Kicking Myself

Today was the third day in a row that I have kicked myself in the same spot on my ankle while running. I guess my left foot swings a little bit right when it's coming down, and if it swings a little too far to the right I kick myself. It's not terribly painful, it just stings for a minute or so, but I'd like to avoid it.

Yesterday I had a good eight mile run. I ran another of my eight mile loops with a slight modification. There's a fairly major intersection I need to cross, and I just missed the light. So rather than wait for the light so I could go straight, I turned left and went home the back way. The distance is basically the same each way. When I got home, I was surprised to see that I had run a little under eight minute mile pace. Most of my other recent runs have been closer to 8:30/mile. I guess I picked up the pace a little more than I thought.

I took the day off yesterday because B had his follow-up appointment with the gastrointerologist. He said everything looked good, and to come back for another follow-up in two months. He also gave us a prescription for Zantac for B. Our pediatrician had mentioned it, but he said B should be taking it. It could help prevent any future eating issues.

This morning I did seven miles. B's schedule was thrown off from the doctor's appointment, so he, and also I, got to bed late. I still felt pretty good this morning anyway. It must be the nice fall weather.

Get Up!

Saturday I planned to get up early and run in the morning, before everyone else was up. However, a late Friday night thwarted those plans. I woke up, but decided to go back to sleep. J tutors Saturday mornings, so I thought I'd take Puff in the stroller and run then. But B's schedule didn't work out right for that, so I had to hang around and make sure he didn't get too fussy if he got hungry. After tutoring, J fed B and I fed Puff, then J left for lacrosse, so I decided to take the kids for a run. (We have two jogging strollers, a single and a double.) By this point, I didn't want to run that much, but didn't want to take the day off either. So the three of us did three miles and called it a day. Afterwards, I was upset at myself for not just getting up and running early.

Sunday's run went much better. I actually did get up early and run. I ran one of my eight-mile loops and then added on a little more distance to give me nine miles for the day. I wish all of my runs could be like today's. I felt good, the temperature was nice and cool, and the sunrise was gorgeous. The only negative was the wind, but I'll take three out of four.

Today's run was another good one. I ran eight miles, out and back along the Parkway. It was windy when I started, but the wind seemed to die down as I ran. The past few times I've run this far along the Parkway, I've thought of Mike's hill phase. There's a great section of the path, from 11k to 9k, that would be great for hill work. Slightly after 11k, the path goes downhill to just past the 10k mark, and then back uphill to the 9k mark. I'm sure I'll be using it for that this winter.

Enjoyment

This week I've really begun to enjoy running again. B continues to eat and grow, so I'm less worried about him, the cool fall weather has arrived, and cross country season is in full swing.

This morning I ran on the path out the Parkway for a little over seven miles. It was another cool and damp morning. The weather is supposed to get better this weekend, though.

I was reading about the Charlottesville Marathon on marathonguide.com. In one of the comments, someone noted that last year's course wasn't certified, and therefore times run on the course could not count as Boston qualifiers. I'm not concerned with qualifying for Boston this year, but I think running on a non-certified course would leave me wondering about the accuracy of my time. That information makes me more seriously consider my backup plan, which is to run the Cleveland Marathon in May.

Cool and Damp

This morning's run went pretty well. I did eight miles, at a little over 8:30/mile. The temperature was nice, but it had rained not long before I ran, and the dampness made it feel cooler than it actually was. Plus there was some wind, so I'd run for a few minutes, warm up and sweat a little, and then be chilled by the wind. I'll take it over the middle of summer, though.

So far I have 31 miles for the week. After tomorrow and Saturday, I should be close to 50, which would be the most miles I've run in a week in a couple months. As I've said more than a few times by now, I'm working on getting the mileage up to a respectable level for marathon training. The hardest part is just getting out of bed in the morning. After I'm up and moving around, I feel OK.

What is it about rain that makes people drive so cautiously? My commute, which usually takes about an hour, took almost an hour and forty minutes this morning because traffic, even in the HOV lanes, was backed up. And it was really only drizzling.

Caffeinated

I learned a lesson last night. The lesson is not to drink a can of Dr. Pepper when I get home from work. It's the only explanation I can come up with for not sleeping well last night. I didn't think the caffeine with bother me, but I was wrong. My sleep was also not helped by staying up to watch Law and Order:SVU.

Despite the lack of sleep, I did get up and run this morning. I ran my four mile loop, and then ran past the house, up to the library/fitness center, and back for two more miles which gave me six for the day. I felt OK, although a little sore when I got home. I can't wait until the cool weather is here for good. It was in the sixties and humid this morning and I was sweating when I finished.

Ugh

I didn't feel good this morning when my alarm went off. I felt really sore and tired. So rather than get up and run, I set the alarm for 50 minutes later and went back to sleep. The sleep must have helped, because I felt better when the alarm went off again.

The Army 10-Miler took place this past weekend, although it was slightly more than 10 miles. It seems a "suspicious package" was found and the course had to be rerouted around it, making the course approximately 11 miles. Now safe is certainly better than sorry, but the race starts and finishes at the Pentagon of all places. If anywhere is safe the Pentagon should be. If I'd run the race this year, I would understand the concern, but also would be disappointed that I didn't get the race I expected.

Dichotomy

It was 53 degrees this morning while I was running. I'm comfortable in a t-shirt and shorts down to near 40 degrees. Everyone's different, however, and this morning I noticed multiple variations in running attire. I was wearing a t-shirt and shorts. At one point, I passed someone wearing a light jacket and shorts. Later on, I passed someone in a sweatshirt, hat, and I think gloves. To each his own.

This morning I did six miles. My legs felt ok, but overall I was pretty tired after being up late last night. Sunday afternoon I did four miles after not running Saturday. I was simply exhausted all day Saturday after a very late Friday night. Friday morning, though, I had one of the best runs I've had for a while. I ran seven miles, but felt like I could have kept going for at least a few more. The soreness that had been bothering my legs was gone Friday and hasn't returned. Maybe I just needed a few days to get my body used to running more than three or four days a week.

In the News

The Washington Post ran an article this week about a runner in Maryland, Mikias Gelagle, who logged some 100-mile weeks this summer in preparation for the cross country season. The article brings up a good question: How many miles per week should a high school runner be running? Personally, I don't think anyone can just say 100 miles a week is too many. It's all about how you get there. If you've been steadily increasing your mileage and been relatively injury-free, you should be able to handle 100 miles per week.

The human body is not, as the article claimed was stated by some coaches, a car that is going to break down after a certain number of miles. That is as absurd as telling people they should not exercise hard because their heart only has a finite number of beats. If you take care of yourself, you can run high mileage for years.

In order to maximize your potential in any event 800m and up, you need to run high mileage. When you start should be up to you, not some arbitrary time.

Gorgeous

I took yesterday off from work because B had his two month checkup. He's doing well, gaining weight like he should, but he does have a slight reflux problem. Since I wasn't going to work, I slept in and ran in the afternoon. The weather was gorgeous, sunny and 80 degrees, with a slight breeze. I did eight miles, the longest run I've done in a little while. The run went well except for some stomach issues. I think I ate lunch a little to close to my run, so I felt almost nauseas for a little while. Thankfully, that went away, but even after that I still didn't feel quite right. I think I have a bug that I might have caught from Puff. He seemed a little ill for a day or two last week.

This morning I was planning on running four miles, but going out of my way to use the bathroom made it five miles. My legs felt really tight this morning; I hope they loosen up as I go on. The Stick should help as long as I remember to use it.

It looks like the fall weather is finally here. Lows for tonight and tomorrow night are in the mid-40's. Finally.

Easy Days

These past few days after my race, I've taken it pretty easy. Sunday I went out in the afternoon for 32 minutes, which I'm calling four miles. It was still warm and humid Sunday, but it looks like to cool fall weather is finally going to be here in the next day or two. Monday and today I went six miles. Despite my less than ideal sleep, I feel OK once I get out the door and start moving. I'd like to begin increasing my mileage. I feel like if I don't start soon, I won't have enough time at a high enough weekly mileage to justify running a marathon. I'm not doing just to finish.

