Nothing special to report on my running/training.
I'm running in the Frosty Freeze race on Saturday 12/5. Trying to prepare a bit for that. Hoping to beat my previous best (23:45).
Today was a 6 mile run. Genoa dropped me off at the Rec Center. Made my way to the house. I was a little short on distance (5.9). I was surprised with my time of 48:10.
I had 2 days off my schedule during Thanksgiving. No I didn't get lazy. I went to the Smoky Mountains and hiked for a couple of days.
Race pace 3 miler
All I had on schedule for today was 3 miles. I thought I would let it hang out to see where I'm at.
I did two laps around the High School track plus a little extra. I don't think I did enough for the .10.
My time was 23:25.
Lap 1 was 11:19. Lap 2 was 11:20.
I did two laps around the High School track plus a little extra. I don't think I did enough for the .10.
My time was 23:25.
Lap 1 was 11:19. Lap 2 was 11:20.
8 miler
Today was the longest run of my life. 8.1 miles in 71 minutes.
I ran in the afternoon because I haven't been able to make myself get up early on Sunday. When I first started running I was running early every Saturday and Sunday. After a while I stopped these because I just wasn't getting enough sleep during the week.
I ran these miles at the trails around Athens High School. Sportsplex spur + greenway + 3x AHS 1.5 track.
So I had to make 3 loops around AHS track. I had already ran about 3.5 when I started the 3 loops. During the start and middle of the 2nd loop I didn't think I was going to make it. I started feeling better at the beginning of the 3rd and that continued. I felt really good until I was getting closer to the car. I made it but the wall was quickly approaching.
I ran in the afternoon because I haven't been able to make myself get up early on Sunday. When I first started running I was running early every Saturday and Sunday. After a while I stopped these because I just wasn't getting enough sleep during the week.
I ran these miles at the trails around Athens High School. Sportsplex spur + greenway + 3x AHS 1.5 track.
So I had to make 3 loops around AHS track. I had already ran about 3.5 when I started the 3 loops. During the start and middle of the 2nd loop I didn't think I was going to make it. I started feeling better at the beginning of the 3rd and that continued. I felt really good until I was getting closer to the car. I made it but the wall was quickly approaching.
Protect your Wi-Fi connection (when using a public hotspot)
This all started when I read this article (Protect Your Wi-Fi Connection at Airport Hotspots). It had some good pointers for starters but not any in depth stuff. The problem with most of these articles is that none are written with Mac OSX in mind (yes, those Apple nuts - I resisted going over to the dark side for years but once I had one I couldn't believe I hadn't switched sooner).
Anyways, back to the subject. If you ever travel very much and use free Wi-Fi you need to be protecting your computer and your network traffic. By all means don't be doing anything sensitive (banking for one) on an open network.
That initial article sent me down the road on trying to find a good way to protect network traffic on a Mac. I found itshidden.com (free VPN server - free account has a hard limit on the amount of your traffic). Here are some features:
But how do I get this setup on my Mac (OSX 10.5 - Leopard)? They have provided this simple article: http://itshidden.com/Support/osxnew.html.
Really simple, no software to install. You configure OSX with your itshidden.com credentials and you are off and running.
Anyways, back to the subject. If you ever travel very much and use free Wi-Fi you need to be protecting your computer and your network traffic. By all means don't be doing anything sensitive (banking for one) on an open network.
That initial article sent me down the road on trying to find a good way to protect network traffic on a Mac. I found itshidden.com (free VPN server - free account has a hard limit on the amount of your traffic). Here are some features:
- Fast and reliable with over 4 Gigabits of dedicated bandwidth
- Instant access
- No records of your surfing are kept
- No software is needed
- 128 Bit Secure connection to ensure privacy over all networks
But how do I get this setup on my Mac (OSX 10.5 - Leopard)? They have provided this simple article: http://itshidden.com/Support/osxnew.html.
Really simple, no software to install. You configure OSX with your itshidden.com credentials and you are off and running.
Early Morning Runs
I went into work late on Tuesday and not going at all today. On Tuesday morning I had 5 miles to do. I woke up at 5am and drove over to the track. I parked at the Sportsplex just because. Every time I park there in the early morning hours I keep thinking the police are going to stop and question me as I drive into there. There was one sitting at the gas station at the corner of Elm and Hwy 31 but he didn't follow me in.
