All posts by Greg McElhatton

The Hills are Alive…

07mi

Start time: 12/24/10, 8:00am
Location: Columbia, Maryland
Distance: 7 miles
Average pace: 10:10min/mile
Total Miles For December: 40 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 625 miles

Steve and I drove up to Columbia, MD to meet Stephanie and Rich and go for a run with them on their home turf… which turns out to be just a mile away from Centennial Lake, where this year I ran the Columbia Triathlon. And of course, that meant… hills! Been a while since I’ve done any sort of hills whatsoever, so it felt good to get out there for a few. A couple of spots had a bunch of ice so we had to tread verrrrry carefully, but we all survived, and it was a nice change of scenery.

(10:00, 10:38, 10:07, 10:08, 9:56, 10:31, 9:50)

Nippy 8-miler

08mi

Start time: 12/18/10, 7:40am
Location: National Mall, Downtown DC
Distance: ~8.5 miles
Average pace: 10:11min/mile
Total Miles For December: 33 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 618 miles

Started with John again for the first two miles, then we swung back around and picked up Ben and Bill for the rest of the route. Well, what was supposed to be the rest of the route, except with some uncleared sidewalks ahead we veered off Constitution for a while and ran around some parts of downtown and near Federal buildings. Ben had a 10:30 appt so at one point we swung back near the car and he was able to grab his phone and wallet, with the plan to be that we’d then end the run up at the Starbucks instead of near the cars and we could save the extra time from walking there.

Well, except we swung out too far towards the end, and we finished the run not even remotely close to the Starbucks. For reasons unknown to me I turned the GPS off for a while as we continued to jog towards the Starbucks, then finally turned it back on. My best guess is that we ran about an extra half mile or so, but who knows? No bigs. Just a little extra burn, which was nice.

(9:44, 9:50, 9:36, 10:34, 10:36, 10:24, 10:24, 10:13)

Snow day

04mi, indoor track

Start time: 12/16/10, 3:45pm
Location: TJ Community Center
Distance: 4 miles
Average pace: 8:36min/mile
Total Miles For December: 25 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 610 miles

Missed Tuesday’s run thanks to a combination of a family visit, and oral surgery on Monday. Things are feeling better now, though, so I popped over to the community center this afternoon (once the snow stopped) and knocked out four miles. Didn’t feel great doing them, but it was better than nothing.

(8:44, 8:35, 8:28, 8:37)

Progressive Numbers

08mi

Start time: 12/11/10, 7:40am
Location: National Mall
Distance: 8 miles
Average pace: 10:19min/mile
Total Miles For December: 21 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 606 miles

This morning’s run was a game of addition, really. At 7:40, John and I went and ran two miles together, finishing back where we started to then pick up the rest of the group. Stephanie and Rich were stuck in traffic, so we told them the route and headed back out with Ben and Mark in tow. Around mile 5 we picked up Stephanie and Rich (who crossed over to the second half of the route and caught us that way, so they only missed about a mile) and finished up the run with 6 people. Too funny.

Having run a few miles together with just John these last two weeks, it’s been nice to find that when it’s just us we definitely speed up a bit (just like when it’s just me and Dave). Good to know! John whipped my butt at the Veteran’s Day 10K so getting him to push me is a good thing.

(9:24, 9:44, 9:49, 10:38, 11:06, 10:37, 10:50, 10:20)

2×2

02mi, 04mi, gym, indoor track

Start time: 12/9/10, 6:30pm
Location: TJ Community Center
Distance: 2 miles & 2 miles
Average pace: 8:43min/mile & 8:22min/mile
Total Miles For December: 13 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 598 miles

Headed to the gym after work today and knocked down two miles on the track, then did a little bit of upper body weight work, then back to two more miles. (Am trying to get the upper body work done on spinning days, but since I shifted my run to spin day, weights shifted to here. Very exciting, I know.)

(8:46 & 8:41, 8:23 & 8:21)

kcirB

03mi, brick, indoor track

Start time: 12/8/10, 5:55pm
Location: TJ Community Center
Distance: 3 miles
Average pace: 8:21min/mile
Total Miles For December: 9 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 594 miles

Missed my planned run on Tuesday, so I decided to do a backwards brick today and knocked out three miles on the indoor track right before my spinning class started in the evening. Worked pretty well (aside from being super-thirsty, I suspect from the excess sodium that comes with store-bought soup for lunch) and I had enough energy in reserve to survive Teresa’s butt-kicking spin class. I must admit that I kind of miss my old run-after-spin bricks. In the spring I’ll definitely be reviving them.

