August 2012 Running Commentary

Once a month I clear out the content on my Running Commentary page and place it here on the main page to make room for fresh content on that page. This is the August 2012 Running Commentary. Enjoy!

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This month: 140.86 miles. Longest run: 10.9 miles (August 12th) Shortest run: 3.8 miles (August 26th, 27th and 31st) 22 runs in 31 days during the month. Average run distance for the month: 6.402 miles

2012 Mileage total: 1370.39 miles Longest run of the year: 15.2 miles (March 11th, April 1st, May 4th) Shortest run of the year: 3.8 miles (February 6th, May 22nd, August 26th, 27th, 31st). 186 runs on the year. Average run distance: 7.367 miles

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Things were going so well until I hit that spot on the 17th where my left calf/ hamstring/ knee really became an issue.  Whether it was because of the new sneakers, the older ones finally catching up with me, or the fact that I’m just a fragile human being I know not.  What I do know is that the entire area around the back of my left knee is a serious issue.  There is at this point (9/1/12) a smallish lump at the back of the knee just at the very top of my calf, and there is also soreness in the hamstring.

And on top of that the damn knee is stiff and feels unstable.

I am running on it, regardless.  Not far and by and large not fast, but I am running on it.  Because the issues that are there while daunting, are not in fact that major, and the pain is minor when it is there at all.  So because of that I am not taking a hiatus from running.  I think… hope is maybe a better word, that I can run through this injury.

I was just coming back from feeling the effects of an injury, just getting to a point where I felt comfortable running longer again. I am deeply disappointed that I was not able to run longer this month because my body decided to fail me.  I am going to be fine.  I am going to be a runner, long distance runner eventually.  It will happen, even if my body does have a propensity to try and make me sit down and get fat.

Exercising was cut off at the end of the month, and will begin again sometime at the beginning of September.

The hope is to try to get up to around 200 miles on the month for September, though with the knee as it is makes that a bit of a stretch.  One can hope.  As long as the legs can get me out the door and I can get my head to the place past the doubts about my slowly aging body and to where running starts, it is possible.

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Wed., August 1st:  Ran 5.82 miles in 43:10.78, a 7:25.15 m/m pace.  74 degrees, cloudy, breezy, humid.  7:25 pm.  Starting my post work hill runs early this year.  Last 2 years I haven’t done it till around mid to late September.  Hills are good, they make me strong, and they make me faster.  Which is why I’m especially happy with my first one being sub 7:30.  My knee was wobbly early, but it stopped bothering me and I flew around the hills.  Felt good.  200 knuckle push-ups.

Thur., August 2nd:  Ran 5.82 miles in 42:02.69, a 7:13.45 m/m pace.  88 degrees, cloudy, humid.  7:30 pm.  Second day of hill runs in a row, and I pushed as hard as I could early.  Didn’t realize I was pushing quite so hard until I hit my first uphill mile split and hit a 7:25.  That’s pretty damn good, as far as I’m concerned.  Twenty two second negative split as well.  Nice.  110 chin-ups.

Fri., August 3rd:  Ran 5.82 miles in 42:38.08, a 7:19.53 m/m pace.  85 degrees, cloudy, breezy, humid.  7:35 pm.  Went out today thinking that I’d take it easy.  And it kinda felt like I was early, but I hit the first marker at nearly the same time that I had the day before.  I didn’t want to go all out, so I reigned it in just a hair after that.  Went for it near the end of the run just to do it, just because it felt like the right thing to do.  Good run.  250 knuckle push-ups.

Sat, August 4th:  Ran 8.7 miles in 1:05:42.29, a 7:33.13 m/m pace.  81 degrees, partly cloudy, humid.  6:50 pm.  Hills and humidity beat my ass on this run.  I was initially going to run the 2.02 mile up and back from Royal oak to Martling and Clove 4 times.  Altered before I began, ran the 2.44 mile up and back to Broadway twice, then ran a longer up and back on the same initial track but took it to clove and victory. I was pretty consistent through the run.  120 chin-ups.

Sun., August 5th:  Ran 9.62 miles in 1:14:29.81, a  7:44.63 m/m pace.  91 degrees, mostly sunny, breezy, humid.  12:20pm.  Was thinking of going longer but heat and humidity shortened it.  Initially thinking 11.4 miles minimum, but after 3 laps I had nearly nothing left, so I did one more lap(7.6 miles total.)  Then I walked to a spot near the exit of the park and ran hills (2.02 miles) from there home.  I was slow on the hills(7:58.24), but I was beat, and frankly I’m fine with it.  300 knuckle push-ups.

Mon., August 6th:  Ran 5.82 miles in 43:12.80, a 7:25.49 m/m pace.  82 degrees, clear.  7:45 pm.  Finished after dark, making this (technically) the first night run I’ve done in at least 6 months (I think, maybe more maybe less.)  I took it easy early and the effort got greater and greater as the run went on.  Had a bit of a tension headache from work. I dunno that it had much of an effect on the run, but I felt it the whole run.  120 chin-ups, done 10 at a time, every few minutes.

Tues., August 7th:  Ran 9.5 miles in 1:12:06.22, a 7:35.39 m/m pace.  81 degrees, partly cloudy. 11:05 am.  I had no idea walking out the door how long I would run, nor how fast I would try to run.  Usually I have some idea.  Not today.   Didn’t change much pace wise, or any other way, just went out without a plan.  Pretty quickly realized this was going to be a 5 lap run.  The number felt right, so I went for it.  250 knuckle push-ups, done 25 at a time, every 3 minutes.  Done in 27 minutes.

Wed., August 8th:  Ran 5.82 miles in 42:59.30, a 7:23.17 m/m pace.  82 degrees, cloudy, humid.  7:25 pm.  This run felt like a hard slough through rough terrain.  It just beat my ass into the dirt.  Doesn’t matter, I was still pretty damn fast, and I’m happy about it.  This was close to maximum effort, and was as much as I could give on this day.  Back of my left knee felt funny for a second out there.  It’s done that a few times.  No idea why, it bears watching.  120 chin-ups, done same as last time.

Thur., August 9th:  Ran 5.82 miles in 42:46.75, a 7:21:02 m/m pace.  80 degrees, cloudy, humid.  7:45 pm.  Stopped twice for traffic, both stops lasting about 3 seconds, and once because I had a stitch that would not go away.  That lasted a minute, and happened at the 36:28 mark at 4.93 miles.  The time would have probably been slower without the stops.  I was busting my ass up the hill on my second run up it, 20 seconds faster than the first run up. Kicked my ass.  275 knuckle push-ups, 11 sets of 25 kpu’s in 30 minutes.

