I have been less than diligent this month

That is in terms of posting. I have been working very hard this month and I have not been posting as much as usual. I hope to change that. I did update my miles and am at a bit over thirty miles for the month. I have two thoughts about this ... really only thirty miles and wow thirty miles. I suppose that it is fair to say I am both disappointed that this is the number as I like to do much more than that and at the same time I have been a very busy lad so the fact that I got any miles in seems like a great achievement.

Last night was a very good run. I am a bit of a plodder when it comes to running. If I were a vehicle I would be a dump truck. Lots of power but not much speed, that sort of defines me. When I started running, well it is nice to call it running, I was doing 14:00 miles. Just to put it in perspective I did weigh around 300 lbs. Now I weigh in at 230 and generally do about a 10:30 pace. I have been trying to cut into the 9:00 range for the past year with limited success. I did do a 5k last year when I averaged 9:50 but I have not duplicated the effort since. Last night was a good step toward the 9: something.

The first mile of my 3.65 loop was at 9:56 and the last mile was at 9:48. The in between was my normal pace and I ended up with a 10:06 total pace. I am quite pleased with my effort on this one. I am going to go out tonight just to see what I can do. Nothing like a good run to get you all motivated again.

In other news, I had a belt test at my kenpo school on Saturday. I passed and now I am one step closer in my training. It is interesting the way things went down. I called my instructor at a little before 9:00 to see if he had some early room for a private lesson. This is when I learned that I was going to be taking a test that day. The good news was that I wasn't able to develop any pre - test jitters. I just went in took my beating and went on with my day. I may do a more extensive post on this later on.

Sad News

I had intended to run in the American Odyessey Relay from Gettysburg, PA to D.C. Unfortunately, it looks like I am going to have to step down from the race. I am currently working a temp job that has demands of as much as 70 hours per week. This leaves little time to train and I am lucky these days to get in 1o to 15 miles a week. This just won't get me ready in time. The other consideration is financial.

I would feel a bit selfish to commit to the race when things are so chaotic on the job front. I have hardly had a nibble in terms of jobs beyond a temporary one. The horizon does not look very bright right now. My attitude is fine but I have to realisitic. Until I find a job with more permanence than the one I have now, I can't really be commit to much in terms of racing. I feel bad for my team mates but replacing one person in early February seemed a lesser offense than saying the same thing 6 or 7 weeks from now when things didn't turn out right on the job front. These are trying times.

Running Update

I don't usually write about my individual runs any longer, unless there is something remarkable. Last night I set out for my midling run. That is what I call the long mid week run. I set out to just keep a good pace and be comfortable. At the end of the run I had run each mile below 11:00 and finished with an average pace of 10:43. I have been finishing below the 11:00 pace for a bit of time but this is the first that I have had below 11:00 for seven miles in a row. To make it better, I did a .25 interval at the end of the run at a 7:45 pace. It felt good but strange. I had not run full out in sometime. So I have kicked the 11:00 barrier completely and now I can work on 10:00. Just so we are clear, I will still be over 11:00 for the marathon in May, there is a big difference between 26.2 and 7.5.

Another running related note, I found a track about 2.5 miles from home last night by running a different route than I usually do. I am happy that I can have a level spot to do some speed work. Huzzah. I think I am happier about this than is normal for most folks. Well, no one ever accused me of being normal.

In other news, my work has been getting in the way of my martial arts class, so I am quitting. Well not really, it is just annoying is all. But deadlines are deadlines and sometimes I have to work until 8 or 9 to get some things sorted out. I hope to make up a class this weekend. In an odd way I miss getting hit (now that is an odd admission).

Sad Philadelphia news, a man was waiting for a train and was beaten to death by four teens. The man was 36 and went into cardiac arrest while defending himself. One of the teens is in custody. I really do like the city but sometimes gives me pause. This happened in Center City where it is "safer" than most parts of the city. This troubles me. This city won't be a great city until we get the violence under control.