New Toy

One of the gifts I received yesterday was a heart rate monitor. I think it will definitely aid me in my training. This evening when I got home from work I gave it a try. It took me a few minutes and a little frustration to get everything set up, but I finally got out the door. I ran pretty easily for a half hour, but my heart rate ended up higher than I thought it would. Overall it averaged 163, with a high of 182. Also, it seemed to spike near the end of the run. It was in the upper 80s, so that had something to do with the higher heart rate, but did that account for the spike at the end too? I'm anxious to see what the heart rate is tomorrow morning, when it's a little cooler.

I'm leaving tomorrow morning for Hilton Head and I'll be there for two weeks, and I don't know if I'll have a chance to update the blog. In case I don't, best of luck to Beth, who is competing in the ITU World Championships in Germany in just a few days.

Quick Update/Happy Birthday

I don't have time to write much, but here's a quick update.

First, happy birthday to me. Today I turn 27. It turns out that Jenny Barringer and I share the same birthday. Tonight I get to celebrate by packing to get ready to go on vacation--J and the boys leave tomorrow and I'm leaving Saturday.

Now for a brief training recap:
Sat.-30 minutes on the treadmill, about 2.5 miles
Sun.-5 miles easy
Mon.-8 miles
Tue.-10 miles
Wed.-11 miles
Thu.-5 miles

The Marathon is not Getting Any Further Away

I did make it to the running store last night to see Alan Webb. Samia Akbar, who is running the marathon at Worlds, was also there. It was quite crowded, as I expected, and I stood in line for a while to see Alan and Samia. Stupid me, I didn't take any pictures last night, so you'll just have to take my word for the prior summary. There are some photos of the event, here.

I didn't run this morning. My alarm went off, I reset it, and then forgot to turn it on, so I actually woke up late. Richmond will be here before I know it. If I don't get in gear, it's not going to go well.

Marathon Pace Workout and Alan Webb

Typically I run a workout on Tuesday, but since I didn't feel well Monday night I pushed it back to Wednesday this week. I just wanted to warm up, run about five miles around marathon pace, and cool down. I decided to run the five miles on the track. When I got to the track, there were two people walking. I wasn't feeling too great, but I figured I give the workout a try and see what happened. What happened was that I didn't even get down to marathon pace. I did run a little faster than normal, but I didn't get to the pace I wanted. In an effort to go a little faster and make the workout more interesting, for the last four laps I surged and picked up the pace for the first 200 meters. It did help, as the last mile was the fastest.

I don't want to make too big a deal about this, but if you're walking around the track and someone else is running, wouldn't you think it makes sense to move from the inside lane? Especially if that person who's running keeps going and goes around you multiple times?

This morning I ran an easy five miles. As usual on Wednesdays I went to bed late, so I slept in a little and ran less. Tonight I have the chance to meet Alan Webb. He's from Northern Virginia and still lives and trains around here, and one of the local running stores is having a meet-and-greet/world-champs-send-off-party for him. It should be fun.

Maybe I'm Not Over It

Sunday morning I ran 15 miles at Burke Lake. Things did not go as smoothly as they did last time I ran there. I followed the same routine--wake up, eat a bowl of cereal, drive to the park--but did not have the same run. I felt tired during most of the run, and my stomach was acting up, to the point that I had to stop twice for bathroom breaks. But I persevered, and finished the run. The rest of Sunday I spent painting and doing some other things around the house. By late afternoon, I was pretty tired.

Monday I didn't run. J and the boys got back late Sunday night from Long Island, and after being tired from running and painting Sunday I wasn't getting up after only five hours of sleep. Then Monday afternoon, my stomach started acting up again. I don't think I was as over it as I though I was a day or two ago.

This morning I ran six miles. I ran two loops so I wouldn't be too far away from the house in case my stomach bothered me, but it felt fine. Hopefully I'll really be over this bug soon.

Nice Day

I ran another easy six miles this morning, the same loop as yesterday, although today I ran a few minutes faster. Tomorrow morning I'm heading to Burke Lake for my long run. I'm going 15-16 miles.

The weather's finally gotten a little better here, with noticeably less humidity. It should actually be in the 60s tomorrow morning while I'm running.

Feeling Better

It seems my stomach bug was only the 24-hour variety. I've been feeling better since yesterday. I took the day off yesterday. I slept in instead hoping the extra rest would help me get better faster. This morning I ran an easy six miles. I was still a little cautious about the stomach and didn't want to overdo anything.

J and the boys are on Long Island this weekend. I've got a nice weekend of grass cutting, painting, and running planned.

And I Would Feel Better If It Weren't For Those Darn Kids...

The kids had some sort of stomach bug last week, and now it appears I've caught it too. I don't feel too bad, but something is definitely wrong with my stomach. At some points at work today I considered leaving early. And if not for the fact that I have to stand at a table during an open house at my workplace tomorrow, I'd at least think about taking the day off.

I did get out and run this morning, but the stomach issues limited me to four miles.

Come On!

Today was another day off. I didn't even try getting out of bed when my alarm went off. I went out with some friends last night and got back a little late, but then I stayed up a little while longer. By the time I fell asleep it was after midnight.

I know I want to do this. Why is it so hard?

Camping

The family and I went camping with some friends this past weekend in Prince William Forest Park. Other than the little bit of rain Saturday night, we had a good time. The boys love to run around in the woods.

Saturday afternoon I ran eight miles in the park. It was pretty warm, and going up the hill at the end of the run the heat was getting to me. The solitude of running in the park was nice. Sunday I took the day off and spent the day cleaning up from the camping trip.

This morning I ran eight miles again. I was feeling pretty tired until the end of the run. I guess the fact that I was almost done gave me a little burst of energy. Tomorrow is another workout.

Day Off

No running today, and I'm a little bitter and mad at myself about it.

Recovery

The last two days have just been easy running. Thursday I ran eight miles, and this morning nine, the last mile on the treadmill to try it out. It's all right, but as usual I feel like I'm running faster than the speed it displays, and it's pretty loud. I'll have to turn the volume up higher than I thought to watch TV while I run.

If you haven't seen it yet, check out Jason Jabut's post about being accountable. It's good stuff.