Almost There

It was another four mile run today. It was nice and chilly, probably much more like the temperature I'll be running in for the marathon, except for it was still dark. A little sunshine would have made a difference, but for today, we went out in the dark and came back in the dark.

This run felt better, not being a recovery run. We were a little faster today, or Henri didn't stop as much to sniff and pee. Either one is possible. There was a point when a group of four was running in front of us and Henri was determined to catch up with them. Then he must have been offended when they said it wasn't fair I had a pacer and decided to blow them off and pass them. Then it was just time to go home and have breakfast, so we didn't slow down until we made it there. Then Henri ran in circles once we got inside because it was so exciting it was so much cooler outside...and that it was time to eat.

I did remember that I was supposed to be breaking in my marathon shoes. They are the same model of shoes that I've been running in, I've just already run half of the miles those shoes should see. These shoes will be broken in enough by marathon day. Now, if I can just remember to change which shoes I'm running in on my Garmin...

Oh, I'm sorry. You didn't actually want to see the shoes did you? Henri's face is so much cuter.

Here Four You

I ran out of time with all of the things going on to write about our run yesterday morning, but since I often forget to post it, even when I write it, I didn't stress about it. So, here you go.

We are in an easy week. Four, four and eight, which is a welcome rest. The weather has cooled off a little bit, but we're still up early in the morning. It hasn't cooled up quite enough to avoid the darkness, and that's what we've got. A lot of darkness, even heading out thirty minutes later.

Despite only a twelve mile run on Saturday, my calves hurt more than any of the twenty mile runs, or almost every run for the past several months of training. Henri didn't take it easy on me though. They actually felt better while I was running. Too bad it was just a four mile run. No. Wait. Pretend I didn't say that.

So, a short run in the dark means little photo opportunity. If you taste this awesome...the photo opp is over anyway. I better make sure he gets his food!

Wings and Paws

This run felt fast. I don't know if it really was or not because I'm not going to look. It just felt fast. I think it was partly the wings on my socks. Otherwise, it was Henri...though I think I was in front of him for a lot of it. He must have thought I was crazy, trying to run that fast in the heat with my feet hurting. Or he was just shocked by the stark difference from Monday to today. Or he was just distracted by him rumbling belly and the fact that we keep running miles instead of going home for breakfast. He really is so good to me.

Taper Down Now

(Post missed from Monday, 9/17 because...sleep.)

We are officially in the taper. Six miles today, after a long and grueling twenty on Saturday (for me, not Henri). Just a few more weeks now. We just have to make it through a few more weeks of Central Illinois heat and humidity. I hope to return to cooler temperatures. I hope we can run in the afternoons and evenings, before the sun goes down, not having to go to bed to rise early to get all the miles in before work. We are almost there!

While it may cool down by this weekend, this week continues to be humid and in the nineties. That means it's in the seventies before the sun even comes up and Henri and I are just over it. Maybe if Henri wasn't scared of the sprinklers, we could run through a few to cool off. I don't blame him though. They sound like vicious snakes about to attack.

I needed Henri to get me through this one. I just wanted it over. I needed Henri to keep me moving and to keep me moving at a quicker pace if I could handle it. It keeps my feet from hurting if I can fly through the miles. If I'm by myself, I go easy on myself. I'll slow down and not that I shouldn't give myself a break after running twenty miles, but I need to keep going and Henri is all for that.

Cool Runnings

Henri and I both needed the run this morning. We still had to get up a little early and run awhile in the dark to get all six miles in before work. The temperature is so much better though. It helps move the feet and get things done. I love to watch Henri's temperament change with the weather. I'm sure moving faster helps, too.

Sunday Runday: Long Run Edition

Because it's been raining for two days and has cooled down, Henri and I made a little Sunday Runday out of it and went out for our ten mile run instead of having to fight the darkness and pressure to get all of the miles in before work. While the forecast was still calling for rain, there was nothing on the radar so I was happy to take Henri along. 

Unfortunately, with all the rain, everything smelled amazing to Henri and he wanted to stop and smell it all. I told him that if he was going to be stopping the whole time, I was going to have to take him home. Of course, when we got to the turn to go home, Henri attempted to take it. I told him I was kidding. I wasn't taking him home. I needed him for this run.

I will credit some of the pacing to the cooler temperatures, which just felt amazing, but the rest was Henri. This is why I needed him. I'm trying to figure out why my arches are hurting as much as they are, but in the meantime, I tend to slow down when they start, which is really the opposite of what I need to do. If I push on and keep my pace up, they don't hurt as much. That's where Henri came in. Once we fall into a pace, he is really good at keeping us in it, even if he does have to stop and smell something. 

It was dreary, but at 7am, I needed the sun to stay behind the clouds. It was windy, but aside from when we were running into it, it kept things cool and we were running in comfortable lower 50's. We were able to get our miles in before it warmed up too much, even with a little extra sleep. Ah...

This was Henri's last "long run" of marathon training. Our last twenty mile run is Saturday and then we start to taper, we are that close. It's really nice timing because the sun is rising later and later. I will not be able to get the miles in before work and while it's been cooler the past few days, the heat and humidity is not done with us yet. It's coming back just in time for our twenty-miler on Saturday!

Bodyguard

“And IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII, will always love youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.”

Okay, maybe this is not the bodyguard I'm talking about. I did have my friend, Tasha, join us on today's run, just in case the boogie man decided to drive around the neighborhood again and try to pick us up.

Henri was very excited to have someone else with us on our run. He couldn't decide who he wanted to run next to. I was just trying to keep him from tripping her. Our marathon would not go well if anything happened to either one of us. If she was behind us, he was turning to look behind him, to make sure she was still back there. If she was in front of us, he was pulling me to keep up with her. Henri loved having two people there. He bounced back and forth, spinning from one side of me to the other, trying to be closer to Tasha. I'm mean, I know she's pretty cool, but what about me? 

Was It Just My Imagination

Today's run did not go as planned. We head out at 5am, as planned. We were supposed to get eight miles in. It was warm. Humid. Dark. It wasn't going to be great, but we were going to get it done.

Henri made a stop and was spinning, finding the perfect spot when a car pulled up to a stop. When it drove by, the lights distracted him and he forgot was he was doing. We carried on. The car must have turned around or it was another car. I don't know. It went by. We turned onto the path that runs through the neighborhood. Henri still needed to go, so he kept trying to find a spot, which meant more stop and go than I would have liked. While I was waiting by his side, a car went by at the crosswalk. It was dark. I couldn't see the car and it might have been my imagination, but I couldn't shake the feeling that it was far too early on a holiday for that many cars to be going by.

I shook the feeling, but kept my eyes open. It happened again. Not that I would go without them, but I started to feel like a target with our blue LED lights, signaling where we were along the path. Again, it could have been an overactive imagination, but I was really getting nervous. The difference between being where the car/cars were passing and where we actually were along the path was Henri stopping to sniff, pee or poop.

So, being creeped out at this point and very aware of my surroundings, I decided we were running home. Of course, the sun was coming up at this point, but I didn't want anyone to know our route any more than they might already. While this is a nice neighborhood, I knew there had been a couple of reports of cars stopping or following women running.

We only got three and a half miles in. With all Henri's stopping, we wouldn't have made it eight miles anyway. Not exactly worth waking up early for, but we did get a little run, a little air and we were both safe. Henri did finally find a place to poop, too. Again, I'm sure that everything was fine the entire time, but just in case I plan on taking more than a fuzzy buddy with me on Wednesday.