The Weather's Terrible; You'll Wish you Weren't Here

Yesterday's weather was just awful. A cold rain lasted almost all day until six or seven in the evening, when it started to snow. I didn't run yesterday; besides the weather I was so tired when I got home from work that if not for the kids I might have gone right to sleep for the night. There's a dusting of snow on the ground this morning that shouldn't stay around long.

Thursday I ran on the in-laws' treadmill. One of the benefits of living close to them is that I can go over and use the treadmill if I want. The sky was cloudy and there was some lightning and thunder around, so I wasn't going to take the kids out in the stroller.

Wednesday I got out for only three miles in the evening. I hadn't eaten anything all morning, and I was questioning if I wanted to run or eat after that. J suggested that I eat and work on painting the trim outside, so I ate and did that. I didn't get a chance to paint much before J had to leave for lacrosse. I was kind of cranky from being hungry and I had a headache from my lack of caffeine and just did not get out the door until I had to or not run at all.

Don't Drink the Brown Gatorade

b's getting over his stomach bug, but we're still being cautious about his dairy intake. Instead of milk, he had gatorade to drink with dinner. I drank the gatorade that b left over, and j pointed out that it was yellow. I told j that sometimes it's red too, since we have red gatorade as well. Then j proceeded through the litany of gatorade colors: blue, orange, pink, purple,... until he got to brown. I told him I don't think they make brown gatorade. I also told him they don't make black or silver gatorade.

Today and yesterday I ran six miles pushing the kids in the stroller. It's been warm enough the last two days to run in a t-shirt and shorts and sweat. Pushing them isn't too bad, until you get to a hill. I'm off work tomorrow because J thought it would be a good idea for us to get physicals, so I'll have the chance to run without the kids.

Ixnay on the Aceray

I didn't end up running the race this morning, or running at all today. b's been a little sick with some kind of stomach bug and this morning he wasn't keeping anything down. Even though J probably would not have asked me to stay home, I did anyway. Hopefully b will be over this soon.

Goose Egg

I didn't run yesterday. I got home late, and I had told J that I would go to the running store and pick up some Shot Blocks for her long run this morning. By the time I went to the running store and got back home, my motivation was waning. I'm more motivated right when I get home. Plus I needed to make dinner for the kids soon, and I was tired, so I just took the day off.

This morning I went to Burke Lake and ran seven miles. J was there doing her long run, so the plan was I would feed the kids breakfast, bring them to the park, run one loop around the lake pushing them in the stroller, and meet J back at the parking lot because by that time she should be done. She'll take the kids home and then I'll run a little more without them. The plan actually worked--I ran 4.5 miles with the kids, and then another 2.5 without. I might have done a little more, but I wasn't feeling too great--my stomach was a little off and even though I got more sleep last night I still felt kind of tired.

I think I'm going to run a race tomorrow. It's 12k that happens to be at Burke Lake Park. I'm planning on running it as a workout, running hard but in control for the first half and then hammering the second half.

Tired Run

About halfway through my run yesterday I just wanted to lay down and go to sleep. I continued on though, and made it back home awake. I had entertained thoughts about a hill workout, but in my tired state I scrapped that idea and just ran six miles and did some uphill strides after the run. This driving myself into work early in the morning is leaving me more tired than I thought it would.

Still Winter

Winter made a comeback in Northern Virginia yesterday. After a few days of warm temperatures, Mother Nature gave us about two inches of snow. It was the good snow, the light fluffy kind that's easy to clear. I was going to take the kids to the in-laws and borrow the treadmill, but lacrosse practice was canceled so J stayed home and I ran outside. I ran eight miles along the Parkway in the snow. I was tired, but the legs felt pretty good and I was done before I knew it.

Evaluation

I really haven't done anything fast since the marathon, so Monday I went to the track for a tempo run. The plan was to run hard but in control and let the pace fall where it may. I took the day off Monday due to b having a fever Sunday night, but by 11 am he was feeling better so I headed over to the track. I figured that since school was in session the high school track would be open, and it was. After my two mile warmup, I ran 5000 meters on the track in 19:26. I went out a little fast (6:04 first 1600) and then settled down (the next two 1600s were 6:20 and 6:18, with the last 200 in 44). Overall I'm pleased with the effort.

