5 miles: The coming sauna

I did the 5 mile "free" run today to Starbucks. However, the free run over the summer includes a hand-held water bottle (0.6 liters, 1 endurolyte). It was a sunny 83 degrees with 59% humidity. It felt like I was running in a sauna. Sadly this is nothing compared to what is coming this summer. Oh, the south.

5.4 miles, Weather whiplash

Today I ran a slow 5.4 miles. It was a sunny 82 degrees with 52% humidity. I took in 1 liter of water and 0 calories. I took it slow because of the heat and my legs were a bit tired from yesterday's run.

Sunday: 5 miles.

21 miles: Follow the yellow flower road

Today I ran 21 miles. It was a much better run pace wise than the 17 on Wednesday. It was overcast and 69 degrees with 64% humidity at the end of the run. I took in about 600 calories, 3.6 liters of water and 2 endurolytes.

The plan was to run a mid-distance run today of 5-12 miles. However, here is where the summer plan of not really having a plan helped. I noticed the high forecast for today was only for the lower 70's and overcast but the next 7 days were scheduled for a high of around 90. So I scrapped the mid-distance run in favor of a long run. Next week, I'll run fewer miles if it is that hot. It might be a good thing I don't live in a cold climate. I might run to much (if that's possible).

Up next: Sat 5-8 miles, Sun: 5 miles.

Fall marathon double dip

I've come up with a plan for the fall which will give me something to works towards this summer and is a bit of a challenge. I'm going to do two marathons this fall about 5 weeks apart. There is a new marathon in Chattanooga called the 7 Bridges Marathon on Oct 16. It runs over the bridges crossing the Chattanooga river. I'm also going to do the Philly marathon again; it's on Nov 20th.

The plan is to use the Chattanooga marathon as more of a training run for the philly marathon. I am not going to push my pace in the Chattanooga marathon and risk being too sore to recover and train again for the next marathon. The basic plan for the 5 weeks in between will be:

Oct 16: Chattanooga marathon

Oct 17-23: recover with 2 or 3 short runs

Oct 24-30: a few medium distance runs 5-15 miles

Oct 31-Nov 6: at least one 17-20 mile run and a few other runs of any distance

Nov 7-13: at least one 20 mile run and a few other runs of any distance

Nov 12- Nov 19: taper, with 2 or 3 short runs

Nov 20: Philly Marathon

After that: rest and plan for the Strolling Jim 41.2 miler in 2012.

17.4 miles: The bonk

Today I went 17.4 miles. It was 86 degrees with 53% humidity at the end of the run. I took in about 4 liters of water and 3 endurolytes. I was doing fine until about mile 12 or 13 when I just ran out of energy. I hit a wall. The last 4 miles or so were a combination of running and walking with more walking than running (at least time wise).

A number of factors likely played into the bonk. 1) This was my first real run in the heat for this year. 2) I only had 90 calories during the run when normally I might have 300-400 for a run of this length. 3) Last night's sleep was worse than the normal bad. 4) I might not be 100% muscle recovered from the Strolling Jim.

Up next: Friday- A mid-distance run (5-12 miles)

Summer plan

The basic summer plan is not to have one. The weather is too much of a factor. In the winter I can plan a twenty mile run and just run it no matter what. In the summer if I have a 20 miler planned and it's in the 90's and humid it makes the run not fun. I run for fun so I plan to avoid not having fun.

Instead I will use rough guidelines for my running:

1) Sunday do the five mile Starbucks run. This is a standard run and works well with the family schedule.

2) Run at least two long 20-30 mile runs a month.

3) The warmer it is the faster and shorter my runs will be. The cooler the weather, the longer and slower the runs will be.

4) All runs should be at least 5 miles.

5) If it's super hot for a week or two I'll work on running 5 miles faster. If it's rather cool (for the summer) for a week or two I'll do a few 15-30 mile runs.

The goal is to come out of the summer and still have no problems doing a 20 mile long run and to pick up the overall pace of my runs with the aim of improving my marathon time.

5 mile plague run

I ran five miles today; the Starbucks run. Whatever pollen affects me was out in full force today as my eyes were itching and I was sneezing like mad. Plus the Cicadas are really affecting my running route now. A few of them landed on me today and I'm sure I crunched many. They are really loud.

Up next: Monday and Tuesday off to rest the ankle. Wednesday A longer run depending on how well the ankle feels and the weather.