A run in Omak, WA

Out of town again this weekend...this time in the little town of Omak, WA (N. Central part of WA, for those not familiar). Yesterday it reached 97 deg. F here. Got up at 6am this morning and ran 7.3 miles in exactly an hour. My course was a loop near our hotel, but the first time around, I deviated from the loop and up (and I do mean "up") a half-mile hill. I don't have a GPS watch, so after the run I drove the course to measure it and couldn't believe I ran up this hill non-stop. I wish I had my bike. I would have done repeats on the hill. Oh well...a run was all I could do while here sans bike. My right hip was barking quite a bit during the latter part of the run, and I'm wondering if this hill contributed to it.

We head back home tomorrow. I'll switch to cycling almost exclusively the rest of this month, with an easy run thrown in here and there to break things up.

Thanks for stopping by!

On the bike again...finally!

Went for a 25 mile bike ride this morning on local roads. My course included a few good hills. After warming up, I tried to stay in my large chain ring on a lot of the uphills. I didn't feel especially powerful, but I managed to average 16.8 mph, including some traffic stops. I was a bit surprised and disappointed when I looked at my log and realized I only rode 50 miles in June. I need to start riding frequently and hard, or the bike leg of the Whisky Dick Triathlon on Aug. 9th is going to be very uncomfortable. It probably will be, anyway, but I should try to be as prepared as possible. Oh, by the way, this was my first ride since getting my bike professionally tuned up. I could notice a difference. Had to stop during my ride to adjust a rubbing derailleur, but overall the ride was nice and smooth. I'll be putting on new tires soon.
We're making a brief trip out of town this weekend (no bike, but the running shoes are coming along), then it's back to the bike on Tuesday.

First run back home

It was refreshing to go on a late morning run today and NOT feel beaten down by the heat and humidity of Central Florida. I enjoyed the visit, but I think I had a bit of a cocky attitude going into my runs down there. I'm not in mind-blowing shape right now, but I'm probably as fit as I've been in, oh, eight years maybe...and feeling pretty good about it. The first couple of runs weren't terribly difficult. The last one, however, wiped me out. So today I ran a fairly slow 7 miles on my hilly trail in 58:11 (8:19 pace). I ended up having stomach cramps the last 2 miles, along with some tightness in my lungs. I haven't felt 100% the last few days, and even thought I thought I was okay, that "under-the-weather" feeling came back near the end of the run. I was called out on Facebook by my friend and Whisky Dick Triathlon teammate Arthur about running today and not cycling like I should be. Okay, he got me. I just felt like running today. I probably should have gone for a ride. I was planning on doing that tomorrow, but I had a crazy rush job come in late today that will keep me busy tomorrow and all weekend, it looks like. If I can fit in a ride, I will.

Amazingly, I lost .6 lbs while on vacation. I say "amazingly" because I didn't have the cleanest of diets (pizza, fish and chips, beer, cake, ice cream, etc), but I'm obviously still burning more calories than I'm taking in. Here are this week's weigh-in stats:

Weight: 148.6
Waist: 31"
Body Fat %: 10.7
Resting HR: 41 bpm

I hadn't seen my "six-pack" for about 17 years...until now. Maybe that's keeping me from eating as much as I should - just the thought of my midsection increasing again. I know - eat fairly clean, but just increase the quantity. If worse comes to worse, I'll start counting calories (which I HATE doing).

All for now. Have a great night!

Florida wrap-up

Well, the one last run I wanted to get in while here in Florida just isn't going to happen. I've been dealing with a pretty upset stomach and some fatigue the last couple of days. I'm not entirely sure why, but I do know that my long run on Sunday morning ended with me feeling very hot, dizzy and with shallow breathing. Don't know if the heat and humidity is finally catching up with me, or if I'm trying to fight off some bug (my wife has also been feeling a bit of the same). So instead of forcing a run here tonight (our last night here, when family will be over and I should be "sociable" anyway), I'll just concede and regroup when we get home tomorrow night. I was able to get in three runs (16.2 total miles), all-day swimming and sliding at Adventure Island in Tampa (a big water park), and swimming at the beach a couple of nights ago. I checked the scale this morning and I'm up 1 lb (but it was post-breakfast). Not bad. Tried to eat fairly clean, but that wasn't always possible. Drank no soda, though, which I've been trying hard to eliminate from my diet.

