i went on vacation for a lot of august. it was pretty rad, and i did a lot of things running around the american north-east with people i like.
and since it's pretty hard to exercise in many other ways when traveling, some of it was indeed literal running. ... for example, i really wish i had photo evidence of me running to, around and from Baltimore's inner harbour during a rainstorm that accumulated the second-most rain in a single day in the city's recorded history (the first being during a hurricane.) my shoes took two days to dry. ... it was pretty exhilarating, actually, although the rain almost knocked out one of contacts. no, really.
i also ran the full 6-miler loop around Central Park with an academic colleague, who nonchalantly runs 3:20 marathons, and i had a slightly wicked hangover, and i didn't die, so that was a pretty big accomplishment. i finally ran past those things i read about on running blogs every other day -- Cat Hill! Harlem Hill! the Reservoir! -- and we ranted about work the whole way, so it also counts as lung training.
anyway, now it's almost fall, and where am i at? still running. my post-vacation reboot has involved a strict run-every-second-day policy, and i've been hitting that consistently. i'm in this mindset where i can't quite make myself run more than an hour, but sometimes they are slow and sometimes fast, so that's not the worst. i'm signed up for a flat road half in massachusetts with friends in ... seven-ish week, so i have to run some 8-12 milers in the next four weeks, but other than that i should be cool.
speaking of cool: since i'm in michigan in late August, there has also been some non-trivial humidity to run in; the worst part of which being all the tiny bugs that get stuck on my sweat-drenched skin when i come in after dusk. (sorry, i hadn't realized just how disgusting that is until typing it here.) ... oh, and i ran into another bat, and i frequently almost run into deer and marmot and there was this toad the other day... yeah, it's wild.
the last thing to say is... oof, about those bold marathon plans? mm. my other half got kind of irate about this plan, and reminded me that after my 26.2 in detroit i "made him promise me to not let run another". ... honestly, i don't remember saying anything of the sort. but i guess it's possible the endorphins let me forget. ... and maybe he and former-me are right. maybe i don't need that pressure again, not now anyway. (his argument is against the physical toil, but let's not get into that now.)
... so! 7 weeks to prep well for a great half. probably some wednesday night city trail races next month. and then we'll see what develops. for a lot of professional and personal reasons, i suspect it's going to be a fairly insane year, and i also suspect running is going to be my lifeline to surviving it sanely, so step one is laying a solid training base, and i think i'm on the way.
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Saturday, July 19, 2014
every hill ever. some with mud.
so the thing about trail races with serious elevation changes is... no, there are two things.
one is that running uphill, sometimes, is actually worse for your time than power walking. the other one is that if you have run uphill, you gotta run down, which means those "screaming" descents mentioned in a previous post about this race series.
both of these things were very relevant to today's race. the ups were -- ok, they were patently crazy. there is this one big hill, just a damn dirt cliff, that the trail went up and then immediately down THREE times. like the race director had gotten a trail stutter. and in the last 4k, there was a ton of short very steep ups and downs. and by the time we got there (well, when i did) the rain had started and the downhills were sliiiick. twice i literally had to grab onto a tree and spin around to a stop, or i would have mudslid to a twisted ankle (at least). (if those first three cliffs had been similarly muddy, i think they would have had to stop the race. it had no trees.)
and the thing about the power walking is that after having to choose this route for those early cliffs (they were around 4 to 6k, and the whole thing was 13.5)... it was really hard to get my head back into the game for running up other hills. i did more of it than many other people in my cohort, but it was still definitely more walking than two years ago on this course. ... is that good? i feel like i barely worked right now, but maybe tomorrow my legs will fall off?
results will be up ina couple days, but i think it must have taken me more than an hour and a half, maybe 1:40 or 1:45, which should tell you a lot about the mud and the hills. it was damn hard, but i am fairly pleased with my perseverance. less with my downhill running, which is pretty pathetic -- i run up those hills beating much stronger men, and then we get to the top of a cliff and they somehow pound/fly past me down it!
k, so. back soon with more training thoughts.
one is that running uphill, sometimes, is actually worse for your time than power walking. the other one is that if you have run uphill, you gotta run down, which means those "screaming" descents mentioned in a previous post about this race series.
both of these things were very relevant to today's race. the ups were -- ok, they were patently crazy. there is this one big hill, just a damn dirt cliff, that the trail went up and then immediately down THREE times. like the race director had gotten a trail stutter. and in the last 4k, there was a ton of short very steep ups and downs. and by the time we got there (well, when i did) the rain had started and the downhills were sliiiick. twice i literally had to grab onto a tree and spin around to a stop, or i would have mudslid to a twisted ankle (at least). (if those first three cliffs had been similarly muddy, i think they would have had to stop the race. it had no trees.)
and the thing about the power walking is that after having to choose this route for those early cliffs (they were around 4 to 6k, and the whole thing was 13.5)... it was really hard to get my head back into the game for running up other hills. i did more of it than many other people in my cohort, but it was still definitely more walking than two years ago on this course. ... is that good? i feel like i barely worked right now, but maybe tomorrow my legs will fall off?
results will be up ina couple days, but i think it must have taken me more than an hour and a half, maybe 1:40 or 1:45, which should tell you a lot about the mud and the hills. it was damn hard, but i am fairly pleased with my perseverance. less with my downhill running, which is pretty pathetic -- i run up those hills beating much stronger men, and then we get to the top of a cliff and they somehow pound/fly past me down it!
k, so. back soon with more training thoughts.
Friday, July 18, 2014
tomorrow!
i am running a race.
turns out it starts at 10am not 9am. excellent.
turns out it's 13k not 12. whatever.
turns out it's not going to be too hot. excellent.
turns out it's probably gonna rain. whatever.
i looked over the course again, and it's definitely going to kick my ass. the hills, the hills the hills. and of course i've been sleeping pretty minimally the last three nights, after getting back into town for a random heatwave and being out of practice at sleep without AC.
well, i've got willpower on my side. and this time i don't have incipient strep throat (see: april race.)
so, i have eaten pasta. i have given up on working anymore tonight. i am going to pick out all the possible relevant clothes, assemble food and equipment, write down the directions and set my alarm for an unpleasant time (the course is 100k from here.)
onwards. upwards. racewards. woo! report to follow.
turns out it starts at 10am not 9am. excellent.
turns out it's 13k not 12. whatever.
turns out it's not going to be too hot. excellent.
turns out it's probably gonna rain. whatever.
i looked over the course again, and it's definitely going to kick my ass. the hills, the hills the hills. and of course i've been sleeping pretty minimally the last three nights, after getting back into town for a random heatwave and being out of practice at sleep without AC.
well, i've got willpower on my side. and this time i don't have incipient strep throat (see: april race.)
so, i have eaten pasta. i have given up on working anymore tonight. i am going to pick out all the possible relevant clothes, assemble food and equipment, write down the directions and set my alarm for an unpleasant time (the course is 100k from here.)
onwards. upwards. racewards. woo! report to follow.
Monday, July 7, 2014
in which the runner makes a small announcement
are you ready for this?
i have decided to run another marathon.
... yeah, did you see that coming?
i decided this in the shower today. wait i didn't take a shower today. i think i decided... while deciding not to take a shower, actually. (this is not as bad as it sounds. i went swimming today, which makes showering complicated... i'll do it before i go to bed, i promise. the gentleman in my household is very understanding. ok, this is getting us off track.)
in case you missed it (HOW COULD YOU) i ran my first marathon in october 2013. it was pretty rad.
then -- i wasn't into racing for a while. i did other stuff. i did run, but i also did other exercises and things and maybe sometimes didn't even run (although rather seldomly). anyway, i wasn't into racing in particular for a few months, and then on and off for a few months after that, and all of it was cool.
but in the last month or six weeks, running is back to being my number one favourite way to endorphinize. i ran half marathons in late april and early june and though they were each rather hard in their own ways (the archive will tell you) i'm still pretty happy i ran both of them. (ok, no, wrong. i'm NOT happy i ran the first one, because i was sick and actually way sicker than i thought and it was probably partly responsible for all the illness i suffered in may. the actual point is that i'm pretty proud of how i *managed* that race mentally, despite my suffering, even though i know now it was dumbass stupid and i hope i learn not to do that again.)
and anyway: since then i've been reading running blogs again, and thinking more about runs and signing up for races (one in july, one in october; not yet signed up for the one in september i can't decide on a distance for...). i am going to baltimore for like 3 days in august to visit a friend, and i almost signed up for a 12 miler while i'm there until i thought through the look of (justified) bafflement i was going to get from said friend.
and it's worse. are you ready for this confession? i'm not just reading marathoner blogs. i'm reading ULTRAmarathoner blogs. ok, this is just sick. WHO DOES THAT. i've only run more than 20 miles ONCE and it was kind of a thing. so, no no no no no.
i try to remember what i felt like at mile 22? i was really hot and i had just run off an island and i had just seen a pace group pass me and i was pretty angry at the universe. there were a bunch of people cheering but they seemed to me very stupid people, cheering very stupidly. and i still had 4 miles to go. doesn't that seem like something to avoid?
and yet.
i've decided to run another marathon.
next step: which one?
for personal, meterological and logistical reasons, i think it will have to be late april or early may. it will have to be in north america, because i won't have too much time for the traveling and jet lag is not kind to the digestive system. and probably it should be in the western half of the continent, but not somewhere too hot because i will be completely out of practice at heat from training on the tundra.
this still leaves me with several options: BC, washington state, oregon (which is insanely full of runners)... is there an alaska marathon? OK FOCUS.
the point is.
i'm gonna do it again.
... ok, back to real life. i'll be back here soon to talk myself out of it, or something.
(small voice: i bet not.)
i have decided to run another marathon.
