9/14-Late Run with Mike P.

Ugh... rough run. Felt ok, but never great. Once again this stupid heart rate monitor started jumping all over the place, don't know what is going on with it. Either way, had an ok run, kept a nice easy pace, right around 8:20, finishing in 50:51 before getting back to stretch out in the shower and head back to work. Looking forward to the next 1/2 marathon this weekend.

9/11 - Abebe Bikili 1/2 Marathon.

Planned on putting in an an 8 min/mile effort to start and then after the turn around if I felt up for it push a bit. Felt pretty good initially, starting off running with Mike P, then off on my own and settled into a nice rhythm. Did feel good at the turn around and then put in a bit more effort, however, that effort only kept my time where it was... Apparently pushing was all that kept me on my easy pace. Never quite felt wonderful, but overall a good race considering I didn't get enough training in. Afterwards, enjoyed a great breakfast with Nabil and Carol at Clyde's...

Biking with Josh in Northern VA!

Well after Josh has made a number of trips out to my place to go for rides, I finally made the trip out to his place for the start. Got going early, around 7 and headed out on Telegraph road west. The first 9 miles or so were pretty rough, roads in moderate shape at best, pretty heavy traffic, but then we hit Gunston Rd and wow was it worth it. Had next to no traffic, smooth roads and beautiful weather. Traded off on pulling and kept up a pretty nice pace, keeping about an 18 mph avg over the full ride, with sections hitting well over 20 mph. Absolutely wonderful ride. Of course, that was the extent of the fun as I got home and had to start painting Cole's new bedroom. UGH... Just a quick note, I started painting the ceiling, got the first coat completed before the textured coating that was on previously started to peel off... UGH... looks like I am in for a long Honey-doo weekend!

Ever race a turkey?

Wow, what a great ride and just in time to beat the rain... I was originally planning to ride with my buddy Josh and his friend up in Arlington, but the latter wasn't up for starting before 10am, which for me would mean I wouldn't get to see Cole until after his nap, yeah, that wasn't going to fly. Further, it was scheduled to be in the 90's and raining in the afternoon, so starting late did not strike me as the smartest move, so I decided to ride on my own. I was really looking forward to testing my legs out in my aero bars and seeing if I could finally break that 20 mph mark that had been eluding me for a while. So, while I was intending to do the 28 mile Mt. Carmel ride and with the extension out 225 to 210, I quickly realized it would be a great day to shorten the ride and see about doing a time trial. So I skipped Turkey Hill, Mitchell, and the beginning of 225 instead heading straight out to 225 from 227, spending as much time in my aerobars as possible while limiting the hills. Wow, good decision, had 15 straight miles avg > 20 mph, one 5 mile section I avg'd 23.1! Felt ok, not really all that great, but the idea of a breaking the 20.0 mark kept me motivated and I successfully finishied with a 20.3 mph avg! What a great ride. To add to the fun, on the final section up Rt 210, there was a Turkey in the median who apparently I spooked a bit, it immediately started running up the median and the race was on! I actually caught the little guy and kept rolling, hearing him give a loud gobble and frustrated by my amazing speed (hehehehe) took off and flew in the other direction. I continued to press the whole way home, setting the lap upon passing our house and then doing a quick cool down loop before heading back home. Good thing I shortened too, it wasn't another 30 min before the rain started to fall (wasn't expected until 1PM!). Plus I got home in time to hang with the little guy!

First morning in San Diego.

Yesterday was a long day. After having a wonderful morning hanging out with my son, wife, nephews and parents at the pool, I returned to get packed and then nothing went right. Between getting caught behind a school group which kept me from getting checked in in time to have my luggage checked (even though I paid for it the night before!), then had to throw away my toiletries so that I could make it through security, to then have my flight delayed due to a mechanical issue, to then having to be rerouted so that I could make it to San Diego that night, to then having a 30 min delay on the runway, to not getting to my hotel until almost 11:30 PM PST, 2:30 my time! It was a day. So I decided to skip the morning session (plenary talks) so I could get some sleep and get a run in. It was an overcast morning, so I had some trouble getting GPS signal at first, had some delays with lights initially, but once I got going it was a great run. Felt really well, despite my back hurting when I walk (not when I run though... wierd). I headed down around Petco Park, Marina Park, got to see the USS Midway (think I will need to eat on the restaurant there later!) and ran up Harbor drive. This is truly a beautiful city! Overall, I finished just over 5.5 miles in 41:16 for a 7:27 min/mile pace!

