Training for 5/30/12

This morning, I just ran 3 miles, ate some breakfast and then went upstairs to do some ab exercises, invisible chair-sitting and weight training. I was glad I ran before Clark left for work, and not after my workout upstairs, because it started raining pretty hard while I was upstairs. I don’t dislike running in rain, but Pepper does, almost as much as he hates being left home alone. So it worked out for everyone.

I did some barefoot exercises and stretching to finish up.

This will be my last post until next Tuesday at least. Tomorrow, Clark and I have to be in Baltimore at 6 a.m. for his surgery. I’m off work tomorrow, Friday and Monday. Hopefully Clark will get to come home by Monday. I would have taken off Tuesday too, in case he has to stay in the hospital until then, but there’s just too much crap to cover for the paper that day. I’m having a tough time remembering why I even give a shit about that though.

Anyway, I should have plenty of time tomorrow morning while he’s in surgery to run a while. My mom’s supposed to come up to Baltimore sometime later in the morning to keep me company while we wait.

I might run Friday, I might not. I managed to disqualify myself from that 100-day running challenge by not reading the rules and seeing I was supposed to send my week’s mileage to the guy running it by noon Monday, haha. So I don’t need to run for that any longer.

Saturday is the trail marathon outside D.C. It’s supposed to rain Friday, but be clear again Saturday, so the trails will probably be a little muddy. Fine by me. The high for Saturday is only 74, so at least it won’t be the hot, humid conditions we had this past weekend.

I probably won’t feel much like running Sunday, after the trail marathon the day before, but we’ll see. I’ll be back at it by Monday though. My training plan for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon in September starts that day.

See you next week.

Training for 5/29/12

This past weekend was Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start to summer around here, and I did the miserably hot runs, picked the steamed crabs, sat in the beach traffic and got the sunburn to prove it.

I will start with Saturday. It was a rather warm day, so instead of running on the road, I took Pepper to Trap Pond State Park to run the 5-mile trail loop. The park was pretty crowded, but mostly around the pond and the camping areas. We saw a few people riding bikes on the trail, and one guy who was so terrified of dogs he hid behind a tree and practically shook when he saw Pepper coming at him with a stick in his mouth, but other than that, the trail was as empty as usual.

In the afternoon, I went to Dave’s house to barbecue chicken for Aunt Helen’s retirement party. It was supposed to be a surprise, and Dave had enlisted her friend Kathy to make “dinner reservations” to keep Aunt Helen both in the local area and on a schedule, but of course Aunt Helen screwed everything up and pretty much ruined her own surprise, haha. Oh well. We still had a good time.

She tried to look surprised for everyone’s benefit.

We made her play one of her own annoying “clue” games to find her gifts, including looking through every one of 32 trees lining the property…

…searching the ditch she backed into a month ago…

…climbing up in the back of Dave’s Lightning (that face was not required)…

…scoring a few points on a dance game on the Xbox Kinect…

…and searching Julie’s Festiva, which finally led her back to the back yard, where her gifts were waiting, including this framed painting Julie did in a high school art class.

Of course, other people were there:

Clark (this was also a “going away” party for his colon.)

My mom and me.

Kara and Huey.

Aunt Helen and her siblings — Dad and Uncle John, Aunt Debbie and Aunt Gail.

Aunt Helen and her friend Kathy.

Even Pepper got to go! As long as he promised to not step foot inside the house.

We stayed until about 10 p.m., and then I had to get home and get some sleep, because I was supposed to be up at 5:30 a.m. for the Masser 5-Miler.

This would be the third year I’ve run this race. It always comes at the worst time of year, when it first starts getting hot and I’m not acclimated to it yet.

This year maintained the trend. It was already more than 70 degrees and steamy when TK met me at our house at 6 a.m. for the drive to Lewes. When we got there, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, which is good for the beach bums, but not so good for the runners, since the course is mostly unshaded.

We got our bibs, which had chips for the first time this year, and our T-shirts, which were “unisex” (men’s) tech shirts and therefore not very flattering for the women. I don’t mind the men’s cotton T-shirts; for some reason they fit me OK (just not for running, because they’re cotton.) But the tech shirts just hang off me like a bag, and looking at the other women who’d put theirs on, I wasn’t the only one with that problem. A few weeks ago, when I did the evening 5-miler put on by the same company, the tech shirts were available in women’s cuts. It looks good enough on me I’ve actually run in it since then. Apparently it’s up to the event beneficiary to decide to offer women’s shirts. I hope more catch on soon, because we’re half the field, and the whole point of these shirts is to advertise the sponsors. That doesn’t happen if the shirts don’t get worn because they look ridiculous on us.

