Oh the humidity

I knew it was just a matter of time before the humidity kicked in. Targeted 5 miles for today, but thought better of it and cut it down to 4. Without hydration stops I might have been in bad shape for the 5. The first two miles were quicker (8:21 and 8:30) then I slowed it down a bit (8:50, 8:53) to make sure I didn't overdo it. Felt good overall, thinner, which helps. Not quite to the 8 min miles that I was doing back in early may, but I'll get there. :-)

Started to look into hotel accomodations for the Jan trip, still nothing solid yet. Wanted to rent DVC points again, but it seems like the only studio availability is over at Saratoga. We really want to stay in the boardwalk area, but we'll see.

Update

Another 5.3 miles yesterday and the confidence is building. Phew. Speed-wise, pretty much the same as the other day 8:50 average. Hill-work is a natural part of running in my neighborhood, so that felt good as well. Thanks God for the pool! I dove in and cooled off after the past couple of runs and it felt great. :-)

Thursday Run - "Runnnnnnnin' in the Rain..."

Odd how things work out sometimes. I blocked my calendar in the afternoon so I could get a run in after work, so far so good. So, typically my day gets overbooked and I run out the door late and squeak in whatever I can, but for some reason the scheduled lined up perfectly and I got out exactly when I wanted to. Of course, it was raining and looked like it was going to get worse, but hey, I'm no wicked witch of the west.....so I got my read end out there and started running. The rain helped to keep me cool, which was nice, and in the end helped me go two miles longer than the planned 4 miles to finish up just before it really started to downpour. What timing. The funny thing is that I forgot my iPod and had to run sans-tunes. Because I'm still kinda recovering the tunes really help cover up the loud breathing...but I went without and felt fine. No mile over 8:56 either, which is another sign that my running is coming back to me. All in all I had a 8:50 average for the 6 miles.

The only lesson learned was that one should use body glide, no matter what the distance is, when it's raining....think I ruined one of my shirts, along with other body parts......oh well. :-) I'm feeling it now and will probably supplement the mileage with a 2-3 miler on the mill tonight after the kids go to bed, and will look for a "longer" run Saturday or Sunday (time permitting).

Da Mill

I tell ya, treadmills have changed in the past 10 years... LOL So I got a run in on the new treadmill the other night (3 miler) and was amazed how quiet and smooth it was. This also has an incline mode, so much that I felt like Drago on the mill in Rocky IV. Yeesh, who runs at that incline? I know, I know, it's really for cross training and such.... I'm just not at that advanced level where I do much more than vary my speed. I'm strictly interested in doing a distance at a constant speed at this point. And yes, I'm aware that some of that additional training will help with the distance.... will just need to work that in slowly due to my diminished mental capacity (ha!).

BTW - The new treadmill is a SOLE f63 (A consumer reports best buy a while back).

7 miles total for this week thus far. Planning a 4 or 5 miler tomorrow and another of the same for Friday or Saturday.

Turing it around, slowly..

I'm around 15 miles for the past week and starting to gain a little steam again (finally!). Went out last night for a 4 mile run at dusk. Speed-wise, coming in somewhere in the sub 9 minute mile area, maybe 8:50'ish (35:11 total)? Anyhow, the tough part being that I'd only had around an hour and a half since eating dinner, but I'll take the runs when I can get them.

New treadmill arrived last week and I got it setup over the weekend, woohoo! That will be huge with filling the gap in outdoor runs and will help to keep me in overall shape.

Taking tomorrow off from work to get some stuff done around the house. The problem is that the "want to do" list is over 24 hrs of stuff at the moment.... Will need to scale down so I can relax for at least an hour! A long run would be nice as well, but I might only have time for a 3-4 miler.

One more note - Only a week away from making ADR's for the November trip :-) heading down for the better part of early November, can't wait! Looks like I'm going to be heading home just as Deb heads in. We'll, I'm hoping to meet up with y'all again in January regardless.

Slowly..

Put in another 3.1 mile run yesterday (27min) after work. Felt like my lungs are rebounding, still a little *stuff* in there...but I won't gross you out. Would get out there again today, but I'm going to be slammed all day with work so I'll shoot for tomorrow. Treadmill is being delivered tomorrow as well, so if I can't get outside then I should be able to get it done inside. :-)

Not much else going on...feels like this summer is just going to blow by...

