Jerry Cameron

rock star

Jerry Cameron — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:55:13 +0000

so i’m out snowshoeing in the late afternoon at the retzer nature center, which is just down the road from our house. all things considered, it’s a pretty normal sunday afternoon for me considering i’m its “mayor” on foursquare. regardless, as i am making my way uphill i made my way past two hikers coming downhill who snapped a picture or two of my as i passed. no big deal. i guess i’m i bit odd or perhaps even interesting. as i make my way around the backside of my mile long loop, i find myself bounding down a long downhill and notice that the shutterbugs are snapping photos away at the foot of the hill. admittedly, i didn’t mind much but i did feel a bit self-conscious. as i turned past them, i exchanged pleasantries and went along on my way. i only wish they had been around when i clipped the inside of my ankle with my snowshoe a bit later into my workout. i let out a string of expletives that would embarrass the most eloquent of cussers. nevertheless, for the remainder of my workout i was a bit more focused on form and refrained from further verbose outbursts.

1/16 – 4 miles (started running during the 2nd quarter of the NYG-GB playoff game, couldn’t watch it)
1/17 – 5 miles (noon)
1/18 – off
1/19 – 5 miles (noon, treadmill)
1/20 – 5 miles (noon, treadmill)
1/21 – 5 miles (3pm, retzer nature center, atlas aspect snowshoes)
1/22 – 5 miles (noon, retzer nature center, redfeather “running” snowshoes)
1/23 – 4 miles (noon, treadmill)
1/24 – 5 miles (noon)
1/25 – 5 miles (noon)
1/26 – 5 miles (noon, last two miles were at 7:15 pace)
1/27 – 15.75 miles (6pm, indoors at the pettit center, two hours flat, first hour averaged just under 8:00 pace for 7.5 miles, second hour averaged 7:20 pace for remaining 8.25 miles)
1/28 – 6.25 miles (3pm, two loops around the ‘hood before church)
1/29 – 8 miles (3pm, retzer nature center, redfeather “running” snowshoes)

MTD/YTD – 183.6 miles (28 days)
Odometer – 32,908 miles

orange sled

Jerry Cameron — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 16:51:45 +0000

while out on an easy noon hour run, i spotted an abandoned sled left lying at the foot of a small snow covered hill. as i approached it, a thought rolled through my head that i should step off the partially plowed roadway and take a quick ride down the hill. admittedly, i chickened out and simply headed back for a quick shower.

1/1 – 5 miles (11am, easy, home in time for DET-GB kickoff)
1/2 – 13.1 miles (trail run at retzer in two hours, cold & windy)
1/3 – 4 miles (easy, noon, treadmill)
1/4 – 5 miles (easy, noon)
1/5 – 7 miles (5am on the glacial drumlin)
1/6 – 5 miles (easy, noon)
1/7 – 10 miles (6:30am, averaged 8:00 per mile)
1/8 – 10 miles (4pm, first 4 miles at 8:00 pace, last 6 miles averaging 7:20 pace)
1/9 – 5 miles (easy, noon)
1/10 – 6 miles (5am on the glacial drumlin)
1/11 – 5 miles (easy, noon)
1/12 – 5 miles (easy, noon)
1/13 – 4 miles (easy, noon, was tempted to go sledding instead)
1/14 – 14.5 miles (7am, indoor at the pettit center, averaged ~7:40 per mile, gave Chris an elbow for hogging the inside lane)

MTD/YTD – 98 miles (14 days)
Odometer – 32,823 miles

so far

Jerry Cameron — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:09:27 +0000

the new year is starting off fairly solid for me. earlier this week i rolled a two hour training run out at the retzer nature center over my one mile loop, accumulating 13.1 laps. admittedly, i didn’t go there with the intent of running that far but somehow it just made sense to keep going. i wish i could bottle and save the sheer buzz after a long run as it’s something to savor. looking back at the last two years, the longest i have run has been only fifteen miles, which is a trend that i’ve got to change as i’m now considering not wearing anything that says “marathon” or “ultramarathon” on it for the risk of false advertising.

MTD/YTD – 34 miles (5 days)
Odometer – 32,759 miles

and more

Jerry Cameron — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 22:39:49 +0000

it’s funny how having some time off from the daily grind can benefit an endeavor. in the last seven days i’ve been able to roll just over 53 miles which pushed me over 1,600 miles for the year. admittedly, i’d rather see that total to be north of two thousand miles but that just wasn’t in the cards for me this year. that being said, i’m optimistic that i will be able to carry my rediscovered momentum into 2012.