It was raining steady when I started. It was very cool but after running a ways and getting soaked my skin did get cool but not cold. This run was mostly in the dark which is always interesting. There are lights on the part around the high school but not on the newest portions (Greenway and Sportsplex spur). I did meet one other man walking. The run went well and I felt really good. This was a slow one. I finished in about 45 minutes.
This morning I started about 5:15. I ran from the house with only 3 miles to cover. My legs felt quite tired. Nothing special about this run. Time was 27:27.
It was raining steady when I started. It was very cool but after running a ways and getting soaked my skin did get cool but not cold. This run was mostly in the dark which is always interesting. There are lights on the part around the high school but not on the newest portions (Greenway and Sportsplex spur). I did meet one other man walking. The run went well and I felt really good. This was a slow one. I finished in about 45 minutes.
This morning I started about 5:15. I ran from the house with only 3 miles to cover. My legs felt quite tired. Nothing special about this run. Time was 27:27.
Body said NO today
Today's schedule called for either 7 miles or a 5k race. So I decided on running a 5k at race pace.
Friday and Saturday I did some work in the yard. Saturday I was out there about a total of 6 hours. I was digging a drainage ditch. Here is what I got into:
After a day of kneeling, squatting and digging my body was in no mood to run.
I ran the first mile pretty strong and then it hit me like a brick wall and I just had to stop. I was so tired I just couldn't keep going. I walked a ways and then decided to try to continue the run. Again, that wasn't happening. I got to 1 mile back to the house. I thought I would try to run a fast 1 mile. That was a no go also. I ran for 45 seconds and just had to stop.
As far as running goes this day probably wasn't much help towards my goals but as far as my overall health it probably helped work out some of the kinks.
Friday and Saturday I did some work in the yard. Saturday I was out there about a total of 6 hours. I was digging a drainage ditch. Here is what I got into:
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After a day of kneeling, squatting and digging my body was in no mood to run.
I ran the first mile pretty strong and then it hit me like a brick wall and I just had to stop. I was so tired I just couldn't keep going. I walked a ways and then decided to try to continue the run. Again, that wasn't happening. I got to 1 mile back to the house. I thought I would try to run a fast 1 mile. That was a no go also. I ran for 45 seconds and just had to stop.
As far as running goes this day probably wasn't much help towards my goals but as far as my overall health it probably helped work out some of the kinks.
Running schedule is ongoing
Nothing special to write about recently.
A couple weeks ago I spent an entire week in Las Vegas for a conference. Not the place for believers in God to be spending any amount of time. I made it out of the hotel 3 days for my runs. It is not a very good running environment running down the main road. Way too much emissions from the cars.
So I'm on schedule for, well, I'm just on schedule. At this point I really don't have any plans. I would like to run a couple more 5k runs before the end of the year. Right now I don't much desire to run a 10k race. I suppose it may be that I know my times will be terrible.
Now that I'm in the middle of my 10k schedule my legs have been really dead recently. My entire day is determined by the long runs. What I mean by that is once I've ran I'm so tired I can't do much the rest of the day.
It's funny how the appetite comes and goes during all of this. At the beginning of the 5k schedule I could not eat enough. Towards the end it tapered off. Now in the middle of the 10k schedule I'm back to wanting to eat all the time.
A couple weeks ago I spent an entire week in Las Vegas for a conference. Not the place for believers in God to be spending any amount of time. I made it out of the hotel 3 days for my runs. It is not a very good running environment running down the main road. Way too much emissions from the cars.
So I'm on schedule for, well, I'm just on schedule. At this point I really don't have any plans. I would like to run a couple more 5k runs before the end of the year. Right now I don't much desire to run a 10k race. I suppose it may be that I know my times will be terrible.
Now that I'm in the middle of my 10k schedule my legs have been really dead recently. My entire day is determined by the long runs. What I mean by that is once I've ran I'm so tired I can't do much the rest of the day.
It's funny how the appetite comes and goes during all of this. At the beginning of the 5k schedule I could not eat enough. Towards the end it tapered off. Now in the middle of the 10k schedule I'm back to wanting to eat all the time.