Love, Actually

My son, Jake, left a note in my running log the other day. I had to share it because it absolutely made my day!

Hitting targets

Over the past two weeks, the distances have been upped a little on my 3plus2 training program, aka Furman First. As advertised, the target goals definitely push you. And I'm seeing progress, as noted below on the long run times. It's exciting to me, given that I've only been following the program for four weeks now. But I really like it, because the runs are different, and there's a science behind it all. Good stuff.

Training is only half the equation. Diet completes it. Because we're in the Pascal season at church, my diet is back to pre-Lenten fare as noted in my April 30 post. I've tried not to go overboard with cheeseburgers and the like, but I know I should be a little more diligent about what I put in my body. Exercising definitely encourages better food choices. But when good friends invite you to Louis Mueller's for lunch, it would be rude to turn them down ...

OK, here's the rundown on the last two week's running/training:

Monday, 5/2: Played 11 holes of wet, cold golf. Didn't exercise in the morning because I stayed up late watching the news of the Bin Laden killing.
Tuesday, 5/3: 3X400 track repeats, times were 2.12, 2.10 and 2.08, sandwiched between 10 minute warmup and cooldown runs. Did 10 minute ab routine, played hoops at lunch.
Wednesday, 5/4: 45 minutes on the stationary bike, avg 95 rpm
Thursday, 5/5: 3 miles, with a mid-tempo pace run as the middle mile. Times were 10.08, 9.50 (or 9.38 depending on whether my watch or the iPhone/Nike+ clock is right) and 9.40. Played 30 minutes of hoops at lunch.
Friday, 5/6: 45 minutes on the stationary bike, goal was 80 percent max heart rate, which translates into 95-100 rpm
Saturday, 5/7: Long run, 3 miles with goal of 10.10 per mile pace. Time was 30:27! Much better than the previous week. Did 10 minute ab routine afterward.
Sunday, 5/8: 45 minutes of stretching

Monday, 5/9:4X400 track repeats, times were 2.13, 2.12, 2.13 and 2.14, in between 10 minute warmup and cool down runs. Did 15 minutes of ab work afterward, followed by upper body strength training at lunch
Tuesday, 5/10: 45 minutes on the bike, same pace
Wednesday, 5/11: 3 miles on the treadmill (4.1 acc'd to Nike+, whatevs ...) with a pace mile in the middle of 10.0 minutes.
Thursday, 5/12: played an hour of hoops at lunch
Friday, 5/13: 45 minutes on the stationary bike, 95-100 rpm
Saturday, 5/14: long run of 3.5 miles in 35.34 -- right on my target pace! Yeah!

The next couple of weeks push a little farther, so stay tuned to see if we can stay on target.

Thank you and congrats, Dean Karnazes

Gotta give a quick shout out to the Ultramarathon Man, Dean Karnazes, who earlier today completed his Run Across America. He's spent the past 75 days running from Anaheim, Calif., to New York City.

The guy continues to inspire me to achieve my running goal, which seems tiny compared to his, though I know he wouldn't see it that way.

I've looked forward to reading the team's blog every night for the past two months. All I can say is, wow. That guy -- and his super team -- absolutely rock!