Late getting started today. This was my 18 mile day. It was cloudy with sunshine at times. Felt rested and ready to go. The trail is a great place to run. No hills.

This is how I felt the last two miles of my 18 mile run!!!!!
At mile 12 a dog tried to chew my leg but I managed to get him to change his mind after a few 100 decibles of telling him to go home and leave me alone. Not many runners on the trail today. A few bikers and walkers and I saw only 1 runner.
I ran the course in 3 hours and 52 minutes. I ran mile 14 at 12 min. and 49 sec.
Not a bad time for a training run.
Trees are starting to leaf out, Daffodils are blooming, spring is in the air. But then again anything can happen with the weather. It was snowing, sleet, this afternoon????
10 miles tomorrow????
Jason is going on his long, long run tomorrow on the rim of the Grand Canyon.
Somewhere around 90 miles.

Wednesday 7:00 am
Ran only 2 miles. Felt tired. I guess that I had better stop looking ahead to my long distance runs on Friday (18 miles) and Saturday(10 miles). But I am prepared to do both runs this week. Jason I will be running on the Discovery Trail for my 18 miler Friday. It should be an easy run as it is flat all the way.
 With this schedule I run 5 days a week. And have Thursday and Sunday off.

I like this picture of by-gone years. It reminds me of the one we had when I was a little boy.

March 27 Tuesday
Ran 6 miles this morning with Phil. He was OK today. The wind was blowing at about 6 to 30 mph. The 6 miles was a moderately hilly course. We ran at 11 to 12 minutes for the course. 70 minutes total time. The temperature was 44 %.

The picture of the Blue Heron was taken by Philip Milliman

March 26 Monday
Ran 4 miles with Philip. He was not feeling well and ran only 1 mile. I finished the 4 mile run on my own. It was a calm 43 degree morning.
The "man of steel" won again.

It will soon be Tulip time in Skagit County, Mt Vernon, WA.

I only walked, jogged and walked about 2 miles this morning. Tired from the weeks training. The schedule had me running 10 miles today but did not make it.
My weeks mileage was supposed to be 40 miles. I made 32. But I will keep going on until I get in shape. My weekly mileage might not be according to the schedules that I choose. But I am doing OK in my mind, body and soul?????
Today my thought is, "Keep a positive attitude and the body will follow suit and both will soon be toughened up".
Looking forward to another week of training.

I pole vaulted a little bit last Thursday and I did not hug the pole as much as I have been doing in the past. :) :) :)

Wow, 16 miles today. Three and 1/2 hours. Stayed in bed until 9:00 AM putting off my run. Bad head problems. But finally got up ate breakfast and was out running at 10:00 am. This is the most miles I have ran in 1 week for a long time. I am going to run only 4 miles tomorrow not ten. OK so I am a wimp :)  That will be 34 miles for my first week of training for my 80 miler in November.
An increase of about 18 miles a week over my weekly totals for the last two months.
My first mile was slow, slow, slow. But I kept slogging on and finally felt like running at mile 3. This is a hilly course with a long hill of 1.8 miles long. It comes at the 8 mile mark on the way back home. It is an out and back course.
The wind was blowing from the North at about 10 miles an hour. Short sleeved T-shirt and gloves. I did not take the gloves off the whole run. I ran the course in 13 minutes and 7 seconds per mile. Not a record but a good effort for me at this point in my training.
Several silly car drivers challenged me and I quickly let them have all of the road they wanted.
One thing about getting up at 7:00 am there is little traffic on the back roads at that time in the morning.

John Wayne Marina at the East end of the city of Sequim, WA.

This my pit stop at my 8 miles turn around. 

Jogging is very beneficial. It's good for your legs and your feet. It's also very good for the ground. It makes it feel needed."
– Charles M. Schulz (Author of the Charlie Brown books)

The above quote was sent to me by my wonderful daughter Kimberly S. M. Henrie.

Thank you Kim!!!!       and 

                                more 

                                       quotes

"Hills are speed work in disguise",  Frank Shorter

Wednesday 3/21/12

Good day today only ran two miles. Was going to run 4 miles but a friend of ours came and run with Phil and I today. The friend is recovering from a foot injury. So it was just 2 easy miles. It is a beautiful day in Sequim . Sunshine, sunshine, sunshine.

I will be going running with the Track long distance runners tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. Tomorrow. It will be on a trail  ,2.5 miles, that is along the Dungennes river that I did not know existed. 'Long distance runners ?" well that is what they call themselves.

