Four days of freedom.

SF Half-Marathon Update: 18 days, 16 hours

The Independence Day weekend is over, and what a nice weekend it was. Four days off sure was nice, I wouldn't mind four day weekends every week, but every once in a while will have to do. A special shout out to all those who are working to preserve our freedom.

Friday not a whole lot happened. Honestly, I don't know what I did other than play some video games and watch TV. I did go for a run in the morning but of course I slept in a little so I got out of the house a little late. As a result, my four mile run turned into a three mile run due to the heat.

Saturday Ethan and I headed over to Home Depot for some Kid's Club action. He made a periscope this month and did totally awesome. He's got his hammering skills down to an art. He can start the nails and finish all on his own. (Yeah, no smashed fingers...mine or his) He's got some mad building skills.

Sunday was the Fourth, so I woke up at 4:30Am and headed across the valley for a race. It was a four miler and even though with slightly cooler temps (104) and a 6:30AM start, it was warm. My time was not quite what I wanted (36:23) but considering the heat I wasn't too disappointed. The course was really nice as well, it went along what would be a river bed (if there was water in it) and had some ups and downs, which was good practice. After the race they hooked us up with some hot dogs and hamburgers in addition to the normal snacks but after the run I could only eat about half. I did do some research about the effects of heat on running because I also noticed that even my 3 mile training runs were a bit slower than they have been before early morning temperatures hit the 80's. Luckily I was encouraged to find out that a 20 degree increase can increase times by 10%. I also learned that ideal long distance running temperature is 54 degrees, which is right about the starting temp for the SF Marathon. So I should be good to go with that. Sunday night, Ethan and I ended up home alone so we ended up watching some TV together. It was a nice night just hanging out with him.

Monday was Ethan's birthday, all the girls got up early to go catch the Eclipse movie with Grandma. The boys and I caught up with them over at G'Ma & G'Pa's house for some swimming and tacos. It was a great day and a good way to end my four days of freedom. Now it's back to work for four days before another break.

This coming Sunday I am scheduled to run 13 miles but I may have to cut that down a mile or two depending on what the weather is suppose to do. (Should only be a high of 102 but a low of 79). I will just have to wait and see, I would be OK to only run 11 miles this weekend. I am going out of town next Monday so I will get to do some running in cooler weather.