track fan

2:02:16 (1:03:17/58:58). 84F at the beginning, 93F at the end, no shade and never-ending sun. The sun is much hotter here than in DC, granted there was a lot more shade there too (lots of big trees), but the sun is definitely hotter here. It zaps you big time.

Last night on my run I saw a tiny baby jackrabbit - I had never seen one before - they are SO cute!!

Have a wonderful Sunday bloggers!  I have to go to work.

 
Congratulations on the Ragnor folks!  Great news about Kelsey winning her wedding!! 

1:11:39.  Ran my usual Saturday route.  I had a workout scheduled, one of two for the week, but decided against it after I was up for a while this morning.  Yesterday I woke up with a sore throat.  I actually think I am managing to fight off what ever the crud is, but I am a little weak and not 100%.  I figure my body is so good to me, it lets me make it do things that really shouldn't be done to an almost 48 year old body, and push it far beyond what it likes, the least I can do is take care of it when it gets sick.  Actually, what I really need to do is take a day off from work and rest, but since I can't do that, I need to back off the running.  Besides, any workout less than 100% is not worth it ... either you end up with several less than 100% workouts (because you get worn down and take longer to get better) or you end up with days off, which set you back much more than missing a workout.  That is my philosophy anyway.  

 It is too bad too, this week is ultra hot (should be up in the 107-110F range for the next several days) so I got up over an hour earlier so I could get to the track while it was still "cool" -- it was a beautiful 77F when I left the house today.  sigh.   

Anyway, onward and upward.  I might run this afternoon, I might not, depends on how run down I am feeling by the end of the day.  Mainly, I need to get my grant finished ... and get all this other stuff that is due done ...

Have a great day bloggers!! 

1:06:29.  Was only going to run an hour but was seeking alternate running routes (since my mountain is off limits until Fall).  I did find a nice alternative, it is not quite as satisfying as climbing to the top of a mountain, but it fulfills the top criteria: 1) it is dirt, 2) it is very hilly, 3) it is scenic (well, everywhere near my house is going to be scenic and hilly).  

I am very glad I took it easy yesterday, I am feeling much better today, I am still coughing and my throat hurts, but I can tell I am on the mend.  Probably no workouts for me for the rest of the week, but I can still run so I consider it a success!

I hope you are all doing well, enjoying your first days of summer, and running strong.

Congratulations to our very own RAD, she and her family welcomed the new fastrunningblog baby into the world, hello Adam! 

AM: (11 miles, 1:35:45). 28:45wu/28:25cd + 15 x 200m w/200 recovery (fastest was 48, slowest was 50).

When I got up at 5 it was 80F, but blissfully overcast ... well, partly cloudy (which is really rare). I did not want to waste the opportunity so I decided to try to do the easiest of the scheduled workouts for the week. Unfortunately, by the time I got about a mile into it the sun came out -- sigh. It was 93F and sunny by the long 3 mile uphill trudge home. Good thing was I did not cough once during the workout ... although I spent about 10 mins coughing up a lung when I got home. I am not too worried though, I am pretty sure the worst part of this crud is over, and by taking it easy I did not miss too much running!! Yesterday was 109F and it is going to be at least that hot again today ... I am going to try to run again tonight after the sun goes down, but I am not preblogging because if I wore myself out too much this morning I am not going to push it by running again tonight.

Have a great day bloggers.

Titus the cat is having a wonderful summer, decimating the local quail population. It is pretty sad.

Reminder: TODAY is the start of USA track and field championships. It is on ESPN Friday and Saturday and then Sunday it is on NBC (and I think Monday as well).

PM: easy 4.  Got my SI joint worked on today, felt better than I have in quite a few days ... now I only wish I could quit coughing.

long 7  (still route seeking!) 1:05:47.  Went out my new hilly dirt road (near our second choice for houses last year - they did not accept our offer).  Felt pretty good.  It was humid for us (42%), I still think it feels "cooler" when I get to sweat than when it evaporates right away.  

I won't complain about the weather, but I will give you a quote from the radio this morning: "yesterdays high was 109, it will be cooler the next couple of days with highs only around 104"

ah ha ha ha .... thank goodness, finally, the heat wave has broken ;-).

 Super busy today, and very stressed out.  I was hurrying in because I did a favor for one of  my colleagues and gave his class a problem to work on - I presented it on Monday and the students presented their solutions this morning.  Anyway -- so I am hurrying in, thinking about all the things I have to do -- and about how I am going to lay out the experiments for my grant -- and I got my picture taken.  The SPEED CAMERA got me!  drat!  I am usually so careful!  You come down from the mountains and it is downhill and 45 and then all of a sudden you are in "civilization" and it drops to 35, I forgot and was in 45 mode (maybe even 50 if I were to be honest).  SIGH. Right after I got my picture taken the local NPR station listed where all the cameras were -- seriously about 3 mins after, I am always just a day late and a dollar short!  It is ok.  I don't get caught nearly as often as I should (thankfully).

Have a great weekend bloggers, run safe, stay cool. 

So far, in the USATF Championship pool I picked the women's 10K perfectly (Begely, Koll, Davila) and chose the winner of the men's 10K (Rupp -- I missed 2 and 3 completely, but who wouldn't have - it was crazy).  

100% of the people in the pool picked the mens 10K winner ;-). 

AM: (8 hilly, hot miles, 1:09:59).  I got up and out a little later than I had hoped, but I was just so exhausted yesterday and last night.  Unfortunately, I am still exhausted and still have 6 more grant days/nights left.  BUT - I got to see some great track and field last night, even though the men's and women's 5K set me back A LOT in the prediction contest, I was SO happy to see Lauren Fleshman back to her old self - and Molly Huddle is on a tear!! (thumbs up to Jen Rhines for setting a tough pace and breaking the race open).  My all time favorite though (with the exception of Bernard Lagat) is BUMBI (Andrew Bumbalough, from Nashville TN, we used to watch him burn it up in cross-country and track when he was in high school).  Pretty much without exception the women are running gutsy, tough races, while the men seem to be sitting and kicking - running more tactical races than fast ones ... but, the weather has been brutal for racing, hot, humid and windy ...

PM: (4 easy).

Head down, I need to focus, get rid of this writers block ...

Have a great weekend bloggers.