Town Lake

Time: 42:20
Distance: 6 mi.


Town Lake from my flight out of Austin on Tuesday

Evening run with Brian, Carmody and Ring. We ran from Barton Springs out on Town Lake so that we could finish and jump in the water. We grabbed burritos at Freebirds beforehand, so that we could enjoy dinner after the swim. It was a really nice evening, even though it was dark by the time we were finished. This was a great way to spend my last night in town. My hamstring was a little tight by the end, but running in the evening definitely gave it time to warm up.

Town Lake, Downtown

Time: 80:00
Distance: 11.5 mi.

Brian and I started running with John Ring down at Town Lake. Ring went about 5 miles and Brian and I continued around Town Lake and back up Trinity through campus and back to Larry Lane. My hamstring and legs in general felt much, much better than Thursday, so taking the two days off may have been a good call. Despite being a mild morning, by the time we were done it had gotten fairly hot and we were pretty tired.

Greenbelt

Time: 50:00
Distance: 7 mi.



Brian met me at the Austin airport and we headed straight out to the Greenbelt. We had fun catching up and bitching about being sore and tired. I was fairly dehydrated and beat in general, and Brian pushed the pace on the way out (and by pushed the pace I mean dropped us to maybe 6:50). It was warmer than most of my runs recently, but not too bad. We started at the 360 entrance, which I haven't run from before.

Driving back into town it was funny to think how easy it would be to just fall back into the routine here... in a way it feels like I never left.

Pumpkin Patch

Time: 52:07
Distance: 7.5 mi.



Easy afternoon recovery run up in Hanover, NH. After a day of hanging around the school and down by the Connecticut river, we were met by Neil Graves and Jason Lyon (going into his senior year at Dartmouth). We did a run they called "Pumpkin Patch," but I didn't see any such thing. Fairly nice the whole way, most of which was on the trails.

Autumn is in the air.

The Charles

Time: 77:56
Distance: 11.5 mi.



Morning run with Brian from Chez McArdle in Brookline out to the Charles, where we ran up to the North End on the north side of the river and back on the south side past Beacon Hill and Back Bay. While we weren't trying to really do a workout, I wanted a second effort getting my legs going this week, so I got Brian to do a 6 x 30 sec. fartlek which he pretty much schooled me on. We decided to jump in the river when we were done with that and Brian was met with the cheer of "Hey Gorgeous!" by some cute British tourists has he ran off the dock.

Week of July 7 - July 13

Time: 186:45
Distance: 27.5 mi.


Brian and Owen Hanley descending along a creek bed

My second week in Alaska did not net much more running than the first. I got just one run in when we were in Fairbanks, but it was both mentally and physically refreshing. Brian and I ran about 10 miles (67:30) on some cross country ski trails which were also used for high school cross country running races in Fairbanks. I was feeling pretty tired and facing a 1:00 AM redeye flight out, but Brian got me out the door and before too long we were nearly racing through a nice warm day which quickly turned into cold Alaska summer rain.

While in Alaska I did get in another good week of exercise, though, including very active (sometimes running and sliding on snowfields, sometimes climbing rocks hand-over-foot) two and a half and three and a half hour hikes. Hiking with people who are very fit--I was with Brian, Ian and Brian's brother Owen, who was until recently a professional cross country skiier--makes excursions very fun.

Once I got back to Amherst late on Friday I fought through the jetlag to get in two weekend runs to prepare for my resumption of "real" training next week. On Saturday, Taylor and I went for a 7 mile run (49:35) in the afternoon mostly on the trails in Echo Hill. I was dragging heading out the door, but felt okay once we got going. I was pretty tired on my Sunday morning run, as well, but I got in 10.5 miles on the bike path / farm loop (69:51) which included a dip in the Mill River and finishing the last mile under 6:00.

Week of June 30 - July 6

Time: 48:14
Distance: 6.5 mi.


Running down the Exit Glacier snowfield

First week in Alaska which was totally fulfilling in every way except running. The first four days canoeing and portaging were very strenuous, I got inspired for a race to try to get into in the future, and then I did basically run down a mountain. The only real run, though, was shy of 7 miles in Fairbanks on Sunday with Brian and Ian.

I'll be in Alaska until Friday, so I'm shooting for 4-5 runs next week. Add my milage total to Jordan's and we cracked 100 this week!

