Training Tuesdays: 07.26.11.

Last week was a toughie. With temperatures hovering around 100 degrees for the last half of the week and weekend and heat indexes reaching 115, running outside was trying. Our Wednesday workout was the much-anticipated Mormon Hill run and it was as much of a killer as I expected, partly because of the long, steep hill and partly because the heat and humidity made it feel like 105 degrees at 6pm. Here's a virtual hill run I put together for you.

Then we ran the hill two more times. I felt like my Wednesday running lesson was brought to me by the letter H: the heat, humidity and hill schooled me. On Friday, I ran on the treadmill for the first time in two years.

Our long run on Sunday was no cake walk either. When I woke up at 5:00am, it was 80 degrees with 80% humidity and a 73 degree dew point. Help me, Rhonda. The run went along as planned, albeit with more and longer water breaks. The 16-mile route took us from Bethesda to Union Station in DC via Hains Point, the island between the Potomac River and Washington Channel. Hains Point was both longer and more exposed than I expected, but the National Park Service must have felt bad for us because they lined the entire road around the park with sprinklers. I didn't mind that the water was being pumped out of the Potomac or that some of the sprinklers weren't so much misting us as pelting us right at eye and ear level. It made miles 10 through 13 bearable. Heck, it made the rest of the run more bearable. After running 16 miles in those weather conditions, I feel like I am truly (at least mentally) ready for the marathon.

This is my running schedule for the rest of the week:

Weekend Recap: Hot. Humid. Art.

A filling, fun, sticky, exhausting weekend. A few friends were in town this weekend, which made for some exploration of local restaurants and watering holes and great conversation. It also got us out of the house on a couple wildly hot, humid days.

On Saturday we explored the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery. To be completely honest, I never knew the American Art Museum existed. And it is wonderful! We went there specifically to see a photography exhibit that closed this weekend titled Close to Home: Photographers and Their Families. It showcased nine photographers' shots of their family. I particularly loved the two crisp, saturated photographs by Larry Sultan.

Mom In The Garage

Dad On Bed

Virginia Beahan's series of photographs taken after her aging mother came to live with her are beautiful and haunting.

Christina and Gram on Thanksgiving

First Day of Spring

All images via La Lettre de la Photographie.com.

I also enjoyed the museum's modern and contemporary wing, especially Nam June Paik's enormous multimedia installation Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii.

We later saw Abe Frajndlich's photograph of Paik in the Portrait Gallery along with paintings, photographs, drawings and sculptures of other famous artists, politicians, athletes and performers.

Happy Weekend: From Me To You.

Have you seen From Me To You, the amazing blog of photographer Jamie Beck? Her still photographs are incredible, but what has been garnering more attention are her cinemagraphs.

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Have an unexpectedly beautiful weekend.

Living In: An Outbuilding.

Building on my last two Living In posts showcasing a beautiful pool house I would move right into and my yearning for a small backyard, today's post is all about outbuildings. Not outhouses. Outbuildings. Having spent about 14 hours a day working on a project in our office/den/guestroom this week, I was really drawn to these little, separate studios. I am never going to need a potting shed in my back yard (brown thumb), maybe just a place for hubs to stash a lawnmower. It may be the little girl that always wanted a playhouse speaking, but a separate space for an office or studio would be divine.

modern landscape design by sllasf.com

traditional landscape design by other metros general contractor Jo-Anne Peck

traditional patio design by seattle landscape architect Lisa Port, APLD

eclectic exterior design by san francisco general contractor BMF CONSTRUCTION

I want to go to there.

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This looks absolutely lovely. (It's even more amazing when you click on it to view it full size.) And I on a day that DC is experiencing a 100 degree heat index, it is quite nice to sit and stare at this picture of Gundvangen, Norway.

Training Tuesdays: 07.19.11.

I've discovered the secret to doing long runs alone.

PODCASTS!

Why didn't anybody tell me this? Why didn't I think of this sooner? 

