Another National Bicycle Month Comes to an End.

Rode the mountain bike trails at Hagan Stone Park in Guilford County today to close out National Bicycle Month with a bang. And by bang I mean many bangs to my legs, arms and head. Nothing major, but those trails are cut very narrow and there are lots of low hanging branches. But I had fun, rose 5.33 miles of strenuous mountain bike trails at an average pace of 7.9 mph.

Tomorrow I'm considering running a 5k trail run in Dobson, NC....we'll see how it goes.

Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics

I missed out running the Alamance County leg of the Torch Run yesterday because I got stuck handling calls for service...so today after work I donned my Special Olympics Torch Run shirt and hit the pavement for a solo run. I did 2.69 miles at an average pace of 12:55 per mile. I ran for 12+ minutes solid followed by a short 1 minute walk, then repeated that until I was done. It was pretty nice out, despite the high temperatures. I'm thinking I may have to start running more indoors for a while if the weather keeps getting worse. In any case, if you don't support Special Olympics yet you should definitely start...such a worthy cause, I'm proud to be a supporter.

Memorial Day!

I hit the pavement (and dirt) around Guilford Courthouse National Military Park today on my Trek 4300 Alpha. I figured it would be nice to spend some time with nature while pondering the sacrifices of so many American soldiers who have given their lives in service to their country.

I rode a few miles on the greenway then ventured off road onto The Owl's Roost trail. This is one of the most challenging and intense mountain bike trails in NC. I had a blast! I then returned to the greenway for a few more miles, finishing up with a total of 17.9 miles in just under 2 hours. 

Sunday Cruise

Did a nice 6.3 Mile bike ride after work today...average pace was 14 mph. Not too shabby. I had to cut it short because one of my dogs escaped his fence and was found wandering the neighborhood. Silly dog. But I did get to wear my awesome new National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial jersey...so that was a plus. I'm planning a nice long ride on the mountain bike tomorrow in Greensboro....hopefully the weather will cooperate.

After work run

Did a nice long 11.5 hr shift today, so I took it easy and did a short 1.75 mile trek around the ol' neighborhood this afternoon. I kept a decent pace under 13 mins per mile, so I'm pleased with that. Looking forward to biking tomorrow and wearing my new National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial bike jersey from National Police Week. A huge amount of thanks to Alex at the NLEOMF for helping acquire it for me despite my being unable to attend the festivities during Police Week this year.

In other news, I've decided to register for a Duathlon in September. It is a 40k bike race/5k run in Ramseur, NC. Anyone interested in checking it out can hit their website at http://triviumracing.com/events/tri/2013/ramseur.html I'm also looking into getting some time off so I can run in the Moonlight Bootlegger 5k that's being held in Pleasant Garden, NC in July...it looks like a lot of fun, what could be better than whiskey and running? http://triviumracing.com/events/run/2013/moonlight-bootlegger-5k.htm

Greenway Run

Hit one of the Greenways in Greensboro for a run today between thunderstorms. I managed a new distance record for myself since I started back running, doing 4.42 miles at an average pace of 13:06 per mile. In all fairness I took a 10 minute walking break around the 3.65 mile mark, but I that was at a point on the trail where the pavement was very wet and slick and very steep. Rather than break my neck I did it at a leisurely and safe stroll. But I'm pleased with my overall results. Mile 1 was done at 11:29 per mile; mile 2 was done at 12:29 per mile; mile 3 was done at 13:19, mile 4 was done at 14:47 per mile; and the last .42 mile was done at 12:53. Had it not been so slick I think if have been well under the 13 minute per mile mark rather than right on top of it.

Tomorrow is a rest day while I go protect and serve...then a planned run for Saturday and a ride for Sunday.

Hump Day!

Took to the saddle today and did a leisurely 13.68 mile around my neighborhood. It was a little warm out, so made sure to hydrate frequently...this resulted in a slower than normal pace, but not by much.

Tomorrow is a running day, provided the weather holds out. 

In related news, I got my first donation for the 2013 Ride & Run to Remember the other day. I'm now at 1% of my goal....if you want to donate, make sure to click the donation page link to the right! Thank for the support!

Today's run was brought to you by the letter...

P.

P is for Pain. Lots of knee pain after today's 3.02 mile run. Not sure what happened, my pace was a little slow at 13:12 min per mile, and my knee was really aching with each step. Maybe it was the fact I worked all day and tried to run afterwards for the first time...who knows. I plan on doing a short run tomorrow evening, then biking some on Thursday if the weather is nice. Hopefully I can get my pace back up a little next time...I really felt like I was keeping good time today, I guess I'll have to be more mindful in the future.

Rainy Sunday Ride

I'm a sucker. I so wanted to ride today, but the weather just didn't want to cooperate. Rain, thunder, and lightning abounded throughout the day. But I'm a sucker, remember? So what do I do? I got out on my bike anyway. In the rain. And the thunder. And the lightning.

Despite the horrible weather and many near misses with death, I managed to do a little over 14 miles in just over an hour. That was a nice average pace of 14 miles an hour over some pretty intense hills and awful weather conditions. As usual, my rear end gave out long before my legs and brain. I've concluded that distance biking is more about butt conditioning than anything else.

I plan to keep doing Sunday bike rides while focusing on running during the week. 

And the rain came down...

