The Rowe Family Blog

I was supposed to run 5 miles on Tuesday 6/26.  However I didn’t think my shins were up to it after my running from the previous week.  As much as it killed me to do so I skipped the run.  My training plan called for another 5 mile run on Thursday.  My shins felt good enough so I ran that day.

A friend from work joined me for the run.  He’s not been running much lately so he ran for the first 3.2 opting out of the final 2.2 miles.  It was nice to have someone to run with.  Having a partner encouraged me to take it easy which I probably wouldn’t have done had I been out on my own.

Tomorrow, Sunday, I’m planning to run 13 miles.  My training plan calls for 12 miles but that’s not a convenient distance.  Besides, I’m short almost 5 miles for the week!

In the last week or so I’ve learned of a number of nice running training logs. Mapmyrun.com is one and Runner’s World has two. So far I’ve used the newest runners world training log the most. I’ve looked at the tools from Mapmyrun.com and the other Runner’s world training log but I think I’m settling into using the newest Runner’s World log. The primary reason is that it allows me to export my data. I’m happy to use their tools but I refuse to be locked into using them forever.

The log also allows you to display data on your own webpage. Here are some of my stats:

This week I started training for the 2007 Rochester Marathon.  I should have started 3 weeks prior but Cassie had other plans for me.

Once again I’m going to roughly follow a training plan generated by the “smart coach” on runnersworld.com.  I like to follow the distances but ignore the pacing information.  I like the plan because it calls for 3 days of running each week.  That makes it possible (though still difficult) for me to keep up with weight training.

This week called for 6 mile run, a 5 mile run, and a 10 mile long run.  I ran a 6.2 mile run, a 6.5 mile run, and an 8 mile run instead.  Read on for the details… Read the rest of this entry »

Friday night I went for a long run.  I went for many reasons.  Mary wasn’t around, Cassie wasn’t around, I was due for a long run, and I had nothing better to do.  Well, honestly, sleeping sounded like a better idea but I went for a run after a 1 hour nap anyhow.  It’s hard to get out running, especially on a long run, after you’ve been asleep for an hour and wake up still tired.  I’m glad I did.  If I hadn’t I would have never seen the squirredile or the circle birds. Read the rest of this entry »

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of running the Rowe Half with a friend.  The only time I’ve ever run with someone else is when Mary and I first started running.  Since then it has been a solo journey for me.

John and I planned on running the Rowe Quarter but when we got to the 6.5 mile mark John wasn’t tired and wanted to keep going — so we did!   John now has the amazing honor of being the first non-Rowe to run the Rowe Half.

It was a perfect night in regards to weather for a run.  It was warm but not hot and there was a gentle breeze.  It’s no wonder John wanted to keep going.

I didn’t see much along the way mostly because John and I talked to each other for the first 12 miles!  I can’t believe that I was able to run like I did and talk so much.  We saw 5 deer along the way and 4 of them were still alive.  I’m dreading running past the unlucky deer in the weeks to come.

We completed the Rowe Half in 2:17:16.  That’s a 10:34 pace.  Considering all of the talking we did and the fact that this is the longest distance John has EVER run I would have to say that we did extremely well (especially John).

Last night (Wednesday) I ran the 3 mile loop.  I wasn’t trying to run particularly fast, I just wanted to get a couple miles in.  I ended up completing it in 25:37 — an 8 minute pace!  I was very tired and not trying to break any PRs so I’m extremely surprised and pleased with the time.

I’m hoping to run the Rowe Half again this weekend.

I wrote previously about how poorly I felt that Rust Consulting handled the Epson Ink Lawsuit settlement.  They sent me rejection letters for each of the two eligible printers that I applied for.  I had been rejected incorrectly and I wasn’t too happy about that.  Then, not too long ago, I received an email regarding the dates in which special codes for discounts at Epson’s online store would be active.  Those codes are part of the settlement that they incorrectly decided that I was not eligible to participate in.  Much to my surprise I found two checks and discount codes in my mailbox about 2 weeks ago.

I still contend that they did a very poor job handling this settlement but I am pleased that they recognized their error.

Last night I ran in the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge in Rochester NY at RIT.  This is a fun race and there are far more non-serious runners than experienced runners.  This is most evident by the extreme display of optimism at the start line.  Runners line up according to their estimated pace time.  Because the event is not chip timed and because there are many inexperienced/optimistic runners many line up out of their ability range.  This makes it hard for the honest runners as they have to dodge many slower runners on the often narrow course around campus.  Last year I lined up at the 10 minute mile pace section.  This year I lined up at the 7 minute mile location.  I didn’t really expect that I’d get a 7 minute pace but it wasn’t too much of an exaggeration.  I did feel a little bad when the pre-race push to the start happened.  At that point I was pushed into the 6 minute miler realm which is far out of my ability right now. Read the rest of this entry »

After a long 6 days at the hospital we all arrived home.  Our first day home went pretty well especially due to all of the help from friends and family.  Meals were given to us and Mary’s mom made a special trip to help us out while I went to run the Chase Corporate Challenge.

Our first night was rough on the three of us but we did survive (I wasn’t sure we ere going to).  We were finally able to figure out what was bothering Cassie around 4 am and she fell into a sound sleep.  Prior to that she would sleep only in our arms.  That wouldn’t have been too bad except the two of us were too tired.  We were afraid that we’d fall asleep too.  But we finally got her to sleep and so we went to sleep too.  …And we’re not even all that tired (yet) today.

We also took Cassie for her first doctor’s visit today.  She’s doing well in all regards.