Out running Tuesday, doing a long run and got a little off the trails that I wanted to be on out past the state park and up parallel to the Cape Fear River. To backtrack though, I hit about two feet of standing water on SugarLoaf Trail... likley a result of some unusual tide patterns, that not only affect the ocean but bodies of water that are close to and feed into the Atlantic, and cause some minor flooding. Didn't see the water until I was in it, and had to run/ walk thru it for about fifty to a hundred feet.
But out behind part of the Army Corp's Electrical grids and hydro generators ... as I wrote I had mistakenly wandered off from where I wanted to be... I was cutting back to the woods-line up the slope from the bank of the river when I saw a Great Blue Heron take flight out of a marshy pond right off to my one side. Anyhow as I was watching this majestic, beautiful creature take wing, I darn nearly stepped on a three foot black snake that was curled up on the gravel and weeds sunning itself in the mid morning heat.
Later in the run L had an even bigger black snake... five feet or so... cross directly in front of me as I ran along one of the trails in the woods. I was also plagued once again by horseflies... they seems to come out in waves the hotter the day is along stretches of the ground that are more sand than dirt. And of course the ever present spider webs at this time of year... nothing like spitting out silk and the occasional bug, and wiping the mess off one's face and out of one's hair.
Though I have the thought somewhere deep in the bush, that this is their domain, their home... the horseflies, the spiders, the mosquitoes, the black snakes etc... its me, in fact who perhaps is an unwanted guest. They don't (or hardly) come into my home...
Then running this morning along a shade covered road in the Sea Breeze section just off Pleasure Island and on the mainland I saw a large hawk take flight in the trees just up ahead of me... same place I had seen two hawks last week take flight... truly an amazing sight to witness up close.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Back to the Track
Ran some speedwork last Saturday morning on the Ashley High School track. Arrived earlier in the day, a little after eight a.m.in order to perhaps beat some of the heat. Was pretty hot though even at that hour, but I wasnt going to let that or much else deter me from the work-out I had planned. I have done some intervals/ speed sessions at the Carolina Beach Lake, but running on the hard asphalt path that encircles the lake as well as periodically dodging people, dogs, and ducks is not the most conducive environment for such activity.
So I tossed my backpack over the chain linked fence, climbed on up and hopped over it, and felt like I was returning to a paradise lost from a previous lifetime. I have run a few laps on the UNCW track in the middle of some random runs, but hadn't done any kind of speedwork. There's just something magical to me about the sight and smell of 400 meters of the hard rubbery all-weather surface laid out in a perfect oval... with a smooth bed of green grass in the middle... and metal bleachers on the sides of each straight-away. The scoreboard down at one end of the infield with the Coca- Cola sign, the lane markings, the start lines for different distances/ races painted on the track.
The 'ol yellow summer-time sun beat down from above as I started the work-out by doing about a mile and a half warm-up/ easy jog (6 laps) around the track...to loosen the muscles, as well as wake up the mind and spirt... acclimate my entire self to the stately surroundings. Afterwhich some light stretching, more water, take the t-shirt off and hang it on the fence in front of the bleachers... and a slow reverential walk to a triangular marking near the approach to turn 1 that I will use as my start and finish point each successive repitition.
A deep breath and a calm thought and I'm off. It feels good to be off and moving at a more rapid speed on the track, to feel the bounce of my feet/ shoes on the hard rubbery surface... but I exercise purdent caution on the first rep. and glide thru the finish in 1:33 not that winded at all, and ease down into the one lap jog I will do in between each fast 400m rep. I then stop for a few moments back at the start/ finish point to allow my pulse rate to lower closer to a normal resting beat... reset the stopwatch... and then I'm off again.
The next rep. I knock out in @ 1:26, then bring the third one down to 1:18 as I start to get accustomed again to the pacing I want to run and the effort or exertion needed to hit or run certain times per lap or per 400 meters. I want most of them to be hard, say 85- 90% effort... but not all-out... as the reps and the work load increases, it will take more effort to run the same distance in the same time... or if I choose, slightly faster then the previous lap.
By now I am getting it dialed in... and on the next few laps I let it fly a little more each time. As I run the back strecth I can feel the lactic acid in the legs increase... feel the cool burn... I must concentrate a little more on holding my form... especially as I run turns three and four and then on down the final front stretch.
Seven reps down and I want to finish the last, the eighth one on a high and really open it up... say 95% effort or so. There's an art to running 400 meters... as a distance its close to an extended sprint, but not all-out.. at least not in the first say 150-250 meters. One must save some "gas in the tank" for that last 50- 75 meters or so of maddening straight away.