... yeah, did you see that coming?
i decided this in the shower today. wait i didn't take a shower today. i think i decided... while deciding not to take a shower, actually. (this is not as bad as it sounds. i went swimming today, which makes showering complicated... i'll do it before i go to bed, i promise. the gentleman in my household is very understanding. ok, this is getting us off track.)
in case you missed it (HOW COULD YOU) i ran my first marathon in october 2013. it was pretty rad.
then -- i wasn't into racing for a while. i did other stuff. i did run, but i also did other exercises and things and maybe sometimes didn't even run (although rather seldomly). anyway, i wasn't into racing in particular for a few months, and then on and off for a few months after that, and all of it was cool.
but in the last month or six weeks, running is back to being my number one favourite way to endorphinize. i ran half marathons in late april and early june and though they were each rather hard in their own ways (the archive will tell you) i'm still pretty happy i ran both of them. (ok, no, wrong. i'm NOT happy i ran the first one, because i was sick and actually way sicker than i thought and it was probably partly responsible for all the illness i suffered in may. the actual point is that i'm pretty proud of how i *managed* that race mentally, despite my suffering, even though i know now it was dumbass stupid and i hope i learn not to do that again.)
and anyway: since then i've been reading running blogs again, and thinking more about runs and signing up for races (one in july, one in october; not yet signed up for the one in september i can't decide on a distance for...). i am going to baltimore for like 3 days in august to visit a friend, and i almost signed up for a 12 miler while i'm there until i thought through the look of (justified) bafflement i was going to get from said friend.
and it's worse. are you ready for this confession? i'm not just reading marathoner blogs. i'm reading ULTRAmarathoner blogs. ok, this is just sick. WHO DOES THAT. i've only run more than 20 miles ONCE and it was kind of a thing. so, no no no no no.
i try to remember what i felt like at mile 22? i was really hot and i had just run off an island and i had just seen a pace group pass me and i was pretty angry at the universe. there were a bunch of people cheering but they seemed to me very stupid people, cheering very stupidly. and i still had 4 miles to go. doesn't that seem like something to avoid?
and yet.
i've decided to run another marathon.
next step: which one?
for personal, meterological and logistical reasons, i think it will have to be late april or early may. it will have to be in north america, because i won't have too much time for the traveling and jet lag is not kind to the digestive system. and probably it should be in the western half of the continent, but not somewhere too hot because i will be completely out of practice at heat from training on the tundra.
this still leaves me with several options: BC, washington state, oregon (which is insanely full of runners)... is there an alaska marathon? OK FOCUS.
the point is.
i'm gonna do it again.
... ok, back to real life. i'll be back here soon to talk myself out of it, or something.
(small voice: i bet not.)
in which the runner gets cocky
remember how i was supposed to do something short and sweet/hard like hill repeats yesterday?
yeah, well. i didn't. i ran 10k. ... i got ready to go and realized i wanted to spend an hour running. after running an hour and a half two days earlier, the fact that my legs were up for it was nice. so, i went for it.
remember how i thought i was getting smart about timing and speed?
yeah, well. once i'd decided to run for an hour, i thought i should be running easier than i have been. 9 minutes miles was the idea, maybe 8:50 since i've been feeling speedy. and i had my garmin on to keep track of pace... but, no. i ran the warm up mile at 8:50 but then the next two closer to 8:30. so then at mile 3 i was like ugh, what do you mean run 3 more? sweat, humid, gasp, ick.
in actual fact i pulled it together kind of impressively, i think: i ran 6.2 miles in 55:30, so that's about 8:50/mile average. but clearly not a negative split. and not smart! (i also realized, for the first time in 8 years of being in this area, that the route i took which is basically to campus and back, is net downhill on the way and net uphill on the way home. nice work.)
anyway, i felt great afterwards. but i really don't like feel like a rookie idiot at mile 3. careful, woman!
meanwhile, today it was hot and sunny and i swam a kilometre in the lovely outdoor pool. hamstrings just a little sore, but mostly great.
two upshots:
1. i guess i'm still up to a little bit of mileage, which is good since i'm running that 12k trail race in less than two weeks.
2. lately all i want to do is run mid-distances, slightly fast. this is a cool development in that that's not usually been a skill of mine, BUT it cannot pay to run these exclusively. wednesday: WILL DO REPEATS.
ok, and i have one more upshot, but it goes in a different post. in a minute.
yeah, well. i didn't. i ran 10k. ... i got ready to go and realized i wanted to spend an hour running. after running an hour and a half two days earlier, the fact that my legs were up for it was nice. so, i went for it.
remember how i thought i was getting smart about timing and speed?
yeah, well. once i'd decided to run for an hour, i thought i should be running easier than i have been. 9 minutes miles was the idea, maybe 8:50 since i've been feeling speedy. and i had my garmin on to keep track of pace... but, no. i ran the warm up mile at 8:50 but then the next two closer to 8:30. so then at mile 3 i was like ugh, what do you mean run 3 more? sweat, humid, gasp, ick.
in actual fact i pulled it together kind of impressively, i think: i ran 6.2 miles in 55:30, so that's about 8:50/mile average. but clearly not a negative split. and not smart! (i also realized, for the first time in 8 years of being in this area, that the route i took which is basically to campus and back, is net downhill on the way and net uphill on the way home. nice work.)
anyway, i felt great afterwards. but i really don't like feel like a rookie idiot at mile 3. careful, woman!
meanwhile, today it was hot and sunny and i swam a kilometre in the lovely outdoor pool. hamstrings just a little sore, but mostly great.
two upshots:
1. i guess i'm still up to a little bit of mileage, which is good since i'm running that 12k trail race in less than two weeks.
2. lately all i want to do is run mid-distances, slightly fast. this is a cool development in that that's not usually been a skill of mine, BUT it cannot pay to run these exclusively. wednesday: WILL DO REPEATS.
ok, and i have one more upshot, but it goes in a different post. in a minute.
Thursday, July 3, 2014
just a little long run
you may recall i've been doing some actual 'tempo' runs lately -- you know, with some speed in them?
and so last night i thought i should go for a longer slower run.
i didn't really think it through, and then next thing i knew had zoned out, and i'd been running 45 minutes away from home. which, you will realize, meant i had to run at least another 45 back.
in the end, i ran for about 95 minutes, and google maps suggests i ran about 9.5 miles. considering there was a fair bit of stopping for lights, and a couple minutes dedicated to texting home about how my 'maybe an hour' run was going to take a lot longer but don't worry about me dying in a ditch, i figure this was maybe around a 9:45, 9:50 pace -- and it was all very easy and comfortable, and there were distinct hills (a few anyway) and i feel good about this.
today the plan is to cross train, and run again (maybe do some hill repeats, grakr!) tomorrow. however, it is gorgeous out today -- the coolest it's been in months. i'm pretty sure my legs are saying DO NOT RUN so i won't, but i note that i'm totally jealous of everyone who is running this evening, and that makes me feel like a runner, again, which i love.
and so last night i thought i should go for a longer slower run.
i didn't really think it through, and then next thing i knew had zoned out, and i'd been running 45 minutes away from home. which, you will realize, meant i had to run at least another 45 back.
in the end, i ran for about 95 minutes, and google maps suggests i ran about 9.5 miles. considering there was a fair bit of stopping for lights, and a couple minutes dedicated to texting home about how my 'maybe an hour' run was going to take a lot longer but don't worry about me dying in a ditch, i figure this was maybe around a 9:45, 9:50 pace -- and it was all very easy and comfortable, and there were distinct hills (a few anyway) and i feel good about this.
today the plan is to cross train, and run again (maybe do some hill repeats, grakr!) tomorrow. however, it is gorgeous out today -- the coolest it's been in months. i'm pretty sure my legs are saying DO NOT RUN so i won't, but i note that i'm totally jealous of everyone who is running this evening, and that makes me feel like a runner, again, which i love.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
observation on speed
[how am i suddenly blogging twice a day here? it will end soon i'm sure; i suspect this is hysterical displacement activity, so as to avoid the thing i'm really supposed to be writing for work.]
tonight i ran four fast-ish miles. well, not really. i ran one warm-up mile, but i sped up throughout the mile and it beeped in at 8:50. so then i decided to run a fast-ish 5k. and i did! 3 miles at 8:28, 8:29, 8:30, and then the last .1 at about 8:20 pace.
so, that's not actually fast, but it's fast for me lately, and it's definitely fast for me when it's humid (it was dusk, and it was not hot at all, but it was like 80% humidity.) and it felt really good!
or rather, it felt really good during the 5k. it fairly sucked during the first mile -- i felt like i was running in concrete, like i was putting in tons of energy and getting back the cadence of a sloth. i ran the first half mile at a 9:20 pace, and then i sped up a bit and it was hell, and i did it a bit more, and then more. each time it was hellish to get faster, but then it quickly plateaued in hellishness, so then i thought i could speed up a bit again.
and then somehow around mile 1, it started to feel easier. and from then on, for the rest of the run: 8:30 felt like 9:30 usually does. what? i could kind of *cruise*, if out of breath, at an 8:30 pace. this is unheard of recently. how did this happen?
so i have a new theory, and it is this: to run fast, the first little while has to suck. maybe i have gotten too cautious with my 'start slow, don't hurt yourself' theory. maybe all i should run comfortably is like 400 metres, and then i should start speeding up. perhaps whatever pace i get myself into during the first mile or so is what will feel 'normal' for the rest of the run. is this nuts?
