From 5 to 50

9:00AM

So we had our 3rd Cross Country meet yesterday. It went well although I had several out sick and it was HOT. I'm about sick of this hot weather. I'm ready for Fall, NOW! But those that ran, ran well and we had some great times. We're still in the beginning meets that don't mean a whole lot. October and November bring the big meets that really count.

Chicago Marathon is less than 3 weeks away. Holy Cow it's close. I really haven't been thinking about this one as much as I did with Memphis last year. I just haven't had time to think about it. Don't get me wrong, I'm very excited. I will travel up on Saturday morning, October 9. My flight is early. I am staying at a Marriott very close to Midway airport. Saturday I will travel to the expo and pick up my packet/info. The marathon is Sunday morning, 10/10/10. I really don't know a whole lot about it except I've heard it's flat and fast. I really don't know what to expect. For some reason, I don't feel as ready for this one as I have in the past. Maybe b/c some of my recent long runs have been a little slower than I want. So I don't know whether to expect a PR or not. I'd like to PR, but I don't think I'll be too disappointed if I don't. I just want to finish and enjoy the race. I'll talk more about it in the coming weeks.

Last week I only ran 5 miles. I was trying to get my foot feeling better. It still hurts in the mornings but maybe it's a little better. Anyways, since I did 22 on Sunday of this week, I decided to make this week the week that I went for 50. One of my 2010 goals is to run a 50 mile week and so this is it. I did 22 Sunday, 6 Monday and 6 last night. So I'm already up to 34 miles. Only 16 to go. I plan to do another 6 today at CC practice. That will leave me with 10 for the last 3 days. I think I can make it. My 22 on Sunday was fine. I had to stop a couple of times for bathroom purposes and another couple to fix my ipod (BTW, I am sick of not being able to turn the IPOD dial b/c of sweat/moisture/humidity/whatever. They need to make an alternate way to move the dial. It's annoying.) But otherwise, I didn't stop. I averaged 8:43 a miles which was ok. I want to average between 8 and 8:30. But I was glad I went for 22 instead of 20. Now I get to taper. I love the taper. I'll do 12 this Sunday.

That's about it for now.

Keep runnin',
Albert

Five Whole Miles

10:43AM

That's it. That's all I'm doing this week. 5 whole miles. And I've got very mixed feelings about it. I don't like it. I hate taking multiple days off like I had to do this summer when I got injured. But I think it may be for the best. My foot is just not right. It still kills me when I wake up in the morning or step on uneven ground. I think last Saturday's 10K while a great race, didn't help in the healing process. So I've decided to take it really easy this week. I ran 5 yesterday in CC practice. I figured I'd do one run this week - midweek - just to see how I felt and to satisfy my own run cravings. It felt good. I hadn't lost it and I know I won't. It's just my mind playing tricks on me. So now I'll wait until Sunday and try to do my long run then. I'm hoping the few days off will help my foot to heal even a little bit. I've got a marathon for crying out loud in 3 weeks so I've got to get this foot in a little bit better shape. We'll see if it pays off. Regardless, I'm so excited about Chicago and I'll talk more about it in other posts soon.

My CC team had their first official meet on Tuesday. We did well. My boys won the meet and my girls got third. I think this will be a slightly down year for my girls simply b/c of numbers. I just don't have many girls and that's been a trend lately, even in middle school where I have been coaching for 11 years. It's just been a much more popular sport for boys and not girls. Not sure why. Maybe b/c girls' soccer is played at the same time, but that's not the only reason. Needless to say, I've got to recruit some more girls for next year. But everyone on my team ran well Tuesday and I was proud of them. We run again this Saturday in a big city meet. I'll let you know how it goes next week. I'm hoping to bring home a first place trophy, especially with my guys.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. I'm enjoying these cooler temps.

Keep runnin',
Albert

Anyone For a Sandwich?

8:56PM

I'm sick. Sinuses. Runny nose. Slightly sore throat. Runny nose. Itchy eyes. Did I mention runny nose? I felt it a little last night but it has really hit hard today. So I'm going to keep this short b/c I need to get some rest. Quick updates:

My CC team had a good meet last Tuesday. It was a practice meet so it wasn't scored. No idea how we would've done as a team. Too many runners to figure out. It was packed. But I had some great individual performances. Our first real meet is this Tuesday. I can't wait. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm still loving coaching this team.

