Donation Totals

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!

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