Sweetheart 5K

I ran the Seven Hills Running Club's Sweetheart 5K run this afternoon in Huntsville. Windy and cold. My time was 34:10. I have to get up at 4:30 a.m. for the Armadillo Dash Half Marathon in College Station. I hate 7 a.m. starts, especially when the wind chill temperature is suppose to be 27 degrees.

Glow 5K

Norman, Mary Sweeten, Tom Reynolds and I went over to Texas A&M tonight for the Glow 5K. This is a non-competitive run around the campus. I ran a 32:31. With all the curbs, you had to be careful not to trip (Ask Norman). There were at least 1,500 runners.

Quiet Afternoon at the Park

I went out to the park this afternoon and ran 7 miles. Only saw one other runner on the trails and no hikers or bikers. The big S bridge was open, but only about one third has been replaced. There is still a lot of construction material there, so I presume they intend to replace all of it. It was in the low 80's this afternoon, but the wind and low humidity made it very comfortable.

Wednesday 5K

Mary, Mariah and I did the Avenues 5K this evening. A bunch of others ran the other hills in the avenues.

2.9 on the Roads

After a workout at Nautilus this afternoon, I ran a 2.9 mile loop around town. The traffic was heavy, but I survived. Then, Ben and I went to the Sam Houston baseball game with Prairie View (Sam won).

Sluggish Monday

I don't know if it was all that family food I ate up in Tyler yesterday, but I sure felt sluggish when I ran this evening. I met up with Hans, John and Andrew and Karen at the park. I did a slow 6.2 miles. The long S bridge down at the end of the lake was official closed for reconstruction; however, with a little climbing we were able to cross.

Weekend Off

After the 8.4 mile run on Friday, my big toe was really sore. So, I took the weekend off. I ran laps at the track yesterday and we went up to Tyler today. We got back lack tonight and I ran laps at 11 p.m. tonight. Back to the grind tomorrow.

Crowd at the Park

We about 15 runners for our park trail run this evening. I ran 8.4 miles, as most of us did. Later this evening, I fell asleep on the couch and slept nearly 2 hours. Guess I'll be up late tonight.

5K Trail Run

Amy and I went out to the park this afternoon and ran a 5K course on the trails. Nice weather. They are working on the new bridge down at the end of the lake, but the old bridge is still open. Just as we finished, Curtis showed up to run a loop.

Darn Big Toe

My big toe may be infected. In the Surfside Beach Marathon last Saturday, I ran the last 14 miles with wet socks and shoes and somehow my big toe was red and the nail black after the race. Now, it seems to be getting worse. I'll see how it feels tomorrow. I hate to bother my doctor with a sore toe. We had a large group this evening to run the avenues. I did not Avenues 5K course. I ran most of it with Norman, but some lady whose I use to work with drove by. She stopped and we visited for a while. Norman left me.

New Race in Town

I had a noon meeting today with Meagan Lee of the Alpha Delta Pi Sorority. They are putting on a new race in Huntsville, the Ronald Run for a Reason 5K & 1-Mile on March 21, 2009. Click here for a link to online registration. I'll be there and I hope that we get a lot of other Seven Hills Running Club members to participate. The race will benefit the Ronald McDonald House.
I did not get out of Nautilus until almost 6 this evening, so I was limited on daylight for running. I went to the track and did a 2-mile loop on the roads from there. My knee still hurt, but I think it will be okay.

Bad Trip

A bunch of us ran trails this morning. The group included Hans, John, Lavonne, Robert and Mike Villa. In the first few steps, I tripped on a root and went through a wild gyration trying to keep from falling. In doing so, I pulled something in my left knee. I went ahead and completed the run with periodic pain, depending my footing. The rest of the group left for another five miles and I went home and iced my knee. I think it will be okay. I do not have another race until the club 5K on February 28 and the Armadillo Dash Half Marathon on March 1.
Yesterday, I received an invitation to my 50th high school class reunion in Tyler on May 15 and 16. My, how time flies. I did not attend one for the first 20 years, but have been to the last few. People really change, not only in appearance but in attitude. Then, some do not change at all. My old girlfriend, Peggy Sue, still looked good at the last one.

Track Run

Except for a sore big toe and black toe nail, I felt okay today after the marathon yesterday. I went to the track and ran laps this afternoon.

