This Week in Running News, Vol. 4

WHO'S READY?

WEATHER: A bit humid, warm.

MILES: 10.5

MILES THIS WEEK: Lots.

WHERE TO: Your face.

MOOD: Good enough.

TODAY’S RUNNING SONG: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM1RChZk1EU

So I had said I was going to blog every day, and I have failed in that quest.  Though in my defense, I’ve been busily cross-training in the last few days, and my forearms and wrists have been very tired.  Yoga?  No.  Weight-lifting?  Nope.  Madly bailing out my flooded apartment twice in the same weekend, using many buckets and sopping up the excess with every bath towel I own, then wringing out said towels and repeating this process seven billion times?  Yes!  How did you ever guess?  Combine that with many heated phone conversations with the landlord, and you have quite the workout.  Go ahead — call your landlord and yell, “THIS IS NOT AN ACCEPTABLE LIVING SITUATION!” several dozen times.  You’ll feel great, yes, but spent.

Oy.  So anyway, mileage is ramping up, and we’re still on the training horse.  And since I’m tired and it’s been more than a week, it’s time for yet another installation of:

THIS WEEK IN RUNNING NEWS!

TODAY IN RUNNING HAIKUS!

Bonsaiiiiiiii POW!

Zero miles today.

Trees shed their leaves in winter.

Is your name Wanda?

Dreams Can Come True!

Everybody! Kerri wants you to succeed! (Source: http://toptodaynews.com/)

WEATHER: Beautiful.  Warm but not humid, and sunny and beautiful and beautiful.

MILES: 11

MILES THIS WEEK: 41ish.

WHERE TO: All of it.

MOOD: Glowing.

TODAY’S RUNNING SONG: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkHp_JLtxck

For those of you scoring at home (or for those home alone) <rim shot>, I have just over three months to get myself in prime condition to qualify for the Olympic ultramarathon trials.  So it’s time to get crackin’!  I hear that Alberto Salazar trained for a whole 4 months before he ran in the Olympics, so I have some time to make up if I want to achieve my dream. And as it turns out, if you don’t know how to accomplish any particular goal, there is a wealth of information out there telling you exactly how to do anything–anything–you set your mind to.  And so, using one of the shortest checklists that I could find for how to accomplish a goal, I give you:

THE OFFICIAL ACTION PLAN.

Climbing Every Effing Mountain

Here. Eat these and write a blog post.

WEATHER: Cooler but still warm.  90?  Something like that.

MILES: 5.5

MILES THIS WEEK: 30?  Something like that.

WHERE TO: Dupont, Mass Ave, etc.

MOOD: Disconcertingly emotional

TODAY’S RUNNING SONG: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehu3wy4WkHs&ob=av3e

My dear readers, it strikes me that in order to succeed at anything, be it running or maintaining a blog that has amazingly not yet received any cease-and-desist orders from Nike, the Reston Runners, or any 5K fun runs, and indeed has yet to receive any sexual harassment complaints from (those hot little biscuits down at) Pacers Running Stores…

THIS WEEK IN RUNNING NEWS!

I smell a trend, Runner's World. (Image source: http://www.runnersworld.co.uk)

WEATHER: Hottish, humid.

MILES: 5.5

MILES THIS WEEK: 5.5

WHERE TO: Capitol Hill, Chinatown

MOOD: Meh.  Fine.

TODAY’S RUNNING SONG: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWOyfLBYtuU&ob=av3e (Have I featured this before?  DOES NOT MATTER.  Excellent running song.)

OK, sports fans.  Time again for your favorite sort-of-weekly-but-not-quite-but-you-can-write-your-own-damn-blog-you-freeloading-lazybum-if-you-don’t-like-it Running Log feature:

THIS WEEK IN RUNNING NEWS:

Running in the Heat

Here. Let this helpful diagram edify you. (Courtesy of: http://nasdonline.org/)

WEATHER: Two straight days of gloriousness!

MILES: 5.5

MILES THIS WEEK: Oy.  I don’t even know.

WHERE TO: All over.

MOOD: Boom!

TODAY’S RUNNING SONG: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUT_CP6WoK4

It has come to my attention that a significant portion of The Running Log‘s readership is not, in fact, made up of runners, but rather of non-runners who want a window into the crazy.  They want answers to pressing questions: Does running really cost you toenails?  Do runners ever get sick of having absolutely kickin’ gams?  Is running right for me?  Is the oxford comma indeed correct usage? (Answers: Yes, Fantastic, Only if you want to be awesome, and Yes.)

Well, we’re getting another big sweaty chest-bump from Mother Nature this weekend, so it’s time to answer a few more questions: does one even bother running in the oppressive, soul-crushing, walk-around-the-office-in-a-beater-and-mesh-shorts-and-no-one-cares heat?  How does it affect a runner?  Are there side effects?

This Week in (What I Deem to Be) Running News

"The Running Log is finally on Facebook? MY WORK IS COMPLETE! We add no one else!" (photo courtesy of Time.com)

WEATHER: Like running in boiling cream-of-mushroom soup.

MILES: 5.5

MILES THIS WEEK: 28 or so…

WHERE TO: Malcolm X Park, Howard U Reservoir, etc.

MOOD: Meh.

TODAY’S RUNNING SONG: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLJf9qJHR3E

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

Once again, it’s time for your weekly running news briefs (a.k.a. weekly low-effort post). KABLAMMO!