Lost

I woke up around 3am, not because I wanted to, but after a day of rain and a 50% chance of rain forecasted for when we were supposed to be running, I took advantage of this rude awakening to check the radar. It seemed to my untrained eye that it was most definitely going to be raining, thus I changed my alarm to two hours later. Those two hours were the best two hours of sleep I got all night.

Then I had this crazy idea. Maybe we could go for a run after I got off work. Yes, Henri and I could run in the afternoon in almost-August. If it rained all day and there was enough of a break and the sun didn't come out, it should be cool enough for us to get six miles in. Wouldn't you know, the forecast was 50% chance of rain then, too. The radar didn't show that though, and while it was probably a little warm, I decided we were going to do it.

Now, I hadn't mapped out six miles in this neighborhood yet, but I had thought about it and I thought I knew how to add just that little bit to what we had done last week. To make it make the most sense, we just reversed one part of our run to keep from looping the same thing over and over. Well, I got lost. I turned into the wrong neighborhood I guess. I still don't know which neighborhood I was supposed to turn into. I ended up at the same street three times. I don't know how. We ran by a family and the wife commented, "We've seen you everywhere today!" And yet, I'm still only squeaking out six miles.

I was very proud of Henri's performance. I haven't found all the quiet nooks and crannies to avoid the long stretches of busy streets, but he didn't seem too phased by the traffic. I know he was nervous and a little stressed. He hardly stopped at all after we went all the way down one busy street and turned to run back up it and when we got "lost". He didn't pull and freak out. He didn't get too jumpy when a noisy truck went by. He listened to me. He followed me. He paid attention to me and what I was doing and where I was going. I know it was slightly warmer than usual with the sun being out, but we have much more shade in these neighborhoods and we did get lucky with cloud cover and no rain. All in all, it was a good run. The best part is that we did it at all.

Five More Miles

Today was much the same as Monday. I tried a few different turns, knowing the area just a little bit better and how Henri was going to respond to them. I also felt like I was limping the whole time, so there's that. I wasn't limping, but my muscles were tight and it made movement...difficult. Hopefully, my muscles can recover before Saturday or those 18 miles are going to be torture.

We're kind of in a fancy neighborhood now, with sprinklers to keep the grass green that run early in the morning. We've been mostly lucky with only a few along our path going when we run by them, but Henri does not like it. He hasn't stopped and flat out refused to go by them, but he tries to go into the street or further into the yards to escape their wet clutches. There's one at the end that is mostly spraying into the air and he still doesn't want to go through it. It's a light misting Henri. I take the brunt of the spray every time, as my shirt or shorts are drenched and he shakes off vigorously. Dramatic much?

It would just be cruel to try to take a picture running through the sprinklers. Also, it's still pretty dark when we're by most of them, so you can have this picture of a new little nook I found. It's a very small path, but it's lined with a wall of trees, which I think is cool.

Priority Shift

After a long weekend, we have moved into our temporary home. Saturday morning, I got up, ran 17 miles, then finished the moving process that I have been working on for months. The last of our things were packed, most put into storage. I sold some more furniture. Our bedroom came with us and we are now all set up in our "apartment" in the basement of friends. Henri is finally starting to settle, but he is still pretty anxious about me leaving him, and I had to go back to work today. We are living with another dog who may or may not like him. It remains to be seen. Poor Henri, he needed this run today.

While the training plan called for 9 miles, I knew I was not familiar enough with the area to find that. Also, I wasn't sure what the temperature was going to be, so I didn't even plan on trying to get that in. While at home I could have ran some of the miles with him and then set back out after dropping him off to finish, I did not think that would go over very well at this point. Henri's sanity is much more important than any training plan. So, I played around with the route on mapmyrun and created a fairly simple to follow 5 mile route. 

Boy, did Henri need that. Also, I considered this run a little bit of speed work because strap a stressed out dog around your waist and take him running in a new area...with sprinklers! Gasp! It was good. I messed up on the route a little, but I still managed to find us 5 miles. The best part? Henri lay down and fell asleep while I got ready for work. Mission accomplished.

So, the runs are going to be more about him right now. Hopefully, he will not disturb the household when I leave him for my long runs on the weekend, but after this week's 18 mile run, we drop back down to 13 for a few weeks, which means less time spent away from him. Hopefully, after a few weeks, he'll be much more settled and much less stressed.

Where It All Started

I realize that this is probably the last run we will run in this neighborhood. The last time running the paths where it first started. The last time running where I learned to run and to enjoy running. The last time running where we bonded and fell in love with running and with each other. All of the miles that we have covered. All of the sunrises and sunsets. All of the snowy, icy, windy, hot and humid mornings, afternoons and evenings. We've had a couple of bad experiences, but those never stopped us. We got up and we got out and we ran.

While we don't have our own home to move to yet, we set out on a new temporary adventure before settling in that place. There are new paths, new miles, new adventures, with new stories to tell. There will be new things to discover, to look at, to watch.

Hopefully soon we will find the place we will call home, the new place that we will spend years carving out the miles and discovering new things, together.

Halfway There

I wasn't sure I could fit eight miles in before work, but I did it. I even dropped Henri off at home halfway through and had 15 minutes to cool down before I had to shower. I mean, I guess we did head out the door at 4:30 when it was still dark. This problem would be solved so much easier if I could just run faster. I can't, so 4:30 it is.

