Sunday, October 31, 2010

Playing Catch Up

Sorry for the lack of blog post yesterday,long story short I missed the last el train home Friday nite after the Social Distortion gig and ended up having to walk home from Center City,I got home around 1.45am and was back up by 9am yesterday morning,cranked out my 9 miler b4 sleeping through the second half of Man Utd Spurs,managed to rouse myself long enough to take care of the first half of my food shopping b4 taking a very zen like approach to the rest of the day and became one w/ the recliner as I caught up w/ the eight hours of recorded tv shows on my dvr from the past week.
Any plans to sit at the pc and blog yesterday went south as by 8pm I was getting my yawn on,I left the shows I'd recorded from Friday till today and promptly naffed off to bed around 9.20pm following a few pages of the latest Nick Hornby book I'm reading "Slam"

Up and at em this morning by 9am,fast forwarded through the commericals to squeeze in"Smallville" b4 heading out at 10.15am.
Having already notched 59 miles for the week I now needed to log 16 today to give me 75 for the week,I don't think I ever logged 75 miles a week when I trained for marathons but I'd committed myself to between 60-75 miles a week for the next seven weeks as my base mileage programme b4 I drop back down to 45-50 miles per week w/ two repeats each week in the mix in mid December.
Three miles down to Walnut St where I hooked up w/ my friend and team mate Sean,we'd agreed to do an easy 10 miles along the Schuylkill Banks,around the Art Museam Loop and back along the Schuylkill Banks b4 parting company and I'd finish off the final three miles home to notch my 16 for the day,75 for the week.

Ideal conditions for a long run sunny and 60 degrees,it'll be interesting to see what the next 6 Sundays bring.
The pace was comfortable as Sean and I caught up,I haven't seen"my Celtic brother" since Nationals in Sacramento 14 weeks ago and he made me laugh, when I first approached Sean w/ the notion of a 10 miler around the loop he said he had visions of me cranking out one of my typical 64 minute 10 milers and only being able to hang w/ me for the opening mile but I told Sean the whole point of the long run on Sunday was to just put in the miles,I cranked out enough brisk 10 milers this week this was about being in a position to still have fuel in the tank after 13 miles to make my way back home,which I did.

There's nothing more I'd have enjoyed than to take a nap but I still had stuff to do,a phone call to my sister to wish her a happy b'day b4 finishing off the food shopping,knocking out laundry and then the final 2 shows on my dvr.....finally all done, and now a chance to put my feet up and cop the EPL Review b4 calling it not only a nite,a week and a month.

Friday, October 29, 2010

English Rose


"No matter where I roam I will return to my English rose for no bonds can ever tempt me from she.
I've sailed the seven seas,flown the whole blue sky but I've returned w/ haste to where my love does lie.
No matter where I go I will come back to my English rose,for nothing could ever tempt me from she"
English Rose-The Jam
Hard on the heals of Wednesday's anniversary of my father dying comes another land mark anniversary,23 years since I left home and moved to America.
From the time of my first visit to Philly in the summer of 85 I think I always knew I'd move to America which is ironic really because as a child America might as well have been the moon,I knew where it was,I knew it was far away,and I probably wasn't ever getting there....how fickle fate can be.
Looking back I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the"call of the west" was so strong,w/out realizing it at the time there were several American influences albeit tv shows on me,"Kojak""Starsky & Hutch""Hill Street Blues""Colombo""Star Trek"and"Top Cat" were only half a dozen of the American shows I watched growing up in South East London.
Also my early sporting hero's included Jimmy Connors,Chris Evert,John McEnroe,Mary Decker so it's no great surprise that after my first trip here in 85 that the prospect of moving here on a permanent basis was very real.
Next year will be an interesting anniversary,24 years here,I spent 24 in London,do I miss living in London?a little,thanks to the Internet it feels alot closer than the 3,500 miles that separates here and there,at least these days my beloved soccer gets decent coverage over here....we just need to work on the rally naff coverage track and field gets here,when I moved here in 87 I thought given the fact the USA produced such great track runners that Track and Field would get great tv coverage here....boy did I get that one wrong!!!
I don't miss the crap weather back home,that said when it's cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey in the winter or when you could fry an egg on the sidewalk in the summer I question moving here but on the whole it was a good move for me,sure I miss Fish and Chips and mixed Kebabs w/ chili sauce,the Sunday papers and pubs but I've made a life for myself here in America in the last 23 years so I doubt I'll be considering a move back,but I would like to go home and visit it's been 6 years but my running has meant I've travelled alot this side of the Atlantic but either next Xmas or the following summer for the 2010 London Olympics I'd like to get my passport stamped one more time at Heathrow.
On a day the England cricket team flew out to Australia to take on the Aussies for the Ashes I notched a half century of my own,my 5th 10 miler in 5 days and now I'm off to The Electric Factory to see Social Distortion for the 5th time in 9 years,not exactly the American dream but a long way from the skinny kid from South East London who had to look up on a map where Philadelphia was b4 I met my ex wife Erica the first time when she came to visit London almost 26 years ago.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Another Glorious Evening To Run