Spiked and Pysched

One out of two isn't bad.

I've been following Matt at chasingtradition.com. While in Boulder with the Colorado Buffaloes, he wrote about the team being "spiked and psyched up" for their workout on Friday morning. I liked the phrase and was planning on being "spiked and psyched up" for my race Saturday. Unfortunately, I realized on the way to the race that I had forgotten my spikes. Oh well, I thought, it should be more of a workout than a race anyway. And it was, although it wasn't really even a good workout.

I felt OK when I woke up Saturday morning, so I figured my plan of running 6:30-6:40 miles would be doable, even without the spikes. I warmed up about a mile, and headed to the starting line. A few minutes in, I realized the race was not going to plan. I think I went through the first mile in 6:45, but it felt a lot harder than I though it would. I don't have any other splits, other than coming through 5k in about 21:50 and finishing in 44:16. I just didn't have it Saturday. Even though I felt OK, I figure I still had to deal with the lack of sleep I've accumulated over the past few weeks. My stomach didn't feel very good during the race either. Somehow, though, I still managed to finish first in my age group to move me to first place in my age group in the cross country series.

Night Game

At one time I was contemplating running in the open division of this race, but it would be even more fun to enter a team.

10k

Despite the fact that I haven't been running much recently, I'm still planning on running a 10k cross country race Saturday. I wouldn't bother, except that it's the last cross country race in the series that I'll have a chance to run, and I need to run one more to qualify. Right now I'm fifth overall and second in my age group, although the standings can be a little misleading at this point because everyone has not run the same number of races. My expectations are basically to try and run 6:30-6:40 pace. The course is two laps of a 5k loop, and does have some hills. If I can contain myself at the beginning and stay conservative, I should be all right.

New Look

As you can see, my blog's look has been updated. I'd like to say I designed it myself, but that's not the case. The template can be found here.

Out of Hiding

I've had a rough past two weeks. The worst part of it was that B was not eating like he should be, and was actually hospitalized for two days to see if the cause could be determined. Despite running a lot of tests, nothing was found that explained his poor eating. As a matter of course, the doctors put him on some antibiotics, which may have helped things, but they never found an infection. B is back home now, and he is eating better and gaining weight. My is that his poor eating has something to do with the jaundice he had right after he was born.

B is also not sleeping quite like J and I would like. He'll sleep for a few hours, wake up, have a snack, and then sleep for a few more hours, and that's not too bad. The problem is that he doesn't start sleeping until around 11 most nights, and last night he didn't go to bed until midnight.

Due to the two items above, I have not done much running lately. I've been able to get out a few mornings and weekend afternoons for a couple miles, but nothing too significant. I know that the priority is B's health, but that does not stop me from wishing I was running more.

One of Those Nights

B did not sleep well last night. I'm not sure exactly what the problem was, but he was fussy and would not go to sleep. The worst part about it was that a few times I had almost fallen asleep, and then he woke up. I thought about running this morning, and probably should have since B woke up about two minutes before my alarm went off, but I didn't.

Yesterday I had a good seven mile run. The weather was great; it was 59 degrees as I ran by the stadium clock with the thermometer. The run started out slowly, but I picked up the pace over the second half of the run and finished the last two miles or so at a good steady pace. Just about at the turn-around point in the run, a guy on a bike passed me. It wouldn't have been a big deal except that it was still dark and I was far enough out on the path to be past the streetlights. The bicyclist said something about a runner, but then took his time passing me. I thought someone driving by had said something since when I turned around I didn't see anything. I was startled when he finally passed me.

About a mile from the finish, I caught and passed two other people who were out running together. For some reason, I'm always concerned that when I pass people they'll think I'm showing them up. That's never been the case, but it doesn't stop me from thinking about it.

Change in Plans

When I began my run this morning, I was planning to run out and back along the Parkway. But instead of turning left to head to the Parkway, I went straight and ran through the park and on the one trail I know of that's close enough to my house to run to. I hadn't been on the trail for a few weeks and so I decided to go back today.

It was a beautiful morning to run. I was out the door at about 7:30, and it was cool and sunny. It made me wish I could stay home every day so I could run after the sun comes up. The trail was still overgrown in some spots, so I was careful not to get smacked in the face by a branch. I felt pretty good after yesterday afternoon's seven miles. Today's trail loop was six miles.

As I mentioned above, Sunday I ran seven miles. I ran in the afternoon, when the temperature was in the mid 80s. We've had a string of a few days of some pretty nice weather, lows in the upper 50s and highs in the mid to low 80s. The warmth bothered me a little, but not as much as my stomach since I think I ate a little too close to the run. I think the stomach bug that I had is gone.

Saturday I ran an easy six miles. I was going to run laps on the soccer fields in order to stay on soft surfaces and to be close to home in case my stomach bothered me again, but there was a soccer tournament going on. I ended up just running around until I felt like I had run long enough to count the distance as six miles.

Last week didn't end up too well. My run on Wednesday didn't go well and then I didn't run Thursday or Friday due to lack of sleep. Running five out of seven days in a week isn't bad with a new baby, but I'd like to be running seven out of seven days.

Not Quite Right

I haven't felt very good on my runs the past few days. I think I've caught some kind of stomach bug, possibly from Puff. He seemed a little sick this past weekend. This bug isn't particularly bothersome for the most part, but has been causing some discomfort while I run.

Tuesday I ran an easy six miles. The run was basically uneventful other than my stomach grumblings for the last two miles or so. Today I did five miles, with a pit stop in the middle due to the stomach. I hope this thing goes away soon.

I know I've said this before, but I feel like I'm getting more consistent in my running. B has been sleeping better, so that's made it easier to get up in the morning. My goal for September is to get the mileage up to a reasonable level.

More Running

Not only did I make it out for a run Saturday, I also made it out Sunday. I ran seven miles again, this time along the Parkway. The weather was drastically different. It went from being cool and drizzly to sunny, warm, and humid. The electronic billboard at the stadium said it was 87 degrees as I ran by. Earlier Sunday I read an article about a local man who had run Badwater and how the extreme heat along the course was magnified by the pavement. I guess it was due to the change in the weather, but I couldn't stop thinking about how the heat radiating off the pavement was making it feel warmer than 87. The run itself was only OK. I ran for just over 56 minutes, but for maybe 15 or 20 minutes there in the middle I felt like the heat was getting to me and maybe I should stop. Then the sun went behind a cloud and I started to feel better. That, or I just got acclimated.

B didn't sleep terribly well last night, but I felt good enough to run an easy five miles this morning. Likely because the 14 miles I ran over the weekend was more than I had done in a little while, my legs were tired. I'll try to be more consistent using the Stick and hope that loosens up the muscles.

Good Run

I finally got a good night's sleep last night. B went to sleep about 9:45, and once I was able to tear myself away from the Steelers-Redskins preseason game (about 10:45), I went to sleep. I went to check on B when he woke up a little after four, but J came in right away to feed him, so I went back to sleep. I woke up for good about a quarter to eight when I heard Puff, but had been dozing on and off for an hour or so since then. I haven't written much about Puff lately, but he's adjusted well to the new baby. He was actually a little scared at first--he wouldn't go near B in the hospital--but now he'll give B fives and kisses.

A good night's sleep made such a difference during my run today. I thought it was supposed to be sunny and warm, but it was cool and drizzly this morning. It drizzled occasionally as I ran, but it didn't rain hard. It actually made for a nice run. I ran a loop that was a little shy of seven miles and added on a loop around a parking lot to make it seven. My calves were a little tight, but otherwise my legs felt great. Overall I ran the seven miles at just under an eight-minute pace, a pace I sometimes run on my easy days but a pace I haven't really touched lately.

The Weekend

Thank goodness it's Friday! I'm very much looking forward to the weekend and not having to go to work. I don't have anything exciting planned for the weekend, unless you consider cleaning the house exciting. With two kids to look after, it's been a while since we did any substantial cleaning. Hopefully I won't have a repeat of last weekend's running.

