9.28.09

Right now is the best time to be running. The cool weather has finally moved in and I can tell a HUGE difference. My breathing is relaxed and controlled and I feel like I could run forever. Tonight I had no problems running the hour and half I'd been trying to reach for the past three weeks. At one point in the run I found myself just coasting, that hasn't happened for a while. I was just running without thinking about it or even trying, I love that feeling.

So yeah I missed three days. Friday I had a festival, Saturday were insane thunderstorms, and Sunday I guess I just kept the streak going. But as always I'm getting back up on the horse, and after today's run being the longest since I can remember, I find that pretty ironic after three days of absolute zero. Honestly though, now that the temperature is cooler I'm not sweating as much and definitely can breathe easier. It felt like had an oxygen mask on or something, and my shorts barely had any sweat on them, where normally they are completely soaked through, I mean literally just dripping and so wet they stick to my legs, gross.

It was fun because normally set my ipod to 1hr 10minutes. Well I somehow set it to 1:15, so when I hit 1:15 I realized that I was 5 minutes ahead of where I thought I was. It really helped my confidence because i'm usually just begging to hit that mark. The last five minutes I picked it up pretty good and nearly made it under 1:30, which was kind of what I thought I could hit if I ran well. I hope you all are having great runs as well.

7:09 pm 66° F 45%H 10mph
1:30:28 13.04 bf 1900

9.24.09

April work's at the Bride's Lounge until 7 and I wanted to eat dinner with her so I got out late tonight. I could have ran before, but that usually ends up in disaster due to the heat and getting things ready since I wanted to cook for her. It worked out well although there was a point where I was going to just say forget it. I sent out a tweet and made a deal with myself that if anyone supported me to run, that I would run without question. Well it turns out that someone else was going for a night run, so that pretty much dismantled that excuse and I headed out the door. I said easy run at the beginning, but it was a bit hard to stay on pace tonight, so I put it into the moderate zone. My breathing wasn't great and the muscles were a bit tired.

8:56pm 80º 88%H
1:12:20 10.61 bf 1897

9.23.09

Double today. I tried to run in the morning but that didn't go so well. The humidity was near 100% and I had to take a breather after the first loop around the neighborhood. I was huffing and puffing like I had just ran a race. So I couldn't even find it to go back out, but it didn't turn out so bad. So 3 miles this morning, then later on I got back out the door. The heat was up there today - very near 90, but humidity was much lower and there was a nice little breeze blowing that helped too. By the time I got outside it was only around 80 and I think it got even cooler as the run progressed because I felt pretty good. I just took it easy and tried to run nice and smooth, even pace.

I like doing doubles, I just have to get up earlier if I want to avoid the morning heat. Really it's just a matter of setting the alarm a bit earlier and having some sort of snack prepared for the morning. I always get up but am so hungry that I eat breakfast, and then by the time I get out it's close to 8:30-9 and the sun is already doing it's thing. Sunrise is 7:30, so I have to at least be out the door by 7 to avoid it for a normal 45-60 minute run. Hopefully having some sort of plan/schedule will get things into gear. Happy running, keep it real.

9am 22:12 3.31

7pm. 80º 80%H
pm 56:37 8.36

total - 1:18:49 11.66 bf 1887

9.22.09

Nice run tonight. I waited until the sun was nearly set to run and that helped a lot because it got just a little bit cooler and of course no sun to make matters worse. I had originally wanted to a little bit of speedwork near the end of the run but as I made it to 1:10 I realized that although I was feeling good I just didn't feel like I could do any sprints. I did however pick up the pace gradually and was moving along at a pretty good clip for the next 10 minutes, and since I had went that far I just decided to run until I hit 12 miles, now getting well below 5k race pace. So I really did well tonight and stayed out there longer than I have been, which is a great sign. Hopefully that means I'll actually be able to have a chance at my half marathon coming up, and if things go really well a 5k a few weeks before.

