August 2005 Archives

I have to admit that Monday afternoon I started to believe I had superhuman blood cursing through my viens. I ran 20 miles on Sunday and Monday I felt great! This can't be right, I should ache, be popping ibuprofen like they are smarties, have everything I need beside the couch so I never have to move.

Hmmm maybe there has been a super athlete hidden inside me all this time.

My delusions continued throughout Tuesday, no aches, no pains not even tired ... maybe I have the special chemistry like Lance Armstrong.

Speedwork Tuesday night ... 5 x 1 mile repeat. The first repeat I was a little tight in the calves and hips, but after about 1/2 a mile they loosen out, after that my legs felt great. I think if the weather hadn't been so humid they would been a little faster. We were aiming for 9.45 - 10 min each repeat.

1. 9.32
2. 9.44
3. 9.38
4. 9.55
5. 9.41

Felt great afterwards, which only fuelled my crazy theory, maybe I should get an agent and a sponsorship deal, nike will probably want me to star in commericals.

Wednesday morning 7am, can barely get out of bed ..... so tired! Drag sorry ass to park to meet D for 4 mile run. Feel like crap, but still believe I am have some magical powers so think once I start running all will be okay.

These 4 miles (who am I kidding we only did 3 caused I whined so much D turned around to shut me up) were harder than the entire 20 (well almost) on Sunday. My legs ached at the beginning got worse not better as the run went on. I had to walk during the run and kept babbling hoping D won't realise we weren't running ... but he did and would start again.

The rest of today I have been exhausted and stiff, I am really looking forward to going to bed.

OMG just 5 weeks to go!

Monday - off
Tuesday - 6 x 800 or 5 x 1 mile
Wednesday - 3 miles easy ... not so easy
Thursday - 7 miles
Friday - off
Saturday - 3 miles easy
Sunday - 16 miles

Week 13 was tough, my legs are tired. I had a delayed reaction to the 20 miler last sunday, speedwork on Tuesday was good. Wednesdays run was tough and Thursday was pathetic, even on Saturday after a day off I wasn't feeling 100%. I have a feeling I will feel tired now until Chicago!

Today was the second destination run to Port Stanley. We ran 20 miles. First let me just say I am very happy and proud of myself for todays run. I know once I start typing I will over analyse and get critical, so for the record it was a great run. Here are some reasons why it was great, then I get into the nitty gritty.

1. weather for the first 12 miles was perfect (cool, sunny and nice breeze)
2. I saw a huge improvement in my speed, endurance and mental determination
3. last time out of the 7 runners I started with I finished 5 (no it's not a race, but it gives me an idea of where I was compared to others who run at the same speed), this time out of the 7 runners I finished first and lead all the way.
4. I can still walk

Okay the extended version ...

The alarm went off at 5am, I quickly showered and got dressed, bodyglided pretty much my entire body ... I could slide to Port Stanley if someone would push me. While taping my arches I forced down a small bowl of cereal. I ate so much yesterday, I really struggled eating at 5.20am, but fear of bonking is much strong. Picked up K at 5.45, headed to Port Stanley to collect D and P who were leaving their minivan there so we would have transportation back. The drive back to where we are starting the run is daunting, I can sum it up like this ... a hell of a long way! We meet N and S at the hardware store parking lot, at 7am we are off.

Mile 1, 2 and 3 ...flat, and a highway overpass
The first mile goes by quickly, my legs feel good, much better than yesterday. The first 2 miles are through a cute little town just waking up, it provides a nice distraction. As we start on mile three we are out of the town and on a county highway not so cute. I am at the front of the pack, so turn around and expect to see 6 runners single file behind me. Nope, D is about 50 feet behind me then about .5k back are the other five all together.

Mile 4 and 5 ...rolling hills
I don't have a GPS, so have no idea how fast I am going, or even where the miles begin and end, I am just guessing. Based on what I would like to run Chicago at I should be around 10.30 per mile, but so far this summer my long run pace has been more like 11 - 11.30. The pace didn't feel fast today, it felt comfortable. My head was filled with, it's a long way you should slow down, wait for everyone. I kept going , I always seem to run better at the front, as soon as someone else starts pacing I fall apart. My stomach is a little unsettled so run into a truck stop at mile 5.

