Recreation: A fishing we will go...

One of the best parts about living in Rhode Island is the access to some of the best fishing in the world. In my opinion, it is (or should be) as much of a destination fishing spot as any other place. State fishing pride aside, I managed to get out fishing in a rented boat for some fluke (summer flounder) this past week. It was a fantastic outing with basically non-stop action of black sea bass and fluke. The black sea bass season is still closed until July 2nd, but it still kept the trip sporty instead of a slog. We managed an 18.25" fluke and a (my personal best) 26" fluke. Here are some photos:

Recreation: Astronomy

Space. The final frontier... Well, that may be true, but I don't see us (humans) tackling it any time soon. In my opinion, we have lost a lot of that explorer drive which drove us to all corners of the Earth and beyond. Now, it seems as if the only purpose that we have for going is to see if ants can sort tiny screws in space (Simpsons reference). Well, that and "climate science," which is 1 part science, 99 parts conjecture, supposition, and S.W.A.G. At risk of turning this into a post about Global Warming, it bugs me when people use a handful of years of data to say that we are making an irreparable negative impact on our global climate system. It also bugs me when people use a slightly different handful of years of data to say that we are having no impact on our climate system. It's akin to taking a single photo of a bunch of kids playing trampoline dodge ball and predicting, with absolute certainty, what kind of car that one of their great, great, great, grandson's talking pet chickogasaurus (cross between chicken, dog, and recreated dinosaur DNA) super-evolved tapeworm will fly.

So, Space. I have a passing interest in space things. I regularly watch the internet for astronomical events. I look up at the sky anytime I am outside at night. I'll even break out my telescope a couple times per year to take a look at Jupiter or Saturn or Mars. There's a "new" comet in the sky starting now and extending into next month. It is visible in "dark sky" conditions now and should be for the next 2 months or so. Of course, "dark sky" is the critical term. Based on its recent brightening, it's possible that it will become a fully naked-eye observable object from all clear sky conditions. However, my guess is that most urban and suburban locations will require binoculars or will just be SOL. All due to lack of dark sky and it makes me sad.

The waning interest in space exploration (including those aforementioned climate science probes) seems directly linked to the ability of people seeing the sky at night. In the ever-constant push to be more "green", we are encouraged to change to energy efficient lighting for the benefit of the planet. How about we start pushing to turn off the lights. To me, it is incomprehensible that some of the most "green" parts of the World are literally glowing bright enough to be seen from space. We have night sky conditions which range between limited to totally unobservable. Closed stores and car dealerships are lighting up whole city blocks. Street lights shine in all directions lighting up the ground, the sky and the interior of the front of my house. Meanwhile, I can't even point out the Big Dipper to my kids because the North sky is a diffuse, glowing gray-orange color. So much for my kids becoming astronauts or astrophysicists. So, for the good of the climate of the World or the future of space exploration or the reduced electric bill or just for the sheer enjoyment of the stars, please, please, please turn off your lights.

Recreation: Hunting year 2 (aka, Deer-2, Me-0)

Well, I just finished my hunting session this year, but with only 2 days that I could hunt, I don't have a ton to report. I was only going to be able to get out hunting on the Weekends. The first Weekend had 15-30 mph winds with gusts up to 40. I opted to just stay home. I went out last year on a day like that and saw nothing at all because everything was moving except the deer. So, I got out this past Saturday and Sunday. I hunted tank farm 4D both days for morning and evening hunts. I hadn't ever been in TF-4, so it was also, unfortunately, a scouting trip. With a West light breeze, I opted to go around to the back side to the fence line. There was a nice patch of open trees back there with nothing moving and then, almost to the back corner of D was a nice deery looking area. As I was trying to set up, I made a little too much noise (briars+sticks+leaves) and bumped 4 deer from the far side. The sounded like they were moving downhill, so I opted to much more quietly do the same back to the open tree area. A nice doe was browsing her way towards the fence. I lost sight of her in the thicket and as I was trying to spot her, she stepped out into the open patch staring at me 8 yards away. I was straight upright, but stock still, so she ignored me. Each time she looked away or down, I lifted my bow a little bit. Once up, she stared for a good long while beacause the sun was reflecting brightly off my black fiberglass front of my recurve. (Note to self, wrap that in camo wrap next time.) She finally looked away. I drew back and released. The arrow was straight towards her vitals but managed to fly just (really, just barely) below her body. Yup, I totally blew an 8 yard shot. I can say is was an awkward shot because my body was twisted a little to far forward and my shoulder dropped slightly, but really, I just missed the shot. I guess I'm not qualifying for the Olympics any time soon. I managed to double my mistake too. Carelessly, I went looking for my arrow before seeing where she went. She was only about 15 yards into the open trees, so I probably would have gotten a second shot. As it is though, there is now at least one really wise doe in TF-4. Anyway, I saw nothing else in the Saturday morning hunt, and the evening hunt only saw a couple does way out of range. They didn't come out until 5 minutes before the end of shooting light. Sunday morning, I had a chance at 3 does, but as I was setting up a shot, a couple guys headed up to 4-B/4-C walked up and unintentionally spooked my deer. Sunday evening, I set up back along the tree line again in the back corner. I figured I would move down as it got closer to sunset. Right about 15 minutes after sunset, A buck comes out of the trees about 50 yards downhill, snorting and huffing and making all sorts of racket. 4 does came out of the trees and, instead of going uphill, they went downhill and the buck chased after them. I slowly moved downhill, but I couldn't catch them. No idea where the buck and 1 doe went, but after it was too dark to shoot, I saw 3 tails head out the tank farm and, probably, across the street to graze in recreation area. Oh well, better luck next year. For this year, I'm going back to fishing for my source of free protein.

