Another Hot 5

it was another hot day. when i got in the truck leaving work, my thermometer said 104, the hottest i have seen it this year that late in the day. by the time i got home it had come down to 96, i think by the time i started the run it was around 94, at the end of the run it was 92. i felt really good right up until 2.5 miles, then i had to walk and drink a little. i walked a little again at 3.5 miles. the funny thing is, i finished the first half and the last half in the same time to the second, even with walking twice after the half-way point. i did have to fight a dog off to start with and then finishing, probably added a few seconds to the run, pretty annoying.

i am again to tired to put my splits in, nothing special. hope to get in bed early tonight, i was up late last night revising my running schedule and being on call.

Rough 10

i wanted to run 12 miles yesterday, however, by the time i ran some errands and got home and dressed and drove to the starting spot, i was a little behind schedule. i did start off a little faster than i expected and felt really good. however, by the end i wasn't running so fresh. about 6 miles into the run i turned a curve and started running right into the direct sunlight. after that, i wasn't the same. i ran up the 7 mile ferry hill a little better than i expected, especially since it was around mile 7-7.5. i haven't blogged about this run yet since the internet here at the house is hit or miss. too late tonight to post splits, etc. just wanted to get this run on here, since jeff has already posted his 10 miler :). he did beat me by 4 minutes. i think he was running around the same time i was, i was running in his territory but i never saw him. the last mile of this run was all i could do to keep running. i did have some gatorade with me and drank most of it. when i got home i did not feel good, i was hot all night long.

got to hit it again tomorrow to stay on track.

Another Hill Run

i decided to do the hills on my schedule as runs for now. this 3 miles was the same 3 miles i ran last week. however, this time it seemed much easier. i did not have to walk or even get a drink. it was just a little cooler than the last hill run and a little less humid, that probably helped. this run was 1 minute faster than last week.

here are the wonderful splits:

.5= 5.38 155
1.0= 5.21 10.59 165
1.5= 5.35 16.35 169
2.0= 5.42 22.18 167
2.5= 5.53 28.11 169
3.0= 4.49 33.00 167

i felt a little better going up the hills, part of the way anyway. once i got near to the top of the big hills my legs still got really weak.

thought of the day:"Victory is won not in miles but in inches. Win a little now, hold your ground, and later, win a little more" Louis L'Amour. definitely the way i felt on the hills this afternoon.

Another Hot One

it was another hot one this evening. i walked outside and the face of my watch fogged up with condensation. i ran out here by the house and once again it seemed all uphill, 5 miles of it. the hills really get my heart rate up and my calves cramping. i did have to stop and walk and drink twice, once at 2.0 miles and then again at 3.0 miles, but i did finish more than a minute/mile faster than my last 5 miler. i talked to a close friend the other day whose wife runs. he told me that after they had their second child, she has slowed down. she has been running 9-10 miles, pushing a side by side stroller and doing 7.10 minute miles. anyway. here are the splits from today:

.5= 5.40 163
1.0= 5.17 10.57 174
1.5= 5.10 16.08 178
2.0= 5.17 21.26 177
2.5= 6.04 27.30 173
3.0= 5.35 33.06 175
3.5= 5.10 38.16 173
4.0= 5.53 44.10 172
4.5= 5.24 49.93 174
5.0= 4.49 54.24 175

the last half, even a very small uphill felt like a huge mountain and was very hard. at one point i was needing some inspiration so i pictured todd and jeff about 100 yards ahead of me, then i wanted to quit. so i readjusted and then pictured them about 10 yards ahead of me, struggling just as hard as i was, that helped.

thought of the day: push hard, but not too hard in the heat. take a few extra breaks to drink and lower your heart rate.