Mile 6, 7, 8 and 9 ... flat and a welcomed downhill
After my much needed toilet break I catch up with the group, one of the girls has a gps, turns out the pace has been between 9.17 and 9.35. WHAT! I struggled two weeks ago to run a mile repeat at that pace, I've just run 5 miles like that with no stops???? That's amazing ... no wait hold on a second ... I'll get to mile 12 and passout, that's what will happen. The next 4 miles went by at the same pace around 9.30s, this must of put us ahead of schedule, because the support vechicles weren't at mile 7, so we kept running, there would be a van at mile 10. The thought of gatorade, gummi bears and stopping fills my mind for mile 8 and 9.

Mile 10, 11 and 12 ... flat, big hill, flat
I am back at the front again, the halfway point is just up ahead, we have been on this same road for 10 miles. It now turns right, and the van with all the goodies will be waiting for us as we turn the corner. Or should be ... but it's not. Looks like we are still ahead of schedule. We stop and walk for a few minutes and drink the fuel we brought with us, then get back to running. Mile 11 is all uphill, a big steep nasty hill. Then 12 flattens back out. At the end of mile 12 there is a gas station, D and I are running together and decided to pull in. As we walk in, the lady in here booth, comes out with bottles of water, she is shouting would you like some water. I am thinking she wants to sell it too us, D asks if it is free. She says yes, I've had it in the fridge all morning getting cold for you ... I love this woman, and could just kiss her. Especially, since we haven't had a waterstop in 12 miles and my bottle is almost empty. We are stopped here for quiet a long time, probably 15 minutes. Everyone has to use the toilet, and we don't want to leave the nice lady and her water. As we head out, I glance at my watch, 2 hrs and 11 minutes. It doesn't really register, but it's close to the fastest 12 miles I have ever done. Just 8 to go!

Mile 13, 14 and 15 ... flat, shadeless and hot!
The temperature now in the high 80s, and the sun is strong and frigin hot. There was a van with goodies at mile 13, I took a gel and ate too many jubes, mile 14 I spent trying not to think about all the jubes I shouldn't of eaten.

Mile 16 ... flat, downhill
There is a waterstop, but I decided to keep going (my first big mistake of the day) I am now running alone.

Mile 17 ... uphill
Big ulgy hill that last for 1.5 miles. Evil

Mile 18 ... still uphill
Last part of hill, thank god. Everything is feeling good, breathing, legs a little tired but nothing major.

Mile 19 ... reality check
Feet are hot and shoulders, face and back are burnt. Don't seem to be sweating anymore, hmmm strange.

Mile 19.5 ... downhill
Feel ill, like want to puke ill. It started with an empty feeling in my stomach that quickly turned to nausea. I slowed down, D catches me. We walk for a minute. Then a car goes by and honks, it's my best friend Mary, she has driven down to cheer us in. This helps me, I want to get there for her.

Mile 20 ...
If Mary wasn't at the beach waiting I probably would of walked all of the last mile. I feel awful, and the slower I ran the more my legs started to hurt.

Finished! Woo hoo. 3hrs 45 mins (I stopped my watch in the truck stop at mile 5, but kept it running for all other stops). Jumped into the cool lake ahhh what a feeling.

So 18.5 perfect miles, then 1.5 off real struggle. I know what I did wrong, having missed the waterstops on the first 12 miles, I drank all my gatorade, then refilled my waterbottle with just water at the gas station. I didn't stop at the last waterstop, which I should of. The last 8 miles were really hot and no shade. I am definitely dehydrated, probably used more liquid in the beginning because of the pace. I drank a bottle of gatorade at the finish and almost instantly felt 1000 times better.

5 hours later, I feel really good, not sore, a little tired ... still drinking lots of fluids!