OK, I’m climbing off my soapbox about the stupid shirts. I did a mile on the track to warm up and then got in the crowd for the start, which was also on the track.

They gave us the command and we were off. The course did about 3/4 of a lap around the track, left the stadium, ran around the high school, left the school grounds, ran about a mile on a loose gravel trail and then wound through Lewes on its way back to the school, where it ended at the same place on the track.

I downloaded this picture from the race director’s Facebook page. See the guy on the far right running barefoot?

He posted a comment that he didn’t know about the gravel until we hit the trail. Ouch!

Anyway, I felt OK for the first mile, and ran it in 6:54, which I knew was going to bite me later in the race. I had not intended to go out that fast.

I was already starting to suffer due to the heat and the overzealous start in the second mile, but hit the second marker in 14:05, a 7:11 second mile, and still faster than I felt like I should be running.

Things started to suck hard in the third mile. It was slightly uphill, into a breeze and there was mostly a total lack of shade. I got to the third marker in 21:33, a 7:28 third mile, and wondered if I could finish the next two miles.

I thought about stopping so many times. I was hot. My legs felt like they might fall off. I was beginning to wonder if this would be the first time I’d make myself puke thanks to running.

I hit the fourth marker in 29:16, a 7:43 fourth mile. I only had one more to go, but the last mile of this race is the absolute worst. It runs down the shoulder of Kings Highway toward the school. You can see the stop light at the intersection in front of the school, where you know you turn to head to the stadium, but it just never gets closer.

We finally turned onto the school grounds, went straight through the parking lot and returned to the track. Less than a 400-meter repeat to the finish line. Sounds easy enough, right?

Wrong! Coming around the final bend, I really thought I’d done it. My legs got tingly and I felt the back of my mouth get hot. I was sure I was about to puke. I’d never before done it while running, much less while running a race, and I didn’t know what to do.

I slowed down a few steps, got myself collected and around that turn, and could finally see the finish line, less than 3/4 of a straightaway away from me. There was no triumphant sprint to the finish, just a trot, grateful that I hadn’t puked in front of the race photographer I’d just noticed, haha.

I crossed the line in 37:10, an average pace of 7:26/mile, which was 30 seconds off my PR, but also 30 seconds faster than my time from the same race a year ago. So that’s improvement. Nice.

I gulped water and kept walking. I had planned to do a little cool down jogging, but I just walked for a while. I got my flip flops, and headed back to the post-race party, where they had pancakes, fruit, chocolate milk and TCBY frozen yogurt.

TK finished pretty soon. I was pretty sure I’d placed in my age group, so we waited for the results. And waited. And waited some more.

It turns out there was a snafu with the chip timing. Actually, the chips worked just fine, but the software that was supposed to convert all that timing data into meaningful results completely screwed up. It was after 10 a.m. when they got some of the results figured out by hand, and I got first in the F 25-29 group.

Accepting my age group award.

A couple days later, now that they’ve gotten everything straightened out, I see I was first of seven in my age group, seventh woman of 118 and 51st of 249 total runners.

TK and I hit the beach after that. We went to Cape Henlopen State Park, since it doesn’t get quite as crowded as Rehoboth and Ocean City, due to the lack of a boardwalk. We planned to only stay a few hours, since neither of us had been in the sun much yet this year.

It was a great beach day. We laid out for an hour before we got hot enough to brave the water, which is still pretty chilly this early in the year. We laid out another hour, and then I got back in the water. After laying out a final half hour to dry off, we headed home.

I got a little pink all over, but the only real burn was on the back of the tops of my legs, where my shorts had been covering until that day. It’s still not nearly as bad as some burns I’ve gotten in the past. I’ll live.

We stopped at the Nike outlet in Rehoboth, which was packed, and I used part of a gift card to get another pair of shorts. We went home after that, and that evening, Clark and I went to his parents’ house to pick crabs.

Yesterday, I got up early so I could get in my workout before it got too hot again. I did some ab exercises, invisible chair-sitting and weight lifting upstairs, and then I did 4.5 easy miles by myself. I wasn’t very sore from the race the day before, but it was really hot. I was soaked when I was done.

The rest of the day, Clark and I just did chores around the house, and last night, we had dinner at Texas Roadhouse with our friend Mike, microwaved some s’mores and fell asleep on the couch.

