8-24-07 Early and short again

I've been wrestling with how far/hard to run in these last few days before the Country's race, but erring on the side of shorter and resting up. Steph and I got up at 5am this morning and only ran 2 miles (remember we had just done a late 4 miler about 8 hrs prior) - and remember, I don't like morning runs before work. We did the 2 miles kind of quickly - which is good because it got me going good without going far. It was still dark by the time we got home and hit the showers. We'll get up Sat morning and run another 2 miles so that her running doesn't lag due to my race prep. I'll still probably run about 1/2 mile just before the race to warm up a bit.

I did the calculations and to run this race in 25 minutes or less, I have to pace an average of 8:03 per mile - I'm hoping I can do that with a combination of music, adrenaline and end of the race kick - if not, well, there's always next year.

8-23-07 Later than I wanted

Schedules are made to be broken, apparently. I've tried to keep my schedule pretty loose this weekend - approaching a midnight race is oddly confusing to my training. . I had planned on doing 6-8 on Thursday. I figured that it would allow me a little longer run, but not humongous mileage (like a 10+ miler). After the day I had at work Thursday, I NEEDED to do an 8 miler. However, when I got home, I remembered that I had agreed to work on a family member's new laptop - they had called and offered to buy dinner for us since I'd be working at their house. So, the 8 miler was immediately scratched from the list. We went for a leisurely dinner, and it was at a 'less than health conscious' establishment - lots of fried foods. I elected for fried chicken strips and fries (about the only thing on the menu that I wanted to stomach at that moment). After dinner, we stayed at their house until nearly 8pm - my run was getting shorter the later it got. Steph and I got to the park it was already dark. I chose to run 4 and stay with her since it was so dark. It was a good run, and it was much cooler than it would have been if my schedule would have been clearer - I'd have started when it was still hot and daylight and run farther, possibly even hit some trails.


Steph and I planned on a morning run for Friday.

8-20-07 Too Early

I really don't like early runs that much. Steph and I got up @ 5am this morning and ran 3 miles. We have plans for this evening and thought it would be best to run early. Early morning runs are hard for me. At least it was cooler, and we got done in plenty of time to get to work without rushing too much. Tomorrow is a rest day, and I still need to work out details for Th, Fr, and Sat since Sat night is a race.

8-18-07 Don't know, but it was fun.

I have NO IDEA how far I ran last night - but I'm going to claim 7 miles. We went out a little earlier than we have been (about 6 or 6:30), so we weren't out so late. After my horrid run on Friday, I was determined to do at least 6 miles. Steph and I ran the 1st 2 miles together and it was very hot (weather.com was reporting 94 degrees). I put a jug of icy water at the 2 mile mark so we could stop for a moment and cool off before we parted routes - that was the best idea I've had in a while. At least it was overcast, so it was hot, but not burning and the water stayed cool for us. I did make a point to put BodyGlide everywhere I could think of - even on my nipples (more on that later). After we cooled of ( we stopped for about 2 minutes - but I wasn't worrying about the breaks since it was so oppressively hot) Steph turned back and I continued on to the 3.4 mile turnaround point. One the way back, I encountered someone in a truck on the side of the road that was having a fit over the deer he'd just seen slip into the wood line. I told him to hang around the tennis courts right at sundown, and the whole family came out of the woods to graze. When I got past the tennis courts my mileage tracking went to the gutter. I turned to go down by the boat ramp, and once I made the turn, I saw the sign for the hiking trails through the park. I've always wanted to run the trails, but I don't know how far they are, and I've been trying to be pretty specific on my mileage. I decided to toss the mileage and take the trails for a while. I took the trail that led back to my turnaround and put me out of the woods in the midpoint of the softball field. I turned back and ran all the trails I could find. Trail-running was a blast. I had to be much more attentive to my footing - watching for snakes and not twisting my ankles. It looked like someone had taken a bike down the trails - tire marks. I didn't encounter anyone else, or any unwanted wildlife. I figure the trail was about 1.5 miles - but I'm just guessing. I can't map it on gmaps because I can't see the trails from the satellite.

I did see some great wildlife out there. I got to see a family of redheaded woodpeckers and a family of deer.

However, it was so humid that my wicking shirt did not help very much. It stayed pretty wet, and started to rub on my nipples again - I guess I'll have to start wearing band aids on them. I taped up my toes, so I didn't have bloody feet when I got back.