One of the biggest differences I have noticed in this summers training is recovery time. I started running almost 2 years ago, the day I did my first 12k run, I was horizontal for 24 hours and didn't run for 4 days after. Now, my legs forgive and forget usually within 24 hours, my brain takes a little longer.

We did 10 miles on Thursday night, the longest mid week run so far! I was worried it was going to be tough after Tuesdays circuits, but it was a good strong run that went by surprisingly quickly.

This morning, P and I decided to join the 10k group for a short run. This is the group that I originally started running with 2 years ago. When we arrived at the store, D was there too, he had the same idea. The owner of the store had music playing, if you could guess the artist and song you won a pair of socks ... nothing like free socks to bring a smile to a runners face. NOTE: I didn't get any socks :(

After some socializing, we get told what the route is for today, P, D and I had already decided we would do 2 miles of their route then turn around. However, today was hills! Of all the days to show up, we show up on hill day with a 20 miler scheduled for tomorrow. We ran the warm up with everyone then turned around and came back. It ended up being just under 3 miles, but hard, hoping tomorrow feels much better.

After the run, the three of us went to breakfast ... the carb loading had begun. I had 3 potato latkas, 2 poached eggs, bacon and toast. Waddled back to the car making plans for tomorrow. D was going to drive his van to Port Stanley in the morning and leave it there, I would meet him there at 6.25am and drive us to the start point ... 20 miles away. No problem ... then on the way home I started doing the math. I have to be in Port Stanley at 6.25am, that means I have to leave home at 5.40am! OMG ... I'll have to get up at ... oh I don't even want to think about it.

Breakfast held me most of the afternoon, in fact if I wasn't running tomorrow I won't need to eat at all. But must stuff face. Stopped at a friends in the afternoon, ate half a bag of chips with dip ... I love carb loading. Got home had two leftover chicken drumsticks. For supper I polished off a large bowl of tortelinni and I am ready to explode, nothing else can fit in my stomach!

It's 8pm, I am going to pack my bag for tomorrow, lay out my clothes, then go to bed as I have to get my in the middle of the night to run 20 miles ... this is insane ... and I love it.

Speedwork is my least favourite work out each week, this year especially with the heat, plus I am not fast and don't seem to get any faster. So I was very excited when I saw we had circuit training this week.

5 laps of 400m track to warm up, stretch

Then the workout was ....

station 1: 400m at 5k race pace
station 2: 25 proper push up (no wimpy girl ones)
station 3: 100m sprint
station 4: 50 proper sit ups (no crunches allowed)
station 5: run backwards the length of the football field
station 6: run the length of the football field, with hands on head and knees up
station 6: 25m of lunges (knee to ground)
station 7: run 4 flights of stairs up and down each one

repeat 4 times

I loved this workout, it was hard but fun. The last circuit of lunges I looked like I was drunk! When it was all done I felt energized. Until 6am this morning when the alarm went off and I had to get up to meet D and P for a 7am run. OUCH! I didn't realize there were so many muscles in your legs that could all hurt at the same time.

I did the run this morning, a wonderful 50 degrees outside, love it love it love it! It was a lot of ah ewe ouch, whine whine whine for the first few ks but overall good run, 3.2 miles just under 30 minutes. Legs feel better now, but I am taking every elevator and escolator I find!

Monday - off
Tuesday - circuit training
Wednesday - 3 miles easy
Thursday - 9 miles
Friday - off
Saturday - 3 miles easy
Sunday - 20 miles

This is the highest mileage week so far ... 39 miles, so far for August 138.

Okay, so the plan we were given for the marathon training called for 14 miles this week, but I decided that with a 20 miler scheduled for next Sunday it would be a good idea to do 18 miles this week.

Note to self, when making these decisions:

1. make sure you tell the coach, so there is actually an 18 mile route.
2. talk to running buddies ahead of time so you have someone to run with
3. be prepared to convince running buddies this is a wonderful idea
4. ignore looks of horror on their faces and pretend it's enthusiasm
5. remember the person who made the plan has run 70 marathons and has some idea of what he is talking about, me who has run zero marathons should not be making any decisions

You can probably guess where this is going ... no one wanted to partake in my wonderful plan, they all wanted to do 14 miles, so I decided to run the 14 miles with them, but secretly in the back of my mine I was thinking I will detour and add the extra in myself.