I slept in this morning. B woke up twice last night. The first time was about 45 minutes after I fell asleep. It's amazing how tired you fell waking up 45 minutes after you've fallen asleep. Thursday I did a little over four miles. I might have done a little more, but nature was calling and I was near the house, so I called it a run.

Partying Hard

I need to amend my statement from yesterday's post. It should be: This evening, I plan on as much partying as two small children and my half-awake state and my in-laws will allow.

My in-laws came over for dinner last night, because J invited them and because they had gifts. We had Emeril's Ka-Bam kabobs and corn on the cob for dinner, which was followed by the opening of presents. I got some good stuff; among other things I got a subscription to Track and Field News, a technical running shirt, running socks, and an iTunes gift certificate. We had cake and ice cream after that, and then J surprised me by saying we were leaving the kids with the grandparents and going to a movie.

We saw Red Eye, which I thought was pretty good. It was interesting and suspenseful. I'd give it three out of four stars. I didn't get to bed too late, but B was up twice during the night, so I didn't run this morning. I figure I'll just play it by ear and run when I get the chance until B's sleep habits improve.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today I turn 25. This evening, I plan on as much partying as two small children and my half-awake state will allow.

I did run this morning. I ran six miles, out and back along the Parkway. I was tired, but the run went pretty well. The weather was great (64 degrees according to the sign at the stadium I ran past). The one thing I don't understand is why I felt like I was running faster than my time indicated. Does lack of sleep really have that big an effect?

The Weekend

I had every intention of running this weekend. I was going to get up Saturday morning and run about 7 miles. However, that was before B decided that he didn't want to sleep Friday night. As far as I can tell, the problem was that his grandfather was holding him and he slept from about 7-9:30 pm, and that screwed up his routine. He didn't want to go to sleep, and when he did it was only for an hour or so at a time. Due to my lack of sleep, I felt in no shape to get out the door for a run.

Sunday I was just lazy. Sunday is the only day that I plan to run in the afternoon--it's easier because I don't have to worry about being back in time to get myself and the kids ready for church Sunday morning. Yesterday afternoon was sunny and not terribly warm, but I didn't run.

B's sleep misadventures continued last night, although not as badly as Friday, and after hitting the snooze button twice I decided to bag today's run. The worst part about missing today's run is the cooler temperatures have returned. At least they'll be around for a few more days.

I'm disconcerted that just a few days ago I was upbeat about my running, and now I'm kind of down because I've missed four days. I know things will get better as B gets older, but I also feel like I need to toughen up. Sure, they'll be days when I'm better off sleeping in. But there's also days when I just need to get up and go. With two kids, I can't expect life to happen exactly the way I want it to.

Day Off

I didn't get up and run this morning. My alarm went off, but I reset it for an hour later and went back to sleep. Thankfully that has been the exception and not the rule this week. B stayed up late last night and I woke up in the middle of the night when he did, so I got a little more sleep rather than slog through a run.

On another note, I received the latest issue of Running Times in the mail yesterday. Not only does it have a good cover photo of and article on Deena Kastor, the from-the-editor piece was interesting. I was glad to fine out that he's as big as fan of elite running as I am. Hopefully that means I can continue to look forward to getting the magazine in the mail for a long time.

Getting My Legs Back

I've actually run the last six days in a row. Things have settled down a bit at home with B. He's begun to get into a routine. Basically he goes down between 10 and 11, wakes up once during the night, and then wakes up around 7 or 8 in the morning. Friday I was ambitious and did six miles, the longest I've run since I decided to take a break. Saturday morning I felt pretty tired, but still managed four miles. Sunday I ran on the in-laws treadmill. My wife, sisters-in-law and I got it for them as a Christmas gift last year as a way to encourage them to exercise. Monday I managed another four miles, and then Tuesday and today I did five miles.

I'm feeling like I'm getting back into my routine. The last two mornings I've felt pretty strong. Over the next few weeks I'll ramp up the mileage. I'm aiming for a period of at least a few weeks at 70-80 mpw before I get into the official marathon training phase.

20-2

Twenty wins and two losses. That is the final record of one of the two softball teams I played for this summer. It looks great, until you find out that the two losses came in the last two games of the season and cost us the championship. But it's just a game and I did have a lot of fun playing.

I didn't run this weekend, but did five miles this morning. B actually slept almost until my alarm went off, surprisingly enough. When I heard him and saw what time it was, I just decided I might as well get up. I helped J out a little and then went out for my run. I'm a little sore from racing Friday night, playing two softball games Saturday and then another four on Sunday, but the run went pretty well. I took it very easy and did five miles in just over 45 minutes. Hopefully I'll be able to get into a routine now and start building up my mileage. Depending on how things go, I think I'm either going to run a marathon in VA Beach in March or Charlottesville in April.

3k

Is there any better way to spend your Friday night than at a track meet? Maybe, but a track meet was where I was last night. The club I belong to was putting it on. The original schedule for the meet called for a 3000, 400, 100, and mile, but had to be changed once the meet started (more on that later). I was running the 3000, for the sole reason that I needed to in order to qualify in the race series. I need to run five races, and before last night I had only run two. Last night was the third, and then there's only two more I'll be able to run before the end of the year.

I didn't have high expectations going into the race. I hadn't run the past two days, and have been taking it easy for a little while now anyway. Regardless, I seeded myself in the first and fastest heat of the 3000, which was for runners with an expected finish of 11:00 or less (my PR is 10:35; last night I gave myself an expected time of 10:45). The race started out well and I came through 1600 meters in 5:45, which was about the time I was expecting. After that, the wheels kind of fell off and I struggled to the finish in 11:14, I think last in my heat. Not that I've ever felt like I'm that fast, but I don't certainly don't feel like I have any short race speed at this point.

A Whole New World

Life with two kids is certainly different from life with only one. The only time you get a break is when they're sleeping, and by that point you just want to sleep too. I wouldn't trade it for anything, though.

Yesterday was the first day I ran since B was born. I'm still taking it easy, and Puff and I did four miles. I still wasn't back at work yesterday either, so we ran at about 11 am. After a little break this past weekend, the heat and humidity are on their way back. I only ran for a little more than a half-hour and was soaked by the time I finished.

Today I did go back to work. I'm easing in, only working two days this week. I ran a little this morning before work, but only twenty-two minutes and change. I don't know what was up with my stomach, but it didn't feel good and caused me to cut the run short. I was surprised I wasn't more tired, given my lack of quality sleep over the past few days. Not only do we have a new baby, but he has jaundice and we've been waking up to feed him every two to three hours to make sure he gets enough to eat.

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.

Taking it Easy

This morning I ran an easy six miles on the bike path along the Parkway. It wasn't one of my better runs. My legs were sore, especially my calves, and my stomach was upset. When I turned around to head back home, I actually walked for a few minutes, hoping that would make me feel a little better. It did and I ran the rest of the way home. When I got back I made sure to stretch out, which is something that gets neglected during the week when I'm trying to quickly get ready for work after I run, and I'll use the Stick later.

J and Puff had quite the traveling adventure yesterday. They were supposed to come home from Orlando via a connecting flight in Charlotte. They missed their flight in Orlando and had to take a later one because a Disney bus caught on fire and backed up traffic. The flight they got on in Orlando was delayed due to bad weather, which caused them to miss their original connection in Charlotte. The flight they finally got on in Charlotte was then cancelled because bad weather in DC prevented any flights from landing at Reagan. Reagan also doesn't allow any flights to come in after 10:30 pm due to noise restrictions, and by this point it was 9 or so. It's a good thing J has a cousin who lives in Charlotte that was able to come pick them up. She's now scheduled to fly in this morning. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Pluggin' Away

I didn't feel much like running this morning, but I still made it out the door for nine miles. I felt tired and sluggish at the start, but woke up as the run progressed, and actually finished at a steady pace. The warm and humid weather is still here; this is the third morning in a row I've run without a shirt at 5 am.

It's All Downhill From Here

This morning I ran on the bike path along the Parkway, 10 miles basically out and back. During those 10 miles, I did a little kilometer fartlek, 8k worth of about 1k on, 1k off. The path is rolling, and the way it worked out the first three on kilometers I ran were downhill. Despite that, I only managed to run two out of the four at the pace I wanted, and one of those four was the last, the flat one. The other two were a couple seconds slower than I was aiming for. I'm looking to run a half-marathon at the end of July, but that's when J's due, so we'll have to see what happens.

