Up to Day 76

Bummer! Just got caught up, and I get a 2 day break from running. Busy weekend, with no running. I did go for a 12 mile bike ride in Umstead pulling the kids in the new bike trailer. Killed my legs!

Today (Day 76), I ran 5.2 miles in the rain...it was awesome. Cooler temps too. Easy easy run, under 45 minutes.

74 runs/76 days

Days 69-73

Bit of break in updates...busy week! Here's we go...

Monday = Day 69 = 5.5 miles, 50 minutes, Nice and easy, no issues with foot.

Tuesday = Day 70 = Early morning run with D on the Tobacco Trail. 5 miles, started at 6 AM! Took me out for the rest of the day.

Wednesday = Day 71 = 4 miles, again early in the AM with D-Mac. We saw a Great Dane that blew his little mind! ALso ran a second time today: 4.8 miles in 45 minutes. Did some quarter mile repeats on grass at ~90% effort. It was hot out, so that translated into not so fast running!

Thursday = Day 72 = 5 miles on the indoor track at NC State (38:13), the first 4 in 30 minutes flat! I did intervals of 2-3 laps (1/3 to 1/2 mile) at fast pace, with equal recovery. I also did 10 minutes (1.03 miles) on the stairmill at 85 steps per minute.

Friday = Day 73 = A quick run today, 4.7 miles in 40 minutes. Then a pizza lunch with G and J at daycare.

73 runs/73 days

Days 66-68

Got some runs in, but all very short. Busy busy busy!

Friday = Day 66 = 4 miles of not fun running. Maintenance run in the heat/humidity.

Saturday = Day 67 = 4 miles on American Tobacco Trail. Hot again, and had major nerve issue with left foot again!?! Maybe it is the NB 790's. Need to get this resolved.

Sunday = Day 68 = 3.5 miles pushing the kids in the stroller. Foot OK, but wore my Saucony Ride (700+ miles!). "Slogged" up the hills to simulate late in race fatigue. Not hard as it was humid, but cooler, yet still my legs were toast.

67 runs/68 days

Days 63-65

Tuesday through Thursday. Days 63-65. Let's see...

Tuesday, Day 63: Another morning run with D-Mac in the stroller, on the American Tobacco Trail. He fell asleep this time. Humid but you can't beat spending time with your kids!

Wednesday, Day 64: Super-looper-dooper busy day at work, so no run. ☹

Thursday, Day 65: Four (4) mile morning run with D-Mac on the American Tobacco Trail. Once again, he was in an awesome mood and had a blast. I struggled, tired legs. After lunch, at about 1:15 PM, I headed out from work and ran to the gym, did 2 miles on the indoor track, then ran back to work. 4.6 miles total. I did the track miles in ~15 minutes, alternating fast strides on the long stretches, and recovery on the short stretches.

64 runs/65 days

Day 62b

OK, luxury today. The construction of a new building next to mine is causing my office desk to shake, and today was a lot worse than usual (they are taking down an exterior wall), so I left for a lunchtime run. Got in 3.2 miles and finished off with some 0.25 mile pickups on the soft grass of Miller fields next to the gym. It was hot, but still fun! Also did some situps, pullups, etc.

61 runs/62 days

Day 62

D woke up at his usual early time (ready to get out of crib by 6 AM) and since that was later than I had planned on waking up, I put him into the running stroller and took him out for a quick 4.3 miles on the American Tobacco Trail. Kind of blew his mind but he had a good time. And I got a run in, which is good because today is going to be a BUSY day!

60 runs/62 days

Days 59-61

Day 59 = Friday. Run cut short because of major foot pain. Stepped on a rock less than a mile in and my whole foot started hurting...a lot! I even changed to a new pair of kicks with more cushioning to no avail. My guess is either deep bruise or nerve thingy.

Day 60 = Saturday = No run. Foot still a little sore, but the day just became too hectic to fit one in.

Day 61 = Sunday = Awesome longer run (16.3 miles)! Ran the 1st 5.5 pushing the little darlings in the stroller, up the corkscrew and cemetery hill in Umstead State Park. That was the final 5.5 miles of J's 17 miler. It was very oppressive, with the occasional blast of what felt like 50F air. Weird. That took us ~1 hour, then I got to run solo and did another 10.8 in ~1:47, including 3.3 miles of single track (Sal's Branch trail), some good hills (Group Camp road, Reedy Creek Lake road), and 3 stops to refill my water bottle and take a gel. I continue to be amazed at how good I feel running uphill these days. It still hurts, but I don't feel like I need to stop or slow down as much, and when I get to the top I can just keep going to recover. Even with ~70 ounces of water, 8 ounces of chocolate milk, 12 ounces of Coke, a small french fry and McChicken sandwich from McD's afterwards, I was 4 pounds lighter after the run! I feel good though. Ankles a bit stiff, but I past 700 miles in these shoes with today's run, so...

59 runs/61 days

Day 57-58

Missed out on a run yesterday, but had a very productive day at work. Thought about going out after the kids went to bed, but...yeah, didn't happen.

Thursday = Day 58 = 2 runs by 1 PM!!! Started out with a 5 mile, 45 minute session around NC State campus adjacent route. Humid but cooler (70's). Went to an academic coach training session from 10-12, then hit the dreamill for 3 miles in 36 minutes. Did 15 minutes at 15% incline and most of the rest at 5-10% incline.

57 runs/58 days

Day 56

Another hot day in NC. I ran to the gym and back (1.5 miles total), and ran 4.5 miles on the dreadmill, in ~36 minutes. Speedwork intervals at 7:19 min/mile, 2% incline. Recovery was equal time at 8:57 min/mile and 0.5% incline.

