Running in London

Running in the city of London is always a fun challenge. But this next week, during my annual trip to that great city, I will be staying just a block away from the beautiful Regent's Park where running trails abound. I will enjoy the time with my students and the opportunity to run in a whole new environment.

U10K

This weekend I'll be busy. I have a series of year-end academic events culminating with a marathon banquet and award ceremony Friday night and graduation on Saturday. Squeezed into that flurry of activity, I am going to run in the inaugural Memorial Day Weekend Urban 10K early Saturday morning. This event in downtown Nashville will benefit the Nashville Civic Design Center which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to elevating the quality of Nashville's urban art and architecture by promoting public participation in the creation of a more beautiful and functional community of human-scaled cityscapes.

The U10K Race Route promises a memorable run past downtown Nashville's many wonderful historic and cultural sites--as well as some of the city's newest architectural icons, flourishing urban neighborhoods, and the Titans' LP Field--with a start and finish at the Public Square Park in front of the recently-refurbished historic downtown Courthouse.

My plan is to run slow, slow, slow with several students and friends--just to enjoy the run, support the Design Centery, and relish the blossoming of a lively downtown Nashville renewal. I'm just not ready to run fast again after my all-out marathon effort. Hopefully, my trip to England next week will provide me with the respite necessary to start training in earnest again.

Recovered Chip Time

At long, long last the good folks at Elite Racing have recovered my time from the Country Music Marathon. It is official. I had a huge PR (Personal Record). But no BQ (Boston Qualifier).

My chip time was 3:37:01, my clock time was 3:42:26. My average mile split was 8:17. That placed me 390th out of 4797 finishers and 17th of 234 in my age division.

That means I beat my previous best time for a marathon by 22 minutes--for which I am very grateful and quite delighted. It also means that I just missed qualifying for the Boston Marathon by 2 minutes and 1 second! Oy veh!

Both Tortoise and Hare

A fascinating article in the New York Times cites new studies that seem to confirm the value of the Galloway method--and other like-minded variable speed plans. Of course, being both tortoise and hare at the same time, in the same workout, is no problem for me; I've been alternating short bursts of high-intensity runs with easy-does-it recovery walks even since I took up running three years ago; just witness my workout this morning!

On the Road Again

My first day back to running after the marathon was a total delight. I was sorely missing my run route, my after run routine, and my all-day sense of refreshment that inevitably follows a good morning run. I think I've become a hopeless "lifer." I did just under 4 miles, but man, oh man, did it ever feel great.