Country Road Runner

Well, I was able to wake up early Saturday morning and join the Franklin Road Runners. So at 6am about 15 of us started out at Pinkerton Park ran through downtown Franklin to the parks behind the Rec Center to a neighborhood and back. Well, three of us decided to do the longer route and found ourselves at 14 miles when we got back to the park, which was my planned distance for the day. One of the other runners needed to hit 16 miles, so I went ahead and accompanied her for the last two miles.

Although there are those mornings where I would prefer to run alone, there are so many benefits to running with someone else or a group. So, I am thankful for the Franklin Road Runners and the opportunities I have to run with them.

Sunday’s run was a repeat of the previous week in that I went to Preservation Park and hit the trails again. I managed to squeak out 7.0 miles and I know my pace was impacted by the 92 degree heat and a couple of stops. One due to a snake on the path and another stop for a dog off the leash that came at me.

Not a bad weekend of running considering my quadricep has been very tight since Wednesday and the jumping lunges were a little more than my body could handle.

Just about two months till my race. I appreciate Michelob Ultra and Honey Stinger for allowing me to be an ambassador of their products.

My girls have taken an interest in my blog. Sometimes to make fun of me and at times a good idea for a post. This, I think is one of their better ideas. They suggested a post about my running bibs.

According to my running bibs, I have run in nine 5k races. With 5 of those races in Georgia and 4 of them in Tennessee since moving to Tennessee I have placed 2nd in my age group 3 times and have a PR of 20:41.

I have bibs for thirteen 10k races. My earliest 10k is from 1980. I have run on Churchhill Downs, where the horses race. I have raced in Ohio, Kentucky and Georgia. I have bibs showing that I ran the Peachtree Road Race nine times. My fastest 10k time was 44:17.

Since 2005, I have even ran in a several half marathons. I am only showing 5 bibs, but I am sure there are more. With 2 bibs from a Thanksgiving day tradition in Atlanta. A bib autographed by Ryan Hall and my fastest half marathon at 1 hour 39 minutes in Nashville.

This last group of bibs is an assortment of marathon, trail and an ultra trail run. The Disney Marathon was my first. The Chattanooga Ragnar was my longest (37 miles) on a team of 6. The Sasquatch trot was my first trail race and the Bell Ringer was my longest trail run at 25k.

I think the medals you win or swag you are given is also pretty fun depending on the race and it’s history. Maybe for another post.

Maybe even a post on a few of the different races and provide a recap.

After hitting 20 miles yesterday, I really wanted to hit 10 today, but decided to hit Preservation Park and see what I could do.

Here are some pictures from the run today. Enjoyed running both path and trail.

So, I had my longest run of the year today. Twenty miles in 3 hours and 32 minutes. This was my 3rd attempt, so I am glad to finally hit it. It was a familiar course that I just added mileage to the end. Did some walking at the end, but overall pleased with how it turned out.

So, I just ordered my 5th pair of Mizuno Wave Rider shoes. Hard to believe that it is July and I am already over 1,000 miles. This made me think of other things that I return to over and over like Cheerios for breakfast or PBJ for lunch. I used to always buy Sports Beans as my go to energy during runs and now I am experimenting with different Honey Stinger products. I also keep returning to my Adidas shorts over my Nike shorts. I enjoy Nuun tablets for electrolytes. I am sure there are other things that I return to over and over because of quality or habit and I am sure they will come to me after I post.

In my current training plan, Sunday is a cross training day or a day for constant movement for a set period of time.

I chose to run at Preservation Park in Thompson’s Station, Tennessee. With the park only a short distance from the house, the drive was worth it.

The goal of the run was to become more comfortable with trail running since many of my weekly and long runs are on the country roads near my house.

Having completed 14 miles on Saturday, I was shooting for 7 on the trails, but with the temperature at 96 degrees, I only managed 5 miles.

The 5 mile run took 45:36 which is about a 9:07 pace. I wore my vest and carried about 30 ounces of water. The elevation ascended was 1,125 and descended was 1,227 which surprised me.

Started the morning waking up at 6:30 with the intention of running as far as I could on the same course as last weekend.

Last Saturday I only reached 11.63 miles in the morning and I should have hit 20.00. I made up for it by running an additional 8 in the evening.

So, this morning, I ate my Honey Stinger Waffle, filled up my water bottles with Nuun and my 30 ounce flask with water. Put on the vest and my daughter said we needed a picture. So, here you go.

Well, I started from the house and headed out of the neighborhood. Usually the girls wave from the back porch when I pass the back of the house, but they were already doing their thing. Finally made it to 431 and was ready to hit the hills. I was surprised when I hit 8 miles before turning on the new stretch of road which was Peytonsville. It was not very country with a few gas stations and a mixed use community, but on the other side of the road. It started two lane roads and rolling countryside. The distraction of the view helped with the distance. The sun was up and I started to feel the heat and made the call for someone at the house to come get me. Although I was further than last week, I was still pretty far from the house. I am still trying to figure out what is slowing me down or tiring me out so quickly, but we will get there. I got home went to the neighborhood pool, mowed the yard, weeded the beds and went back out for a 1.5 mile run with the youngest and then the 2nd oldest. What a day. Excited for what tomorrow brings.

What the run looked like.

Until the next run on country Roads.

I knew it was going to be hot, but did not realize the impact it was going to have on my run. I had planned a new route. Packed plenty of hydration and fuel and the run still did not go as planned. I believe I had made it 6 miles before I had to start walking. Reached 11 miles and called my daughter to pick me up. Ran some errands then went to the pool and decided to finish the run that evening. Made it out for a 9 mile run and started way to fast. Well after 3 miles I was hit by a thunderstorm and after another couple miles, I was hit by another one. Needless to say I got the miles in, but it was not the pace that I wanted or in all one run.

I am still getting used to blogging. Finding the time and the topic seems to be difficult at times. For right now it seems like it will be more of a journal of my workouts or runs as I approach the race in October.

This past Saturday I ran 14 miles. I started in Cameron Farms and ran through Cherry Grove. Then headed to Thompson’s Station Park for a loop before hitting Preservation Park for a lap. Hard to believe I covered the elevation of the upcoming race in less than half the distance.

I just finished day 12. There are now 100 days before the 50k in October. I am excited to run the race and look forward to the challenge of training each day to see how it will prepare me. Today was a stretch and mobility day, so I went for a 4 mile job instead. Looking forward to my long run tomorrow. Not sure which road I will take.

Today was core work and restoration. It was just as hard this week as it was last week. The warm up consisted of jumping jacks and plank walkouts. This was followed by squats, push-ups, leg swings and lunges. The next group included single arm planks, V-ups, side planks and happy stars. Finishing up with downward dog into an upward dog and windshield wipers. Believe it or not wore me out. I am interested to see how day 2 goes.