Happy Father’s Day!!
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The chickens will be 11 weeks old tomorrow and they continue to grow and grow! Agnes is always in the mood to pose for the camera. Cecilia (on the left) likes to photo bomb Agnes’ pictures.

Do you remember how I told you last week that the chickens will occasionally lay on their side to sunbathe? Well this week I finally got pictures of a few of them doing so! I had to sit very still in the chicken run for a long time (and by that I mean for 10 minutes or so), until the chickens went back to their usual routine and stopped caring that I was sitting there. Here is Cecilia sunbathing:

They will lay on their side, fluff all of their feathers out, and just soak in the sun. More often than not they like to do this on top of the black tub that’s pictured above and below.

It’s funny to see them assume their sunbathing position. They will hop up onto the black tub and then abruptly slouch over to the side and spread their feathers out.

Occasionally they will sunbathe in the grass instead of on the black tub.

The chickens also enjoyed more fruit this week. I gave them strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, and sugar snap peas. They have had strawberries before, which seem to be their favorite. The blueberries, pineapples, and sugar snap peas were new for them this week.

The pineapple and blueberries were very popular, but they didn’t seem to like the sugar snap peas very much. They mostly just scattered them around. So far strawberries and pineapple appear to be their most favorite foods. We have some leftover spaghetti and I’m debating whether or not to give that a try with them. Maybe they will think it’s worms??

Thank you all for your input on my dilemma over the two training plans for the marathon. I am leaning towards the Runner’s World one at this point, but I still haven’t made a final decision.
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I have a lot of random things to share with you today (hence the title… and yes I had to look in the dictionary on how to spell that word)! First of all, my sister-in-law is currently visiting a friend in Boston. She sent me a few pictures of a memorial that’s near the finish line of the Boston Marathon and I wanted to share them with you.

The Boston community and the running community as a whole amaze me with their resilience. Boston will run again and I cannot wait to see what next year’s race holds. You can continue to support those affected by the events by donating to the The One Fund Boston.
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This morning I met up with my running buddy, Kim, for a long run. We ran 10 miles together on the Huckleberry Trail. I have shared with you in the past how much I love this trail. I especially love it on Saturday mornings. There are so many people out biking, running, and walking and everyone is so friendly.

I am a terrible photographer. Sorry about the sun spots.

It was a great day for a run. There was hardly any humidity in the air, which is pretty much a miracle for Virginia weather in mid-June. I felt great today. My legs felt strong, and that really helped boost my confidence after a tough race last weekend.

I have mentioned this here and there on the blog, but I haven’t made an “official” announcement yet. I am going to do that now. This November I will be running my first full marathon, the Thunder Road Marathon in Charlotte, NC.

I signed up way back in February during early bird registration. Not ten minutes after clicking “register” my happy little Type A brain got down to making a training plan. I wrote my own plan using guidance from Hal Higdon, Team in Training, and mirroring it after what has worked for me for half marathons (running Tues-Thurs with a long run on Saturdays). It’s 19 weeks long, and it resides in an Excel spreadsheet with the Charlotte Thunder Road logo on it. Type A to the max. But now I’m conflicted and this is where I need you.

I was all set with my training plan, which was going to start on July 13. But now I have come across a “Foolproof Marathon Training Plan” written by Amby Burfoot in the July issue of Runner’s World (page 54 if you have a copy of the issue). Note: If you don’t have a copy, go pick one up. The special Boston issue has amazing stories of survival and is very moving.

So now I have two training plans that both look pretty good. One is written by me, and I have never run a marathon, and the other by Amby Burfoot, a former Boston Marathon champion (among other things). I know the style of my training plan has worked for me in the past: 4 days of running with a rest day on either side of my long run. But I am intrigued by the RW training plan. It has you running 4 days a week for the first and last four weeks of the training plan, but the middle 12 weeks have you running 5 days a week, with runs on either side of the long run.

Often I hear that if something works for you, then you should stick with it… you know, “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”. But what if something else works better? As in “if it ain’t broke, break it and make it better”. I wish I could put both plans on here as pictures, but I don’t think they’d be clear enough to read, so I will compare and contrast.

Similarities: Both are relatively the same length (RW is 20 weeks, mine is 19 weeks); Both gradually build up to a 20 mile long run and have cut back weeks; Both have the same mileage planned for the final week leading up to race day;

Differences: My plan sticks with running 4 days per week for the whole plan, RW plan uses 5 during the middle 12 weeks; My plan has a peak weekly mileage of 40 miles, RW plan has peak of 44 (which you do twice); My plan has me doing one 20 mile run three weeks from race day, RW plan has two 20 mile runs, three weeks out and five weeks out from race day; My plan has Fridays and Sundays as rest days, RW plan has Tuesdays and Thursdays as rest days throughout the plan.

