EQT 10-mile training – Week 2 8/30/15

It begins with a low, elongated growl. It quickly builds in volume and intensity. It’s followed by a mad sprint to the front door. By this point, Ringo, our loyal and overprotective Australian Kelpie, is in full intruder-bark mode.

Several things elicit such behavior from our 40-pound ball of muscle and madness – our mail lady, substitute mail carriers, UPS delivery drivers, passing motorcycles and the Sunday paperboy.

Somehow, Ringo senses the paperboy’s presence from our second-floor bedroom and, within seconds, he wakes up every living creature in the house, including Anna’s pet fish, Goldie.

This week, Ringo’s Sunday morning disturbance served as an alarm clock. It was time to get up, coffee up, hit the bathroom, gather belongings and make the early morning drive from Greensburg to the South Side Flats – a place I lived for 6 1/2 years as a fun-loving bachelor – for my first group training run for the EQT 10-miler with my new friends from Fleet Foot Sports-Pittsburgh.

For most runners, an early morning wake-up call and run isn’t mush of a thing. For me, it is. I’m the assistant night editor at the Observer-Reporter, a daily newspaper in Lil’ Washington. My typical shift runs from 3:30 to 11:30 p.m. Then, I have about a 50-mile drive home. I’ve worked nights and weekends in the newspaper business my entire adult life.

I’m hoping at least a few runners at Sunday’s training run were as groggy as I was before it started.

In other words, I’m not a big morning person. And, yes, I worked Saturday night.

A couple of miles into my drive on Route 30 West, I realized I forgot my morning fuel – bananas for me and gas for the car. It required a quick stop to Sheetz, and I began wondering if I’d make the 7:30 a.m. start. I got there by 7:20, and was greeted by Fleet Feet’s Melissa Migliaro, who’s been beyond awesome since this training/O-R challenge started. She gave a quick rundown of what I could expect and, even with my morning brain fog, I’m certain I heard at least 50 percent of it. Melissa introduced me to Amy Zuckett of Fleet Feet. She was leading a group of runners near my pace, so I joined them for the early portions of Sunday’s 6-mile run, which touched parts of the South Side, North Side and Downtown.

More on that later. On to the weekly recap.

Monday, Aug. 24 – After running three of four days, Monday was lift day. Heavy chest and abs workout. My pecs were sore until Wednesday.

Tuesday, Aug. 25 – Did some pull-ups and dips before heading to a second-floor treadmill at LA Fitness Greensburg. I’m not a big treadmill fan, but I find doing a treadmill run per week helps build my pace, which was 7.3 mph for 4.02 miles.

LA Fitness frowns upon photo taking inside its gym, so consider this photo “sensitive material.”

Wednesday, Aug. 26 – Tuesday’s run was a success, which made me excited to tackle Wednesday’s hilly road course. I covered 4.65 miles in 40:28. After slowing between miles 3 and 4, I picked my pace up by 11 seconds per mile to finish. This run was considered a triumph.

Thursday, Aug. 27 – Thursday’s goal was to run a shorter course but pick up pacing. Another success as I covered 4.01 miles in 33:33. Three consecutive good runs instilled confidence for Sunday’s long run.

Friday, Aug. 28 – Spin class at LA Fitness. Great, great workout. Best spin class since I bought cycle shoes. Feeling real good walking out of the gym.

Saturday, Aug. 29 – I enjoy weight training too much to abandon it, so Saturday was shoulders day. I tend to make my funniest noises on shoulders day. I also attended a seminar about good running form at Fleet Feet. Karen Harr hosted the program, and I found it highly informative.

That’s me with Fleet Feet’s Karen Harr before Sunday’s run. If you want to learn about better running technique, you need to meet Karen. And, yes, I haven’t grown since the last time you saw me.

Sunday, Aug. 30 – The time to run six miles – my longest since doing the 6.4-mile leg of the Pittsburgh Marathon May 3 – was here. The group I started with began an ascent of Arlington Ave. before a turn Newton St. to head back toward the South Side Flats. I went ahead of the group at Newton and caught view of another group – about five runners – descending those interesting South Side stairs. I followed them from a distance across 10th St. Bridge, onto Second Ave. and into Downtown. They stopped around Smithfield St. for a moment as I passed and meandered through downtown. At the 4-mile water stop, I grabbed a quick drink as other runners congregated. Now, I’m far from an expert runner but my 15-plus years of doing it tells me I’m not successful at starting, stopping and starting again. So, again, I soldered onward by PNC Park and across Clemente Bridge. My legs tired slightly at this point but the energy of Downtown helped provide a second wind, which would be needed crossing Smithfield St. Bridge. That’s when my body started to tire, my form got a little sloppy and I tried to remember techniques Karen focused on during the seminar. “Knee drive, knee drive,” I told myself. Too bad I wasn’t paying attention and missed the turn to the stairs leading to River Trail. No worries. It added a little extra mileage.

When I got back to the parking lot, I reached for my phone to stop the Map My Run app I was certain I started at the beginning of the run. Turns out, I never started the workout. So, I have no clue about my time. Not that it mattered. My focus was strictly on finishing, though I stood around for several minutes to stretch and change hoping to see a few people I encountered on the run. It didn’t happen. I’m taking it as a sign I ran well.

Sorry for being long-winded. It was a great week, and I’m excited for Week 3.