Goblin Gallop



Between blog posts, I went jogging a whopping three times:

10/9 - 1 km with the kids (training them for Goblin Gallop)
10/10 - 2 miles in the neighborhood
10/14 - 2.18 miles in the neighborhood

After a good, seventeen-day taper, I knew monumental achievement was within reach!!  It was a brisk 48° at 8:10 as the kids got their bibs for the 1 km fun run.

Before the race #1

Before the race #2

The picture above was immediately before the race, and as you can see, I could not talk them out of their hoodies.  Tami and I got out of the way and they were off.  I practiced taking photos of moving targets as they started finishing.

During the 1 km fun run

Hmmm ... there was really something primal about Thing 1 and Thing 2.  And when the kids came flying through I got the blurriest pieces of crap pictures of all time.  But, here they are post-race happy with finisher's medals:



Then it was my turn, the pressure was on, and the bathroom lines were too long, so I just got in the back with the stroller people.  Tami got a blurry picture towards the beginning, but a decent picture of me near the finish:

I didn't turn my Garmin off after finishing, but I was able to get my time from printed sheets they taped to the registration tables.  It said I took 38:13, and I managed to run 3.16 miles on the 3.11 course.  My max heart rate was 180.  I've really lost a lot of ground in the 14 or so weeks that I've been mostly inactive.  To put it in perspective: on the last day of July I ran 6.2 miles at an 11:14 pace with an average heart rate of 148.  Today, with about the same temperature, I went 3.16 at a 12:06 pace with an average heart rate of 166.  The course did have a couple of hills, but they weren't steep.  I'd run this race again in a heartbeat.  In fact, as soon as Max finished he jumped up and down and asked "Can I do this next year??"  I had a plearsurable time out there today (and had popped some aspirin ahead of time), but what makes me feel the best is that my kids did well in their first race.

Gobblin Gallop 5K Route

Once more, with feeling

I got out today, in a breezy 62° afternoon, and managed 5K in the neighborhood.  My ankle hurt for awhile, and at 1.5 miles, the ball of the left foot (behind the big and index toes) felt somewhere between numb and mushy.  But, I was able to squeak out a 5K without a whole lot of mental gymnastics. (My time was only 38:09, so I wasn't asking for much.)  I stretched the ankles afterwards, and iced the inside of the left ankle pretty good.  Hopefully, I can get another run in over the weekend.

Also, the kids have agreed to participate in their first training run for the Goblin Gallop (Oct. 31st) this weekend.  This should be entertaining - I can hear the excuses and complaints already. :)

Keep your fingers crossed for my feet and ankles!

Hopefully I'm Back

Well, this afternoon I said to heck with it and went for a jog.  I took a few Advil thirty minutes prior, and I got through it.  I had a little pain, like an outline around the bone on the inboard left ankle.  But it wasn't acute, and after a few minutes it receeded.  At about a mile and a half, the inside ball of that foot felt a little numb.  But, I made it the 2.17 miles I was aiming for.  Sadly, I had left my HR monitor belt back in California in July, so another is on order.  Hopefully, I can get going again.  I was very happy that taking such a long break didn't completely kill my (limited) ability to breathe.  If all goes well, I'll run the Goblin Gallop on the 31st.



And, naturally, I'll be at the Restore Sanity / Keep Fear Alive Rally in Washington DC on 10-30-10!!!

Okay, here is the run stuff

Yep ... still have that awesome, fast pace :)