So they’re pretty much the same length and the biggest difference is that the RW plan would have me doing two 20 mile long runs. I know it’s not necessary to do two of them, but could it be detrimental? Both plans have a gradual increase in weekly mileage that I think I am ready to handle. I have been running four (or sometimes more) days a week for the past 2 years or so, with an average weekly mileage of 20 miles. When I train for a half I usually peak at 28-30 miles.

I like how the RW plan has you doing shorter runs on the day before and the day after your long run. That will help me adjust to running on tired legs and teach my body to not only rely on glycogen stores. But at the same time, I’m hesitant to leave my “tried and true” structure for training.

**Edited to add: My main goals for my first full are to make it to the start line healthy and finish the race. I do not have a specific time goal. Amy’s comment made me realize I should have included what my goals for this race are.

Which training plan would you go with if you were in my (running) shoes?

Did anyone go see the Spirit of the Marathon II last night?? How was it!?

It’s one of those long weeks. Such is life.

On a happier note, I got to run in a new town this evening: Farmville. And no, I’m not talking about this Farmville:

I’m talking about this one:

My co-worker told me about a state park trail that runs through town called the High Bridge Trail State Park, so I checked it out after work this evening. It was so hot and humid when I headed out for my run- 90 degrees and I’m pretty sure I could cut the air with a knife. I adjusted my pace accordingly, and got in 6 easy miles with three water stops.

This trail is very similar to the New River Trail State Park where I often do my long runs. Which makes sense since they are both rail trails. The New River Trail has many trestle bridges, but the High Bridge Trail has a “High Bridge” that is 125 feet above the Appomattox River. Of course I had to check this out, so that’s what I spent the first four miles of my run doing.

The bridge is a half mile long so you can’t actually see the other side. There was a point while crossing it where I could look in front of me and only see bridge and look behind me and only see bridge. Another cool perk is there was a bridge attendant as I entered the bridge. He had a table set up with pamphlets about the High Bridge. As I ran by he said “Welcome to High Bridge!”.

View from the other side

As I came back across the bridge the following conversation took place:

Me: “Long bridge”
Attendant: “And quite high. Thanks for stopping by!”
Me: “Thanks!”
Attendant: “Have a great run”

How cool would it be if this was your usual running spot? You would have someone to welcome you to the bridge and later tell you to have a good run every day!

The bridge has some roots in civil war history. If that’s something you’re interested in, you can read about the Battle of High Bridge HERE. It has some pretty neat history. This bird’s eye view of the bridge shows where the old train trestle was, along the brick pillars.

After visiting the high bridge, I ran another mile on the part of the trail that goes through Farmville and ran by the train station.



Sorry about the sun. I’m sure I drive photographers nuts. After five miles on the trail I decided to run my last mile around town. Most of the shops were closed, I guess since the colleges (Longwood University and Hampden-Sydney College) are finished with spring semester and summer semester hasn’t started yet.

I also had the genius idea to call a local restaurant and put in a to go order 2 miles from the end of my run. I felt like ultrarunner Dean Karnazes ordering my food while out on a run. Once I finished up I drove over to the restaurant, picked up my dinner, and headed back to my hotel.

Did you ever play Farmville on Facebook?
Nope. Never got into that.

What do you think of the High Bridge Trail?

Any history buffs out there?

Have you ever ordered food while out on a run/ride/walk?

My Garmin took forever to find satellites today. I don’t know what the deal was, but the bar would inch forward a bit and then go back to nothing. Finally I just went outside and started running and within 0.1 miles it got signal. I did not feel like using the “hold arm up in air over head” method today.

Maybe it would have helped if I had actually gone outside for it to locate satellites, though.

I decided to run 4 miles today, as a mini tempo run, meaning miles 2 and 3 were faster. I have decided that if I want to get fast I need to start running faster. Yes, I have started doing speed work on the track. In addition to that I think I need to include faster running in more of my weekday runs. Added challenge to today’s run was that I ran on the roads around our house, which are very hilly.

Towards the end of mile 1 a car drove by on the right side of the road. As it passed the driver made a sudden, loud, high pitched noise that made me jump and bite my cheek. I tasted blood for the next mile or so. No fun. Miles 2 and 3 felt tough, but I hung in there. Mile 2 clocked in at 9:09 and mile 3 was run in 9:15. The end of mile 3 was tough because it ended with a hill that was 2 tenths of a mile long. I just kept thinking get up this hill and you can be on your cool down mile, and I did get to the top.

Speaking of hills, here is the elevation profile according to my watch for this past weekend’s Varmint 1/2 Marathon.

Tomorrow I am traveling for work, but it is just an overnight trip. I don’t like being away from Barry and the dogs, but it does mean I get to run in a new town. I always enjoy that. It’s one of the best ways to explore a new place.

If you use a GPS watch, do you ever use the “arm in the air over your head” means of gaining satellite reception?

What method do you use to “get fast”?

Are there a lot of hills where you live?

Do you travel for work? If so, what is your favorite way to explore a new city?