Today, I did 5.5 easy miles. I’ll just be taking it easy this week, since I guess I’m tapering for that trail marathon I’m running this coming Saturday. It doesn’t start until 9 a.m., but I don’t think it’s supposed to be as hot as this past weekend, and it might even rain on us, which will be nice. Plus, we’ll be on trails, not residential streets, so there should be plenty of shade if we need it.

Training for 5/25/12

Last night, I didn’t work out again, but I got to put together a little strength training circuit for Clark. I made him do the Swiss ball push-ups, pull-ups and a couple of other exceptionally tough exercises he picked for me last time. I think it worked. He only wanted to do one set, haha.

This morning, I took Pepper with me for an easy lap around the 4.5-mile loop.

I’d been leaving him home this week because I ran early enough every day that I was back before Clark left for work. Pepper doesn’t like to run when he knows Clark is home. But Clark was giving me crap for not taking him running this morning, so I took Pepper with me.

As usual, for the first half-mile or so, Pepper kept swerving to the center of the road, looking back at our house and circling behind me. I was getting pretty annoyed, but then we got out of sight of the house and he settled down.

The rest of the run was pretty routine. We finished the loop and I just did some stretching at home.

Tomorrow, I’m planning on a trail run, 4 or 5 miles. Then my brother and his wife are hosting a retirement party for our Aunt Helen in the afternoon. I’ve agreed to do the barbecue chicken, so I’m going over early to stand in the sun over a flaming charcoal grill and flip and baste chicken every five minutes. There better be beer.

Sunday morning is the Masser 5-Miler, and the kick-off to the Seashore Striders’ summer championship series! This will be my third time running this race. It’s always been hot, and it looks like that trend will continue this year. The Indy 500 is that afternoon, and the Coke 600 is that evening.

Monday, I’ll do some weight training and an easy 4.5-miler, and I think Clark’s family has invited us to pick crabs that afternoon.

I hope everyone enjoys the long weekend!

Training for 5/24/12

Last night, I let Clark call the shots for my strength training again, after I did some ab exercises. We didn’t do the same Swiss ball workout as Monday night. He made me do some push-ups with my hands on that damn ball (I face-planted on the ball a couple of times, haha!), but other than that, he picked exercises that just used the weight plates. Oh, and pull-ups. Three sets of pull-ups, with my hands on the wide grips. I think I hate pull-ups more than anything else in the world. I hate that they’re so effective, because what I really need is a good excuse to never do them again.

Chad and Samira came over after that, and we watched the “American Idol” finale, ate stuffed peppers and drank beer. The stuffed peppers were a new recipe. They turned out pretty well, but I think we need to use more spice next time.

This morning, I did an easy lap around the 5.5-mile loop. Today is the first day of the Summer of Muskrat challenge, hosted by one of the Runner’s World bloggers. Anyone who runs at least four miles every day between now and Aug. 31, which is 100 consecutive days, gets this cool mug he’ll make for us:

The guy who’s hosting this challenge lives in Corpus Christi, Texas, which is Bobby Labonte’s hometown, and is also a big fan of Bobby and his older brother, Terry. So I had to do this, obviously.

And I have race pictures from Saturday’s 10K! I was really looking forward to these. I made sure to smile and pose for all the photographers on the course, and the results did not disappoint. I downloaded a few of the 13 in which I was tagged (which is more than I usually get in a marathon, by the way.)

Single hand wave, somewhere in the first mile, heading out of town.

Double thumbs up, somewhere in the second mile before the U-turn.

Single thumbs up on the way back to town after the U-turn.

And a double peace sign on the bike path in the final mile.

Finally, I also downloaded one with the woman I followed for much of the middle of the race. She kept sprinkling water on herself from that handheld she’s holding, and I was enjoying the spray:

The other day, Clark said I have the same suppressed grimace in all my race pics. Well, not anymore! See, runners do smile sometimes.

Training for 5/23/12

Guess what today is? My and my car’s fifth anniversary. He had 14 miles on the odometer when I picked him out on the lot at Honda of Concord on May 23, 2007. Today, he’s covered in bird poo and has about 113,500 miles.

Anyway, I decided to split up my training today. Instead of doing my weight training followed by an easy run, I slept in and just did my run before work. I’ll do the weight training tonight after work.

I ran the 4.5-mile loop. It was overcast and foggy, but extremely humid. I didn’t feel like I was working very hard, but I was pouring sweat. I did my barefoot exercises when I got home.

