Hills Are Friends, My New Badge of Honor, & Realizing I didn't die in the heat

I'm not very good at this whole updating thing I must admit. So here we go....

June 27- Mentor led run in Concord at the Hillcrest Park (Basically the beginning or end of Iron horse depending on how you look at it). I thought I was just gonna run 7 miles but I thought to myself..."what would leilani (running buddy that is currently in Mexico on the beach somewhere) run? ... 8 miles it was. Man was it grueling. 95 degrees on a boring trail. Since i didn't buy my water bottle belt pack thing yet, I took my camelback.  The thing leaked the whole entire time.  I think I would normally be annoyed, but since it was like 1000 degrees, I actually loved it.  The only problem was I ran out of water early and had to find a drinking fountain off course.  I met a minister that ran beside me. He said, you know you are a runner when 1. you take a shit in the bushes 2. Change your clothes in public and 3. You get a runner toe (black toe nail). Check Check and Check!!! And then he added, you run a Full Marathon....and that is what I am training for!

June 24- Became a 'Real Runner' ....got my first black toe nail...gross! Black toe nails seem inevitable for runners. My body is saying, “Hold on there buddy, I don’t think this running thing is working out.” And me the runner is saying, “How can I tape this, ice this, rest this, ignore this so I can keep on running?” With my toes banging the end of my runners with the weight of my body slamming repeatedly into the pavement, it’s no wonder they’re bruised. Some runners consider black toe nails an acceptable, almost admirable milestone in their quest to run ever longer distances. 

Pulled this from some runner's blog....
"Most of the pressure that results in this "toenail injury" is produced by the regular action of the foot coming forward, thousands of times every 5K. Each time your foot swings forward, a little extra blood is pushed into the toe region due to the force of the foot coming forward. If you increase your distance regularly and very gradually, your toes will adjust to each new maximum distance and only complain when you extend farther. In a marathon training program, almost everyone gets at least one black toenail. Running faster than you should be running, at any time during a long run, will increase the chance of this injury.

Hot weather also improves your odds of getting one. When it's warm, your feet swell more than they would on cold days. Because there is more pressure, and more fluid, there are more black nails generated during the summer months. " ....Oh great!

June 23- Coached workout @ Dublin High. Man I love circuit training!

June 20- Ran 6 miles at the Lafayette Reservoir. Hills are slowly becoming my friend!

June 18- Turns out, I'm not addicted to running the heat! Go figure! Today's run was harder than my workout tuesday when I did so much more. Dang heat! Time to suck it up!