Activity: Running
Distance: 7 miles
Time: 1:00:59
Average: 8:42
Best: 8:26
Splits: 9:05, 8:30, 8:42, 8:53, 8:45, 8:35, 8:26
Weather: 72/63 sunny! I'm getting quite brown, for me at least.

Well, I had to get up at 6am to feed Willie again because he was barking incessantly to wake me up. I fed and let him and Freya out, and tried to go back to sleep for an hour or so. Willie didn't like that idea though...so I just got up. There were showers going through the area, but it cleared up by 7, and I headed into town for my run (cuz my hydro pack was at the apt).

I'm definitely ready for a day off. I think that I was getting sorta bored on today's run. It went really well and everything, but I've been pretty bored this weekend, which I guess persisted through my run. missin' the roomie and the bf, I guess.

The 7 mile has become pretty easy. I'd probably say that my mentality for the distance is about how I felt about running a 5 mile a month ago. I mean, 7 miles used to be a long run for me, and now I call it a 'mid-length' run.

State College seemed so dead today. I think I might have seen like two cars. including on Atherton. I passed a couple of people walking dogs tho. else I might have thought that I was in Left Behind. i wonder where i would be if there were a rapture for real. This isn't really training blog material, huh?

oh I'm supposed to write this: I hung out at the pool yesterday with Kerrie and Caren. shout out.

mood: blah. maybe i'll go target shopping today. wish that I was at the beach too...
health: yay flat pavement!

Activity: Running
Distance: 4.82 miles
Time: 43:19
Average: 8:59
Best: I'm gonna say 8:24 cuz the 8:02 split is less than a mile.
Splits: 10:24, 8:02, 8:24, 8:30
Weather: 75/66 even tho it felt muggier than yesterday

I slept in this morning. It felt great. Well, I did have to get up at 5am to feed the dogs and let them out cuz Willie wouldn't stop attacking my bed.

Sooo I think that I was feeling that Hurricane, at least at the beginning of the run. I felt a little dehydrated, basically, and a little tight in the chest. I still couldn't find the first Russell Rd (the split for mile 1), so the first mile split is still completely wrong. My second mile was def really, really slow. After that, I started to feel much better. I must have sped up for the last 3 miles since my final time is only 12 seconds slower than Monday.

I passed that guy running again! On Monday, I was thinking that he looked like someone, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Janis Joplin. and also my parents' friend Julie a little. triangle.

mood: laundry day. im excited.
health: my foot will be happy to run on a flat sidewalk when wmf gets back.

Activity: Running
Distance: 3 miles
Time: 25:56
Average: 8:38
Best: 6:03
Splits: 10:15, 6:03, 9:38
Weather: 75/68

I figured out why my splits are all f&*@ed up...it's because there are 2 Russel Rds. on gmaps. I guess that it loops around?? Anyway, the first one isn't marked, so I've been using the 1 mile mark as the 2nd Russel Rd. oops. Anyway, I'm still posting my splits because I can compare them to the previous time I ran this route..and I improved! YAY! I think that's all. I've got so many freakin' mosquito bites ugh.

mood: where's the sun??
health: dah.

Activity: Swimming
Distance: 2300 yds
Time: ~45 mins

YAY shannon came swimming with me today. She kept saying that I was going to make fun of her, but I thought that she had a good stroke!

Well, I had a matlab program running, and I was waiting for a WRF run to finish up, so I took a break and went for a swim. Kevin left me an IM last week telling me to throw some IMs (sorta funny that they have the same acronym, or at least i'm amused) into my workout to 'break the monotony'. I really shouldn't have been avoiding fly, so it was a great suggestion to make my swim workouts more intense. Anyway, I knew that fly would totally tire me out, so I did the IMs at the end, and, as expected, the fly really did wipe me out. The first IM was actually pretty good, and I was thinking of maybe doing 3 x 100 IMs. The second 25 fly was pretty rough tho. I def would have gotten DQed in a swim meet. I'll need to work up my endurance for that.

Goal: to do 200 IMs by the end of august. I can do it!

1. 400 free warm-up
2. 500 yds of alternating stroke drill, sprint, kick drill, sprint (some freestyle and some backstroke)
3. 2 by 100 fast/100 faster/100 fastest - all free
3. 200 yds kickboard
4. 100 free slow
5. 2 x (100 IM + slow 100 free)
6. 100 cool-down Ingomar backstroke and freestyle

mood: roomie love.
health: my shoulder felt a little better this week!

