Argh, have not been able to run since Saturday's 9-miler due to the truck still being broken. Broken truck --> have to take public buses to and from work --> have to leave house at 6:45am to catch bus --> not time to run in the morning, since that would require me to go out around 4:30 and it's still very dark then. Fingers crossed that truck will be fixed today! Going another couple days without running would probably not be good.

This morning was 9-mile day! Unfortunately, I couldn't run with the team because our vehicle's at the shop this weekend, and the Ann Arbor bus system doesn't run on Saturday mornings (lame!). So, I had to come up with this one on my own, which was a little daunting! I've only ever run 9 miles once before, never farther than that.

So I did my 5-mile loop twice, with the second loop a little abbreviated to cut the total distance to 9. It was a gorgeous morning: sunny and not too warm and low humidity. I planted some water and a little baggie of Wheat Thins near the beginning of the loop so that I could re-fuel halfway through. The first loop went pretty well -- I think I actually pushed my pace without realizing it, which means I was feeling good but may not have been the best idea. Around Mile 4 I started feeling like I really needed fuel, and I still had a little way to go before hitting my fuel stash. That wasn't so much fun. After my snack and some water I felt better. The second loop was much slower as my feet got progressively more tired; I probably should have done a walking interval around Mile 7 or 8, but I was so determined to run the whole way! I did it, but will keep in mind for future long runs that I should start integrating walking intervals into my run plans.

From now on, every Saturday will be the longest run I have ever done in my life. Eek!

I did my 5-mile loop again yesterday morning. It was maybe the most neutral run I've had so far -- didn't feel good, didn't feel bad. Just did it.

Ran my 5-mile loop this morning. Weirdly enough, yesterday afternoon I was having the experience of craving a run -- it was a bodily sensation that I can't really explain. So, I was expecting this morning's run to feel great, and it did! My right hip flexor was complaining a little toward the end, but nothing unbearable. For some reason, starting in Mile 1, I was craving oatmeal. (What's with all the cravings?) I could not stop thinking about oatmeal the whole time I was running. That craving was easily and satisfyingly quenched as soon as I got home. :-)

Catching up...

So, I never did the final short run I had planned for mid-week. Thursday I slept through my alarm, possibly for the first time since high school. That was kind of annoying. Everyone I told said, "Well, you must have really needed the sleep!" But I often need the sleep and yet still wake up to my alarm. Anyway. Then Friday morning, it was pouring rain with thunder and lightning, and it seemed neither appealing nor particularly safe to go out running.

So, my legs were unintentionally well-rested for Saturday's team 8-miler. Although it wasn't on purpose, that actually worked out very well -- makes me wonder if I should adjust my mid-week training schedule to include maybe 2 longer runs early in the week instead of several shorter ones throughout the week. As we get up into the high mileage for team runs, having muscles that aren't fatigued from my mid-week runs could be a real plus...

Anyway, the 8-miler was great on Saturday. It had rained a lot the night before, and within the first half-mile, we came to a stretch of park that was complete flooded with 6-7 inches of standing water. There was no way to go around it, so Coach Ethan had us splash on through. This meant that we ran most of the 8 miles with soaking wet feet. I was lucky not to get any blisters! On the plus side, Coach Ethan says we've now earned our badass stripes. :-) The last 3 miles or so were challenging because they were hilly, and we haven't done any hill training yet. But I didn't feel completely dead at the end, and I wasn't too sore today.

As a side note, I was coerced into trying a vanilla-flavored PowerBar Gel between miles 5 and 6. You might recall that I have kind of a conceptual aversion to energy gels, but there was peer pressure, and I buckled. Not surprisingly, it was really terrible. Everyone had warned me about the texture, but I think the taste was the worst part. Yuck! No more gels for me. I might get some of the sport beans and see if they're a little more palatable.

Ran my 5-mile sidewalk loop again this morning. It was warm and extremely humid, which is gross weather to run in. I felt like I was breathing water -- gross -- and my shorts were sticking to my legs the whole time -- gross. Gross gross gross. Did I mention it was gross?

... other than that, it was a pretty good run. :-)

I'll do a short run tomorrow morning, and then rest on Friday in preparation for Saturday's [gulp] 8-miler.

Yesterday morning, did a 3.3-miler. I hadn't gotten much sleep that night, and my tummy was a little unhappy, and it was humid and nasty outside. So it wasn't, like, my most fun run ever.

Andrew had gotten me a pocket-sized pepper spray to carry on my early morning runs. It has all kinds of features to protect you from accidentally pepper-spraying yourself, but I'm still a little scared of it.

This morning was a rest day. Tomorrow will be a run day -- hopefully a nicer one.