Swimming

Today's title sums up how I felt as I was finishing up my run this morning. This morning must have been the most humid it's been so far this summer. Not only was I soaked in sweat, but the air was so heavy I had to stroke to get through it. Mileage-wise, I did eight this morning. I had planned on nine or ten, but my legs were a little sore and I was tired, so I stopped after eight.

Sunday I tried to explore a little. The one trail that I know of near my house goes about a mile and a half in one direction, and it looks like there's also a part that goes in the other direction. I pick up the trail in the parking lot for the boathouse that's on the Occoquan River. I wanted to see where the other direction took me. It wasn't very far. The trail doesn't even seem to go a quarter mile in the other direction. So I turned around and went the other way on the trail. I even passed some friends who had been canoeing. Yesterday's run totaled seven miles.

Weekly Summary 6/19-6/25

Miles: 61
Workouts: 5000 meter tempo run
Races: None

Doggies

The highlight of my run today was two dogs I saw. One because I'd like one that looks just like it, and the other because it was having a great time rolling around in the weeds while its owner wanted it to get moving.

I did my long--14 miles--run for the week today. I wasn't able to run with the See Mommy Run group this Saturday morning because I had to take J and Puff to the airport. However, taking them to the airport did give me a chance to run on the Mt. Vernon trail. I haven't run there since last July 4. Then run itself only went OK. Because I had to go to the airport, I got started later than usual plus there was more of a gap than usual between when I eat and when I run. It was hot today, and that combined with being hungry made the run worse than it should have been.

Testify!

My workout for today was a tempo run on the track. I ran over to the track for my warmup, and found someone else running on the track. It was the first time in a few months I had not been alone on the track. I started to run, and when I reached the other runner, our conversation went something like this:

OR: Have you dedicated yourself to Christ?

Me: Yes. (I am Catholic)

OR: Then why do aid the devil?

Me: Huh?

OR: Why do you aid the devil?

Me: I don't follow you.

OR: Why do you mock His sacrifice? You should get down on your knees and beg for forgiveness.

At this point he goes ahead and leaves me alone. I run off the track because I don't want to deal with him.

OR: No one wants to look at you! Go home and repent!

Some people give organized religion a bad name. I ran into this a lot while at was attending Clemson. Even if you said yes, people assumed you were lying and just wouldn't leave you alone. I'm mad at myself for first slowing down, and then for not being more confrontational with the guy. Of course, if I were confrontational that just would have been the devil showing through.

Luckily there's another track across the street. The first one I went to today was at the middle school. That track is always open. The high school track is across the street, but sometimes it's locked. It was open this morning, so I was able to get in a 5000 meter tempo run. I felt pretty good, but just like in my races I need to work on maintaining my pace in the second mile.

Short Run

I ran an easy five miles this morning. I might have done a bit more, but I was leaving earlier than usual for work, so I wanted to make sure I was back in time to get ready. I say I might have done more, but the five miles I did run didn't feel great. I think I needed an easy day.

I was supposed to play softball tonight, but it's hard to play when your team doesn't have enough players. I'm kind of upset because the reason I had to leave early for work was that I was getting a ride with D. My normal carpool wasn't playing softball.

The US Track and Field Championships begin tonight. It's too bad that Ritz isn't running, although I find it curious that he hasn't actually scratched from either the 5000 or 10000. I wouldn't be completely shocked to see him on the track.

Update: Ok, so Ritz didn't run the 10000.

How Far Did I Run?

If you haven't heard about this yet, I suggest you check it out.

Training Partners

Saturday morning I did my first run with the See Mommy Run group. We did 11 miles at an easy pace. We didn't start very far from my house, so our route took us on roads I run often. It was a beautiful morning, about 60 degrees and sunny, a far cry from the hot and humid weather at the beginning of last week. It was nice to have other people to run with for once.

I think I should have stretched a bit more after the run Saturday, because I was pretty stiff Sunday. I worked at home and played softball too on Saturday afternoon, so that probably contributed to my stiffness. I got out Sunday afternoon for an easy five and then stretched out well. J and Puff and I had a nice Father's Day dinner.

This morning I was hoping to do a progression run on the track. I wanted to warm up and then run four miles on the track, with each mile a little faster than the last. It didn't work out quite as I planned. I did two miles, neither of which were as fast as I wanted (but at least the second was faster than the first), and then had to take a bathroom break. I came back and did one more mile before cooling down and getting ready for work. I guess I was a bit too tired to do the workout I wanted.

Easy Nine

This morning I got out for an easy nine miles. It's cooled off significantly this week; the 60 degree temp this morning was so nice for running. I felt a little stiff, but nothing too bad. Tomorrow morning I'm running with the See Mommy Run group. J told me they though I was intimidating, but they don't have anything to worry about. I'm just going to run their pace and stay with them.

I didn't get out yesterday for a run. J got home late after her party, and since she hadn't seen me for a few days she woke me up and wanted to talk. I chose sleep over running in the morning. Wednesday, my last day in Pittsburgh, I did five miles on the trail. I felt really tired for some reason. Maybe running in the heat caught up to me a bit.

Easy Day

I didn't see any deer today while I was running. I got out today slightly earlier than yesterday, and was planning on eight miles or so. I didn't take my water with me today because I thought I'd be OK, but I could have used some. I ran on the trail again today, but just continued on to the paved park and ran out and back for seven miles.

I haven't quite felt like myself running-wise while I've been in Pittsburgh. Even though I've been getting a little more sleep than I do at home I've felt tired, especially at the beginning of my runs. Hopefully when I get back to my normal schedule later this week I'll feel better.

Doe A Deer

The past two days I've run on a trail about a half mile from my parent's house in Pittsburgh. Part of it is crushed limestone (I think) and part of it is paved. To stay on soft surfaces, I've stayed on the crushed limestone section. That section is just under 2-3/4 miles (the trail is marked each 1/4 mile), so it requires some doubling back, but overall it's not bad.

Sunday I ran 8 miles at about 1:30 in the afternoon. It was about 85 and sunny, so I took my water with me. The good part about having to double back is I can drop my water bottle off and drink a few times when I pass it. Despite the heat I was moving at a pretty good pace and ran the 8 miles in just over an hour, including a 6:45 last mile.

Today I did 10 miles a little earlier in the day. When the sun was out, it was warm. Luckily, though, the sun was behind some clouds for most of the run so I didn't feel too hot. With about three miles to go, I came upon a doe that looked like it had a broken leg. Normally, if people get close, deer run away, but this one didn't. I've never been much of an animal person, so I really didn't just want to try to run by it. I had visions of it charging at me. The deer happened to be right by a parking lot, so I was able to cut through the lot and come back out on the trail past the deer. It was still there when I came back the other way.

See Mommy Run

Yesterday I ran with a few of J's friends at her See Mommy Run group. See Mommy Run was started as a way for new moms to get into shape with a group. J and Puff meet other moms and their kids a couple days a week. I had taken the day off work because Puff and I were to Pittsburgh in the afternoon for my mother's graduation.

We ran at Burke Lake Park, which has a nice 5-mile loop. I had though it was mostly paved, but actually it's mostly not paved. J hasn't been running since she's gotten further along with the pregnancy, but she walked. I ran with A and H. I felt a little silly running without a stroller, but it was nice to have some company for once. It turns out that A is training for the Rock-N-Roll Half Marathon, and there's a few other women training for Marine Corps. They're getting together on Saturdays to do long runs, and said they wouldn't mind if I joined them. Our ability level is close enough, and again, I like the company.

Weekly Summary 5/22-5/29

Miles: 30? or so. I need to keep better track in my log.
Workouts: Not really a workout, but I picked up the pace for two segments of Thursday's eight miles
Races: None

Peyton Jordan

J and I were up late Monday night flipping through the TV channel when we came across the Peyton Jordan meet at Stanford. I had meant to tape the coverage, but then forgot it was even on. The men's steeplechase, with all of three athletes in the field, was about to start. Now I can understand some athletes dropping out and having a small field, but what I found amusing was Larry Rawson's comment about the one Kenyan who still might show up. The three athletes are on the track, seconds away from the start, and someone might still show up? That would be a sight. Imagine him running on to the track, arms waving, shouting, "Hey! Wait for me!"

