30 Minutes

I didn't realize how cold it was until I got home and looked up the temperature--a cool 46 degrees. I'm still getting used to the temperatures. Considering the race weather may be the same, this weeks morning runs may prove critical. Colder weather is not my specialty--heavy legs, phlegm, cold hands... Running just doesn't feel good on cold mornings. Hopefully, all this will change by accommodation and acclimation. I also need to invest in some long sleeve running shirts.

Stats
Place: King Street
Time: 30:00
Heart Rate: 147

Don't Rum and Run

This is tough advice to follow, though the consequences are clear--not that I haven't amply proven the fact that running with a hangover is ill-advised. It's just that I'm still young and still enjoy hanging out with friends on the weekends, which still includes throwing back a few beers.

From the Runner's World website:

Don't drink anything alcoholic just before you lace up your running shoes. Alcohol will dehydrate you and some drinks have caused fatal collapses during extreme exercise in hot weather. Drinking as little as 16 ounces of beer the night before a run can slow you by as much as 11 percent.

Paul Tergat Sets Marathon World Record

I am always amazed by how fast elite marathoners run. Paul Tergat (KEN) broke the marathon world record in the Real Berlin Marathon. This dropped Khalid Khannouchi's record of 2:05:38 to 2:04:55, which included momentary confusion on a poorly marked section of the course. You can see the video of the final moments here.

For those trying to do the math, Tergat ran at a pace of 4:46 minutes/mile!

Feelin' Good

It's amazing. I'm not very sore today, perhaps because I stretched thoroughly after yesterday's run. It's another beautiful day, so I'm thinking about going for a local hike today and stretching a little afterwards.

10 Miles

My friend and I started out for 8 miles and decided to tack on a couple more. The weather was cool to start and warm to finish. All in all, it was a hard run with a high heart rate. This will definitely build some confidence for the race next Sunday. The best part is that I know I can run faster!

Stats
Place: W&OD
Time: 1:42:59
Heart Rate: 170

Today's Inspiration

"The woods are lovely dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep."
--Robert Frost

"There are clubs you can't belong to, neighborhoods you can't live in, schools you can't get into, but the roads are always open."
--Nike

5 Miles

It was starting to rain when I got home, so I grabbed my gym bag and headed to Ida Lee where I spent some agonizing time on the treadmill. I still have yet to overcome boredom on the treadmill, but am optimistic there are some mental tricks to making it more enjoyable. For some reason, I never find boredom outdoors. I just settle into the run and my mind eases into almost pure quiet.

After the run, I had a great stretch. One of the bonuses to the treadmill is I tend to stretch better afterwards. My legs feel great right now--good enough to wake up and run a few miles first thing in the morning. Not too many miles, though. My friend and I are doing a long run together on Saturday morning.

Stats
Place: Treadmill
Time: 46:16
Heart Rate: 153

Sacrifice

My company is holding its monthly happy hour tonight in Dupont Circle. I made the conscious decision to decline the invitation to be able get up and run early tomorrow morning. I know myself better than showing up and being coaxed into having a beer ... or two. Before you know it, I'm waking up tomorrow morning and hitting the snooze button without even realizing it.

6 Miles

Here's to my longest early morning run yet! It was dark and cool this morning (50 degrees)--dark enough to require a safety vest and flashlight. My body never did really feel warmed up, meaning my legs felt a little heavy and sluggish. (By the time I made it to work, however, my legs felt limber.) Along the way, I counted eight deer, including a family of four with two fawns. The sun came up as I turned around on the W&OD heading east. It was a beautiful morning with clear skies. I definitely need to start looking for some cold weather running clothes before it's too late.

Stats
Place: W&OD (Out and back)
Time: 56:45
Heart Rate: 154

Today's Inspiration

5 Miles

Due to rain and forecasted winds at 30-40 mph, I took it inside onto the treadmill. I felt really strong throughout the run, though I had a hard time focusing. My right achilles felt a little sore in the beginning, but the pain melted away after about 5 minutes. Afterwards, I managed a quick stretch of all the key muscles.

Stats
Place: Treadmill (Incline = 1.0)
Time: 48:20
Heart Rate: 158

76 Minutes

Well, the scheduled 10 mile run fell a little short, but I'm more confident than ever that I can handle the distance--and faster than I originally thought. My friend and I trotted around Washington D.C. for a timed run--across a bridges, along trails, over downed trees. The hurricane had a more dramatic impact on D.C. than Leesburg--lots of downed trees. The Potomac river had numerous small whirlpools, making it look pretty dangerous. I finished with an average bpm of 162.