So I'll label tonight as a hard effort, since the last 20 or so minutes was pretty close to 5k pace. That's really good because I don't feel like I'm very conditioned right now for speed...at all. At this point I just want to stay consistent. Everyday seems to be a struggle to get out the door, mostly due to the humidity. I may be able to curve this with doing two shorter runs, but I can never get myself out the door in the morning. I've never been much of a morning runner, but daylight takings is coming up, and that means no more "late" runs so i guess now is a good time to try to transition. We'll see how that goes, I've failed miserably at it in the past. Looking forward to this next month of training, October should feel great compared to September, fitness and weather wise. Alright, happy running.

7:25pm. 76º 80%H
1:22:54 12.11m bf 1876

9.21.09

Wow September is almost gone people. At least I've gotten my butt in gear this month and really put up decent numbers, especially considering the whole mr. shin being weird deal. Today it rained, yet again. This time I took no chances and freakin got on doppler radar and scoped it out for myself - I'm forecasting my own weather from here on out. It worked! I was able to wait until the storm passed, then start running, otherwise I probably would have ended up running in the middle of the storm like yesterday.

Although the roads were wet it wasn't too bad of a run. My shoes were still a little soggy from yesterday, but I didn't want to get another pair wet too, so I just wore them anyway. The funny thing about running in the wet roads is all the dirt that flies up on the back of your legs. When I take a shower it feels like I just came back from a day at the beach. I ended the run with some pretty good accelerations, but nothing too much because I'm still very weary that if I go too fast or too far my shin will suddenly just shatter into a million pieces. Well I tried to make this post a little more exciting, but yet again I revert to weather, injury, and the ever present edging towards complaint.

7:07 72º 97%H
1:12:33 10.5 bf 1854

9.20.09

I wanted to get a long-ish run in today in between the thunderstorms and it worked for the most part. I was about halfway where I wanted to be, head right for an hour and half when it started raining. I figured it would let up because it sprinkled for a bit at the beginning of the run and stopped, but it didn't let up. It just kept right on coming, and I kept right on running through it. After a good 20-25 minutes of running in this I was completely soaked and my shoes were squishy. I really felt like I was either going to slip and fall due to running 180º cul-de-sacs, or get some sort of nasty blister from my shoes being waterlogged so I just ran until I hit 1:15 and called it.

My plan was to get to an hour and half and see how I felt, possibly running a bit longer if need be, but as we all know plans have to change sometimes. The shin was doing it's weird thing, maybe I'm just thinking about it too much? Still no pain though, just that old tension feeling. I'm happy with today's run. Despite being 10 pounds heavier I managed to hold the pace and picked it up just a little at the end and I felt good, I could have at least got to 13 miles. I was thinking if I just held the pace for the next two miles I would've ended right at 1 hr 30 for a half, that ain't bad! I might not be as far behind as I thought. Some hill training will definitely get the times going in the right direction methinks.

6pm. rainy 74º 86%H calm
1:16:05 11.16m bf 1844

9.19.09

The humidity was ridiculous. My shorts and shirt were so soaked that when I came in April asked if it was raining outside. It was not. But I digress, the run was actually pretty good. Started off slow because the last two days I didn't run due to procrastinating on a caricature gig day, then there were thunderstorms yesterday. Today was the same with storms, but luckily it held off long enough for me to get a run in. Toward the end I felt good, I guess i got the lead out and managed to get a really good quality easy run in.

I haven't done a long run in ages, so tomorrow I'm thinking 13 with some faster miles or a normal 15 where you just try to stay alive. I'll have to see what the weather looks like and go from there.

On a side note the Berlin Marathon is tomorrow. This is the one Haile set his world record at a few years ago if I recall correct, and he'll be running again tomorrow. He missed the olympics and really hasn't caused much fuss in the record scenario lately, so I hope he has a break out race even though it's supposed to be on the warm side. The sad part is the marathon is live @ universalsports.com, but since it's Germany that means 2:30 a.m. yikes! Anyway I think they have it set up so you can play it later on, but it's always really difficult to figure out and the link is never in an intuitive area you would think it would be at. I don't think I'm staying up for this one, so I'll just have to try and catch it in the morning. Ok later peeps, happy running.