... obviously i don't think i can now run half marathons at 8:30 pace. but i am going to try doing my alleged 'tempo' runs like this, and see what happens. i did four miles today -- maybe i can do five miles like this next week? hmmmm.
tonight i ran four fast-ish miles. well, not really. i ran one warm-up mile, but i sped up throughout the mile and it beeped in at 8:50. so then i decided to run a fast-ish 5k. and i did! 3 miles at 8:28, 8:29, 8:30, and then the last .1 at about 8:20 pace.
so, that's not actually fast, but it's fast for me lately, and it's definitely fast for me when it's humid (it was dusk, and it was not hot at all, but it was like 80% humidity.) and it felt really good!
or rather, it felt really good during the 5k. it fairly sucked during the first mile -- i felt like i was running in concrete, like i was putting in tons of energy and getting back the cadence of a sloth. i ran the first half mile at a 9:20 pace, and then i sped up a bit and it was hell, and i did it a bit more, and then more. each time it was hellish to get faster, but then it quickly plateaued in hellishness, so then i thought i could speed up a bit again.
and then somehow around mile 1, it started to feel easier. and from then on, for the rest of the run: 8:30 felt like 9:30 usually does. what? i could kind of *cruise*, if out of breath, at an 8:30 pace. this is unheard of recently. how did this happen?
so i have a new theory, and it is this: to run fast, the first little while has to suck. maybe i have gotten too cautious with my 'start slow, don't hurt yourself' theory. maybe all i should run comfortably is like 400 metres, and then i should start speeding up. perhaps whatever pace i get myself into during the first mile or so is what will feel 'normal' for the rest of the run. is this nuts?
... obviously i don't think i can now run half marathons at 8:30 pace. but i am going to try doing my alleged 'tempo' runs like this, and see what happens. i did four miles today -- maybe i can do five miles like this next week? hmmmm.
taking opinions on september
so i want to run a trail race at the end of september. a particular race, about an hour from my house.
there is a bit of history here: i was signed up for this race in 2010. but then three weeks beforehand, my retinas needed reattaching (yeah, that happened) so my surgeon said i had to not do anything 'jarring' for a while. and trail races are kinda the definition of jarring.
anyway, with one thing and another i've never made it back -- but i think 2014 should be the year!
the issue is the distance. there are 3 options at this race: the course is 7.3k, and you can do one, two or three laps. the longest one is just over a half marathon, right? the plan in 2010 was to do the full three laps, so why not, right? i'm not as fast as i was then, but i'm definitely still strong.
right.
but look at the elevation profile.
the race director's description of the course includes statements like 'massive climb' and 'screaming downhill'. and in my previous experience (from the related race i'm already running in july), this director uses the term 'rolling hills' to mean: if you trip on this hill, you will roll to {the bottom, your doom}. so presumably 'screaming downhill' means: start screaming now, while you're still at home on the couch.
... so. three laps, you think?
there is a bit of history here: i was signed up for this race in 2010. but then three weeks beforehand, my retinas needed reattaching (yeah, that happened) so my surgeon said i had to not do anything 'jarring' for a while. and trail races are kinda the definition of jarring.
anyway, with one thing and another i've never made it back -- but i think 2014 should be the year!
the issue is the distance. there are 3 options at this race: the course is 7.3k, and you can do one, two or three laps. the longest one is just over a half marathon, right? the plan in 2010 was to do the full three laps, so why not, right? i'm not as fast as i was then, but i'm definitely still strong.
right.
but look at the elevation profile.
the race director's description of the course includes statements like 'massive climb' and 'screaming downhill'. and in my previous experience (from the related race i'm already running in july), this director uses the term 'rolling hills' to mean: if you trip on this hill, you will roll to {the bottom, your doom}. so presumably 'screaming downhill' means: start screaming now, while you're still at home on the couch.
... so. three laps, you think?
Monday, June 23, 2014
october race plan!
oooh, right! i forgot to post this.
i picked an october goal race: Bay State half marathon! it's in lowell, massachusetts, and my friends live there, and they are lovely and they make PIE, and we have other friends that live in long beach, and they are going to fly out and at least one of them is going to run it with me! (well, run the same course. but lots faster. but i don't mind. i know they will save me pie.)
so, that! october 19th, i'll be running. this course is known for being fast so i would like to come up with an ambitious goal time... however, first i would like to make it through the summer without heat stroke or death by dew point or any other damn fool things.
so i will keep consistent all summer, and we'll see where i am at the end of august.
but wooo! i'm excited for this one.
i picked an october goal race: Bay State half marathon! it's in lowell, massachusetts, and my friends live there, and they are lovely and they make PIE, and we have other friends that live in long beach, and they are going to fly out and at least one of them is going to run it with me! (well, run the same course. but lots faster. but i don't mind. i know they will save me pie.)
so, that! october 19th, i'll be running. this course is known for being fast so i would like to come up with an ambitious goal time... however, first i would like to make it through the summer without heat stroke or death by dew point or any other damn fool things.
so i will keep consistent all summer, and we'll see where i am at the end of august.
but wooo! i'm excited for this one.
updates from the run, often in the rain, often at night
actually, i've been running a lot, now that i'm hear to talk about it. i've been been running three days a week, but i've also run three of the last four days.
one of those days it POURED and i was running with my iPhone so it kind of turned into speed work. with an awkward hand-held-over-camera-hole look. (for a time afterwards it was scaring me by taking tremendously misty photos, but the next morning it had magically dried/sorted itself out.) since that run involved a beeline home, i ran the next day to complete the first one, but then i kind of wanted to run longer so i did. came home a goddamn sweaty mess, but.
another one of those days was tonight, when i ran over an hour and also lost a bunch of time to various wildlife adventures. to wit: 1. giving a wide berth to a skunk, 2. playing chicken with a deer till i managed to convince her to run back into the woods and not onto the road, 3. leaping into the air a little higher than planned when a frog did its own leaping. despite these distractions i managed to run about 7.5 miles, sometimes even hilly ones in something like 70 minutes, so that's not terrible.
it's also humid as fuck; really, i have to start running with water even when it's not hot, because half an hour in i start hallucinating water fountains which turn out to be garbage cans (talk about disappointing).
the only snag lately is that after hurting one of my groin muscles the other weekend, i managed to fix it quickly, only to pull THE OTHER groin muscle at an exercise class -- c'mon, body, this is ridiculous. apart from this nonsense, i have been doing a bunch of crosstraining, which is wise; not much swimming but you see the rain? yes.
anyway, i think everything groinal is back in order; today's running felt if not beautiful then at least consistent. although my Garmin refused to get a satellite because the sky was made of clouds or something, i felt like i was keeping a consistent pace... although now as i write that i remember i was chasing two undergrad girls for three miles, so actually rather than averaging 9 minute miles i was probably flailing for a bit and cruising the rest of the time. oh, well.
overall, i'm feeling pretty good about my running, and i think it's a lot to do with running at night. summer night running is kind of my favourite, even when it's humid. tonight i ran without music or podcasts, and i missed neither. there's that floating, gliding, automatic feeling, and when the sky is quite black it somehow feels like you're swimming.
have i tried describing this before, the feeling like i'm at the ichthyosaurus exhibit? er, well. so: when i was growing up, the Royal Ontario Museum had this dinosaur exhibit, and my favourite bit was this weird little underwater corner, which illustrated some underwater big animal (maybe a whale or something) getting attacked by two or three of these underwater dinosaurs, called ichthyosauri. (were they really dinosaurs? for all i know they were actually fish. this is not the point. it's a running blog. let's move on.) ... the point is that to make it look underwater, they had these blue black lights aimed at the back wall, constantly moving in a gently undulating manner, to simulate the quality of light underwater. right? and it was SO COOL. ... i mean the ichthyosaurs were also cool, but what i loved best was that quality of light. like being bathed in a serene and liquid witching hour.
and THAT is the feeling i get now, as a grownup, when i run in the summer at night.
plus, much less chance of getting ichthyosaured.
i assume.
... run on, folks.
one of those days it POURED and i was running with my iPhone so it kind of turned into speed work. with an awkward hand-held-over-camera-hole look. (for a time afterwards it was scaring me by taking tremendously misty photos, but the next morning it had magically dried/sorted itself out.) since that run involved a beeline home, i ran the next day to complete the first one, but then i kind of wanted to run longer so i did. came home a goddamn sweaty mess, but.
another one of those days was tonight, when i ran over an hour and also lost a bunch of time to various wildlife adventures. to wit: 1. giving a wide berth to a skunk, 2. playing chicken with a deer till i managed to convince her to run back into the woods and not onto the road, 3. leaping into the air a little higher than planned when a frog did its own leaping. despite these distractions i managed to run about 7.5 miles, sometimes even hilly ones in something like 70 minutes, so that's not terrible.
it's also humid as fuck; really, i have to start running with water even when it's not hot, because half an hour in i start hallucinating water fountains which turn out to be garbage cans (talk about disappointing).
the only snag lately is that after hurting one of my groin muscles the other weekend, i managed to fix it quickly, only to pull THE OTHER groin muscle at an exercise class -- c'mon, body, this is ridiculous. apart from this nonsense, i have been doing a bunch of crosstraining, which is wise; not much swimming but you see the rain? yes.
anyway, i think everything groinal is back in order; today's running felt if not beautiful then at least consistent. although my Garmin refused to get a satellite because the sky was made of clouds or something, i felt like i was keeping a consistent pace... although now as i write that i remember i was chasing two undergrad girls for three miles, so actually rather than averaging 9 minute miles i was probably flailing for a bit and cruising the rest of the time. oh, well.
overall, i'm feeling pretty good about my running, and i think it's a lot to do with running at night. summer night running is kind of my favourite, even when it's humid. tonight i ran without music or podcasts, and i missed neither. there's that floating, gliding, automatic feeling, and when the sky is quite black it somehow feels like you're swimming.
have i tried describing this before, the feeling like i'm at the ichthyosaurus exhibit? er, well. so: when i was growing up, the Royal Ontario Museum had this dinosaur exhibit, and my favourite bit was this weird little underwater corner, which illustrated some underwater big animal (maybe a whale or something) getting attacked by two or three of these underwater dinosaurs, called ichthyosauri. (were they really dinosaurs? for all i know they were actually fish. this is not the point. it's a running blog. let's move on.) ... the point is that to make it look underwater, they had these blue black lights aimed at the back wall, constantly moving in a gently undulating manner, to simulate the quality of light underwater. right? and it was SO COOL. ... i mean the ichthyosaurs were also cool, but what i loved best was that quality of light. like being bathed in a serene and liquid witching hour.
and THAT is the feeling i get now, as a grownup, when i run in the summer at night.
plus, much less chance of getting ichthyosaured.
i assume.