Week of May 12 – May 18

Distance: ~35 mi.

My last week in Austin was another easy one running-wise. I finished school by turning in a paper early last Friday, but had to pull together my life and try to enjoy the city for one last week. Taylor got in late Wednesday night and we got in a couple fun easy runs on IF. Sunday morning, I hit the road… Goodbye Texas.

Week of May 5 - May 11

Distance: ~35 mi.

I started to try to get back into running, but was dealing with a significant amount of schoolwork and a general lack of motivation to get going again. I’m pretty much fine with that, as this is the first serious break I think I’ve taken in about 18 months. I finished up the week with a good run with Tom, Barry and Brian on the Greenbelt.

Week of April 28 - May 4

Distance: ~4.5 mi.

After the half marathon, I took this week almost completely off. The exception was a run with LBJ School dean and professor Jim Steinberg on Friday morning. He’s an active runner, having done most of the major marathons on the east coast.

Shoal Creek Loop

Time: 46:20
Distance: 7 mi.

Brian and I ran between events at the Texas Twilight meet. My legs are beat from volleyball last night.

Notable performances at the meet included Jacob's 1:47.36 and Stanley getting second in the 1500 in 3:45.76 off a slow pace. Rob busted out a 9:38 in his first-ever steeple. I still wish I had been able to give that a shot...

Town Lake, Track, Greenbelt

Time: 62:00
Distance: 9 mi.

Easy afternoon run with Brian. We started at Barton Springs and ran over to the Austin High track so that he could do a 10 minute tempo. He's basing his getting back into shape plan on the idea that you run at a reasonable tempo pace from the get-go and then just increase the length until you are doing some solid work. I like the idea... get the legs used to running fast off the bat. After that we ran back to Barton Springs and did a short out-and-back on the Greenbelt.

After the run we hopped in the water, got some BBQ, and played beach volleyball for four hours.

Bull Run, IF

Time: 60:00
Distance: 8.75 mi.

Easy morning run with Brian on the Bull Run loop (with an extra loop on Bull Creek). We got back to the house at about 47:00, so I added on the last 2 miles on IF. Still feeling the shin a bit, but it definitely isn't bad.

Play Ball, IF

Time: 80:00
Distance: 12.5 mi.
Map

I put off running this morning, which was fine. It was a beautiful day--warm sun, cool air, no humidity. I could have used a day like this on Wednesday. I started running a bit before Brian got home, and got in 50 minutes heading north on Shoal Creek Blvd. and looping around a baseball field and park that I found out there. Once I got back he and I ran around IF. Feeling a little off after this run... I might just be dehydrated.

IF, Ridgetop, etc.

Time: 85:00
Distance: 12.5 mi.

Easy afternoon run with Dave, Brian and Raul. Dave and I started on IF, Raul met us there and then we picked up Brian when he got back from work. I was feeling pretty good overall, though this was a bit of a tedious way to run 85 minutes.

Long Bull Run

Time: 51:20
Distance: 7.5 mi.

Easy afternoon run with Brian and Dave. We started out on Bull Run and then added on up to North Loop instead of finishing on 45th. Legs pretty tired this afternoon, but a good recovery day with some volume.

Ridgetop

Time: 35:00
Distance: 5 mi.

Easy morning run with Brian. Legs felt a little flat, though I did play some volleyball last night, so that could be what I was feeling.

Stop 'n' Go

Time: 39:00?
Distance: 5.5 mi.

Dragging ass this morning. I need to sleep better. A bit of a stop-and-go run with Brian out north west of our place, and we cut it short. I'll do my longer run this afternoon.

I still need a new watch.

15th Street Loop

Time: 60:00
Distance: 9 mi.

Easy morning all-house run with Erik and Brian. We ran to the track so that Erik could switch shoes and then finished up down to 15th and up Shoal Creek. Given yesterday's effort, and the long week, this was fine for me.

15th Street Loop, Ridgetop

Time: 87:00
Distance: 12.5 mi.

Got up, tired again from a night out seeing some music, and hit the road with Brian. We did the 15th Street Loop together and then I ran up around Ridgetop and back by Hancock. I felt better than I expected.

Also, I lost another Nike watch to wristband breakage. Who is surprised? These things are terrible.