Fri., August 10th: Ran 9 miles in 1:07:58.54, a 7:33.17 m/m pace.  81 degrees, cloudy, breezy, humid, light drizzle near end of run.  10:05 am.  Tried keeping my feet as fast as I could today, and stretched my stride whenever possible.   Wasn’t sure I’d be able to hold the pace, legs felt kinda tired early, but that went away as the run went on.  Passed the 1300 mile mark on the year today, my 45th birthday.  Nice.  120 chin-ups.

Sat., August 11th:  Ran 7.6 miles in 57:25.35, a 7:33.33 m/m pace.  83 degrees, partly cloudy, humid.  6:30 pm.  Ran with new sneakers today.  Those sneakers, the Asics Gel-Scram, weren’t too bad.  My feet were kinda sore at the end of the run, dunno what that was about.  I was fastest on the last lap, a 7:23.  Longest run week since the end of April.  Nice.  200 knuckle push-ups.

Sun., August 12th:  Ran 10.9 miles in 1:22:58.22, a 7:36.71 m/m pace.  82 degrees, sunny.  9:35 am.  I did not push for speed today, as I wanted to see how the new sneakers would hold up on a longish run.  Not too bad to be honest.  Feet are again sore, but I can add extra cushioning.  These things are light, feel more like racing flats than regular run shoes.  Nice morning for a run, felt good to run in the sun without too much humidity for once.  200 knuckle push-ups.

Mon., August 13th:  Ran 5.82 miles in 42:31.63, a 7:18.42 m/m pace.  83 degrees, partly sunny, breezy.  7:30 pm.  Monday evening hills felt good this time around.  Less humidity made the running easier.  New lighter shoes I think made a few seconds difference.  That could be in my head, we’ll see in a few weeks after I’ve been running in them regular for a while.  110 chin-ups.  Shortened the time between sets and cut one set out.

Tues., August 14th:  Ran 5.82 miles in 42:37.04, a 7:19.35 m/m pace.  78 degrees, cloudy, humid.  7:25 pm.  Busted my butt out there.  Worked harder today than yesterday, the humidity made it more difficult going.  I was faster on the second half than the first, 39 seconds  negative split.  Pretty happy about that.  No exercise, no time for it today, dammit.

Wed., August 15th: NO RUN, NO EXERCISE.  Thunderstorms and lightning (and my wife’s insistence) kept me home.

Thur., August 16th:  Ran 7.66 miles in 56:28.35, a 7:22.34 m/m pace.  82 degrees, clear.  7:35 pm.  Had one stop at the 3 minute mark, traffic stop.  I enjoyed pushing myself today, pushed as hard today as I do most everyday.  Thought as I ran “I have to stop saying I pushed hard today.  I push this hard every day.”  And I do.  But I feel like I have to say it.  Because it’s true.  250 knuckle push-ups, most done while making dinner.

Fri., August 17th:  Ran 6.66 miles in 49:54.00, a 7:29.54 m/m pace.  86 degrees, clear.  7:45 pm.  Happy hill run.  Enjoyed running in the twilight and darkness tonight.  Ran in the older sneakers today, and my feet did feel more comfortable at the end of the run, less sore today than yesterday.  That tells me that the new sneakers are good for shorter runs, but not for longer ones.  No worries. 125 knuckle push-ups, 50 chin-ups.  I only had a few minutes to play with.  This workout only takes a few minutes.  Works for me.

Sat., August 18th:  NO RUN, NO EXERCISE.

Sun., August 19th: NO RUN, NO EXERCISE.

Mon., August 20th: NO RUN, NO EXERCISE.  I find this entire thing troubling.  I was out for the two days prior with tightness in my left knee.  Today the knee issue had nearly cleared up.  I went out to run, and my right calf which had been tight all day, cramped on me, and I found I could not move well or fast.  I don’t need to move fast, but I need to be able to run without discomfort.  Can’t do that now.

Worst of all I had no problem with not being able to run.  I was fine with walking home without running.  THAT bothers me more than any damned injury.  I am a runner, I’ve prided myself on that for years.  I don’t want to even begin to think that I’ve lost the will to run.  Running is how I’ve kept myself sane through all the insanity the world has thrown at me over the years.  Dunno what I’d do without it.

Tue., August 21st: NO RUN, NO EXERCISE.

Wed., August 22nd: NO RUN, NO EXERCISE.

Thur., August 23rd: NO RUN, NO EXERCISE.

Fri., August 24th: NO RUN, NO EXERCISE.

Sat., August 25th: NO RUN, NO EXERCISE.

Sun., August 26th:  Ran 3.8 miles in 29:54.32, a 7:52.18 m/m pace.  81 degrees, sunny.  2:30 pm.  First run in over a week, since the 17th.  One stop at the halfway point.  The left knee was sore, and the back of that knee felt tight, so whatever I did to this damn thing is not fully healed.  It is however good enough to run on.  At least short distances, and at least as slow as I ran today.  I thought about pushing to see what I could do, but I don’t want to aggravate whatever the injury is, so slow and steady until this thing is healed.  No exercise.

Mon., August 27th:  Ran 3.8 miles in 29:30.17, a 7:45.83 m/m pace.  80 degrees, mostly sunny humid.  9:25 am.  One stop at halfway point.  Early non work day run, same distance as yesterday.  The stop was more to measure how I felt than me having any actual need for a break.  The knee gives me problems when I push off.  If I don’t watch when I push off the knee feels like it hyper-extends backwards and that is what hurts, what causes the pain on the inside of the left knee.  No exercise.

Tues., August 28th:  Ran 4.42 miles in 34:52.86, a 7:53.49 m/m pace.  82 degrees, clear.  7:40 pm.  Night run, one lap in the park +the 1.26 mile run down and back.  I wanted to see how well the knee would stand up to the hills on the up and back.  Not too bad I think.  It was sore but clearly I’m doing better.  Had fun out there except for the guy riding his bike in the dark in the park with a flashing headlight.  Blinded me, made it impossible for me to see where the hell the road was and where I was going.  Good otherwise.  60 chin-ups.  Bare bones minimum exercise, dunno if I even broke a sweat. That sucks.  Gotta work harder.

