A Good Week

I have been struggling a bit as of late between work and my general malaise to get some decent miles in. Well even with my 50+ hour work week I was able to put 16 miles in. This was not as focused in terms of the two days off one day off I like to but I did manage to run Monday and Tuesday and then Saturday and Sunday. I topped this off on Sunday with a 6.05 mile performance. Now I won't win an Olympic record for this little run but it was the longest since May. This is good progress for me. I am happy. I should take some recovery time I know. But I think that I need to front load my week to have any chance of getting 4 days a week running in. So that means that tonight I will be out there again doing a little 3 mile recovery jaunt.

I mentioned that I did not think I would be able to do the Baltimore Half Marathon in October. I have to revise my opinion. I think I could but that I would only be trained to finish not to improve on times I put in before. For this reason, it is best to cancel this race from my schedule. It would be best to just register for the half marathon portion of the Philadelphia Marathon. This is in fact what I will be doing, thank you very much.

The exciting news was that I bought a new Mp3 player. This may not be that exciting but with my last one shorting out and sometimes playing in my left and ear and sometimes not. This was great. I had to break it in with some new music. This made my Sunday run even more enjoyable as I had a new toy to come along with me. Ahhh, the little things.

As to Olympics, I am pleased overall but I would have liked to see Ryan Hall come in a little higher than he did. That is all I will say.Personally, I ran 4.5 miles at the start of the marathon coverage on NBC. I was especially pleased with the decathlon. I was especially displeased at the lengths I had to go to in order to actually find the footage. How NBC comes up with their programming is anyone's guess. One last Olympic thought, I have trained in martial arts for many years and I was especially disappointed in the Cuban Tae Kwon Do fighter who kicked at the referee of his match. I have never seen a more disgraceful display in all my years. It shows poorly on him, his nation and the sport. Which by inference includes me a martial artist. I am deeply saddened by this display and feel that a life time ban is not too long but appropriate for such a blatant unsportsmanlike conduct.

Finding a way

The last week was a bust. My well laid plans ... well they went astray. I wanted to get in some early running but we had such long meetings that I did not get out of the office until really late. To top it off I was mentally exhausted and just didn't feel up to running. I managed to get a 3.75 mile run in on Sunday but that was it. This week I have done better. I have couple of short runs in already this week and it seems that my schedule should be more forgiving, but we will see.

I would say that overall my body is feeling better. I have been going longer and longer without water/ walk breaks. I should be my old self in a month or so. Sadly, I don't think I will be making the Baltimore Half Marathon. I am out of condition and I doubt I would have the stamina for a half marathon my the first week of October. It will have to go off the books. I will try to the the half marathon at the Philly Marathon in November. I am still at the 5 mile range for long runs so trying to push a 13.1 out in 6 weeks seems like a poor idea. I could probably do it, but it just feels like the wrong choice right now.

November seems like a better time frame, that will give me an extra 5 weeks to train. I think that might work out.

Fifty Something

This the the amount of work I will be putting in for each week for the remainder of the summer. We are having some deadlines at work and that usually requires time and lots of it. Last week was a mid fifty week and the next couple look like high fifty to low sixty hour wise. That said I am still going to do everything in my power to get in my 4 runs. I know I can do a run tonight and another tomorrow morning before the madness starts. Then all bets are off until the weekend. So even if the worst thing happens I can imagine I can still get in 4 runs.

Supplements

I was feeling a bit sluggish this summer. I am sure there are lots of reason and I won't get all worked up over it. That said I have recently started to take whey protein 30 to 45 minutes before my runs over the past week. I will have to say that it has helped quite a bit. I had been getting sluggish in the later miles and I couldn't find anything to tie my cart to as to why. That his beyond calling myself a lazy boy. I seemed to have found something that has corrected that problem. Today, I started a bit off my normal pace, I had slowed down a couple of weeks ago just to get the miles in. However, after the first two miles I was able to find a true grove for the first time since May and pulled negative splits 30 seconds faster than my first two miles. The first two miles were about 10:45 and the last three were all consistently 10:15. I don't know how much the protein helped but it seems to have done so. I am pretty pleased at how things have been righted.

I am pretty happy with the week being able to turn in a +15 mile week for the second week in a row. My miles turned out well with about 3.4 miles, 3.5 miles, 4.2 miles and 5.1 miles for the week. 4 runs seems the right mix for me.

Things that I love about running, feeling the love

Yesterday I did a little bit on things that fray my nerves while running. I thought to be fair there are quite a few things that I love about running. Here is a short list:

1. Post Run Glow - The feeling of general well being and euphoria I feel post run is enough to keep me going. I love the feeling of accomplishment when I am done and the post run endorphins are a great buzz.

2. Freedom (1) - When I am running on a slight downhill with a bit of a tail wind I feel flat out free. My speed picks up and I find a zone that keeps me coming back every time. I love that, for me there is nothing better than this pure feeling. Awesome.

