My Steps Are Numbered: Four Miles (8,239 Steps)

4.0 miles (pace not known, first two miles = 18:10)
1.0 miles hard walk

total: 5.0 miles

78°F
Current: Mostly Cloudy
Wind: N at 5 mph
Humidity: 48%
course: Glenbard South track

No crows. Much sun. Ran 8,239.84132 steps, then walked another 2,059.96033. That's 521.25 calories. Need to run roughly 940,000 steps to lose 14 lbs.

17 miles in the last seven days, not counting walks.

Felt OK, with two days off ahead due to scheduling. Maybe Monday I can notch things up to a five miler.

This needs to go on my iPod.

Saved by Zero - The Fixx



(the original version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swzK7Q8teSM)

Another Three Miles, Starting a New Week

3.0 miles (28:36 - 9:32/mile)
1.0 miles hard walk

total: 4.0 miles

75°F
Current: Clear
Wind: SW at 2 mph
Humidity: 57%
course: Glenbard South track

I felt somewhat sluggish, most likely tired from drinking coffee in the evening at a little gathering I hosted. With just five hours of sleep, my legs were slow-going.

My next run, I want try five miles slowly, but will play it by feel.

iPodding It for Four Miles

4.0 miles (39:16.44 - 9:49/mile)
1.0 miles hard walk

total: 5.0 miles

80°F
Current: Clear
Wind: N at 3 mph
Humidity: 51%
course: Glenbard South track

Carried my iPod as I ran. Not so easy. 80 GB is heavy. It has, at least, a billion songs, all of them very long. Some heavy metal (get it?) Seriously, it is heavy from a running perspective. If I'm going to do this, an arm band is in order, or a smaller iPod.

I'm tired, and tomorrow will probably not run. I added a mile today, and kept my pace around 9:50. My last lap I picked it up a bit more than I should have, to 1:57 for the 400 - 7:48 pace.

Someone asked me why I log a hard walk. True, in the grand scheme of accumulating LSD, it isn't even a junk mile. It, though, wear-and-tear on my body, especially as I am cannot yet claim fitness. My Achilles hurt, for example. I also burned a good 100 calories in that walk.

Fourth day running within seven days. Haven't done that in many months. February 2009 was my last decent month of running.

(purchase one of these bad boys and I'll get a cut from Amazon)
Apple 80 GB iPod AAC/MP3 Video Player Black (5.5 Generation)

Illinois Marathon - May 1, 2010 - Your Thoughts?

I'm not commited yet to run the Illinois Marathon. Too early in getting fit again. Quite seriously thinking about running at least the half.

I chose it because it is relatively close (2.5 hours away, I have friends in the area, and it is not a massive race. Also, the course sounds fairly flat.

Any readers of this blog have a runner's viewpoint on the quality of the race?

Nothing to Crow About: Three Miles Logged

3.0 miles (27:07.93 - 9:03/mile)
1.0 mile hard walk warm down

total: 4.0 miles

73°F
Current: Cloudy
Wind: N at 0 mph
Humidity: 53%
course: Glenbard South track

My want to lose five pounds by August 31. This means running as many miles as I can log, and a sensible diet. Starting back into running, though, I must add miles carefully.

I'll be aggressive, but I fought the temptation to pop on another four laps. Added up, I need 165-170 miles if I rely on running alone. I don't have enough time to get that done by then.

My pace was satisfying on the lonely track.

Two crows flew sentry, diving close to the football field, looking for snacks wandering in the grass.

Each mile was 9:03. I don't click my splits, and so all times are rolling guestimations.

Suspicious heat. My guess is closer to 80. I get the weather from typing my zip code and the word 'weather' into Google.

Smokey Gets in My Eyes as I Run Three

3.0 miles (29:00.60 - 9:40/mile)
1.0 mile hard walk warm down

total: 4.0 miles

77°F
Current: Cloudy
Wind: N at 0 mph
Humidity: 49%
course: Glenbard South track (see photo)

Mile one, about 10:00
Mile two = 9:27
Mile three = 9:33

COD's track is being rebuilt. Not sure when it will be done. This meant tonight's gallop would be at a new place, the nearby Glenbard South track.

I'll be sore tomorrow, and do not plan to run until at least Monday. Tonight was a good sweat, the second in a week.

Meanwhile, tonight, Smokey sings just down the road.

There and Back Again: Coneflowers Are On the Move

3.4 miles - 33:29.93 (16:42 out, turnaround :03, 16:29.93 back) (9:51/mile)

73°F
Current: Clear
Wind: E at 0 mph
Humidity: 57%
course: COD Loop

finish
71°F
Current: Clear
Wind: E at 0 mph
Humidity: 59%

A slow run, tis true, but it is the longest in a long while. No apologies. No excuses. Thanks to Bob Vishanoff for encouraging me to get out there today. Mind you, he told me as I sucked down a chili-cheese dog and fries and he looked as fit as ever.

Beautiful coneflowers crept outside a fence along the road. I thought how I felt them. My face flushed purple, all hanging low, yet trying to bloom. The sun shines on both myself and the flower.

My new old friend Loretta suggested I think about the famous Disney tune, "It's a Small World." So I did. And I thought how it fit so nicely with the themes I have been dwelling in as of late in the rest of life (obviously running has not dominated my life much recently). Besides thinking a lot about my international friends here, I am inviting my Facebook friends together for an evening of coffee at a favorite cafe, bringing into one place, so some degree, my worlds. One world. As the title of my personal blog says, "All of It: One Man, One Place, All Said." I hummed the tune, and wondered.

Valerie Bertinelli Runs Half-Marathon

2:12 (about 10:05/mile).

Pretty impressive given she recently went from 172 to 123 lbs. Jenny Craig is winning big with her successful celebrity endorsement. Losing weight is one thing, but doing it while gaining fitness is even better. Some decent running too at age 49.

Way to go! See Valerie Bertinelli here.

I'M A RUNNER: SARAH PALIN - Runner's World Interview

Runner's World this month landed a great interview. She knows running. Sub-4 marathoner.

Stories From Real Runners
I'M A RUNNER: SARAH PALIN
The former Vice Presidential candidate opens up about her running life and explains why she's still on the trail.

Runner's World (1-year)

Just One Mile in My Shoes

1.0 miles - 9:48/mile

total: 1.0 miles

78°F
Current: Mostly Cloudy
Wind: E at 0 mph
Humidity: 53%
course: neighborhood loop

Just a mile.

Easy Mile Counterclockwise on a Sunny Road

1.0 miles - 9:50/mile

total: 1.0 miles

79°F
Current: Partly Cloudy
Wind: E at 0 mph
Humidity: 51%
course: neighborhood half mile loop

The goal was just one mile. After I couldn't fit into a pair of pants I wore last year, I knew things were in trouble.

Nothing more.