run, run, run

Meridian, ID 11:45 am

Pace: 8:45

I went on my usual Meridian 11-mile loop, except I reversed the direction today. A little bit of a change of pace.

Great weather today -- except for the wind. Mid 60s with sunshine. Haven't seen that in a while. I wish I could have enjoyed the run a little more. The wind was rough (for the half of the run that I was running into it) and I was feeling kind of queezy in my gut. Not sure about that one.

Back to CDA tonight.

Coeur d'Alene, ID 7:00 am

Pace: 8:19

Did my speed workout today. Alternating fast and slow quarter miles. I did six fast ones this time (five last week). Felt a lot better at the end of it this time. Hopefully it's doing some good.

Light rain along the lake this morning, but not bad at all. Pretty comfortable.

Coeur d'Alene, ID 7:00am

Pace: 8:55

Went up French Gulch hill today. Not a slick as last time. The mean dogs were inside too. I brought my pepper spray this time. Of course whenever I'm packing heat there are no dogs to be found.

The hills slowed my overall pace down, but it was a nice run. Felt good the whole way. Weather was chilly but nice.

Coeur d'Alene, ID 5:30pm

Pace: 8:46

Just an easy run. I didn't do any speed work because it was snowing and the roads were slick. Or maybe I was just feeling lazy. But I'll say that it was because the roads were slick.

Coeur d'Alene, ID 7:00 am

Pace: 8:30

It got cold again this morning. 27 when I left. I went along Fernan Lake. It was a really nice run. The only problem was that the road was pretty icy and there were more cars and trucks than I've seen before -- like 8 or 9, still not too bad.

Coeur d'Alene, ID 7:00am

Pace: 8:40

I was starting work later today, so I decided to do a longer run. I mapped out a nice 15-mile route around a lake and up and over a mountain. When I woke up this morning it was snowing and the streets were covered. So, I decided that this wasn't the best day to be going over, and more importantly, down a mountain. So I went along the Centenial trail six miles out and then back. Cold and snowy, but a good run. I would have liked to have gone over the mountain.

I turned a corner and fell down again. Similar to my fall in Pittsburgh. Now my knee hurts. I'll get over it.

Coeur d'Alene, ID 8:00 am

Pace: 8:19

Twelve degrees. I was going to complain about the cold until I found out that it is supposed to be colder tomorrow. So I'll wait.

It snowed quite a bit last night, but the path was nicely plowed. I appreciated that. Felt good the whole way, maybe because I was focusing on how cold it was, not on how my legs felt. But I'm not complaining.

Coeur d'Alene, ID 4:45 pm

Pace: 8.19

I didn't run this morning. I worked until 1am last night and when I got up it was one degree outside. 1+1= Courtney sleeps in.

Later in the morning I asked myself, "since this project is going relatively well, why am I working 14 hour days? So I decided to take a couple of hours off in the afternoon and go for a run.

It was great weather -- about 30 degrees and sunny. I felt good the whole way. I would have liked to double the mileage, but I didn't have time. It's supposed to be really cold again tonight. We'll see what I end up doing.

Coeur d'Alene, ID 7:30am

10.33 miles

Pace: 8:33

I got back to the hotel yesterday afternoon planning to go running, but I fell asleep. By the time I woke up it was almost time to go back in to work. So I got up this morning and did a 10 miler. It was 12 degrees, but didn't feel all that cold. I went up the Centenial trail and turned up towards Post Falls just before it went under the freeway. Felt good all the way, except for the very end when my body was telling me that it needed to hit the rest room.

Coeur d'Alene, ID 5:00pm

5.43 miles

Pace: 8:28

Since I didn't get out and run yesterday and since I won't get a chance to run again this week, I decided to go out for one last run in CDA this evening. It started out just as a penance run to assuage my guilt, but it turned out to be really nice. Since it was my last run here, I decided I should explore a bit. So I went down by the lake and even ran along the beach for a bit. The weather was the nicest it's been since I got here, so it would be true to say that I went running on the beach in shorts. But that part actually sucked. I was just slogging through the sand until I hit a dead-end and had to turn back.

Then I went over to a neighborhood near Fernan Lake. At one house I saw 5 turkeys loitering in the front yard. I don't know if they were wild turkeys that found something to eat or house pets. I crossed to the other side of the road because I really, the last thing I want is for my obituary to say that I was killed by a pack of angry turkeys. They just minded their own business.

It was tough getting my miles in this week with a taxing work schedule. The good news is that next week will likely be worse.

Sandpoint, ID 2:45pm

Pace: 8:38

It's been four days since I last ran. Monday and Tuesday I did nothing but work all day. I went to Priest River on Monday and dealt with crazy people in Bonner's Ferry on Tuesday. Seriously, there were stinky dogs in the office. I was listening for the Deliverance banjo riff.

Anyway, I finally got a couple of hours free this afternoon so I went on the running path from Sandpoint to Dover. It was only 8 miles round-trip, so I ran around the streets of Sandpoint for the last couple of miles. I got a little bit lost and tried to cut through the cemetary. That didn't work very well since the other side was fenced off and the snow was still a foot deep in some parts of the cemetary. By the time I got back to the palatial LaQuinta Inn, nature was calling pretty hard.