... run on, folks.
Monday, June 16, 2014
and then, three miles into the woods, goldilocks hurt her...
... yeah, so i went for a nice long run on saturday and pulled a muscle in my groin.
that is a terrible word. there must be a better word than that. groin??? it sounds like the noise a garbage disposal makes when full of gelatin. UGHHHH. groin groin groin. ow.
anyway, i was three miles into my run. from the car. meaning: i had to run three miles back to the car to get home. great.
for a few seconds i was really worried, but i stretched and massaged myself and got fairly comfortably back on the trail, just running, like, 10-11 min miles instead of 8:30-9 min miles. (sidenote: this stretching and especially the massaging were fairly NSFW activities given the location of my problem; i was doing all of this in an empty parking lot beside the trail, and in the midst of my action i saw had a sign warning of surveillance cameras? are people all going to this wooded lake park to shoot up and get teen pregnant or something? anyway, i hope somebody's got some prize footage of sweaty stinky me doing groin adjustments.)
so, that was annoying and dumb.
sunday, i swam. breast stroke, not doable, given the thing with the whip kick? yeah, no whipping. so, i did a lot of front crawl, which is more tiring so i guess good? and today i did strength and pilates stuff and nothing hurts at all, so tomorrow i will get on the treadmill (look at me! exercising caution! not getting stuck in the woods! like a boss!) and on we stumble.
that is a terrible word. there must be a better word than that. groin??? it sounds like the noise a garbage disposal makes when full of gelatin. UGHHHH. groin groin groin. ow.
anyway, i was three miles into my run. from the car. meaning: i had to run three miles back to the car to get home. great.
for a few seconds i was really worried, but i stretched and massaged myself and got fairly comfortably back on the trail, just running, like, 10-11 min miles instead of 8:30-9 min miles. (sidenote: this stretching and especially the massaging were fairly NSFW activities given the location of my problem; i was doing all of this in an empty parking lot beside the trail, and in the midst of my action i saw had a sign warning of surveillance cameras? are people all going to this wooded lake park to shoot up and get teen pregnant or something? anyway, i hope somebody's got some prize footage of sweaty stinky me doing groin adjustments.)
so, that was annoying and dumb.
sunday, i swam. breast stroke, not doable, given the thing with the whip kick? yeah, no whipping. so, i did a lot of front crawl, which is more tiring so i guess good? and today i did strength and pilates stuff and nothing hurts at all, so tomorrow i will get on the treadmill (look at me! exercising caution! not getting stuck in the woods! like a boss!) and on we stumble.
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
brain dump run interlude
somehow i have reached a state where my mental to-do list right now reads:
1. write running blog post
2. put on bathing suit, get into bathtub, wash dog, necessarily wash self and bathroom
3. have skype meeting with work people across continent
4. strength train
5. possibly make peach pear cobbler
6. back to actual work
so, lots is weird. but i do what the list says, and apparently my head thinks i need to write a blog post.
lessee. i have three topics:
1. the plan
2. the swimming
3. the yelling
The Plan
my plan is to run three days a week until another race appears -- oh, and i signed up for one! it's a 12k trail race near home (where home will be in late july) -- i ran it once before and found it harrrrrrrrrrrrrrd but great. memorable aspects of the race were the woman behind me telling me i was a pace-keeping machine (very sweet) and the fact that the trail is on a biathlon training course (the one with the skiing and the SHOOTING?) so it's important not to get lost. i also remember getting back to the fork where you either finish (if you're doing the short loop) or start again (if, as i am, you're doing the longer loop) and thinking TEMPTATION ... but i did it, and will do it again. the race is July 19th.
prep for this race means: lots of strength training for legs. hills and stairs. (note: there are none of these here? i may need to resort to treadmill action, or driving to a hill and being a crazy person.) and making sure i get, say, three 12-15k runs done in the next month. i do not remember this being an easy course. ... so, sticking with three days a week. it's going fine. i will bring my garmin back out this week to make sure i'm going far enough.
The Swimming
i have also gone back to swimming. last night i swam a kilometre in the luxurious outdoor campus pool at all-laps time, and it was lovely and quiet. i should do more, but really that means i just need to remember how to go faster; perhaps i can aim to work up to 2k, but the problem is the potential for BOREDOM. ... the lifeguards told me there's a 100% blind woman who comes in and does 100 laps a couple times a week, and always finds the edge of the pool dead on. clearly she's got the boredom problem licked?
The Yelling
right, the yelling. i don't think we've discussed the people who yell out of their car windows at people running before? there are various different things that can happen here. last week i got two:
yelling no. 1: late wednesday afternoon, in a suburban condo complex, two skinny guys who looked not quite old enough to drink first honked and then *slowed down* their old station wagon to make faces and yell shit about how bad i looked running. thanks, very helpful.
yelling no. 2: friday around dusk, near the edge of campus, a big car pumping with hip hop beats, full of at least four guys, maybe more, stopped at a red light where i was running across, and a guy in the backseat pointed out the window at me and yelled to the front seat "bro, that's what WE should be doin!!" and gave me a sort of solidarity fist pump.
eh, so. you win some, you lose some. the second car, i flashed a smile and fist-pumped back! the first car... uh, i also gave them a gesture. well, there were two of them and i have two hands so i gave them one each.
sometimes when i am running down the street, a young woman in a pick-up truck will pass me. they almost always wave and smile exuberantly; i don't know why that particular combination is so reliable, but i really like them. they look like they know what i'm doing, even if they don't do it themselves.
k, back to the to-do list. even more than a run that won't go for itself -- this dog is definitely not going to wash herself. so, onwards. will keep you posted.
1. write running blog post
2. put on bathing suit, get into bathtub, wash dog, necessarily wash self and bathroom
3. have skype meeting with work people across continent
4. strength train
5. possibly make peach pear cobbler
6. back to actual work
so, lots is weird. but i do what the list says, and apparently my head thinks i need to write a blog post.
lessee. i have three topics:
1. the plan
2. the swimming
3. the yelling
The Plan
my plan is to run three days a week until another race appears -- oh, and i signed up for one! it's a 12k trail race near home (where home will be in late july) -- i ran it once before and found it harrrrrrrrrrrrrrd but great. memorable aspects of the race were the woman behind me telling me i was a pace-keeping machine (very sweet) and the fact that the trail is on a biathlon training course (the one with the skiing and the SHOOTING?) so it's important not to get lost. i also remember getting back to the fork where you either finish (if you're doing the short loop) or start again (if, as i am, you're doing the longer loop) and thinking TEMPTATION ... but i did it, and will do it again. the race is July 19th.
prep for this race means: lots of strength training for legs. hills and stairs. (note: there are none of these here? i may need to resort to treadmill action, or driving to a hill and being a crazy person.) and making sure i get, say, three 12-15k runs done in the next month. i do not remember this being an easy course. ... so, sticking with three days a week. it's going fine. i will bring my garmin back out this week to make sure i'm going far enough.
The Swimming
i have also gone back to swimming. last night i swam a kilometre in the luxurious outdoor campus pool at all-laps time, and it was lovely and quiet. i should do more, but really that means i just need to remember how to go faster; perhaps i can aim to work up to 2k, but the problem is the potential for BOREDOM. ... the lifeguards told me there's a 100% blind woman who comes in and does 100 laps a couple times a week, and always finds the edge of the pool dead on. clearly she's got the boredom problem licked?
The Yelling
right, the yelling. i don't think we've discussed the people who yell out of their car windows at people running before? there are various different things that can happen here. last week i got two:
yelling no. 1: late wednesday afternoon, in a suburban condo complex, two skinny guys who looked not quite old enough to drink first honked and then *slowed down* their old station wagon to make faces and yell shit about how bad i looked running. thanks, very helpful.
yelling no. 2: friday around dusk, near the edge of campus, a big car pumping with hip hop beats, full of at least four guys, maybe more, stopped at a red light where i was running across, and a guy in the backseat pointed out the window at me and yelled to the front seat "bro, that's what WE should be doin!!" and gave me a sort of solidarity fist pump.
eh, so. you win some, you lose some. the second car, i flashed a smile and fist-pumped back! the first car... uh, i also gave them a gesture. well, there were two of them and i have two hands so i gave them one each.
sometimes when i am running down the street, a young woman in a pick-up truck will pass me. they almost always wave and smile exuberantly; i don't know why that particular combination is so reliable, but i really like them. they look like they know what i'm doing, even if they don't do it themselves.
k, back to the to-do list. even more than a run that won't go for itself -- this dog is definitely not going to wash herself. so, onwards. will keep you posted.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
a bit of optimism from DXA2
so, i ran another half marathon. the Dexter to Ann Arbor half.
it was not my best time. i finished in 2:03.55. that's pretty damn slow for me.
however, i am going to feel good about this. because:
1. it was pretty hot. the wind was lovely and when there was shady it was just fine. but often neither of these things were happening, and then it was pretty hot. (the high today was 29C, but i think it was at most 25C while we were running. still. we're not used to that yet! i've had really only two hot runs so far this year.) and i saw many people (maybe 5?) at the side of the road with firemen or paramedics pouring water over them and checking pulses and so on. safety first, kids.
2. i ran the first 3.5 miles with my maine friend, the one who's made of sterner stuff? apparently it turns out gallbladder surgery does, in fact, slow even her down a tad. so, we ran 10-ish minute miles for that time, and after that i did pull out ahead and finished with an overall 9:27/mile pace, but clearly that meant some pushing. my Garmin could tell me exactly how much, but who cares. i dont' need all those stats. i run on *feel*, man. plus it's in the other room.
3. i'm still not quite back to pre-illness energy levels, i think? it's ok. i need more time to build up my stamina again. ... and so i pushed for much of those remaining 9.5 miles, but i didn't really have a hammer to drop. that's what i had to give without feeling like shit, and i wasn't in the mood to feel like shit. what mood would that be, really? anyway, it wasn't today. that's quite ok.
