My brother is visiting for a few days and we went out for a post-dinner 5k run. It was nice to do a leisurely run and talk…all leading to Sunday’s Bay to Breakers.
WooHoo!
Training Journal – 5/16/12:
Question: You finish your meetings a little bit early than planned and need to drive to Newark for the night before catching an early AM flight home. What to do, what to do?
Answer: Run another 10k on the Delaware and Raritan Canal Towpath – this time heading north from the Millstone Aqueduct. So much better than running on the hotel treadmill!
Very nice run – not as muggy today and a little breezy. I think I could get into trail running…
Some photos:
Turtles!
Lake training:
Millstone Aqueduct Foot Bridge:
Training Journal – 5/10/12:
I’m on a short business trip to Princeton, NJ and squeezed in a quick run this evening after work.
I did an out and back on the Delaware and Raritan Canal towpath, starting/finishing at the Millstone Aqueduct entrace at Lake Carnegie.
Weather-wise, it was a slightly muggy, 70 degrees with overcast skies. It had rained the night before and this morning, so the path was damp with occational puddles, but it was a nice run. This was my first run after three days of post-half marathon rest. I’m still a bit stiff (sitting with some ice as I write this), but it felt good to run.
As is the case, I forgot to take photos along the way, so these are some I shot after the run:
The Towpath:
Bridge at Millstone Aqueduct:
Millstone Aqueduct:
Lake Carnegie:
Lake Carnegie:
Training Journal – 5/9/12:
Source: Runner.com – Information and Inspiration for the Runner
Training Journal – 5/8/12:
This past Saturday I ran Brazen Racing’s Western Pacific Half Marathon. It was my second half marathon, coming only seven days after my first. The weather was excellent!
As advertised, the course was mostly gravel/fire trail with a small portions of pavement. The course was well marked and there were plenty of volunteers to provide directions and water/sports drink along the way. The event also included a marathon, 10K, and 5K – drawing over 1500 runners in total.
As is the case with all Brazen races, it was a quality event – they know how to do it right. The post-race expo was great with plenty of food and people simply hanging out. I hadn’t run a Brazen race in a few months and noticed that this time they had pacers for the half and full, which was nice.
My Race
Results:
Before diving into the details of the race, let me say that I am happy with my sub-2 hour time and overall/gender/age group placing…
Again, this was my second “half”, so the pressure was on to meet or beat my results from last week – pressure from myself and no one else, of course. I pretty much followed the same pre-race tapering, pre-race carbing, and mid-race fueling plans that I did for the Pleasanton Half. I also planned to follow the same pacing plan (1:49:), so I started the race with the 1:50 pace group.
Ah, the best laid plans…
As you can see, by mile four, I dropped the plan and just ran the race/mile I was on until the final 1.1 miles.
Anyway, like I said, I’m happy with my sub-2 hour time and overall/gender/age group placing, but here are my take-a-ways from the Western Pacific Half:
Wrap-Up
So, half marathon number two is in the books! As with #1, it was a learning experience and further reinforced my love of running.
For my post-race meal, I risked pink slime and downed an Angus Bacon Burger and fries from McD’s – CHOMP!
Next up:
Giddy-Up!
Training Journal – 5/7/12:
Number two in the books – my second “half” in seven days.
A few lessons learned this week as well. Full race report tomorrow.
i go lay down now…
Training Journal – 5/5/12:
One product of what you get when you cross a wannabe spreadsheet nerd, a compulsive planner, and a runner:
To do:
BTW: I also have spreadsheets for strategic vacation itinerary planning, strategic travel attire planning/packing, and a few others… [nerdy snort]
Training Journal – 5/3/12:
April was my eighth month as a runner and was full of lessons and training program refinements – to include experimenting with my diet (caloric intake/weight maintenance & pre-race carb loading) and the completion of my first half marathon!. It’s weird to think that my first Couch-to-5K workout last September was a grueling 1.53 mile run/walk at a 14.52 mile pace and last Sunday I did 13.1 at an 8:11 pace. I’m having fun and continue to learn.
Anyway, here are the stats for the month that was April 2012:
Mileage:
Pace:
Total Running Time:
Training Program(s):
Caloric Stats:
Races Completed:
Upcoming Run(s):
GIDDY-UP!
Training Journal – 5/2/I12:
This past Sunday I ran the inaugural Pleasanton Half Marathon – which happened to also be my “inaugural” half marathon as well. When I saw the ad for the race, I thought it would be cool to make it my first. The race benefited the Pleasanton Partnerships in Education (PPIE), a community organization that supports local public schools. They also held a 5k “fund” run that started about 30 minutes after the half marathon – it looked like there were quite a few participants in that race as well. The event is part of the California Running series, which includes two other events: The NORCAL Marathon & Half and the Morgan Hill Marathon & Half.
The course was a flat one that looped through several sections of Pleasanton, including neighborhoods, industrial areas, a portion of the Alameda County Fairgrounds, part of their downtown, and about 4 miles of trails. The course was well marked and there was plenty of volunteers and police to control traffic and manage the course. Some of the community even turned out to cheer! The weather was excellent.
The post-race expo was really nice, hosting a variety of vendors, other organizations, and food. My favorite SWAG item was the free samples of Wrips Wipes. They actually work pretty good and I ended up buying a box. They had a band playing and people hung out for a while enjoying the weather and community.
All in all, a great inaugural event and one that I think will grow in popularity. Hats off to the Racemine, South Valley Endurance, the City of Pleasanton, and the tons of volunteers who made the event a great success.
The bummer next year will be if the race is scheduled for the same weekend – my goal is to run the Big Sur Marathon in 2013…
My Race
FYI: this is a long post – mostly for me to record what I did… So, here we go
Did my first half marathon this morning in Pleasanton! Extremely pleased with my results – did better than my plan!
Full race report tomorrow… Early morning + 13.1 + celebrating my in-law’s 57th anniversary = Tired me!
DENNARR(dot)COM 