Monthly Archives: September 2013

September 29, 2013 · 4:48 pm

Week 10

Man! someone sure has been lazy about getting this posted. This someone may or may not also have been particularly stupid and deleted the first version of this post only to have to compose it again. Maybe…maybe not… Anyway…

Mon 9/16 – rest

Tues 9/17 – 6 + 0.6 mi / 52:30 + 5:35 min

It’s amazing what 48 F does to your morning run. I had a 7 am experiment start time today and then nothing time sensitive for a few hrs. So, shamefully goosebumped as the wussy Minnesotean that I am, I took advantage of this luxury and got the miles in early. thankful to be in capris (rather than the normal booty skirt) and (for the first time in months) short sleeves and armwarmers, I managed a very fast (relative…be nice…) first 6 (3 road + 3 trail) and then a respectable final 0.6 up the ~~ass hole~~ character building Washington Ave hill. The knees unfortunately got sore around mile 5 (as has been the case lately :-/) but overall it felt great. It was cool and calm and what a great fall run should be. I’d forgotten what these little treasures are like given the 3 whole days of fall we get in MN (after the whole 6 days of summer…). NJ best have a lot more of these up her sleeve over the next few months or I’ll be sorely disappointed! I brought one pack of gummies, mostly because they sounded yummy and I could. No water.

Wed 9/18 – cross – flag football

Yes, this totally counts. No, I’m not 7. Before the game I was thinking to myself how absolutely ridiculous it would be to include this little extra curricular activity in the training log. But damn. It’s ~~interesting~~ depressing how undertrained I am for this kind of running. Short fast bursts, changing directions, stopping and then starting again, a few down minutes and then repeat. Nevermind jumping to catch a ball or accidentally tackling the scrappy wide receiver on the red team (who conveniently happens to sweat a mysterious gluey substance specifically on the palms of his hands) during a “poorly calculated flag grab attempt.” Oops. Anyway, a different set of muscles definitely got a work out today. The legs, hips and butt are going to be throwing themselves a pity party tomorrow for sure. Should I maybe get on those core exercises and think about doing some cross a little more seriously? Maybe…

Thurs 9/19 – 10.6 mi / 1:37

Success!! Ran to work, started an experiment, ran home, ~~kind of~~ showered and rolled into work for good by the young hour (this is not sarcasm) of 9:30 am.

Now on all fronts it was definitely a success, but damn was I tight from flag football! Not the most comfortable leg muscle situation for the entirety of the run, but this is probably a good message for me. Flag-football-leg-condition aside things felt pretty good. It was cool (55 F or so at the start) which felt good but also felt chilly…go figure. The knees started hurting towards the end and I would’ve enjoyed a visit from the water fairy as well, but I really can’t complain.

Much to my dismay, I left my MP3 player at work on Wednesday and had to complete the first half of the run with no music!!! *gasp* (I know, I’m as surprised as you are that I even survived.) But to my pleasant surprise, it was a rather pleasant change from the norm. *gasp* I can’t say that I would want to do this all the time, and of course I plugged in the tunes as soon as I headed back out for the leg back, but it really wasn’t the fiery hell that I has been envisioning.

Fri 9/20 – rest

Sat 9/21 – 18.8 mi / 3:27

This week’s long run was an awesome start to the weekend. Not because I felt so good (the legs felt like rubber bands and stones all at the same time…thanks a lot flag football and wussy legs…) and not because the weather was so nice (now I ~~probably~~ definitely shouldn’t complain about this but it was kinda cold (~55 F and drizzly at the start). However, I had awesome company with who to co-suffer through the 19 miles (engineering approximation…shoot me) we had a sweet new trail to explore (found by aforementioned co-sufferer Dr. Sami) and we looked damn cute (of course).

Before…

…and after! (Just kidding, this was taken like 13 steps later.)

We did 3 out and back loops of 8.5 + 5 + 5.5 = 19 miles returning to the car to ~~complain,~~ stretch, rehydrate and refuel. The path was great. It was packed dirt along a canal and through the woods to grandmother’s house we go.

While it was majorly rough, the problem for me was tight and fatigued leg muscles (a serious rarity) rather than the usual joint or shin issues much less breathing or lung trouble. I’ll chose the problematic leg meat any day and stop complaining.

