Busy Busy and back at it

This past month-and-a-half have been pretty busy and I'm sorry I haven't been doing a lot of running or blogging during that time frame.

It's been a busy time for my wife and I and I'm glad to finally have a few minutes to do some blogging. To save some time here's what I've been up to this past month-and-a-half.
1. Starting a new job teaching summer school. Getting the basement of our house ready for new carpet
3. Not doing near enough running
4. Getting my internets fixed (twice)
5. Getting to run a random three mile race in Good Thunder, Minnesota
6. Finishing a summer school teaching job
7. Taking some young adults to New Orleans and Sikeston, MO
8. Running when I get the chance.

I think most of those speak for themselves, but it was especially interesting running a three mile road race in Good Thunder. My wife and I planned to do some camping with friends in a state park near Mankato, but because of poor weather we instead to stay with our friend's parents in Good Thunder. Good Thunder just happened to be having Pioneer Indian days. On Saturday morning one of the festivities was a "5k" fun run.

On Runner's World's website it said the event has around 100 participants and the course is certified and chip timed. I'm going to have to say that was not the case. Maybe they planned for chip timing but didn't do it because the power was out--I doubt it though since I think there was between 20-30 runners participating. I also doubt it was a certified 5k course since my Garmin said it was 3.01 miles.

It was fun anyway though because my wife and our friends all ran it and we had a good time before and after. I hadn't run a 5k since Jan 1 so I thought I'd see how I could do. I went out pretty quickly and ran the first mile in 5:35. Most of the first mile was on pavement but then we turned onto gravel and it got a little tougher because the gravel was very wet and tough to get good traction. I still managed a 5:34 on the second mile but on the third mile we turned onto an even soggier gravel road and there was a head wind. I was also running all by myself. The race finished up a little hill and since there was no one near me I decided not to sprint it in. Final time for 3 miles: 17:12. I thought the guy at the finish told me 17 flat and didn't bother to check it until later when I uploaded the data onto SportTracks. Whatever. My last mile was 6:01 so definitely not a great final split. I'd like to do another 5k and see what I can do with some better conditions and pacing.


I've got some time off now as I work to find employment, do odds and ends around the house, and get back in the groove of things after spending almost 11 days on the road. I'm hoping to be doing more running and blogging in the next month.

Here's some shots of my (not-so) recent running activity. I forgot to put a shot of me pacing, so here it is along with a shot of the Good Thunder running crew.