Birmingham Long Run

2 hours 13 mins.
18 miles

While Jilane was off winning her 20-mile road race, I enjoyed a surprisingly, well, enjoyable 18-miler in Birmingham. Tracy Poole, a friend and longtime Trak Shak employee, offered to join me for the first 10-12, and I was immensely grateful for his company. He's pushing 50 but still keeps a respectable clip on his runs, so our 7:20ish pace through the hilly streets of Homewood and Mountain Brook felt about right. Something I'd almost forgotten about Tracy is that he knows everyone, literally EVERYONE, who runs in the greater Birmingham area. We started our jaunt with ~3 miles on the Shades Creek Greenway, and it is no exaggeration to say that we passed at least 25 people and every single one of them greeted him by name. He's kind of a big deal around here.


Congrats, Jordan and Jilane. I'm happy for you both.

Anyway, this morning was a bit warmer and more humid than others this week, but overall it wasn't too bad. I felt kind of sluggish for the first hour, but by the time we looped back to his truck at 90 minutes I was feeling pretty chipper. I took a Clif Shot and some water while he toweled off and stretched, then I bid him adieu for my final six miles out and back on the greenway (yes, it's boring, but I was in the mood for something flat and shaded). While I never picked up the pace significantly, I felt strong and light on my feet throughout the remainder of the run, which was a refreshing reversal from yesterday. Not to mention that only having to run ~45 minutes by myself was absolutely wonderful. Props to Tracy for hanging in there for the majority of this outing.

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Shades Creek Revisited

24 min. w/u (3 miles)
Target: 4 mile tempo @6:30
3x1200 starting @5:55 pace, faster every 90 secs.
Actual: 6:36, 6:23, 6:23, 6:20; 4:30, 4:30
22 min. c/d (3 miles)
Total: 12 miles

This workout was pretty much a train wreck. I consciously tried to go out conservatively in the first mile and as a result ran it way too slowly. The rest of the tempo felt much harder than it should have at the pace I was holding. As for the 1200s, they just didn't really happen. I didn't have intermediate markers between the miles, so I decided I would just run for 4:30 and increase the pace every 90 seconds. While technically I did accomplish this goal, there's no way that 4:30 was 1200 meters at the pace I was running. I stopped the third 1200 after about 20 seconds when it was clear I was embarrassing myself and extended the cool down jog instead.

I'm tired. I'm hungry all the time. And I'm losing $5 to Jordan on the OU vs. TCU game. Not the best day overall.

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525,600 Minutes

AM: 60 mins.
8 miles
PM: 30 mins.
4 miles

First things first: MCM is ONE MONTH from today. Let's all pause for a moment and allow that to sink in.

I awoke early before my trip to Birmingham and did an easy run to and from Piedmont Park, including 3-4 laps around the AO. There was some sort of adult kickball tournament gearing up on the fields inside the Oval, so that provided me with some unexpected bonus entertainment (side note: who plays kickball at 7am? Shouldn't these people be taking their kids to school or getting ready for work or even sleeping?? But I digress).

In the evening I did an easy out and back along the Shades Creek Greenway in Birmingham, which is conveniently located directly across the street from my hotel. I turned around at the mile marker where I started my workout the last time I was in Birmingham and marveled at how long ago that seems. That led to thoughts of other times I've run on this greenway, all of which were when I worked for Mizuno several years ago, and then my mind wandered to the general idea of the passage of time. How some things change and some stay the same. How I change yet stay the same. Without realizing it, I found myself humming one of my favorite songs from my favorite musical. So, rather than expounding upon this topic further, I'll leave you with the opening stanza of "Seasons of Love." Oh and Jordan, stop rolling your eyes; you're lucky you made it this far without me bringing up the greatness that is "Rent."

525,600 minutes
525,000 moments so dear
525,600 minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?
In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.
525,600 minutes
How do you measure a year in the life?
--"Seasons of Love"

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Shades Creek Workout

24 min. w/u (3 miles)
5xmile @ 6:10-6:15 with 1 min. rest in between
(6:20, 6:15, 6:10, 6:10, 6:06)
15 min c/d (2 miles)
Total: 10 miles

I woke up this morning even more sore than I was yesterday, if that's possible. The thought of doing 5xmile did not interest me at all, and for the briefest of moments I thought about sacking it and going for an easy wog instead. But then I thought, WWJD? The "J" could be any of the pertinent J's in my life at this time...Jilane, Jordan, Jeff...and I knew each of them would put their big girl face on and run the workout. So, that's what I did.

As I'm still in Birmingham, I chose the relatively flat and tree-lined Shades Creek Greenway to do the workout. After gradually loosening up during the warm-up, I decided to run back and forth along the same marked mile for the intervals. Lame, perhaps, but it provided some consistency. While the miles are marked fairly accurately on this trail, there are about a million interim markers that start and end from various points, so there was really no way to judge intermediate splits. However, after noticing a few landmarks on the first go, I devised a crude way of gauging my pace (ex: I should reach this mark at about 2:30, I should cross over from shade into sunlight at about 4:45, etc.).

Overall, I was surprised by how well my legs responded during this workout. The aerobic part was tough, and one minute's "recovery" seemed to go by before I could even catch my breath, but I kept things under control and felt strong through the end. Will I be able to run a similar pace during an 8k race simulation on Sunday? We shall see. For now, as I said earlier, if I am able to walk tomorrow it will be only by the grace of God.

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