TT Running Club

“RG, AWESOME job on setting your PR! That has got to feel incredible! I too hate speed work, but it pays for sure. Keep it up!”

“I was too lazy to post last weekend, but...I set a new 10K PR last Sunday. 57 minutes. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know it is slow...but for me it is a huge improvement and I am only getting older. I can't wait until I am 70 and I am winning my age group.”

“There was a guy at the start line that was Mr. Running Man. He had on a Richmond Road Runners singlet and really short shorts and racing flats. I knew I would see him briefly at the start and then again when he done and driving home (and I was at mile 2 or so). Well...at mile 2 I was cruising down a hill and I saw him up ahead! Hmmmph. All show, he was. Mr Running Man was a poser. I set out to take him. I never did catch him but was still unimpressed that he would even be in my sights.

Later, at the awards ceremony, the emcee announced that "Mr Running Man" had run a 75 mile Mountain Madness Trail run yesterday. And that he did the 5K this morning in 22:00. Oh. Oh. My props to you, running man.”

“Too funny!”

“Got in a great 8-miler through the redwoods up in the East Bay hills yesterday. That gave me a little over 25 miles for the week - my highest mileage week since January. Of 2002!!

This Sunday is the Pacific Association of USATF cross country championships in San Francisco. I think I'll run. I won't score, since my teammates are pretty studly, but it will be fun, and good to give the guys the moral support. If I average 7:30 per mile for the 6-mile course, I'll be content. Hey, I've never run the course before, so whatever I run it'll be a PR!”

“Good luck! I envy your terrain. We've just got molehills in MI.”

“Long story short, I've really taken my running up a few notches in the past few weeks. I'm getting serious about it once again. Today, a 5-mile run over two big hills (on a bridge spanning across Tampa Bay) with a 15 knot wind in my face sealed the deal. I ran it with no rest breaks and it was cake. Time to come up with another challenging route.”

“Cool! Artex's "Bridge of Death" route!”

“Saaaaaaaaaay, great name BowlderMan. I'm definitely going to use that, thanks.”

“Stop! Who would cross the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions three, ere the other side he see.”

“LMAO @ bit!

WHAT... is your favorite color?”

“Yay Artex! Make it more challenging by running it during hurricane season!

Hey, by the way, I'm going to be in Florida around Dec.6 up near Jacksonville- Amelia Island, I think. Ever been up that way? I was wondering what it's like.”

“Aero, thanks! If you'll have some free time, and depending on my work schedule, I'd be stoked to come up and meet up with you for a beer or what not. I hear Amelia Island is beautiful. HPM and Treebait are probably a better authority on that, they live in Jacksonville.”

“Hey great! I'll keep you posted on my plans. It looks like it's a couple hundred miles up there from Tampa, so whatever works out. I think we'll be there from Dec. 5-9.”

“Cool! Yeah, it's a little far from Tampa, but my folks live in Gainesville, which is only about an hour and a half away from Jax at best. Plus, I have some old friends in Jax I haven't seen in a while, so I could easily contrive a road trip out of it.”

“I do have a Scout Event going on on during the day of the 6th but Amelia Island is about 15-20 min north of me on A1A. Let's get together if your schedule allows it.

It's a very wealthy area. Very posh. Lots of NFL players and PGA tour pros live up there.”

“Wow, with just having met the SoCal TT'ers I can be Bi-coastal!”

“Not that there's anything wrong with that.”

“HPM, my schedule will be pretty wide open; I'm just along for the ride. My wife is speaking at a conference there so I can probably get away for a beer or two!”

“There is also some nice coastal hikes around there. There's a nice 5 miler at Little Talbot Island State Park and just to the north in Fernandina Beach is Fort Clinch State Park that has some nice multiuse trails.”

“So, aero, you're not going along on one of those "spouse tours"?


Also, I can tell you what it's like where you're going, even though I've never been there: Flat.”

“I can verify what Bowlderman says. However, the beaches are perty (I still like mountains more though).”

“Coming from MT and asking what its like?

This is a simple one: "warm and flat."”

“Kinda describes my last date, Fritz.”

“LOL, I considered adding a suffix to my sentence, "like ... " but thought better of it.”

“Way to go Artex! I just starting running again after a couple years off. This morning I walked 1/2 m to the track, 1 m warm-up jog, 5 x 400 sprints, 1 mi walk cool down. Man, was I sucking air on those sprints. Felt like football practice all over again.

I hope to get into pre-2000 shape again by following this running schedule.