76º 95%H
1:15:00 11.0 bf 1833

9.16.09

Even though it was raining it was still kind of hot and I looked forward to running into the wind because that cooled me down just a bit. I keep hoping for cool weather, although I know that it'll only be that way for a week or so, then it'll just turn cold. There's no inbetween down here. There was a good sprinkling the entire time, but never really picked up but for a few minutes and even that wasn't too bad and I welcomed the cooling, even if it mean't wiping water off my forehead constantly. I took it easy for the most part, but pushed the pace toward the end of the run so I'm going to put this one in the moderate category. Surprisingly it's been easy to go over the 70 minutes I try to run, so I may have to try and add a couple more minutes. The only reason I don't is because of the shin, which again today kinda had that old feeling, so that's the only reason why I'm not running more at this point. It's just a risk I don't want to take.

5:30pm Showers 76°F 76%H From ENE 5 mph
1:15:01 11.00 bf 1823

9.15.09

Moderate effort run today. Not exactly a tempo run, maybe a little slower but I was still pushing a bit more than usual. Yesterday I forgot to post but the jist of the day was the shin was causing a bit of unhappiness. I wouldn't call it pain, because it certainly didn't hurt, but it just felt weird. I don't know what is happening because today during the run there was absolutely nothing, no weird feeling, no niggles, nada. I'll take it as a good thing. So in honor of the leg cooperating I decided to push just a tad bit more than usual and see what I could run in about an hour. I was pretty unimpressed with my 8.82 nike+ miles, but as we all know that's pretty unreliable due to the change in pace. Still I was happy with the effort and that is what counts, the run felt really really good as well. Also today is five days in a row of 10 miles, so that feels good too.

8pm.
1:08:41 10.11 1812

yesterday
1:15:41 11.01 1802

9.13.09

Easy run tonight. Stopped for a quick gato-break at 20, and the rest of the run was real smooth. I don't prefer to run in the dark, but it's totally worth it to avoid the heat. I also ran yesterday, but didn't get around to posting. Shin appears to be just fine, but always a little niggle at the beginning of the run...
today

76°F Partly Cloudy 79°F 64% From NNE3 mph

1:15:45 11.10 bf 1791

yesterday
10.51 1:12:36 1780

9.11.09

Well I was back on the road again today after a few days off. The shin has kinda been bothering me again, but not as bad as before. I just don't like anything feeling "weird" and it was feeling pretty, well, weird. So that was kinda of a bummer. I ran on it today and it felt wierd again, but only for a few minutes when I started off. After that it loosened up. There is still some damaged tissue in there I think, because I've tried massaging the area by the shin bone and it's still just a tad bit tender, but leaps and bounds better than it was a week or two ago when it was really hurting. The run today went pretty good until the end of two loops, it was hot and I needed a quick breather/water break to finish.

So I think I'm on the right track. I'll keep trying to get runs in, but at this point I'm really considering some alternate form of exercise to get the HR up. I dont' mind not running really, it's missing the conditioning that really stresses me out. So I'm not sure what to do, I don't have a bike and don't really want one because no where to store it, and the pool just closed, so swimming is out unless I get a membership to a gym that I can't really afford right now. I'll think of something, even if it means walking.

The second part of that is to start doing my core work again. I picked it up when I was training for the mile race, but kind of let it go. Well I think it's time to bring that back again, and it will also help with my conditioning just a bit.

Work at this point involves literally every weekend from here to November (and I'm already lining up more) But at least I have the week to fit in my runs, although it makes me feel guilty. I suppose I should take my wonderful benefits and just enjoy them right? I'm training for a half in November, and there's not much time left. I'm honestly not confident that I will do as well as I would like. I know I will PR, because I PR'd during my marathon by four minutes, on a cold, windy day on a hilly course, so I'm confident in that. It's coming close to the goals I set that I am worried about. I just dont' feel like I've done enough over the summer or even in the past month or two compared to how I normally like to train. Appropriate (over?) training gives me a good mindset going into a race. Anyway I'll just do the best I can and no big deal right?, just have fun :)

5:30 pm. 80ºF
1:12:35 10.66 bf 1770

9.6.09

Long weekend, and it's not really over yet because tomorrow is labor day so i have one more day of drawing left. Today was a washout with a huge rainstorm lasting about 6-7 hours in the morning so there were no people at the festival. Later on it cleared up, but only a few people showed. I drove back home again, and I'm glad tomorrow will be last two nearly 2 hour trips I'll have to make for this festival. I would have got a hotel nearby, but it was 20 minutes to the hotel and another 40 bucks, so I just figured I might as well drive another hour and sleep in my own bed. It's just a lot of driving, you do what you have to do. So hopefully tomorrow things look up and there are a ton of people that show up.