Surfside Beach Marathon

A funny thing happened on the way to the marathon. As I was driving down I-45 between Willis and Conroe yesterday, I saw the Sheriff pull over a big motorhome for speeding. I guess they were running late for an AARP meeting. I picked up my Surfside Beach Marathon packet at the big tent on the beach. The normal race headquarters building was badly damaged by Hurricane Ike. This morning, I left the hotel to drive to the race. It was dark and foggy. I took what I thought was a cutover from the road to the beach. It ended up being a driveway and I got stuck in deep sand. I was about a mile from the race. I walked back out to the road and a lady gave me a ride to the race. They had a much larger crowd for the race this year, 700 total for the marathon and half marathon. We started and headed south with a tail wind. At the 2.5 mile point, we turned around and headed north. We were at 5 miles when we got back to the starting line. We ran into a strong headwind all the way to the 15.5 mile turnaround point. Then, at 12 miles it started raining. With the strong wind and rain in my face, I really questioned my sanity for running the race in the first place. Compared to previous years, the beach was much more difficult to run on. Water erosion left gullies in the sand. The heavy rain eventually let up and we had a nice tailwind to the finish line. However, my shoes and socks were soaking wet and I ended up with a two black toe nails, including my right big toe. Other than that, I felt good after the race. I finished in 6:04:39, which is a Surfside Beach Marathon PR by about a minute. A couple of nice high school race volunteers helped me recover my truck. One had a large pickup with a wench, which did the trick. With all the rain during the race, getting it unstuck was more difficult that I expected. This was my fourth straight Surfside Beach Marathon and everyone has been a different experience. The race is all about the weather. Wind is always going to be a factor, but one year it was freezing cold, last year it was a very heavy fog for most of the race and this year it was heavy rain. Surfside is the 2nd leg of the Texas Marathon Triple. The 3rd leg is the Seabrook Marathon on March 15.

Tapering

With the marathon on Saturday, I went down to two miles this evening. When I was at Nautilus earlier, I was careful not to mess up my knees. Tomorrow morning, I will run laps at the track and then drive down to Surfside Beach. According to the published list on their web site, other Seven Hills Running Club members running the marathon are Jon Walk and Edwin Quarles. Jane Jackson is signed up for the half. According to the latest weather forecast for Surfside Beach, there is a 40 percent chance of thunder storms on Saturday. If it starts lightening during the race, I'll find a tall person to run next to.

City Hills

I went to Nautilus this evening and then Mary, Mariah and I ran the hilly Avenues 5K course.

Quiet at the Park

I went out to the park this morning and ran 6.9 miles on the trails. It was unusally quiet and I saw no one else on the trail, except for a hiker and a park ranger hauling construction material out to rebuild the long S bridge down at the end of the lake. Now, I will cool it for the rest of the week to prepare for the Surfside Beach Marathon on Saturday.

Rainy Run

This was a rest day, so I ran laps at the track in the rain.

Gran Torino

I went out to the park and ran the 6.8 mile outer loop this afternoon. Met Len Hill halfway around the loop and visited with him a while. My son in Yuma called me yesterday and told me that I had to see the movie, Gran Torino. I am not into movies and have not been to one in a couple years. Anyway, Marilynn and I went to see it tonight. It was Clint Eastwood at his best. We had a Gran Torino in the 70's and shipped it to Germany. I use to cruise the autobahn at 100 mph and even drove into the Alps. It was green, like the one in the movie.

Team Tommy 5K

Mary Sweeten and I drove down to Panorama Village this morning and ran the Team Tommy 5K. It was a non-competitive race on a course through the village. The course was hilly, but nothing like the tough hills of Huntsville. I ran 32:27. Mary beat me by 4 seconds and got a PR. Hans Jaeger, Jerry Flanagan and Robert Duncan from the club were also there. This afternoon and again tonight, I went out to the Huntsville State Park to catch some of the Rocky Raccoon 100 and 50-milers. I cheered on some runners and took some photos.

3.5 at the Park

Mary and I ran 3.5 on the trails at the park this afternoon. After the run, we hung out at the Nature Center for a while. Some friends, who were driving by, stopped for a visit. This included Chris Matus of Bryan and Karen Fedicidario of The Woodlands and Rick Cook of The Woodlands.

Park Run

I met up with Mariah for a park run this afternoon. While waiting for her, I talked to Jared from Illinois, who was checking out the park for the RR 100 this weekend. He joined Mariah and I for a 2.8 mile loop. Jared was concerned about the temperature this weekend, since he trains in sub-freezing temperatures in Illinois. He really liked our trails and commented about how lucky we were to have the park. Mariah did well. She is really improving.

5K with Mary

I drove my Marine son, Timothy, to the airport this afternoon for his flight back to Yuma. Mary Sweeten and I ran the Avenues 5K this evening. A bunch of others from the club were running at the same time and we met up with them at about 2 miles. Then, I finally made it to Nautilus about 8 p.m. tonight.

Ran Good

A bunch of us ran trails at the park this evening, including Hans, John, Josh, Andrew, Karen, Curtis, Mary and Mariah. Some did other distances, but I did 4.2. I'm not sure if it was the rest day yesterday or 15 miles on Sunday, but I felt good and I may have maintained a faster pace than usual. I never time myself in training runs, anyway.

Day Off

I took today off. I walked a mile with a friend at the track and then ran a mile.

Sunday in the Park

Norman, Mary and I met up at the park this afternoon. Mary did a 8.2 mile loop and then Norman and I did another 6.8, for a total of 15. It was rather warm, but nothing like the summer. I was a little beat after running the hilly 10K yesterday.