Two weeks away; just some legit freaking out

When I'm running, and when I'm not running but thinking about running, I'm always thinking about things I want to blog about here.
And then when I get here, I think: what the fuck did I think I wanted to talk about?

So.

Two weeks ago I got freaked enough about my upcoming 30k race that I decided to run the distance... So, I ran 10k every day for 3 days. That went fine. I was more tired on day 3 than day 1 but not especially so.

Last weekend, I ran for 9 somewhat hilly miles by the Pacific Ocean. That was also pretty fine. (I got big time rained on and saw a lot of dogs. Victoria BC is a sweet damp town.) Earlier that week, I ran for two slow but happy hungover hours in the snowy sunshine (Edmonton AB, also a sweet town. But a dry cold.)

This morning, I ran a 5k in biting wind in 27 mins, plus I'm sure I did enough weaving to make my actual 5k time something faster, so that's not bad. I'm now trying not to eat every last food ever once an hour, which is what my body thinks we should do when I run hard early in the day.

HOWEVER: the grand problem is distance. Yesterday I ran for 75 minutes, which was all fine, and I kept up the pace (see biting wind) -- but! 75 minutes is way too little running! I need to run 3 hours in two weeks? HOW??? Right now I feel as though 10 miles is a great distance. But who tacked on these other 8 miles? ... Maybe this is why I'm not blogging, because if I do then I will freak out about I'm going to die in a ditch at kilometer 24 in Burlington.

Historically, my approach to making long distances seem sane has been to read obsessively about people running much longer distances, so that in comparison my goal seems less deranged. Currently I'm focused on this ultra that just makes zero sense: The Speed Project, in which relay teams run the 340 miles from the Santa Monica pier in LA to the Welcome to Las Vegas sign. ... There's no official route. It's just like: go there. This is it's third year, and the first year an all women's team is running. I feel it is important to remind oneself that such humans exist. (I mean "humans". Presumably they are timelords with extra lungs and legs and so on.) There is a little movie about it too, that I can't vouch for but I'm probably going to watch this afternoon on the couch under a blanket?

Meanwhile, back among the mortals: tomorrow I teach at the gym, and then Monday I'm gonna run long. 20k. Maybe longer, maybe not, but at least 20.01km. And then we will let me 'taper' even though that's a hilarious concept at this point. ... Still: I will at least aim to go in well-rested and strong. And then we can see what sheer bloodymindedness and the winds of the North Shore can do to get me to the finish line.

TL; DR: if you've been following my running for a while, and you're the praying sort, you might want to get to work on the votive candles and offerings. Thanks in advance.

only news: brightest shoes ever

i have nothing useful to report. i run. the other day i ran 9.5 miles. i didn't die. so, that's good.

often when i run, the place on the ball of my left foot where my toes meet the rest of my foot aches. ... like i'm growing an extra bone there, is how i describe it. let's assume i'm not growing a new bone. however: it hurts. also, it hurts when i don't run. actually it often hurts less when i run than when i don't. this ... seems wrong.

my approach has been to never wear heels, and to buy new running shoes with some more padding, and to ignore it. the new shoes just happened yesterday so i will try running in them tomorrow for the first time. maybe it will help? i'm kind of convinced it's just that the messed up angle of my toe/ankle/everything on my left side (caused initially from wrenching my ankle at gymnastics when i was like 14) is catching up with me in my dotage (yeah kidding i'm 37) and anyway it's just going to be like this forever. ... i realize as i say that that it's hopefully not true? anyway: i'm gonna assume the new shoes will fix it.

also the new shoes are VERY BRIGHT. and they were VERY ON SALE, so that's cool. but seriously: they are called RUNPOPS. their shade of lime green is not subtle. ... at least i will not get confused with a deer.

my 30k race is in 2 months (minus 2 days). ... when i write it like that it is alarming. anyway, i told my calendar my long run distances for the next 8 weeks, remembering that there is a week of travel in a month, and trying to go into the race on not-tired legs. so! my calendar says i should run 15k tomorrow. so, i will do that. ... that's only halfway? good god. what was i thinking.

the point is: goodnight.

up and down

in the new year so far, i have run a fair bit, although not as long as i ever want to. but i have also been including HILLS... today i did 2.5 murderous miles of hill training on a treadmill and basically died. i am now dead. after that, i taught a strength class, but mostly was dead.

this weekend i'm going to new york (we're getting one of the gangs back together) and i aim to run in a park (with any luck both central and prospect parks) and also have a raucous good time. so, running might be a little slow some mornings.

