Running for Jen

I was up before 7:00am and it was still overcast, therefore, I decided that today would be a good day to run.  It was a bit warm, but tolerable.  Unfortunately, I felt a bit sluggish and that weakness in my right leg was back.  I got through the workout, but obviously would have liked to have done better than that.

I have been on vacation for the past week and didn't get a chance to enter this prior to leaving. I do recall that I had a good run and remember that I was definitely looking forward to our trip to Chicago.

I attempted to run this morning, but there was only one treadmill in the fitness center of our gym at the hotel.  I eventually hoped on the elliptical until my husband was done, which wasn't even a half an hour.  I would have run afterward, but we were heading to Wrigley field and still needed to get tickets.

This was my first run in Chicago.  It took a while for my watch to retrieve the satellites.  I ran to the Navy Pier based on the instructions that were given to me by the front desk.  I missed my turn and wound up heading down Michigan Avenue until I hit Lakeshore Drive.  From this point, I went in the direction of the pier and eventually found it.  I ran to the end and then made my way back to the hotel.  I was only at 5 miles when I got to our hotel so I continued on so that I could at least get 6 miles in.  My legs felt tired even though the roads were flat.

Second run in Chicago and still my watch is having issues finding the satellites.  I guess GPS watches and skyscrapers don't go well together.  Today I ran to and around the Navy Pier.  After the Pier I ventured south(?) on Lakeshore drive, which led me towards the aquarium and Soldier Field.  From there, I went through Grant Park and back to the hotel.  It was warmer than I was anticipating.

This was the first morning that I stepped outside in Chicago and actually had my watch locate the satellites right from the start.  It was raining and it felt really good.  I ran through downtown to the Navy Pier, around the pier and up Lakeshore drive.  I then turned around and headed back around the edge of downtown.  I even came across the street that my husband and I had been on a couple of days before  for the World Cup.  

Following this run, I went on a chocolate tour.  It was awesome!

This was not a good run.  I knew that it wouldn't be right from the start.   I just didn't have the energy.  I think that I was wiped out from our trip.  I also know that I am carrying an extra few pounds  (there was a lot of good eats in Chicago, especially the sweets).  I took some Tylenol 8-hour before I started and just hoped for the best.  I told myself that if I needed to walk that it wouldn't be the end of the world.  The first 3 miles were the roughest, just feeling very sluggish.  After that things did get a bit better.  I did find some energy, but did find the need to walk on occasion.  When all was said and done, I finished and was happy about it.

I felt so sluggish this morning that  I decided to sleep in this morning.  I also think that I am getting a cold since I have to blow my nose fairly often.  Since I did sleep in, it was way too hot to run outside and I really wanted to get some exercise.  I decided to go to the gym.  I actually felt better than I thought that I would, unfortunately, I had to pause the machine every mile to blow my nose and throw my tissue out.  I was happy to get the workout in.

I had a summer retreat this morning for work, so I decided to get up at 5:00am and run prior to going.  It has been a while since I have had to get up early, but I will have to start doing this in just a couple of weeks, when I go back to work.  It was actually  kind of nice running this early.  I got outside by around 5:50am, which was later than I anticipated.  I thought that daybreak was still a bit earlier.  It was muggy out, but it was nice not having the sun beat down on me as I ran.  I felt alright.  Not great, but not bad either.  Outside of having to make an emergency bathroom break towards the end, I considered it a decent run and was happy that I got myself up to do it.

I was going into work today with a colleague and needed to be ready to go by 9:00am (at least I thought I did, she was quite late).  I got myself up by 6:00am and thought that I could get out the door without my dogs noticing, but they did.  I left anyway (i had already let them out), and had a lousy run.  My legs saw anything that looked like a hill and said forget it.  Due to time, guilt (for not walking the dogs and just a bad run , I decided to cut the run at 6 miles and head home.

