Summer Breezin'

AM: Cafe Plaid
PM: 57 mins.
8 miles

Maybe it was the fact that we didn't get home and in bed until well after 1 from the Midnight Streak, or maybe it was the heavy drizzle that was falling when I finally rose from my slumber, or maybe it was my rumbling stomach that hadn't been tended to in at least 15 hours. At any rate, I was just not in the mood to go for a run, long or otherwise, this morning. It took little convincing to bring Jordan over to the dark side, and next thing I knew we were rounding up Gary, Roger and Sheba for breakfast at Plaid. The rest of them pansied out with coffee and pastries, but I went for broke with poached eggs on focaccia topped with pesto, goat cheese and sundried tomatoes. Heaven. Oh yeah, potatoes and fruit on the side too.


Doggie learns a new trick while Sheba looks on skeptically.

The run didn't happen until well after 5 in the evening, but fortunately the prevailing clouds kept temperatures in the low 80s. Jordan and I hit the pavement from the Embassy Suites and ventured down Robinson, notched a few laps around the GT, cruised the Norman High grass loop and then took a spin past Lions Park before heading back to Main Street by way of campus. If that's not a comprehensive tour of Norman in an hour or less I don't know what is.


Staking claim to prime real estate in Lions Park

To our delight, the weather improved enough to accomodate our party joining other Normanites at the Summer Breeze concert series in Lions Park. We enjoyed wine, snacks and some surprisingly not-bad tunes--Jordan and I detected influenes ranging from Passion Pit to Radiohead with a dollop of Bret Dennen--and were content to pass several hours taking it all in. Couldn't ask for a better way to spend a summer evening.

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My Dad Thinks I'm Boring...And He Goes to Bed at 8:30

AM: 62 mins.
8.5 miles
PM: ~2-2.5 miles

It has been brought to my attention by my biggest fan (i.e. my dad) that my blog has been a bit lackluster this week. For that, I apologize to him and all my loyal readers, and I promise to spice things up soon...just not today. Sorry, but it's hard to really generate much excitement over a standard 8-mile run. But this weekend's going to be a doozy, Dad, just you wait!

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And Then There Were Two

AM: 57 mins.
8 miles
PM: 22 mins.
3 miles

With Scotty out indefinitely for a potential stress fracture, Jordan and I were left to go it alone this morning. Lucky for us the weather has taken a lovely (albeit brief) turn for the better, and this morning's run found the temperatures in the upper 60s and the humidity low. I felt faaaantastic on this jaunt, no doubt due to the aforementioned conditions, and really enjoyed being out there.

I picked Jordan up from work this evening and we headed over to the GT to put in a few more easy miles on the soft surface. The grass felt like it was running particularly slowly today--it seemed lumpier and bumpier than usual, and the grass was thick and coarse--but on the plus side it's definitely been mowed recently and there were no muddy patches. I stopped short at 3 and was content to stretch and hang out a bit while Jordan finished up his last mile. He's got a big track workout on tap tomorrow so we spent most of this jaunt strategizing.

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Enid, America

52 mins.
7 miles
15 mins. core

Another day, another hot and windy early morning run. Fortunately we didn't have to deal with it for too long, as we needed to make quick work of this jaunt before preparing for a busy weekend. A few laps on the grass track and a big loop through the surrounding neighborhoods took up most of our time. Jordan and I parted ways near Andrews Park, he to do a few strides at the track and me to book it home for some core work and a shower.


The beautiful bride and groom, Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Lisle

The rest of the morning and early afternoon was spent at OK Runner, where business was rather slow until (naturally) the moment we needed to leave for Cat and Stu's wedding. Jordan managed to help a few customers while knotting his tie (multitasking and salesmanship at its finest), and by quarter of two we were on the road. Destination: Enid, America for the holy matrimony of Cat and Stu (cue the "Princess Bride" scene: "Mahwege. Mahwege is what bwings us togeva today. Wuv, twoo wuv...").


L to R: Kristi, Aja, Jilane, me, Jess. I heart these girls.

Due in no small part to Jordan driving 20 miles over the speed limit, we arrived at Emmanuel Baptist Church with plenty of time to spare before the 4:00 ceremony. After taking our seats with the likes of other OU former teammates such as Kristi and Coleman, Jilane, Aja and Jess, we were ready for the show to begin. And what can I say, it was beautiful. Cat looked gorgeous. Everything went off without a hitch, and before we knew it Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Lisle were walking back down the aisle from whence they came to the timeless croonings of Justin Timberlake's "My Love." Classic.


Team MJ: reunited and it feels so good

After a few, er, detours, our party headed over to the wedding reception. Like the wedding, this was also gorgeous and tasteful, if a bit sweaty due to it taking place in a largely unshaded backyard at 5pm. The bride and groom timed their 8pm departure just as the storms were rolling in, which both cooled things off and sent the rest of us scattering to our respective locations for the night. From there, we did what any sane group of people would do when faced with the prospect of a long night in an unfamiliar small town: we hit up the local pub. Callahan's turned out to be a fun spot, though regretfully none of us received the memo in advance that it was 80's night, and we happily spent the rest of the evening catching up with friends and throwing back a few cold ones. Great times all around.

