atlanta by foot

Great runs this weekend! Man, I needed ’em too, especially after last weekend less than desirable ones!!

Saturday ran a solid 6 thru Brookhaven/Peachtree. Today, Sunday, met up w/ Jeff at a Starbucks in Midtown and ran all over for 13.6 awesome miles. Weather was fantastic. 7am start. 65 degrees! 65% humidity. WHAT A HUGE DIFFERENCE IT MADE! This was the best long run I have had in a looong time. Felt strong the entire way. Ran through Midtown, downtown, Cabbagetown, Reynoldstown, Edgewood, Candler Park, Druid Hills, and Virginia-Highland neighborhoods. A good look thru the city and into some parts I hadn’t see in a while. A wonderful breeze swept by us a few times. Legs felt better than they have in a long time. THANK GOD!!

After showering, Jeff and I went to get some grub at Radial Cafe. Sat outside and enjoyed conversation, coffee and delicious food.

Hope we have more of this weather! Hope everyone had great weekend training and otherwise. Stay Strong!

Aug 23: 13.6 miles – outside, mixed terrain

Aug 22: 6.1 miles – outside, mixed terrain

Aug 20: 4 miles – outside, HOT/HUMID

Aug 19: 4 miles – treadmill

I could not stay away!

I could not stay away. After 2 rest days, I got back on the horse. What happened? Well, for starters, my new shoes were delivered! KSwiss K-Ona! I already have one pair, but wanted another cause i loved ’em so much. Bought the RED ones! SWEET! Ran Wed on treadmill and Thurs outside hills, heat, humidity w/ Jeff! Solid!

Champions aren’t made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them;a desire, a dream, a vision. -Muhammed Ali

Listen to your body. HA!

“listen to your body!” yeah, whatever! what the hell does that mean anyway? If i listened to my body, i would be sleeping more, training less and eating more. Careful and tricky listening skills are required when one must “listen to their body”. if you are not careful, your mind and your body will go round after round and beat each other to a bloody pulp. I feel like that is what had happened to me. For whatever reasons, my body just has not been “feelin it” lately. As I so eloquently whined and moaned about it in my last post, my body had been tired/fatigued and there are a combination of reasons why. AND, for some reason, i feel like the physical stuff has been bleeding over into my mental state and waring me down. Well, let me tell you, i got wore down!
I did 3 short runs during the week with plans to do more on weekend although I wasn’t sure how i would feel since I had to take an insurance class Thurs-Sun all day! Mid-week runs felt ok, not great. Saturday ran after class in some pretty good heat of 90 degrees + humidity. I felt ok. Pace was actually pretty good, but I knew I still had a long one waiting for me the next day. I decided to do the Sunday run after class again. Still hot, (but a bit less) + humidity. During the first mile, it felt good to be outside and moving…especially after 4 days of feeling pretty cooped up! That feeling quickly faded! 3 miles into it and i knew it just wasn’t gonna happen. Quads felt very heavy. Tight. Mentally, physically, I just felt worn out. I stopped at 4 miles and had about 4 miles left to get back to my car. I figured it was a good opportunity to just walk and maybe sort some things out in my head (as long as i would not beat myself up to much!) I REALLY DON’T LIKE WALKING! I managed to walk for 10 minutes and then i started running again at a faster pace. I basically ran and walked back the rest of the 4 miles, more running than walking. I just had to be ok with it all.
So, where is my head at? Well, while walking, i decided that i would take a whole 3 days off! (i don’t even know last time that happened) No running for 3 days. Give my legs some time to refresh and try to cut myself some slack. In the back of my mind, I feel worried about the marathon because my overall mileage is not where it should be….but I also know that I don’t want to keep running the way that I have been as of late. My body and my mind need some down time. I will still do some core work and a little weights, but that’s it. Oh, and take some dips in the pool too.
Even having said all the above, it’s not easy to take days off. Today, is ok because this is a normal “rest” day. But tomorrow, i know I will see others running and sweating along the roads with their iPods and I will be jealous. But, I am experienced enough to know that sometimes, you JUST CANNOT PUSH/CANNOT FORCE. Gotta leave it alone for a bit.

Here’s a quote that seems appropriate: ” during the hard training phase, never be afraid to take a day off. If your legs are feeling unduly stiff and sore, rest; if you are at all sluggish, rest; in fact, if in doubt, rest.” – bruce fordyce

Aug 16: 8 miles – (4 run, 4 run/walk) outside, hills
Aug 15: 4.6 miles outside, hills
Aug 13: 3.1 miles – treadmill,
Aug 12: 4 miles – outside, hills
Aug 11: 3.5 miles – treadmill

thank god i am not alone…

was reading josh’s blog a bit ago and saw that he wrote, “I’ve been tired for the last few days. Really tired. The type of tired that makes me want to sit down in the shower, tired.”

