Last couple runs before Indianapolis

Monday evening, we made our way to the ORU Aerobics Center for PB practice. After a 1500 meter warmup and some stretching, Cameron ran a 600 meter time trial in 2:30. After a few minutes rest, he ran 4x200 meters, with about a 90 second rest between each repeat. His times were 40, 42, 43, and 41 seconds. A 750 meter cooldown brought Cameron's daily mileage to 2.3 miles. This brought his monthly total to 48.4 miles, and his yearly total to 182.7 miles.

Tuesday evening found us at the ORU Aerobics Center once again for PB practice. After a 1500 meter warmup and stretching, Cameron did 3 sets of 10 minutes running/5 minutes stretching. His target running pace was 1:15 per 250 meter lap, and he equaled or beat this pace on all 3 sets, averaging 1:15 on the first set, 1:12 on the second set, and 1:11 on the final set. Cameron's total distance run was 4.7 miles, bringing his monthly total to 53.1 miles, and his yearly total to 187.4 miles.

Cameron and I leave for Indianapolis tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon. Saturday morning, we will be a part of the largest half marathon in the United States, with 35,000 registered runners. As of now, the weather for the race looks nearly ideal, with temperatures in the upper 40s to lower 50s, relatively light winds, and mainly overcast skies.

Thursday & Friday

Thursday evening, it was back to the ORU Aerobics Center for PB practice. After a 750 meter warmup and stretching, Cameron ran 3x1000 meters, with a 2 minute rest between each repeat. His times were 4:30, 4:26, and 4:25. After a few minutes rest, Cameron did 3 laps around the track where he walked the curves and sprinted the straightaways, which were about 50 meters each in length. Cameron's total distance run was 2.5 miles, bringing his monthly total to 44.6 miles, and his yearly total to 178.9 miles.

Late Friday afternoon, we once again made our way to the ORU Aerobics Center for PB practice. After a 750 meter warmup and some stretching, Cameron ran a 200 meter time trial in 41 seconds. After a few minutes rest, he ran another 200 meter time trial, again in 41 seconds. After another few minutes of rest, he ran a 400 meter time trial in 1:33. After a few more minutes of rest, Cameron ran 4x100 meters, and his time for each of the 100's was 20 seconds. A 500 meter cooldown brought Cameron's daily mileage to 1.5 miles. This brings his monthly total to 46.1 miles, and his yearly total to 180.4 miles.

Monday & Tuesday

After a quick weekend trip to Wisconsin for a wedding in the family, we returned to Tulsa late Sunday night. Then on Monday evening, we made our way to the ORU Aerobics Center for PB practice. After a 750 meter warmup and some stretching, Cameron ran a ladder of 1250 meters/1000 meters/750 meters/500 meters/250 meters. The rest between each decreased along with the distance, starting at 5 minutes after the 1250, and decreasing a minute at a time down to 2 minutes before the 250. Cameron's times were 5:23 for the 1250, 4:18 for the 1000, 3:10 for the 750, 2:00 for the 500, and 59 seconds for the 250. A 500 meter cooldown brought Cameron's daily mileage to 3.1 miles. This brought his monthly total to 37.9 miles, and his yearly total to 172.2. miles.

PB did not have practice Tuesday, but Cameron wanted to go to JATC practice so he could see his friend Ethan. After a 1/2 mile warmup and stretching, Cameron ran 6x400 meters, with a 60 second rest between each repeat. His times were 1:48, 1:46, 1:42, 1:46, 1:44, and 1:45. After about a 10 minute rest, Cameron ran 4x400 meters, with a 60 second rest after the first two repeats, and a 3 minute rest prior to the final repeat. His times were 1:35, 1:37, 1:38, and 1:33. A 1.2 mile cooldown brought Cameron's daily mileage to 4.2 miles. This brings his monthly total to 42.1 miles, and his yearly total to 176.4 miles.

Tuesday

Tuesday evening found us at the ORU Aerobics Center once again for PB practice. After a 1750 meter warmup and stretching, Cameron ran 3x500 meters/1000 meters, with a 2-3 minute rest between each. His times for the 500's were 2:18, 2:14, and 2:16, and for the 1000's, they were 4:42, 4:41, and 4:29. The 4:29 was a 1000 meter PR for Cameron by 1 second. A 1750 meter cooldown brought Cameron's daily mileage to 5 miles. This brings his monthly total to 34.8 miles, and his yearly total to 169.1 miles. As a side note, Colby, one of Cameron's friends from his football team last fall, came to track practice with PB last night. Colby has been wanting to run track, but his parents weren't aware of any youth track clubs until we told them about JATC, and now PB. Colby also plays baseball at this time of the year, so he will only be running track on a limited basis.

Monday

Monday evening, we made our way to the ORU Aerobics Center for PB practice. After a 750 meter warmup and some stretching, Cameron ran 4x200 meters. His times were 44, 47, 46, and 45 seconds. He then ran 4x100 meters, and his times were 20,20,20, and 19 seconds. He finished up by running 250 meters in 50 seconds, which was easily the fastest 250 meter lap he had ever done on that track. Cameron's total distance run was 1.4 miles, bringing his monthly total to 29.8 miles, and his yearly total to 164.1 miles.

Get Fit Tulsa 5K

Saturday morning, Cameron and I competed in the Get Fit Tulsa 5K race. The course had a few rolling hills, and the weather was nearly ideal, with sunny skies, light winds, and temperatures climbing through the 40s. Cameron finished with a time of 25:42, placing 1st out of 22 in the 8/under age group, 34th out of 152 males, and 52nd out of 276 overall. With free entry, including a t-shirt, for all kids 14 and under, this race typically has the highest number of kids running the 5K of any race in Tulsa, and this year was no exception. I finished nearly 5 minutes behind Cameron in 30:38, and Cameron's brother Brandon ran the 1K fun run in 5:27. We jogged a 1K warmup prior to the race, so Cameron's total distance run was 3.7 miles, bringing his monthly total to 28.4 miles, and his yearly total to 162.7 miles.

