Humid Half

Today's race was definitely like a training run, speed-wise. A bad training run.

The humidity was about 90%, and I knew it was going to be trouble from the start. I kept the pace at close to 10 minutes, and resisted the urge to start fast as others passed me. Right before mile 8 I got my first calf twinge, and walked briefly to the water station. Over the next 5 miles I had to stop and walk so many times I couldn't count, usually for only about twenty seconds or so, the longest being a couple of minutes. The race was set up well and the only complaint I had was the humidity.

A couple of memorable moments during the 13.1 miles:

• About mile 11 I was about to pass a couple walking the route, and the lady's hat flew off. I was in a perfect spot to field it, and it's nice to know all that grounder practice in baseball and softball paid off.
• About five minutes later the lady at the water station offered me, "Water or crystal meth." She was horrified and said she meant Crystal Light. I laughed and told her they were the best refreshment stop ever.
• The Family and The Former Virtual Running Partner were out to cheer me on, which really helped during the second half. Seeing the FVRP at several points in the last few miles broke up the frequent calf cramps.
• The finishers' medal was huge.

Good Day, Race Day Ahead

I'm running a half on Saturday and considered trimming the mileage today, but since I'm considering the race a training run I went with the usual 6 miles. The weather also factored into the decision since it was in the low 70s, windy out of the south, and otherwise a nice day. I did walk up the big hill on Lake Forest as a concession to the race, and I'll also skip the punching bag workout in the morning.

My left knee is tender and a couple of times this evening, particularly when walking up stairs, I felt a twinge of pain. It doesn't hurt when I run, and it's not painful the rest of the time. I think it'll be fine during the race, if the thunderstorms stay away, and as I said I'm planning on running it at a normal pace and not trying to get a PR. Next week I'm switching to a newer pair of running shoes and we'll see if that makes a difference.

The Wife and I went by the local running store tonight so I could grab a couple of gels for the race and somehow I ended up walking out with a pair of flip-flops as well. I'm not big on the post between my big toe and the next one to the right - or left - but these are form-fitting and felt pretty nice. Subjecting people to a view of my toes might be a crime against humanity, but at least I'll be comfortable.

Worn Out

Today's 6-miler wore me out more than I first suspected. It's kind of like my recent run where I walked up the big hill and felt worse than I realized. The temperature was about 84 degrees today, and I thought I managed it pretty well. I even walked in mile 5 and then again up the big hill. When I got home I went and sat in the back yard to let the wind cool me down, and then felt blah for a couple of hours. Now about three hours afterward I'm starting to recover, but that's mainly because I've done a whole lot of nothing since then. Some of it is probably due to getting used to the warmer temp and humidity again, a yearly ramp-up. And the rest is likely due to age, but I don't want to talk about that right now.

Outlook for Saturday's half-marathon is iffy at the moment. High chance of thunderstorms, and high humidity. Will be monitoring over the next couple of days, knowing that the people who predict the weather are often wrong. Seriously, worse than baseball batting averages type of wrong when you're several days out with the prediction.

Today Would Have Been a Great Race Day

Chances are that next Saturday won't be anywhere near as ideal as it was this morning for my 8-miler. Another hailstorm blew through last night from the north, and today was much cooler with a strong north wind. I started by running to 7-Eleven to drop off a movie and then heading out on the normal path. Due to the coolness (I'm guessing) not as many people were out until I drew close to the pond and dog park, where a guy was photographing a group of high school girls. They were attired in shorts and cowboy boots - gotta love Texas.

I started off a little slow but picked up the pace by run's end, and probably could have finished a half in less than two hours if today had been the race. The wind kept me cool even though I could feel a little bit of the humidity. We'll see how next Saturday goes.

Another Warm One

Today was even warmer than Tuesday, about 84 degrees this afternoon. The humidity was a little lower but still present, especially when running along the green belt by the creek. Plenty of sweat, but I once again held back the pace and completed a good run. When I first started out I felt like it was going to be a bad one, but fortunately that wasn't the case for this 6 miles. I did walk up the big hill, which turned out to be a good idea. I didn't realize how much I was struggling until I started walking.

