july 2009

july 2009 - sorry, no exciting news like june.
still stuck in kentucky. (it's not really that bad...) i'm a little more official now as apparently both kentucky and south carolina are taking taxes from my hard-earned money. wtf? it's ok government, i didn't want my money anyway. work, eat, sleep, run - story of my life. that might sound glamorous... but seriously it's all i do. it's not like i'm hanging out, watching tv, having a life, etc. it's no surprise why wedding-planning isn't progressing along. hello, running comes first.

total mileage: 267.60 (what? how did i do that?)
time spent running: 38:25:05
avg pace: 8:41/mile
days off: 2
avg resting hr: n/a (terrible at remembering to do this lately)
avg max hr: 177.67
pushups: 619 (can we say slacker?)

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sweet silver bells

with a "vacation" from my bff threshold this week, i hit the track wednesday for my mid-week quality workout. the motivation has been dragging a bit this week. i think it could be partly to blame on my very, very terrible caloric intake. i haven't been tracking my calories precisely, but i've been netting about half of my required amount every day once i subtract out cals burned (estimated). sigh. it's tough to eat when you're allergic to everything and work on a construction site in the middle of nowhere so there's no (healthy) food around.

anyway, back to the quality workout. my determination was severely lacking but i forced myself out the door and ran over to the track for 5x1000. ok ok, technically it was supposed to be 8. whatever, i did 5. i had trouble finding the pace on the first repeat, but easily settled in for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th. i almost held on in the 5th interval but came in a little over-pace. the "boost" from seeing my successful splits did not last long, so i brought back the old faithful tunes as i flung myself around the track.

yes, on a humid july 29th i was singing carol of the bells in my head as i ran lap after lap around the track. whatever works right?

wednesday (7/29) pm run: 8.1 miles, 1:03:15 (avg pace 7:48), avg hr (156)
5x1000 @ i pace (4:03) w/ 2 min easy (4:10, 4:01, 3:59, 4:01, 4:05)

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we got ourselves a game

week in review (7/20 - 7/26):
total miles: 65.10 (new mileage 'pr', didn't think i'd make it!)
time spent running: ~ 9 hours 20 minutes
avg hr: 156.17
avg pace: 8:41/mile (avg temp: 76.67*; i don't really miss running in 90*)
off days: 1

"the theory of evolution says ‘only the strong shall survive.’ maybe so. maybe so. but the theory of competition says that just because they're the strong doesn’t mean they can’t get their asses kicked."

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eighteen miles; seven traits

welcome long run, quality workout sunday. i was motivated saturday evening, but that faded overnight. i went to bed rather late (~midnight, ooh what a rebel) and "slept in" til 8:00. after a bit of wallering around in bed (laying there, being lazy) i pulled myself up for some breakfast. i then used food-in-my-belly as an excuse to put the run off a little longer, but finally put on my shoes and gear a little after noon.

with "wednesday's" quality run moved to friday, i didn't have the freshest of legs for today's workout. i survived for the most part, and even tweaked it a lot less than i thought i'd have to.

planned workout: 2 miles easy, 2x(2 miles threshold w/ 2 minutes rest), 1 hour easy, 3 miles threshold, 2 miles easy; total 18 miles
actual workout: 2 miles easy, 2x(2 miles threshold w/ 2 minutes rest), 1 hour easy, 2 miles threshold, 3 miles easy; total 18 miles

seriously jack, what's with all the threshold runs? ya killin' me here.

as you can see i conveniently traded one of the later threshold miles for an easy one. i'm pretty good at pulling back and running easy if i'm not feeling the harder pace, but as long as it's just the typical hard-effort struggles i try my best to duke it out. average threshold pace today - 7:32. a tad slower again, but i'm content with the effort. part of marathon training is strengthening your body and mind to continue to fight when you are tired, i chalk this up to a win in that on-going battle.

sunday (7/26) lunch run: 18 miles, 2:32:40 (avg pace 8:28), avg hr (170)

[ooh sweet. just checked the workouts for this coming week, a mini-vacation from threshold!]

