102 Degrees

Two runs to report.

Today it's 98 with a heat index of 102. If I'm honest I just wanted to see if I could run in the heat and make it. Actually I knew I could make it I just felt the need to prove it to myself. I stashed my bottle so I'd pass it at mile 2 and mile 4. That's such a good plan. When I got to the bottle I took the time to walk a few feet to make sure I got some good sips in and got enough on my head to cool me off. This is the first time I've walked during a run and it was weird getting back started. It would have been worse to not get enough liquids in.

In short: my run today was hot. Mind blowing incredibly hot.

I kept thinking about 1 Cor 13- the passage I'm preaching from tomorrow. If I speak in the languages of men, or of angels. If I speak a heavenly language but don't have love, I'm but a resounding gong that is loud at first but flitters away to nothing eventually or a clanging sharp cymbal that gets attention at first but in a few seconds is gone...


I also ran yesterday (friday) morning. Nice easy 5.5 miles.

5.3 Miles in 49:45 minutes

Nothing extraordinary today. 5.3 miles at an easy pace. I worked legs yesterday in the weight room and my legs are usually concrete the day after. Today they felt a little heavy but nothing like they normally are. I just ran how I felt and that seemed to be about 9:25 m/mile pace.

There were a bunch of runners/walkers out this morning which is nice to break up the run. I passed this one guy a few times. He was in incredible shape and we exchanged hellos upon first passing. Then towards the end of my run I passed him again this time the guy said "looking good". Really that would mean nothing to most people but the fact that the guy was in such good shape and took the opportunity to say something nice to me was pretty cool.

Intervals 5x800m at 7:30 m/mile

Today was interval day. Since I'm wanting to break 23 minutes in my next 5k I need to be prepared to run 7:30 m/miles so those were my interval goals for the day. The first interval is always the toughest because my legs are just tight and my body not quite used to moving at that speed. My garmin had a hard time keeping up and I knew I was moving faster than my watch was indicating so I just kept pushing myself trusting that I was coming close to 7:30 pace. When I got home I discovered that I was pretty much right on my goal pace.

5.3 miles today 5x800m intervals w/ 400m rests. 45:49 total run time.

I saw a deer today. You have to understand that I live in surburbia. We have some wooded areas near where I live but our area has been developed for quite a few years now. So I'm running on our main road heading into my last interval and up ahead I see a great dane crossing the street. I then realize it's a deer and not a great dane and it's crossing the street to get a drink from the drainage pond. The deer is a few hundred feet ahead of me and standing on the sidewalk trying to figure out what I'm doing. It realizes I'm harmless (sucker) and crosses the rest of the way and then to the pond. As I get closer it realizes I'm not as harmless as it once thought and the deer darts in front of me, in front of a car on the road and then toward a fence. I figured the deer knew that was a 12 foot fence and it wasn't going to be able to clear it but evidently deer "got no sense". That stupid deer tried to jump the fence. It made it about half way up the fence and sure enough it's body just hurled into the fence and crumpled to the ground. The deer then got up, looked around to see who was looking and ran around the fence back into the sparse woods where it must live.

The driver of the car just watched in disbelief, looked and me and we just laughed.

5.3 miles in 52:30

I think this is my slowest run in a long time. I was very tired this morning from not getting enough sleep the last week or so and I'm sort of dragging today. Hopefully I'll get to bed earlier tonight for some much needed rest. I took it easy on the run and actually just sat back and little and enjoyed the slow pace. I did notice on thing today. I was doing most of my miles at about 9:55 m/mile pace. I felt fine and besides a little stiffness in my hips all was well. Then for the final mile I wanted to see what I had in me and so I stepped it up to about 9:20 m/mile pace. I wanted to see the difference in how I felt. I felt better. I was breathing a little heavier than at the slower pace but overall it seemed more natural.

Go figure.

Easy 5.5

One lap tonight, 5.5 miles in 51:45, 9:25 m/mile.

5.3 miles in 49 minutes

I did my first twofer today. Two runs today or as I affectionately refer to my runs in the neighborhood now, two laps. A lap happens to be 5.3 miles. So two laps today one at 6 AM and the other at 7 PM. Slightly surprising to me my second run was faster than my second by a full minute. I also got to say hi to a bunch more neighbors and I found that fewer people tried to run me off the road. I guess people are friendlier in the evening than in the morning. The funny thing is that I have this weird thing that I remember where people live by their car. So if a blue pt cruiser almost hits me I know exactly where they live, it's just one of those things about me. I wonder what people think when they don't give me room on the road to run, is it a pride issue (I have no business being on the road) or just ignorance that runner's need a little bit of space and don't enjoy being buzzed by cars.

9:15 m/mile pace.

Saturday is speed work.

