgot how hot it was. Never felt great, but it went ok. Ran through a nearby neighborhood to avoid the main roads, which was pretty nice. Got in the 4 miles in 8:13, 7:53, 7:52 and then finally 7:52.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Family long run in the rain

Because of our trip to Georgia this weekend, we decided to get our long run in earlier than expected. SO Betsy and I decided to get it going this morning. One issue, it was raining. Not horribly so, but enough to soak us by the end of the 11 miler. So of course with pushing Cole along, we put up the rain shield and got rolling. Followed the same route as last weekend, but decided to cut it down by one mile as my legs were just completely exhausted. Anyway, had an ok run, but Betsy's was much better as she finished the extra mile and did so in 7:53 min. Overall, we finished the miles in 8:33, 8:21, 7:42, 8:31, 8:15, 8:27, 8:36, 8:27, 8:31, 8:22 and then finishing in 8:12 min.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Morning track at Chicamuxen

The weather for today was mid 90's, high humidity and an air quality advisory, so Betsy and I quickly made the decision last night to do track first thing this morning to avoid the hell that was DC this evening. Got down to Chicamuxen a bit late after having a terrible night sleep, but we got going just the same, putting in 8x400 with a 200 jog in between. Started with a 1 mile warm up at an 8:26 min/mile pace then went on with the 400's finishing them in 1:32, 1:36, 1:34, 1:31, 1:32, 1:31, 1:29 and then a 1:25 min (5:11 min/mile pace). Felt pretty good despite the lack of sleep and then cooled down with a 800 jog.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Afternoon run with Cole!

It is Betsy's birthday, so I came home just after lunch to watch Cole while Betsy went and got a massage. Cole was finishing his nap when I got home, so I got in a bit of work until he woke up about an hour later. After getting a little cuddle time with my boy, we got up and got rollin', hitting the road for what was supposed to be a nice easy 4 miles. It was quite hot and humid, but got out and averaged right about 8:03 min/mile only stopping to answer Betsy's phone call saying she was on her way home. Finished the run quite strong, finishing miles in 8:09, 8:07, 7:57 and 7:59 before getting home and grabbing Betsy for a walk with Cole and Trinity on the 'P' Loop. Good afternoon!

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Afternoon ride

Got out for a quick afternoon ride to Indian Head while Cole was napping. I went out with the idea of just taking it easy, but felt really strong and couldn't help but push. Next thing I knew I was getting to Indian Head averaging about 20.5 mph and turning around to come back. I did drop off a bit, but still finished with a 20.2 mph average. It was extremely hot and humid, but it still felt good when I was riding, one more reason to love the bike.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Saturday Long Run with the Family.

Well Betsy being sick last weekend, we got back on track and got out for our weekly long run, this time getting in 12 miles at an 8:20 min/mile pace. Started off at our usually starting point of Belle Haven Marina, running north along the water for 2 miles looping back through the tunnel in Alexandria and heading back to Belle Haven for the last 8 miles. Overall I started off feeling pretty good, but hit a rough patch at about miles 7 and 8 or so, but got it back together for a strong run back to the finish. Cole loved the run once again, pointing to the planes overhead, chattering and singing away, really makes me love these group runs! Finished the miles in 8:29, 8:18, 8:26, 8:13, 8:23, 8:20, 8:32, 8:14, 8:28, 8:20, 8:17, and then pushed for a final mile in 7:53 min.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Mountain Biking with Alex at Rosaryville.

Didn't feel so hot today and WOW was it muddy. Did I mention it was muddy? There was a bit of mud. You getting the point? Yeah, that 'little' rain storm I got caught running in yesterday? Yeah, it had a second laugh at my expense. Anyway, it was still a really good ride. Got in the full loop plus the technical section. Overall, finished at 9.1 mph, slowed from the typical 10 mph.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Running from the rain...

