run, run, run

Boise, ID 6:30 am

Had a good run this morning. Weather was jsut about perfect. Even a little chilly starting out. About 3/4 of a mile into it I decided to pick it up and kept the pace under 8 the rest of the way. Finished with an avg. pace of 7:49.

Meridian, ID 6:15 am

Didn't go very fast this morning. Barely got my avg pace below 8:30 by the end of the run. Nice weather again.

Boise, ID 6:30 am

The usual MWF route. Had a little harder time keeping the pace up but was able to get the avg down below 8 in the last mile. Eating better and running harder. I've dropped a few lbs and feeling better.

Boise, ID 6:30 am

Went up to Chinden and Maple Grove then came back through some neighborhoods at the top of the bench. I don't often run through unfamiliar neighborhoods when I'm home, so that was kind of nice.

Didn't keep up the pace I had hoped, but the week tends to wear on me. I'm going to shoot for 10 more tomorrow and then 7 to 10 on Saturday to get my weekly total up to 50.

Meridian, ID 6:30 am

Just a little run around the block. Ustick to Meridian to Franklin to Cloverdale. Feeling kind of slow this morning. Put in music for the last mile or so and picked up the pace.

Boise, ID 7:30 am

My foot was really hurting last night. But, I think it was from being home all week and not wearing shoes. Too many hours in flip flops. This morning I decided to go out and run anyway to see how it felt. It really never hurt and by the time the run was over it was fine. I guess I'll wear shoes today.

New York, NY 5:00 pm

I flew in to NYC this afternoon and took of on a long run after I checked into the hotel. I wondered if it was a bad idea since I'd gotten very little sleep and it was 90 degrees out. So, I planned a run with a few escape routes along the way -- shortcuts back to the hotel and subway stops if I got desperate. But I didn't need them.

I went from Lower Manhattan to the Brooklyn Bridge, up to Prospect Park and did a loop there, back down by the river and over to the Queenboro Bridge, crossed the bridge and down 2nd Street back to the hotel.

I wanted to keep the pace below 9 min/mile but that didn't happen. I kept it close and I might have actually made it, but the Garmin does weird things with all the tall buildings around.

New York, NY

Even though I went long last night, I wanted to get on a morning schedule for the week, so I got up and ran a few miles with Matt. We went down Broadway to Wall St. and over to the Hudson River and up to Houston. Stopped off at Au Bon Pain for some oatmeal on the way back. I figured that was the best way to avoid eating a bagel or a McMuffin for breakfast.

New York, NY 6:30 am

I felt like Monday night's long run must have caught up with me. I was really dragging the first mile or so. I never felt full of energy, but I kept up an 8:30 pace - or so, it's hard to tell in the city. Went down Canal St. (gross) to the Hudson River, down around the bottom of Manhattan and up the East River to Houston, picked up some oatmeal and back to the hotel.

New York, NY 6:30 am

This one didn't work out the way I'd hoped. Matt called at 6:15 saying he needed to sleep another hour, so I took off on my own. I had mapped out a route that seemed pretty simple. I crossed the Williamsburg Bridge and continued on to Union St. and followed it to Flushing where I was supposed to tur right. Or was it left? Left seems right. So I turned left. I should have turned right. Before long the buildings started getting smaller and scarier. I turned again in what felt like the right direction and luckily came upon a subway station, so I went down and looked at the map on the wall. I was nowhere near where I thought I was or where I wanted to be.

Now, the wise thing to do at that point would have been to get on the train and go back to Manhattan. But, since I'm not a wise person, I got my bearings and kept running. I went back to downtown Brooklyn, crossed the Brooklyn Bridge and went back up Lafayette to the hotel. My 7-miler turned out to be 9.5 and I thought I was going to be late for work, but I got cleaned up and was able to walk into the office at 8:59.

New York, NY 6:30 am

I know I've said this before, but this should be my last run in NYC. I really hope I'm done with this project.

Matt and I ran across the Manhattan Bridge then back across the Brooklyn Bridge, down to Battery Park and up the Hudson River to Houston St. Kept up a pretty good pace. The Garmin had our avg. at 8.07, but in the city it could be off a bit.

As we were running down the street toward Battery Park a guy was walking down the street yelling "F-- George Bush and F-- George Bush's Mother!"

I got a blister on the back of my foot above the heel. I don't know if it's the new shoes or the new socks. Either way I'm bugged because I liked them both.