15 miles Friday........    :)     !!!!!!

Tuesday. 3/20/12 

Ran 4 miles on Tuesday , 39 degrees. Shorts and long sleeved t-shirt.  good run.

Cloudy with a little rain. But a good run.  Saw  Swans today. They were flying over our heads about 100 ft above the ground. Very Majestic!!!

 

This was the view this morning as Phil and I ran at 7:00 a.m. It was 26 degrees.

Not too bad because the wind was not blowing. We ran 4 miles. Later in the day I ran with the Sequim High School runners at Robin Hill Farm. There are many trails in the park with several good hills. The long distance coach needed another vehicle for transportation so I said yes. I ran about 2 more miles at the farm. 

It will be interesting to see how I do in the next couple of weeks as I up my mileage to 40 miles a week. 

See you tomorrow???? :)

Oh the funny looking thing in the fore ground of the picture is the standard for our pole vaulting pit. 

Leonardo da Vinci: “Patience serves as a protection against wrongs as clothes do against cold. For if you put on more clothes as the cold increases, it will have no power to hurt you. So in like manner you must grow in patience when you meet with great wrongs, and they will then be powerless to vex your mind.”

I like this quote so am sharing with all my (friends and running friends???)Great
sunny day with clouds.

This in my grandson Joshua running the Chuckanut 50K Saturday March 17 in Bellingham , Washington. They ran in snow on part of the trail.

Here is a contrast race? with me running a marathon in June 2011 at 72 degrees. The hottest day we had for the first 6 months of 2011. I finished in 5 hours and 50 minutes.

And here is Jason my oldest grandson running the leadville 100 mile run in September of 2011. 

                

                                               THREE MEN OF STEEL!!! 

Ran 5 miles Friday. 58 minutes. good training run. First couple of miles were hilly.
The wind was blowing against me on last half of the run. Raining cats and dogs this morning. Boy my picks for the NCAA tournement are not going very well. I just guessed willy nilly so I cannot expect to much for the results.
Helped Phil and a friend of ours put up a basketball backboard and basket today. It is going to be a birthday present from his wife.
Next week my schedule will be Mon. 4 miles, Tue. 6 miles, Wed. 4, Thur. 0, Fri., 16 and Sat. 10.
This will be the beginning of my 28 week training for the 80 mile run. So Monday and from now on it will be rain, wind, sun, snow will keep me from my schedule.

Short note today. I was helping with the pole vaulting today at Sequim High School. Raining , cold, raining, today. I was not dressed for that kind of weather. Cold, cold cold.
I did some 200 Meter running, ran 10 sets at 8 minute pace.
Still  running.  

Hello everyone. Another good day. The wind was blowing at 30 to 40 miles per hour this morning about it was 40 degrees. I don't like  this kind of weather to run in so stayed home. My only excuse is that it is still early in the year for my training. But that kind of thinking will stop soon.
I found a site that has a good training schedule for a one hundred mile run. I am going to try it with some modifications. Not less training but just on different days. I like to do my long runs on Friday and Saturday and take Sunday off. The training schedule starts out with 40 mile weeks with 2 long runs. One on Friday 15 miles and one on Saturday 10 miles. That schedule is great for me. :)
I got a little bit of pole vaulting in today for about 1 hour. Cold day again with the wind. But miracle of miracles it was not windy at the track. YEAAA
The unknown of the 80 mile run is still in the back of mind. I know that I can do it but the unknown is still there niggling around. With a little more time for training I will be OK. That is a matter of opinion.
Continued!!!! tomorrow!!

Sunday afternoon and time to write again about my grand adventure. I have been down the last couple of weeks and finally figured out that it was because I have also been doing about 2 hours of pole vaulting on wednesday and thursday evenings. I walked last friday morning. Just felt tired, tired so just decided to walk about 1 mile. :(  Saturday morning March 10 I slept in and then I went to Any Time Fitness and walked on the treadmill for 1 hour. Distance was 3.6 miles. Good work out.
Jason, I envy you, with all your trails. I guess that I could do that also. There are a lot of trails that I could run on but no one to go with me. I could go on my own but everybody tells me no don't do that.
So, I have decided to run by the hour instead of time or distance. One hour a day this next week and then 1  and 1/2 hours on Saturday. I will do this until the end of March and then up the time to 1 and 1/2 hours per day and then 2 and 1/2 hours on Saturday. I will modify this plan as time goes by. I may just run 1/2 hour every other day at first to see how I do.
And also my plan is to take some time off from the longer times to let my body heal.
I have been reading about ultramarathon training. For a 50 mile race it seems that there is not too much long distance training.
Oh well, we will see.
Keep running