5.3 miles in 50 minutes

The usual today 9:30 m/mile pace.

I might do it again tonight...

6 miles in 54:45

Today was a run like I feel day. Turned out to be 6 miles at an easy pace. Weird thing was that easy was at a 9:08 m/mile pace, which used to be my tempo run pace. It stormed here last night and really cleaned up the air. The temperature was about 70 when I was running and the smoke from the wildfires made the sunrise pretty today. Nothing amazing but nothing to shake a stick at either. How arrogant am I that I rate sunrises?

No fox sightings today which I was disappointed about but I did see a ton of baby rabbits. I guess the rabbits are happy I didn't see a fox or they might have been breakfast. I also saw a lady walking her dog talking to herself, I guy walking a dog while wearing a parka and a guy walking in sandals. He was really nice and waved each time I passed him but I wanted to ask him why he didn't pick slightly more comfortable shoes. He had the headphones, the athletic apparel but was wearing sandals.

Intervals 4x800 w/ 400 rests

5.3 miles in 47:30 which averages out to be a 8:58 m/mile. I was hoping my intervals would be at a 7:30 pace and to tell you the truth I'm not sure I hit that except for my first interval. I must have been running faster than my garmin could keep up (haha) because for some reason it wasn't keeping up with my interval speed. Seemed to be doing just fine on the recoveries though.

I hit the road at 5:50 this morning to beat the heat and by doing that I not only beat the heat but also beat the smoke. Wildfires south of here combined with the heat have really made the air quality very poor. Fortunately when I was running this morning the air was perfect.

I had two "first" today. The second (I'll save the better for last) I was running in a neighborhood and I run in the street to avoid having to go up and down every driveway down slope, it's just better on the knees. So I was running in the street and for the most part people are cool with just giving me a few feet so as not to run me off the road. This morning a woman was leaving for work and wasn't paying attention- almost wiped me out. I wasn't real worried about it, I was close to the curb and could have jumped out of the way if needed but she had no idea she was about to run me down. I think tomorrow morning she might be a little more attentive.

The first first was I was running toward the park and just rounded the corner to head down to the water and I saw what appeared to be a long dog bounding across the field. It was on a casual run, I then realized it wasn't a dog at all, or a cat, it was a fox. I'm assuming it was a red fox. I had no idea we had fox near my house.

5.3 miles in 49:47

So yesterday I pushed myself and while I wasn't running an all out tempo run my desire was to run hard. So today after spending the day at the beach, and with it being 97 degrees my goal was to just get in 5 miles without dying. So I hit the road with a 16.9 oz bottle of water and I finished a whole 5 seconds slower than yesterdays run.

The water bottle got stashed beside a bush at the start of my run. I pass this spot at mile 2 and at mile 4 so it turned out to be a great spot to water myself. From the first step I felt good so I kept my warm up pace a little faster than normal. For the entire run I was able to keep my pace better than 9:30 (9:24 m/mile pace over the entire run). Drinking while running was a new thing for me. I took a sip, dumped some on my head and then took another sip. That was really all I needed. The dump on the head was incredible and very refreshing. The little I drank was more to keep my mouth moist than for anything.

I've been tossing around the idea of getting a water belt so I can have water with me on runs. Until today I figured water was a luxury I could do with out not a necessity to run. But with the temp as high as it was it was really a necessity. Maybe I'll get one for father's day (tomorrow) or our anniversary (monday)?

I did one other thing new today. I wore sunscreen. I tan really easily and the way I've been in the sun, about 1 hour at a time I've gotten a great base coat and I'm tanning really well. I keep reading about how skin cancer in runners is a real problem and while I'm not running 100 miles a week like many of the elites are I don't want to take any chances. Especially since I read mexicans get skin cancer at a higher rate than other nationalities and I'm half mexican. So all day at the beach and during my run I wore sunscreen. I even had to reapply.

5.3 miles in 49:42

Taking the day off today and Heather is back home with the boys so I was just fitting in a run when I could. It seemed like the best time was when Nathan went down for a nap and after Seth had just eaten. That happened to be at 1pm and the hottest part of the day. The temp was 91 and the humidity 46% which for around here is pretty low. I drank my fluids and decided to go for it.

I could tell from the start that I felt like pushing my normal easy pace. So I'm not really call this run I guess easy/tempo. I was definitely pushing it but not pushing it so fast as to coming close to my threshold.

I tried to make each mile faster than the last and for the most part I achieved that goal.

Lots and lots of fluids are on the menu for the rest of the day.

9:23 m/mile pace.

This blog needs some pics...

5.25 in 51:27

This run was actually on Wednesday and I hope to get out and run today but there must be some wildfires in North Carolina so the smoke is coming north and I don't think it'd be safe for me to get out this morning.