Boise, ID 7:30 am

Just a short run to start the weekend off. I got in late last night, but it is still nice get up and out on the road. I can sleep in tomorrow. After a slow first mile I picked it up and kept the pace well below 8 mpm. I wore my old shoes and couldn't feel the blister on the back of my foot at all. Not sure what to do about that.

Boise, ID 6:30 am

A very good run this morning. Felt strong the whole way and increased the pace every mile.

1    00:08:14    1.00    08:14
2    00:07:57    1.00    07:57
3    00:07:52    1.00    07:52
4    00:07:50    1.00    07:50
5    00:07:43    1.00    07:43
6    00:07:42    1.00    07:42
7    00:07:30    1.00    07:30
8    00:00:27    0.07    06:40

I wore the Ghost 2s again. They felt good until the very end when the blister on the back of my foot ripped off and it started to hurt. I tried lacing them up tightly at the top. Maybe I need to keep them looser.

Boise, ID 6:30 am

I didn't run yesterday. The stupid blister on my foot was really sore and I didn't want to make it worse. What a stupid reason to not be able to run. I went swimming in the afternoon and then cut the big, gross flap of skin off

Today was better. I wore my old shoes and the feet felt good. Kept up a decent pace, getting a little faster each mile. I'm going to run again tomorrow morning and then go long on Friday.

Meridian, ID 6:30 am

Floated down the river last night with the kids from church. Not as relaxing as you might think. I was feeling a bit fatigued this morning, but kept the avg. pace under 8:30. I wanted to go a bit slower today anyway because I'm planning on a long run tomorrow morning.

Boise, ID 6:30am

It was time to another long run so instead of mapping out a long course, I just did the regular MWF loop three times. The first lap was with Randy and we dialed down our normal pace to the 8:10 - 8:20 range. Lap two was in the 8:20s. Lap three was, of course the hard one and my pace fluxuated between 8:35 and 9:00. I think it's the fastest 20-miler I've done so far. I did take short (under 5 minute) breaks inbetween laps to grab a drink and much on a Powerbar.

On my first lap I carried a water bottle and stashed it under a tree. I drank half of it on lap two. On lap three it was just my luck that the sprinklers were on, so I got soaked trying to get to the bottle.

After the run I hosed off and jumped in the pool, then took a nap. I wish I could take a day off work every time I go long.

Boise, ID 8:15am

Wanted to get a short run in after going long yesterday. Started out sluggish but picked up the pace gradually until I was going pretty fast (for me) the last mile and a half.

1    00:08:47    1.00    08:47
2    00:08:22    1.00    08:22
3    00:08:18    1.00    08:18
4    00:08:06    1.00    08:06
5    00:07:40    1.00    07:40
6    00:04:16    0.58    07:24

Finished with an avg. pace of 8:09. Now two days off. Next week will be tough to get the miles in, but I'll do what I can.

Boston, MA 6:00am

I ran down the Charles River, took a loop around Harvard Stadium and back the other side of the river. It was a wet morning. Not raining bad though. The stadium was really cool. There were a few guys running stairs. I thought about it, but had to get back.

Boston, MA 6:00 am

I ran along the beach in the pouring rain this morning. I ran through UMass-Boston then up the beach and back through South Boston. I wasn't cold, just very, very wet the whole way. I ran pretty slow, but it is hard to keep up a good pace in this weather.

It was a mostly uneventful run except when I was running near the water I heard something hit the ground really close to me. It scared me silly and I thought someone was throwing rocks at me, but it was a seagull dropping oysters or mussels, some kind of shellfish, on the sidewalk to break them open and eat them. Or, maybe he was trying to kill me.

Boston, MA 5:30 am

A good workout. I ran over to Harvard Stadium and ran stairs for a while before heading back. By the time I was done my legs were trashed. Rain finally stopped and the skies are clearing. Going to be a nice weekend.

Boston, MA 6:15 am

I woke up yesterday and just didn't have it. So I slept in and decided to get up today. I'm at a different hotel, so I went over to South Boston and along the beach. A pretty uneventful run except that technology failed me. My Garmin wouldn't turn on and I couldn't find my headphones for the iPod. But it's all about the run, so it was still good.

Saint John, New Brunswick 6:00 am

For my first run in Canada I was kind of hoping for some scenery. I just picked out some roads on a map and ran. As far as scenery goes, I chose poorly. Mostly strip malls and fast food joints. Then I thought I was getting out in the country a bit and turned on Grandview Road. I crested a hill and got the grandest view of an oil refinery. I'll have to ask the locals about a better route for tomorrow.