It's almost hard to fathom that it's October 28th from the current weather and trust me yours truly is trying to make the most of it.
Another evening of shorts and short sleeves,given the sun I could've gone w/ shades but cognisant of the fact we're 10 days away from the clocks going back I felt it prudent to stick to regular eye ware,we'll see what the weekend holds.
I've maintained an even 64 minute average thus far this week which tells me my almost three weeks off did little to throw me off,it'll be interesting to see what the scales say Monday when I weigh myself.

Four 10 milers down,one to go tomorrow b4 an easy day on Saturday 9 miles,it feels churlish to be looking at winter clothing right now but sooner or later it'll be time to start adding layers,it was interesting to read one of my running friends in Oregon already bringing out the running tights and gloves....ber!!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Tall Ships Go


"I hear your voice and it keeps me from sleeping,why must it always be dreams when your voice come to me"
Tall Ships Go-Big Country
October 27th is one of my least favourite days on the calender,it's the anniversary of my father's death,this year marks 26 years since I came home from work and found he'd died in his sleep from a heart attack.
There's seldom a day goes by I don't think about him the expression"the apple don't fall far from the tree"is very very apt where Kevin and I are concerned,both the good and the bad of my father can be found in me.
By no means a Rhodes scholar Kevin taught me some of the greatest life lessons I'll ever get:
"Don't be a punk and cause trouble,but always be a man and stand up for yourself"
"If you can't be yourself,don't be anybody"and perhaps the most telling given his early death
"Life's too short and we're only passing through and we're never coming back so we better make the most of it"
The Big Country lyrics are on his headstone,a week b4 he died Big Country released their second album "Steel Town" and in an interview in the NME{New Musical Express} Stuart Adamson went through the album track by track,"Tall Ships Go" was Stuart Adamson's ode to his father, a merchant seaman who was swept off the deck of his ship and drowned at sea,Stuart Adamson said after that the only time he ever heard his father was in his dreams and it seemed the ideal sentiment for my own father's headstone.
As ever I visited St John's church a lit a candle for him and in a sign of divine intervention I exited St John's to find the rain had stopped and the sun was coming out allowing me to get my 10 miler in for the evening,even from beyond the grave my father is still having an effect on my running,thanks Pop gone but NOT forgotten

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Good To Be Back W/ A Back To Back

Thankfully no reaction to yesterdays run and my first back to back 10 milers since mid September.
While the tail end of last week felt like an Indian summer today was a reminder that we're only a few days removed from November as the grey skies mirrored the brown leaves that lay underfoot on my out and back along Cobbs Creek Parkway.

B4 my calf injury kyboshed training last week I will confess my return to 10 milers had been a mild rude awakening as my legs felt every bit of that first 10 miler in weeks{Sept 10th-October 19th} but thankfully thus far my two 10 milers this week have felt fine,the real trick will be not only getting through till Friday and 50 miles but then adding a 9 miler Saturday and a 16 miler Sunday to round out a 75 mile week.....and then doing it all again next week.
But for now one 10 miler at a time w/ tomorrow's being the only one that matters....for now.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Starting Over Again!

My five day stint on the DL{c'mon the World Series begins in two days!!}is up and I was back out on the sidewalk this evening hoping to put the frustration of last weeks calf injury behind me.
As I sit here now w an/ ice pack on my calf I hope there'll be no repeat of last week when I clocked a comfortable 10 miler on Tuesday only to be sidelined Wednesday w/ a knot in my calf muscle that hurt when I tried to push off on my left foot.