Traditional Archery

In its purest form, archery requires a straight stick (the arrow) and another stick bent with a string (the bow). There is a whole lot of science behind archery. However, archery predates science. It has been around for thousands of years. It likely predates agriculture. So the term "traditional archery" doesn't really mean much. In reality, it would be better to refer to non-compound-bow archery.

Whatever the name, I have a fascination with traditional archery. The thought of going into the woods with a bent stick and a straight stick and matching my skill to the senses of another animal are highly appealing. Primarily, it comes down to one word... Skill. 

A compound bow can compensate for a low-skilled archer. Precision machined cams and sights and rests and releases make a beginner archer into a mediocre archer and a mediocre archer into a good archer. However, a traditional bow directly manifests the archer's skill.

In the past couple weeks, one thing has become apparent. My archery skills suck. I didn't shoot from January to July. Ideally, I would spend at least 3-5 days per week shooting year-round. Whatever...

I shot a few rounds at 5 yards, expecting to be rusty. Rusty would be good compared to the way I shot. After a couple days of shooting and bow adjustments, I was back into decent form. I moved back to 10 yards and have been getting better groupings each time. Soon, I'll move back further. I would like to be accurate in the 15-20 yards range before hunting season starts. If I can swing it, I'll push back to 25-30 yards but only take shots at 15-20 yard animals.

Fishing

It's been a long time since I posted anything. It seems like I should write something. So, what am I doing now? Among other things, I have been fishing. Well... That's not exactly true. I have been thinking about fishing and occasionally getting out. Now, I really enjoy fishing, but I'm actually really bad at it. Usually, I go out and fish for hours and catch 0-1 keeper-sized fish. Now, I can go catch scup all day, every day. Scup, for many, are the nuisance fish of Southern New England waters. They steal bait and are often too small to take the hook anyway. My favorite fish is summer flounder/fluke. That said, I have caught 1 keeper sized fluke in my entire life. One of the easiest fish to catch around here is bluefish. I have never caught a bluefish. I've cast into a frenzy and pulled a lure through without a hit. Meanwhile, everyone else on the shore was pulling in fish after fish. So, what's the point of all this? I made a list of all the types of fish that I've caught (keeper sized) and those that I haven't caught yet. On the "Caught" list:

• Striped Bass
• Fluke
• Black Sea Bass
• Squid (technically, not a fish)
• Atlantic Herring
• Dogfish (threw it back)
• Skate (also returned to the water)
• Sea Robin
• Scup
• Tautog

On the "Not Caught" (yet) list:

• Bluefish
• Winter Flounder
• Weakfish
• Mackerel
• False Albacore
• Bonito
• Cod
• Mahi Mahi
• Tuna

I'm sure, if I have any readers, this doesn't interest any of them. But, there it is anyway. I hope to add bluefish to my list this year. Only time will tell.

Random Thoughts: Happy Belated New Year!

I'm not a big for celebrating New Years Eve, resolutions and what-not. I didn't even make time for an obligatory Happy New Years post. That said, my New Years Eve was spent watching TV in bed. For the first time in about 5 years, Erin was awake when the ball dropped. Of course, that was only because I got up to turn off her light and inadvertently woke her up.

