What I am thinking about this morning?

My Fall down jacket and gloves were nice to wear this morning on Bennie’s first walk. With temps in the low 40s and a bit of a breeze, it was chilly. I guess it is time to start thinking about getting the merino wool socks, gloves, neck gaiters and other stuff to keep me warm out of storage. It is October 1st and the weather will only get “more interesting” until sometime next April or May.

Today, I intend to do the Middle Road Loop, no rushing or pushing the effort levels. Just an easy run at 9:11 to 10:10 pace range, to get miles in and enjoy the weather. This time of year and these kinds of runs are the ones that I do enjoy.

Although the plan has some plyometric work after I get done, and I haven’t done that stuff in years. I just hope that no one has a video camera hiding where I will be doing them because it ain’t going to be pretty. More like America’s Funniest Video bad outtakes. However, they are something that I need to add to my running and have been avoiding because I haven’t wanted to look like the old crazy fool down the road any more than I already do.

So, we will see how that part of the workout goes. Just keep telling yourself Harold that your reward will be Pizza and Beer tonight at supper.

What Did I do?

I did the Middle Road Loop and felt pretty good doing it. I wasn’t rushing and didn’t push the pace at all. It is definitely Fall, and wearing a long sleeve tech shirt and another tech t-shirt under it, didn’t feel all that bad. I was still in shorts though and left the gloves at home. It wasn’t quite that cold out.

It is still a tough, rolling course, with a nice long section of dirt road, so if I maintain a steady effort (even if I think it is easy), it’s going to keep the heart rate fairly elevated.

No biggie, but if you look at my heart rate, it seems pretty high for the pace/effort I thought it was doing. It was higher than it would have been on a flatter course.

I did have to dash into the woods at about mile 2 and after that, I felt a lot more comfortable.

When I got back on the dirt road section, the Town Crew were filling in potholes and stuff, so I slowed down a bit through there. For some reason or other, there was a lot more traffic going through than usual. I usually meet one, maybe two cars down-back, today there were five total. It must be getting close to hunting season (end of the month) and people are out scouting around because it was mostly pick-up trucks.

The Reebok Energy 2s, while they don’t have too many running miles on them, but the total miles (add in walking) have pretty much worn out the forefoot and there isn’t a lot of grip left. I could really feel it on the dirt road and on a couple of wet areas on the road. I may have to retire them from running within the next 50 miles or so.

Besides, it was just one of those good runs, where you simply work on getting it done.

I skipped out on the plyometrics (yeah, I know, bad pun). I haven’t watched the full video and used that as an excuse not to do the plyo work. Instead, I foamed rolled and used The Stick on my hamstrings and glutes.

Yes, I had homemade pizza and an Octoberfest for supper tonight.