Treadmill Marathons - The Wave of the Future!

I was scheduled to run 4 miles on Wednesday. But, I went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Tuesday night and didn't get to bed until 4 am. Not a chance I was going to get up early and run, and even less chance that I would run outside in the heat of the day. Some can hack it, but not me. So, I decided to run at the gym on the good ol' treadmill!

It was so nice!! The gym was nice and cool and the treadmill had little fans just for me! I could watch Divine Design while I ran! The track was so soft compared to asphalt and concrete! I didn't have to watch out for and steer clear of tree branches or broken bottles or dirty litter boxes! It was great! The four miles went by in a flash and I hardly felt winded when I was done! I'd forgotten how nice it was to run on a treadmill in a temperature- and humidity-controlled environment!

Today was another 4 mile day. I went back to my usual routine of waking up early and getting out to run by about 8 am. So much harder! So much hotter! So many more obstacles! Ugh!

Why can't the marathon be on treadmills?

It's Brush Pick-up Time!!!

Yay! I love running next to huge piles of brush and trash! Especially when it's sticking out into the road so I have to veer to miss it or risk loosing a lot of blood! It was so neat seeing the things people want to throw away strewn along the side of the road! Things like: chewed-up couches, disgusting mattresses piled high enough to reach the clouds, first generation TV's, garden hose reels that have been broken into pieces suitable for use as a lethal weapon, and (this is the BEST one!) litter boxes - COMPLETE WITH DIRTY LITTER!!!!!!

Ahhh...

It's just sad that the next time I go out to run the trash will (hopefully) all have been picked up. What will I look at then?

Birthday Cake

My birthday was last weekend, so, of course, I ate ice cream and birthday cake and had two big, yummy dinners and lots of wine. It was fabulous! Unfortunately, all of that indulgence does not help my marathon training attempts. I did go to our very first group run of the season, last Saturday, on my birthday, the 4th of July. I got up at 6 am to make it there by 7. We did a time trial and I ran a 10:43 mile! My best ever! That's all the running I did all weekend, unless you count the trips to and from the bar. So, Monday, I was supposed to do 3 miles. I managed it, but barely. I felt really sluggish and tired. Tuesday was a rest day, but I went to the gym anyway and did some time on the elliptical machine and some yoga. Wednesday I was supposed to do 4 miles. I did 2 and had to walk 1/2 a mile before running another mile. I didn't get the 4 miles in. I couldn't believe the weekend's activities were still affecting me! I can't imagine that it would be anything else! Thursday, I did complete the 4 miles that I couldn't do on Wednesday. Thursday I felt good, really good. But, I still feel like I missed out Monday and Wednesday.

Note to self: do not eat birthday cake before race.

I drew a picture! It's of the route I run in my neighborhood. The red X is my house, though it's more to the left of where the page ends. The loop is about 1.1 miles. Today I ran it 3 times and walked it once. I thought I'd share where I go when I run. I'm a creature of habit, so I usually run the same way every time - see the red arrows. I know you're supposed to vary your routine so your body doesn't get used to the same thing, and I do. I don't run every day. 2 or 3 times a week, I go to the gym and do the treadmill or the elliptical machine. My favorite machine right now is the TreadClimber - what a great, low-impact workout that is! If you have one at your gym, I highly recommend it. I also get some variety by attending group runs with my training group, We Run San Antonio, on Saturday mornings. We run out in the hills of Helotes. I hate the hills, but they're good for me. And it's really pretty out there. And usually cooler than at my house in the middle of the city. Cooler is always good! Our first official training run is this Saturday, July 4th, which, coincidentally, is also my 30th birthday! Crazy, huh? I'm not sure how this 30 thing happened...

I also enjoy making lists, so here are some things I saw on my run this morning:

1. Lots of squished frogs. I always see them on my runs out here. Luckily, they're not very fresh. I think they live in the Big Drainage Ditch, but I'm not sure why they come out at night to be run over by cars...
2. 6 other people walking/running the same course! They were all very friendly and we wheezed good morning to one another. Unfortunately, 4 of them were running/walking on the right side of the road instead of the left. I wanted to discuss the safety implications of this decision with them, but I felt it wasn't the right time.
3. Two giant, empty cans of Fosters in paper bags. Australian for trashy.
4. Huge, 6-foot-tall weeds all around the outside edge of the Big Drainage Ditch. I wondered how the heck they got that big when we haven't had significant, normal rainfall in 2 years, and no rainfall whatsoever in at least 2 months! And, how come grass and flowers and plants we want don't grow more like weeds? What's up with that? I have native plants in my garden and I still have to water those suckers every day! Is someone secretly watering the weeds at night? Will the city ever cut them down? Sometimes they scratch my hands if I get too close.
5. Two CPS employees sitting in their truck beneath a tree. Taking a break, maybe?? From what? It was 7 am!! They were there for about 20 mintues.
6. Some houses with really nice cars, yet really crappy yards.... interesting.
7. An old man tinkering with his outdoor A/C unit. Poor thing, I hope he got it working or called someone. No one wants no A/C in this heat! We went through that a couple of months ago when it was only in the low 90's and it was miserable then!
   

I find that keeping my mind on things other than the slight burning sensation in my quadricepts helps me run farther. So, there you are. Next time, a discussion of music. :)