4. two years ago, i ran this race 8 minutes faster. seriously! i checked. 1:55.53. it was slightly cooler that day, but not so much so. ... but why is this not cause for despair? because last time i was already in better shape, ok, yet also the last two miles WERE THE WORST -- because i had gone out faster than i could maintain for the whole race, and so felt like hell on sweaty toast at the end. to my amazement, i walked three times in those last two miles in 2012. i could SEE the finish, yet i walked!! so, while i finished in 1:56, i also positive splitted like a positive splat. and afterwards wanted to puke/whimper/roll up in a ball.
but today, when i approached the final hill, i was like: ok! almost almost there! can i push a little faster?! ... um, no i can't. but that's ok, because i'm not whimpering or walking! and afterwards i hung out with friends and walked around (still no puking/whimpering) and from how i'm walking right now, obviously i'll be sore tomorrow, but certainly nothing disastrous. i think i will go join the outdoor pool for June tomorrow and swim it off?
so. summer has three months ahead of us. time to get back on the training! onwards!
it was not my best time. i finished in 2:03.55. that's pretty damn slow for me.
however, i am going to feel good about this. because:
1. it was pretty hot. the wind was lovely and when there was shady it was just fine. but often neither of these things were happening, and then it was pretty hot. (the high today was 29C, but i think it was at most 25C while we were running. still. we're not used to that yet! i've had really only two hot runs so far this year.) and i saw many people (maybe 5?) at the side of the road with firemen or paramedics pouring water over them and checking pulses and so on. safety first, kids.
2. i ran the first 3.5 miles with my maine friend, the one who's made of sterner stuff? apparently it turns out gallbladder surgery does, in fact, slow even her down a tad. so, we ran 10-ish minute miles for that time, and after that i did pull out ahead and finished with an overall 9:27/mile pace, but clearly that meant some pushing. my Garmin could tell me exactly how much, but who cares. i dont' need all those stats. i run on *feel*, man. plus it's in the other room.
3. i'm still not quite back to pre-illness energy levels, i think? it's ok. i need more time to build up my stamina again. ... and so i pushed for much of those remaining 9.5 miles, but i didn't really have a hammer to drop. that's what i had to give without feeling like shit, and i wasn't in the mood to feel like shit. what mood would that be, really? anyway, it wasn't today. that's quite ok.
4. two years ago, i ran this race 8 minutes faster. seriously! i checked. 1:55.53. it was slightly cooler that day, but not so much so. ... but why is this not cause for despair? because last time i was already in better shape, ok, yet also the last two miles WERE THE WORST -- because i had gone out faster than i could maintain for the whole race, and so felt like hell on sweaty toast at the end. to my amazement, i walked three times in those last two miles in 2012. i could SEE the finish, yet i walked!! so, while i finished in 1:56, i also positive splitted like a positive splat. and afterwards wanted to puke/whimper/roll up in a ball.
but today, when i approached the final hill, i was like: ok! almost almost there! can i push a little faster?! ... um, no i can't. but that's ok, because i'm not whimpering or walking! and afterwards i hung out with friends and walked around (still no puking/whimpering) and from how i'm walking right now, obviously i'll be sore tomorrow, but certainly nothing disastrous. i think i will go join the outdoor pool for June tomorrow and swim it off?
so. summer has three months ahead of us. time to get back on the training! onwards!
Friday, May 30, 2014
two long runs and a short skirt
Re: Long Run One: last Sunday.
1. my aunt (a verteran niagara region cyclist) disagrees with me, but the fact is: trails should have water fountains. certainly trails that go past public parks, and which are not groomed in the winter so clearly are for the summer months, in southern ontario... yeah, they should have water fountains (how do none of those parks have them either?)
but the Welland Canal Trail? ... no water fountains.
result? after about 4.5 miles running shadeless hot sun with no water, i had to schmooze another runner on the trail to help me figure out a place to run off trail and buy gatorade. when i finally acquired an anti-freeze coloured beverage, it was like The Oatmeal's heavenly experience of Japanese long run purple drink (my internet connection on this train won't let me look at the images required to assess the link, but if you don't know about this Oatmeal post, go google it). this Gatorade was joy, survival, soulbalm, life-giving energy, unicorn tears, etc etc.
i felt pretty bad that i hadn't been able to buy lemonade from the kids a block before the convenience store, but the thing is they didn't take debit. when i expressed this sadness to them, one little girl said: "that's what the last adult said!" and the second little girl muttered to the third: "we gotta get a machine..."
2. the whole run was about 11 miles, maybe a little more. it involved running along a canal, above and below and around the locks and some huge boats chugging uphill; first i ran down said hill, and then eventually i turned around and ran back up. turns out this felt a lot harder than it was -- because having forgotten my garmin, i did some pre-run google pedometer measuring... and i didnt' realize i was measuring in miles, not kilometres. um, so my long run was definitely long. good.
Re: Next long run? I've done a couple hot/humid short runs since then, with medium success... but the real deal is i'm running this 'rolling hills' half marathon on Sunday, and I'm in an oddly good mental space about that. It's only supposed to be between 15 and 20C during race time, and my last three runs have all been at 25C or warmer, so I have hopes that I'm a little bit ready. (Not dying of fever or pre-strep like last time, so that's gotta be a bonus?)
My goal is really just to finish under 2 hours, which shouldn't be hard unless the weather sucks -- well, or if my running partner is having a rough day (which she claims is her every run lately, but I have seen her battle through crazy before so who knows.)
Re: the short skirts -- in particular, the men reacting to the short skirts. Sometimes before I run a race I try to read blog posts from other runners of that race, old race reports and what have you? And somehow I keep coming across reports from male Michigan runners which all comment on the sexiness (or otherwise) of the female runners around them on the course. Complaining about women who don't seem to have put thought into the attractiveness of their running gear. And that running skirts are stupid because they prevent men from checking out girls' asses. And so on.
This advanced fuckwitting douchebaggery can just go to hell.
I admit that I complain when (usually elderly) men are running wearing very short shorts, and I am worried I'm going to see their junk by accident. I feel that's a reasonable cultural norm: no flapping genitals, from anybody, regardless of sex or age. It's not because I think the old men runners owe me their effort at looking sexy while they run! You don't even have to look human; I hardly request more than I provide. You just need to be vaguely decent and maybe not fling your sweat on me. Otherwise, nothing that isn't my running is about me. ... And if anybody is running races to assess other people's hotness, their new assigned task is to stop being such a jackass and get a new hobby. Like maybe running in place alone and silent in a locked room where they can't bother anybody else. Very good.
Till Sunday morning: I will chill. I will stretch. I will eat some pasta tomorrow night. I will take a little more advil (some lady business unpleasantness, nice timing, whatever.) I will stretch more. And I will run me a good one Sunday morning!
... And then it will be time for the formation of real training schedules and summer racing plans. But not yet. Wish me luck.
1. my aunt (a verteran niagara region cyclist) disagrees with me, but the fact is: trails should have water fountains. certainly trails that go past public parks, and which are not groomed in the winter so clearly are for the summer months, in southern ontario... yeah, they should have water fountains (how do none of those parks have them either?)
but the Welland Canal Trail? ... no water fountains.
result? after about 4.5 miles running shadeless hot sun with no water, i had to schmooze another runner on the trail to help me figure out a place to run off trail and buy gatorade. when i finally acquired an anti-freeze coloured beverage, it was like The Oatmeal's heavenly experience of Japanese long run purple drink (my internet connection on this train won't let me look at the images required to assess the link, but if you don't know about this Oatmeal post, go google it). this Gatorade was joy, survival, soulbalm, life-giving energy, unicorn tears, etc etc.
i felt pretty bad that i hadn't been able to buy lemonade from the kids a block before the convenience store, but the thing is they didn't take debit. when i expressed this sadness to them, one little girl said: "that's what the last adult said!" and the second little girl muttered to the third: "we gotta get a machine..."
2. the whole run was about 11 miles, maybe a little more. it involved running along a canal, above and below and around the locks and some huge boats chugging uphill; first i ran down said hill, and then eventually i turned around and ran back up. turns out this felt a lot harder than it was -- because having forgotten my garmin, i did some pre-run google pedometer measuring... and i didnt' realize i was measuring in miles, not kilometres. um, so my long run was definitely long. good.
Re: Next long run? I've done a couple hot/humid short runs since then, with medium success... but the real deal is i'm running this 'rolling hills' half marathon on Sunday, and I'm in an oddly good mental space about that. It's only supposed to be between 15 and 20C during race time, and my last three runs have all been at 25C or warmer, so I have hopes that I'm a little bit ready. (Not dying of fever or pre-strep like last time, so that's gotta be a bonus?)
My goal is really just to finish under 2 hours, which shouldn't be hard unless the weather sucks -- well, or if my running partner is having a rough day (which she claims is her every run lately, but I have seen her battle through crazy before so who knows.)
Re: the short skirts -- in particular, the men reacting to the short skirts. Sometimes before I run a race I try to read blog posts from other runners of that race, old race reports and what have you? And somehow I keep coming across reports from male Michigan runners which all comment on the sexiness (or otherwise) of the female runners around them on the course. Complaining about women who don't seem to have put thought into the attractiveness of their running gear. And that running skirts are stupid because they prevent men from checking out girls' asses. And so on.
This advanced fuckwitting douchebaggery can just go to hell.
I admit that I complain when (usually elderly) men are running wearing very short shorts, and I am worried I'm going to see their junk by accident. I feel that's a reasonable cultural norm: no flapping genitals, from anybody, regardless of sex or age. It's not because I think the old men runners owe me their effort at looking sexy while they run! You don't even have to look human; I hardly request more than I provide. You just need to be vaguely decent and maybe not fling your sweat on me. Otherwise, nothing that isn't my running is about me. ... And if anybody is running races to assess other people's hotness, their new assigned task is to stop being such a jackass and get a new hobby. Like maybe running in place alone and silent in a locked room where they can't bother anybody else. Very good.
