Friday, June 1, 2012

Flashback Friday: My Birthday Month Arrives

June is here already. In two weeks I'll be another year closer to a new age group. In eight days it'll be 16 weeks until the Akron Marathon. My training is about to begin. Good thing I finished May on the upswing, after logging my lowest monthly mileage in April.

For all of last month, I focused on running trails. My speed has not improved, but I'm feeling smoother and more confident in my abilities. Without further ado, here's last month's statistical rundown:
  • Total Miles: 47 miles (11 runs)
  • Total Time: 9.32 hours
  • Highest Weekly: 19 miles
  • Average Weekly: 11.75 miles
  • Average Pace: 12:37/mile
  • The Monthly Dif: +9 miles (38 miles in April)
My average pace slowed by a whole minute this month, but more than 93 percent of my mileage (all but three miles) was logged on trails, where my average pace clocked in at 12:44 per mile. However, last night's four-miler resulted in an 11:40 mile pace.

After the long, steep uphill at the beginning of the Riding Run trail, I decided to see how long I could push the pace, yet trying not to actually push. My goal was to run easy, but quickly.

The southbound leg of the trail features a wide and relatively smooth terrain with a gentle, upward slope. My legs felt as if they were made of carbon fiber, lightweight and sturdy.

Soon the trail turned to the east, which meant downhill and lots of tree roots, but let us pause to castigate some fellow trail users.

When the two of you are stopped to chat and you see someone running toward you, do you think you could move off to the side to allow him to run by without having to contort his body to avoid contact? Could you, please?

Let me point out that clearing where you could have stood all day long without blocking this narrow bend in the path.

These are the people that make other people want to eat the faces off those people's faces.

Anyway, my foot caught a root soon after my encounter with the living dumb, causing me to ponder slowing down to navigate this more technical terrain. A wise choice, considering the next person I saw was a lady who slipped onto her ass, and she was just walking her dog.

After the run, I decided to do 10 burpees, and ohsweetbabylordjeebus those hurt. Surprisingly, I'm not sore today. I guess I need to work harder to hurt myself.

Back Talk
Wherein some people revel in others' misfortune

Redhead got a kick out of last weekend's successful trail run: "I wish I had taken a pic of Jamoosh's face when I asked him how the run went. :) LOL! Glad you guys had fun and survived."

Answer: I bet he wouldn't have smiled.

Happy Hour is nearly upon us, teammates. Have a finely brewed weekend. Run well and drink well. Cheers!

4 comments:

C said...

You'll be sore tomorrow. Prepare yourself.

I share your hatred for the considerate-impaired. However, no matter how angry I get with them, I'll never be tempted to chew their faces off. That's when you stake them to the ground, cover their faces with bread crumbs and let the birds do the work for you.

Nitmos said...

No one has attempted to cannibalize me. Do I take that as an insult?

Laura said...

Quick FYI - beer giveaway on my blog that I think you might like :) Happy Friday and happy drinking!

Jen Feeny said...

He did not smile. That I can assure you of.

Great job this month, can't believe it's already time for you to start training for Akron!