Where were the deer?

Ok, so I went out on my usual early morning run at Two Rivers Park this morning and there was not a deer to be found.  WTF?  Don't they know that their job at 6am is to provide ambiance for my morning run?  I feel so let down by the wildlife community today....

Oh well.  One white tailed bunny did show up for the party and bounced around on the west loop.

I felt good this morning, my 6 miles went really easily, although I did not experience the 7:40 phenomenon.
 I ran into Karen Hayes!  She was banged up from a fall she took on a recent 50 mile training run.  It happened at mile 44 of her run so she was almost finished.  Otherwise she said the run went great.  I knew it would.... :)

I have no new music to report.  I'll look at more on Friday.

Well, nothing to worry about

This mornings run turned out to be better than expected.   The twinges in my knee did not come back.  I started with some friends and we ran 2.25 miles then did quarters for 2.25 miles.  Then we ran until we hit 6 miles.  I felt great, enjoyed the run and had no issues.

Things are looking good for fall races... still not talking much about it though.  Don't want to jinx myself....

A bit of worry...

So in an earlier post I noted I was recovering from a knee injury.  Well during my last long run I got some touches of the pain back.  I'm a little worried.  At the end of the run I was not in any pain but it occurred, just slightly, during the run.  It may not have been the same pain.  I figure there are a few reasons for this:

1. My camelback is too heavy and causing my posture to be bad while its full
2.  My shoes were old ( I just got a new pair).
3.  I cut back on my anti-inflammatory meds...they were giving my stomach issues....
4.  I'm hyper sensitive to ANY pain in my knee right now be it related to the injury or not.
5.  My knee knows I registered for the Do Wacka Do and its protesting

I'm taking today off, taking my full regimen of meds and going for an easy run in the morning.   I kinda wish I were running alone in the morning because of this, I don't want to let on that anything is wrong with my knee and I don't want to try to run too fast or too anything,.....

I just don't want to feel any more pain...

New products to try!

I have to tell you about a new product I tried on my long run this past weekend.  It is a G series product called Gatorade 01 Prime Cinnamon Raisin Flax

Here is the link to the product:Raisin yum

They were small, yummy and perfectly digestible.  I was not dealing with extreme heat when I used these, but they seemed to work well and digest easily.  The only problem was packaging.  After you open it, you are left with a tiny plastic tray you must either carry with you or locate a trash can for.  I don't like that. Seems like they could do better on a product indented to be used on trails and hikes.  Oh well.  A win on flavor and digestibility though.  Give them a try.

Really excited today...The Magic curve and the 7:40 mile phenomenon!

So a week or so ago I was running with my friend, our usual run from ADEQ on Tuesday mornings.    I was feeling pretty good and we were rounding the parking lot to top off our mileage, just talking about normal things.  I felt like we were moving pretty good and looked at my Garmin and the pace said 7:42.  I did a double take, looked at the device again and sure enough...we were doing a sub 8 minute pace as we finished off our run.  I told my friend this and he said, "yeah, it does feel kinda fast" .  I was surprised that after 11 weeks of hardly no running, a few weeks of very conservative running, I slipped into a sub 8 so easily.   I figured mostly because I was running with my friend and we have a tendency to push each other when we run and try to hurry and get done before time to head home.  So I just wrote it off as a fluke.

Earlier this week, I was running my normal Two Rivers run and experienced the same thing.  I was coming back toward my car, rounding a corner, looked at my Garmin and saw 7:40 again.  Wait, I'm alone....why am I running a 7:40?  Maybe I saw that wrong, because I definitely did not feel like I was pushing very hard.  I completed my run, want to my usual park bench and stretched before driving home.

So I went out again this morning to perhaps mimic the same conditions that produced the 7:40 phenomenon, I was going to pay attention to my pace during the whole run this time.  The run started out very conservatively.  About 9:40 going out, It was humid and dark, very dark.  I seem to naturally slow down in the darkness.  I made a right turn on the other side of the bridge, circled around the end of the island.  While I made my way into the first dark section of forest I could see deer crossing the path.  I slowed to keep away from them.  As I ran past, one decided I was not enough of a threat to move and she just stood on the trail while I ran around her.  After the loop, or the "Needles eye", I made my way to the open section before the second forest area, still pulling around a 9:40.  I ran all the way into the park, turned left looped around the West side walk way and then back.  I was reading low 9 minute pace.  I guess gradually getting warmed up plus the rising sun helped me run faster.  I could see better so that helped.  So I still had not seen anything under 8 minutes. I was beginning to think I had been imagining the whole thing.