Sun 9/22 – 8 awesome mi / 71:36 min

I’m not sure what the hell happened to me this morning but I felt incredible. It was nice and cool out, ~60, with a slight wind and as I got the first half mile or so under my belt I realized I was feeling really really good. I was on an 8 mile loop with no water or snacks (genius, right?) but figured what the hell? and decided to find out how good I really felt (yup, total genius). As it turns out, I felt pretty damn good! The first few miles were at a 9:10-9:15 pace and then I picked it up to finish with a 8:57 average. 🙂 By my calculations, this is approaching the speed of sound!

After yesterday, I was hoping just to survive a few miles and totally gave myself permission to bail turn around before the 4 mile mark if I was starting to fall apart. I should give myself an out more often if this is what happens! Somehow my legs miraculously loosened up and recovered overnight and were itching to get a move on. Happy Sunday to me 🙂

Total mileage = 44 mi

It felt great (kind of) getting the first really long run under the belt but hopefully the next few will be a bit less punishing. The cooler weather has been fantastic and the lower humidity is a great ego boost. 🙂 I feel like now I just need to get the longer miles in over the next few weeks without getting hurt and I’ll be all set for Nov. 🙂

Threads – tanks or tees (+/- arm warmers), running skirts or capris for the chilly mornings, + compression for the long runs and Mizunos (Wave Creation 11s and Wave Elixer 6s)

How to Build Mental Muscle

While hard at work (of course) this article from Runner’s World basically read itself to me…

How to Build Mental Muscle: New research reveals that if you really want that PR, you have to train your brain—hard.

By Alexander Hutchinson

September 16, 2013

Lately work has been nothing short of insane and there really isn’t much hope that it’ll let up over the next 3 yrs. Getting work outs in at the end of the day or, better yet, crammed in between time points, can be stressful, draining and not feel like the high quality work out that I was hoping for. Heading out the door, I want to either feel good and be able to enjoy the run or feel like I’m getting in a productive work out. God forbid both I do both… 😮 Lately however, running has seemed like just one more irritating, not particularly productive, task that must be crammed into an already full day. Not cool. Not cool at all.

So, while lamenting at my desk (now this is productivity) the above article imposed itself upon me with exactly what I needed to hear…

After a few weeks, I’d progressed to 30-minute brain sessions. Sometimes, following Marcora’s advice, I ran immediately after to practice running while mentally fatigued. The result was familiar: It felt like heading out for a run immediately after a stressful day of work or travel. It wasn’t so much that I couldn’t run faster—it just felt harder than usual. I’d check my pace partway through a run, realize that I needed to speed up, but be unable to summon the willpower to make it happen. The purpose of these combo sessions was to simulate the point in a race when your brain starts to feel fried, and practice pushing through it. Essentially, they were brain-training sessions, minus the shapes and letters…

Until recently, coaches and sports scientists believed runners should be as fresh as possible for workouts—well fueled and fully hydrated with rested legs. Now elite athletes sometimes do the opposite: train on empty stomachs and tired legs to stimulate the adaptations that help them cope with the rigors of racing. We’re due for the same shift when it comes to the brain, Marcora believes: Fresher isn’t always better. The military excels in training soldiers to function despite mental fatigue—forcing them to perform grueling marches when they’re already sleep deprived, for example. But it doesn’t have to be that crazy. If your brain is fried after a stressful day at work or a sleepless night with a sick kid, don’t follow the usual advice and reschedule the hard workout you had planned. Instead, embrace the mental fog and hammer the run. Yes, your times will be slower than usual, and the adenosine levels in your brain will be sky-high. You will hate running, and life in general, and Sam Marcora in particular. But if, a few months later, those please-stop-now runs translate into a PR, you’ll forgive him.

(While these more or less…maybe less than more…anyway…get the main point across, the whole article provides context and a good read.)

So, after work and during work workouts are going to be sticking around. The focus will be simply have to start shifting, well, to focus! Hopefully come November there will be a succesful Philly marathon and a shiny new PR to show for it.

