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July 30, 2006

Getting Used to the Heat

It's been so hot 24/7 that it's beginning to not bother me at all while I'm running because I expect it to be really bad. I can't say that about our apartment though. It's a sweatfest in here and when I got invited to go swimming on Friday, I didn't even have to think twice about it. I think the difference between running and being in my apartment is that I know I will have relief when the run ends.

With that being said, I did sort of "wimp out" one day this week when I decided to run on the treadmill in the cool basement with a nice, big fan blowing on me. It was perfect until a big storm arrived and I almost fell off the treadmill twice when the power went out. Needless to say, I cut that run a little short after. I've had one treadmill accident and it wasn't a pretty one. At my parents' house, the treadmill was really close to a couch and when I fell (completely my fault), I got caught between the couch and the treadmill. I had quite a few burns.

On Saturday, I did a "longer" run very early. It was difficult to get up, but beating the heat was a must. I drove over to the local high school track, dropping off a few bottles of fluids for Brad and I. Brad and I went two completely different ways (and he was running a lot longer and a lot faster), but we still managed to run into each other twice, which is always nice.

Today, I ran with Brad for his recovery run. We ran in the woods, which felt great on the legs. I got pelted by many bugs, but it helped to be wearing a running hat (my first one)! He tried to get me to do his second run with him, but I managed to avoid that with some good excuse.

This week I'll be back in my hometown of Northampton. I'm taking care of my two year old niece, while my four year old niece has surgery in Boston. My Mom and sister will also be around to help, but they will both be working. I just have to figure out when I can squeeze runs into the day. If it were winter, I could go just about any time.

Posted by Caitlin at 9:19 PM | Comments (2)

July 9, 2006

Climbing My Way Out of a Deep Hole

I don't want to sound negative (though I will), but running has been somewhat frustrating lately. That's what happens when I let myself get out of shape. I didn't do it on purpose, but my blistered foot really screwed things up. It takes me a very long time to dig myself out of the hole and the deeper I'm in the hole, the harder it is for me to get out.

The five mile trail race I did a week and a half ago didn't provide me with the motivation I was hoping for. I was only able to manage 7:57 pace, which flustered me. I did hear a couple of different people say that their times at this race were always at least 20 seconds per mile slower than a 5 miler on the roads. Whether that's true or not, it made me feel a little better (and made more sense to me) since I've run faster and felt better while running with Brad. My calves and achilles were extremely sore during the race which I'm attributing to the non-stop roots I was dodging in the first mile. I finished thinking I never wanted to do this race again, but it actually wouldn't have been so bad if I was in shape to do it.

I did hills again last week, but did one more for a total of ten. I think I'll stick to the hills as long as Brad is doing them. I'd like to start doing some kind of tempo run as well. Less than 2 weeks until a 3.5 mile race at Mary's wedding. Man, I'm in trouble.

Yesterday, I switched back to the blister-causing orthotics that kept me from running Boston. I only did a short run, but ended up with a small blister! So, today I covered it with moleskin, ran in my "back-up" orthotics, and ran on the treadmill. That way I was able to run for 70 minutes without worrying about being too far away from home if a blister did develop. I'm going to try to run in my newer orthotics every few days and see what happens. If they're still causing me trouble, I'll see my orthotist next time I go home to Northampton. I just want to have a normal, worry-free run.

Posted by Caitlin at 7:03 PM | Comments (5)