Injury time out!

I set out to complete my monthly quota today, a nice clear, crisp autumn day. I decided to hit the University/Donahue/Magnolia/Gay route, and had gotten past Woodfield on Gay Street when my calf, which had been tender, went pop. I had to start walking there, and hobbled back home. Sadly, assuming I can't get out before the end of tomorrow, this means I'll be a fraction short of my monthly goal, though I did get one of three half-marathons out of the way, and registered for a second one in January. I think it happened at Gay/Samford. I crossed the street and stumbled on the curb at the gas station there. I managed to right myself, but I definitely got contorted, and nearly bit the concrete.

Playlist -lots of reggae

Three Little Birds	Bob Marley
Dead Flowers	Rolling Stones
I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)	the Proclaimers
Spoonman	Soundgarden
Can't You Hear Me Knocking	Rolling Stones
Peace Treaty	Peter Tosh
Genius of Love	Tom Tom Club
Walk On The Wild Side	Lou Reed
Turn It On	Flaming Lips
Chant A Psalm	Steel Pulse
Up On The Sun	Meat Puppets
Mama Africa	Peter Tosh
Electric Avenue	Eddy Grant
Rastafari Is	Peter Tosh

Times:
L1 13:42
L2 17:12
L3 4:31
L4 5:23
L5 5:31
L6 3:17
(Walked home, 23:10)

Distance (ran, walked the last mile and a half) 5.3 miles
Cumulative distance 38.2 miles.

After the Half

A lovely morning it is this morning. And with a relative lull in my teaching duties, I decided to go out on a run. I went up out of the neighborhood and into Grove Hill, then left on Moore's Mill, and up to Dean Road. Then back down Dean to University and home. I felt pretty good. After a half marathon and a couple of days' rest, five miles is feeling like not very much. I feel like a key to getting my speed up is using my thighs more and my calves less. Since I started running again a few years ago, my main goal has been aerobic exercise to improve cardio health. I had read that speed wasn't important, and was in fact counterproductive, as it puts more stress on joints and muscles, etc. So I adopted a technique of running with mostly just lower legs.
But I like trying to improve upon my speed as well, and I think to do that a good start would be using my thighs more. After all, they are bigger muscles and have more swing in them. We'll see how this goes. I don't want to hurt myself.

Playlist- leftovers from the Half Marathon playlist plus

Cool It Down	Velvet Underground
Monkey	Matthew Dear
Driving South	Jimi Hendrix
Evil Urges	My Morning Jacket
Sex On Fire	Kings of Leon
Pop Muzik	M
Tougher Than It Is	Cake
Search and Destroy	Iggy and the Stooges
Once In A Lifetime	Talking Heads
Fat Bottomed Girls	Queen
Smile	Lily Allen

Times
L1 23:35 (home to end of Grove Hill)
L2 18:16
L3 0:43 (sprinting with my thighs, not my calves)

Distance 5.0 miles
Cumulative distance 32.9 miles. 6.1 to go for October's goal.

Athens GA Half Marathon

I made it out to Athens, where I ran the Athens Half Marathon as planned. I didn't get any more running in this week, after the 10 mile last Sunday, but that didn't seem to hurt me. My goal was to come in under 2 hours, and I did it. The course was quite lovely, starting on the campus of UGA, and snaking around Athens, up through the neighborhood where we stayed with some old friends from Oregon, Doug and Elizabeth, and their two year old daughter, Clara. Doug ran it also, though mostly because I was there to do it. He bikes quite a bit, and he came in about 1:45. The course was a bit hilly, more hilly than Auburn's half, anyway, with a great big climb at the end to arrive right downtown. As I often do, I was passing people on the late climb, which felt good, especially as many of these folks had been jockeying back and forth with me for as much as 1o or 11 miles. As in January, with the AORTA Half, my hips started barking quite a bit towards the end. I also got a huge blood blister. But apart from that, I'm feeling quite good for having run it, and would probably like to do it again next year.

