Shattering Records

Well, not really shattering records... However, I did make better time today. I had a shorter run, seven miles, but it was a great run. I broke past 10 mintues per mile overall today, I ran a 9:42 pace and felt really good afterwards too. Also, I finally signed up for the marathon, it is official now.
Saturday after my run I went to this place in old town Alexandria called Pacers. It is a running store and has a fun local feel. They organize weekly runs and long runs on the weekends in the area. I was just looking around one of the owners was showing me some race gear and gave me some great advice on running my marathon. He said I oughta check specifics about what the race provides for hydration and food and at what intervals and then begin to incorporate those into my long runs to make the transition easier on race day.
Also, I have been tracking some of my training online at dailymile.com and it does some intersting calulations. For example, I have apparently burned about 70 donuts and saved 5.5 gallons of fuel. It is kinda nice to have it calculate my miles and pace and see my progress over time.

10 down 16.2 to go

Well, this Saturday marked my longest run to date. I dont really have too much to say about it though. I made pretty good time the first five miles but realized I didnt get out early enough because the sun and humidity wasted me the last five. I still managed to roll in with about an 11 minute pace but the last few miles were WAY too hot. I took several walking breaks because I figured that my time wont matter if I cant run anymore due to death.
I am very happy with progress thus far though.
I ran the same trail as last week, just a little father obviously...

I dont think I ever mentioned the that the marathon I am running is the Top of Utah.

Lost

Total weekly mileage? 23! Although, it doesn't seem quite as great once I realize that I am supposed to run all that plus a few more miles in one day... However, I am still quite pleased with my progress.
It is a little high though because my run on Thursday didnt go quite as planned. I went out to try a new trail close to my house and had it all figured out on the map to do a 3 mile loop. It was 8pm and I figured there was plenty of daylight left since it takes less than a half hour for these short runs. But, as fate would have it, I didnt not get home until 9:30pm. I ran about 4 miles more than I had planned. Now, you may wonder why I didnt just turn around after about 15 minutes. Well, that is obviously logical, but I was in the zone and looked at my watch and realized I must be lost or just reeaallllly slow (also, the trail is a little crazy, with all sorts of off shoots and I wasnt sure if I could find my way back!).  I figured I would just run to the next cross road and see if that was where I was supposed to turn or if it even looked familiar.  There were all sorts of signs along the trail and I stopped at them all briefly to see if there was a map- alas, there was not but instead very informative placards about the various botanical wonders along the creek bed... I finally came to a cross roads and low and behold there was a map even! I starred at that map for a good 5-10 trying to decipher it. I gave up and asked someone some questions to try to get my bearings. (When I got home I realized this was about the 3.5 mile marker...) I ended up just turning around and running back. There were fireflies starting to appear and it was quite a wonderful to run along the trail lit by their little glow. However, this meant it was getting darker. I ran faster on the way home and ended up figuring out how to get back on my predetermined course and made it finally. I realized that I had made a wrong turn about 20 feet after getting on the trail which thus led me on quite the adventure...
It was great to find such a nice and well trafficed trail though so close to where I live. That is where I did my 9  mile run Saturday. It ended up being great. I went out in the morning and was able to enjoy the sun without being burnt alive or suffocated in the humidity. Yay!

Next Saturday: 52,800 ft

Motivation From Mom

So today I was talking to my mom and she was telling me that she had walked a few miles today and I asked her if she was getting ready to run the marathon with me. 
Her reply: "No! Running is close to being retarded." 
I laughed out loud. I cant really blame her though.
I felt that way- like last week...

Happy running!

"Run like hell and get the agony over with."
-Clarence DeMar

I believe that the Good Lord gave us a finite number of heartbeats and I'm damned if I'm going to use up mine running up and down a street.

-Neil Armstrong

"It's unnatural for people to run around the city streets unless they are thieves or victims. It makes people nervous to see someone running. I know that when I see someone running on my street, my instincts tell me to let the dog go after him."
- Mike Royko 

"Life is short... running makes it seem longer."
- Baron Hansen 

Running and Running, Running and Running...

So, last Saturday I ran around the monuments and almost died. It was a beautiful day outside and it was Memorial Day weekend so there were lots all the typical Saturday tourists + all the holiday tourists down at the monuments... So, it was a little crowded. I didn't get out early enough so the humidity (=death) and heat made it feel like I was dragging a four poster bed behind me for 7 miles (why am I doing this?) but I tried to listen to my Franz Schubert and enjoy Thomas and Abe.
So, this week I only got two runs in -a 3 and a 4 miler- because it was my birthday (I'm 24!!!) and missed my Wednesday run.  But, I did my 8 mile run today and it was AWESOME! Seriously. (As awesome as running can be...)  I am really happy with how I did and how I felt though. Mucho better than last week. After I finished I felt like I could run more, so that is probably a good sign right? My run was along the Capital Crescent Trail which runs along the water past Georgetown (yuppie yup- no metro) and through some very pretty areas and took the metro home (sorry if any of you were there and had to smell me). For the DCites- Rosslyn to Bethesda.
9er next week, you are mine.