Motivated to Succeed

After observing all morning, hopped on the wind trainer for a quick pre-lunch spin. Man it's a lot harder than riding a real bike outside. No rest breaks. Hopefully this makes me stronger!

Hard ride after work. Not feeling the best, but wanted to get something accomplished before doing hw tonight. Saturday class tomorrow morning. At least the good part is it's the last day! Really excited for that, and the fact that I can look at some really great FRB posts tomorrow night from my buddies running SGM !!!! Kick butt ladies and gents! I have high hopes for you all! You're my heroes! (and heroines!)!!

8:00 AM - Sunny, blue skies, and temperature of low 40s. Perfect fall weather in the Northeast! Went jogging with Jonn. It's weird. I felt fine the first half, and then towards the end of the run I started to get a little knot in my right calf muscle again. No achilles pain, but the same stupid tightening of the calf muscle which still is tight now like an hour after the run. Not so much painful as it is uncomfortable. I did .5 mile warm up, then stretched, as well as .5 mile cool down at the end and stretched. Just really don't know what's up with it. I mean it's a plus that the achilles isn't hurting, but then I have to deal with a lingering soreness in my calf muscle that last week lasted three days. Not too pleasant. (Positive note: I did a .4 or .5 mile pickup towards the end of the run; steadily increasing pace. Got down to 6:28 pace with no pain!!)

• Mile 1 - 9:45
• Mile 2 - 9:28
• Mile 3 - 9:03
• Mile 4 - 9:23
• Mile 5 - 8:43
• Mile 6 - 8:28
• last .5 - 4:49

Total Time: 59:43 Total Distance: 6.5 miles Average Pace: 9:11

12:00 PM - After some morning errands in a cold, damp 40 degree drizzle, I went to the garage and hopped on the wind trainer. Felt good. Main goal was to try and work out the remaining soreness from the calf muscle. At least it's mainly gone, whereas last week's pain lingered until Tuesday or Wednesday. Felt good on the trainer. Ended up reading a bit of Dean Karnaze's 50/50  book that came out in August. Inspiring. I just hope to finish one marathon again! :) Staying positive is definitely the way to go. Feeling empowered and feeling like I can do this. Hopefully by spring I'll be pain free even on long runs!

Total Time: 1:05:00 Total Distance: 20 miles Average Speed: 18.4 mph*

*Note: I'm just going based on effort as far as the distance goes to try and put a gauge on how much I'm logging. I think that 65 mins per 20 miles is adequate because it is essentially as if I were biking on a flat road. Hopefully no one will mind. I know minutes are more important and those are what I will primarily use for objectives, but it is just nice to see how many miles you log as far as fitness is concerned.

12:00 PM - Gorgeous today. Exactly what I picture a fall day in New England to be. Blue skies, sunny, crisp, cool air. Temp right around 53 or 54. Couldn't have asked for better weather. I stretched and eased into a jog and felt good for most of the time. A little bit of tightening up the last mile of the run. Overall I was pleased though. Hope everyone's day was as nice as mine.

• Mile 1: 9:02
• Mile 2: 9:00
• Mile 3: 8:51
• last .75: 6:56 (9:15 pace)

Total Time: 33:50 Total Distance: 3.75 mi Average Pace: 9:01

8:30 AM - Gorgeous day like yesterday. Didn't want to push it so opted for the wind trainer instead of a jog. Did the same routine as Monday and did 65 minutes on the wind trainer. I like that length of ride. Just enough to get a good cardio in. Hopefully I can work up to a longer ride once a week or once every 10 days during the winter, but for now I'll stick to the hour range. Today is going to be a great day. Sunny, low 50s. Makes me want to go apple picking!

Total Time: 1:05:00 Total Distance: 20 miles Average Speed: 18.4 mph

5:00 AM - So today's run was a surreal experience. Jonn had a field trip for school to Salem, Massachusetts, so he woke me up at 4:40 this morning for me to take him to the school. I decided that "Hey if I'm going to be headed out that way, why not stop at the track and get a jog in?". Man what an awesome time! It was mid 50s so not chilly, but it was humid and there was a thick fog everywhere. It was so cool though lacing up and heading out onto the track. I bet all the people driving past were thinking either 1. I was a sketchmo stalker guy 2. a drug dealer, or 3. one crazy runner that just reaffirmed the reasons why they don't run. Man it feels good to be a runner again! Made sure to go nice and easy. Did 1 mile, stretched, then another 3 miles, stretched, and 1 mile cool down. No tightness in the calf today which was good and I feel a lot better than the other days so far. Maybe just have to keep starting slow :)