New Years Day was fun. It was 11 degrees and 22 MPH winds for the Hangover Classic 5-mile road race through Colt State Park in Bristol, RI. To add to the challenge, the course was covered with lose-packed snow and ice. If all that weren't bad enough, as we rounded past the sea wall, there were small chunks of sea ice being tossed up into the wind by the waves.

Erin and I ran the race together for the first three miles, but she got mad at me when I offered to hold her hat a few times. In my defense, the last time I offered was only a short-term offer while she put her jacket back on at the aforementioned sea wall segment. I ran the last two miles on my own and finished in a respectable 41:44.

I really surprised myself with that time, too. I have added back on the seven pounds I lost this past summer. I had added a couple of those pounds back on since starting my new job. I've only been able to fit in two runs per week as the days get shorter. Now that they are getting longer, I hope to add a third one back in. The last few pounds, though, are entirely blamed on my recent constant snacking. I really suffer from the fact that the twelve ounce bag of Doritos is only two servings for me. As we (I) polish off the last of the Xmas junk food, I expect the scale will swing back the other way again. I hope/plan to drop 5-10 pounds by the end of the month. February 1st is the Super 5K, which I will likely run. Should be fun... weather permitting.

Recreation: Running for a year

It dawned on me the other day. I have been running continuously for over a year now. This is monumental for me. In the past, I have taken up various exercise-related activities for months at a time. Even when we were members of the YMCA, we would take multiple months off. If I lie to myself, it always happened because I got busy or preoccupied. In reality, it was because I just got bored.

I mention that because lately I have been getting bored. I am still running, but it feels like maintinence instead of improvement. The only thing really keeping me running is racing. I have the Thanksgiving Day pie run coming up. After that, there is a Christmas 10K and the Super 5K. I may try to find a New Years Day race to pull me through from mid-December to late January.

Anyway, I've had some ups and downs, but generally, I am happy, healthy and strong. While I can't attribute that all to running, every aspect of my life is certainly improved because of it. So, happy anniversary to me and many happy returns!

Here is a photo of the happy couple:

Recreation: SNA 5K Results

Place No. Name                   Div Div   Team Name       Time    Pace
===== === ====================== === ===== =============== ======= =====
   20 145 WILLIAM GAUCH            5 M3039                   20:58  6:45

Overall, I can't compain. I did pretty well, although it still wasnt a personal record. I am still hoping that I can break the 6-minute mile pace. Actually, I guess I have a set of goals which I want to break, in order as follows: 6:30 pace, 20:00 finish, 6:00 pace, 17:00 finish. For those keeping track, a 20 minute finish is about a 6:27 pace, so my first goal and my second goal will probably fall simultaneously.

The 17 minute goal is a "magic number" goal. The powers of the racing world have defined the term "competetive runner" as one who completes a 5K in 17 minutes or less. I honestly don't know if I will ever get there. I know I have the fast twitch muscles in my body to be able to do it, but I just don't know if I could follow a training plan to take me all the way there. The problem is made worse by the fact that most people's prime racing years are in the late 20s to early 30s. As I approach the category of mid-30s, I will only likely get slower.

If I had a little more free time, I would seriously consider volunteering as an assistant high-scool cross country coach. I would have the opportunity to run more frequently. At the same time, I would have to get faster because I couldn't let those punk kids beat me! For now, I think I am going to keep that thought on the back shelf of the brain. I could see dusting it off when Laura gets a little older. She seems to love to run. She spends long periods of time running back and forth down our long hall. All she will need for training is to learn to run with clothes on.

Recreation: Tommorow begins a new season

I have been waiting/training all summer for a few races this fall. Tommorow is the first of these. It is the Salve Regina's Ninth Annual 5K Mansion Run/Walk. I hope to do well. There is one thing, however, that might hold me back.

My last training run (this past Wednesday) went terribly. I planned to do three half-mile intervals at 3:07, but I ended up doing one at 3:17 and a second one at 3:33 before I called it quits. At the finish of my cool down, I had an annoying heel pain. Later in the day, my arch cramped up severely. I was able to massage it out, but it still didn't feel right. This morning, I did a quick search and found my symptoms point, most likely, to plantar fasciitis. I am still planning on running tommorow, but after that, I think I will take it a bit easy for a week or two and see how things feel. From everything I read, though, I should stop running until there is no pain, then run easy with stretching and gradual build-up of miles. That sucks!

