Aug 18, 2012 14 miles

today's run was with Todd and Lee. Lee couldn't get here until 11am so by the time we caught up and got out to run it was around 12:30pm. it was a little hot, not close to what it has been (high was around 83) but most of the run seemed pretty well shaded and we had good cloud cover. the run went pretty well, i was hoping it wouldn't turn out like the last time we all ran together, the mississippi blues marathon. during that run, the other two were supposed to pace me. they did, right into exhaustion. today was a little different, Todd and Lee have not been running like they had in january and i was able to keep up with Todd for the most part (he did walk several times to let me catch him) and unfortunately Lee only did about 7 miles. however, the longer the run went the more i thought i was going to tire out at the end. we ran this run 15 seconds per mile faster (on average) faster than my 15 mile run last week. i knew the pace was a little fast but it didn't feel all that bad until the last mile or two when i was ready to be done. the overall time was 2:23.25, a pace of 10:15, for 14 miles. i was very happy with that and felt really good afterwards. not like my usual fall-out. the odd thing is we ran this run at that fast of a pace for me and it seemed like we talked a good bit during most of the run. once again it is late and i am tired, my thoughts for the day have all escaped me at the present time.

Aug 16, 4 miles

i ran 4 miles with Thom and Todd this morning. i was a little nervous since i ran 8 last night. however, i was not nearly as sore as i thought i would be. we finished the 4 miles (maybe) in 37:13, a pace of 9:18. however, we went by the mile markers on the greenway instead of by my gps. my gps read 3.93 miles, so we were pretty close. overall it was a good run. thought of the day: i am at 299.63 miles for the year and 109 miles ahead of where i was last year. for this month i have 74 miles at about halfway through the month. this should be my highest mile month ever if i can keep it up. if i get all my runs in i should have 173 miles this month. stay tuned.

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.

Aug 9, 5 miles

i was going to run outside when i got home from work, but emily said supper was almost ready, so i decided i better eat first and just run on the treadmill. after eating i watched some of the olympics, relaxed a little, and finally hopped on the treadmill about 9:15pm. i did 5 uneventful miles and felt pretty good. my time was 48:11, a pace of 9:38 at a 2% incline. i am about 86 miles ahead of this day last year. hopefully i can keep up the running. thought of the day: sometimes there are so many thoughts it is hard to pick just one.

Aug 8, 7 miles

tonight emily and her friend adrienne wanted to run. they have a 1/2 marathon towards the end of september and i have been giving them a hard time about not running enough. so emily asked if i was going to run with them and i said sure. i was running 7 and they were trying 3 (after i wouldn't let them quit at 2). so i ran with them to give them encouragement as much as i could. the run actually felt pretty good. when emily and adrienne stopped i was right around 3.3 miles (they finished 3). at that point my pace was a little over 11 minute miles. the rest of the run i was under 10 minute miles. overall a pretty good run. i actually finished in about the time i thought i might have finished even if i had not ran with emily and adrienne. i think running when it was a bit cooler really helped me finish stronger than i would have expected. so the final time was 1:16.24, a pace of 10:55. thought of the day: amazing how much better it feels running in cooler temperatures. i actually ran a large part of this run after dark. this 7 mile run felt easier than the first 4 miles of my last 13 mile run. hope the temperatures stay cool at least at night, i might have to become a night runner again.

Aug 6, 6 miles

very late treadmill run. 6 miles,, 59:10, 9:52. goodnight.

Aug 4, 13 miles

i started today with jeff around 7:50am. (we were supposed to start at 7:30 but i was fighting with my hydration bladder and i couldn't get the top all the way on and i spilled gatorade everywhere) we ran together for a little over 6 miles. we ran about a 2.5 mile loop twice (1/2 a mile run from the driveway) and then back to the driveway. since that loop seemed to have a lot of sun and only a little shade i decided to run my 3 mile out and back twice more and then another side road that was about 1/2 a mile one way. luckily, as i was around mile 7 jeff brought me some ice water and i filled my hydration bladder back up and drank some. then i carried that bottle with ice under my left arm (it wouldn't stay strapped to the pack) until i got back to the mailbox then i stashed the bottle and my hat in the mailbox and continued. at mile 11.7 i stopped for one of numerous walk breaks and called emily to pick me up at the end of the driveway with some ice water and a towel. when i got there i had about .3 of a mile left and was trying to finish it, but when i got to 12.85 i felt like i was way too hot and had to completely stop for a minute or so and thought i was about to vomit. i then walked the rest. the ice water emily had was great. i think i drank it too fast and i thought it was coiming back up. when we got to the house emily made me a smoothie that was cold. after about 15 minutes i cooled off and had to get my snuggie on, in which, i fell asleep for a while. overall, i felt pretty good for this run, other than heat. i think it was about 84 when we started and 91 when i finished. i have no idea what the heat index was but it was hot. this 13 miles was 4 minutes slower than my last 13.1 mile run. thought of the day: run earlier and find a spot that is nearly all shaded next time.