Training Log

Strong headwind on sections of the run.  Chilly.  2 pm.  Rode 20 miles on the trainer before running and 5 miles after.  Legs felt a little sluggish at first on the run and was running into a very strong headwind.  Both factors worked themselves out as the run progressed, so felt pretty good by the last 2-3 miles. Happy New Year!

Moderate pace...not fast.   It is about 20 degrees at 7 pm.  This is probably the coldest night of the winter season so far.  Tomorrow's high is 38. By Sunday, it will be 65 again.  Strange weather here in Memphis!

Got home late from work - it was cold all day today again.  Getting ready to run, my bed actually looked more inviting for a long winter's nap than going out in the cold after a long day.  Dressed with two top layers, a long-sleeve Nike sphere shirt base layer and the top layer a hooded sweatshirt, a knit hat under the hood, running shorts and running tights, knit gloves.  Ran slow miles - felt a little sluggish.  7pm.  Temp outside is 30 degrees but starting out, it felt colder than last night even though the temp was warmer.  Right quad feels like I pulled a muscle or somthing.  Probably from ride-run-ride on Tuesday.  Stretched really well afterward.

7 very slow miles.  Felt very tired - there's a vicious stomach bug going around and I felt a little queasy so hoping that is not the cause.  Temperature in the upper 40s felt warm compared to the last two nights.  : )  Happy Friday!

Started out feeling tired but felt good toward the end of the run.  Moderate, steady pace. I think this is the first week I've been able to do 7 miles for 6 days!  I'm really happy about it.

Rest day from running, but it was a cycling day.  Early morning - tried out a newly-designed oval-shaped front sprocket that a local fellow is marketing.  It is supposed to give more power on the downstroke because of its shape.  No front derailleur is necessary since there is only one chainring (sprocket) on the front.  Rode his bike with the sprocket about 5-7 miles.  It was interesting.  After the first few yards of it feeling wobbly, I couldn't tell the difference in the way it feels to spin with it.  It was hard to tell if it gave any big improvement since I was riding his heavier Schwinn bike.  I told him I'd have to try it on my road bike and ride some hills and long flat roads to see if there is any benefit.

After a short nap and some houswork, rode 30 miles out in Lakeland and Arlington.  Rode the Memphis-Arlington hills twice, out and back to the Brunswick intersection.  Beautiful, somewhat windy day. 

Beautiful evening, a little windy. 70 degrees. Felt pretty strong, ran fast the last 2 miles.

7 pm - VERY Strong headwind first part of the run.  A storm front had just come through in the afternoon. Felt a little tired at first and then felt stronger the second half of the run and pushed hard toward the end.

7 miles later in evening.  Moderate pace.

Strong headwind again.  7 pm.  Moderate, steady pace.  Felt good enough the last mile or two to speed up a little.

Tight schedule so had to rush home and rush the run.  Fit in 6 miles.

Beautiful day!  Yes, I made up the one mile I missed yesterday.  Felt really good.  Out and back route through Schilling Farms to Winchester.

Rest day.  Only took the two big dogs to Shelby Farms park to run (them, not me). I walked Luke on the leash since he's aggressive toward other dogs.  Carbon ran on his own but then was bad and chased a mountain biker.  Even though it is the "dog area", I don't think he can be off leash there any more. I don't want to take the chance of him hurting someone, even by accident.  Seems like obedience school is in his near future.  : )

7 slow miles, 7 pm. 

Rode 10 miles on bike trainer then ran 7 miles.  Felt stronger toward the end of the run.

Rode 10.55 miles on bike trainer then ran 7 somewhat slow miles.  8 pm - cold and rainy.  Came back soaked but felt pretty good.

7 very, very slow miles.  Had to walk a little at halfway point...very tired tonight, maybe the extra miles on the bike.

6:30 pm.   Took a different route.  Felt better than yesterday.  Still a little slow.

Not able to run today.  Will run tomorrow which is usually the rest day and will be running on Sundays now since Saturday seems to hold so many obligations.

Cold day in the Memphis area!  Ran two loops of the 4-mile Peterson Lake - Byhalia Rd loop.  Felt good and could have gone farther but the whole week lies ahead, probably with some cycling combined with the running.

Rode 10.5 miles on the bike trainer before work.

After work - Ran with the big dogs.  4 miles with Carbon who is a bundle of energy, then dropped him off in the yard and ran 3 miles with Luke, who is very laid back and would rather take a walk than run.  It is hard to believe they are brothers - like night and day.  Carbon would be a great agility dog if he could learn to behave himself.  P.M. Yoga workout (DVD) afterward to stretch.

Rode 10 miles on the bike trainer before work.

6 pm.  Ran the Peterson Lake - Byhalia Rd loop, no dogs tonight.  Felt a little tired midway but picked back up the last couple miles.

Rode 10.61 miles on the stationary bike at the gym before work - turned out to be a harder workout than on the bike trainer at home.  I'll try to fit this into my schedule more often.

7 miles at 6 pm.  Felt pretty strong for most of the run.  35 degrees with not much wind - temp felt comfortable.

PM Yoga DVD workout afterward, about 20 - 25 min.

4 miles at 6 a.m. with Carbon - felt a little tired since I just ran 7 last night. 

3 miles at 5:30 after work without any dogs. 

Rushed out to see the Memphis screening of Spirit of the Marathon movie at 7.  Awesome - I highly recommend it!  Lots of interviews with marathon greats and it follows 2 elite marathoners and 4 "regular" athletes as they train for the Chicago marathon.  Very inspiring! Played to a packed house of mostly Memphis Runners Track Club members.  Memphis won the screening by voting on the movie website to bring the movie here.

Makes ya wanna run!  : )

Rode 11.01 miles on a bike at the gym before work, 6 a.m.  Planned to run after work but worked late, and by the time I got out it was freezing rain and quite dark.  Not that I mind running in the dark, but it was the freezing rain that kept me home.  Will have to run tomorrow morning before babysitting if its not too icy.  Have to work tomorrow night too.  Trying to fit it all in...

Ran 4 fast miles before babysitting.  Pushed it pretty hard and felt it later in my IT band, which I haven't felt in a while.  Ran after work at 9 pm, slower pace.

Rode 13.01 miles on the stationary bike at the gym then ran 7 miles out and back from the gym.  Felt tired before riding and a little tired after riding but once I got out on the road running, felt great and  really Enjoyed the run!

Still daydreaming about Boston and hope to qualify someday.  ; )

4 fast miles with Carbon who wanted to pull ahead on the leash the whole way.  Dropped him off at the yard and did 3 miles on my own.

Ran right after work - the wind was gusting up to 35 mph, and it was a little scary out there - jumping over twigs and debris.  Eveyone's garbage cans are sliding down the street (they are square, not round).  Felt pretty beat up by the wind, so left out the last 0.4 mile for today.

Rode 10.37 miles on the bike at the gym before work.  Ran moderately slow 7 miles after work - out and back Schilling Farms route.  Felt very tired at first but better the second half of the run.

Book club night and really bad weather.  No run today.

Pushed hard to fit this one in as quickly as possible because of a social commitment after work.  Had gone in early to work and worked through lunch to leave early to run.  Felt really good.

Fast run before babysitting.  During the run, stopped by at the vet's office, which is on the running route, to get Carbon's shot records for obedience class, which is later in the afternoon.  The class leader is teaching clicker training.  If I have enough time to work with him every day, he probably could do pretty well.

This run was enjoyable.  There was a strong headwind going down Byhalia Rd, but the temperature was about 58 at 9:30 am.  Took the scenic route so I could stop by the vet's office.  In the last mile or so, I turn back onto Byhalia Rd. now with the tailwind, come over very slight rise, and up ahead is a "rabbit", about a block and a half ahead of me.  I don't get to do this too often and am not sure if I can catch him, but his pace looks more like a fast jog than a run.  So I concentrate on my own pace, and pretty soon the gap is closing, helped by a nice little downhill followed by a shorter uphill.  We cross into the next block, and I can see he has on a Crescent City Classic tech shirt, so he's raced a 10K in NOLA, and I know I'm going to pass him.  He hears me and sees my shadow just as I'm about to pass and looks around, a little startled, but then we smile at each other and each run on to our respective destinations...I have another 0.5 or so to go 'til home and don't see him again after passing him.

6 pm - Started out pretty fast but had some bad stomach cramps in the middle of the run and had to slow down a little.

Still not feeling well with the stomach bug.  Felt tired all day at work and then had to work a little late.  It was really nice weather, though, close to 70 degrees.  It is supposed to go back down to 40 by Wed.  Started the run feeling tired and slow, but just kept going, and was finally able to speed up the last mile or so.

Evening of tornados.  Tornado sirens were on continuously since before 5 pm.  One tornado touched down just south of Memphis in Southhaven, MS and then in Memphis itself at Hickory Ridge Mall and caused injuries to people and a great deal of damage there.  Funnel cloud was photographed at Whitten Road.  Heavy thunderstorms in Arlington with high winds.  The sky out here in Collierville was slate gray to black with fast-moving swirling clouds and lightning.  Collierville sirens and police announcements from the siren loudspeakers telling people that a tornado was in the area and to stay inside and take cover continued until about 8:30 or 9 then started again sometime in the middle of the night. Quite scary.  These were very powerful storms that caused a great deal of devastation and loss of life in the Mid-South.

Got in the miles, a little slow, but felt ok - better than the other night. 

