Runs

Despite being in trial for most of the week, I was able to get in some good running and see some friends. I ran a few miles at Memorial Park on Monday. Then on Thursday I met a friend to run 5 miles on the trails. After getting cleaned up, I joined some people from the running club for our club meeting. We had elections and a group of great members were nominated and selected to serve this year. Friday I ran 7 miles at the park. I planned on running 14 but the sun was setting on me a little quicker than I was running.

After work today, I went and ran seven miles at the park. My time is still too slow at 1:07. I shouldn’t have any problem hitting 1:03 on a relaxed run or 57-58 minutes on a fast run. My goal as I get myself healthy is to increase my speed.

After the run I did a workout.

It’s about time. I am finally getting to where it’s not painful to run on the trails. Today I ran seven miles without much of any pain around my knees. After five miles without blips in the radar I pushed the last two miles at an 8:15 minute mile pace. I ended up running the seven in just under 1:10.

It felt good being out there without pain. I attribute a lot of that to the advice of my friend and fellow running club member, JC. He showed me some yoga type stretches that dramatically improved the ease of his running.

There comes a time when most runners get bored of the same old running routes. For me that has been neighborhood paths that get old, high school tracks that look the same, and even trails that start to blend together.

What do we do to correct that? I don’t know, but I know that I go out on new paths. People in my running club often run the same 5 mile loop or one of two 7 mile loops. All three of these have gotten a little boring after running them hundreds of times.

Today I went out to run at the park and found that the park was closed. Thunderstorms and strong winds ravaged through the area tearing down trees and with them powerlines at the park. I went instead to the Lone Star Trail which goes through the Sam Houston National Forest.

There is a path about two miles long that goes into the park, so I ran that. It has been about 3 months since I last ran it and the grass, weeds, and trees have overgrown the path. My legs were suffering as I drudged through it. Finally I made it to the park where I took a couple short trails back to the highway. I saw some of the downed trees but no downed powerlines. I finished up about six miles overall. I saw that John and Lavonne were out at the National Forest and hope they chose the trail that I did not because it might have been a little more manicured.

Every summer I start out hating running in the heat. I will stop and walk more. I’m much sweatier. I get exhausted far sooner than in cooler weather.

But I also learn that it’s not as bad as my mind makes it out to be. I think this is probably true for most runners.

Learn to embrace the heat a little. Consider it something of a training tool. If you can run a good run in 90 degree heat you are going to be doing great in the fall!

Also, what better excuse than the heat for a couple slower runs?

I’m not training for any races but I haven’t neglected my running too much. I’ve given myself a couple extra rest days during the week, but I am stepping up the mileage a little on the days I do run. In fact, I’m not able to run as much with the group because they step down mileage when it’s hot. My philosophy is fewer days but more time out there. Once I’m out there I might as well endure it for awhile.

Sunday I ran a slow 7 miles. Today I ran a very strong 7 miles. Neither was the same trails so it wasn’t too boring.

Last night I ran a quick five miles at the park with a group. They did the loop one direction, but I went the other way. Phillip and I finished within 30 seconds of one another. Some of the other guys took considerably longer as it appeared they decided to walk a good distance.

This morning I ran the same trail by myself. I ran it a lot slower than last night because I didn’t feel 100%. Overall it made for two good, quick fives.

I went out to the park this afternoon because it was such a nice afternoon. After a couple days of temperatures in the 90s, it was nice to have a day where it was 74 degrees at one in the afternoon. That’s about when I started my run.

I saw my friend J.C. finishing up his run, so I spoke with him for a little while about his strategies and goals for the year. He was in good spirits. After about ten minutes of talking I took off and ran seven. It wasn’t fast but I finished in just over an hour. There were lots of people on the trails as it is probably one of the few really nice days we’ll have until next Fall.

It’s been a couple months and I still haven’t cured my minor case of runner’s knee. I have bought a knee strap that is starting to help along with supplements to help the joints. Regardless, it’s a little annoying when my knee acts up in the middle of a run. I think it’s starting to get better little by little.