MTD – 160.25 miles (26 days)
YTD – 1618.5 miles (259 days)
Odometer – 32,725 miles

almost there

Jerry Cameron — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 19:04:32 +0000

with only 9 days remaining in the year, i have only 35 miles left to get over 1,600 miles for the year. a majority of my efforts this month have been five miles at a time which (translated to a golf analogy) is sort of like taking a 9 iron from tee to green on a par 5. regardless, with my eye on doing some snowshoe racing this winter, i fit in two trail runs over at the Retzer Nature Center which were 9 and 10 miles respectively on a one mile loop. i also opted to step onto a treadmill for a workout earlier this week and jockeyed with the speed a bit to get my legs moving. essentially, i ran the first mile slow then for each successive quarter mile i’d up the speed a tenth of a mph for the next 3.5 miles followed by a half mile cool down. the speed on the middle 3.5 miles started at 7.0 mph and ended at 8.3 mph, which tops out at (what used to be) marathon pace. i used to use this “forced progression” workout fairly regularly a few years ago with higher speeds and durations. reintroducing it, at a lower intensity/duration, is an initial effort to regain some semblance of speed for my remaining few months in the 35-39 age group.

MTD – 107 miles (19 days)
YTD – 1,565 miles (252 days)
Odometer – 32,671 miles

winning streak

Jerry Cameron — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 00:56:38 +0000

this time it’s a box of Powerbar‘s from @powerbar (twitter). i’m thinking that it’s time to buy a lottery ticket…

Winners of some #PowerBarHolidayCheer are…@constancek @jerrycameron @travistherunner @liaestigoy @astroross. Please DM us your addresses!

— PowerBar USA (@PowerBar) December 20, 2011

winner winner

Jerry Cameron — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:47:40 +0000

my day started out pretty awesome today. i heard from Snowshoe Magazine that i was drawn as the winner of snowshoes from Atlas Snow-Shoe Company in addition to some very cool swag…just for subscribing to their e-mail newsletter. now i’ve got one more reason to look forward to snow!!

check out the snowshoes i won…the Atlas Aspect, Winner of the Outside Magazine 2011 Gear of the Year award.

pink jog-bra

Jerry Cameron — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 22:43:10 +0000

so i opted to go for a run after the Detroit Lions narrowly held onto a win this afternoon. my route took me out along the Glacial Drumlin trail which is pretty standard for me. as i’m making my way west-bound, i can see a runner coming back east-bound along the trail. as they get closer, i notice that she is sporting a hot pink jog bra with her jacket tied around her waist. mind you, it’s in the lower forties and a bit windy. heck, i was sporting two layers plus a windbreaker vest. to top it off, she wasn’t even wearing a hat or gloves. i gave her a wave and a rather bewildered nod as she passed and when i returned home i fetched a beer from the fridge to salute her. so here’s to you miss hot pink jog bra wisconsin runner gal…

MTD – 57 miles (10 days)
YTD – 1,515 miles (243 days)
Odometer – 32,621 miles

uneven effort

Jerry Cameron — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 01:41:32 +0000

november started off with very little running for me due to catching some sort of virus. when i did run, i was only mustering four or five mile efforts at a slow pace. by the middle of the month, i was finally rid of the cooties and strung together a nine day running streak. the month ended like many novembers before with rather minimal miles. it’s not always a bad thing to ease back but i do need to get my rear in gear if i want to roll 1,600 miles for the year and be ready to race on my snowshoes in january.

MTD – 87 miles (17 days)
YTD – 1,458 miles (233 days)
Odometer – 32,564 miles

rough patch

Jerry Cameron — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:21:15 +0000

while i began the month with a 15 day running streak, i fell off the proverbial wagon and recorded zero’s for five of the next six days. honestly, i felt like garbage and needed some down time. (notice i didn’t say “rest”) i eased back into training with a few shorter runs and ended up with a two solid efforts this past weekend.

after reading some race results on facebook, i headed out on saturday afternoon and pointed myself westward on the Glacial Drumlin trail. sixty two minutes later i was in the next town west of us with 7.5 uphill miles logged and 7.5 downhill miles to go. on my return effort, i began clipping off 7:40 to 7:50 miles as i enjoyed a tailwind in addition to a slowly sloping elevation drop. then, i began to slow. it was like a car that had the needle leaning up against the letter “E” on the dashboard. all i could do was to sputter my way through the last 2.5 miles home. when i arrived home, i began shotgunning cans of soda to get my blood sugar back up. even with the “bonk”, my return route was a minute faster than my outbound effort and would have easily been more than three minutes faster if i had been a bit smarter.

sunday afternoon brought overcast skies and a brisk wind together with temps in the mid-forties. additionally, the radar indicated that some rain was moving in. essentially, perfect conditions for a trail run out at the Retzer Nature Center. i’ve figured out a one mile loop on their trails, which i normally reserve for my winter snowshoe running. as i began my run, it began to rain very lightly…just enough to be annoying. as i completed my third loop, the light rain had turned steady and stayed steady for my fourth and fifth loops. i caught a break in the action and decided to roll a sixth loop but on my seventh the rain had returned with even more intensity. with seven trail miles logged in sixty minutes, i decided to head home for a hot shower and then park my rear end on the couch to watch some football.

halloween morning left me four miles short of one hundred fifty miles for the month. being a bit…well…”goal-oriented” i geared up and rolled an easy four miles before work. i was a bit sore at first but as i was rolling home my legs began to wake up a bit.

MTD – 150 miles (24 days)
YTD – 1371.75 miles (216 days)
Odometer – 32,478 miles