Day 14

Fun day. Ran later than usual, but still got in 4 miles on the indoor track in 32:44. Followed that up with 10 minutes (1 mile) on the Stairmill at 75-80 steps/min.

Threw in a few sit-ups, push-ups and pull-ups for good measure. Then walked up the steps to the water slide about 50 times at the pool carrying Daniel and/or Grace!

15 runs/14 days

Day 13

A good maintenance run today. 6 miles in ~53 minutes. It was fairly warm, but I was able to stay in some shade for about half the time. This challenge has helped get my projected yearly mileage consistently above 1800! I was hovering at about 1750 for a while, occasionally getting up to 1800 after long runs. Now it's ~1830 and has been for over a week. Still, that's just projected mileage. Anything can happen. Another 6 months of the year to go.

Which reminds me, I broke 900 miles for the year today. Cool!

14 runs/13 days

Day 12 of 100

OK, so no run on Day 11, but today I got in a fun 5.5 miles pushing both kids in the double wide. It was warm and humid (dew point ~62, temp ~78), but not too bad. D slept for most of it and G talked for the first half and rested for the return trip. Got home about 5 min before J getting back from her 11 miler in Umstead.

Going to try and get in at least double run days this week to bank a few more missed days. Work is pretty chill right now and I have the luxury of the time to do that. That won't be the case in the future!

13 runs/12 days

Day 10 of 100

4.9 miles today, in 45:39. Very hot (93F, heat index of 97), dew point of 68. Lost a lot of water that I'm still replacing. Felt pretty good overall though. Legs a bit sore from yesterday's double but not too bad.

12 runs/10 days

Day 9 (part 2)

Ran another 4 miles (in 30:24) on the indoor track this afternoon. Had a major bonk on the way to pickup the kids. Pigged out on Dr. Pepper, chips, and cookies before heading to the pool for some evening fun (coincidentally making the kids extra tired!). Tomorrow's run should make June my longest month yet in 2009.

11 runs/9 days

Day 9 of 100

Painful run this morning. For those who know the area, I ran the Company Mill Loop in Umstead State Park, but did it as a 'Figure 8'. I ran from the Harrison Avenue parking lot to the bridge, turned right and made my way to Reedy Creek road. Then I turned left and went up Cemetary hill to the trail intersection, turned right and ran the 1.5 mile section of the CM trail back to Reedy Creek road, turned right again and went up Cemetary hill a second time, then went left on the CM trail back to the bridge and parking lot. Kinda like this, although the distance aren't correct. Total distacne according to trail maps was 7.2 miles and I finished at around a 10 minute pace (no watch). Good hill and trail work overall. It was humid and I was drenched at the end.

I fell pretty hard at ~6 miles, kicking a rock and landing on my side. It hurt my toe more than anything, and I once again used my water bottle to break the fall, although my right elbow hit pretty hard. After that, I kinda fell apart, kicking roots/rocks 8-10 more times, all with my left foot. My big toe HURTS now! Two of those caused me to almost hit the ground again. WTF? I'm either out of practice running trails or my new foot strike isn't conducive to trails. Need to work on this.

I'm hoping to sneak in another short run this afternoon before I get to go pick-up the kids. We'll see how I feel.

10 runs/9 days

Day 8, 8% of days done!

Maintenance run today. I had to get to the library on campus, so got into about 20 minutes of powerwalking before hand as a warmup. Then I did some weights:

3 x 10 pushups

3 x 5 pullups

5 x 20 (various) ab exercises

2 x 12 shoulder press (30 lbs)

2 x 10 bent-over row (30 lbs)

2 x 10 back extension

3 x 12 calf raises (single leg, body weight)

2 x 10 squats (25, 35 lbs), then 1 x 20 squats (45 lbs)

Then I ran 2 miles on the indoor track in just under 16 minutes. I got tired of counting laps though (forgot my watch) , so I switched to the dreadmill. I first did 5 x 5 minute intervals (2 miles total) of:

15% incline at ~20 min/mile pace

2% incline at 8:40 min/mile pace

10% incline at ~16 min/mile pace

15% incline at 19 min/mile pace

1% incline at 8:40 min/mile pace

Then followed up with 1 mile at 8:00 min/mile pace, then another 0.5 mile slowing to ~9:40 min/mile by the end. Total was 5.5 miles.