I should of know 15 minutes into the run that my plan may have some holes, D and I were running together, and there was no one else around us. We could still see the fast group in front, but the rest of our group (10 strong) were way behind us. Then about 25 minutes into the run I realized how much I was sweating. It was pouring down my face, not one or two drops ... I mean a lot of sweat. I looked at D and he was drenched. We stopped to grab a drink and rehydrate. It was really hot, not humid, just hot and no clouds. We pushed on, then next 2 miles were really tough. My legs were tired and not loosening out, normally they do after a couple miles. The sun was cooking me, we had done just over 4 miles and I was feeling like I had run 12 already. The thought of 18 miles now felt like a curse.

At mile 5 I took a gel hoping it would perform some kind of miracle. It did for about 3 miles, which were all up hill. Nasty hills on single lane highway type roads where cars whiz by you and don't pull out because they are in a rush to get to church! I spent most of my hill time scream at them. I was really pleased at running the hills, from how I was feeling I didn't expect to make it halfway up without stopping. At the top of the hill the 14 miles route turns left, if I wanted to add the extra 4 miles in this would be a good place to keep going.

I turned left. I felt huge amounts of guilt in doing it ... I have to make a posting about my 18 miler today .... guilt .... look at all the blogging runners who did 18 miles ... they did so can I ... guilt guilt guilt. At the top of the hill with the proverbal fork in the road, the decision was tough but easily made. I was exhausted, like curl up on the side of the road and don't care tired. I feel a bit better, as D is feeling terrible too, it's not just me, so maybe it is something in the day, weather, route, training (big on blaming anything other than moi!) The next 3 miles are endless, my legs are like lead, it is a funny feeling my breathing is great, cardio wise I am not tired, but my legs have nothing in them, quads are tight, hams are screaming.

There is a gas station at the corner, luckily D has money with him so we stop and buy two bottles of gatorade and sit on the curb at drink. So far this run I have drank, my waterbottle, a large cup of water at the waterstop, refilled my waterbottle and drank it again ... ah need to use toilet before leaving gas station. Inside, very clean and super cold toilet I look at myself in the mirror ... can we say sunburnt! I am neon red from head to toe, the really red that when you poke yourself it leaves a white mark.

The gatorade has made me feel a bit better we head off the road into a park, this is a new route that D and I have never been on. So what happens, new route and two idiots near death, we get lost ... well not lost, we just miss the turn off in the park and instead just keep following the path. The never ending path that goes on for miles (well 2ish anyway). Finally, we see street light and a car up ahead ... thank god ... unfortunately it is the same road we just turned off of and we are basically back to where we came in, maybe 250m down, but not much further. I want to lie on the ground and scream ... but know I won't be able to get up cause my legs hurt so much!

We finally make it back to the park, I am feeling really bummed at how crap that run was, for not doing the 18 miles, although I would be dead if I had tried, and confused as to how 14 could be so much harder than 16 last week. Then a runner comes in, she has a GPS and got lost like us ... it turns out we actually did 15.57 miles ... I feel a bit better ... then look at my watch ... 2.46 that's 14 minutes faster than last week for almost the same distance ... I feel much happier.

5 hours later ...

I am doing the granny shuffle, and look like I have been attacked by a fire breathing dragon.

I can't believe how fast this training program is going by, 7 weeks till Chicago! I had a look at the schedule last night, we only have a few more long runs left, plus a race and a rest week and then taper. I am excited, not nervous yet ...

We had mile repeats on Tuesday night at the park. Each mile is run 1 min to 30 seconds faster than your marathon pace (10 min 30 sec). Then a 2 min 30 sec rest, repeat 4 times. By October we will be doing 8 repeats!

