Sneak preview for the half marathon tomorrow.

I took a little walk today at 06:00 and took this picture of the blooms on Ott St., we will be running here before heading east through the park at the beginning of the race. Note the yellow-green sign for pedestrian/bicycle crossing on the right hand side and the white cross walk; this is part of the bicycle and walking initiative in Allentown to make it safer for those activities-go Allentown!

One week to the half marathon! and a few days.

The last three weeks we have been tapering doing 11,10 then 8 miles last Sunday. Tomorrow we are going to run 6 miles as we continue to throttle down for the May 1st St. Luke's Lehigh Valley Marathon. Here is picture of me as I am about to cross the finish line last year. I feel pretty good but I am not going to try to run the entire course. I have been using the run/walk in my training along with the heart rate monitor and I am going to continue as this seams to be working well. As I go into the last week I am going to make sure I hydrate well every day, watch my diet and use the foam roller. Oh, and I must pick up a case of Yuengling Black and Tan for after the race!

Latest run

Yesterday I did a 10.68 mile run/walk and had no problems with my recent calf strain. I am slowly increasing the run duration and decreasing the walk duration. Last week I was in Florida and while running I could feel my calf muscle get tight and sting a little bit so I am being cautious this close to the half marathon. I had been on pace to run the half on a 2:20 pace but that looks too aggressive at this time-better slow go than no go. I have been using arnica gel on my leg,using the foam roller and the stick(I take the stick to work). This is the first time using arnica gel so I am not sure yet if it is helping.

The Stick and the foam roller saved my training!

A few weeks ago I strained my calf muscle and was worried that I would not be able to keep up my mileage for the May 1 half marathon. But with regular use of the Stick ( as shown in the picture ) and the foam roller I was able to complete the 7 mile training run with our group today. I had a similar injury last year just before entering a half marathon and at the race expo there was a vendor selling "sticks". The man gave me a demo while talking to me. I was leaving the expo and felt so good I bought one and have been an avid user ever since. If you have not seen one of these tools go here www.thestick.com/

Jessica's first race.

Here is a picture of my daughter, Jessica and her friend Joe. Jessica just finished her first race, the Gasparilla Distance Classic 15k. She had a time of 1:43:23. Way to go Jess!

Superbowl 10k

Had a nice run yesterday in the Superbowl 10k. This is the only picture I have which is after the race as JoAnne and I were walking to the car. I ran 1:3:36 a PR for me (my first 10k)! Due to the ice on the roads the course was modified to an out and back two times. I felt good so with a mile to go I pushed the last mile (mostly down hill). I was glad when I got out of bed today I had no pains!

St. Luke’s Half Marathon Training Group

I ran with the training group on Sunday morning, we did about 4 miles at a conversational pace. According to my heart rate monitor I ran mostly between 65% and 75% of my maximum heart rate. This is a great way to get in a good run with a nice group of people. Laura Michaels is the organizer and is very enthusiastic. Little over 12 weeks to the half!