9 runs/8days

Day 7

Today marks 7 days of running in the "100 in 100" challenge. Today's run was OK, not great. 7.7 miles around NCSU Centennial Campus and downtown Raleigh. Legs felt OK, but overal my energy level was pretty low. I think I finished in ~1:10 to 1:12, so under 10 minute pace, which is good since I got stopped at a few traffic lights. I think I'm a bit dehydrated so I'm now off to get some Pibb Xtra!

I had planned on a double run today, but woke up late (6:50A) so decided against it. Maybe Thursday, or possibly even tomorrow I'll try again.

8 runs/7 days

Day 6 of 100

Day 6...a surprisingly good/fast run for me today. Right at 6 miles in 52:39, for a sub 9:00 pace. I didn't feel like I was working hard at all, despite the ~85F temp, sunny skies, not insignificant humidity, and respectable number of hills. I even took a 1 minute walk break at just over halfway (for no particular reason, I just felt like it).

If I can log 51.8 miles in the next 9 days (a little under 6 miles per day average), I will break my monthly mileage record (188.5 miles). Doable, but not a given. My plan is to get in 2 runs tomorrow and Thursday, with a slightly longer run on Wednesday. I pick up the kids all 3 days so will be getting in to work early (hopefully), which will help.

7 runs/6 days

Day 5

Another easy day. Took both kids in the double-wide and ran an 'easy' 3.5 miles. Pushing 80+ pounds ain't easy! Did my best to charge up the hills to get a good leg workout.

Spent the rest of the day at the pool, getting somewhat sunburned on my shoulders and back. It was worth it though, as G finally had a great time in the big pool, jumping to me off the steps, "swimming" in her floatie, and doing what she calls 'jumpers': me throwing her up in the air and then catching her (most of the time). D was his usual self, practically jumping into the deep end solo. He took a 3 hour nap and was still in bed by 8:30.

6 runs, 5 days

Day 4

Easy run today. I took DMC out in the stroller for a quick 4 miles, finishing in ~39 minutes. It was 9:30 when I started, and apparently (I found out later) 97F heat index! I drank a full 20 ounces of water and was drenched when I got home.

5 runs, 4 days

Day 3

Today was a hot, humid day.

At my 9 AM start, it was high 70's and 90% humidity. By 5 minutes in, my water bottle was dripping condensation! I ran in Umstead State Park, which gave some decent hills. Total distance was between 13 and 14 miles. I finished in 2:10. I had planned on going for ~3 hours, but decided that it was a good workout and I did still have to get into work for a bit, so cut it short.

Legs felt good, if not a bit sore. But I only stopped to refill my bottle (3 times), each time for maybe 2 minutes. I consumed 3 S-Caps, 5 mini Snickers, and about 50 ounces of 3/4 strength Orange Gatorade. I really charged the last 0.5 mile hill, which felt good!

4 runs/3 days

Day 2 of 100 (part 2)

Cool! I was able to sneak in another 5 mile run on the indoor track at NCSU before I went to pick up the kids, finishing in 42:59. I also "topped off" my daily mileage by walking 0.3 miles on the treadmill at 15% incline to warm up, making it 9.5 miles for the day total.

My legs are getting more sore from the squats yesterday (and I suppose the two runs today), so tomorrow's planned long-ish, hilly-ish run should be interesting.

3 runs/2 days

Day 2 of 100

Easy run this morning from NCSU gym. 4.2 miles in 39:45. Legs a bit sore from yesterday's workout, and I slept very little last night (maybe 3 hours total, with several interruptions), but overall I feel pretty good.

To the lab!

2 runs/2 days

100 in 100: Day 1

So I joined a challenge to run 100 times in 100 days:

http://tinyurl.com/100in100

Run = 3 miles or 30 minutes

You do not have to run everyday

Multiple runs on the same day must be separated by at least 1 hour.

What the hell, why not try and see. I'm already training for Mountain Masochist. I rarely do double runs and often miss at least 1 day a week, so this may be a good motivation to do just a bit more than usual.

Todays exercise:

1.5 mile warmup run from work to the NC State gym.

Weights:

5 x 20 'torso twist' type exercises

2 x 10 assisted pullups (50 pounds assist)

2 x 10 assisted dips (50 pounds assist)

2 x 20 incline situps

2 x 10 single leg squats (20 pounds)

2 x 20 back extensions on machine (100, 125 pounds)

2 miles on indoor track (13 laps), barefoot (well, wearing Injini socks)

1.7 mile run back to work

I'm counting the final 3.7 miles as my first "run" since they were only separated by about 2 minutes. That makes September 25, 2009 as my "100 days" deadline.

1 down, 99 to go