Running Wild

Tonight after work I ran on the trails in the park at 3M in Decatur.  We have a 5k course and a 2 mile course where we hold a high school cross country meet each year, and I ran both courses.  The park is on the banks of the Tennesse river and has a lots of hills.  I listened to a podcast that covered a range of topics from the new X-prize to put a privately funded rover on the moon, to scientists who have genetically engineered mice to have neurons that each fluoresce in different colors (100 million different colors), to talking with the author of a book that encourages girls to excel in math.

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s)	0:45:15	8:11 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	0:43:27	7:52 pace
Distance (mi )	5.52
Moving Speed (mph)	7.6 avg.	10.9 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+1,372 / -1,355
Temperature (°F)	39.2°F avg.	39.2°F high
Wind Speed ( mph)	NW   3.5 avg.	NW   3.5 max.

Today was a nice day outside so I did a trail run at Hurricane Creek park in Cullman, which is south of Decatur.  It's a steep, wooded area with lots of single track trail.  The pace is slow because it's very steep and rocky with lots of leaves on the trail.  The park is a beautiful place that few people in the area know about.  At one point the trail goes behind a large portion of the cliff face that has cleaved off for about 40 yards, which is called the Twilight Tunnel.

Summary Data Total Time (h:m:s) 1:17:43 13:46 pace Moving Time (h:m:s) 1:07:42 12:00 pace Distance (mi ) 5.64 Moving Speed (mph) 5.0 avg. 13.4 max. Elevation Gain (ft) +2,804 / -2,811   Temperature (°F) 57.2°F avg. 57.2°F high Wind Speed ( mph) SSW   8.0 avg. SSW   9.2 max.

No running as it rained from dawn to dusk today.  I'm up for running in the rain in the summertime, but in February a solid day of rain is a good day to stay inside.

I did the 5K and 2 mile courses in the park at 3M after work today.  My pace was quite a bit slower than the last time I ran this course, I think due to the weight lifting squats that I did last night.  It makes my hamstrings feel spent for a couple of days afterwards.  I listened to podcasts about cellulosic ethanol production to address energy needs in the future and a discussion about the issues surrounding big pharma sponsorship of university research and drug trials and the conflicts of interest that arise.

It was unseasonably warm today, which was nice.

Summary Data Total Time (h:m:s) 0:51:14 9:15 pace Moving Time (h:m:s) 0:46:16 8:21 pace Distance (mi ) 5.54 Moving Speed (mph) 7.2 avg. 12.2 max. Elevation Gain (ft) +610 / -614   Temperature (°F) 66.2°F avg. 68°F high Wind Speed ( mph) SSE   9.2 avg. SSE   12.6 max.

Couldn't run today due to the demands of work.  : (   ,but I did lift in the evening.

Tonight I ran the 5k course followed by the 2 mile course at the 3M park.  My pace was almost 40 seconds/mile faster than when I ran it 2 days ago.  It was in the mid 60s at lunchtime, but down to the low 40s and very windy by the time I ran after work.

I listened to a Science Friday podcast about the global helium shortage and learned that the largest helium usage is for cooling superconducting magnets in medical MRI machines.  I also listened to an interview with Paul Davies, who wrote the book Cosmic Jackpot , http://www.amazon.com/Cosmic-Jackpot-Universe-Just-Right/dp/0618592261,  which attempts to wade into the morass of of why the universe's fundamental constants seem to be structured in such a way as to support life and mind.

Summary Data Total Time (h:m:s) 0:42:43 7:44 pace Moving Time (h:m:s) 0:42:44 7:44 pace Distance (mi ) 5.52 Moving Speed (mph) 7.7 avg. 10.8 max. Elevation Gain (ft) +606 / -607   Temperature (°F) 42.8°F avg. 42.8°F high Wind Speed ( mph) W   19.5 avg. W   19.5 max.   At two places (at about .5 miles and again at about 3.5 miles) in the elevation chart below you can see the sequence of running down blacktop road in the park, running up the fenceline, then running down the powerline, and then running up the hill again on a wooded path. Profile Loading...

Really a pretty nice day today.  Sunny, and the temperature wasn't bad for February.  Ran the 3M 5k and 2 mile course again as it's pretty much what I can get in after work and still have daylight.  Today I eased up a bit and ran a bit slower than yesterday, but I think I enjoyed it more.   I listened to a podcast about oncogenes, the genes involved in causing cells to metastasize and become cancerous, and inhibitory genes that normally prevent it.  That was followed by a segment about how American students measure up against the rest of the world in math and science.