My running's been up and down this week. Sunday I did 11 miles, but Monday I felt very tired an only managed six. Tuesday I did 8 miles, and then today I didn't run. I'm hoping that once J's family leaves, my schedule can get back to normal.

Fair Comparison?

When it comes to my running, there are some people that I like to compare myself to. I feel like if I'm doing about as much as they are I'm doing well. These are people who I've never actually met, but through the wonders of the Internet I can find out exactly what they ran today.

Lately I've been disappointed in myself because I haven't been running as much. My life's been hectic and my motivation's been low, which have led to my lack of running. I've been wondering, though, are my comparisons fair? My situation is not the same as most of the people I compare myself to. They have different jobs, schedules, etc. I'd like to be able to only hold myself up to my standards, but it's not that easy.

Weekly Summary 5/15-5/21

I've decided to start dating these posts; I figure that will make them a little easier to understand.

Miles: 38
Workouts: 8 x 1000 meters, total time for the 8000 meters was 30:44
Races: none

I was still tired last week. I'm not getting the rest I need and it shows when I only run 5 out of 7 days. And on one of those days I cut the run short because I was tired.

Just In Time

I was out a little late last night since my softball game ended later than hoped, so this morning I planned to run easily for 45 minutes or so. I actually felt pretty good, so I ended up running for an hour. Heavy rain was forecast for today, so I thought it would be raining when I got up. Luckily, it wasn't. I checked the radar and there was a break in the rain just as I was heading out the door. It started to rain again about five minutes before the end of my run. I was glad for the break because it was pouring not long after it started to rain again.

I didn't run yesterday. I was absolutely exhausted when my alarm went off, so I took the day off and slept in. I was still pretty tired all day so it probably was a good idea not to run.

We lost our softball game by two runs. As I mentioned previously, it ended late. It ended late because it started late as well. We were just going to get started when this soccer team started to put goals out in the middle of our field. I play in the Congressional League, and we were playing out on the Mall near the Lincoln Memorial. The other team we were playing was saving the field and was there before the soccer team, but the soccer team claimed to have a permit although they couldn't produce it. Just as the Park Police were going to get involved, we found out that one of the players on the other team had found another field.

Mind Over Matter

After last week's mediocre running, I was kind of anxious to get back into the groove this week. I didn't run Sunday, as I had a headache and just felt achy. Monday I did 10 miles and Tuesday I did 8 miles. This morning I had a good speedwork session. My workout was 8 x 1000 meters with a 200 meter recovery. I ran it at the middle school track. I didn't want to go to the high school track and find it locked again. I didn't pay attention to each repeat's time individually as I did to the cumulative time. I wanted to see how fast I ran the 8k of repeats. The first four repeats didn't feel too good. I was worried that I wasn't going to be able to finish the workout. But I must have loosened up, because the second four went much better. I was hoping for my 8k time to be 30 minutes, and after 4k my time was 15:37. I ran the last 4k in 15:07 to finish in 30:44. I'm extremely pleased with the workout and also that I didn't quit at the beginning when I wasn't feeling great.

Weekly Summary

Miles: 18.5
Workouts: None
Races: Two-mile race at Fitness Day
This was not a good week of training. Between staying up late, being sick, and traveling I did not run much at all last week.

Bad Week

This week has not been too kind to me. I haven't gotten much sleep or done much running, and to make matters worse I think I've caught the bug Puff had. My stomach's been bothering me since yesterday. I've run a grand total of 15 miles this week. Since I've been up late almost every night this week I've been sleeping in.

Yesterday was "Fitness Day" at my workplace. I work right next to a school that has a track. We held various running and walking events on the track. Last year I won the two-mile race, but I was not able to defend my title. R., who came in second last year, won this year, while I came in third behind R. and J. (I think), the new guy who ran XC in college. Also disappointing was the fact that I ran slower than last year, although this year I ran in the relay before the two-mile.

I'm going to try running tomorrow. Originally, my plan was to do my long run tomorrow because I'll be in Blacksburg this weekend for M.'s graduation, but that plan has changed. I'm just going to run easily for around an hour, so about 6-10 miles.

Weekly Summary

I haven't done this for a few weeks, but I'd like to start again.
Miles-66
Workouts-None
Races-Hills of Cabin John 5k XC, 19:30

The Birds

This morning I did my long run of 15 miles. I decided about two weeks ago that I'd be better of running long on Saturday instead of Sunday like I had been doing. I ran out and back along the bike path, and then added on a little around the house to get to two hours. The run was uneventful, other than the birds. About 12 miles into the run I saw a few geese flying overhead. When my eyes returned to the path, I saw two more just standing there. They took off, and for a second it looked like they were coming right at me, but then they flew off. I probably saw more people on the path this morning than I have combined on my Sunday runs.

Recovery

If there's one aspect of my training that I would like to improve, it would be my recovery. It's not that I run fast/hard every day or anything like that, it's mainly that I don't get enough sleep. Most days I suck it up and get up and run, but occasionally I have a day like Wednesday where I hit the snooze button a few times or reset the alarm for an hour or so later. Then I'm likely upset because I didn't run as far as I had planned or worse yet didn't run at all.

I think this takes the most toll on my workouts. I wanted to do a tempo run Wednesday, but I hit the snooze button and got up late. I tried again Thursday, but just didn't feel like I had the energy so I just ran easily instead. I'm hoping since I can sleep in a little later on weekends that I'll get a good workout in tomorrow.

Race Report

Yesterday I ran the Hills of Cabin John XC 5k. It was my third XC race of the year. Right now, I'm leading the club's XC series, but I don't expect that to hold up. Maybe I'll be able to finish second or third, though.

The weather before the race was not very good. It rained Saturday morning, stopped for most of the afternoon, and the rained overnight. It was still raining when I woke up Sunday morning. The rain stopped before the race, but the course, which was mainly on trails, was muddy and full of puddles. I got off to a good start, and then settled in. I was in second place at the beginning of the race, but was passed by a few people and ran most of the race between fifth and tenth place. I almost managed to go off the course at one point. We ran behind some baseball fields and then back into the woods; I didn't know there was a little bend there and I had to grab a tree to stay on course. I passed a runner with about a quarter mile to go and held off another runner to finish in 7th place in 19:30.

Overall, I'm happy with this race. I would have liked to run faster (I was only a little more than 30 seconds out of third place), but the course was sloppy and I feel like I put forth a good effort. It helped that I was running with people for the entire race. Having others around helps me to maintain my focus. I think I'm not going to race for about a month now. I'll give myself a solid block of training and we'll see how I do then.

Coaching

La Woof posed an interesting question on the letsrun.com message boards earlier this week: Do you think you could coach an Olympic champion? I'd have to answer no. While I feel I have a good grasp of training philosophy, I don't feel like I know enough of the specifics to coach an athlete at that level. Coaching is definitely something I'd like to do in the future, though most likely on a high school level. I think I'd really enjoy it, provided I don't have the drama that exists on the high school lacrosse team J assistant coaches.

My own training went pretty well this week. After my disappointing weekend and a conspicuous beginning to this week, I feel like I'm back on track (excuse the pun.) I didn't run Tuesday because Puff's antics kept me awake for part of the night. Wednesday I went to the track to run 4 x 1 mile, with one minute rest. The high school track was closed, so I ran at the middle school. Based on my tempo run, I was aiming for 6:30/mile. I was pleasantly surprised when I ran 6:13, 6:11, 6:16, and 6:07. It did make me wonder, first if the track was short, and second if the fact that the middle school track is asphalt rather than tartan does that make it faster. Until proven otherwise, though, I'm counting the times as legitimate. Yesterday and today were easy days, ten and nine miles respectively. I was tired and fairly sore today. Hopefully I'll be able to get some rest this weekend.