4 Comments

Filed under Marathons, Trotting, Work out

Tagged as Marathon, Runner's World, Training, Workout

September 15, 2013 · 6:34 pm

Week 9

It was a much needed cutback week this week…

Mon 9/9 – rest

Sooooo nice 🙂

Tues 9/10 – 5 mi / 47.5 min

Warm out again, ~90 F, and humid. Ugh. The run was crammed in at the end of the day and all went well considering the circumstances. Legs feel pretty good and lungs feel like new.

Wed 9/11 – rest

Thurs 9/12 – 10.6 mi / 1:37

Now this thing was something else! Crammed between time points on a double persister assay day. It’s a good thing I don’t think things through before I do them otherwise I would have either been dreading this or wouldn’t have done it at all. It was still wicked hot and humid out. I didn’t bring water or snacks with me but I definitely chowed and guzzled like a boss during my pit stop back at Hoyt. Super hot. I went out fast (time point logistics) and slowed it down on the second half (being lazy logistics) but still managed to finish the whole pain in the ass at a relatively reasonable average pace. Ver good, this was all I cared about today. I think water and snacks would have been more work than what they would’ve been worth for 5 miles. Stopping back at work midway does have its perks (besides the AC…and hot, slimy, vinyl glovebox).

Fri 9/13 – rest

Sat 9/14 – 12.7 mi / 1:59

Was out making bad decisions until all hours of the night in The City (this is what people from NJ call NYC) last night. So, the run didn’t happen until 4 pm and it was rough ROUGH. I felt slow and dehydrated and not properly fueled. Imagine that. For a variety of reasons Saturday pretty much sucked so I figured it was an operation new compression socks situation.

Purple camo + pink ruffled skirt + brand spanking new purple Procompression does a damn good job.

Sun 9/15 – rest

Total mileage = 28.3 mi

Bella’s Cafe (New Haven, CT)

My bestest marathon buddy Dr. Annebelle and I recently had an amazing 2 pm brunch at Bella’s Cafe in New Haven, CT. This little find is tucked away in the Westville community and is must if you’re visiting CT. (Seriously! It only takes 2 hrs to drive across the whole damn state! And New Haven is in the middle.) Almost as awesome as their food, is the support that they give to a number of local charities. 🙂 They also do catering, and man would I love to get this instead of pizza at lunch meetings once in a while! As if this isn’t enough, the icing on the cake is that they are local and family owned (…and operated? Sure, why not?)

The menu

So we went for brunch (yes, 2 pm is brunch time) but the entire menu looked amazing. Of course we started with mimosas and (white wine) sangria. The mimosa was good and I will have dreams about the sangria. Now this brunch was after completing our weekend long run of +16 miles and we were both pretty effing hangry. I really could have ordered half the menu (and consumed it myself) but (thankfully…in retrospect…) was restricted to a human sized lunch portion.

Dr. Anne and I got to dishes to split and I think we made particularly good choices with the…

Crunchy Breakfast Burrito

and the…

Fried Polenta

The CBR was awesome! It was a fresh flour tortilla stuffed with beans, onions, peppers and a mystery ingredient that I’m not going to disclose but semisuccessfully picked around. The burrito was then lightly fried and topped with two over easy eggs and salsa!! The spice combinations were great, there was just enough kick and the eggs on top were perfect (rather than being scrambled into a homogeneous mush and packed inside the burrito…shamelessly diluting all of the inside goodness in the process…)

While the CBR was awesome, the FP was fanfreakingfenomenal! It will costar with the sangria in my dreams. So this little treasure was two dense, yet moist and creamy, and lightly fried patties of polenta (not mushy or dry or tasteless in any way as polenta is so often reduced…) over an excellent arrabbiata sauce. The seasoning was herby (but not too much…yes that’s a word…on my blog it is anyway…), savory and had a nice kick. Broccoli rabe (with just the right level of bitterness) topped the polenta and all was topped with two perfectly poached eggs. I don’t even really like poached eggs but my mouth is watering as I write this! Get the polenta!

The staff

Our waitress was a bit odd (I know, I’m one to talk…) but she was good. Since it was 2 pm and there were all of 4 tables in the restaurant, everything was super fast and correct (the first time).

The ambiance

Bella’s is a chic little restaurant and bar open only for breakfast, lunch and brunch. The dining room is open and light and super pleasant. I think they might even have some tables out on a patio, but given that it was 700 F outside and 200% humidity (at least) I paid no attention to these options.

