i haven't been posting cause i haven't done anything particularly exciting in my training. I had a pretty chill week last week since "recovery is as important as running." and who am i to argue with the experts.
I had a pretty fast 5-miler on Friday. five miles in 55 mins. I was super excited and had to double-check the time and mileage when i was done. i am also always amazed at the fact that my "fastest" is really super-slow compared to most runners. but we will ignore that fact.
And then on Saturday, I went out for a 4-miler with my mom. It was the second week we went to the track together. We go first thing in the morning and I'm usually against anything first thing in the morning, but I like how she is getting into a consistent run/walk schedule. I like to think that my new obsession has something to do with it. Also, it's reassuring to know i have good genes. ;)
other than that, this week and the next should be pretty intense as i'm trying to pack in a lot of mileage before i head to Vegas on the 6th.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Sunday, May 18, 2008
twenty miles... just the facts
distance:20 miles
total time: 4hr 35 mins
pace: 13:05 mins/mile
weather: 50s with lots of fog and moderate winds
miles 1-6: i was mostly thinking about how i probably should have started this thing before 2pm, cause its never going to end. i sang some shania. right after the sixth mile, my ipod ran out of battery. I was about a mile away from the car and luckily i had my running radio in my gym bag. the no music thing could have really made this day more painful, so it was a bullet dodged.
miles 7-12: went pretty well. i am making that assumption based on the fact that I have no memory from those 5 miles.
mile 13: I realize that i ran the equivilant of a half marathon in much less time that it took me to do the half in February. this was a nice moment since im never quite convinced that im getting faster.
mile 14-15: the high from the previous discovery carried me for about 2 miles before it was replaced with pain.
miles 16-18: at this point, everything hurt. all joints, muscles, and fat cells were ready to enter the horizontal position. meanwhile, the fog got so low that i was gross and wet and breathing felt a little weird. it would be an under-statement to say that this was uncomfortable. I forgot about these conditions momentarily when a couple in their 70s wearing matching lime-green track suits jogged by.
miles 18-20: if there was any part of the run i was mentally prepared for, it was the last two miles. i had already done 18 last week, so i had repeatedly reminded myself that today is all about these two miles. i told myself that its just two miles, i can run two miles any day of the week, anytime, no problem. I stopped looking at my watch and tried to just drag my ass along. one tiny problem is that my body was fully aware of the fact that this wasn't just two miles. this was two miles after having run 18. but i clearly dont listen very carefully to my body, or we would have gone home a long time ago. so, i ignored it and instead thought about what i was going to eat for dinner. that was a great finishing strategy and i'm gonna have to use that one again in future runs... food is definitely something all my body parts can always agree on.
total time: 4hr 35 mins
pace: 13:05 mins/mile
weather: 50s with lots of fog and moderate winds
miles 1-6: i was mostly thinking about how i probably should have started this thing before 2pm, cause its never going to end. i sang some shania. right after the sixth mile, my ipod ran out of battery. I was about a mile away from the car and luckily i had my running radio in my gym bag. the no music thing could have really made this day more painful, so it was a bullet dodged.
miles 7-12: went pretty well. i am making that assumption based on the fact that I have no memory from those 5 miles.
mile 13: I realize that i ran the equivilant of a half marathon in much less time that it took me to do the half in February. this was a nice moment since im never quite convinced that im getting faster.
mile 14-15: the high from the previous discovery carried me for about 2 miles before it was replaced with pain.
miles 16-18: at this point, everything hurt. all joints, muscles, and fat cells were ready to enter the horizontal position. meanwhile, the fog got so low that i was gross and wet and breathing felt a little weird. it would be an under-statement to say that this was uncomfortable. I forgot about these conditions momentarily when a couple in their 70s wearing matching lime-green track suits jogged by.
miles 18-20: if there was any part of the run i was mentally prepared for, it was the last two miles. i had already done 18 last week, so i had repeatedly reminded myself that today is all about these two miles. i told myself that its just two miles, i can run two miles any day of the week, anytime, no problem. I stopped looking at my watch and tried to just drag my ass along. one tiny problem is that my body was fully aware of the fact that this wasn't just two miles. this was two miles after having run 18. but i clearly dont listen very carefully to my body, or we would have gone home a long time ago. so, i ignored it and instead thought about what i was going to eat for dinner. that was a great finishing strategy and i'm gonna have to use that one again in future runs... food is definitely something all my body parts can always agree on.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
blisters suck
saturday's 18-miler left me with my first blister since i started running. this thing is huge and painful and seems to not go away. i read up on runner's world about how to drain a blister and i did as i was told, but the next day, it was back. ew!