Was busy all day and by the time closing time rolled around, I still hadn't gotten out for a run. So I made my way home and got Cole in the stroller just in time to see it starting to drizzle. Almost decided not to run, but Betsy guilted me into it, so I put on the rain shield and Cole and I took off. Tried to keep close to home in case it rained again, but it didn't matter. I got out for a nice easy warmup mile and then settled into a nice run, but by about mile 5 the rain started to fall and fall and fall, so much so, that by the time I finally found a nice tree cover, Cole and I had to stop just so I could see where to go next and hope it would slow down. Well it did finally slow down... after we got home. So I ended the run after 5.75 miles soaking wet and pushing to get back into the house as soon as I could to get dry. Overall, it was a pretty good run, with miles in 8:43, 8:13, 8:15, 8:17 and 8:08 before finishing the final 3/4 mile at a 7:54 min/mile pace.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Running Track... Wow its been a while...

Got out to track, although did it by myself at Bolling since Betsy still wasn't feeling right up to it all. Got started with an easy mile warmup at an 8:18 min/mile pace. After stretching out well, I got started running in the 88 degree heat, doing 6x400 with a 400 jog in between, trying to drop the time for each successive 400. I did just that, finishing each with 1:39, 1:44, 1:38, 1:36, 1:33 and then finishing with a 1:24 min (5:14 min/mile pace) before doing a 1/2 mile cool down. Wow, it was hot and humid and really tough, but was quite happy to have gotten in a good track workout for the first time in a long while!

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Running with the baby boy.

After church this morning Betsy decided to go for a bike ride, so with Cole still popping around, I decided I would go for a quick run to recover from the bike ride yesterday before I mowed the lawn. Just did the Accokeek 4 mile loop, keeping an 8:04 min/mile pace with a slow decline in the time per mile as the run went on (8:17, 8:05, 8:02, 7:53). The extra bonus was Cole did fall asleep during the run, so I was able to pop out immediately to mow the lawn when I got home!

Saturday, July 25, 2009



Riding to Cobb Island! Well it is the last day of the Tour de France, and as I said I have been taking part in Mapmyride's Tour Challenge, where you upload your GPS info about your ride that day and it gives you your virtual time, as if you had actually ridden in the tour that day! Because of that, I decided to give it a go to see if I couldn't break the top 10 in the challenge today, so I arranged with Betsy that I would get up and get on the road by 7am and ride down to Cobb Island from our house for a nice 50 mile ride (48.56 to be exact) and she and Cole would meet me down at the Island for breakfast and then a dip in the Potomac River. Being that I wanted to do well in the challenge, I decided to knock down for at least 19.5 mph, but I found out that the roads toward the end weren't ideal, with rough surfaces slowing me down to about 19.3 mph overall. Still not too shabby. I must say, overall it was a great ride and I felt pretty fantastic. Ended up finishing with an attempt at a sprint around Cobb Island before heading back to Captain Jack's Crab Shack for coffee and breakfast. Betsy was a bit late, but after we ate we got to head over to the Potomac just on the other (Virginia) side of the Nice Bridge and swam with Cole for a bit. Great morning of fun. Hope we can do that more often...

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Mountain Biking with Alex at Rosaryville

Got up early again, this time with the intention of getting two loops at Rosaryville in. Got going, and quickly realized that I forgot my HR monitor, so missed that data, but no big deal. Was riding well, although Alex had a bit of stomach issues again, so we stopped once, but then got going again and had a great ride. It started to drizzle a bit towards the end, but nothing too terrible. We got back and Alex decided to skip the second loop. I got going again, but then the rain started to come. So after getting out about a mile, I quickly realized that I had to turn around finishing with 10.65 miles. With Alex I avg'd about 9.8 mph, not too shabby.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Lunchtime run

Got out with with Mike and Ronan at lunchtime. My GPS didn't find its position until 3 miles in, so that screwed things up a bit. But overall, it was a good run, averaging 8:19 min/mile. Don't have splits, but felt ok for most of the run.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Ugh crappy run

Well Betsy is still not feeling that great so I left work early to get home to take Cole off her hands for a little bit. BEing that I hadn't gotten a workout in, I decided that I would take the little guy for a short run. Wow, did I ever feel crappy, tight muscles, fatigue, not to mention that it was really hot and humid, just a crappy run. Yet somehow I maintained just about an 8 min/mile pace the whole way pushing the stroller with Cole... Someone explain THAT to me? Anyway, I finished the 4.25 mile run in 34:17, with miles in 7:59, 8:02, 8:04, 8:15 and the last 1/4 mile at a 7:47 min/mile pace for a nice positive split, not what you hope for in a run. It is weird because I wanted to take it really easy and pull back to running 8:30-8:45 min/mile to recover, but I keep finding myself falling into that 8:00 min/mile pace...