Second 6-mile team run this morning. We were back at Gallup Park, which is where all but one (I think) of our runs will be between now and the time I go back to Tucson. It was rainy, so not a lot of people showed up. But it was a pretty decent run, just damp. I don't feel as tired as I did after last week's 6-miler. Also, I've caught on to the fact that I need to dose up on allergy medicine both before and immediately after the run, so I'm a lot less miserable and itchy than I've been after the last couple of team runs.

They should make little clip-on windshield wipers for runners who wear glasses...

Andrew outdid himself this morning by getting up at 5:15 to accompany me on my run! He walked a lap while I ran three at Lillie Park. He claimed it was because he's afraid that I'm going to get attacked while I'm running and we haven't gotten around to buying me pepper spray yet... but I think he really just wanted to see the sunrise. :-)

I saw what I'm pretty sure was an eagle in flight while I was running. Dang... a bird that big could do some serious damage.

This morning for variety (and also because it rained hard last night and I didn't feel like running in muck) I improvised a neighborhood sidewalk run instead of going to the Lillie trail. The loop I devised ended up being longer than I intended -- based on my consistent 10-minute mile pace lately, I'm estimating I went about 5 miles this morning! It was nice to mix things up a little and see more of the neighborhood I'm living in. The humidity was gross, though.

I'm giving myself tomorrow as a rest day, and then I'll do a short run on Thursday and rest Friday. That should put me in good shape for Saturday's team run.

Ran 3.3 this morning. Felt pretty good.

My second team run was this morning! We did 6 miles in downtown Ann Arbor, which took just about an hour. Apparently it had been awhile since my last 6-miler, because those last couple of miles were really hard! There were also a couple of hills, which I'm not really used to. But it was a fun run and I felt accomplished afterward. Coach Ethan helped me adjust my stride a little bit to put less strain on my knees and calves, so we'll see if that helps over the next week. He also said it's completely fine to skip one mid-week run if my muscles feel like they really need a rest day.

After the run was the nutrition clinic. I didn't really learn anything new, but it was good to have confirmed that nutrition for runners isn't different from regular old nutrition, other than special focus on making sure you're getting enough fuel before, during, and after runs. Coach Ethan said that if you're running for more than about an hour, you need to refuel by snacking during the run. There are these "energy gels" like Gu that supposedly are great for replenishing sugar and electrolytes during runs, but they freak me out due to not resembling anything found in nature (anything edible, at least). Nor am I wild about Powerade or other similar "sport drinks" -- they're so sugary and don't taste very good. As far as I know, people were running marathons for many decades before these weird sport foods were invented, so I'm going to experiment with other things to snack on during longer runs -- nuts, pretzels, trail mix, anything salty would be good.

Ran another 3.3 this morning -- wanted to keep the run short so as not to tire myself out before tomorrow's Team 6-miler. It was COLD this morning with lots of fog on the ground.

Ran 3.3 this morning. I'd gotten a little more sleep last night and the knees weren't complaining, so it was better than yesterday.

I'm really glad we learned the stretching stuff last Saturday. I've been taking a good 5-10 minutes to stretch after running, and it makes me feel a lot more relaxed and less sore.

Ran 4.4 miles at Lillie Park this morning. My knees were somewhat stiff and sore for the first mile or so; note to self: ask Coach Ethan about that on Saturday. Also, I need to get some pepper spray to carry with me on early morning runs. It's dark and deserted in the wooded areas of the park so early in the morning.

I am not getting enough sleep and it's taking some of the fun out of running -- need to figure that out. I have to get up at 5:15 to run on work mornings, but at night it's not getting completely dark until about 10pm. Plus, I'm not even getting home from work until 7:30 or 8, and I need a little time to unwind before I can even think about bed. A few people have suggested running in the evening; I'm not wild about that idea, but will consider it if I can't figure out another way to get more sleep. Ideas welcome...

Sunday was my rest day, so I took the opportunity to go shopping for a new pair of running shoes. The folks at Running Fit in downtown Ann Arbor were very helpful, and nice enough to give me a Team In Training discount even though I had missed the formal shoe clinic. I got a great pair of shoes (which incidentally are PINK, and in support of breast cancer research) to replace my worn-out ugly brown ones. Yay!

Monday morning I tried doing a run at a different park that is a little nearer to Andrew's place, but I couldn't find the trail that was rumored to be there. Darn! So, I ended up driving the rest of the way to Lillie Park and did three of the 1.1-mile loops there instead. The new shoes performed well, so it looks like I'll be keeping them on as my running buddies for the rest of my training.

Today is another rest day...