Today I went to the park with Phillip to run the five mile loop. He was a little interested in doing the seven, but I was still a little sore from 20 yesterday. Unlike Norman, I actually wouldn’t mind running in the rain more often. The only annoyance (aside from the knee) was how bad the jeep trail was with mud. It was like running through quick sand as our feet would sink a couple inches into the ground. No doubt our footprints will be visible until the next hard rain. We finished the five in a decent time of about 38 minutes.

Today was an easy 20 mile run in the park. When I woke up this morning I didn’t plan on running anything more than 7 miles. But the weather was too nice to skip an afternoon outside.

I’m not training for anything, so I took the run at a slower pace. I started by the outside of Huntsville Park and ran to the outer trail twice. After each lap I ended it by sprinting up the highway access road to the national forest entrance and back. This made it just over 20 miles.

My first lap was done in 1:30 for a 9:00 minutes per mile pace. This was too slow, so I pushed the second lap a little harder and finished it in 1:25 for a 8:30 m/mile pace. On each of them I splited the 8th mile to push it extra hard. The first lap I ran the 8th in 8:02 minutes and the second lap I ran it in 7:45. Not too shabby.

What a good day outside. I’m thinking about signing up for a trail half marathon to have a fun race to run during the summer. Too bad it’ll involve some travel.

My friends decided that they are going to run some of the trails tomorrow. So I looked at the weather and decided that I still needed to run today. Tomorrow is supposed to be a little stormy and I try to avoid the lightening. I know, I know, I’ve run in it for both races and regular runs, but I still don’t plan on doing such. Normally it’s a sort of "hey that sounds like thunder but I can’t see any lightening. I will just make this a short three mile run"…Of course, bad idea.

I called Phillip and got him on board for a run today. We got out to the park and saw a lot of gray rain clouds above. Knowing that there was a chance of storms with the skies looking like it could be any minute we went for seven miles. We ran the outside loop which is supposed to be about 7 miles. I take that back, I ran the outer loop but he cut off to give a little shortcut. Phillips GPS actually showed it more around 6.44, but he’s not sure if the Garmin was 100% accurate. I think it’s close because he cut off about 100 to 150 meters.

We ended up beating the rain with somewhat slow times of 1:03 and 1:05. Not a great day at the park but I did it feeling like a slug. Now if only we can avoid the thunder tomorrow.

I’m not nearly as fast when it’s hot outside. I have to slow down or walk, I reduce my overall speed, and I am a major sweater. It’s a little annoying because sweat gets into my eyes, my shirt is saturated (thank god for dry fit type shirts), and there are more wildlife outside. That means that I have to contend with insects and snakes and other weird things. I guess that’s life in Texas though!

Update:

Shortly after posting this, I noticed a post on That’s Fit about a man who was kicked out of his gym for sweating too much. I swear it wasn’t me.

This week has been a pretty busy one on the trails for me. I have to get ready for the Hogs Hunt at the beginning of next month, and I’m too out of shape right now. I went out for a seven mile run on Monday. Then I followed that up with a run through the trails on a new route involving a new trail on Tuesday. My guess was that I’d be going about 7 miles, but I think it ended up being just under nine. I can only guess because it was based on the amount of time it took and some rough mileage calculations from the trails I know the distance of. Yesterday I ran another seven mile loop as I tried, unsucessfully, to catch up with friends who started 20 minutes ahead of me. Finally, I took it easy and ran five miles today. I’ll probably try to run 21 on Saturday.

I wasn’t supposed to run because I’m in Kansas for a wedding, but I brought my running clothes. I ran on the treadmill for a limited time, because I had to get to the wedding rehearsal. I ran a mile at a good clip and finished in 6:34. It felt really good to run one that fast.

I was going to go on an 8 mile run this morning but I ended up dropping it all the way down to four miles. Then I went about two miles this evening just to give myself a halfway respectable total distance for the day.

I’m still waiting on the splits for the RR50 mile to be put on their website. As soon as that happens, I will write a fairly detailed race report about my first fifty mile race. Other than that, I’ve just been keeping up my mileage little by little. On Friday, I ran 5 miles very fast. Today I ran 10 miles very slowly.

I went on a 21 mile run with a friend yesterday. We’re getting a final long run in before the Rocky Raccoon 50 mile race. Even though Huntsville got a lot of rain, the trail conditions at the Rocky Raccoon are still good. We only had a couple puddles that we had to run around. It was a great run.

