Keeping Cool

Wouldn't you know it, it was raining this morning when we were supposed to be running. It wasn't supposed to start until 7am when I went to bed, but I guess it couldn't wait to cool things down and showed up early. I guess I can't complain much. It's been a fairly mild Summer, as long as you can get out in the morning. Last August, Henri and I didn't go for a run for a month because of heat advisories. A little rain delay, not the worst thing. Especially since it cooled things off.

I wasn't sure if it was going to work out, but I hoped we could get our run in this afternoon. As long as the sun stayed behind the clouds, hopefully heat and humidity would not climb throughout the day to the degree that Henri couldn't go out with me. He's having quite a bit of separation anxiety and I really wouldn't want to have to leave him to run after I'd been gone all day at work. I look out the window right before I leave work and the sun came out. What!?! No!?! Why now? It was 79 degrees, which is not awful, but it depended on humidity and if there was a breeze. I somewhat regretted our last afternoon run, which was a similar situation, but I wanted to give it a try.

The sun was trying to come out, which was disappointing. I really needed it to be cool. I kept an easy pace, which was still sweaty, but it felt like something that could be maintained for awhile. Henri wanted to go faster, but I knew we wouldn't make it if we picked up too much. By the end of mile three, the clouds won and we got just the break we needed to keep going. It looked like it was going to rain, the breeze picked up, but a drop never fell. I realized it actually felt cooler than Monday morning's run.

We made decent time, despite me keeping us at a slow, steady pace. We finished strong and got some ice cubes, ice water and dinner in our bellies. Not bad for an afternoon run. Yes, the temperature this morning was awesome and would have been great if not for the rain, but this was a fair substitute. Sorry, sun. I just don't need you bringing me and my puppy down right now.

How Many Miles?

(Sleep comes and keeps me from posting these on the actual day we run. Monday, August 27th)

It was storming for this past Saturday's long run, so the fourteen miles waiting until Sunday. Unfortunately, the storm brought heat and humidity with it. Not only was the fourteen miles a hot mess, literally, so was this mornings run. Was I crazy to even attempt to run ten miles the day after fourteen? Well, yeah, but I am running a marathon.

Ten miles means an early morning to make sure that we can get them all in and have time to shower. The shower seems important. When I woke up, a little before my alarm, I let Henri out to see how uncomfortable it was, if it was going to be okay to take Henri with me. It felt surprisingly cool, much better than Sunday morning, so we geared up to go.

Just a half an hour later, it didn't really feel that cool anymore. Despite the run the day before, my body was okay with the running. Henri was also okay with the running. I was trying to slow us down a little, both because of the heat and to survive the ten miles. I was battling mind over body, not sure which to believe. While I knew we could run the miles, I wasn't sure if it was the safest decision. As miserable as I felt, I knew Henri had to feel worse. No amount of marathon training is worth Henri, or myself for that matter, getting sick or dehydrated. I finally gave in and after mile three, we started walking.

As we cooled down, I contemplated what to do next. We would walk a mile, but then what? Run the last mile home bringing us to five miles? The sun started to come out and started to break up the thickness in the air. As we started our run home, we were feeling much better, so I decided we would do seven, which is what we are supposed to do on Wednesday.

As we hit the final stretch home, Henri was really moving. He even ran past the turn into the subdivision, so I recalculated and planned on finishing with eight. Well, I can't say that I'm sorry about that decision, but that last mile took us out of the breeze and it was a struggle for me to keep going. I really do just wither away in heat and sun. So, I relied on my Henri to keep me moving all the way home.

We made it, and only two miles short of the distance planned. If I had been alone, I probably would have pushed through the last two miles, but the back to back runs was probably a good amount of marathon training for the day. I could also have attempted the last two this afternoon/evening, but it's really just not worth it. I will still be running a lot of miles this week with another twenty miler this weekend. Despite the ickyness of this run, it was a good run, with plenty of training in mental and physical stamina. 

Almost Missed Out

When I got off work Tuesday afternoon, the sun had been behind clouds all day. It felt pretty good outside. I considered taking Henri out for our second seven mile run of the week.

I'm glad I didn't. Besides the fact that the sun came out and we might have wilted, my body probably still needed time to recover. Also, this morning felt amazing. It was well worth the "wait".

