Work Hard.... Pray Hard.... Play Hard.... Train Hard

Sometimes, you have to make your training work for you. It's not just about training... you gotta let loose and have fun sometimes, ya know? My plan this week was to keep my same volume (~ 50 mpw), but condense it into 5 days... never done that before. I knew I was coming down to Ft. Lauderdale, and I didn't want to be under the pressure of having to wake up and run when I'm down here for the weekend. So this is what I did.

Monday: 7 miles on the treadmill before work (5 am start)
Tuesday: 11.25 miles outside (Hot as hell!)
Wednesday: 9.5 miles on the treadmill before work (4:30 am start)

By Wednesday night after work, I was absolutely exhausted. My schedule is 7 am to 7:30 pm, and I usually get home by 8 pm. I knew that I was working my long shift again on Thursday, since I was taking off Friday to come down to S. Fla., so I decided to "sleep in" and just wake up at 6 am, go to work, and run after work if my body felt up to it. So this is how it ended up.

Thursday: 10 miles at 7:15 pm... finished by 8:40 pm. Got home, went out to get a bite to eat with Kerry and the baby, and got to my bed by 11:30.

Friday: Woke up at 5:15 am, and ran a little over 15 miles... so over the last 10 hours, I ran a little over 25 miles.
53 miles over 5 days... that's enough for me!!!

I'm done. Satisfied. Sore. Done!!!

So, since then, I drove down to Ft. Lauderdale (did my legs hurt when I got out the car!!), watched Andy Roddick win his Wimbledon semifinal, took a nap with my son Arjay, and now just chillin' with the family a bit. I will not put on the running shoes again until Monday morning, and I am embracing the little break. I'm sure I will feel strange tomorrow when it's like 10 am, and I haven't gotten "my sweat on". But I will surely embrace a late sleep and get my body recharged.

Ok, enough about my training... I have found some good websites for you re: calories you burn during exercise, along with calories consumed with certain foods.

http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc : Calculates calories burned with different types of exercise.

http://www.caloriecontrol.org/calcalcs.html : Put in your weight, and it will tell you how many calories you can consume to maintain your weight.

http://www.calorieking.com/ : The biggest food database. Before you pound down a "Big Mouth Burger" at Chili's, check out the calorie intake of that bad boy!!!

Ok, that's good for now... Enjoy your 4th of July!!!