I'm not big on blowing off training runs but I'm astute enough to know when to say when,there was nothing to gain and everything to lose by trying to fight through the pain barrier last week and making things worse so I sat out five days and was able to cruise through this evenings run w/out any problems.....however last week I cruised through my 10 miler w/out any worries only to be felled the following day so tonite I'll do all the precautionary things I need to do to make sure I can go again tomorrow,fingers crossed

Friday, October 22, 2010

Down In The Park W/ A Friend Called Five


''If you are my shepherd then I'm lost and no one can find me.
If you are my saviour then I'm dead and no one can help me.
If you are my glory then I'm sick and no one can cure me.
If you light my darkness then I'm blind and no one can see me.
If you are my father then love lies abandoned and bleeding.
If you are my comfort then nightmares are real and deceiving.
If you are my answer then I must have asked the wrong question.
I'd spit on your heaven if I could find one to believe in."
A Prayer For The Unborn-Gary Numan
Seeing Gary Numan at The Troc on Thursday nite was a trip down memory lane,like several artists these days performing old cds....or albums as they were called back then in their entirety is not only a chance to revist those songs but also remind the old fans like me what we loved about them back in the day{1979 in this case}but also to show the new fans you've picked up along the way where you came from.
I fell in love w/ Gary Numan in 79 when he arrived on the music scene,punk was still hanging around,disco was almost dead{yea!!}and the likes of grunge,hip hop,house and electronica were just about to emerge,Gary Numan was at the forefront of the latter.
If I had a dollar for every Saturday nite I sat alone in the dark in my old living room playing Gary Numan records between 79-87 I'm confident I'd have enough money now to update all my Gary Numan vinyl to cd.
His image as the lonely Android struck a cord w/ me,his dark lyrics and often somber keyboard laden music about alienation were something I could relate to,while I should've been out on those Saturdays as a teenager/twenty something doing what teenagers/twenty somethings did I secluded myself at home in the dark,"Remind Me To Smile" could well've been my theme tune,"I Die You Die" Gary's dig at the music press who so despised him for having the audacity to reach the top w/out their help became my dig at those who slagged me off behind my back.
I never managed to get my act together to see him live, his 79 and 80 tours were the stuff legends were made of,at least thanks to wonder of modern technology these days there are dvds of those shows as well as cds,I still tear up listening to "Living Ornaments 81"cds,his at the time swan song to performing live, a rash decision that Gary quickly reversed come 83 and afforded me the chance to catch him live on the "Warriors" tour.
Fast forwarding several years Gary's star shone not so brightly,granted the loyal and rabid "Numanoids"still bought his records/cds but chart success had become a thing of the past.
Thanks to a new generation of music fans as happens w/ all genres of music and the timely endorsements of such luminaries as Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters,Marilyn Manson and Trent Reznor Gary Numan returned to the fore,a new less keyboard more guitar industrial sound once again put our favourite Android back in the spotlite.
A lot has changed since "Are Friends Electric" back in 79,Gary smiles alot more and talks to the audience something he seemed adverse to back then,I don't spend every Saturday night alone in my darkened room listening to his albums but I do still listen to him,his old songs that remind me of all those years ago and the new songs he's given us in recent years.
Do I still get misty eyed when I hear "Joy Circuit" from the 81 farewell concert?hell yeah, I can still picture the white tuxedoed and bandaged Nash The Slash playing the violin while Gary riffs on guitar dressed in his orange leather jumpsuit,there they stand back to back center stage transforming an ok album track off of "Telekon" his 81 album into a classic,like an old Gary Numan song says"It Must Have Been Years"
As I stood there Thursday nite at The Troc and relived those old days as Gary performed his 79 classic "The Pleasure Principle" and some other old classics"Down In The Park"''Are Friends Electric" along w/ newer gems "Pure"and"A Prayer For The Unborn" I remembered what it was about Gary and his music back then thirty one years ago and what he creates theses days and knew why I am still a fan,artists come and go,genres change but I'm still looking out for a man w/"a long coat, grey hat smoking a cigarette"

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Knot A Happy Camper

Amazing!I took two weeks off to allow by body to heal it's self after a long nine months of racing and training and now I'm sidelined w/ a calf injury!!
I noticed a mild discomfort in my left calf it feels like a knot is the best way to discribe it either Sunday or Monday and paid it no mind at almost 47 some days almost everything hurts,when I ran Tuesday it wasn't a problem but I popped a couple of Advil{shameless plug but hey most masters athletes should probably be sponsored by Advil!!!}and iced it after the run.

