Running in the Middle

Ran with my friend again.  This time we brought her baby in the jogging stroller and I pushed it for her.  This added some nice resistance and help even things out a bit since she goes at a slower pace.  Can't believe how hot it is, can we please get some cooler weather for my half next weekend.

Had a nice workout this morning running hill repeats. 1 mile warmup, then 6X the mother of all hills.  Then 1 mile cool down sorta, threw in a fartlek and the end there and that was fun.  I'm feeling good about this workout today cuz last time I tried this hill I could only make it 5 times up and down.

Nice hot and slow run.  Got up kinda late this morning, trying to recover from all the weekends festivities.  Did a LSD run as my father in law calls it.  Not that is not a drug it stands for Long Slow Distance.  

warmup 1mile to my friends house, three together, then 1 home.  Everything felt pretty good.  Think I'm ready for my half on Sat, now try to relax.

Had time for a short little run just before it got dark.  Tried out my new Brooks Ghost 5's and they were pretty good.  They felt a little stiff, guess they need some breaking in.  I think they will be good shoes for me.

This was the most challenging and also the best race I have had this year.  I was so excited to finally make my goal and break 2 hours in the half.  I took 4 min and 45 sec off my previous PR in the half.  It was a good day for a race, a little on the hot and humid side, but I survived.  A late trip to the porta potty had me jogging to the start line just before they waved the runners on.  I started pretty much at the back and it was a giant slog of people for the whole first mile.  Eventually it thinned out and I was able to find my pace, at least that prevented me from going out too fast.

The course had a ton more rollers than I was expecting and my legs were feeling pretty tired by mile 9.  My pace dropped for the last four miles, but at least I was able to hold it even until the last 1 mile which was uphill the whole way to the finish.  Run13 did a great job with the event planning as usual, nothing to complain about.

This was a slow easy run this morning with my buddy Erin.  We both were feeling sluggish and that was ok.  I took 10 days off running after my Half to give my body a chance to recover a bit from aches and pains.  My right foot specifically was really sore after the race, still have not figured out what is going on there.  We will see how it feels now after taking the break.  It never really hurts while I'm running, the pain/soreness usually comes a couple hours later.  Weird, I know.  

I dread having to take breaks, 1 1/2 weeks felt more like a month.  And when I ran today I could feel it, I can't believe how fast you can lose fitness. 

3 easy miles.  My right foot still feels messed up.  I guess I really do need to take time off, I just don't want to.  When you have an injury it can be so hard to face the facts.