8-17-07 Not a great run

We didn't get to the park until about 8 last night. I kind of sabotaged my run unintentionally through what I ate/or didn't eat today. I didn't eat my scheduled snacks, and for lunch, I ate a box of Mac n' Cheese. I didn't put enough calories in my system, and what was there probably wasn't the best running fare. I had planned on doing at least 4 with Steph, and probably to push on to 6 - I didn't want to pull another 8 or 10 mile night because I'm still a little concerned about pushing so far on Tuesday night. When we got out there, it had just rained so it was ultra-humid. I was about shot by a little past 2 miles - my legs had nothing in them. I decided to stop @ 3.5 miles to avoid hurting myself, and hopefully have something left for my Sat run. I plan to do 6 or 8 Saturday - depending on how I feel and the heat.

disappointing

8-16-07 Late-Short-Fast

Schedules got in the way yesterday, so we decided to run a little short since we would be starting so late. We didn't get to even leave the house until 9:30 last night. We decided we'd only run 2 miles, but we would run them pretty quickly. I took a flashlight, and it was full dark when we got out of the car. There were 2 sheriff's cars parked at the gate to the dam when we got there with their blue lights flashing - we've always kind of wondered if they objected to us being there as late as we have been some times. We're often running long after the park is posted as closed. I figured that if they were going to say anything about it, it would be tonight. We started our walk/warm-up and were about half way through the walk when the sheriff pulled up beside us - but all he wanted to know is if that was our car parked in the lot. Once he was sure it was our vehicle, he left. I guess we've become somewhat of a fixture on the side of the road later in the evening, and he probably knows we're not up to anything objectionable.

We ran the 2 miles pretty quickly, and I sprinted the last quarter to get a little more of a sweat going. Looking forward to going about 5 or 6 miles on Friday night.

8-14-07 Late and Long

I'm noticing a pretty direct correlation between the kind of day I have at work, and how far I want to run - not necessarily a good thing. I count last night's run as a milestone, but also as a mental failure. I've read (and to an extent I believe) that a large part of running is mental - you have to will yourself to do things, and sometimes you have to will yourself to NOT do things - that's where I fell off last night.

I had a pretty labored day at work on Tuesday, and by 4pm, I was fantasizing about being on the road running the day off. We left the house about 7:30pm (after dinner) for our run. Steph and I took separate cars because I knew I'd be out there longer than she would want to wait for me (probably the only really good idea of the evening). We had planned on the routine that has become our norm - we would run together for 2 miles, and she would turn back, and I'd continue on to wherever I was going to go. As we ran, she asked how far I was going to run tonight - I answered that I wasn't really sure, but it would be at least 6 miles. It's worth noting that my schedule was to only run 5, but again, bad day=longer miles. We separated at 2 miles, and I picked up my pace after I turned on the music. I was happily plodding along, and singing when I noticed a group of about 6 people in their 70's walking off of one of the closed off roads. They were carrying 5 gallon buckets, and large stones. I toned down a bit, and as I got close, I noticed one of the gentlemen mouthing something to me, so I pulled out my earphones to hear what he was saying - nothing of consequence, but I didn't want to ignore them and be rude. I took the route by the boat ramps, which makes the entrance-to-entrance route 4 miles. When I got to the West Point entrance, I still wanted more run time, so I decided that I'd just turn up HWY 29, and run into West Point, then maybe I'd run to the house and have Steph take me back to the Jeep. Running back to the Jeep on this route would have only added about another 2 miles to the route, but I didn't want to run past a certain area with a dog in the yard. I realized after I was past the point of no return, that I really didn't have enough daylight to undertake this route. Every sound turned into paranoia of a pack of yard dogs coming my way. I got into West Point after is was dark, and it was REALLY dark on my road as I got closer to my house.

I had taken the precaution to put Body-Glide on my thighs, knees, and underarms. I was wearing a wicking shirt that did a good job of keeping me dry (which was probably a lifesaver). I could have used some Body-Glide on my nipples - they got a little sore on the last few miles, luckily there was no real damage, and they didn't burn too much in the shower. When I mapped the route later, it came out to 10.5 miles. I probably should not have done that kind of distance after my 10 mile run on Saturday. I was exhausted when I got home, and famished. I chugged Gatorade, and ate a couple of pieces of fruit while I waited for Steph to take me back to get the Jeep. Luckily Steph hadn't begun to get worried because she knew I was planning on going longer tonight

After we got the Jeep and I was getting ready for my shower, I saw the extent of the damage I'd done. Aside from being exhausted, my body was worn pretty well. My face felt like it was covered in dirt and grime. When I took off my left shoe, it looked like someone had been murdered - half my sock was drenched in blood. I hadn't felt anything, but two of my toes had rubbed against the edge of the adjacent toe-nails and worn holes in my toes. The inside of my left shoe was soaked in blood and it had just started to seep out of the seam on the lower side of the shoe. I've had problems in the past with my left foot bleeding, so I wasn't surprised at the blood - just the volume of it. Steph gasped so loudly when she saw my foot covered in blood that I could hear it behind me. When I took off my right shoe the sock had blood on it as well, but not NEARLY as much as the left one - same issue, rubbing toenails. I put band aids on after the shower and washing away all the blood. I'll need to wrap my toes in tape to prevent in the future. I've got the corners filed off of my toenails, but those toes tend to rub together anyway.

I should have shut myself down at 8 miles - no more.

The shower felt really good, and I slept like a stone. I'll need to give some serious consideration to what I'm going to do on Thursday - I probably should not run very far on Thursday. I've now down about 23 miles in 3 days (with one day off), so I should probably go a little easier. I don't' need do another 8+ day until at least Saturday, but I also need to plan on a lighter week next week in prep for the Midnight Express.