Wow! Things have been crazy. I’m really excited about training. I’ve finally hit the double digits, and I’m looking forward to my 12-miler this weekend. It’s close to a half marathon, so I feel like it’s a big deal. Last weekend, we ran Murphysboro Lake again. I’ve been seeing a lot of snakes while running. There were two on the course, including a giant black snake that stretched out across most of the road near the bridge. I didn’t realize what it was until I was right next to it and saw it’s eyes looking up at me. That encouraged me to run even faster.

Today, I ran six miles. It was the first time I felt that I could breath during a run. It’s because the humidity was much lower. It was under 70 degrees and had a great breeze. I felt so, so great. Afterwards, I was pretty tired, so I took a nap. I can’t wait for the weekend run!

Thanks to Hurricane Erin, we’re getting some showers and wind today.  It’s not often we’re affected in St. Louis by hurricanes, but this one traveled right up the midwest and is dying out as it’s pushing through our area.  It was much cooler and overcast all day.  I ran right after work, and it was pretty windy, enough to make me wonder if it was slowing down my run.  About a mile into the run, it started raining, and it was off and on the rest of the way.  Nothing too hard, nothing too stormy…just a nice wet rain.  Felt great, actually. I don’t mind running in the rain.  I just don’t want my mp3 player to short out on me.

Conditions: 82 degrees, rain.
Results: today: 3 miles; shoe miles: 50; time: 30:43; pace: 10:14
Thoughts: Glad I wore my running gear that whisks away water!  Wearing cotton today would’ve slowed me down from weighing so much!
What I’ll remember the most: Trying to wear my sunglasses to protect my eyes from the rain.

Finally!!! Temperatures were under 90 degrees! In fact, we began our 5-mile run at 7:30 a.m., and it was only 75 degrees! We started out at the Visitor’s Center just like last time, and then ran the entire park. We stopped a little bit short because the park is 5.6 miles around.

I put my headphones on at the beginning of the run and listened to some Bobby Darin music. I didn’t hear or say “Good Morning,” because my music was on. After a mile, I took my headphones off and started to say “Hi,” which made the run a bit nicer.

I tried to keep up with Patrick because I wanted to run the entire park without stopping. I’m a better runner when I run fast and then take a walking break. After getting about half the park done, I decided to take off. I found this run quite difficult and I’m not sure why. I actually find it easier to run in extreme heat. I think it’s because I push myself hard to finish faster when it’s hot. I have the mind set, “The faster I run, the sooner I’ll be done.”

Because it was so nice in the morning, I wanted to walk, relax, and take in the atmosphere. I just didn’t want to run. And, I couldn’t think of anything to think about. Usually I think about one particular subject which occupies me through the run. On this morning, I could only think about wanting to have something interesting to think about. Besides enjoying the beauty of the park, the run started out boring.

I also started to know the layout of the park, which means I knew what to expect. It makes the run seem longer when I know just how much further I have to run. People on bikes were passing me up so fast. I had to keep an eye to make sure I didn’t get run over. The park was quite packed.

I was also in pain almost the entire run. Everything hurt. My right ankle hurt first, and then my calf. My shoulder hurt during the middle of the run. I had a headache near the end. My left big toe was in extreme pain. I didn’t get any cramping though. That was nice. I was just really happy– and tired– when the run was over.

Then, it was onto Six Flags. We were taking Patrick’s sister Ellen and his niece Erin to the park as Ellen’s birthday present. Erin was afraid of many of the rides, so she ended up waiting for us and waving the whole time. But she enjoyed herself. Her favorite ride was the Scooby-Doo ride and the bumper cars. Ellen and Patrick loved Mr. Freeze. I love the Buccaneer, which is now– sadly– called the Joker. It was so much more of a thrill when it felt like the entire ride was going to fall apart. Now it’s all safe. Bummer.

The entire experience made us miss Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana. I did find the rides and some of features of the shopping better. Although Six Flags had entertainment shows, we didn’t have enough time to see them. Even if I enjoyed the rides, while standing in line I kept thinking about the price of all the merchandise, food, and even parking. And, if people are sick of standing in line, at Six Flags, they could pay $ 25 extra and jump the line. So much for teaching kids about patience.

Here’s a comparison:

Admission:
$ 44.99, Six Flags
$ 37.95, Holiday World

Parking:
$ 15 per car, Six Flags
Free, Holiday World

Sodas:
$ 9.50 and $ 1 per refill, Six Flags
Free, Holiday World

Water:
$ 4, Six Flags
Free, Holiday World

Suntan Lotion:
Bring your own, Six Flags
Free suntan lotion stations, Holiday World

Food:
Around $10 a person for a burger and fries, Six Flags
About $5 a person for a burger, fries and a cookie, Holiday World

To Get In:
Go through medal detectors, get bags inspected, have an endless amount of people trying to sell you trips, Six Flags
Just go in, Holiday World

If Holiday World were closer, we would have gone there. It would have been a 3-hour drive one way and that would have been too long to take the girls. Although at Six Flags, I felt like I got a work out. We couldn’t find some the entrances to the rides, so we kept walking around and got a real workout. But after running 5 miles in the morning, I would have rather had more of a relaxing day. We did have fun. The girls will be talking about it for months to come.

