It's Another Boy!

B. was born at 12:15 on July 26, 2005. He weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz., and was 20-3/4 inches long. Mom and baby are doing well. A few pics can be found here.

Routine

In my opinion, a big part of any training plan is routine. I want to make getting up and out the door in the morning so routine that there's no question about getting my run in. I was doing well last week until Saturday. I went to the Nats game Friday night, so I got to bed late. I didn't run first thing when I got up in the morning, and even though I told myself I'd just run later it never happened. My Sunday routine is different from the rest of the week, but I got out of my Sunday routine and didn't run yesterday either. It's not a big deal now that I'm not running much, but I want to start my marathon build up soon and would like to have my routine set.

This morning I ran easy for just over a half-hour. Lightning was flashing from an oncoming storm, and after that slightly-more-than-a-half-hour I had enough of tempting fate and decided to get back inside.

New Loop

As I was trying to fall asleep last night, I was thinking of loops that I could run that would be four or five miles long. Most of my loops are at least seven or eight miles, and I had run out and back along the Parkway yesterday and didn't feel like doing that again. So I thought, and decided on a new loop that would be close enough. I could always add on if I didn't feel like I had run far enough. I ran the loop this morning and finished in about 43 minutes, so I thought it was safe enough to call five miles, and according to the Google Maps Pedometer, it is safe enough to call five miles. It was another warm, muggy morning today, but a little cooler than yesterday.

I've had a little tightness in my upper hamstring (I think) of my legs the last two days. It's not something that bothers me when I run, but I can feel it when I'm not running. I'm using the stick and keeping an eye on it. I've also tried a few yoga poses the past few nights, in an effort to loosen up and relax before I go to sleep. They do seem to help, but the real test will be when my mileage goes up again.

The Break Continues

I haven't been doing much running lately. I didn't run Sunday (instead I went with J and Puff to the pool), ran four miles Monday, didn't run Tuesday, and ran six miles this morning. I felt a little more energized this morning. The break's going well. I think I'm slowly getting the fire back, although I am planning to continue the break until after the baby's born. There's no sense starting to ramp my training back up and then having to take another break. We did find out today that everything's good, the baby's where he should be; so hopefully he'll be born soon.

Buggy

I ran five easy miles this morning on the bike path along the Parkway with Puff. For some reason my legs, especially my left calf, were very tight at the start. Thankfully they loosened up as I ran. When Puff and I got to the stadium, there were all sorts of large bugs flying around, mostly pretty close to the ground. At first I thought they were horseflies, but when we turned around and went past them again, I thought they might be cicadas. The big cicada outbreak was last year, although it wasn't too bad around me because there's been so much construction in the past 17 years in this area that a lot of the bugs had been disturbed and killed. I know there are cicadas that are on different cycles than the ones that appeared last year, but it seemed strange that I saw more today than I did last year.

Yesterday I did five miles in the rain. The remnants of Tropical Storm Cindy moved up here and gave us a few inches of rain. My legs felt fine; the rain didn't bother me since it was fairly warm. Thursday I took off, J. and I got to bed late after going out to celebrate our anniversary.

Easy

I ran an easy four miles this morning. My legs were stiff as I started out, but did loosen up. Stiff legs are another thing I'm hoping to relieve by taking this break. I know my legs won't be warmed up in the morning like they would be in the afternoon, but my legs have been feeling tighter than I think they should. On another note, what's up with my digestive system? These last two mornings it has bothered me.

Taking A Break

Over the past couple weeks, I've felt as if I needed a break from running. I don't need a complete break, just a period of reduced mileage and extra rest. I don't think it's really come across in my posts, but lately I've been running more out of a sense of obligation than anything else. It's not only that, though. I also feel like I've reached a plateau. I know in order to get off the plateau, to get to the level I want, I'm going to have to run more. I don't think I can do it feeling the way I do now. I'm hoping this break will re-energize me and I'll be able to do more when I start marathon training in the fall. The half-marathon at the end of this month seemed like a good idea, but now I've decided to skip it. My plan is to run about three to five miles a day, take a day off if I feel like it, and possibly run a little more on the weekends if I feel like it. We'll see how I feel after a couple weeks, and I'll evaluate my marathon plans.

Weekly Summary 6/26-7/2

Miles: 47
Workouts: 4 x 1k on/off Wed.
Races: None

Go Fourth

This morning I ran the Go Fourth 8k, a race I've run three out of the past four years. The course is out and back along the Mt. Vernon Trail. It's flat for a little more than the first and last miles, and rolling in the middle. I ran 30:43 to finish in fifth place. My time was a course PR by almost 30 seconds. My warm up and cool down gave me ten miles for the day.

I didn't run very much this weekend. Friday I took off, Saturday I ran seven miles and Sunday I ran six miles pushing Puff in the baby jogger. I've just felt out of whack the past couple days, kind of lethargic, although today I feel better.