Day 16 to Day 32

I've obviously fallen way behind posting wise.  I blame this on a trip to Albany (for you fitness enthusiasts, Travelodges generally do not feature workout exercise centers), family sickness, and general laziness.  Here's my best attempt at recovery:


Day 16 (October 26, 2011):
Albany, NY for a visit to RPI.  I was not prepared for the coldness that is upstate New York during a Northeaster.  No treadmills inside, and I was not about to be outside any longer than necessary.




Day 17 (October 27, 2011):
At RPI for Family Weekend.  It was very cold, but we had good company...

I'm a pushover when it comes to mascots.  The RPI puck is definitely the funniest one I've seen...especially when his cellphone rang....

Day 18 (October 29, 2011):
Snowing in Albany, NY


Day 19 (October 30, 2011):
Albany, NY


Day 20 (October 31, 2011):
Albany, NY


Day 21 (November 1, 2011):
Family sickness.


Day 22 (November 2, 2011):
1.00 miles at 8:00...at which point I become sick.


Day 23 (November 3, 2011):

Finally back out!  Nice run by UBC, a little faster than I really meant to:

3.6 miles at 8:39.

Day 24 (November 4, 2011):
Ran home from work.  3.5 miles at 9:55.  The backpack kills.


Day 25 (November 5, 2011):
Started to run what has become one of my favorite runs around the Pig and Whistle (which has become our favorite barbecue restaurant).  Unfortunately, Zeke was not having it.  Molly had to rescue us 2/3 of the way through:
3.76 at 10:19


Day 26 (November 6, 2011):
Started biking to work.  This doesn't get me a lot of miles, but unfortunately my beloved station wagon died.  This means I either:
1)  Leave Molly stranded at home while I go to work.
2)  Make Molly wake up Zeke when I need to get to work and get picked up.
3)  Find another way.


Day 27 (November 7, 2011):
I don't remember what happened 5 days ago.


Day 28 (November 8, 2011):
Rode the bike into work, and left it there.  Ran home from work.  3.5 miles at 9:52.


Day 29 (November 9, 2011):
Ran into work.  The most painful part of this is the backpack.  Backpack definitely caused some wardrobe malfunctions--I was bringing back the belly-shirt!
3.5 at 9:59


Day 30 (November 10, 2011):
Rest.  Went to Memphis, got new plates for the Toyota, and cleaned out the station wagon.  Our new van plates read "4 KATE," to match the wagon...but now they're in memory of the station wagon, grandmother, and grandpa.


Day 31 (November 11, 2011):
Zeke was the worst runner ever today.  He managed to scream the entire time, which cut the run short:
2.1 at 8:57


Day 32 (November 12, 2011):
While playing with different routes on www.mapmyrun.com, Molly discovered that Navy Road turns into Armour Road, which is a key piece of the Pig and Whistle run, so Zeke and I decided to try it out.  Gorgeous run through cotton fields.  Next time I will add a segment through Edmund Orgill Park.
8.04 miles at 11:17

Day 15: Pig and Whistle

Fed Zeke before the run, which resulted in a 4 mile nap for him.  The other 2 miles and change?  Not as pleasant.
6.10 miles at 10:40.

Day 14: UBC

3.8 miles at 9:41.  Zeke enjoys running unless the sun is in his eyes.  I wish I had a picture to demonstrate this, but his unhappy face is too tragic.

Day 13: Pig and Whistle

Molly and I drove a really nice route around the Pig and Whistle--an extremely promising looking barbecue place across the street from UBC.  Afterward, Zeke and I decided to run it.


6.1 miles at 10:26.

Day 12: Homeward Bound (Newark to Memphis and UBC to Home)

Great flights home from Newark to Memphis.  Molly and Monkey met me at the airport and we headed home.  While I like to think that Zeke is happy to see me, I know that he's actually only excited to play with my luggage.

$30.00 from IKEA (the bag, that is)

Zeke was tired so I had to run without him.  Great run from UBC to our house.  4.16 miles at 9:56.

Day 11: Columbia University

Left the Best Western at Newark at 6:30AM to head into New York for Columbia University's career fair.  After the fair, we had to get Mr. Gibson to Penn Station so he could get back down to DC.  This meant a gruelling drive through New York City, but also some pretty amazing sights.



Unfortunately, this scenic drive through New York City lasted until 9PM:  No run today.

Day 10: Stevens Institute of Technology

Boring part of the day was the run:  2.5 on the treadmill at 9:12.


Went to give a presentation at Stevens Institute of Technology.  Prior to doing so, LCDR John Nolan and I took the ferry from Hoboken to Midtown New York to pick up our NR Screener.  Had a flashback to Mr. Herbst talking about Gibbons vs. Ogden (a landmark case in that it defined the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution allowing Congress to regulate both trade and intercourse between States).

Gibbons vs. Ogden

Ferry pier.

Stevens Institute is amazing--set immediately across from Manhattan, it has a great view of the New York skyline, not to mention being ranked as the number 15 engineering school by the Princeton Review.  

Manhattan from Stevens Institute of Technology.

