Summertime

It is August and summer is in full swing here in the Pacific northwest. I love to be in town during August - we have the best weather! Running has to happen early but that leaves lots of time for reading on the deck, working in the garden, and enjoying these last days before the inevitable - going back to work.
It was fun to see how the miles have added up this summer. Just 14 miles until I reach the purple - oops - that should have read blue level on Nike+!

on my own

My running buddy has been traveling so I have been on my own for 4 days and my runs has some ups and some downs.
My first solo run felt awful!  I was hot and felt like I was really slogging along.  By the time I finished that 8 mile run, I was pretty much convinced that I would not be able to finish that half marathon just 5 weeks away. 
The next day I pushed myself to get back on the trail.  My sensor numbers from the previous day showed that I had kept the pace I am hoping to hit for that half marathon - not nearly as awful as it felt.  I had tried running while listening to a favorite podcast, just trying something new.  On this run, I went back to my favorite play list and had a good 5 mile run.  Okay, maybe I can do this.
Yesterday I gave myself a break and went for a bike ride instead of running.  It was a bit overcast so I switched to a tough gear and pushed some different muscles. 
My buddy is back in town and we will have our long (10-11 miles) tomorrow.  This morning I headed out for a short run on the trail.  It was lovely.  When I looked up I saw the sun breaking through the clouds and a hot air balloon.  When I looked down I saw that flash of green on my shoes, carrying me steadily along. 
It was good to run alone, to see how I need to push myself, to see where I need to give myself a little grace and kindness.  But I am happy to know that when I head out on that long run tomorrow, I won't be on my own.

it's not about the numbers, but . . .

I love to look at them anyway.
This is a screen shot of my dailymile page. ** It shows the last 12 months and how many miles I have logged. Riding my bicycle has made a big difference between this year and last.  I think I have 68 running miles for July but almost 60 miles of bicycling too.
Today we did a 10 mile run and it was great!  I woke up to a bit of rain and skies that threatened to put a damper on our running plans but we headed out, ready to turn around if it got too wet.  We were able to take off our rain jackets for parts of the run and most of the puddles were small enough to go over or around.  I am so happy we got this run in today.  This puts us in a great position to finish our training strong and be fully prepared for the half marathon.

**I use Nike+ to log my miles then sync them to the Nike+ site.  Once that is done, I can also sync those miles to Daily Mile.  What I like about daily mile is the ability to add all sorts of workouts from running, to cycling, to cross training.  It feels more user friendly. **

gear review - water bottles

It has been muggy.  And for people used to cool, wet weather - 68 degrees is pushing the heat meter.
As we increase our miles, I have been thinking more about keeping hydrated.  Last year we bought some hand held water bottles.  They are very easy to take along.  One side has a band that you strap over your hand.  There is a small pocket which fits a key or perhaps some cash.  I guess I could put my nano in there but the water sometimes sloshes as I run and the inside of the pocket gets a bit wet.
Yesterday, I grabbed this little bottle of water that I had in the car (6 oz.)  It was an early morning run and I was feeling a bit dehydrated and it was there.  I figured I could always toss it along the way (there are trash cans on our trail).  But there is a design flaw - when you try to drink out of a full water bottle as you run, you might find yourself getting a bit we from the chin down :) 
I don't think I want to add a fuel belt to carry more than water and we do have places along our trail where we can get off the trail and use the water fountains.  And we have talked about stashing a water bottle on our route (heard about this idea from Lori).  And here is another article with more ideas about hydration options.

rest day?

I have trouble taking a rest day.  I decided "rest" meant no running.  So after about an hour of weeding the garden, I did this core work out.  This is harder than I thought it would be!  Visit this website for more printable workouts to shake it up a bit :)

hills

We live in a very hilly area.  And we are top of the hill.  We don't have to worry about flooding.  Riding your bike out of the neighborhood is easy - getting home is an uphill battle.  But, it is a good place to do some hill work.  After our 8 mile run on Saturday, I only needed a few miles to make my goal of 20 miles for the week so I tied on my shoes and headed out the front door.  I did  a bit of back and forth, down a hill then back up again, until I hit the 2.5 mile mark.  When I looked at the run on Nike+, I found there is an elevation tool.  I need to compare my neighborhood hills with the hills on the 1/2 marathon course to see how I am doing. 

how do you start your day?

I like to start my day with a bit of green.  I call it a juice drink, my husband calls it slurm.  It varies from day to day, season to season.  Sometimes it is brown when I use chocolate protein powder.  Other days, the reds and blues of berries swirl together to make a pink juice.  But my favorite thing to use is spinach.  This week I bought a cantaloupe and added that to the mix.  And the bit of ginger?  Just as sliver, doesn't add to much to the taste but it is great for inflammation.