5/22/2006
61min, probably around Haverford, say 9.5 miles.
5/23/2006
49min, say 7 miles, pre race stumble around Warwick County Park trails at home. Achilles was very sore. Went swimming in the pool, even though it was cold (60s).
5/24/2006
Drove out to Jersey and hopped in a random, mid-week race.
17min warmup, 2.5 miles.
15:40 5k, 2nd in race in NJ behind M. Hatch of Philly TC. (
Results).
14 min cooldown with Hatch. I basically showed up for the $100 bounty, but wasn't really in condition or mindset to race. I was disappointed that competition showed up, but that's the nature of the game. I couldn't close the last mile, and ended up finishing pretty easy. My achilles just couldn't take any strong closing effort today, so all it took was one move to break me. The courese itself had a lot of turns, and the pace car blew its horn the entire way, before leading me astray towards the conclusion. Also, the race started rather late, as they were having trouble controlling traffic at 3M. The highlight of this race was the ice cream truck giving away free icey cream after the race, and there was a
DJ pumping a phat beat. All in all, I wouldn't go back next year, but not many other opportunities on a Wednesday night.
On the way over, driving through Philly, I narrowly avoided the closing of the Vine City Expressway, because Pres. Bush was in town.
5/25/2006
62min, 9.5 miles or so on Haverford trail, in the waning daylight after a lengthy day in Philly. I'll miss this run when I move
.
Today, my Net Impact team preseted our marketing plan to the Board of Directors at a North Philly nonprofit. It went very well, and the President of the organization let us know that we were better than their paid consultants (patting myself on the back here). Only 3 of us were able to make it to the presentation, and I drove, which was slightly harrowing. After a long morning, my teammates and I ate lunch at
Bleu, a hip eating establishment in Rittenhouse Square. Driving and finding parking at high noon was next to impossible, but eventually I let a valet park it at a garage.
5/26/2006
63.5 min, after moving my belongings out of Ardmore, around Warwick County Park. This was a long, and tiring day. My achilles hurt a whole lot these days, but I will hold on as long as possible.
I'll remember with fondness my days on Avon Road in Ardmore. I think, however, the time is ripe to move on. I move on from Villanova with a sense of nostalgia, but not exactly sadness. The only circumstance in my living arrangements that drove me batty was the neighbor's dog, who would incessantly yip and yap. That dog was a terrorist and my enemy.
5/27/2006
37.5 min
Easy pre race around my family's casa. Broke out new shoes today. I always forget the exact model, but they are the extra beefy Mizuno. I believe they are titled the "Nirvana." They still hurt my achilles. Later, I packed up my summer essentials and moved to Baltimore!
5/28/2006
Yes, I did a 2nd race this week. Why the deuce not? (And my 2nd, I mean 2nd and 3rd). Stacy dropped me off and parked her car near the porn district.
16.5 min warmup in downtown Baltimore, and few strides.
My first race was a 15:17 5K at 7:30 am, which was an easy 1st place, and earned me some cash money. Berdan was in the race, whom I know from Lancaster, but he is not in top shape and did not pose much of a threat. I hammered from the start, with 4:40 opening mile, 9:30 split at two miles, and then I rode my cushion in to a 20 second win. In one incident, a traffic cop failed to stop a car, which very nearly collided with me around mile 1. I was pretty mad, and yelled at both the cop and the car. Berdan told me later the cop was pretty mad herself, that I yelled at her. She was about as qualifed as a midget security agent.
But I digress... after the 5k, I jogged for maybe half a mile. It was very hot this morning, and the race director kept asking me to have liquids, as apparantly I no longer looked fresh as a daisy.
But, I lumbered on, and 45 minutes later, lined up for a 10K. My main aspiration here was to pad my prize money. A new local Kenyan pro runner showed up, and this was his first race, so it looked like trouble. I still made an honest effort, but I eventually wilted in the heat. Berdan, who also doubled back, ended up passing me in the last mile. I felt like heat stroke was imminent, so I just held on for 3rd and $50. The race course went from Downtown, to Fort McHenry and back. I held on to the leader until around half way, then gradually started falling back. Overall time: 33:30 for 10K at 8:30am, 3rd (splits apprx: 5:11, 10:20, 15:37?, 21?,X, slow).
15:46 easy cooldown near the awards. The awards were quite dramatic, and formalized, as predicated by the veterans who were running the show.
Summary: Long morning at MCVET 5k/10k races. Earned my $175 today, as it was really hot. I was overheating in the 10k. Glad I could still perform with sore achilles.
Stacy and I went to J. Bell's apartment and pool all day, where the Eastern European lifeguard made me pay $2 to go in the water. We (lifeguard not included) also watched Batman. What a cool cat. I mean bat?
Weekly Total: 63 miles. 3 races this week a bit much (cough cough, road whore). I justified the Wed. one as a workout.
5/29/2006
1 hr, 44min
Merry Memorial Day
Good run at Patapsco, with JB. After about 17min, my achilles stopped hurting (was it looser, or did endorphins kick in?). I managed to twist my left ankle; I blame Bell. It was quite hot, and I worked the hills a little at the end, leaving Bell in my wake. Call it 16, who the heck knows.
5/30/2006
AM: 35.5 min, easy 5 miles.
PM: 17min down to 5K store, then 46min with a group of Baltimore runners to Fort McHenry, then 17min back to my apartment. Nice to run with a group, but we were going really slow. I didn't mind, it was scorching hot outside and my achilles is destroyed.
5/31/2006
Drove North, around Timonium to the NCR trail.
19.5 min slow warmup, say 2.5 miles.
33:06 6 mile tempo, which is a dismal 5:31 pace.
19.5 min cooldown, 2.5 miles.
It was really hot today, and I felt poor, like MC Hammer's bank account.
6/1/2006
55min
Hot as Hades. I ran up by Dru Hill. Hailed some respek from a Jamaican lady in the urban jungle.
Later, drove with Jon and Cameron B up to Princeton for Reunions. As always, the rain was excessive, and lightning temporarily closed down the festivities. A crew of us migrated to Triumph, where we hung out for quite a while. We had reservations for 8 I believe, but ended up with twice as many peeps. That night, I shared a room at the local choir college (?). With no A/C, it was ridiculously hot. I don't think I really slept. At one point, I went downstairs to sleep in the TV room, but with drunken rowdies trickling in, sometimes engaging with me, I couldn't sleep there either.
6/2/2006
71.5 min
10 miles around muddy princeton with a large crew, including past and present athletes. A pleasant run, including the fabled towpath, Battlefield trails, and even a victory lap on the track.
Stacy made it today, and more and more alumni streamed in. Lunch today was lifted from one of the reunions (30th?). Checked into a Red Roof Inn down Rt. 1, and made it back for more festivities that night, although the rain really dampened things (literally and figuratively).
6/3/2006
0. I skipped the reunions fun run today. My achilles was too sore. I've been having trouble walking, and it has tightend up especially much with lack of sleep and demands of being on foot all the time.
The rains cleared up in time for a rocking P-Rade, a parade of alumni thrown by the alumni, for the alumni. We all march in our classes, and there are other floats thrown in. Highlights for me included the Star Wars Cantina Band re-enactment, and the old guy driving a pimped car waving his beer out the window. After a meal at my old haunt Cloister, I pursued many of the Reunions tents, and collected many commemorative cups. Princeton rules.
6/4/2006
Brunch at P.J.s with a bunch of Wangs.
After driving back to Baltimore, I was exhausted and my achilles still felt unhappy, so I logged another zero today.
Weekly Total: 62 miles. That's actually not a bad total, considering I only ran 5 days.
Princeton Representin