Back to It

This morning I ran one of my eight mile loops. It was a nice morning to run, about 40 degrees with the sun poking through the clouds once it started to come up. One of these days I'd like to measure one of my loops and figure out where the mile marks are. That way I'd be able to figure out if the first couple miles of my runs are slower than the last. When I get back home, I often look at my watch and think I didn't think it took that long. My thinking is that since I run early, my first two or three miles are a little slow, and then once I warm up I get to my normal pace.

Who I Am vs. Who I Want to Be

I'd like to be more dedicated. To running. I didn't run a step this weekend, unless you count the little bit of running I did while at softball practice. What I don't understand is that why if I want to be more dedicated I can't. It would be nice if dedication was something that was sold by the bottle, something that I could just buy some more of when I needed it.

Slogging

These past two days I've really felt like I've been dragging on my runs, especially today. Yesterday I managed to make it 10 miles, but I was tired enough this morning to cut two or three miles off my planned total and only run six miles. My lack of enough sleep over the past couple nights has caught up to me. Of course, J has a simple solution: "If you want to go to bed at 9 or 9:30, just go to bed." Often, I end up waiting for her to be ready to go to bed, and then it's late.

Work is still hectic, and I think I'm beginning to see some stress come out at home. I think I'm more easily agitated now than I used to be. Little things bug me more. I do notice it and I try to relax, but I'm a little worried. I just need to remember it's not a big deal, and as my co-worker's screen saver used to say:"We're not saving lives, we're pushing paper."

My Eyes

Allergy season is upon me. Growing up I was never allergic to anything in Pittsburgh, but since I've moved to South Carolina and then Virginia my allergies have become progressively worse. There are just massive amounts of pollen in the air here, making me sneeze and making my eyes itch. That said, even though I thought my eyes would bother me this morning, running actually made them feel better. I ran over to the high school track and ran a tempo run on the track. Even though some lights were on around the school, the track looked pitch black when I got there. The track sits below the school. Once I got down to the track there was enough light. The tempo run didn't quite go as well as I had hoped, but it was still a good workout. I really think that if I did run in the afternoon I'd be able to do my workouts faster, but that's just not an option at the moment.

Marathons

This past weekend/Monday was one of the biggest in marathoning, with London and then Boston taking place. Congratulations to Paula for winning London and Alan for coming in fourth at Boston. I'm planning on moving up to the marathon eventually, although it seems like my time frame keeps getting pushed back. I wanted to run Pittsburgh, but I don't see that marathon coming back any time soon. Plus, I have no idea how two kids are going to affect my training, and the marathon is not a race I just want to run to say I've run it; I want to train properly and finish well. Based on what's happened at Boston the past few years, it seems to be better to run a fall marathon. Richmond or Philadelphia would work well for me. Both are big but not huge, and neither is too far away. I'm just going to have to take stock of my life and see when the marathon fits.

My running over the past few days has been OK. I raced Saturday at the Difficult Run 8k XC race and came in fifth. Despite my place, the race didn't go well. I got to the race later than I would have liked and didn't warm up much. I didn't feel good until halfway throughout the second loop of the race. Sunday I did 13 miles, Monday 8, and then this morning 9.

Invisible

Zeke wrote a little while ago about how he tries to make his running "invisible" to his family. I'd really like to be able to do that too, but it's difficult. I'd prefer to run in the afternoon, but leaving work on time when I go in early is not an easy task. Also, after being alone for pretty much all day with Puff, the toddler who can't sit still, J wants me to watch him when I get home. And my commute each way is about an hour. So I run in the morning before work. I don't mind, but then sleep becomes an issue. I don't usually do well on little sleep.

I've thought about moving away from DC, to somewhere where my commute each way would not take an hour. I can see it happening, but the part that worries me most is finding a new job. I can see myself progressing and being promoted where I work now, but who knows what might happen somewhere else?

Long Run

This morning I did the first true long run I've done for a little while. I ran out and back along the bike path for 14 miles. It was a great morning to run, clear and about 40 degrees. I actually saw some other people out this morning, although all of them were on bikes. Even though I call it the "bike path," I don't actually see very many people riding their bikes.

I felt pretty good even though I did the tempo run yesterday. I did the long run at a fairly easy pace, although I did pick it up a little and run the second half of the run faster than the first. I read in the training plan article in the latest Running Times that Joe Rubio's athletes have a hard day Saturday and then do the long run Sunday, so I though I'd give it a try and see how it goes. It gives me a chance to get two good runs in without having to worry about getting to work.

Weekly Summary

Miles: 55.5
Workouts: Hill workout Thu., tempo run Sat.
Races: Cherry Blossom 10 Mile, 1:05:53
Other than not running Wed., this week went well.

Checking In

I haven't written too much this week, as I've been pretty busy as usual. But since it's Saturday, I have some time to recap my week.

Sat-This morning I did a tempo run on the track. I warmed up for a half-hour, and then ran 5000+ meters on the track in 20:38. I say 5000+ because there was a bench and tables in lane one on the backstretch, forcing me to go around them and add a little more distance to my run. Sure, I could have moved them, but I didn't want to stop between my warm up and the tempo portion of my run. I was hoping to run a little faster, but I'm happy with my performance.

Fri-I ran 8 miles, about half of that in the rain. Luckily the temperature was about 60, so I didn't get cold. This run was pretty slow since I went to bed late Thursday night and was tired.

Thu-I did another hill workout this morning. I didn't run it where I usually do but ran it on another hill, where I grossly underestimated its length. It only took me a little more than a minute to run up the hill, when I was hoping to find a hill that would take me two minutes or more to reach the top. I did 10 repeats of the hill, so in essence my workout was more like hill fartlek, about 10 x 1 min on, 1 min off.

Wed-No running. I slept in. I was tired when my alarm went off, so I didn't get up. I left for work early and hoped to run in the afternoon when I got home, but I didn't leave work on time and it took me longer to get home than I had hoped.

Tue-I ran 10 miles. My groin was feeling better, and my legs weren't too sore, so I decided to add two miles to the eight I was planning.

Work was better this week, it wasn't quite as hectic. I learned last week that we're reorganizing again because apparently the first one didn't quite work. Honestly, though, I think the problem is more of a staffing issue than anything else. We don't have the people needed to do the work. Lacrosse is now in full swing for J, so she's gone almost every day when I get home from work. Coaching two teams, as well as being pregnant and having to watch Puff is stressful. Next year she's only going to coach one team.

Weekly Summary

Miles: 46
Workouts: Hill workout Wed.
Races: None

This week was better than last week, but still not where I'd like to be. Next week I'm going to get the mileage up and try adding a second workout.

Cherry Blossom Report

Yesterday I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile race. I was hoping to break one hour. I had been checking the weather forecasts for a few days leading up to the race, and it did not look good. I woke up to find it very windy outside. The wind was blowing 25-35 mph, with higher gusts. The temperature was in the mid-40s, which would have been great if not for the wind.

The race didn't start out well. I lined up near the front of the 6-7 minutes/mile pace marker, but still spent most of the first mile weaving around slower runners. I picked it up the next mile and ran 6:02. However, my legs just felt pretty dead and I wasn't able to run any faster. My next five splits were 6:26, 6:11, 6:21, 6:22, and 6:31. I was running into some pretty stiff wind in these miles. Sometime in the seventh mile, my digestive system started to act up and I slowed down. I almost felt like dropping out, but I finished. My last three miles were 6:45, 7:25, and 7:14. I finished in 1:05:53, 7 seconds better than last year, when I also had digestive issues.

I was hoping for a much better performance. I ran a 1:02:00 ten-mile race on a much more difficult course in February. But one day does not make a career. I'll continue to train, and I'm sure I'll break an hour. I'll be back next year.

This morning I did an easy six miles. I'm a little sore, but in a different place after this race. In February, my calves were really sore. This time it's my left groin. I'll use The Stick tonight and hopefully that will loosen it up.