If you’re looking for a dollar menu this might not be the best fit for you. But, if you’re looking for great food at a very reasonable price, then you’ll be totally satisfied. Both the quantity and quality of all the grub we got was outstanding. ~$25 for a great bunch (adult beverage for optimal post-16-mile-run-on-a-hot-day hydration included) at a chic little family owned joint that supports local charities…sign me up!!

3 Comments

Filed under Food & Restaurant

Tagged as CT, Food, Friends, Restaurants

September 11, 2013 · 10:10 pm

Week 8

Mon 9/2 – rest

After getting in something that loosely resembled a week of marathon training, this was very welcome. Happy Labor Day!! 😀

Tues 9/3 – 5 mi / ~47.5 min

Here we find another run snuck in between time points by the skin of my teeth. I’ve been going back and forth about how I feel about this and I think it works for me. As long as I have what I’m doing in the lab under control, it’s nice to get out and get some fresh. Squeezing my stumpy swollen sweaty arms and hands back into the glove box’s vinyl sleeves and latex gloves is also super hot. Upon returning from my run today there was a very ~~nerdy~~ exciting present waiting for me —

Epindorf tube openers!!

Per the aforementioned glove box, I now spend most of my days flailing about like a trapped platapus…trying to open and close tubes and pipet precious small volumes of liquid in vinyl sleeves and latex gloves that are approximately 298754 sizes too big. Dr. JBdP to the rescue! Upon realizing and (kind of) coming to terms with my fate (not really, but never mind…) I went blubbering to my wonderful former groupmate at MN, Dr. JBdP. Upon hearing my sob story he packed up my three favorite epindorf tub openers and sent them off to NJ for me! These little treasures will facilitate the opening of approximately 9582 gazillion epi tubes by Platypus Trot over the next 3 years. Thank you!!

Wed 9/4 – rest

Thurs 9/5 – 10 mi / ~95 min

I was able to escape the platypus costume for a day and tackle a continuous (no timepoint breaks!! 🙂 10 mi run at the end of the day! Overall I things felt good. I fueled with 1.5 bags of gummy bears and 4 oz water. I was thirsty by the end (What? Hydrating with coffee isn’t the best MO?!?!) but not too bad. Cooler temps, 70ish, and dusk (read:dusk to night) we’re very helpful in this matter.

One thing I’ve found with training is that I hit the wall at three (progressively late) points during my training runs. Initially it’s at about 8 miles, then it’s more like 12 or 13 and then finally at around 18ish. I’ve been cautiously optimistic that I’m beyond the 8 mile wall and after today I can honestly say that I think I’m on to the ~half-marathon wall. 🙂 I guess we’ll see what happens this weekend!

Another important observation I’ve made is that the hobby of marathon running in combination with the ~~insanity~~ lovely job of being a postdoc results in the most flattering, classy and lab appropriate outfits possible…

Fri 9/6 – rest

Today is super exciting as I am driving up to CT for a weekend visit with my bestest marathon buddy Dr. Annebelle! This whole crazy running business began when we lived together in CT 3 years ago (my god! three years ago?!?!) so reminiscent weekend visit, here I come!

Sat 9/7 – 16.4 mi / who knows

As expected, we had an awesome long run (in matching outfits…although this should really just go without saying) along the CT coast.

We ran along the boardwalk and through some neighborhoods along the cost. It started off sunny and warm and just got warmer, but the breeze off of the water was great and this pasty skin enjoyed the rays (most of them anyway). I had 16 oz water overall, 1 bags of gummy bears and some honey chews from a friend of Dr. Anne that were crazy sweet yet still super yummy. Fueling went well. The lungs felt great and legs felt good until ~mile 13 or so. Here the knees and *gasp* left shin began to ache and *gasp* left calf began to cramp a bit. Overall the last 3 miles or so were quite a bit tougher than the first 13. I found my wall. Stretching and some deep tissue messaging will hopefully be enough to get through recovery and tomorrow’s run before resting on Monday.