• Mile 1: 10:18
• Mile 2: 10:11
• Mile 3: 9:55
• Mile 4: 10:07
• Mile 5: 9:45

Total Time: 50:30 Total Distance: 5.02 mi Average Pace: 10:03

6:20 PM - Got out of work and zipped home, changed and was going to jog at the track, but got there and found there was a varsity soccer game going on. Too many people for me thanks! Parked my car on the backroads and stretched and ended up doing 2.5 out and back loops on the road. Was funny because towards the end I was .25 miles from my car or so, and I could see a truck stop by my car. I saw someone cross the headlights and then probably inspect my car for teen hooligans macking it in the front seat. Well he was probably surprised because there were no hooligans, and the most excitement in my backseat of my car right now is a 60's lamp and a bin full of tupperware and odds 'n ends that I am taking to Emma's for a tag sale. Oops! Anyways, the run was awesome. No pain in the calf or hamstring. I think the slow 1 mile warmup helps loosen up my legs so that the stretching is beneficial. Cool thing too was in the twilight seeing my shadow made from the moon, not the sun, and also "v" shaped formations of Canada geese coming in to land for the night. Cool! I love running in the fall, especially when I'm out on the backroads or just out when no one else is around :). Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend! I almost made my short term goal of 20 miles of jogging in a week. I think I am going to stick to 4 days of jogging a week and use xtraining on the bike in between. Also I think I will take Saturdays off because tomorrow I am on my feet at work again all day 8am to 5pm. And could really use the day off from jogging. Overall this has been a spectacular week. I hope this continues!

• Mile 1: 10:17
• Mile 2: 10:27
• Mile 3: 10:24
• Mile 4: 10:03

Total Time: 41:49 Total Distance: 4.06 mi Average Pace: 10:17

11:00 AM - Sunny and temp around 60. I went to the track with Emmy who came up last night for the day :). We got there and my dad was already on the track doing his normal walking routine :) Then my mom showed up afterwards. After our jog we went up to the elementary school where Jonn, Harry, Su and her boyfriend Rocco were playing tennis. A fun morning! No pain in my achilles. Stretched after mile 1, and then after we were done with the run. Cooled down after the run with .5 miles of walking with Mom and Emmy. (Note: for the jog, went running through the nature trails with Emmy after 2 miles on the track. So mile 3 lost signal. Was right around 9:30 pace though.)

• Mile 1 - 9:16
• Mile 2 - 9:07
• Mile 3 - 10:36 (9:30)
• Mile 4 - 9:30
• Mile 5  - 8:27
• last .25 - 2:05 (8:20 pace)

Total Time: 47:55 Total Distance. 5.25 mi Average Pace: 9:07

3:40 PM - Partly cloudy. Temps in the mid 60s. Ran at the Taconic High School track today in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Came to visit Emmy after work early this morning at about 1am and she started her new job last week so she had work today from 4pm to 9pm. After she left for work I decided to head over to her old high school to jog at the track. It was a great run and I felt awesome. Stretched before the run, and then after I finished on the track, before the .4 mile cool down to the car.

Only scary part. About at mile 3, a guy comes screeching into the turnoff by the parking lot in a blue sports car. Gets out and I see he is wearing a "do-rag" and wearing jeans that are too baggy and about 4 sizes too big for him. His what I gathered to be girlfriend was walking across the football field and he started yelling and using really inappropriate language making a huge scene about how she didn't have his permission to be here. It was wrong on so many levels, but I knew me even looking wrongly in his direction could start down a path I did not really care to. Well he ended up throwing a 50-gallon metal garbage can into a portapotty, which then richocheted off it and hit his own car, after which he started slamming both of his hands on the hood of it. It was not a pretty picture, and I felt bad for these three older ladies that had been walking the track. They were really taken aback by it, as I think we all were. The girl ended up going home with him. I just hope she's okay!

