Pollen exposure causes insanity...

Rather than being smart and running after dark tonight - you know, when the sun has gone down and the temperatures are a little easier on the system - I fell victim to the chemical in pollen that makes you do crazy stupid things, like run in wilting heat and blazing sun. If the universe was sadistic, it would have caused me to pass out on the sidewalk as punishment...and then it would have laughed. After all, I had the option to wait, right? Perhaps not, especially if my theory is proven that pollen actually causes you to do insane things...momentary insanity if you will.

Here's my internal dialogue prior to running this afternoon: "It's really not that bad. And if you run now you can go to yoga tonight (which I still plan on hitting, thank you). Run now, get it over with. You can just stay on the shady side of the streets, under the tree cover, and it won't be so bad." Wouldn't you know, I had a hard time finding the shade that those beautiful trees provide. I guess when the sun is at high noon, not even the trees are willing to protect you. This idea to run was getting worse by the 100 meters. I swear every other stupid person I passed who was also jogging looked ready to call for an ambulance. I'm fairly certain I even saw the Capitol dome sweating. So, what started out as an effort to try to get in 5 miles fell 1.5 miles short, because all I wanted was a cold shower. Oh yeah, did I also mention I failed to adequately hydrate this morning? I was so desperate, that this kiddie pool on East Capitol Street looked very inviting. Next time folks, I don't care if its trespassing, I'm diving in.

So, here's to lessons learned. While technically its going to get much much hotter this summer, and I'll eventually get used to it, you should always approach a drastic swing in weather with respect...or at least make sure the pollen count is really low. Happy trails!!!

Stats -
Miles: 3.5
Time: 30:31 (average sluggish pace of 8:43 per minute)
Location: Capitol Hill, Lincoln Park, Stanton Park
Feeling: While the muscles felt good, the brain really needs checked

Reasons to love Annapolis...

There are so many reasons why Annapolis is, to me, one of the absolute greatest places on the planet...and I get to live here. Today reminded me of just a few of the most important. First and foremost, Annapolis has amazing people, like my great running buddy Brie. She keeps me laughing and motivated over the long runs and can always be counted on to run head first into a challenge. Also, I love the bay - sailing, beach, outdoors, sparkling water, serenity, amazing views - those are all things I associate with the bay. Further, big town amenites but super small town feel - you escape into amazing pockets of solitude but still be close enough to catch an afternoon college football game at a BCS school (shoot me a message if you don't know what that is...we've got some educating to do and I don't want to embarass you publicly).

Today, I got all three of the aforementioned reasons to love Annapolis. The day started with a fantastic run through Greenbury Point and Naval Station Annapolis with Brie. It was a pretty easy run...okay, let me rephrase...it was a comfortable run, though we were cruising a bit. We did take the time to bask in some of the amazing views from the Naval Station, including across Mill Creek and the Severn to the Chesapeake Bay bridge and the sailboats docked at the Mill Creek marina on base. We also took a moment to look across the Severn into downtown Annapolis. In fact, it was here that even a 30+ year resident of Annapolis can still say "I really love this town." We finished up through the Naval Station proper where we passed a number of groups of midshipmen getting in their Saturday PT. We ended our run by checking out the new collection of Vineyard Vines clothing at the exchange...I've got my eye on that navy blue with white starfish wrap skirt.

The afternoon continued the streak of all things amazing about Annapolis, with the spring Blue-Gold football scrimmage at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. I'll tell you, we've got a decent quarterback coming up, but the defense still leaves a little to be desired. Hopefully come the fall season, the boys will have figured out how to stop the other team from scoring. Anyway, it was a great day all in all, including the peanut butter froyo at Menchie's and dinner at Mexican Cafe. Couldn't ask for anything more! Happy trails!!!

Stats -
Miles: 10.79
Time: 1:35:58 (average pace of 8:53 per mile)
Location: Greenbury Point at Naval Station Annapolis
Feeling: Loved it - great weather, great company, great feeling legs

Weak stomachs and offended sensibilities...

First off, if you can't stand reading about someone yakking, do not read on.

Okay, it's been a light week for me, running wise, unfortunately. Tuesday had to be an off day because I needed to finish and turn in my final assignment for school. Wednesday ended up being an off day because my great friends threw a surprise celebration for me. And Thursday, well this is where the yakking comes in. It seems my legislative correspondent at work brought a little bug with him, that spread to at least two other folks in the office, myself included. Yesterday I had every intention of running five or so miles...and then breakfast came back up. In the end, I had a spectular fever spike and spent most of the day in my bed sleeping.

Today I NEEDED to get in a few miles or risk falling woefully behind this month. I was determined, come hell, highwater or vomiting on the side of the road, to get in that five miles. Luckily everything seemed to cooperate. The weather was pleasant, I hit a nice moderate pace, and everything stayed where it was supposed to. I've still got a monster headache, and a slightly weak stomach, but I'm not going to complain.

Okay, I am going to complain, just a little. Here's where the offended sensibilities comes in. If you know me, you know I have a ton of respect for jigsaw puzzles. I love jigsaw puzzles and can spend hours putting them together without getting bored. When leaving out an unfinished puzzle, I take great pains to protect it from the cat. So, at mile 2.5 today you can imagine the horror of seeing puzzle pieces strewn across the sidewalk on North Carolina Avenue without a care in the world. Someone should be arrested. Hopefully the offender(s) will rectify their errors and carefully place the pieces back in the appropriate box lovingly. I'll check it out Monday. Happy trails!!!