So I continued back out of the park, passing other walkers and runners who had gradually began to make their way into the area.  Through the swamp, the hay field, the swamp again, then to the pine forest.  This is where the magic seems to happen.....While coming back I saw my pace dip into the low 8's a couple times.  I was thinking..."hmmmm  This may happen..."  After exiting the pine forest, there is a small hill you run down to make the curve around the end of the island.  This is where the pace drops, like magic, I looked down and saw the 7:40!  It was there, it was real!  And it did not feel difficult at all!  I looked down again, 7:31!!!  I just kept going down...then I hit the hill at the foot of the bridge and I slowed.  The hill is the where the magic ends.    I'm going to now call that part of Two Rivers park, The Magic Curve!  Let it be written, let it be done!  :)

Headphones, earbuds, yurbuds

Here is where I will review headphones, and earbuds because it seems I'm going to be having problems in this department.

My first pair was, of course the little white ones that came with my iPhone.  You know the ones I'm talking about.  Those stylish little wires that snake around your neck and into your pocket attached to your iPod.  I don't know how long people wore those things until somebody finally said "this shit hurts"...To make them stay in your ears you have to wedge them in as deep as possible to the chagrin of every ear nose and throat doctor ever who tells you never to put anything smaller than your elbow inside your ear.    Remember the kid in grade school who got the bean stuck in his ear?  That guy..yeah, don't be him.

So even with those little white things crammed into your ears, when you get really sweaty, they fall out.  How can something be wedged into your ear so tight it hurts pop out when it gets sweaty?  It's not fair.


So some friends recommended the Yurbud.  These little blue boogers will set you back about 30 bucks, but if they work and are comfortable, its worth it right?  My friend who works at the running store carefully measured my ear and helped me select the right size.  They come in sizes ya know.   Cool, right?

So I popped these into my iPod and performed the little twist maneuver to get them set securely in my ear and started off on a very hot afternoon.  Well, they were great!  They sounded good, they felt good, they stayed in.  I used them for several more runs until at the end of one particularly hot sweaty run I went to pull them out of my ears, and the right one came out ok, but the left one, when I pulled on it, the speaker part came out, but the rubberized contoured speaker cover that sets in your ear stayed!  I was that kid with the bean stuck in his ear!  I stopped and panicked a little and finally pulled the thing out.  I worked to get the rubber cover back over the speaker and thought I was successful at repairing it, but on my next run the speaker fell out again and the rubber stayed.  Again I fixed it and again it fell out.  Now the whole thing keeps falling out of my ear.  Just the left ear, the right ear works great.

So again I'm in search of a new pair of earbuds.  I'm reluctant to go back to the running shoe store because I'm embarrassed at what a mess I made of the yurbuds...  Oh well.  We'll see what happens next.  I hope to try skullcandy or another brand next.  I'll let you know.


Update!

Still using the Yurbuds.  It appears that if the blue cover comes off and you have to put it back on, you have to pay attention to the rotation of the blue thing on the bud.  If the blue thing is not lined up properly, the stem of the earbud will not be positioned correctly on the outside of your ear and that little thing at the base of your ear can push the earbud out.  So ...if your having this problem experiment with the rotation of the blue thing on the bud....it helped me....

I'm down for the Do Wacka Do!

So I have decided I'm going to sign up for the Do Wacka Do in Erick Oklahoma!  It's a 50k and will be my one and only long training run before the Pumpkin Holler in October.  They have a 50 mile run as well, but I just don't think I need to risk that.

 Either I'm going to do the 100k or not.  I have already paid for it, so decisions have been made.  I plan to go slow and stay hydrated and fed and hopefully I'll pull off the 62 mile race before the cutoff.    The only thing I have to do is finish.

So training run in OK .  I'm going to try to get in another 20 +  miler on trails this weekend.  I plan on picking up an extra bladder for my Camelback this weekend so I can switch it out mid run. For the 50K I plan on packing two and switch them out so I get a fresh supply of Endurolyte without having to remix it.

I'm going to pack a ice chest with after drinks as well, a blanket and some folding chairs.  I'm beginning to do everything like I plan to do for the races.  I also plan to pack Fig Newtons, Peanut butter and Jelly Sandwiches, and maybe some Cheezits.  I like Cheezits....