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i was tagged awhile ago by beth and kelly on the "seven traits" train. it's taken me a little while to actually come up with seven not-totally-boring things, but here we go.

1. i'm afraid of failure. of course, i have obviously failed plenty of times in my life thus far but yet i still let it take control sometimes. it doesn't matter how big or small the fail is, i will worry about it.
2. i am big on saving. i save up for something i want, but when i have enough saved i have a hard time taking that money and actually spending it. for example, i put a little aside each month for my home owner's association fees (ok, not quite something i "want") and when that bill comes due i have a mini-complex about taking it out and writing the check.
3. i am lazy. i often have a hard time making myself get things done when i'm not quite in the mood to do anything. sure i may run 60+ miles a week, but i have skipped meals before because i was too lazy to get up and get something to eat. i'm sure if there was a way to avoid using the bathroom i'd probably be too lazy to get up for that too. (sorry, not going to use diapers)
4. i am an excellent procrastinator. everyone and their brother has been hounding me lately about "setting a date". i have a date - sometime next summer, a whole year away. what's the rush? apparently for a wedding you have to schedule some things way far out in advance. i just don't see the big deal because i'm not intent on any particular location; i'm flexible.
   
5. i am an expert non-decision maker. my least favorite question in the world is "where do you want to eat?" just tell me where we are going please; i'm sure the menu will be sufficient. (are you reading j? this is your last warning) :)
   
6. i am a hard-worker. i know, oxymoron what? while i am lazy and procrastinate, i can put my nose to the grind and get the job done when needed. i (and pops and j) did renovate two-bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room, dining room, and kitchen after all. ok, so the 3rd bedroom and another bathroom still need work but the majority of the house is done. i'd also like to think the past year of stepping up my running/training is also proof of my ability to work hard.
7. i am the world champion at eating m&m's. that's a given.
   

in tune with #3 and 5, i tag whoever wants to play along. :)

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as tempting as 3am is...

once i realized i was on a 15-day streak wednesday, my mind converted over to slacker-mode. originally i was to do a quality workout on thursday, take friday off, run easy saturday and finish the week with another quality run sunday.

when i fell asleep on my desk at work thursday i thought it might be better to just go home and go to bed instead. i haven't been too good at enforcing my curfew and end up with ~5 hours of sleep a night. i made a deal with myself that i'd get up and do the quality workout friday morning so that i'd have a little more time for the legs to recover by sunday. before going to bed on thursday (at 8pm, like a winner) i realized i'd have to be running no later than 3:30 am to get the workout in. not quite appealing...

needless to say when the alarm went off i mysteriously hit ignore and proceeded to sleep until 5:15am. i'm supposed to leave for work by 5:30... at least i caught up on some sleep. (sorry to let you down andrew. i'm hoping to try again next week.)

so friday afternoon/evening quality run it was -- 8 miles threshold pace for 12 miles total. again, i was off my actual threshold pace but i'm content knowing i pushed myself and tried. it was uncomfortable at times, but i pressed on. the last threshold mile was actual within the 'zone', small victory.

friday (7/24) pm run: 12.1 miles, 1:35:11 (avg pace 7:51), avg hr (174), 80*

my threshold miles averaged out to a 7:29 pace (vs a 7:02-7:17). this run was a little slower than last week's 9-threshold miles, but i uh, stopped to catch my breath quite a bit during that run and there was easy running mixed in between the threshold miles.

nothing exciting about today's easy run. the aches i had before taking thursday off have faded, but my legs don't feel too "refreshed". kept it slow and easy today though not sure if i should have gone for double digits; i got a little caught up in "making up miles" for taking a day off. i hope i have enough left for tomorrow's quality workout.