More adventure - Halfway through the first 4-mile loop, there are cars backed up on the main road, and it is pretty dark.  As I get closer, I see that in front of the first car in the lineup are two dogs walking down the middle of the lane, and the woman in the car is trying to protect them from getting hurt by trying to herd them over to the side with her vehicle.  They are walking kind of slow, and at first I thought they were my dogs that somehow got out and made their way over here, but has I get closer and can see them in the headlights, and can tell that they are old dogs about the same size as mine.  The woman yelled out the car window telling me what she was trying to do, so I followed along on the opposite side of the road until I could cross to try to catch them.  When I did cross, they shied away and got up on the sidewalk and started walking back the other way but soon went into the road again near the curb.  By this time the cars that had been lined up behind the herding woman have driven off, and I'm following the dogs to see if I can get them out of the road.  After a few near misses of the dogs by cars and me waving my arms at the cars and the dogs, they finally turn into a church parking lot and cut across the lawn.  It is so dark it is hard to see where they are going but at least they are out of the street.  The poor things were scared of me but not the cars and looked like they definitely were not used to being out on their own - they stuck right together.  The original herding woman drives up from where she had been and is trying to call animal control and the police to find out if someone can come get the dogs but by now they've disappeared into a neighboring yard. So I wished her luck and continued the run.

7 miles at 6 pm.  No adventures this evening  : )

6:30 pm.  Felt a little tired at first but was able to speed up in the last 3 miles or so.  Left heel hurt on a downhill in the first mile.  Might need new running shoes.

Rode 25 miles at 8:45 am.  Had to be back to babysit at 10:30.  It was still pretty cool in the morning, and I came back a little chilled.  Out and back from home to Baptist East. It was a good workout - held a steady pace on Wolf River Blvd, especially coming back.  On the way back, got passed by Memphis Motorwerks racing team.  There were about 9 of them, and they were very courteous, wishing me a good morning as they passed.  They are the fast young guys and were out for a 3+ hour ride.  I saw them later in the day, still riding together at 1:00.

Had to wait until 7:30 pm or so to run since I was babysitting all day.  Felt pretty tired by then, so took it easy, and my heels still hurt, especially the left. Not sure what that is all about; never felt it before.

No running today even though it is a relatively nice day.  I'm letting my sore heels rest to find out if that helps.  Worked from early in the morning until lunch time on the bike team web page that I haven't touched since the summer.  Came home and did a lot of work in the yard, clearng out a lot of old wood and taking it to the curb.  Fixed Jacob's bike seat height and tires so he could ride while I was working.  He wanted to help with the wood, too, but some of it was a little big for a 4 year old.  Worked for a few more hours on the bike team pages and made good progress.

6 pm.  Felt pretty good, however my left heel started to hurt after about a mile but then the pain eased up around 3-4 miles.  I tried to keep my left leg from rotating outward, and that seemed to help.  The pain in the left quad muscle also seems to throw off my stride and cause the outward rotation, so will concentrate on keeping the stride straight and stable this week.

7 pm, 26 degrees.  It had sleeted earlier, but thankfully it had stopped, and there was no accumulation on the streets or sidewalks, just on the car as I left work.  Dressed in layers, and didn't feel cold after the first .2 mile.  Left heel hurt again, and I noticed it is when I'm running on the sidewalk (cement) and when the left quad muscle also hurts.  When I'm running on the asphalt road, which is the last 3 miles, it is ok.

It's my birthday!  What a nice day; my co-workers and friends brought sweets and stopped by throughout the work day, and my kids took me out to dinner right after work.  It was fun.  I usually celebrate with a birthday run, but there was really no opportunity to run today. 

Ordered new running shoes online, hoping that will help with the heel pain; they should be here within the next week.  Am I supposed to be alternating between two pairs of running shoes?  Is there really any benefit to that, and should they be the same brand/style of shoes, just alternating days or different type of shoes?

Ok, it's the shoes.  I ran in my everyday Nikes and my heels did not hurt at all.  8 miles 6:30 pm.

Legs felt kind of heavy at the beginning but was able to speed up the last few miles. 

A co-worker asked me to play on the adult soccer league that starts in March.  It would be fun, but I'm not sure I want to join because it seems there would be an increased chance of injury since I'm not an experienced soccer player.  Interestingly, soccer was not that common in the region (and time period) where I grew up, so we didn't play it in school; we played field hockey instead, which has some of the same field positions and similar general rules.  I did get to play indoor soccer while living in Syracuse; however, that was about 15 years ago.  ; )  On the other hand, playing soccer would be good for sprints -  still deciding.

7 miles, 8 pm after a really busy saturday.  Felt a little slow.

8 miles, 4 pm, strong winds.  Did the 4-mile loop twice so had headwinds, tailwinds, and crosswinds.  : )  Felt really good.  Wore the old ASO ankle brace since the Nike shoes seem to have little ankle support, but they are defnitely better on the heels!

Wow...really crazy day at work.  Didn't get home until 8:30 pm.  Ran 4 miles with Carbon, trying to teach him not to pull on the leash as much.

All I could fit in today was 10 miles on the bike at the gym before work.  There was no water pressure in house, and had to call the plumber who found 3 different problems.  Tore the walls apart trying to get to the leak and a collapsed valve.  It looks like the pipes are going to need replacement - poor grade of copper and high mineral content in the water is causing multiple leaks.  Darn.

6 pm, 8 miles at a good, steady pace.  Out and back loop through Schilling Farms for a change.   Kind of chilly.  Trying to get an answer on replacing the copper pipes from the insurance company, but no answer yet.  Walls are still torn apart from the repairs yesterday.

7 miles at 4:45 pm, then rushed off to a meeting at CBU.

7 miles, 6 pm.  Kinda chilly out.

New running shoes got here today.  Saucony Grid Trigon 5 Ride - 7 miles.

7:35 pm.  4 miles with Carbon.  3 miles with Luke.  Both were well-behaved tonight. 

Took Jacob to the Memphis Runners kids running program earlier in the day - he really enjoyed it.  His group, under age 5, played running games and ran on the track.  It continues next Sat. with a race for then the following Sat. during the MRTC Spring Mile event.

Saucony Grid Trigon Ride - 7

total - 14

Rest day.  Very tired - took a nap in the afternoon. : )

6 pm - 7 miles.  Still felt tired but was able to speed up in the last couple miles.

Grid Trigon total - 21

6:30 pm.  Cold and windy.  7 slow miles.  I felt kind of yucky - maybe its the stomach bug that is going around.  Felt like someone hit me in the solar plexus for the first 4 miles or so. 

Grid Trigon total - 28

7 pm, 7 slow miles, 33 degrees.

Grid Trigon - 35

T

5 pm, 8 miles. windy and 57.  Felt tired at first, then felt very strong and pushed the pace.  Book club night!

Germantown Half Marathon is March 16!  Should I do long runs during the next 2 weekends?

Grid Trigon - 43

6 pm, 59 degrees, took it slow at first, then got stronger but did not really push the pace.

Grid Trigon - 51

Rode the tri bike for 2 1/2 hours early in the morning (7:10 a.m.), 44 degrees, about 25 miles. 

Took Jacob to the 2nd installment of the MRTC kids running program.  His "race" is next Sunday at 2.

Babysat all day and all evening.  Took Jacob in the jogging stroller for a 4 mile walk/run.  He's almost 5 now, and it was harder to push him than it used to be!

2 pm, 4 miles with Carbon, 70 degrees.  Cut the run short to take Jacob to the Diego show at the orpheum.

mtn bike at shelby farms early in the day on Tour de Wolf trail.  Did the trail section close to the visitor center once and the back section twice.  Windy and warm.  Lots of fun!

Severe thunderstorms, heavy rain, flash flood warnings all evening.  Strange weather we're having in Memphis this year!

Changed the template to triathlon.  Not sure how this affects my previous entries in the running template, but it did something.  I had 41 running miles last week, and now there are 20.5.  Looks like it took only the slow miles? Will redo the entries.

6 pm, 35 degrees, snowing lightly, but it's not sticking because it was 70 on Sunday! 

8 moderate to slow miles.

Grid trigon - 67

6 pm, 8 slow miles

 Grid trigon - 75

5:40 pm, 7 miles.  The temperature fell almost 10 degrees while I was running.  Very windy.  A major winter storm is headed this way with rain, sleet, and snow tomorrow.

Started snowing around 2 pm.  This doesn't happen very often in the Memphis area.  Schools let out early before the roads get icy.   Jacob was VERY excited.  He doesn't remember snow and got to throw his first snowball at his Yia-Yia (me)!  

My running buddy, Carbon, the snow-dog -

The roads look a little icy, but the snow is beautiful.  5 a.m. and the dog wants to run. ; )

9 a.m. - pulled Jacob to the park and back on the sled.  Carbon came along and walked nicely with us.  About 1 1/2 miles.

8 p.m. 7 moderate miles, 3 with Luke since he didn't get to go in the morning.

Mountain bike at shelby farms on tour de wolf trail.  Very muddy and lots of water on the trail from the melting snow.  Kind of challenging.   Need to do more of these this week to find out if I want to do the Wolfman Duathlon at the end of march.

Germantown half marathon is this coming Sunday.  I am not that thrilled with the prospect since I have not been doing any "long" runs, just 7 miles 6 days a week, some days 8 miles.  We'll see how this goes. My last half marathon was St. Jude in the beginning of December which was my 2nd best half marathon time.  I'll just get out there and do my best at Germantown.

7 miles, 6 pm, 60 degrees.  First 4 miles with Carbon, then 3 on my own. 

6 pm, Warmed up on the mountain bike around the neighborhood and 2 parks for about 6 miles first, then 7 miles - 4 on my own and 3 fast miles with Carbon

got very sick in the middle of the night last night - coughing, fever, congestion.  I never stay home from work but did today.  Slept all day,  which I also never do.  Doctor's appointment tomorrow morning.