I had a really good run this morning.  I was out the door by 7:30 and fortunately it wasn't too hot yet.  I was also trying out a new pair of running shorts (great purchase).  I did not feel the need to walk.  I ran up all of the hills (as I should) and felt pretty good.  I finished in 1:26:?, which isn't great, but I was just happy to feel good throughout.

When I was walking my dogs, I kept telling myself that due to the time (I slept in) and the sun that I should go to the gym.  Unfortunately, I just didn't want to go and decided that I would suck it up and run in the heat, even if it meant just running 6 miles.  Amazingly, in the maybe 10 minutes that I was home after walking my dogs to stepping back outside to run, the sky became overcast.  This made such a difference temperature-wise.  It remained overcast for the duration of my run, which made me feel strong enough to go 7 miles, which I did.  By the time I went outside, which was less than an hour after I got back, the sun was out.  I am not the most spiritual person in the world, but I guess that it was meant to be that I ran outside.

My run started out fairly well this morning.  I was out the door by 7:00am, which helped with the heat.  It was still warm, but tolerable.  I was good until about 7.5 miles in when I found ants all over my water bottle.  This is the first time that this has happened since I started planting my bottle.  Of course intelligent me went to pick up the bottle and was bitten by the ants.  I wanted to get the bottle open, which I did so that I could the bugs off my hands.  Then a few minutes later, right around mile 8, the last of vitamin c drop fell out of my mouth and onto the ground.  This may sound silly, but that drop helps when there is a lack of water.  On top of all this, the heart rate monitor that I got with my watch, kept slipping.  I need to adjust the length, but for some reason this has been rocket science for me.  I keep making it longer instead of shorter.  I made it to my goal of ten miles, therefore I was happy with my distance; unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the time it took me to complete the distance.

As I approach my last full week off, I decided to sleep in this morning.  Fortunately for me, the skies outside were overcast and I could run outside, even at 10:15 am.  It was warm, but it was much easier than it would have been had the sun been out staring at me.  I felt okay during my run.  I am starting to think that I need to change my mental approach to running, since my times have been much slower than where they should be.  As an example, it took me a little over 1:16:00 to complete 7 miles.  That is almost an 11:00 minute mile.  I have been well rested, although that will change when I go back to work.  

I got myself up early this morning so that I could run prior to going into work for a little while.  I was outside by 7:30.  It wasn't too bad, but the sun was on its way of creating some serious heat.  I felt alright again today and pushed myself up the hills, although once again I was not setting any record paces.  I was also happy to complete 7 miles.  I was ready to be done when I finished.  My hope right now is that things will improve this fall, when the temperatures will begin to drop.  Finish time was just over an hour and 17 minutes.

I got up at 5:30 this morning so that I could get my run in and get to work by around 9:30.  I don't officially go back for another week, but I wanted to get some more stuff done in my classroom and then take my last few days off.  The good thing about getting up early was that I was out the door by 6:10am.  It is definitely easier to run when the sun isn't beating down on you.  Unfortunately, I still felt a bit sluggish.  I also was not too intelligent, because for some reason I chose not to plant my water out on my route.  I guess my brain thought for a moment that earlier out the door meant less heat.  From a sun standpoint that would be accurate, but it is still very humid at the hour.  I am looking forward to taking tomorrow off.

It took a lot for me to get out the door this morning.  I knew that it was going to be warm since I chose to sleep in.  It was 8:30am by the time I got out there.  I contemplated going to the gym, but I wanted to take advantage of running outside while I still had the opportunity.  I told myself at the start that if I needed to walk, it was not going to be the end of the world.  I am happy to report that I felt pretty good all the way through.  My legs appreciated the day off yesterday.  I left the music at home once again.  

Today actually felt warmer than yesterday, yet I still chose to run outside.  I know that starting on Tuesday, my days running outdoors will be limited to mostly the weekends for a while.  Once again, I didn't get started until 8:30am, which is too late here.  I don't know what the official temperature was, but hot (low 80's at least) and humid pretty much cover it.  I felt alright for the most part, although mile 6 was a bit tiresome, probably because it had been awhile since I had water.  I was happy to be done when I completed mile 7.  Once again, I chose to leave the I-pod at home.

