cc licensed flickr photo shared by cogdogblog

My bum around shoes were retired from my previous half marathon adventures. It has *some* mileage on it.

I have new shoes and am running again
dommy.com/ihaterunning/

I’m glad shoes can’t talk, this one might just complain all day long.

Did you know... "Menachem Begin, Israeli prime minister was diabetic" (from Diabetes Health Magazine)
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Back on schedule- I missed the Sunday recovery run traveling home from New Orleans (walking through airports must count a little bit).

I was a bit worried with a slight tightness in my left knee, a bit like the tendinitis I dealt with there a number of years ago. But it did not present any pain and disappeared, and must be one of the minor aches that Coach Dave noted we’d start feeling. I’m just paying attention to the signals.

My pace felt good, this route has a few small uphills and it seems, improbable as it sounds, that there are more downhills than up! I thought my pace might have been better but 10:30 is fine for now. I seem to do better when there is a crowd around

I’m also trying to calibrate more my blood sugars by testing before and after runs and tracking my temp basal settings on the insulin pump. I was 153 before the run, and set the temp basal to 0.4 units, and somehow after the run I was up a bit to 172, but given the range of accuracy in testing, this is close enough to even, and I’d rather go up a bit than down. I have no idea how it could go up, since I did not eat anything.

I arrive in New Orleans Thursday to do a presentation at Tulane Friday. I never tire of the spirit, music, food, and vibe of NOLA, the Big Easy. There is no other place like this human gumbo.

But oh the humidity! I think the walls sweat and the trees weep. I headed out mid-morning (after some fabulous jazz last night at Snug Harbor) for a suggested route following the street car tracks down the middle of St Charles Avenue. Its a decent place to run, follow the tracks in the right direction and you can see the on coming trains (and obviously move).

Following Coach Dave’s advice, Saturday runs are 1-2 minutes slower than race pace, and I took that in mind getting to my turn around point at the beautiful park across from Loyola University (and there is a great running track, for future reference), and doing slow run/walk on the way back.

I did get confused and thought I may have passed my hotel on the way back, and was almost going to turn around, but took counter measures- I asked someone for help. I was still about 4 blocks away.

The only complaint today was cause I laced my shoes a bit tight, and they got all tingly half way. Note to self- dont get all aggressive on the laceups.

Since I have to leave before 6:00am for the 2 hour drive to Phoenix to catch a flight, I wanted to get my second mid week run in today, but was not feeling up to it in the morning, the day after a run the morning before.

So I took off at 5:00pm although I still I have more work to do for the day job and then a bunch of prep tonight for the trip, including conjuring a presentation out of thin air. But running makes the brain work better, right?

I took off for one of my repeat loops, and the starting pace felt stronger like the last run; I opted to cut it short at less than 30 minutes just in the interest of time. I’m going to have to shift eventually to later afternoon runs as the temps get colder and the light later in the morning up here.

My perfect training schedule lapsed. I felt blecccch over the weekend, listless, and like I might be coming down wit a cold, so I fell off the wagon. I hated giving on considering Coach Dave’s steady reminders about the importance of getting in the found ation of short, but regular runs, early in training. My foundation may be 2 bricks short now.

Today was hop back on day. I still feel some cloud of blecch, more of a mental one, but I had to get back on. I felt great out of the gate, a definite better pace then usual, and I was thinking the rest did me well. I ended up petering out after 3 miles, and decided to walk the last mile home.

The weather up here is getting ideal- morning temps are in the mid 50s and when the wind blows, it is cool air, not oven temp.

I’m a bit worried with schedule this week as Thursday I have to leave my house before 6am to catch a flight to New Orleans, and see no time there to run; I may sneak the 2nd mid week run on Wednesday, as Friday is busy with a presentation at Tulane University. Saturday’s run will be in a new city, which usually makes it perk up a bit.

I don;t know what it is, but I am not bristling with energy when it is time to lace up the running shoes. Maybe it is the altitude (6000 ft) here in Strawberry. Maybe it is staying up til 1:00 am. But I’m out there at a shuffling 11 minute/mile pace- some bursts towards the end were definitely better.

