Before I get to the recap, I have to share this adorable picture of Django my husband took. :-)
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| Django! |
Morning: Easy run | 3.20 miles in 34:43. Wasn't super hot or humid!
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| Lululemon Soot Cool Racerback & Pretty Purple Bangbuster; Athleta Raspberry Relay Skort |
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| Lorna Jane Rhianan Bra & Lululemon Inkwell In the Flow Crops |
Morning: Bike ride on the trail and bridges | 6.98 miles in 35:54 | Combined seated hill climbs, standing hill climbs, and interval sprints. Another morning that wasn't very hot and humid.
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| Race Tee & Athleta Granite Grey Be Free Knicker |
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| Lululemon White 105 Singlet & Creamsicle Pop Energy Bra; Yogasmoga Klarit Red Run Jump 'n Play Crop |
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| Oiselle Tee & Athleta Granite Grey Be Free Knicker |
Wednesday
Morning: 3.26 miles in 36:36
Even though there was not a spot of rain on the radar map before I left to run, I got caught in a crazy thunderstorm down by Heinz Field. The rain was coming down so hard that I had to shut my eyes and was running blindly. I ducked under the Fred Rogers Memorial to wait for it to lighten. A few minutes later, I realized I was not alone and that someone was sleeping in a sleeping bag near me under a large bush. The rain had not let up at all, and it was thundering like crazy with major lightning strikes. I wasn't sure how receptive the person would be to my sharing his space, so as soon as it seemed the rain let up, I ran fast to try to get to the next underpass. Lightning was still striking, and I knew I shouldn't be out in it, but I didn't know what else to do. It was scary! The underpass wasn't providing much protection, so I ran out again to try to get under the Clemente bridge where Venture Outdoors is set up. By the time I got there, the rain had let up substantially, so I just continued running home. The rain completely stopped as soon as I was done--figures! This morning was supposed to be intervals, and they were truly intervals since I was running fast to get out of the rain.
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| Soaked from the storm: Lulelemon Zing Pink Light Energy Bra & Petal Bangbuster; Oiselle Hail Mary Tank; Athleta Fair Isle Skort |
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| Lululemon White 105 Singlet & Forest In the Flow Crops; Lorna Jane Ocean Comfort Sport Bra |
My husband and I went on a 45-minute bike ride after work. It had cooled down a lot since the day before and was really nice for a bike ride.
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| Lululemon Clear Mint Cool Racerback & Aquamarine Bangbuster; Lorna Jane Ocean Comfort Sport Bra; Yogasmoga Klarit Red Run Jump 'n Play Crop |
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| By the old jail at the end of the trail |
Easy run: 3.18 miles in 34:51
The morning was so nice and cool at just 55 degrees! I even wore a longsleeve top! I was pretty happy and really enjoyed the run.
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| Athleta Aloha Yellow Chi Top & Midnight Blue Relay Skort; Lululemon Aquamarine Bangbuster |
Tempo run: 4 miles in 38:25
The morning wasn't too hot and humid. I had planned to run 2 miles at tempo pace. For the first time in the five years since I've had my Garmin, I set it to "auto lap" to see my paces each mile. Usually I just reset it after the warm-up, which I realize now doesn't make sense. Something got messed up because my Garmin beeped that it was 1 mile before it actually was (I checked today, and it beeped at .22 shy of being 1 mile) and said my pace--for my warm-up mile--was 8:26. Obviously wrong! So I just went by feel instead of checking what the Garmin said and think I got two really good miles in at slightly faster than tempo pace (9:09 and 9:53 if I can assume the Garmin was accurate after that first mile). I felt great on this run and got a feel for the "comfortably hard" tempo pace.
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| Oiselle Flyte Tank; Athleta Asphalt Relay Skort; Lululemon Mesh Bangbuster |
In the afternoon, we took Django to the dog pool at Lucky Paws Pet Resort in Cranberry. When we went in and he saw that not only were there two other greyhounds there, but that they were females, he was like, "HOOBOY!" He immediately barked at them, play-bowed, tore around the dog park at top speed, and repeated that several times. The female greyhounds had already got their running in and plus were more mellow, so they didn't take Django up on the offer to play. But he wouldn't let up. The whole time they were there he barked at them, play-bowed, and tried everything in his power to get them to run with him, but they were just not interested. Django gets really excited around female greyhounds and will try to hump them, and this time he kept trying to hump one of the females nearly the entire time. When I Googled about why dogs hump, I learned it's one type of behavior puppies do when playing and if not corrected, adults do it when they play. Clearly Django was trying to play, but I had to follow him around to stop him from trying to hump her. Only after he scratched his paw running on the concrete part did he let up. We did find out that lying in the water is a greyhound thing after we saw one of the other greyhounds do it. We've never seen any dog other than Django do it before. Here's a pic of the female greyhound lying in the foreground and Django lying behind her.
Sunday
Long run: 5:33 miles in 01:04
Hello again, humidity! It was a slow run day, so I took it easy and went very slow and drank lots of water. I dressed in a skort that has mesh shorts plus a lightweight/mesh-like tank. But I think the biggest thing that helped, at least on the first part of the run, was that I wet my hair and headband with cold water before I left plus put ice cubes under my headband. I also practiced taking walk breaks and took 30-seconds walk breaks at miles 2, 3, and 4. I was soaked when I finished but felt like it was a pretty good run and didn't have any problems.
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| Lululemon Aquamarine Runner Up Tank & Bangbuster; Athleta Aloha Yellow Fly By Skort |
This upcoming week will be my first week of half marathon training, which I'm super excited to start! Also, my husband and I will both be running the Liberty Mile race Friday night. I have zero expectations for my performance. I've never even tried to run a fast mile to practice. I'm just doing it for fun and to see what my track star husband can do 20 years later.
Happy running this week!