"The Slump"

Okay, so I'm back. This past week has been one of the busiest weeks of my life; I apologize for not putting the blog very high up on my priority list. My daily running habit is often a nuisance. I don't need another nuisance in the form of daily blogging. But I will definitely try to do it daily if time allows.

Last Saturday through this past Monday, I ran my typical 1.08 miles. Complete filler material, and, seeing as I wanted to run 30 miles this past week with a long run of 12 miles, a complete failure, too. Aside from my hectic week of moving, working, and cleaning my house before the lease ended, the heat here in Iowa City was nearly unbearable at times. I still feel like I could put down ten miles if the temperature were hovering in the mid-sixties. But in mid-nineties, not happening. The autumn will bring great football, and great running.

With the heat being a problem, I decided to get a gym membership. On Tuesday, when I began to feel totally worthless and depressed over the previous week's shortcoming, I went to Anytime Fitness in Iowa City and bought myself a 12-month membership. The place is nice, clean, cool, and has all the stuff I need for a good workout. Plus, I can use this membership to get into the Anytime Fitness facilities in Harlan, West Des Moines (there are three close to my apartment), and in Iowa City--basically wherever I plan on being for the next year, I can get in to workout. And it's open 24-hours a day, which is all I've ever wanted in a gym.

I've gone the past three days. I run a mile when I get there (sub-8:00 pace, usually around 7:47), then focus on upper body lifts. The last time I lifted consistently was over a year ago. That, not incidentally, was my peak as a runner. I always knew upper body strength was important for distance running, but I've been riding the coattails of my previous three years of lifting for far to long now. When I ran the marathon last month, I could tell that the effort was all coming from my legs. Nothing from the waste up was working for me; it was all working against me. With two and a half months until Chicago, I'm confident I can get some strength up top to help me out down below. After my upper body lifts, I run another mile at about 7:30 pace. If my math serves me correctly (1 + 1 = 2), I ran two miles the past three days.

So now I need to do something special. I've always had the ability to kick out a good long run on a moment's notice. My legs feel pretty good. I need to beat this heat into submission. I need to man-up.