Wed., August 29th:  Ran 4.42 miles in 33:43.32, a 7:37.76 m/m pace.  77 degrees, clear. 7:40 pm.  Pushed harder and faster today.  I wanted to see how the leg and the knee would respond to some extra speed.   The left hamstring tightened up on me, but not so bad that I had to stop or anything.  I did run in the park faster than expected, but I guess the hills slowed me down a bit, as I was sub 7:30 in the park.  No worries.  Speed will come as the knee gets better.  No exercise.

Thur., August 30th:  Ran 4.42 miles in 33:44.69, a 7:38.07 m/m pace.  82 degrees, clear.  7:25 pm.  I wasn’t pushing for speed like I did yesterday.  Still ran about as fast as I did yesterday.  Kinda surprising.  My left knee itself is feels tight, and the left hammy is sore, as is the left calf.  The entire rear left muscle chain is a mess right now.  Sore when walking, the knee just feels wrong.  But it worked fine, pain free throughout the run.  I don’t get it, but I won’t complain.  No exercise until the beginning of the month.  Taking a break.

Fri., August 31st:  Ran 3.8 miles in 28:26.82, a 7:29.16 m/m pace.  87 degrees, clear.  5:40 pm.  One stop.  I felt a twinge in the back of my left knee during the second lap of a scheduled 3 laps run and cut the run short.  The one thing I want to do is run, but the one thing I don’t want to do is injure myself by pushing myself too hard.  So better to back off and just heal up.

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That’s it from here, America.  G’night.

August 2011 Running Commentary

Once a month or so, I clear out some of the content on my Running Commentary, Random Thoughts, and 12 Notes pages and place them here on the main page to make room for fresh content on those pages.  This is the August 2011 Running Commentary.  Enjoy!

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Mon.,  August 1st:  NO RUN, NO EXERCISE

Tues., August 2nd: NO RUN, NO EXERCISE

Wed., August 3rd: NO RUN, NO EXERCISE

Thur., August 4th:  Ran 11.4 miles in 1:29:30, a 7: 51:05 m/m pace.  81 degrees, mostly sunny.  After 3 days off due to a hectic work schedule, it felt good to get out on the road and get some miles in.   Being as sore as I am after the heavy work of the last 3 days, I was not sure how long I was going to be able to go.  Put a top end of 6 laps in the park at the possible distance I was going to go.  I went 6, and felt like I could go more.  Ran the first ½ in 45:10, and the second ½ 50 seconds faster.  Nice.

Fri., August 5th:  Ran 11.4 miles in 1:28:52, a 7:47.80 m/m pace.  85 degrees, sunny.  First back to back 10+ milers of the year.  Told myself to just run as far as I could today, and not worry about either time or distance. And with that I was able to go as long as yesterday, and faster to boot.  Nice.  Last year I hit the 1,000 mile mark on September 6th.  I hit the 1,000 mile mark on the year for this year today.  Most excellent.

Sat., August 6th:  Ran 9 miles in 1:08:35, a 7:37.22 m/m pace.  79 degrees, sunny.  I tweaked my left foot slightly near the end of lap 1 of a 4 lap run.  Stopped for a minute to shake it out, ran on it for a few minutes, the pain worked itself out, it was fine by the end of lap 2.  Time is faster than I had planned on going.  I told myself to take it slow and not sweat speed.  I didn’t but then again… 10 seconds per mile faster than yesterday after 2 10+ milers in a row on a 9 mile run with an injury stop isn’t exactly taking it easy.  Good run.

Sun., August 7th:  Ran 7.6 miles in 58:04.74, a 7:37.99 m/m pace.  87 degrees, sunny, humid.  Pushed hard in the humidity today. Slept more than usual last night and I still felt “blah” out there.  Might have something to do with the weather, or sitting in air-conditioning too much.  Dunno.  I was still relatively quick.  I could not have gone longer though, not at the effort level I was pushing at.    I had fun out there.  200 knuckle push-ups, 60 chin-ups.

Mon., August 8th:  Ran 9.5 miles in 1:13:23, a 7:43.47 m/m pace.  89 degrees, sunny.   I took my time in spots here, and busted my ass in others.  Lap 2 was slow, ran it in 14:58 (7:52.63 pace), ran the last lap the fastest, 21 seconds a mile faster(a 7:31.57 pace) than lap 2.  Nice.  Left ankle bothered me a bit during the run, but it was transitory pain, left as quickly as it showed up.  No other issues.  I wasn’t sure how long I’d be able to go, happy that I got 5 laps in.  150 knuckle push-ups, 60 chin-ups.

Tues., August 9th:  Ran 7.6 miles in 55:39.07, a 7:19.35 m/m pace.  82 degrees, sunny.  Busted my ass the whole way, and sprinted the final 200 yards to boot!  Nice.  No pain to speak of.  Ran down to the park today, untimed.  That warm up helped me move this quick.  Felt good to move this fast.  150 knuckle push-ups, 60 chin-ups.

Wed., August 10th:  Ran 5.7 miles in 41:48.37, a 7:20.06 m/m pace.  81 degrees, sunny.  I was going to go long today.  Thought that would be a good way to ring in my 44th birthday.  Then I ran my first lap faster than I expected to run it.  I said the hell with it, I’m not going long, I’m gonna try to run fast.  Ran 2 more laps and called it a day.  If I can relax like that and say f*** it one day, it is today.  So I did.  150 standard (KPU) burpees.

Thur., August 11th:  Ran 9.5 miles in 1:12:58, a 7:40.84 m/m pace.  78 degrees, sunny.  Took my time out there today, after 2 relatively fast days.  Felt good to take the foot off of the gas.  Hammies were a bit tight as I started, but loosened up as the run went on.  They’re fine now.  Temps under 80 degrees made this easy running weather. Lose 10 more degrees, and I’ll start going ùber long (should I have the time to.)  Good Run.  No exercise, back pain kept me from it.

Fri., August 12th:  Ran 10.68 miles in 1:22:17, a 7:42.26 m/m pace.  80 degrees, sunny.  Ran all over the place today,  all over the old neighborhood.  Nice day for it.  Had pain and soreness in my left anterior compartment, but like all minor running pain, it went away after a few minutes, maybe a mile or so.  Hills weren’t too bad.  I could have gone longer.  200 knuckle push-ups.