Activity: Running
Distance: 4.82 miles
Time: 43:07
Average: 8:55
Best: 7:38
Splits: 10:18, 7:38, ?? i messed up the rest of these.
Weather: 65/60

Sooo I am still a week ahead for my training. I thought that I had it all figured out, twice, but I'm not even supposed to run that 15 mile until this Sunday! oops. better to be ahead than behind!

Today's workout was 4-5 long hills. I'm not quite sure if CoolRunning.com expects me to run up and walk down or something, but I thought that it was a better idea to run the 4.8 mile loop here in BOALsburg where there are lots of hills. It's far from an easy run, but I like the challenge. The first mile and a half is a ridic uphill, and the last mile begins as a very slight uphill incline and culminates in the climb back up Brush Valley to wmf's.

I felt great though. The splits are still all screwy (or, at least the first 2 miles are ha), but I'm confident that the whole route is 4.8 miles. I think that the track team may run this loop or something because there are mile markers all along the loop. I also saw a large group of runners when I was driving home a couple of days ago. It's some sort of team.

I passed this guy twice, meaning he did the same loop in reverse. He looked really tired. and he had long hair.

Even though I like the challenge of this run, I'm probably not going to do it very often. The cars go waaay faster than 25 mph, and there's no sidewalk. I ran on the very side of the road which is slanted slightly down to the right, and my right foot felt like it was rolling a little on almost every step. Hence, my foot is a little sore right now...i swear that i'm a supinator!!

mood: didn't get into work until nearly 10am...I think that time fast forwarded while I was in the shower.
health: little bit of foot pain.

Activity: Running
Distance: 15 miles
Time: 2:15:07
Average: 9:00 wooooaaah :-D
Best: 8:24
Splits: 8:56, 8:39, 8:57, 8:36, 8:50, 9:17, 8:24, 8:36, 8:51, 8:47, 8:50, 8:56, 9:37, 10:22, 10:31
Weather: 73/54 yay for fropa!

When I woke up this morning (I'm actually writing this on Monday, but whatev) at 7:30ish, I was kinda hungry. Since it was going to be cool pretty much all day, I decided to have a good bfast and run a little bit later. mmmmm I made another one of those yummy greek-like omelettes since eggs are high in protein and would last longer for my run. so good! also had a piece of toast. After bfast and the news, I lounged around a bit and mapped out the 15 mile on gmaps. Played with the dogs some. I didn't leave wmf's until about 10am, and after all my prepping and stretching at my apt, it was kinda late by the time I started the run. I would have rushed more if it was going to be hot, but it was still only about 70F.

I brought along 2 GUs since it's recommended to eat something every 45 min or so, and I was aniticipating the run to take about 2 1/2 hours. I also threw some lemon juice in my hydro pack. The run started out great. I felt really awesome. I definitely get a little bit excited for these long runs, I guess for the challenge. My first couple of splits were under 9 min, and I thought that maybe I should slow down. I didn't feel like I was running that fast though. In fact, I thought I was slowing down, but each time I checked my split it was under 9 minutes. I just kept on going.

I took my first GU break at mile 6, stopping my watch while I walked. Then, I ran right up that hill by the golf course during mile 7. It wasn't easy, but I kept going! whew! During miles 8 and 9, I started to totally feel a rhythm, like my legs just kept goin and goin. I think at that point it was easier to keep running than it would have been to try to stop. I can't quite explain the feeling.

I took a bathroom break at the IM building at the end of mile 10. Thank God that there was someplace to stop because I never would have finished without goin to the bathroom. After the break, I was still on such a high, though it was daunting to think that I still had 5 miles left! I took another GU break on the hill at Hastings (~mile 11+) which is semi-cheating since I didn't have to run up the whole hill. whatev. After that, I was able to keep my pace goin through about mile 12.5. Around then, the soles/balls of my feet started to hurt REALLY bad. Every step felt like that time I jumped off the 10 meter platform at Settler's Cabin and hit the water with flat feet. Somehow, I kept going, but I slowed down considerably. Really, I'm not sure how I pushed through it. I thank my iPod for supplying me with some rockin' tunes!

