Eugene Training - Week 16

Another week gone by. I've had no time to blog, although is seems that when I'm out running I have plenty of thoughts running through my head that might end up here if I only had the time to make it happen. I could work my way back through a whole week but it likely wouldn't be the most engaging read and would end up being way to long, rather I will attempt to summarize.

It is now Monday evening and I'm at a Hampton Inn in Fort Wayne, IN. This is the end of my 5th day on the road. I left home at 4:00 a.m. last Thursday and will get back home this Thursday in the early afternoon. I have gotten some good feedback on our new product and more importantly to this blog, I have maintained my running schedule.

I ran Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday as detailed below. All three different routes, once on the Cottontail Trail in Bonelli (I never saw a single rabbit by the way), once at the far north end of the San Gabriel River Bikeway and lastly on the equestrian trail in Via Verde.

I arrived in Indianapolis early Thursday evening by way of a plane flight to Chicago and a 3 hour rental car ride to Indy. I was upgraded in the car because of the big corporate connection so I'm tooling around the Midwest in a Volvo S40. I've never driven a Volvo before. I am very impressed with its handling and ride. I drove over to Eagle Creek Park for a 4 mile run. The park is criss crossed with roads and trails. The trails run along the large reservoir. I just ran for time and doubled back several times. There were many other runners out and about in the park.

Friday morning I got up early and ran another 4 miles through the business park and neighborhood adjacent to the hotel. I had mapped out a route the night before. But because of the rapid growth and development in town many of the streets had been rerouted and reading street signs in the dark turned out to be more difficult than I expected. I was confused by my first turn but continued on and basically ran for time again. I was heading east for a good portion of the run and was treated to one of those purple and pink sunrises Joe mentioned last week. I also scared up a great blue heron along the routes. They are very large birds and quite the sight to see in flight.

The in office course I was attending in Indy got out early so I headed on up to West Lafayette to spend some time with Joe and his wife. I had hoped to get to see him when I realized my travels were taking me to Indiana. Joe was kind enough to offer up the spare room and a home cooked meal complements of his wife. Joe has chronicled the visit on his blog. The visit to his work was interesting. Visiting the campus of Purdue brought back great memories of my own college days at Kent State University. It was very nostalgic. I will remember for a long time the moment that Joe walked into the kitchen Sunday morning for our run and Gretchen realized we were dressed similarly. It was quite the coincidence and a great laugh.

The run along the pathways on a beautiful spring morning was amazing. The wasn't a cloud in the sky and only a light breeze was blowing. The trail system is a real gem. We just moved along at a comfortable pace. Joe opted to run the entire 8 miles without the walk breaks he has incorporated as part of his ITB recovery. He appeared to be no worse for wear. Joe has marked the mileage from his house. He even showed me his private speedwork track; a 500 meter circle around a man made pond nestled in behind the high school playing fields and a neighborhood. I felt privileged to be among the inner circle.

Just before I left home last week my throat was getting dry and scratchy. This has now become a full blown head cold. On Sunday I had a cough and now my eyes are watery, my nose is running and I begun sneezing. My voice sounds like Kirmit about 20 octaves lower - very deep and scratching. I really think that this morning if I had been home I would have stayed home from work, but since I had traveled this far to see these doctors and patients I kept up my schedule. I had hoped to run this week but I may just take the rest and hope to be somewhat recovered before Eugene on Sunday. I am looking forward to meeting all the PNW blogger/runners and to running my 10th state, but now with this cold having its grip on me I worry even more about my performance capabilities. No sense stressing about it, what ever happens, happens. At any rate Lisa and I will have an enjoyable mini-vacation.

Miles for the week: 30.3

M: 5 miles, 43:55 (8:47 pace)
T: 5 miles, 38:52 (7:46 pace)
W: 4 miles, 33:20(8:20 pace)
H: ~4 miles, 39:16
F: ~4 miles, 37:41
S: Rest
S: 8.3 miles, 1:17:35 (9:21 pace)