Went to work for a short time before going to doctor's appointment.  He gave me antibiotics and decongestants and told me to go home and rest, which I did. Feeling pretty wiped out.

Still not feeling well.  This is a pretty nasty bug.  Even with the antibiotics and decongestants, I'm still feeling wiped out and kind of spacey from the sinus congestion. Came home early to get some rest after several people at work saying how I still look pretty sick.

Still pretty wiped out.  Took a nap after lunch.  Picked up my race packet but not sure if I'll be able to run the half tomorrow.  Will see how I feel tomorrow at 6 a.m.

Didn't make it to the half marathon...still feeling really wiped out and not well.  Started coughing in the middle of the night with lots of congestion.  Rested most of the day and hope to at least do a training run tomorrow.  Kind of disappointed not to be able to race today...it's a fun event.

Ran/walked 4 miles with Carbon.  Still very tired and the congestion has moved to my chest, coughing up junk...yuck.  Can't wait to feel better to really run again.  This is just hanging on way too long.

So frustrating...still coughing up nasty stuff and tired, even slept until 7:15 this morning, which is late for me.  No run today, just threw the tennis ball for the dogs in the backyard after work.  Going to bed early.  Tornado watches tonight til 2 am.

6:15 pm.  I am ecstatic that I can finally run again!  Still coughing a little but almost feel "normal", whatever that is. : )  Did not feel very strong at first but felt better as the run progressed. It felt good to run in the daylight, too, after all winter of running in the dark.

So the being ecstatic is short-lived.  I am coughing more than before and wiped out again.  Probably overdid the run yesterday.

Mtn bike - tour de wolf trail - 6 miles.  Thats all I could manage.  Still coughing a lot and a little short of breath.   Hoping to start a new week feeling better.

Still coughing. The flu is still hanging on.  Ran about 6 miles in a different combination of the loops of the usual course.

Ran the usual course except the last .4 which is an out and back on my street to add that last .4 not included in the loops.  Still tired and coughing up junk, but finally feeling closer to normal.

6 pm.  It finally stopped raining!  I also feel good enough to run.  The flu bug really hung on for a long time.  I still have the sinus congestion but am not coughing or feeling quite as tired.  6.2 mile loop - Peterson Lake Road, in back of Walmart, up Byhalia.  Walked about 1 mile with Carbon and Luke afterward. 

Carbon finished his pre-agility obedience training and will start agility classes next week.  He has really taken to it well and may have some good potential.

Had the sinus headache from you-know-where all afternoon and felt pretty tired but ran at 7 pm, the 1-loop almost 7 mile route.

Ran the wagon trail down through Johnson Park and the Peterson Lake Road look the opposite direction.  Starting to feel stronger.  Thankfully.

Class tonight - no run.

Mountain bike about 7 miles or so on paved trails and my neighborhood.  Then ran 6.2 miles with Carbon the wonder dog.

Swam 1800 and ran 7 miles after getting home from the pool.  I feel triathlon fever coming on...

Rode 25 miles in the afternoon.  Felt pretty strong, and found a few hills to ride.  Ran 4 miles and stopped home to just change out of long pants but got caught up in helping with Jacob and didn't get back out to finish the last 3 miles. 

Rode 25 miles on the tri bike and actually felt pretty strong.  Ran 4 miles with Carbon, then dropped him off in the yard and ran 3 more. 

Nike air structure triax +7

Swam early afternoon at gym then ran 7 miles later at 7 pm.

Grid Trigon +7

Rode 17.6 intense bike miles, then ran 7 miles.

class tonight, no run.

severe storms - planned to run but not able to

Swam in the morning, then ran in the afternoon.

Grid Trigon +7

Ran 4 miles with Carbon and 3 mile with Luke at 7 pm.

Nike Air structure triax + 7

Swam 2000 yds at the indoor pool around 5 pm. Had worked in the yard most of the day, cleaning out the shed, taking apart wooden shelves, lots of heavy lifting.  I guess that doesn't really count as aerobic exercise, but it sure tired me out!  Went to work after swimming to do planning and scheduling for this week.  Pretty busy day.  It feels like winter again - cold, grey, and windy,

Ran 7.27 on a new route at 6 pm, pretty fast to finish in time to take Carbon to agility class.  Windy and chilly.

6 pm rode 22.5 miles. Met up with several Tues night groups riding in c'ville area.  Felt a little slow during the ride and tired after the ride  Didn't run afterward. Will have to run tomorrow am to fit it in.

6 pm - peterson lake rd, poplar, in back of walmart and through surrey oaks, up the hill near by the high school.  Nice evening for a run.

I think I ran 7 miles today but forgot to record it.  Jacob left with his dad, Kevin, to go to Florida on vacation right after his T-ball practice, so I was a little distracted.  He'll be gone for a full week!

Felt very tired and a little sick at work in the afternoon so didn't run today.

Charles Finney Memphis Hightailers ride at 8 am.  Pretty cold starting out this morning but a really fun ride!  6 pm - ran 4 miles with Carbon.  3 miles on my own.

1800 yd swim around noon.  18.25 easy bike ride on tri bike 4 pm just to keep the legs going.

Congratulations to all who ran Boston today!

Quick 6.2 after work before taking Carbon to agility. 

8 miles with Carbon at 8:45 pm

Swam 1800 yd at the pool 6:20 a.m.

Ran 6.3 miles 7 p.m.  Feeling very tired.  Took a different route and it didn't turn out to be 7 miles as I had hoped.  Mapped it after the run.

Went to the podiatrist after work to find out about replacing my worn-out orthotics.  He said they are pretty old and have deteriorated, so he did the foot mold with cast material and ordered new ones. They should be in within a week and a half.  He's doing the bike portion of the Memphis in May Triathlon on a relay team and another triathlon later in the summer in upstate New York.  He's from the same area (Finger Lakes) in New York where my grandparents lived (and my uncle still lives).  Small world.

6 pm - 4 miles quickly before book club

7 pm - 7.27 route at an easy pace, then to sleep very early.   Jacob is back so we got to read stories before bed.

27-mile Gtown loop ride on tri bike in the afternoon.

7-mile run 7 pm.

Jacob's first t-ball game in the morning with picture and party day for all the players and their families.

6 pm - 2100 yd at the pool.  Still felt a little sluggish.  No run today.  Will try for a morning run tomorrow.

The morning run didn't happen - dropped Jacob off at day care 7:30.  Evening run did happen after work - 5:30 pm, 4 miles with Carbon, 3 miles with Luke.   Watched Jacob's tball game for a little while before taking Carbon to agility.  Whew - busy Monday!

5:30 a.m. - entered the lottery for the St. George Marathon with some trepidation.  I think it was Lybi that mentioned this was a good one for BQ.  What are the chances of getting in? The scenery looks gorgeous!

6 pm Bike World group ride - 28.5 mi.  There were only guys on the ride except me,  most of them probably 10 years younger than me or more.  They dropped me but did wait 3 times at the larger intersections for me. Was able to hammer with them for a short distance.  Good workout.

8:30 pm - 7 mile run, easy pace.

At work late and then had too many errands - didn't get home til 8:45 pm.  Went to bed early.

6:15 a.m. - ran the 7.27 mile route.  Very nice morning.

7:45 pm - 1150 yard pool swim - would have done more but my feet kept cramping really bad and couldn't continue. : (

10K race on Sat. - tomorrow.  Worked in yard most of day but waiting until tomorrow to run.

This is a great 10K race in Corinth, MS.  Beautiful course, well-supported, lots of local enthusiasm.  I won my age group last year in 50:46.  This year, I won my age group in 48:01.  That's a PR for me for 10K!  I am so happy about it!  The other great aspect of the race is prize money three deep in the age groups above 25 years old. So, finished with a PR, age group win, and in the money...who could ask for a better race day?

Annual Cycle for Safety bike ride today.  I was the 34 mile route 16 mph pacer but had two flats - one at the turnaround and one about 6 miles or so later, so had to drop out.  There's something wrong with the rim on the front tire causing the flat.  Ran 4 miles when I got back home.  Legs a bit sore from yesterday's race.

6 a.m. - 4 miles with Carbon.  Another busy Monday - conference at university all day, t-ball to watch afterward, then Carbon agility til 9 pm.

5:50 a.m.  7.27 mile loop.  Conference all day at university again.  Can't ride - getting rim fixed that caused the 2 flats on Sunday.

7 pm - 7-8 mile ride on mtn bike

6:10 am - 5 miles - IT band feels a bit sore and noticed some sciatic pain when I got off the bike at the turnaound point on Sunday, probably due to the hard effort on Saturday. I'm dividing this run in two - a.m. and p.m. Trying not to overdo it.

7 pm - 3 miles, moderate pace - didn't feel the soreness like this morning.

Tire rim for tri bike is fixed.  May ride tomorrow.

7 pm - 7.27 mile loop, moderate pace.  IT band still a little sore.

2000 yd swim at 8:10 a.m.  5 - 6 mile mtn bike with Carbon at Shelby Farms at 11:30 a.m.  It was very muddy and I wiped out up in the field trying to get out of the track - tires (and me) caked with mud and couldn't get any traction - just mud on mud.  Riding down the gravel road cured that problem, though, at least for the tires.  Carbon loved it, but the grass is very high and there are lots of ticks out there.

Looks like I'm in for the St. George Marathon on Oct. 4.  That will be my target BQ.  Let the training begin!

8 am - 48 mile bike workout.

5 pm - 7.27 mile run, easy to moderate pace.

Happy Mother's Day! Not much opportunity to run but did walk with the family and Carbon about 2 to 3 miles.

Fit in a slow 7-mile run after work, caught the end of Jacob's t-ball game, then took Carbon to agility.

