morning, 2015.
since we last spoke, i've been running. i got wimpy about cold when it got cold, but i've still been running. i ran a 2 hour half marathon in october; that's not that impressive but it was a race/party weekend with friends, and these friends don't party with just gatorade, so i consider that an achievement.
i also agreed to run Hood to Coast 2015 with old Ragnar relay friends. do you know about HTC? it's a real thing, promise. ask the internet if you are curious. there is apparently a movie, even? anyway, we lotteried in, so that's happening at the end of august... and with another member of that ragtag team, i said we should start excel spreadsheet training! ... we haven't quite gotten the logistics in place, but this does mean that i have been tracking all my runs since dec 18.
what that tracking tells me is that:
- i have been running frequently -- 8 times in the last 2 weeks (and it warmed up a bunch, so it's all been outside)
- i have been running between 30 minutes to an hour, but usually about 40-45 minutes at a time
- i have been running slow. ... i haven't been wearing my garmin, but i know what i'm doing, and it's called: running slow.
this morning, january 1, i woke up, i drank coffee, i had toast and PB and banana, i pet the dog, i dithered on facebook, and i went for a run. it was not warm or sunny, but i had layers and i was fine. i ran for 50-ish minutes, and it was totally fine. i'm pretty sure i negative splat; my music died halfway through (sidenote: phone battery, you are the jerkiest), and after that i just told my brain to zone out and i could feel i was running faster. ... but in the first 20 minutes, i somehow *lost faith* in my ability to run. i don't know what was up, really -- but, my brain kept thinking i couldn't do it, and i had to stop to readjust something, or take a picture, just make some excuse for not running for 10 seconds and then start again.
... why? i wasn't out of breath. (nor the slightest hungover, since you were wondering.) the backs of my legs are a little sore from some exuberant cross training yesterday, but i've run in plenty worse condition. i'm heavier than i want to be right now, but i'm hardly unable to run. ... i don't know what my brain was thinking, cuz it was clearly my brain and not my body that lost the plot, but it doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
... so. some re-focusing is in order.
this month -- january -- the plan is to go back to tracking distance, not just time. and to start adding runs of at least an hour or longer.
next month, the plan will be to arrange a race schedule for the year. this is a bit complicated because (long story) i'm not sure where i will be living when... but at least i can plan something in e.g. april.
i should probably also go back to run blogging, because i think that's a way to remind my brain that i'm actually a Runner, like not just i am able to run, but i Actually Run Frequently and Long Distances, with Capitalization N' Shit. so... yes. that's also the plan for this month.
forward motion, right? right. forward.
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
end of summer, what's next, bloggity blog.
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.
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.
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.
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