A blog for (semi) athletic middle-aged men (and women) holding on to (the last vestiges of) their youth
by training for and competing in running, cycling, swimming and triathlon events!


Wednesday, July 11, 2007

If it's Wednesday, I must be in Iowa!

What a great day to be alive! I ran 10 miles this morning through the Iowa State University campus -- past Jack Trice football stadium, Hilton Coliseum, Fraternity Row, Welch Street and back to my hotel. The weather was perfect -- 65 degrees, sunny, a light breeze. More like May than July.

My lungs loved the oxygen-saturated air at 955 ft. above sea level (I guess training at 6,300 ft. really does work). For the first three miles I felt like The Running Man. So I kept pushing and ended up averaging 8:50/mile over 10 miles. That's a full minute per mile faster than I averaged during the Rocky Mountain Half Marathon on June 10 in Denver! My two fastest miles were mile seven (8:26) and eight (8:29) and I finished strong with a sub-9:00 mile ten.

So was it my attitude, the altitude or the delicious tenderloin filet (yes, tenderloin is one of the 29 lean cuts of beef) I had for dinner last night at the Olde Main Brewery in downtown Ames? Whatever the reason, today's run boosted my confidence several notches and I am feeling good about my training with 10 days left to Vineman.
Bring it on!

Daren

4 comments:

  1. Daren -

    Nice job on the blog, and even nicer job on the training. I'm sure you are going to have a blast during the tri, and do very well. Keep it up!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Atta boy Daren! Blog looks nice, looks like you spend a lot of time on it, glad I got a chance to check it out. You can definitely out bike and out swim me but you will never be able to out run me! Good luck at the Vineman, it makes me tired just thinking about it. Keep it up!

    Evan Williams
    916.337.3579
    http://www.Melaleuca.com
    http://www.StateFarm.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Way to go Daren! It's important to maintain a healthy diet with that much physical exercise! I'm confident that nutrient-dense beef makes you strong and helped to improve your mile times! Congrats and keep up the great work!

    Amanda Nolz
    www.chewingthecud.org

    ReplyDelete
  4. Daren,

    What? You were in Iowa and didn't call to meet for cocktails? Oh, well, you must be on a hardcore health regiem. Best of luck in the event. Know you'll bowl them over. Think you are onto something with this "Beef: It's what's for training." thing. I'm going to think of you as "The New Jared" (of Subway fame.) Did you save any pants from your 270 days? May come in handy for Beef commercials down the road.

    John Dutcher

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