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Time Trial Attempt

With Betsy not feeling well, I decided that my bike ride (originally scheduled for about 40 miles) had to be shortened. Needing to get in a good ride anyway, I decided to hop out for time trial. For this I started off doing a 7.8 mile warmup down Farmington and back Accokeek. Once back on to Livingston, I hit the hammer down and started the TT. I was attempting to keep a 21 mph pace, but the winds were a bit stronger than anticipated, so I only managed 20.7 mph. I felt pretty good, but got a flat on the way to Indian Head and after fixing that, got a leak around the same place on the way back. But otherwise, things went pretty well and I was quite happy with the effort, using the final 2 miles on Livingston as a cool down stretch. Hopefully Betsy will be felling better soon...

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Weekend long run with the Family!

Once again we took off this morning for the Mt. Vernon Trail to get in our long run. Betsy's back has been bothering her the last few days, so it was a question whether or not we would make it, but owing to her toughness she made it out for the 10 miler. She never felt great, but we finished the 10 mile run with only a couple stops to get in some bathroom breaks and still managed to finish with a 8:24 min/mile pace. Overall we finished the miles in 8:36, 8:16, 8:22, 8:26, 8:28, 8:19, 8:38, 8:36,8:20 and then finishing the final mile in 8:07. It was still pretty hot, but significantly better than the last couple days so it was fairly decent, but a bit short of 'enjoyable'...

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Running at NIST



Well as I said yesterday, things didn't go as planned with my work at NIST, so I ended up making a second early morning trip back out today. Got going with what was supposed to be a simple development, only to find out that one of the samples didn't come out properly, so I ended up remaking it from scratch. Therefore, while the pattern was being written, I got out for a run. MAN was it hot! Around 90 degrees, wicked humid. Took a strange route over the first mile, but then just did a loop around the NIST campus. Got in 4.25 miles at a really good pace, especially considering the aforementioned heat and humidity! Anyway, averaged 7:43 min/mile, with miles finished in 7:40, 7:43, 7:50, 7:43 and then the final 1/4 mile at a 7:29 min/mile pace. Not too shabby...

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Mtn Biking with Joe!



Its been a day. Started off with a 5:30am drive to NIST in Gaithersburg, where I spent the entire day in the cleanroom, finally leaving around 4PM. That is when it got fun, headed on down to Cedarville to meet Joe again. We decided to try out the Orange loop, a nice easy loop, with lots of deep sand, but is about 6-6.5 miles long, before popping onto the Blue for a short but fast and a bit more technical ~4 mile ride. Got in 11.7 miles all together, quite a nice ride, avg about 10.3 mph. Afterwards, headed over for a pizza, wings and beer at Boston's before heading home. Great ride, great company, great fun.

Monday, July 13, 2009

First Bike Commute Home!



Well I finally did it. Betsy let me attempt to commute home biking after many a year of attempting. I found a route that I thought was workable and Betsy dropped me off at work with my bike this morning. After some second guessing, Betsy gave in and let me try it. I know she was just worried, the roads around DC on the MD side aren't exactly 'bike friendly'! Anyway, it was better than I thought. A hairy point on Livingston, but other than that it was a pretty nice ride! The backpack was rough, 16 pounds and really not well suited for riding, but that can be solved. I really think that this could work again in the future! Anyway, there was a lot of hills, and with me feeling my way around the avg was way down, only about 17 mph, but still a really successful first commute!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Hills, Hills and more f'n Hills

