Tuesday, September 25, 2007

life...

Had a great time with my friends and my band this past weekend....hard to get back in the swing of things after a weekend outta the routine but I'm doing what I can....

Today I went to Youth Villages school for some observation hours for my class....wow...this was really hard to see these kids with such severe emotional and behavioral difficulties....the teachers and counselors who work here have my utmost respect as this seems like it would be a very difficult place to work....I witnessed a child have to be restrained by 2 adults and that's when it really hit me how much most of these kids of probably seen in their young lives...it was a pretty intense and moving experience....

Got out for a quick 6 miler today just to keep the legs loose...probably gonna get up and do the same in the morning....

I haven't been excited to see a movie in ages...I think I have only seen 3 movies in the theater in the past 3 or 4 years...just not really my thing, but I really want to see Into the Wild....I read this book about two years ago and loved it...I hope the movie does the story justice....do yourself a favor and read the book before the movie if you have the chance...its not a terribly long read and it reads really fast....I was checking out Youtube for the trailer and ran across the some of the music by Eddie Vedder...pretty cool I must say....check it out....

hope all is well....happy running and share the road!

Friday, September 21, 2007

Panic Day!!!!!!

Today is Panic day! Have been pretty pumped about this one for a while....two nites at Fedex forum to rock out...got some good friends that I don't get to see alot coming in from out of town so I'm excited about that too....

Running this week has gone decent...sittin on 27 right now....gonna try and get in a run tomorrow mid day...def not gonna hit the early morning Shelby Farms crew.....I'll take 40 for the week and be satisfied....still feelin really good about Stumpjump!

happy running and share the trails!

Monday, September 17, 2007

Still Alive...

haven't posted on the blogger in a while...been meaning to, but keep getting sidetracked...all is well in running land....feeling really confident about Stumpjump...especially after a great weekend of running, camping, and good company at Sylamore where I was able to put up a 16 and a 28 back to back....

With the Sylamore trip I was able to get in right at 50 miles for the week before last and then this past week I did two hard days of speed work with an easy 10 miler to recover on Thursday...woke up Friday feeling really fatigued and lethargic so I have taken the last couple of days off....

School has really kicked in to gear as I am midway through my first 8 week semester...pretty busy with that but trying to find time to fit in all the rest....planning on knocking out one more long run tomorrow...I was originally concerned with going out for a fast one but at this point in the game I think I am just looking forward to taking a break from school work for a few hours as that's all I will be doing tomorrow so I'm not goo concerned about pace....

After this week the taper really kicks into gear as I will be getting fully prepped for Stumpjump which I am really really excited about....

happy running and share the road....

Monday, September 3, 2007

Another week down....

wow...seems I have been really busy the past two weeks...school is really starting to pick up and I'm having to spend more and more time outside of the classroom getting all my work done...however, still managed to get in pretty good mileage this past week....

Monday I woke up and went for a six miler that included 3 x 5 minute lactate threshold efforts with 1 minute of recovery between each....I was hurting by the last effort but definitely glad I was able to push myself through it.....

Tuesday I had a few hours in between getting off work and going to class so I took the opportunity to get out to the Farms and knock out 10....I started running at about 3:30 in the afternoon and even though it has gotten a little bit cooler, it was still reallly hot....I struggled through ten, pacing a bit slower than I normally would...

Ended up taking Wednesday off from running and riding completely...Thursday I planned to try and knock out a run but things didn't work out before work...I did end up riding in to and from work from Lauren's house which is about 7 each way...kept a pretty good pace so I at least got in some workout....

Friday I was off work and scheduled to do a long run...I usually knock out my long runs on Saturday but I had to work Saturday this weekend and its no fun to to stand on your feet all day after knocking out 20+ miles....The alarm went off at 4 am and I reluctantly rolled out of bed to start the run...I was starting out with Lauren and Elle as they were shooting for 18 for the day...I didn't have an exact number I was going for but I wanted it to be somewhere in the 24 range....

We took off from Elle's apartment (she lives in the apartments that back up to Shelby Farms) headlamps and all and knocked out a loop of the tour de wolf with the Patriot Lake trail thrown in...stopped back at Elle's apartment to refill and refuel and then took off for another loop of the Tour....Elle had to go to work so she left Lauren and I around 12ish (I think)....We finished our second loop of the Tour and then had 4 more miles for Lauren to reach her goal and longest run to date...We ran the back side of the Tour to get the next four and I was super proud of how Lauren pushed herself through those last two miles, as it was definitely a battle for her....

I was at 18 at that point and feeling super fresh so I refilled and refueled, threw some Panic on the ipod and took out for some more...I ran from the backside of the Tour to the paved Chickisaw loop (concrete = lame, but at that point I was looking for some variety)...hit the Chick loop, stopped off at the visitor center to refill and hit the Patriot loop and the rest of the Tour for a grand total of 27.5....

The entire run felt really good...the temperature on Friday morning was amazing...super cool...even when I finished it was pretty cool outside....came home took a nap, knocked out some school work and then refueled with massive quantities of chips and salsa at Los Compadres....

Ended the week with a total of 43.5 miles....not quite 50 but I'm pretty pumped about the long run feeling as good as it did....

Finally got my full suspension mountain bike in working order....met up with some guys from work Saturday morning before work out at Shelby Farms and got in its maiden ride...it was nothing short of amazing....a bit overkill for the trails of Memphis but I'm planning ahead with this one...I can't wait to test it out on some real trails....

Sunday I got out on the mountain bike again before work...rocked a couple of quick laps at the Tour...gotta wear the new out...

I was planning on racing the Six Hours of Herb Parsons mountain bike race this coming Saturday but I am off work on Friday and Saturday and there might be an opportunity to get in a good 2 day training stint at Sylamore where I can go long and get in some good hills running and take the bike to test it out on some real trails....hopefully it will pan out....I would much rather spend two days in the hills of Arkansas than six hours riding in in a circle in Fisherville....until next time...happy running and share the road!