Goal

Sunday--Cherry Blossom 10 Mile
Goal--59:59

Bipolar

I feel like I've had the least consistent feelings lately regarding my running. One day I feel great, like everything is going well, and then the next day I'm mad because things didn't go as planned. I had a great hill workout Wednesday morning even though I was pretty tired. I wanted to get to bed early, or at least on time, last night, but that didn't happen. I stayed up late and didn't run this morning, leading to my feelings of guilt and anger at myself.

Where should I draw the line between sleep and running? Should there even be a line? Right now, the line is basically at six hours. If I'm going to get up and run, I have to get that much sleep. I can't say exactly why my line is where it is, but it seemed like a good line at some point. Last night I only got a little more than six hours without running. I guess if I'm not going to sleep much, I should just get up and try running and see what happens. The worst thing would be I get a mile or two, decide I'm too tired, and turn around.

Wanting It

This morning I really felt like I wanted to do what it takes to reach my goals. I wanted to prove to myself that I could do what it takes. Reading Chelle's post today helped cement that feeling. I want it bad too.

This morning I ran 10 miles on the bike path. It was uneventful except for the fact that I seemed to think everything I saw was an animal. I saw two plastic bags caught up in the weeds, one that I though looked like a rabbit and on that I thought looked like a flying duck. I saw a thin stick that I thought looked like a worm. Finally I was passing some construction and on the tyvek-like fencing they had around the site I saw a piece of string that I thought was a bird at first. I have no idea why I had this animal fixation this morning.

New Loop

Yesterday's run took me over a new loop, one that actually includes some trails. Almost 100% of my running is done on the roads, mostly because I begin and end almost 100% of my runs at my house, which is in a highly developed area. I don't have the time to drive anywhere to run. I ran over to the park yesterday intending to run on the golf course, but I changed my mind when I saw some cars there. You're technically not allowed to run on the golf course, but I was just hoping no one would be out to see me. I ran a little further into the park to the boathouse (where a few local crew teams practice) and on to the trail there. I had run on it once before. I followed the trail to where it ended, about two, two and a half miles, and ran home. I ran six miles total.

This morning I ran eight miles in the rain. It wasn't raining too hard, but the combination of the raindrops on my glasses and car headlights made it hard too see at times. I can't wait until I go to the eye doctor and get more contacts so I don't have to run in the rain and in the dark wearing my glasses.

Weekly Summary

Miles: 27
Workouts: None
Races: None

This was not a good week. I was tired and/or sick for most of it. I'm feeling better now and this comin week will be much better.

Stress

I'm not in the best mood right now. I'm sick, I've only run two out of four days this week, and work is making me upset. The worst part about work is that even though I don't cause the problems I have to fix them.

I got up this morning intending to run, but after I got dressed and went downstairs I changed my mind. I was tired, and it didn't help that it was raining. I went back upstairs and got back in bed for another hour.

I'm only working one more day this week, and then taking Good Friday off. Hopefully the three-day weekend will recharge me.

Weekly Summary

Miles: 65
Workouts: Hill workout Wed.
Races: Frozen Slopes XC-24:16
Super Sligo 4 Mile-24:48

Sick

I have a cold. At least my sore throat is pretty much gone though. Thursday night I came down with the sore throat, and then yesterday I got the runny nose and cough. I don't think it made a difference in my race today, though.

Today was the Super Sligo 4 mile race. It says four miles, but it's actually 4.1 or 4.2, as the start and finish of the two-loop course are not located in the same place. The race was late getting started to begin with because the kid's mile took longer than expected. The race starts on a path maybe three or four people wide, so it would not be a good idea to run toward all the kids. I just stood around, but should have jogged a bit to stay warm. I didn't feel good during the race until it was almost over, but at least I passed a few people in the last mile and a half or so. I ran 24:48 to finish in 14th place overall; I'm not sure how I did in my age group.

Yesterday I ran nine miles. I ran one of my normally eight-mile loops and added on some distance by running back on the trail rather than straight back to the house. Despite the fact that I slept well, I still was pretty tired when I woke up. I briefly considered staying in bed, but once I started running I woke up.

10 Miles

This morning I did 10 miles. I didn't run my 10 mile loop, but instead ran out and back on the bike path that goes out the Parkway. I felt pretty good after my workout yesterday. I did stretch out well after the workout, which is not something I do every day. I thought about going a little further than 10 miles, and even got up 10 minutes early so I could run some more, but I didn't get out the door quickly enough. Puff woke up, so I took a minute or two to put him back to sleep, and then I just took my time getting started. I'd like to get in a longer run during the week, something like 12 miles with maybe a few miles near tempo pace.

I'm running another race Saturday. This one's a road race; there's not another XC race until next month. I ran well at this race last year and hope to do even better this year.

Work has become incredibly hectic right now. My desk is just a sea of paperwork. I'm hoping to get some more help soon, but that does not seem likely.

Hill Work

This morning I did my first hill workout of the year. It was actually my first workout of the year other than the three races I've run. The workout was simple: just go up the hill and then come back down. The hill I ran was the parking lot for the soccer fields for the library/fitness center complex near my house. It's probably about 400 meters long, gradual at the bottom but steeper at the top. I did six repeats at maybe 10k pace, which along with my warm up and cool down gave me about 7 miles for the day. I would have done a few more, but I had to meet my carpool early. One of my coworkers moved down near me and I've been carpooling with them to work. She had an early meeting this morning, so she wanted to make sure she got in early enough.

Yesterday I ran my 10 mile loop. It was fairly uneventful, except that I was concerned about getting back late, so I picked up the pace a bit. In other news, I found out the the course for the Frozen Slopes race was long, so my performance was a little better than I thought. There's also some pics of the race at this site.

Race Recap

Yesterday I ran my club's first XC race of the year, the Frozen Slopes 6k. Rolling does not adequately describe the hills in this race. The race starts by going up a small hill on to the only extended flat portion of the race. After maybe half to three-quarters of a mile, the course goes up and down until you get back to the flat portion and then go down the small hill to the finish. I ran 24:16 to finish in sixth place. Last year I ran over a minute faster but didn't place as high. In fact, if you compare the times between last year and this year, they seem a minute or so slower. I warmed up and cooled down for a half hour each to end up with 11 miles for the day.

Saturday I did my 10 mile loop. I've had success running that loop the day before my last two shorter races (not the 10 miler) and why mess with success? My calves were a bit sore, but I still had a good run, running just under 8 minute pace.

This morning I did 8 miles. I didn't sleep too well, but I guess since I got a pretty good night's sleep Saturday I didn't feel too bad this morning. I stretched out well after the race and my legs weren't too sore this morning. My calves were still tight, though. I gave them a brief massage with The Stick in the hopes that it would help.

Tired

I felt pretty sore and tired for this morning's run, especially in my calves. This was likely due to yesterday's run. Yesterday I did another 10 miles. I didn't sleep too well the night before because J. was sick. She was still awake and watching TV when I went to sleep, and she woke me up when she got into bed. I wasn't sure how much I'd feel like running or if I'd need to take a break during my run, so I did some loops close to my house. I felt good enough to do ten miles, so that's what I did.

This morning, I had eight miles planned, but only did seven. I just never really woke up, and my calves were sore. I slept all night last night, just not long enough. I briefly thought about staying in bed, but I got up after a minute or so.

The first cross country race in my club's series is this Sunday. It should be fun. We're supposed to get a little snow Saturday. This is the third year they've had this race; the first year it was scheduled in February, since then it's been in March. Of course, when it was in February, the race had to be postponed until March because it was the weekend after the President's day blizzard that dumped two and a half feet of snow on us.

Update

I really need to try and update my blog regularly; otherwise, what's the point in keeping one? My training's been rather sporadic lately. J., Puff, and I have all been sick twice with some kind of stomach bug. Thankfully the second time around the illness was not as severe.

This morning I did 10 miles. It's really nice that the sun is coming up as I finish up my runs. It's a nice change from running in the dark all the time. I ran one of my eight mile loops and added on a two mile segment at the end to get to 10 miles for the day. The two mile segment goes in part on the trails behind the fitness center/library complex. I'm looking forward to all the snow and ice being gone so I can do some speedwork back there. Speaking of snow and ice, the freak weather that dropped temperatures almost 30 degrees yesterday and brought snow to northern VA left parts of my run kind of icy, but there was only one patch where I really felt like I was going to slip.

