Today I went for a run in cooler temps and completed a kick butt track workout. My alarm sounded at 5:30am; however, I did not move from my bed until 6:15am. It was a slow morning mainly because I was drained by the run, yoga, SUP and barre class I took yesterday. I checked the weather and weighed the costs and benefits – a classic move when you really want to NOT run. Unfortunately it came down to: it’s Thursday your last chance before the long haul this weekend. I laced up, grabbed my water bottle and took to the road. When I made it to the track there were three other people there enjoying the pleasant, cool morning. I started my first 800, a solid 3:30 as I felt my legs finally waking up even after the already completed two mile warm up. I continued to find a groove around a 7:00 minute pace while jamming out to Queen – Another One Bites the Dust. What!? I nailed 8 x 800 keeping between a 6:44-7:03 pace. I have no clue where that came from, but it felt great! I ran home slowly feeling pretty accomplished and thinking about the saying:
Today I went for a run to and from sunrise yoga. My rbff, Laura asked if I wanted to join her for yoga and SUP. (stand up paddle) I haven’t done yoga in a year, so I was hesitant not to join, but with being down the shore, I hadn’t seen her in a while and it would be great to catch up. We ran about 2.5 miles to the pier catching up on life and taking it an easy pace that would not stress her recovering/injured feet. We got to the pier, fought a few spiders and took in the zen of a beautiful sunrise over the water as we practiced yoga. Afterwards, we set out on our boards and looped around Bear Creek as the sun rose higher warming our shoulders. It was a great morning to catch up, re-center after being out of routine from travel and just enjoy the new adventure. After, we ran back to my car making our run an even, easy five miles. Despite the early morning start, we caught an amazing sunrise and took in a solid morning of fitness.
Today I went for a run up and down the hills of honeygo with none other than the Horrible Humidiator. I feel like if I give the humidity a name then I feel like I was running with someone who wanted me to hang out with them at a slower pace. Today’s run was postponed due to some rain in the morning, so my start was after 10am. Despite the cooler temperatures in the 70s, it was still warm and muggy. I laced up and wore my Broad Street 10 hat just in case it began to rain again. Luckily there was only a mild spritzing that felt good with the rising humidity. At the end, six miles done and now off to do some chores!
Today I went for a run at 4am to try and beat the sun for my 15 mile run. I set the alarm for 3:30am; however, anxiety of sleeping through my alarm had me wide awake at 2:50am. As I moved through the quiet house pulling my running gear together I took a moment to check the weather, regrettably.
Despite the discouraging outlook, I laced up and walked out the door ready to take on the run – with the most positive attitude possible. I ran north on 35 in the bike lane and was fairly solo despite a few passing cars. Every time a car passed I jumped on the sidewalk to pause, nervous due to a recent accident that occurred with my friend who shattered her leg due to a tragic incident involving a drunk driver at 6:30am when she was running. I thought about turning around and sticking to the boardwalk and looping it thirteen times – no way. The recent news of her accident hit hard because it was such a surreal story that you think just can’t happen to you or someone you know. I continued on in the dim lighting, three miles in, drenched in sweat and already hoping the turn around point was soon. Despite the heat and sweat there was a bay breeze coming from the west, which helped to keep me, not as hot, maybe?
From: Gone For A Run Facebook page
Finally I made it home with ten successful miles under my belt. Ready for a chilled gel and a refill of water. My pace was in a slow decline and motivation was lacking – this was turning out to be an ugly run. I went back out the door with a four mile loop in mind and headed south on 35. The sun was now starting to show and was going to be just above the horizon as I made it up to the boardwalk. At mile 12 I paused at our block and took in the view.
What a view it was. The calm ocean waves gently slapping the sand, a few people walking along the water and calmness. The challenges and struggle I was feeling on this run were not going away, but the calmness of this view came along with me for the rest of the run. An image can change an attitude and spirit in seconds. I finished the boardwalk, looped to the bay and made my way back to the house doing the five mile loop add on instead of four. Done. It was an ugly run, with lots of pauses, hesitation, and self doubt. The conditions were less than ideal and I really wanted to just end the run at ten miles. I’m glad I didn’t miss the sun over the ocean and happy to push through and check my run as “completed – with no excuses.”
