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Drenched

Time: 2:54:49

Distance: 21.19 miles

Average Pace: 8:15 per mile

There are four words to describe this torture fest: The Run From Hell.

Everything started out fine this morning. I woke up easily, drank some coffee and had my usual banana with peanut butter, and was out the door by 6:15. I also checked the weather and it looked fine. Cloudy, 68 degrees, 80% humidity. I have done a long run in much worse.

The first 5 or so miles were great, but then the rain came. It was honestly the worst rain I have ever ran through. It was bordering on miserable. At first I thought it would be ok; it would be one of those quick downpours and it would be sunny again in 10 minutes. WRONG. It rained like this for the next 10 miles and I actually thought about calling it a day around 10 miles. Being the man and idiot that I am, I sucked it up and finished. I actually had a UA policeman pull up to me at mile 7 and asked me if I needed a ride. I told him that I still had another 13 miles and he looked at me like I was from Mars.

I didn’t really mind the rain; it actually felt kind of good. The worst part was that my feet were completely soaked. I could feel the water in my shoes and socks for the next 15 miles. It actually made my shoes feel heavy and I felt like a slug! I also had to listen to my shoes squish and squash which drove me insane. I haven’t been running with my iPod lately so I didn’t really have a choice.

I am done complaining now. Other than the rain, the last few miles weren’t that bad. Once I got it in my head that I was going to finish the run no matter what, I kind of enjoyed myself. I got that point around mile 12 and I knew the finish was in sight. I honestly just wanted to get this long run over with so I didn’t have to worry about getting it in tomorrow.

Mission accomplished and another long run is in the books. One more 20 miler left until Chicago!

Guess what is going down tonight?

ROLL TIDE!

Instead of going to a BBQ tonight, I am working a game watching party at the pool. Someone rented out the building and my boss needs people to help out and supervise the party. I am getting overtime pay, free food and beer, and some of my buddies from work are working as well. I also get to watch the game. The job is going to be pretty easy; we are basically there just to make sure the guests don’t mess anything up, clean up, and lock the building. Easiest money I will ever make.

I better get going!

Three Day Weekend!

I am so excited to have a three day weekend. This week has been jam packed! My life right now is basically running, school, work, and studying. I need some party time!

I did get a run in today though…

Friday Easy Run

Time: 1:21:05

Distance: 10.2 miles

Average Pace: 7:57 per mile

Today was a tough one. I felt pretty sore, slow, and actually slightly unmotivated. Pretty funny how that goes because yesterday I was telling you guys that I am always motivated. Sometimes we just have one of those days right? Actually, once I got going, I felt alright. I think it was just because it was Friday, I wanted class to be over with, and my body is shot from a long week. I am ready for some R & R this weekend. After my long run of course!

Nothing too exciting about this run. I pretty much just plodded along at an easy pace. I tried to make it as easy as possible in preparation for tomorrows 20 miler. I usually run long on Sundays, but I was invited to a BBQ on Saturday night and I don’t want to have to run 20 miles in the morning. Like I stated yesterday, my schedule is 100% flexible.

Once thing that sort of pissed me off today was a train. It was going really slow, but a little too fast for me to attempt to hop over. I only had about a mile and a half back to my apartment, but I was stuck. It is about a two mile detour and I was actually kind of pressed for time to get to my first class. I could have gone around, but I knew the train would pass the second I turned to go around it. I was stuck there for about 10 minutes and finally it passed. I really stiffened up in that 10 minutes! The last mile and a half was a shuffle!

What is everyone doing this weekend for Labor Day? I was going to go home, but the plans kind of fell through because I got dragged into work. Boo!

If I have time tomorrow, I may attempt to purchase my own domain, so my blog may be down this weekend if I have trouble with it. I am pretty tech savvy, so I think I can figure it out. Just FYI!

I Love My New Grill: Salmon Burgers

Last weekend while my dad was here, he treated me to a new grill. I have a George Foreman, but it is not the same. You don’t get that “real grill taste” if you know what I mean.

Ever since I got my new grill, I have been wanting to make some burgers. I had a bison burger over the weekend, so I was in the mood for something different. I saw a recipe for salmon burgers that caught my eye. Salmon is actually my favorite fish, so I knew I was in for a treat.

After surfing around the internet some more, I settled on this recipe. I didn’t make the “green goddess sauce”.