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s)	0:45:00	8:07 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	0:44:30	8:02 pace
Distance (mi )	5.54
Moving Speed (mph)	7.5 avg.	11.0 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+605 / -608
Temperature (°F)	46.4°F avg.	50°F high
Wind Speed ( mph)	SSE   2.3 avg.	SSE   4.6 max.

Today I ran at Point Mallard for a 6 mile run at a 7:21 pace, which was 18 seconds/mile faster than I ran it a week ago.  It was a nice day to be out, sunny and in the mid 50s.

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s)	0:48:26	8:03 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	0:44:14	7:21 pace
Distance (mi )	6.01
Moving Speed (mph)	8.2 avg.	12.0 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+104 / -105
Temperature (°F)	55.4°F avg.	55.4°F high
Wind Speed ( mph)	S   6.9 avg.	S   6.9 max.

Did 6 miles at Point Mallard again today.  Ran at a 7:17 pace on average, with the first 1/2 at a 7:11 pace and the second 1/2 at a 7:24 pace.  Today was a really nice day with temperatures in the upper 50s and sunny.  I'd like to get my 10k training runs to be a sub 7 minute pace on a nice flat course like this, and I think that is going to be a short term objective.

Summary Data Total Time (h:m:s) 0:44:52 7:27 pace Moving Time (h:m:s) 0:43:58 7:17 pace Distance (mi ) 6.02 Moving Speed (mph) 8.2 avg. 12.7 max. Elevation Gain (ft) +104 / -105   Temperature (°F) 57.2°F avg. 57.2°F high Wind Speed ( mph) W   16.1 avg. W   16.1 max.

Today was a beautiful day for a run at Point Mallard.  My legs felt a little tired from a fast run yesterday and weight lifting squats last night, so I thought I would take my dog, Abbie out for a slow easy run.  Abbie was my enthusiastic (insistent) running partner for years, but she's 10 now, and has grown fond of a lazier lifestyle.  She can recognize running clothes and won't get in the car if she thinks it's going to be more activity than she's up for.  I don't know how to convince her that I'm looking for something short and slow today myself, so in the end I let her stay at home.  Since it was just me I ran at what I felt like I could do, rather than the s-l-o-w pace I would have kept if Abs had come along.  My pace was about 30 seconds per mile slower than yesterday.  The first 1/2 at a 7:25 pace and the second 1/2 at a 7:50 pace.

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s)	0:46:40	7:44 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	0:46:40	7:44 pace
Distance (mi )	6.02
Moving Speed (mph)	7.7 avg.	11.5 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+106 / -107
Temperature (°F)	56.3°F avg.	57.2°F high
Wind Speed ( mph)	W   13.8 avg.	W   13.8 max.

I completely felt like I needed a rest day off from running today, but it was simply too nice outside to skip.  I compromised by doing a 5k at an 8:12 pace and a couple of 1/8 mile speed repeats at a 4:48 and 4:36 pace and calling it quits.

Check out this study on the benefits of High Intensity Interval Training, which I would like to incorporate in my training schedule in a more serious way.  Note that the HIIT subjects lost 3X as much fat despite having 1/2 the energy expenditure during exercise as endurance training alone.

http://www.exrx.net/FatLoss/HIITvsET.html

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s)	0:38:26	9:04 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	0:33:43	7:57 pace
Distance (mi )	4.23
Moving Speed (mph)	7.5 avg.	14.7 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+432 / -428
Temperature (°F)	60.8°F avg.	62.6°F high
Wind Speed ( mph)	S   10.3 avg.	S   12.6 max.

Couldn't run today as I had to take my dog to the vet after work for her annual shots.  I was planning on taking her out to the trail after that but it was raining by then.  It's a shame too, because it was relatively warm today.

Hmm, well, no running today either.  It was 26 degrees after work, and they were calling for mid 50s tomorrow, so I decided that this could be a day off running.  I'll lift tonight instead.

Today I did the 5k course in the 3M park, followed by 4 repeats of 1/8 mile intervals with 1/8 mile recovery jogs in between.  The 5k was at an 8:01 pace and the 4 intervals were at 4:49, 4:48, 4:25, and 4:47 pace according to the Forerunner 205, but were 4:56, 5:04, 4:48, and 4:56 pace just based on the time and known distance.  I think I could increase the accuracy of my Forerunner 205 by setting it to a faster data collection rate when I do the sprint intervals.

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s)	0:33:06	8:06 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	0:33:02	8:05 pace
Distance (mi )	4.08
Moving Speed (mph)	7.4 avg.	15.1 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+379 / -375
Temperature (°F)	51.8°F avg.	51.8°F high
Wind Speed ( mph)	S   6.9 avg.	S   6.9 max.

