Finishing January

Last run of the month, and it felt pretty good. Up to Samford and back, just as dusk was settling into evening. It was warm enough to go without spandex, and comfortable in a long sleeve t-shirt. Cool, but not cold; almost perfect weather for a run.

On Saturday I went for a paddle on Hatchett Creek up in Coosa County with some friends. It was a pleasant enough day, but the river was rather rough, and I'm sorry I took my daughters with me. It was more of an adventure than any of us had bargained for, and it left me quite beat up. Fortunately I had my Five Fingers on, which kept my feet from getting cut to ribbons, though my knee felt pretty banged up. I'm OK now, though, and the run this evening felt good.

Playlist
Watermelon Man	Herbie Hancock
Change Clothes	Jay-Z
Show Some Emotion	Joan Armatradding
What Is And What Should Never Be	Led Zeppelin
Walk On The Wild Side	Lou Reed
Up On The Sun	Meat Puppets
Radio Free Europe	REM
Round And Round	Ratt

Times
L1	12:14
L2	6:03
L3	5:48
L4	10:26
L5	0:42
Total	35:13

Distance 4.0 miles

Cumulative distance 40.5 miles

Balmy run to Toomer's

I decided I'm not going to run the Callaway Gardens Half Marathon, even though I think I could do back to back Halfs. Pride precedes a fall, so they say. I did have a big fat blister on my right foot, which I opted to reduce right away, rather than wait for it, which I what I learned in the Boy Scouts. Tonight it was balmy after a big rain, about 63 F, and I opted to run up to Toomer's and back. Felt good most of the time. The Map My Route app was being wonky, so I didn't use it tonight.

Playlist
The Goose	Parliament
Big Time	Peter Gabriel
Orange	Meat Puppets
(I Love It When You) Call Me Names	Joan Armatradding
Slavedriver	Jenny & Johnny
Jump In The Line	Harry Belafonte
Bring It On	Gomez
Atomic Dog	George Clinton
Black Hole Sun	Soundgarden
Cantique	Kanda Bongo Man
Dadje Von O Von Non	Gnonnas Pedro & Ses Dadjes

Times
L1	12:06
L2	6:04
L3	5:51
L4	11:11
L5	3:15
L6	10:48
L7	0:49
Total	50:05

Distance 5.6 miles

Cumulative distance 36.5 miles

Auburn Classic Half Marathon 2012

I wasn't sure how I would do today, given I haven't been as good about training or diet in the lead up. My left hamstring was tender after my run last Thursday, so I have to admit that I was glad that race got postponed until this morning on account of the bad weather. We had a tornado watch in effect for the start yesterday. They had a start at 6:30, and another at 7:30, and though the weather looked to stay fairly consistent (about 57 F, overcast), I opted to get out earlier rather than later. I felt good most of the way, and made it in at 2:02:56 by my reckoning. Not quite under 2 hours, but I'm happy just to get through it feeling OK. My feet are a little blistered up, but all in all...

Playlist	All Rolling Stones
Rocks Off	Exile on Main Street
Rip This Joint	Exile on Main Street
Shake Your Hips	Exile on Main Street
Casino Boogie	Exile on Main Street
Tumbling Dice	Exile on Main Street
Sweet Virginia	Exile on Main Street
Torn and Frayed	Exile on Main Street
Sweet Black Angel	Exile on Main Street
Happy	Exile on Main Street
Turd On The Run	Exile on Main Street
Ventilator Blues	Exile on Main Street
I Just Want To See His Face	Exile on Main Street
All Down The Line	Exile on Main Street
Stop Breaking Down	Exile on Main Street
Gimme Shelter	Let It Bleed
Country Honk	Let It Bleed
Live With Me	Let It Bleed
Let It Bleed	Let It Bleed
Midnight Rambler	Let It Bleed
You Got The Silver	Let It Bleed
Monkey Man	Let It Bleed
Sympathy For The Devil	Beggars Banquet
No Expectations	Beggars Banquet
Dear Doctor	Beggars Banquet
Parachute Woman	Beggars Banquet
Jigsaw Puzzle	Beggars Banquet
Street Fighting Man	Beggars Banquet
Prodigal Son	Beggars Banquet
Stray Cat Blues	Beggars Banquet
Salt of the Earth	Beggars Banquet
Brown Sugar	Sticky Fingers
Wild Horses	Sticky Fingers

Time 2:02:56

Pace 9:13 min/mi

Distance 13.1 miles (Map my Route said 13.36 miles, ?)

