Fitness Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 38:03
Pace: 9:30 min/mi

Comments: For every step forward, take two steps back. This run was everything the last one was not. Slow, arduous, unpleasant and unsatisfying. I was apprehensive at the start and it pretty much delivered on every negative point I was concerned about.

The one upshot is that I got the full four miles in without just saying "fuck it" and walking the rest of the way. I'm not completely sure how I managed to accomplish that so I'll take that as the single encouraging sign from this pathetic effort.

Conditions:
Hour: 6:15 a.m.
Surface: concrete
Weather: clear
Temperature: 80 degrees
Humidity: 75 percent
Wind: calm
Location: Lewisville, Texas
Shoes: Brooks Adrenaline GT 14

Injury update: My left hip was still a little sore this morning and my right lower calf was a bit during the run as well.

Fitness Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 37:08
Pace: 9:16 min/mi

Comments: I was kind of dreading this run when I got up this morning. I really didn't feel I was ready for it and didn't want to slog through another one. I started very very slow and let myself warm up and then was happily surprised to feel good.

It was slightly cooler this morning, which helped and maybe the fact my route turned out to be the course for a race did as well. I didn't set any speed records but felt strong the whole way and didn't feel wiped out when it was over. A very good run.

Conditions:
Hour: 6:25 a.m.
Surface: concrete
Weather: clear
Temperature: 79 degrees
Humidity: 74 percent
Wind: calm
Location: Lewisville, Texas
Shoes: Brooks Adrenaline GT 14

Injury update: My left hip was sore all yesterday and still a bit this morning. It didn't give me any problems during the run, though. I think I might need to get a new pair of shoes.

Fitness Run

Distance: 3 miles
Time: 27:35
Pace: 9:11 min/mi

Comments: This one was a bit more unpleasant than I expected. I found myself slogging it out the whole way and I really didn't have a reason for it. I slept well, ate decently and should have been on top of it.

The upside is that I got the whole run in. Three miles were what I had originally intended to do (to even out the shortened run on Monday). I was really concerned early on that the temptation to cut it short might be too much.

Conditions:
Hour: 6:15 a.m.
Surface: concrete
Weather: clear
Temperature: 80 degrees
Humidity: 70 percent
Wind: calm
Location: Lewisville, Texas
Shoes: Brooks Adrenaline GT 14

Injury update: nada

Fitness Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 37:06
Pace: 9:16 min/mi

Comments: Surprised myself and got out the door despite feeling less than enthusiastic about this run. It turned out to be the right move. While this was no holiday in Aspen, it was a solid workmanlike effort and more satisfying than pretty much any of my other recent efforts.

I started off a little slow and then went a little fast on mile two. The second half of the run was very steady though. There wasn't a real temptation to cut the effort short either, which is a nice change as well.

Conditions:
Hour: 6:20 a.m.
Surface: concrete
Weather: partly cloudy
Temperature: 81 degrees
Humidity: 73 percent
Wind: calm
Location: Lewisville, Texas
Shoes: Brooks Adrenaline GT 14

Injury update: nada

Fitness Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 36:28
Pace: 9:06 min/mi

Comments: I've been categorizing my runs under "fitness" in the Garmin interface for awhile now since it's clear I'm not training to do a race any time soon. My goal at the moment is getting better regularity with my runs, not competition. So my target is to try and get 18 miles a week with at least four runs.

This one went well enough. I got the four miles and, since the sun wasn't blazing down on me, it wasn't nearly as brutal as yesterday. The relatively quick pace was a nice surprise but, as I just mentioned, not the point of the effort.

Conditions:
Hour: 6:20 a.m.
Surface: concrete
Weather: clear
Temperature: 80 degrees
Humidity: 76 percent
Wind:
Location: Lewisville, Texas
Shoes: Brooks Adrenaline GT 14

Injury update: nada

Easy Run

Distance: 3 miles
Time: 27:58
Pace: 9:18 min/mi

Comments: Every single thing about this run was not pleasant. It was overhot, overhumid and completely miserable. I started sweating before the end of the first quarter mile and was struggling by the end of the first mile and a half.

That became my halfway mark as I went to walking pace with two miles and about two thirds done. I got to the part were there was some shade and took care of the final third of a mile and walked the rest. Honestly, I was surprised I got three miles in.

Conditions:
Hour: 7:40 a.m.
Surface: concrete
Weather: clear
Temperature: 85 degrees
Humidity: 70 percent
Wind: calm
Location: Lewisville, Texas
Shoes: Brooks Adrenaline GT 14

Injury update: Had aches in my left hip and left knee at moments of the run.

Easy Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 37:38
Pace: 9:24 min/mi

Comments: That was a bit more difficult than I expected. I got up feeling pretty good and didn't have to battle myself to get out the door. I stepped outside and felt like I had walked into a sauna. Not good.

I got started OK and the first mile went well and the second quite well then it got difficult. I was very glad for choosing the out-and-back course because if I was on the loop, four miles probably wouldn't have happened.

Mile three was a slog and mile four straight up suuuuuuuucked. But I finished them both and I'm feeling pretty good about that.

Conditions:
Hour: 6 a.m.
Surface: concrete
Weather: clear
Temperature: 78 degrees
Humidity: 78 percent
Wind: calm
Location: Lewisville, Texas
Shoes: Brooks Adrenaline GT 14

Injury update: nada

Easy Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 36:36
Pace: 9:09 min/mi

Comments: Slightly less humid this morning and that makes all the difference in the world. Things were actually quite pleasant starting out and didn't get torpid until after the halfway mark.

Although this effort left a lot to be desired, I felt better in this run than I really had any right to. I haven't been out except for the short run early in the week and my eating schedule has been uneven. But despite my reservations starting out, I fell into a very reasonable groove and didn't have to struggle to finish the full four miles.

Conditions:
Hour: 7 a.m.
Surface: concrete
Weather: clear
Temperature: 78 degrees
Humidity: 77 percent
Wind: calm
Location: Lewisville, Texas
Shoes: Brooks Adrenaline GT 14

Injury update: nada

Easy Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 37:09
Pace: 9:17 min/mi

Comments: Overslept yesterday and missed the run. Then got shamed by my neighbor going out for her run under the sweltering sun at noon. So I got up early (a bit too early, probably) and out the door for four miles before the morning rains arrived.

As expected, it was hot and humid and uncomfortable. I never really got into a groove at all. But I pushed through the impulse to cut it short and got the full four miles.

Conditions:
Hour: 5 a.m.
Surface: concrete
Weather: cloudy
Temperature: 80 degrees
Humidity: 80 percent
Wind: 10 mph
Location: Lewisville, Texas
Shoes: Brooks Adrenaline GT 14

Injury update: nada

Recovery Run

Distance: 2.5 miles
Time: 22:26
Pace: 8:52 min/mi

Comments: Even though its been a few days and I ate and slept well yesterday, I just wasn't into this run. In terms of the conditions, it was a bit warmer and more humid than I've been accustomed to but not brutally unpleasant. Still, I just wasn't in the groove at all.

I decided on the Railroad Park route partially because I was curious how much the waters have gone down since the last time I went that way. Quite a bit, actually. At two-and-a-half miles I decided not to push it and walked it back, once again, helping a few stranded turtles caught in the road constructions.

Conditions:
Hour: 6:30 a.m.
Surface: concrete
Weather: partly cloudy
Temperature: 78 degrees
Humidity: 83 percent
Wind: 7 mph
Location: Lewisville, Texas
Shoes: Brooks Adrenaline GT 14

Injury update: My left hip has been slightly sore for the last day or so.