This was a pretty good week of running, especially as I’m going to count Bandera which was run last Saturday.

Saturday I ran Bandera 50K in Bandera, Texas. It was well organized, beautiful, and difficult. I found some weaknesses, which I’ve started to correct.

Monday I ran a couple miles around the neighborhood just to get my muscles working again.

Tuesday I went to the state park and ran 5 miles before they closed it off for hunting.

Thursday it was four miles of interval training at the track.

Friday I met some friends out at the state park and pushed hard for a sub-hour 7 mile loop. We ran a modified loop that goes into both the outer section and inner loop. Both have their pros and cons. This helps to make it more pro.

Finally, Saturday, I ran a few miles at Memorial Park in Houston, Texas. Today that park turned into an area for the marathoners to run through during the Houston Marathon.

Total miles was: 52

I cut my long run a little short yesterday. Although I planned on running 21 miles, I went about 19 miles. It was a good day for running. I ran three different loops (2 7-mile loops and one 5 mile loop) and met up with some friends. It was fun to get this long run out of the way for my race on Saturday.

I was a little worried about my running last week. I couldn’t run more than 3 miles without having to stop and walk, I was sweating like crazy in cool weather, and I wasn’t enjoying the run at all.

That was last week; yesterday, it was just the opposite. I was able to run a 10 mile loop without any problems. I ran it faster than I thought, didn’t sweat, and loved the run. It was a beautiful day with temperatures in the low 50s. There was only a couple people on the trails, but I didn’t see them until about 8 miles into the run. I had a great run out there with nature.

I ran a seven mile loop today, so that I can stay in shape for the 50K in January. It wasn’t so good. I started off strong enough with an 8:16 mile, but I fell off that pace quickly. I was far too sweaty for it being 55 degrees and couldn’t handle running any of the hills. I walked a little than then would tempo run a little stronger than normal between the walks. By the time I was at my last two miles, I was able to run it the rest of the way at a much quicker pace than normal. It’s just a little weird that I had such a bad start.

Last night, my neighbor dropped by to see if I wanted to go out to the park and run. I can’t turn down an offer for a run, so I put on my running clothes and we headed out.

We didn’t make it to the park until a little after five, yet we planned on running the five mile. I told my neighbor that I’d carry a light because there was no way we’d beat the sunset. Sure enough, by mile three it was dark enough that the light was helpful. By the last mile, it was absolutely necessary.

I hadn’t ever run in the dark while trying to guide someone else. I was the only one with a light so he ran closely behind me. I listened closely to his feet as they made contact with the ground to see what his speed was like. If he was hitting a lot of roots, I knew that I couldn’t speed up. We did a good job of focusing on the trail and adjusting speed accordingly.

We finished the run in 38 minutes which is close to the fastest I can run it. Then on our way out of the park we saw a huge owl in the middle of the road.

I like how little things can change the mood of your runs so easily. It’s amazing how you can do something as easy as buying a new pair of running shoes to make your runs have a little pep again. I bought my first pair of Puma running shoes. I read that they are good enough, saw a pair for $29.00, so I bought them.

I don’t train on asphalt much so I rarely buy road shoes. I bought them and put them on yesterday. It was a 15 minute two mile which is about 30 seconds better than what I’ve been running for the past year.

That enthusiasm spread to my run today. I decided to put my light on and took off at 4:45 for a 10 mile run through the trails. I was happy and doing great. That is, until I saw myself getting passed by two cross country runners from a local university. Often I see them going the opposite direction, but this was the first time I’ve been blown past.

Demoralizing.

It’s nice to come home on holidays because it’s a time that I get to run with my stepfather. He’s an avid runner who sort of taught me that having some goals in running, aside from just running the distance, is admirable. He taught me that having a community of runners to join with for an evening run has benefits aside from running. And he has taught me a lot of humility as he always speeds past me.

This morning, I woke up and got on my running clothes because I knew that I would be running with him. I also figured that it would be in the low 50s, so I packed a long running shirt, shorts, and longer socks. Lo and behold, it was 22 degrees. I wasn’t about to give up my run and he’s about 5 inches shorter than me, so I ran in what I had.

It was cold…but I finished 3 miles at an 8 minute mile pace with him. It was a good paced run for me while being a trot for him.