I'm off and into turns one and two running strong, posied, confident...controlling the pace and holding back just a bit... then onto the back stretch... by now the long straight-away has increased I would swear by another 20 or 30 meters... pounding, striding... holding my form... ignoring or pushing through the discomforts of the body... ignoring the flash bulb thoughts-- slow down, stop, ease up... finally into turn three... drink Coca Cola yes yes... turn 4- where are you turn 4? ... quick, rapid breaths, starting to lose some feeling in the legs... then off turn 4 to the front stretch... mentally ticking off the numbers painted on the lanes of the track one two three... can't see don't look up at the other lanes for the rest of 'em...glance up look straight ahead dig in hold form breathe...like led zeppelin sang 'where is that confounded bridge?'... 25 20 15 10 5 meters my precious lovely little traingle I see it!... and its over I'm done look at the watch... 1:10- whew, not bad...as I gasp for breath, barely able to move... shuffling forward hands on my hips upper body nearly doubled over.. til I can regain a semblance of normal movement and slowly ease into a jog like trot on the back stretch.
Cool down with another mile and a half slow jog on the track and call it a day, pleased with the results... and if perchance you saw me walking back out to my car you would have caught a sly little grin on my face, like a grown kid rediscovering the feeling of Christmas mornings long since past... but certainly not forgotten.
So I tossed my backpack over the chain linked fence, climbed on up and hopped over it, and felt like I was returning to a paradise lost from a previous lifetime. I have run a few laps on the UNCW track in the middle of some random runs, but hadn't done any kind of speedwork. There's just something magical to me about the sight and smell of 400 meters of the hard rubbery all-weather surface laid out in a perfect oval... with a smooth bed of green grass in the middle... and metal bleachers on the sides of each straight-away. The scoreboard down at one end of the infield with the Coca- Cola sign, the lane markings, the start lines for different distances/ races painted on the track.
The 'ol yellow summer-time sun beat down from above as I started the work-out by doing about a mile and a half warm-up/ easy jog (6 laps) around the track...to loosen the muscles, as well as wake up the mind and spirt... acclimate my entire self to the stately surroundings. Afterwhich some light stretching, more water, take the t-shirt off and hang it on the fence in front of the bleachers... and a slow reverential walk to a triangular marking near the approach to turn 1 that I will use as my start and finish point each successive repitition.
A deep breath and a calm thought and I'm off. It feels good to be off and moving at a more rapid speed on the track, to feel the bounce of my feet/ shoes on the hard rubbery surface... but I exercise purdent caution on the first rep. and glide thru the finish in 1:33 not that winded at all, and ease down into the one lap jog I will do in between each fast 400m rep. I then stop for a few moments back at the start/ finish point to allow my pulse rate to lower closer to a normal resting beat... reset the stopwatch... and then I'm off again.
The next rep. I knock out in @ 1:26, then bring the third one down to 1:18 as I start to get accustomed again to the pacing I want to run and the effort or exertion needed to hit or run certain times per lap or per 400 meters. I want most of them to be hard, say 85- 90% effort... but not all-out... as the reps and the work load increases, it will take more effort to run the same distance in the same time... or if I choose, slightly faster then the previous lap.
By now I am getting it dialed in... and on the next few laps I let it fly a little more each time. As I run the back strecth I can feel the lactic acid in the legs increase... feel the cool burn... I must concentrate a little more on holding my form... especially as I run turns three and four and then on down the final front stretch.
Seven reps down and I want to finish the last, the eighth one on a high and really open it up... say 95% effort or so. There's an art to running 400 meters... as a distance its close to an extended sprint, but not all-out.. at least not in the first say 150-250 meters. One must save some "gas in the tank" for that last 50- 75 meters or so of maddening straight away.
I'm off and into turns one and two running strong, posied, confident...controlling the pace and holding back just a bit... then onto the back stretch... by now the long straight-away has increased I would swear by another 20 or 30 meters... pounding, striding... holding my form... ignoring or pushing through the discomforts of the body... ignoring the flash bulb thoughts-- slow down, stop, ease up... finally into turn three... drink Coca Cola yes yes... turn 4- where are you turn 4? ... quick, rapid breaths, starting to lose some feeling in the legs... then off turn 4 to the front stretch... mentally ticking off the numbers painted on the lanes of the track one two three... can't see don't look up at the other lanes for the rest of 'em...glance up look straight ahead dig in hold form breathe...like led zeppelin sang 'where is that confounded bridge?'... 25 20 15 10 5 meters my precious lovely little traingle I see it!... and its over I'm done look at the watch... 1:10- whew, not bad...as I gasp for breath, barely able to move... shuffling forward hands on my hips upper body nearly doubled over.. til I can regain a semblance of normal movement and slowly ease into a jog like trot on the back stretch.