Training for 5/22/12

Last night, I really did work out after I got home from work. I mean, it was quite a while after I got home, but I eventually made it up there.

Clark wanted to put me through this deceptively easy-looking strength workout in his Abs Diet book, which uses a Swiss ball to increase the difficulty. He’s had this book for almost seven years and we’d never tried that particular workout, mostly because we’d not had a Swiss ball lying around. I had one at my parents’ house, but we didn’t bring it over to our house until a couple of months ago. We’ve only been living in the house four years, after all.

Anyway, the workout was some basic strength exercises — push-ups, military presses, biceps curls, etc. — but you were on the Swiss ball, so you also had to balance yourself while you were doing the moves. It had some exercises that didn’t use the ball but were also harder than they appeared.

It was tough, but I made it through two sets. I was sweating my face off. I also did some barefoot exercises and ab exercises. Clark did the workout as well.

This morning, I managed to get up in time to run before work. I went to the track to run intervals for the first time since Jan. 31.

When I drove past the high school at 6 a.m., I saw who I assume were school employees trying to clean up the dozens of rolls of toilet paper that had been strung across the entire front lawn sometime overnight, haha. They had it all cleaned up by the time I drove back by it after I was done running, so I don’t think any students got to see what was probably a senior prank.

Anyway, I got to the track, where only one guy was walking. He was in the outer-most lane that didn’t have hurdles in it and he left while I was still doing my warm-up, so I didn’t have to dodge any walkers today.

I ran a mile to warm up and then decided to do five 800-meter repeats, aiming for splits of 3:30 on each.

I concentrated on a high turnover and ran the first repeat in 3:25. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep that up for the next four repeats though.

I did a lap of recovery and then ran the second repeat in 3:26. I started to think that was going to be the trend and the rest would be slower than the one before.

But that wasn’t the case. I ran the third repeat in 3:25 again, and then the last two, I ran in 3:22 and 3:20.

I put on my iPod and did another couple of miles to cool down, for a total of 6.5 miles this morning. I was pleased with my workout. The splits weren’t far off from the last time I ran 800s, although I have to take into consideration, that time I was trying to pretend my right foot wasn’t bothering me, when in fact it was hurting enough that I was about to have to stop running for almost a month to let it heal.

I just looked up the last time I did 5×800. That was Dec. 20, and 3:20 was my slowest split. Oh well, I have to start somewhere.

Training for 5/21/12

I didn’t feel like getting up to do my workout before I had to go to work this morning, so I’ll do that when I get home.

Saturday, I ran the 10K at the inaugural St. Michaels Running Festival. There was also a 5K and a half marathon the same day.

I got to TK’s house around 6:15 a.m. as planned. We had to wait a little for Shari, as she’d forgotten her GUs the first time she’d left her house, but Shari had picked up all of our race packets the day before anyway, so we didn’t have to worry about getting there in time to do that.

We got to St. Michaels right around 7 a.m. and easily parked in a field behind the elementary school. I was going to run the 5K course backwards as a warm-up, and thought I’d be able to find it, but I quickly made a wrong turn onto a dead-end street. As I was getting back on the actual course, I heard a couple of snatches of something someone was announcing at the race start line. I heard “10K start” and “10 minutes.” I looked at my watch — it was still 20 minutes until the advertised start. Were they starting early? Crap. I ran a little farther, turned around and headed back to the start area. I did about 2.6 miles.

When I got there and found TK and Shari, they told me what I’d heard was the race director announcing the start had been pushed back 10 minutes. I decided to just stay where I was at that point.

They sang the National Anthem and the 10K runners moved into the start corral. I was not in a racing mindset and I knew it; I was more concerned about getting in all the miles I wanted that day. I started several rows back from the front.

We were about to take off and this guy pulls up alongside me, points at my Zeroes and asks how I like them. I glanced over at his feet — he was wearing Zeroes too. Of course we had a little gush-fest about how much we love our shoes. Then the horn sounded and we were off.

I took off at a pretty comfortable pace. I passed a few people and a few people passed me, but for the most part, I’d started in the right spot in the pack.

The course went straight down St. Michaels’ main street, Talbot Street, which is lined with all these little shops and restaurants. It’s a very touristy area. People were putzing around, window shopping and eating breakfast, watching us trot down the street. TK later told me she heard a lot of runners around her pointing out shops and making plans to visit them after the race.

We continued on that road and left St. Michaels. It took us past Harbourtowne, and then made a U-turn a little ways before the 3-mile marker. We headed back the way we came.