The heat and humidity returned this week, unfortunately. I was beginning to feel like an actually runner last week when I could breath. After a warm up we start our repeats. I monitored my time every 1/4 mile to make sure I was on target. On the first repeat, I am on the money, and picked up the pace a little on the last quarter. The second was my best, it felt great, but the third was tough, the last 100m was really hard the heat was getting to me. The odd ones finish at the far end of the park, so my water was back at the start ... and no water belt. The fourth I didn't care too much about the time, I really just wanted to get back to my gatorade as quickly as possible with puking or passing out. It's funny how pushing yourself just a few seconds per mile can exhaust you. All the way back on the last one I kept thinking how much I prefer long runs, speedwork really kicks my butt!

repeat 1 = 9.43
repeat 2 = 9.31
repeat 3 = 9.47
repeat 4 = 9.58

Had a good stretch on the grass afterwards while the mosquitoes feasted on me. I got home, showered watched Big Brother 6 then went to bed.

Alarm goes off at 6.30am, I am meeting D at 7am to run 4 miles. I dragged my very exhausted butt out of bed, get dressed and head out for another run.

The weather was awesome, cool and clear. D had pneumonia, so this is his first run in 10 days. He did great, we stopped a couple of times for a drink and walked, but overall it was a good run. I think he thought I was being supportive and running at his pace ... I was and wouldn't have pushed him on his first day back ... but, secretly, my legs were thanking me for taking it easy on them this morning.

Looking forward to 35 hours of not running!

Monday - off
Tuesday - 4 x 1 mile (2.30 rest)
Wednesday - 4 miles easy
Thursday - 6 miles
Friday - off
Saturday - 3 miles easy crossed trained at gym
Sunday - 18 miles actually 15.5

I can't believe it is week 11! I feel a real purpose to every run now, each one is preparing me for another mile on that 26.2 mile journey ... which is only 7 weeks away OMG ... I'm excited

After Thursdays wonderful run I was really looking forward to todays long run. I awoke to gray skies, rain and cool temperatures, I'll take it. We were doing the park route today, which takes you through the first 6 miles, then you exit the park and run uphill for 2 miles (a very steep and nasty hill, it's actually a local ski club!), then retrace the route back to the start.

I wrapped both my arches this morning, I had stopped because my ankle pain seemed to have gone, however, I felt it Friday, not pain but discomfort in both ankles.

The first 3 miles went by quickly ... a little too quickly, got caught up in a conversation with someone so I was running faster than I had planned. I pulled back a bit to slow my pace down. At 4.5 miles I stopped and took my first gel (back to chocolate), I was feeling hot at this stage. The rain stopped once we started running and it had gotten warmer and more humid. The next 1.5 miles went by I felt strong, a little daunted at what lay ahead, but felt pretty good. We exited the park and started our up hill climb, the first mile is a slow gradual climb, then the second mile is steep. I started to walk the big hill, N stopped and walked with me. Halfway up we both agreed that walking actually felt worse, our quads had tighten quickly on the climb. Funny though, it didn't make us run, we just continued to walk until we reached the top. We started to run again which was somewhat a relief for my legs, however my new twinge had returned to my knee ... hmmmmm. The twinge twinged all the way to the turnaround, less than .5 a mile away, still on a slight uphill but the worst of it was behind us.

There was a waterstop at the half way, I glanced at my watch ... 1 hr 39 min ... holy crap we were slow today, wow I had done the first 3 in under 30 minutes, I really slowed the pace down. Something to strive for on the way back ... 1 hr 30 mins that's my goal. I had packed my tensor band just incase, I pulled it on hoping it would silence the twinge (it did). We head back, the best part of 2 miles uphill is that it is 2 miles of downhill going back, we really picked up a nice pace on the descent. It seemed like no time and we were back in the park. We kept the pace going, a voice in my head kept telling me I was going to run out of steam in about a mile if I continued like this ... I decided not to listen. Then up ahead I saw the runners I had been talking to on the way out, we had caught them, almost. They were stopping for water, we caught them and passed them, I think it gave me more of a boost than my gel did earlier!

