Running out on Highway 61

I think I'm getting a cold. Everyone else in the family has had it. I should have just laid in a bed with all the kids and Julie when they had it so I could catch it sooner, like they did in the Great Brain. Oh wait, that's what happens every morning when the kids come in and breathe into my face and wipe their noses on me. Parenthood is all fun, all the time.

I don't know how many of these new routes will hold up during the winter, but this one was nice. I ran up to the diagonal trail and looped back to Stinson via St. Anthony Blvd. and Ridgeway Parkway. There was a gusty wind blowing south. I felt tired still from the Saturday run. I ran it at 5 pm.

This route has the advantage of being an out-and-back run with a loop attached to the end of it, making it possible to extend the run in blocks of 2.7 miles with each loop. This will come in handy, I think.

I forgot to mention that on Saturday's run, a lady would have hit me with her car as she was driving toward the sidewalk from a parking lot. I stopped well short of that part of the sidewalk because I saw her coming, but when she finally saw me she slammed on the brakes. The look on her face was priceless.

This run was in 52:48, meaning that I ran the 5.8 at a 9:10 pace. I had to wait at a couple intersections, so I think I was safely at a 9 minute pace. I didn't push it or anything, so I am hopeful I can hit that pace for the marathon. I am less hopeful (but still hoping) I can hit something sub-9, but with the Rapid City elevation, I'm probably unwise to harbor that desire.

I didn't run today because I knew I was going to have to stay up all night tonight and write something. And I was right about having to stay up.

I was actually planning to run at 4:00 but there was a mixup with running partners and by 4:30 there was a boisterous rainstorm going on outside. I didn't bother, figuring I could pick up a couple runs Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, if necessary. It is the last full week before the marathon so it's not like I'm going to try for 20 miles on Saturday. 

No running for the second day in a row. I stayed up all night doing something for school and took a nap this afternoon. Not good.

Somehow the cold I thought I'd have didn't develop. Maybe it will come back tomorrow. Maybe I just wiped out my immune system completely and can't feel the cold ravaging me because there's no response. Maybe I'll stop talking about this.

Tip: very cold root beer is good. 

Didn't run again today. I didn't run because I had another late night, and then had junk to do, excuses excuses excuses. 

I felt antsy in the afternoon and figured it was the fact I hadn't run. I am definitely not at the point where a daily run feels like a necessity, but more than a couple days without running feels wrong.

Obvious tip: staying up all night is a last resort. 

I went running with H.R. We went up Industrial Blvd. to the Diagonal Trail, then back down toward Stinson and home again on Talmage. It took 39:30 for a pace of 8:47. The pace felt quick but not unreasonable, though my perceptions in the early morning (after not a lot of sleep) are messed up. Darkness doesn't help, either. I bought a heart rate monitor in 2005, but the watch's battery died over a year ago. I think I should get it replaced so I can start tracking heart rate and offset some of this perception problem.

The weather is just gorgeous right now. It was probably 60 when we went out this morning, beautiful clear sky, little wind. Man, winter is coming and that is not cool.

It's hard to believe the marathon is next Saturday. I'm excited to see Mt. Rushmore. I've never been there before. 

I didn't get out running today, mainly because I'm lazy, but also because the morning was occupied with Julie going to a breakfast with some friends. I take up most of the mornings with my running and it's fair that she'd be able to do something instead.

For me, the biggest problem with running after the morning time is stomach stuff. I don't run well within three hours of having eaten a meal, but I like to eat.