saturday (7/25) am run: 12.5 miles, 1:51:36 (avg pace 8:56), avg hr (153), 73*

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ice ice baby

i have been telling myself i will take an ice bath after my run for 10 days or so now. problem is when i get back from my run i'm too lazy to drain the ice machine! (seriously, i'm the laziest distance runner ever.) i keep telling myself i need to work on actually stretching and icing after a run instead of just thinking about it during the run. some days i can feel the effects of running 7-days/week but a soak in the ice rejuvenates my legs and i can definitely feel a difference. for the record, i'm not trying to run straight-7's just yet, but i have been working on decreasing my off days in order to hopefully one day run mostly-7's.

a few twinges have made themselves present this week in both legs, but they only feel a little sore/stiff. all three runs this week have been easy and the legs felt fine throughout. i realized that today was 15 days straight for 133.55 miles. i'm fairly certain where the aches are coming from! rest day coming soon legs, you've earned it.

hard at work... using an enormous bolt from the warehouse as a foam roller/stick to massage a tender spot in my right quad. 'course then the bolt got some dirt/grease all over my jeans, not cool. however, it did feel pretty good to just roll it on my quad and let the weight of the bolt do the dirty work. i actually kind of preferred the bolt to my rolling pin.

monday (7/20) pm run: 9.25 miles, 1:20:47 (avg pace 8:44), avg hr (153), 77*
tuesday (7/21) pm run: 6 miles, 54:31 (avg pace 9:05), avg hr (141)
wednesday (7/22) pm run: 7.25 miles, 1:05:16 (avg pace 9:00), avg hr (146)

i postponed my wisdom extraction appointment for a few weeks, so hold onto your thoughts and well wishes please! i figured since the root canal tooth is the one that is bothering me i should probably get that taken care of first. certainly don't need to deal with extraction pain and this current tooth pain on top of that. i imagine if you aren't allowed to use a straw they probably don't want a dental-suction tool jammed in there huh? minor switcheroo, still not quite looking forward to it.

off for a late dinner and then an ice bath. i promise legs!

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gone mental

there are days when i allow myself to get too worked up about a run. i worry too much about where i will run (traffic, distance, bathrooms), can i hit my goal paces, should i bring gu/water, etc. the stress occurs mostly on workout days, but sometimes on just plain regular (easy) days too.

i managed to psych myself out over the quality workout i had on tap for thursday. i had to snap myself out of it - i can't keep making excuses for myself, i need to just do it. yes, pushing the pace will probably be uncomfortable, but i'll get used to it. how can i expect to improve if i am constantly allowing myself to cut the workout short or altering the goal paces? it will hurt, but it will also make me stronger. i don't want to open my mollusk shell on november 1st and have a deformed pearl sitting there.

planned workout: 10 miles threshold pace (7:02-7:17); for 15 miles total
actual workout: 9 miles almost threshold pace (avg 7:22); for 14 miles total

i thought about tricking my brain and legs into the 10th threshold mile, but they were pretty dead oh at about mile 4-ish of the threshold miles. it took a lot to get to (and through) threshold mile #9, and i could barely get my legs to cooperate for a couple of cooldown/easy shuffle miles. i'm kind of hoping the meds (for my mouth) could have an effect, but then again i need to quit with the excuses so i'm running through it anyway.

sunday's quality run was just plain un-quality. i woke up late and didn't have time to eat breakfast or prepare myself mentally for the run. i was supposed to churn out 20 miles but only squeezed in 14.5 before having to hurry into the shower and off to lunch. i kind of attempted the workout for ~4 miles but then my stomach let me know it did not have any fuel and would not be agreeable to a long and hard run. i pulled back and made it as long of a run as i could in my little time frame, and pushed myself to work the uphills since i wasn't quite doing the workout.

while i'm struggling to combat my mental pace demons, i'm doing an excellent job of running easy. i can ace the other 4-5 days of the week, how can you possibly fail at running easy?