For our cheat meal, we ate at Johnny Rockets in the park. Patrick and I had double-cheese burgers with fries. It was so hot and what was horrible is that there was no air conditioning or fans while we were trying to eat. We wanted a shake, but they were six bucks a piece. And we couldn’t find bathrooms. We ate our food without washing our hands. EEEWWW! You think they would have been requires to put a bathroom INSIDE the eating facility. We walked around for about five minutes after our meal looking for them. We finally found bathrooms about 400 feet away.

We ended up eating Dippin’ Dots at the end of the day. I got my wonderful chocolate mint, and Patrick had Cookies and Cream. By the end of the day, we were tired. We ended up falling to sleep pretty early. We can’t wait to get the pictures printed from our day at Six Flags and give a copy to the girls and Patrick’s mom.

I wanted to run yesterday (because I run Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays), but this heat is keeping me from getting motivated.  It was muggy and hot and I figured I’d wait until tomorrow to run.  I got in my car to head home after work today, and was shocked to see a temperature of 112 degrees on my thermometer.  I snapped a photo from my cell phone.  It ranged between 110 and 115 on the way home.  Just insane. How can I train in that kind of weather?  That’s a pretty good indication I’m running after dark, when the temp gets down into the lower 90s.  Around 9:15pm, the temps were about 91, so I headed out to run my 4-miler.  I went to Fenton Park like I always do during the week, and decided to run 4.2 miles, which is 3 laps around.  The humidity was low, and it felt pretty nice out.  There were some ball games still going on at the time, but by the time I went around my third lap, they were turning off the lights!  One interesting note about running at night is that with each lap, the stars looked like they were in a different position…and I guess that’s right…it was about 15 minutes a lap for me tonight.

While running, the mind wanders, and today I was just imagining what it would be like to run down the streets of Vegas and have all the lights and casinos passing by.  Pretty cool scene. I can’t wait to run it.  I felt good about today’s run, since I ran it non stop.  I had a good stretch afterwards and I didn’t experience any side pains like I had been in the past. I was getting pains within the first half-mile, but now I don’t have any pain at all.

Conditions: 91 degrees, less humid, clear starry skies.
Results: today: 4 miles; total: 39 miles; time: 46:50; pace: 11:09
Thoughts: I enjoy the night running.  There are parts of the park where there’s hardly any light, but I like the lack of sun every now and then, especially when the official high was 105 today!
What I’ll remember the most: The stars.

I think of so many neat things to write about while I’m running, and then I come home and I can’t remember one. I really pushed myself today. I wanted to push myself yesterday, but that didn’t work out so well. I was so inspired after learning Patrick had ran an entire three miles without stopping. I wanted to do the same, but I couldn’t. The humidity was choking me. Yesterday, I did notice beautiful Monarch butterflies near the lake. In fact, whenever I run around SIUC’s Campus Lake, I’m always having to dodge butterflies.

There were less butterflies today, but I think it’s because I ran much later in the day. I was trying to wait until it was cooler outside. My car thermometer say 98 degrees. The forecast called for temperatures in the 100s. After I got out there, I didn’t care. I wanted to run 10-minute miles and I wasn’t going to let anything stop me.

Instead of jogging, I ran. In fact, I may have been sprinting a bit. I felt strong for the first quarter mile, and then I was out of breath. I just wheezed and kept going. I was making great time. I had forgot the course is 2.2 miles around. I went around it twice and was focusing on finishing in 40 minutes. I ran 4.4 miles in less than that time. I ran my first true 9-minute miles!

Although I’m extremely proud of myself, I’m feeling the effects. My stomach is bubbling and aching, and I’m a bit dizzy. I feel like someone punched me and I just want to throw up. Near the end of the run, I had got goose bumps and felt a bit cold and numb. I had trouble catching my breath after the run. But I find myself believing it was all worth it. I’ve got my mind set on running the Vegas Marathon in four hours. I’m doing whatever I can to achieve my goal.

Since it’s so hot this week, I decided to wait until sunset to do my running.  I just can’t do the treadmill thing anymore.  The temps were around 90 degrees, so it was much cooler than earlier in the day.  The evening brought a lot of humidity, but I like that.  I’ve always enjoyed working in humid conditions instead of sunny conditions.

My calves hurt earlier this morning, still recovering from the 8-miler on Saturday, but by the time I ran, they felt great.  The 3-miler in Fenton Park was cool tonight, because the park’s baseball fields, tennis courts and basketball courts are all lit up.  The park doesn’t close until 11:00pm, so I think I’ll enjoy coming here in the evening to do my runs.  And there’s plenty of people around, so it’s interesting people watching.