Sat., August 13th:  Ran 7.1 miles in 52:54.24, a 7:27.07 m/m pace.  77 degrees, partly cloudy.  Initially I was just going to run at an easy pace, but it was nice out, and I sped up as I went on.  By the time I got to my last of 3 park laps, I was motoring.  Couldn’t quite catch up to Tuesday’s pace, but this isn’t a bad time.  No pain, which is nice.  200 knuckle push-ups.

Sun., August 14th:  Ran 11.94 miles in 1:33.33, a 7:50.10 m/m pace.  69 degrees, rain, heavy at times.  This started out being a park run, but the park is a mess from the rain and wind, so I only did 1 lap there (+the run there and back, 4.42 miles total)  Ran home, then past “home sweet apartment” and ran some random hills.  Home to Victory to Manor to Forest to Bement to Lafayette to the Terrace and back.  3.76 miles each way.  What I wanted today was 1½ hours of run time, weather be damned, and I got it.  200 standard (KPU) burpees.

Mon., August 15th:  Ran 8.22 miles in 1:04:00, a 7:47.15 m/m pace.  73 degrees, light rain/ drizzle.  3 park laps +1.26 mile run to and from the park.  The park was in better shape today then it was yesterday, though the paths were still a mess.  Wore the mudders for a second straight day.  Calves are a mite bit sore, all else is fine.  100 knuckle push-ups, 100 beginner (KPU) burpees .

Tues., August 16th:  Ran 9.2 miles in 1:09:39, a 7:34.24 m/m pace.  71 degrees, cloudy, humid.  Happy hill run in the old neighborhood today.  I wasn’t planning on going quite this long, I just did.  Ran fast when and where I could, and I didn’t think I was moving at a 7:35 pace, thought I was a fair bit slower.  I hit the 1,000 mile mark on the year 11 days ago, I hit the 1,100 mile mark today.  I hit 1,100 miles last year on October 13th.  Nice.

Wed., August 17th:  Ran 7.6 miles in 57:56.06, a 7:37.37 m/m pace.  81 degrees, mostly sunny.  Right hamstring is a wee bit sore, overuse I think, just pushing too hard, or more aptly put, going too long too many times without a break.  Waking up sore everyday.  I think the time has come to put the brakes, at least somewhat, on the 7+ milers.  I’ve only had one sub 7 mile run so far this month, and I’m 2 ¼ miles per run over my average for the year so far this month.  That is too much too soon.  A day or two with shorter runs could do me good.

Thur., August 18th:  Ran 5.2 miles in 38:22.52, a 7:22.79 m/m pace.  77 degrees, partly sunny, humid.  Hamstring is feeling fine, like nothing was wrong with it.  Not sore waking up this morning, which was a nice change of pace for me.  Quick pace today for the short run, I didn’t run all out, but I was pretty close to it, overall hard effort.   Good run.

Fri., August 19th:  Ran 5.2 miles in 38:09.20, a 7:20.23 m/m pace.  77 degrees, humid, cloudy, rain as run ended.  I did what I could to get a run in before the seemingly nightly thunderstorms came in.  Got done as the first of the major lightning strikes hit the area.  Short runs are fun, they make it easy to go for speed, I tried to open up my stride, though the results were not uber fast, they’re better than some of the times, i’ve run this month.  I think I did well.

Sat., August 20th:  Ran 7.1 miles in 53:47.59, a 7:34.59 m/m pace.  69 degrees, sunny.  Beautiful morning for a run.  I was feeling all sorts of out of sorts early, sore, tired, stiff, achy, which had me moving slow out of the gate, but I managed to pick it up a bit and get myself in gear somewhat as the run went on. I was busting my ass by the time the end of the 3 park laps came around, and hit the hill home hard.  Good run. 150 knuckle push-ups(6×25), 42 chin-ups(6×7).

Sun., August 21st:  Ran 10.9 miles in 1:24:31, a 7:45.23 m/m pace.  77 degrees, partly cloudy, humid.  Started out slow, picked up the pace as I went along, nothing uber fast at any point, but I was moving at a good clip at the end of the 5 park laps.  Could have gone longer.  I have work tomorrow, so I decided to stop at 5 laps rather than go 6 or 7.  Had fun with the early Sunday morning run.  300 knuckle push-ups (12×25) .

Mon., August 22nd:  Ran 6.32 miles in 45:27.94, a 7:11.63 m/m pace.  73 degrees, partly cloudy.  Busted my ass the entire way.  Park was packed, nearly ran one guy over who literally jumped in front of me.  Idiot.  No other issues.  No soreness or pain to speak of, which is nice.  I was surprised I had this much in the tank, but it was really nice out, and that made speed all the more easier.  150 knuckle push-ups, 42 chin-ups.

Tues., August 23rd:  Ran 11.4 miles in 1:26:59, a 7:37.80 m/m pace.  73 degrees, sunny.  Took my time early, really picked up the pace for the last 2 laps.  Ran the first 4 laps at a 7:45 pace, the last 2 at just under a 7:23 pace. I’m kinda surprised I could hit that pace after running for over seven and a half miles, and after the speed-work yesterday.  Fun running out there today.  100 ceiling kick burpees.

Wed., August 24th:  Ran 5.9 miles in 43:23.83, a 7:21.32 m/m pace.  73 degrees, party cloudy, windy.  A slightly different path to the park today for today’s post work run.  Normal path is .7 miles, this one is 1.05 miles, mostly hill run.  I felt fast, and it feels good to run in low 70′s and windy, beats hell out of 90′s and humid.  Fun run tonight.  150 knuckle push-ups, 42 chin-ups.

Thur., August 25th: Ran 5.2 miles in 39:55.59, a 7:40.69 m/m pace.  76 degrees, cloudy, humid.  Slow at the outset, got motoring after I hit the ½ way point.  I felt out of sorts when I began, which is why I was slow, started to feel better as I went, which is why I sped up, pretty simple, that is. I could have gone longer, but I started late, and wanted to get done and eat dinner. No exercise tonight.

Fri., August 26th:  NO RUN, NO EXERCISE.

Sat., August 27th:  NO RUN, NO EXERCISE.

Sun., August 28th:  NO RUN, NO EXERCISE.

Mon., August 29th:  NO RUN, NO EXERCISE.

Tues., August 30th: NO RUN, NO EXERCISE.