Anyway, assuming that my foot heals fast from my Wolverine-like mutant healing factor, I have a bunch more races I plan to run or am thinking about running. Here they are, ordered by date:

• The Fall 2008 SNA 5K By The Bay Road Race - Friday, 10/17/2008, Newport, RI, 5:00pm.


• 20th Annual Jamestown Jack-O-Lantern Jog 5K Run/Walk - Sunday, 10/26/2008, Jamestown, RI, 1:00 pm


• Aquidneck Land Trust 5k Race for Open Space - Saturday, 11/08/2008, Portsmouth, RI, 10:30 am


• NewportFed Pie Run 5 Mile Run/3 Mile Walk - Thursday, 11/27/2008, Middletown, RI, 8:30 am

There is also a 10K in December that I am planning on running. Part of me wants to start running some slightly longer races than the 5Ks which I love so much. Mostly, it's because I know I can't keep setting PRs with every race. Eventually, I will have to fight for individual seconds. Depending on my foot, I may have trouble with a PR tomorrow, although I'm sure the rain will help. I know I don't want to be out any longer than I have to.

I really wish I could train like an elite athlete. I trained pretty hard decently this summer, but only three days a week. Between spending time with my wife and baby and working, I just don't have the time or energy to do much more. That said, I feel myself getting slower these days. I think a lot of that thinking has to do with my previously mentioned crappy speed workout. That said, I realized that 3-minute half-miles are still much slower than my 8th grade 1-mile run that I did at 5:13.

I was thinking about what I did to run that fast. What it comes down to, is I was a kid who could run fast. I didn't train, or exercise. I didn't even really participate in any organized sports where runnign was involved. I just used my blazing fast, fast-twitch muscles that I was born with. Had I been pushed in the direction of high school running, I probably would have done well, but I was certainly not interested in it.

Now, I find myself attempting to regain a shadow of what I had when I didn't care that I had it. In other words, I really hope plan on running a 17 minute 5K in my life. At this point, I may just have to accept sub-20 minutes as a realistic goal. Any faster than that will require a much greater commitment to running than I can give. I love running, but I'm just not "in love" with running.

Recreation: See, Avoid, Greet, Run

I went for a long run this morning and had plenty of time to encounter people and think. When out on the street as a pedestrian there is a funny thing that happens. You see another person headed towards you, still a moderate distance away. Now, you pretend like you didn't notice them, or you find the peeling siding of the houses you pass infinitely interesting. You don't want to stare, that would be rude. As you get closer, they are typically doing the same thing. Now, you have to time it just right becuase. If you do it wrong, akwardness and aprehension will follow for both parties. At the perfectly right moment, you "notice" them, smile, maybe even wave and say, 'Hi.' Then you quickly avert your eyes and move along.

It's strange how people greet each other in this manner in almost all situations. OK, sometimes you get a conversationalist. Other times you might get someone who is oblivious, rude, or inexperienced at the See-Avoid-Greet process. In most cases, though, people are the same. I just find it strange that looking at someone is rude if you look too long and rude if you don't look at all.

Recreation: Me and running

I was thinking about what running means to me today as I read a Runners World blog post (The End of a Season; The Beginning of a Journey) written by one of the "Marathon Moms." I never used to read that blog because I am neither a marathoner or a mom. Erin would always complain about them becuase they aren't marathoners and not really mothers either, so I felt compelled to start reading.

As it turns out, I have the same issues with this blog/the authors that Erin has. Neiter of the writers are current marathoners. Both have run marathons in the past, but neither one is in training to run one in the future. One is into triatholons and the other is into rowing. I personally would think that a blog with that title would provide advice, stories, experiences, etc. for either marathoners or mothers or both.

In addition to their lack of marathoning, they both have nannies. I don't have a problem with that, per se, but it seems like they use the nannies to deal with the challenges of parenthood while taking only a small portion of the joys. Often the tone of the motherhood-related writing is cold, sometimes spiteful and stoic. At times it seems like they perceive their children as burdens instead of little bundles of joy at all times, even when their screaming, kicking, or running around with poop hanging off their naked butt after they just used the potty.

Getting back on track, this specific post was one of the authors writing about her recent triatholon. She talks about her "weariness" (aka, bordom) with her training. Here is the excerpt of the thing that got me thinking:

To be honest, a serious case of weariness set in around mid-July, and I was just hanging on until yesterday, going through the motions of the workouts. I wished away time, waiting for today when my triathlon schedule would be cleared.

