I’m trying to get prepared for my first trail race on April 18th, so I ran Town Lake Trail (TLT) yesterday morning on my new trail shoes that I had gotten in the mail on Friday. I tried to run on all the bumpy rocky surfaces to try them out. I noticed that I didn’t feel the rocks through the shoes as much as normal running shoes. This is a good thing. Either I felt good or the trail shoes are extra springy, but the last two miles I did in 8:07 and then 8:08 – zoom! I finished the 10 miles in 1:29:50. It’s been a while since I broke 1:30 doing the TLT. Near the end I noticed that I might be able to do it so I pushed hard at the end. It almost felt like a real race.
Trail running shoes
I received Trail running shoes by mail today from RoadRunnerSports.com. They are Brooks Cascadia 4. I plan on trying them out this weekend on Town Lake trail, and then at Walnut Creek Park on Monday night with Celeste. Finally on April 18 I’m doing Rocky Hill Ranch 25K near Smithville TX with Celeste. Wish me luck, I’ll need it for my first trail “race” (which I don’t plan on racing).
Cap 10K
Cap 10K was very nice, but I ran by myself and listened to my iPod. I wish I had friends to run with. Nevertheless I had great weather, but a bit chilly at the start, yet once I got going it was great. What surprised me was that I started out slow with the massive crowd, and didn’t see the mile markers until mile 3 which I completed in 27:35 or about 9:11/M. Last year I completed in 56 or about 9:03/M so I was thinking to myself that I wasn’t going to beat last year’s time. Yet I wasn’t going to worry about the time. However I did mile 4 in 8:43, then I thought I did mile 5 in 9:02 (sigh), but I still kept up my pace, and afterwards it was really 8:02 (wow!), the last mile was 8:01 which I never even glanced at while I trundled along, and the last two tenths was 1:28. Finished in 53:50 or 8:37/M. Better than last year. Yeah! Not bad, not bad at all. I remember during those last miles that I was passing people. No wonder… since I was running my butt off.
Running log week of 2009-03-29
03/29 – Sunday – Cap 10K – 6.1 miles – 53:50
03/30 – Monday – Neighborhood – 6 miles – 60 minutes
03/31 – Tuesday – Neighborhood – 4 miles – 40 minutes
04/01 – Wednesday – Stationary Bike – 30 minutes
04/02 – Thursday – Neighborhood – 6 miles – 60 minutes
04/03 – Friday – Neighborhood – 4 miles – 40 minutes
04/04 – Saturday – Town Lake – 10 miles – 1:29:50 (speedy on trail shoes)
Weekly mileage: 36.1 miles
Running log week of 2009-03-22
03/22 – Sunday – off
03/23 – Monday – Neighborhood – 6 miles – 60 minutes
03/24 – Tuesday – Neighborhood – 6 miles – 60 minutes
03/25 – Wednesday – Stationary Bike – 30 minutes
03/26 – Thursday – Neighborhood – 6 miles – 60 minutes
03/27 – Friday – Neighborhood – 6 miles – 60 minutes
03/28 – Saturday – off (tomorrow is Cap 10K race)
Weekly mileage: 24 miles
Running log week of 2009-03-15
03/15 – Sunday – Shrup 14 – 15 miles – 2:40
03/16 – Monday – Neighborhood – 4 miles – 40 minutes
03/17 – Tuesday – Neighborhood – 6 miles – 60 minutes
03/18 – Wednesday – Stationary Bike – 30 minutes
03/19 – Thursday – Neighborhood – 6 miles – 60 minutes
03/20 – Friday – Neighborhood – 6 miles – 60 minutes
03/21 – Saturday – Run-from-Hell – 12 miles – 2:07
Weekly mileage: 49 miles
Running log week of 2009-03-08
03/08 – Sunday – Traveling
03/09 – Monday – Traveling
03/10 – Tuesday – Neighborhood – 6 miles – 60 minutes
03/11 – Wednesday – Stationary Bike – 30 minutes
03/12 – Thursday – Neighborhood – 6 miles – 60 minutes
03/13 – Friday – Neighborhood – 6 miles – 60 minutes
03/14 – Saturday – off
Weekly mileage: 18 miles
Running log week of 2009-03-01
03/01 – Sunday – off
03/02 – Monday – Neighborhood – 6 miles – 60 minutes
03/03 – Tuesday – Neighborhood – 6 miles – 60 minutes
03/04 – Wednesday – Stationary Bike – 30 minutes
03/05 – Thursday – Traveling
03/06 – Friday – Traveling
03/07 – Saturday – Traveling
Weekly mileage: 12 miles
Nearly a face plant
I’m such a klutz. I had just started out on my typical running route through Wells Branch. On the way I wanted to cross the street so I looked back to check for traffic. As I did I unknowingly stepped off the curb. There was some cars back at the light a few hundred feet back, but I lost my balance. Instead of falling down immediately and doing a total face plant I continued to run. However I was terribly off balance and trying very hard to recover. My torso was leaning over awkwardly. I continued to run and struggled to stay upright for twenty feet or more. Straining my muscles, my feet, my back. Trying so hard to get upright. My balance is not what it used to be. Finally, just finally I got my center of gravity under my feet. Luckily I hadn’t run too far into the road so I corrected and got back to the sidewalk. The traffic from the light passed me. My heart was racing. I was breathing hard. I had just ducked a bullet. A near miss. Whew!
Running log week of 2009-02-22
02/22 – Sunday – off
02/23 – Monday – Neighborhood – 6 miles – 60 minutes
02/24 – Tuesday – Neighborhood – 6 miles – 60 minutes
02/25 – Wednesday – Stationary Bike – 30 minutes
02/26 – Thursday – Neighborhood – 6 miles – 60 minutes
02/27 – Friday – Neighborhood – 6 miles – 60 minutes
02/28 – Saturday – Crestview – 12 miles – 131 minutes
Weekly mileage: 36 miles
