Days 119-136

I was in Colorado for fun and work for a few days last week and thought I would get a run or two in but nope. The one day I had plenty of time to do it, I was staying in a crappy hotel near a busy road and I didn't know where I could go. So...I will be making up missed miles this week.

But what was pretty interesting is that in today's run, I found that I was hitting a good pace so it made me want to run a little harder. And even though there is the climb up to the open space, I still averaged under a 10 minute mile for the run (not much under, but still under). And also at the end of the run I was feeling a bit nauseous and that is what happens when I push myself a little hard. So I just need to find the balance between running a good pace without getting sick at the end. And speaking of getting sick, the very next day I was sick. My stomach was upset so maybe I hadn’t pushed myself to run too fast, maybe I was just starting to get sick that day.

And then it was off to Ojai for the July 4th weekend so my plan of making up miles wasn’t very successful. Photo is from the car on the way down to Southern California. I did run in Ojai on Saturday and it was a beautiful warm day. So warm, in fact, that I had to stop and walk for some of mile 5 and most of mile 6. Ouch. I’m used to running in the 60s – it was somewhere in the 80s in Ojai and I melted. I feel like I’ve had a lot of excuses for not running lately but I recognize that and will not allow that to become a long-term trend. I can’t.

This week was a pretty good one but I didn’t feel as strong as I had the week before (before I got sick). I did 10 miles yesterday and felt great so I think I’m getting back on track.

OK so here is the summary:
Thursday: 2 miles w/Uli & 4 on my own:
2.1 m in 29:11 at an avg pace of 13:52 +117 in elevation
4.01m in 41:51 at an avg pace of 10:25 +373 in elevation

Friday: 2 miles w/Uli and 8 on my own (and I was done by 8:30am!)
2.11 m in 33:29 at an avg pace of 15:51 +88 in elevation
8.16m in 1:27:29 at an avg pace of 10:42 and +891 in elevation

Wednesday: 2 miles w/Uli and 6 on my own
2.02m in 29:18 at an avg pace of 14:29 and +86 in elevation
6.01m in 59:14 at an avg pace of 9:50 and +584 in elevation

Saturday (in Ojai): 6.01 miles in 1:07:52 at an average pace of 11:16. (Hot day)

Tuesday: 2 miles w/Uli and 2 on my own followed by a track workout in the PM
2.01 in 35:20 at 17:32 + 99
2.04 in 19:15 at 9:25 +63
track: 5.25 in 43:51 at 8:20 (includes warm-up laps in the avg pace)

Wednesday: 2 miles w/Uli and 4 on my own
2.15 in 41:40 at an avg pace of 19:21 and +140 in elevation
4.00 in 41:40 at an avg pace of 11:16 and +418 in elevation

Thursday: 2 miles w/Uli and 3 on my own
2.01 in 33:45 at an avg pace of 16:46 and +144 in elevation
3.01 in 33:09 at an avg pace of 10:59 and +659 in elevation

Friday: Bikram

Saturday: 10 miles in 1h49min at an avg pace of 10:56 and +1,121 in elevation

Also, one thing about the Garmin watch compared to the Nike + GPS App is that the Garmin is far more consistent in reporting the same mile markers while the Nike+ GPS App is kind of all over the place. But it's ok because I try to run until both devices say I hit my mileage goal so that psychologically, when I am ready to fall over at the 26 mile marker and realize that I have another .2 to go, I'll be used to it.