PM Run – Ivy Creek Greenway – 5 miles - I originally planned to try
and get a longer run in the afternoon but it was just way too hot, mid to upper
90s. I ran out and back on the greenway to get in five. It was kind of nice to
ditch the hillier three mile run I normally do for the flatter five mile route,
but it was sweltering.
Tuesday, July 3: GEHC Trails – 8 miles – Standard morning run. The
mornings have been getting really humid lately, which is not doing good things
for my running wardrobe. As soon as I finish and can finally get the sweat away
from my body everything is completely soaked. Yeah, it’s gross.
PM Run – Suwanee Greenway – 10 miles – This was originally supposed
to be a hill workout, then I decided to change it to a tempo run, and then it
became a survival run. I got out of work a little bit later than I would have
liked, so I decided to just try and get in a good solid tempo run, but it was
still really hot out. Before my “warm up” was done I made the decision to bag
the workout and just get in 10 miles at a slightly raised tempo. I wasn’t
really happy with his, as I’ve stuck with every other planned workout I’ve had
this year. When I got going I just felt awful and I didn’t think I’d get much
out of a bad workout, besides being pissed off at a bad workout. I struggled
through the 10 miles called it a day.
Wednesday, July 4: Ivy Creek Greenway/Mall of GA – 5 miles – Four
the fourth, Amanda and I planned to
meet Matt and Kat early to bring Matt down to one of the MARTA stations so he
could head to the starting line for the Peachtree while we drove down to the
finish at Piedmont Park. I woke up around 5 to try and get five miles in before
we headed out. I ran out on the greenway with my headlamp and then decided to
jump up on the mall road to run in the street lights. It was about 75 with 94
percent humidity, so this was more of a ‘let’s make sure we don’t take a zero
today’ kind of run.
After running we picked up
Matt and Kat, dropped Matt of at Doraville (I think) then drove down to
Piedmont park, which I found without the GPS after only being there once and
having no clue how we got their the first time. (I love shutting off the GPS
when I know I am close to a destination and know the way. I always feel like Luke
Skywalker and say to myself ‘Luke you turned off your targeting computer, is
everything alright?”)
We got to the finish in time
to catch the men’s and women’s overall winners (the men’s winner ran 27:30
something…feeding) and then watched the stream of 60,000 people come through
the line on 10th street. We saw Matt finish and regrouped, he got us
some phenomenal peaches and we jumped back in the car to head home. I was a
little bummed that I didn’t see any King of Pops carts, but with what I ate the
rest of the day that was probably for the best.
After dropping Matt and Kat
off, Amanda and I headed out to Buford Dam to do a little hiking, just a few
miles though nothing crazy. We soaked in the Hooch for a few then headed back
to the car. Amanda was a trooper. It was really hot and we ran into a slow
moving group, so naturally I put on the burners to roast them up the ridge
trail and Amanda hung right with me despite feeling like she was going to pass
out. We got some Gatorade and water then headed home to make a 4th
of July feast of hot dogs, burgers and Summer Shandys.
PM Run – GEHC Trails – 3 miles - I got out the door for three in the
afternoon because I was disgusted by myself after eating lunch. I could smell
hot dogs the whole time and I’m not sure if it was because people were cooking
them or because I was sweating them out.
Thursday, July 5: GEHC Trails – 8 miles – I was hurting after
yesterday and I really wanted to sleep in, but I fought it and got out for my
standard AM 8.
PM Run – Ivy Creek Greenway – 5 miles – Battled the heat to grind
out five in the afternoon before trivia. I was a little bit late meeting
everyone because it took me about 35 minutes to cool down enough to take a
shower. I’m glad I got the five in though, because I’ve got Brian and Amy’s
wedding this weekend, so it’s likely that I’ll have to take Saturday off.
Friday, July 6: GEHC Trails – 8 miles – Standard morning run.
Nothing out of the ordinary.
PM Run – GEHC Trails – 3 miles – Managed to squeeze in a quick
three before heading up to Chateau Elan for Brian and Amy’s wedding rehearsal.
It was really nice, quick rehearsal, nice dinner at the winery and then a fun mixer.
Amanda was able to make it up for a couple hours too.
Saturday, July 7: Zero – Day off – Not pumped about taking a zero,
but we got home late from the mixer then I had to be back at Chateau for golf
at 8:30, so there was no time for me to get it in. After golfing I took a quick
shower then drove back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding.
Sunday, July 8: Ft. Yargo State Park – 14 miles – I finally got to
sleep in a little bit, which was vital after we got home around 1:00 am after
the wedding. I milled around for a while and watched the Tour then Amanda and I
grabbed some breakfast. She headed to work and I drove out to Ft. Yargo for a
run. I went with a double loop of the hiking trail so I could stop half way and
grab a water bottle for the final seven miles. This turned out to be a really
good call, as it got hot fast. My first lap was pretty normal but my second lap
was a death march. I drank most of my water and stopped at both bathrooms where
I turned on the shower to try and cool myself down. Needless to say it was
brutal, but I’m glad I got it in. Barberitos for a burrito after.
Weekly Totals: 77 miles on 11 runs – I'm really happy that I hit my mileage goal despite taking a day off. I feel like I’ve kind of hit
the plateau for my training were it is at right now. I definitely feel like I need
to mix things up a little bit if I want to keep improving and running well. I
don’t know if that is added miles or adding another workout or if it just feels
that way because I haven’t raced in a couple weeks to see where I am at. It
will be good to get a change of scenery as I am going home for a few days and
will be able to get some different runs in back in Massachusetts. I am also planning
a trip up to NH/VT to get in on the Keenyan Summer for a day with some friends
which will probably be a wake-up call but it’s always fun to get it in with
those guys. I might even throw in a random race while I’m up there for spits
and whistles.
The next race that is
definitely on my calendar is the Dirty Spokes Series Finale at Sawnee Mountain
on the 21st. I have the points title wrapped up at this point,
provided I don’t lose to Mitch by 20+ spots, but I would like to close out the
series with another win. Sawnee Mountain will be my last race for a little over
a month as training camp begins at work the next week. That means the next week
I will try to hit 75 again then back off a little for the final series race
then I will have to play it by ear as training camp is an incredibly difficult
time for me to train. My goal is to maintain 20 miles a week during camp and
then try to run between 20 and 40 miles per week during the football season,
while running a couple of fall races. It’s really odd to think that I have to
get in the majority of my running from January until August when my favorite
time of the year to run is the fall, but that’s how it goes. I am still
planning to run as many Xterra races as possible and I’d like to use the fall
as a chance to run some 5ks. My hope is that putting races on my calendar will
help get me out the door.
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