Stats -
Miles: 5.1
Time: 44:10 (average pace of 8:39 per mile)
Location: Capitol Hill, Lincoln Park, US Capitol
Feeling: A little lightheaded but otherwise good

Back in the saddle...

Today the angels must have been singing praises upon the earth to bring such amazing weather to Washington, DC. It was a dazzling afternoon with the sun shining, a moderate temperature (for which I'm grateful after the UAE last week) and more flowering trees showing their glory to the masses (I speak specifically of those fantastic lilac trees up near Lincoln Park...I really wish I had a camera with me). As the sky begins to cloud over, I'm happy I got out over my lunch break to loosen my legs on solid pavement for the first time since leaving town. It was also a blessing because running gave me the opportunity to run into my great pal Rich, who is in town on R&R from Afghanistan...his last day before shipping back over. I've traveled a good deal of the world with Rich and was sad to have missed him during his brief time at home.

As I was running, I catalogued in my mind what's upcoming and what goals to set. So, on my 36th birthday (in two weeks) I have a metric marathon. This will be the first metric marathon I've run since the back injury in 2010. I've been running really solid and, with a few sub-2 hour half marathons under my belt, think I may be able to accomplish the metric in 2:30-2:45. It should be a ton of fun with Brie keeping me company and motivated. Then, in June, I've decided to bite the bullet and try my back at the marathon distance again. I'm not going to set a time goal for this one...its on one of my favorite trail courses in the region, which boasts some monster hills, logs to jump and a few other potential obtacles I prefer not to discuss. Again, I'll be doing it with Brie, so life should be good and a finish with no pain in the back will be more than enough to make me happy.

Here's to getting back to my routine and over the jet lag! Happy trails!!!

Stats-
Miles: 4.08
Time: 33:56 (average pace of 8:25 per mile)
Location: Capitol Hill, Lincoln Park, Stanton Park
Feeling: decent, heavy and tight in the left shin though

Losing the internet....

Last week I was doing a fairly admirable job of keeping my log up to date while out of the country...that is until I moved from Abu Dhabi to Dubai and couldn't get my laptop to connect to the hotel's wifi. So, I'm doing one big download of the remaining workouts completed last week. For sure this is nothing to write home about. The air temperature combined with humidity continued to keep things slow and rough. I'm looking forward to getting back into my grove on American soil this week, with great temps and low humidity. Happy trails!!!

Stats -
Miles: 8.18
Time: 1:16:40 (average pace of 9:22 per mile)
Location: Abu Dhabi, The Address Hotel, Fitness Center treadmills
Feeling: Blah, sluggish and hot

Places I wouldn't become a marathoner...

As I struggled through another tough, hot, slow jog on the treadmill at the hotel today, it occurred to me that there are a number of places in the world where I would be highly unlikely to attempt be a marathoner if I lived. First and foremost...anywhere in the middle east. So, it's only early April, and the heat/humidity are slowing me down royaly. While I was visiting an air base today the commander reminded us that the summer months bring temps in the 120s - 140s with 90% humidity. Are you kidding? I can barely stand up for two seconds in that type of weather let alone jog a marathon. I guess I'm glad I'm only subjected to these temps for a few weeks a year.

Anyway, it has been an interesting couple of days here in Abu Dhabi. Its unfortunate that I didn't get the opportunity to run outside much. Perhaps I'll find a better opportunity up in Dubai or I'll have to play a little catch up on miles next week. Happy trails!!!

Stats -
Miles: 3.28
Time: 30:00 (average pace of 9:08 per mile)
Location: Fitness Center, Intercontinental Abu Dhabi
Feeling: Like I'm pulling teeth. Can't wait for easier conditions

Metric to American....

I'm seriously having a tough time gauging my running, mid workout, using the metric system here in Abu Dhabi. I don't want to overdo it and push too far, given that I'm still pretty tired with jet lag and the gym here seems to be about a gazillion degrees, but I also don't want to slow down so far that I'm losing my usual pace. That said, while I"m running on the treadmill, I can't quite figure out exactly what speed I'm going to slow down or speed up. Bless it all, can't the world just work on the miles system? Okay, now that I've gotten my narrow-minded American rant out of the way, I truly am struggling with figuring it out. Realistically I know that 5k is 3.1 miles and so 10k is 6.2 miles, but moderating the speeds (I'm a typical 7 mile per hour runner) just isn't so easy. I think if I had to do it regularly I'd eventually figure it all out. Since I'm only here for a week, I'll just deal with slower runs.

Aside from the metric confusion, today was a pretty active day. I split my run between morning and evening because I didn't have much time this morning but also did not know what the evening would look like. Hence I settled for a shorter run in the a.m. to at least log something. The evening was just a bonus then. I also got in a 3ish mile (or potentially 5k) walk own the Corniche after strolling from the Madinat Zayed souk to the Central Market souk and then out to the Corniche and circling back to the hotel. I won't count the miles, but deep down I know I did them. It was a failry cool day in the afternoon, so pleasant for walking. Yesterday I indicated I might try to run on the Corniche...let me rephrase...heck no. My colleague and I had the darndest time getting from the Corniche to the Intercontinental so I couldn't imagine worrying about getting from the Intercontinental to the Corniche when I was on a time crunch. Oh weel, better luck next time. Happy trails!!!

Stats -
Miles: 5.64
Time: 50:29 (average pace of 8:57 per mile)
Location: Fitness Center at the Intercontinental Abu Dhabi
Feeling: Much better than yesterday, but still hot