Recovery run in 51:27

Intervals 5x800m at 8:00m/mile w/ 2 min jogs

Today was speed work day. Speed work is by far the most challenging running I do and also the most rewarding. Today it was mostly challenging. I've been running in 90 degree heat with pretty much no problem. As long as I keep hydrated it's not a big deal for me. But for some reason this morning at 7:45 it was only 86 degree but for some reason the heat was killing me today.

I managed to hit my intervals. I need to figure out how fast I can push my intervals and keep way from injuries. I'm sure some of it is trial and error but there has to be a formula.

5.25 miles total
1 mile warm up
5x800m (half mile) w/ 2 min jogs
.9 mile cool down

49:05 total

5.26 miles in 50:10

I didn't have much going on tonight with Heather and the boys out of town so I figured I might has well peel off a few miles. I also think I wanted to try out my new running shirts to see how much faster it made me. I'll end the suspense now; I was like lightning.

Ok maybe not. But my new shirt was comfortable so they were a great buy. I took my watch with me but I decided to just run how I felt. The temp was 90 degrees but the sun wasn't really a factor so it was a nice run. When I got back I saw the heat index was 96, I think I'm acclimating to the heat which is good because it's only going to get worse. As long as I can stay out of the direct sun I can stay pretty comfortable.

9:33 m/mile pace.

My week total was 26.3 miles which is a new weekly mileage record for me.

The week of the 5 mile run is over- what will this week be?

5.5 miles in 54:55

I had aspirations of getting up early and running dow at the beach this morning. I noticed the temp today is supposed to be almost 100 and feel like well over 100. I'm still trying to acclimate myself to the heat and don't want to get into any dangerous situations. Since I don't know the trails down at the beach and I don't like carrying water with me on runs I decided to run Mariner's Museum Noland Trail again today.

I really really enjoy running trails. I can't keep my pace up for all the slopes and steps but I really enjoy challenging myself. It keeps my mind occupied while I run.

On another note I think 5 mile runs are my secret weapon or something. I'm losing weight like crazy this week and really can't explain it except the 5 mile runs that and running the heat generally means I have no appetite for the rest of the day.

On the way home I stopped by Dick's to see what they had on their clearance rack and I found two sleeveless Nike drifit shirts for $8 each. Whoo hooo. I'm trying to vary up my tanlines.

Trail Run- 5 miles 50 minutes

Today I was up in Newport News dropping the family off at the airport so I planned to stop by the Noland Trail at the Mariner's Museum for a run. The weather is hot here, today was our first day of a heat advisory and I have a feeling it won't be the last. I wasn't real hopeful for a great run because of the heat but I made sure I had some UGAde in the car. I set out on the 5 mile loop which to my surprise was around a lake and at one point overlooking the James River. Almost the entire trail was shaded and it was the best run I've had in a while.

The shade made it cool enough to enjoy and the trail kept my mind engaged so while I didn't have the active thinking time I normally do on runs the time passed by quickly. I also enjoyed passing other runners, which I don't get to do often.

The map says the trail is 5 miles, my garmin couldn't get a signal so I wasn't really able to gauge my pace the way I normally do but I kept it at about 10 m/mile.

I'm going to go run that trail again, maybe Sunday night or if I don't get there then I'll run it on Wednesday. I'm also going to run First Landing State Park down on the Ocean sometimes this week, maybe Monday real early so I can catch part of the sunrise.

Heat, Humidity, 5.25 miles in 50:19

I checked the weather before my run, only 70 degrees. Awesome I thought. Then I saw the "feels like"- 80, crap. The humidity is what does it. So the first mile felt like I was running in water but after that I sort of settled into my pace and focused on hitting my markers.

I noticed I was putting out more effort to maintain my easy pace and that is either due to the weather or to my tempo run on Monday. The best way to combat the heat is to run in it and I'll get used to it. I'm going to be smart about running when it's hot when the temps really heat up and it looks like I'll get practice starting tomorrow since the temps will be in the 90's.

Early morning runs here I come.


5.25 miles in 50:19- 9:36 m/mile pace

June, here I come. 5 miles in 46:09

Today was tempo run. I'm working towards the 5k for the end of July and I want to smoke that race like a cheap cigar. Except I don't smoke cigars so maybe I just like that saying. My run was planned to be 5 miles with the middle 3 miles at 5k pace which I currently have at 8:00 m/mile. I had a goal for myself to keep those middle miles at under 8:00 m/mile.

After a easy warm up at 10 m/mile I hit my tempo hard.

Mile 1: 7:55
Mile 2: 7:57
Mile 3: 7:58

Then a cool down mile at about 9:46.

I was hurting at this pace but when I was finished I felt good and felt like my 5k goal is achievable.