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week in review (7/13 - 7/19):
total miles: 63.05
time spent running: ~9 hours 2 minutes
avg hr: 156.14
avg pace: 8:47/mile (avg temp: 75.67*; somehow july is cooler than june)
off days: 0

thanks for keeping the wisdom stories horror-less. however, my sister did tell me about a girl who discovered the hard way she was allergic to the meds in the anesthetic and didn't quite make it home. yikes.

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losing my wisdom

the ol' blister is continuing along, not getting better but not getting worse. i guess i'll take it. the blister usually gets hard-ish overnight, but then when i run again it softens back up and often refills with juice. the past few days it hasn't gotten too re-juicy again so maybe it is on the mend. i did get an abundance of ideas from everyone (thanks!) that i will be trying out until i can successfully end this relationship with mr. blister. i did get 2 offers for blister-birthday-cakes though; so he just might stick around long enough for some cake.

stuart of quadrathon led me to fixing your feet by john vonhof, which gives many different taping/care ideas for all kinds of foot-blisters. andrew of downeast running recommended an epsom salt bath. sunshine mama gave me information on "bag balm" and some sort of wiggley-gel-pad, but it'll probably take me some time to locate this product (and it's technical name).

i also got a few suggestions for good ol' vaseline (mrblackmagic, marathonman), but i'm just not sure about goopy vaseline in/on my sock. do you cover with a bandaid or just let the sock soak up some vas? i suppose the same thing applies to body glide too, an idea from mel-2nd chances. all of these suggestions sound easy and pain free - something i can handle! i just need to remember to go buy tape and salt; i forgot to get some the other night when i was at walgreen's picking up some 'scripts. i did learn from "fixing your feet" that i probably "lanced" it wrong back then. apparently poking 90 holes is not the proper draining method.

not-so-running related, i've been having a jaw/tooth/mouth ache on the lower left side and popping a few ibuprofen's daily. luckily the one time of day it doesn't hurt is when i'm running. i mustered up the courage to check out a dentist here in the hills of kentucky (who turned out to be pretty normal, whew!). after a few x-rays and some poking around in my mouth, they couldn't determine the source of the pain. my upper left wisdom tooth is partially chipped/broken, but has never caused me pain (for whatever reason). they kind of pushed on getting my wisdom teeth pulled, saying that the upper tooth could be causing pain in the bottom. sure, i can get behind pain hurting in one spot while originating from elsewhere, but this tooth does not bother me in the least. the x-rays also didn't show anything major around this tooth other than the piece that is missing. i wasn't too thrilled that the only suggestion they had was getting my wisdom teeth pulled.

i had an appointment today with the oral surgeon to take new x-rays and get the 411 on sedation. he was pretty quick and short in explaining things, but the girl who went over the insurance info with me said he's pretty cautious and if there were any red flags he would've let me know. i'm sure we'll get along just fine as long as he does a good job, i don't feel the process, my sinuses don't get screwed up, and that nerve in/along my jaw doesn't go numb. minor details doc. he did say that the pain was not coming from my wisdom tooth, but instead from a tooth i had a root canal on before. terrific. i guess at some point he'll be re-doing that too. i tried asking if he could just put me under for 2-3 days so i don't have to deal with the post-op pain and nausea, but he didn't seem to buy into that idea.

granted i really only need to have one tooth pulled but i'm pretty sure i won't want to go back again later to have another 1 (or remaining 3) pulled. i read online that "as a rule of thumb, the younger the age of the person having the wisdom teeth extractions the less potential they will have for experiencing complications. studies have shown that the number of complications, related to both healing as well as the procedure itself, that occur in association with wisdom tooth extractions increases once a patient has passed into their mid to late 20's." (yeah, i'm 24. go figure.) i also read that if the dentist waits until the tooth’s roots have fully formed, the difficulty of the extraction will be comparatively more complex. oh guess who's roots are abnormally long? convenient, ain't it.