• 1 pound wild salmon fillet, skinned
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion, or scallion
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, or canola oil

1. With a large chef’s knife, chop salmon using quick, even, straight-up-and-down motions (do not rock the knife through the fish or it will turn mushy) until you have a mass of roughly 1/4-inch pieces. Transfer to large bowl and gently stir in onion (or scallion), cilantro, ginger, salt and pepper, being careful not to overmix. Divide the mixture into 4 patties, about 1 inch thick. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes (or up to 2 hours) before cooking.

2. Preheat grill for a few minutes, then cook the burgers for 3-5 minutes on each side, but be sure not to overcook. The last thing you want in overcooked salmon. YUCK!

3. Serve them on whole wheat buns with plenty of ketchup!

I also made some delicious sweet potato fries to go with them. They are very simple to make. I basically just cut up a sweet potato, toss it with olive oil, paprika, garlic, salt, and pepper and bake them for 300 minutes at 400 degrees, flipping halfway through. Sometimes I will change up the spices and use cinnamon, ect… The sky is the limit.

Enjoy!

Take It and Run Thursday: Getting Motivated

I have to put in some kind of response because Lindsay is a beast!

This week’s Take It and Run Thursday is sponsored by Lindsay (aka:  Imdecken) from the blog, Chasing the Kenyans.

Her question of the week is:  Whether training for a specific race or just running for the fun of it, we all experience the ups and downs of running. What do you do to get yourself motivated to run when it feels like it’s the last thing you want to do?

Haha funny question… If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you know that I have no problem finding motivation to run. I am probably one of those people that needs to find motivation to rest, but that is a different topic. Hopefully they will have that as a topic one week!

It is fairly easy for me to motivate myself to get out the door, but sometimes I have problems motivating myself to do specific workouts. I like to run based on how I am feeling that day, so training plans don’t really work with me, even though I am using one as a guide right now. A training plan does not know if my legs are going to be up for a tempo or track workout on a specific day. That is why I do not like them. Some people love to have a training plan, but I like to be flexible. I generally do my long runs on the weekend, but I often move around my other runs. As long as I am getting significant recovery runs and spacing things out well, I don’t see a problem.

However, sometimes I will wake up and the last thing I want to do is go to the track and run in circles like a chicken with it’s head cut off, but most of the time I do it anyways. The thing that gets me through those though workouts are the benefits and the post run high. Usually, once I get through a tough workout like that, I feel great and I know that it is making my body stronger. Sometimes I also feel like crap, but not as often. No pain, no gain.

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Today was my “mid week long run”…

Thursday Mid Week Long Run

Time: 1:48:06

Distance: 13.8 miles

Average Pace: 7:50 per mile

The weather was perfect yet again. 65 degrees, cloudy, and slightly breezy. Fall = love.

My legs felt like complete led for about the first 8 miles. Sore sore sore. I blame yesterdays tempo run. My first couple miles were so slow that I don’t even want to look at my splits, but once I got warmed up I felt fine and sped up a little bit. I still find it funny that I am more sore before a run than after! Haha.

Funny story about this morning. I was about a mile in, and some kid stopped me and asked me to buy some chocolate for some kind of fundraiser or something. Take in mind that it is before 6 AM as this is happening and the kid couldn’t have been older than 12 years old. What kind of parents lets there kid out by himself at that hour to sell candy? Sometimes I just encounter the weirdest things while running. I probably would have bought some but I don’t take any money with me on my runs and I am not running around with candy for 14 miles. I actually wish I could have bought some because I started to get hungry around 11 or 12 miles. I probably should have eaten something before.

TOMORROW IS FRIDAY!

 

Tempo Tempo Tempo!

Today’s run was pretty beastly!

Wednesday Tempo Run

Warmup: 2 miles (7:46 average)

Tempo: 6 miles (6:22, 6:20, 6:18, 6:15, 6:17, 6:20)

Cool down: 2.31 miles (7:21 average)

Total: 10.31 miles

The run started out really well.. Perfect weather, tons of motivation, and very little soreness. Three things that make a good run for me. I actually ran a new route as well which is another plus!

My warm up was pretty standard; it took me a few minutes to get going and wake up as usual, but everything is feeling ok. I felt very strong during my tempo run and I actually whipped up on some ROTC kids. Most of them were actually walking while getting yelled and screamed at. I saw some push ups being done as well! Haha it was actually kind of funny… But, at least they are getting into shape.

Once I got past the ROTC kids, it was pretty much smooth sailing. I took some time to zone out, listen to some good music, and just enjoy the morning. My days lately have just been so hellish that my runs in the morning are some of the only “me time” that I get. I have to take advantage and enjoy myself. The weather has been helping with this.

