Just Doin' Cowboy Shit All Week.......

 Up before the sun before the wind cuts cold cowboys packing heat pushing cattle up and down the Yellowstone, it's a choice you make live and die alone ride high and shoot low  from the saddle when you ride for the Yellowstone

A Song For The Stone Ryan Bingham

Another week in the books, another missed opportunity at a 5 day train week/ Sunday long run......but hey I finished watching "Yellowstone" so it wasn't all bad......

Another week I had Monday off work but failed to muster the chops to get out the door to run although in my defense it was pissin' out of the heavens so I could be excused or forgiven for not getting out there...however as I've said countless times b4 when you miss a Monday run it puts you behind the eight ball for the week in terms of getting a five day week in.....I could play the "quality over quantity" card but I won't what I will say as I get older is that I've come to appreciate rest days, it's early in the season, I've gotten into the routine of running at lunchtime the previous ten weeks now I just need to get the Saturday/Sunday long run back into the rotation but I also need to make sure I don't peak too soon, I had a huge volume of mileage under my belt last December, January and February and never came close to  replicating it the remainder of the year when I needed to for the Dublin Marathon so it's a juggling act right now, get into a routine, be race ready.......but don't shoot your load now b4 the Fall when it's time to get in Marathon shape, having ran a 15k I know I have it in my saddle bag to run a good ten miles at the upcoming Broad Street Run but I'm also painfully aware that the Summer is around the corner and the last few years I have struggled to handle the heat and humidity so it's a classic case of "knowin  when to hold em, knowin' when to fold em, know when to walk away and know when to run"......

Tuesday April 8th

The now very welcome untimed run, as I said before it's a matter of getting every ounce I can out of myself, back in the day everything felt it had to be fast, at almost 62 and two knees that don't seem they got the memo/group text that yours truly is on a mission to reach 300 medals and there are 41 still to go the easy/recovery/untimed runs are just as clutch as the tempo/long runs

It was also a good thing today was an untimed run as the wind was fair savage out there this lunchtime file this one as a Winnie The Pooh run......it was a blustery day, when you can feel the wind at your back after making the turn past Girard Avenue bridge on Kelly Drive you appreciate how windy it is....

Wednesday April 9th

A new season's best for 5 miles, taking 1.22 off of  March 27ths time  of 41.48.5 

Benefitting off of two rest days and an untimed run I hit the opening split in 7.40 which is brisk, the question now was could I hold onto that pace?....at eleven weeks into my training I do feel I have enough "hay in the barn" to hang on to that kind of opening split, my volume of mileage may only be  just over 200 miles but the weekly repartition is paying off

8.12 at mile 2 just past Boathouse Row on Kelly Drive, mercifully yesterdays savage wind had died down and I clocked 20.03 at the 2.5 mile turnaround, 8.23 for mile 3 my splits were slowly creepin' up but still  south of respectable 

8.38 at mile 4 now for the charge down Ben Franklin Parkway towards 16th St, I felt off of 20.03 for the opening half I was on pace for something in the region of 40 mins and a new season's best time

7.30 for the final mile and a second half of 20.23 and a time of 40.26.3 off 8.04 mile pace, any doubts about my fast twitch muscles have been  answered between today and the 7.54 mile pace of last weeks Hot Chocolate 15k, question moving forward is how much faster can I go and how much lower is that PR going to be is sub 40 on the cards?

Thursday April 10th

Nice easy/recovery 5 miler, it's amazing what a world of difference 20 years makes, I cherish the slower run now w/ the handbrake on after letting the clutch out the day b4  20 years ago a 45.44.8 5 miler off 9.07 mile pace would have seemed woefully slow, 20 years later and god knows how many miles since I take it in stride

One notable foot note from the run how often do you manage identical splits? out in 22.52 back in 22.52, a second here, a second there on the way back could've been a negative split but I kinda like the all too rare identical splits

Sadly I didn't get out on the weekend to go long, I'm a little pissed about it but I'll deal w/ it, again looking at the bigger picture I don't need to be going off half cocked I have Broad Street coming up but I know I can run a decent ten miler so maybe the next two weekend look at 12 mile runs to springboard into May and upping the weekend long runs w/ a view to being at 20 miles come June

On the subject of marathons on Saturday nite I finished watching "Yellowstone" I think I began in late December/ early January  watching all 53 episodes I had three left come Saturday and w/ a date at the Miller Theater this Saturday for the 30th anniversary of "Riverdance" I knew it was all or nothing this weekend.

I will say this much, "Yellowstone" is one of the few series I've watched either in real time or binge watched where I felt the finale wasn't a cop out a la "Sopranos" "Boardwalk Empire" "Game Of Thrones" "Sons Of Anarchy" and "Vikings", I look forward to the Beth & Rip spin off and have "1883" and "1923" to enjoy while I wait, happy trails cow folk.....

