Aug 11, 13, and 15

got a little behind on blogging this week. i am here to make it up, but it is nearly 10pm and i have to be up at 5:30am to run so this will hopefully be short but somewhat detailed. Aug 11: i ran 15 miles in 2:37.44. this was nearly 3 minutes faster than my 13 miles last weekend. i think the temp made all the difference in the world. last week it was 85 when i started and 91 when i finished. this week it was 80 when i started and 60 when i finished. a couple of other things i did differently to help with the heat were: 1. i did not wear a hat, it seems to make me a lot hotter so i ditched it this run. 2. i wore a little bit looser compression shirt, that seemed to let a little air in but still kept the sweat off but just wasn't really tight and didn't have any neck on it. 3. instead of 48oz of gatorade i had 24oz of water and 24oz of tang (i thought i was mixing gatorade then realized it was tang when it was too late). i don't think the tang necessarily helped more than gatorade, just noting the facts. i also ran in my compression socks, not sure if they helped or not but since this was a pretty good run, i will probably continue to run my long runs in them. i walked twice. once at 5 miles to get a drink and eat a few chews. at mile 10 i had to walk to get a drink and eat some chews but i also had to restart my ipod and that took a little while. i think i could have done it in 10:30 if this had not happened. i felt really good until mile 14 then i got pretty tired and struggled a little, but i still finished respectably, for me. Aug 13: 4 treadmill miles in 39:02, a 9:45 pace. Aug 15: i ran 8 miles tonight. i started at 7:25pm, so most of the run was in the dark, which i do not prefer. i started out too fast, with some miles right around 9 minutes. at first my legs were really tired, then they felt great. during the second half of the run they got tired again, especially when going uphill. i finished in 1:16.49, a pace of 9:45. i have found over the last week or so that the outside of my right knee hurts a little, this is what really hurt me last year. however, after reading the chi running book, that says most pain can be avoided or stopped by correcting form, i have tried correcting my form when i feel the pain by taking straight steps and not pronating. odd, the pain goes away until i forget about maintaining correct form and start over pronating again. i have been able to stop this pain numerous times by doing this. sometimes my knee is a little sore after the run but i think only because i don't stretch and it tightens up. overall i have been very happy with my runs this week. seems like running on the treadmill at a 2% incline does help with my road runs. my right hip still gets a little stiff after some of the runs but goes away before long. i think, again, i could avoid this if i would stretch after runs, but who has time?:) going to bed.