(8:31, 8:13, 8:18)

Rectangle

06mi

Start time: 12/4/10, 8:00am
Location: Washington DC
Distance: 6 miles
Average pace: 10:13min/mile
Total Miles For December: 6 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 591 miles

Ran with Ben and John, plus new additionals Mark and Stephen (who had also done the Veteran’s Day 10K). I’d joked when I sent out the route that since we were running a big rectangle there was a point where people could poop out early and head back to the cars and order all of us hot drinks. As it turned around, right after mile 4, Ben, Mark, and Stephen decided to do just that. (Well, except for the ordering of drinks, but they did wait for us at the cars so we still got the shared warmth afterwards.) John and I ran the last two miles and it was a nice, if slightly cold morning. I’d had some upper body soreness for a few days from finally going back to the weights after a long time away from them, and the run finally loosened them up. Yay!

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4182266

(9:37, 10:31, 10:27, 10:35, 10:27, 9:41)

Indoor, ugh

03mi, indoor track

Start time: 11/30/10, 6:00pm
Location: TJ Community Center
Distance: 3 miles
Average pace: 8:32min/mile
Total Miles For November: 23 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 585 miles

Aaaaand, I guess that wraps up a lackluster November. Wasn’t feeling good on Wednesday after the previous day’s run, and while out of town we were never able (due to other commitments) to squeeze in a run. Finally got in a few miles on the indoor track after work today, but mentally I was never able to get into the game and I called it a wrap after going around that stupid thing 24 times. You’ve got to be in the right frame of mind for the indoor track at TJ, and I just wasn’t there.

(8:32, 8:40, 8:25)

…and the trail won

06mi, custis

Start time: 11/23/10, 8:00m
Location: North Arlington, Custis Trail
Distance: 6 miles
Average pace: 9:04min/mile
Total Miles For November: 20 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 582 miles

After a week of no running due to soreness, weather, and other engagements, it was good to finally get back out there this morning. Especially since I have a feeling with travel that getting a run in over the Thanksgiving weekend might be difficult at best.

Went for a different loop this morning; ran up to Highland, then down it to the Custis Trail for a couple of miles before heading home via Ballston and Pershing. The lack of running over the last week, even with some cycling and spinning and rowing, definitely did a number on me. Oof. Pooped out during the third mile while on the Custis, but rallied a little later for the second half.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4170666

(8:26, 9:09, 9:44, 8:48, 9:10, 9:06)

Veteran’s Day 10K

06mi, 10k, race, statistics

Start time: 11/14/10, 8:00m
Location: West Potomac Park
Distance: 6.2 miles
Finish Time: 54:02
Average pace: 8:43min/mile
Total Miles For November: 14 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 576 miles

Today was my first 10K in two and a half years… no, really. It’s honestly been that long. I know, a little out of control. I knew going into this that I almost certainly wouldn’t get a PR, which is a shame because I know I’m capable of a faster PR than the one I have, a 52:30. But that said, I knew I wasn’t going to get it; a few extra pounds and some general slacking on my running would do that. I figured if I was within two minutes it wouldn’t be too bad, and I ended up 1:32 off (with a 54:02), so that’s not that bad. But now I have a new line in the sand to try and kill.

Anyway, it was a nice day regardless. This was the first race I’ve tackled with people from my 2009/2010 running group, so that was a nice experience. Six of us started out together, but John and I pulled ahead during the first mile. John then left me in the dust around the end of mile 2, and as he came in a whopping 4 minutes ahead of me I think it is safe to say that he definitely poured on the gas. Something I need to work on, myself.

Considering this is such a flat course, there are no real excuses for not doing well save for the need to work harder at this end, and that’s something I find achievable. I’m not disappointed at all with my finishing time today, but I would like to get to a faster point in the future. I think that’s possible.

(9:03, 8:24, 8:40, 8:37, 8:34, 8:44, 1:57)

Placing: 97/172 (56th percentile)