Losing Count

I haven't been counting runs, as is my habit. But I had a good Central Park Reservoir run this week, on a very hot and humid Tuesday evening. Didn't think I could sweat so much. I broke down and did the unthinkable, removing my shirt and running in the park, topless. I pity my fellow runners who had to watch, but I was considerably more comfortable.

I brought my sneakers ro Lexington, KY for a Wednesday/Thursday business trip, aiming to run Thursday morning. Alas, I drank too much bourbon Wednesday night and slept in Thursday. I only roused myself to shower and dress in time for a breakfast meeting. It was super humid there, too.

Aiming for a 7 miler today in the Champlain Valley. Will post.

Peace, fellas.

Phew!

I went out for 10K today in preparation for Falmouth on Sunday. I'm on a bit of a crash course training right now but it's OK. The run felt pretty good despite that fact that I think the inside of a rice cooker is less humid than the air right now. I'll try and do one more either tomorrow or Friday. It was tough to breathe but it was good to get out and move.

I'm looking forward to Sunday, I actually feel more prepared this year than the last though not sure why -- it might be mental at this point more than physical but last year I was empty and this year, right now, I'm not. Either way, I'm just running to run and keep up a tradition of running this race until I have a collection of at least 12 coffee cups (it's the yearly race gift). I'm going to run, enjoy it and not stress about time -- the goal, as always, is to run under 60 for 7 miles. We'll see where I net out.

Jungle Running

I got in a swim over the weekend. It was thundered out about 80% of the way into it. I was swimming in board shorts which felt like I was pulling a huge weight and made the swim quite a bit more challenging. I blogged about board shorts last year, I think. Never again for a workout! I think it's good to challenge oneself, but board shorts are miserable for any sort of extended swimming. Didn't get the runs in that I wanted to. Oh well.

I got out Tuesday and today, Wednesday. Both runs were struggles. The humidity has been outrageously high the past couple of days and I could feel my strength ebbing with each step as I fought for air. It was like running in a jungle. Admittedly, I'm not where I'd like to be but the past two days have been much harder than expected and I do think it's the humidity (85% today according to my hygrometer). I'm considering going again tomorrow, but we'll see -- the humidity is to persist as well. I went on Tuesday at 10:30 AM to get a feel for potential conditions at Falmouth and it was less than fun. I hit the road today around 6:30 AM and it still was misery inducing.

I've noticed that I'm lacking a certain toughness in my workouts that I used to have. It could be fatigue, it could be lack of interest in my local routes, it could be that my energy is elsewhere these days. I'll work through it, and at least I'm getting more consistent.

Foul

I intended to go running yesterday but I woke and everything huhrt -- my whole body ached.  It was like a delayed reaction from Tuesday night's endeavor.  It was a good ache and sort of cool though.

I got out this morning and the air was foul.  It wasn't too hot but it was super humid -- around 90%..  I had a weird dream about not being able to breathe and woke up feeling sort of congested, but I ran anyway.  I did my short route and kept off on the pace becuse of the humidity.  I didn't have my HR monitor on today.  I felt strong through the short distance -- sometimes you need short runs for confidence, I think --.I finished well and am glad that I got out.  I was making breakfast post-run and was leaving footprints all over the clean kitchen floor -- that's how much I was sweating. 

Quarter Acre Run

The FreeArtists and Agricolae spent the weekend at the Quarter Acre, and Agricola and I got in a humid early Saturday run, before it turned into a real scorcher.

Ag is a generous host in many ways. We ran at my glacial pace and stopped when I needed to. In all, I think we travelled about 3 miles and ran about 2 of them, but I need verification on that. And I think my HR monitor was smooshing my HR with Ag's, b/c it measured an average 10 fewer bpms than my previous run on Thursday night. Regardless, I was able to chat while running, which was not something I expected, and enjoyed considerably.

Ms. FA ran on the treadmill last night without pain, proving that her purple toe isn't going to slow her down, so long as she doesn't make any sudden turns. Hills have not yet been tested.

30 minute swim

At least that's what it felt like today. I just saw Agricola's post and ditto that for me. No pain, but a definite struggle to get in 30 minutes. The air was THICK.

On the positive side, I had no pain in the calf. It seems that the rest (haven't run since Friday) did it well.