I may have looked hard core, but...

I had planned to run an "easy" 8 miles this weekend, since I had not had a chance to run much during the work week; I do my easy runs in West Asheville, where it is fairly flat by the French Broad river. When I woke up on Saturday morning it was raining, so I took my time getting ready; by the time I began my run it was almost 10 am, which is very late for me!

It was overcast at 10, and I never gave any thought to the fact that there was a good chance of rain. Well, I guess I MUST have had a thought or 2 in the back of my mind, because I wore a ball cap and carried my "water resistant" wind breaker. I was just happy it wasn't too sunny, as I hate running in the heat. It began sprinkling around 2.5 miles, and I was thankful for the cool-down; it only lasted a few moments. That was just the beginning...

The skies opened up around mile 4. I was thinking that possibly it would pass quickly as the earlier sprinkles had; what an imagination I have! No such luck. I quickly donned my wind breaker, which was less than helpful, and couldn't resist laughing at the thought of the message on my baseball hat: "hello sunshine!" How ironic. I was soon completely drenched, jacket clinging to me, shorts sticking to my legs, and shoes sloshing. I ran through small puddles in order to dodge the larger ones. Cars passed, splashing water up from the street. I had several honks; whether they were saying "You idiot!", "way to go!", or trying to send a more perverse message, I'm not sure. All I know is that no one stopped to offer a ride...and for that I am grateful. Truly. I wanted to at least run back to my own car, which was parked at mile 5.5. And that I did. I briefly toyed with the idea of continuing with my run (why not; I couldn't get any wetter!), but the small lake in each shoe changed my mind. And thank goodness, because not 10 minutes later the rain began falling even harder...if that were even possible...and I was enjoying my veggie sausage biscuit at West End Bakery instead of running in it!

I like to think of myself as hard core when I end up running in the rain or snow, but the truth is I would not have even gone out if there hadn't been a break in the weather. I was just unfortunate enough to get caught in it! But I am thankful for the workout, and thankful for a sense of humor.

Genius: One, U2

I haven't done a Genius run for a while, so I thought I'd head out with some tunes on a 3-miler this morning while MC was in Atlanta running with Celia.

One, U2
Man on the Moon, R.E.M.
Politik, Coldplay
Are You Gonna Go My Way, Lenny Kravitz
Round Here, Counting Crows
Give It Away, Red Hot Chili Peppers
Ants Marching, Dave Matthews Band

One is a great running song, as is Round Here.

3 miles, 26:26,  8:48 pace, 78 degrees, 83 percent humidity (at 6 am).

Changing course

Lot's of running, but no blogging for a while. I did come to the conclusion that I will be training for the half-marathon rather than a full marathon in the fall. Just too damn HOT to be logging long runs.

One thing I've done in the past few weeks is trail run while on vacation in Black Mountain. I haven't done much trail running, but I really enjoy being out in the mountains, in and out of the woods, running along streams and cross-country trails.

MC and I ran Catawba Falls, about 3 miles on the first day. It's a short trail near the cottage. We took Jake and Wheeler with us, and they had a blast. Something about running with the dogs off-leash...

I missed a couple of runs with a stomach virus, but got back on the trail -- first with a hike on Black Balsam Knob with MC and Mandy -- and then a couple of runs on the cross-country trails of The Oaks. The first with MC only, then with the dogs on the Fourth of July.

Since then, we've run a few short runs and I did a 6-miler on Saturday back here in Greenville on the Swamp Rabbit Trail.

This heat has been oppressive to say the least. It just sucks the will out of you, and I decided a half in the fall and a full in winter/early spring. That way, I can train in the cool and have a better chance of a heat-free marathon! One of my running goals...

Genius: Wide Open Spaces, Dixie Chicks (Live)

Quick 3-mile run today. It sure gets hot early -- and with the humidity, even better! Good Genius run today with a country theme. Love the Chicks...

Wide Open Spaces, Dixie Chicks (Live)
The Lucky One, Alison Krauss & Union Station
On the Road Again, Willie Nelson
Didn't Leave Nobody But the Baby, Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch
When You Say Nothing At All, Keith Whitley
The Man Comes Around, Johnny Cash
Hey, Good Lookin', Hank Williams
Killin' Kind, Shelby Lynne

3 miles, 27:42, 9:14, 73 degrees

Training begins

Since I last wrote, I've been on the training wagon. Logging 26 miles last week and 21 before. I've had one Genius run, with a funk theme; however, I forgot to write it down.

We've targeted a couple of races to run this fall: The Baltimore Marathon and Half and the Greenville Spinx Marathon and Half. We have folks we can stay with for most of the time in Baltimore, and will get a hotel room on the night before the race so we can be close to the start. I've never been to Baltimore, though I've been to DC dozens of times. I hope we can make that one. If not, it's home for Greenville.

I'm planning on running the marathon, and MC and LC are going to run the half-marathon. At last conversation with Mike, he was unsure which he'd run. Looking forward to a fun race!

Also since the last update, I've obviously changed the style of the blog (a couple of times). I've settled (at least this week) on this running-themed background. I'd put up a rather plain one, and MC told me it was boring so I switched it. Don't know how long it will stay this way, but we'll see.

Genius: Joy, Lucinda Williams

Tough little 3 miles today -- think it was the drink the night before...
Good music mix, though.

Joy, Lucinda Williams
Gypsy Biker, Bruce Springsteen
Little Martha, The Allman Brothers Band
Gimme Shelter, Patti Smith (great cover!)
Country Ghetto, Mofro
The House is Rockin', Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble

3 miles from home, 27:55, 9:18, 70 degrees

Training dilemma; Genius: Fill Her Up, Sting

In training for a marathon, one has to make the ultimate decision: Which training plan to follow. You got your Hal Higdon with novice 1 and 2, intermediate 1 and 2, and advanced 1 and 2,  (and really, if you're past intermediate, do you need anything else?); you got Randy Galloway with run a mile/walk a minute, pain-free marathon; and there's the Furman folks with their FIRST 3-days running a week success stories. What does one do?

I've decided on a hybrid: Primarily Hal Higdon's Intermediate I with some speed work involved. Runner's World has a great article this month on training. It is their annual Runner's World Challenge to prep for a marathon. The online article doesn't have the plan listed like it is in the paper version (I guess there is a reason to subscribe!). On that plan, it looks like I could shoot for a 4:00 marathon, but that seems unrealistic. It is confusing because for the "easy" runs, I should be clocking in at 10:04 a mile -- and I'm consistently running in the 9:20 range. But, I'm gonna train for the 4:30 as I think that is doable.

I've been blessed with heat my first two marathons -- both (Marine Corps on Halloween, and Atlanta ING in late March) with unseasonable temps in the 80s. In the Marine Corps, MC got sick in the middle and LC had to be rushed to the hospital. For the ING, the weekend before was my hottest training run -- at 57 degrees. At the START, it was 68; I knew I was in trouble. I'd vowed never to run a marathon again -- primarily to spare the other runners of my bad karma.

But, here I go again. You are warned, other runners!

Today was an easy 5-mile run, with a very good Genius mix. All are great for running.

Fill Her Up, Sting
When I Look At The World, U2
Candy Everybody Wants, 10,000 Maniac
#34, Dave Matthews Band
Swim, Maddona
She's On Fire, Train
Come Running, Van Morrison
Steve McQueen, Sheryl Crow
Galileo, Indigo Girls (live version)
Sullivan Street, Counting Crows
Mountains O' Things, Tracy Chapman

5 miles from home, 46:13, 9:14 pace, 76 degrees