Rode to work today - 12 miles total.  Felt very tired today as well as yesterday and Sunday.  Going to bed early tonight to see if that helps.  Two triathlons this weekend, back-to-back, amateur challenge.

Rode the triathlon bike after wok, intending to do about 17 miles or so then run.  Had a flat at 17.84 miles, about .7 miles from home, so had to walk the bike home in cycling shoes with cleats on the bottom.  Put the bike away and got out the door to run 6.3 mile loop, added the .7 I walked to the run distance since it WAS on foot!  ; )  Took it easy on the run since the triathlons are this weekend. 

Attended Jacob's jr. kindergarten graduation after work.  No running tonight!

Swam 500 yards in the morning.  Triathlon tomorrow.

Swim-Mtn Bike-Trail Run

2  19 Nicki Hutchens       49    2   21:10  1:30    1   48:50  12.3  0:54    2   25:23  8:28 1:37:45 Collierville TN

19th female, 2nd in age group (there were only two, but hey, I'll take it).  The swim is always a toss-up for me.  I can have a decent day and a not so decent day.  Today was the latter. It took m 21:10 minutes to get out of the water.  In open water swims in lakes in this area, with so much algae and other stuff in the water, I sometimes start wheezing as soon as I get in.  Today was one of those, so ended up doing the breast stroke most of the way which is very inefficient.  I was glad to get out of the water!

The mountain bike course was challenging but not technical.  The run was not too hard, but I wore the wrong shoes, thinking more of it would be on pavement.  I learn something from every race.

Supposed to do the olympic distance tomorrow, but not sure yet if I will - if it were only the bike and run, yes, but with the poor day on the swim today,  I'll have to see how I feel in the morning.

Decided not to race today - difficult decision - didn't decide until I got there and even set up my transition area.  I feel that if it were only the bike and run events, I could have done the race, but did not feel strong enough to swim almost 1 mile first and there was a strong headwind after the turnarouind for the swim course.  Kind of disappointed.   I did get to take lots of pictures of the rest of the team during the race, and that was fun.

5:45 am - 7.27 mile loop.  Beautiful morning.  Busy day at work!

6:15 am - 7.27 miles.  6 pm with triathlon team - bike about 20 miles

6 am - 4 miles with Carbon, 2.6 on my own before work,  Jacob's last t-ball game after work.

6:30 a.m.  - 7.27 Mile loop.  Beautiful morning but going to be a hot day!

Took Jacob to a kid's race in the morning.  He ran 1/4 mile with the under-7 age group.  It was a little tough for him, and his stomach started to hurt, but he kept going and finished in the middle of the pack.  There were lots of kids activities, and he had fun, which is the important part.

It turned out to be a hot day - worked in the yard most of the morning after getting home from Jacob's race.

3 pm run - got 1/2 way through the 7.27 mile loop when a fast-moving, thunderstorm with cloud to ground lightning came through.  It wasn't supposed to rain today, so I didn't check the weather map before leaving, and it was only somewhat cloudy when I left.  So, I ducked into Walmart and waited it out there.  It lasted a good 20 to 30 minutes, and I was finally able to resume the run.  The storm really didn't cool the temperature down much, just made it steamier.

8 pm - 7 miles.  It was a hot day - worked in the yard most of the day, and waited until it cooled down a little to run.  It was still very humid...summer in Memphis!

8 am bike ride with triathlon team.  Got dropped after the water stop at a little more than the halfway point.  Didn't really know the route (no maps or cue sheets were handed out) and was way out in the country. Finally caught up with a guy who had also gotten dropped, and we weren't sure what turns the group took at several intersections, so we guessed, and were able to get back on track on a route back to where we started, but it probably wasn't the same route the group took since we didn't see any of them again until we got back, and a few of them were still at the start, getting ready to leave.  I felt good because the two of us were resourceful enough to find our way back and still get in a decent ride; felt a little embarrassed because I'm not that fast yet and haven't had the time to build up cycling speed; only a little annoyed that the group left us but hey, we're all adults and responsible for ourselves.

7 pm - got surprised again halfway through the run with a downpour and lightning in the distance, so I turned around at 3.7 miles to avoid the storm's path and ended up running 8 miles instead of 7 trying to avoid the storm.  I ran in the heavy downpour but managed to avoid the areas with frequent and close lightning. 

6 pm - rode the triathlon bike 20 miles on my own - didn't want to get dropped again. Then ran 6.2 shortly thereafter.  Didn't do the rapid transition from bike to run, but ran as soon as I put the bike in the house, changed shoes, and got a sports drink.

Yearly physical today, mid-morning, and the doctor was surprised to find my heart rate on the EKG is 45, which is classified as bradycardia.  Is that too low?  He is going to do some thyroid tests to make sure thre is not some underlying problem.  He asked if I ever feel lightheaded because my heart rate is so low.  (I don't).

Only time to swim 1750 yards today.  Family commitments in the evening that went late.

7:30 am - 9 miles after dropping Jacob off at daycare.

7:30 pm - moderate pace - 7.27 mile loop, then another loop around my neighborhood at an easy pace except a sprint in the last .1 mile when someone's Jack Russell terrier chased me for a block and a half or so.  I thought I could just outrun him and he would give up after a while, but he was persistent and finally stopped when I yelled over my shoulder at him.

7:30 am. - Rode from my house to the start of the Cycle the Greenway Ride, then rode their 50-mile route back to my house, so the ride resulted in a little over 50 miles total.  Very warm morning; overall a nice day for a ride.  Nap in the afternoon.

5:30 pm - 7.27 mile loop after work before taking Carbon to agility.

6:30 pm - run/bike/run - 3.1/13.38/3.1  - Weather was very warm and windy.  Felt good on the run but the bike time is still slow - have not done enough bike training this year yet!  I'm hoping to do a duathlon later in June.  The Jack Russell terrier was out there again on the second run and chased me for a while, but I yelled at it and finally it stopped.  Modified my route slightly on the way back so I wouldn't pass his house.  He almost caught me this time!

4 months to St George marathon.  I need a little help with the training plan.  What is a good plan for increasing my mileage between now and then?

7 pm - felt very sluggish, probably from the run/bike/run last night.  Ran an easy pace and finally felt better the last 2.5 miles or so.

Very tired, plus homework to do after work.

Still feel very tired.  Had to stay a little late at work, then had promised to go to the movies with Jacob right after work.  Saw the new Panda movie - very cute.

7 a.m. - rode 35.83 miles on the triathlon bike.  Then had a lot of family stuff and housework to do all day.  4 pm - ran 7.27 miles - felt better than the past few days.

Worked in the yard, clearing out some very tall weeds.  Bathed and clipped 2 of the dogs - it is hot now and they are starting to get fleas.  Worked on homework for the course I am taking this summer - I don't remember relational algebra being quite so hard in my undergrad days!  Lots of distractions however.  Jacob's birthday party in the afternoon which went late.  Just no time to run today.  Still feeling a little tired as well.

8:40 pm - 7.45 miles.

Got out of work late so missed the 6 pm bike shop ride.  7 pm - easy 13.61 mile ride on triathlon bike, then moderate to easy 6.2 run.  Felt a little tired on the run.

8:30 pm - got started a little late waiting for Jacob to get here to have birthday cake for his birthday.  Felt pretty sluggish (maybe from that pure sugar tiny slice of birthday cake I ate just before the run) and had to walk/run the first .3 to .4 mile or so because of what felt like a strain in the right groin, possibly from the bike/run last night.  Left inner calf also feels tight and a little sore - not sure what that is all about.  By the second half of the run, I finally felt pretty good and managed 7 miles, not including the walk. 

Another 8:30 pm night.  8 miles.  Felt a lot better than last night.  No cake before the run this tiime, and no soreness.  : )

7 pm - Gibson Guitar 5K in downtown Memphis.  I had never done this race before.  It benefits the St. Patrick Learning Center that works with inner-city kids.  The race is bigger than I would have imagined - 1400 runners.  It was a little difficult to achieve a fast time - I got there close to start time (it was a spontaneous decision to race), and was pretty far back at the start. It is not chip timed, so where you are in relation to the starting line factors into your final time.  The start was on Beale Street, and there was a lot of good music to be heard while running down Beale.  The route runs past the Civil Rights Museum then turns down Riverside Drive along the Mississippi River.  It was a warm, humid night, and the view was beautiful.  Then you turn back onto Beale and run up a steep hill, then turn the corner at the 3-mile mark back to the Gibson museum and guitar factory.  There was a nice post-race party on the roof of the Gibson.  Fun evening.  2nd in my age group, 23rd female overall, a little disappointed with my time.  Waiting for the "official" time to be posted., which is 24:27. 

6 pm - 12.6 miles - over to the fitness center and back.  Felt pretty good.  Stretched afterward.

1 pm to 4 pm - Triathlon Clinic at the fitness center with Clark Campbell who was a professional triathlete during the late 80s and early 90s, and who is now the head women's swim coach at University of Kansas.  Great information on technique and motivation.  The team got to practice swimming and running techniques.  Very fun!  I actually felt good (and fast) on the swims.  I didn't keep track of the exact swim yardage, but we must have done at least 300 in 25-yard increments.  Practiced running without heel-striking, landing instead on the ball of the foot, or mid-foot, with a 3-degree forward lean.  It felt a lot different for me, since I am a heel-striker. 

6:45 a.m. - 7.27 mile loop.  Nice morning - going to be a hot day!

8 pm - 8 miles out to Winchester and back.  Felt ok, not too tired.

7:00 pm - About 5-6 miles on the mountain bike through the neighborhood to warm up.  Then 7 miles out and back to Poplar Ave. - felt pretty tired and sluggish tonight - not sure why, just tired, I guess.

