Month: October 2023

Last run before the train ride to DC. Nice and easy. Also another mild early morning. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Today’s run was a 5.1 mile hills route. Pace was 9:57.

Easy, mid-morning run in the Sun. Just a tiny amount of work without any sort of duration. It’s going to get colder in a few days.

Today’s run was a short 2.32 mile rather flat/easy rolling route with a short 10+% grade hill at the end, similar to what the end of the Marine Corps 50K will be like. Pace was 9:26.

Another very early morning run. Typical 45 degrees for this time of year. It’s dark for just about the entire run. This time of year (coming up on switching to standard time from daylight savings) is the darkest for early mornings. Load up on the reflective tape.

The route crosses several road, including U.S. Route 1. Lots of traffic, even before 6AM. I always take crossing intersections conservatively. I’m not interested in taking any chances. Sometimes that means standing and waiting. Whatever. It’s only a training run.

Today’s run was a 12.5 mile hills route. Pace was somewhere around 10:15. Hard to say with the navigating through intersections.

A very early morning for a run. Temperature around 53 degrees.. The rain finally moved out but lots of moisture and fog. Traffic early on the weekend isn’t much at all, so it wasn’t too hard to dodge around potholes and lakes.

Time to ramp the distance back up. The run felt fine. Took the pace nice and easy — focused on how I’ll run the 50K in a week and not just today’s distance. Also tried out a different bar (BonkBreakers Real Food Energy Bar) at the 7 mile point. Much easier to get down than the Chocolate Chip Clif Bars I’ve been using . As soon as I got home I put in an order for a box.

Today’s run was a 17.32 mile hills route, with a 5 mile stretch in the middle that’s flat. It’s my 12.5 mile route with the 5 miles added. Pace was 10:33.

Back to the road. I’ve been more focused on some hills work rather than distance for the past few days. The route I have isn’t bad but parts are always rather busy with traffic.

Today’s run was a 6.3 mile hills route. Pace was 9:44.

Good day to switch to some work on the bike. An indoor trainer is like a treadmill: very boring. It is, however, more convenient and safer.

Today’s ride was about 40 minutes at a rather stiff resistance setting.

One more mild/warm mid-day for a run. Today I felt much better throughout the run, as expected. The plan is to ramp up for the next 11 days or so and then taper down to some easy runs for a few days before the Marine Corps 50K on the 29th.

Today’s run was a 5.71 mile hills route. It should’ve been like yesterday (6.3) but I wasn’t paying attention and ran past a turn. Ugh. Pace was 9:39, essentially the same as yesterday (9:38).

Nice mid-morning run today. Mostly sunny and in the 50’s. Didn’t notice anything in the left hip at all. Tuesday later in the day it started to feel a little tender. I hate to take any time off but a few days this week is all I can afford, so take it when you can.

Since I hadn’t run in several days, I paid the price a bit. As expected, I felt really tired and sluggish. It’s what happens after days off and is why I hate to skip days. Well, enough of that.

Today’s run was a 6.33 mile hills route. Pace was 9:38. Weight was 148.0.

Typical Fall morning. Partly cloudy and 43 degrees. It’s unfortunate that we’re back to the 100% dark for the entire run, but early morning is my training time window.

First day on the road after the marathon on Sunday. Started out really slow and stiff, as expected. After a few miles it improved, also as expected. It’s less than three weeks to the Marine Corps 50K ultra. No time to relax.

Today’s run was an 8.05 mile rolling hills route. Pace was 10:16.

Race day. A cold (54 degree) stiff wind but clear skies. As usual, I ended up in the wrong area at the start line. Somehow I ended up in the 11:30 pace area. Whatever. We all lined up and then the pacers appeared. I swear I was right about in the middle of the pack. Ugh!

My goal was to focus on managing the energy level and nailing the climbs (about 400 feet between miles 17.5 and 22.5). Lots of people walking the hills. No walking for me. Head down and grind. About the only issue I had was the knees getting really sore late in the race.

Today’s race was the Newport Marathon. Pace was a not-going-crazy 10:34. I’d rather finish slower to be sure to run it all. It’ll get faster.