4 x 30s

4 x 1 min

4 x 2 min

1 x 4 min

Also did some squat-thrusts, lat pulldowns, and ab work. My legs felt OK, but started to get more and more sore as the day went on. Pretty bad last night and this morning!!!

55 runs/56 days

Days 53-55

Day 53 = No run! After working so hard to get back on pace too!

Day 54 = A very tough 11 mile run. I met up with J at 11.5 miles for her and ran back to her car with her, pusing the kids. That was both kids in the double stroller UP the corkscrew and UP cemetery hill in Umstead. Oi! I thought I was OK, but about 5 minutes after packing the kids in the car and heading back to my car solo, I realized I was in trouble. It was hot out for one, and humid. Granted, the way back is probably easier in term sof total up/down hills. I decided to push the pace since I was going to be out for "only" 11 miles. I made the return 5.5 miles in just over 48 minutes, but it took me out. The final half mile uphill section I chased a cyclist up and nearly keeled over at the top. I was redlined for the last few hundred meters!

Day 55 = a very hot 5.1 miles around NCSU and Centennial campus. The predicted temps for today were 99-100F, the highest of the year so far. It was 94F with a heat index of 100 when I headed out 12:45P. It was 97F with a heat index of 103F when I got done 48 minutes later. It was actually a pretty fun run. I took it real easy (for obvious reasons) and took a few walk breaks as well to drink my water. There was a pleasant breeze on Western Blvd that helped a little.

54 runs/55 days

Days 51-52

Day 51, Thursday. Hardest, most unpleasant run in a LONG time. Had to stop and walk about 20 minutes in, and again at about 33 min, each time for 2-3 minutes. I was light-headed and just felt weak. I still finished 5 miles in 49:30, so I may have started out a bit fast!

Day 52, Friday. A very easy 5.5 miles total. Ran 0.75 miles to the gym, then 4 miles on the dreadmill, then 0.75 miles back to work. Kept things nice and slow. My legs were burning walking up the stairs this morning, so I need some recovery time.

52 runs/52 days

Day 50 - Halfway done

Day 50, the halfway point. I'm actually surprised it's come this seemingly fast.

Today I snuck in an early run of 3.2 miles in 30 minutes at ~11:15 AM. I had a chunk of downtime in the protein purification I'm doing in the lab (after co-opting my graduate student to do a step for me!).

Then during a longer step, I went to the gym for some weights and 5 miles on the indoor track, in 39:30. Three consecutive days of double runs is a record for me, by 2 days! Unless I get out early tomorrow morning (like 5 AM early), the streak will end. But, I'm now "caught up" and am on pace to complete the 100 in 100 challenge. If I can keep this up...

50 runs/50 days

Day 49b

I ran a second time again today, getting in 8 miles in the HEAT of the afternoon. About 2 was on trail (nice!), and at the end I stopped at the Red Hat building (much to the dismay of the secretary who "greeted" me) to return a badge I found on the sidewalk. My time (sans badge returning episode) was ~1:16, for a 9:30 pace.

The trips up the stairs for the waterslide at the pool tonight definitely let me know my legs are tired!

48 run/49 days

Day 48b, Day 49a

Monday afternoon: ran 3.6 miles in 30 minutes on the dreadmill. 5 min warmup at ~9:00 pace, then intervals of 7:30 pace with equal time recovery at 8:57 pace (8 and 6.7 MPH), all at 1% incline.

4 x 30s

4 x 1 min

2 x 2 min

1 x 4 min (1 min recovery to end of workout)

Felt surprisingly good, not that hard to keep a 7:30 pace. Is it possible I'm making progress in overall running ability?

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Tuesday morning: was going to get out early (~5:30A). Was awake and getting out of bed at 5:40, when I heard a very odd noise outside. Both cats were outside, and J went to check. Turned out to be an owl that was dive-bombing the yard. As she walked outside, she walked through a huge spiderweb so immediately got in the shower. No big deal, I can still make it out by 6:00-ish...yeah...D wakes up almost immediately, and while I'm trying to rock him back to sleep, G wakes up crying for "mommy". So J got out of the shower to see all three of us in our bed!

I was still able to get out for a quick 4 miles, though, making it home by 6:50. It threw my normal morning routine all into chaos though! Today might be the day I go back on the 'juice' (caffeine). It's been 12 days. I proved my point!

47 runs/49 days

Day 48

Monday, Day 48, almost halfway done with this 100 in 100 challenge, and still well within the realms of possibility..only 3 runs behind schedule.

Today was a fun run. Fresh legs from no run yesterday, but fairly warm. I ran a total of 4.5 miles, but also threw in about 40 flights of stairs. Whenever I saw a good set of stairs, I ran up then down them and continued on. This included some parking structures and a few buildings around NC State campus. The tallest was 6 flights, the shortest a single, albeit longer than normal flight. Felt pretty good.

45 runs/48 days

Days 45-47

Day 45 = Friday = 4.5 miles. HOT outside, muggy, but a fairly easy run. Just missed a massive downpour that would been a blast to run in. Oh well. Typifies my week. With today's run concluding July:

_______July____Year-to-Date

Miles 158.9 1067.0

Days 24 164

Runs 28 173

Projected for 2009 now 1837.1 miles.

Average per week = 34.4

Day 46 = Saturday = 4 miles pushing D in the BOB Ironman stroller. Fairly humid. He slept for most of it.

Day 47 = Sunday = No run. It rained or was threatening rain for most of the day, so I didn't risk getting the kids out in it.

44 runs/47 days