This week I’m going to be taking it a little easier than normal. I’ve got the 24 hour run starting Saturday morning, so I wanted to taper some for it. I’m excited and will keep you posted.

The weather has started to change enough in Texas that I’m not finding snakes. Last week, I think I ran into my last one of the season. Unfortunately, I actually stepped on it. It was a long green snake; I just wasn’t paying enough attention. I ran into it and saw that it wasn’t hurt or being aggressive. As I ran on, I saw a turtle at the side of the trail.

Today I ran a seven mile loop in about 1:03. That’s not too fast and it’s not too slow for me. It’s going at a decent pace which is what I need to prepare for this 24 hour run. At no point should I be going at a fast pace when I’m running that race. I hope that I’ll be able to hit 100 miles, but I’m going to have to spend a little time preparing on pace before I go.

Yesterday, my training run went a lot better than expected. I went out to the trails after work thinking that I would just run the seven mile loop alone. It was a gloomy day because of a gray overcast and a little water on the ground from a rain earlier in the day.

I decided that I didn’t want to run alone, so I called my friend Phillip to see if he wanted to go. He said he needed to see if his daughter was going to hang out at his place or if she was just dropping by. He called me back a few minutes later and said he’d be at the park in ten minutes.

I’m glad that I called him because he came with his Jack Russell who was more than excited to run. We started at a fast pace, so it wasn’t long before Phillip and Bandit were far ahead of me.

Around mile 4, I noticed that my pace was a lot better that it normally was. In fact, I thought that I might be able to finish the run in under 1 hour. With this thought, I started to get a little bit of a second wind. I decided to push the pace and caught up with Phillip and Bandit. With about two miles left, I passed Phillip and Bandit and started to run 8 minute miles.

Ultimately, I finished in 59:43. That’s the first time I’ve ever run that loop in under an hour.

The long run is usually pretty fun. I don’t know why I dread it. It’s relaxing because I will usually do it on my own with a slightly reduced pace. That’s nice. What sort of stinks is how much time it takes from my day and how it can make me sore.

This weekend will be a 14 mile long run. The following weekend I will run 21 miles. Then, I think the next weekend is a race of 31 miles. That should get me ready for my upcoming 24 hour run.

I know some people in my running club who always run alone because they want to go different distances than the group. I know other people in the club who will start with the group but soon are by themselves because of pacing.

I am guilty of both at times but not always.

I like to run further than a lot of people in my club. I am training for races and most of them are just getting exercise, running for fun, or whatever.

With different goals necessarily comes somewhat different methods to achieve those goals.

More often than not, I will run on my own before the group meets. Then I will run their run with them. If I run with the group first, I am often ahead of the group; thereby, I am running alone. If I run by myself first, I am a little worn down and tend to stay with the group because I’m tired.

Seems like a good way to get the best result for running with friends while getting a good base mileage for training.

Recently, I have learned that some days my body loves to run up and down hills while other days it hates it. I tried to figure out what might cause the discrepancy, but I can’t. So I just decided to embrace it and go with how my body feels. Unless I’m in a race, it’s not really imperative that I run each and every hill if my body doesn’t want to do it. As the heat is starting to leave, I am noticing that my body is thanking the fall.

I didn’t run a whole lot this weekend because I was sleeping a little too much. There was a 5K that I was going to run in but slept through it. Then I ran on my own Sunday but not as far as I would most weekends. Yesterday, I only ran two miles (but in a snappy 14:30 minutes) and today it was only three.

I’ve got another race coming up in October, so I’ve got to start preparing!

Alright, I ran 15 miles today, in two runs. I ran five miles this morning because I didn’t feel too great. Then I went back out and ran 10 miles. I realized shortly into the ten miles that my stomach still had aches.

All told, I saw 3 deer, bunches of squirrels, one dog, zero snakes, one other runner, a father and son walking, and three tree branches crash to the forest floor. All in all that seems like a good long run to me.

I went on a run this evening with my friend and his dog. Typically this jack russell has no problem running our distance. I think that he’s gone as far as 14 miles with us before.

This evening, due to the 90-something degree heat, we decided to only run 3.5 miles. It was barely 2 miles into the run when his dog suddenly laid down on the trail. He just plopped down and wouldn’t get up!