Morning long run!

Got up early this morning because of the impending heat (Heat index predicted to be over 105!), so we could get out for a long run. I wanted to get in 8 miles, with the plan being that I would start with Betsy and Cole, push off on my own, then meet up half way. However, on the way up, we heard about traffic on the beltway, so Betsy dropped me off at the National Harbor and I started running what we thought was a 2.5 mile run over to the bathrooms and parking lot on the Mt Vernon Trail then continue past until I caught up with Betsy and Cole. Well, it turned out to be almost 4 miles! So, it took forever for me to catch Betsy and the lack of cover really took its toll. I had to stop and get some water and soak my head before getting going again and then went a 1.5 miles more before I found Betsy and Cole. At that point, we walked for a minute and then I started running with the little guy, stopping every 1/2 mile or so to wait for Betsy so Cole could cheer her on! We would let her pass then I would hear Cole "Dada... Catch... Mama!... Ready... Set... Go!!!" So cute! Well despite the heat, lack of cover early, the climb over the bridge, etc... it was a pretty decent run, with me finishing with an 8:05 min/mile pace (the mile I ran with Betsy I had an 8:43 min/mile).

Morning run

Got out first thing this morning to get a run in. It was already pretty warm and the humidity was in full bore, but got a pretty good run in. Started off trying to determine if I wanted to run 6 easy or 4 tempo and after getting started decided on the latter. Started off with a 7:41 min mile, only to see my second drop to 7:34, then down to 7:19 and finishing with a 7:06 min mile! Overall I finished in 29:49, just about 10 seconds slower than my fastest time on that course, which I recorded back in March! Maybe I am not so far off my best as I thought. Still debating about the triathlon in Luray... We will see.

Morning run to beat the heat...

UGh... wow hot hot... and it was only 6:30am! Never quite felt great, had to stop a couple times and had all sorts of fun with the black flies, but overall not too bad... THAT IS UNTIL I WAS ATTACKED BY A DOG!!! Yup, came up a hill and had a huge white and gray German Shepherd lunge at me to take a bite! Luckily I jumped out of the way, but still spent 10 min fending off the attack before finally the owner came out and got the dog. Well I then got going and finished the run, felt pretty tight the whole way, but still maintained about 7:50 min/mile pace. Need to start picking that up if I want to look to get some PRs in this year. Of course, I need to sign up for some races if I want to do that!

Riding with Cole... Bike Trouble.

I definitely woke up on the wrong side of the bed and the day did not want to make it any easier for me! Got started in a bad mood and being a bit overtired, so I didn't get going right away, of course this meant we rode in extreme heat (>100 degrees today). Betsy wanted to go swim, so she left and then as I was attempting to put the bike rack on the car, realized that the bolts to hold the arms in place had disappeared! Betsy then came home as I was scrounging through my screw collection looking for a match because the pool wasn't open! Cole and I finally got going using Betsy's car, but as I was getting the bike ready, Cole played in the car, locking the doors so that when I opened the car again the alarm went off! Whats more, I couldn't find the keys! After a hectic moment or two and getting screamed at by an angry neighbor, I finally found the keys and turned the alarm off, finished getting ready and hit the trail. It didn't take long to realize that something wasn't right. Couldn't put my finger on it, but something felt wrong with my bike. So we turned around early at the 10 mile mark and headed back. By about 1/2 way back I could hear a grinding sound from my bottom bracket that got bad enough that by the time I got back to the car my speed had dropped by almost 2 mph, and I had been doing so well! Oh well, luckily I had prescheduled a tune up for my bikes and had to drop them off at bike doctor today anyway, so hopefully they will get fixed soon!

Morning Hill Run with Dexter and Cole!

Met up with Dexter first thing this morning down at the IHRT, but decided to do some hills along a route crossing over the IHRT. It was a surprise to see the hills back that way, with a couple climbs in excess of 10% grade along the way. Felt pretty good, but pushing Cole certainly took a bit more effort. After putting in the hills, did a bit of an out and back on the rail trail before heading back to the parking lot. Overall, had a pretty good pace for most of the run, did have a bit of a slow down in miles 4 and 5, but did salvage a sub 8 min pace for the final 0.9 miles. To add to this, the TOUR De France started TODAY!!! SPOILER.... Lance beat Contador! What a great start! Can't wait to get out for my next ride!