Training Update: Week of 7.14.2008

This week started out well and ended with the beginning of a heat wave. I believe the official start of the heat wave was Friday, Saturday was the hottest and it's still bad today (Sunday). Here's a recap of my week.

Tuesday
Easy run with stretching
This was a nice outing. Just an easy run to start the week. I like starting the week with this nice easy run, but I sometimes feel like I am left wanting more.

Wednesday
120 second hill repeats with gradually increasing difficulty of pace
Another good workout. I feel like I attract jerks though. Here's the thing... I am running up the hill - keep in mind I have already done a 2 mile warm up, drills and strides - and this man in a business suit is walking down the hill with gigantic bag sticking out at his side. I look up and see him while I'm about 10 feet away so I think, "OK. This guy is going to move to his right." Well, the man does not move so at the last minute I dodge to the right a smidge, but my elbow clips his bag. I think absolutely nothing of it because clearly this guy must know how difficult it is to move side to side while running up a hill at a pretty good pace. Well much to my surprise, he does not know what that is like because as I run back down the hill and pass him again - this time not hitting him - he spits. Yes, he actually spits. So I think well just another disgusting person spitting. Then I run back up the hill for my second repeat. He walks right in front of me and says as I run by, "Do you want to run into me again?" Man I was so mad. I sprinted up that second hill (which later proved to be my fastest hill) with all the frustration he put in me. Now, I know he will not read this post because hey, he's obviously not a runner, but just in case... Mr. Business Suit man, I hope that I hit your bag and that the sweat I produced during my intense workout splattered all over you. I hope that next time you will not spit at me like a coward when my back is to you. I hope that next time you will wait for me at the bottom of the hill so as not to interrupt my workout. I hope that you will someday again say to me, "Do you want to run into me again?" because I can't wait to say, "No I want to punch you in the face." And then I will punch you and I will run away because I am that fast and that awesome. So take that Mr. Business Suit man! Oh... and one last thing... thank you for the motivation so I could have a great workout.

Friday
Easy run with barefoot strides
No business suit man on today's run, just the usually man at the track. I am convinced he's an ultra runner because I see him there every time I go just running around and around and around and around and around and around. I have no idea how many times he goes around that track, but he is dedicated. He is there at the exact same time every single day. It's really impressive. So far we've just exchanged the "hello" and the "oh you should run closer to the sprinkler, it's so refreshing" comments, but someday, if I don't feel like I'm interrupting his workout, I'll ask him what he's up to. And back to my workout... it was humid today, lots of sweat. Barefoot strides are my new most favorite thing. I love strides. I also love running around barefoot because that's what I always did as a kid. So love + love = superlove. I super love barefoot strides.

Saturday
Long run
The plan was 12 easy miles and then two a little harder and two a little harder than that. However, when I was pouring sweat at mile 3 like I had already run 10 miles I knew I was in for a tough day. The whole crew was out today - Sarah, Paul, John and myself. I love running with this group on long runs, we seem to always have something to talk about and when we're not talking it's a comfortable silence. I know I suck up to my group every week, but they really are awesome. We just need a group name... . So the first 12 was hot and humid. John & Paul left somewhere around the 12 mile mark because they were planning to do 13-14. Sarah and I continued on for our 16-17. All of a sudden I can feel my body burning up. It was really just from the cheeks of my face up. Then Sarah says, "wow, do you feel like it just got hotter all of a sudden" and I couldn't have agreed with her more. I said "yeah, it feels like my face is really red." She glances over at me and agrees that it in fact is really red. I told her I didn't think I would be able to add on the extra loop at the end of our run to make it to 16, let alone add on two to make it 17. She agreed and noted that our perceived exertion for today was probably longer than what we were actually running. It was just unbearably hot and humid today. We ended up cutting back to 15 miles. I was happy be did and confident that we made the right decision for our body. It was actually so hot that a piece of gum I had left in my fuel belt and melted. And it was so hot that I had an odd incident with an inspection sticker, which is so hilarious (at least to me) that I've posted it separately (click here).

All in all good week, but please humidity go away!

Total Weekly Miles: 30 miles