Intermittent clouds also seemed to mess with my GPS since the turnaround point was further around the pond than it's ever been before. Guess the science isn't perfect.

Sweaty, Betty

I ran my 6 miles today with a temperature outside of about 80 degrees. And lots of humidity. I sweated a lot, but got it in and even without stopping. Including up the big hill. I considered it but wasn't feeling that fatigued since I kept the pace nice and slow for the whole run. A nice breeze out of the south helped as well. I considered doing some hills but decided to just run the regular route, and it paid off with a nice run.

Long and Humid

This was the 11-miler in prep for the half-marathon in a few weeks, and wow was it humid. I kept it pretty slow and easy. About mile 8.5 and again at 9.5 I walked a few minutes to avoid overheating. I think I'm also still not 100% from the stomach bug a few days ago. I even took off my shirt toward the end to cool down, and of course I walked up the big hill. Not the greatest or most reassuring of training runs, but I also expect the weather on race day to be similar. I don't think I'll be going for a PR.

After Issues

Yesterday I had, shall say we say, some stomach issues, which persisted halfway through today. All day, though, I planned on running, and shuffled my conference calls so I had a window of opportunity this afternoon. At a couple of points I thought about not running, but decided to go for it with the caveat that I might turn around if things felt dicey.

It was warm, about 80 degrees, and very humid. Quickly I decided to cap the run at 4 miles, which I think was a good decision. I walked a short distance in the third mile, and then up the big hill. I felt sweaty but never clammy, which was good. My plan is to run 11 on Saturday in prep for the half marathon, for which I'm now registered. When I considered not running today I felt it might give me fresh legs for the long run, but I wanted to get out and sweat a little.

Faster, Please

Today was a mild day, temperature about 72 degrees when I set out this afternoon, so I decided to put in some speed work. I ran 1.25 miles, and from there a half-mile faster followed by a quarter slower, and then the last 1.25 miles at a cooldown pace. The intervals weren't terribly fast, mainly because although it was cooler outside it was also a lot more humid. It was very soggy speedwork, but very good. I thought about doing one more but decided to not push my luck. I'm feeling pretty good about my conditioning. Time to register for the half-marathon. I don't expect to run it at full speed and it would be a miracle to run it under two hours, but it's a good goal to have.

Good Saturday Run

It was a 9-miler today, and went pretty well. I kept the pace close to the 10-minute mark, and that worked just fine. I was listening to a history podcast that kept my attention and before I knew it I was already a third of the way through the run. The sun was shining and a nice strong wind kept me from heating up too much, although I did walk up the big hill since it was against the wind. All in all not bad for a Saturday, and it keeps me on pace to run a half in three weeks.

Cool Morning Run

I had meetings in the office this afternoon and knew it would only work to run if I did so early in the day. I got up early enough to head out while the temperature was 50 degrees or maybe even a little less. You'd think that would make for a fast run, but it ended up with an overall pace of 9:40 or so for the 6 miles. It was nice to run in cool weather and without a stiff breeze for a change. Also ran up the big hill and felt good overall.

Warming Up

Today the mercury climbed up to 82 degrees or so, and there was a strong wind out of the south. My run still went pretty well, and I ran 5 2/3 miles before walking uphill against the wind in front of the school. For a 6-mile run in the heat it went pretty well. I kept the pace slow enough to the point where I considered walking in the last half and realized I could keep going. That's a nice change from some of my more stupid runs.

Saturday Outing

Heading to St. Louis for Opening Day, and figured I should get in my run early. It was a nice, mild morning, with temperature in the 50s and shining sun. The fun part was that it was also humid, but not horribly so as will happen in another month or so. I ran 7 miles at a nice pace, finishing once again under 10 minutes/mile. I have a feeling these will become more rare the closer we get to summer.