Didn't have my Garmin :(. So I ran in a lane I already knew the splits for. Did 22 laps in Lane #6 (11 laps = 3 miles). My splits for the run:

• Miles 1, 2, 3 -  26:18 (8:46 / mi)
• Miles 4,5, 6 - 25:55 (8:33/ mi)
• Cooldown .4 mi - 3:50 (9:35 pace)

*Note: I realized that I went a little faster than I had thought I was going to go going into the run. But between 1. not having my Garmin and 2. the incident with the thrown garbage can and 3. listening to an iPod for the first time in a long time on a jog, I ended up going a little fast. But this perhaps was a good thing. I had ZERO Pain and I stretched nicely after the track run before jogging back to the car. Tomorrow will be a day off. Hopefully I will go for a short hike though with Emmy! Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday (even though I have my own convictions against celebrating someone like Columbus; this holiday is wrong on so many levels)

Total Time: 56:03 Total Distance: 6.4 mi Average Pace: 8:45*

* - I will be taking it easy the rest of the week as well. Today was a very good workout. Now going to tack on easy 9-10 minute paced miles to reach my short term goal of a 20 mile week!

12:00 PM - Partly sunny, though it switched to cloudy skies later in the day. Windy. Temps in the mid to upper 60s. Really nice October day! Before I had to go to school and before Emmy headed off to work we decided to go and climb Monument Mountain again. It was gorgeous up there, and the Berkshires are probably about 80% peak foliage. Brought along my camera but the stupid thing wouldnt work! Maybe next time I should bring my standard SLR and forget going digital! Hopefully we can climb it another time before the end of the season. You get a good workout on the way up because it is so steep, and on the way down it's more gradual, but we hike faster to keep the heart rate up. Total was 3 miles in about an hour and 10 minutes with a break at the top to take in the views. I really love Berkshire County!  No real pain in the achilles today, just some soreness in the quads/hams. Hopefully I can go for a nice 10:00+ pace tomorrow for 3 or so. Happy Tuesday everyone!

7:50 AM - Foggy and temp was 44 degrees. Perfect fall weather if I do say so myself! Got to the track and was doing my warmup mile. Eerie yet cool sight: the fog was billowing out of the trees lining the track and hovering about 7-8 feet above the track. Completely clear below it. (No I checked it wasn't smoke haha). So I finished my warmup mile and right then the high school gym class came down to the track and I guess they were doing their first of two mile runs for the year (overachievers here in NYS I know!). So I got off the track since I didn't want to interfere and grabbed my car keys and decided to go for a jog down one of the backroads from the track. Felt amazing. Wanted to make sure I ran consistent and not too fast. Had to check my watch a few times because my legs were feeling so good. I didn't want to push it too fast with my other runs earlier this week, you know? So I stretched at mile 1 and then again after my run. No soreness really except a little from yesterday's hike. I really should invest in a pair of hiking books instead of wearing trainers up and down mountains! Oh well. Splits were:

• Mile 1 - 9:53
• Mile 2 - 9:34
• Mile 3 - 9:35
• Mile 4 - 9:24
• .17 - 1:35 (9:19)

Total Time: 40:01 Total Distance: 4.17 mi Average Pace: 9:35

I've decided to go with Gordon Bloch's schedule for building up mileage and ultimately training for a marathon. I like her approach which emphasizes total minutes on your feet rather than mileage based or pace-based plans. I think this fits my mentality better. Run for fun. Run for time. The distance will come. The plan I am looking at right now will build me up to 5 hours a week of running (5 days of running though I might modify it to fit my 4 day schedule I am doing now). Then, for the marathon I believe there are 3x 3-hour plus runs. That should be fine. Because even if I average 10 minute miles for those, it would give me at least 18 miles each run. That's at least 3 miles more than I ran before either of my other marathons :). I am excited, yet I know it is a long way off. I need to take it nice and slowly to build up without injury. It's nice to have a goal however. Hope everyone else has a great Wednesday. Now time to go do mouns of homework!

TODAY WASN'T JUST WONDERFUL. WASN'T JUST PERFECT. IT WAS THE BEST DAY OF MY ENTIRE LIFE!!!!!  (Why? Because I asked my BEST FRIEND TO MARRY ME AND SHE SAID "YES"!!!)

