Good morning Mary and all to follow. How's your back this morning Mary? That sounds like a lot of hard work, especially in all of the heat and humidity - and MOSQUITOS! I think going to work is a smart idea today

 

Carolyn - good luck getting DD off to college. There will be some tears shed. I remember when we took our oldest son for his freshman year. I cried from the time we left him until the time we got home (over 2 hours). That first year was hard. Just remember, all baby birds have to leave the nest.

 

Hey Tom - will your house pass the "white glove" test?  Good luck with the Hoover rep!

 

DH and I spent the day at Whistling Straits yesterday, volunteering as marshals on hole #2. It was wicked hot and humid there. And the one day you'd like a little breeze off of Lake Michigan to help cool you off? Never saw the lake as calm as it was yesterday. Saw lots of great players (Stricker, Harrington, McDowell) as they practiced chipping and putting. We're working again on Saturday and Sunday - hope it cools off a little.

 

Woke up to rain and lightening, so off to the Y for some cross training. 5 miles on the eliptical and 3 miles on the bike with some upper body weights and stability ball stuff. Today our high school kids come back to get their picture ID's taken, pick up books and schedules and get lockers. Wow - summer went too fast

 

Enjoy your day!

Good morning everyone!

 

Today was planned for a 10 to 12 mile MLR with 4 to 5 miles at continuous Tempo.  So up and out I went at the unGodly hour of 4:30 AM.

 

I ran 5 miles easy, then miles 6 through 10 at Tempo pace (approx. 10K to HMP).  Finished it off with 2 miles cool down.  I wasn't sure I could mange 5 continuous tempo miles but I got them done.  (This felt close to a RTYP run.)  12 miles altogether at 8:54 pace, Miles 6 through 10:

 

7:59

7:55

7:48

7:52

7:48

 

The weather was 75° and 91%.  Though the humidity was way up there, the temperature was a bit cooler than normal so that helped me get through it.  Getting there ...

 

Bill

 

  As far as I'm concerned, you're there, Byll.  Awesome!!

 

Mary--pretty awesome XT for you, too.  nothing like coming home after work and then right into grunt labor.

 

Jlynne--Boy, you've got a short summer out there.  Not that I care anymore, but HS around here don't start until after labor day.  And DD at UCLA doesn't start fall quarter until mid-Sept.

 

Nono--is that like the old joke  "My mother started walking in 1990.  We think she's somewhere around Topeka at the moment" ?

Happy Anniversary to you and yours as well lamerunner! Nice running there too. Happy for you that the body is cooperating. One of these days we'll have to run together.

Nice going Bill. The kiddo had a RTYP for real occasion last night at the weekly 5k---heat, brand new braces that made his head hurt, and feeling sick all together. Can't say he hit your paces though!

11.8 miles for me this morning at 8:30 am in 8:03 pace (cool, just noticed the synergistic number combo)

Oh dear PBJ....sounds like you acquired car parts on your vacation. 

Mary – just think of it as good x-training. 

 

Craneium – congratulations!

 

CNYrunner – Happy Anniversary!

 

Nono – good luck with your MIL’s visit...

 

Breger – nice tempo in the heat!

 

Erika - I think it would be a lot easier for me if my kids go to college locally.  Even if I don't see them often, I know I would feel comforted by their being nearby.

 

80° and 96% this morning at 5am - I think that’s the record at my house so far this summer at that time of day.  I chose to stay on the TM in the garage with the door open.  It wasn’t any cooler but I had two fans trained on me while I watched an episode of a Sci Fi series called Defying Gravity.  7 miles total, kind of fartleking but mostly slow. 

 

I was thinking this morning that the AF Marathon is no longer on my “A” list.  My training has just not been up to par this summer.  I’m getting the miles in, but barely any speed or tempo.  I have let the unusual heat be an excuse to be lazy.  Oh well.  I reminded myself that I’m grateful just to be running, even if it’s on the slow side.

 

School started in two of the local districts today: one of them will close 2 hours early and the other took the day off due to the excessive heat (these old schools don’t have AC).  They only get 3 calamity days this year, and already they’re dipping into them before we even have a snowstorm.

 

Doesn’t matter to me when the kids go back to school - summer has 6 more weeks.  I refuse to hear any different. 

 

 

Soccer practice for DS Mon. and Wed. night this week, and Tues. and Thur. for DD.  Back to the quickie dinner menu for soccer season. ....Tater tots are my friends......as are pigs-n-blankets, grilled cheese, fish sticks, etc.....not super nutritious, but better than McDonald's.....

 . . .Tater tots are my friends......as are pigs-n-blankets, grilled cheese, fish sticks, etc.....

 

I think you just nailed my DH's idea of the perfect menu.  What time should he arrive for dinner?

 

Happy Anniversary, Karin!

 

Mary - Take care of that back with all that lifting.

 

Bill - Your paces amaze me.

 

This is just a bad week for me.  My legs are absolute toast.  My scheduled 10 ended up being 8.25 at 10:15 av pace.  It's weird.  I worked the hills fairly decently, but on gentle slopes or even flats, I just had no oompf.  I stopped for a bathroom break and could hardly get going again.  Really had to fight the urge to call The Hub to come get me.  (Plus, he wouldn't have been happy about me waking him up.)

 

I read an article in UltraRunner Magazine last night about listening to your body - are you tired because you're at that point in your training where it's normal to be tired, or is your body saying give me a break?  I think mine is yelling, "Give me a break!" and I don't know why.  I'm gonna email Coach and ask him what I should do this weekend.  The thought of putting in 30 miles over next few days on a treadmill makes me want to scream.  I tell ya, McKenzie River on Sept 11 can't come soon enough.

 

*sigh*  Enough complaining.  Off to get some work done ~

Wow, Holly, I thought school started early for our kids! DS2 goes back next Wednesday, the 18th. But they get out in mid-May, which seems a lot earlier than most. Two weeks off for Christmas and a week off for spring break in March, and that's it. The dorms here open on the 29th, and first day of classes at UAF is Sept. 2, so DS1 has a little more time off. Not that he's doing anything constructive with it. I think I'll see if I can get his wisdom teeth extraction done before school starts. The kid will wish he'd gotten a job.

 

That's an awesome mid-week long run there, Byll. What time do you have to get up to get that done before work? I'm always impressed by you early risers. I'd say you nailed those paces very well there, and later in the run, too. I think it's more than the milder temps at work.

 

Nice cleansing run there, Carolyn. Running is so good that way.

 

And Holly, I bet you'll surprise yourself. It should be cooler in mid-September, right? Getting the work done in the heat will make the race itself much better, I'd think.

 

Leslie, I think it's normal to have those ups and downs in energy level, sproink as we say. Usually a couple of crappy runs precede a breakthrough run. Happens more often than not, I believe. I'm sure hoping it works that way for me as far as long runs... the last few have been really hard and with a 30 mile weekend scheduled, I'm hoping the pendulum has swung the other way for me! As far as general fatigue, I've had that "too much weekend" feeling for too many days during the week and I'm working on getting more sleep. Having cooler weather sure helps, we sleep with the windows wide open. But I'm really really (really) working on getting to bed earlier. Not easy for a night owl like myself, but I'm trying. Last night was second night in a row before 11 pm, so that's good!

 

Run home from work day today. Had DH drop me off this morning, and he'll just need to come get my work bag around 4:30 and off I go. Should be around 10 miles with rolling hills and the long one at the end.

 

ETA: Enke! Ouch! Stop doing that!