Today's run was six miles. I would have done a little more if I had more time.

I've had to rethink my goals for the spring. J is coaching not one, not two, but three lacrosse teams. Because of that, I'm going into work very early so I can come home early and watch the kids while she's at practice. I should be able to get out and run every day since I can push the kids in the stroller, but I don't see myself getting many quality workouts pushing 50 lbs. worth of children. I'm simply going to try and run on a consistent basis and stay as fit as possible for when things get back to normal at the end of May.

Getting out of the Slump

I've been in a slump the past two weeks with my running. I've been sleeping in, and the snow and ice we got this week didn't help. For whatever reason, I feel like I'm coming out of it, and I made it out both Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday I ran eight miles through the neighborhoods. They don't do a very good job plowing the roads around here let alone shoveling the sidewalks, so I need to stay off the main roads as much as possible. Sunday I planned on twelve or thirteen miles, but called it quits after seven. I was more tired than I expected, and my legs especially my left calf, were pretty tight. I stretched out well and hopefully will feel better tomorrow.

Goals

J and I had a discussion Monday night about exactly what my running goals are. Her concern is that I'm aimlessly running, without any purpose. Also, since I've known her, I've pretty much been steadily running more and more. She doesn't always see me increasing my mileage as a positive.

In the near future, my goals are identifiable: break 17:30 in the 5k and 37:00 in the 10k and then break 3 hours at Richmond in the fall. Further out, it's harder to identify goals because new goals depend on breaking old ones. My ultimate running goal, however unrealistic it may be, is to qualify for the Olympic Trials in the marathon.

Reaching my goals will take hard work and dedication. In addition to running, though, I have other commitments--family, work, etc. How do I reconcile my goals with those commitments? Why am I having such a hard time accepting that those other commitments could prevent me from reaching a goal?

Used to It

I wanted to go back to sleep when the alarm went off this morning, but after I was up and moving around for a few minutes I was awake enough to get out the door. I guess my body is used to getting up again. It was about 30 degrees this morning, a little warmer than the low 20s of the past few days. I ran 10 miles, including eight laps at the middle school track. I added on the miles there rather than looping past the house, since I was pretty tired and I was worried about the temptation to just stop at home. For being tired, it was a solid run. I average just over 8 minutes a mile.

Wednesday I was pretty tired too, and in an effort to help with my motivation, I put on my headphones. Unfortunately, the music only lasted a mile since the batteries died. At that point, though, I was feeling better and ended up with six miles. Tuesday was another ten mile day.

Some Good Running

My last few runs have gone quite well. I've been running a strong aerobic pace, and the distance is coming back up. Now if I could just sleep a little bit more, I'd be a really happy camper.

This morning I ran eight miles along the Parkway. It was cold and a little windy, but nothing too bad. Yesterday I ran about nine and a half miles with one of J's friends. She's training for the Shamrock Marathon in VA Beach. While I finished with nine point five miles, she continued on and ran twenty. My other days since I last posted were nine, ten, eight, and seven miles. I'm glad to see the consistently and to have the desire to get out the door every morning.

Snow Day

Mike is not the only one who's had snow lately. We got a little less than two inches Sunday afternoon, and let the kids go outside and play in it. j loved it, but b didn't think it was so much fun.

I ran Sunday morning before the snow started, one lap (5 miles) at Burke Lake pushing b in the stroller. I wanted to do two laps, but since I was late getting out the door in only did one.

Saturday was cold and blustery, with 20 to 30 mile per hour winds. I ran seven miles in the morning, and then the kids and J and I headed off to Warrenton so J could run a race. She's training for the National Half Marathon and her training schedule called for a 5k. The race was only three miles, but that's close enough. Despite the wind, she ran a great race and finished in 22:36. Adding about a minute or so to estimate her 5k time, she broke her PR by almost three minutes!

Monday morning I ran eight miles in conditions that could be described as a skating rink. We got some sleet or freezing rain overnight and there was a layer of ice on the snow. I was cautious and only really slipped one, but being cautious made the run take about 10 minutes longer than it should. This morning I ran just under nine miles. I was going to run a little extra around the house so I got up to nine, but the stomach issues I was having towards the end of the run caused me just to stop as soon as I got back home.