Playlist
El Microfono	Mexican Institute of Sound
Save It For Later	English Beat
No Expectations	Rolling Stones
Creep	Radiohead
Gardening at Night	REM
Beaux Dimanches	Amadou & Mariam
Epistle to Dippy	Donovan
Steppin' Out	Steel Pulse
Evil Urges	My Morning Jacket
Rocks Off	Rolling Stones
The Distance	Cake
Fish, Chips and Sweat	Funkadelic
Good Vibrations	The Beach Boys
Rock Problems	The Hold Steady
Queen Bitch	David Bowie
Driving South	Jimi Hendrix Experience
Let It Bleed	Rolling Stones
Monkey	Matthew Dear
Monkey Man	Rolling Stones
Bring It On	Gomez
Who Loves the Sun	Velvet Underground
Cool It Down	Velvet Underground
Rock and Roll	Velvet Underground
Lust For Life	Iggy Pop
The Man Who Sold The World	David Bowie
Mexican Radio	Wall of Voodoo
The New World	X
Wat Da Hook Gon Be	Murphy Lee
Here It Goes Again	OK Go
Fireflies	Owl City
Blind Mary	Gnarls Barkley

Time (unofficial)
1:57:??, 1:56:?? net (accounting for wave delay)

Distance 13.1 miles
Cumulative distance 14.8 + 13.1 = 27.9 miles

250th Post!

According to the tabulation apparatus of Blogger, this is my 250th post on this blog. Yay! Almost all of those are tales of a run. This morning, I figured I needed to gain some ground, and see if I'm anywhere near ready for the Athens Half Marathon one week from today. I went out Ogletree and back, then down Wright's Mill to Chewacla and back, a route I calculated at 10.2 miles. It did seem to go all right, so perhaps I am ready. And given my time, I think I may have a shot at getting in under 2.0 hours, which is my goal.

Playlist	Rolling Stones, late 60s-early 70s
Sympathy for the Devil	from "Beggars Banquet"
No Expectations	from "Beggars Banquet"
Dear Doctor	from "Beggars Banquet"
Parachute Woman	from "Beggars Banquet"
Jigsaw Puzzle	from "Beggars Banquet"
Street Fighting Man	from "Beggars Banquet"
Prodigal Son	from "Beggars Banquet"
Stray Cat Blues	from "Beggars Banquet"
Factory Girl	from "Beggars Banquet"
Salt of the Earth	from "Beggars Banquet"
Gimme Shelter	from "Let It Bleed"
Love In Vain	from "Let It Bleed"
Country Honk	from "Let It Bleed"
Live With Me	from "Let It Bleed"
Let It Bleed	from "Let It Bleed"
Midnight Rambler	from "Let It Bleed"
You Got The Silver	from "Let It Bleed"
Monkey Man	from "Let It Bleed"
You Can't Always Get What You Want	from "Let It Bleed"
Brown Sugar	From "Sticky Fingers"
Sway	From "Sticky Fingers"

Times
L1	8:07
L2	11:27
L3	18:20
L4	18:01
L5	12:07
L6	7:05
L7	7:17
L8	0:47
Total	1:30:22

Distance 10.2 miles
Cumulative distance 14.8 miles

Late in getting to October

First run of October. A bit of resting on my laurels, getting sick, bad weather (but not that bad, really), being busy with work, and plain old SLOTH. I did get out this morning, and did my 4.6 mile loop, up Gay to Samford, College to Woodfield. Not feeling too bad after the hiatus and a night of unhealthy consumption (buffalo wings and beer).

Playlist
Baba-Ye	Mahlathini
Genius of Love	Tom Tom Club
Superunknown	Soundgarden
Academia	Sia
You're My Best Friend	Queen
Here It Goes Again	OK Go
The New World	X
Born Free	M.I.A.
Lust for Life	Iggy Pop
The Width of a Circle	David Bowie

Times
L1	11:51
L2	5:50
L3	6:58
L4	3:16
L5	10:23
L6	0:54
Total	39:12

Distance 4.6 miles
Cumulative distance 4.6 miles