Back in the saddle?

2.3 mile hike, complete with heat exhaustion, and numerous attempts at water-skiing

Today is one day that I am extra-thankful for the blog, because I probably wouldn't have run otherwise.  I was supposed to do 7 miles today, but after an exhausting (but fun!) weekend at Lake Powell, not much sleep last night, extreme soreness, and some spotty sunburn, I promptly turned off the alarm at 5:05 this morning.  Then, I had a long day at work, including a 4-hour round trip to Tucson and back.  And, to top it off, it was 112 degrees today!

BUT, duty and the quest for consistency won over.  I did 3.1 boring miles on the treadmill at a 9:40 pace (1.0 incline).  I am trying to do what some much-wiser-than-me bloggers have recommended: running 6 days a week, no excuses, and not pushing it too hard on easy runs.

8 x 400s tomorrow morning: time to get psyched up!

Today was a track workout, and it was almost 6:00 by the time we got out there.  With no shade, that is way too late.  Lesson learned!

The goal was 8 x 400s in 1:58 each.  I ran 7.5 of the repeats in 1:58, 1:56, and 1:55 for the rest, until the 8th repeat, which was a DNF.  It was too HOT by then.  My recovery by that point was a shuffle/walk, but I'm still counting it toward my mileage. 

I feel pretty good about my performance on the 400s.  I'm not sure why I didn't finish the last one: either I did the others too fast, or the heat just got to me.  I'm pretty sensitive to heat exhaustion.  It was a decent run overall, though.  I am still sore but feel much better.

The weather was surprisingly nice this morning, considering it's supposed to be over 110 today.  It's starting to get more humid, though-monsoon season is officially here!

I ran 5 easy miles with no Garmin.  I felt sluggish the most of the way, probably a combination of the heat and the 400s yesterday.  My right hamstring and calf are also still pretty sore.  I feel good, though: this is a true test of my consistency, and so far...I'm being consistent!   One day at a time, right?

PM: resistance training and anti-sitting stretches

The weather was actually pretty nice this morning.  We left at 5:45, 15 minutes earlier than yesterday (progress!).  I did the whole run with my husband, which was fun and doesn't happen that often.   We did a 1.5-mile warmup with dynamic stretching after .5 miles. 

Then we did 2 one-mile repeats with two minutes of active recovery in between.  The first mile was very slightly downhill, and then we ran back up the "hill" for the second.  The goal was 8:24 pace (my current projected 10K pace and eventual marathon pace). 

I ran the first mile in 8:22 (4:12 and 4:10 halves).  It felt pretty easy.  I didn't consciously pick up the pace on the second mile, but I felt like I needed to go a little harder because it was slightly uphill.  Anyway, I ran the first half in 4:09 and the second half in 4:02, for an 8:11 second mile!  It definitely felt harder, but not too hard.  Maintaining that pace for an entire 10K would be a challenge right now, though.

We finished up with a 1.5-mile cooldown at a very SLOW pace.  I'm happy with my performance.

I did 5 easy miles this morning.  I ran the first two with my husband, who then turned around to go home.  He ran the full 7 miles on Monday and I didn't, so he is still ahead of me on mileage this week.

I felt a little tired, but I haven't been getting enough sleep.  I'm also getting my body used to speedwork again, so it will probably take a few weeks to adjust.  No big deal, right?  Total time was 49:46, average 9:57 pace.  First mile was 10:17 (always takes a bit to get warmed up), and all the rest were under 10:00.

Tomorrow is my first ever downhill run.  We're driving 30 minutes to get there to do 6 miles downhill and then 6 miles of rolling hills.  Should be interesting...

Oh!  I came to the conclusion that the burglars who broke into my house a few weeks ago were definitely adults because they stole my....iron!  Who steals an iron?  (I had thought they might be kids because they came through the doggie door)  The funny thing is, there was a TV in the same room as the iron, and they didn't take the TV!  It was a nice iron, too.

OK.  First, the goal: get up at 4:30, meet at South Mountain at 5:30, start running at 5:30 so we would be done before 7:30, before it started getting hot.  There was no shade there.  The reality: those of us training for the marathon met at 5:30, others get there at 5:45, we find out they are not running down the mountain, we have to discuss it and then drive to the top, we start running at...6:10.  What follows will be no surprise.

There were four of us running together, including my husband.  The first 5.6 miles were steep downhill with a few steep uphills.  We ran a 9:38 average over the first 8 miles (still downhill).  That average is skewed upward a little bit by a 10:25 at mile 3 (big uphill).  I concentrated on just letting gravity pull me down and not braking with my legs.

At mile 5.6, there was water!  Our water was either gone or very hot by then, so we obviously got some more.  BUT, it was Team in Training water.  After we got our water, the lady asked us what "valley" we were with.  We were thinking that we all live in the Valley of the Sun, so we werent' sure what she was asking.  When she figured out we were not Team in Training people, she was MAD.  But what do you do: refuse to give water to people in Phoenix in the summer?  I realize we are not part of the Team and don't pay the exorbitant money to do it, but man, we needed water.

We then started running on a two-lane highway that is closed to cars.  There were lots of runners and bikers out.  A guy on a bike passed us and yelled, "Don't hog the whole road!"  We weren't.  What followed were some not-nice comments made by members of our group that will not be repeated (one, I confess, was made by me, but I know he didn't hear).  :-)

Anyway, I digress.  We turned around at 8.2, still going a 9:38 average.  But then, what goes down must come up (that includes the hill AND the sun).  Both came up with a vengeance, and I overheated and had to walk.  After my few episodes of heat exhaustion, I know the symptoms and listen to my body.  My next two miles were 13:40 and 15:05 because of it.  Fortunately, there was still cold water at the Team in Training station (and no one around), so I was able to cool off.  I was able to run the last 1.5 miles, so I know the problem was only the heat.

When we got back to the car, it was 8:30!  No wonder: it must have been 90 degrees already!  I wish I could have finished my FIRST SIX-DAY RUNNING WEEK with a bang, but...heat happens.  Next time, we start running when we say we're going to start.  We might have to get up before 4:00!  Whoa!