11/11/11 Run

3.24 miles
32:17 min, 9:57 min/mile

The weather is finally getting down to where I'm comfortable, but it'll keep fluctuating from highs in the 60's to low 80's for at least a few more weeks. Today started in the mid 40's and the first mile was a little slower than normal just to get warmed up. By the time we hit mile 3 we had a pretty decent pace going, but I had a 9 am appointment and didn't have the time to go much farther. I was thinking about an 11 mile day on 11/11/11, but I didn't get done with work in time. I guess it's that time of year where I'll have to run on the side of roads. That's not fun.

Newfangled Whatchamacallits

We currently have an IBM laptop and a Compaq laptop, neither were the most expensive models on the market when each of us bought them, but the newest out of the two of them was purchased a few months before we met in June of 2008. In human years that seems to me pretty new, but in computer years I'm basically scratching on a cave wall, and the other laptop isn't far from that either. The problem is that the old one is slow and too old to upgrade while the new one has so many bugs from the first release of Vista and other issues related to me trying to set it up to our network using online advice from blogs that it'll be expensive to have the Geek Squad fix it. Plus, I don't want nerds laughing at me.

We do however have an iPad that I'm allowed to play on from time to time. This arrangements works out well because I don't want to carry around something that cool and fragile because I know myself too well, but the way technology is going would it be smarter for us to buy the new iPad when it comes out and not look at a computer? The iPad and a desktop computer? The price for desktops is attractive to me, as is the options, hard drive sizes, speed, etc. Of course there are always docking stations that laptops can plug into so that you can use a regular monitor and keyboard at home on your desk. Wait... Apple or IBM? Apples better with graphic design, photo and video editing, etc that she'd probably do if we bought an Apple, but IBM compatibles are cheaper! Too many choices!

And as for the cartoon yes, I was an English major. Business too, but I still don't know spit about computers.

11/8 AM Run

3.17 miles
29:11 min, 9:12 min/mile pace

The first mile went by in 8:40, which is good for the morning start, but the soreness from last nights run came back in the second mile, causing me to slow down and let it work itself out. Part of the problem went away immediately when I tried shifting my weight to my weaker leg, but it still took several minutes for the soreness to go away. The last mile went by in around 9 min, so all in all not a bad start to the day.

Aside from work I think I'll swing by a few parks to see if there are any good areas close by for sprints on grass. I don't want to risk pounding pavement and making things worse during training. God forbid I get swept at a half marathon. Oh the huge manatee... Oops... I mean humanity.

Home on the Range

The time has changed, days are getting shorter and practice is being limited to the weekends and any day I happen to get off early, so here's the plan -

After my last range session a few things are apparent, flexibility and swing plane. They go hand in hand. Since my job now entails driving around and sitting most of the day, flexibility is suffering, but I'm back on my old stretching program in the mornings and evenings to combat this. It's a simple program, only takes a few min and should produce results I can feel shortly. Keeping that up indefinitely shouldn't be a problem. With that should come an easier way to get the club on plane at the top and during the transition.

Buying a net and frame to hit balls into on the back patio, as well as a square pad often seen at driving ranges to stand on and hit balls off of. Between the patio door, a cheap mirror from wal-mart and my smartphones video camera, this winter should actually be pretty productive at a minimal cost. A hundred bucks or so will pay for itself. Every 90 balls into the net is another 9 dollars saved. Of course, that won't eliminate the range because I'll still need to go to check ball flights, distances and my progress, but it'll definitely save us money.

Weekends will definitely have time devoted to finding a course with a decent short game area and spending most of my time there instead of the majority of time pounding drivers to the back of the range.

More goals to come, but my end of the year stats seeing as how with the holidays approaching there won't be much change happening until the beginning of the year -

Distances (average carry, not including roll)

Driver - 285 yds
3 Wood - 260 yds
Hybrid - 225 yds
4 iron - 215 yds
5 iron - 205 yds
6 iron - 192 yds
7 iron - 180 yds
8 iron - 168 yds
9 iron - 155 yds
Pitching Wedge - 140 yds
56* wedge - 120 yards
60* wedge - 100 yards

To be replaced, aside from the bag - 56*, 60* wedges are the top priority, and the 13* 3 wood needs to be replaced by a 15* 3 wood or 16* 4 wood for more carry, distance and accuracy. Adding an 18* hybrid would be a great idea too, but it might produce too large of a gap between it and my 4 iron. Still, my current hybrid is hard to keep down in the wind, which hurts its performance into the wind or in any kind of crosswind.