Running was on hold yesterday, I was exhuasted when I got home and couldn't muster the will to get out the door. Today I got more rest and knew what to expect so that kind of helped and when I got home from the long day and driving trips, I was ready to get a run in pretty quickly before the tiredness hit me. Decent run. The shin was bothering me a bit at first, and my stomach was kind of upset as well, but eventually both wore off and I felt pretty good running in the dark. It's amazing how cool it felt outside, until I came in after the run and went back out. 70 degrees is pretty darn warm for a "cool" run :)

1:12:02 10.31 bf 1760

9.4.09

Easy effort run tonight. Legs are still pretty sore. I'm not sure if that's from tuesday still or from the hills yesterday. Either way it made for a slow start to tonights run. I just felt like I had no power, barely able to get the knees into the air, it felt like I was shuffling. But after a quick water break on the first loop I felt a lot better. It was hotter since I got out earlier and now the sun was hiding behind houses and trees, so that made for a much better running environment and I didn't need another water break for the next two and a quarter loops. The shin didn't really cause any fuss tonight, and the pain I felt when I physically pushed on the area seems to have dissipated, so that is good but I'm still kind of wary.

Tomorrow is caricaturing. I'm debating driving the hour back home or just getting a motel somewhere close by since I am also drawing Sunday. I guess I will decide depending on how tomorrow goes. I'm kind of wanting to stay at least one night so I can run somewhere new, but an hour drive isn't really too bad I suppose. Like I said I will just figure it out tomorrow. So if you don't hear from me for the next few days, it's because I'll be in Cleveland, TN. Okay I already am posting this late enough, and I'm worn out, have a good weekend.
6:30 pm80°F Partly Cloudy 81°F 52% From NNE 1 mph
1:12:34 10.69 bf 1750

9.3.09

A harder run tonight at the soccer complex because of the hills. Legs are still sore from Tuesday's speedplay. I was really struggling toward the end of the run, but stuck it out and got it done. This weekend I will be drawing caricatures at an art festival. I'm not sure what the running schedule will be like, but I'm bringing my running gear and hope to find a nice area to get a few miles in while I'm there.

6:30 pm78°F Partly Cloudy 80°F 59% From NNE 3 mph
1:11:00 10.50 bf 1740

9.2.09

Great run tonight. Good weather and the shin is feeling better. Legs were sore from yesterdays speed stuff, which is nice, I like knowing I pushed hard enough to do something. Tonight was just a standard run held back a lot to keep it more of a recovery, time flew.

8:15pm.
1:15:36 11.02 bf 1730

9.1.09

This past weekend I visited my family in Ohio, that's why I didn't get a chance to log anything, but running has been sparse lately. I did make it to the track for about four miles or so, I'm not real sure because I forgot my ipod and just ran, I will miss that nice cool air. The shin is still hurting but it's it's just in one small area, the same spot that was hurting a while back and that scared me a bit when I started thinking about it. At first I thought I would just ignore it, but then I kind of flip-flopped on that idea and went for rest instead because I was afraid it might be something more serious than I first thought. I think it helped, but I had to take like a week off and it's still painful if I push on it just right. I'm sure it's not fully healed yet but at least it feels better, kind of sucks I had to lose fitness but I guess it's better than a full on injury.

So last night was just supposed to be an easy 6 or 7 miles, testing out the shin and not really doing anything too stressful. That planned worked for a few minutes, but after I got going i felt really good. The air cooled down a lot once the sun set and I was doing pickups without really thinking about it. I probably did at least 6, maybe more and still felt pretty good after each one. On my final loop I even did a pretty fast acceleration, probably the fastest I've ran in a long time. It felt good though and the shin didn't seem to be bothering me or hurting really, although I was still kind of wary. I really pushed this run, but it felt good to go faster and I want to run like that more often.

7:59pm

Cloudy 75°F

71%H calm

1:08:10 10.25m bf 1729