Pete Tanguay

I stayed up too late last night and felt tired on the run this morning.  Just two of us out ahead of the main group.  Really had to work to keep pace and felt like I was running 8:30+ pace.  I was surprised to see the pace we were running when I connected my Garmin after the run.  I seldom look at my pace during the run any more and really like this way of running.  It is just too disruptive to pace by a clock.  It’s better to pace to what your body will do.  

Going to rest for a couple of days and then run a 10k this weekend.  Shouuld be fun.  Beautiful Spring morning, lots of birds singing, upper 50 degree weather, perfect way to start a Wednesday and finish up the month of March.

Monday runs are my favorite route.  Felt good this morning after having sore knees all day yesterday from my long run.  We kept a good pace through the run and ran up Bainbridge Hill a little quicker than normal.  At the top we decided to cut back to the fitness center rather than going the normal route which cut about 1/2 mile off and so instead of hill, recovery, kick it was hill, kick.  I felt good the entire route and enjoy this group of runners and running at this pace. 

Set out to do a 16 mile route this morning at 5 and started out with the faster group but got dropped at about mile 4.  Goal was to find the pace I could run.  Pickles Gap is a very hilly route with lots of ups and downs, some gravel roads that are a challenge in the dark and a some steep and long hills.  It’s also my favorite training route.  Although I hate to see those 10+ minute miles, that was what my body was comfortable running and I was trying to get into a groove and find a steady pace, not necessarily comfortable but steady.  By mile 12 my thighs just seem kind of locked and not much bounce in my stride at all.  Stopped for water at mile 12 and squatted down and it felt like my knees were ripping apart!  Focused on finding a better pace on the last 4 miles and I did.  You don’t really see it since we were running against a hard wind and then up the back of Salem Hill.  Over all, very happy with my run and had a great time with friends, it was a beautiful, although windy, Spring day. 

So how far did you run today?  9 miles.  Great, how about for the week?  9 miles.

Logged my first run this week on the last day of the week.  Hadn’t planned on taking a week off but it just happenned and it was nice.  Too hard to get up in the dark in New Hampshire to go out and run, especially when it was cold and rainy.  But I had a nice run today, tried to focus on landing on my mid-foot.  I always think that I am and then when I look at race pictures taken I see my toe pointing up as I land on my heel!  Hate that.  About mile 7 I was coming down an incline and picked it up and “felt” how it was to run faster, more hop, more work from the thighs and tried to maintain this as I went up the next hill.  Felt good about my last mile, really trying to push it there. 

Flying back to Arkansas now and will be back running with friends in the morning, doing a 16 mile Pickles Gap route with some good hills.  Hogeye marathon is 2 weeks from today!  Life is so connected – doing my running blog post from the Baltimore airport.

Had to get out and run today, my first day up in New Hampshire.  It was a beautiful day, in the 70’s, first day of Spring and this is one of my favorite places to run.  I slept in and spent the day in Maine driving backroads, ate lunch at this little restaurant at Cape Porpoise and then made my way back down the coast to New Hampshire.  Didn’t head out to run until about 5 o’clock and it is harder to get going when I’ve been doing things and eating all day.  So much wisdom in getting the run out of the way in the morning. 

Headed down to the beach, turned left and up the coast for a few miles and then headed inland to Abenaqui Country Club.  Ran the golf course a little bit and then headed back through the wooded area.  This brought back good memories of running while Ed was running the Berlin marathon.  My goal was a recovery run and yet I spent a little too much time thinking about how fast I was going.  I stopped a few times to enjoy the scenery and once to talk to Lynn on the phone.  All in all, a great recovery run from yesterday and a great run for the first day of Spring, 2010.

Started running at 4am and we realized that at mile 15 it was still dark!  Realized I was just a couple long runs away from being ready for the Hogeye marathon and so I decided to do it and one of the long runs is out of the way.  There were 7 of us to start, ran in two different groups and after the first 12 there were 4 left that ran the second 8.  Beautiful morning to run.  The first 15 miles were very comfortable.  After that there were “things hurting” so it took some focus to keep the pace.  Really want to learn to run harder when it hurts and although I didn’t try to run fast today I worked on sensing what it would take to pick up my pace when my legs, feet, etc. hurt.  The last few miles could have easily been 10 min + miles but I kept moving and kicked a little at the end.  Looking forward to a run in New Hampshire in the morning.  3 weeks out until the marathon and if I can do another 20 next weekend and then some fast runs and taper I think I’m ready!

Teaching tennis on Tue / Thu mornings instead of running has really made a difference on my other days!  Felt real good this morning – got to the fitness center as two groups were leaving and by the time I tied my shoes I had a little catching up to do.  Decided to catch the faster group and they were running 10.  I ran the first 4.5 miles and when they cut off I kept going.  I could have stayed with them but I had already mentally planned to run 8 instead.  I felt real good and was happy to keep pace with them.  I slowed slightly to a recovery with a plan to add on a bit and try and do negative splits at the end.  I worked mostly on sensing where my feet were hitting the ground as I’ve realized that I am running a little on the outside of my foot.  Also worked on long exhale breathing to replenish the oxygen to my muscles.  Had a great last few miles and kick at the end.  Although only by a second/mile it’s nice to do a 9+ mile run at a sub-8 pace.  I didn’t look at my watch a lot, just tried to sense my body and keep it at a good pace.  It’s amazing that when you are able to run faster it is actually easier.  Great start to a Wednesday.

I like the Monday route – good mixture of up and down hills, a great way to start the week.  Ran a nice pace this morning but had to keep picking it back up when I noticed my pace falling back.  Felt good through to the end, except for about mile 3.5 when I started thinking I wanted to skip Country Club Hill.  That’s why we run with friends because friends don’t let friends skip hills.  4 weeks out from Hogeye Marathon.  Planning to do a lot of quick runs in the 6-12 mile range like this one and some long runs where I really focus on the pace in the last 5-6 miles. 

Nice easy run with friends this morning.  Had thought about running longer but this was good enough for today.  Nice Sunday run with 3 others – beautiful Spring morning, great conversation and an easy pace.  Can’t beat that!!!  Felt good the whole way and picked it up a bit at the end.  Have decided to do the Hogeye Marathon on April 11 and so I need to get some long runs in over the next couple of weeks. 

I’ve had a nice week off after the LR Marathon last Sunday, only running once.  We often underestimate the need and the value for rest and recovery.  You have to have something to recover from, for sure, but when you do it is so important to rest.

I had planned to run with someone else this morning at a much slower pace but they decided not to run so all of a sudden it was, “let’s run this fast”.  Woke up a little tired and tight but loosened up and had a fun race.  2 miles is such a short distance.  I feel like I could have done a little better but also feel good about my finish.  Seems like I always feel like I could have done a little better, maybe I need to translate that into race time!

Came in 3rd in my age group, behind 2nd place by 2 seconds.  Ran with my NF Singlet on for Mavia again.  I’ll run all of my races with this on – it’s a nice constant reminder that we hope to find a cure or at least better treatment for NF and I enjoy having the Evensons in my life and all of my races.  Just one more little thing to make life a little better and if it raises some awareness then all the better. 

Really glad I ran today as I was getting a little out of running with the recovery week and this has gotten me fired up again!  Last year I ran this race 13 seconds faster so it’s not a PR but it is a feeling of accomplishment to run a couple miles under a 7 minute mile.  For some reason this race has gotten me fired up to run the Hogeye Marathon in 4 weeks.  What am I thinking.  Why can’t I say no?  I’ll decide tomorrow but it looks like it’s ON!