One thing I've noticed since I've begun consistently running after my post-marathon layoff is that I often feel hungry while I'm running. I get up, get dressed, and head out the door, so I don't eat before I run. This has been my routine for a while, and I don't remember feeling like my stomach is so empty in the past.

Chance

I took a chance this morning and ran out and back along the Parkway. The last time I ran there in the dark, I tripped and fell while I was running through the portion that is under construction. Nothing like that happened this time, because while they've still not finished redoing the path, they have added a third lane to the road that is not yet open to traffic. I ran in that lane and avoided and the ruts from the construction vehicles.

I ran eight miles, the longest I've run since the marathon. I'm working on getting the mileage up and maybe running some 5k and 10k races in late spring.

Winter is Here

It's January and winter has finally arrived. This morning it was in the mid 20s with a slight breeze as I headed out the door. I ran seven miles, and about halfway through I really just wanted to be done. It wasn't due to the weather, I was just tired. I was running a loop though, so there was nothing to do at that point but soldier on home.

Last night I had the chance to watch the brief documentary about Craig Mottram, The Big Mazungo. I got the DVD from David Monti, but if I remember correctly you can find it on Youtube. It's well worth your time.

Spoke too Soon

When I last wrote, I thought b was getting better, but boy was I wrong. He seemed OK last Tuesday so on Wednesday he ate normally, but Wednesday night it was all coming back up again. And to make things even better, J wasn't feeling very well either and j was throwing up as well. I finally caught whatever was going around and was feeling a little queasy Friday afternoon. By the weekend, though, things had settled down and everyone was back to normal.

With the sickness going around, I didn't run much at the end of last week; in fact I didn't run from Thursday through Sunday. Yesterday I ran six miles and this morning seven. Until this afternoon it's been unseasonably warm--I ran yesterday morning and this morning in shorts and a t-shirt. But the front's come through, and tomorrow morning the temperature will be in the 20s

Recap

First, a little synopsis of my last three days of running:

M: 7 miles
T: 4 miles
W: 7 miles

I don't have anything terribly exciting to report about the runs. I'm just trying to work on getting the mileage up and am keeping the runs easy. The hip flexor was pretty tight Monday, not quite so bad Tuesday, and best of all today. Winter weather has finally arrived, at least for a few days.

I was hoping that Tuesday's run would have been a little longer, but Monday night b picked up some kind of stomach bug--there's been one going around his playgroup buddies, although it might have been something he ate--and got sick three times. Remarkably, he slept through all of them. The first time he made a little noise, but the second and third times he got sick J and I only found out because we went into his room to check on him. Thankfully it seems it was only a 12-hour or so bug, and he's feeling much better now.

Easy Day

After not running yesterday, I got out for an easy six miles this morning. I was close to talking myself out of getting up early, but after I made my list of things I'd like to get done this afternoon, I knew I had to get up and run or I wouldn't run at all--like yesterday.

The hip flexor was pretty tight this morning. I wonder if the day off yesterday had something to do with it.

Tired

I don't like Grey's Anatomy that much, so why was I awake last night watching it? Because J was watching it. Staying up until 11 last night made for an early morning, but I got out for six miles. One of my resolutions for the new year is to not let being a little tired deter me from getting up and running. I figure the worst thing that could happen would be for me to run a mile or two, feel terrible, and come back home. Even that would be better than not running at all. The hip flexor felt ok today.

A New Direction

I didn't want to run the same loop three days in a row, so I turned left instead of right this morning and ran seven miles on a loop I haven't run for a little while. Around this time of year, this loop takes me past a house that puts out one of the largest display of Christmas decorations around, but to my disappointment they had taken it down. The hip flexor felt ok until I started up the big hill. Still, it's not having a big effect on my running.

Same Old, Same Old

I ran six miles again today, on the same loop as yesterday. The hip flexor felt good until about halfway, when it began to act up a little. I made sure to stretch when I got back, and I also used The Stick for a brief massage. The plan is just to stick with easy running until the leg feels better.