With 3 miles to go I took another gel, I didn't want to bonk in the last mile like I have been recently. I kept a nice steady pace, it started to rain which was pure heaven! The last 2.5 miles were great, I still felt strong for the last .5, but I think my brain began to switch off it knew the run was almost over, I kept chanting in my head ... keep running ... don't stop now ... your almost there. As I finished the run I glanced at my watch, the first time since we left the turnaround, 1 hr 15 min 24 sec ... woo hooo I did a second take just to make sure it was still ticking and hadn't stopped, it hadn't!

So what I've learned from today's run ...

1. I have a huge fear of bonking, it's what slowed me down on the first half of the run, and almost on the way back.
2. Chocolate gels work best for me, even though I am sick of them, they work.
3. Wrapping arches is a good thing
4. Vector cereal was a good choice for a pre-run meal
5. Weather has a lot to do with my performance

All the horrible 'h' words I normally use to describe Thursday night runs ... hot, humid, heatwave I am not going to use tonight .. because tonights run was perfection!

I was really beginning to wonder if all this training was paying off, running just felt so hard. I have been exhausted unable to breath at the end all most of the runs for the last 2 months, but tonight I felt like I could conquer a marathon and still be smiling.

Yes, it has cooled off, there was a breeze, it was heaven. Besides stopping at the turnaround for a quick drink, I ran the entire 6 miles, not once gasping for breath. I loved tonight run, it has given me a much needed boost to tackle Sundays 16 miler ... woo hooo bring it on!

I rarely run alone, it's the best part of joining a training group there is usually always someone to run with. Even on days when I lose the group and am running by myself I don't think I am alone, just in a different area. I have complete admiration of all of you who are doing this solo, I know I couldn't I would have checked myself into the hospital long ago.

This morning I ran alone, D my Wednesday morning running buddy is ill, he thinks heat stroke or the flu, either way he has the chills and feels like crap. Actually our whole team for Chicago is falling apart. Should explain ... as there are 40,000 people running Chicago, our coach suggest that everyone sign up as a team as well. You can have a max of 5 people per team, we aren't doing it to compete and win something but to benefit from the corporate tent. You see for the low low price of $125 per team, you get, a special VIP Team area, with better food and drinks including beer. Massage, and the toilet lines are only 10 deep not 2000 worth the price just there. Plus, trying to find anyone before or after will be impossible, now we will all be in our luxury tent (they don't say luxury, but my head has upgraded). Anyway, our team ... D sick, K pulled groin muscle from soccer, P in Ireland and N awol ... and of course me.

This was going to be a short post ... hmmm

I head out .... alone ... to do 4 easy miles this morning. Since I am alone, and don't have any music, cause I normally run with people to entertain me along the way, I only have my head to fill the time. This is not good. After 45 seconds of admiring the lovely trees my mind wonders to all the different aches and pains I have. Ah, my ankles still feel them everytime I run but they don't scream it's more of a whisper. Shoulders tight, shake arms (also think this makes me look impressive to passerbys). Tight calves, they'll loosen up in a few minutes. Hmmm what's this a new twinge, back of my right knee on the outside. This is new .. don't like it. Spend the rest of the run obsessing about twinge, I think I imagined it got worse, then better, then worse again.

Monday - off
Tuesday - 4x 600m (100m rest) 400m
Wednesday - 3 miles easy
Thursday - 5 miles
Friday - off
Saturday - 3 miles easy - cross trained at gym instead
Sunday - 16 miles

Great week of running, this is the first week that I actually feel the training paying off. The weather has cooled which has made a huge difference to how I feel and breathing.

I had to move things around on the schedule this weekend as it's my dad birthday on Sunday, so to spend the day with him I did my long run on Saturday. This proved a little tricky as I tend to do everything else on Saturday as well so that Sunday's are always free days, long run, breakfast ... then alot of nothing. So to fit in everything I had to do today and take advantage of the cooler weather I decided to start my run at 7am.

