Day 1,406: Strong Legs 10K

Today was the coldest Strong Legs 10K race in the last three years that I've participated in it.

More used to 50 degree starts, this morning it was 33 degrees. I brought a bunch of different clothes to the Turner Field parking lot but in the end didn't wear my hat or gloves.

After the first mile, my windbreaker came off and was wrapped around my waist. In between the 2nd and third miles, I thought about a way to rid myself of the light running pants I was wearing (running shorts underneath). But since there was no practical way, I just left them on. I probably would have warmed up had I just worn shorts.

Overall, I ran a pretty consistent race, even though I was about 1:20 off of last year's time. Compared to last year, I felt like I ran evenly the first two hills (up Auburn Ave.) and then later in the Central Park neighborhood.

But what surprised me was that after that 4th mile hill, I felt like I was done. There was one more difficult hill, the overpass on Juniper over Georgia State and I was surprised I didn't lose a bunch of time in the fifth mile.

In the last half-mile, I settled in with a group of three runners. They helped me around the curve toward Turner Field but on the last hill I had broken free and kicked my way in to get under 50 minutes. It's the fourth consecutive 10K I've run in (dating back to last year's Strong Legs 10K) that I've qualified for Group A of the Peachtree 10K.

I think I'll resume some more hill training runs. After being very comfortable with the hills in the Doug Kessler Lightning 10K and the Kennesaw Locomotive Half Marathon, I was a little surprised to have trouble with the race's third hill on the overpass.

Time: 8:04 a.m.
Temp: 33 degrees
Gear: windbreaker, CFLST, SST (Carolina gray), running pants, shorts, Nike Air Pegasus+ 26/D.

Day 1,404: The new shoes are back

Yesterday I started wearing my newest pair of running shoes, the ones that I used for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Oct. 10.

I'd only had about 350 miles on my previous pair, but recently I felt more aches in my legs and knees after running in them.

I know that manufacturing varies from shoe to shoe and this year my mileage has varied from shoe to shoe -- from about 500 miles with the all-black shoes that I ran the ING Georgia Marathon in at the end of March to 400 miles on its successor.

I usually like to keep two pairs of shoes that I can run in at any given time, so I guess that means I'll have to look around for a new pair.

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Also recently rain and cold weather have come this way. Last month I was pretty spoiled as it was warm enough to run in short-sleeved technical T-shirts -- I actually had to go into the closet and bring out the box where they were all packed up.

Soon I imagine I'll have to put them back in the box -- the last few days I've been wearing their long-sleeved counterparts.

Milestone: 1,400 days

Today's run was short, after much procrastinating. But once I got out, I was enjoying being out there and running.

My only goal from here on out is to be consistent ... and to not procrastinate as much before runs.

Time: 9:56 a.m.
Temp: 51 degrees
Gear: CFLST (Atlanta Half Marathon '09), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus+ 26/C.

Day 1,399 Be the One Run 5K

This morning I returned to Atlantic Station for the Be the One Run 5K. My fiancee knew about it for work, so I thought why not?

It was the first 5K I've run in since the Virginia-Highland Summerfest 5K in June. It was the first time I ran in a 5K at Atlantic Station since the Southeastern Brain Tumor Foundation's "Race for Research" in 2006.

I was wearing a fleece pullover at the start but decided at the last moment to pull it off and wear it around my waist. So for the first couple of blocks, I was pinning the race number to my shirt while I was running!

There's a pretty big hill about midpoint in the race. I felt like I was able to accelerate up it halfway and then just settled in for the rest of the race. When I reached the bottom of the second hill and the intersection with IKEA, I imagined my marathon training runs along 17th Street. It made sense, and I had a steady run the rest of the way.

Overall the race was pretty well put together. Atlantic Station's Central Park is a good meeting/finishing place for events of this type. This race had "D-Tag" timing, which made things nice, although I don't really know if anyone needs a D-Tag time for a 5K.

Time: 8 a.m.
Temp: 41 degrees
Gear: CFLST (Atlanta Half Marathon '08), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus+ 26/C.

Day 1,397: 8 mile run

Today I ran back along part of the training course I used for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

It was the longest run I've done since the Oct. 10 race, although I did a 7 mile run last week (the previous post).

I also used my brand-new Sennheiser PMX-80 headphones that I got in the mail yesterday. The sound is much better than the Nike Motion Sport headphones I'd been using, although the latter have been dependable enough.

The run was OK, although it was still about as warm and humid as days in August. I wonder if I should continue building up miles as I approach the Nov. 25 Atlanta Half Marathon and the Dec. 5 Rock'n'Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon.

Either way it was nice to be back on the route that helped me with my third marathon.

Time: 9:26 a.m.
Temp: 71 degrees
Gear: CFSST (Big Peach Five Miler '09), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus+ 26/C.

Day 1,390: Milestone: 1,500 miles

Today's run put me past 1,500 miles for the year. And there's two full months left to go. Last year, I ran 1,451 miles, which probably was a record for me somewhere.

New headphones were the quest for today's run. I found what I was looking for -- Sony's MDJ J10 headphones yesterday. They were cheap enough and I thought I would try them out as soon as I left the store since they had packaging I'd have to tear open (and likely non-refundable in that state).

Unfortunately, the headphones kept on falling out of my right ear and the sound wasn't like the wrap-around headphones I bought from Best Buy a few days ago.

So in mid-run, I decided to just go with the other headphones and the new Sonys went into my pocket.

Later on today I decided to break down and buy the successor to my old Sennheiser PMX70s -- the PMX 80s. It doesn't look like Sennheiser makes the 70s anymore. I'm used to the better sound.

And with these, there's a 2-year warranty. Hopefully I can just return them if I have any problems.

Time: 9:09 a.m.
Temp: 51 degrees
Gear: CFLST (Locomotive Half Marathon), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus+ 26/C.

Day 1,389: Testing out some headphones

So I ran with my new headphones today. They were ok, the sound wasn't as good as my other headphones, but they were light. And didn't fall out of my ears.

But then I saw this article in the New York Times, "Battling the Earbud-Wearing Blues," and found new hope!

Specifically, I went online and ordered a pair of Earbudi clips to attach to my iPod earbuds.

I also will probably look for these Sony MJR J10 headphones as well.