Wed., August 31st:  NO RUN, NO EXERCISE. (These days off are a result of the combination of Hurricane Irene and its aftermath and being busy at my temp job)

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This month:  183.66  miles.  Longest run: 11.94 miles (August 14th) Shortest runs: 5.2 miles (August 18th, 19th, and 25th)  22 runs in 31 days during the month. Average run distance for the month: 8.348 miles

Year to date: 1169.19 miles  Longest so far 14.7 miles (May15th) Shortest 1.7 miles (January 24th, injury shortened). 172 runs on the year.  Average run distance:  6.797  miles

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When I ran this month, I was spectacular out there.  The month of August had the longest average run distance I have ever had during any month that I have ever run.  I would complain about the time off at the end of the month, bemoan the cruelty of being at the mercy of the elements, but to be honest, I needed a break.  I was sore all over, just plain beat, woke up sore and in pain, had trouble bending down to pick stuff up.  That went away after a few days off.  Mind you I would not have minded having one or two more run days, but the extra rest felt good.

I did 100 miles in 11 days at one point this month.  That was GREAT.  The running was excellent this month.  Here’s to September being even better!

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That’s it from here for the moment, America.  Later.

August Random Thoughts

Once a month or so, I clear out some of the pages and place them here on the blog to make room for fresh content on those pages.  This article contains all the content from the “Random Thoughts” page from the month of August.  Enjoy!

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I started a blog on hubpages today.  And as you may have guessed, my name there is the same there as it is here.  Mike The Rhino.  I have written two pages worth of stuff already.  It’s fun and easy, and since I write shorter stuff there than I do here, it takes only a few minutes. Nice. (8/2)

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FACT: Drug Cartels have not taken over any ranches in Laredo, Texas.  There was some story out on the right about this today.  The people of Laredo, when notified of this, looked around, kinda confused, and said… “Ummm…. no problems here.  Who told you this crap?” or some such.  It seems that the Right wing fear machine is trying to gin up fear of Mexicans and other brown skinned peoples by just making shit up.  Breitbart ran with it.  Malkin ran with it. 

The Right wing assholes think they can say anything and get us to buy it.  The acronym is a well known one: NFL, aka Not Fucking Likely.

AAAAAAAAnd the crime rates are down across the southwest.  Stop trying to bullshit us, ya bunch of douchebags. (8/2)

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News on several fronts.  I am about to call NYPIRG back, got a bite from them, we’ll see what happens there.  Hopefully something that pays well enough.  Not sure what that would be, but i’ll worry about that when I get to it.  I’ve set in about 5 or 6 other resumes today as well.

And A-Rod hit his 600th home run today.  Nice!  Got a laugh out of an update from the Onion that said ”Hero Pigeon Shits on A-Rods face as he takes 600th Home run trot.”  Hella funny stuff.    (8/4)

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Had a nice B-day party, a few days early, at my brothers house.  Had a great time, burned my bald head in the sun, and enjoyed it.  The party was a boatload of fun.  Got nice stuff, and at least  a buck three eighty in monies!  Nices!  Srsly, I cannot thank them enough for their generosity to the jobless guy.  Brother John still has the arm, just needs to get that ankle healed. (8/8)

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Sent in 5 resumes today, called one place, asking about a park police job.  I got the wrong number and never got to them in time last week.  Called the right number today, and told me I needed to register by last Friday.  There will be more opportunities out there.  I will get a good job, and I will do it as soon as they decide to hire me.  I’m there, where are they with the jobs? I can only apply to get them if they offer them… well, I do send unsolicited resumes too. (8/9)

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Anagram:  Forty Three Years Old/ Fry lottery sorehead/ Royalty freed others/ Theory; yodelers fart/ Yeast for the orderly (8/9)

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Today is my 43rd Birthday!  Yay for me! I’m happy just to have survived to see this day.  Beats hell out of the alternative, tell ya that! I celebrated by sleeping in today.  And that is the lone celebration so far. Gonna run, just like I normally do, gonna write a lot, just like I normally do, gonna take out the garbage, just like I do every Tuesday night.  There will be cake, I helped make it, and a special dinner one presumes.  I need little else to make me happy.  Enough of that though, time to go look for a job.  Until I have one of those, no day can be so special that I can take it off completely.  (8/10)

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Anagram: Get a job you bum/ Jumbo yoga tube/ Bayou gumbo jet/ Jog to obey a bum (8/10)

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The stock market is down big( -250, after hitting session lows of -280), but volume is light, and it looks like things will even out, at least as far as the people I am hearing from on my end, namely the business pros on bloomberg TV.  A lot of talk about the mid term elections having a big effect going into next year.  I’ve heard the Bush tax cuts expiring will do bad things to the market.  I dunno about that.  Democrats can move the market positively, that much has been proven.  (8/11)

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Aw crap.  Seems that wordpress is having issues with videos.  None of the damn things show up, you just get a black box where the video should be.  Bunch of crap, I tell ya.  I’m hoping it’s a server issue, and I hope it’s cleared up by tomorrow, or I’m gonna be PISSED.  There are several hundred videos on The Rhino report, some that date back nearly two years.  I don’t want to lose my viddys! (8/12)

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Good News.  I called Sotheby’s today to see if they wanted me to come back and do the second half of my six months stint as a temp there.  They said yes, I start up again September 7th.  Nice.  It’ll actually cost me more early on, bit if there is as much chance for overtime this time as there was last time, I could actually save a few bucks.  (8/12)

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Really enjoying the cooler weather.  The running is easier, and I don’t have to use the damned air conditioners all the damned time. (8/13)

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3 home runs for A-Rod and the Yankees hit 5 home runs in one game against the royals.  That is not surprising.  The next day they could only manage two hits against that same royals team.  Again, not surprising.  Anyone who has watched baseball for any length of time knows that usually that a team that hits that well one game generally, can’t hit worth a damn the next.  Next time you see one of those 13(to pick a number at random) run barrages by a team, any team, watch their next game.  It’s rare for a team after that kind of performance to score a lot of runs, and they never, EVER, equal the previous nights home run or run total. (8/15) 

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Just spoke to the people at the NYSDOL (New York State Department of Labor)  They had withheld last weeks payment.  I called to find out why.  Told them they had sent a letter to me stating an issue with Sotheby’s claiming they had never even heard of me, and that I had sent them copies of pay stubs as proof of work.  They released the payments to my account, should be there in a few days.  Nice. (8/16)

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Thursday I was travelling, yesterday I was relaxing, slept in, watched tv and such, today I am doing more of the same, Tomorrow travelling again.  Vacations are nice. (8/21)

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Anagram: Take the long way home/ Weak Theology Anthem/ The Whole Magnet, Okay? (8/22)

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Stock market fell like a stone this morning on horribly bad home sales numbers.  Sales fell 27%, twice as much as forecasters were predicting, and sales are expected to be soft for at least the next two months. Dammit. (8/24)

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It’s official, I begin the second part of my gig at Sotheby’s starting September 7th.  It’s only 13.25 an hour, but it’s work.  Seeing how there isn’t a whole helluva lot out there job wise, a crappy paying temp job is better than no job at all.  And there is still the ultra slim possibility that I can land their permanent. 