Cumulative distance 30.9 miles

Third Run, last before Half

I've been meaning to get out for a long training run before the Half Marathon on Saturday, but have been busy/indigent/reluctant. I've been doing a lot of papier mache, which isn't particular aerobic nor calisthenic, but has occupied a lot of my not working time.

I've also gotten a new application for my Tune-o-matic device, which will map my route in real time, complete with distance, duration and the easily calculated pace. One thing I need to figure out is how to get splits from it. Anyway, I ran up into Grove Hill and out Windway to Ogletree and back via Wright's Mill, which according to the new app is 4.83 miles. Not too too long for a pre-half training regime, but with only two days to go, I didn't want to get too worked up or out.

Playlist
Sledgehammer	Peter Gabriel
Rapture	Blondie
I Am The Fly	Wire
Pass the Dutchie	Musical Youth
Fish, Chips, and Sweat	Funkadelic
Midnight Rambler	Rolling Stones
Aurora Borealis	Meat Puppets
Time to Pretend	MGMT
Dead Flowers	Rolling Stones
Let's Spend the Night Together	Rolling Stones

Time: 42:15

Distance 4.8 miles

Pace: 8:45 min/mi

Cumulative distance 17.8 miles

It's the Second Run of 2012

I've been slacking a bit in terms of getting out, so I tried to make up for it by going longer. I had been questioning whether I'll be able to do the half marathon, due to my limited training and (dietary) effort in recent weeks. But I'm feeling good after seven miles , so maybe one more long one could convince me that I'm ready. I hit a new route, heading up to Toomer's via Gay, then down Magnolia to Donahue and down to Lem Morrison and back to Samford to Gay and home. I saw some students of mine by the Arena, and they waved vigorously, which was inspiring.

Playlist	"It" returns
Bring It On	Gomez
Ch-check It Out	Beastie Boys
(I Love It When You) Call Me Names	Joan Armatradding
Cool It Down	Velvet Underground
I Love It Loud	KISS
It's Expected I'm Gone	Minutemen
Let It Bleed	Rolling Stones
Tougher Than It Is	CAKE
Where It's At	Beck
Why Don't We Do It In The Road	Beatles
Say It Ain't So	Weezer
Save It For Later	English Beat
Life and How To Live It	REM
Legalize It	Peter Tosh
It's Summertime	Flaming Lips
If It Runs	Bad Livers
I Wanna Know If It's Good To You	Funkadelic

Times
L1	12:27
L2	6:26
L3	5:56
L4	21:03
L5	5:55
L6	11:12
L7	0:52
Total	1:03:52

Distance 7.0 miles

Cumulative 13.0 miles

First Run of 2012

Five days in, and just getting my first run in. I actually prefer the cold, since I like wearing the spandex compression suit. I headed up and over the Interstate, then up Gay Street. I decided to go up to Toomer's and back down College, and back via Woodfield, though at Gay I decided to head back up to Wright's Mill and come back that way. That added on a bit and got my route just over 6.0 miles (6.07). My back felt a little sore for a bit in the third mile, but it resolved. Toward the end, my right heel felt a little tight.

Playlist
Blister In The Sun	Violent Femmes
Radio Free Europe	REM
Pass the Dutchie	Musical Youth
I Me Mine	the Beatles
To Kingdom Come	the Band
Sheena Is A Punk Rocker	the Ramones
Sledgehammer	Peter Gabriel
Driver 8	REM
Chest Fever	the Band
Chameleon	Herbie Hancock
Life and How to Live It	REM
Watermelon Man	Herbie Hancock

Times
L1	12:07
L2	6:19
L3	6:00
L4	11:26
L5	3:21
L6	15:28
L7	0:51
Total	55:32

Distance 6.0 miles