The last mile of my run was all downhill. super great. go me for planning that! I didn't feel that exhausted really, but I don't know if I could have gone any farther. I had chub rub, and my feet were begging to be freed from my sneakers. My knees were also aching for the last couple of miles. I think that I sorta waddled down McCormick. I'm glad that I left a good distance to walk back and cool down though.

After showering and stretching, I felt quite good. No dizziness or light-headedness! I was sorta tired, but not exhausted. After lunch and some lounging, I even went to the driving range with Jon! I'll need to look up some recommendations for foot sole pain, but other than that, the run went really great. I ran my 10 mile in 1:26:51 (8:41 pace)...that's 13 minutes faster than the one I did in BOS with Brandy, meaning that I shaved off more than a minute/mile! Aaaand my 12 mile time was 1:44:37 (8:43 pace). That's an insane improvement from the 12 miles that I did a couple of weeks ago. Those iron supplements must be finally kickin in!

mood: It's a beautiful day, and I had so much energy during the run!
health: some knee pain, chub rub, and MAJOR foot pain. not bad considering that I ran 15 miles!

Activity: Running
Distance: 7 miles
Time: 1:02:54
Average: 8:59!
Best: 8:34
Splits: 9:34, 8:53, 9:07, 9:13, 8:40, 8:34, 8:53
Weather: 71/65 sorta foggy/misty

Wow! I just felt so much better this morning. Maybe I just need to get 9+ hours of sleep a night until my body is back to normal...

Anyway, I went to bed super early last night (it might have been before 9) and woke up around 6am this morning. I hadn't committed to running this morning, but I decided to do a longer run since I was feeling so much better. YAY motivation! I wore my hydro pack too: I really think that it helps some on these mid-length runs.

I didn't really map out the 7 miles beforehand cuz I just expanded my 6 mile run a bit. It actually ended up being slightly longer than 7 miles. The last two splits are estimates from my last 2.14 mile split. I weighted more time on the last mile because there were more uphill sections (mile 6 is basically all downhill). Really, my 6th mile might have been even faster cuz I felt like I was getting a little tired during mile 7, so I'm pretty sure that I slowed down.

mood: i feel like 10 times better this morning. maybe these scales are logarithmic? like Richter, but Zickter. ha that's so lame :-D
health: my shoulder almost cramped during mile 4, but I was able to relax it.

Activity: Swimming
Distance: 1500 yds
Time: ~35 mins

Well, I (again) opted out of doing the 15 mile. I heard back from the doctor about my blood work, and I have iron deficiency anemia. Basically, that's sorta a good thing because my body realizes that its iron stores are low, and my liver is trying to compensate by producing all these iron-binding cells. So my serum iron levels were 48 (normal range is about 60-170), and my total iron-binding capacity (TIBC) is 530 (normal is 240-450). When you divide serum iron into TIBC, it should be about 25-50%. Mine is circa 11%. While this is certainly not good, at least I don't have chronic anemia. Aannnd I haven't developed pica i.e. started eating dirt.

Anyway, I think that I'm semi-nervous to do another long run since I am still feeling tired and am afraid that I'll feel like I'm going to pass out again. Really, I do feel a lot better though...just wish that the recovery were more instantaneous..."but isn't delayed gratification the definition of maturity?"

I decided to just do a swim today. Last night, I had a stomach ache, and I was still feeling kinda blah all day. I took off the last two days from exercise though, so I wanted to do something. The swim wasn't soooo bad, but I cut it about in half cuz I was feeling poopish. Here's my workout:

1. 400 free warm-up
2. 100 mid-pace/100 faster/100 fastest free times 2
3. 500 free cool-down

I really had to motivate myself to keep going. After I got back to wmf's, I got sick, and then I felt much better.

mood: i had no motivation the last couple of days.
health: sicky sicky - see, Jacob, I do have bad days!!

Activity: Running
Distance: 10K = 6.2 miles
Time: about 59:00 - i will update when i get my time online
Average: 9:30
Weather: 74/63

Well, I guess that I was semi-excited for the run today because I had a terrible time falling asleep. Altogether, I may have gotten 5 hours of sleep, tho I didn't feel particularly sleepy tired during the run. I got up at 6:15 and had a PNB banana smoothie for bfast. mmmm it's like eating cookie dough. I drove in and parked at my apt, and Petters and I walked in, registered, warmed-up, and stretched. It was already warm, hotter than I prefer, but not stifling.

