I trudged through another sluggish 6 miles this morning...a nice morning to view the woods but the slow pace (9 minute miles) makes me feel like the training is not working. I think if I push through this training wall the last month heading up to the race will fall into place. It's kind of like mile 20 of the marathon...mind over miles! Yesterday's short run was made a little more exciting when I noticed a water snake on the edge of the trail. I didn't have a camera but Bill Vanko, the WBAL Radio morning news man and snake freak, was able to identify the snake through my descriptions and he assures me that although people frequently mistake this species for a copperhead, it was most likely a water snake. The snake didn't bother anybody, his pale eyes were probably an indication that he was about to shed his skin, according to Bill. My new motivational partner, pictured here, didn't seem to mind the snake either. Pete, our 2 year old Field Spaniel, just loves to run and run and run....he whimpers when he sees me leaving on a run without him, so I've decided that I'll run to make Pete happier...anything to get the running mojo back!

Tom Tasselmyer

It has been a tough couple weeks for me in the motivation department. After putting in an easy 12 mile run a couple weeks ago I've had a real hard time increasing my weekly training miles. Lack of sleep is my easy excuse, but it's probably more of a middle age (I'm 45) metabolism thing. I just can't get myself to look forward to the daily mid-distance runs the way I used to. Searching for ways to jump start my training, I found myself back on Jeff Galloway's blog on the Runner's World website and an entry he did for someone who was struggling with the first couple miles of her run. He suggested come caffeine before the run and a run/walk warm up for the first 10 minutes. While this doesn't exactly get to the motivational problem I'm dealing with, I think if I try to make the first few miles easier, my desire to hit the trail will improve. So...since I love coffee, I'll down a cup and mix in some early walking to see if it helps me get back to logging 25-30 mile weeks. Say a prayer for me!

Tom Tasselmyer

I was able to make it comfortably through my 12 mile long run back on Friday the 10th but then...vacation hit! As it turns out, sleeping in and eating big country breakfasts while staying in the mountains of Virginia took more of a toll on my training than the heat and humidity of summer. Coming off a week of almost no running it just feels like my training will never catch up...so I signed up for the 1/2 marathon today. This puts me in much better shape to run a good race with a better attitude. I'm already prepared to cover the 13.1 miles, so for the next few weeks I can work on picking up the pace and preparing for the hills that make Baltimore such a challenging race. By the way, not only the big, tasty breakfasts, but the clean air, cool nights, starlit skies and great golf at The Homestead in Hot Springs, VA was well worth the loss of training time. Our boys loved it too, especially the skeet shooting! A great wrap-up to a nice summer.

See you on the trail!

Tom Tasselmyer

I think I caught a slight break with the worst of the heat being pushed out of here before my long run scheduled for tomorrow morning. On Wednesday, when temperatures were soaring into the low 100s and the heat index was topping 110, I stayed inside on the treadmill. Tomorrow morning, however, I want to stick to my plan and put in a 12 mile run, which I could never do on a treadmill (I max out at about 6 miles on the treadmill). It looks like I'll have temperatures in the 75-80 range with dewpoints in the low 70s, not ideal, but I can work with it. I'll be sure I'm hydrated tonight and I'll take a water break every 4 miles tomorrow. I was surfing the net for some hot weather running tips and saw a piece from Jeff Galloway on the Runner's World Magazine website where he suggests cutting back your pace about 30 seconds per mile for every 5 degrees over 60. For example, if I've been doing 8:30 miles on a nice weather day and tomorrow I'm running in 75 degree temperatures, that means I'm running in temperatures 15 degrees over 60, so I should cut my pace by three 30 sec. increments, or 90 seconds. That means I shouldn't feel bad if I end up doing 10 minute miles, especially for the last few miles of my run. That sounds about right to me since I'm not worried so much about my pace on these longer runs...I just want to get the miles in and train my body and mind to work for up to two hours. I'll let you know how it goes.

Tom Tasselmyer

Even with the heat and humidity I was able to slug through a 10 mile run this morning, a critical benchmark in my annual return to marathon training runs. I think I have just enough time to get in shape for the 7th Baltimore Marathon to be run on October 13th. Over the course of the next 70 days here's my plan for long runs each week:

Aug. 3rd: 10 mi.
Aug. 10th: 12 mi.
Aug. 17th: 14 mi.
Aug. 24th: 16 mi.
Aug. 31st: 14 mi.
Sep. 7th: 18 mi.
Sep. 14th: 20 mi.
Sep. 21st: 18 mi.
Sep. 28th: 16 mi.
Oct. 5th: 10 mi.
Oct. 13th: 26.2 mi. Marathon!

Tom Tasselmyer