The weather here in NC has been so bizarre this year. Yesterday it hit 90 degrees so I stayed inside and worked on re-finishing an unused bedroom into my music/relaxation room. Today the temp only reached 72 degrees, but there has been a series of nasty thunderstorms rolling through the area. I managed to squeeze in a 3.3 mile run between storms, so I don't feel too bad about myself right now. I kept my pace under 13 minutes per mile, averaging 12:36 per mile. I maintained as close to a 5:1:5 run:walk:run ratio as possible, running for 5 straight minutes then doing an even paced walk for 1 minute before returning to a run for 5 minutes. There were a few times I went over on the running phase by a few seconds, but I stayed tight on the walking phases and really made sure I didn't go over the 1 minute mark. I think this ratio is pretty good overall, and I think I'm improving. I don't feel nearly as winded today as I did Thursday, but then the temperature was quite a bit lower today too. I plan on doing a nice long bike ride tomorrow if the weather cooperates to keep my cycling up to snuff while I continue to improve my running skills.

Keep on running, just keep running...

Ran 3.03 miles today after dinner. It was a little warm outside at 80 degrees, but not so bad in the shady areas of my neighborhood. I kept up an average pace under 13 minutes per mile with my run/walk method...I'm pleased with this and hope to be able to maintain it as I continue to increase my mileage. I plan on trying a 5 miler this weekend...here's hoping for nice weather.

On a different note, I've been mixing it up between logging bike rides with MapMyRide and runs with Nike+. My last two runs I've had to log with MapMyRide because my Nike+ sensor has been acting up since I bought my new shoes...either New Balance shoes have an anti-Nike+ feature or my battery has finally died in my sensor. I plan on getting a new one tonight if all goes well, let's hope that works for a while. I really like logging my runs with Nike+ because their webpage really keeps up with my progress over time a lot better than other options. My only complaint is that they don't seem to have a feature to allow me to manually input runs from where my sensor was messed up.

Meanwhile, here's a horrible photo from my first ever 5k run several years ago in Burlington, NC.

National Police Week

It's that time of year again, National Police Week. Each year, thousands of Law Enforcement Officers from around the US gather this week in Washington, DC to honor their peers that have died in the line of duty. The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial bears the names of every Law Enforcement Officer killed in the line of duty since the founding of our great nation, and each year it continues to grow...it is the only permanent monument in our nation's capitol which has new names added to it yearly.

In an effort to help fund the addition of new names yearly, I will be heading to DC in October for the Ride & Run to Remember, a bike ride and 5k to help raise awareness and funding for the memorial. This will be my 3rd year participating in this fantastic event. Please help me by clicking the link below and making a small contribution...every dollar counts. Help honor those that Protect & Serve our communities each and every day, and those that have made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.

http://support.nleomf.org/goto/RHenderson

 

New Kicks, new route!

Today I bought a new pair of running shoes (thanks mom!). I went with a pair of New Balance 1260 V2 as they were the most comfortable...and comfort is what we care the most about, right? I took them out for what I thought was a leisurely paced run around the neighborhood...turned out I was going a bit faster than I thought. I did 1.75 miles at an average pace of 12:34 per mile. That's pretty good for me. If I can maintain something similar I should be able to do my 10 miler in October in respectable time.

I plan on taking full advantage of this weeks vacation and getting a bit of work done around the house, as well as either running or biking each day.

The Galloway Method

So I'm taking the advice of my running friends and starting on my training plan for a half marathon. I'll be using the Galloway Method, which was developed by Jeff Galloway. He's the official running coach for RunDisney and has a lot of good information for both beginning and experienced runners. He uses a run-walk method which emphasizes short walking breaks early and often to allow the body to maximize muscle efficiency. I started today with a short 1 mile run during which I walked 2 minutes spaced out evenly in the 12 minutes I ran. While today I didn't use much rhyme or reason to my walking breaks, this weekend I'll be doing a much longer run and hope to do a 2:1 run:walk ratio. That means I'll run 2 minutes and then walk 1 minute throughout the run. By the time my next official event rolls around in October, I hope to be doing a 5:1 ratio.

 

Another RunDisney Event in my future!

I may just be an idiot. We will certainly find out in October...not only will I be doing the Ride & Run to Remember in Washington DC the second weekend, which includes the metric century bike ride on Saturday and a 5k run on Sunday, but now I will be running a 10 miler the Saturday before that. I've officially registered for my 2nd RunDisney event, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10-Miler at WDW in Florida. The Event is October 5th, which is just one week before I head to DC. Is it too much for my body to take? Only time will tell. Right now I need to step up my training for both events...if only the weather and my work schedule would cooperate.

Expedition Everest Challenge!

On a whim, I decided to go visit a friend at Walt Disney World this weekend. After seeing his impressive rack of Disney running medals, I decided I should get in on the action. It so happened that this weekend was the Expedition Everest Challenge, a 5k race with obstacles and a puzzle/mental challenge at the end. I found out and I was so psyched! I went over to the registration expo on Friday, only to learn the event had been sold out for months. Enter Mary, my new hero at RunDisney. She managed to pull a few strings and I got in and was able to participate last night...and I say last night loosely, as I am just getting back from the event. I did pretty well I think in what was only my second 5k ever. The extra mileage for the obstacles and mental challenge took the 5k up to a 4.95 Mile event...wasn't expecting that! But I had a blast, and I plan to do more RunDisney events in the future. A ton of thanks again to Mary and of course my pal Justin, who played host to me this weekend. It was hard to get good photos, as it was a nighttime event and as great as apple products are, they still don't work well in the dark....but here are a few anyway.