Till Sunday morning: I will chill. I will stretch. I will eat some pasta tomorrow night. I will take a little more advil (some lady business unpleasantness, nice timing, whatever.) I will stretch more. And I will run me a good one Sunday morning!
... And then it will be time for the formation of real training schedules and summer racing plans. But not yet. Wish me luck.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
running the niagara peninsula
the short version:
1. i went for a half hour run on the path beside a university, and ended up scaling cliffs.
2. i went for a long run along a canal, and ended up running 11 miles in the blinding sun.
i will return to report more later today -- with pictures! also with grumbling. but mostly with happy.
1. i went for a half hour run on the path beside a university, and ended up scaling cliffs.
2. i went for a long run along a canal, and ended up running 11 miles in the blinding sun.
i will return to report more later today -- with pictures! also with grumbling. but mostly with happy.
Monday, May 19, 2014
running while i'm judging you
today! i ran today. every second day, ish, is how much i am going to run for the forseeable future, is a thing i decided. i like this plan. and so i ran today --3.5 or 4 miles, not quite sure. i will probably wear a garmin next time, even.
today's run was focused on running slightly faster than was comfortable, noticing that my legs were tired (not so surprising) and trying to shup up the super-judgy voices in my head.
on this last point: jesus, who invited that bitch into my head? somehow i get on a running trail and suddenly i am the world's greatest authority on why everyone else running/biking/walking there is an embarrassment to physical activity: they are running way too slow or too fast, or they don't know what to wear, are those even running shoes, why are they dressed for a completely different climate, who are they trying to impress with that outfit, oh my god that stride is going to give them IT trouble, that other stride will give them cholera, how are they running with that style of headphones, why are you walking now of all places, who the hell gave you that douchey haircut... it is the worst internal monologue ever. and of course at the same time i am smiling and nodding acknowledgment of all the people passing me, and meanwhile Cruella DeJogger is in me snarkkng away...
and the worst thing is that i *know* at the same time that if i am putting in any amount of above-comfort-level effort (which is when this voice really gets its gameface on, uh if voices had faces), i am the ugly-cry equivalent of a runner. i have seen those race pics, people, and i am not a delicate flower when trying to hustle. i look ROUGH. the term "wounded water buffalo" has come to more than one mind. ... this makes the judgey judgment all the worse! they would have every right to be looking back at me thinking "whoa, splotchy hiss-breather, maybe don't make that face in public!" ... and yet, i snark on.
anyway, i ran some and sweat some and snarked some and then laughed at myself for being an idiot. oh, and i swallowed TWO goddamn bugs. karma, presumably. but anyway it was a another run to get me back on track, so i will take it.
today's run was focused on running slightly faster than was comfortable, noticing that my legs were tired (not so surprising) and trying to shup up the super-judgy voices in my head.
on this last point: jesus, who invited that bitch into my head? somehow i get on a running trail and suddenly i am the world's greatest authority on why everyone else running/biking/walking there is an embarrassment to physical activity: they are running way too slow or too fast, or they don't know what to wear, are those even running shoes, why are they dressed for a completely different climate, who are they trying to impress with that outfit, oh my god that stride is going to give them IT trouble, that other stride will give them cholera, how are they running with that style of headphones, why are you walking now of all places, who the hell gave you that douchey haircut... it is the worst internal monologue ever. and of course at the same time i am smiling and nodding acknowledgment of all the people passing me, and meanwhile Cruella DeJogger is in me snarkkng away...
and the worst thing is that i *know* at the same time that if i am putting in any amount of above-comfort-level effort (which is when this voice really gets its gameface on, uh if voices had faces), i am the ugly-cry equivalent of a runner. i have seen those race pics, people, and i am not a delicate flower when trying to hustle. i look ROUGH. the term "wounded water buffalo" has come to more than one mind. ... this makes the judgey judgment all the worse! they would have every right to be looking back at me thinking "whoa, splotchy hiss-breather, maybe don't make that face in public!" ... and yet, i snark on.
anyway, i ran some and sweat some and snarked some and then laughed at myself for being an idiot. oh, and i swallowed TWO goddamn bugs. karma, presumably. but anyway it was a another run to get me back on track, so i will take it.
Saturday, May 17, 2014
the bumpy roads, that i'm back on
and, life, and three months happened.
here are some updates:
1. i ran that Around The Bay relay 15k at the end of march like a complete boss. took me about 1:20, and felt great. my teammate did her back half (with all the hills, mind you) in like 1:11, but we are not going to feel bad! in fact i felt awesome, and this was very affirming because i had been quite worried that my training was insufficient. but i felt like: i could have happily done another 6k! so the spring half marathons will be NBD.
this, you will now guess, was the height of foolishness.
2. training continued as it had been: running enough, but not running far enough. the days after the Around The Bay i was sore, but no tragedy. and so i kept it up -- not running far enough (weather continued to be barking loopy, with hot and ice and sleet and wind and flood and mud and sunshine in a total lottery-type rotation), but still getting miles done. got some new shoes, did some runs with (faster) friends (little bit of pain), fought my IT band a little...
but then! it was time for the April half marathon. run by the police, in fact. two big climbs out of (and back into) the river valley. the course of my first half ever, back to conquer it again, now like more of a pro. right!... well, no, i was still going to be undertrained, but i'd done two 15k-type distances since ATB, so i expected to hurt the last few miles, but manage it fine.
3. 48 hours before the race, i got a fever. ugh. like, shivering/sweating in bed all night type fever. nice, good, great. obviously i had no time for this, but i cancelled all my friday work outside the house and tried to get it together. by saturday night i felt pretty good again, so i decided sunday morning race time was a tentative go.
4. my friend picked me up, drove me to the race, provided a calming presence which let me believe it would be fine. we got the starting line, the weather was unclear, i was obviously going to be too hot as always at march/april races... and we were off! and i was doomed!
at 2k, i thought 'this was a bad idea'. at 4k as we were climbing up out of the valley i was like 'well, my legs are tired today'. at 6k i felt a silent tear of sorrow fall down my cheek -- like in a black and white movie, silent and tragic, it was really moving you guys -- and i thought really seriously, for the 10th time, about quitting.
thinking of quitting 6k in is ... well, you have 15k left. that's a long time to spend deciding if you should have quit, like, an hour ago.
but i didn't quit. i found somewhere in my running soul this bloody-minded determination of endorphins and stubbornness and former fat girl whatsit, or something? ... i don't know where i found it. but i was like: i know the rest of this route, i've run all of it countless times, and there's only one more big hill, and fuck it, you are NOT going to quit. so i ate all my swedish fish, and i drank energy drink at every aid station (which by the way tasted like sweet phlegm -- da FUCK is that flavour? why did its inventor hate people with taste buds?), and i silently cursed, and i never (really) walked, and i finished.
took me 2:02, whereas on a good day i think i should have been able to manage 1:56 or so. but when i finished ... yeah, well first i felt like shit. then i ate oranges and bitched at my friend and her friend and snotted a bit. and then i felt better!
5. but by that night? ... oooooh, not so much better.
two days later i headed for vancouver, where i did work and talked to lots of people and ate out and ran around Stanley Park's gorgeous sea wall. i was stiff sometimes and my throat was sore, but i sort of tried to ignore the fact that my fever would still come back some nights, and i was mostly keeping it together but still somehow ill.
when i got home from vancouver i had 36 hours turn around time, and then i flew across the continent for a two month stay. and once i arrived?... then, the sick really took over. by the end of that week, i had to give in and seek medical help, get immediately diagnosed with strep throat (which was by then killing me) and languish suffering until the amoxicillin kicked in. even after that, there was weakness and constant napping. i did some yoga and practically invented new moves like Napping Warrior.
and so with one sick thing and another -- i missed TWELVE days of running. may 3-15. looking back at my vaguely-annotated history: since 2010, the only times i've gone 12 days without running involved either hospitalization or crutches. this was a serious lack of running.
have i mentioned i'm signed up for another half in two weeks? ahem.
6. so thursday evening, i went for my first comeback run. it was 40 minutes. it was not fast (garmin is banished right now so as not to cause despair). it was in no way impressive except that i did it, and i felt fine afterwards. woot! last night, more yogalates to even things out.
7. so then today i met the friend who is running this half in two weeks with me. it's from Dexter to Ann Arbor, Michigan. we ran it together two (?) years ago. we both had bad races. well, we both executed things incorrectly. for my part, i will say that it was quite hot, and i made an ambitious start, and i held this great pace until mile 11, when... the proverbial wheels came off, rolled into a ditch, burst into flames and got the plague. so, this year was supposed to be a bit of redemption. however we are both feeling a little underprepared (see, all of this post so far)... and we have been having slightly hysterical facebook conversations like: so! we're running DXA2! we're possibly gonna die? yes, true. ok, good, let's die together...
8. right, so we ran today. she has been doing actual long runs, like she's paying attention, and so this week was her longest training run: 12 miles. i thought, probably after one 40 minute run in 13 days, let's not run 12 miles. just a nod to sanity for a change. ... so we met up, and i planned to peel off at some point. the running together was perfectly easy (always easier to run with someone else...) but then when i peeled off i was alone, and i also didn't want to retrace my steps but that meant taking a detour... and so turns out (i just checked) i ran 8 miles.
those 8 miles took me 80 minutes, although there was a fair amount of waiting at those lights and pausing to text, so i think i probably was running about 9:50 average. that's obviously slow, but it's still only my second run in recovery, so i'm going to count this as a win.
9. overall thoughts: running thus far this year has been an exercise in willpower. i have had some great runs, and some great endorphin highs, but it hasn't been the quite the same joyous affair. however, energy is returning, and warm weather is here/coming/about to get gross (uh, 2/3), and i see some good running times ahead.