As soon as I took a couple of strides yesterday the discomfort each time I tried to push off of my left leg was not something I felt I could hack for 10 miles so I did the I&I{ice and ibuprofen}routine again and stayed off my feet as best as I could for the evening.
Sadly my job doesn't allow me that luxury so I'm on my feet most of the day,but to be honest I felt fine ....until the walk home from the el......emm...
The discomfort level wasn't as bad as yesterday as I tried a few strides but I figured why frig around and potentially make it worse for no reason,besides I have a concert tonite which means a couple of extra hours on my feet.

I'll see how it feels again tomorrow b4 deciding if I'm gonna run on it or not,at this point Saturday's Catholic League 5K XC race seems out,I need to be firing on all cylinders for this now 7 week period of base mileage I don't need to make it worse because I'm too stuborn or pig headed to know when to back off for a few days

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Back Into The Swing Of Things

"I'm back out on that road again,turn this beast into the wind
There are those that brake and bend,I'm the other kind,I'm the other kind"

The Other Kind-Steve Earle

After my two weeks off it was back into the groove of things this evening,I had planned to return to the frey yesterday but lazy toad that I was while I took a two week sabbatical I found myself getting in to old habits,sitting at the pc,becoming one w/ the recliner and generally not getting off my arse and getting things done,the upshot of which was I needed to go food shopping on my way home from work yesterday which kyboshed yesterdays run,one less 10 miler for my first week back.

Was pleasantly surprised to clock 64 mins tonite,had no set time in mind,if I'd clocked 66/67 mins I'd have been fine w/ that but based on tonites evidence my two weeks off haven't hurt me so maybe Saturday's Catholic League 5k xc is on.

It felt good to be back out running this evening,58 degrees and comfortable,these days will be few and far between as we're now in to the back half of October,let's see what tomorrow evening brings?

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Home Of The Brave


So side two of my latest mix tape,"Land Of The Free,Home Of The Brave"
Bruce Springsteen-Born In The USA,Unconscionable to have a mix tape of all things American w/out The Boss,not his best song,not my favourite Springsteen song but it was the ideal song for this mix and a good way to kick off side two of the tape.
Berlin-Blowing Sky High,Long b4 "Take My Breath Away" made them popular I was a fan thanks to my ex wife turning me on to them,"Blowing Sky High" was one of two new songs on their Best Of cd and one of the last songs they wrote b4 calling it a day b4 Terri Nunn revived the band.
Kings Of Leon-Be Somebody,Funny story about Kings Of Leon I saw them open for U2 in 05 and was totally unimpressed by them,fast forward three years and the release of"Only By The Night" and Kings took the world by storm.
White Stripes-Ball And Biscuit,I remember hearing Jack White talk about Led Zep and how much he loved them,after hearing "Ball And Biscuit" I could tell he wasn't just paying lip service,no wonder he teamed up w/ Jimmy Page and The Edge in "It Might Get Loud".
Ben Folds-Landed,I arrived late to the Ben Folds party but better late than never,his recent collaboration w/ Nick Hornby only served to bump up my estimation of him.
Bob Dylan-Union Sundown,The problem w/ selecting a Dylan song was which one there are tons to chose from,"Infidels" is possibly my favourite Dylan cd and "Union Sundown" is my favourite track off of that,any one of the eight tracks could've made it on here.
Pat Benatar-All Fired Up,I fell in love w/ Pat Benatar's voice first,the advent of MTV and being able to see her just made her that much more of a heroine to me and while the UK was slow on the uptake of how awesome she was she remains my favourite female vocalist of all time.
Johnny Cash-Hurt,The original bad boy of rock and roll,his cover of Nine Inch Nails already awesome song"Hurt" made the song his own................
Dave Matthews Band-All Along The Watchtower,How do you take a classic tune and make it all your own?Ask Dave Matthews,I never thought I think of myself as a jam band fan,then again we didn't have a band like DMB in England!!
Linkin Park-What I've Done,Like it took a while to fall in love w/ Kings Of Leon I hated Linkin Park right off the bat but"One Step Closer" proved to be a mere blip on their resume,"What I've Done" is my most played song on my ipod.
Guns N Roses-Sympathy For The Devil,Another cover and another song from a soundtrack.....and YES I've done cover and movie mix tapes,it was worth buying either the "Interview W/ The Vampire" soundtrack or GNR's Greatest Hits just for this gem.
The Bangles-Hazy Shade Of Winter,A toss up between The Bangles or The Go Go's,my love/lust of Suzanna Hoffs tilted things in The Bangles favour,another cover/movie soundtrack number.
For another 26 songs tune in next year,next up a mix tape of Scottish bands to celebrate St Andrew's day on November 30th.