I wouldn't say that these miles were easy, mainly because it was so warm out.  I, of course, slept in again.  And, of course, I told myself that if I have to walk a little, it is not the end of the world.  I felt decent for the first 6 miles, but then started to feel the effects of the heat.  I definitely found myself taking some walk breaks during the last four miles.  It took me 1:50:+ to complete my run.  By the way, we are under a heat advisory until tomorrow night.  Our average temperatures during the day are in the mid-90's, with feels like temperatures in the 100's.  I did bring my I-Pod with me today.

I was able to sleep in a little bit this morning, but was happy to get myself up and out the door by 7:45am.  This is still too late given the heat, but it was earlier than I have been getting out the past few days.  It helped that the dogs went back to sleep with my husband.  I felt alright for the most part.  Needless to say, it was warm.  Temperatures are supposed to hit the upper 90's again today.  The only issue that I ran into today was that someone took my water bottle.  I am not sure if they wanted what warm water was left or they thought it was garbage.  I was almost done when it happened and there was only a 10 minute window in which the theft took place.  I guess that it was bound to happen.

This was brutal!  With this being my final day off before going back to work, I decided to sleep in.  I didn't get up until 7:30am and by the time that I got up, got dressed, ate and walked the dogs, it was just about 9:00am when I stepped foot outside to run.  I don't know officially if it was warmer this morning than it has been the past couple of days, but the heat just sucked the life out of me.  I knew things would not be good when I wanted to walk after mile 2.  I wound up walking quite a bit, especially during the last mile.  Days like this happen.  I just read a little while ago, that we are under another heat advisory until tonight.  Temperatures are scheduled to hit the upper 90's again, with the heat index around 110 degrees.  I will be back on my work schedule tomorrow, which means early rising for me.

Back to Work!  I was up at 4:30am so that I could get outside by around 5ish.  It was dark, but I wanted to see how comfortable I would be running outside at this hour.  It wasn't bad, but I did find myself looking over my shoulder from time to time.  I had a little flashlight with me that helped when I ran through the particular dark spots.  It was very nice not to feel suffocated by the heat of the sun, although it was still quite warm out there.  I could tell because at mile 2, I looked down at my watch using my flashlight and noticed that my arms were already shiny from the sweat.  I finished in under 11 minute miles (finally). Since today was day 6 in a row, my plan is to take tomorrow off and run again on Thursday.

Today was first day back at the gym in at least a couple of weeks.  It was alright for the most part.  I thought that I may have a shot at getting 7 miles in, but unfortunately, I had some stomach issues that limited my day to 6 instead.  I was also trying to get into work a little earlier since we were having an open house at 8:00am.  Outside of the stomach, I felt fine on the treadmill.

I was up at 4:40 this morning after a lousy nights sleep.  I chose to run outside instead of going to the gym.  Because I got up a bit later, I had more light towards the second half of my run.  Once again, I ran my four loops of 1.75 miles each.  It wasn't a very good run.  I was tired and I believe a tad stressed with the first day of school approaching next week.  There is always so much to do the final day of pre-planning and the weekend prior to the first day.  I did walk on occasion, but ran the majority of it. It was warm, but not awful since I wasn't dealing with the sun.

I was exhausted this morning.  Getting back to waking up at 4:30am really took its toll on me this week.  I decided to sleep in so that my body could rest up a bit.  Since it was so late when I got up, I decided to go to the gym with my husband.  He was kind enough to add on time to his workout time so that I could get my miles in.  My original plan was to run 10 miles, which is what I usually do on Saturdays, but I was satisfied with 8 mainly because I felt so sluggish this morning.  I have found that the one downside to sleeping in is that I tend to think about my running too much.  When I get up at the crack of dawn, I don't really give it too much thought.  I just get up, eat and head out the door.