5:30 pm - 4 mile loop before book club. 

5 pm - The usual 7.27 mile loop, however when I got out to Byhalia Rd (4 mile point), I could not cross because it is rush hour, and there is no break in the traffic, so I ran back the other way and "discovered" a nice downhill stretch (although not a very long one) to include for training for St. George, and it's on the second half of one of my usual running routes.

7 am - 40.7 bike ride on the road bike with my co-worker Mike.  We will being doing the MS 150 bike tour in September, and he hasn't gotten in much training for it yet, either.  Nice morning for riding - a little overcast and we were out there early enough to avoid the heat.

7:35 am. - - ran out Wolf River Blvd, from Collierville to Germantown (Cameron Brown Park), looped through the park and then back the same way.  Lot of cyclists out this morning.  A few runners also.

8 pm - 5.49 miles - Did the Peterson Lake 4-mile loop and then another 1/4 of the loop.  Felt a little tired at first, but better the second half of the run.

Worked on homework most of the evening after work, then 8:30 pm - 6.6 mile loop.  Felt a little tired at first but better toward end of run.

8 pm - 7.27 mile loop - second half felt very good, and picked up the pace for the last 1.5 to 2 miles.

Got out of work late and had to hurry to a triathlon committee meeting - got home a little too late to run.

6:35 am - 7.27 mile loop.  Really wanted to do this yesterday since I will probably be racing a 10k tomorrow morning.  Didn't push very hard - felt good, not tired.

The race did not work out as far as the morning schedule went.  Was able to ride later in the morning - 30 miles, felt very good on the ride.  Then went out right away to run the 7.27 mile loop, which also felt pretty good.

6:55 am - 15.2 miles - Ouch! What else can I say?  Out and back route, Collierville to Germantown (Kimbrough), which is 7.6 miles from my house.  Also did a loop down into Cameron Brown Park on the way back to get a drink from the water fountain, so probably added another .2 mile, which I didn't count in the mileage total.

Summary - Felt good on the way out, and also starting back - stretched IT band and hamstrings at the turnaound point for about a minute or two.  At about 8th mile, ran down into C.B. Park for water and took a gel and two e-caps.  Still felt pretty good until mile 11, when I started to feel really thirsty and planned to stop at Walgreens for a drink but it wasn't open yet. Left quad started to cramp.  By mile 12, I felt extremely thirsty and was looking for an opportunity to get water from somewhere along the route. By mile 13, I started to feel dazed and a little dizzy, then felt like I would throw up.  It was also getting pretty warm, and I was running in the sun.  When I finally came to some trees, I stopped in the shade for about 2-3 minutes to try to clear up the dazed and dizzy feeling.  Started running again and was fortunate enough to stop at a church, where the greeters directed me to the water fountain.  That seemed to get rid of the dazed/dizzy feeling, and continued the last 2 miles pretty slowly.  Stopped in the shade at mile 15 and rested a few minutes before running the last .2 down my street.  Stretched and soaked in a cool bath afterward, drank gatorade and took 2 more e-caps, then for the next hour or so, my feet cramped on and off so badly it was hard to walk.  On the next long run (next Sunday), I plan to put 2 bottles of gatorade along the couse so I don't get dehydrated so badly again.  Kind of disappointed that I had such a hard time with this distance.

Rode the road bike to work in the morning and then home in the evening.  Nice day to ride but a little humid.  Didn't get home until 7 pm since I stayed late to work on homework.  Trying to finish an assignment tonight so I can start midterms.

5:50 am - 7.6 miles - added a little more distance to the usual 7.27 mile loop.  Nice morning, felt good.  Was able to pick up the pace during the last 2 miles or so.

6 am - 7.6 miles.  Felt just a little more tired than on yesterday's run.  Nice morning.

6 am - 7.5 miles the opposite direction of the usual loop, which has more downhill stretches than the direction I usually take.

7 am - ride with the triathlon team - 46.3 miles, good ride.  However, because of time spent on midterms and family obligations for the holiday later in the day, there was no time to squeeze in the run.

7 am - local bike club holiday group ride.  Route was supposed to be 40 but my cycle computer says 37.6 at the finish.  Finally completed midterms in the afternoon.  Thunderstorms finally passed through and finsihed at around 7:30 so was able to run the 4-mile loop twice - 8 miles total.

7 pm - 7.27 mile loop.  Left quad began cramping pretty badly about 3/4 the way through - eased up a little to get through.  It is a hot, humid night, and the heavy air made it hard to breathe.  Legs felt pretty heavy.  Stretched well afterward.  Will have to do the long run in the middle of the week - my schedule has gotten out of synch with the holiday rides and midterms this past week.

8 pm - had to wait until it cooled down a little to go out and run.  Still, legs felt very heavy, and the heat and humidity really got to me so just did 4 miles.  Planning to convert back to running in the mornings when it is cooler and I have more energy.

5:50 am - 7.27 mile loop.  Legs still felt heavy at first but felt much better the second half of the run.  Left quad still feels like it is tight or cramping, probably left over from the bike rides this past weekend.  I'm planning the long run for either tomorrow morning or Thursday morning.  It looks like the weather will be cooler on Thursday.

6:15 am - got started a little late - did the usual loop in the opposite direction again with a little extra mileage added - it was pretty humid this morning, however, I really enjoyed the second half of this run that has two uphills but also two longer downhill stretches and then one gradual downhill. 

Absolutely no time to run today, worked on a lab for class starting at 5 am until I went to work, then worked on it again from right after work until 10 pm.  Still need to run it on the CSU server to make sure it works in their environment.

5:45 am - Ran 9.3 miles but had to get back in time to take Jacob to day care.  Promised myself I would run right after work. Planned to run my lab scripts at lunchtime on the CSU server, which I did, but one part came back with a permission error.  One part of my solution which worked on my PC did not work on their server because of student account restrictions. Lunch was over by then and had to go back to work, so I had to rework that part of the solution after work and finally finished at 7:30 and submitted the lab.  Whew!  Was able to fit in a 5 mile run at 8:00 pm.  Total: 14.3.  That will have to suffice as my long run for this week - the schedule has just been too tight.  Looks like the next lab assignment is going to be challenging as well. 

7:30 am - the almost-50-mile ride with co-workers, Mike and Ido, along with Ido's friend Jeff, who is new to riding.  96 degrees by the time we are done, and most of us had leg cramps at some point in the last 10 miles from the heat and distance.  It was a good ride with a bit slower pace to accomodate Jeff not having ridden much yet.  He did OK for being new.  Ido left us about 2/3 of the way through to ride faster and get home earlier.

Tomorrow is the first 5K of road race series.  Of course, my legs won't be all that fresh after the ride today, but I need to race more regularly, and the road race series is a good way to do so.

7 am - first road race series 5K.  I have not done the road race series in several years - the two 5K races are always at Overton Park.  It used to be two loops through the park, but they changed it so that you run out and around the park and then back into the park with part of the old loop.  My previous PR for 5K was on the old course at 23:30.  Today, I set a new PR of 22:54 (unofficially).  The start on the new course is very fast, going right out of the park, with a downhill, then a right-hand turn and running back into the park on Poplar Ave.  My one mile time was, surprisingly, 6:55 - the downhill really helped, along with the adrenaline.  I knew I went out too fast, but it felt good, and I just focused on keeping a decent pace after mile 2, which was 14:34.  The last .5 was a little tough, but I felt good at the end.  Then ran another 1.5 to 2 miles around the inside park loop with triathlon team-mate David.

Wanted to run again later in the day and felt good enough to, but schoolwork and family commitments took over the rest of my day.

Update 7/14 - official time from MRTC site - 22:40. 

5:50 am.  The enhanced opposite-direction, usual loop without the Johnson Park extended loop, which looks like it cut out 1 mile.  Felt good, legs a little tired toward the end of the run.

6:15 a.m. - The new loop with the downhills and the added Johnson Park loop.  They have paved a nice, new greenway that allows me to run on the paved trail instead of Wolf River Blvd. to the neighborhood across the street from mine.  Really nice!

6:15 am - 7.5 mile loop. Feeling a little tired, and then felt tired all day - may be a sinus problem in the works.

5:30 a.m. - new 15-mile loop using the 9.3 mile loop through Johnson Park and then part of the 6.2 mile loop behind Walmart.  Felt pretty good.  Stopped for water at Johnson Park and then later at Walmart.  Legs felt tired after leaving the park at about 9.4 miles so I slowed down quite a bit, then felt better after another 2 miles or so and felt pretty good the last mile or so.   Then headed out to work.

4 pm, 6 miles out and back Peterson Lake Rd which includes the long uphill/downhill from my usual loop.  Heat index is pretty high and it was a little hard to breathe at first because the air is so heavy.  Running past some of the ball fields, it smells like the grass is just burning up, and it looks pretty scorched.  Hotter for the rest of the weekend and 101 on Monday.  Planning to ride early tomorrow.

Cycling 7 am to 11 am - hot and humid day

5:30 am - 7.5 mile loop with some faster intervals.  Hurried so I could pick up Jacob at 7 a.m. to be able to take him to church.  Another hazy, hot, humid day with high heat index.

Happy Monday! 6:15 a.m. - 7.5 mile loop - got started a little late, and really picked up the pace toward the end. Felt good. Planning for a long run either Wednesday or Thursday morning.

5:40 am - 9.3 - a little cooler this morning.  Good run.  A few pickup intervals.

9 pm with Carbon - 6.2 miles. Nice night to run. Several other people out running with their dogs too. I'm working on my final lab for the course I'm taking, and it is just taking up all my extra non-work hours. It is due Friday. Then next week are finals. I'll be glad for a break but want to take one more course starting at the end of August that will be directly applicable to my job. Crazy.