needless to say, this paired with my super-sore quads made yesterday's 5-miler uber-shitty.
other than that, the count-down to vegas is keeping me sane at the moment. i am trying to not think about it too much... so i have something to think about during my long run over the weekend.
needless to say, this paired with my super-sore quads made yesterday's 5-miler uber-shitty.
other than that, the count-down to vegas is keeping me sane at the moment. i am trying to not think about it too much... so i have something to think about during my long run over the weekend.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
12 weeks to go
word on the street is that the 12 weeks before a marathon are when the real training happens. apparently, the hundreds of miles i've been running are called "pre-training."
now that we got the terminology straight, i put in 41 miles on asphalt during my last week of pre-training. granted, i did 18 of those yesterday, the week still contained solid runs outdoors.
i did the 18 by running lake merced 4 times. i was afraid it was going to get boring, and it did, but it was nice to run where i didnt have to worry about staying on the mapped route. also, the trail has mile-markers which makes timing and pacing easier.
details:
--the run took a few minutes over 4 hours.
--I ran out of things to think about after the first 2 hours. this meant that i analyzed the lyrics of songs like p-diddy's "i need a girl (part II)" and the theme song from Captain Planet.
-- miles 7-10 were miserable for no particular reason at all.
--at mile 17, i broke into a sprint after seeing 2 rats chase each other.
while stretching, i met a woman ultra-marathoner training for her first 50-mile race. she was in her 50s and i was definitely inspired by her endurance and dedication to training. she said she decided to run an Ultra because marathons were no longer a challenge... (WHAT?)... she is telling me this as im convinced i might need knee-replacement surgery after an 18-miler.
the important thing is that i finished without wishing for the MUNI to hit me and put me out of my misery... its about the small improvements. next week is TWENTY.
now that we got the terminology straight, i put in 41 miles on asphalt during my last week of pre-training. granted, i did 18 of those yesterday, the week still contained solid runs outdoors.
i did the 18 by running lake merced 4 times. i was afraid it was going to get boring, and it did, but it was nice to run where i didnt have to worry about staying on the mapped route. also, the trail has mile-markers which makes timing and pacing easier.
details:
--the run took a few minutes over 4 hours.
--I ran out of things to think about after the first 2 hours. this meant that i analyzed the lyrics of songs like p-diddy's "i need a girl (part II)" and the theme song from Captain Planet.
-- miles 7-10 were miserable for no particular reason at all.
--at mile 17, i broke into a sprint after seeing 2 rats chase each other.
while stretching, i met a woman ultra-marathoner training for her first 50-mile race. she was in her 50s and i was definitely inspired by her endurance and dedication to training. she said she decided to run an Ultra because marathons were no longer a challenge... (WHAT?)... she is telling me this as im convinced i might need knee-replacement surgery after an 18-miler.
the important thing is that i finished without wishing for the MUNI to hit me and put me out of my misery... its about the small improvements. next week is TWENTY.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
"stop trying to race me"
i've been running Lake Merced pretty regularly for a few weeks now and i am basically starting to recognize the regulars.
there is this one guy who i have seen a bunch of times and today after i ran my first lap, i saw him stretching. i smiled and was surprised when he actually talked to me, "hey, you should stop trying to race me, its hurting your pace."
upon hearing that, i was way too curious to keep going and stopped to see what he was talking about. apparently, he had noticed me trying to pass him a bunch of times. he went on to let me know that my problem was that i sped up too much for a short distance and was then forced to walk. this makes sense since he always ends up kicking my ass in the run overall.
to get to the point, he asked what speed i was going for and volunteered to pace me for a lap around the lake (4.5 miles). the challenge was that no walking was allowed at all. regardless of how many miles i have racked up during my training, there has always been walking integrated with the running. but i couldnt quite pass up the free coaching.
fast-forward to the end of the story, i ended up running the whole thing without walking. this kid was genius. my goal now is to try and keep up that pace for longer periods of time.
but the most amusing part of this encounter has nothing to do with running. at some point along the run, he asked me "what school do you go to?" i figured he must mean college and just told him that i graduated a few years ago. turns out he is a junior in HIGH SCHOOL and is going to be the captain for the varsity cross country team next year. i almost tripped when he told me that. he seemed almost as shocked when i informed him how old i was. the obvious was stated and he informed me that he was in middle-school when i was in college.
