Day 6.3 - Wednesday - late morning

Night started out bad and I again slept through my alarm - this is really starting to tick me off. Friday I have a game to ref so I must get my run in prior to the family wake-up or it may not happen. It's become quite fun for me and I miss it on days I don't run. I was on the road today by 8:05am after dropping off the kids. I wore my Saucony's 3D Grid Hurricane 7 sneakers with the RRS insoles in them all day yesterday and they felt fine. This morning they felt fine during the run, but my legs were noticeably weaker when done. Not sure what's up with that, but they will likely be relegated to the "yard-work" category after this. I don't have that problem with my Adrenaline's which aren't even made for a large body type so it must just be a crappy model year for them.

I started at the Y w/ tights, Army shirt, Nike jacket, hat, & mittens which was perfect for the weather. I ran out 16 minutes, turned around and ran for a minute (17 total), walked 1 minute, and then ran 12 more. I didn't get all the way back to the Y, but close enough that my cool down walk didn't take forever. My weight was 223.0 this morning so I'm trying to be conscious of what I eat / do so hopefully I can be under 223 tomorrow - lots of dairy, water, and meetings today to keep me moving so it's a definite possibility. I had leftover veggie lo mein for lunch - not sure how nutritious that is or how fatty, but everything else today has been & will be good.

Day 6.1 - afternoon @ the Y

Rough beginning to the night with Brennan, so I slept in - slept through my watch alarm, actually. I'm glad I did as the rest of the day was light enough that I was able to fit a run into the afternoon. It ended up being a longer than usual lunch, but it was worth it. I wore my new Starter insulating tights which were great on the way out due to the headwind - wore my Army jacket, too. On the way back I didn't need the hat and gloves and my breathing definitely was easier. It definitely seems that I'm breathing 3 in and 3 out which used to be my race pace. My weight isn't great as I was down to 223 yesterday but back up to 225 this morning. I am continuing to eat better, though: leftovers for dinner (not fast food or frozen pizza), bagel w/ cottage cheese & yogurt for breakfast, Kashi bar for post-race recovery, and salad for lunch. I hadn't planned on the salad, but I had to go to Applebee's to see if they'd sponsor the league and since I was waiting, thought I'd look like a supporter, too.

The issue I'm finding is the Saucony Grid Hurricane 7's. They felt lumpy right at the edge of the heel before the arch - maybe it's because I've been wearing shoes instead of my orthotics? At any rate, it's the second week for them and I recall the first week wasn't so good so they may become my grass-cutting sneakers if things don't improve.

4.6 - Outside Run because it was Warm!!!!

Not sure the temp, but it was at least 40 degrees outside. I had packed my stuff the night before and was able to put Brennan back to sleep before I left at 5:30am. I went to Wegmans, changed, ran, shopped, and relaxed for 10 minutes before Brennan woke up again around 7:10am.

I made 3 circuits of Market Street though my lower legs were quite bothersome. Not shin splints I think, but it definitely felt like a pounding. Maybe it's just the Saucony's because I think that's been the case all week. Next week I switch back to my Brooks so we'll see.

We went out for dinner & a beer last night and surprisingly, I'm still only 223.4 this morning. I'm a little disheartened that I haven't lost anything since last week, but I'm trying to keep in mind that I'm really not running much - not even 20 minutes at a time which is the fat-burning target. It's good that I'm controlling my diet (mostly :-) and if I keep increasing the running while watching my intake, I'll start to drop again.

Day 4.5 - Tired, sub 10-min mile

Pretty tired today even though Brennan only woke up twice in the night. Didn't really notice it until I was running and my eyes started tearing. Today was 10 minute runs followed by a 1 minute walk and ending w/ an 8 minute run. I timed & counted laps for each of the 10-minute runs and surprisingly, I ran miles at 9:35, and even faster the 2nd time at 9:30, even though the 2nd run felt like it was taking forever. It was a beautiful day outside and I could have run outdoors if I'd wanted to, but I'll do that tomorrow - it's supposed to rain which is my favorite way to run! The Saucony's were even better this time around and we'll see how they do on the roads tomorrow.

So looking at my 1-mile times, 9:35 per mile equates to a 4 hour & 9 minute marathon time. Remember back in 1993 when I ran 2 miles in 13:45?? That was my best Army time ever. Not sure if I'll ever get close to that again, but at least I'm running. The Boilermaker is 15K which is 9.3 miles so at a 10-minute mile pace that's 90 minutes which is 1.5 hours! Actually, that's about the pace I was running back in 1998 when I was running 8 miles per run in Rome. At least I haven't gotten significantly worse since then :-)

Day 4.1 - vvveeeerrrrrryyyyyyy tttiiirrreeeddd...

The baby was up every hour or two in the night and I was up a little late helping Annie with her homework, too. I got my butt out of bed, though, and was glad to be running. The Saucony's were fine, but my lower legs were really uncomfortable - not enough to be called painful, but I was worried that's where things were headed. I think the discomfort was just due to being tired as my stride / timing didn't change at all. I stayed at 223.4 so I could be looking at 222 tomorrow, but I'm starving so I suspect I'll eat too much today and go up a little bit. No biggy - it's the overall trend that I'm shooting for.