3. Freedom (2) - For an attorney my job is not that stressful, but it has its moments. When I couple that with a turbulent personal life, I need a release. When I run I can forget all the other stuff for a while. This is a good freedom but not as good as the one above.

4. Finding the Top - I have struggled with hills since I started running, I am sure that I am not alone. It has been a challenge. That said, when I reach the top of the hill I get a nice feeling of accomplishment. It is nice, not overwhelming but nice.

5. Discovering Speed - I like to finish my runs with a couple of sprints. I think I do this for no other reason that I like it. I like to run for speed on occasion because it feels good. When you are burning the trail a bit, even if it isn't fast for others, makes you feel good even if you can't keep it up for long.

6. Race Day - Race day is a justification for all the training I have done previously. I may not always have a great race but the experience has always been a good one. It is nice to share this with a bunch of like minded people all out there for their own reasons. It is nice. You can put it all together and have a bunch of strangers cheer for you along the way.

7. Progress - Being a bit of an organizer in my personality, it is nice to be able to participate in a sport where my progress can be so easily evaluated. I am faster or not, I can run further or I can't. There are some nebulous things but for the most part, I can gauge my progress pretty readily. The anal part of me likes that.

8. New Gear - I like to buy myself some stuff now and then. Being a runner helps me decide what type of stuff I want to have. So when it is time for a little reward for whatever reason, running stuff has fit the bill as of late. Heck, we all like a reward now and then.

9. Blogging Friends - Although this is not true for all runners, it is for me. I like the networking aspect of the blog. I like that we all encourage each other and offer our own experience and learn from others. I think I have become a better runner faster because of this. Thanks to all that have commented.

Well that's my list.

These are a few of my least favorite things

I love running, I do. But there are some aspects that get on my nerves while running and I thought I would make a list. This is not because I haven't been running, so there. So here is my list in no particular level of annoyance.

1. Dogs off leashes -- I am an animal person and I like dogs. That said, people who use the same paths as I do will sometimes let their dogs off leashes and then the dog will run at me while I am running. I don't know your dog and I am sure he is friendly but I don't know. So it makes me nervous. I have been scratched in one of these situations.

2. Shouters -- Sometimes my fellow runners will shout to get themselves motivated. I am a fan of anything that gets you up for your run, I mean really go for it. However, I will say that those that shout to get themselves up for the game get me. It just rattles my nerves a bit to have someone shouting behind me. I think it is the startle factor and the good Samaritan in me thinks is this guy in need of some help.

3. Litter -- This gets me, there are trash cans everywhere but some people, I am guess people but I suppose it could be the deer, leave all sorts of bottles and trash on the running/ biking paths. I mean really walk the 100 yards and put it in the can. It gets me fired up because there is no need for it.

4. Chaffing -- Well this happens infrequently these days, and not just because my miles have been down. I have gotten the chaffing injury a time or two and I never realize it as it happens. That is a little gift I realize afterward. I use my glide but every now and then surprise. Ha, ha!! No one ever expects a Spanish Inquisition.

5. Jogging Packs -- I will qualify this a bit. I will run behind a group that will run abreast to fill the entire jogging path and make it difficult for anyone to pass the group. Please people make a couple of rows.

6. Bikers -- I don't dislike all bikers. I have heard that bikers think that runners are too intense looking and thereby unfriendly. Well for those of you that just whip by without any warning, I don't like those bikers. A little courtesy please, just let me know you are coming.

7. Chatters -- Some folks will use the paths for just walking and sometimes they will run into some friends and stand in the middle of the path and chat. There is plenty of room off the path but I suppose that the middle of the path is more inviting. So I will come running up on a group of 10 people stationary in the center of the path. They will also have no urge to move even on seeing people running toward them. I think the discourtesy thread coming strong about now.

8. Drivers -- I think this is first. When I run the roads rather than the bike/ running paths I have to deal with traffic. I don't assume much when running the roads. I think at least once a day that a drive will pull through the cross walk and stop there. I don't care if you do this when you don't see a runner; however, these folks will do this after I am already in the crosswalk. Also, some drivers will turn through my crosswalk when I am running through it. This is also after they see me in the cross walk, while talking on their cell phone (usually). Sunday a woman almost hit me by turning through my crosswalk while I was running across the street. To this I give her a stern reprimand.

You are not very polite, so there

.

Well there is a small list of annoyances for Tuesday.

Week in Review

Well I managed a 15.42 mile week, a little short of my goal but quite a bit more than I had done in months. My long run only turned into 4.32 miles rather than 6 miles. As the saying goes, bad runs happen to good people. I just had a heck of a time getting into a grove. In the end I did 4.32 and I am happy with that. I will build on this for the coming week.

What did I learn this week? The summer is hot, no no its true. The Summer is humid ... also true. Both of these things make me slower and more fatigued than without. So I will take my small victories of a good week.