7/25-7/31

Sunday: 18 miles (13 of which were covered during Riley's Rumble Half Marathon).
Set out with several GRCer's to run the Riley's Rumble Half Marathon at 7am on sunday morning. The temperatures were still predicted to be terribly hot and humid as were the days prior (102, 110, and today was said to be 105). It was already in the high 80's at 7am and the temperature did nothing but continue to rise as the minutes went by. Karl, Pat Huge and myself decided to run together for the run. Due to the heat, the race officials decided to make it a non-timed event... It made no difference for us... we were simply using this low-key event as a workout (glorified long-run). We started out slower than obviously a race or workout but I still felt like junk in the first 2 miles... combo of the heat and the fact that I never start a run at 5:50-6:00 pace from the get-go without a warm up did not feel great. I have found that I can run really well off of a gradual onset to a faster pace... My legs adjust well and I can continue to hammer the pace down after an easier lead up in the opening miles. After 2 miles I was settled and good to go... I felt really good for the run. We had a lot of fun out there too for as hot as the temps were... The course was fantastic as far as support (the hills were a great workout). I kept thinking the entire time... "imagine having to race this course hard" what a bear that would be! I am excited for 7 weeks from now to run on the pancake flat philly course. After our 1:20.19 13.1 portion of our "long run", we got some juice, water melon and then headed back out on course for an additional 5 miles to make it an even 18 miles for the day. After the hot run, we headed over to Koonce's house for a post-race party... lets just say that a slip n' slide, pool and cold ones before 10:30am never has a happy ending. Later in the afternoon a terible storm came through... Tornado? not really sure if I buy it but definitely a terrible storm nontheless.
Monday: 12 miles. Hit the spot with KD in the evening for a somewhat of an adventure run... we ran down to the Tilden Trail and decided to take it to Tuckerman road. We took tuckerman about a mile down and then got on the Cabin John Trail (aka "our office") We took it out just short of Seven locks road and turned it back around... A fantastic run with Karl.
Tuesday: 10 miles. Tilden 8 (extended) plus Tilden Trails. I felt a bit fatigued in the beginning of the run due to the 12 hour work day and the drama that took place today at camp that wore me down. However hafter 3 miles I got in the groove and it ended up being a nice recovery run. I feel very comfortable running consistent double digit runs. I just have to keep the brakes on a bit and not listen to my urges of continuing to rise the miles higher. I will get 85 this week... I will get 90 next week and that will be the highest I will reach in my remaining 7 weeks.
Wednesday: WORKOUT WEDNESDAY!!! ....developing