Remember when we were kids and we had summer reading lists?

I've found reading about running to be a good motivator, so I thought I'd share.  Hooray, book club!

This week it's books, and I was thinking next week I might do gear.  We'll see.  Maybe you want to run a marathon one day.  You'll be able to find out all of your required reading and all of your recommended gear right in one place.  For now we'll stick to just a few books.

Everyone who has stepped foot in a running store in the past couple of years has heard of Christopher McDougall's Born to Run.  As far as adventure books go, I never really imagined that a book about running would be all that exciting.  The activity is pretty redundant, we've all done it, and there's really not a whole lot to it, right?  This book has stirred up a lot of discussion in the running community, especially about ultradistances and barefoot running.  A lot of runners say it paved the way for the barefoot movement.  While I still haven't completely bought into the whole barefoot thing, I found the book to be a great story about runners from a variety of backgrounds coming together to enjoy the sport out in the elements.  If you've read it already you may want to follow up on the sad story of Caballo Blanco.  

Like I said, I haven't completely bought into the whole barefoot thing, but I'll admit that it's mostly because I just don't have the patience.  I dabbled.  I started with Barefoot Ken Bob's Barefoot Running Step by Step and even got myself a pair of the goofy shoes.  The thing is, barefoot running can be pretty dangerous if you don't take it super slow.  It works all sorts of different muscles and it's been responsible for a lot of injuries because let's face it: runners like to run.  If you do it too much in a way that you're not used to you're probably gonna get hurt.  Barefoot Ken Bob suggests starting with as little as 100 yards or so a few times a week and very gradually building barefoot distance from there.  I'm training for a marathon.  I don't have time for that.  Maybe later.  Still, I think a lot of what he has to say about proper form is still relative, and I think it's been super helpful in my speed training.

Next is The Lure of Long Distances: Why We Run by Robin Harvie.  I think I found this most appealing because this guy was an amateur runner when he decided to take on the challenge that he covered in this book.  He trained for what is considered by many to be the toughest footrace known to man - a 150 trek from Athens to Sparta.  I enjoyed it more for the reflection on why distance runners put themselves through hell day after day, to compete in races that they're happy to finish let alone win. This book was particularly motivating when I hadn't started my strict running calendar yet, but was still trying to increase my mileage.

You might know A. J. Jacobs from his 2008 New York Times Bestseller, The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible.  I'll start by saying that I didn't read that book.  The book I did read, Drop Dead Healthy: One Man's Humbe Quest for Bodily Perfection is similar to the first in that both follow Jacobs as he turns his life into an experiment and then retells it to the reader in a way that is both hilarious and informative.  Drop Dead Healthy isn't a book about running, but as I learn more about how my diet, my rest, and pretty much everything else can affect my performance, I figured this book couldn't hurt.  I've picked up a few habits after reading it, to include flossing and *trying* to sleep more.

One of the body parts that Jacobs didn't cover as much as I had hoped was feet, but I figured for a runner they're important enough for me to pay them special attention.  I haven't finished it yet, but currently I'm working on Fixing Your Feet: Prevention and Treatment for Athletes, by John Vonhof.  I'm in the lucky minority when it comes to runners in that I rarely ever get blisters of any sort.  *Knocks on wood.*  I need to be careful though, because this luck is bound to run out eventually, and there's more to foot care than just preventing blisters.  When I tried to do the whole barefoot thing for a minute last winter I was a little overzealous and ended up with a bone bruise on the ball of my foot.  It still looks a little funny, but it doesn't hurt when I run and that was enough to win the "okay" from my podiatrist.  After worrying about this little hiccup and seeing some really nasty blisters at the races I've been to, I downloaded this to my kindle mostly as a "just in case" read, so that I know what to do if I run into problems again.

Next on the list is Eat and Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness by Scott Jurek.  He's probably the most well known ultramarathon runner, and he was one of the lucky few that got to run with the Tarahumara in the race featured in Born to Run.  According to amazon.com he recently completed a race that was equal to six and a half marathons in less than 24 hours.  I'm really looking forward to this book, and the fact that I've already downloaded it on my kindle is helping to get be through "The Foot Book" which is admittedly a bit dry.

This was so much fun, I think I will follow up with gear next week.  And I promise pictures.  I would have added some this week, but pictures of a kindle would be a little repetative, no?

I'm sweaty.

If you don't believe me, ask my friend here:

I found this sexy beast right by the stairs to my apartment.

Love these colors!

For an iPhone camera, I can't complain.

I'm still surprised it didn't fly away when I got this close.

And for perspective, those little circles on the ground are where I dripped sweat while I took those pictures.  

It's embarrassing.  When I pass people on the more narrow sidewalks on really hot days I get so anxious.  I try to smooth my hair down and ball my hands into tiny fists.  It hasn't happened yet, but I'm so nervous.  I fear it's only a matter of time before I accidentally flick sweat onto a fellow pedestrian.

