leaving the past back there

I had a to do list. I have had lots of them. I'd say 95% of the things on there don't get done. Among them, write about some runs. There were three I wanted to write about, but they are so long ago now it's silly. So, I'm moving on (save for this post).I'll give you the bullet-pointed highlights.

- I did a run with a group of 5 (yes, five) boys. Two of them are training for the NYC marathon, one of them hopes to qualify for Boston with a time of something close to 3 hours. File that under things I do not comprehend. The highlight of that 5 miler was that I dropped behind the boys (because I run/walk), but then caught back up, and then passed them. Granted, they were running slow as molasses, but hell, I'll take it. (I think I gave this 4 stars)

- There was a second just with the two marathon trainers, but, there was nothing impressive there - I stayed with them for my 10 minutes and then never saw them again. (I don't remember enough about this one to guess on stars, maybe 3)

- And then there was the time my lab mate and I ran down to the greenbelt, hoping to find some mud to practice for our Warrior Dash. Sadly, there was no mud, there wasn't even any water. We did have a pretty unique 5 mile run through an empty river bed though. I loved this run, someone new to talk to. We didn't track distance or time. We just ran until we wanted to turn around, and then we did it. In the end, looking at google maps, I think we did a little over 5 miles in a little over an hour. I'll take it. 5 star run for sure.

Suffice it to say, my running has been sporadic and poor as of late. That all is about to change.

5 star system

I've devised a new system for rating my runs, which is less based on speed and distance, and more based on meeting set goals. Following this system, each run will be rated as followed.

I did it: one star
I made all my time intervals: one star
I made my set distance: one star
I made that distance in my set time: one star
It was fun/easy/good: one star

This morning I set out on a 3 mile run, hoping to complete it in 36 minutes (12 min/mile). The time was 7:30am, the temperature was 88 degrees, the humidty was 10000% (ok, less than that as it wasn't actually raining).

This run receives a 3 star rating.

Breakdown.
I did it: one star
I made all my time intervals: one quarter star (i made approx a quarter of them)
I made my set distance: one and one third star (i went 4 miles)
I made that distance in my set time: no star (it was not quite 12min/mi)
It was fun/easy/good: one half star (besides the heat, I think it was enjoyable)

The good, the bad, the unpretty: a confessional post.

1.) I checked outside at 10:30am and it wasn't that hot; I was terribly mistaken; 3 minutes into my run I was sweating so much that it was dripping down my face into my eyes and mouth.

2.) I went to bed early last night so that I could get up early and run; I went to bed early last night after drinking beers with friends from 4-8pm; Not only did I not run early, but I ran dehydrated.

3.) I ran 5 miles; I only continued the last mile because I was one mile from home; I kept the timer and gps running the entire time.

4.) I wore my Ragnar technical t-shirt and it made me happy; I should have worn a tank top; In one of the back neighborhoods I took my shirt off to wipe up all the sweat dripping off my face and then put it back on.

5.) Mueller park is beautiful to run in; I walked most of the "running" minutes in Mueller park; Two little kids and an old man passed me up.

6.) I was running with 24 oz of cytomax and water; I drank it all before mile 3; I was spitting like a maniac after mile 3.

7.) I went running despite my arms being very sore from boot camp; I hold my arms very high snd stiff when I run; My arms might be even more sore now!

8.) There were lots of friendly people out and about; Except for the few who were unfriendly; And that one guy who was holding a chain saw that was switched on and wasn't looking around the sidewalk he was on.

9.) I ran 5 miles (did I already say that); I'm running 6.5 in a week; Two of my friends are counting on me to not suck at it.

10.) I hit all my marks during the first mile and a half; I missed every one after that; The misses were much more significant than the hits.

Distance: 5.02 miles

Time: 65:02:29

Mad props to: The neighbors who were shamelessly watering their yard during water restrictions; Because I ran through the sprinklers; both ways!

Song that rocked my run: Womanizer, by Britney Spears.

aw, what the hell - I said it was confessional. Womanizer, by Britney Spears totally rocked my run (and does most runs). I run best when I'm angry, and I can easily find 5 minutes of Womanizer moments to power me through thanks to Brit and her song!!

welcome to Texas Summer

The other day LD asked if I'd run, and when I said no she said she was just asking to make me feel guilty - for which I'm grateful. I need some accountability. Sadly, though, I had very few plans to actually run this week, so I don't feel like a failure. I just feel - lazy.

Let me introduce you to my friend Texas Summer, who is here in full force. It's hot. All day. Every day. Yesterday and today the forecast has been for Thunderstorms. Mid week the forecast was for partly sunny days. In reality, the whole week has been beautifully sunny, big bright blue skies, puffy white clouds, and temperatures near 100 already.

What this means for running though, is disastrous. If you want to be outside (which I do!) you must get going and be done before 9am for sure. Even 8:30 is sometimes too hot. And the humidity, it's much worse in the morning. If it cooled down in the evening, night would be the best time to run - but it doesn't. This makes scheduling a run pretty tricky. Getting up and out around 6:30 is my usual plan, but some weeks when there is a lot going on, this is just impossible. This was one of those weeks. There was a lot going on, and running never made it on to my schedule.

Without LD here to suffer through these runs with me, I envision a few more trips to the treadmill this summer. Perhaps I can do some speed work there.