August 6

AM: 14 miles easy/moderate

PM: weights, core

Ran through the Chevy Chase neighborhoods and down Western Ave before hitting the trails in Rock Creek Park to finish off a mid-week medium-long run. I started off a little slow but opened up more as the run went on.

The gym session after work was quick 30-minute circut but effective nonetheless. I didn't take much rest between sets.

I definitely need more sleep than I've had this week. There have been stretches at work where I'd willingly sell a kidney on the black market if that meant I could exchange it for an afternoon nap.

What I do for a living.

Sometimes, I have trouble explaining what my company, CURRENT, does and what I do there. This piece linked above from the Wall Street Journal gives a fairly balanced take on the "Smart Grid" concept and how it relates to the big picture for the energy issues in the United States. The writer mentions one of our deployments in Boulder.

August 5

AM: 7 miles easy

PM: 3 x 2k/1k with 400 jog recovery, 12 miles

The morning run was just a quick shake-out on the Capital Crescent.

In the evening, I met Bain, P. Murphy and Klim at B-CC for the track workout. Though the pace was somewhat inconsistent on the first two, we settled into a groove by the second set. Still, I started "feeling it" by the second 1k repeat, which was a slightly sooner than I wanted. We're getting there, but the temperature was still well into the 80s during the workout; the weather by no means cooled off yet. While I felt decent albeit not yet spectacular by any means, I can feel (or hope...) that I'm beginning to come around at the right time. I felt uncomfortable by the end of the workout but certainly didn't go into the well.

Splits: 6:26 (after slow first lap), 3:05 (fast first lap), 6:26, 3:05, 6:21, 3:03

August 4

AM: 5 miles easy

PM: 11 miles easy, core

I felt better than I should have after less than six hours of sleep following last night's concert, which was completely worth the extra cup of coffee I had today. To keep things a little easier, I flipped my usual schedule, running short and easy in the morning up Connecticut Ave. I ran the the back stables loop in the evening, returning home for grilled salmon and polenta.

I'm starting to notice that dark is coming sooner; the sun was almost down when I finished. Summer's on the way out already...

August 3 (88 miles/week)

AM: 20 miles easy/moderate

Valerie and I met a group of GRC folks in Greenbelt Park for a three-plus-lapper, refreshingly all done in the shady confines of the park. We stopped at each loop, though since we were running fairly easy and relaxed, I just took water. The first two laps were steady 6:40-6:50, though we pick up the pace a little on the last lap (reversing to run clockwise) to hit 6:10-6:20.

By the end of the run, we did have one minor casualty after Robert "F*** this...I'm running 20" Jarrin took a fall, but no cougars were involved, fortunately. After three laps, Jarrin, Peter and I tagged on a little bit to make it 20 even in 2:12:30. This is the first long run in weeks where I haven't felt totally trashed afterward, most likely on account of the cooler weather and the recovery week.

I pitched this run as a "cougar hunt" after someone supposedly spotted a cougar on the UMD campus. In the end, the elusive predator only turned out to be a large housecat.

That night, Valerie and I went with some college friends to see Coldplay at the Verizon Center, who completely blew us away (probably the second- or third-best concert I've ever been to). For being a sometimes-melancholy band, they have a ton of energy in concert. Chris Martin was also surprisingly funny and off-the-cuff.

August 2

AM: 11 miles easy

I took the Rock Creek Park trails to Beach Drive, running all the way back up until I looped back around Meadowbrook.

A mediocre round of golf at Rock Creek Golf Course immediately followed.

August 1

AM: 2 miles easy

PM: 2-mile track race, 9:56, 4th place; 1 mile track race 75 minutes later, 4:44, 2nd place; 9 miles

I ran the MCRRC "Go for the Glory" track meet this evening, really looking for a good workout more than anything else. It's no secret that I'm not Mr. Speedy when it comes to races below 5k, but I think it's important to work on my preceived weaknesses. That being said, I've run faster

In both races, I more or less tried to hang on and watched the guy in front slowly pull away. Especially in ~85-90 degree heat, I just don't have the wheels right now. Once the winter comes around again, I'll probably get some more work and races on the indoor track to help develop some legspeed.

In the mean time, I'm glad to be done with the shorter stuff for the summer. I've taken my lumps with the fast stuff over the last month or more, so I'm definitely ready to start going longer and stronger.

July 31

AM: 7 miles easy


I kept my run fairly easy and short on the Capital Crescent today with the track race/workout tomorrow. Plus, I'm in the middle of a recovery week, so I don't need the mileage.


So instead of doing a second workout after work, I just did some core work and grilled a couple of beautifully marbled Delmonico steaks (*drooling on keyboard*).

The X Games started tonight. Watching passively, ESPN replayed this video approximately 644 times from 34 different angles. I completely forgot this happened; Jake looked very, very dead:



Watching this makes me feel like a coward. Any discomfort felt during a race is so trivial compared to landing after falling 4.5 stories.