anyway, i'm being a big wimp, but i bit the bullet and scheduled the dreaded extraction appointment (all 4 teeth) for a thursday afternoon. i am most upset about missing my long run that weekend! you know that was the first thought in my head when they started talking wisdom-teeth nonsense -- how can i squeeze this in my training? ;-) i am hoping to only miss 4 days of running (friday-thru-monday), although chances are i will probably be stubborn and attempt an easy run monday. i've heard ibuprofen can cause difficulties when combined with running, but what about antibiotics and vicodin?

have you had your wisdom teeth removed? how did it go? (please feel free to refrain from telling horror stories!) :-D

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nyc half marathon: fresh air fund-racers

itching to run or race a half in a few weeks?

the nyc half marathon will be held on august 16th of this year, and the fresh air fund-racers are looking for runners to join their team! (sponsors also quite welcome too).

the fresh air fund provides free summer experiences in the country to more than 1.7 million new york city children from disadvantaged communities. each year, thousands of children visit volunteer host families in 13 states and canada through the friendly town program or attend one of five fresh air fund camps. host families open their hearts and home to a nyc child who would not otherwise have the opportunity to escape the hot, crowded city streets. [from faf website]

the 2008 new york city half marathon presented by nike was a huge success. over $125,000 were raised for the fresh air fund, which was put directly towards their free programs for nyc kids. hopefully 2009 will be an even bigger success!

while i will not be able to attend this race myself, i hope those of you closer to nyc will strongly consider it! there are many worthwhile causes to support in the many road races we all run, and the fresh air fund is one of them.

one of my favorite things about the fresh air fund is the "friendly town" program. in this program, fresh air children (6-18 year olds who live in the city) stay for two weeks or more in over 300 friendly towns across 13 northeastern states from virginia to maine and canada. the program provides the children with the opportunity to run barefoot through the grass and experience a suburban/rural lifestyle in contrast to the concrete jungle of the city. check out the website and faq's if you are interested in being a host!

if you are unable to participate in the half-marathon or hosting a child, but still want to support the cause - volunteers and tax deductible donations are also accepted.

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running this week has been uneventful thus far. hoping to get in a quality workout tomorrow after a consult with the oral surgeon (getting out of work early, yay!; going to dentist... eh).

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a taste for suffering

week in review (7/6 - 7/12):
total miles: 53 (cutback)
time spent running: ~7 hours 41 minutes
avg hr: 157
avg pace: 8:42/mile (avg temp: 84.25*)
off days: 1

i didn't realize that last week's 64+ miles was a new weekly mileage pr, beating out a 62-mile week from late in my goofy challenge training regime. this past week of training hasn't been the greatest, but i slogged through the miles and survived.

i started the week with a head cold which made the rest of my body tired, and my legs were disagreeable all week. the motivation was not flowing as freely as it did last week while on vacation. luckily all these hindrances fell during a cutback week anyway, so i was 'free' to slog along. hopefully my brain and legs are done whining. we have work to do.

sundays are always one of my "quality workout" days since that's the day of the week the nyc marathon falls on. they're also "long run day", because who doesn't want to run some threshold miles during a long run. today's quality workout was easy to remember - 18 miles easy pace. (not all quality workouts involve speed, some are just long). for whatever reason, i was more motivated to do this run on the treadmill than outside. (yeah don't ask.) so, 18.25 miles on the 'mill it was. slightly masochistic?

my blister situation is still present, over 3 months later. wtf. i drained it way back when, it seemed to be doing better for a couple days, and then came back with a vengeance. i quit running in my asics (toebox felt tight), started running in tech socks, occasionally try to put a band aid or tape on it... nothing works. it just wants to grow. saturday's 8 miler turned it into a blood blister, but today's 18 miler self-drained that and made it a regular blister again. i really don't know what to do about it, and you know i'm not going to take a few days off for a stupid blister. maybe in another 9 months i'll get to throw a birthday party for it at boston.