8:30 pm.  Still working on the final lab before and after work.  8.3 mile loop in the dark.  It is hot and humid; lots of people out walking or running in the neighborhoods. 

8:30 pm - 4 mile run/walk with Carbon, trying to work out some soreness in left calf muscle.  Ran about 3 miles and probably walked 1.  Planning the long run tomorrow.  The lab is finally done and submitted!

6:30 am - planned to do the long run.  Felt strong starting out but at about 6 miles started to feel queasy and had something akin to food poisoning.  Fortunately was near the fitness center at the time and could stop in.  Waited there about 10 min or so and started again but by 11 miles felt very light-headed and legs felt weak, so I started to walk/run.  Ended up walking the last 2 miles, so I'll only take credit for the 11.  Disappointing run.  Racing tomorrow, and need to fit a longer run in sometime early in the week.

7 am - 2nd 5K in the road race series.  Still feeling sick from the digestive system problem yesterday and kind of tired.  Got to the race about 10 minutes before the start, which is, of course, not the way to start a race.  (I put so many things on hold this week to get my lab done right that it seems I am backlogged in things at home and with my training, so I feel that I am playing catchup with everything and not especially making good training decisions).  

I was glad to get there before the race start (about a 35-40 minute drive), and warmed up by running through the park to the start.  At the start, I felt ok but not strong.  The first mile was 6:47, but I was really pushing it and knew I could not keep up that pace, so I slowed way down in the 2nd mile and felt like I was going to puke after another mile; at that point almost dropped out, but decided to keep going and just run it out as best as possible. So the end result was about 1:20 min. slower than last time on this course.

Hoping to get the training schedule under control this week.  Class finals are this week - after that, the schedule should be better.

5:20 am - added a little more distance to theusual 8.3 mile loop to make it an 8.8 mile loop by following another runner out to Shea Road near the library.  Started out feeling a little queasy but felt better toward the end of the run and picked up the pace on the downhills.  Also picked up the pace to catch up with the other runner near Shea.  Caught him at Shea and Poplar, then he turned the other direction.

6 am - Easy run out and back around the new lake near town hall and library.   Very pretty area!  They did a nice job on the lake and the new buildings.  There's a lot to like about Collierville.

Felt a little sluggish this morning, so went a bit slower.  Later in the day, started sneezing and coughing.  Hoping it is not a summer cold - felt pretty tired by the end of the day.  Heat index is well over 100, close to 110 today.  It was even pretty steamy this morning at 6 am.

6:15 am - same loop as yesterday - I really like the lake!  Still feeling sluggish and congested.  Tired all day at work until late in the afernoon then started to feel a little better.

5:30 am - Didn't feel too bad, still congested. Nice morning to run - caught up with and passed a group of high school cross-country runners who looked like freshmen. School starts in another week or so.

Later in the morning at work, started to feel really congested and sick - headed to the doctor's office, where he gave me antibiotics for my sinus infection and a referral to an ENT since this seems to be an ongoing problem. Felt pretty sick the rest of the day.

No run today - the bug that is causing my sinus infection is really making me sick - I have that yucky, feverish sick feeling and felt like I could fall asleep all day, not to mention the killer headache and head congestion. Hoping the antibiotics kick in soon. Going to bed early.

Almost decided not to do the bike ride today.  Woke up feeling like something had run over me, but I talked myself into going, thinking I would feel better if I rode.  Took it easy and didn't do the planned 50+ mile ride but did 43.5 instead.  It was very hard to breathe, and hill-climbing suffered because of that.  Felt pretty rough the first 10 miles, but it usually takes me about 10 miles to warm up anyway.  Felt somewhat better by the end but still have the "sick" and wiped-out feeling.  The heat index today is supposed to be 110 - Mike and I were done by about 10:30, so we missed the worst of it.

6:40 am - ok, this bug is kind of hanging on.  I wanted to do a long run this morning, and to get out the door, I convinced myself I would just start running and see how it goes. Did the usual loop with all the new additions (except for the lake loop which I'll add next time) that I have "discovered" over the past couple weeks.  Down through the park and stopped at the drinking fountain at mile 10, then looped around to the house and got some gatorade and a gel, then did the 4-mile loop over to Peterson Lake Rd - Powell - Byhalia.  Once again, the beginning of the run was rough, but I could breathe better today, and then felt better the second half.  The heat index is going to be in the 100s today, and the forecast is 101 (without heat index) tomorrow.  Mid-South in the summertime!

5:45 am - ran the out and back to the town hall with a loop around the lake.  Watched the sun come up as I was running around the lake.  Beautiful.  It is going to be another very hot day!

6:15 am.  Up last night from about 2:30 on with a sore throat and cough; was tired and got started a little late.  Did the 7.5 mile loop that is now becoming my "short" loop, running through the Oaks neighborhood and down by Home Depot then Poplar and Peterson Lake Rd.  Felt sluggish but finished the run.

5:50 am - shorter run today.  May be able to ride after work tonight.  At about 5.5 miles, I felt a very sharp pain on the lateral side of my right knee (IT band).  I actually thought something had bitten me (like one of the horseflies that had been chasing me the first part of the run), but it wasn't.  I felt the long run from earlier in the week in my IT band yesterday but not a sharp pain like this.  I didn't feel the same type of pain again during this run.

Thunderstorms early in the morning, lasting until after I got to work.   My daughter's new boyfriend came over for dinner, so I rushed home after work to help her make dinner since she had to pick up Jacob who is sick with an ear infection.  "Rest" day from running.

5:22 am - 12 mile loop including the lake loop and watching the sun rise over the lake as I ran.  Felt pretty good, especially the last 1/3 of the route.

6:30 am

Up til 1 am with Jacob who was sick with a headache and throwing up all night.  Needless to say, no 5 mile MRTC race today and no run.  Everybody is worn out,. and Jacob is still throwing up.

Jacob is feeling better and slept through the night.  6:25 am - 7.8 mile loop out around the lake.  It is a lot cooler this morning and foggy.  Looks like a nice day.

6 pm - 7.8 mile loop around the lake again.  This run was difficult for the first 2 miles - have not felt well since Jacob was sick this weekend, and my daughter is also sick now too, so I may have a little of what they have.  Finally felt better the second half of the run and was able to pick up the pace back through the Oaks neighborhood.

5:50 am - planned to run a little longer this morning, which I did, but had serious GI issues that caused me to have to stop 3 times and cut it a little shorter than planned.  Yuck.

7 pm - babysat Jacob after work until 7, then I could run.  Now that I've been running in the mornings, it seems harder to get started on a run in the evening - not necessarily getting out the door, but I feel tired and sluggish for the first .5 mile to 1.5 mile.  This could also be due to a low-grade sinus infection that I haven't been able to shake since being sick about 2 weeks ago.  The ENT physician put me on antibiotics today for 3 weeks to try to clear it up.  At any rate, the run started very slow and sluggish, but by the time I had run around the lake,  which is a little more than halfway, I felt better and picked it up on the second half.  

6:15 am - 7..3 mile with downhills - still kind of tired and had  the GI problems that stopped me 2 or 3 times again. 

8 am - the triathlon team hosted a field day for special olympics, and I was in charge of one of the games and the prizes.  Jacob went with me to help out.  My assigned game was the egg and spoon relay.  There were lots of other games, too, like tug-of-war, water balloon relay, three-legged race, over-under beachball relay, roll the hula hoop, etc.  A large number of special olympians came. We played the field day games first and then split everyone up into to 5 or 6 teams for a relay race.  Each team had about 11 participants - we all lined up and each person sprinted out and around a monitor sitting in a chair at the other end of the field - maybe 50 to 75 yards?  Our team won that one.  Then we split into two groups to play either kickball or soccer.  I played soccer, and it got pretty intense, with good players on both teams.  The sprints in the relay and the soccer game really kicked my booty - I'm used to long runs!  We all had lunch and headed home.  It was a fun morning for everyone there, and Jacob seemed to enjoy it too.

2 pm - India Fest with the family.  Several co-workers invited me to this, and the rest of the family came with me as well - it was very well-done with lots of exhibits, and there were lots of people from work there.  Learned a lot about Indian festivals, food, dance, and culture.  

7:45 am.  Nice morning, not really hot or humid.  Ran 17 miles out around the lake, up to the fitness center, and then over to Peterson Lake Rd, down through the park.  Felt pretty good.  

6:15 am - recovery run - out to the library and back.  Had to walk a little now and then - legs (and body) feeling tired.

6:30 am - 7.3 mile loop in the original direction with the uphills because of the traffic near the high school if I go the other way and don't leave before 6.

6:15 pm - 30 mile bike ride with co-worker Ido. Lots of fun - fast and furious intervals. He is a fast rider who challenges but won't drop me.  He seemed to have fun as well.

6:15 - 9 miles around Collierville, past the high school which seems less busy this morning.  Skipped running around the lake but ran through Schilling Farms, then down Poplar and Peterson Lake. On Peterson Lake almost to Shelton, crossed a side street in a residential area where an SUV was just pulling out with two young guys in it.  They blocked the steet crossing, so I ran around the back of the vehicle, which I usually do if the vehicle seems to be in a hurry and is blocking the crossing.  The driver suddenly threw the SUV into reverse as I was running in back of them.  I yelled s***!  Which happens to be the first word that just comes out of my mouth when I am really scared in a traffic situation, and they stopped backing up.  The driver politely said in his best, young southern gentlemanly manner, "Sorry ma'am".  And I said,(still feeling somewhat scared and now a little bit angry), "what the h*** do you think you're doing?"  He didn't say anything, and I just ran on. I don't think they even saw me, even though the guy on the passenger side looked right at me as I ran toward them on the sidewalk before running around in back of them. 

