Start Time: 7/31/08, 7:00am
Location: Thomas Jefferson Community Center
Distance: 2 miles & 3 miles
Average Pace: 9:44min/mile & 8:03min/mile
Total Miles For July: 79.5 miles

Today’s scheduled run was a 3-5 mile tempo, plus warm-up and cool-down miles. It is still gross outside (when I left my house at 6:50, it was already 80 degrees) so off to the community center’s indoor track it was. (Sadly, the community center is closed for the next two weeks. Whatever will I do?) I was super-sleepy even when I got there, and had a feeling that I would end up more on the 3-mile side of things than the 5-mile side of things.

I honestly think I could’ve tricked myself into at least one more mile had it not been for a small foot issue. Around mile 2 of the tempo run, my right foot on the inside started to feel like something was poking at it, or perhaps a twig was in my shoe. Odd, and annoying. By the time I was finishing up the third mile, it had gone from annoying to hurting. Fearing it was not because of a stray object in my shoe, I called it quits, sat down, and shook out my shoe. Nothing. Hmmm.

All through my cool-down run, it continued to bother me and got worse. A little worried, I headed home, pulled off my shoes and socks… and there was a blister on my foot.

It’s nice to know it wasn’t some horrible internal rupturing of organs or such. Sheesh.

10:02
8:12, 8:06, 7:52
9:26

Start Time: 6/10/08, 6:45am
Location: Thomas Jefferson Community Center
Distance: 2 miles & 6 miles
Average Pace: 10:08min/mile & 7:57min/mile
Total Miles For June: 22 miles

Slight break in my running since last Tuesday, alas. On Thursday I ended up helping friends unpack their moving van instead, and I decided that was a good enough leg workout (the new place was on the third floor). Friday through Sunday, not only was I out of town but more importantly one of my calf muscles felt really tight; probably from all those stairs while moving heavy stuff. Since the temperature outside was boiling on the weekend, a lack of running didn’t bother me. Monday was rowing and elliiptical, and so today was back to the grind.

With the potential for triple-digit temperatures, coupled with my still vivid memories of what it’s like to run on a particularly bad air quality day (it was admittedly code purple instead of today’s red, but it felt like I’d been gargling with glass for the next three days) and I opted to run on the indoor track at the gym. It’s not ideal, but it meant I got it done. I started the first set a little fast out of the gate, but quickly adjusted. The second set seemed to go by a bit easier, in part because there was someone else on the track that I was passing every quarter mile or so that had made encouraging comments. So often I do better with an audience. (That, and going about 13 seconds per mile slower.)

Certainly a better job overall on maintaining than last week, though!

Warm-Up: 10:24
Set #1: 7:40, 7:58, 7:53 (7:50)
Set #2: 8:05, 8:01, 8:05 (8:03)
Cool-Down: 9:52

Start Time: 5/20/08, 4:00pm
Location: Thomas Jefferson Community Center
Distance: 2 miles & 4 miles
Average Pace: 9:52min/mile & 7:50min/mile
Total Miles For May: 31.5 miles

It was pouring on Tuesday when I woke up, so I decided to postpone my “Make or Break” run until after work. I actually ended up leaving a little early, but there were still dark clouds overhead. More rain? I decided not to chance it and instead ran on the indoor track (ho hum). It went well, though. 9:50 warm-up, then two good sets of 2-milers (7:56 & 7:55, 7:45 & 7:43), then a 9:54 cooldown. Of course, when I left? Not a cloud in the sky. Argh. I hope everyone else who enjoyed the good weather appreciated my sacrifice!

(No run on Thursday, I instead set up and used my Wii Fit for about 45 minutes. Fun!)

Start Time: 1/2/08, 6:30pm
Location: Thomas Jefferson Community Center
Distance: 7 miles
Average Pace: 8:28min/mile

Well, the plan was to hit my cycling class tonight. Even getting there almost half an hour early, though? Toooo late, already full thanks to the New Year’s Resolutioners. But, that worked out well because I needed to run my 7-miler either tonight or tomorrow morning. So while the others pedaled, I ran. The indoor track wasn’t too crowded—mostly regulars that I recognized, like the guy who runs in the same polo shirt and sweatpants every time, or the guy with the t-shirt from Iran, or the super-tight-and-trim guy who wears a spandex shirt underneath his running shirt. Good times, good times. (8:44, 8:25, 8:24, 8:30, 8:25, 8:32, 8:19)

Start time: 11/19/07, 6:00pm
Location: Thomas Jefferson Community Center
Distance: 2.5 miles
Average pace: 8:24min/mile

Vacation’s over! I went for a short, short run at the gym yesterday; my quads are still a little stiff when I run, but otherwise everything seemed in working order. My splits seem a bit fast (8:26, 8:19, 4:13), but it is the indoor track. I think I may start adding a tag in for those on the indoor track because of my uncertainty of their accuracy. Or maybe not. We’ll see.

Meanwhile, I’ve got both a 5k and a 5mi scheduled for Thursday. This ought to be hysterical.