Lacey asked me to define a “tempo run” in my own words. For me, tempo pace is actually a difficult pace to find. It is faster than normal running, but not quite 5k pace. There is not way I can hold that pace for anymore than a 5k; it is pretty much a sprint. For me, it is basically the fastest pace I can hold for around 40 minutes, so it is slightly slower than 10k pace. I probably ran this tempo too fast, but it felt good. It was hard and I was tired at the end, but I wasn’t racing. I’m not going to improve if I am not pushing myself.

Lacey also asked me another question… When am I the most sore?

Well, pretty much all the time! Haha. I usually wake up “stiff” but not really sore. I usually loosen up within about two miles and I am good to go. I tend to get sore later in the day after my body has had a chance to stiffen up since I run in the morning. That is the one good thing about running doubles; it keeps the blood flowing. I hope that helps Lacey!

Have a good Humpday everyone!

Is Fall Here?

I think it is that time of year again…

My runs have been feeling much much easier these past week and I think it is because of the weather. It has been around 60-65 every morning and it feels AWESOME. Hopefully the hard work that I put in during the hot and humid summer will pay off. I am ready to speed up a bit!

Tuesday Easy Run

Time: 1:24:10

Distance: 10.86 miles

Average Pace: 7:45 per mile

Today was just a simple, easy base run. My legs and body were feeling good after yesterdays MP run, but I took it slow because I didn’t really want to push it. I am started to get paranoid and running and I do not like it one bit. I almost feel like I am imagining aches and pains. If something doesn’t feel 100% right, I freak out. I can’t even remember the last time that my legs didn’t have an ache. I think it just comes with running. Even a little twinge freaks me out. I think it is because of the upcoming marathon; I just need to tell myself to relax.

Here is my week at a glance:

Wednesday: Tempo Run

Thursday: Mid Week Long Run (14ish miles?)

Friday: Recovery Run

Saturday and Sunday: I will run 20 miles on one of these days but I am not sure which yet. I have a three day weekend so I have plenty of time. The other day will be an easy run.

Anyone have any fun plans for Labor Day? I was going to go home but I got roped into working a pool party on Saturday night!

Still Alive

Sorry for my weekend hiatus, but my dad was here and we were having an awesome time.

I picked him up on Friday night after getting my new Garmin from Best Buy. Yay! Finally something dependable. We went to the Bottle Tree Cafe for some grub, then we headed back to my apartment, which is an hour drive unfortunately. Epic sweet potato fries. We polished off a basket in about two minutes! When we got back, we just watched some TV and then crashed for the night since it was already pretty late.

You will all be surprised but I took a rest day on Saturday (gasp!). I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to spend with my dad and I actually hadn’t taken one in a few weeks. It was nice to get it over with and I planned it for a day when I would be busy to keep my mind off running. It is pretty sad that all I think about is running on my rest days. I may have a problem. At least I don’t have to worry about taking one for awhile!

We spent the day just hanging out and doing errands. We bought me a grill (stay tuned for recipes), stocked up at Whole Foods, got my car serviced, and watched the movie W. It was pretty funny, but pretty stupid at the same time. George Bush is actually a lot more pathetic than I thought he was. I won’t go into politics here though.

I did run on Sunday though. I ran an easy 10 miles in the rain before I had to take my dad to the airport.

Time: 1:26:03

Distance: 10.81 miles

Average Pace: 7:55 per mile

It was humid as hell during that run!

I was in a reduced mileage week (they suck) so I didn’t worry about getting a long run in. I am actually going to take my mileage down until Chicago. I have put in the miles and effort and I feel very well trained. I’ve worked way too hard to put my body at risk for injury. I’m well trained and ready to go, so the next month will be dedicated to maintaining fitness until the big day. I plan on two more long runs and a two week taper. If anyone has any taper tips, please feel free to comment. I bet those are going to be the longest two weeks of my life.

What an awesome weekend!

I got my butt up early today for an 11 miler. It was hard to get up after going to bed so late. Why the hell would my boss want to schedule a staff meeting on Sunday night? I got home around 10 and still had some homework to do. Going to bed at 12 and getting up at 5:30 is tough.