I had never managed to push myself out of my comfortable pace. I was running a little under 8:00/mile and had absolutely no desire to go faster. I ran with another woman and a man for much of the middle part of the race, until we hit a slight downhill with the wind at our backs, and I pulled away from them a little.

I can’t wait to see my race pictures. I actually noticed in advance all the photographers on the course (and there were a lot) and had the time to smile at all of them, and give some of them the thumbs up or peace signs. I’m thinking these will be my goofiest race pics to date, haha.

Anyway, when we got back to town, they rerouted us through a couple of side streets and then onto a paved bike path for the last mile or so. There’s not much to say about the last part of the race. I ran until I hit the finish line.

My official chip time was 48:38, more than five minutes slower than the 10K I ran last November! That still placed me 29th overall out of 395 finishers, and third of 62 finishers in the F 20-29 age group.

I walked a little, ate an orange slice and half a banana, drank a bottle of water and then headed out for another 6 miles to round out my day.

The half marathon had already started by then, so I decided to just run out to its 3-mile marker and turn around. As I started to run again, I realized my legs didn’t feel at all tired. Yup, definitely wasn’t racing during the 10K. After the 43:20 I ran last November, I could barely make it through less than a mile of slow jogging to cool down, my legs were so trashed.

The half course followed the same route as the 10K, except it turned into Harbourtowne, a golf course and community of very large, expensive waterfront houses.

I saw the 2-mile marker in Harbourtowne, but past that I saw absolutely no sign a race had passed through there. No directional markings, no empty GU packages or crushed paper cups, nothing. I imagine the residents didn’t want a bunch of ugly chalk marks or signs screwing up the aesthetics of the place, so the race directors marked it very sparingly. I made a wrong turn after the 2-mile marker and ran off the half marathon course. I ran until I felt like I should have seen the 3-mile marker, and then turned around. I was getting really, really hungry, and I was ready to be done with running.

The last three miles of my day kinda sucked, but I finished them off, for a total of just under 15 miles, six of those in the middle at a reasonably hard pace.

I found TK when I got back to the race site, and we walked back over to the finish line, where the half marathon was finishing.

Pretty soon, Shari came through:

Shari finishing the half marathon.

I started watching for Allison, the Easton runner I met through the Runners’ World website. She had told me she’d be wearing black shorts, black compression socks and a black baseball hat. I soon spotted a woman matching that description. I was going to take a picture of her finishing, but it was pretty obvious she was in a lot of pain as she hobbled toward the finish line.

She came through the chute and immediately recognized me. We tried to hug hello, but she was having a hard time just standing, because her right calf had started severely cramping at the 11-mile marker. (She still managed to get through the last 2 miles and finish the race 15 minutes faster than she’d run her first half marathon three weeks ago!)

I thought she should keep walking, so we started moving away from the crowd at the finish line. Not long after that, her right calf seized up completely and she dropped to the ground.

I was trying to help her up, when a man rushed up to help us. He asked me if I was a Loopster.

The people who post in the Runner’s World online community, The Loop, call themselves Loopsters. He was asking me that because Allison was his wife, and he figured I must be the girl from the Loop she was planning on meeting, but in my haze I had no idea what the hell a Loopster was, haha, and I think I just stared at him, slack-jawed, for a couple of seconds. I finally put two and two together and we got Allison to the medical tent a short walk away.

I tried to get her some Gatorade, but they were out, so I brought back a couple of bananas for her and her husband, Steve, who had also run the half. She started feeling well enough to walk not long after that, and we got some pictures:

Allison and Steve.

I’ve met a lot of Runner’s World friends, but that was by far the most dramatic first meeting yet, haha.

We hung around the race site a little while longer. Allison and Steve were pretty cool; they’re NASCAR fans, so we had something outside of running to talk about.

Eventually, TK, Shari and I had enough, and we left a little after noon. I had thought about taking a nap when I got home, but Clark showed me how to use the weed trimmer, and I did that instead while he cut the grass. I’m going to be taking over lawn duties while he’s recovering from his surgeries this summer.

TK was at our house around 6:15 p.m., and we rode to Ocean City together. I had forgotten this weekend was the cruise-in. The traffic was heavy and everything was packed with people. We met TK’s boyfriend at Fager’s Island and ate dinner there. Soon after, the live cover band started playing, and we stayed through their first set. We left just after midnight.