I attempted to keep my pace in the beginning since people tend to make me speed up. I probably did a good job with that for the first mile, but I sped up too much for miles 2 and 3. My 5K time probably was pretty good...right around 26 or so. Then, a little after the split off for the 10K runners, I got a cramp in my shoulder. ugggghhh so i had to stop and walk and relax my muscle. i was sad. I think that it may have cramped cuz I was thinking more about avoiding running into people than about relaxing my shoulder.

Anyway, miles 3 and 4 had some ridiculous uphill sections. Midway through mile 4, there was a water break at the top of a hill, and I stopped and downed two glasses. I think that I sped up again after that and made up some time. Anyway, I'm not happy at all with my final time, but I know that I can def improve. Really, I have been averaging about 9:15 for my mid-length runs, so considering that I had to stop and walk when my shoulder cramped, it's not too, too bad.

I liked that there was a girl to hose you off at the end :). I do think that I'm gonna do the 15 mile on Tuesday. Probably have to do it before sunrise tho cuz it's gonna be a sizzler!

mood: i'm not ecstatic about my time, but it's right around the pace that i've been running. and it's sunny.
health: i'm sad that i got that cramp in my shoulder. my time could have been better!

Activity: Running
Distance: 3 miles
Time: 26:35
Average: 8:52
Best: 6:12??
Splits: 10:20, 6:12, 10:03
Weather: 70/68 i've retreated to the air conditioned office and am dripping in sweat.

This 3 mile is a there and back route: the 1st miles is all uphill, the 2nd is part up and part down, and the 3rd mile is all downhill. It really is a challenging 3 mile. Now, obviously, there is something seriously wrong with those splits...this running route basically confirms my speculation that gmaps' distances are completely off when there are a lot of hills. I am positive that I did not run a 6 minute mile, let alone two 10+ min miles. Altogether, I'm guessing that the 3 mile distance was pretty accurate though since my total time was right around what I've been averaging for a 3 mile. Truthfully, I felt quite good on this run, and I think that my average pace was a little faster. Who knows though? I will definitely get a much more accurate record of my pace in the 10K run tomorrow.

Also, I ran down Dr. Frank's driveway and Lenape Lane, started my watch for the 3 miles, stopped it at the end, and ran back up the hill to the house (I figure that hill work is good for me). With the extra, untimed, running, I probably did about 3.5ish miles this morning. Go me dance.

mood: it's a crappy day, but I still feel happy:-D
health: I feel semi-energetic?!

Activity: Running
Distance: 5 miles
Time: 46:22
Average: 9:16
Best: 8:52
Splits: 9:39, 9:35, 8:52, 9:15, 9:00
Weather: 72/66 yay for dewpoints in the 60s

Well, I was planning on doing the run here at Dr. Frank's, but there were two cows in his driveway. I wasn't too sure if they were people-friendly, so I went back to Mt. Nittany, the apts, and ran from there. hilarious.

I had reveled in living in a house by making some (Trader Joe!) pancakes for breakfast and watching the news, and I didn't really get going for my run until 9:30. It was a little warm but so much drier than DC had been. My splits were actually quite consistent. Maybe I am getting better at pacing myself? Really, mile 4 is soooo hard. There are a couple of short steep hills, both up and down, which I have to slow down for. I could try to change the route, but hills are good for me!

I had to take a detour around Arts Fest because there were booths set-up on Fairmount. I headed down one street to Propect - the mileage should be identical. I did have to go down that big ass hill on Fraser St that I dislike so much. Going down is better than going up though! For running at least!

I realized today that I am one week ahead in my training schedule, meaning that I should be doing a 15 miler this Sunday. However, I'm running the Arts Fest 10K. I may try to do a 15 mile on Tuesday or sometime later this week, depending on my health and ambition.

mood: still perplexed by the cows
health: nowhere near my 8:30 goal, but my real goal is to beat Petters! ha not gonna happen...