THANK GOD I AM NOT ALONE!

i cannot pinpoint EXACTLY why I am feeling so tired, but i know it’s a combination of factors; many work hours, increase in training, increase in training in the hot/humid weather, not enough sleep, diet (maybe?).
What I do know is that I was feeling really tired last year in this same way. I had been training for the North Face 50 Miler. Not just tired. Completely fatigued. Exhausted. Wiped out. I actually had scheduled a visit w/ doctor for a check up and they found i could stand to use an iron supplement. i never did because by the time i had gotten that result, i was no longer doing heavy training. Anyways, I think low iron could be just part of the bigger picture. Maybe my body is reacting in this way as i am getting older. Who knows. Maybe its an accumulation of getting beat down in the heat. it really does suck so much out of you. I’m taking some Ultragen recovery drinks and eating well post heavy runs, especially, but still been tired. I keep playing around with taking a few days off, like 3, but I don’t know.
As i write this, I wonder how I will get the runs in this weekend. I am finished with day 2 of 4 for an insurance class. All day Thurs-Sunday. I know we will get out of class around 4 both days, but I don’t want to do long runs at that time. So, i will have 3 choices; 1) run in the morning 2) wait til 6-7pm to run 3) do 2 short runs per day. None of this is appealing. If I run in the AM, it will need to be on treadmill cause my place is not in a location conducive to getting out in the dark. I think i will just have to go in the later evening after it cools down a bit. Gotta do what you gotta do, right?!! YEP!

But, here is what I am thinking: for many years now, I have been training for a big race in the summer because I pick a race to do in the FALL. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? I think i may just take next summer off, if i am smart!!

oh, yeah. here are the recent mile #’s

Aug 9: 12 miles – Silver Comet Trail w/ Jeff
Aug 8: 5 miles – outside, hills
Aug 6: 4.6 miles – outside, hills
Aug 5: 3.5 miles – treadmill w/ incline
Aug 4: 4 miles – Silver Comet w/ Jeff

Week total = 29.1
I gotta keep increasing it. Still a bit behind schedule. Still, a good week.

“It’s not where you’re from; it’s where you’re going. It’s not what you drive; it’s what drives you. It’s not what’s on you; it’s what’s in you. It’s not what you think; it’s what you know.”
—Gatorade commercial

inching higher

Whew! a much better week of running! Tuesday did something different and drove to meet jeff @ silver comet trail. going during week means after work, in rush hour traffic. well worth it. we ran a “fast” 4 in 90 degree heat. felt great!! so glad to have my buddy there to push me! thanks, jeffro!!
Wednesday was treadmill run w/ incline intervals at increasing speeds.
Thursday was outside again in some HEAT. It typically gets very hot in Atlanta in August and the trend continues. You may think “what is the big shock” being that it is summer, but lemme tell ya, it had not been ALL THAT hot here until recently. Did Thursday run through Emory University area, Druid Hills. So beautiful. 2nd time recently I have run through the campus; makes me wanna go back to school for a few minutes and be a student again…carrying my backpack, studying in libraries, being w/ other students and hashing over some tough material…only for a few minutes, then….the moments passes.
Beautiful campus. Quiet right now. Feels very scholarly. Anyways, good week-day runs and then the weekend came.
As has been the case for a while now, difficult for me to get up early on saturdays. Even with the knowing I will face hotter conditions, I just cannot get my ass outta bed earlier. So, I suffer. Suffered nicely for 5 miles thru Ansley, Midtown, Piedmont Park. Hadn’t run over there in a while. Missed it. Ansley – another gorgeous neighborhood. Wider streets, stunning older homes, impeccable gardens, etc.. From the first step til my last, there was absolutely NO relief. Felt like a wet oven right on my face. Very happy when it was completed. Felt like i “conquered” something..if even for a few minutes!
Sunday: Jeff and I decided when we were together earlier in week that we would go further out on Silver Comet Trail, just because. Rushed outta bed at 6:20am to meet him by 7am. Luckily, we were both a bit late. We had all our stuff; water paks, ice, gels. We drove to approx 20 mile marker of trail and headed west. Amazing how much less populated this portion of trail was….no other runners, only cyclists. It was just as beautiful as the other sections I have been on. Very peaceful. Lush. And it seemed like the trail could just go on and on forever. We started just before 8am and it was already Hot/Humid and it just kept rising. We didn’t talk as much as usual, which was fine with me…i think we were conserving our energy! We had aimed for 13, but at the 12 mile mark i stopped and jeff followed suit. I wasn’t in any real pain, I was just VERY tired and I didn’t want to keep running that last mile and have it be a shitty mile. Our pace was solid at 10:15/mile. perfect for a long run. It was a good change of scenery and good to have my buddy with me. After changing clothes and sitting for few minutes, we found an IHOP and devoured some pretty good breakfast! Here are some before and after pics.

Happy and Raring to Go!

why did u make me run that far?

damn, I am tired!

you don’t need a reason, you need a road – Nike AD

Wow, last week is a blur. All I recall is that I worked a lot of hours, ran a lower mileage week and suffered on weekend runs. Each training day, each week, is a different tale. Some better, some worse than others. That’s the nature of any training, especially marathon training. I’ve done enough to know its easier to complete the race than to do the actual training week after week and forgive me, but its a helluva lot tougher when u train in summer and live in hot/humid conditions. This aint summer in san francisco, folks. And yet, it is also what makes it all the more gratifying. In no way am I complaining….you ought to know by now that I take some delight in what is difficult. There is pleasure in suffering. My soul thrives. Its not about someone else giving me any credit or patting me on the back. I can do it for myself. My life has been about overcoming obstacles and this is just another part, a CHOSEN obstacle. If I wanted easy, I’d plop down every day and do nothing. If I wanted easy, I would NOT TRAIN FOR MARATHONS in the summer. Believe me, I have enough time to sit around and I’m sure there will come a time when I won’t have a choice, so the time is now.
Here’s a recap thru last sunday:

August 2: 9.25miles outside AM; 4miles treadmill PM
August 1: 3.25miles – outside
July 30: 4 miles outside
July 28: 2×400, 2×800, 2×400
July 27: 3 miles