10:30 AM - It was rainy at my house this morning when I woke up to drive to Emma's. I actually drove through the storm and came out ahead of it when I got to Pittsfield. Now the plan was to stop at the jeweler's because I got the call Wed. night that a certain thing was ready for me so I went directly there and had planned on meeting Emma's mom for coffee to run things by her. It's difficult to get Mary Rose alone to talk to since Emma lives with her, and I had called her on Tuesday night and left a message that was vague enough so that Emma would have no idea what it was about if she played it in front of her. It was something like "Hey.. uh.. Mary Rose.. it's Benn... I was uh.. calling to ask if maybe tomorrow I can meet with you to run something by you. I have to ask you a question about Emma.. but I want to do it in person because it's important.." Well funny thing is I get to Emma's house at 10:31 because I never got a phone call from Emma's mom and then I walk in and find out that she just hopped in her car without telling anyone and went down the road. So of course I already have a lot on my mind and I'm thinking.. oh crap! She's going to meet me and never told me! So I try to think of an excuse like "oh no! I left my credit card in the machine at the gas station at the bottom of the road" (this is the one by the coffee shop). Then I looked like a bozo because right when I was supposed to go out, Mary Rose came walking in.

So one crisis averted, I planned on going hiking with Emma at our favorite mountain (Monument Mountain) and I had intentionally got ahead of all my homework for the last week or two so that I could plan something like this when I finally got the call from Charland Jewelers. We left the house at 11:30 and made sure to bring our rain gear and when we got to the parking lot we were 1 of 2 cars. It was a really rainy, nasty day and I was a little bummed because earlier this week there had been such perfect weather.. but I knew that this was a better day than the earlier trip. Especially since I knew what was to come.

We started off hiking the trail backwards for a change of pace since this was the third or fourth time in a month we've hiked Monument. Emma was cruising ahead and she seemed concerned since I was lagging behind so much. But I swear I was Frodo carrying the "precious" because all that I could concentrate on was "What am I going to say? How am I going to say it? How can I make sure I don't mess up? Will she say yes?"

After about a half hour of hiking we got to the lookout. By this time we were both soaked through to the bone... but it was okay. I had a towel and camera in my backpack. So we get to the lookout and it was beautiful because though we didn't have the fifty-plus mile view afforded us earlier in the week, we both simultaneously commented on the fact that it was like we were in a painting.. and that if you stepped off the edge of the cliff you'd just step into nothingness.. the world was our canvas. It was here I knew it was the right time.

I put my backpack down and gave Emmy a hug. She hugged me back commenting how nice it was to be up here on a hike with me. It was funny because I looked into her eyes and started saying how I felt. How she meant the world to me. And how she made each day wonderful, even a crappy rainy day like today. I told her that I thanked God each and every day I woke up and she was still with me. That she was my best friend.  It was here that I asked, "And I was wondering, Emmy if you would do me the honor and be my best friend forever." I got down on one knee and was fumbling in my pocket (anything but gracefully because I had the ring box in a cardboard box so it didn't get wet in the rain). She looked down at me and I knew that she had had no idea what was happening. This was what I wanted. To take her completely by surprise. She looked down at me as I opened the box and my heart was racing even faster. I had almost been hyperventilating as I was getting ready to ''pop the question''. I bet I was sweating bullets, and my hands were clammy. I felt like my heart was in my throat it was beating so fast. I looked up at her and she looked down and started crying (I know that these were tears of joy but man did it make me feel bad because I don't like seeing Emmy cry;). Then she stopped and did her signature handwaving at her eyes and wiped a couple of tears away and did a laugh and said "OF COURSE! Yes! YES!" I stood up and hugged her and didn't want to let go. It was the best feeling in the world because that huge weight I had holding me down the whole way up the mountain had been lifted and I felt like I was on (or in) cloud 9!

We hugged and hugged and laughed and cried together and it was great because there was no one else on the mountain. It was just us two and the clouds. It was such an amazing experience :). I don't know how we got down the mountain because we were both probably only thinking about other things.. Me about how I was now the luckiest guy in the world, Emma about how she had to call everyone now because she was officially ENGAGED!

I will write more later. There are other parts of the story to tell. But I just had to do a quick entry about my GREAT NEWS!! Today is absolutely without a doubt the best day of my life!!!

Right after she said yes!

Our first kiss as an ENGAGED COUPLE!!!

Our hands on a rock at the spot where I popped the question. :)

4:00 PM - Sunny, Temp around 50 degrees. Gorgeous! Emmy and I went walking along the Ashwilticook Trail. It was really windy though so we only walked for 40 minutes, but we walked fast to get our cardio up and stay warm :). It was so much fun. And we both still cannot stop smiling! We went out for lunch today with Emmy's sister Liana to an Indian Restaurant. Yum! Boo to work tomorrow :( hehe. Thank you everyone for your kind words!

