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.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
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.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
did you know that
it is 5 fahrenheit outside with the windchill?
but i AM going to go running anyway! right? RIGHT?
the wind is comically tossing powdery snow around on my balcony. it's ridiculous. it's like there is a stage hand just beyond my viewpoint tossing bucket fulls of it into a wind stream. it isn't even snowing. it's just blowing. STOP THAT.
i am going to put on everything i own until i get too hot, and then strap a garmin over top and be brave.
DO NOT WISH TO BE BRAVE. but must. ugh.
but i AM going to go running anyway! right? RIGHT?
the wind is comically tossing powdery snow around on my balcony. it's ridiculous. it's like there is a stage hand just beyond my viewpoint tossing bucket fulls of it into a wind stream. it isn't even snowing. it's just blowing. STOP THAT.
i am going to put on everything i own until i get too hot, and then strap a garmin over top and be brave.
DO NOT WISH TO BE BRAVE. but must. ugh.
Sunday, December 8, 2013
december running updates
since i'm in the mood to write this stuff down: here's a little running brain-dump of miscellaneous reports.
1. speedwork at the track! ... sorta. i discovered the day after thanksgiving that the local highschool track is not locking their gates anymore, at least during holiday daylight. so i did 2 miles worth of 800 metre and 400 metre sprints, with 1 min in between each (yes, i choose to use every possible numerical system at once; next time i will measure my intervals in farthings, cubits and Kelvin). and it felt AWESOME! and it felt HARD! and the track is 2 miles from my house so i still had to run HOME! ... yeah, that's a mixed-up solid workout. will try it again next weekend.
2. the return of muscles! or something like. since the marathon i have returned to actually taking other people's strength/cardio/plyo/kickbox/barre/whatever classes, at least 3 times a week, instead of putting myself through (some of) the paces at home. and re-entry was at first PAINFUL -- like, oh god don't ask me to remove a sweater over my head without 15 minutes spare time and a crane -- but i'm getting it back. this actually feels like a really good reason to NOT run a marathon again -- i just couldn't keep up my non-running-specific strength during actual training, or at least i didn't have the mental focus to do it all, and i think i like the long-term feeling of overall conditioning better than the (of course still excellent) accomplishment of holy shit i ran a marathon. is that weird? who cares. ... so, i feel this should inform my 2014 running plans, still in the planning stages. and, i should keep at it.
3. next on the agenda: a 10 miler on boxing day in hamilton ontario, about 40 mins drive from the family home at which i will have had a cozy little family christmas the night before. i ran this race once, two or three years ago, and what i remember is 1. i was freakin cold; 2. just when i was feeling a runner's high at mile 7 or 8 there was like a 70-degree incline cliff to run up and i wanted to die; 3. i finished it in about 90 minutes (i looked it up the other week, but don't quite remember the number.) it will probably be cold, hard and awesome again. this race always has exciting swag, and this year i will apparently receive 'lounge pants' for my troubles? i am highly unclear on the concept, but excited to lounge in them on boxing day eve.
4. the rest of the month is going to be very busy, and increasingly cold, and i will work and bundle up and run and gym and dream of sugar plum fairies bearing more technical fleece (anybody listening???) and bake cookies with healthy fats and bla bla bla.
stay warm! stay limber! and back to it. more soon.
1. speedwork at the track! ... sorta. i discovered the day after thanksgiving that the local highschool track is not locking their gates anymore, at least during holiday daylight. so i did 2 miles worth of 800 metre and 400 metre sprints, with 1 min in between each (yes, i choose to use every possible numerical system at once; next time i will measure my intervals in farthings, cubits and Kelvin). and it felt AWESOME! and it felt HARD! and the track is 2 miles from my house so i still had to run HOME! ... yeah, that's a mixed-up solid workout. will try it again next weekend.
2. the return of muscles! or something like. since the marathon i have returned to actually taking other people's strength/cardio/plyo/kickbox/barre/whatever classes, at least 3 times a week, instead of putting myself through (some of) the paces at home. and re-entry was at first PAINFUL -- like, oh god don't ask me to remove a sweater over my head without 15 minutes spare time and a crane -- but i'm getting it back. this actually feels like a really good reason to NOT run a marathon again -- i just couldn't keep up my non-running-specific strength during actual training, or at least i didn't have the mental focus to do it all, and i think i like the long-term feeling of overall conditioning better than the (of course still excellent) accomplishment of holy shit i ran a marathon. is that weird? who cares. ... so, i feel this should inform my 2014 running plans, still in the planning stages. and, i should keep at it.
3. next on the agenda: a 10 miler on boxing day in hamilton ontario, about 40 mins drive from the family home at which i will have had a cozy little family christmas the night before. i ran this race once, two or three years ago, and what i remember is 1. i was freakin cold; 2. just when i was feeling a runner's high at mile 7 or 8 there was like a 70-degree incline cliff to run up and i wanted to die; 3. i finished it in about 90 minutes (i looked it up the other week, but don't quite remember the number.) it will probably be cold, hard and awesome again. this race always has exciting swag, and this year i will apparently receive 'lounge pants' for my troubles? i am highly unclear on the concept, but excited to lounge in them on boxing day eve.
4. the rest of the month is going to be very busy, and increasingly cold, and i will work and bundle up and run and gym and dream of sugar plum fairies bearing more technical fleece (anybody listening???) and bake cookies with healthy fats and bla bla bla.
stay warm! stay limber! and back to it. more soon.
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