IS IT A WALL OR JUST A HURDLE

Today, after having returned from vacation last Friday night and spending yesterday in household recovery mode, I ventured back out on the running part of my life. What a pleasure to get out in our comfortable weather. I picked a new set of roads to run this morning so there were new sights to see. I maintained a run the whole time with the exception of waiting on traffic at a couple cross roads. I made six miles. Less heat and humidity helped me cut seven minutes off the time it took to run the six miles in Florida last week. Here's where the "wall or hurdle" dilemma comes in. Upon finishing and during the last few hours I am physically drained and lacking recovery in my legs. Is this all I'm going to be able to do? I don't think I could have gone much further today. Hopefully this is just a hurdle that somehow I will break through soon. I am becoming increasingly aware that September 27 is just over the horizon.
Oh, by the way, I'm a six mile man with a two mile bladder. Thankfully in Ohio we have lots of cornfields.
And another tidbit of info. My daughter informs me that mile 10 and 11 of the Fort 4 Fitness Run are a gradual up hill run. Does that mean 12 and 13 are down hill? Hope so.
Time for a shower--the flies are after me.

RATIONALIZING MY DAY AT BILTMORE

It was a workout. Believe me it was. Well, I didn't run anywhere but I sure walked a lot. Up and down hills. Up and down stairs. There are a lot of those in a five story house with 250 rooms. And acres of beautiful gardens. And a farm and a winery.
As we wend our way back to Ohio we do plenty of sitting so today's visit to Biltmore was an enjoyable break. We really enjoyed our visit--it is an awesome place.
We'll be home soon and I want to repeat my 6 mile as soon as I can.

ATTAINED NEW GOAL--TOOK IT'S TOLL

At a quarter to seven this morning I got back in the saddle, so to speak, and began my run. After so many days off it felt good to be back on the trail at the nearby park. It did cool down last evening and Cyndy and I took a mile or so walk. That was leisure after the miles upon miles we walked at Disney World. This morning was like most have been here. Humid and already heating up. I was soon joined by a number of other runners and walkers. I was the first one there and the last one to leave. Guess that none of them were going to go six miles. THAT'S RIGHT--SIX MILES. I made it to six so hoping I'm not too far behind schedule. Today is group training day and I miss the others in the group. Next Monday I'll catch up on how they are doing.

It is taking me a lot longer today to recover from my run. Legs weak and achey and I'm just plain tired. Thankfully no cramps or anything. Tylenol and an hour nap so hoping I snap back by evening. The heat index is around 100 right now so I suppose it was pretty high this morning. Craving water and I thought I had hydrated pretty well. So I'm sipping water constantly. There was a strong impulse to quit at four miles, then at five, but I'm glad I stayed with it and made six. I feel good about that now that I reached that level. We will begin our travels back north in a couple days so another opportunity to do six may not arise until we arrive back home. Glad I got it accomplished.

DOING IT ALL--WITH WALTS HELP

We have been in Florida for two weeks. Week one was filled with visiting with family and some beach time. I was able to do some running in the mornings so I felt like I maintained my schedule to some degree. This past week we traveled to Disney World for a few days. On average we were in the parks about 14 hours a day. I didn't wear a pedometer so I have no idea how many miles we walked. A lot. I didn't run at all. We did it all--rides, shows, shopping, dining--amazing things, especially for a technology fan like me.
Today we have returned to Mom's home and it has been a day of rest for sure. Tomorrow morning I will get back on track and run. I promise.

As you can see from the pictures, it took a little magic to get me from the frog to my reign as King Arthur.

FIVE ON FRIDAY

After some procrastination I headed out about 7 a.m. and started a run with no plan as to how far I would go. As it turned out the humidity and temperature were a bit more tolerable and I was able to do 5 miles. While I should have been doing six miles it was all I could do at five so I stopped and stretched and headed back to the house.
Tomorrow I'll rest and hopefully on Sunday morning I will try for six.

WEDNESDAY--AN EARLY RUN

This morning I started earlier in order to be more comfortable. The temperature today was to hit 95 with 100% humidity. I wanted to do a three mile run so I started at 6:30 a.m. No matter, it was still difficult. I ran as much as I could but found that I did have to take walking breaks. I just couldn't call up much energy. Made the three miles, stretched, and headed back to the house. Weather prediction held true. This evening we are out on screen porch for first time today. I'll decide in the morning about tomorrows workout.

EARLY TO RISE---OR DIE RUNNING

I got out yesterday morning for my first attempt at running down here in Florida. I headed for the trail in the nearby park and began at about 7:15 a.m.. It was already up in the seventies and dripping with humidity. The trail is excellent and follows the perimeter of the park and is roughly a half mile long. As is usual for me the first part is the hardest, making me think "this isn't going to work". After the first half mile I got in the groove though and it got better. I didn't know how far I would go and started with three miles in mind. Two miles running and I was able to keep on going--so I did. After three I did walk for a short way and then had four miles in mind. (The humidity was oppressive--I sipped some water along the way--and wiped sweat. My sweatband was soaked.) I made the four miles and kept on chugging. TO MY SURPRISE I MADE IT TO FIVE MILES. After not being able to try for that last Saturday this was a great feeling.