Freethinker ~ Freerunner

Time: 0:46:55

Average Pace: 7:49

Splits:

8:06

7:37

7:57

8:01

7:29

7:46

time: 0:55:48

average pace: 7:58

splits:

8:08

7:39

8:00

8:00

7:44

8:18

7:59

Today I ran my annual fourth of July run.  This makes 3 consecutive years in a row I have run the morning of Independence Day.  My running journey began on a fourth of July weekend back in 2002.  I will never forget that weekend.  That was the weekend I quit smoking and started running.  I never looked back and I have never felt better.  

So this day has a two fold special meaning for me.  This day means a lot to American's, and especially all those who fight to uphold to the principles of limited government and individual liberty everywhere it can be preserved.  The founding fathers who laid the ground work for these principles in the Constitution of the United States of America understood that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.  Benjamin Franklin is often quoted as saying, "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither."  I believe Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and all of the other founders would be flabbergasted if they could see what has become of those precious liberties they risked their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to protect.  

Most of the career politicians in Washington today have absolutely no respect for the Constitution or the Bill of Rights.  They hold working Americans in virtual slavery with outrageously high income taxes.  They regulate every facet of our lives form the number of electrical outlets in our homes, to the amount of water that is permitted in our toilet bowls.  There is not one area of our lives today that is not in some way touched by the intrusive hands of the politicians and bureaucrats in our midst.

But fortunately there is hope for freedom lovers today.  Many of us still still value economic and personal liberty.  We call ourselves libertarians.  In the 18th century those who valued limited government and personal liberty were called liberals, but today the word liberal has been stolen.  Today in the 21st century the word liberal means something entirely different.  It is a word to describe those who advocate big government programs, and high taxes.  Liberals think that government made America great, whereas libertarians think that freedom is what made America great. 

So today people who uphold the values of the founders, i.e. limited government and individual liberty, call themselves libertarians.  The hope for libertarians is that there are various organizations working today to restore our lost liberties, reduce taxes, and promote the values of a self reliant free society.  The Libertarian Party is the third largest political party and only party completely dedicated to libertarian principals.  You can find out more about this organization at their website http://www.lp.org/. 

There also seems to be a strong libertarian presence growing within the Republican Party as well.  I think this movement was given a kick start in 2007 when the Republican congressman Ron Paul from Texas announced he was seeking the party's nomination for President of the United States.  Many of Ron Paul's supporters came together and formed what I believe to be one of the largest grass roots movements to elect a president in American history. 

This election year many of the so called Tea Party candidates seem to have strong libertarian leanings.  If you live in my state which happens to be Oklahoma you have two excellent Republican candidates running for office who understand the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.  Randy Brogdon for governor and Nathan Dahm for district 1.  So if you are reading this and you care about preserving the values our great nation was founded upon then I urge you to become informed, and find out more about those who represent you in Washington.  If your representatives are compromising your freedoms, then make sure to hold them to account and vote them out of office in the next election. 

On that thought I'll post my days running time.   Happy Independence Day!

Time: 1:30:28

Average Pace: 9:02 per mile

Time: 1:05:31

Average: 8:11

Splits:

8:33

7:44

8:14

8:23

7:50

8:15

8:29

8:01

I had to miss 2 runs this week for a total of 11 miles due to a sore left calf muscle.  I have been in physical therapy for the past two weeks for my mid foot sprain that occurred back in April while training for the Oklahoma City Marathon.  My ankle and foot are feeling great as I'm on my way to recovery, however my trainer had me doing calf raises that burned my muscle to point soreness.  This morning I felt fine, and I'm looking forward to running 11 miles tomorrow morning.    

Time: 0:23:54

Pace: 7:58

splits: 

8:17

7:45

7:52

I left the house at 6:40 this morning.  It was only about 72 degrees with a nice thick cloud cover.  In short, awesome running weather considering it is July in Oklahoma.  The humidity was a bit high, but I'm quite conditioned for that having lived here all my life.  I felt really good especially considering my previous week of having missed three scheduled runs due to a sore left calf from my physical therapy exercises.

Time: 1:46:06

Average Pace: 8:50

First 6 miles: Time: 0:52:04, average pace: 8:40

Back 6 miles: Time: 0:54:10, average pace 9:01

My long run course is an 'out and back' and it has a lot of challenging hills.  It is obvious from the last half of my run that they weren't as easy to take as compared to the first half.   

I'm excited after this mornings run.  The reason is this marks the beginning of my sixth week of pre-training training, and I have only managed to crawl out of bed and run on a Monday morning twice in those six weeks including this one.  For some reason Monday morning runs are hard for me.  It most certainly has to do with Monday falling the day after my long runs on Sunday, and I guess I've never quite conditioned my body to run the day after a long run.  I feel as though psychologically my mind is telling me that my body needs more time to repair and recover.  My goal this season is to overcome that mental road block, push myself to higher mileage, and thus raise my state of fitness and well being to a new level.