Wishing away? Um, sounds familiar. Parenthood, anyone? As much as I wanted to be the mother that noted every accomplishment and documented them appropriately, I am far from it. I honestly can't remember the first word either of my kids said.

WTF?!? Whishing away moments of life with your child?!? I wouldn't trade eight hours of all the previously stated challenges (or any others for that matter) for anything in the world. I can tell you that I fully appreciate the routine, boring moments just as well. I have read The Lorax about 100 times in the last couple weeks and I am still willing to read it again (and again, and again) just to have her sitting on my lap, the floor, the bed, etc. being entertained by my reading.

I love my baby and every thing she does. I cherrish every moment with her. As I sat thinking about my running, Yes, I like to run fast. Yes, I like to run races. Yes, it is relaxing. All those standard reasons that people run do appeal to me. When all is said and done, though, one thing sticks out that I love about running.

Running will help me live longer and that means that I get to spend one more hour, week, month, year, decade, etc. with my baby. Oh, sure... I know she won't be "a baby" when I am at the end of my life, but she will always be my daughter. More time with her is worth all the tiredness, fatigue, boredom, and pain that I might experience. That's why I run.

Recreation: Olympics

I can't believe how much I have gotten sucked up into the Olympics. I didn't watch one single minute of Sydney or Athens, but for some reason, I can't get enough coverage. I even find myself wishing that I had cable or sattelite so I could watch more. The only problem I have been having is that I keep falling asleep around 10 or so. I end up missing 2 hours of primetime. I have actually woken up at 4 and watched the west coast replays. One thing I think would be better is if they scheduled the Olymplics for my convenience. I mean, seriously, how hard would it be to call me up and say, "Hey Bill, what do you want to watch and when?" Other than that, the only problem I have had is that I find water polo and synchronized diving extremely boring. I would rather see some the the other events that are taped instead of the boring events live. Oh well, I guess the coverage is US-centric even if it's not Bill-centric.

Recreation: Procrastination

Any time I have an opportunity to run but decide, "I'll go later today because...", I end up regretting the decision. I could have dragged my butt out of bed at 4:30 when I woke up. I didn't because I figured that I could just run with the stroller since my mom can't watch Laura today. OK, honestly, that isn't true. I didn't because I was tired and didn't feel like running, but I had the thought that I could just run with the stroller later in the day. Turns out, it is supposed to rain for most of the day and it is just starting now.

I know Laura won't melt in contact with water, but I just can't subject her to being rained on for 25 minutes or so just so I can go for a run. At this point, it looks like I will be running after Erin gets home. In theory, the rain is supposed to be much more scattered later today, so that's a plus.

Recreation: Five Fast Miles

I'm supposed to go run five miles today with two intervals of one mile each. That means 1.25 miles warm-up and 1.25 miles of cool-down. I never liked the concept of warm-up and cool-down. It seems to blow away necessary fuel, thereby reducing the amount of work one is able to do. I know the intention of it is to get blood flowing where it needs to go, when it needs to go there. Also, with cool-down, there is some risk of fainting if you stop dead in your tracks from a hard run. In addition, training with warm-ups and cool-downs will eventually build one's stamina so that it is completely normal and doable.

I guess, warm-ups and cool-downs kindof have a point, but so do I. My point is the fact that it is 6:30 a.m. and really foggy and I can't seem to motivate myself to go back upstairs, put on my gear and get out the door for five fast miles.

Recreation: Not so bad

After last week's abysmal run, today's run wasn't so bad. Actually, I almost might call it good. My legs felt like jelly for the last half mile and I had to walk twice. Other than that, though, it was pretty good. The training plan called for me to repeat last week's six mile run, which is good. I don't think I could have done seven miles today. Actually, I don't know how I will be able to do seven miles next weekend, but that is something I don't have to think about for another week.

Recreation: Worst run ever

I know they can't all be great. I know sometimes, they're downright bad. Today my run was bad. No... Not bad... Abysmally terrible. It was, by far, the worst run I have ever had in my entire life.

The first runs I ever did were pretty bad. The terrible feelings about not being able to even run continuously for half a mile were almost overwhelming. This run was worse.

The run I had this past winter where I decided to increase my mileage was really bad. It was changing between freezing rain and slushy snow with high winds. My knee decided to lock up almost precisely half way through a 6 mile run. After a moderate amount of stretching, I was able to walk again, intermixed with some running and further knee lock-ups. Today's run was much worse... Much, much worse.

