How Much Discomfort Can I Tolerate?!

My quads are feeling stronger so I decided to keep running after 1 SF loop. I ran back home at mile 12 because the heat was getting to me, soaked my head, ate some salty foods, drank orange juice and water, then headed out for 6 more miles. When I finished I ate a JJ, but I was starting to feel nauseaus because of the heat, and I lost my appetite.

At mile 9 I ran into Yong, one of the guys I ran with last year at the track. He was out on a 14 miler, training for the Chicago marathon. He hopes to qualify for Boston by running a 3:09. We talked about ultra's and he said maybe we would run one together next summer.

Right now I'm resting, rolling an ice bottle on my legs, and feeling a warm lethargy creeping through my veins.

Ran 1 mile to Brookens, did 8 sets of stregnth exercises, 30 minutes of hoops, then ran 1 mile home.

Heading back to Brookens now to foam roll my legs and stretch while watching playoff basketball.

Ran 2 miles to the arboretum, then did 45 minutes of hill repeats at a moderate pace. The noon sun was bright and the air was humid, but my body is getting acclimated to heat and I felt pretty good. 

I bought a pair of Puma minimalist shoes over the winter, and I was finally able to wear them today for a run. They are light and flexible as ballet slippers, it is similar to running in my bare feet, and I was happy with how free and comfortable my toes felt.

I am looking forward to wearing heavier shoes, then switching to lighter ones for races and occasional training - it will be a psychological boost.

Ran around the arboretum, then did 3 sets of strength exercises.

Now I am riding my bike to Brookens to shoot 1 hour of hoops, then more strength exercises and stretching during the commercials of the Lakers/Nuggets game - fun!

Felt low on energy, so just an easy 3 miles today.

Yesterday I was having trouble keeping my eyes open during my 3 mile run. 18 hours later my energy had returned, so I planned on running a 12 mile SF loop. When I reached mile 11 at the arboretum I still felt strong, so I veered off course to the hill and started running up and down.

I did not feel like counting reps, so I set the stopwatch on my ipod and then got into a nice running groove. 2 ripped university girls started doing hill sprints on the west side of the hill 10 minutes after I started. Then a guy in silk purple basketball shorts starting doing sprints on the west side also. I was running north/south, so occasionally I would see them chugging hard at the top, then bending over from great exertion. One of the girls stopped after 12 reps, but the other girl kept going, I think she did 20, which was awesome.

When I started feeling tired I checked the stopwatch and saw that I had run the hill 56 minutes, so to make it an even number I kept going until 1 hour, then I took off for the final mile to JJ's. My legs were starting to get stiff, so I took the last mile easy. Throwing in 1 hour of hills after more than 90 minutes of running is a great workout.

When I got to JJ's I told the counter girl to put enough mustard on the sandwich to wake me up. I earned my sandwich today.....

As I ran 1 mile to Brookens this morning my legs did not feel sore from yesterday's tough session, so my fitness level is improving. I did 14 sets of strength exercises at the gym, then 30 minutes of hoops, then ran 2 more miles to work.

I am getting stronger, but I still feel below average with cardio and leg strength. My weight is also still out of control. I cut out chocolate pudding, the morning meal, and all other types of sweets. Hopefully within another month I can start to see some weight loss, which will make running a whole lot easier.