Moist

Thunderstorms rolled through last night, leaving lots of moisture behind in the air. The run this morning was sunny and dry, but the humidity was up there. I took it slow and walked a couple of times toward the end of the run. Today's plan called for 8 miles, which is what I did. Time out the door was a little after 7:30, and I went without putting in my contacts, which sometimes I do. Not much traffic on this holiday weekend, but about ten other people running that I saw.

On the more personal and embarrassing side, this was the second time in the past few weeks I experienced nipple chafing. I've been applying the stuff that I usually do, but I think the fact that my top gets soaked with sweat and therefore becomes heavier than normal is causing the issue. Today I felt it coming on and actually took off my short for the last mile-plus. I don't usually do that due to my blinding whiteness, but it definitely helped and today's pain wasn't as bad as last time. I guess maybe I should be wearing Band-Aids on days like today.

Routine Again

Flew back from DC to KC today and got in a hot afternoon run. I went 4 miles instead of 6 and kept it slow with a couple of walks. I ran down Shoal Creek to take full advantage of what shade existed. It was 95 degrees, which was another reason to curtail the run. Plus that was the third day in a row, and after getting up early and flying back I decided it was best to take it easy.

Rock Creek Park

Today I ran into Rock Creek Park without much of a plan, other than to run to the 3-mile point and then turn around. I did it and didn't even get lost. It was kind of fun to go on an exploratory run with no idea of what was around the next corner. I found myself running on blacktop poured along the side of the road with tree branches hanging low over it, down a sidewalk, striding on a thin dirt path perilously close to the road, through baseball/soccer fields on a hiking/bike path with a dotted dividing line, and finally to an equestrian center where a lady was riding her horse around some obstacles. There were times of shade and times of sun, but all the way was blanketed in humidity. This run was less hilly than yesterday, for which I was thankful. I could have continued past the horses to the highway, which I considered, to make a loop of it, but decided I'd rather run through the trees than alongside rush-hour traffic. It was a good 6 miles and maybe it was the fun of running someplace new, but I felt strong. My overall pace was 10:10, which was probably too fast considering the humidity and that several times I had to wait to cross a busy street. With an actual pace less than 10 minutes/mile I guess that makes it an even better run.

Silver Spring Run

In the D.C. area for a few days and got out for a run today. I was going to head out yesterday but I got up to catch a plane at 4 a.m. The rational move was to not run and avoid injury. Today was pretty warm and humid, and the run was hilly, a little more than expected. I ran 6 miles along 16th Street from downtown Silver Spring into the District. Maybe tomorrow I'll head into Rock Creek Park if I can figure out a way to do so without getting myself lost.

Hot Week

This week has been probably the hottest of the summer so far. I blew off running on Thursday because the heat index was about 105, plus I had green chile to roast. For my long run I got up about 5:30 a.m. and hit the pavement way before the sun was up. It paid off, even though the temperature was 80 degrees and the humidity was pretty high. I walked up a couple of big hills, but other than that I ran the 10 miles. Once again I was glad for a cloud bank to the east that obscured the sun for a little longer than usual after dawn would normally arrive. My pace minus the walking was probably about 10:20 a mile. That's going to have to change if I'm going to have a good race in November. Along, slow run is supposed to be just that, but sometimes you can be a little too slow. Today it was prudent based on the humidity. In the future I expect these runs to be closer to 9 minutes/mile.

Lucky

Boy, I really lucked out this morning. It was humid to the nth degree, and when I left the house it was cloudy. I looked up at the clouds and I couldn't tell which way they were moving. I thought if they were moving west to east, as usual, then I would have a half-hour or so where I'd have shade and then it would get sunny. Fortunately I was wrong. They were moving from north to south, and there was a huge cloud bank that just slid down the eastern sky in front of the sun. When I got home I came in to grab something for the smoker to get it started, and walked right back outside. The sun was out and the clouds had moved on. I couldn't have timed it better if I tried.

It was a 6-mile easy run, and that's what I did. It was definitely easy and that's the way I wanted it. I ran without my contacts since my right eye has been bugging me lately, and somehow suffered no ill effects. Tomorrow will be hot and humid, definitely a different story to be told.

Long Run on a Nice Atlanta Morning

Even though I'm traveling I didn't want to miss my long run for the week, so I went to Little Mulberry Park and ran four times around the 2.2-mile loop, along with a little walking, to make my 9 miles. The first couple of laps went well, but as the sun rose higher the humidity also went up. The last lap was tougher than I expected. I have an unwritten rule that I try to avoid walking in the last mile of a run or a race. Today I tried to make it through that last tough mile, but I was just too overheated and I had to walk with about 3/4 of a mile left. That was kind of a bummer but it was better to do that than to keep going and getting hurt. It was a beautiful morning for a run and I'm glad my brother loaned me his truck to get there and back so I could keep up with my plan. Tomorrow it's back to KC and the routine runs.

