Fall

Well, I rolled both ankles and fell down once yesterday on the trails at Shepard Mountain. Not such a great decision to actually plan on running there after the sun goes down. Very rocky and undulating and tight. It probably would have been okay if I had had a hand light to supplement my headlamp.

Thankfully when I fell it was on some soft dirt. It very easily could have been disastrous.

Anway, lesson hopefully learned. Got in approx 7 miles in 1:20

November......84 miles

My 9 mile Thanksgiving Day Urban Adventure

Thanksgiving morning I had a course all planned out. Mom's house down Military to West Ave to Jackson-Keller up Vance Jackson to Dreamland back to Mom's house for a total of 5 miles.


Well, I got started down Military and thought about how cool it would be to continue south and see if I could find Chuck Dakin's house and surprise him on Thanksgiving morning. The only information I had was that he lives on Storeywood and I remembered his white Lexus SUV.


As I ran down West Ave it seemed odd to be running this road after having traveled it so many times by car. After having mentally commited to it I realized that I know the names of all the streets in the neighborhood but I couldn't even try to tell you where they are except for Pilgrim of course.


As I crossed LP 410 the daydreaming and reminiscing began. Bill Miller on the corner. A man named English used to run a beatup old auto repair shop on the property just south of Bill Miller. Continuing south and across the street is The Little Red Farm School that was owned by an old friend's parents. I notice the pool has been filled in with dirt. Farther south we have the Columbia 300 bowling ball company. There's a parking lot that used to be a nice flat grassy area that guys used to play football on on the weekends. I remember driving by and seeing the older boys playing and wished I was big enough to play with them.


When I got to Columbia 300 I turned right, crossed the tracks and then turned left heading north on Neer. I told myself not to zone out.....to remember to focus on every street name as I ran by. It's so easy to daydream while running and miss stuff......maybe that's part of the appeal. I continued down Neer and off to my left I was surprised to be looking across West Ave right down the length of the railroad tracks.


"The tracks" were an endless bounty of imagination and play as a kid. If a train was coming we'd put coins on the tracks for the trains to flatten. There were always beer bottles. We'd set them up on the tracks and throw rocks at them. There were usually empty train cars left there. We'd climb all over them. All we had to do get to the tracks was cross our street, walk the length of the house across the street from ours and we were there. That was the way to the Buy-Rite. Buy-Rite was a small neighborhood grocery store that my Mom would send me to for small items.


I got to the end of Neer and there was the old gas station remodeled but appearing empty. Back then there were lots of gas stations not owned by corporations and this was one of them. The guy who owned this one had a huge reputation for a being a grouch. One of my memories of this place is buying used tires for my truck because I couldn't afford new ones. I turned south on West Ave again and looked across the street at an old strip center.

It held the barbershop where I used to get my hair cut. It also had a beauty salon where my Grandmother went to get her hair done on Friday afternoons. This is the center that holds the Buy-Rite grocery store I mentioned earlier. Continuing south there used to be a field at the end of the shopping center that I imagined DD and I walking thru on the way to crossing the four lanes of West Ave. We didn't like what Mom was serving for lunch one Saturday afternoon so she told us to go to Mama Dee's. "Maybe you'll like what she's serving better", is what she said. So, we did it. We arrived at Mama Dee's and she and Pa didn't know what to think. Needless to say Mom was not happy.

I continued up the hill and after a few more blocks got to Storeywood. I was about to turn right but realized those streets have one block the opposite direction that deadends into Neer. I thought, "now wouldn't it be just my luck to run the entire long four blocks one direction and his house be on the short side. So, I ran the short block and no white Lexus so I doubled back on Basswood. I ran and walked all of Storeywood and didn't see his vehicle.

Well, I was disappointed but kept on moving. I doubled back on Basswood, slowed and then stopped at Pilgrim Park. What memories that held!! Playing on the playground equipment, birthday parties and the first pool I can ever remember being in. I can remember learning how to swim in that pool.

I got to Vance Jackson, turned left and headed back to Mom's house pleased with myself and wondering why I hadn't done this sooner.

Still got it

Got in 20 miles on the Barton Creek Greenbelt this morning!! I did it in 4:40. 2:10 for the 1st loop, 10 min transition, 2:20 2nd loop. Very good pacing. I stayed fueled up nicely too. My glutes are still as issue but are not going to hamper me too badly.

I adjusted my gait making it shorter and focused on keeping my feet directly under my torso. I could feel the right piriformis but it wasnt pulling......that's huge!! I need to continue a good stretching routine and see how things go.

And, I got in my target miles for the first time on a long time!!

Very, very encouraging run today.....I think I've still got it!!!!

Week......34

Nov......68

Ran 7 miles this morning with Diana and Mark in 1:07:30. It was pretty cool and really windy. The predicted temp was 41. My glute issue is not going away. I'm going to continue stretching it and using the foam roller. I think I'll make a final decision about whether or not to run the 100k after my 20 miler this Saturday.

HOL repeats

Got in 7 miles at Barton Creek from the HOL this morning. I started at 530 and got in 4 repeats up and down the hill in 1:40.

The HOL (Hill of Life) is very close to the intesection of CampCraft and Scottish Woods in Westlake across CapTex from Westlake HS. The trail drops approximately 350 ft over approximately 800 yds. The HOL is the west end of the traditional 7.5 mile trail and the east end is at the far end of the Barton Springs parking lot. It's very rocky uneven terrain which means it's perfect for training for a course like Bandera.

My plan is to do the hill repeats every Tuesday morning between now and the race.

Ran 12 miles Saturday morning at McAllister Park in San Antonio. I did the first loop alone and Dave Richmond joined me for the 2nd loop. He's a classmate of mine that I connected with thru Facebook. We never really knew each other very well in high school but had a great time running together. My overall time for the 12 miles was 2:30.

After talking to John Pittman yesterday on the way home about his bodybuilding competition I was so fired up I ran 5 miles thru Forest Ridge in Bull Creek.

Nov.....34

Got in 4 miles in my Mom's neighborhood early this morning. I got a shit nights sleep but went ahead and got up at 5am when the alarm went off. I'm glad I did it. I really needed it.

Ran an easy 4 miles at Barton Creek from the HOL. My tight glute/ piriformis/ hamstring bothered me some until I got warmed up. It never went away completely but I continued on.

What a beautiful afternoon. I wish I was 100% and also had more time. At least I got to enjoy some of it.

Ran 9 miles yesterday at my sisters house in 1:37. My glute problem has now moved to the the hamstring really high up. Not sure what's going on with this. Gonna use the TP ball and continue stretching and continue running.

Disappointing miles this month. We do have a lot going on though, I don't want to use that excuse.

October 76 miles