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running backwards

while on vacation last week, i snuck in a few runs with my old running buddy kt and one of her new running friends. apparently a lot of the girls she runs with in her new, beach town add a little backwards running on the end of their runs.

it looked interesting, and after a decent 10+ mile run i welcomed finishing (forward motion) short of the house. we turned around and (very) slowly ran backwards down kt's street. it's an interesting feeling; i definitely thought i was going to wipe out on my butt the whole time, but it was kind of fun. the fact that it was super easy on the legs was nice too.

i asked kt's friend what the purpose was of running backwards and she said it helps balance out the muscles. she ran in college (ohio university if i remember correctly?) and they ran backwards in training sometimes. her old coach recommended running backwards for 1/4 the length of what you ran forwards, but she said she wasn't so sure how that fits in with marathon training (vs cross-country) since there are a lot more miles.

it sounds good in theory and the activity/motion doesn't hurt, so i've thrown on a few minutes of backwards running at the end of some of my runs lately. it also forces me to have more of a cooldown instead of just stopping cold-turkey. this guy's write up on running backwards and it's benefits sounds pretty good to me. i'm not going to attempt any serious goals with this, but i would like to continue to switch it up a few days a week in reverse at the end of some runs. in the very least, i'll be slowly lowering my heartrate before rushing into the sweet air conditioning.

today it was t-storming after work so i hopped on the 'mill for an easy run. afterwards, i thought i'd turn around and 'run' a little backwards (on a much slower speed of course than forwards). not the brightest idea to try and run backwards on the treadmill. just an fyi.

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babying a head cold

i'm still trying to shake the last of this cold that intruded my immune system sunday. my nose ran non-stop monday and tuesday with a few hundred sneezes in between, and i felt tired/groggy overall. i felt obligated to run monday so i ran a short, easy 5 miles. usually running through a cold helps me feel better, but i didn't get any 'boost' from the run. after working and sneezing all day tuesday, i was feeling run-down so i took the day off and went to bed at 8pm. i probably need to work on getting more sleep in general since i have to be out the door by 5:30am in order to get to work on time. yes, aren't you jealous.

today (wednesday) i woke up still sneezing, but felt much less groggy. after work i headed out with the intent of doing my second quality workout of the week: 5x1000 at interval pace (4:03) followed by 6x400 at repetition pace (1:30).

welllllll. the cold cooperated, but my stomach/bowels definitely did not. i only got in 3x1000 before having to ditch the workout. i had driven to a high school track between work and home, and the facilities were locked (they were pretty run-down anyway) so i had to hop in the car and drive (quickly) to take care of things. i rushed over to the nearby park where i run sometimes, thinking i'd just resume the workout after a quick pit stop (the park is off a big highway and isn't close enough to run to, nor did i know of any public bathrooms nearby) the break was too long and my legs were throwing a temper tantrum when i tried to pick it up again. i knew i'd have to take a dnf for today's workout. i ran easy for a little bit and called it a day. sigh, not doing so well at these quality workouts already. :-/ only 33 more to go.

the 3x1000 i did get in went well though - 4:02, 4:02, and 4:01, but it still would've been nice if i could've finished the stinkin' workout. oh well. at least my nose finally found a plug.

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i jumped in runningbetty and rundmt's pushup challenge for july, and completed week 6/day 3 today after my piddly "quality" day. 274 pushups, killer. so technically i should be able to do the 100 later this week/weekend and (hopefully) fulfill my goal of beating brian at something. :-p we'll see.

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toes in the water

week in review (6/29 - 7/5):
total miles: 64.55 (once again a tad short, but whatever)
time spent running: ~9 hours 11 minutes
avg hr: 155.2
avg pace: 8:37/mile (avg temp: 82.1*)
off days: 0

after a few long months working away-from-home, i had my annual summer/family vacation last week. you'd think i'd have had time to stay on top of things but i was too lazy to even google read most days, so i've left myself a bit of reading to do now that vacation is over. (google read or work? hmm.) vacation conveniently landed on what was to be the end of my time in kentucky (although possible unemployment loomed), but then as we all know i was extended and am still in ky. i did however get the heck outta here for 10 glorious days. i took my sweet time coming back today; even stopping to take a nap on the side of the road on the drive back up.