\

EWW!  Gross!  I know.  Forgive me.

This is why I've been making sure to follow up each run with a full bottle of this stuff per every 2 pounds lost during the run:

Splashguard is a must!

Anyways, it's hot.  We've all noticed.  Still, I feel like it's been a good week for running.  Last week on my long run I got to swing by my favorite mailbox in the area.

Last time I was in that neighborhood, I ended up hitting the wall later in the run.  Hooray, progress!

I've been experimenting with the RunKeeper app on my iPhone.  This app tells me all about how fast I'm running, like my watch does, but it actually tells me these things.  Like out loud.  And it plays music!  I'm very close to getting the timing just perfect, but I've nearly perfected the timing of my playlist so that my RunKeeper "coach" tells me my time/pace/distance/etc right when the dialogue about falling out the window starts in "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros:

Okay I think that's enough playing around on the internet for the day.  Here's the stats from today's run:

A nice break from the heat!

I went for a nice cool run this morning right after it rained.  How refreshing.

The stretch that runs along Telegraph Rd had been trimmed recently of the poison ivy that had been dominating the area, and looked beautiful after getting some water.    

Still a little misty from the rain.

The less-pretty part of today's run.  Looks like they're "developing" near the Huntley Meadows  entrance by Telegraph and South Kings.  

I have a thing about bridges.  They terrify me.  This one isn't so bad when it's dry, but I was pretty nervous crossing it today.

Today's run was a good time.  Funny how much easier this is when it's cool out.

Lost in the woods.

Quickest way to turn an "Easy 4 Mile Loop" into a disoriented stumble through the woods for more than 9 miles?
Don't take a map.

That's what I did yesterday.  I had planned to do the loop twice to total an 8 mile run but I got very lost, and running a little more than I planned to. But before I get into that, I'll update on the discovery that I mentioned last week when I found the pieces to a doll:


That was a Thursday.  I took Friday off.  That Saturday, the morning after the big storm hit this area, I ran by the scene where I had seen the doll pieces to find the torso still lying in the area with a few other pieces, only now the torso was turned over: 

"UR Next"

I tried to call the police, but because of the storm it took me a while to get in touch with anybody.  They ended up sending someone out Sunday morning and the guy collected the pieces to check them for fingerprints.  Haven't heard anything about it since.  I've promised my roommates and parents to keep my phone with me when I run and to avoid this area, especially if I do any night runs soon.

Sunday I ran at my parents house again.  I forgot to turn my watch on until I was already a mile into the run, so the stats are a little wacky:


It was nice to run by the potomac after  not seeing it for a while.

My watch lost some data last time I tried to upload some of the recent runs, but I'll get back to yesterday's treck through the forrest in Springfield.

I started at Lake Accotink Park:

"The Orange and Alexandria Railroad Trestle"

DAM!

Lake Accotink

Lake Accotink Marina

I will need to return soon to check rental prices on these bad boys.

So, like I said in the beginning, Lake Accotink Park features a lovely four mile loop that sounded really inviting.  I ran through part of this park during the 15k that I ran in the beginning of June and thought it would be nice to go back especially since it offers a lot of shade and it was so hot yesterday.  I got lost almost immediately.  

What's so unfortunate about this is that the gps data from this run was lost during the last transfer I did, so I wasn't able to use that to figure out where exactly I was.  What IS lucky is that I took these photos with my camera, so I was at least able to use the GPS part of photostream to locate on a map,  where each of these were taken:

This is where I took this first photo and it's where I was when I finally admitted to myself how lost I was.  

I had run five miles and was nowhere near where I started, so I was obviously not on this loop that I had planned on running.  I found myself in this maze of mountain bike trails behind Wakefield Park.  The trails didn't show up on the maps on my phone, so finding my way from there back to the trail that I had been on was very tricky.  As I got more tired and disoriented, I somehow managed to convince myself that the trail I was looking for was just on the other side of this creek:

Now to find somewhere I can actually cross,  while still
keeping my feet dry... 

So once I crossed what turned out to be Accotink Creek, I found myself completely off the trail, just searching for a way to cross back.

SO lost!

Finally I just used the map on my phone to point me towards a road and ended up stumbling out of the woods into a field behind this person's backyard, right near Braddock Rd

Once I got back to Braddock Rd, I used the map on the phone again to find my way back to the park and back to my car.

It was a beautiful run, and I really enjoyed the park, I just wish I had the map tracking where exactly I went, and how many times I doubled back and forth through the mountain bike maze.  I will definitely be heading back to this area again, but next time with a map.  (Today I bought a book at REI with maps of local trails that included the "Easy 4 Mile Loop" at Accotink.)