Afterwards, my legs felt really good. I think I'm going to up the mileage this week, leaving no run under 5 miles. My goal is to push myself harder this week, and spend next week tapering with lower mileage easy runs.

Calm After the Storm

Why don't people talk about the calm after the storm? Today would be a great day to go running, but my friend and I are saving tomorrow for the 10-miler. So instead, my wife and I are headed to the Bluemont Fair--a small town gig with great food, crafts, and music.

Hurricane Isabelle

Well, the 'cane is starting. So far so good, but the strongest winds are still several hours away. I wasn't able to get my 2 mile run in today, but am optimistic that Saturday morning will be perfect for it (assuming the 10-Miler is on Sunday). There's a good chance the power will be knocked out, so blogging may be difficult over the next day or so.

6 Miles

I arrived home a half hour later than normal since the bus was late. By the time I drove out to the W&OD I only had a little while before the sun went down and it was too dark to see the trail. So I only managed 4 miles on the W&OD in 33:17 (8:19 pace) at 165 bpm. Then I ran another 20 minutes at 150 bpm.

Running on the trail as it gets dark is a harrowing experience. I saw a deer dart across the trail maybe thirty yards in front. From that point I could not see it, but I could hear it scampering around me--a little unnerving. In the dark, every sound is magnified.

5 Miles

Despite having a horrible night's sleep, I felt great on the way home from work today. Maybe it was the clear blue skies and the 70 sweet, sweet degrees. By the time I finished running, the temperature was dropping to 66. I ran out Dry Mill Road and up Woodburn Hill, then back home. I finished in 44:27 at 161 bpm and still felt like I had a whole lot of gas left in the tank. It actually turned pretty dark by the time I made it back, meaning it's time to invest in a safety vest so the cars can see me better. I can't wait to get back out on the road tomorrow!

3 Miles

I felt great when I got home today, so I stepped up the pace. I finished in 25:17 at 169 bpm (8:26 pace). I felt great when I was finished--all the kinks from yesterday's run are worked out. I ran out Dry Mill Road, past the turn off for Woodburn Hill, then turned around and headed home. In the lowlands, the fog clung to the grass while the sun shone from above. It was a bit like running in Middle Earth in Lord of the Rings. The road itself had slight rolling hills.

It's been pretty overcast and humid this week due to a cold front. Later this week the effects of Hurricane Isabelle are expected to come through. This does not bode well for the long run--10 miles!--to match the race distance. My friend and I will just have to figure out the pace when we get there. Right now, there is a chance the weekend is clear, but if the storm slows up just a little, it could easily spill from Thursday/Friday to Saturday/Sunday.
But for now, I'll keep my hopes up for

7 Miles

I ran 7 miles on the W&OD during the Redskins game. I finished in 1:09:47 at 161 bpm. It was a little warm and pretty darn humid (there was mist toward run's end). All in all things felt good. Normally I don't wear headphones as a rule, but today I listened to the Redskins game, which sped things along (the Skins beat the Falcons 33-31). Of course, the best part was showering off and going over to the in-laws house for dinner and a movie (our wedding video was ready). For dinner: ribs, potatoes, fresh corn, and salad. I'm still stuffed!

Missed Run

I missed my 3-mile run yesterday--no good excuse really, just a little busy. I've been ahead of schedule for a week now, but this evens things back up. Can't miss anymore...

5 Miles

It was raining when I got home from work yesterday, so I went to the gym for a run on the treadmill. The treadmill was difficult to stay focused on last night as I really wanted to be running outside. I finished in 47:00.

4 Miles

Oops. I thought I only needed to log 4 miles today--I'll hit 5 tomorrow, making the new schedule:

Fri: 5
Sat: 3
Sun: 7

But I digress... It was a great morning with cool air--59 degress. The sun is rising later, so when I started the skies were gray with an expanding orange tint. I finished in 35:30 at 161 bpm. I passed a fawn on the way out and its parents on the way in. The buck stood on the trail until I was about 20 feet away--I was clapping and shouting to scare him off, lest he get confused and run my way. Eventually, he ran to a point about 10 yards off the trail.

