5 Miles on the Hills

One last run along Wolverine Road's steep hills.  One more round number too.  This run brought me up to a total of 4600 miles with my Nike+ iPhone app. Those big hills really got to me though.  I took a few breaks and took some pictures of Wolverine Creek, and probably spent too much time just enjoying the sunshine rather than seriously running.  I can tell I'm still a little tired from Sunday's marathon and Tuesday's long flight back home.  But I wanted to get one last chance at the hills before flying up to work tomorrow. I went to the creek then up to the top of the steep hill and back home. Another beautiful morning.

Wolverine Creek

4600 Miles!

6 Miles

I made up for yesterday a little by running 6 miles.  I had only planned on 5 miles but 6 miles gave me a full 100 miles for the month of May.  I just love those round numbers!
It was another gorgeous day.  I really love the early morning coolness and the sunshine.  I also like having the chance to run the steep hills here.  Once I get back up to Deadhorse there won't be a hill for 50 miles.  Plus the road is still closed 10 miles to the south so for sure I won't be driving 50 or 60 miles south to seek out any hills.  I'll be lucky to be able to simply avoid the treadmill, and get to run outdoors.

I had a great view of Pioneer Peak from the top of the hill above Wolverine Farm.

Pioneer Peak

Short One

I couldn't seem to get moving today but had to do something.  I think the jet lag and all of the traveling caught up with me.  I had planned to run 3 miles but changed my mind and decided 2 miles was plenty.  I think that may have been the slowest 2 miles I have ever run.  I got a phone call in the middle of it which gave me an excuse to go even slower!  But a slow short run is better than no run at all!

4 Miles

First run after getting back home from Coeur D'Alene.  I was still pretty tired from the flight home but didn't want to get too relaxed!  According to my Team In Training program today was supposed to be a 4 mile run, so I ran the hills on Wolverine Road from my house.  Once I got going, I felt pretty good.  Not sore at all from the marathon, but as usual, not breaking any speed records!

It sure was a beautiful day though!

My turn around point

Coeur D'Alene Marathon

Crossed the finish line of the Coeur D'Alene Marathon. Very warm but very beautiful!

I was slow as usual but still felt fine. Since I have so many more on my agenda for this year, I'm definitely making some changes in my training and my diet. I don't expect to ever be a great athlete, but I know there is room for improvement.

Today was my 69th birthday. What a beautiful way and beautiful place to celebrate it!

 

At the Finish Line

 

Gorgeous Morning

Forced myself to get up and get out there this morning.  Yesterday after the long flight, I was pretty much a zombie, post marathon legs and all.  But this morning looked so inviting and I knew I had to get out there and enjoy it.  I only ran 3 miles and I could still feel Sunday's race in my legs, especially on the hills.  But the temperature of 37 and the beautiful sunshine and no wind, perfect!

I ran in and got my camera when I got back home but the beautiful light when I was run had dissipated quite a bit so the pictures were not as good as if I'd run with my huge SLR camera.  But that wouldn't have been much of a run!

The cell phone didn't do too bad of a job though.

Pioneer Peak from my run

Fargo Marathon

Marathon number 46 done today.  It was brutally cold.  28 at the start and stayed quite cold plus had a very strong wind.  It probably made me move a little faster, but even hours later I still feel chilled.
It's been kind of a long week of trying to find interesting things to do in the Fargo area.  There really isn't a whole lot to begin with, plus it managed to rain the last 3 days.  But I did take a nice drive halfway across Minnesota and another a couple to a wildlife refuge and a state park the other two rainy days.  Lots of wide open spaces and lovely rivers and lakes around here.

At the marathon today there were lots of Marathon Maniacs and I even got into the group photo for a change.

The last couple of miles I was about ready to fall down because I was so tired. A group of several other Marathon Maniacs caught up with me - fast walking.  That's always embarrassing when walkers catch up and pass you when you think you are still running!  I joined into the walk with them and quickly found I could also walk as fast as they were walking.  Actually, I was really impressed because I was moving much faster and felt a whole lot less tired.  I guess they know what they are talking about when the training people suggest run/walk as a good way to complete a marathon.  It was fun having people to race with and talk to instead of always being the loner. 

It's nice to know I can survive running marathons on back to back weekends still.  But boy do I need to speed up and trim down.  I'm ridiculously out of shape and plan to focus when I get back home. 

Flying Pig Marathon

Here I am again running a marathon.  Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon with Team In Training.  I have been a bit worried because it has been quite warm here.  But even though it did get nearly 80 there was a fairly consistent cooling breeze most of the time.  It got very hot between mile 20 and 23 but then the breeze was back and I survived.  I was much faster than in Bunbury, but still much slower than I want to be.  I know I need to shed some pounds and increase my training.  I have been very lazy for the last few months.  I finished in 6 hours and 20 minutes.  I certainly need to keep my time under 6 hours, regardless of the outside temperature.  The course was nice, with quite a few hills but they were all small.  Nothing seriously difficult.

The folks from the Team In Training Flex Team were just awesome.  I enjoyed their company so much.  It was a grand time in every way.

And here I am posing next to the Flying Pig with my heavy medal!

Fling Pig Marathon Finish

1 Mile

We did a little one mile warm-up run with our Team In Training group this morning.  I actually felt pretty good  considering that a week ago I was thousands of miles away on the opposite side of the world.  Maybe I have so much jet lag that I am right back where I started from!

Hoping for the best tomorrow!