TwentySixPointWhat?

I decided this morning to start incorporating intervals/speed work into my workouts once a week in an effort to build up to an all out speed workout in the coming weeks. With the bulk of my schedule completed this season my focus can shift from recovery/preparation to training again. In an effort to be smart about it I decided to stick to sporadic intervals interlaced with a typical four mile run. I've been sleeping really well lately but have been having a terrible time waking up in the morning. . .oftentimes laying in bed 45 minutes after my alarm has gone off. There is little risk involved here since the only thing this cuts into is my running time. As long as I am home by 8:30, I'm good to go. This morning was no exception and I found myself with just enough time to run four miles after stretching, lifting and rolling before getting out the door. I ran to Fall Hill via the Canal Path in 16:38. I turned around, reminding myself to take it easy but then scanned through the fu...

I decided after I tanked on Saturday that I needed new shoes.  Really, I decided that I needed new shoes before Saturday but Saturday afternoon was the day I finally decided to stop in at VARunner while I was on my way to Wegmans. Lately I've become reluctant to run errands. . . that's off topic and a completely different subject. . . so actually stopping was a minor victory. Anyway, I stopped in the store and recognized 1 of 8 employees. At the forefront of my thoughts is whether I should switch to trail shoes or if I should stay in the same shoe and honestly, I didn't feel too confident that these kids, that didn't know me or my running style, would be very helpful. I shouldn't feel that way but if I can go for a year in the same set of shoes, run the trails as often as I do, run back to back marathons, ultras, and road races . .sans injury. .I hope that you can understand my hesitation. I asked for a specific employee and walked out with the promise to return whe...

I probably should have taken today off but it was a beautiful day and the weather was damn near perfect for a run tonight. I ran up to the playing fields with the intent to run 4 miles nice and slow. That was the plan. I think I started out way too fast and blew up. I also tweaked my calf coming up the hill behind the track. I walked the track for a half mile and then was inspired by another runner.  She was taking it easy and looked absolutely graceful. I pulled myself together (after stretching, of course) and mimicked her running style. My legs still felt like lead but in the end the run felt good. My legs felt like lead on my 'get the lead out' run.

I slept until 10:00 this morning. I don't know how it happened. Tony woke up early to get in a workout before heading north for a memorial service. I rolled over and went back to sleep, fully expecting to wake up in the next hour or so. I ended up sleeping another 3+ hours. I was hour of sorts so I got dressed and walked down to the farmer's market. I stopped by the butcher and picked up some stew meat, and then picked up makings for stew along with some apples. After making the stew and setting it to simmer I took off for my run. Since my run yesterday was so amazing, and heck, my body should be able to handle back to back 9-milers, I set off on the same route. I was wrong. I tanked. Perhaps it was the late start. . 1 pm . . and perhaps it was the temperatures. . 59F. . But that shouldn't have made me feel like I just ran a marathon. My hips hurt, I'm slightly off/out of it, and I'm exhausted. sigh. I need to figure out this recovery thing. Going hiking in Shenando...

I'm going to incriminate myself here but I can't help not to. . . After Towpath marathon my body is taking longer to recover. My legs are tight and I'm exhausted but the weather is absolutely perfect. I went out for a run this morning but was deterred, as usual, and got a late start. I really wanted to hit the trails but really didn't have enough time. After hitting the canal path in 7:18 (usually takes 8:00) and then getting to Fall Hill in 15:20 (usually takes 17:00) I decided to push the envelope. Made it to the quarry in 27:20 and I felt amazing. Heck, if I turned around now I'd make it home in time to grab a shower before my conference call  but if I ran the USGS trail to the USGS outpost and back the ridgeline I'd be adding 3 miles but would be 15 minutes late for a call I rarely participate in. . I made my decision and my body responded. Ran 9 miles in 1:26:12 and was only a wee bit late to that call. It was an amazing run!

This last Saturday morning I set out for Ohio running a slight fever and not really knowing what to expect of my marathon on Sunday. We had, in my opinion, unseasonably warm temperatures last week. . think temperatures you'd expect on a June/July/August morning in October. .  [I was not a fan] and the temperatures seemed to have a direct effect on my running and health. I haven't been sleeping at night and the lack of sleep hasn't helped much. But this post will end on a good note and I will stop complaining [for now]. I left Virginia and the temps were still unseasonably warm but the humidity was down. Even though I was feeling 'off' I went out for a 30-minute run. . . I needed a preventative run for the 7 hours I was about to spend alone in the car.  By the time I arrived in Ohio I was wishing I had packed more winter-type clothing. The forecast was for temps in the mid-40s with a 50% chance of rain after 2 pm. As it turned out, it was 42F, felt like 38F, at 5:30...