... aaand, so what am i training for? in a cruel twist of fate, i was literally on the website signing up for my planned february 25k night trail race when the race site updated to say they had SOLD OUT! horrid! rage!

... so i responded of course by rashly signing up for the 30k race in march. ... and the second half of that race has HILLS... which brings us back to where we started.

after next week, i will have a little more time to breathe, and with my deep breaths i will get some more long runs in. i've done a couple 9-10 milers since boxing day but there will need to be more double digits to survive ATB with some modicum of dignity.

onwards!

running for the holidays

i am always pretty good at keeping running when i go home for christmas, and this year felt quite solid. the highlight (i mean the running highlight, excluding all the company and the food and the skating and laughing and so on) was a ten mile race on boxing day.

i was ... a bit hesistant going in. was i getting sick? would it freezing rain? should i drop down to 4 miles? but nope. i did the damn thing, and it felt good! i honestly think i got sick at mile 6 and my body said "well, this really seems like the wrong time" and just fought it off by mile 9. (please nobody tell me that isnt a thing; xmas running miracle.)

there was also the incident in which we ran past a lake-side beaver, a HUGE guy, at mile 3, and when we came back past at mile 7, he was still there, being huge, and as i ran past i also saw there was a man dressed in a full-body xmas tree costume, running the race (beating me, in fact)... and that was a memorable enough moment, running between a stoic beaver and a racing tree, but if youve been here since the beginning and you remember the penguin who ran near me through the canadian border at the detroit marathon? ... yeah turns out its the same guy.

of course.

the race was on paper a success also -- 9:20 miles, nothing to write home about but not embarrassing to me, and my final time was nearly exactly double my 5 mile time so i felt smart. i ran without my garmin and without music -- just ticking along and not getting too stuck in my head, and i never walked (except during gatorade) and the two biggish hills were not a problem, and i think this was all excellent news.

... news that means i am signing up for the 25k on night trails in early february right???
close to saying yes.
a couple more long runs will clinch that. i will try one on saturday.

onward.

habits!

yesterday it was snowing and i was in a hurry but i found time for 75 minutes on river trail paths, and i even discovered the all season bathrooms, so i think everyone can agree it was a success.

laying down the baseline of 60+ min runs is going well! maybe next weekend i will push up to 90 mins. or at least 9 miles. mind you, we got like 10 inches of snow today... well. onwards.

monday afternoon obstacles

here is an incomplete list of things that cropped up attempting to prevent me from going for a long run on monday:

- my other half has a deadly cold which caused him to cough or sneeze violently at least once an hour on saturday and sunday nights; assume this was as restful as it sounds,,,

- the dog is usually happy to hang out in the car if i drive her to the start of my run route, but as soon as we got there she helpfully vomited on the backseat, requiring us to return home, clean the backseat, regroup...

- it got cold. and rainy. and windy. and dark.

BUT I DONE IT ANYWAY. i left the cleaned up soothed dog at home, i got more warmly dressed, i drove back out to campus where it's well enough lit to run at night without shock or injury, and i ran for a full 70 minutes straight. BOOM. one more in the bank.

i'm going to count that as the first of this week's runs. thursday morning i will do tempo, and saturday i will do speed. go team.

friday morning and saturday night

yesterday morning: i had told myself i was going to do speed work. it was early and my body was unimpressed. but i ran 5k and some of it was faster than i would have liked. there's this park, a mile from me? and it has a .35 mile loop. so i ran to there and back at like 9:15/mile pace, and then i ran the loop three times, at 8:20/mile pace. with jogging about in between. ... as they always say, the best speed workout is the one you actually do. so, that's not a normal one, but it's the one i did.

today: i had told myself i was going to do a long run, right? break out of that 50-mins mold? ... nope. my other half has something that's been diagnosed as not strep, but close enough, and i'm just resting today. i'm pretty sure it's what my body needs. i am going to drink some hot cider with bourbon and sit on soft things. ugh. ... i teach at the gym tomorrow twice, so that will have to be the weekend's exercise. it's 6:15pm and i'm seriously thinking of napping, so this was probably the right move.

eh, you win some you lose some.
more soon.