Forty Shades Of Green{White & Gold}

 I wish that I could spend an hour at Dublin's churching surf I'd love to watch the farmers drain the bogs and spade the turf, to see again the thatching of the straw the women glean, I'd walk from Cork to Larne to see the forty shades of green

Forty Shades Of Green-Johnny Cash

Another week, another race, another medal, #3 for the season,#259 for the career as I close in on #300 and 2/3rds of the Spring Triple Crown in the books

Monday March 31st Off the bat I'm gonna be 100% honest and say if it weren't for the fact it was the final day of the month I might've skipped this run,although it would've been counter productive as I needed to get some of the crap out of my legs from Sundays 1/2 marathon

The plan was 5 miles but it was obvious from the get go I didn't have it in me to do 5 muchless w/in the confines of a lunch hour, were time not an issue I'd have ground out the 5 but on a good day I'm pushing it to get 5 miles in w/in an hour when you include a stretch pre run and drying off and getting back into my work clothes for the afternoon

When I opened in 9.37 the proverbial writing was on the wall so I figured at 1.5 miles I'd turn and make this 3 miles at Lloyd Hall,10.34 for mile 2 followed by 10.27 for mile 3, 30.38.1 off 10.13 mile pace but more importantly 3 miles to pad March's tally to 78

Sadly 22 miles shy of the triple digits I had hoped for but 2 miles further than February so at least the numbers are heading North not South, it would be nice to get triple digits in April but the last two months of 76 miles and 78 miles confirm I'm back on the right track

Tuesday April 1st No April's Fools here an untimed 5 miler to kick off the month and my quest for the elusive triple digit month not seen since February of last year is underway

I could feel the benefit  of yesterdays recovery 3 miler to get the 1/2 marathon out of my legs and hopefully this bodes well heading into tomorrow's tempo run

The old adage "a week's a long time in politics" bore fruit today, yesterday I questioned running back to back races at 61 going on 62 however getting a recovery run in loosened my legs up nicely to the point that backing it up today w/an untimed run today meant any thoughts of picking one or the other next year between the Love Run 1/2 marathon or Hot Chocolate 15k was banished,my knees may be shot and I have to manage my body on  a day to day basis but running smart, not hard is becoming the mindset

Thursday April 3rd So work got in the way yesterday of a run, it happens, no point spittin' the dummy out and throwing my toys out of the pram,I'm there to work and run on my lunch hour not fit work around my running schedule

I didn't realize it was going to be 74 degrees at 2pm if I had've the trusty half zip would've stayed in my back pack, b4 I reached mile 2 on Kelly Drive along Boathouse Row I had to take off said half zip and wrap it around my waist at this point I was overheating and w/ one less day to recover for a race on Saturday not Sunday I figured why fly in the face of it, turned at mile 2 and tacked on another mile for a semi respectable 26.19.8 off 8.47 mile pace, the proverbial chalk and cheese from Monday's laboured effort over 3 miles,my splits were 8.20-8.32-9.28

Saturday April 5th I believe this is my 5th Hot Chocolate 15k since 2018 it always serves as sighter for the Broad Street Run a month later, last year I came in a little shell shocked off the back of a below par Love Run 1/2 marathon b4 rebounding nicely for one of my few podium finishes,last week my time was very little to crow about but I felt the overall performance outshone the time,so coming into a race that was 4 miles less and considerably flatter what might I do?

57 degrees and overcast close to picture perfect conditions although as ever w/ low cloud cover that meant Hal the little bollix of a Garmin was going to play up, if I was a shade over ambitious last week hoping for 8 min pace pace and eventually running 8.25 mile pace  today I hoped for quicker than 8.25 per mile......

I got a clear run from the siren and worked my way into a good spot,my garmin went off  b4 the 1 mile marker....according to Hal 7.32.....at the mile marker I saw 8.04, again for blog purposes I'll go w/ what Hal  said.....even though he's a lying little fecker!!!!

7.51 at mile 2 followed by back to back 7.55s for miles 3 & 4 I felt I was running well w/in myself at this stage, not sure why they can't keep us on Kelly Dr a bit further b4 the 4.5 mile turn around, this semi ridiculous up and back b4 the up and back for the actual turn around is annoying and having ran back to back 7.55's I now clocked a 7.57 split for mile 5

8.06 at mile 6 now for the clusterfuck that is the back markers of the 10k, they might want to consider having them go off earlier rather than at the same time as the 15k,the 10k got added 2 years ago and has been a bit of a ball breaker the last two years.....don't get it twisted I whole heartedly encourage people to get out and run irrigardless of pace but when I now have to weave in and out of them in the final 3 miles of a 15k it's an issue

7.48 at mile 7 b4  my slowest split of 8.12 at mile 8, a little fatigue a little weaving in and out of 10k back markers b4 another 8.06 split at mile 9,threw in a 1.47 for the .3 to cross the finish line in 1.13.11 off 7.54 mile pace which is roughly 1.12.04 for 9 miles, 9 miles at 8 min mile pace =1.12.00......not too shabby if I say so myself,I never lowball my pre race aims, off the back of a 1/2 marathon at 8.25 mile pace 6 days ago if you offered me 7.54 mile pace today I'd have jumped at it

The good news kept coming 2nd in the 60-64 age group,nice to be back on the podium again, last year I won my age group and they waived my entry fee for this year, in previous years they gave bonus medals.....gotta say I'm good w/ either this year, granted a bonus medal means one less race to run on the route to #300 but given the price of races these days saving $60-$70 can't be sniffed at either

Two thirds of the Spring Triple Crown in the books, hopefully the next three weeks can yield some longer runs starting w/ 12 this weekend,one eye on Broad Street, another on the Summer and potentially getting up to 20 mile runs come June,Philly Marathon is 35 weeks away....