It was really humid. It actually felt better once the sun started to come up, but by then I had already resolved to let Henri go home at four miles and run the last four solo. It takes a lot of determination to wake up at 4am and go out into the dark, humid wee hours of dawn. It take even more to be dripping in sweat, take your dog back into the air conditioning, give him ice cubes and head back out into more humidity. I wished he could have run more with me, so the solo miles could have been so few, so that that push out the door wouldn't have been so daunting and sad. At least it was halfway, and halfway to halfway and "just run home". Yeah, I tell myself it's just a run home as I run away from home.

Go Anyway

Do you know how many times I told myself I should just go back to bed this morning? My dreams were weird. I didn't sleep well. I left the lid off my contacts, so they were dried up. I was dropping things. I didn't really feel the best. It was awful. I was so afraid that this run was going to be bad.

After a week of rest (rest as in only the runs on the training plan and no strength training - just for this week), I had hoped my body would feel so much better than it does. Maybe I shouldn't have cut the strength training this week. I don't know, but my muscles do not feel very rested. So, as we pushed off from the start, my body started to cry.

It wasn't awful and, thankfully, all of the bad omens as we prepared to run faded away. The mental game was still very much in play though. It was a little more humid, so Henri was dragging behind a little. That's okay. It forced me to slow down a little and take it easy, spreading out my energy, which I probably needed. See, this is why I run with him.

Every time I'm out for my long runs, someone goes by and comments on the fact that Henri is not with me. Every time. It's not even the same people. The 16 mile run, every person made a comment. Maybe it was because it was Friday morning and more people were out than during my early morning Saturday runs, but every person! Thanks for rubbing it in, guys! I know I'm missing my dog. And trust me, I'm missing him.

Because Henri didn't seem to enjoy the heat of our run on Monday, nor today, I might cut his run short this Monday. It's supposed to be 8 miles, which I barely have time to squeeze in before work as it is. So, either I run 4 or 5 miles with Henri in the morning and run the rest in the afternoon or we run 4 or 5 miles, I drop him off at home and finish the remainder of the miles. I don't think he'll like it and I wouldn't want to stop long enough to feed him before I went back out and I hate not being with him for awhile after we run in the heat, just to make sure he drinks water and cools down. I suppose the fact that he's bringing me toys to throw down the hall within ten minutes of our return should mean he feels fine.

Hold Tight to the Curves

Today was an excellent run, exactly what I needed. It was the same run as Monday, the same route, the same distance, the same temperature, minus the humidity. 64 degrees felt like 64 degrees. It was exactly what I needed to push and Henri was right along with me.

We ran the first mile and the time was pretty decent, but it wasn't until we hit the second mile in less time that I decided to start to push. The third mile brought us into the park, but we hit another negative split. As I crawled myself out of the park and hit the straightaway, where we can always pick up speed, despite the missed negative split, I didn't give up. My plan was to just make sure I kept every mile under ten minutes. 

We kept pushing. Six miles went fast. I was having to push, but we didn't tire out. I don't know how much longer I could have kept that up, but today, I didn't have to. We finished strong. Splits of 9:46, 9:45, 9:40, 9:43, 9:40 and 9:39 . Almost entirely negative splits and a very steady pace. The best part was that it was fun and fun for both of us.

While when I look back at Monday's overall time and splits, there wasn't that much of a difference. It's slightly disappointing, but the difference is my strength and what I was able to do today. Strong, steady and consistent.

Never Miss A Monday

With the run streak over and officially broken (I didn't run yesterday, no matter how compelled I was.) it felt different to go out this morning, mentally. While this week is an "easy" week with 6, 6 and 10k, it didn't feel easy this morning. 

Both Henri and I were spoiled by a few days of amazing weather. Henri was giving me a look after the first mile. Thankfully, we got a nice breeze coming in after mile three to cool us down. I know it's only July, but I know that both of us are done with heat and humidity. The sneak peak we got this weekend was just so tempting, the desire to push through the next several months and move back into Fall and Winter...but obviously we can have nice weather in July. Friday and Saturday proved that. Why, oh why?

Run Streak Day 101: The Conclusion

While yesterday was day 100 of my run streak, I have to celebrate everything with Henri, so I extended my run streak one more day so I could conclude this streak with Henri by my side.

Yes, I am concluding my run streak after 100, now 101 days. I don't think it's really been helping me with my speed and I think my body needs more recovery than it's currently getting. As I run longer distances, more often, I think more strength will come from rest and recovery.

330 miles have been run over the last 101 days. There were a lot of 1 mile runs in there, but a lot of miles have been run with Henri, the Half-Marathon and all of these Marathon training miles. There are so many more to go. 

So, today, we ran just a few more miles, together, because it was beautiful outside. Tomorrow, we can rest and we'll start another week, rested. This is an easy week on the training plan, a perfect time to end the streak and focus on being the best I can when the marathon comes around.

Run Streak Day 97: Bonus Heat Advisory

I really wanted to get Henri out for a run today. It's been awhile with the heat advisory that began last Thursday and as it closes in on the Fourth of July, the fireworks in the neighborhood have Henri shaking and trembling every night. I thought a run would help ease his nerves just a little.

It was still really warm. When I checked the weather later, another heat advisory has been issued. Thankfully, because I had run five of my eight miles in the heat of the afternoon yesterday, we only had three to run. Henri was really excited to be out. He was sniffing everything and then taking off again as fast as he could. I'm glad he was enjoying himself. I have the feeling he's been bored stuck inside for the past several days.

He was also smelling the remnants of the fireworks from last night. The smell was in the air, which made him a little nervous, my poor boy. So, between that and his stomach telling him it was time for breakfast, we were moving to get home, which made this a hot and sweaty run.