Bah!

I just created this brilliant post and the blogosphere ate it (okay, it wasn't really brilliant--it was more me whining and justifying couchsitting tonight). Anyhoodle, I'm taking an unscheduled rest day tonight, hanging with the pups and watching a documentary...but if that destroys the illusion of me as dedicated to the point of crazy, pretend I'm going for a beach run with my pup.

Back to Back to Back

I had a completely leisurely week of running so I decided to stick rigorously to my training plan over the weekend. Did 90 minutes on Saturday--primarily flat trail plus stair repeats. I felt good after, but developed a raging headache in the afternoon because I ate only an apricot before my run and subsisted on Nuun (and a shot of Gatorade during and after). Dumb. I know better and vow to do better.

Yesterday I did 3 hours on the towpath and the Billy Goat trail. Out and back on the Billy Goat trail and additional mileage on the towpath. Crowded, but I ran into three women (two hiking together, one with other friends) whom I had encountered the last time I was out on Billy Goat. One recognized me by my running skirt and the others probably by my white hat/locs in a bun combo. Each encounter gave me the opportunity to pause and allow the large family groups ahead of me to move further forward...and a bonus in meeting the pair of women: I got to introduce two new people to the Potomac Heritage Trail! The trail is narrow and overgrown and I don't exactly relish it being overcrowded, but I was happy to share the info with such nice people. (Sophia--Sofia?-- and Kim, if you happen to encounter my blog in your search for the Potomac Heritage Trail/PHT, yay and drop me a line! Otherwise, perhaps I'll see you next time we are both out on the Goat trail.) I completely kicked the Camelbak about 20 minutes before my run ended so next time I'll remember to bring extra water bottles! I also developed raging headache part II after yesterday's run, even though I seemed to be well hydrated, had taken a gel 60 minutes into my run and eaten a Probar about 2.5 hours in. I love Probars and eating definitely helped so I'm thinking the issue is one of hydration. I love love love Nuun for its sugarfree goodness, but may need to supplement with salt tabs or something a bit stronger. Like during the Honolulu marathon, I think my body just has a hard time absorbing fluids and minerals in that heat. So, back to back runs and back to back headaches--bleh! I guess I'll keep experimenting until I find the right combo.

Watching..Doing

Olympic track and field coverage begins today and I am so excited to see the steeplechase, the women's and men's 100 and 200m and a host of other events. It would be even cooler to see it all in person, but I think its a bit late to fly off to Beijing so I'll be content with watching it all transpire from my couch.

Last night my Pilates instructor, in the midst of a particularly blistering shoulder bridge series, told me I'm crazy for running 50 miles. And on some levels that's true--even I can't quite fathom it sometimes, but most of the time it makes a good deal of sense to me. Like its the natural next step. Besides, I totally dig my Pilates instructor so I just laughed off her comments (inasmuch as I was able to laugh while balanced on shoulders with one leg in the air). I'm actually a bit sad to not be able to take the Advanced Pilates Mat class next session, but school begins in two weeks and I'll have a class on both Monday and Thursday night until mid-December. So I'll continue training for my runs and I'll sign up for an Intermediate class that better fits my schedule.

Slacking

While I would love for this to be a post about slacklining, it is not. I went for a very brief run near Baltimore yesterday, but otherwise I did not run this weekend for a couple of different reasons. Instead I spent the entire weekend at Virgin Music Festival and I'm not ashamed! The DJ tent is STILL the best attraction, but several of the bands (She and Him, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Lupe Fiasco to name a few) were fantastic!

A quickie check up tomorrow and then back to training.

Training (REALLY) begins...

Saturday I logged a few short treadmill miles because it felt too oppressively hot to be outdoors. Sunday we: discovered that Turkey Run is a bit of a casual pickup park (um...yeah)...and finished the last 4 miles of the PHT--from Turkey Run to American Legion Bridge. Its beautiful out on the water and the path wasn't too crowded so overall it was a good run.

Yesterday was a rest day, but today my training officially began. I was supposed to do: 6-10 miles with 4 X 1 mile at 10 MP, but I settled for 7 miles at my pace (it was early, I was tired--it was kind of amazing that I even got out of bed).

I'm trying a modified Feed Your Tiger basic plan to clean up some of the repetitiveness of my diet (I feel like I eat the same breakfast and the same lunch salad every day) and to work on a few bad food habits. So we will see how that goes. I may be snoring at my desk by midafternoon, but hopefully not because I have A LOT to do today.