TITLE: Getting Back to the Usual
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: November 08, 2005  6:54 PM
DESC: 
-----
BODY:
I haven't written about running
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2005-10.html#e2005-10-11T08_12_06.htm">
   for a while</A>.
Some of my friends were getting worried...  Had my
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2005-10.html#e2005-10-02T21_48_51.htm">
   TC Marathon experience</A>
soured me?  Not at all.  But I haven't been training
for a race, or running with any particular purpose
in mind, so there hasn't been much to say.  I've just
been running.  The first few weeks after any marathon
are filled with the body recovering, so some days
feel great and others feel just OK.  That pretty much
sums up my weeks since Twin Cities.

While
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2005-11.html#e2005-11-08T15_00_49.htm">
   in San Diego for OOPSLA</A>,
I wasn't able to do any fancy-dancy running, as the
friend who was going to be my running guide was sick.
(Get better, Kris!)  So I took advantage of our location
just south of
<A HREF="http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2814650-fashion_valley_shopping_center_san_diego-i">
   Fashion Valley Shopping Center</A>
to jog up to Friars Road and use it as my main artery.
One day, I ran to the campus of
<A HREF="http://www.sandiego.edu/">
   University of San Diego</A>;
a couple of other times, I ran to
<A HREF="http://www.ballparks.com/baseball/national/qualco.htm">
   Jack Murphy Stadium</A>,
and once I ran out past Sea World and over the beachfront
bridge that spans the San Diego River.  Friars Road worked
about as well as any major urban street could for morning
runs.  For the week, I put in well over 30 miles; not bad
for such a busy conference week...  (There is hidden advantage
of attending conferences on the west coast -- I just keep
rising on Iowa time!)

I've now done a couple of 12-milers and 14-miler, so my
distance is doing fine.  My long speed is coming back
slowly, and I've comfortably managed a couple of long
routes at 8.5 minutes/mile pace.

This morning was my finest fast run yet.  I ran one of
my standard short routes, 5.5 miles, with the intention
of getting done and getting to my office earlier to
grade and prep class.  And get done fast I did -- in
40:52, more than 15 seconds faster than I've ever run
this route.  My legs were a bit sore this morning, but
it was the kind of soreness that I look forward to!

Now I am getting excited about running the
<A HREF="http://www.trekmanracing.com/_wsn/page9.html">
   Snow Shuffle 5K</A>
on December 10.  It's tough to PR races in the cold of
December, and there is always the chance of snow or ice
or fierce wind.  So I won't plan for anything other
than running as fast as the conditions allow.  But the
thought of racing, however short, sounds good again.
-----