Ran at Point Mallard today with Lori and Abbie.  It was raining in a fine drizzle the entire run but the temperature was not too cold to be running wet.  My pace overall was 7:13, which is a 4 second/mile improvement over the previous run on this course.

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s)	0:43:17	7:13 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	0:43:18	7:13 pace
Distance (mi )	5.99
Moving Speed (mph)	8.3 avg.	13.5 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+107 / -104
Temperature (°F)	54.5°F avg.	55.4°F high
Wind Speed ( mph)	SSE   1.7 avg.	SSE   3.5 max.

Today Lori and I took Abbie to Hurricane Creek park and ran/walked the trails there.  My GPS watch lost satellite lock when we went underground in the twilight tunnel and it didn't reacquire for some time, so it didn't log about a mile additional that I did.  I saw some trail today that I had never seen before, including a very steep wooden catwalk running up the wall of the valley, called the gauntlet, that connects the out and back along the creek with the  racecourse.  It was a very nice temperature for February.

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s)	1:16:03	19:30 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	0:52:15	13:23 pace
Distance (mi )	3.90
Moving Speed (mph)	4.5 avg.	11.3 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+1,471 / -1,484
Temperature (°F)	63.2°F avg.	64.4°F high
Wind Speed ( mph)	ENE   3.1 avg.	ENE   5.8 max.

 Ran 6 miles at Point Mallard while Lori took Abbie on a 3 mile run/walk/swim in the river.  It rained a lot this morning, but by this afternoon it was warm and sunny.  I felt pretty slow today, perhaps due to all the climbing at Hurricane Creek yesterday.

I had the day off work today, and after dropping Lori off at the Huntsville airport I went to Point Mallard on the way home and did a 6 mile run.  It was pretty windy today, and my hamstrings were feeling pretty weak from doing squats last night, but it was sunny and pretty nice for February.

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s)	0:57:25	9:27 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	0:47:12	7:46 pace
Distance (mi )	6.07
Moving Speed (mph)	7.7 avg.	13.0 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+107 / -107
Temperature (°F)	50.9°F avg.	51.8°F high
Wind Speed ( mph)	WSW   14.9 avg.	WSW   17.2 max.

No running today.  Tired.  Kept up last night by my neighbor's baying beagles.  ugh.

Today I ran at the 3M trails on the 5k course.  Easy run today with nice weather.

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s)	0:29:20	8:03 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	0:29:21	8:03 pace
Distance (mi )	3.64
Moving Speed (mph)	7.5 avg.	10.7 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+401 / -404
Temperature (°F)	60.2°F avg.	64.4°F high
Wind Speed ( mph)	NNW   6.9 avg.	NNW   8.1 max.

I ran the 3M 5k course today after work.  My GPS watch lost signal about a mile into it, but I was running at a 7:26 pace for that first portion.

Today I ran some laps at Delano Park in Decatur with 3 other guys, Eric Schotz, http://schotz.fastrunningblog.com/, John Elmore, http://jelmo.fastrunningblog.com/, and Eric C.  They are part of a 4 man relay that have a goal of exceeding 100 miles in the Delano Park 12 hour run in 2 weeks.  We did 6 laps slow and 1 lap fast, with the fast lap being about a 6 minute mile pace.  The slow laps were closer to an 8 minute mile pace.  Not a bad day to be out for February.

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s)	0:54:02	8:02 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	0:51:43	7:41 pace
Distance (mi )	6.72
Moving Speed (mph)	7.8 avg.	14.3 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+136 / -135
Temperature (°F)	51.8°F avg.	51.8°F high
Wind Speed ( mph)	WNW   6.9 avg.	WNW   6.9 max.

Tonight I ran the 3M 5k course after work.  It was a nice day for February and I listened to a podcast about scientists that have sequenced woolly mammoth DNA using fragments isolated from permafrost preserved wooly mammoth hair from 10 different mammoths.  Not the cells in the hair folicles, but trace amounts of both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA that is trapped in the hair protein matrix.  The advantage of this source is that the keratin encapsulates the DNA and the hair can be carefully cleaned and this DNA extracted in a form that is free of bacterial DNA contamination, which is present in bone and tissue sources.  The latest DNA sequencing machines can sequence 100 million base pairs per day, so getting the entire sequence is a manageable task.  The information will be used to study how related mammoths and mastadons are to each other and to current elephants.  No woolly mammoth ranches in the works.

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s)	0:30:09	8:24 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	0:30:05	8:23 pace
Distance (mi )	3.59
Moving Speed (mph)	7.2 avg.	15.3 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+393 / -394
Temperature (°F)	55.4°F avg.	55.4°F high
Wind Speed ( mph)	SE   4.6 avg.	SE   4.6 max.