so last week was full of lounging on the beach and a little bit of running:

monday (6/29) am run: 7 miles, 1:04:07 (avg pace 9:09), avg hr (145), 81*
tuesday (6/30) pm run: 10 miles, 1:22:55 (avg pace 8:17), avg hr (161), 90*
wednesday (7/1) am run: 10.75 miles, 1:29:15 (avg pace 8:18), 77*
thursday (7/2) am run: 7.5 miles, 1:06:32 (avg pace 8:52), avg hr (158), 82*
friday (7/3) pm run: 5.05 miles, 44:45 (avg pace 8:51), avg hr (150), 88*
saturday (7/4) am run: 9 miles, 1:16:09 (avg pace 8:27), avg hr (162), 80*
sunday (7/5) am run: 15.25 miles, 2:07:22 (avg pace 8:21), 77*

the engagement occurred tuesday morning; so it's not like i held out on you all month until the monthly review, it just happened to fall in place with the recap. i'm used to getting up entirely too early for work, and had been getting up around 5:30ish for my runs anyway, but on tuesday morning when j came in to wake me up to "go take pictures of the sunrise" i was cranky. you know, too early to be getting up (unless you are going running of course, priorities!). when we were walking out to the beach he started grumbling about forgetting the remote for his camera that he bought specifically for this purpose (i'd previously mentioned wanting to have a photographer hiding and taking pics of the proposal as it happened). that was a bit of a hint 'cause even though i was half asleep i was thinking "why do you need the remote? just stand behind the camera". i just kind of wandered around, wading in the low-tide while he pretended to take pics of the sunrise (/trying to set up the timer since he forgot the remote). then of course he comes over, kneels down on the edge of the water, and then what do you know we're engaged. (no, i did not really say "why not", of course i said 'yes'!)


i love the beach and sunrises/sunsets so it was very well-thought out on his part, especially since he tried to also fulfill the "photographer requirement".

post-engagement i was no longer in the mood to go for my morning run. i blamed that on j and told him he ruined my run. (jk...kind of) i went back to bed for a bit, woke up again and told the fam the news, hung out on the beach all day and then got in a pretty good 10 miler that afternoon (in 90* no less). j biked along with me as my sag wagon; having water and g2 at my disposal is a big help.

sunday's long run was another quality workout day: 2 miles easy, 3 miles threshold, 6 miles easy, 3 miles threshold, 2 miles easy (pretty easy to remember this time). "threshold" was more like "goal marathon pace" but i am ok with knowing i at least pushed myself. i didn't have the easiest time getting myself out on the road sunday morning to do the workout, but i did get out there and work it.

i came down with a bit of a cold sunday afternoon and have been feeling pretty drained all day today as well. i am assuming it's just me being tired from all the running and taking things up a notch. hopefully it'll pass quickly...

hope everyone had an enjoyable 4th (or 1st, canadians) and huge thanks for all the congratulations! i'm so bad about making decisions/organizing things so this will be an interesting process... yes, brian, it will definitely be after boston/april because hello, i'm running that under my name! (one of my very few wedding "requirements") i'm told i have to run it again in 2011 under my new name as well though. i'm also (supposedly) no longer allowed to dance to beyonce's single ladies. we'll see about that. ;)

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june 2009

june 2009 - month #3 in kentucky. i was initially anticipating some serious chill time at the end of the month but my position at work was extended so back to ky it is. took advantage of having easy runs on the schedule and slowed down to avoid dying in the heat (ran in 90+ degrees a few times). running in such warm temps (80+) has been great training mentally because i know i can handle any temp and don't allow myself to wimp out of a run because it's "too hot".

total mileage: 200.19 (almost double june 2008!)
time spent running: 29:31:47
avg pace: 9:11/mile
days off: 3
avg resting hr: 52.33
avg max hr: 179.88
pushups: 1,113

oh yeah, j also popped the question. i said why not.

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