However, when I came up with this plan I forgot to take into account travelling time to run location, time to wake up and eat. So when the alarm went off at 5.45 I really wanted to put my Chicago registration on eBay! Adding to the pain, I didn't go to bed early last night either. I have found in the last few weeks I am not tried at night, it doesn't make sense all these extra miles, I should be passing out at 10pm! I even tried going to bed at 10 on Thursday night to make myself think I was tried ... instead I tossed and turned getting hot and frustrated til I finally got up and watched Letterman.

Back to Saturday morning ... I get to run spot, squint and yawn at path infront of me and head out. My legs, especially my right ankle/calf are not happy, very tight and twingey. It takes a couple of miles for them to loosen out ... or I start ignoring them ... not sure which. I wish I could tell you more about the first 10 miles of this run, but I can't, I know I was there and ran, but it feels like a dream. Normally I spend alot of time in my head on long runs, planning what I am doing later, what I need to buy at the grocery, working through things that I am stressed about etc etc ... I swear I didn't have one thought on this run. I seem to recall checking every washroom in the park but they were all locked, it was even to early to pee!

I woke up at mile 10, with 2 still to go, I remember the next 2 miles clearly because they were horrible. I completely bonked. Looking back on the whole run now I think it is a combination of running 6 times in the last 7 days and lack of sleep. Looking forward to day off and lots of birthday cake tomorrow.

6.30am Friday morning I headed out for the rest of my tempo run. It was much nicer weather this morning. I did a local loop around my neighbour hood at is 8k, I figured I would do 7ish kms and walk the last one, I haven't been cooling down after a run, just collapsing!

The run went well, I felt good, I kept running which for me running by myself is a feat in itself. When I got the last km I was tempted to keep running, I still had a bit of energy I could have used up, but decided to stop and walk in out. Once I did stop I notice how quickly I could feel my leg muscles tighten. By the time I got home they were in need of a good stretch.

I had a 6 mile tempo run on the schedule for Thursday night. I got to the park ready to run, even though it was incredibly hot and humid. Normally the coach leads us through a few stretches before we head out, tonight we had a yoga instructor take us through 20 minutes of stretches especially for runners. It was great, and I learned a few new moves.

We headed out at 2k there is a public washroom, I decided to stop, there was a line of runners, so by the time and got back out, I had lost my group and everyone was gone. Just before 4k mark, I noticed a runner up ahead, she was stopped and holding on to a post. I stopped and asked is she was okay, she said she was feeling dizzy. So I suggested she walk for a bit (I was thinking coming to a complete stop wasn't a good idea, not that I'm a doctor, but I do watch a lot of TV). She started to walk and I stayed with her until she was talking and looked better, I asked if she wanted to run slow for a bit and she decided to turn around and head back, so I head on, but turned back to see is she was walking or running back. When I turned around she was sat on the curb. I went back and talked to her, we decided to walk back together.

By the time we got back to the parking lot she felt alot better. When I got home, I was glad I had gone back and walked with her, if it was me sitting on the curb I would like someone to help me ... but I felt really guilty about not getting the mileage in for tonight. I decided to set the alarm and do the rest of my mileage in the morning.

not only is running good for your health, but apparently ... check out this article in the National Post.

I joined D at 7am this morning for a 4 mile easy run. That's two runs in 12 hours, I am practically bionic!

I love running in the morning before work and before it becomes hot and I make excuses and end up not running. It starts the day out right, makes me feel energetic and happy I have got my run in, instead of something luming over my head throughout the day.

Anyway, the run was great. A nice relaxed pace, legs were a little tight to start but by the end of 1k I had shaken it. We talked almost the entire run and breathing felt good, until the last mile, which I had to do a little mental pushing. OH and it was hot, but the air was clean and clear this morning.

At 6pm it was 104 degrees ... I decided to suck it up and go to speedwork!

For some reason I thought we were doing mile repeats tonight, we weren't we were doing grass fartleks and hills ... if I had of know that then I won't have gone. The coach starts off the talk tonight with ... "all 4 times I done Chicago it has been 32 degrees when I leave the hotel and 40 at the start, all this hot weather running will help you in October" hmmm grumble

The workout was as follows ...