Activity: Running
Distance: 4.5ish miles
Time: 42:00ish
Average: 9:20ish
Weather: 75/73 thick like brothel soup

My roommate Danielle was getting up 5:15am to fly back home, so I decided to just wake up with her and go for a (hella) early morning run. Needless to say, the dewpoint was so freakin' high the day before that the low barely dropped into the 70s. It really didn't feel so bad tho since it was cloudy and there was no sun. I ran along the Potomac toward Ronald Reagan airport. It's so nice that big cities build scenic routes for runners: the bike path runs along the Potomac, parallel to the George Washington Memorial Parkway, all the way into Maryland (prob 15-20 miles). I also love how big cities are so active. I passed quite a few people that were running before 6am!

I don't have any splits or anything since I left my running watch at home, but I think the time is a pretty good estimate from my iPod clock. I also attempted to map out my run on gmaps using the satellite, but i couldn't quite figure out where the bike path was a couple of times since there was a canopy of trees for parts. Ehh it was somewhere between 4 and 5 miles.

Oh, there was this teeny weeny hill at one part of the path, with a switchback to get up! ridic.

mood: one more day in DC, but ready to go home to the doggies!
health: wasn't too tired, but maybe that's cuz i was at sea level and it was so freakin' flat

Activity: Running
Distance: 4 miles
Time: 38:40
Average: 9:40 pace ugh.
Weather: inside, but it was still pretty sticky cuz there was a pool nearby

Basically, I should have run outside and explored Alexandria, but I chickened and ran on the gym's treadmill. I will never do that again, if I can help it, though part of the reason I ran inside was because I wanted to know how far I ran. Whatev..just made me depressed to see how slow I run on treadmills. I'd like to blaim my slow pace on the fact that it was so boring, but who knows at this point?! I do feel a little more energetic, but I'm not sure how long it will take to translate to my workouts. Sad that I was about 6 miles from the marathon loop. oh well. Now I know what the White House looks like ha.


mood: first full day in DC! Alexandira is so cute!
health: blah treadmill.

Activity: Running
Distance: 7 miles
Time: not sure at all. hit stop at one point and forgot to restart it. ~1:05:00?
Weather: 70/55 mostly sunny. my new puma top is quite airy too.

It is indeed low iron. Evidently, my hemoglobin levels dropped, and my WBCs are back up to normal. At least this makes me feel better about having sucky workouts...tho I was supposed to go back on Friday for more comprehensive blood work and completely forgot between dropping Dr. Frank at the airport and being excited about picking up my new running clothes. I guess I will have to go in when I get back from DC. oh well.

I skipped my run on Saturday morning cuz I was hella tired still and decided that I could wait for these iron supplements to kick in (I also sorta stayed out late on Friday night @ Zeno's and then was playing around with the internet connection here at Dr. Frank's). I was supposed to do 15 miles today, but I figured that it was in my best interest to do a shorter run today and do a 15 mile after DC.

Running around the Boalsburg area is not nearly as easy as State College..there are barely any sidewalks! I also don't know the area as well and couldn't figure out where the hell my route was that I had mapped out beforehand. That's why I don't have any splits. I checked out my route later, and I did about 7 miles, I think. I really felt pretty good. My new hydration belt is awesome! The part on W. Main St was much more uphill than I anticipated. whew! I also got lost in the development on the other side of 45. Anyway, it was an adventure.

On the last couple of miles back toward Dr. Frank's, I notice that there was all this smoke rising off Mt. Nittany. I started freaking out, thinking that I might have left the stove on or something and burned down Frank's house :(, so I basically sprinted back all the way uppppp Mt. Nittany till I realized that the fire was not at his house and calmed down. super great. It's still all smoky and smelly here tho.

mood: off to DC this afternoon!
health: at least i know why i've been so tired!

Activity: Running
Distance: 3 miles
Time: 25:44
Average: 8:34
Best: 7:41!
Splits: 9:05, 8:56, 7:41
Weather: 62/48 such a pretty day!

I made myself get out of bed this morning at 7am even tho I sorta wanted to sleep longer. Had some banana bread and water and not sure what I did before my run other than that? Probably surfed the internet..oh yeah I was lookin' at stuff about restaurant week in State College. mmmm. plus I needed a b-room break.