Catch up time

It's time to catch up on Cameron's runs this week. On Monday evening, we made our way to the ORU Aerobics Center for PB practice. After a 750 meter warmup and stretching, Cameron ran a ladder of 800 meters/400 meters/200 meters, with a 5 minute rest after the 800, and a 2 minute rest after the 400. His times were 3:26 for the 800, 1:38 for the 400, and 43 seconds for the 200. After a few minutes rest, Cameron did 3 laps around the track where he walked the curves and sprinted the straightaways, which were about 50 meters each in length. A 1000 meter cooldown brought Cameron's daily mileage to 2.1 miles. This brought his monthly total to 19.6 miles, and his yearly total to 153.9 miles.

Thursday evening once again found us at the ORU Aerobics Center for PB practice. After a 750 meter warmup and some stretching, Cameron ran an 800 meter time trial. His time of 3:15 established a new PR by 2 seconds. After a 7 minute rest, Cameron ran 6x150 meters. His times were 35, 35, 35, 34, 35, and 33 seconds. A 750 meter cooldown brought Cameron's daily mileage to 2 miles. This brought his monthly total to 21.6 miles, and his yearly total to 155.9 miles.

Late Friday afternoon, we were back at the ORU Aerobics Center for PB practice. After a 1750 meter warmup and some stretching, Cameron ran 1000 meters/500 meters/1000 meters, with a 2 minute rest between each. His times for the 1000's were 4:48 and 4:37, and for the 500, his time was 2:18. A 750 meter cooldown brought Cameron's daily mileage to 3.1 miles. This brings his monthly total to 24.7 miles, and his yearly total to 159 miles.

Lake McMurtry 25K Trail Race

This past Saturday, Cameron and I competed in the 25K Lake McMurtry Trail Race. The Wednesday before the race, we were talking about it, and Cameron said he wanted to run the 25K, and not the 12K. Since he will be running a half marathon in early May, and he had already run as far as 15K before, I decided to go ahead and let him try it. I got off work at 6 am Saturday morning, and we headed out to the race site, arriving just before the 50K racers took off at 8 am.

The strong southeast winds made it a bit chilly waiting the 30 minutes for our 25K start, but 8:30 finally rolled around, and race director Ken Childress gave us some course instructions and sent us on our way. Cameron was a bit apprehensive about this Leap O' Doom that Ken talked about, and we did not have to wait long to come face to face with this challenge. About 1/2 mile into the race, the Leap O' Doom appeared, and Cameron wouldn't make the leap across. So I had to pick him up, and together we successfully made the leap. The next few miles went by fairly quickly, as Cameron was in a very chatty mood, apparently excited to be running his first 25K. About 5 miles in, I noticed that the temperature was climbing rapidly, which was not good news for me as I do not handle heat all that well. We made it through the first half of the race in good shape, limiting our walk breaks to mostly the uphills, and staying hydrated at all the aid stations. Cameron was also helping himself to all the snacks available at the aid stations.

The second half of the race started out OK, but eventually my legs became shot, so walking became the norm the last few miles, with just a little bit of running mixed in. Cameron said he was still feeling good, and he probably could have run off and finished well ahead of me, but we had decided to stay together so he wouldn't get lost. The first time by the aid station on the south trail, Cameron decided that a coke sounded good. About 1/2 mile past the aid station, he decided that coke wasn't such a good idea in the middle of a run, as it was making his stomach hurt. This didn't last long however, and we made it the last few miles without any complaints at all from Cameron. As for me, I was constantly complaining that my legs were going to fall off if I ran much more, and I was hot, so I was ready to be done. We finally made it back to the final 50 meter or so uphill stretch to the finish line. Cameron took off in a sprint at that point, and I ran it in as well, but at a much slower pace. Cameron crossed the finish line in 3:36:30, 7 seconds ahead of me, and in 39th place overall out of 49 finishers.

Cameron did an amazing job in his first 25K, never complaining at all, and putting up with dad having to walk a lot towards the end of the race. His total distance run was 15.5 miles, bringing his monthly total to 17.5 miles, and his yearly total to 151.8 miles.

Thursday

This evening, we were back at the ORU Aerobics Center for PB practice. After a 1500 meter warmup and some stretching, Cameron ran 3x40 yards. His times were 7.4, 7.1, and 6.7 seconds. After a short rest, he ran 1000 meters in 4:37. After another short rest, Cameron did 2 sets of 3 laps around the track where he walked the curves and sprinted the straightaways, which were about 50 meters each in length. He had another short rest between the 2 sets. Cameron's total distance run was 2 miles, which is also his total for the month. This brings his yearly total to 136.3 miles.

Monday

Monday evening, we made our way to the ORU Aerobics Center for PB practice. After a 750 meter warmup and some stretching, Cameron ran 2 sets of 3x300 meters, with a 90 second rest between each repeat, and a 6 minute rest between sets. His times for the 1st set were 1:07, 1:08, and 1:09, and for the 2nd set, they were 1:04, 1:06, and 1:06. After a few minutes rest, Cameron did 3 laps around the track where he walked the curves and sprinted the straightaways, which were about 50 meters each in length. A 500 meter cooldown brought Cameron's daily mileage to 2.1 miles. This brings his monthly total to 41 miles, and his yearly total to 134.3 miles.