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Enjoying the corner booth at Callahan's

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Easy Run on the GT

AM: 45 mins.
6 miles
PM: 30 mins. tennis

For the first time in several weeks, I did this morning's run completely solo. It felt strange to be out there without Jordan or even Scotty, but they'd taken an early morning trip up to a local marathon to help pace a buddy through the final 6-8 miles of his run. Since I knew that I wouldn't be running their pace and I wanted to sleep in for a change, I slept blissfully through Jordan's 7am departure and didn't stir again until almost 9. Heaven.

Wanting to be on some softer surfaces for the second time this week (the first being on the OU rec fields during Thursday's outing), I headed up to the grass track for some easy loops. With hardly any wind to speak of, it was an ideal morning to be out there, and my body was supremely grateful for a reprieve from the pavement. There's talk of taking the long run out to Lake Draper tomorrow, which means more soft surfaces, so we'll keep our fingers crossed that it doesn't rain tonight and spoil our plans.

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Travel Day

AM: 4 miles
PM: 47 mins
6+ miles

Despite all expectations to the contrary (including but certainly not limited to the whole "springing forward" situation with the clocks), Jilane and I were awake and chipper with plenty of time to squeeze in a short run before shipping me off to Oklahoma. We did a fairly standard out-and-back along Connecticut, across the bridge and over to Dupont Circle before flipping the script and bringing it back home.

After a few hours of cross-country travel (which, incidentally, is starting to become a fairly routine part of my average weekend), I was picked up at the OKC airport by Jordan and Scotty D. It was an absolutely beautiful afternoon, sunny and surprisingly wind-free, and all three of us were eager to put in a few miles before dark. We jogged from Jordan's apartment over to the GT (Jilane, I know you're jealous) and met Dwight, a customer from the store who is in town for work for a few weeks. I lost count of how many laps the four of us did around the outer loop, but at any rate it was enough to bring us to almost 40 minutes as we began the run home. Overall the pace was relaxed and it felt good to stretch out my legs after a long day of traveling. Jordan's achilles is feeling almost back to normal, and I'm pretty excited about getting in some good runs with him during my visit this week.

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Grass Track Workout

25 min w/u (3+ miles)
8x800 at 10k pace (adjusted for GT) w/2:00 recovery:
3:03, 3:03, 3:03, 3:00, 3:01, 3:00, 3:00, 2:57
21 min c/d (3 miles), 15 mins stretching
Total: ~12 miles

Today's workout was designed to be 8x800 at 10k pace. However, given that I was running on the grass track (GT) in Norman--which runs more like a cross-country course than a road or an actual track--it was unanimously agreed upon that I should adjust the times considerably. According to Jilane and Jordan, the conversion from the GT to mondo is about 12-16 secs per mile, or 3-4 secs per 400. So while I was originally supposed to do the workout at 2:50-2:55 pace, we agreed that I should aim closer to 3:00-3:05 to simulate the desired effort.

Jordan and I picked up Scotty D and parked at the OU track to wog over to the GT. Relative to what I was expecting, the wind wasn't much of a factor (after the legendary stories of borderline tornadic winds in this completely exposed area, I was fearing the worst). Jordan and Scotty's plan was to run 400 repeats and then run my 800s with me as their recovery. Yeah, not demoralizing at all. However, it ended up working really well for all parties involved and I greatly appreciated their help.

I ran the first interval in 3:03 and then basically locked into that pace for the next several. It worked best to wog another 400m lap in between (and put each rest segment in the 2:00-2:10 range, which was just about right), so they usually rejoined me on the last 20 meters of my jog and then led me through the next interval. By the third or fourth, I started to feel vaguely nauseous, and the feeling never really abated during the workout. Pro: I kinda forgot about my throbbing legs. Con: I kinda wanted to vomit. That said, I was able to gradually squeeze down the pace throughout the run and finished up the last interval in sub-3:00.

On the jog home, we ran through a local park and stumbled upon a "water park" of sorts. It was basically a glorified sprinkler system with various showers and hoses for all the neighborhood kiddos to play in (see Jordan's page for a sweet pic). Ignoring the confused and slightly alarmed looks of all the parents nearby, the three of us jumped right in and spent some quality time cavorting in the water. My shoes were a bit waterlogged for the rest of the run home, but it was well worth it. After arriving back at OU, we spent some solid time stretching on the track and trying to keep the legs loose.

Overall, I was pleased with this workout. I wish my stomach had been more cooperative, as I feel I could've gone a bit faster, but given that and the conditions of the terrain it was a solid effort. Great to have company too, even if they did make me look like a jogger by comparison.

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