Training in Montana

much tougher run today after yesterday's longer effort. Wanted to do 8 loops today but realized my math was off and I only needed 7 so I completed 7. I felt pretty good afterwards and got in 24 miles this week on the island. Getting ready to head out in the morning. Ready to be home.

Finally got up early enough for a run. 4 miles. So glad to have my garmin back. It's like a security blanket.

Got to bed late so I absorbed the punishing heat and ran at Noon. 84F and 33% humidity. It was a dry heat. Took a water bottle with and dumped it on me on the way back. The legs were definitely not happy and I wanted to walk a few times but continued on. I sure like cool runs better than hot ones. I need a long race to train for. Not having one is killing me. But I sure do like having my Garmin again.

AP: 8:14

Evening: Played Ultimate frisbee with a big group of church friends and I wore my GPS watch to see how much we ran. 4 miles! Had a blast, soaked my bandanna and shirt with sweat. And my side won. Good times.

11 miles this morning. Very tough with sore legs from Thursday's Ultimate frisbee. I hadn't used my fast twitch muscles in a long time and they rebelled. Walked a couple times today and it felt great. Able to finish strong. Glad to hit double digits once again. Need to go longer one of these Saturdays, but would be nice to have a reason to go long. 

Fairly warm lunchtime run. 82F and 40% humidity and full sun. My legs actually felt really good. So odd how going for a long run 2 days before can make your legs feel better, not worse. I don't understand the body mechanics of that paradox.

Got up early to run before a morning meeting. I had time to go for 6 but I wasn't feeling it so cut it in half. Hmph.

Lunchtime run. A lovely mild rainstorm blanketed the area for a few hours and caused the Noon temps to drop during my run. Amazing. Went from 71 pre-run to 66 during the run. And with a few raindrops to go along with it. The legs do not feel so good. Lots of fatigue, probably from not being regular with my running and not getting enough sleep. No cross training doesn't help either. I kept going, though, and finished just fine.

Noon Boot Camp. I just couldn't resist. It was a sweat fest and it felt fantastic. 

4 tough miles this morning. I hope it's just that I'm not getting enough sleep, and that I went to BC yesterday, and then hit the climbing gym last night with the family. I hope I'm just tired cuz I sure haven't felt it on my runs lately and that's a first. It's supposed to be so easy. I think I'm losing it! :)

At a friend's house I maxed out on the bench press for the first time in 25 years. I benched 195! I can't believe this little weakling benched 30 lbs more than I weigh. 

After that we did an Insanity workout. It was awesome! 41 minutes and I was sweating worse than ever. Wore a bandana headband and the last 15 minutes the sweat was pouring from my forehead to the ground. It was awesome.

10 cold, wet, windy miles. On the 22nd of August. What???? Good run today. We're in a weird monsoonal moisture pattern mixed with an Alaskan air disturbance so it's been cold and rainy the past few days. I needed double digits to keep my sanity and I got it done. It was actually fun to be soaked and a little chilly when it should be hot.

AP: 8:53

20 minutes of Boot Camp. Just enough to be semi sore the next day.

4 miles down a hill and back up it. Good workout. Need to get back in the groove.

4 1/2 miles at lunch time. 82F, 30% humidity. It actually felt pretty good. Heavy legs first mile, then warmed up. That's been happening a lot lately.

AP: 8:04

Ran at lunch time. Felt way hotter than 73F. Can 56% humidity really impact the feeling that much? I feel for Preston and others who constantly run in heat & humidity. I can't even imagine it. Not that today was hot, but it actually felt a bit hotter than yesterday which was 86F and 30% humidity. I'm sure more of a mental thing than anything.

We had our company health fair a couple days ago and my results sucked. Up 6 pounds, more visceral fat, less muscle %, etc. etc. It ticked me off and woke me up. I pulled up a graph of my monthly running the past 4 years and for the first time in 4 years I haven't hit 100 miles in a month for 5 straight months. No shocker that my numbers stunk so bad. I've added a marathon training plan to my calendar now so I have something to shoot for. It's helped get me out the door the last two days and it will continue.

AP: 8:00