Faster Than a Speeding Bu.....g???

We all know that Superman is faster than a speeding bullet, right?  I mean, its practically scientifically proven.  But did you ever wonder what YOU were faster than?  Nope?  Neither have I!  So truth be told, when I set out for my run today, it was never my intent to find out what I am faster than.  So science didn't really play a role here...just sayin...

So I'm out there doing some mile repeats at around 6:30 pace and while I'm running my cool down, I look down at my arms only to find a lot of black spots on them.  Often times when I run on some trails, I pick up my fair share of road grit, especially after/during rain.  Today's weather was sunny, but pretty warm and humid.  Kind of stuffy relative to how it has been.  But with all the rain, it seems like there are a lot more bugs out there.  So imagine my surprise when I look a little closer only to find that it isn't road grit on my arms, but a whole collection of little bugs!  I counted 17 in total between both arms!

Apparently, I was running fast enough that bugs could not get out of the way in time.  So look out Superman...I can claim I'm faster than a speeding bug.  Hows that for cache!  Now, I'd be lying if I said didn't have some sense of satisfaction out of seeing this.  I mean, I was a bit disgusted at first...but in a bizarre way,its kinda cool too!

Have you ever discovered later in a run that you picked up something interesting?

Friday Ramblings

I started thinking that sometimes I have a few stray thoughts, but not enough to comprise a full post, so I might as well go bullet point style and get it out there...so here goes nothing:

• Last week, I put in more miles than many of my marathon training weeks.  Of course, many of the miles were easy, relative to some of the similar weeks I was putting up while marathon training.  I did this for 2 reasons: 1) To get an immediate fitness boost, and 2) To build some durability.  Quick spikes like this can be useful IF you've been there before and are just looking for a bounce back.  Otherwise, it can be pretty risky to suddenly jump mileage by a lot.  But don't worry, this week is back to something resembling my normal mileage.  I'll probably do another bump like this soon though.  I got a nice kick of about 10s/mile faster for my easy long run pace, so it can be pretty effective when done properly. 

• Now that I am back into a regular routine, I am struggling with what to do.  I want to get faster (ie 5/10k speed), but I also would like to run something between a 10 miler of a half marathon this Fall and time is quickly running out before I need to make a decision.  I'm not expecting to PR just yet, since I'm still a fair ways from my fitness of the Spring, but it would provide a good indicator of where I am.  I was also thinking about doing a trail race, which happens to be held only a few miles away.  That would be purely for fun, just because I haven't done any trail racing since my last Xterra race.  Decisions, decisions...

• Last weekend was the culmination of the perfect running weather.  After dealing with rain and heat for much of the summer, temperatures finally dropped into the 50s with minimal humidity.  I rocked a sweet long run of 10 miles, with 7 at my long run pace and the last 3 at or below 7 min/mile.  It felt really good to hold a solid pace on tired legs, being that it came at the end of a much higher mileage week.  Of course, that good long run got me thinking more about my second bullet even more.

• This weekend, on the other hand, is looking to be wet, warm, and humid - bleh.  Like a quick punch back to reality.  I did some intervals last night on the track and the humidity was just nasty.  However, the workouts itself went pretty well, so all is not lost in nasty running weather.  Just makes you appreciate the good days.

Alright, I think that's about it.  Have a great weekend!