10. after DXA2, though -- i am kind of without goals. i need another race to aim for! ... i think that's what i'm feeling, anyway. there has been a lot of loose talk about summer 2015 races -- it seems i know some runners with a thing for the Yukon, land of the Midnight Sun (bonus) and Epic Mosquitos (red flag)... but let's burn that bridge when we come to it next year. more to the point, what will i be doing with the rest of my summer?
so: on the lookout for an epic october-type race. and maybe a trail half in september. and something else in july... probably should leave that one till i am back to the tundra, since michigan in july is often like a humid soup full of hot stinksteam, and actually i'd rather run in the snow. ... so! onwards. including foam rolling and real stretching and more weight training and speedwork (eventually!) and nuun-drinking and the whole sweaty thing again
as for right now: recovery calories.
here are some updates:
1. i ran that Around The Bay relay 15k at the end of march like a complete boss. took me about 1:20, and felt great. my teammate did her back half (with all the hills, mind you) in like 1:11, but we are not going to feel bad! in fact i felt awesome, and this was very affirming because i had been quite worried that my training was insufficient. but i felt like: i could have happily done another 6k! so the spring half marathons will be NBD.
this, you will now guess, was the height of foolishness.
2. training continued as it had been: running enough, but not running far enough. the days after the Around The Bay i was sore, but no tragedy. and so i kept it up -- not running far enough (weather continued to be barking loopy, with hot and ice and sleet and wind and flood and mud and sunshine in a total lottery-type rotation), but still getting miles done. got some new shoes, did some runs with (faster) friends (little bit of pain), fought my IT band a little...
but then! it was time for the April half marathon. run by the police, in fact. two big climbs out of (and back into) the river valley. the course of my first half ever, back to conquer it again, now like more of a pro. right!... well, no, i was still going to be undertrained, but i'd done two 15k-type distances since ATB, so i expected to hurt the last few miles, but manage it fine.
3. 48 hours before the race, i got a fever. ugh. like, shivering/sweating in bed all night type fever. nice, good, great. obviously i had no time for this, but i cancelled all my friday work outside the house and tried to get it together. by saturday night i felt pretty good again, so i decided sunday morning race time was a tentative go.
4. my friend picked me up, drove me to the race, provided a calming presence which let me believe it would be fine. we got the starting line, the weather was unclear, i was obviously going to be too hot as always at march/april races... and we were off! and i was doomed!
at 2k, i thought 'this was a bad idea'. at 4k as we were climbing up out of the valley i was like 'well, my legs are tired today'. at 6k i felt a silent tear of sorrow fall down my cheek -- like in a black and white movie, silent and tragic, it was really moving you guys -- and i thought really seriously, for the 10th time, about quitting.
thinking of quitting 6k in is ... well, you have 15k left. that's a long time to spend deciding if you should have quit, like, an hour ago.
but i didn't quit. i found somewhere in my running soul this bloody-minded determination of endorphins and stubbornness and former fat girl whatsit, or something? ... i don't know where i found it. but i was like: i know the rest of this route, i've run all of it countless times, and there's only one more big hill, and fuck it, you are NOT going to quit. so i ate all my swedish fish, and i drank energy drink at every aid station (which by the way tasted like sweet phlegm -- da FUCK is that flavour? why did its inventor hate people with taste buds?), and i silently cursed, and i never (really) walked, and i finished.
took me 2:02, whereas on a good day i think i should have been able to manage 1:56 or so. but when i finished ... yeah, well first i felt like shit. then i ate oranges and bitched at my friend and her friend and snotted a bit. and then i felt better!
5. but by that night? ... oooooh, not so much better.
two days later i headed for vancouver, where i did work and talked to lots of people and ate out and ran around Stanley Park's gorgeous sea wall. i was stiff sometimes and my throat was sore, but i sort of tried to ignore the fact that my fever would still come back some nights, and i was mostly keeping it together but still somehow ill.
when i got home from vancouver i had 36 hours turn around time, and then i flew across the continent for a two month stay. and once i arrived?... then, the sick really took over. by the end of that week, i had to give in and seek medical help, get immediately diagnosed with strep throat (which was by then killing me) and languish suffering until the amoxicillin kicked in. even after that, there was weakness and constant napping. i did some yoga and practically invented new moves like Napping Warrior.
and so with one sick thing and another -- i missed TWELVE days of running. may 3-15. looking back at my vaguely-annotated history: since 2010, the only times i've gone 12 days without running involved either hospitalization or crutches. this was a serious lack of running.
have i mentioned i'm signed up for another half in two weeks? ahem.
6. so thursday evening, i went for my first comeback run. it was 40 minutes. it was not fast (garmin is banished right now so as not to cause despair). it was in no way impressive except that i did it, and i felt fine afterwards. woot! last night, more yogalates to even things out.
7. so then today i met the friend who is running this half in two weeks with me. it's from Dexter to Ann Arbor, Michigan. we ran it together two (?) years ago. we both had bad races. well, we both executed things incorrectly. for my part, i will say that it was quite hot, and i made an ambitious start, and i held this great pace until mile 11, when... the proverbial wheels came off, rolled into a ditch, burst into flames and got the plague. so, this year was supposed to be a bit of redemption. however we are both feeling a little underprepared (see, all of this post so far)... and we have been having slightly hysterical facebook conversations like: so! we're running DXA2! we're possibly gonna die? yes, true. ok, good, let's die together...
8. right, so we ran today. she has been doing actual long runs, like she's paying attention, and so this week was her longest training run: 12 miles. i thought, probably after one 40 minute run in 13 days, let's not run 12 miles. just a nod to sanity for a change. ... so we met up, and i planned to peel off at some point. the running together was perfectly easy (always easier to run with someone else...) but then when i peeled off i was alone, and i also didn't want to retrace my steps but that meant taking a detour... and so turns out (i just checked) i ran 8 miles.
those 8 miles took me 80 minutes, although there was a fair amount of waiting at those lights and pausing to text, so i think i probably was running about 9:50 average. that's obviously slow, but it's still only my second run in recovery, so i'm going to count this as a win.
9. overall thoughts: running thus far this year has been an exercise in willpower. i have had some great runs, and some great endorphin highs, but it hasn't been the quite the same joyous affair. however, energy is returning, and warm weather is here/coming/about to get gross (uh, 2/3), and i see some good running times ahead.
10. after DXA2, though -- i am kind of without goals. i need another race to aim for! ... i think that's what i'm feeling, anyway. there has been a lot of loose talk about summer 2015 races -- it seems i know some runners with a thing for the Yukon, land of the Midnight Sun (bonus) and Epic Mosquitos (red flag)... but let's burn that bridge when we come to it next year. more to the point, what will i be doing with the rest of my summer?
so: on the lookout for an epic october-type race. and maybe a trail half in september. and something else in july... probably should leave that one till i am back to the tundra, since michigan in july is often like a humid soup full of hot stinksteam, and actually i'd rather run in the snow. ... so! onwards. including foam rolling and real stretching and more weight training and speedwork (eventually!) and nuun-drinking and the whole sweaty thing again
as for right now: recovery calories.
Sunday, February 9, 2014
upkeep
so, the last month in running. here's where i'm at:
1. i was supposed to run a cold 10k the week after getting back to the tundra. unfortunately, there was this weather extravanganza of suck and ice and snow, and it took me five days to get home after christmas. YES LETS NOT DISCUSS THIS. so instead, i got back to edmonton like 26 hours before the race, and i decided that wasn't going to happen.
2. instead, though, i went to victoria BC a couple weeks back to visit old friends, and we ran a 10k on vancouver island instead. the island is really beautiful, and the run was lovely. it was sunny and like 8C, so really who is complaining in january? i COULD complain about the fact that my companion in the race gets no sleep because he has small children and hasn't been running much at all lately, and yet ran like a 48 minute 10k blast him... but i won't! because first, i ran about 52:30, which is a great time for me, especially since the allegedly flat course was obviously more rolling than flat. and because second, for reasons that are too complicated but involve the small children and other scheduling issues, we also had run nearly 10k the day before, so it was a slightly amped up and yet no one was a wreck the next day or anything.
3. my 15k bit of Around The Bay is in about 7 weeks! this is exciting. to prepare, i have been ... well, running enough but not long enough. there's been a fair bit of treadmill action lately, which makes me do speedwork but not tempo runs of 7-10 miles like i'm needing. i did run 90 minutes in the bleak freezing ice at one point a couple weeks ago, but i've mostly been maxing out at an hour on the roads, and that's not enough. resolution: tuesdays and wednesdays are potential outside run days, and unless it's terrifically unpleasant i will find a way to run at least 75 minutes outside one of those times. when you start early enough that you've got sun the whole time, and you bring BOTH pairs of fleece pants, totally doable.
3.5 i just checked the weather for this tuesday and wednesday... yeah, well, maybe wednesday.
4. but that speedwork? yeah, that's actually going well! the other day i ran a 25:30 5k on the treadmill, and it wasn't easy but i did it and without any of the adrenaline of race conditions, so this sub-25 is getting closer to reality, people.
5. summer running plans! ... i don't have any yet. i am slightly unsettled by that. but lots of things are up in the air about what happens between mid april and end of august, so i should just sit down with a calendar and all my devices and some wine and get everyone to agree to some dates and then i'll have space to plan in? however: i am starting to think a destination race is in the cards for me... yeah? anyone want to bid?
6. you know what i can't wait to do again? stairs! seriously. they are so EFFECTIVE, but right now due to ice they are NOT AN OPTION. one night i finished a run with some stair sprints on the way home, except it was just sprint three steps and then walk gingerly to the top or risk maiming. ughn.
and so we're up to speed i think. overall i'm doing a fairly good job of not hibernating and/or eating like a starved woodland creature despite the depths of the season, so i'm cautiously optimistic that it can be an excellent running year.
will try to make it back here soon... i should at least start posting long run updates, because i KNOW interesting stuff happens on them, but by the time i thaw out at home i forget... well, i guess maybe nothing interesting actually happens. but nevermind, i'll think of something.