My bike is ready at the shop, so it should be ready to scream. Hopefully I'll be ready to beat up on it a little. That will be my focus the rest of July, with a few runs thrown in for variety, and to keep my running legs ready for the switch back to a running focus after the triathlon.

So I'll be checking back in after we make the flight across the country tomorrow!

Hot & humid - long run cut short

Even by starting my run before 7:00am, I wasn't able to avoid the heat and humidity here in FL during my weekly long run. I was shooting for 9 miles (5 loops of my 1.8 mile course), but I could only make it around 4 times (7.2 miles) before it was a bit too much. I started getting a tad dizzy and my breathing more labored than it should have been. The good news was that the 8:25 pace I was running seemed VERY slow. That was my 3rd run while down here on vacation (16.1 miles so far). I hope to get in at least 1 more before flying home early Wednesday morning. I do miss the hills, but the heat and humidity is adding another dynamic to my training. Not sure it'll translate to any kind of improvement, but I like finding out how my body will respond to different stressors.
I hope everyone enjoyed their celebrations yesterday!

Happy Independence Day!

Wishing everyone a happy & safe Independence Day and a great weekend! God bless!

Night run - half slow, half (too) fast

The rain finally subsided here in St. Pete, so I talked my little sister into going for at least part of a run with me. My loop here is 1.8 miles. She made it around one loop with only a little walking. She's not a runner, but could be if she works at it...and I think she might. After one lap she was done, but I took off at sub-race pace. I ran the last 1.8 in 12:42 (7:00 pace). Not exactly sure why, but I felt the need to blow the doors off after the slow lap (22:13). So the total time was 34:56 (9:42 overall pace).

I don't intend this blog to be a "man, I really love running" blog...but man, I really love running. I've completely fallen in love with it all over again. If you're a runner, I don't have to explain the feelings that come with a good run, after you start getting into shape. I hope I haven't cursed myself here, but I haven't felt this good in many years. I'm anxious to keep it going and see what can happen.

Better get to bed. We're hitting a big water park in Tampa tomorrow. Can't say I'm too excited about it, but the kids are, and that's what counts.
Good night!

RRT & Shoes

Last night, I had the privilege to be a co-host on the Runner's Round Table #36, where we interviewed Charlie Colpaert from Fleet Feet Sports in Chicago. It was an interesting and informative episode. I brought up an issue I hadn't really talked about on this blog, and that was my poor choice of training shoes several years ago. I wore Nike shoes through the mid-90s. Then I switched to Brooks. Brooks Beast, to be precise. As you know, I'm not a big guy. Brooks Beast is for big runners. Big runners who have low arches and pronate. I have high arches and underpronate. So why did I choose the Beast? Well, the key word in the previous sentence is "I"...as in "I didn't get professional advice" before buying them. I have a runner friend who is a larger runner and I believe he wore them. I was having issues with my right knee and IT band and figured I needed more stability to address the problem. I didn't do my homework, obviously. I stayed in that model for 3 or 4 pair and ended up really messing myself up. I think it was the main contributing factor in my demise as a runner a few years ago. I still have yet to get a gait analysis by a shoe expert, but I did much more research (EDIT: and was advised by my good friend and ultra-runner extraordinaire Arthur Martineau) before buying my current shoes, the Brooks Defyance 2, which are much more suited to my feet and legs. I still have some minor IT band issues (mostly some occasional hip discomfort), but I can tell these shoes have made a major difference in my "running resurrection"! Check out the podcast if you get a chance, and pop in every Wednesday, usually at 4pm EST.

Still no sunshine, but alas, a run!

Just finished a 5.4 mile run here in St. Pete. Cloudy, but VERY humid. Still dripping sweat onto my wife's laptop (she'll be thrilled). Time was 42:07 (7:48 pace). Tried to keep it slow, but was a bit quicker than expected. It is flat down here, though. Doing some stretching, decline (feet up) pushups & situps, then a cold shower. As muggy as it was, I enjoyed the diversity of a run so different than what I'm used to.

Ain't No Sunshine...

Here we are in the "Sunshine State", and it's been doing nothing but raining. We had a good rain & lightning storm this morning, which put the kibosh on my planned morning run. I wasn't too upset, since I'm feeling a little jet-lagged. The rain has stopped, but it's still cloudy. I'm contemplating a pre-lunch run, although it'll still be hot and muggy, especially to this Seattlite. If that doesn't happen, I may join my sister at the gym later today and hit the treadmill and/or stationary bike. I'm itching for activity!
All for now. Train hard & train smart!