I know I should have play-by-play pictures to share but I am too sweaty and too clumsy and too lazy to bring my shiny new phone with me on any runs, much less a +16 mile run. On the bright side, I am capable of taking photos while on imperative running-related shopping trips. 🙂

So you’ll surely notice Dr. Anne’s swirl Procompression socks in the professional photograph of the two of us above. This is one (very important) component of the uniform that our Dr. trotting group will be sporting at the Philly Marathon in November. Now while these are a very important component of our uniform, pants and a top will also be convenient accessories to have for the run. As far as we can tell, the plan is going to be for all of our team members to get whatever black (ruffled) skirt or shorts or capris suit them best and then wear the matching socks, top and arm warmers. Today’s mission: the tops.

This mission was actually a much tougher challenge than either of us professional shoppers had anticipated. We don’t have particularly stringent demands or anything, we just want something that’s <$15, comfy, cute, has a unique design/pattern and will look good with the socks. Nope, we aren’t picky at all…

Miraculously we did find some tops, but only two of the four that we need. It’s a real pity because they are wicked comfy and super cute (our shirts…oh come on! 2 shirts, 2 of us…coincidence? I think not!!…not us silly…)

Exhibit A

Another pitty…a much more serious pitty…was the pair of shorts that this top was being sold with. You’re thinking that they look ok in Exhibit A eh? Well….

Exhibit B

Horrific. Seriously Nike! W.T.F?!?!

On the bright side we scored matching shirts for Sunday’s run for $12 each and are now hot on the trail of something similar for our Philly Marathon team uniforms.

On another bright side (maybe even the brightest side) we had an amazing 2 pm brunch at Bella’s Cafe in New Haven. The entire menu looked amazing but we made particularly good choices with the…

Crunchy Breakfast Burrito

and the…

Fried Polenta

If you’re interested in all of the details, check out my Bella’s Cafe restaurant review.

While we’re on the topic of food, we also had a most ~~gluttonous~~ wonderful dinner at Tacuba’s taco bar.

20130907_204410

Between the three of us (Yes, I can count. Unfortunately the waiter who took the photo of all three of us was dderrrunnnkkeerrr than we were and the result more closely resembled a lesser known work by Degas than a ~~good~~ mediocre picture of us. Thank you Mike for stepping up to the plate and showing him how it’s done.) we ordered a shit load of the menu and there wasn’t so much as one complaint. The

guacamole

and

lobster arepa

and

tacos ensenadas y vegetarianos con frijoles y arroz

and

tres leches

were amazing. Again, if you’re interested in all of the details, check out my Tacuba’s restaurant review.

Sun 9/8 – 8 mi / who cares

On Sunday morning we tackled our old favorite New Haven 8 mile loop. I think I can speak for the both of us in that we were pleasantly surprised about how we didn’t feel like total death! I was worried about the ramifications of Saturday’s long run and then Saturday’s eating adventures, but all went well. It was pretty warm (80ish) by the time we were done and, per usual, I was convinced that I was 2 ul away from becoming a human raisin. (Note: I miraculously evaded the transformation yet again.) The legs (shins included) and lungs fared well. But I mean really, how could they not when they look this good…

For lunch we grabbed sandwiches at our favorite neighborhood market (and marketeer), Nika’s, and headed home. Nika’s is a great New Haven neighborhood staple. There is no where else that I would have preferred to so thoroughly embarrass myself, but that’s another story, for another day…

With so much attention paid to running attire over the weekend, the tootsies and hands were starting to feel pretty neglected. Rightfully so, they are the ones doing all the works after all. Well, the feet are. Hands, WTH have you done? Anywho, neglected no more 🙂 …

Total mileage = 39.4 mi

A very good week. Got the miles in and enjoyed doing it. There really is nothing else to say (there actually may be less than nothing to say about those core exercises that keep creeping back into the tail end of these week recaps, but never mind…).

2 Comments

Filed under Food & Restaurant, Marathons, Trotting, Work out

Tagged as Clothes, Food, Friends, Running, Workout

September 4, 2013 · 11:24 am

Panga Chumvi – Zanzibar Tanzania

I’ve been as bad at cranking out hote/restaurant/race reviews as I am ___(fill in the blank with one of many appropriate choices)___ . So, here is the beginning of what will hopefully not be a futile attempt at catching up…

Panga Chumvi on Trip Adviser

Panga Chumvi

Our stay at Ponga Chumvi was great! The photos online are very accurate from what we experienced. At this point in our vacation we were very ready to kick back and relax for a few days in peace (we’d been on safari for 4 days and I’d survived the Mt. Kilimanjaro marathon) and that was exactly what we got.