But when I wasw running in San Francisco I was pretty energized! Maybe it was the new place, or being surrounded by people (other runners seem to make me want to go faster).

Who knows? At least I’ve not fallen off schedule (yet).

Ugh.

How can it be morning already? Is that a train I hear?

I have to get out for a schedule 50 minute run, and with also a phone meeting happening at 8:30, I had grand plans to be out the door at 6:30… then 6:45…. finally 7:02 I was ready.

The flesh nor the spirit seemed willing. And worst, the darn Nike+ app was giving me fits on changing my playlist for the 45 minute run (it started to repeat the audio book I finished), so I took the lazy route and set up a 45 minute run.

Plodded our slowly on Fossil Creek Road. I’m getting used to the route since I know the usual spots where the Nike+ Coach Lady says “5 Minutes completed… 10 minutes completed…” and I was defintely behind the usual mark.

Never mind, this is no race. Just keep going.

Pass the Strawberry School House (oldest standing school in the state, wooo!)

Finally I get the half way mark. On the way back I am picking up the pace a bit (not to be to crude, but there is nothing like a feeling for a bowel movement to help you get back home).

So I ended up with 4 miles at about an 11 minute per mile snail speed pace.

But I did my run.

Tell the Excuse Train there are no stops here.

Wow, can I say wow in 128 point font?

This morning I used the communication tools the American Diabetes Association is providing us this year to send out about 80 some emails with my plea for sponsoring this year’s run. And did a lot of people respond quickly! Thanks to everyone who has responded early, and I am well on my way to reaching my fund raising goal (I actually bumped it a bit).

But the best moment, was when the CEO for the organization I work for, the New Media Consortium let everyone know who works for us:

In case you are interested, the NMC will match any staff gifts to sponsor Alan. Just send me a copy of your donation form and we will submit an equal amount. It is in all of our interests for all of us to practice healthy living, so I am setting this precedent of encouraging such action among us.

Of course, this is 100% totally optional and completely up to you. If you do contribute, any information about your sponsorship will be held in full confidence.

We are only a 10 employee organization, so that is quite a generous thing to do, thanks Larry! and thanks to my colleagues who step up to sponsor my effort.

Everything that happens like this is what compels me to get out and run when I don’t feel like it

Here I flew back yesterday from San Francisco thinking I had a few days to kick back before the next run (I was a bit stiff from Saturday’s 4.7mi jaunt, longest yet). Then I got home to check off my progress on the calendar (100% compliance so far) and that sneaky Coach Dave had thrown in the 30 minute recovery run for today! We are up to four running days a week.

So I dutifully donned the iPod Nano with my audio book and shuffled off down Fossil Creek Road for 15 minutes out and 15 back. I kept it very slow.

Speaking of iPod Nano’s I got to see up close the newest version just released and it is so thin, so sleek, and at the price I paid for mine back in mid summer, the new one has twice the capacity (16 Gb) and it records gorgeous video.

cc licensed flickr photo shared by cogdogblog

Must. Resist. Temptation. For. New. Tech. Toy.
Must. Resist. Temptation. For. New. Tech. Toy.
Must. Resist. Temptation. For. New. Tech. Toy.
Must. Resist. Temptation. For. New. Tech. Toy.
Must. Resist. Temptation. For. New. Tech. Toy.

I left San Francisco this afternoon, which left enough time in the morning to stay on running schedule. I was thinking I’d be forced to the dreaded treadmill with some morning thunder and heavy rain, but by mid-morning it looked okay to head out.

So I went south on Market from 4th Street, taking Market all the way to the water, and then today heading the other direction in the Embarcadero, heading towards Fisherman’s Wharf. I did not get quite that far; with a 25 minute turn around, I got as far as Pier 37 (I had set out for a 50 minute run, it looks like I missed the schedule as we ere supposed to go 60 minutes today, oh well).

cc licensed flickr photo shared by cogdogblog

I was pleased to get back to my starting point a little before the 50 minute mark, and also at 4.76 miles that this was the longest run so far in my first weeks of training– when I started up again earlier last month, I was not able to even go 2 miles without taking a break. On my way to 13.1!