Still having some hip pain.

I dreaded my run all day. I limped around at work for hours and it really never got better. Just pain all around the hip and down my femur. I think it is just inflammation, but it really is causing me some problems. But, I will say it felt its best on my daily 4 mile run.

4 early miles before Wisconsin

Although I didn't look forward to it, I managed to get up at 4:15 this morning to get my run in before heading to the airport at 6:00 a.m. I'm looking forward to my marathon tomorrow, but I know I am really dehydrated. Today was a little painful for that reason.

Dehydration

Last night I just didn't really appreciate how humid it really was. 26.2 miles and only 3 water bottles did not combat the dehydration. So today sucked. And tonight's run sucked even more. Got my 4 miles in, and worked up quite a thirst in the process.

4 Treadmill miles

This morning I hopped on the treadmill for an early run. 4 miles. No real problems.

But it got me thinking. Treadmill running isn't so bad. I've done marathons on a treadmill but nothing more. How far could I go? Maybe next year I might just try and see. It would be incredibly monotonous, but it could be quite a challenge. Could I do 40 miles? 50 miles? 100k? 100 miles? Could I do a 24 hour treadmill run? I think I will start this fall training and see what I can do.

37 down, 15 to go!

I desperately wanted to sleep in this morning. But I didn't. And I didn't for good reason. Laura needed a running partner. She had one last 40 mile run to get in before the Heartland 100. Me, because of my 100 miler a couple of weeks ago, and my "marathon-a-week" steak through Heartland, I didn't need any extra miles. And frankly, I was fine getting in those needed miles during daylight hours. But 2 a.m. called, and Laura wanted to run.

I was prepared to meet Laura at 2:00 a.m. But the storms were brewing. I secretly hoped that meant a cancelation. I woke up about 1:15, and no messages of cancelation. The rain was coming down very heavily (yesterday, the west side of town received 10 inches of rain; we received 6 on my side of town). I checked the radar, and no real break in sight. That is when I heard a knock on the door. It was 1:30 and Laura was here, 30 minutes early. I had expected that she was going to run 10 miles or so on her treadmill before we ran at 2:00 a.m., but instead she just came over early and ran from my house. But the rain was coming down so hard she needed shelter.

And for good reason. My street tends to flood. This night was no exception. We had likely 3+ feet of water in my street. It was impassable. And the rain was still coming down.

We hung out inside for 30 more minutes, and when the radar indicated that the weather might break, we headed out. Into a monsoon. We managed to get across the street and down the block (in people's front yards). We even saw two (drunk) guys rafting down my street!

We soon turned a corner (literally and figuratively with the weather) and the rain and flooding subsided. It continued to rain for the next hour or so, and then it tapered off to a mist. It continued that way for the rest of the run.

Laura and I made it through 20 miles without incident. But after 22 or so, we had to drive across town to meet the team to finish our run. We quickly headed over and finished our run.

I had only planned on 26.2, but I was feeling good. Our team was running 8 miles, which consisted of two 4 mile loops. After one loop, I decided to just keep going. I was fortunate enough to get with the fast group, so the entire 8 miles took less than 1:15.

Not a bad run. Very wet. Feet had some problems because of the moisture and warmth. But all in all, a very good run.

37 marathons down, 15 to go!

36 down, 16 to go!

I'll start at the end. My "marathon" today went just fine. I feel good and don't feel like I ever really struggled out there today. But it did not go as planned.

The plan: Get up around 2:30. Meet my training partner Laura at 3:15 for 10 miles or so before the 6:00 a.m. Team-in-Training Run. Join the team for 16 miles and call it a day.

The variable: Rain.

The outcome; Thunder and lightening canceled Laura and I's 3:30 run, so 6 a.m. would be the new start time. Frustrating thing was, I had been up for 30 minutes before we decided to cancel. Back to bed I went (couldn't really sleep, but got a few winks in in the next hour or so). Up again at 5:15 for the 6 a.m. TNT run. But its pouring down rain. I head to the start line, and at about 6:15 we decided to give it a go. So while I should have had 12 or so miles in by now, I was just starting the day.

The run started slow because of the rain. No one was really mentally in to it, and it was a little chilly staring out. But we all stuck it out. I was really proud of my team members. 16 miles in 55 degree rain. Not a bad day for them.

Once we dropped off the team, Laura and I kept it up for another 10 miles. Never really dried out, although it did cut down to a drizzle by the time we finished.

Very slow day. 5:35 total, which includes our incredibly long water stops (large team + one cooler = long delays). But I was thrilled to see that my average heart rate on the day was 112. Not bad. Even at mile 26, my average heart rate for the mile was 119 at a 10:30 mile. Pretty thrilled with that.

36 down, 16 to go!

After work 4 miler

Feeling better tonight. Legs are feeling better and better, and so is the body in general. Part of my problem this week is that I am tired, so I sleep more. But the more I sleep, the more tired I get. Sometimes I just have to break the need to sleep and get up after about 5 or 6 hours. I think that is what serves me best.

Jennifer joined me 4 miles after work (I really intended to get up and run this morning, but the rain was a nice excuse). Nice and easy.