Week 10 was a solid week, I left some miles out there but overall I was content with the week.  Coming up is another tough week with 3 longer runs, after that I get a bit of a reprieve.

Monday:  4.1 Miles (Pace 8:11)

Today was a good day to start off the week and inspired me to run my mid-week article about the running community.  I ran later in the evening, the humidity returned, but was bearable.  I ran around my neighborhood.  For the last few runs around my neighborhood I always see a group of young boys playing in the same area.  Everytime they see me one yells, ‘Hi’ and I yell ‘Hi’ back, then he says ‘My name is Justin’ and I’ll respond ‘Hey, Justin how’s it going?’.  Our brief conversation always goes that way, today he yelled back you always say the same thing, I laughed to myself, by then I was to far away to say anything back.  It is reassuring to see nice young people in the area.  (Gee, I sound old. haha)

Tuesday:  10.2 Miles (Pace 8:56)

My friend Kristen was suppose to run with me today she wanted to run longer than we normally do at Tin Roof, which is where I met up with her and some other runners.  I wasn’t sure if I was feeling up to 10 today and I told her I would be running at a slower pace.  She took off with the other runners who were running around a 7:45 pace, about a mile in I broke off and ran by myself the rest of the way.  They only ran about 5 miles total.  I ran around the stadiums, Fed Hill, Locust Point, Ft. McHenry, and back along the promenade in the harbor.  I picked up my pace after mile 7, to change it up a bit and make sure I could do after running slower.  When I got back to Tin Roof everyone had already left, so I went to 7-11 got a gatorade and drove home.

Wednesday:  5 Miles (Pace 8:04)

The MAC was suppose to start a new run group tonight to take the place of City Sports Run Club.  When I arrived only one other person was there and I asked the staff if there was going to be a run tonight.  He said no, it would start next week.  Since I was down in Harbor East I decided to run the loop I would have ran with City Sports.  I ran into Kristen about a 1/4 mile in and we ran together.  It was a negative split run and I was pretty happy with it!

Thursday:  2.1 Miles (Pace 8:11)

A tempo run was scheduled for today, but I sort of squirmed out of it.  I wasn’t sure what I was going to do for my long run this weekend and I rationalized that I sort of did a tempo run yesterday and talked myself into an easy run around my neighborhood.  I was really happy with my splits, I eased into the run with a 8:43 mile and turned it up the second mile and ran 7:43.

Friday:  1 Mile (Pace 8:21)

Even though I took it easy yesterday, today was a scheduled rest day.  I ran in the early evening and took an easy run around the neighborhood.

Saturday:  9 Miles hiking; 1 Mile (Pace 8:11)

Today, plans changed about 10 times.  I was supposed to go hiking with my friends, then I arrive and they told me we were running.  I didn’t have running shoes, but said I would run in my Vibrams.  Then we get started on the trail and we decided to hike, but I left my water and gear so I didn’t have anything to drink. We hiked 9 miles in about 4 hours.  The terrain wasn’t that difficult but my legs were tired after being on my feet for that long in Vibrams.  We stopped and ate afterwards, the food was good, but it did not agree with me.  I stuck close to home for a while.  Once I starting feeling better I decided I should get in a mile.  Today I was suppose to run 10 miles, but the time I was on my feet and how I was feeling I figured a mile run would make 10 and that is I rationalized it.  Plus I wouldn’t have been on my feet for so long if I had just ran 10 miles like I wanted to, anyway…

Sunday: 17 Miles (Pace 9:35)

It was a bit warmer today than it had been the rest of the week, so I decided to hydrate throughout the day and run in the evening.  This run was the first one in a long time that I decided to take a fuel belt with me.  I had 20 oz. of water and some bloks to help keep the sugars in my body up.  I was feeling great during the run, I decided to start at the Korean War Memorial and do a tour of the city.  I ran the docks on Clinton St. then up to Patterson Park where I did some laps and hills, then along the promenade to Harbor East, into Locust Point, through Fells and down into Little Italy.  I felt strong throughout the run, I was drinking a little bit of water every 4-5 miles and taking a blok at the same time.  I would chew on them for about a mile instead of eating it quickly.  Everything was going great until just before Mile 16, I’m not sure what happened.  I looked down at my Garmin and things started to go black, I almost fell over.  I thought I had been taking enough fluids and eating, but I started to think I was dehydrated.  I thought there was a convenience store close by so I made a loop and doubled back, but no such luck.  I knew one was about a mile away in Power Plant so I made my way over there.  I wasn’t feeling good at all.  I bought some water and gatorade and mixed them together.  I was starting to feel better.  I gave my left over water and gatorade to a homeless guy outside the store.  I chatted with another one for a little while about exercise, he told me I should do some pull-ups and I’ll get ripped really quick!  I thanked him for the advice, popped another blok and started running again.  This time I think the blok actually made me feel worse.  I was running on President St, trying to figure the quickest way back, when someone started yelling my name.  It was my best friend and his wife driving by, I yelled back to turn around but they didn’t hear me.  I stopped and called his cell phone it went straight to voicemail, thankfully his wife answered.  They were getting dessert at Vaccaro’s.  I asked if they could give me a ride back, they said they could, so I ran over to where they were at.  As I got to the bakery, my Garmin beeped for 17 miles.  I got really stiff on the quick ride back to my truck.  I know I left 3 miles out there, but they weren’t going to be quality miles and I wasn’t feeling well.  When I got home I stretched out and sat on the floor for a little while.  I wasn’t really feeling well, but that is to be expected after a long run.  I hopped on the scale, I always weigh myself before and after a run, I had lost 7 lbs. on this run.  That could explain why I wasn’t feeling well, most of that was water weight.  I drank some more fluids, but didn’t feel like eating.  After an hour I started feeling better and had a light snack, before finishing typing this and going to sleep!  Overall, I think this was a good week of training but I’m looking forward to the reduced mileage next week!  Oh and next week is a race week, I decided to run the Charles St. 12 for the first time!

Total Miles:  49.4

-Veggie Fueled Runner