1. i was supposed to run a cold 10k the week after getting back to the tundra. unfortunately, there was this weather extravanganza of suck and ice and snow, and it took me five days to get home after christmas. YES LETS NOT DISCUSS THIS. so instead, i got back to edmonton like 26 hours before the race, and i decided that wasn't going to happen.
2. instead, though, i went to victoria BC a couple weeks back to visit old friends, and we ran a 10k on vancouver island instead. the island is really beautiful, and the run was lovely. it was sunny and like 8C, so really who is complaining in january? i COULD complain about the fact that my companion in the race gets no sleep because he has small children and hasn't been running much at all lately, and yet ran like a 48 minute 10k blast him... but i won't! because first, i ran about 52:30, which is a great time for me, especially since the allegedly flat course was obviously more rolling than flat. and because second, for reasons that are too complicated but involve the small children and other scheduling issues, we also had run nearly 10k the day before, so it was a slightly amped up and yet no one was a wreck the next day or anything.
3. my 15k bit of Around The Bay is in about 7 weeks! this is exciting. to prepare, i have been ... well, running enough but not long enough. there's been a fair bit of treadmill action lately, which makes me do speedwork but not tempo runs of 7-10 miles like i'm needing. i did run 90 minutes in the bleak freezing ice at one point a couple weeks ago, but i've mostly been maxing out at an hour on the roads, and that's not enough. resolution: tuesdays and wednesdays are potential outside run days, and unless it's terrifically unpleasant i will find a way to run at least 75 minutes outside one of those times. when you start early enough that you've got sun the whole time, and you bring BOTH pairs of fleece pants, totally doable.
3.5 i just checked the weather for this tuesday and wednesday... yeah, well, maybe wednesday.
4. but that speedwork? yeah, that's actually going well! the other day i ran a 25:30 5k on the treadmill, and it wasn't easy but i did it and without any of the adrenaline of race conditions, so this sub-25 is getting closer to reality, people.
5. summer running plans! ... i don't have any yet. i am slightly unsettled by that. but lots of things are up in the air about what happens between mid april and end of august, so i should just sit down with a calendar and all my devices and some wine and get everyone to agree to some dates and then i'll have space to plan in? however: i am starting to think a destination race is in the cards for me... yeah? anyone want to bid?
6. you know what i can't wait to do again? stairs! seriously. they are so EFFECTIVE, but right now due to ice they are NOT AN OPTION. one night i finished a run with some stair sprints on the way home, except it was just sprint three steps and then walk gingerly to the top or risk maiming. ughn.
and so we're up to speed i think. overall i'm doing a fairly good job of not hibernating and/or eating like a starved woodland creature despite the depths of the season, so i'm cautiously optimistic that it can be an excellent running year.
will try to make it back here soon... i should at least start posting long run updates, because i KNOW interesting stuff happens on them, but by the time i thaw out at home i forget... well, i guess maybe nothing interesting actually happens. but nevermind, i'll think of something.
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
goal-less running
The thing about this is that it's just like other years, except less so! Hmm.
At the dawn of 2012, I had two life goals for the first part of the year: one of them was about getting a new job (don't ask how it went) and one was to run Hamilton's Around The Bay 30k race, which I did and felt great about. It was the longest distance I'd ever run! It was hard but I came in 10 mins faster than my goal! Woo!
At the dawn of 2013, I had two life goals for the year: one of them was about getting one of *two* new jobs (don't ask) and one was to run the Detroit marathon. And the running one -- I DID GOOD (you might have heard.)
But 12 hours into 2014: I am zero for two. No new job plan. And no new run goal either.
(I do have a work goal for the year, which involves finishing a book sooner rather than latter, but this is not that blog, so again you are encouraged not to ask.)
You may have noticed that I am doing better with one goal type than the other? So maybe I should plan TWO running goals for this year, figuring I'll reach at least one? ... Wait, that's probably not the best idea.
I have not run a race since that pretty decent 5k in December, because the Boxing Day 10-Miler was screwed up by a pretty bonkers Christmas involving an ice storm and 60 hour power outages and blizzards and anyway, nothing doing. I did run twice over Christmas, despite the ice, and I've done a couple treadmill workouts that nearly flattened me in an invigorating way. But I'm not exactly at my peak.
Ok, so what's the plan? I am registered for two upcoming races:
1. Next weekend (after my first week of return to work, teaching, different timezone, back in my condo for the first time in 7 months, general hysteria) I'm running a low-key city trail race... uh, I think it's 10k? That's my normal outside distance these days, so that should be a decent tune-up.
2. At the end of March is the ATB race, and I'm signed up to run the first half! In relay with a lovely (much faster) friend. So, 15k, hopefully at a decent clip (I've emphasized to her the negative split we will be achieving, which she seems fine with, but I must not let down the side too awkwardly.)
I waited too long to register for a Hypothermic Half, and both cities I'd want to run in are sold out (plus that's the race at which I dramatically slipped on ice and landed squarely on my tailbone a few years ago, and my coccyx is fine but my pride may not have fully healed) ... so, ok, February is for training.
But after that??? I need some goals. I need a spring goal, a summer goal, a fall goal. At least some subset of these goals.
However! Maybe today is not the day to set them? ... New Year's Day is a heady time. You can dream big and unrealistic. You can probably sign yourself up for a marathon, if you're not careful. I remain pretty sure that's not a good idea. ... I do have my eye on this 20 mile SERIOUS TRAIL event at the end of August on Vancouver's North Shore, that I'm almost positive would kill me ( the 20-mile option being the shortest...)
So this morning when I got dressed, I put on some running clothes. I am about to download a fresh crop of running songs -- nothing I ran to in 2013; everything new. And in an hour I'll go out for a run. It's snowing, it's -10 and I am not entirely sure where my fleece pants are, so at first I will probably look like one of those resolution-makers who isn't pleased with what they've signed up for. But then I will head up the snowy path to the weird empty subdivision, past some windswept horsebarns and maybe even around the 1 mile manicured loop of the great green gleaming credit union. I will run, and I won't have much of a goal, and I won't break any speed records, and I'll come home alright.
Next week, maybe the week after, I will let myself dream big. This week, I will brace myself for the new year, the upcoming stresses. My only goal for now will be to run three days a week, no matter what, until I have a bigger goal. And I'm going to keep run-blogging, to keep the goals in sight, and to keep talking myself into getting better, at whatever it is that I'm doing.
Run good, new year! Run good. Stay tuned.
At the dawn of 2012, I had two life goals for the first part of the year: one of them was about getting a new job (don't ask how it went) and one was to run Hamilton's Around The Bay 30k race, which I did and felt great about. It was the longest distance I'd ever run! It was hard but I came in 10 mins faster than my goal! Woo!
At the dawn of 2013, I had two life goals for the year: one of them was about getting one of *two* new jobs (don't ask) and one was to run the Detroit marathon. And the running one -- I DID GOOD (you might have heard.)
But 12 hours into 2014: I am zero for two. No new job plan. And no new run goal either.
(I do have a work goal for the year, which involves finishing a book sooner rather than latter, but this is not that blog, so again you are encouraged not to ask.)
You may have noticed that I am doing better with one goal type than the other? So maybe I should plan TWO running goals for this year, figuring I'll reach at least one? ... Wait, that's probably not the best idea.
I have not run a race since that pretty decent 5k in December, because the Boxing Day 10-Miler was screwed up by a pretty bonkers Christmas involving an ice storm and 60 hour power outages and blizzards and anyway, nothing doing. I did run twice over Christmas, despite the ice, and I've done a couple treadmill workouts that nearly flattened me in an invigorating way. But I'm not exactly at my peak.
Ok, so what's the plan? I am registered for two upcoming races:
1. Next weekend (after my first week of return to work, teaching, different timezone, back in my condo for the first time in 7 months, general hysteria) I'm running a low-key city trail race... uh, I think it's 10k? That's my normal outside distance these days, so that should be a decent tune-up.
2. At the end of March is the ATB race, and I'm signed up to run the first half! In relay with a lovely (much faster) friend. So, 15k, hopefully at a decent clip (I've emphasized to her the negative split we will be achieving, which she seems fine with, but I must not let down the side too awkwardly.)
I waited too long to register for a Hypothermic Half, and both cities I'd want to run in are sold out (plus that's the race at which I dramatically slipped on ice and landed squarely on my tailbone a few years ago, and my coccyx is fine but my pride may not have fully healed) ... so, ok, February is for training.
But after that??? I need some goals. I need a spring goal, a summer goal, a fall goal. At least some subset of these goals.
However! Maybe today is not the day to set them? ... New Year's Day is a heady time. You can dream big and unrealistic. You can probably sign yourself up for a marathon, if you're not careful. I remain pretty sure that's not a good idea. ... I do have my eye on this 20 mile SERIOUS TRAIL event at the end of August on Vancouver's North Shore, that I'm almost positive would kill me ( the 20-mile option being the shortest...)
So this morning when I got dressed, I put on some running clothes. I am about to download a fresh crop of running songs -- nothing I ran to in 2013; everything new. And in an hour I'll go out for a run. It's snowing, it's -10 and I am not entirely sure where my fleece pants are, so at first I will probably look like one of those resolution-makers who isn't pleased with what they've signed up for. But then I will head up the snowy path to the weird empty subdivision, past some windswept horsebarns and maybe even around the 1 mile manicured loop of the great green gleaming credit union. I will run, and I won't have much of a goal, and I won't break any speed records, and I'll come home alright.
Next week, maybe the week after, I will let myself dream big. This week, I will brace myself for the new year, the upcoming stresses. My only goal for now will be to run three days a week, no matter what, until I have a bigger goal. And I'm going to keep run-blogging, to keep the goals in sight, and to keep talking myself into getting better, at whatever it is that I'm doing.
Run good, new year! Run good. Stay tuned.
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