Fo' Miles

I've been lazy. No other way around it other than to admit it. Between being out of town, having company, and other assorted activities, I've been lazy. Now that the temperatures are in the scorching range it's time to get back to some running.

Last Saturday the Virtual Running Partner and I went for a run of 4 miles. It was a good thing we did because that was really the only good time to run while his family was here. It was cloudy and about 70 degrees, but by mid-afternoon the sun had come out and cranked up the temperature to 90 degrees, where it's stayed every day since then.

Today the thermometer is supposed to top out close to 100 degrees. I ran 4 miles on the treadmill with an electric fan trained on me and Field of Dreams on the DVD player. When I came back upstairs The Boy chided me for having a fan and "cheating." I told him cheating was better than running outside and getting heat stroke. Not sure he bought it but I don't care. This will probably happen frequently over the next several weeks until the weather cools down again.

Run/Walk in Summer

Today the temp was about 92 degrees but very windy, so I hoped it would provide a little relief from the heat. Not so much. I took a bottle of frozen water (aka "ice") with me and of course it was mostly melted a couple of miles into the run. I kept it slow, close to 11 minutes/mile, and decided I would walk every mile and a half. That turned into a little more walking and I ended up cutting the run short by about a mile or so. My total was 5.5 miles, but of that I ran probably 4.5. Still, I kept it under control and the walking helped keep my core temperature down. That's key when it's hot out like this, and making the run shorter means I'm not inviting injury for just a little more distance that's meaningless in the long run. Pun intended.

Run and Drive

Ran 6 miles this morning in 80 degree sunshine and then drove to Des Moines to get my big girls. Now I'm tired.

Memorial Run

Tuesday morning started out lazy. I don't usually sleep well in hotels, but Monday night was an exception. I planned to get up and go for a run in the morning since rain was in the forecast. When the alarm went off I got up and checked out the window - it had rained but was not currently doing so. And naturally I went back to bed.

After work I blew off a cocktails and dinner with a group of people and went for my delayed run. I paid for it "forgotten" Founding Fathers. I exited through a hedge to get back up on the 14th Street Bridge and across the Potomac River.

As I neared the airport the early evening flights were coming in from the north, which means they follow the river in from the northwest to land at Reagan National. I'd observed people standing by a parking lot along the flight line as I ran by earlier. This time a plane was coming in so I slowed and let it pass right overhead. The noise was great and the plane was less than a couple hundred feet up. Now I know why people were standing there because it actually was kind of cool.

Overall I ran 7.4 miles with at least another 3/4 mile of walking. Politicians can corrupt D.C. all they want but for now it's still one of my favorite places to run.

Manhattan Running

Spending the weekend again in the Little Apple means an outing on the Linear Trail. I discovered this afternoon that there is a portion of the trail that's shaded. Unfortunately that was not the part I ran this morning, which was decidedly unshaded. That was fun, especially with the temperature in the low 80's. I kept expectations low and ran 6 miles instead of trying to tack on a few extra. There weren't many other people out, meaning that there must be a lot of smart people in Manhattan. Or school's out. Either way, I only saw about five other people in my hour in the sun. I'm glad to say my knees are still feeling good and I gave some thought to running a race this fall. It's about time to get cracking on the training plan.

Dad and I followed up the run with an outing to Famous Dave's for some ribs. He didn't run but he got some ribs anyway. I'll allow that.

Hot Runs

Didn't have time to post about yesterday's run, but we're into the part of the season where all the outings are in hot weather. The temperature was in the upper 80's and I ended up walking up the hill by the golf course on the way back as well as just inside the neighborhood entrance. Which is also uphill. I did my 6 miles and in spite of the heat it felt good. I'm enjoying being able to run and feeling better. As I've said before, it's time to pick a race and start planning for it.