I probably would have fallen asleep on the ride home, but when I was waiting to tab out at the bar before we left, some guy offered to buy me a shot (the second guy who had done so that night; I should hang around the bar more when I’m paying for myself, haha.) It was Red Bull and cherry vodka, so I stayed awake the whole ride home.

Sunday morning, I woke up early enough to take Pepper to the trail for a few miles. Clark dropped us off on his way to Lowe’s, and he hadn’t gotten back yet when we finished our usual 3-mile loop, so we did about another mile. Clark was waiting for us in the parking lot when we got back the second time.

In the afternoon, we went to a baby shower for my friend Ben and his girlfriend Hope, who are expecting a daughter in July. It was a co-ed baby shower, which Clark said confused his grandmother when she saw the invite, haha. Basically, everyone came out and ate barbecued chicken in Hope’s grandparents’ back yard. It was a lot more fun than any of the other showers, bridal and baby, I’ve attended.

Training for 5/18/12

This morning, I took it pretty easy, since I’m running hard tomorrow. I just did my push-ups and invisible chair-sitting at home, and then Pepper and I did a very easy 3-miler on the trail.

Tomorrow, I’m supposed to be at TK’s house at 6:15 a.m., which means I should get up an hour earlier. Ouch! Her friend Shari is also riding with us to St. Michaels. TK and I are doing the 10K, and Shari is doing the half. We’re planning on getting to St. Michaels by 7 a.m., which should give us plenty of time to park and get our race packets before they close the only road into town and the registration tables.

I’m still planning on jogging the 5K course as a warm-up, running the 10K at whatever pace feels appropriate and then doing another 6 to 7 miles after to get in all the miles I wanted tomorrow. Since Shari’s running the half, which starts 45 minutes after the 10K, I will have plenty of time to kill.

I also get to meet yet another Runner’s World friend for the first time. She started posting blogs a few months ago, and it turns out she lives in Easton, so I figured we’d sign up for the same race sooner or later and get to meet. She’s also doing the half tomorrow.

Tomorrow night, TK, her boyfriend, Clark and I are going to Ocean City, to eat dinner somewhere and then go to Fager’s Island. One of TK’s and my favorite cover bands is playing at Fager’s.

Tomorrow will be a long day, so I know I wouldn’t want to do a long run Sunday. I’m planning on another trail run, but we’ll see if I even do that. I might end up just lying in bed until we have to get up to go to a baby shower Sunday afternoon.

Training for 5/17/12

This morning, Pepper and I did a pretty easy lap around the 8.2-mile loop. Not much to report on it. It was an uneventful but enjoyable run.

I had thought about getting up early and instead doing the 16-mile long run I’d planned for this weekend, but I didn’t feel like it. So I mulled over my options just about the entire hour and 10 minutes we were running today.

I’m signed up for the St. Michaels Running Festival 10K this Saturday morning. I could bump up to the half they’re offering the same day, do a few miles before the race starts and then run the race at a long run pace, but at this point it would cost me another $45 to do that. No thanks. I’m not forking over a total of $85 for a half marathon unless I have a shot at a PR, and I’m not even close.

I could just run the 10K Saturday and then run the long run Sunday, but I know I’m really not going to want to, haha.

So! I settled on this plan: Since we have to get to the race site early, as they’re closing the road, I’ll jog the 5K course as a 3.1-mile warm up. Then I’ll run the 10K, which starts first of the three races for some reason, at whatever pace I feel like. My legs have felt pretty shot this week since I’m trying to build up some mileage for that trail marathon I signed up for without really thinking about it, so I don’t know how racey I’m going to be feeling Saturday morning. Anyway, that will get me to 9.3 miles when that’s done. The half marathon will have just started at that point, and I’m riding with someone who’s running that so I’ll have to wait for her anyway, so I’ll just re-run the 10K route at an easy pace for a total of 15.5 miles. Close enough.

Training for 5/16/12

This morning, I did my ab exercises, push-ups, invisible chair-sitting and weight training upstairs, and then Pepper and I went out for a few miles.

I was planning on just three, but it felt really good to be running this morning. Yesterday’s torrential rains were gone, it was warm enough to go shirtless but not hot enough to be uncomfortable, I had on my cushy 890s and Pepper was actually letting me keep the pace reasonably slow. So we stretched it out to the 4.5-mile loop. I didn’t time it, which I’ve found is best for easy runs. It removes all temptation to speed it up for no reason.

It felt nice to run longer, instead of shorter, than planned for once too, haha.

I did some barefoot exercises and stretching after the run.