Time: 1:20:27

Distance: 11.2 miles

Average Pace: 7:11 per mile

Epic run this morning. It was cool and breezy with a temperature around 60 degrees. HEAVEN. I pretty much felt like I was cruising the whole time. I warmed up for a mile, ran 9 mile at GMP, then cooled down for a mile before doing some core work. It pretty much felt effortless. If the weather is like this in Chicago, I will be out for blood!

Speaking of Chicago, we made our plane reservations over the weekend. I AM PUMPED! We made our hotel reservation a few months ago so we are set on that front as well. Only 6 more weeks!

This run also concluded my running for August. I clocked 366 miles which is a distance PR and is an average of 91.5 miles per week. I will take it!

Stay tuned for some cooking this week. I have some stuff ready but I just need to find time to type up a post!

I am also thinking about purchasing a domain for my blog. Can anyone recommend a host?

Take It and Run Thursday: Fuel Before Your Long Run

I can’t believe it is already Thursday!

This week’s Take It and Run Thursday is sponsored by JillWillRun from the blog Jill Will Run.  Her question this week is:

It’s the morning of your weekly long run… what do you eat and why?

Hmm… Interesting question actually. I am probably not the best role model on this one, but I will give it a shot!

I actually very rarely eat before I run. Anything 16 miles and under, I roll out on an empty stomach and will usually just take a Clif shot at mile 10 or 12 and I am good to go. If I am running a race or more than 16 miles, I will eat a banana with peanut butter and I am out the door. I will usually have some coffee as well!I am always eating something literally 5 minutes before I go to sleep. I like to eat a big bowl of cereal/granola. It helps me sleep like a baby and gives me energy to run in the morning.

Dinner is almost always some sort of pasta and lean protein such as chicken or fish. I like to stick to things that I am familiar with to keep my GI tract in working order. I once ate fried rice before a long run and I almost had to cut it short. Of course I didn’t (LOL) but it wasn’t pleasant. I sometimes get the runners trots if I eat something really fatty the night before (sorry if TMI).

This is just what I am used to and it works for me. If you are eating a balance diet and enough food, you shouldn’t need anything to get you through a normal run. A long run is a little different, but it is still the same concept. As long as I am eating well, I can pretty much do a long run whenever. I don’t really require any special fuel. Eat well to run well.

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I am sorry about my lack of posting this week but I have been swamped. Running, class, and work are taking over my life. I will NOT give up the blog though. You guys will just have to bear with me during these busy periods. I am currently eating my dinner and watching some TV but I thought I would sneak a post in.

I have had some good runs this week, but my hip has been killing me from that damn fuel belt on Sunday. I tied it too tight and I have a large bruise on the back of my hip and on the top of my ass. It does not feel good.

It is good that I am immune to pain. At least it hurts less to run than it does to walk around! It is just a pain because the bruise is right where my shorts come to my waist so it is always pressing on it. At least God invented ice!

Tuesday: 11 miles with 7 @ GMP (goal marathon pace).

Wednesday: 10 miles tempo (6:18 average) AM; 6 miles PM.

Thursday: 11 miles easy.

I think Wednesday will be my only double for the week along with a shorter long run this weekend. I am going to cut some miles to give my legs a break to recoup for one last push before my taper. It will be easier though because my dad is coming into town to hang out and I don’t want to waste our time together by running the whole weekend. My mom is going to be at a funeral (sad) and he doesn’t have much to do this weekend so I invited him out. He is coming in tomorrow night and leaving early Sunday afternoon.

Hopefully I can sneak in a post tomorrow or this weekend. I have some recipes I want to share!

Feeling Good

I woke up this morning and I wasn’t that sore. Kind of weird!

Time: 1:06:07

Distance: 8.69 miles

Average Pace: 7:36 per mile

I woke up about a half hour late today so I had to speed up and cut some mileage. Cutting mileage was probably a smart idea anyways, even though I had to speed up. It was a good recovery distance.

It was a really good run. I think it was actually under 60 degrees when I started. I can’t even remember the last time the weather felt this nice. I stepped outside and it felt cold! It wasn’t cold out, but it was just the complete opposite of what I am used to. It also makes running a lot easier; today’s run felt almost effortless. Thank God I didn’t break anything over the weekend. It is always hard to tell if anything is hurting after a long run because your whole body hurts. I usually can’t tell until the next day. My Achilles tendon is a little sore, but nothing major. It gets like that when I need to change my shoes but it will be fine after some ice and foam roller action. Time to bust out a new pair tomorrow. I can’t believe it’s already time!

Not much else to report. Today was pretty standard and I need to get started on some homework.

Have a good night everyone!