Monday, August 10, 2009

Running life. And other things you do...

So I was off today, day one of two. AND my wife was off, so we were going to surprise the kids and take them to Wisconsin State Fair, figuring Monday is a good day to go to avoid the huge crowds of drunk and idiot persons that tend to go there at night.

But before the going to the 'best time of the year', I had to get my run in! Since I took yesterday completely off, I opted for a 'long' run, well, long by my current standards at least. I have probably 20 or more routes mapped out in 'MapMyride.com', so I looked at a reasonable distance run, something over a 10k, which I have done comfortably several times in the past 3 weeks. I found a nice 7.5 mile loop, taking my out around Wind Point, the gold course and lighthouse area with the million+ dollar homes along Lake Michigan. I ride here frequently, especially in the winter months, since it's close to home, I know it well, and i can easily add miles to my ride by loping back around again (and again and again), plus still get home easily enough. Oh, plus my buddy Dennis lives right on the route, so I can stop for a fluid refill (or a beer in the summer) if needed.

So I geared up early (well, not that early) and took off, not really knowing how I would feel on a little longer run. I brought along some hydration, and tunes of course. It was getting hot rather quickly, and still was humid today, surprisingly even right along the lake (you are literally a hundred feet or less away from the surf in the Point). But, I felt good during the entire run, and I kept a decent pace, roughly a 9:25 mile throughout. I need to pick the pace up on the longer runs, but not yet. I still want to get some more speed work in, in the form of 5k and 10k races this month and next. This Saturday, I believe several of us are running the 2nd annual Aurora 5k run in West Allis, where I work. I was supposed to ride the Dairyland Dare 100k, but my riding partners are down with knee injuries, so we opted to pull the plug on the ride, since there are so many hills in central WI (it's along the IM WI course, a road bike course for sure). I did not want to ride this one alone, call it a psychological thing or whatever, but you want someone suffering next to (or close to) you for this one. Maybe next year...

The running training is coming along nicely, IMO. I am able to easily run 6 of 7 days straight, no knee or foot pain. My legs feel decent in the night, and I only take a OTC pain relief (Tylenol) on occasion to knock down the discomfort. I have been wearing my compression socks after runs, or at night, if i run in the early AM, and I think they help big time. So this week will see me run like this:

Mon-7.5 mi longer
Tue-4.5 mi reg run
Wed-4.5 mi reg run
Thur-4.5 mi reg run
Fri-4.5 mi reg run
Sat-5k race pace
Sun-OFF

And then I will start the next week, a longer run scheduled up front again. I've got some plotted out, that's for sure.

And post run, we were off to State Fair. It got really really hot there, and the buildings block the breeze, so it was pretty hot! But the kids had fun, we saw some animals, had some decent food and a few beers. Here are some pics:







And I made dinner tonight...



Which I might add, has been a hit lately, here is last nights...crepes with ALL the fixings...



and here is how my night is wrapping up, my kid's handy work with my point and shoot...I think she is going to be a great photographer, she loves the camera!



Me, enjoying a nice glass (or two!) of Clos du Bois Chardonnay! Good stuff, even though, I have to admit I might have a headache tomorrow morning! That's OK, I think I deserve it!

1 comment:

  1. awesome! sounds like a great day off. your kid is quite the photog.

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