Go, you chicken fat, go away!

Abby's birthday!  Too bad mommy wasn't even in the country for it.  Instead she was in the murder capital of the world.  Why is it that when my wife goes somewhere, I hear on the news that Americans should avoid that place at all costs?  She went to go get my sister from Juarez Mexico.  Thank goodness she didn't get murdered.  Wait a minute.  Maybe she's the one killing everyone.  Hence, the answer to my question.

AM Workout

Time - 22:11 (avg. pace 7:24)

Splits - 7:30, 6:34, 8:07

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Tonight was another open mile put on by the Arizona Road Racers.  I love free races.  They started the first mile at 6:30pm and another one ten minutes after the last person finishes. 

The last place finisher was a nice guy.  I met him before the race.  He' almost 69.  Back in his day he could run a 16 minute 5k.  He told me the guy that sold him his first pair of racing flats was a silver medalist at the 1908 Olympics.  Anyway, now he has a hereditary debilitating disease which has caused him to lose a lot of speed over the last couple of years.  He was shooting for a 10:20, but I think he got a 9:40.

My wife got back in town, but decided to take all my sister's stuff up to Kingman tonight.  So I told her to stop at SCC on her way out of town to watch me.  She got there just before the first race started.  It was nice to have her there because I haven't kissed her in soooo long.

I did a half mile warm up and a couple hundred yards worth of strides.  I stretched out really good because my right leg felt really tight and my knee was hurting.  Then it was time for the race.  There was about 35 people running.  I decided to start out easy and try and pick it up at the end.  It was nice not to have my shorts falling off this time.  When I finished the third lap in 4:52, I was happy that no one had lapped me.  My time was 6:24.  For much of the race I was not running on the inside lane.  My Garmin measured 1.04 miles.  I don't think it's calibrated right because 0.04 miles seems like a lot to be off by even if I wasn't hugging the inside.  By Garmin I ran the mile in 6:13.  Guess I have to go with the official results.

I wasn't sure that I wanted to do the second mile, and I was happy for my uncertainty because that meant I ran hard.  But I decided to not wimp out and went for it.  My next mile was 6:43.  Garmin measured this one as 1.02 miles, and I made a conscious effort to hug the inside better.  My time per Garmin was 6:35.

I was hoping for sub 6:20, but I haven't done a lot of running the last two weeks, and zero speed work.  So, I'm happy with my effort.  Now it's time to start training for my upcoming 10k trail race.

I went on a nice little jog with Ginger this morning. 

Time - 31:27 (avg. pace 8:44)

Splits - 8:31, 8:49, 8:48, 5:19 for 0.60 (8:52 pace)

Last night I took my wife out on a date.  There's this quaint little steak house down the street from us, but it was jammed packed.  There was a band playing there or something.  So we kept driving and found a mexican restaurant called Mexican Restaurant.  We ate there, and it was good.  Not great.  Authentic.  Maybe a little too authentic.  Then we get a text from my sister that my two youngest are throwing up.  So we were up late with them.  This morning I was supposed to run with Bruce RUN2DAY.  I thought about calling and canceling especially when I woke up with a bad case of Don Pedro's indigestion.  But I went anyway.  RUN2DAY said he was aching in every muscle of his body because he spent all yesterday laying pavers in his backyard.  Nonetheless we ran a 7:44 pace.  We talked about the crazy results that just came out for Ragnar.  He felt like his team should have won their division, so their captain is going to protest.  Anyway, he decided not to run the LA marathon today.  He's going to concentrate on the San Diego one.  I wish him well.

Time - 42:58 (avg. pace 7:44)

Splits - 7:43, 7:44, 7:40, 7:43, 7:52, 4:17 for 0.56 (7:39 pace)