I guess that the heat was the breaking point. We let him catch his breathe and then finished the run at a slower pace. At the end of the run he was able to drink plenty of water.

This past week wasn’t a very high mileage week for me. I only put in 26 miles, but I was thwarted by a little rain and a lot of laziness.

Sunday I ran a quick five mile run in the park. After the run, I met up with some people from the running club as they were about to go on their 7 mile run.

Monday is typically a day for cross training, but I didn’t do anything. Tuesday it was raining, so I didn’t go on a run then either.

Wednesday, in order to make up for my sloth, I ran a 9 mile loop. However, I encountered some people from the running club and added an couple extra miles to the 9.

Thursday was a rather slow 7 mile run; whereas, Friday was a quick 3.5 mile run.

I missed the club race on Saturday evening because I was out hiking with a friend. That ended my week.

Woo! I need to run with my friend from the running club more often. The last time we did the seven mile loop, I came in about 2 minutes earlier than my PR. We ran a five mile loop today, and we finished it about 4 minutes quicker than my previous PR. It took us 41 minutes which is just over an 8 minute mile.

This morning, I was a little behind on getting around, but I made it out to meet my running club for a 7 mile loop. I started with a conversational pace with a girl until she stopped to walk. At that point, I pushed forward into the lead of the group and ended up finishing about 9 minutes before the other runners today. It wasn’t a PR time for me but it was what I strive for — 1:03.

Last night there was some rainfall and storms in the area. My experience with it is that it floods out some of the trails that I like, so I decided I wouldn’t go on a morning long run at the park.

Instead, I went on a relaxed two mile run around the neighborhood. It’s not as far as I would have gone, but I will go on a 4 mile run around the neighborhood later tonight.

Last year on Easter weekend the temperature reached 100 degrees here in Texas. This year we are in the 40s with sleet coming down on us.

I knew that the temperature was going to drop and that there would be rain, so I ran a 7 mile trail yesterday. I met up with a friend from the running club who brought his Jack Russell. I ran that loop quicker than I ever have before coming in at 1:01. It was a tough run but I feel good for going that quick.

Today, I enjoyed the rain from inside.

I have family visiting a couple days this week, so I won’t be able to run a couple days. When I woke up, I decided that instead of watching the tube until it was time to meet the running group, that I would get one loop in before they made it. I ran seven miles and then rested until they arrived. Then I ran the loop with them at their pace. Now I’m ready to sit on the couch and watch the tube.

I don’t know what is wrong with me this weekend but I can’t run. I woke up this morning and went out to the park. My hope was that I would have a better run this yesterday.

Just to give you an idea of my pace, I typically will run a 7 mile trail in about 1:03 to 1:05. Yesterday, I had to stop and walk numerous times and finished in 1:18. That’s an extra minute or so for each mile! Not good…

Today I had the group to run with so I knew that my time might be a little better. There were about 7 who showed up to run. With the people there there was one other guy who is training for a 50K and he can beat me. Everyone else runs with a slower pace.

We took off and I turned onto the first little trail that goes for a 1/4 mile. Only one of my friends turned to run that with me. She and I made fun of the others for taking a short cut at the very beginning of the run. That put us about a tenth of a mile or more behind everyone. This meant that I didn’t see the other guy training for the rest of the run.

I was terribly weak on this run but not as bad as yesterday. I stopped to walk a couple times, yet I finished in 1:08. It wasn’t a good run but it wasn’t the worst. I need to shake out of this slump!

I woke up at 4am this morning to head out on my 21 mile run. My plan was to run a quarter of the way around the lake and then off towards downtown Dallas. On the way back I would head north about 5 miles and then turn to go back home.

I left my place at 4:15 to the bitter cold. The temperature when I left was around 22 degrees. I was bundled up with a few layers, a hat, gloves, and a scarf around my face. Much to my surprise, I saw one person who was running in shorts. Please wear appropriate running gear in the elements! You might feel warm because your legs are moving, but you are exposed to bitterly cold temperatures.

As I was approaching downtown Dallas, the weather started to change as I felt some rain drops. As I continued I noticed that it was actually a wintry mix of snow and sleet coming down. As it started to accumulate on me, I decided that it would be best to turn around.