I purchased a new mp3 player and used it for the first time tonight.  It’s the Creative MuVo V100. It’s a 2GB player/USB port.

I’ve always liked Creative’s products, and this one is no exception.  I bought a Zen Vision a while back, and was strapping it on my arm when I ran, but that mp3 player has a hard drive in it, which constantly spins, whereas this one is flash based, so there’s no moving parts.  Plus this one’s the size of a domino, where as the other one is a big larger than a deck of cards.  I liked having this in my pocket while I ran. I enjoyed the freedom of not having anything velcroed to my arm!

Anyways, back to the run….I ran the whole 3 miles non-stop and came in under 30 minutes, which is an improvement.  I also spent a lot of time stretching, which I don’t normally do.  I watched this video on YouTube, and it helped with my stretching after the run.

My left big toe still hurts from last Saturday, and it’s gonna be that way the whole training period, since it’s bruised under the nail.  Well, that’s what they say…runners lose nails…here we go. Oh well.

The temps are expected to be at 103 tomorrow, so I may wait until past sunset to do my run.   I’m excited again though!  Can’t wait to lose some weight!

I didn’t want to write after training on Wednesday because I gave up. The heat index was 106 degrees and I only ran a mile and a half. I felt like the humidity was choking me. I had even placed my water bottle on a park bench and would drink it whenever I did a lap. But it wasn’t enough. I felt like a total failure. And because of the drought and hot weather, many of the leaves were brown and all over the ground. It looked a bit like fall– only hotter.

Then, on Thursday, I decided to drive to SIUC and run around Campus Lake. I was so glad I did. I finally ran the entire 3 miles and I did it in exactly 30 minutes! Because the course was mostly shaded and the breeze felt cool coming off the water, I didn’t feel as hot. This is exactly what I needed to get in gear for my weekend big run!

I didn’t want this day to be another treadmill day, so I went home and waited until close to sunset before I ran.  But, today I was not looking forward to running. I was to run Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, but I wasn’t on my schedule this week, and I wasn’t eating right, either.  I went home after work today, ate 4 small burritos and a bag of Potato Skin chips, and was mentally talking myself out of running.  But I knew that I couldn’t live with missing a day of training because I “didn’t feel like it” or because “I ate bad food”.  So with a belly fully of crappy munchies , I faced the heat and ran around Fenton Park twice for my 3 miles.  It was 94 degrees and hella hot, and surpringly, I ran very well!  I felt in shape and I ran it non-stop. There was a lot of activity in the park (ball games, walkers, runners, bikers), which makes it more interesting.

Conditions: 94 degrees and humid.
Results: today: 3 miles; total: 24 miles; time: 30:16; pace: 10:05
Thoughts: Life is a constant battle.  The temptation to not do the right things is ALWAYS there.  It’s something I have to overcome and be strong about my goals.
What I’ll remember the most: The great non-stop run, despite the burrito belly!

It was extremely difficult to run today. I had to stay more than an extra hour at work, and didn’t start running until 3:00. Even Patrick said it was dangerous to run today. Although the temperature was only 96 degrees when I began, meteorologists reported it feeling like 102 degrees. The humidity in the Mid-West makes running very hard.

I had to do a combination of running and walking. It took me more than 40 minutes to run three miles. I found a water fountain that sprayed water really far and I took a couple breaks to drench myself. I wasn’t able to get half way around the pond before all the water dried up. Plus, my MP3 player’s battery went dead just as I was finishing up my first half mile. Although so much went wrong, I finished the course.

I also saw a guy on the course wearing gloves. I was confused about why he would be wearing those. I was hoping he wasn’t some serial killer who wanted to conceal his fingerprints. I probably shouldn’t be thinking about that sort of thing while I’m running.

I had a sunburn on my face when I was finished. I hope tomorrow is cooler.

We hit the alarm only once this morning, because we knew it was going to be hot. We ate some breakfast, then drove into the city to run Forest Park. The park is 5.65 miles around, so we backtracked a 1:45 in the beginning. The runners at 8:00am we so nice and encouraging when we started, but as the morning went on, people were less friendly. I started the run with the 15/2 pace (run 15 minutes, rest 2) but towards the end, I was running when I could, then walked for a bit. I finally caught up with Lindsey at Mile 5, where we hi-fived each other, knowing there was only a mile left. But that was a mistake. We celebrated too early, and that last mile seemed to have taken forever to do. Lucky the last mile was under some shady trees. We didn’t have any water during the run, so by the time we got back to the car, we were relieved and refreshed…of course I did waste some…

Conditions: 85 degrees and hazy.
Results: today: 6 miles; total: 15 miles; time: 1:07:58; pace: 11:16
Thoughts: Feels great to be running Forest Park again. This is my home base.
What I’ll remember the most: The smell of those horses from the St. Louis Mounted Police. Blech.