Time: 0:48:33

Average Pace: 8:05

Splits:

8:25

7:47

8:04

8:18

7:49

8:10

I felt really good this morning.  It was really hot out there.  I should have gotten up a little earlier, as we are under an extreme heat advisory yesterday and today.  

Time: 1:03:44

Average Pace: 7:58

Fastest Mile: 7:35

Splits:

8:14

7:38

7:51

7:43

7:35

8:10

8:30

7:59

Time: 0:39:21

Average Pace: 7:52

Splits:

8:08

7:37

7:56

7:58

7:42

Time: 0:47:54

Average Pace: 7:59

Splits:

8:01

7:46

8:08

8:07

7:47

7:41

I only ran 4 miles this morning, but I felt a little fatigued.  I also did not want to over do it since I'll be running my long run tomorrow.  

Time: 0:31:35

Average Pace: 7:53

Splits:

8:03

7:32

8:05

7:55

I left the house at 6:45 this morning.  The sun was already rising and the temperature was quickly rising with it.  Fortunately I have about 1/3 of my route shaded by trees until after about 7:20.  I felt pretty good this morning and I saw a lot of other runners out apparently feeling good too.

I'm really looking forward to getting a Garmin to track my splits.  I feel really constrained to my mapped out routes. 

Time: 1:37:25

Pace:

8:51

Splits:

First 5 miles: 47:41

Back 5 miles: 49:44

A very humid morning with a temperature starting out at 78 and a heat index of 83.  My legs still felt a little sore from yesterdays 11 mile run, but otherwise I felt pretty good.  I ordered my Garmin Forerunner 110 yesterday and I'm really excited about it.  I will finally be able to break free from my 3 mile neighborhood loop.  I've been running this same loop for 80% of my runs for the past 6 years.  It is beginning to get a little monotonous. 

Time: 0:48:13

Pace: 8:02

Splits:

8:12

7:38

8:05

8:17

7:50

8:11

I finally beat the sunrise this morning.  I left the house at 6:10, which is about 15 to 20 minutes before the sun comes up.  The two older men that I almost always see walking, and have developed somewhat what of an acquaintance relationship with, asked me my name this morning.  So I stopped and introduced myself to them.  Their names are Sal and Don.  Now when I see them I suppose I can say, "good morning Sal and Don," as opposed to just, "good morning gentlemen."  

Time: 1:30:26

Pace: 9:02

First 5: 44:18, average 8:51

Back 5: 46:08, average 9:13

My back 5 are always interrupted by two water stops.  I stop to refill the two bottles attached to my belt.  I've never timed this, but I would guess that I am stopped for a full minute at each of the two stops.  So when this is accounted for I believe that I ran the back 5 faster (at 44:08) than the front 5 (at 44:18) today. 

This morning I felt a little fatigue and had some stomach cramping early on.  This was not one of my better runs.  

Time: 0:48:49

Pace: 8:08

Splits:

8:07

7:45

8:15

8:26

8:00

8:16

Beautiful 80 degree (heat index 85) morning with a slight breeze.  I felt so much better this morning as contrasted with yesterday morning.  Running with stomach cramps is never fun.  

Time: 0:57:08

Pace: 8:09

Splits:

8:22

7:51

8:12

8:20

7:52

8:22

8:09

I ran 12 miles on the hilly Creek turnpike trail this morning.  I felt pretty fatigued running the last 3 miles, and the heat may have been getting to me a little.  I made myself an ice bath when I got home.  The last time I had to do that was over the winter when ice was not necessary to get cold water.  This morning I had a hard time getting the water cold enough even with loads of ice.   

First 6: 0:51:15,  pace: 8:32

Back 6: 0:55:00, pace 9:10

Today marks the start of my last week of pre-marathon training.  My bottom line for this week is to see how fast I can get.  I had scheduled a 9 mile run today, and I decided to throw in at least 2 miles at marathon pace.  For my goal that is 7:00 minute miles.  

Here are my times and splits:

Time: 0:53:52

Pace: 7:41

7:46

7:17

7:20

8:19

7:53

8:16

7:01

If you counted that is only 7 miles.  I was so winded by the time I ran that seven minute mile at mile 7 that I had to call it quits.  I checked my pulse and I was at 176.  I ended up jogging home, which was only about half a mile.  I was feeling pretty good after my pulse came back down and probably could have run that last two miles, but since I was so close to home decided not to over do it. 

I know I've got a lot of work ahead of me if I'm going to make my goal.  I'm planning an easy 9 mile run tomorrow, a 6 mile run Thursday including one 6:30 mile, and a fast 4 mile run Saturday at goal pace. 

Time: 0:57:08

Pace: 8:09

Splits:

8:23

7:41

8:06

8:19

7:59

8:23