Land Of The Free


So,what have I been doing w/ myself during my two week hiatus from training?
Well aside from resting and relaxing I've caught up w/ clearing some of my considerable backlog of dvr'd shows and finished my most recent mix tape.
On October 29th I will have lived here in Philly for 23 years so to commemorate said land mark/black day in American history{delete where applicable!!} I made a mix tape of American bands,I would've liked to put Don McClean's "American Pie" on there....but I don't own a copy of that,ditto for Grand Funk Railroads classic"We're An American Band",there's always next year,ditto for the considerable artists who didn't make it on to this years tape,the beauty of an anniversary tape is there's always next year,the year after,etc to add them.
So w/out further ado here's the 2010 version,enjoy!
Jimi Hendrix-Star Spangled Banner Live, Such an obvious choice to kick things off after "American Pie" and "We're An American Band" weren't available.
Fleetwood Mac-The Chain, Growing up as a kid back home and watching Formula One racing I always loved the theme tune to the highlights,years later I learnt that was "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac....nuff said!
The Offspring-Gone Away,some would have you believe Punk never made it this side of the Atlantic,like several other Orange County bands Offspring proved that was bollocks!!!
Eminem-Mosh, An anti George Bush song that proved Eminem could be political as well as controversial.
Madonna-Borderline, There'd be no Lady Gaga w/out Madonna,Burning Up and Lucky Star were strong contenders for my Madonna track and underlining my love of early Maddy.
Metallica-I Disappear, Uncle Sam's version of Iron Maiden in my humble opinion.
Blondie-Atomic, The timeline of American female sex symbols probably reads Marilyn Monroe,Debbie Harry and Madonna....and no I don't have Marilyn's version of"Happy B'day Mr President"for this tape!
Hootie & The Blowfish-I Will Wait, It's easy to slag Hootie off but I recall a Labor Day weekend in Virginia Beach when they played and it was a killer weekend.
B 52's- Party Out Of Bounds, I can still remember 79-80 and discovering cool new bands,B52's were one of them once you got beyond the big hair this was a band you could dance to.....if you wanted to!!!
Prince-My Name Is Prince, C'mon how could you not like the purple one,was tempted to go w/ "U Got The Look" but "My Name Is Prince" won out.
Aerosmith Falling In Love{Is Hard On Your Knees}, US rock royalty for almost 40 years and they're from Boston...need I say more?
Sheryl Crow W/ Stevie Nicks-Goldust Woman, A bit of a stretch using two Fleetwood Mac songs but I always liked this version from Live at Central Park.
Steve Earle-The Other Kind, I discovered Steve Earle late in the day thanks to a former house mate while he and I are no longer friends I still listen to Steve Earle....Steve Earle didn't tell me I had to move out!!
Beastie Boys-Fight For Your Right To Party, The pioneers of rock rap and the reason several car hood ornaments got jacked back in the day to be worn as bling.!!

Friday, October 8, 2010

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Down Time


It was always my plan to take a few weeks of down time after 5th Avenue and Syracuse,from a mental and physical stance.
It's been a long 9 months since my opening race of the season on Jan 3rd at 3,000m indoors at Swarthmore to Oct 3rd and the 5K Road Race C'ships in Syracuse for shits and giggles I should add up the weekly mileage totals for the past 40 weeks.
While Syracuse represents the end of my "competitive" season I do have 4 races on my schedule in Oct,Nov and early Dec b4 returning to indoor track,following my two weeks off I will be looking at an 8 week "base building" program where I hope to log between 60 and 75 miles per week between Oct 18th and Dec 12th b4 dropping my mileage back down to 45-50 per week w/ repeats back in the mix as indoor season starts.
I will check in periodically over my two weeks off but to be honest I'm actually looking forward to not rushing straight home from work,going out for my run and then blogging it,I'm sure by the time Monday October 18th rolls around I'll be good and ready to get back into the swing of things but for now it's time to relax,I feel I've earned that much

Monday, October 4, 2010

Cruising In Syracuse

There's an expression in sport"you learn nothing from a defeat"I've always thought that was bullshit,you can learn a lot,I learnt a harsh lesson last year in Syracuse when my sights were on a sub 17 5k and I could only muster a meager 17.20.
Fast forwarding 12 months I returned to Syracuse for the USATF National 5K Road Race C'ships w/ serious 5,000m track credentials to my name, a bronze medal at Nationals and a serious lowering of my track pr 17.03-15.36 so it wasn't an unrealistic expectation coming into Sunday's race that my 5K pr of 17.09 as a master and an all time pr of 16.44 set in 1990 were about to go bye bye.