Oh who am I kidding, they claimed they couldn’t keep me on due to the economy before, they sure as hell won’t bring me in permanent now, when the economy looks worse than it did a scant few months ago.  Dammit.  (8/24)

(note: I had written of this two weeks earlier, but this is here because I actually spoke to the people at sotheby’s this day and got the OK, whereas on the 12th, I had gotten a message from them saying come back, but call us first. Took this long, 12 days, playing phone tag with them just to get it straightened out.  Bad timing on my part I guess.)

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Sometimes I do funny things. One of them is to take how many miles I’ve run for the year, and see where in the world I would end up if I ran it all at once.  Curious but fun, at least to boring ol’ Mikey.  So far this year i’ve run 920.46 miles.  Now, using google maps I have, by guessing and moving the little plot points around, figured out what town, state and or country is that many miles from my home, where I’d end up. 

If I ran due west, I’d be in the heart of Peoria, Illinois.  If I ran south, I’d be just north of Jacksonville international airport, in a place called Pecan park. If I went northeast, I’d be in a place called Auld’s Cove, at Port Hawkesbury in Nova Scotia, Canada.  I’ll be in Cape Breton tomorrow.  All while running in circles in a park.  Nice!  (8/25)

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Ya know, I thought, when it first popped up here on wordpress, that if I voted for myself at the top of the page, that like button, that it would do something for me, get me more hits, give me more of a chance at being more widely read. But it really had no effect at all.  So if you look around this blog and see posts where there is one like, and then go to the bottom of the page, and it’s me, that’s just me trying, vainly, to drive more traffic here.  (8/26)

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Didn’t do nearly enough job search stuff this week.  Bad Mikey.  (8/27)

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Anagram: Let’s Go Giants/ Egotist Slang/ Setting Goals/ Goats Glisten/ Go Ingest Salt/ Nag Ogles Tits  (8/28)

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ARGH!  The Giants SUCKED yesterday.  They were absolutely horrible, but then again it is pre-season, and I turned to watch the Cowboys on CBS, and they got their asses handed to them as well.  So I don’t feel so bad now.  (8/29)

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I love reading politically slanted news, especially when they get it wrong.  Just read a story on Bloomberg about how the Obama administration is blowing off 3 billion potential billionaires by not immediately naming an ASEAN Ambassador.  ASEAN, for those not in the know, is a business/political partnership between the Philippines, Indonesia, and 8 smaller southeast Asian countries.  The disingenuousness here comes from claiming not immediately naming an ASEAN ambassador cuts us off from 3,000,000,000 potential billionaires.

I’m sure all the rice farmers and muay thai fighters in the area are happy that this guy has confidence that ALL of them can someday become billionaires.  5 TIMES OVER.  The total population of the area in question is less than 1/5th the number he speaks of.  

Wonder if he has as much confidence in EVERY AMERICAN becoming a billionaire 5 times over.  Wonder when he’s going to write about the 1.6 billion potential billionaires the AMERICAN BUSINESS COMMUNITY is bypassing by not hiring anyone, the lazy bastards. (8/30)

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The President nailed it during his speech tonight, absolutely nailed it.  The right amount of solemnity for such an occasion.  The proper focus on not just why the war in Iraq happened, but on how America fixed things after Bush was out of the White House.  A tip of the hat to former President Bush, and a look at what this war hath wrought because of Bush’s gross incompetence in getting us in that useless war in the first place.   (8/31)

August Running Commentary

Once a month or so, I clear out some of the pages and place them here on the blog to make room for fresh content on those pages.  This is the August Running Commentary.  Enjoy!

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Mon., Aug. 2nd: Ran 5.7 miles in 42:15.43, a 7:24.81 m/m pace.  79 degrees, sunny, breezy.  Pretty much from step one I did all I could to stretch out my stride length as wide as possible, and push as fast as I could for as long as I could during this run.  Hamstrings and ankle seemed fine, not 100% but close, which made that easier.  Hit the end of lap one at around a 7:36 pace, roughly my average run pace.  Second lap I ran about 19 seconds faster than the first, a 14 minute 7 second 1.9 mile lap, and hit the third lap faster still, at 13:43 , or a 7:15 m/m pace. That is zooming for me.  Happy Mikey.  Think I’m gonna go longer and slower tomorrow.  We’ll see.                                          

Tues., Aug 3rd:  Ran 9.5 miles in 1:15:33, a 7:57.15 m/m pace.  85 degrees, partly sunny, breezy.  I wasn’t sure how long I was going to go when I walked out the door today.  Decided to just run and see.  My knees were creakin’ and my ankles were sore as I started up, felt horrible early, but as I went it got easier.  The knee and ankle soreness went away and weren’t an issue after the end of lap one, may have been before that.  I felt my right hamstring tighten up a bit on me, but nothing too major.  With all that, I still had to fight the urge to run faster. I sped up a bit on the final park lap, not much but a bit.                                           

Wed., Aug 4th:  Ran 5.7 miles in 44:06.50, a 7:44.29 m/m pace.  92 degrees, partly sunny, humid, breezy.  Tough run today, I pushed about as hard as I could in this heat and humidity.  Not too bad, felt like I was going much faster than a 7:44 though.  Ankle is still a hair stiff, didn’t notice any issues with the  right hamstring. All else is OK, no knee pain, thankfully.    Just checked the heat index: 105.  Nice.                                         

Thur., Aug. 5th:  Ran 6.06 miles in 47:15.45, a 7:47.89 m/m pace.  92 degrees, sunny, windy.  Just as hot today as yesterday and windier, but less humid.  Hit the hills today, 3 times down and back up the Royal oak road/rice ave/slosson ave/martling ave/clove road hill path.  Took my time out there, and even with that had to stop for a short breather after finishing 2 of the three times down and back up.  No soreness to speak of, no ankle or knee or hamstring issues today, which is nice. Longer and slower tomorrow, perhaps.                                       

Fri., Aug 6th:  Ran 9.5 miles in 1:15.32, a 7:57.o5 m/m pace.  88 degrees, partly cloudy.  Stopped at the half way point.  Not über tired, not majorly sore,  just…stopped.  Started up again after a minute, dunno why I stopped, still trying to figure it out.  The rest of the run was OK, no issues with the hamstring, the right ankle was a bit sore, as was the left knee for a bit, but nothing out of the ordinary.  I wasn’t sure how long I was going to go, I thought 5 laps was gonna be a long one, and I went 5.  Excellent.                                    