Cautiously Optimistic

Went for a 2.5 mile run today at the local HS track. Lungs are still a bit on the congested side, but no worse for the wear. Going to plan a couple more light runs for the week and see how things go. Sometimes these things take a couple of weeks when they get into my lungs. Took my daughter (4 year old) with me to the track as well. She ran a half lap with me and then got sidetracked by the long jump pit (too funny). She said she'd go a full lap next time. :-)

Totally fried from the weekend. Digging a drainage ditch on the side of my yard to port the water from these crazy thunderstorms away from the pool area. I can't wait till there is a weekend this summer where I can just hang out....ugh.

Smile of the day. My wife was asking about the Disney half marathon course this morning, which got me a little jazzed up about going back for 2010. Glad it was such a good memory and that I can share it with her next time. Good stuff.

Car...Game Off...

Dude, that's right, I called you dude... :-) So I get in that good run the other day only to be sick the past couple of days. I wouldn't mind running with a head cold, but this thing is in my lungs and I really don't want to make it worse or it'll take forever to get rid of. Anyway, I'm feeling better today, but still coughing up some nasty stuff, so the run is off today :-( I'm going to give the elliptical a go tonight though as it's much less lung intensive.

Simply frustrating....UGH

Turn It Up, Game On!

I did indeed get out for a run yesterday, just prior to the crazy thunderstorms that nearly washed away hours of landscaping work I did last weekend....but that's another story/frustration. Got in 4.61 averaging just under 9 minute miles. Time to build on that and as Amanda so eloquently put it "get my head in the game"!

Got the run in just prior to the storm as well as some kind of cold that had me up all night. Still here with me today and not going away. Anyhoo, I'm sure it'll be a one day thing and I'll be out there for another run tomorrow afternoon/evening. If not, then Friday is a mandatory run day which I've put on the calendar and no doubt have the time for.

Based on the comments, it seems like we have a lot of treadmill haters out there! :-) I totally understand the points as they make sense. I'm not a lover of it either, but it's a necessary evil and I'm glad to be getting a new one. It'll never replace outdoor miles, but keep me in good enough shape to make the most out of them when I can get 'em.

What team?

This team... Okay, too much HSMIII played in my house, but what can ya do...the kids love the music. Of course, I don't mind it either but don't tell anyone ;-)

Working from home today and plan to run around lunch time, barring a crazy thunderstorm of course. The weather here has been ridonculous! With the exception of the last 2-3 days weather would indicate the need to build an Arc, with more on tap for today/tomorrow.

So my issue lately is building a consistent run pattern. It's been one or two here and there, but nothing sustained. Justin asked what training plan I was using for the Hartford marathon (3 months out) and I've got to say, nothing. No plan as of yet and behind schedule to boot. I've got a ton of excuses why I'm not on track, but the bottom line is that I'm not and need to do something about it. Two positive things going for me though, 1) summer hours at work. We flex hours in the summer and take a half day on Friday which allowed me to get a long run in every Friday without messing up my home schedule. Planning on taking more advantage of that now that I'm almost fully recovered. 2) New treadmill is on it's way to my house as I type and should be here early next week at the latest. I know y'all hate the treadmill, but when the only options I have at times are the treadmill or nothing...I'll take the treadmill.

Anyone going to MJ's services? 4 million dollars for security paid for by the LA taxpayers....yikes!

Happy July!

With Juneathon a total bust for me, I'm focused on what I can do in July to make up for lost time. June wasn't a totaly loss though as I was able to close it out yesterday with a 4 mile run after work. The first two miles being fairly uncomfortable, but caught a groove and finished the last two stronger with times under 9 minutes per mile (8:45's). Still a little rust and a couple of weeks away from a really long run, but feeling relieved. :-)

Sounds like there are a bunch of you that have Disney trips planned this summer, totally jealous BTW, so what are the plans? I'm looking forward to reading about anything new at the world as I'm not heading down till November. I feel a little disconnected from the DW community as of late due to a hiatus on podcast listening.... Part of the problem now is that I can't find my download cable and am too cheap to shell out 30 bucks for a new one! LOL I'm sure it'll turn up. Will have to try and catch-up on the laptop in the meantime.

Oh, and due to Mike's prodding, I went on-line last night and bought another pair of Asics GT-2130's (Amazon.com from Foot Locker). Of course, there was little to no color choice left as they are discontinued in favor of the 2140's, but I didn't mind as they were only $59! Lucky they had my size I suppose (flipper size). The rationale is that I really like my 2130's and have heard all kinds of horror stories on the 2140's. So I figure these will get me through the summer and can go with something else for the Hartford Marathon in the fall.