Running OK

Good weekend.  Got up bright and early Saturday morning for a long run.  Was going to be on my own and wasn’t looking forward to it.  Wanted to hit double digits as that is the goal for long runs leading up to OKC.  So I set off and it was actually a pretty good run.  Headed out past the new stores in Norman that were built within the last year and a half.  The stretch of road they were built on used to be empty fields with little to no traffic for 2.5 miles.  So it was a great place to run and bike.  Being as I was up prior to the stores opening, there was still little traffic, but there was a ton more than there used to be.  My right hamstring began tightening up around mile 5.  Stopped and stretched it out, but it was tight the rest of the way.  Finished with 10.2 miles, walking the last .2 miles to cool down.  Ran with the forerunner to keep splits and kept them fairly even keel, fastest was 9:05 and slowest was 9:38/mile.

Ran past an odd phenomenon.  The medical center I ran past was having a drive-up flu shot clinic.  There were probably 100 cars in line, waiting to move up and get their shot.  I’m personally all for flu shots having gotten the flu 3 years ago and suffering for darn near 2 weeks.  It was the worst sickness I’ve ever had and I’ll gladly take the 1-2 days of after-affects from the shot.  But come on.  Sitting in a parking lot with the car running (for the majority, it was in the low 50’s after all and we need heat) for who knows how long to pull forward, instead of parking in a lot, not running the car, and walking 100 feet into a sterile (relatively) environment to wait for and get a shot.  Really?  We can’t get out of the car now?  The really sad part was that in the nearly 5 minutes that the situs was in my field of vision, I saw not one car pull out after receiving their shot, even with 2 lines of cars getting service at the same time.

Sunday I was still feeling a little tight so decided to run some of it out.  Went out for a quick 3.7 miles prior to dinner.  The first 1.5 were rough, one of those where I could feel every step and my legs felt like stone.  Capped it off with 1.5 mile walk with Carrie, G&A, Nana, Pop and the dogs.

Tuesday night got out for a rousing game of b-ball. The church was booked, so we headed to a local park that has lights to get our game on.  There is such a difference playing at the park (outside on concrete with old all metal backboards and rims) v. at the church (indoors on sporting-type carpet, with nice glass backboards).  Plus we had winds in the 20-25 mph range.  Still a great evening.  3 games, 11point-win by 2, and my team won 2 of 3.  Should have won the last, but got lazy.

Last night was the all church Thanksgiving Dinner.  Good food, with great friends, but ate too much and didn’t feel like running afterward.  But did crunches and push-ups to offset some of the calories.

Tonight I run.

Friday night I needed to test the legs and run out some of the flu shot.  This year’s was not nearly as bad as the last two years.  Didn’t really have much of the side effects.  Just a little joint pain and some sore throat, but was pretty well over it by Friday evening.  The kiddos spent the afternoon sleeping on the couch in my office.  Afterward, they got passed around the office for a while and were worn out by the evening and went down relatively well.  Went for an unspectacular 3 miler.

Agreed to run with A&D on Saturday am.  We left at 7am sharp.  It was misting and very much overcast.  Not terribly cold when we headed out.  As we proceeded and ran through a few wet spots and the feet got damp and then wet, and the wind picked up it was a tad chilly.  We ran around Norman and didn’t encounter much by means of hills, but I was beat.  I turned for the car a little over 8 miles into it and still had 2.75 give or take.  It was a pretty rough finish.  It was straight into a head wind, and it felt to be getting colder.  Ended up stopping in a circle K with .75 left to get some poweraid as I was out of water and gu.  That gave a much needed boost and I finished strong.  Finished with 11.5 miles.  So for the record I ran more than a half marathon in less than a 12 hour turnaround.

It was amazing how much more difficult it was to run on my own after 8 great miles with A&D.  Must have something to do with not wanting to be the weak link.  But I didn’t have much left in the tank when I turned toward home.  Guess you could say they ran my pants off.

Immediately afterward I had an “active recovery” game of golf with a friend.  Walked 18 holes and actually played well after the first 4 holes.  And the clouds broke and the sun came out and it got warm.  Actually wished I had shorts on.

Sunday was a work day around the house.  Cleaned the garage to be able to pull my car in while Carrie cleaned the inside.  Afterward washed and waxed the cars.  They shine now.

Got a chance to sneak out and get the dog good and tired for the evening.  It was another beautiful evening.  Mid 40’s, not a cloud in the sky, and very still.  Also there was very little traffic, even on the major streets I ran across.  Don’t know time, but really pushed it the last mile or so and was huffing and puffing after the pushed tempo.

Today-flu shot.  Will see how I feel once I get home.  Don’t really want to push it too hard as I’ve been a little tired and congested lately.

Got the babies settled down around 7pm after a rough day following their first round of shots.  After a rest day on Sunday to let all of Saturday wear off, I was still feeling a bit tight, but wanted to try to run some congestion out of my lungs.

Went off and was looking for around 3.5-4 and ended up under-estimating a bit.  Started to feel very tired and out of energy around mile 2 but around 3.5 started feeling the second wind.  Ended up pushing out 4.8 miles, somewhat by accident, but loved the route.  Plus it was mid 40’s and the wind was blowing.  Good time.

On another note, I’m not loving the daylight savings.  It is too dark way too early.  Hate driving home with the sun setting.

Friday night went for a short run to stretch the legs and get ready for Saturday am’s run.  Nothing special 2.5 miles around the neighborhood with the pup.

Saturday went out to the hills of east Norman with A&D to get some hill work.  Had great weather.  Clear skies and around 40 when we left. Watched the sun rise over the rolling hills.  Didn’t get attacked by any dogs.  Went 9.3 miles.  Felt great.  Surprisingly my legs were not killing me afterward, at least until later that evening.

My buddy Dave hooked me up with a ticked to the OU-ATM game.  So nice to get to a home game this year.  Great game with the Sooners winning easily and dominating the whole game and Jermaine Gresham setting a receiving record of 4 TD catches in a game.  ATM did look good when the band took the field at halftime, though.  Gotta love the military style marching band.  And moving on up in the BCS.  Up to 5 and the Big 12 north has teams in the top 6, so the Big 12 Championship should be a big boost.