I'm not a big fan of listening to music while I run. It distracts me. Sometimes in a good way - in the way where I get so absorbed in a song that I forget I'm running. But usually in a way where I forget to breathe, I amp up my pace and generally forget my surroundings. Not good.

Thinking that my 14-mile solo run was going to be a challenge, I grabbed my iPod Shuffle as I was packing for the weekend. But knowing that there would be no way of keeping my ridiculously slow training pace while listening to Beyonce, Bad Religion and Outkast (eclectic, I know), I had a light bulb moment - why not put podcasts of some of my favorite radio programs on my Shuffle? I know "radio programs" makes me seem like an old lady. Hubs makes fun of me weekly. But, keeping busy on weekends recently, I haven't been catching Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! and This American Life every Saturday. What seems like a million years ago, I had subscribed to the Freakonomics podcast on iTunes, but had only listened to the first episode. So I loaded up my Shuffle with two of each program.

The programs had variation, were interesting, funny, thought-provoking, but mild enough that I kept a consistent (slow) pace. I was entertained, but not hurried.

I can't say that this is the reason for the success of my run (Lord help me if I even think of chalking it up to my pre-run McDonald's non-carb loading), but I can definitively say that this was my best run. Of the entire training program. Including short mid-week runs. Not only did the run feel good, but I felt great the rest of the day. I double checked my route to make sure I actually ran 14 miles. And I had!

I ran along the beautiful Columbia Trail, which stretches between High Bridge and Long Valley, New Jersey. The entire trail is 11 miles long. A few weeks back when I was in Jersey for a visit I did a 6-miler on the trail, starting in Long Valley and ending in Califon. It was a nice run, if maybe a little boring. So for this run, I started on the other end of the trail, in High Bridge, and ran just over 7 miles out and back. I got through one This American Life, one Wait Wait, and one Freakonomics. For the last couple miles, though, I did get a little push from Cee-Lo, Nicki Minaj, Spoon and the Scissor Sisters. And, yes, I did run those miles too fast.

This is my running schedule for the rest of the week:

Weekend Recap: Driving, Eating, Scanning.

For me, this is the true sign of a road trip:

I was a little wary of eating McDonald's the night before a 14 mile run along a trail with absolutely no bathrooms, but it didn't prevent me from getting my usual - 6-piece chicken nuggets, hamburger with extra pickles and fries. I know, gross, right? Well, it all worked out for the best. The run went splendidly - more on that tomorrow - and I got my quintessential road trip food.

The main reason I went home was to work on a project I'm putting together for my grandmother's 90th birthday. I spent all afternoon Saturday and most of the day Sunday looking through old family photographs, like this one: 

I only took breaks from my sorting and scanning to eat. My mom made a fantastic early dinner of spare ribs, potato salad and fresh Jersey tomatoes. Later, my aunt stopped by and we all drove up to my favorite Jersey restaurant Hot Dog Johnny's. It's an establishment. 

We took the long way home. Crossing the Delaware River on a small (toll-less) bridge into Pennsylvania, we drove along the river to the Portland, PA, pedestrian bridge, where we were blessed with this view of the Delaware Water Gap:

Looking south from the bridge gave us an almost equally beautiful view. The juxtaposition of the smoke stacks and the natural landscape is interesting. Sadly, this GenOn Energy coal-burning power plant is the main source of sulfur dioxide in North Jersey, negatively impacting air quality and, likely, the respiratory health of New Jersey and Pennsylvania residents.

And considering this is the New Jersey I grew up in, with trees, rivers, vast farmlands with the best tomatoes and corn you will ever eat, this is particularly upsetting. I know most people think New Jersey is Camden, the Turnpike, or the oil refineries they see when flying into Newark Airport, but this is is my New Jersey:

Ok, I'm climbing down off my Jersey soapbox now. I'll just say that it was a wonderful weekend, filled with my favorite things - long drives in the country, farmer's markets, food and family.