Oh, and I got whistled at by a couple of redneck chicks in a pickup truck ... I hope they were chicks.

Sandpoint, ID 8:00am

Pace: 8:47

I wanted to run across the Long Bridge today. It is a long bridge across Lake Pend Oreille (Ponderay). It's called Long Bridge because it is a really long bridge. When I got to the path that goes to the Long Bridge it was blocked off because of construction. I could have gone around the construction on the road, but the shoulder is really small and I didn't want to die, so I turned back and went back through town and back on the path to Dover.

When I got to Dover bay I went a different direction through the little town and then up on a hill overlooking the lake with some really nice, brand new, expensive homes that someone is going to have a really hard time selling in today's economy.

When I started out my run my legs were really creaking, but after a mile or so, they felt pretty good. Overall a good run, a little slower than yesterday.

Sandpoint, ID 10:00 am

Pace: 8:59

My last run in Northern Idaho for a while. I feel pretty good about the week. I wasn't able to run on Monday or Tuesday because of work demands and with a 6am flight and a honey-do list waiting for me at home, Saturday is out. So 31 miles for this week isn't too bad.

I went in a different direction this morning. I went north of town and looped around to link up with the end of the path in Dover. It was kind of hilly, but when you choose to run on roads with names like Baldy Mountain, Upland, and Syringa Heights, you kind of have to expect that. I need more hill work anyway in case I can get a Robie number next month.

The weather was nice, upper 30s. With snow melting off of the shoulders, you get to see some gnarly road kill. Other than that it was just a nice run through some very pretty country. Now I'm ready to go home.

Meridian, ID 11:30 am

Pace: 8:34

Good to be back home, but it was kind of a rough one today. The weather was in the low 40's but pretty windy. I don't know if it was just the wind beating on me or something else, but I just wasn't feeling it.

As I was running down Linder Rd., a pickup drove past me and a matteress flew out. So I stopped to help the guy put it back on the truck. Dude needs to invest in some rope.

I'm going to start doing speedwork again tomorrow.

iPod song of the day: "Strawman" -- Lou Reed

Meridian, ID Noon

Pace: 8:23

Now that I'm back from the great white north, I did some speedwork today. I alternated fast quarters with slow ones for three miles than ran another two miles at a comfortable pace. It's been three weeks. but still it felt better than before, so maybe I wasn't starting from square one after all.

iPod song of the day: "Run Like Hell" -- Pink Floyd

Boise, ID Noon

Pace: 8:45

Kind of cold and rainy this morning. One of those days where when it's raining you are too cold, but when it stops and the wind is at your back, it is too hot. But not a bad run anyway. About two miles into it, I was feeling pretty weak. I realized that I had only eaten a bowl of Corn Chex at 9am. But I pushed through it and felt better after another mile or so, but still kind of dragging most of the run.

I got stopped by a couple of guys in a meat truck asking for directions to some street I'd never heard of. Usually I don't mind stopping to help people out, but I have a prejudice against those door-to-door meat salesmen. They spread meat all over your living room floor before you can tell them that even if it is a good price, I shouldn't be eating all of that meat.

iPod song of the day: "Black Betty" -- Ram Jam

Meridian, ID 11:30am

Pace: 8:23

Same workout as Tuesday. Three miles of alternating fast and slow quarters followed by two comfortable miles. It really sucks. That must mean it's good for me.

iPod song of the day: "Fat Bottomed Girls" -- Queen

Meridian, ID 11:30 am

Pace: 8:24

Tried to pick up the pace a bit today. So I got really tired at the end. Weather was great though. Sunny, high 40s. I need to be careful the rest of the day. Now I feel like I could eat everything in sight.

This was my highest mileage week of the year so far (barely). I need to start cranking it up a bit. Robie next month, Potato half in May and Rock N Roll Seattle in June.

iPod song of the day: "The Ballad of Charles Whitman" -- Kinky Friedman & The Texas Jewboys

Meridian, ID 12:30 pm

Pace: 8:28

I love Mondays. After resting over the weekend, it is nice to get out and have the energy to go long and not feel sluggish. The weather was really nice too. About 50 with blue skys and slightly windy. Today I went up Cloverdale to McMillian to Linder to Pine and back up Cloverdale.

iPod song of the day: "Veronica" -- Elvis Costello

Meridian, ID Noon

Pace: 8:09

A good workout today. My legs were feeling kind of creaky when I started out, but just kept going alternating fast and slow quarters. After a while the creaks always work their way out, like a can of WD40.

It wasn't raining until about 10 seconds after I left the house. That is probably a good thing because I was having a hard enough time getting motivated today.

It was a good run. I don't know if my fast quarters were any faster than they had been, but I felt better and was able to keep the pace up more during the slow quarters and during the final two miles.

iPod song of the day: "Pinball Wizard" -- The Who