believe me, if i could have possibly run any faster, i would have, to get that lap over with as fast as possible. needless to say, the last 20 minutes was run pretty much in silence.
it was the ultimate awkward moment, but the running lesson learned was well worth it.
there is this one guy who i have seen a bunch of times and today after i ran my first lap, i saw him stretching. i smiled and was surprised when he actually talked to me, "hey, you should stop trying to race me, its hurting your pace."
upon hearing that, i was way too curious to keep going and stopped to see what he was talking about. apparently, he had noticed me trying to pass him a bunch of times. he went on to let me know that my problem was that i sped up too much for a short distance and was then forced to walk. this makes sense since he always ends up kicking my ass in the run overall.
to get to the point, he asked what speed i was going for and volunteered to pace me for a lap around the lake (4.5 miles). the challenge was that no walking was allowed at all. regardless of how many miles i have racked up during my training, there has always been walking integrated with the running. but i couldnt quite pass up the free coaching.
fast-forward to the end of the story, i ended up running the whole thing without walking. this kid was genius. my goal now is to try and keep up that pace for longer periods of time.
but the most amusing part of this encounter has nothing to do with running. at some point along the run, he asked me "what school do you go to?" i figured he must mean college and just told him that i graduated a few years ago. turns out he is a junior in HIGH SCHOOL and is going to be the captain for the varsity cross country team next year. i almost tripped when he told me that. he seemed almost as shocked when i informed him how old i was. the obvious was stated and he informed me that he was in middle-school when i was in college.
believe me, if i could have possibly run any faster, i would have, to get that lap over with as fast as possible. needless to say, the last 20 minutes was run pretty much in silence.
it was the ultimate awkward moment, but the running lesson learned was well worth it.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
ten-mile tuesday
running outside beats running at the gym any day, and it was great to be able to get out today and get a solid mid-week workout at the lake.
i had my shuffle (filled with music... thanks to Derek) and just bounced along and had fun. i even smiled at other runners as opposed to my usual forced nod when they smile and say hi.
now if i can only figure out a way to get out of work at a reasonable time a few days a week, it would be great to just get some sun and fresh air and not have to deal with the smelly crowds at the gym.
i had my shuffle (filled with music... thanks to Derek) and just bounced along and had fun. i even smiled at other runners as opposed to my usual forced nod when they smile and say hi.
now if i can only figure out a way to get out of work at a reasonable time a few days a week, it would be great to just get some sun and fresh air and not have to deal with the smelly crowds at the gym.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
running on the track is for hamsters
this morning started with me snoozing my alarm a few times... then i was too lazy to go to the trail to run, so i settled for the track across the street from my parents' house. this was not a very good idea since running on a track means that there is an exit opportunity after each lap. you also need to understand that this track is really right across the street from where i could have been in bed like a normal person would be before 9 am.
with that kind of positive attitude, i was really surprised when i didnt make it for the scheduled 10 miles. i actually have no clue how far i did run, because i kept losing track of my laps. based on how long i managed to circle around that thing, i would estimate somewhere between 6-7 miles.
also, i was unaware of how many families with small children like to come out that early. the kids were all sooooo excited to be out and running around and bouncing balls on the track, that they were literally screaming. these sights and sounds got annoying pretty quickly as you could imagine.
i was pretty bummed out about my complete lack of motivation this morning, but i went on a walk/hike with sara this afternoon for another 3.5 miles and that was super fun and definitely made me feel better.
other than that, im buying an ipod shuffle tomorrow and am excited to take it out for a big fat 18-miler next weekend.
with that kind of positive attitude, i was really surprised when i didnt make it for the scheduled 10 miles. i actually have no clue how far i did run, because i kept losing track of my laps. based on how long i managed to circle around that thing, i would estimate somewhere between 6-7 miles.
also, i was unaware of how many families with small children like to come out that early. the kids were all sooooo excited to be out and running around and bouncing balls on the track, that they were literally screaming. these sights and sounds got annoying pretty quickly as you could imagine.
i was pretty bummed out about my complete lack of motivation this morning, but i went on a walk/hike with sara this afternoon for another 3.5 miles and that was super fun and definitely made me feel better.
other than that, im buying an ipod shuffle tomorrow and am excited to take it out for a big fat 18-miler next weekend.
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