Wow, that was tough. UGH... Anyway, I have been participating in the Tour de France Challenge on Mapmyride.com, where you upload from your gps or cell phone your rides (I have been including runs for my GPS too) and it calculates your virtual time, based on your total distance, pace and total ascent, as if you had raced that days stage in the real Tour de France! Well knowing there was a couple significant climbs in today's stage, I got motivated to get out for a 30 mile hill workout, starting off with about 10 miles of warmup, heading down Farmington Rd, finding a new really steep hill on Danville Rd, just before the 6 mile mark, where there is about a mile long climb with an average of 10% grade. Now that will get you warmed up! The course then flattened out until about mile 12, where I hit the nice down hill on Berry rd before crossing back over Rt 210 and starting what was supposed to be a series of hill repeats up the two steepest climbs in the area that I know of, Fort Trail and Wannas Dr off of Farmington Rd, where both hills have >16% grades and extend for about 1/2 a mile. This was supposed to be the best part of the ride, however leave it to an irresponsible dog owner to ruin it. I did the Fort Trail climb once without incident, but upon approaching the summit the second time, of course I was chased by two dogs to the top, who backed off when I turned around to face them at the top, only to begin chase once again once I started down. DAMN I hate irresponsible people. Get an f'n fence, invisible or otherwise or hang out with your dogs outside to make sure they don't ruin everyone else's day. UGh... SO then I did the Wannas Dr climb, only to realize that the downhill is a mess because the road is now so ripped up. Therefore I called those a wash after three climbs and took off up Farmington which effectively kicked my butt (another 1/2 mile climb with up to 14% grades). After this I headed over to the access road by 210 where I did a nice sprint, hitting above 25 mph for an extended length before heading out to a nice turn around and then heading back for one more sprint, again reaching >25 mph. Ended back at the house, where I then hopped on the trainer for a final couple miles to cool down. Great ride despite the dogs and wow am I beat...

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Traditional Saturday Long Run with Betsy, Joe and the kids!!!

Betsy, Cole and I got up and met Joe and Katie at B&J Carryout and headed over to Belle Haven and got started by running across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge path until we got down to the National Harbor, about 3.2 miles out. We then turned around to see Joe and Katie hanging out at the end of the Woodrow Wilson path and then headed back to Belle Haven, where we continued on south 1.8 miles (just past the six mile mark) before turning around and finishing back at Belle Haven for our 10 miles. Joe put out a strong 5 mile run with Katie and then met us at the cars, where we got to chat for a few before taking off. Betsy and I were nothing if not consistent, averaging 8:21 min/mile, knocking the miles down in 8:30, 8:28, 8:24, 8:26, 8:19, 8:20, 8:23, 8:23 and 8:25, before pushing for the final mile finishing in 7:53 min. Great run, followed by a nice trip to the farmer's market in Old Town for our Ham and Cheese Scones (MMMMM mmmm MMMM DELICIOUS!!!) and another cup of coffee. Great run with the family. I am really growing to look forward to these weekend runs!

Friday, July 10, 2009

Swimming with the family!

Betsy met me after work with Cole and we headed over to Bolling to get in a swim. Betsy got first dibs, while I got to play in the wading pool with Cole! GREAT FUN! I got to hop in shortly after Betsy, I did find out that the pool is actually 100 feet long, not 25 yards like I thought! Anyway, got in ten '100's' finishing them in 2:05, 2:12, 2:17, 2:14, 2:18, 2:20, 2:22, 2:22, 2:24 and then finally 2:25 fo an average pace of 1:41 min/100 yds. Not great, but good.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Mountain Biking with Joe.

So after discussing the idea of going for a bit, Joe and I finally got out to hit the trail together, heading over to Cedarville for a spin on the blue trail first thing this morning. Got out fairly early and got going. Joe hadn't been for a few years, so I was prepped for a rough ride getting his legs under him, but he didn't need much time at all. Got going and found out that alot of log crossing had been added. Felt pretty good, had a great ride and looking forward to going again!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Morning Mountain Biking with Alex at Rosaryville

Got going early, although I arrived a bit late so we only started at 6:30am. Felt quite stiff and tired, been pushing it the last few days, so tomorrow needs to be an easy ride with Joe at Cedarville. Alex took off quite strong, but he quickly started feeling a bit crappy, so we pulled it in a bit and just kept it going at an easier pace. Finished with a respectable 9.3 mph and I was much more confident on the technical sections, so that made me quite happy. Looking forward to next time!

