Windy and Warm Evening

Another crack at the Gay-Magnolia-Donahue-Lem Morrison-Samford-Gay route. I went out after the girls' bedtime, and after a good sized (i.e. not small) dinner featuring some tasty, delicious sausage. I was worried it would sit like a stone in my gut. I did feel a little sluggish in parts, and felt like I'd slowed down quite a bit on the way home, but I didn't need to stop. It was windy and warm out, my favorite kind of weather really, almost 70 F out there.

Playlist
New Amsterdam	Elvis Costello
Honky Tonk Women	Rolling Stones
Who Loves the Sun	Velvet Underground
Genius of Love	Tom Tom Club
Cities	Talking Heads
Solidify	Sheryl Crow
Smile	Lily Allen
Driving South	Jimi Hendrix Experience
Rock and Roll	Led Zeppelin
Gardening At Night	REM
Bring It On	Gomez
Search and Destroy	Iggy and the Stooges
Electric Avenue	Eddy Grant
Opera Singer	CAKE
Paranoid	Black Sabbath
Beercan	Beck
Sweet Emotion	Aerosmith

Distance 7.0 miles

Cumulative 31.7 miles. The rest should be doable.

Time 1:03:58

Pace 9:08 min/mile

Getting ready to head out

Last run in town before end of the year, most likely. We plan on hitting the road this evening, so I knew I had to get out today or not for a few days. I headed up to Woodfield/Gay, turned around and came back through Town Creek Cemetery and Park. I'll call this a new route because it's been so long since I've run it, if ever. Also, even though it was in the low 60's, I wore spandex to hold my legs together.

Playlist
Jimmy James	Beastie Boys
Pictures of Matchstick Men	Camper Van Beethoven
E-Pro	Beck
Rock 'n Roll All Night	Kiss
Search and Destroy	Iggy and the Stooges
(I Was Born In A) Laundromat	Camper Van Beethoven
Back in Black	AC/DC
Why Don’t We Do It In The Road	The Beatles
Just a Friend	Biz Markie

Times
L1	11:39
L2	16:11
L3	0:50
Total	28:40

Distance 3.2 miles
Cumulative distance 14.8

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.

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

Still Catching Up

Somehow I thought this route would be a bit longer than 4 miles, but according to gmaps, it's not. I'm trying to play catchup and haven't quite caught up yet. But, being summer in Alabama, it's hot out there and I didn' want to go too far or too fast. I got a new pair of shoes yesterday, the Five Fingers variety, but I'm hesitant to go running in them until I get used to them a bit. My daughter wants to go running with me, so maybe we'll take a short one out to give them a try later today or tomorrow. I'm reluctant to take her out while I'm in catchup mode, seeing as she's a noobie and all.

Playlist
What New York Used to Be -the Kills
Buckingham Green -Ween
Use Somebody -Kings of Leon
Search and Destroy -Iggy and the Stooges
Birds in the Treetop -Ras Michael and the Sons of Negus
Mind -Talking Heads
Clap Hands -Tom Waits
Undone (The Sweater Song) -Weezer
Manhattan -Kings of Leon
Shout It Out Loud -Kiss

Times
L1 12:45
L2 6:39
L3 18:12
L4 0:54
Total 38:30

Route. Wright's Mill Univ. Gay Samford WM Univ. Home.
Distance 4.0 miles
Cumulative 7.1 miles

Summer 5K part IV

Last week's 5K was canceled, as I've probably mentioned a couple of times now.
This week's 5K was warm but clearly not as hot as it has been if my hypothesis about temperature and time holds. I ran with a completely different knot of people again this week. And as I came into the last turn, I saw I was doing much better than previous weeks, I almost broke through 27:00. I was trucking at the end and almost crashed into a chariot.

In other news, I've attained my 39 mile goal for the second month. YAY!

Playlist (may have missed a couple due to Tune-O-Matic fail)
Train in Vain -the Clash
Party in the USA -Miley Cyrus
Roses are Free -Ween
Seven Nation Army -White Stripes
Wow and Flutter -Stereolab
Search and Destroy -Iggy and the Stooges
Grits Ain't Groceries -Little Milton
Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed -David Bowie

Time
27:09 (maybe a hair faster)

Distance 3.1 miles
Cumulative distance 40.5 miles!

Getting Hot in Here

Just added a year, and a new goal. I'd like to run 39 miles a month, or 3 half marathons, or both. To this end, I have to run, so I did. It's starting to get hot out there, and I felt it. I started off at about 8:45, which is currently too late to get started, which I should have known given the 5k last Saturday that started at 8:00. Even so, with such an ambitious goal, I knew that I had to push a bit, and I felt that the Gay/Samford/College/Woodfield route would accomplish that.