3 loops of the grass area of the park (500m fast - 400 slow - 500 fast - 400m medium) oh and your not allowed to run on the path. Then 3 hills.

I know it really doesn't sound so bad ... sitting in the shade while the coach explained it, I thought it seemed doable. So he took us on a practice loop, at what he called a slow pace, at the half way point everyone was dripping with sweat. Back at the start I felt like I had run a 5k race already.
Loop 1 - the fast wasn't really that fast, the slow was definitely slow.
Loop 2 - my fast has now turned to slow and my slow has turned to a walk run.
Loop 3 - I just want to get this one done, no change in pace

It was hot, but it was my breathing that made it really difficult, on loop 2 & 3 I could barely get a breath

We scrapped the hills, instead I had a good stretch on the grass then headed home for a very long cold shower .... bliss

Monday - off
Tuesday - 3 grass fartlek loops
Wednesday - 3 miles easy ... 4 miles
Thursday - 6 miles (2 miles)
Friday - 4 miles
Saturday - 3 miles easy (12 miles)
Sunday - 4 miles

Lots of changes to this weeks original plan, plus I did some extra, not much but I ended up running 6 our of 7 days ... which I can feel!

I was going to post this yesterday, but everything was an effort, including typing. I feel like I have been hit by a very large truck! I ache from head to toe today. It doesn't really make any sense, last week I did 15 miles and nothing ... well I was a little sore, but nothing out of the ordinary. This week's long run was less mileage, flatter route and I can barely walk. I felt it coming on early Sunday night, so I had an epsom salt bath, took an ibuprofen and stretched while watching TV.

I have forgotten what this feels like, it is the first time this summer I have felt this way, maybe it was running faster.

I can't believe how lucky we were last week with the weather for the long run to Port Stanley. Well the warm weather and sun returned this Sunday for my 12 miles. The run was good, definitely my best so far this summer. I am beginning to feel the benefits of the training and my speed seems to be returning. Maybe it just naturally comes back to an extent. I have been concentrating on endurance more than speed for the last two months, I think just getting across the finish line is more important to me than when I get there.

Anyway we did a new route this Sunday, on a bike path through the south east section of the city. It made a nice change, new scenery and no ideas what's ahead. I started out with D who I ran with at last week's Port Stanley run. I haven't run with him much this summer, due to my various problems (injury, ankle, flu) slowing me down, even on my good days, he is faster than me. D completed his first marathon last fall, I find him completely inspirational. Our first couple miles are at a fast pace, the group that is normally way ahead is still within reach ... either we are having a good day or they are having a bad one. At mile 4 the path leads you up to the main road, D and I are talking and not really paying any attention to where we are, after about 10 minutes of running through a residential area, I remark "I don't remember any of this the last time I did this route" ... it was a year ago, I walk into a room and forget why I'm there ... so I don't think too much about it, a couple minutes later D adds "I don't see anyone else around here". We decide to look at the map, sure enough, we were meant to go north at the main road over the bridge and back onto the path.

We back track and get on the path, 50m down the right path there is a water stop. I take a gel ... a new one, tropical fruits, I am getting tired of chocolate. We continue on, the path twists and turned along the river with a few rolling hills, the sun is hot and there is no shade. Tropical fruits is not feeling so great. It was very sweet and sickly and worst of all warm. I don't know if it is the heat, sun, pace or the gross gel, but I start to fade. D is pulling ahead. He turns back and asks if I am okay, I wave to go on. Luckily we are only half a mile from the turn around. I catch up with everyone there. I drink some water and pour some over my head. We walk for a few minutes and I am feeling better. The run back is good, a little slower than on the way out. Besides for two well deserved water breaks under shady trees we ran all the way back and finished strong.

What I have learned from todays run ...
1. refer to map
2. never take tropical fruit gel again
3. on a hot day pouring water over your head can feel like winning the lottery
4. I am getting stronger