Instead of heading north, I decided to back track my path. I didn’t see the guy running in shorts, but I did start to see some cars slipping around. This is a good reason to avoid road running, I suppose. I decided to run on some back routes where I wouldn’t see as many people on their morning commute. As I ran, I decided to pick up some speed because of how uncomfortable it was outside. My miles went from being about 8 minute miles to closer to 7:30.

When I made it back to the lake it was pretty clear that a lot of businesses would be closed in DFW. There was simply way too much of a mess which was making it difficult to get traction on the run. I made it back in one piece and had a shower and a bowl of oatmeal to warm myself up. I made it 18 miles today.

Today was the first time I ever ran all the way around White Rock Lake without stopping once. I’ll admit that last night I had a couple drinks too many, which meant that I was very dehydrated this morning. Luckily, it didn’t seem that I hit the point of having a full on hang over, but I needed to do something with myself to feel better.

After drinking about 60 ounces of water and doing laundry, I hit the road running. I live off the east side of the lake, so I decided to head clockwise from my home. When I made it to the west side, I decided to run through some of the trails they have made by the old pump house. I ran an extra mile or two back there and crossed the creek by climbing an old tree!

The paths were really crowded with walkers today, so I had to jump off to the grass many times as I was passing people. But I felt strong the entire way around the lake, so I didn’t stop for water or anything.

It looks like I went about 12 miles in just under a 9 minute mile pace.

Isn’t it great when you feel nothing but strength on your run? The past two nights have been a breeze. I love it when I feel just as strong, today I even felt stronger, at the end of the run, as I did at the beginning.

Yesterday I ran about 2.5 miles in a very quick run. Today I ran 3 miles, lifted weights, and finished up with 25 minutes of cardio on the elliptical machine.

I went on my evening run fully expecting to come home drenched in rain. Instead, I just came home drenched in sweat. Why is it 80 degrees the week before December? Why, despite all the dark clouds, did it not start to rain?!

I enjoy running in the rain, so I am disappointed. However, I had a great run that didn’t feel bad on any level. I went out about 2.5 miles then turned around and strolled back. My pace got quicker as I continued and I never felt much pain. It was a nice run for a Monday after a 15K.

But where, I ask, was the rain?

Tonight I went on a five mile run along the northeast side of White Rock Lake. It was a good run with a strong finish. Not really too much to say about the run itself because it was just a staying in shape run. It did get me thinking about a question my friend asked me at work: what side of the road are you supposed to run on?

I have always read that you should run against traffic but it isn’t advice I follow. Generally, I feel more comfortable running with traffic because I think a car is more likely to be looking for people that way than someone coming towards them. However, I change my thinking when I’m running at night with a light. At night, I want the light to really shine on the person driving so that they know I am running right there. Also, if they have their headlights on then I can see them in the distance and plan accordingly.

My general rule is during the daylight hours I run with traffic but against traffic after the sun sets.

Alright, so I did take a different route today because I wanted to go further, but it wasn’t really the wrong way to run. Instead of heading south along the east side of White Rock, I went north. This path is a bit different because it’s through more of the paths and land rather than being along the lake. I enjoy it from time to time.

For most of my run, I was out there by myself with nothing but my flashlight, keys, and a cell phone. It was a medium paced, strong run. I didn’t slow down or stop once, so I was pretty happy with myself. Like I said, I only ran into people a couple times.

On my route back I went by a group of runners who had a guy singing and another guy telling me that I was going the wrong way. They seemed like a jolly enough group but I was ready to get home and work out.

Once back at the apartment, I went over to the work out center and rode the stationary bike. As I ran further, I only rode the bike for twelve minutes. I just made sure to set the bike at nearly the highest resistance so that I’d get some good leg work finished.

I’m still thinking about White Rock…

Alright, so I ran yesterday and today without any sort of a break in my run. I probably shouldn’t mock my weakness of walking too much because I didn’t run too far.

Yesterday and today I ran 2.5 miles each time. I took the same course around one little section of the lake. It is an easy run but with the cold and dark, I don’t want to go out too far.

