Fourteen dead in North Chagrin.

Friday, July 09, 2010

I don’t follow closely all that has been said and printed regarding the LeBron thing. I did notice something said by Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, though.

“He’s guaranteeing that the Cavs will win the NBA championship before LeBron gets his ring,” I said to John.

“That’s IM-possible. Why does he say something so stupid?”

I don’t know if John is right, but I do like the place Gilbert has set the bar. Besides, what is impossible? John is the biggest fan of cycling I know and, like me, has watched with total amazement the things that Lance has done since being diagnosed with cancer. It’s not the same thing, but I’m sure at that time only Lance believed he could do the things he’s done. I’m guessing that Gilbert has a plan and if you have a good plan and determination, well…any goal is attainable. Let’s watch.

I went to the park with a light rain falling. I prayed it would continue since it could only make the run more pleasant. It was cooler than it’s been in about two weeks and I was thinking I’d run an hour and do it pretty hard. I started out on Clear Creek course and decided that I’d try to run somewhere near my pr for the course. The conditions were far from perfect…I think the humidity was 99.9%...so I took it out pretty hard thinking I’d be backing off at the halfway point.

I passed my first two check points, about a third of the way through the run, ahead of pr pace by 30 seconds. Shortly after that though, the humidity had taken its toll. My legs were feeling the strain, but I tried to push through it. By the 40-minute mark, I felt like I’d be happy to crack one hour for the course. I made one stop at the water spigot about 3 minutes from the end of the course and checked the watch. I was surprised to find that I was still close to pr time. I finished the run without trying to pick it up and ended up only 15 seconds off my pr in a time of 55:50.

I was completely spent and quickly plunged into Clear Creek. There was a walker near by and when she saw me submerse, turned and walked in the other direction. I suppose it is an unusual site…I’ve never seen anyone but Marie go in and that’s because I made her…so I can see why she scooted, but I have to tell you there is nothing better after a long, sweaty run.

I had another indicator that I’m getting back to the condition I’d achieved in my middle 30’s. My deerfly kill pr is 21, which I set on a 7-mile run at that time. The best I’ve done in my comeback is only 5. I was starting to think the reflexes were off or that I couldn’t let them bite long enough to complete the smash. Was I over the hill? Today…they were out in force…and they were biting the hell out of me. By the halfway mark, I’d slammed 8, but then it dried up. With about 10 minutes to go though, I smashed another 3 in quick succession and three more over the remainder of the run. Yeah baby…14 KIA’s. I’m back.

Run duration: 56 minutes.


Training Heart Rate: 140.


Calories burned during workout: 975.