Today I went for a run on the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11’s landing on the moon and famous American moonwalk. The entire week has been a showcase of documentaries, interviews, artifact restoration and overall celebration of the first man to walk on the moon. I have to say, at times it has been difficult to walk away from the tv because some shows and news clips have been so engaging. Today also marks day five of this horrible heatwave and plans of me running a long run will have to be delayed. So instead, a quick four miles through the heat will have to do and hopefully I have the guts to get it done tomorrow. But in the meantime, I will continue to have way too much fun placing Neil Armstrong in my photos!
Today I went for a run down the shore with Shawn. The heatwave has set in and we decided to escape the heat and head down to the shore. This morning we woke up to a foggy, overcast morning and decided to take advantage of the relief and go for a run. We took to the bay and turned around at the end of the boardwalk completing our favorite shore run together. The big question is how am I going to get a long run in this weekend with the heat?
Today I went for a run in 100% humidity and 78 degrees starting temps. Despite my somewhat early start (only 7am) the air was thick and muggy from the previous day’s thunderstorms and current 4 day heatwave. I laced up for a run early because I was unable to get a run in yesterday due to the afternoon storms, so I gave up my chance to sleep in. Luckily the sun was rising, but a few clouds hung around giving me a partly cloud run with some shade. There have been a lot of article posted online lately about the effects of heat/humidity on training runs and the best advice I have found is: drink water before, during, after and listen to your body. In this heat if your body is just not that into it – stop! There is always another day, so don’t risk it!
Today I went for a run on a tempo Tuesday morning! This week is the start of heat advisory weather. There is no way I was going to get any runs in late in the afternoon this week, so I started out early. My goal was to pick up the pace and try out a tempo like run by adding in some intervals. This is similar to a training run I used last year from my NYRR NYC Marathon training. Overall it was a great run, but the bad news – it was garbage day. There is nothing worse than the smell of garbage on a humid morning.
More importantly tonight is book club and I’m looking forward to hanging out with the girls and taking our meeting on the road to Georgetown!
Today I went for a run around the BWI airport for my long run. I have been looking forward to getting in new runs around the Baltimore area, even though running around the harbor is always a great course. The NCR Trail, Ma & Pa Trail, Gunpowder Trails are all great options; as well as, the BWI bike loop.
The paved path loops around the airport and is surprisingly scenic. There are rolling hills, shaded paths through wooded areas, bridges over streams and highways and lastly a great view of planes. We started our run as the sun was beginning to rise and was welcomed by another runners advice about what direction to head and a few other course tips.
At first we were amazed that the path had so many rolling hills (aren’t airports flat?) and second, who knew the path would be so scenic, yet planes were rumbling overhead!? We continued along the path taking in the scenes and greeting bikers who were racing around the loop.
As we continued on it was surprising to see the path at first following roadside before abruptly turning into country fields. And when I say country fields a highlight of the run was running straight through a horse farm!
As we made our way to the east side of the loop, the sun had risen and was becoming stronger. We stopped to refill our water just before the path loop into a shaded area. The trail was 11.5 miles, so once we hit the car we backtracked until we finally made it to 15 miles. Overall it was a great – hot and humid – adventure that I was happy we were able to take that morning. This was a great course to check off the list and definetly one that I would like to do again!
Today I went for a run with the guys around Honeygo. Its Friday, summer, early morning and just an average run before work. Yesterday we had terrible storms blow through the area causing flash flooding. Despite the massive storms, 100% humidity remained and we ran through some sticky air. I’m pretty excited about the upcoming weekend. Tomorrow is the Barre Block Party and I hope to take in two thirty minute classes at the outdoor party. I also hope we get a trip in to DC! Something really exciting is that I found a new running adventure I want to run!