30 Minutes

I opted for a time goal rather than a distance one, though I easily covered the 3 miles in that half-hour. I ran at 159 bpm. The air was cool at times (especially at the dips in the road), at others there was a warmth coming from the horsefields. People were mowing their lawns, creating that perfect smell of gasoline and sweet grass. I am really looking forward to more weather like this as autumn approaches. Too bad I'm going to have work overtime in October. Ugh.

All I have to do now is get out of bed early. If I can do that, then I really know I'm back on the horse!

Treadmill vs. Outdoors

This is a great thread from the Runner's World Training forum.

Summary: It's easier to run on a treadmill than outside. The primary reason is wind resistance, but other factors like weather and hills are also factors. Someone provided a link to a great chart that shows what the adjusted treadmill pace is when factoring in incline.

This makes me feel a whole lot better.

Honestly, I'm not slacking off...

I'd better get my butt back out on the road tonight. I haven't run since Sunday's hangover jog on the boardwalk--partly from my body taking such a beating for 70 minutes while I was probably slightly dehydrated. I still felt a little sore yesterday on the way home. Enough complaining. Tonight, I will jog out any of the kinks and run straight through Sunday to catch up. By Sunday I expect to squeeze in 22 miles. That means my schedule looks like this:

Wed: 3 miles
Thu: 5
Fri: 3
Sat: 4
Sun: 7

Let's see if I get in a post later tonight to declare victory.

70 Minutes

I almost didn't get my long run in this weekend. This weekend was my company's annual beach bash, which includes consumption of large quantities of alcohol. I planned on running Saturday morning, but had a really nasty hangover from numerous rum runner/pina colada concoctions (called a "pain in the ass"). So I waited until today. Despite partying late into the night on Saturday and a post-midnight swim in the ocean, I woke up feeling great this morning. When I realized I didn't have a headache, I laced up my shoes and headed for the Ocean City boardwalk, where I ran for 70 minutes at 172 bpm. The alcohol did have it's effects, though--my legs are pretty damn sore now. It's nice to know that I can still throw down at a party and function the next day--I'm not getting too old yet. Still, I'm not going to try this stunt again until after the race.

The boardwalk was nice--a bit crowded, though. The best part was running past people on bikes. I didn't realize that bikes can move so slow, but it kept my mind off the fact that I was pretty dehydrated. I ate a huge lunch (turkey club and a large fry) and had a huge dinner of pork chops, carrots, and potatoes. Maybe that will help me recover. Maybe not.

30 minutes

I am working from home today, so I was able to sleep in a little longer before getting up to go for a run. The weather was fantastic--upper 60s, blue skies, a cool breeze. I ran a brisk 30 minutes--not sure how far exactly. My legs feel pretty good right now.

5 Miles

I planned on taking a run up Woodburn Hill yesterday, but was stuck at the office. By the time I got home, helped out my flu-ridden wife (poor girl!), and laced up my shoes, I knew it would get dark before while I was still running--and I would be on some roads that aren't very safe in the dark.

So I went to the gym and hopped on the treadmill. This worked out nicely because I had a TV right in front of me so I could see the kickoff of the Redskins season opener. I pushed the pace a little harder on the treadmill since it was nice and cool inside. I finished the 5 miles in 44:47, never exceeding a bpm of 173. I allowed myself plenty of time for stretching afterwards.

My Training

I've been doing some thinking about my training schedule. For the most part, it is focusing on gradually increasing the weekly mileage and long runs. My goal a while back (well before the wedding) was to maintain 25-30 miles per week, with long runs of 10-14 miles. Well, my social schedule picked up as the wedding neared and all that became a little unrealistic. So here I am, trying to figure it all out again. My focus for the race is to get the base mileage and endurance down and just see what happens on race day. For future races, I want to incorporate more speedwork--maybe that will make a good winter project (along with some core strength training).

Of course, above and beyond all else--I want to make sure I keep running. So far that has not been a problem.

Over 18,000!

The Army Ten-Miler has over 18,000 runners registered and the entry is closed. I can't wait for the race. I've never run in anything so big.

4 Miles

The sun is starting to rise later, so when I ran out the door, it was still fairly dark outside. The air was warm and humid--enough so that light rain fell for much of my run. I body felt rotten today--probably because I didn't have enough to eat yesterday. By run's end, my body felt fairly spent even though it was barely moving. I finished in 38:34 at 157 bpm.

3 Miles Run, 3 Miles Walked

I ran west on the W&OD for Labor Day. It was about 85 degrees and incredibly humid. I finished in 27:57 at 167 bpm. I also walked to and from the trail, which tacked on an extra 3 miles of walking.