Monthly Archives: July 2009

Quickie

Start time: 7/9/09, 8:00am
Location: North Arlington
Distance: 3 miles
Average pace: 8:12min/mile
Total Miles For July: 22 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 401 miles

Just a small run; I was feeling sick on Wednesday and skipped spinning, so I needed some exercise but needed to take it easy at the same time. I think the GPS may have glitched in terms of keeping time, though. Hmmm. Oh well.

Brick?

Start time: 7/6/09, 8:36pm
Location: South Arlington
Distance: 4 miles
Average pace: 9:19min/mile
Total Miles For July: 19 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 398 miles

Ok, I know that a “brick” in the triathlon world is doing either a swim/bike or a bike/run workout. So really, my swim/run workout wasn’t a brick. But it was still switching from one to the next, which was important in my mind. I had my second lap swimming class this evening, which went pretty well. (Especially at the end where we had three sprints and… yay… I actually came in first in all three. By just a second with each, but still, it felt nice.) Afterwards, I pulled on my shoes and a shirt, and went out for a 4-mile run. As soon as I headed out I did realize my one mistake—Wakefield High School (where I’m swimming) appears to be at the top of a hill. So what I had to run down early on, had to then be run back up during mile 3. Uggghhh. One really steep hill. And then I decided to pick up a fourth mile and it was all hills too. I definitely ran out of gas there, but don’t get me wrong, that was a good thing. Nice to know limits.

(8:53, 9:03, 9:21, 10:02)

4th of July = Boom

Start time: 7/4/09, 7:00am
Location: North Arlington, Mount Vernon Trail
Distance: 10 miles
Average pace: 9:48min/mile
Total Miles For July: 15 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 394 miles

With the Independence Day celebrations downtown resulting in lots of closed roads and bridges, we decided it was easier to just run in Arlington this Saturday. Just a 10 miler, which turned out to be a good thing for me. We started out with six, but Stephanie and Ben turned around after three miles, and Bill a mile later. Unfortunately for me, as we were heading back, once we cleared the Mount Vernon Trail, Jim and Michael were feeling a little peppy and I most definitely was not. They zoomed up the Custis Trail, while I kept looking at this hills and thinking, “I am gonna die here.” Just feeling out of gas, I ended up taking a shortcut back to the start. Then, feeling bad, retraced the trail so I ended up catching the guys on their way back, only a quarter mile behind them. I ran an extra quarter mile, and it worked out well in the end. But that ninth mile… oof! I’m blaming this one on hills and improper hydration.

(10:05, 9:53, 9:57, 10:24, 9:21, 9:09, 9:10, 9:14, 11:00, 9:38)

Heartbeat

Start time: 7/2/09, 7:00am
Location: North Arlington
Distance: 5 miles
Average pace: 8:40min/mile
Total Miles For July: 5 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 384 miles

I ended up skipping Tuesday’s run—I was feeling really bleah and just not good all around. Sometimes you need to know when it’s better not to do it. (I wish I’d slept in instead, though.) This morning fortunately went much better. I ran a new slightly larger 5-mile loop, which went pretty well. I also thought for the first time in ages to strap on the heartrate monitor that goes with the GPS. I don’t have the average here, though, oops. But, all in all, a good run.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2961242