Accommodations

Our bungalow at Panga Chumvi was beachfront with a great big covered front porch, perfect for watching the sunrise and reading in the morning and unwinding at night.

Inside it was simple and quaint but lovely. The sleeping area and private bathroom (with warm water!) were very clean and very well-kept. The beds were comfortable and the mosquito nets worked well.

The common sitting/relaxing area also doubled as the seating area for the restaurant and was also beach front.This worked quite well actually. The chairs and tables were covered in bright fabrics and were comfortable. There was reliable wireless internet when we needed it and adorable kittens keeping us company.

All fo the dinner options that we tried were great at the little beach front restaurant. Of course they were all fresh fish + accompaniments of some sort. Coming back home it was hard to not compare the seafood here with what we were spoiled with there…

octopus, salad and chips

fish, salad and chips

prawns, salad and rice

As if this wasn’t enough, the icing on the cake at Panga Chumvi was the wonderful breakfast served every morning. It wasn’t anything extravagant, but it was absolutely perfect. First there was fresh mango, pineapple and watermelon with coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice.

And then tomatoes, cheese and sausage with toast.

Very few mornings will be able to beat waking up to the sunrise and a good book on the porch and then breakfast at Panga Chumvi.

Management and staff

The owner, Rebecca, and the rest of the staff were great. All of our questions and concerns were addressed right away during our stay.

There were also tour guides and masseuse associated with our hotel and the other similar little get aways that dotted the beach in either direction of us. I’m not sure how tightly/loosely these people were associated, but they were all quite helpful. One tour guide arranged for a spice tour and a trip in to Stone Town for us.

Nutmeg and mace!

Fresh coconuts!

Another guide arranged our transportation to and from Stone Town when we were coming and going and with yet another we arranged a 2 hr snorkeling tour. Prices between different guides varied quite a bit (by a factor of 2 in some cases…$20 USD/person vs $40 USD/person for snorkeling and $50 USD vs. $60 USD for a ride into Stone Town for example) so shopping around is worth while. We didn’t do multiple tours so I’m not sure how the quality also varied with the price, but I’m pretty sure that the rides into and out of Stone Town were all pretty comparable. Unfortunately we also didn’t have a chance to capitalize on a massage. 😦 This is one additional thing that would have been great to include during our stay.

Location

Panga Chumvi is located ~1 km from the (very hidden and very small and very hard to find town of Matemwe on the eastern coast of Zanzibar (Tanzania). It takes about 30 min by cab ($50 USD) and 1 hr by daladala (although we never did this) to reach from the main port Stone Town. While it is very near Matemwe, this town is so small it really didn’t make a difference. There was no market (no fruit) much less anything else to buy, see or do. The town was populated by maybe 1000 very nice people (non-English speaking), but definitely not a resource for a traveler. Overall there was not much to do or see right around Panga Chumvi, the majority of the tourism on Zanzibar is over on the west side in Stone Town or up on the northern side of the island. Rather than being the sight of lots of tourism, the east side of the island seems to be the working part of the island. The locals were farming sea weed from in front of our hotel and all along the coast. In the mornings they would pull it from the water and hang it to dry for the day on fence like structures built back from the shore.

Sea weed farming

Now this wasn’t the beautiful, picturesque sight that one often finds when searching for images of Zanzibar, but it was super interesting to see and the solitude, calm, local feeling that we experienced was just what we were looking for.

During the day we enjoyed walking up and down the beach, shelling and taking in the sights, sounds and smells. There were miles of wonderful beach in both directions to explore.

Sea shore going north

Sea shore going south

In doing this though, one has to be mindful of what season they are in. We were there at the beginning of the rainy season, so just about every day we got caught in some degree of torrential downpour. There are a number of very similar little hotels/restaurants along the coast. These were fun to check out and stop into for a quick refreshment.

We went snorkeling with a small group for ~2hrs just off of the cost one day near a few little islands. The outing was about 2 hrs and equipment was provided for about $25 USD/person. I have to admit that the experience didn’t measure up to the snorkeling in Belize, but I don’t think that any snorkeling that I ever do again will measure up to that experience. To be fair, the cost was also a fraction of what we threw at the entire day of snorkeling (with private tour guides and a fresh beach side lobster lunch…but never mind…) in Belize.