I still feel more tired than I think I should, tho my splits were actually quite good. Wow, I must have been zooming on mile 3. I think I get excited cuz I'm almost done and not running like 15 miles. This 3 mile really should be hella easy by now tho. I just feel a little weak still. I'm going back for more blood work after work today, so I should know if my iron is low by tonight. I'm hoping that's all it is cuz the alternatives are either that I (still) have a virus or that I'm just lame.

mood: it's so gorgeous out :-D
health: still feelin' sorta weak

Activity: Swimming
Distance: 2600 yds
Time: ~1 hr

My roommate was lame and forgot her swimsuit, so I had to swim alone. Ha no Shannon isn't lame. She's super great cuz she goes shopping with me :) It was a pretty great swim..I just love swimming cuz it's all my own thoughts. No headphones. No cars. Usually no people to dodge. Unless it's post-winter break and all the little girls in bikinis decide to go swimming in the White Building.

Here's my workout:
1. 400 free warm-up
2. 500 yds of alternating stroke drill, sprint, kick drill, sprint (some freestyle and some backstroke)
3. 2 by 100 fast/100 faster/100 fastest - all free
4. 100 free slow
5. 200 free fast (3:20)
6. 200 yds kickboard
7. 25 breast & 25 fly (Go me dance! I need to work up to longer distance of fly tho! man, that was rough)
8. 500 free cool down

I might try to actually sprint a 200 free and see where I would be for US swimming times cuz 3:20 is like BB for 10 and under. I used to have AAA times damnit! I'm sure my techinique is semi-lacking tho since I haven't had a coach in...10 years.

mood: i got a couple of cute shirts at the mall, but shopping still seems like a chore to me
health: my right shoulder is stil sore, and i have to be careful not to pull too hard with that arm..? muscle?

Activity: Running
Distance: 6 miles
Time: 53:52
Average: 8:58
Best: 8:21
Splits: 9:13, 8:50, 9:33, 9:21, 8:31, 8:21
Weather: 73/63 thick air

I slept in a little bit this morning, hoping to get a good night's rest and have a better run this morning, since I wasn't planning on going into work. Before the run, I threw in a load of sheets and towels while I ate a slice of banana bread and some milk. I figured it would be good to thoroughly wake up before I headed out for my run.

I felt okay at the beginning, though I felt like I was running pretty slow. My splits were surprisingly good, so maybe a good night's sleep was all I needed (I'm assuming that I didn't sleep walk last night?). I got a side cramp right after mile 2 which was super great for running up Waupelani...made it tho. I may have started out too fast since I was sorta pooped for miles 3 and 4. I felt like I was going so slow @ the beginning though! whatev. Miles 5 and 6 were much better, but I was starting to feel pretty thirsty around mile 5. I hope that my hydration belt comes before Sunday, or I'll have to delay my 15 mile. My new running clothes are supposed to arrive tomorrow! woooo!

mood: wish that it was nice outside so i could pool sit:( at least we are BBQing today!
health: a little more energy today

Activity: Running
Distance: 4 miles
Time: 37:23
Average: 9:21
Best: 8:54
Splits: 9:36, 9:43, 9:10, 8:54
Weather: 68/64 ugh

I didn't do my long run (6 miles) on Sunday. Kalpana was in town (yay!), and I could have done it after she left in the morning. It was just too warm. The plan was to do it this morning instead. I am still having serious issues with feeling exhausted. I am not sleeping well at all tho. I slept walked again last night. Shannon and Ken said that I came out and sat on the couch and said something about Clem's. I also got water and ate a cookie, tho I spilled most of the water since my mobile skills are lacking during these episodes..I'm not sure why I'm doing this, but it's probably associated with being so tired. I'm not sure if drinking is part of it since I had a beer and a small glass of wine with dinner? I'm gonna abstain from drinking for a little (cept I'll prob have a beer on the 4th!).

Anyway, I was pretty pooped from the start, and I stopped and walked the hill up Waupelani. That's when I decided to only do 4 miles. Hopefully, I can do a longer run tomorrow morning. I really think that my iron is low. I'll have to wait and see when I get another blood test later this week. I'm sorta getting sick of having bad workouts. After the run, I came home and slept for another 2 hours. I still felt really tired tho when I was at Walker, so I came home and tried to nap. I didn't really fall asleep tho..in and out of it. It's pretty ironic that I'm so exhausted, but I have trouble falling asleep at night/don't sleep well (sleep walk) when I do.

mood: Gettin' really sick of these bad runs
health: where's my energy?!