Work is going to only get busier in the next few weeks. One of the programs I work with has had its dollar limit increased, so we have to let everyone know, and then brace for the surge in orders that will come in. I'm not looking forward to it.

No Running

I didn't run today. I was up late last night and just decided to bag the run and sleep in instead. I knew I'd be miserable if I tried to get up and run, so I slept. Why is it that on the nights my wife and I are exhausted we end up staying up late?

The last two days I did 8 and 10 miles. I could still feel some soreness in my legs, but nothing that would hold me back like I felt on Monday. I tried each day to maintain a steady pace, but feel like I was more successful Wednesday.

The snow's coming down now, so I don't know what my run will be like tomorrow morning. Hopefully the snow won't be too deep and it won't be too icy. My biggest concern is that I'll be running in the dark, the I can stay in a fairly well-lit area and be OK.

Sore

My legs feel quite sore after yesterday's race. They didn't feel too bad when I went to bed last night, but they were certainly sore this morning. I had planned on running 8-10 miles today, but only did 6. I figured that was enough to loosen up my legs. I made sure I stretched out after my run, unlike after the race. I did stretch following the race, but only a little bit and not after I cooled down but a few hours later. We'll see how I feel tomorrow.

Luckily, the weather wasn't bad at all this morning. It was supposed to start snowing last night, and then change to rain by morning. But when I woke up, there was no snow and it looked like it had just rained lightly. It wasn't raining when I ran, and the sun was actually poking through the clouds.

RRCA 10 Mile Challenge

This morning I ran the RRCA 10 Mile Challenge, a race put on by the Howard Country Striders. The race serves as a team championship of sorts for the local running clubs, as team compete for what was described as "the world's ugliest traveling trophy" (or something like that). To be honest, my biggest incentive for running the race was that my club paid my entry fee since I competed for the team.

My goal for the race was to start out conservatively, 6:15-6:20 pace, and finish strong. I started out at what felt right, but was actually faster than I thought. The third mile marker was the first one I saw, (Note to race directors: please make your mile markers visible. The mile markers today were small yellow signs about six inches high.) and I passed it in 18:02. I was surprised to be running that fast at what felt like a slower pace. My next three miles were 6:22, 5:56 and 6:22. I'm not sure what my split was at seven or nine miles, but I reached mile eight in 49:25 and finished in 1:02:00. I felt like I picked up the pace for the last two miles, but my time doesn't really reflect it. Maybe it just felt faster because I was tired.

The net result of my race was a 45th place finish and a 10-mile PR by 36 seconds. The PR was a bit of a shock. The course, at least for the middle miles, was fairly rolling, and I haven't done any speedwork except for the one other race I had run this year before today. Today's race bodes well for Cherry Blossom, which is a much faster course.

Running in the AM

I've switched from running after work to running before work, again. This time, though, it should be for good. Running before work just makes more sense. I only have to shower once, and I don't have worry about not leaving work on time. And most of all, it's less stressful on the rest of my family.

Not a Bad Race

This past Sunday I ran the Country Road Run 5 mile race. I wish I could have finished a little higher than I did (14th), but at least my place was due to others running faster, not me running slower.

I went out a little faster than my last race and ran the first mile in 5:56. I was surprised to see so many people ahead of me and thought I had run slower. The second mile featured the biggest hill on the course and I hit the two-mile mark in 12:27. I reached the turn around at 15:43 and began to head back toward the finish. I passed three miles in 18:44 and can't remember my 4-mile split. During my last mile I was furiously trying to stay ahead of the people I could hear behind me. I turned on to the finish straightaway and managed to pass two people in the last 50 meters or so to finish in 30:44.

Overall I'm pleased with my performance. It feels good to have run a fairly large negative split. I haven't done any speedwork yet other than this race but did manage a decent pace.

Sporadic

That's what my running has been for the last two weeks or so: sporadic. For one reason or another, I haven't been able to get myself out the door on a consistent basis. Case in point: this week, I ran only four of seven days. I did spend most of Tuesday night at the emergency room with J. She got a bad case of the flu and couldn't keep anything down. She got some fluids via IV and is feeling much better.

I did have things to do two of the three days I didn't run, but I still could have fit in a run. I'm not sure what leads to my lack of motivation sometimes. I have begun to run before I go home i.e. I change before work and run from the commuter lot. That seems to help; it's harder for me to skip a run when I'm already dressed for it.

Do Not Try This at Home

J. and I decided to leave Pittsburgh Saturday morning, with the hopes of beating the snow across Maryland and making it home before anything major started to fall. It turns out we didn't make it. We didn't leave early enough so by the time we did leave the snow had already started to fall. We developed a false sense of security when we got to Morgantown and it was only raining, but then when we began to go up into the mountains the fun began.

The rain changed to snow as we went up, and when we got into Garrett County, MD, the conditions were terrible. Between the snow and wind, we couldn't see five feet in front of us. The wipers kept getting coated with ice and were actually making it harder to see. We pulled off twice to clear the windshield, and we tried to pull over a third time to get into a rest area. However, the rest area was up a hill which hadn't been plowed and we couldn't make it up. We cleared off the windshield again, and slowly backed down to the interstate. To add injury to insult, we skidded sideways at the top of a hill.

Once we made it out of Garrett County, conditions improved. The roads still had snow on them, but the snow had stopped falling from the sky. Overall, it took almost ten hours for what should be a five hour trip. It was also an experience I don't want to have again.

Calm Before the Storm

I'm in Pittsburgh for the weekend. I had Thursday off for the inauguration, and J. and I decided it would be a good weekend to take Puff and go see my parents, so I'm taking Friday off too. It is supposed to snow this weekend, however, so our trip back to VA might be treacherous. You'd never know that right now, though, as there's hardly a cloud in the sky. Don't let the sun fool you, it's still very cold.

I did 10 miles this morning. Weather.com said it was 9 degrees. It wasn't bad once my hands warmed up. I wore two pairs of gloves, but it still took two or three miles for my hands to get warm. I ran up to the trail, ran four miles there, and then did my six-mile loop. The six-mile loop goes right by the trail, so it's very easy to add mileage.

Running on snow seems to be harder than I remember. The trail was snow-covered, and the spots where it was packed down weren't bad, but it's difficult to get traction where the snow is still fresh. I was pleasantly surprised when I checked my watch after I finished to see that the snow didn't slow me down as much as I thought it might.

The First

I did my first run yesterday with the fuel belt that my wife got me for Christmas. I have to say the I like the product. At first I thought the sloshing sound would bother me, but I stopped noticing it after only 10 minutes or so. I took four of the six bottles with me since it was only 34 degrees outside. Three I filled with water and one with Gatorade. I also took one Gu with me. I ran out the Parkway for an hour and then turned around, ending up with 15 miles.

For next weekend's long run I'm taking more Gatorade. I ran the back portion of my run a couple minutes faster than the out portion, in no small part due to the fact that I had the Gu at the turnaround and the Gatorade on the way back. I only had some water on the way out.

Yelling in my Ear

Twice this week I've been yelled at while running. Both times it happened while I was running on the path along the Parkway. The first time someone screamed "Put some pants on!"(I was simply wearing running shorts, and not even the smallest ones I own), and the second time I couldn't make out what they said.

I wonder what possesses people to yell things out their car window as they pass by at 55 mph. Do they think that I actually care what they think, that some random stranger yelling something at me is going to make a difference?

Change in Plans

With the new baby on the way, I don't think I'm going to have time to train for a fall marathon. The marathon is not something I want to attempt half-heartedly, so it looks like the earliest I'll be marathoning is the spring of 2006. I can't say I'm terribly disappointed, only somewhat. This just may give me a chance to run the Shamrock Marathon in VA Beach; I've always enjoyed the 8k. I think what I'm going to do is make a half-marathon in July my goal race. It should happen right before the baby's born, so it'll give me some incentive to rest after the birth.

My back's been feeling better. I don't notice it while I'm running, and I've been making sure to stretch after I run. My hamstrings have loosened up as well, leading me to believe that they were a major factor in the back pain.