...and again.

Days 9: Rest and Travel

Day 9:  Actually rested, more owing to the fact that I was on the road to Columbia University and Steven's Institute for some presentations and a career fair.  Flew into Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) which seems a lot bigger to fly into than it does to fly out.  Weather in Newark, NJ is 64F--I thought it would be colder, but super-excited that the weather is so nice.

Day 8: UBC to Home

Molly and I established pretty well that Unity Baptist Church connects nicely to our house via about 2 miles on Route 51, but we also know it connects through miles of cotton fields over a nice, rolling course.  Running from UBC to Wilkinsville Road and back is pretty nice, because doubling back is slightly downhill.


Drizzling on Day 8, so decided that Zeke should go to Kroger's with Molly while I ran the back way from UBC to home.  Unfortunately, this means the pleasant downhill half of the run was nonexistent.  Light drizzle turned into all out rain which permeated what used to be a waterproof jacket.  Even so, a really great run.  Made the really unfortunate discovery that I cannot blame my poor times on Zeke's jogging stroller.


4.29 miles at 9:01.

Day 7: Treadmill

2.4 miles at 9:58.

Day 6: Running at Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park

This should've been the day to take photos, but I failed.  Ran with Zeke along about half of the bike trail before doubling back to meet Molly so we could walk the end of the trail together.  Trees are just starting to yellow, but a little sad that the leaves will probably be gone by the time my folks get here next month.

Molly and I LOVE Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park--it's always our destination of choice when we're trying to extend car rides so Zeke will sleep longer or when we need to get out of the house.  We try to take as many visitors there as possible.

Park's brochure says the whole trail is paved, but it would be more accurate to say that the whole trail WAS paved--Zeke will tell you that there are some pretty rough stretches.

2.39 miles at 10:03 pace.

Day 5

Another run by UBC.  Molly fed baby Monkey before we left for our run, so he slept the entire time.  As a result he woke up in a great mood:

3.97 miles at 9:27 pace (37:38 total).

Day 4

First of the real runs.  Cotton fields by UBC are gorgeous.  


4.34 miles at 9:42 pace.

Day 3: Rest

The Hanson brothers say that Wednesdays can be rest-days or used to build mileage.  I chose to build, but was rapidly foiled by sudden rain (Baby Monkey said we had to turn around).  Running around UBC was very pleasant--watching trucks move the cotton bales was pretty fascinating.  


Halfway through, I was excited to get a call from Fletcher on his way back out to the rig.  Have a good hitch!


2.42 miles at a 10:26 pace.

Day 2: I feel the need for speed...and almost instantly regret it.

Zeke post-run.

After a pretty productive day at work spent saving ~$800 by staying in Econo Lodges and Best Westerns instead of Marriotts and Crowne Plazas (One would think this is an obvious way to save money, but you'd be surprised),  Molly picked me up so that 1) she could go to the YMCA and 2) I could take our baby monkey for a run.  

Day 2 is designed to "build speed," specifically, 1000-1600m at 10K pace followed by 400m periods of "rest."  Three intervals plus a cool down brought me to 5K:

First 1400m:  7:47

Second 1400m:  7:53

Final 1800m: 10:53  

1000m cool down...I'm embarrassed to say how long this took.

Now you can compare these values to your own 10K pace and recognize that you are a much better runner by comparison.  While I was dead by the end of the workout, Zeke still had plenty of energy.  

Tonight Molly left baby Monkey, baby Kitty, and I at home to have dinner and do some homework while she attended Unity Baptist Church's Titus Tuesday (men are next week--I did not skip Bible Study to loaf around at home).  While Zeke slept, Xeno helped me out with my fluids homework--thankfully he's much better at partial derivatives than I am.

Xeno's eyes positively light-up as he contemplates whether to use a Lagrangian or Eulerian problem solving approach.

The right excuse

Looking for a way to 1) give Molly some alone (without Zeke) time, 2) to ease my guilt at leaving the house for extended periods of time to work out and 3) have something to blog about, the perfect solution presented itself:  The Country Music Marathon (or Rock 'n' Roll Marathon) in Nashville, TN.  


On Sunday, Molly and I bought our first ever jogging stroller and this morning Zeke and I started training to go to Nashville:


Day 1:  3 miles at 11:45 pace.  The stroller is going to kill me.  If it doesn't, the forty driveways on Wilkinsville Road will.


While the marathon rules stipulate that I cannot run with Zeke in the marathon, they do not say I can't train with him.


Please follow me on my journey to Nashville.  On the way, you should get to hear some exciting stories about the places my job takes me,

Iowa State University 2011 Career Expo. 

the pain of going back to school for a Masters', 

Molly holding me accountable.

and see some pretty adorable pictures of our baby monkey.

Charlotte, NC

My hope is that in blogging I will be accountable to "the masses" in my marathon training and classes, as well as have an extra reason to photograph Zeke enough so that he never complains about not having enough baby pictures.


For those interested, I'm training according to the plan (which is admittedly scary in a nothing-over-16-miles-way):  Runners' World: Hanson Brothers (sadly not the rocking trio)