Tues., Aug 10th:  Ran 5.7 miles in 46:00.05, an 8:04.22 m/m pace.  90 degrees, cloudy, humid.  Ran with new shoes today, they were not good runners, but that’s not why I ran slow.  My right hamstring was sore from the moment I started til the moment I finished, but that’s not why I ran slow.  This is my first run since Friday, and it’s a hot humid day, but that’s not why I ran slow.  I ran slow because it’s my birthday and I made a choice to go slow.  That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.                                    

Wed., Aug 11th:  Ran 5.7 miles in 44:54.24, a 7:52.67 m/m pace.  90 degrees, partly sunny, humid.  Went back to the old shoes, and pushed a little bit in the heat, and I must say I’m pretty happy with the results, cutting over 11 seconds per mile off of yesterday’s pace ain’t too shabby.  I need to start stretching those hamstrings out in post run workouts if I want to move faster.  Gonna start that after I’m done here.  Hamstrings are feeling better, so I can actually do that without running the risk of injury.                                 

Thur., Aug 12th: Ran 7.6 miles in 58:28.30, a 7:41.61 m/m pace.  74 degrees, cloudy, light rain/drizzle.  Nicest day temp wise in almost 2 months, felt great out there.  Went four laps, relatively quickly today, and I probably could have gone longer, but decided before I started that 3 or 4 laps was going to be my distance today.  My right hamstring was a bit sore before and after the run today, nothing major, just something to keep an eye on.  Good run.                               

Fri., Aug 13th:  Ran 9.74 miles in 1:16:25, a 7:50.73 m/m pace.  74 degrees, mostly sunny, nice.  Oddest run day In a long time. On lap one, I had some guy ahead of me, who was running just the same speed as I was, Go to pass him, he speeds up.  I decide to push faster, so does he.  We end up flooring it for more than a quarter of a mile racing each other, on what I was initially thinking of as a slow day.  He ends up passing me again, as I run out of gas and the hammy starts to bother me just a hair, and then proceeds to slow down as I slow down, apparently trying to stay just ahead of me.  T’was odd and annoying.  And people wonder why I run alone.  On lap two, some woman fell down on the path and several runners who were ahead of me running in the opposite direction stopped to help.  I couldn’t help, because  those other people were closer, and surrounding her, so there I am just standing there, unable to do anything, unsure of what to do, twiddling my thumbs. Wasn’t running or helping.  Sucked.  After a minute of standing around saying “you alright, lady?” I got the hell out.   Better to help myself and exercise than just stand the hell around twiddling my thumbs, helping no one.  End of lap two and beginning of  lap 3 a number of trucks park in the run path to finally get rid of the tree trunks that have been at the side of the paths since February.  Wood chippers and Chainsaws and work crews standing in the paths.  Joy.   At that point I had enough.  3  1.9 mile laps in the park and I am done.  3 laps, 5.7 miles in 44:11.24(7:45.12).  I wanted to go longer than 5.7 miles, and I still had energy to burn, so I decided at that point to walk to the hills and run them, despite the fact that my hamstrings are toast at this point.  Ran 4.04 miles on the hills, in 32:14(7:58.71).  That run happens without incident.   Hamstrings are an issue because I overexerted them working out yesterday.  Good for running, but sore as hell otherwise.  And no I don’t think the days issues had anything to do with it being Friday the 13th.  Any of those things, or similar enough events, could have happened any other day.  The date is simply a coincidence.                             

Sat., Aug 14th:  Ran 7.6 miles in 59:49.02, a 7:52.23 m/m pace.  74 degrees sunny, sunny, breezy.  Nice day for a run, unlike yesterday, there were no outside distractions.  Took my time today, in large part because my hamstrings were sore as hell again today, as were my calves.  This was a day to just put in a few laps and relax a bit.  I did find I was going a little too slow for my liking, so I picked up the pace a lil bit on the last lap.  Had fun out there, and that’s the point isn’t it?                         

Mon., Aug 16th:  Ran 7.6 miles in 59:02.66, a 7:46.13 m/m pace.  82 degrees, cloudy, humid.  Hamstrings are feeling better today, as are the calves, thought they are still a bit tight, right ankle is not 100%, but I was feeling strong out there, so i ignored it.   I pushed some out there today as a consequence, not race pace, not on tight calves and a sore ankle, but a pretty fast run for me.  I think I could have gone longer today, but decided against, don’t want to overdo it.                       

Tues., Aug 17th: Ran 8.08 miles in 1:04.38, a 7:59.95 m/m pace.  (I’m calling it 8 flat)  88 degrees, partly cloudy, humid.  The park was filled with noise, with celebration, with the noise of happy laughing children…. so I avoided it so I could avoid having to run around 5,000 seven year olds.  Ran the hills today instead.  Pushed really hard on the very end of the run, but that’s about the only place I did.  Right hamstring was sore, as was my left knee, and I tweaked my right ankle just past mile 1.  It isn’t hurt…really, but it’s clearly not 100%.  I’ll run tomorrow but I may take the days I’m in Brockton with my wife off, run wise. Might not, we’ll see.                     

Wed., Aug 18th:  Ran 9.5 miles in 1:14:53, a 7:52. 94 m/m pace.  80 degrees, cloudy, humid.  This was a tale of 2 runs.  The first 4 of the 5 laps I ran, I took my time.  Ran the 4 laps in a combined 1:00:38, a 7:58 pace.  I saw that, and after 4 laps of saying to myself that my time doesn’t matter, it suddenly did.  Ran that last lap at a 7:30 pace.  I like the fact that I can add that kind of speed, get almost 30 seconds per faster after going for over seven and a half miles.  Nice.                   

