I didn't work out today but took it as a rest day. I guess in the whole scheme of things, I should have swam but didn't feel like it. My legs are still sore from Tuesday, but Thursday's run really got most of the soreness out. I may try to run either Sat or Sun, do not know which though.

We'll be in Dallas all next week, so the posting will be limited.

This will probably be the last run for July, but I am not going to thro in the towel yet. Next week, we are driving to Dallas for the Mary Kay Seminar and that will be from Monday - Sunday. This leave working out in the hotel, but the hustle and bustle of Seminar leaves few quiet moments and those will be filled with the kids.

Today's run wasn't as bad even though the weather was pretty dang hot. I ran 3 miles instead of 3.4 and chose a different route today. This route had a downhill at mile 0.6 but also a big uphill at mile 2.4, flat (as Knoxville can get) everywhere else. The split times are as follows:

So I am guessing that my 5k time right now would be just under a 8:00 min pace given a reasonable course . I will be doing the Scholar's Run 5k in August, so we will see how this running comes along.

July won't be a big goosed for running. It won't a big month for running either. I don't think historically that July is a very big month for mileage. Anyway, I got back out on the road again after my epiphany from the last post. I mapped out a 3.4 out and back route for yesterday's jaunt. I can't say that it was the best route, I saw lots of turtles, but other than that it wasn't that great. Let me show you my split times:

You can easily see that I took off way too fast. Also, the sunscreen I used was getting into my eyes which burned, so it was a little hard to see. Ironically, the burning sensation went away if I ran a fast pace… go figure. I swam 1371 meters today in the pool but will be going out on the road tomorrow. My legs are sore from Tuesday though, so we will see. I think that I will find a 3 mile course as well until I can get my pace up.

There are a lot of variables right now that are prohibiting the effectiveness of my running. Therefore, I have decided to take a step back and rethink my running strategy. It was in my mind's schedule to run a fall marathon to jump start my Knoxville Marathon training. However, I do not think that I will be able to do any significant running distance for most of the summer/fall. At this point, I am not sure if Big South Fork 17.5 mile run will be on my schedule, as it conflicts with some other events.

This leaves me with what to do to about my running. The lack of babysitters during the week has left my evening running to the ultimate minimum, zero. With Ryan's arrival my ability to wake up at 5am to run for an hour has been significantly hampered. My weekends are pretty much taken up with family events, so what does that leave me with?

Lunchtime. Currently, I am swimming twice a week anywhere from 800 meters to 1600 meters, but mainly about 1000 meters or so. I think what would be best would be for me to take two of the other days and introduce running on those days, maybe 3 to 4 miles. I think at my present pace, that would work to fit within the current lunchtime parameters.

My focus, pace time. My 5k PR will be 3 years old this year, my 8k PR time 6 years!!! A link to all my PR time is here. So on my agenda for running is to map out a 3 and 4 mile course around here at UT and figure out split areas so that I monitor my time. If I can gain my speed back, perhaps my marathon time will drop.

One of my running buddy's Ray G is in this situation. He has been doing major speed work since March and now is shifting into marathon mode with his brother. He's a lot faster than I am ~20min 5k, but the transition should be about the same.

I almost got to run yesterday. It was about 7:15 and Eric had just gone down for the night, I had my MP3 player juiced up, I set up the monitor to hear Ryan, my shoes were on and I was getting a water bottle ready. Then, Ryan woke up. Oh well…

There is a trail run on Sunday around the corner from me (Concord Park… I've mentioned it before). The timing is horrible… 6pm. That is prime time Eric dinner and right before bath. So, I do not know if it will be in the cards for me, but since it is so close and cheap ($10) I just try to make it.

Also, if I wake up at 5 am like I did today, I am going to run tomorrow morning. Ryan sleeps well at that time and Eric wouldn't be up until 7am… so that might work.

It is almost the middle of July and I have no miles logged in for the month. The main reason for this is the lack of babysitters we have had due to summer events. When this is the case, I need to be home to help take care and put Eric to bed, usually by 7:15. Then, from 7:15-11:00 it is taking care of the house time which makes running low on the priority food chain. It is also especially low since the Tour De France is aired at night from 8-11, this means that household chores take longer, putting me to bed later than normal which makes getting up later thereby negating any early morning run.

Not is all lost though, I still have the lunchtime swims. This week, I have managed to get in swims on Tuesday and Thursday. Tuesday's swim was 1097 meters but was plagued with goggle malfunction. The lens are no longer seated properly in the frame and therefore leak rather easy. Today's swim was a little longer in distance, 1234 meters. I averaged 55 sec per 50 yd lap for the first 12 laps. After that I did not keep track. I did practice my flip-turn today which is something that really needs improvement. I can't say that I am very graceful when it comes to the flip-turn, I really need someone to show me how to do it.

Also, last night I was able to lift some weights as well, so that counts as exercise. I did not get all the reps that I wanted, but I got some in!

I did go swimming yesterday at lunch, but was having major equipment malfunction. Mainly with my goggles. I ended up having to take out one of the lens and then reseat the lens back into the goggle. After a slight strap adjustment everything was fine and I ended up swimming about 900 meters or so. The weather was beautiful for a swim and with the amount of rain that we have had the past few days, the water was pretty cold.

I won a Peak Bar in the Trek bike Lucky 7 online contest they have for the Tour De France this year. I have no idea how it will taste, but I have to go pick up the bar from one of the local Trek dealers.

I went to the dentist this morning and everything was fine. As a result of the timing of the appointment and getting back to work, I have forgone the normal Thursday swim. If I am able to do any type of workout tonight, it will be on the treadmill while I watch the Tour De France.

I'm rooting for Lance, of course, but my second favorite rider is a Frenchman named Thomas Voeckler, who is riding for Bouyges Telecom. He won the King of the Mountain Jersey (the polka-dot one) in Stage 2, but has been relatively quiet since. In 2004, he wore the jersey for 10 days or so before Lance took it back. Here is a quote from Voeckler last year about donning the yellow jersey…

“But I'm not fooling myself. I know I'm not a threat for the big guys on this race; I'm not at their level. When the race hits the hills, it's going to be tough. But believe me, I won't throw in the towel. I'll gut it out in this jersey as long as I possibly can.”

Jen is pretty interested in the Tour, but not in watching the 2 hours of bike riding. I am impressed because she knows certain riders and some of their accomplishments, such as McEwen winning the Green Jersey last year.

After a whole weekend of family fun, I finally got back to exercising. I was supposed to run the Fireball 5k on Sunday Night, but a bowl of ice cream prohibited me from running. I needed the sleep AND ice cream anyway. With about 600 people finishing, I am sure that my time wouldn't have been all that great. So I will save the shoes for another day.

I went to the pool today to get in 800 meters. I think that I kept each of the laps under 1 minute, which is my measuring stick for how I am doing. On the way out I asked if they had a Lost and Found and sure enough, my goggles were there, back from the Twilight Zone. Salvation!

I doubt that I will get any running in this week, but we will see.

That is how I felt after running yesterday. There were some rather powerful storm cells that invaded our area yesterday and left a think blanket of humidity in the region. Despite the extra water in the air, Beer Boy and I were able to crank out a 5 mile jaunt at a 9:30 pace.

We decided to run Cherokee Boulevard out and back and thanks to some Boy Scout's Eagle Scout project, we knew the exact 2.5 mile marker. I felt good the entire run although the entire first leg my legs were hurting from Tuesday. Once we made it to the turn around point, I stretched and my legs felt great since. Not even a twinge of pain today!