4:20 PM - Sunny, blue skies and temp about 50. I went to the track to go for a run and did 1 mile and stretched and then a couple miles on the track, went out onto the road and then finished with a loop on the nature trail and a cool down mile on the track. Felt really great today :). No pain in my achilles, which is good, but rest of week will be easy miles as today I pushed the pace. Ended up with all negative splits! (except for the cooldown mile that is). Hit fastest pace run since last November! (5:48 a mile - sustained for :40 or so!)

• Mile 1: 9:26
• Mile 2: 9:19
• Mile 3: 9:04
• Mile 4: 8:57
• Mile 5: 8:11
• Mile 6: 8:07
• Mile 7: 9:22

Also, after work today, my family met me and we went to one of the hotels in Saratoga where they had a special exhibit of Jerry Garcia artwork! It was free to the public and we had a fun time. I never realized that Jerry could draw in so many different styles! I was expecting the John Lennon style drawings but he was actually really diversely talented! Today was a good day!

Total Time: 1:02:39 Total Distance: 7.02 mi Average Pace: 8:55

7:00 PM - Dark, Cold. Temp about 48 degrees. Couldn't run this morning or afternoon because the local high school was using the track to do their mile run for gym class. Then this afternoon there was a girls soccer game going on at the field on the inside of the track. So I went jogging after I dropped Jonn off for his Boy Scout meeting at the elementary school. Felt pretty good. Stretched after 1 mile and then after the end of the run. Goal was for 40:00 minutes. A little soreness, but no pain. Made sure to stretch the calf muscle well.

• Mile 1: 9:42
• Mile 2: 9:49
• Mile 3: 9:43
• Mile 4: 9:31
• .15: 1:21 (9:13)

Total Time: 40:08 Total Distance: 4.15 mi Average Pace: 9:40

8:00 AM - Cloudy, rain and temperature of 43 degrees. Perfect! (for me anyways :D). I got my pair of running pants from last winter out only to find they were a full inch or two short! I guess I really AM still growing! Haha! I suited up and drove to the track, parked my car and decided to jog on the backroads. Did about 1.2 mile warmup to the next side road and stretched, and then again after my run for another ten or fifteen minutes. Felt good during the run. A little soreness in my left knee, not a pain but more of a tired feeling. I don't know what it was, but perhaps because I went in knowing my goal was 38:00, or maybe since there is no run plan for tomorrow, but I went faster than I thought I would go. I had originally planned on shooting for 9:30s, but I didn't even get my splits because I missed the beeps on my GARMIN. Negative splits again! Thursdays run will most certainly be in the 9:30 to 10:00 range.

• Mile 1: 8:58
• Mile 2: 8:58
• Mile 3: 8:43
• Mile 4: 8:30
• .35 : 2:49 (8:01)

Total Time: 38:01 Total Distance: 4.35 mi Average Pace: 8:44

8:00 AM - Cloudy temps slightly warmer than yesterday, around 45 degrees. Went to the track and stretched and then headed out on the back roads down Parkis Mills Rd to Crane Rd and back. I felt really good again, and I honestly didn't think I was pushing it. Realized when I uploaded the splits when I got home that I went a tad fast though. Today was a 30:00 run. I thought today was day off but it's tomorrow. I might have to plan to do my "long" run on Saturday since Sunday looks kind of nasty so Friday will probably be day off as well. Don't worry I will take it easy. Don't want to ruin my good fortune! Best of luck in getting out there on a blustery cold October day! Halloween is just around the corner!

• Mile 1: 8:57
• Mile 2: 8:45
• Mile 3: 8:28
• .5: 3:54 (7:49)

Total Time: 30:06 Total Distance: 3.5 mi Average Pace: 8:36

Don't laugh....

No seriously.. haha!

From left to right are my brother Jonny (16), Rocco my sister's boyfriend (21), Su my sister (20), Harry my other brother (14), Me in all my charming glory (22) and Emmy (22). We are posing in my front yard by the driveway behind my dad's project from this summer, a vintage hayrake he bought from the junkyard and painted up all pretty. You can just start to see some of the colors of the trees halfway down my driveway starting to "pop". We do have a nicer more presentable picture, but we all got a laugh out of this one. We truly are "something", eh? haha

1:00 PM - Got all my homework for today done. Been up since like 5am though. Blah. Gorgeous today. Sunny, blue skies. Temp about 45. I'm sorry but I couldn't resist a jog! Felt really great and didn't check splits until towards the end, but I was flying! Good thing I'm not running again until about the same time Saturday - will give me 48 hours recovery :) Man this week is awesome! I think I will meet my short term goal again of 25+ miles of jogging!