Fri., Aug 20th:  Ran 4.74 miles in 35:02.34, a 7:23.53 pace.  82 degrees, sunny, breezy.  Short, quick run away from home.  I’m in Brockton Massachusetts, spending a few days with my in-laws with my wife, and mapped out a short run.  I slept in, and my ankle hamstrings felt the best they’ve felt in months, and both contributed to a very fast run.  Maybe the same tomorrow, maybe I’ll run the 2.37 mile out and back twice, we’ll see.  Good run.                 

Sat., Aug 21st: Ran 5.64 miles in 43:04.66, a 7:38.27 pace.  74 degrees, sunny, nice. I was slower out of the gate today, right hamstring was just a little sore, I didn’t decide on slowing down though, my body did.  It was never a conscious thought, just went a little slower today.  Nice day for a run, 70′s and low humidity really is nice running weather. Had fun out there.   Travelling tomorrow, no run til Monday.                

Mon., Aug 23rd: Ran 7.6 miles in 57:44.71, a 7:35.88 m/m pace.  69 degrees, windy, occasional rain/drizzle.  I felt fast today, and pushed as hard as possible for as much of this run as possible.  There were times I was on autopilot, not thinking about the run at all.  There were other times when I opened up as fast as possible.  No pain made this fairly easy, as aside from slight persistent soreness in my ankle, I felt really good today.  It had me thinking go as far as I can tomorrow, if I can do 10 laps(19 miles), go 10 laps.  We’ll see how I’m doing tomorrow before I go full on crazy like that though.              

Tues., Aug 24th:  Ran 15.2 miles in 2:04:52, an 8:12.89 m/m pace.  68 degrees, windy, occasional rain/drizzle. Longest run of the year so far, and second longest ever for me.   I did want to go faster than I did today, and though I was slow most of the run, I did actually run my fastest pace of any lap on my last lap, an 8:02.10 m/m pace.  Nice.  Hard effort out there, just going this distance was difficult, but pushing at the end, having the extra energy to have some speed for a final push after all that distance at the end, really felt great.  Good run.             

Wed., Aug 25th:  Ran 7.6 miles in 57:16.28, a 7:32.14 m/m pace.  66 degrees, cloudy, breezy, occasional drizzle.  Some surprising speed after yesterday’s long run, honestly didn’t think I had it in me.  I wasn’t sure yesterday I was going to run, and wasn’t sure today I was going to even go 4 laps in the park.  It really felt good to be able to put in this kind of effort after the killer run I ran yesterday. Right ankle feels better, and the hamstrings seem OK.  Nice.           

Thur., Aug 26th:  Ran 5.7 miles in 41:44.30, a 7:19.35 m/m pace.  80 degrees, sunny, warm.  Fast, surprisingly fast.  I haven’t been this fast out on the paths in a few years, methinks.  I know it’s the fastest I’ve run I’ve done all year that isn’t a race.  I was chugging along fairly quick, early, and I thought I was moving along too quick, so I slowed down, or so I thought. I actually sped up.  1st lap in 14:16 (7:30 pace), second lap done in 28:04, making the second lap a 13:48(7:15.78).  Last lap I just tried to keep myself moving as fast as possible, and ran a 13:40(7:11.57) Good run.           

Fri., Aug 27th:  Ran 7.6 miles in 59:02.25, a 7:46.08 m/m pace.  74 degrees, sunny, nice.  Took the foot off of the gas on this one, just wanted to go without busting it, after zooming the last two days.  There were a lot of people out on the paths today, not surprising, it being a sunny august Friday afternoon.  Had to dodge a bunch of little kids on bikes with training wheels.  No big deal, they had fun learning to ride their bikes, I had fun running, all is well out on the paths.   Toes are sore.         

Sat., Aug 28th:  Ran 6.06 miles in 45:47.86, a 7:33.44 m/m pace.  70 degrees, sunny, breezy.  This was faster than expected, and easier than I thought It would be.  3 up and downs on the Royal Oak/ Rice/ Slosson/ Martling hill run.  It was effortless today, I don’t know that I’ve ever run an easier feeling run than today’s run.  No knee pain, no ankle soreness, toes seem better, not 100% but better than yesterday.  Good run.       

Sun., Aug 29th:  Ran 5.7 miles in 43:03.95, a 7:33.32 m/m pace.  90 degrees, sunny.  I opened up my stride from moment one and tried to keep myself moving fast for as long as I could.  Not 100% mind you, but a difficult pace to keep up for the distance.  Today’s run was more difficult than yesterday’s run, mainly due to temperature difference.  Right ankle is close to 100%, but it’s still a bit sore, Right hamstring was a little sore, but nothing I couldn’t manage.      

Mon., Aug 30th:  Ran 7.6 miles in 59:33.52, a 7:50.20 m/m pace.  91 degrees, sunny.  I took it easy early, and never really opened it up out there.  I did push as hard as I was able for the parts of the last lap, but between a sore right ankle and right hamstring and hot weather, I was just not as fast as I have been the last 2 runs.  Calves are like rocks, sore all over, think I need to soak in some ice cold water later, that usually does the trick.     

Tues., Aug 31st:  Ran 7.6 miles in 59:18.49, a 7:48.22 m/m pace.  96 degrees, sunny.  I was gonna go 9.5 miles today, but the weather and soreness shortened things up a bit.  Hotter than I was expecting it to be out there, started out thinking I could make it easy, before the end of lap one I was telling myself to “just go as long as you can, if you can only go 3.8 (2 laps) that’s fine”.  Managed four laps in this, and I was faster than yesterday to boot.  Nice!   

  This month:   179.02 miles.  Longest run: 15.2 miles (August 24th), shortest run 4.74 miles (August 20th) 24 runs in 31 days during the month. Average run distance for the month: 7.459 miles

   Year to date:  960.72 miles  Longest so far 15.2 miles (August 24th), Shortest 2.6 miles (March 12th). 153 runs in 243 days so far this year.  Average run distance:  6.279 miles 

   I ran a great many miles this month, 179 has to be up there with the most miles I put up for any month since I began running 8 years ago.  I seriously busted my ass on the longest run so far this year, and one of the longest runs I’ve ever done at 15.2 miles, during the late August cool down.  I pushed hard during 7 of the 24 days this month when it was 90 degrees or over.  I pushed for distance this month, proved by the fact that I only once ran less than 5 miles, and ran more than 7 miles 14 times.  This was a spectacular running month.