Let the fun begin. My new motto is going to be: Just One More Mile.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Saturday, July 30th

Weather - Sunny, 78 degrees and the humidity was ridiculously high. 

Clothing - Black running shorts (longer, biker style), Short sleeve tech shirt (rockstar),  fuel belt

Nutrition -   Ate a banana before. During the run:  (2) 8 oz powerade, (1) 8oz water

Route -  Went 2 miles down Roberts and 2 miles back.  Parked the car by the Walmart, near Burke Centre Parkway and Roberts.. 

Distance Completed: 4 miles

Time:  Started at 6:30am, took 47 minutes, 21 seconds

J.W., T, and I met at 6:30am to do the 4 miles we had scheduled.  We mixed it up a bit and did a hilly route to get used to running on something other than a flat surface.  Roberts is hilly!

Anything I'd do different?  No.  I have to say that given the extreme heat, this run went as well as could've been expected. While 4 miles doesn't seem like a lot, throw in a hills and heat and I was dying.  I am so looking forward to cooler weather. 

Mid-week runs - ran 5 miles on Tuesday, ran 4 miles on Thursday; both on the treadmill at the gym.  Was happy how I am managing to pick up my pace a little.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Saturday, July 23rd

Weather - Pitch black out, 79 degrees and in the middle of a big heat wave when we started.  Sunny and 83 degrees when we ended.  Humidity was high.

Clothing - Black running shorts (longer, biker style), Short sleeve tech shirt (rockstar),  fuel belt, spi belt with phone

Nutrition -   Ate a banana and cliff bar before the run. During the run:  (8) 8 oz powerade. A GU at around mile 5.6 and another GU at mile 8.8.

Route -  Started at the intersection of Lee Chapel Rd on Ox Road.  Went 2.5 miles down Ox past Burke Lake Road and turned around.  Then went 3.5 miles down Ox towards Occoquan and turned around. 

Distance Completed: 12  miles

Time:  Started at 5:00am, took 2 hours, 33 minutes.

J.W., T,  A, and I met at 5:00am to try to get in as much of the 12 miles as possible before the sun came out shining bright.  It worked. I got close to 10 miles done before I could feel the sun beating down on me.  I had no pain during this run and was pleasantly surprised how far I got before I needed to do some more walking. This kicked in around mile 10.

I came up with the idea to freeze a wet wash cloth and a bottle of water the night before. I put it in a cooler and placed it at the corner of Lee Chapel and Ox.  When we got done with the first 5 miles and was back at our starting point, it was really nice to have the wash cloth to wipe my face and put it on my neck to cool me off.  I could actually feel my body temperature lower.  Very refreshing!

Also, I stopped twice at the gas station (once at mile 7.6 and again on the way back at mile 9.4).  The first time I bought a bottle of Powerade and refilled my containers.  On the way back, I used the air conditioning indoors to cool off for a little before continuing.

Anything I'd do different?  No.  I have to say that given the extreme heat, this run went as well as could've been expected.  I am still in shock I've now run 12 miles.  WOW!

Mid-week runs - ran 5 miles on Tuesday, ran 4 miles on Thursday; both on the treadmill at the gym.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Saturday, July 16

Weather - Sunny,  69 degrees (BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!)

Clothing - Black running shorts, Rockstar tech shirt, fuel belt

Nutrition -   Ate a banana before. During the run: didn't drink anything.  Too busy talking!

Route -  Oak Green and Burke Centre Parkway.  Took a right onto Ox and went a total of 2 miles before turning around.

Distance Completed:  4 miles

Time:  Started at 7:30am, took 49 minutes

J.W. and I met to run the 4 miles we had on the schedule.  We knew the weather G-ds would be on our side and decided to sleep in a bit and meet at 7:30am.  WOW, what a difference it makes when humidity is not a factor.  It was a very enjoyable run.
Surprising, no music was played and we talked the whole time.   

Anything I'd do different?  Yes.  My interval timer on the Garmin was completely full and it stopped keeping our time in mid-run.  I just eyeballed the running/walking parts for the remainder.  Need to reset and clear the timer.  

Mid-week runs - Was not able to run either on Tuesday or Thursday this week due to still being in Orlando.  I did run 4 miles on Friday at the gym.  I am still slow, slow, slow.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Saturday, July 9th

Weather - Sunny,  90 degrees (humid and sticky)

Clothing - Black running shorts, Short sleeve cotton shirt

Nutrition -   Ate a banana before. During the run: 32 oz powerade.

Route -  At the RDV Center in Orlando.

Distance Completed: 10.5  miles

Time:  Started at 8:10am, took 2 hours, 5 minutes

I'm in Orlando this week and needed to do my long run on my own.  There was no way I was going to run 10.5 miles outside in the July heat in Orlando and knew I'd be seeking out the local gym to get it done.  I arrived at the gym at 6:40am and discovered that the gym doesn't open until 8:00am on Saturdays.  This was a bit of blow to the momentum I had built up mentally to just getting the run over and done with.  I went back home, waited an hour and then made my way back to the gym.

I was hot, very hot, even inside the gym running.  I seem to be getting slower, not faster.  Once I got to mile 8, I was having a really difficult time running for the whole 3 minutes before the walk breaks came.  I struggled with getting the 10.5 miles done.  Additionally, I am freaked out at the thought of running even further distances than this.  

Anything I'd do different?  No. There was nothing else I could do to make this run better.  

Mid-week runs - ran 5 miles on Tuesday at the gym back home before I left for the airport.  On Thursdays, I ran 4 miles outside in Orlando.  I know, I was surprised too that I attempted this.  It was hard and not fun, but I got it done. .

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Sunday, July 3rd

Weather - Sunny, 88 degrees.

Clothing - Black running shorts (shorter ones), cotton shirt (rainbow)
Nutrition -   Nothing before the run.  During the run:  (1) 20 oz bottle of water

Route -  Gym treadmill. 

Distance Completed: 4  miles

Time:  Started at 11:45am, took approx. 48 minutes.

It's a good thing we only had 4 miles to do this week according the schedule.  We all ended up doing our own thing running it when we had the time.  Originally I was going to run with J.W. this morning, but I knew I wouldn't be in any kind of shape to wake-up early and beat the heat.  I am still not feeling a 100% and had a hard time getting back into running, even on the treadmill.  I struggled with this one and did a lot of running fast and walking intervals...not set to any kind of pattern, just what I felt like.  It was hard.  I am very nervous about what is to come.  10.5 miles this Saturday.  OMG!  I will be tracking down a treadmill in Orlando to do it.

Anything I'd do different?  Yes, I should've started this run earlier in the day. And, I should've eaten before heading to the gym.  It was too late in the day to run on an empty stomach.

Mid-week runs - Unfortunately my mid-week runs didn't happen.  Ugh!  Between traveling to Vegas, getting a nasty head cold, and having my body clock all messed up adjusting to the time difference, it was a bad scene this week.  I did walk about 5 miles on Friday, but that does not even come close to missing the 2 mid-week runs completely.