Hal Higdon's Half Marathon Training Guide”

“That looks like a good sched, Rockman. Keep it up!”

“Woo-hoo! Ran for the 6th consecutive day yesterday - first time since Jan. '02. May actually reach 100 miles for the month this month. I will post a "trip report" from the XC Championships Sunday. I reviewed last year's results, and I have concluded that there's a reasonable probability I will not finish in last place (about 4 guys in my age group ran slower than 7:30/mile on the 6-mile course).”

“Kick arse, Bowlderman. Look forward to reading about it.”

“Reading? Heck, I'm bringin' my camera! Nothin' like some pics of runners covered in mud....

(remember this ad?)
”

“Hee hee, thought I would censor that a bit, just in case anyone was offended by butt cheeks.”

“LOL @ Bowlderman! That's great, I've never seen that before.

Ran the Bridge of Death (thanks again for the name, Bowlderman) again today with zero problems. I did take one 10 second break to watch some dolphins pass under the bridge, but I'm not going to count that. I love being back in running shape again. I should have never have let it slipped away from me.”

“Yo Aero. Drop me a line and we can get together when you are down this way.”

“Just got back from doing my 15-min. weightlifting routine. I saw the woman I ran with during my 8-miler this past Sunday, along with another woman runner friend. I forgot to mention earlier in the week that the woman I was running with on Sunday had broken her collarbone a few months back in a bike crash. About a quarter mile from the end of the run on Sunday, she tripped and did a rather ungraceful faceplant on the trail - scared the crap outta me; I thought I'd have to haul her outta there. Turns out she was OK. But, of course, she sees me at the gym and calls over to our mutual friend, "Hey, there's the guy who pushed me down on Sunday!"”

“I hope she was joking. :-)”

“Well, heck, she was trying to pass me!”

“Hey, no "trail rage" out there, OK?”

“Whaddya think all this weight training I've been doing is for?”

“This past week I ran 20 miles. I'd like to up it to 30 miles by the end of January. I love being at that level where you can "just go". I don't get winded, and feel like I can just go on forever. It's great.”

“good deal artex! I did 23 this past week. I agree about the feeling of being about to go...its awesome. You and I have a similar goal. I will make sure you hit 30.”

“Suh-weet! It's on, I'll do the same.”

“Total disaster. Turned my ankle again, this time at about 1.5 miles of the 6-mile race (after all of the tree roots and gopher holes, on a nice smooth dirt road). Not as bad as the sprain 2 years ago, but bad enough to DNF, limp back to the car and drive home before the race was even over. Ankle strengthening exercises aren't worth squat - I'm just going to have to find some kind of brace or learn how to tape it, 'cuz it's never going to work right....”

“Bowlderman, sorry to hear of your ankle and DNF. That sucks, rest up and hit it hard.”

“Bowlderman, I have a weak right ankle and am clubfooted. It gives out on me from time to time, but has gotten much better. I'm supposed to wear a brace whenever I exercise, but haven't in years. However, the thing does work, and it is reasonably comfortable. The one I had (I've since lost in with my gazillion moves) was the kind with two plastic splints along the ankles, with a canvas wrap around the foot. Ace bandages could be enough though. I'd recommend experimenting a bit. Hope it heals up okay.”

“I just finished a 3.2 mile run (NOT in record time). 260 lbs of vanilla thunder tearing down the path. Should of seen all the kiddies running for their lives and hiding in the bushes. Woohoo!”

“Thanks for the suggestions, Santa. I had a splint with the plastic thingies when I did the major sprain 2 years ago - not sure if I still have it. I may go up to my local running shop and see if they have anything, or else the running shoe catalog where I shop. This morning it doesn't seem too bad - hurts more on the outside of my foot than in the ankle - so I will probably try an easy run tomorrow. I still want to do the "Turkey Trot" race on Thanksgiving, sort of an alumni run (high school) in my home town. I will hold off reporting to the injured reserve thread for now, especially with the puking going on over there - don't need that, too....”

“Sorry to hear the news BowlderMan- you were on the comeback trail it seemed! Keep tabs on the pain along the outside of the foot. A friend of mine had the same kind of pain develope and at some point he stepped on the side (while barefoot trying to avoid a rock) and fractured the outside metatarsel bone- a jones fracture as it's known.”

“So, aero, you want me to try to keep up with the "jones"? Ha, couldn't resist....”

“Yo Aero, lemme know about you coming to Florida. BTW you might want to email Om as she's having a get together on the 6th. Maybe you could make it?”