Running into June - May 30-June 5

[Jolt]

Short barefoot trail run today. The only uncomfortable part was the first section of trail that is made of crushed stone embedded in hard packed dirt--I'd like to know whose brain fart it was to use that material when they re-did that section...

[kacie tri-ing]

I have a nice 13.1 mile run planned for sunday (after a swim and a bike) in Lawrence, KS. My bib number is 595, and the website is www.ironmankansas.com if you have any desire to check up About to get on the road!

[OakLeaf]

Good luck Kacie!

[rocknrollgirl]

8 miles for me this morning, held a 9mm pace, total time 1:12.

[WindingRoad]

4 miles for me yesterday AM, it just won't friggin' stop raining here so I can ride my bike! I have been caught in rainstorms at least 5 times already, grumble grumble grumble. That's a lot of bike cleaning. Workin' upper body tonight after work at the gym, gotta get tandem worthy quick!

[Crankin]

OK, I did my "test" 5K this morning, around 8:30. It was pleasantly cool (65-68) when I started, breezy, and cloudy. But, the humidity was 75%. I didn't wear my sunglasses, and of course, the sun came out after about 20 minutes.
I decided to run in the center of town, to give me stuff to look at. There are also some nice hard packed dirt sidewalks in part of the route. So, I drove the 3.8 miles there and then walked for about 10 minutes to warm up. Generally, I did not feel that great, but, I did it, with an 11:30 pace, which is pathetic, but I guess i probably won't be last. My run this morning was flat; the run on Saturday has a couple of small hills, but nothing like running up my street, which I am used to.
I drank 15 oz. of water and poured the other 5 oz. down my shirt when I was about 1/2 mile from the end. Not sure why my stomach always acts up when I run and why I drink more than most people would for a 10K or more. But, as I was walking to cool down, I did stop myself from going into one of the two bakeries that were calling out to me! I got in my car, put the AC on full blast and immediately got into a cool bath when I got home, and put on my Zoot tights. You would think I had run a marathon, but I will be hurting if I don't do this. So, my choice is to go ahead and do the race, chicken out and do the walk instead, or bag the whole thing... the weather Saturday is forecast to be similar to what today was, but it might be in the seventies by 10:00 AM. And, it could rain, which I would not mind.

[skhill]

Well, yesterday I gave in to the repeated pleadings of our local blood donation center, and gave my pint. (Yet again, it took 2 tries to register a high-enough blood pressure and pulse to donate). And this morning I had my best ever day-after-donation run: 5 miles, at about a 9:30/mile pace. The first 4 miles were great, the last mile I kinda died. But it's nice to thing I'm getting the hang of just how much I need to eat and drink the day of a blood donation to still feel strong the next day.

Today's the last day of school here, so no more dodging school buses on my runs!

[colby]

Got my official HM time corrected today - 1:56:31, or ~8:50 miles. 30/136 AG finish. Top 3 are 1:35:26, 1:37:27, and 1:42:09, so there's a TON of tight times in the 1:40s and 1:50s between 4 and 30 I am still super excited about finishing under 2 hours, and finishing 15 minutes faster than last year. Though I am still not a runner, I feel like I finally have the base mileage and muscle and whatever else to build on and get faster. Really looking forward to the short races I have planned to see how that pans out, and maybe someday I'll plan in a HIM to see how that distance feels. But, first thing's first...

Did a hard 30 minutes after 10 min wu today for my LT testing. I was dragging the dog for the last 10 minutes, so it wasn't exactly ideal. I have a good feel for my numbers, so we'll see how this goes.

And... massage today! Hooray.

[Jolt]

Ugh. This is the time of year where it's getting hot and I have to suffer through trying to acclimate. 80 degrees, humid, yuck! I got about halfway through my short neighborhood loop, my GI tract didn't feel so good, so I had to walk for a while and then was able to run the rest of the way home. Then I went back out and did a couple of barefoot laps around the little park on the corner. Anyone have any good tips on speeding up the heat-acclimation process or making it less miserable?

[rocknrollgirl]

Jolt, I am having the same issues, hence the runs at 4:15 am. I do not know what else to do. It is either 4 am or 4pm. It was miserable here today.

[OakLeaf]

Um, Colby... you ARE a runner.

Good deal on getting the time corrected.

[Bike Chick]

I got another 3 mile run in this morning. The legs are still sore but I did it. My times are miserably slow--11:50 average for 3 miles. I'm running a 5K tomorrow night and am almost too embarassed at my time to even run. I might chicken out at the last minute and decide to be a spectator.

[Crankin]

Bike Chick, we are in the same boat! I am hoping seeing people run by me might spur me on to run faster, but we shall see. It's going to be horribly humid and warm, too.
I am the least competitive person around... I just want to finish this little 5K without fainting in front of all of the doctors who will be there, since it's a fund raiser for the cancer wing of the local hospital.
Oh yeah, and Bill Rodgers is running in this race, too, as he is a cancer survivor.

[rocknrollgirl]

I got another 3 mile run in this morning. The legs are still sore but I did it. My times are miserably slow--11:50 average for 3 miles. I'm running a 5K tomorrow night and am almost too embarassed at my time to even run. I might chicken out at the last minute and decide to be a spectator.

Don't even thinking about bailing. No matter what your pace is, you are taking the plunge by stepping up to that starting line. Go and do your race and enjoy yourself. There will always be someone faster and always be someone slower. I read a quote last year and it went something like this:

You can't have a great race day unless you show up to race.....GO FOR IT!!!

[Bike Chick]

Thanks, guys! Ok, you have me pumped and ready to run. I'll let you know how fast (slow) my time is. It's a pretty cool race at a local church. They started it as a fund raiser years ago and all the church members bake cookies for the runners. It's kind of a tradition around here and has a cute name "The Grace Race."