More Atlanta, Less Humidity

Wasn't planning on going for a run today. In fact, I was expecting to get up early tomorrow and run before the sun came up. But one of the guys in my class said he was going and showed me the route, so I figured what the heck. It was less humid and sunnier. The run was a little faster than my previous outings but it was good to get out of the same old rut. There were a few hills that were tough but not as bad as the ones near the park. I went just over 5.5 miles and along with the other walking I did today I think that was plenty.

More Atlanta, Same Humidity

Another run tonight of 6 miles around Chastain Park in Buckhead. The heat index got up to 100 degrees this afternoon even though the temperature was "only" 89. I waited until 6 p.m. and the heat was on the downward slope. It helped, marginally. The park is still hilly and all the vegetation helps hold in the humidity quite nicely. I did run up a hill that I walked yesterday since today was supposed to be a hill training day. Actually, I think it was supposed to consist of hill repeats, but there's no way I was doing that on a day like this. Lots of people out at the park, which has tennis courts, a golf course, and several ball fields. Plus there was a concert going on at the amphitheater up the hill, which I avoided. At least I think that's where the concert was taking place. Oh, the web site says it's David Gray. Whoever that is.

Atlanta and Humidity

I'm in Atlanta this week for training and of course brought all my running gear. Today's run was 6 miles, with a lot of walking in the last mile that I made up for by running some after the ending mark. I didn't expect that this part of the city (Buckhead) would have so many hills - and steep ones at that. I should be thankful the heat wasn't too bad, only in the mid-80s, but the humidity was off the charts. If you'd wrung out my shirt and shorts you would have had a gallon or so of sweat. My sunglasses kept fogging up due to the moisture. The plan called for today to be an easy run, which is why I walked when necessary. Plus if I'd tried to run up those hills I probably wouldn't have made it back to the hotel.

Morning and Knee

I awoke early this morning, especially for a Saturday, and did my 8 miles. It was actually another nice day for an August morning, overcast and cool. I was out the door by 5:45 a.m. As the run progressed I looked at the GPS a few times and was a little surprised to see my pace hovering around 10:30 per minute. That seems slow but the humidity was up and I didn't feel the need to run faster. Rather than going by numbers I stayed with what felt right.

Right at 7.3 miles as I was on a slight uphill slant my left knee started acting up, so I walked for about 30 seconds. I started running again and quickly shut it down. I crossed 96th Street and ran again, trying to go a little faster and extending my stride a little bit as the slope was slightly downhill. It worked and I ran the rest of the way to the end. That was a little disconcerting but I also recalled my first marathon and the training thereof. I remember some runs on the hills where my knees weren't happy but we made it. I'll keep an eye on it but I'm hoping this is just the effects of adding some weekly miles.

All in all not the worst first week of a training plan, but could have been better with the Tuesday run. The adventure continues next week in Atlanta.

The Rare Early Thursday Run

Since we have a trip planned today I got up almost as early as a normal workday and went for a hill run. It was nice out - overcast, 71 degrees, and humidity not horrible. I ran up to Pleasant Valley Baptist and then down Flintlock to get in the all the worst hills in the area, or most of them. I went the full 6 miles without walking, even up the worst hills. It's amazing the difference temperature and humidity make in the quality of a run. Seems elementary, but sometimes I think it doesn't matter so much if you get used to it. Maybe if I lived in a tropical climate I'd be more acclimated. I'd be willing to try.

Bad Timing

Today I planned on running a little later in the evening, but that went by the wayside when I found out my schedule had already been planned for me. So I ran at about 4:30 p.m., when it was 92 degrees and a heat index of about 100. The first mile went okay but quickly deteriorated. I was supposed to do 1-2-3-2-1 fartleks but got nowhere near running faster than 10 minutes/mile. I ended up going 2.5 miles, an incredibly short outing, and a good half-mile of that was walked. I plan on getting up early Thursday before it gets hot. The first two days of the training plan have produced mixed results so far.

The Beginning

Today marks the start of the training plan for the November Route 66 Marathon. I was going to get up early and run this morning but slept in later than planned, which was nice. So I figured I would run much later in the day since the temperature was going to be in the low 90s. Instead it was overcast and still relatively cool when I walked out to the deck, so I went for it. I ran 6 miles nice and easy. That worked out pretty well since we then spent several hours buying a new car. Glad I got the running done first.

Early On a Saturday

Since I haven't been able to sleep late recently I decided to haul myself out of bed early this Saturday morning. It paid off with a nice cool run. The sun peeked over the horizon soon after I started but the pleasant temperature made for a nice 7-mile run. I saw lots of bunny rabbits along 96th Street as well as Shoal Creek. The humans didn't start showing up in number until the last twenty minutes or so. I was done by 8 o'clock and came home to fix up a tasty breakfast of eggs, bacon, hash browns, and English muffins. Simple and good.