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Running at Lunch with Mike

Got out a bit later than usual, but Mike was down so we got started. Got out at a nice pace, starting with a 7:55 and then a 7:50 min mile before hitting the hill, where we dropped our pace to 8:23. Picked it back up on the way down though, putting in an 8:02 mile. After that, Mike decided that he was going to do 8 miles, so he went for another loop up the hill while I headed back to NRL. I took a quick second to get rid of a side stitch and then got going again finishing the next two miles in 8:06 and 7:57 min before finishing the final 0.2 miles at a 7:35 min/mile pace. Great run.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Day off from work = Great Morning Ride


After a nice weekend up in Mass with family and picking up our nephews, we arrived home last night and got to hang out with my parents and brother for the evening before they left first thing this morning. Once they left, Betsy and Cole headed out for a ride and I got out for a nice ride. I decided to do my new 29 mile loop that incorporates the Indian Head Trail and felt great the whole way. Got the ride, with three fairly reasonable hills completed in 1:24:35 for a nice 20.2 mph average! It was a beautiful day, so glad I got it in!!!

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Morning Run in North Attleboro

We arrived at my grandfather's late yesterday afternoon and after saying hi and getting settled in, we went out for dinner and then came home, where Gramp and I watched the Red Sox lose to the Mariners (all the fault of that damn kid who stole the foul ball from Youk... GRRRRR....). Well Cole decided that 6am wasn't too early to wake up, so after sitting in bed for a few mins I finally got up and got out for my run. I got outside to see a gorgeous, if only slightly cool morning, with the sun still rising. After a brief stretch, I got going and man did I feel good. I did find out that Mapmyride apparently doesn't know N. Attleboro very well, as it told me I could do a loop somewhere that turned out to be a deadend. Anyway, that shortened my run by about a mile, so I ended up finishing with 6.5 miles total. I didn't have a single mile over 8 min/mile, steadily knocking off the miles miles in 7:59, 7:40, 7:48 and 7:50 before pushing a bit more and starting to negative split, finishing the last 2 and 1/2 miles in 7:33 and 7:28 and then at a 7:13 min/mile pace for the final 0.5 miles. Great run over all, not many hills, but enough terrain to keep it interesting.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Running around Amy and Dan's!

So our 4th of July trip has begun. Betsy and Cole drove up on Tuesday, while I got the extra day of work in on Wed. Not wanting two cars up in New England, I spent yesterday on various forms of mass transit, starting at 7am and arriving in Conn around 4:30 or so. Long day. Hence, I didn't get a workout in yesterday. However, woke up at Amy and Dan's today and Betsy and I borrowed their Zin jogging stroller and got out for what was supposed to be a 5 mile run. Let me tell you, running with a different stroller REALLY makes me appreciate our Bob stroller. It was like I was pushing a weight in front of me instead of just rolling along in front of me. Added to the workout for sure. We started off fairly well, keeping 8 min miles the whole way, but as it was new territory to us, I had put our plotted course onto the GPS to make sure we knew where we were going. Unfortunately, I forgot to plug it in last night and the battery died right at the 4 mile mark. So up to that point we had put in miles in 8:16, 7:56, 8:05 and 8:08. We kept up that pace, but missed some turns and ended up following our trek out instead of the way I planned, so our 5 mile run turned into about 5.4, not a huge deal, but mentally it was a bit of a beat down since we were trying to figure out how to get back. Good run overall though and glad we got out!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Early Morning Mountain Bike Ride with Alex.

So our summer graduate student Alex and I, after trying to make plans since he arrived to go, finally got out to Rosaryville State Park for a mountain bike ride! Got out first thing this morning, getting out of bed at 5:30 am or so to get over to the trail. Got in a loop, which considering I haven't been on the trail since last year I felt I did really well, averaging about 9 mph overall. Felt pretty strong, finishing the 8.5 mile loop along with the additional technical section for a total of 10.3 miles, finishing in 1:09:50. Alex showed himself to be a great rider and I think we might be able to make this a bit more of a regular trip too.

2010 Efforts!

This year, like last year, I will be riding for Mary Payton's Miracle - My friend Steve Kogos from Trigators informed me that his friend Joe's daughter, Mary Payton, was diagnosed a number of years back with Late Infantile Batten Disease. This is a disease with no cure, however, there are special experimental (and extremely expensive) treatments which have shown some significant signs of success! In order to assist with the costly treatments and research, Mary Payton's Miracle was created to raise money to find a cure, hopefully in time to save little Mary Payton as well as the many others affected by this terrible disease!

Total Mileage

Current Challenges

Valid 2/1-12/1/2009