• Mile 1: 8:30
• Mile 2: 8:14
• Mile 3: 7:55
• Mile 4: 8:14

Total Time: 33:06 Total Distance: 4.02 mi Average Pace: 8:13

1:20 PM - Rainy, wet, blustery. Temp around 56 or so, but it was really windy. They are predicting gusts up to 55mph! I am in Pittsfield this weekend. I had a workshop in Albany and hen drove over to Emmy's to do some homework while she's at work. I went to the Ashwillticook Trail and went running on the bike path. Soon turned intoa  wet mess. But man was it fun! I felt pretty good. Stretched after 4 miles and then again after 8 before my cool down.

• Mile 1: 8:59
• Mile 2: 8:47
• Mile 3: 8:45
• Mile 4: 8:40
• Mile 5: 8:35
• Mile 6: 8:27
• Mile 7: 8:02
• Mile 8: 7:37
• Mile 9: 9:00

Total Time: 1:17:25 Total Distance: 9.08 mi Average Pace: 8:31

11:00 AM - Overcast and temperature around 45 or 46. I liked the looks of today for a run. Emmy has to work this afternoon, so we decided to go for a jog together :). I love running with her. We always just get to talking and having a great time and end up going farther than she usually goes. She usually runs 3-4 miles on the treadmill, but I love runs like today that show her even though she hates running long distances, she can do it!! I think it's cute how she's a springer (ran the 200m in school), and how (at least in theory) I'm a long distance runner. Great news though! No lingering pain from last week's runs, nor the long run the other day! I love being a runner again! Here were my splits:

• Mile 1: 9:58
• Mile 2: 10:54 (stopped to switch shirts and forgot watch was on)
• Mile 3: 10:28
• Mile 4: 10:31
• Mile 5: 10:18

Total Time: 52:43 Total Distance: 5.08 mi Average Pace: 10:23

7:45 AM - Windy, temperature of 33 degrees. SNOWING! Eek! Drove home from class last night at about 10:00 PM and snow was drifting all over the roads. There must have been a bad bad accident because they had blocked off my usual route home and wouldn't even let traffic through. Went to the track this a.m. to find it covered in about 2 inches of the white stuff. I did a couple miles on the track and then headed out onto the backroads. Windy and cold basically. I felt great though. I like doing the easy mile and stretch before going into the faster running. It definitely helps me a lot. Splits were:

• Mile 1: 9:06
• Mile 2: 8:28
• Mile 3: 8:12
• Mile 4: 8:31
• Mile 5: 8:32
• Mile 6: 7:51

Total Time: 50:56 Total Distance: 6.03 mi Average Pace: 8:27

8:00 AM -  Today was a gorgeous day. Chilly and crisp. Temperature of 35 degrees and sunny. Drove to the track, did a warm up mile and stretched, then out on the backroads and finished with stretching after a couple laps on track and then jogged to the car. Sight of the day: forget scarecrows.. Saw my FIRST SNOWMAN OF THE YEAR. About 3 feet tall with a lot of leaves/sticks mixed in. So not the prettiest thing. More of a Charlie Brown's snowman type deal. Felt good today. Wanted to go longer, but didn't want to overdue it since I had that long run at the end of last week which pushed my mileage higher. Planning on doing an early early run tomorrow morning before work hopefully. Splits:

• Mile 1: 8:42
• Mile 2: 8:51
• Mile 3: 8:46
• Mile 4: 8:49
• Mile 5: 8:17
• .3: 2:35 (8:40 pace)

Total Time: 46:02 Total Distance: 5.3 mi Average Pace: 8:41

6:00 PM - Dusk. Temp in the low 40s and dropping rapidly. Tired form working all day, but I suited up and went to the track. That was an experience. Running in the dark, looking at the emerging stars, seeing my own breath, and hearing hooligans going bonkers in the dark on th ejungle gym. I started making bets on what lap I'd hear one of them bust their neck. They shouldn't have been out there in the dark, but then again, neither should I have been! Glad I got a jog in. Wish I had time to do more though :(. Splits quickened in the second half. Maybe I was scared of a ghost or something? Or just afraid those hooligans would come jump the fence and throw some eggs at me! Haha.

• Mile 1: 9:00
• Mile 2: 8:25
• Mile 3: 7:40
• Mile 4: 7:38

Total Time: 33:38 Total Distance: 4.13 mi Average Pace: 8:08