A lot of races lay claim to a fast flat course,Dave Oja at Syracuse delivers which is why for three years this event has been held here and looks to become a regular fixture on the race calender and why masters track and road runners make the journey to upstate New York for the Syracuse Festival Of Races at the beginning of October.

I was due a big 5K on the road,granted I don't do much in the way of road racing but I believed coming in to this race my long overdue increase in weekly mileage from 30 miles to 50 and some times 60 miles a week was about to pay off so it was w/ no sense of irony I warmed up w/ Francis Burdett and John Cunningham two runners and close friends who have been on at me for two years to up my mileage and drop one of my repeats per week to two,my times and results this year have paid off w/ dividends and I owe those guys a great deal of my success.
Couldn't have asked for better conditions come 9am sunny and mild w/ very little in the way of wind,unlike last week when I had several race plans today I had only one and I stuck to it.

I got out reasonably fast but not too fast and was soon into my stride and getting a reasonably clear run at things making sure I was able to follow the orange lines{we are in Syracuse after all!!} to run the shortest line.
3.01 at the first kilometer and 4.53 for the opening mile unfortunately nobody was calling the half way split.
6.03 at 2k by which time my hopes of a medal went bye bye as Jim Derick passed me w/ Pete McGill and Francis already well clear of me,9.06 at 3k and no 2 mile marker.

Now I had to dig deep,I heard 12.47 at 4k and knew I was close to a sub 16, making the turn towards the finish John Tuttle and Dave Cannon went by my...these guys are in the 50-54 age group and they were overtaking me and I was running my fastest 5k road race ever!!!
Making the final decent towards the finish line I thought I'd given everything I had but when I heard the announcer say Francis had crossed the line in 15.33 I knew I was going to have to find another gear if I had it.

Pat McCarthey went by me on my right hand side and in giving chase to him I caught and passed Dave Cannon on my left,I chased Pat as hard as I could to try and reclaim 4th in the 45-49 age group but it wasn't to be,13th overall 5th in the age group and what I initially thought was a 15.58-15.59 time........
However my time was rounded up to 16.00 which I have to say is a pisser as I SO wanted a sub 16 5K,that said it is a 69 second masters pr and a 44 second pr plus a new club record by 13 seconds.

Post race at brunch I got to see my team mates on the M50 team win gold which was great for them and good for the club, my friends on Westchester Track Club took silver in the M40 and I hope next year when we return to Syracuse Greater Philly will have a M40 team....and I can go sub 16

Sunday, October 3, 2010

16.00

Cliff notes from Syracuse,13th of 136, 5th in the 45-49 age group 16.00,huge pr and new club record.
More to come tomorrow

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Road Trip

Ah the time honoured tradition,the road trip having spent weekends in Ithaca,Boston and Sacramento already this year I'm heading up to Syracuse for this weekend's Masters 5K Road Race C'ships.

It also marks the end of a journey of sorts,this will be my last competitive race of the season as of Monday I'm taking two well earnt weeks off b4 returning to training on October 18th as I begin 8 weeks of base mileage training to get me ready for the indoor season in mid December.

Having ran this race last year I know what to expect from the course,last year I had hoped to notch my first Masters sub 17 5k but failed miserably and clocked 17.20,this year w/ several 50 mile weeks under my belt and 4 sub 16 5,000m track races under my belt I'm aiming for a sub 16,looking at the status of entries I can see who my competition is,let's hope I'm ready.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Afternoon Delight

Well that's gotten your attention hasn't it!
This is my blog not "Dear Penthouse" and the title refers to the fact I got my 6 miler in this afternoon not this morning as is my won't when I'm off work and the only heart rate elevation,heavy breathing and working up a sweat came from running......more's the pity!!!

After yesterdays heavy rains it was no surprise the road along Cobbs Creek Parkway was flooded,everytime it rains that section of road holds the water so subsequently my shoes got waterlogged at around the 2.5 mark which made for that awful squelching for the remaining 4.5 miles,let's hope for better conditions in Syracuse on Sunday.