I ran and walked a grand total of 1:05:02 to cover a huge distance of 6 miles. Hopefully, next weekend will be better.

Recreation: SNA 5k by the Bay Results

So I don't have a link to the official posted times yet, but they posted a print out on the wall at the post-race table. I finished 27th overall with a time of 20:49. I did much better than I though I was going to do given that I kept seeing people pass me throughout the race. Thinking back, I feel that about half the 27 passed me and the other half were ahead of me the whole time. I was 9 seconds behind a second place medal in my age group. I was about 5 feet behind that guy with about 1/3 of a mile to go. I started to put on some speed but I almost blew chunks.

Anyway, I'm happy with my results. I can't believe I did so well. It was a very warm 75 degrees. I know anyone who has been to the south would feel that 75 isn't that warm, but running sub-7 minutes per mile raises body temperature significantly. I don't even want to put on a t-shirt right now, let alone pants. Nope, it's the underwear post for me.

UPDATE:

Here are the official results:

Place No.       Name        Div/Tot   Div    Time    Pace
 27   88   WILLIAM GAUCH      4/19   M3039   20:49   6:42
 37   87    ERIN GAUCH        3/10   F1829   22:06   7:07

Random Thoughts: I had a feeling

When I was first notified that my website would be migrated to a new "better" server, I had my doubts. Why would a company invest money in something that works well already. That said, it looks like this new server is slower (network wise) and less reliable than the old one. Other than the time that their whole server crashed and I pretty much lost my entire site, the old server served me well. At this point, it's just an annoyance to me, but if people start telling me that the site is inoperable or otherwise unusable, it will escalate in priority.

In running news, I had thought about running the Norman Bird Sanctuary 5k last weekend, but backed out at the last minute. Last night, I convinced my wife that we should run the SNA 5k by the Bay. I hope to set a new PR (better than 21:52), but realistically, I will probably be somewhere in the 22:00 to 24:00. Running-wise, though, I have been feeling pretty good lately. The weather could kill all that, though. If it is hot and sunny, I will probably do poorly. If it is raining, I would probably do better, but running with glasses in pouring rain sucks. In either case, I'm committed now. Wish me luck.

Recreation: Should I or shouldn't I?

I have been looking for my next run to motivate me in my training. After all, it makes it tough to train for no specific purpose. If you recall from a previous post, I was thinking the June 'SNA 5k by the Bay' was going to be my next race. It still hasn't been posted, so I was in a standstill. I don't want to register for a different race around the same time because I don't want to go overboard. What would I do if they were on the same day or even consecutive days?

That said, I periodically look for newly posted races on Cool Running to see if there is something else that seems interesting. I don't really want to run a 'fun run' associated with a bar or restaurant. I also generally like to keep my distances on the shorter side. That said, I recently discovered the 21^st Annual Narrow River Run. It is a 10K Run/5K Run/Walk. It is on May 17^th, so it would be far enough away from the SNA race to be safe. My only question is whether or not my knees will be in fighting form to run a 10K by then.

My general doctor seemed to think I had some previous meniscus damage that got shaken loose from my running. The running shoe store clerk seemed to think my pain was probably due to my moderate/severe over-pronation combined with the fact that my legs are of different lengths (according to her). A $99 dollar pair of shoes plus a full length orthotic insert plus a lift in my left shoe will probably help a lot (again, according to her).

In reality, it looks like the saleswoman was more correct. This new running gear has completely eliminated all pain from my right knee and has significantly reduced the pain in the left. Although, I say that but it really just moved the pain. Now, though, I think it might be muscle, tendon or ligament based. Some stretching and conditioning should help with that. My only question at this point, though, is will I be in shape to run 6.2 miles in May? I will know better in the next couple weeks, but my prospects are looking good.

Random Thoughts: Super 5K was more than OK

Alright, I know that title was really lame, but what do you expect coming from me? I had a great race. In fact, I far exceeded my goals. I hoped to finish in the top half. Based on last year's results, I figured I had to do better than about 8:20 per mile. My results are as follows:

Overall: 97/395 Age Group(30-39): 24/49 Time: 21:52 Pace: 7:03

That puts me in the top 25%. All in all, I couldn't be happier. Now, I just have to figure out what my next race will be. I think it might be the SNA 5K by the Bay. Although, at this point, they don't have their June race listed, so I guess we will see.