This morning, I got up at 6:00 a.m. to run 8 miles. This time of morning is still a little bit unfamiliar to me. It's dark, and I'm a little clumsy to begin with soon after I wake up. Given these factors, and the fact that a cab was making a U-turn in the middle of the street I was running on, which caused me to veer off of my straight path, I tripped over something (or nothing?), thought I caught myself, stumbled a couple more times forward on my feet, thought I was safe again, and then eventually fell right into a mud puddle, skinning my hand and my back, and of course, a little bit of my pride. I think I really scared the cab driver, who rolled his window down and, with astonishment, asked, "Are you okay?" Before he could finish, I said firmly, "I'm fine, I'm fine. Thanks." I tried to collect myself, realizing there was no use trying to brush the dirt off, before continuing on the remaining 7.75 miles I had yet to run.

A running friend recently explained to me, while commiserating with me about my slower pace during summer training, that a slower pace in a hot and humid climate does not equal the same pace during a race in a cooler, drier climate; what matters is effort. In other words, the effort I pot into a training run in Florida might equate to a 10:45 (minutes per mile) average pace, while a run of the same distance in Ohio, for example, might equate to a 10:23 pace. My effort is essentially the same, but my results are different. This is exactly what happened to me this past weekend. I went to my hometown of Dayton, Ohio, to visit family and friends. Because training does not get put on hold for vacation time, I still had to do my 15-mile run while away. Very fortunately for me, the place I was staying at was right next to a long bike/running trail that provided more than enough mileage for me to get my run in. I was actually looking forward to this long run, because I knew I would benefi...

My third week of training went rather well. I met my training objectives and then some, and I also accomplished some interesting "firsts": I quit a CrossBoot class, I ran every day for a week, and I took a spill on my road bike (okay, so only one out of three is an actual positive accomplishment). I'm happy with my distances, and for the most part, I don't mind that my pace was mediocre to decent. I'd rather be completing the mileage feeling good at this point than pushing too hard and risking exhaustion or injury--there will be time for that later.  Monday was a beast of a training day. I've never gone out for a run prior to a CrossBoot class, and now I know I've been wise to avoid doing so. Because I knew I'd be going to a Dave Matthews Band concert on Wednesday night, my usual CrossBoot night, I had to figure out another class to fit into my schedule. My friend Kristin, who was also planning to go to the concert and is following the same tr...

Week 2 actually inlcuded less activity than Week 1 , but with a longer long run. But Week 1 was admittedly ambitious. Because I overslept for my run Saturday, which then became a rest day, I had to run on Sunday, which eliminated my bike day. I had originally planned on doing speed work Tuesday, but the rain put a kink in that plan, so I did some treadmill running. Which did actually incorporate some speed running, but only like 5 minutes of it.  And because it was also raining on Sunday evening, I skipped out on  yoga in the park  :-/ This left me with two undesired blank columns in my training regimen.   Further, I discovered on Friday that my body was exhausted and in pain, so instead of running the   Picnic Island Adventure Run , as originally planned for the evening, I instead did this: A bath and a book was how I spent my Friday evening. The bath really did help relax some of my sore muscles, and, after reading some of Suzanne Collins's secon...

So I've successfully made it through the first week of training for the Marine Corps Marathon in October. Here is a rundown of how my first week went: I still don't technically have a plan that I'm following, but I feel like I'm doing at least enough for the beginning stage. I'm not quite ready to post my running times, as I'd really like to bring them down a bit. But overall my runs felt good, except on Tuesday, when I started running the Four Green Fields club run at 6 p.m., and I suddenly had a heartburn attack--or something. It was a very unsettling feeling, like stuff was just sitting in my esophagus. I only got a mile in before I had to stop and walk the rest of the way back. So I waited until nearly 10 p.m. before completing my mileage for the day with a two-miler. But the benefit of doing only two miles is that I'll actually try to run them fast, so I ended up getting some speed work in. I'm feeling solid on the strength training. Last yea...

Yesterday morning I did what I've attempted to do for the past couple of months of non-goal-oriented training: I woke up to my alarm, stayed up, and went out for my run on time. Part of what made this happen was that the local Tampa running group Run Tampa  had a planned group run starting about two miles into my normal weekend route. To make it to the group run by 7:00 a.m., I knew I'd have to get up at 6:30 and be on my way around 6:40. And I made it! I was just in time for the pre-run gathering, which includes introductions, announcements from group leader Debbie Voiles, and a group photo. While the group plans an established run at one of four locations every weekend, I've only made two of them in the past couple of years! I guess I feel I don't really need  the group, as I already have a group I run with, but I do like to have somewhere to plan to meet on the weekends when my group doesn't; accountability is key in getting me out and going. Here is a pic of fro...