6 pm - 7.8 mile loop around the lake. This morning at 6, it was thundering and lightning, so there was not a chance to run. Noticed again that when I run in the evening now, I start out slow, feeling sluggish and tired. I had to stop and walk twice for a very short time in the first 3 miles or so. By the second half of the run, I can usually pick up the pace. The fact that it was still 90 degrees and humid didn't help either; it was hard to breathe, the air felt pretty heavy.

Wednesday was actually my rest day - I entered mileage on Wednesday and Thursday that should have been entered on Friday, but I don't have time to change it over right now.

6:30 am - 57 mile bike ride.  Got to the start of the ride and my back tire was flat, so several of us worked on fixing it.  At home before the ride, I discovered that the styrofoam in my helmet was cracked so I borrowed Jessie's.  Later, I remembered that the puppy had knocked over my bike a few days ago, and the bike must have landed hard on the helmet.  The bike ride itself was great - rode with co-workers Mike and Ido.

The MS 150 Tour is coming up Sept. 13 and 14 - 150 miles in two days, from Graceland to Tunica and back.

7 pm - ran about 2 miles to loosen up the legs.  Still feel sluggish when I run in the evening. 

7 am - MRTC 2nd 5 miler. I was actually early getting to the race area which I do not know too well since I hardly ever go to the area of Bartlett where the race is. I had directions from Google maps and had the name of the park where the race start is, but apparently, there are 2 Freeman Parks in Bartlett - the Google directions took me to the high school stadium, and no one was there. So I drove around the neighborhood a while and was totally lost. About 7 minutes before the race is scheduled to start, I finally see a lady walking her poodle and ask her how to get there. She is not quite sure she knows the exact directions, but she sent me in the right direction, and I got there 3 minutes before the race start, parked quickly, and ran over to the start area just as the announcer was getting ready to blow the start siren. Whew! I would have been pretty disappointed to miss this race since I missed the 1st 5 miler because of Jacob being sick all night the night before.

Felt pretty strong and finished in 38:15 which may be a PR for 5 miles - don't do too many 5 mile races, so not sure. It was a great morning to run - kind of humid but overcast. Waiting for the official results.

5:40 am - 10.17 mile loop around the lake, through Schilling Farms, Poplar Ave, Peterson Lake Rd.  Felt strong.

Later in the day, the remnants of now tropical storm Fay came through, and it rained really hard in a short period of time.  My son's apartment building in midtown Memphis  flooded, so we were all up until midnight, cleaning up the mess.  Lots of water on the first floor.  Fortunately, he was home at the time and was able to move a lot of things upstairs as the water came in.  Unfortunately, his car also got flooded, with the water more than halfway up the doors, and in the engine.  Looks like it is totaled. 

6:15 am. - 7.3 mile loop in the direction with the uphills - traffic is heavy at the high school again, so went in the original direction.

6 am - 7.8 miles, around the lake near town hall and back. Felt pretty good.  Hoping to do a long run tomorrow morning.  I have a 14.2 mile race on Sunday in Tupelo.

5:18 am - so this is my long morning run - I don't have a course mapped out, which is poor planning, so I just added more to what I usually have been running and ran in a few areas that I have not run before to try to add mileage. My plan was to run 2 hours, 45 minutes, and I ended up running 2 hours 34 minutes, which is close. I do have to go to work this morning! Ran out to the fitness center, past the lake but didn't run around the lake because it was too dark over there and there are no lights around the lake. Ran through Schilling Farms, out to Poplar, then to Peterson Lake Rd and down through Johnson Park. Legs started to hurt at about 2 hours, but kept going, and pretty soon they felt better. When I got close to home, I felt like I could have gone further, but also felt pressed for time because I didn't want to be late for work.

So, this means I need to start earlier if my long runs are on a weekday morning. I'm hoping to have time this evening after work to run more miles, even though it won't be a continuous long run. And, I need to think about running some easy miles after the 14.2 race on Sunday to get in another long run.

7 pm - 4.23 mile run - Byhalia - Powell Rd Park - through park to drinking fountain - up to Peterson Lake Road - Simmons Ridge - Home. Felt a little sluggish at first but better as the run progressed.

6:10 am - 7.8 mile loop around the town hall lake.  Felt a little tired in the middle of the run and better after that.  Nice morning to run.

6:30 am - ride with Mike, one of my co-workers. We are training for the MS 150 which is Sept. 13 and 14 - riding 150 miles to raise money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society - the money raised goes to local area chapter for services for families impacted by MS and for research through the national chapter.  Helping deliver the cure.

 Rode a shorter distance of 40 miles today because of my 14.2 mile race tomorrow.  We'll ride again on Monday, hopefully a longer ride depending on how my legs feel.

Tupelo, MS - 14.2 mile race associated with the Tupelo Marathon. Probably one of the more interesting (and fun) races I've run. See the image below, and you'll get an idea of the tone of the race - pretty cool - the long-sleeve race t-shirt is tye-dyed and has the image logo.

The race starts at 5 am Sunday, so I stayed overnight in Tupelo, which is about an hour and a half from Collierville, and packet pickup was 1 pm to 5 pm the day before, so more incentive to get there on Sat. and stay over.

5 am Sunday - start of race - it is very dark, and the race is run on back country roads in Mississippi without many streetlights - it is kind of eerie because in several places, it is pitch black and there is mist (ground fog) rising off the surrounding fields and huge trees covered with kudzu, (which has to be the Mississippi state plant!), making grotesque shapes in the background (when you can actually see). Lots of rolling hills, typical of Mississippi. Now and then, you hear a rooster crow or a dog bark. Between miles 4 and 6, people start to spread out, and there are a few stretches where you are running down a back country road in Mississippi in the dark by yourself, not knowing exactly where you are. A little different than the typical early morning training run, but fun!

My race - felt really good until about mile 6 when I felt like I needed to make a pitstop but there was no place to do so, and finally at about mile 7, there were porta-potties out in the middle of nowhere. I was very thankful. Between mile 6 and 7, I had to slow down a bit because of the GI issues, and felt a bit tired around mile 8 or 9. After mile 9, I felt better, and it was just a matter of keeping the legs moving at a decent pace. By mile 7 or 8, the sun had come up, and around mile 11 or 12, here come the marathoners, who have reached the turnaround, running back out to do the loop again. There was one long uphill starting around mile 13, and after that, suddenly, there's the left turn into the finish!

Finish time (chip timed) - 2 hours 0 minutes 11 seconds - took home the pottery for winning the 40 - 49 age group. 8th female overall.

7 am - 61 mile bike ride with co-worker Mike.  Nice morning to ride.  We added 20 miles to last week's route and rode on some different roads up into Tipton County.  It was fun to ride somewhere different!

5:50 am - 7.8 mile loop around the lake near the town hall.  Legs felt really good until near the end of the run, when then felt a little tired from the ride yesterday and the race on Sunday.

5:00 am - Started out early in the dark so did not run around the lake but ran through Schilling Farms instead.  Felt pretty tired because I stayed up until 10:30 the night before working on a class assignment that is still not finished.  The run went well until about 1/2 mile from home, it had started raining and after I crossed a side street, my foot must have slipped or hit the curb, (although I didn't feel it), and suddenly I am falling forward, and fell really hard on the sidewalk, kind of rolled toward the left and hit my head on the sidewalk (that's how fast it all happened - not time to try to break the fall) and finally landed on my back.  Fortunately, I didn't hit my head too hard, but it did hit on the temporal side.  I got up and surveyed the damage - very badly skinned knees, skinned side of left hand and wrist, skinned back of left shoulder, and a bit of a headache on the left side, but I was still good to run, so I continued home. Feels like I'm gonna be sore tomorrow!

6:30 am - It's raining quite hard, but I need to get out there, so waited until 6:30 and headed the opposite direction from the high school where all the traffic is.  It started raining even harder for the first 2 miles of the run, then let up a little.  Did the 7.3 mile loop because I am still a little tired also sore from falling yesterday.

No chance to run today.  Stayed up late yesterday - helped my son look for a used car afer work, which took a really long time - going to several dealerships, trying to find something affordable and, hopefully somewhat reliable.  It is sometimes difficult to take some of the games the car salesmen play - I totally dislike buying a car!  I always feel taken advantage of.  We went home with a couple of possibilities and one quote, and once home, went through all the insurance paperwork, some of which requires extensive documentation and notorized forms, so we were all up pretty late.  Yes, the remnants of hurricane Fay did us the "favor" of destroying his car when it dumped 6 inches of rain on midtown in the matter of 15 minutes and flooded his apartment complex.  It was a blessing in disguise, in a way.   Thank God for insurance.   

Today (Friday)  I took part of the afternoon off to once again help him find a decent deal on a car.   One of the credit union employees was extremely helpful, explaining the NADA retail and trade values of vehicles, printing out information on various cars we had looked at, and even called a friend at a dealership who had a car in our price range.  Thank God for her - she is a blessing, too.  To make another long story short, we did get a pretty good deal at the dealership she suggested, and it helped that she put us into contact with her friend who is a manager there.  The "new" car is a 1999 Saab with 102,000 miles, 4 -cylinder engine, and one owner who took good care of it.   Affordable.  Home at 9 pm.

6:45 am - 70 mile bike ride with Mike.  The MS 150 bike tour is next weekend.  We are as ready as we're going to be.  Good ride.  Tomorrow is the MRTC first 10k at Shelby Farms.