Playlist
El Microfono -MIS
Black Country Rock -David Bowie
As Good As I Can Feel -Funkadelic
No More Tears -Ozzy Osbourne
Baba-Ye -Mahlathini
Rudie Can't Fail -the Clash
Los Angeles -X
Lust For Life -Iggy Pop
F**kin' With My Head -Beck
Fireflies -Owl City
Lucifer Sam -Pink Floyd
Walk On By -CAKE

Times
L1 13:20
L2 6:41
L3 7:51
L4 3:43
L5 12:23
L6 0:56
Total 44:55

Distance 4.6 miles
Cumulative 12.3 miles

Marie Wooten 5K

I ran the Marie Wooten 5K this morning. It was a new course for me, starting and ending at the Beard-Eaves Coliseum on campus. I saw lots of familiar faces from the Dept of Biological Sciences.

Playlist
Baba-Ye -Mahlathini
The Way You Move -Outkast
El Microfono -Mexican Institute of Sound
Blanket of Weeds -Meat Puppets
Lust for Life -Iggy Pop
Heroes -David Bowie

Time (unofficial) 27:00
Distance 3.1 miles
Cumulative distance 7.7 miles

Not exactly a great time, but considering the amount of training I've been doing (not very much) and the temperature (rather warm) and the course (a good bit of up and down), well, that explains it. I'm not making excuses, I'm a bit old for that kind of baloney, but just considering the contributing factors.

Merry Month of May

Been off again, but I expect an uptick in activity as my classes took their final exam today. I knew I had to get out at least once before this weekend's 5k. It's a bit cooler than one might have expected, but that just made it a beautiful day for an afternoon run. Up to Samford/Gay back along College. First time in a long while. I've been trying for days to find Speakerboxxx on my hard drives, then trying to find the CD. W00t! Found it! Bowtie!

Playlist -songs getting stuck in my head
Across the Universe -the Beatles
Cooperation -Franco and Sam Mangwana
Bowtie -Outkast
Cantique -Kanda Bongo Man
The Way You Move -Outkast
El Microfono -Mexican Institute of Sound
Blanket of Weeds -Meat Puppets
Search and Destroy -Iggy and the Stooges
Sissyneck -Beck

Times
L1 12:59
L2 6:36
L3 7:53
L4 3:34
L5 11:51
L6 0:49
Total 43:41

Distance 4.6 miles
Cumulative distance 4.6 miles

Taking some time off.

After the half marathon, I felt like I was done for a bit. My hips got sore, my feet were in bad shape, and I just needed to recuperate. But I probably went a little longer than I should have, and finally today I got back out there. I'm thinking about running the Love Your Heart 10 k again this year, and I needed to get back on the concrete. I thought about going all the way down the bike path and back, but decided to ease in with a trip down to Chewacla and back. I did make an extra effort on the big hill, to try and work on the hills, but I'm pretty sure a shorter run was a good decision for today. A bit overcast, but warmer than it has been in recent days. First time out in shorts in a while, but with a long sleeve shirt.

Playlist
Federal Funding -CAKE
Benzi Box -Danger Doom
What New York Used To Be -the Kills
I Zimbra -Talking Heads
Rock and Roll Problems -the Hold Steady
Cities -Talking Heads
Search and Destroy -Iggy Pop and the Stooges
El Microfono -Mexican Institute of Sound
Life During Wartime -Talking Heads

Times
L1 8:25
L2 7:18
L3 7:42
L4 7:13
L5 0:54
Total 31:32

Distance 3.5 miles
Cumulative 3.5 miles

Been a long time, been a long time, been a long

Almost a month since my last run. The first step back is the hardest, for sure. I finally got my butt up and went back to Gay/Woodfield. A week ago, the Dean of my College was hit and killed while she was running, so part of me has been afraid to get back out there, and part of me inspired to get back out there. Of course, her death doesn't account for the prior three weeks of sloth. My feet looked awful after the Tough Ten, though, with a huge blood blister that's finally worked itself out. But at the heart of it, I don't exactly know why I've been so slothful, but it's time for it to stop.

Playlist
Peace Treaty -Peter Tosh
Carbon Monoxide -CAKE
Lust for Life -Iggy Pop
Opera Singer -CAKE
Can't Get There From Here -R.E.M.
Italian Leather Sofa -CAKE

Times
L1 13:05
L2 11:11
L3 0:55
Total 25:12

Distance 2.7 miles
Total 2.7 miles