My big news is my first 10K yesterday. Quick race report. I woke up at 5AM and left the house by 5:30 to get there and pick up my race packet. The race was going to be run in a very nice area. Flat. Newly built buildings and landscaping. Beautiful lake, waterfall and pathways. The weather was perfect. Nice and cool. Not super hot like it has been the last couple of months. But I wasn't feeling just great. I really did not want to get up that early. And my foot was still bothering me. For a split second I had debated not going but I quickly dismissed it. I made a commitment and wanted to keep it, plus I wanted to get this first 10K under my belt. The race started right about 7. It ended up being a very flat course with just a few slight rolling hills. The course was beautiful and there was a pretty good fan base for a 10K. The first mile was fine. I was trying to keep 7 min. pace and hit my first mile in 6:50. So I was happy. The 2nd and 3rd mile were a little tougher but I kept pace pretty well, maybe slightly slower but still under or at the 7 min. pace. Mile 4 felt good. I guess I knew mentally that I was more than halfway done so I got excited about seeing the finish. I felt like I was picking up my pace but I was still running 7's. The last mile felt fine but very long. It was an out and back course and the last mile has you looping around the lake. That loop seemed so much bigger coming back than it did going out. But I sprinted the finish strong and ended up with a 43:42 for my first ever 10K. That's a 7:02 pace which is just over what I was shooting for. I was very happy with my time and felt good overall during the race. Don't get me wrong - it was tough and I was worn out when I stopped but I never felt like I needed to stop. The race was sponsored by Chick-Fil-A and so the past race goodies included chicken and biscuits (soooo good) and the best sugar cookies I've ever had as well as fruit. It all tasted so good. They posted the results within 5 min. after I finished. I didn't expect to win anything. I really didn't. I figured several runners out there could go faster than 7 min. miles. But when I looked at the list, I was shocked. I had gotten 2nd in my age group. I quickly thought back to the race website I had read when I registered. It had said that 1st and 2nd in each division got free Chick-Fil-A for a year. I decided to stick around for the awards ceremony. I in fact did get 2nd in my division and won a medal(a cowbell - Chick-Fil-A you know) and 52 coupons for a free chicken sandwich - one per week for a whole year. Not too shabby. So on the whole it was a good day (my birthday as well!) and I thoroughly enjoyed my first 10K.

Now it's back to training for the Chicago marathon. I took today's and this week's long run off. I'm trying to get my foot to heal. It's still really bad in the mornings when I wake up. I plan to try another long run next weekend. I may take it easy on the mileage this week as well.

Hope everyone has a good week. I'll try to update later in the week about our first CC meet.

There's the short (yeah, right) update.

Keep runnin',
Albert

Milkshake AND Ice Cream

8:25PM

Ok, I was told by my one reader today that I need to post and he's right. I'm really sorry, one reader. I hate to use the busy excuse again, but it really is true. It's a good busy and a fun one but it doesn't allow me to sit down at the computer for any length of time. But today is different. This is labor day weekend and we are in Chattanooga, TN on a quick family getaway. We went to the Aquarium today, did a behind-the-scenes tour, and just enjoyed downtown Chattanooga. It really is a nice city. Its downtown is so much cleaner than Nashville's. Sorry hometown. However, it's taking a toll on my eating habits, not that I really had any. But I had a butterscotch milkshake for lunch today (my favorite milkshake flavor) and then Coldstone ice cream tonight. But it's too hard to eat well when you are on "vacation", right? Right!

Ok, running news....My first 10K is next Saturday. One week. I really am just using this as a fun run. I'm not trying to prove anything here. I mean I'll run it and try my hardest but I'm not going to be disappointed whatever happens. It begins at 7AM next Saturday in Murfreesboro which is about a 30 min. drive. Plus, I have to pick up my packet that morning so I'll basically be getting up around 5AM. Fun, fun. But I'll try to post again on Saturday with a race report.

My foot hurts. I cannot seem to get myself injury free. When one thing heals, another hurts. This time it's my left foot. I have pain in the front inside of my foot. It's mainly bad in the morning or when I haven't moved it for a while. And I can still run on it, not that I should. But it doesn't hurt while running which is strange. I'm not running today or tomorrow so maybe that'll give it a little time to get better. I am supposed to do a long run tomorrow but since we're out of town, I was going to save it for Monday (Labor Day). Not sure if I'll do it or not.

In other running news, I absolutely love coaching high school cross country. Love it. My team is awesome. There is no other word. I love these guys and girls. And I can't wait for the competitions to start. We have our first meet on Tuesday of this week. It's a practice meet, but we're going to use it to see what we can do so I'll post about that too next weekend. Our first real meet is Sept. 14. Both teams have the potential to do really well, especially my guys. It's a lot of work and responsibility, but I still love it and I especially love playing Ultimate Frisbee on Fridays with them. I look forward to it every week.

Well, that's about it for now. Hope that will satisfy for a few days. I promise to try to do better. Hope everyone (one reader) is doing well.

Keep runnin',
Albert