Got in a Run, I Guess that is a Plus

I wanted to do 12 miles today. after church we went out to eat with some friends, then i had to get the work truck back to the clinic. i got home with about and hour and a half before i had to be at the catfish house to eat for my great uncle's birthday. i knew i would be pushing it to have time to run 12, so i thought maybe 10. by the time i got to the house and dressed and out the door, i knew i would barely have time to do 8 miles before it was dark, and on these roads i decided i better not run in the dark. i also knew i was pushing the limit of running too close to eating. i like to give myself 2 hours minimum if i eat a heavy meal. however, with this run it was barely 1.5 hours. with the heat, i was expecting that to be a problem. i had bad indigestion throughout the entire run. i decided to run the route i usually bike since it was closer to the house and i would be able to do more miles by getting to the run sooner. however, i also knew this route was a lot hillier than the other route and it would be tougher. the first 3/4 of a mile was uphill and for a good bit of it i has to fight a dog off. starting out uphill in this heat takes a lot out of me. i finally got to a level spot and started feeling much better. i also knew i had to take plenty of water breaks since i was starting earlier than usual and it was still pretty hot. i took breaks at 2 miles, 3 miles, 3.5 miles, 4 miles. when i turned around at 4 miles i could see a big dark cloud that i was running into. i decided to run another .5 mile and call emily, then turn around and run in the direction she would be coming from. with all of the breaks, it took me over 1 hour to run the 5 miles. here are the splits:

.5= 6.19 157
1.0= 5.53 12.13 166
1.5= 5.42 17.56 167
2.0= 5.42 23.38 167
2.5= 6.14 29.53 164
3.0= 5.28 35.22 168
3.5= 5.53 41.15 163
4.0= 6.39 47.55 155
4.5= 6.11 54.06 167
5.0= 6.22 60.28 160

i'm feeling pretty tired now, thought of the day is heat and humidity suck. i got a run in but, not as much or as fast as i wanted, today i guess i have to settle.

Hills for Real

of course i got home late last night, i was planning on doing a 6 miler or some hill and then running this morning (i took off work to get some stuff done) and then bike tonight. however, i put off the workout last night and got to sleep late and didn't get up in time to run. i did run tonight. i got home a little later tonight than i wanted and decided to do a 3 mile, strenuous, hill run instead of a 6 miler. i started out going up a small hill, leveled out for a very short time, up another small hill, down a small hill, down a medium hill, up a medium hill, down a really big hill, then up a really big hill. then i turned around and came back. on my way up the really big hill on the way back my feet were barely moving. i had to be going so slow, but i was giving it all i could. it reminded me of lifting weights on the last set doing the last couple of reps when you have no more strength, only will to lift the weight, but i never stopped running, until i got to the top and walked about 30 seconds to get a drink. so, i walked to drink after the first really big hill at 1.5 miles and then after the second really big hill at 2.0 miles and that was it. about a minute or two total.

here are the splits and hr:

.5= 5.23 155
1.0= 5.21 10.44 164
1.5= 5.35 16.20 168
2.0= 6.25 22.45 163
2.5= 6.04 28.49 166
3.0= 5.10 34.00 168

i am on call tomorrow so i am gonna try to bike a little and run a little on sunday.

thought of the day:"Had there been no difficulties and no thorns in the way, then man would have been in his primitive state and no progress made in civilization and mental culture," Anandibai Joshee. good thought. goes with the saying, "necessity is the mother of invention." these thoughts also have lead to laziness, in my mind. through hard work and lots of inventions, we humans have made it too easy on ourselves. i guess that is good, if we hadn't made it easier i wouldn't have time to run and have hobbies. but then i would probably be in better shape if i had to walk everywhere and there was no tv or air conditioning.

Bike Ride

i got home a little later than i had hoped and when i pulled into the driveway i got a call from one of the "outside" companies i work for. he told me the regional manager-the person over me and my main contact was no longer with the company and we were getting a new regional manager. i hadn't done much with this company since this contact had not been in good contact for a long time. i actually got connected with another company so i could be more active in the hunting community. lately i have been trying to fill my yearly requirements for the new company. the man who is my short term contact for the old company told me things were about to change and it would require more effort, basically. that is the best news i have heard in a long time. that is the reason i joined both companies, to be active.

anyway, i got my bike in today. once again my gps didn't calculate the distance so i am not sure how far i went, but i biked for just over 47 minutes today and made it nearly as far as i did in an hour 2 weeks ago. i really like riding my bike, it is cooler than running and i can really feel my quads working. i get a great leg workout without stressing my entire body. i have a run scheduled for tomorrow, hope it cools down a little or rains or something.