Another day at the courthouse. Yah, the trial is over, the verdict was given and I am not guilty. Oh, that was the wrong trial. It was a civil case. Car accident......
I went running this morning at 6:30 am. if you could call it a run. As 'some say' I was out there. 40 degrees. I was shuffling along at a little more than a walk.
Beautiful sunrise for a little while. The Cascades to the East were show off in all their glory. White, white, white with new fallen snow. It was very clear with now smog. It snowed in the hills here also. But nothing where we live.
Going to run 20 to 25 miles Saturday. I will try to take some pictures of my runs if Shirley will let me.???
She said yes!!!!!! She is good girl sometimes and always the love of my life.
I will be glad when the mornings are warmer. I suppose then I will be complaining about the hear. Some people are so hard to satisfy. Diane the Swan pictures that you took were great. I was doing my five mile run last Thursday at 6:30am , 'I put that in because I am proud of myself for getting up at 6:30 and 7:00 am since January 23!!!!', and just as was running East on Holland Road the Swans were flying over the road just in front of me. They are sure majestic in their flight.
See you tomorrow.

March 5, 2012
Up again at 6:30 am for my morning run. Still on jury duty. Should be over by Wednesday.
Still running short distances trying to build up my stamina or endurance.
It was a beautiful morning, still and cloudy with the temperature at 40 degrees. I just stepped on the front porch when I got home and it began to downpour!!!!Also with winds about 20-30miles per hour..
We were supposed to get some snow at the 500 ft level......
I have my route picked out. The first leg will be 30 miles out and back. For those who know the territory, 'you gotta know the territory!' I will leave home on Jamestown Rd and run on the back roads to West Sequim Bay Rd then to hgwy 101 , then turn left on the Discovery Trail to the LongHouse store and out on the East Sequim Bay Rd to Burlne Rd. Which will be 15 miles then retrace the route back home on Jamestown Rd.
My mileage for the month of February was 69 miles. With my longest run of 15.6 miles.
The second  part of the run will be 50 miles. I will also start from home. The first part of the run will be the same route on West Sequim Bay Rd but I will turn on Keeler Rd to the Discoveery Trail. Then turn right or West on the trail to Blake Rd to Fir St. to Sequim Dungeness to Anderson Rd to Kitchen/Dick Rd and then ,Whew I am tired all ready. Turn left on Old 101 to Heath Rd. then to Discovery Trail toward Port Angeles to my measurement of 25 miles. Then turn around and head home :)  If my calculation is right that should be 80 miles.

SATURDAY, another day up and running at 7:04 am. I have been having a lousy time getting motivated to run the last couple of days. Yesterday I ran  only a short distance. Just didn't feel like running. Need to make some (kick-of-poy-joy juice) to get my energy up. Or how about just eating 6 teaspoons of sugar?????
I ran 2.7 miles this morning, I know it is a long way from 80 miles, but I am out there:)
I am planning on doing a couple of 15 to 28 mile runs in the next 14 days.
I was really warm this morning. The temperature was 39 degrees and I wore too many clothes. High humidity.....
Let's see is there any more things that I can use for an excuse????
See you on Monday.

Up at 6:30 am for a 5 mile run. My time was 1 hour and 10 minutes. I ran with a pack on because I was going to attend the 'Men's fellowship group' AKA Bible Study, at 7:30 am. I brought a change of clothes and a light coat. It was a good run. 34 degrees with a sprinkle when I started but the rain stopped at about mile 2. The sunrise was beautiful on the mountains to the south. It snowed on them last night and with the sun just rising it was a beautiful sight.
I have been consistent with my running since January 23 when I decided to get up at 7:00 am, 'SHUDDER,' !!!!!!!!! I will be running a 20 mile run this coming Saturday.
I have missed a couple of days because of wind and cold temperature. The wind gets me down if it is blowing hard and the temperature is in low 30's and high's in the 20's.
I don't have enough fat on me to act as insulation to keep the cold out. That is the only time I don't run. I missed Wednesday because of cold and wind. But when I had a lunch break from my Jury duty I walked for 45 minutes.