Girl Talk

I'm Puppy Sitting

I'm puppy sitting for some friends for a few days.

The puppy is naughty and bitey and scratchy.

He's cute and only weighs about 3 or 5 pounds.

He has sharp little teeth and sharp little toenails and he put a run in my hose this morning. ...

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Sag Wagon

I didn't run this weekend. I had a lot of shin pain and chose to take the entire week off - including the Saturday morning 19 mile training run. Just so you know, it was an incredibly difficult decision to take off. As much as I'm not one of those runners who needs to get on the trail/treadmill every day, I really need the long run during marathon season. The long run gives me something I don't get during the week. I think it's a combination of camaraderie and motivation plus physical and mental endurance training. It's certainly not easy and it seems ridiculous, even to me, that I would actually want to go out and run 19 miles. But I need those 19, 20, 22 mile training runs to remind myself that I can actually do this. ...

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Runner Geek

Which sounds farther - 17 miles or 27 kilometers? Either way, that's about what we ran this morning. We are less than 75 days from the marathon (this is week 18 of our 25 week training program). I have friends (real friends and cyber-friends) running Chicago tomorrow, Nike Womens' next weekend and Marine Corps. the weekend after that.

I read Runners' World religiously, I coach a group of runners every Saturday at 6:00 a.m. and extol the virtue of Ice Baths (like one giant ice pack on your whole lower half), the difference between Advil and Tylenol (anti-inflammatory vs. pain reliever, one may dehydrate you and be a little harder on your stomach) and have a relatively sane conversation about the newest flavor of GU. I know where the iliotibial band is.

I have become a Runner Geek. ...

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It's not the heat...

Did anyone run last night? Wow - I'm not sure how my friends in Houston and Orlando do it. It was only about 90 - maybe less than that, but the humidity was around 50%.

It's definitely a challenge running in high humidity. I can't decide if it's actually better to run in the heat without the humidity though - Phoenix people, feel free to weigh in. At least in the humidity you sweat (potentially a LOT) so when there's even a tiny breeze, you cool a little.

Last evening it rained. We stood at the window in the office and watched it come through, but it didn't actually rain at the office. It missed us by about a mile. Since we're on the 20th floor, and there's nothing in the way (like mountains or other buildings) you can see the rain coming and watch it go right past. So, technically, the rain brought the temp down a little bit. But, because it didn't actually rain on us, the humidity stayed high.

I headed out and thought - "oh, this is a bad idea". But actually, after I got out in the open it wasn't too terrible. Not until the end. They say it only takes 2 or 3 runs in weather like that to get used to it. About a week to acclimate completely.

I guess last year I spent more time running on the treadmill during the summer. But I do like the evening run on Campion trail. I hate to wish my life away, but I'm looking forward to fall, when it's cooler in the evening and I can get a good 5 or 7 miles in on the trail. I suppose this is the very reason why people like to get up at the crack of dawn and go running. I just really like hitting the snooze button...

The Marathon Training Fun has Begun

This morning we did a 5 miler at the lake. It was great weather. Not to hot, not to humid, a little breezy and the run felt really good - my first really good run in a long time.

I am officially coaching the Red 2 group - about 25 women and men who were paced between a 10.3 and 11 minute mile. This is the perfect pace for me - not to fast, not too slow. I'm really looking forward to sharing what I learned last year and learning more this year from my group and from training in general.

I know it sounds funny to many of you, but I'm really happy to be training for a marathon again. I'm a marathoner and I can't wait for race day!