Lowest score this year - 65 at Pine Oaks in Ocala.
Highest score this year - 77 at Candler Hills the first time I played it.
Longest drive - 335 yards to the front edge of a short par 4. Measured by laser from ball in fairway back to a tree directly beside the tee box.

Current equipment -

Driver - Taylor Made R-11 TP
3 Wood - Titleist (To be Taylor Made)
Hybrid - Titleist (To be Taylor Made)
Irons - Mizuno
Wedges - Cleveland (To be Mizuno or Cleveland)
Putter - Ping
Ball - Taylor Made

Unwritten Rules

2 Miles
17:30 minutes, 8:45 min/mile

Started off fast, too fast, with the intention of running miles 1 and 3 quick while jogging 2 at a 10ish pace, but instpead of hitting an 8 pace I managed to get through the first half mile closer to 7:30 and burned out too quickly. Stupid idea anyway after barely stretching and just getting off work. My first appointment isn't until 11 tomorrow, so getting through a nice 3 or 4 mile run at a manageable pace shouldn't be too bad. My right shin gave me trouble too, which ordinarily I'd be more concerned about, but the mix of going too fast and working on a more efficient stride caused that so I'm not worried.

On a side note, a friend and She Who Must Be Obeyed have both told me that intervals are the way to go to burn calories. I must look into this more. Until I rejoin Gainesville Health and Fitness, an awesome health club here in town, I'll have to find a place to run sprints that isn't too on display. Something about a not too thin guy on a track being seen by traffic frightens me.

Also, recently the author of the Running While Chunky blog held a contest to guess her time at the recent Rock n' Roll Half Marathon in Savannah, GA. My wife and I have been following her entries for a few months now, my wife longer than I, when we read that she was having a giveaway to anyone who could correctly guess her finishing time. Since the website for the race stated a 4 hour time limit and, after reading her blog and noting her average pace, factoring in her consistency in coming up with excuse after excuse to avoid quality runs, etc, I knew there was zero chance for her to meet that limit. For that reason I entered a time of DNF for my guess. The pony tail holder thingy was as good as my wifes!

The day of the race comes, we cross referenced some statements in her blogs to Disney race results and easily found her real name, and we tracked her progress on the race website. After my wife texted me her first time check she was already over pace. A few hours later we checked again and her finishing time showed up as 3:02. I chalked this up to her 19+ min per mile pace for most of the course then the speed of the cars picking up all the stragglers. This wasn't far from the truth. As it turned out, she was shuttled forward at one point when she fell behind. Near the end of the race a shortcut appeared and she either took it or it was suggested that she take it to get to the finish line. Fine. No problem with that. If you're physically unable to complete a half marathon in the stated time limit, a very generous 4 hours, then by all means bow out, quit or make a graceful exit. Whatever you call it, have some consideration for the volunteers who have to wait until everyone finishes, their faces in agony at faking a smile and clapping for the last few smiling, barely sweating yet heavily accessorized walkers meandering their way to the finish. Am I bitter that she chose to not call the race a DNF and give the accessory to someone else who actually thought she could finish? No. Annoyed? Yes. Technically yes, she did cross the finish line, but she did not complete the 13.1 miles. Not even close. This was the contest, though not at all official, but an implied rule that entrants were to guess her time for the entire race, which she did not complete. My contest entry next time will not be nearly so considerate, but it will be detailed.

Running While Chunky - (race name) - 8.7 miles, mainly walking, .4 miles down a side street, 500 feet over a corner lot with a beautiful gazebo, 750 feet through a YMCA to the finish line to pick up a medal for paying the entry fee - 3:24. Hopefully its detailed enough. Some contests obviously require a mix of timing, thinking outside the box and a severe case of denial.

11/3 Run

3.24 miles
32:55 min, 10:10 min/mile

We picked the pace up considerably during the last half of the run, probably because it came at the end of a long, stressful day. Friday's not looking much better, but I have no appointments so I should be able to get a lot done.

11/2 Late Run

5.35 miles
51:27 min, 9:35 min/mile

Pretty uneventful aside from feeling a little exposed while running down sections of Archer Rd. Went from the UF stadium parking lot to University, down past the law school to 34th, down 34th to Archer then all the way down to Gale Lemrand and the stadium. It would have been a lot easier run if I didn't have a day full of driving around and crawling all over three peoples roofs. What a pain. Hopefully I won't be there too much longer, but there's no need to get the hopes up yet.