After the run, I have gone to my apartment workout center for some cross-training. Yesterday I rode an exercise bike for 24 minutes. Today I rode the same bike for 12 minutes, did some weight training, and then ran the treadmill for 12 minutes.

Weakness bad. Cross-training in a warm gym good.

My biggest running weakness is stopping to walk. It doesn’t matter if I’m just going to run a quick two miles or a long 12 miles, I will stop and walk. I know that it’s a mental hurdle but it’s one that has been with me for a few years now. I’m not sure what the deal is because I used to always keep in motion and finish strong, but I don’t do that anymore.

Today was one of the first times that I have changed that with a really strong run. I did stop but it was only to retie my shoes. Not only did I finish the run strong but I went into my apartment workout center and ran another two miles on the treadmill.

When I started my run, I was a little frustrated with myself because I knew I wasn’t going to be able to run a long run. My goal was to make today my weekly long run, but I had to change for a few reasons. I started the run so late that it would be dark by the end, I didn’t dress properly with the cold coming at nightfall, and I realized my chest was more congested than I anticipated. Instead of a long run, I made it a fairly quick four miles. Then I ran two more on the treadmill.

I guess six miles and breaking a mental block isn’t too shabby.

Do you run on Friday? I think that a lot of people take Friday off because they are going to go out with friends or family, they have a race on Saturday, there aren’t many groups that want to run on Friday, or any mixture of those reasons.

I think that it’s one of the best days for me to run. I do enjoy going out with friends on Friday night, but I am able to take off from work a little earlier. This gives me enough time that I am able to go on a speed workout. Since I’m going out, I will be taking a shower regardless, so I might as well get a workout.

Are you as convinced that Friday is a good day to run?

I’ve always been the type of runner who enjoys going out alone. When I run, it is the time I have to myself to relax and enjoy the world moving around me. When someone else is running with me there is a distraction I cannot stop. I will say that even though I enjoy running alone; I don’t enjoy being alone on the trails.

Today was like that because there was almost nobody on my running path. I like to see other people as we cross paths so that I can give them a friendly nod and hand wave but today was silence. The wind was blowing hard, the leaves were crackling, and the temperature was a warm 79 degrees. Perhaps this is why people stayed in?

It’s days like these when I wish I had a running buddy.

Daylight Savings Time has always presented a problem for me because the daylight hours shorten which leaves me less time for running. I know many runners will either turn to cross training, treadmills, or simply take time off but I enjoy night running.

Recently, I have been going on runs around White Rock Lake with after the sun has set because of the peace and focus I can achieve. It’s very satisfying to focus on one small area of space as you run without worries about the world around.

Night running is certainly more dangerous, so I would not recommend it to everyone. Most importantly, you have to have a running partner if you are going to run safely. I think running partners and running clubs are very beneficial to running in general, however, I think it’s essential if you’re going to expose yourself to the dangers of night running. This means that the group or partner should adjust their speed to make sure the entire group is running together.
Slow down. Night running isn’t meant to break any records and it’s going to be a little more difficult to react to your surroundings. This is most applicable when you are trail running at night.

It’s important to have a good headlight or flashlight or both. Petzl and Princeton Tec make light weight headlights that will light a 60 yard area as you run. Lightweight LED flashlights are also a good option if you want to carry a handheld light. Make sure that you pack a extra batteries if you plan to be out on a long night run.

It’s also a good idea to let someone else know that you’re going out on a run. I have really enjoyed all my night runs and always look forward to this time of the year when the runs are still early enough in the evening that I can get a few good miles in before heading home.

I took my daily run this morning through an area of the park which I normally avoid and saw something odd. There was a large family celebrating a birthday party with the cake, present, and food you would expect. The only thing that was unexpected was this was at 10am. I only wish my family celebrated birthdays with mid morning parties.

Already 82 degrees and it’s only 6am; however, it’s going to be above 100 today. I guess that I’ll go for my run sooner rather than later.

The end of July and it’s in the 70s in Texas. This is so unbelivable that I’m going to put on sun sunscreen like it’s aftershave and run around the nearby lake. Yes, this will be seven nine miles of pain, discomfort, and public humilation; however, that’s what makes me me.

UPDATE: I realized that it was actually nine miles when a friend at school reminded me. Soon after my legs remembered that it was nine and a half miles. It was beautiful outside.