7 am - MRTC 1st 10K race of the road race series - Shelby Farms Park.  Felt rested, even after the 70-mile bike ride the day before.  Went out a little fast at first, then tried to pace better based on perceived effort since I ran this race without a watch.  There was a guy at mile 1 calling out the time, which I think I heard him say was 7:27 as I passed.  Shelby Farms Park is my favorite place in Shelby County.  It is a huge, beautiful park with mountain bike trails, horseback riding, paved running trails, a rustic visitor center, rolling hills, several small lakes, lots of green areas.  We ran out around Patriot Lake near the visitor center, then across the bridge and up the hill to the Chickasaw Trail, down into the woods and past two more lakes.   In the last mile there is one very steep hill that goes up around the playground - that was a little tough but not as hard as I remember it from other races there.  Then you run down and around the other side of the playground hill, up another gradual hill, down the other side, and uphill again to the finish - just a few rolling hills at the end.

I was really happy with my time, which is a PR.  Waiting for the "official" results.

8:30 am - got home, changed out of racing shoes and headed out for the 7.8-mile loop.  Kept a steady pace, and felt really good.  Legs started to hurt a little at the end, so I walked a couple strides 3 times in the last 1.5 miles.

5:50 am - 8.3 mile loop with the downhills.

6:15 pm - mountain bike riding at Herb Parsons Lake park with my daughter, Jessie.  This is a very technical trail.  I was really proud of her - she had not done the trail before and did very well - was not scared at all.  There was a LOT of poison ivy, however.  We washed down with poison ivy soap afterward and hope we will not get any, but there was so much we both expect to get a little.

6:05 a.m. - 7.8 mile with the lake loop.  Overcast, humid morning.  Feeling a little tired.  Legs were heavy.  Better the 2nd half of the run.

6 am - 7.3 miles

5:44 am - 17.6 miles - 2 hours 45 min. Had to finish up quickly to get to work. Wanted to do 20 - legs still felt good after this distance and felt I could have done more.

6:30 pm - ran the 7.8 mile loop around the lake near the town hall.  Legs still felt pretty good.  Just a little tired at the end and front of left ankle hurt just a little.  Soaked in a cold bath and stretched.

Getting ready for the 150-mile bike tour this weekend - got to work early so I can get home early to pack and get all the gear ready.

7:30 a.m. - First day of MS-150 bike tour.  Nice day, however the course was made more challenging by the very strong headwinds from hurricane Ike, which is on its way to this area after coming ashore in Galveston with lots of destruction.  Those of you in that area are in all of our thoughts and prayers as we ride today.

The MS Society will decide by tomorrow morning whether the tour can continue - forcast is for rain and sustained winds of 30-45 mph.  After the difficulties experienced today by just about everyone on the ride with the gusty winds, it looks like they might cancel the second day, especially if it rains and the pavement is wet.

5 am - The second day of the MS-150 bike tour is canceled. In Tunica, MS, where we stay overnight on the tour, it is raining and very windy.  Walking from my room to breakfast and back, it is hard to stand up in the wind, let alone stay on a bike. For everyone's safety, it is canceled.  Mike and his wife gave me and my bike a ride back to Graceland, which was really nice, and I was home by 8 am.  It is still raining and windy, and the sky has some dark, fast-moving clouds.

3 pm - went for a run, thinking maybe I could do a long run, but my legs were sluggish and I was still tired from yesterday, so only did 5.1 but tried a new route.  They've extended the sidewalk to reach an exclusive neighborhood way down Shelton Rd. east of the landfill.  So I followed it - the neighborhood is kind of hidden in the woods as you curve around and the road becomes Bray Station. There's a sign one one side that says it is private property and that jogging and lake rights belong only to the residents.  Oh well- no jogging on those streets.  I can run on the sidewalk that goes around the outside.

5:50 am - 9 miles. Took it a little slow - still feeling a bit tired.  It was 60 degrees and felt a little chilly starting out.  After the hurricane front passed nearby, some cool, dry weather is here for a few days.

4:50 am - 15 miles around Collierville.  Still felt a bit tired.  Will try for a "real" long run on Thursday.

6 am - 7.2 miles, easy run. 6 pm - road bike ride after with with a small group from walgreens on Houston Levee Rd.

6 am - shorter run today - early meeting at work.

4 am - finally! The long run.  Felt very good.  Had to rush toward the end to get to Jacob's school for grandparent's day at his kindergarten at 8 am.

7:15 am - easy 6-mile run

7 am - MRTC road race series 2nd 10K.  I decided to take this race very easy and treat it as a training run if I felt tired, which is why I'm not entering this as a race report.  During the first mile, I decided this would definitely be a "throw-away" race since I did really well in the previous 10K.  Still tired from the long run Fri and recovery run yesterday, then being on my feet all afternoon Sat helping with registration for the kid's triathlon which is today.  My time was somewhere around 1:01, and I did not hand in my race card at the end.

1 to 4 pm - run course monitor and water stop volunteer at the kid's triathlon.  What a great event - there were over 200 kids, ages 7 to 14 participating.  I ended up running another .8 to maybe 1 mile because of a situation where some students on the school campus where  the event was held were in an unscheduled review class and needed to leave from a parking lot onto the closed triathlon course.  My water stop was next to parking lot, and the security guard asked if the kids could drive their cars out, and I said, "No, there are 7-year-old kids on what is supposed to be a closed course on bikes."  One of the students apparently argued that it is their campus and we were guests just using it so they would do what they wanted. ( He turned out to be one of the race director's sons, and should know better).  I told them not to leave the parking lot, not to drive onto the course, and I would find the race director to find out what to do, so I ended up running back to the start area and found the race co-director who had the school headmaster's phone number. She was able to contact him (he was on the campus fortunately), and he was able to deal with the situation.  The students had to stay until all the bikers were off the course, which was the right thing to do for their safety.

6 am - beautiful morning!  7.8 mile loop around the town hall lake, watched the sun rise.

6 am - 8.3 miles with downhills.  Felt good, nice morning!  Very busy at work this week - hoping to do a long run Thurs or Fri morning.

6 am - 9 miles at a moderate pace.  Looks like the long run will be Friday.  6 pm 15.5 miles road cycling.

6 am - 7.8 mile around the lake; watched the sun rise. Felt a little tired, but overall a good run.

4:22 am - long run.  Felt pretty good - had to stop around 15.5 to stretch because my IT band on the right felt tight and a little sore.  About a mile after stretching, it felt better.  Ran the downhills on Peterson Lake Rd. twice by looping out to Collierville-Arlington and back around, then downhills on the wagon trail to Johnson Park. Felt good at the end, probably could have gone longer but it was 7:59 am, and time to get ready for work!  3 hours 37 min.  Getting closer for BQ but not quite there yet.

7 pm - 7.8 miles - around the town hall lake and back.  Nice evening.

6:10 am - 6.2 miles, easy.  Felt a little tired.

6 am - 9 miles with downhills on Peterson Lake Road.  Jessie and Jacob are sick - hoping I won't catch it.  Lots of upper respiratory illnesses going around right now with the change in the weather.

6 am - 10.5 with downhills and into Johnson park, then cut through with the new paved trail to Shelton.  Nice, cool morning.  Felt fairly strong and did some pickups in the middle of the run.

4:30 am Central time - up and ready to travel to St. George!

11:00 am Pacific time - in Las Vegas getting ready to drive up to St. George, but stopping for lunch and a little sight-seeing here first.

5:00 pm Mountain time - Driving around St. George - it is amazingly beautiful here. The drive from Las Vegas was also beautiful - the scenery is gorgeous!

6:30 pm - I am ready to eat dinner and sleep!  Been up way too long.

It was awesome to meet my fellow FRB bloggers at the blog party - thanks Michelle, Tarzan, Sunnyrun, CanadianFlash for your advice and support!  Here it is Monday already, and I'm just getting a chance to write the race report.  I had to leave soon after the race finish to check out of the hotel and head back to LV to turn in the rental car.  I was also really cold and could not find my car, but that's another story...

Yes!  I qualified for Boston - my BQ was 4:00:59, and I finished SGM in 3:49:19! Without injury - just sore quads. Thank you Sasha for the excellent training plan - it really DOES work!  Thanks, Michelle, for your encouragement and feedback along the way!  Congratulations on your excellent finish!

I'll write more detail later. Already sent in the application for Boston.

6 pm - about 10 miles on the triathlon bike - the Big House loop in Germantown until dark.  Legs feel a bit tired, so I had to use a moderate pace.

6:45 am - 4 miles.  Left hamstring and right IT band feel a little bit tight.  Stretched afterward and by the time I got to work, they felt better.

10:30 am - 7.8 mile loop.  Left hamstring and right IT band still a little tight.  It got hot, and by the end of the run, I felt a little dehydrated and tired. 

10:00 am - 9 miles with downhills.  Right IT band is still tight and back of right knee also hurt after the run.  Stretched and Iced the right knee area after the run.  Piriformis muscle also hurts on the right.  Maybe I'm running too long too soon.  Should I just stick to shorter runs for a week or so, maybe 5 to 7 miles each?

Rest day - IT band and piriformis muscle still sore today.  Will try a shorter run tomorrow.

7 pm - 7.8 mile loop around lake and back home.  Felt very good, not IT band tightness.

6 pm - triathlon bike - Big House loop, partially on my own, partially with the group I finally caught up with.  Started to feel the IT band tightness again while riding.

8:30 pm - 4 mile loop - IT band still feels tight and a little sore.

Overslept and then had other obligations after work - just no time to run!  Will need to get back into the regular program next week.  Race tomorrow at work.

3:45 pm - United Way fundraiser race at work.  Several rolling hills.  Looks like this is a PR - hopefully the course was measured accurately!  Ran another .9 mile cool down