Cool down with another mile and a half slow jog on the track and call it a day, pleased with the results... and if perchance you saw me walking back out to my car you would have caught a sly little grin on my face, like a grown kid rediscovering the feeling of Christmas mornings long since past... but certainly not forgotten.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Long Run
Went for a longer run Tuesday morning. Started out by looping thru the Carolina Sands neighborhood, then up and across Snow's Cut Bridge, and then ran the Sea Breeze Road Loop which winds back to the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway across from the North End of Pleasure Island. Then back across the BRidge and onto the bike path that begins back by the boat launch and parking lot off Spencer Farlowe Road. By now the sun was at its mid morning height and the air heavier with humdity... experience dictates not to try and battle mother nature, be content with what she gives... which translates athletic wise to a more moderate to easy running pace. Running too hard, too early in a run when its warmer out will have unwanted consequences later in the run, though at the time one may seem to be one upping the environs.
But the woods brings a bit of relief, and I take the hard packed dirt trails with relative ease, catching site of the Atlantic Waterway as it meanders back to the Cape Fear River. Eventually however I must leave the sanctuary that the woods have provided me today, and return to the heat of the asphalt roads. Did also take a drink form one of the old fashioned water pumps in the camp grounds while running thru the state park... the water was quite refreshingly cold.
Then as I crossed back over Dow Road I passed a woman jogging and pushing a stroller with two toddlers, and for good measure a small dog also ran in front of the most unusual posse. Said hello and gave them ample room to enter the greenway path. Few moments later I thought of the fountain beside the boardwalk I would pass in about a mile. The water in that one though is usually fairly warm. And at some point coming back Harper Drive I decided to extend the run out another fifteen, twenty minutes or so, and to pick up the pace after I ran the boardwalk a.l.a the Arthur Lydiard type runs of the 3-1 formula long runs whereby the last 1/4 of the run was alot harder than the first 3/4ths which were ran at a slow/ moderate "conversational" pace. Though his runners would do about a 17 mile loop that encirlced high above Aukland, New Zealand that contained many elevation changes. The run I did today was closer to 12 miles, and I only ran harder the last 1.5- 2 miles.
Did that then as i looped half the lake after crossing over the main drag in the CB, then headed back into the residential neighborhoods back behind the CB Elementary School. Dug in, and held a harder pace block by block for a good fifteen minutes... trying not to think about it at all... and one point having the thought "this thinking must stop". Pushing thru, capping the long run with an edge, some toughness, a little bit more meat on the bones. Ended the run at the entrance to the beach down from my home... an hour and forty seven minutes, which is the longest run i have done since the winter time.
Had the thought after a brief swim in the ocean while walking back that longer runs can sometimes be like rambling confessions to onself, a purging perhaps of some of the junk that permeates all of our hearts and souls... the beauty is out here I can get instant redemption, even if its for just an hour or two.
But the woods brings a bit of relief, and I take the hard packed dirt trails with relative ease, catching site of the Atlantic Waterway as it meanders back to the Cape Fear River. Eventually however I must leave the sanctuary that the woods have provided me today, and return to the heat of the asphalt roads. Did also take a drink form one of the old fashioned water pumps in the camp grounds while running thru the state park... the water was quite refreshingly cold.
Then as I crossed back over Dow Road I passed a woman jogging and pushing a stroller with two toddlers, and for good measure a small dog also ran in front of the most unusual posse. Said hello and gave them ample room to enter the greenway path. Few moments later I thought of the fountain beside the boardwalk I would pass in about a mile. The water in that one though is usually fairly warm. And at some point coming back Harper Drive I decided to extend the run out another fifteen, twenty minutes or so, and to pick up the pace after I ran the boardwalk a.l.a the Arthur Lydiard type runs of the 3-1 formula long runs whereby the last 1/4 of the run was alot harder than the first 3/4ths which were ran at a slow/ moderate "conversational" pace. Though his runners would do about a 17 mile loop that encirlced high above Aukland, New Zealand that contained many elevation changes. The run I did today was closer to 12 miles, and I only ran harder the last 1.5- 2 miles.
Did that then as i looped half the lake after crossing over the main drag in the CB, then headed back into the residential neighborhoods back behind the CB Elementary School. Dug in, and held a harder pace block by block for a good fifteen minutes... trying not to think about it at all... and one point having the thought "this thinking must stop". Pushing thru, capping the long run with an edge, some toughness, a little bit more meat on the bones. Ended the run at the entrance to the beach down from my home... an hour and forty seven minutes, which is the longest run i have done since the winter time.
Had the thought after a brief swim in the ocean while walking back that longer runs can sometimes be like rambling confessions to onself, a purging perhaps of some of the junk that permeates all of our hearts and souls... the beauty is out here I can get instant redemption, even if its for just an hour or two.
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