3 Comments

Filed under Tanzania, Travel

Tagged as Hotel, Tanzania, Travel

September 2, 2013 · 4:21 pm

Week 7

Mon 8/26 – rest

Tues 8/27 – 5 mi / 47 min

Considering that I haven’t run in a week … gasp … this was acceptable. The legs didn’t feel as fresh as I would have liked, but nothing went horribly wrong. It wasn’t exactly cool out and it was at the end of a long day … and up hill both ways … so I’ll take it.

Wed 8/28 – rest

Thurs 8/29 – 10 mi (2 x 5 mi loops with one quick break to collect a time point) / 93 min (or so)

Doing 3x persister assays this week (persister assay = 14 hr day) there weren’t a whole lot of options for the long(er) weekday run. So, this baby got crammed in between the 5 hr and 7 hr time points, with a brief mid-run break to take another 6 hr sample. ~~This is the way that I would recommend doing all runs.~~ To be honest though, it really wasn’t all that bad. I did the same loop twice, but in opposite directions and didn’t get lost, AT ALL!! After the first loop I shoveled part of a Clif bar down the hatch and guzzled as much water as I felt I could without regretting it on lap #2. This was all very lady-like shoveling and guzzling, if you were wondering. I took my time point, grabbed another bite of Clif bar, another swig of water, a bag of fruit snacks and was out the door. Now we all know I’m a bit slow (mentally in this case) but simply reversing the direction of my route really helped break up the monotony! I was super impressed by how much it helped and would recommend doing this even from one day to the next. It also helped switch up the long gradual inclines/declines vs. the quick ups and downs.

Fri 8/30 – rest

Sat 8/31 – 16 mi / 155:30 min

Phew!! What a run! There is really no comparison to starting your day with 16 miles from 6-9 am @ ~73F with 93% humidity! BLEH!!

And really, all of the credit goes to the amazing (Dr. Dr. to be) T-Sweet. We struck a deal that I’d run from my place to hers bright and early on Saturday morning (~4 miles) and then do the rest of my 16 miles (her 12 miles) together with two 6 mile loops around P-ton. The agreement was that I’d buckle down and run hard to keep up while she slowed down to give me half a chance. (Don’t let her name fool you, T-Sweet is a machine!) We did the two loops, stopping at T-Sweet’s in between for me to guzzle down more water than I probably should have and for T-S too much on a single ice-cube (I’m telling you…A M.A.C.H.I.N.E.). Besides ~~some mild~~ insescent complaining by yours truly for more or less the entire second loop about being too thirsty and too hot and too tired and we are running too fast… The ever patient T-Sweet graciously put up with this nonsense and towed me through to finish all 16 miles, soaking wet, at a 9:43 min/mi average. Talk about a very grateful and proud Dr. Trot! 🙂

It was awesome having such wonderful company to entertain me and speed me up for the long run. Breaking the monotony of solo runs was much-needed! I definitely would have drug things out much longer had I been alone.

A shower and then compression socks and comfy clothes were at the top of the docket for the rest of the day. Upon diving into said shower, it quickly came to light that I had forgotten to load on the Body Glide before heading out the door…

20130831_175527

20130831_175535

In related news, confusing your gentle and exfoliating face wash bottles is a mistake that you only make once.

Also, in the event that this whole science thing doesn’t work out for me, I apparently have attire appropriate for long-run recovery and circus performances.

Sun 8/25 – 8 mi / 76ish min

Total mileage = 39 miles 🙂

A good week! Finally! The weather was good and I could work my runs into the day and then ont he weekend things shaped up nicely. Considering that it was a very full work week I’m happy with this. As long as the weather holds I think this should be reproducible in weeks to come as well.

The should and shins are feeling good and the lungs are doing great. The things that I do need to get on top of are the calves and the right hip. These are all a bit tighter than I’d like them to be and addressing this before they get worse or cause pain in other areas is important. Stretching and foam rolling more diligently before and after workouts in particular will be a goal for this week. Stretching and rolling daily would be ideal

Agh! Speaking of goals for the week, core exercises?!?! What happened to you? Where did you go?