It was so nice this morning. Both, my body and Henri, were very happy with the temperature. Either I was well recovered or it just felt that good, but it felt like one of the best runs I've had in awhile. We didn't have any sub ten minute miles, but several of them were close. I almost had negative splits, aside from mile five where my body went wonky for a little bit.

Henri was all about going faster since I could. Even in the quiet neighborhoods, he was going full speed, or at least as fast as he could go dragging me behind him. Even better than watching him run when he's been stressed out or cooped up is watching him when the weather turns cooler. The only time he seems more excited is when he gets a BarkBox in the mail and he gets to open and play with new toys.

If only this was the seasons changing. If only this was a sign of the weather to come and we were past all the heat and humidity. Alas, it is still August and September. I am thankful for the somewhat mild Summer. I hope it doesn't come back with a vengeance in the next 6 weeks.

Recovery?

This past Saturday was the first of the twenty mile training runs. When discussing our thoughts of increasing to twenty-four miles during our training, we were advised that twenty-two might be the highest we should go, because of recovery time. While we all had some aches and pains on Sunday, we really felt pretty decent. Then I tried to run my seven mile "recovery run" this morning. 

Thankfully, I have Henri. He keeps me moving, even moving at a pace that might not be the most comfortable. Mentally, he was the reason I kept going this morning. Henri has been struggling with the changes in our lives and his current living situation. He is anxious. He doesn't like me to leave him. He's a little on edge. He is typically better after being outside for awhile and having some activity, so our runs are necessary in getting him to a better place.

That is what kept me going this morning. When I wanted to shorten the run, when I made excuses, I looked down at Henri and had to keep going. He did really well this morning, even on the no sidewalk stretch. He got excited about squirrels and rabbits and just seemed to enjoy himself. He still cried when I left for work, but he's been in good spirits this evening, possibly because of the BarkBox that came in the mail.

Sometimes, I don't know how I get through these long runs without him. I'm sure they would go better with him, but it's just too warm. I can't even figure out my own fueling, I don't know how I would make sure he was properly fueled and hydrated. It's okay. I'm going to make it through and then we'll be back to all of the running being about us...as soon as I can find us a home of our own with a safe running route.

Trust

My little Henri is trying his best to live his best life, but he's having a hard time with the adjustments that have been made lately. The past few days he has come into the bedroom, trembling. I don't know what he's scared of. It's nothing I can hear or sense and maybe it's just a culmination of many things and all of his anxiety. I am proud of him for every moment that he appears to be brave while experiencing something new and there are many of them.

Today, I planned on six miles. It looked like rain may some, so I was just going to take what we could get. The radar looked clear so while every part of me wanted to go back to sleep, I knew I would be disappointed not to do this week as planned.

Henri did well while it was dark. He did well as we passed our turn that would take us away from the scary no sidewalk portion of the run, even as a car came upon us. I know he was anxious about it, but he did not freak out. I like to think he trusted me, which is what I continue to tell him to do.

We were coming to the choice of making it five miles or six when Henri stopped and threw up some stomach bile. Henri does not have a sensitive stomach. He has thrown up only a handful of times in his life, so him throwing up, even just stomach bile, was enough for me to decide that it was going to be a five mile run. I still don't know if it was anxiety or something off that he got into because he has been fine since, but as always, Henri comes first. Is my body going to rebel about running twenty miles because I was one mile short during the week? No. I don't think so.

The Big One

This is the big week, the week that ends in a twenty mile run. It didn't really start small either, with a ten mile run today.

Thus far, I haven't worried about pushing too much to get my weekday long run in. I've only slacked on it twice. I wasn't sure I could even fit ten miles in before work, especially now that the sun doesn't come up as early. I didn't want to look back on this week and feel like I didn't properly prepare for the twenty miler this weekend. If I struggle too much, I might think that if I had only run the ten miles like I was supposed to...

So, I woke up and got out the door around 4:30am. This is still a fairly new area for me and I was a little nervous about running in the dark when I am still learning the ins and outs of it all. This does seem like a safe neighborhood, probably safer than the former, but strange things can happen anywhere, so it's still a little nerve-racking.

I ran with no music for the first 5 miles, until the sun was a little more prominent in the sky. I skipped the part where the sidewalk ends, just because I didn't think our led lights were enough on a dark country road. I'm sure Henri was thrilled with that decision, even though that took us into a neighborhood we hadn't been in yet and it messed with my route and knowledge of how to get all of the miles. It all felt pretty good though. Henri was moving. I didn't feel like I was struggling to keep up with him. My body didn't hurt too much from the long run this past weekend. The miles were just ticking off.

I hit a small wall at seven miles, but Henri helped me push through. It only lasted half a mile and we were flying again. Then the last mile and a half were challenging because I was running out of time and I wanted to make sure we finished by the house, so we didn't have to walk very far after. Then we hit a bunch of sprinklers. Do I really need to shower if I'm hit hard with sprinklers at the end of a run?

It was a good run. The temperature was decent. Henri and I both felt good. I'm not saying I didn't struggle some, but if twenty miles could feel a little bit like this (which it won't because I won't have Henri), I'll be okay. I'll make it at least.

Where the Sidewalk Ends

Today was the day I took Henri out on the new route that I found on my long run on Sunday, one that I hoped would be less stressful and anxiety inducing for him. He had seemed okay with our route for a few runs, but maybe he had had his fill of the busy street. What I have found was much quieter with plenty of straightaway. One tiny glitch was along this one stretch of road, there is not even a quarter of a mile where the sidewalk ends and you have to run in the road until you get past the cornfield where the sidewalk begins again.

Henri was curious as we began our new route. It was different from the beginning. There are still sprinklers, unfortunately, but there is much more sidewalk and the sprinklers are much deeper in the yards, so less water action, if Henri can just get past the hissing of them. He followed my lead with little hesitation as we went places he had never been before. I think he was enjoying himself quite a bit...until we hit the spot where the sidewalk ended. He followed me out onto the road easy enough and while he was confused, he kept going. Then a car pulled out of the neighborhood onto the road. We were running into traffic, for safety, but Henri was not a fan of the idea of a cars headlight pointing towards him. The sun was up at this point. We were easy to see and I was going to move into the grass along the road, but Henri decided a dead stop seemed like a better option. The car was plenty far enough away and I was able to move myself and Henri safely off the road and even keep Henri moving. He did better with the car that came from the other direction. As we stepped back onto the sidewalk I had to slow down, either because I had tried to pick up the pace to hurry Henri along this road that I knew he would find questionable, or I was holding my breathe in anticipation of Henri's reaction and I needed to catch it a little. Either way, I'm proud of him. He continued on the rest of the run with little fuss or anxiety. Maybe a normal amount of anxiety for Henri experiencing new things. Time will tell how he will handle the approach of this scary edge of the world on our next run, but if he's struggles, we will just have to dip into the neighborhood and run around the corn field, sidewalks the whole way.

I wasn't sure how much of a run we would get in this morning. It's warmed up quite a bit the last few days. It was really humid when we went to bed last night. My glasses steamed up when I let Henri out in the morning. A nine mile run was on the plan, which I know I can't get done before work. I thought we'd be lucky to get four, five or six with the heat. It turned out to be much cooler than I thought it would be. Still warm, but a breeze kept it comfortable enough. We actually got seven miles in and it was a perfect route, aside from the scary parts ;)

More of the Same

Hey! We ran six miles and didn't get lost this time!

I made sure I went the way I was more familiar with, even if that meant we ran up and down the busier street more than we wanted. It was more than Henri wanted. I don't know if it was the repetition or the traffic (even though there was less traffic than on Monday because it was early in the morning), but he was getting pretty anxious towards the end, which is the opposite of what I want Henri to feel while running, especially as he lives in a fairly constant state of anxiety right now with all the changes in our lives. As I saw his anxiety rise, I made a plan for how to get him off the busy road and back into the neighborhoods - without getting lost.

The timing just worked out. We were closing in on our last mile and we were about at a place I knew we could get one more before getting to the house. Wouldn't you know, as soon as we turned into the neighborhood, Henri eased up. It will be interesting to see if he becomes anxious as soon as we get out to the street now or if it was just the amount of time we were on the street for this particular run.

My plan is to spend my thirteen mile run this weekend exploring the area and finding some more places that are less anxiety inducing. It will take a little trial and error, but I think we can get some good runs in out in this area. Then, just when we get comfortable and figure it all out, it will be time to move again.