Twenty

No no, not a twenty mile run. Haven’t done that since last summer! I did however, log twenty miles in the last week. It’s actually… probably a bit too much. The school semester had me running ten and fifteen mile weeks at the most, and there were several weeks where it was less than that. So, I may need to scale back a tiny bit, and ease back into training. I took note of my hip feeling a bit sticky this morning. Not to the point where it was hurting, but I need to be careful. NO MORE PHYSICAL THERAPY, EVER.

The running is not exactly coming easy, either. Some days are better than others. Earlier in the week I was tired. Everything felt heavy, and I just didn’t want to keep going. Today however, felt pretty good. I ran just over seven miles with an overall pace of about 10:20. Now I certainly won’t be setting any records, but not bad. I’m pretty sure that’s the farthest I have run since December, and let’s keep in mind that my long run pace should be 10:30 (which is usually torturous). I felt like I could have kept on going too, which likely means that I’m already prepared to run the ten miler next month.

Of course I’m ridiculous and went to PR the distance, but yeah. It’s very unlikely to happen. I haven’t done any speedwork drills or tempo runs since… last October. For shame!

All of these words to basically say that I had a pretty good run this morning.

Good luck to those of you who may be running the Cleveland Marathon this weekend! Michelle and Ryan, I’m looking at you.

I’m Back!

Well. I can’t promise to post with daily regularity, but I will certainly do my best to update every couple of weeks. I’m on break from a very tough semester at school, which means that it’s about time for me to get back into spring and summer racing.

This time around, I’m about to do something I haven’t done before… which involves raising money for the Organization for Autism research. I have considered fundraising numerous times, but have always been unsure of where to begin. Over the past semester we learned a wealth of information about developmental disorders, particularly ASD (autism spectrum disorder). It makes me happy to think that I will be able to do something I love, along with helping those in need.

Any contribution made will be very much appreciated!

I will document my progress towards my goal here, and I will also detail the highs and lows of training. Coming up next month is my first race since the Columbus Marathon (which was last October), so to say that I’m a bit rusty is an understatement.

This could get interesting… so please stay tuned, and thanks again!

Team KMPL – Organization for Autism Research

 

Damn.

Where did 2011 go?

I’ve been meaning to write here for a long time. Life is good, but very very busy. Too busy for me to keep up with this blog apparently, and I’m not very happy about that. 

The good news is that I managed to run 1,000 miles in 2011. There were many times when I wanted to give in. At some point running became another “obligation”, and not something I wanted to do any longer. However, once I have my mind made up about something, I generally follow through. Being stubborn isn’t always a bad thing.

I also ran another marathon, and finished it in 4:12. Quite an accomplishment, and something I should have written about! Race day just so happened to fall on the Sunday before my midterm exams, so there’s the explanation for that. 

I want to make more fitness goals, and I want to write about them! Unfortunately, I can’t make any promises about writing here regularly. I’m going to make a mileage goal for 2012, but am going to give myself some breathing room. I’d like to make some time for yoga, and I’d like to come up with a new challenge… that I haven’t quite figured out yet.

I’ll be back. 

No, REALLY!

Life.

Life is currently getting in the way of everything. I’m doing all right… just far too busy to keep up with this blog. That should change at some point in the next couple of weeks… but I’m not entirely sure that I’ll post again for the rest of this month.

I currently am about 30 miles out from my mileage goal. I’m not sure I’m going to be able to catch up… and that’s just being realistic. The most recent summer session of my classes is kicking my butt. Not to mention that looming work deadlines are currently towering over my head.

I managed a fifteen mile long run this past Saturday, and it was fine. I have been having some problems with one of the toes on my left foot. Aside from that I’ve had some tightness in my left gastro (as usual), and my left hip. This old lady needs to get back into yoga. I also need to step up my game with cross-training.

I’ll be back before too long. Today I celebrate my 33rd birthday, and I’m going to focus on eating a fancy dinner and birthday cake.

I’ll be back! I promise.

Time Management

Yeah, so having the ability to “do it all?” Completely impossible. I have made this discovery in the last few weeks.

Which is my way of saying that exercise has taken a back seat to my personal life lately… and boy do I feel guilty. Unfortunately, this is what happens when one has a full time job, and makes the decision to take a five week condensed Psychology course.  Weeknights have been spent poring over clinical trials, my textbook, and listening to video lectures.

My long run last Saturday got thrown off due to the weather forecast and radar, and of twelve miles I only managed 7 1/2. Yes, I’m glad that I got out there… but I never did make up the rest of those miles. Then I missed a run earlier this week (in favor of going to the Frightened Rabbit show), so yeah. My goal? Not looking too good at the moment.

I forced myself out the door last night, and mapped out a 10k distance. I took a much different route than usual, and boy was I in for a treat. Rolling hills made up at least 70% of the distance, and I was huffing and puffing like you wouldn’t believe. I got a side stitch going into the second mile… but pushed and pushed and pushed. Told myself I was making myself stronger, blah blah blah.

The lowest point of my run, was when some dumb dude decided to scream out of his car window at me, just to be “hilarious”. It scared the hell out of me, to the point that I jumped and he started laughing. I turned around and said a few choice words before continuing on my way. Why are people so stupid?

Anyhow, I finished the distance and rewarded myself with vegan apple crisp and coconut milk ice cream for dessert last night.

Not looking forward to this weekend’s twelve mile long run, but I am going to get it done no matter what.  I’m pretty disappointed in my mileage this month, but I have to remember that it’s not the end of the world. Everyone needs to take a break, and man was that Frightened Rabbit show good. 

Maybe I’ll get out the door for a few miles very early tomorrow morning… but probably not.  Mergh.

Slacker.

Well, I went running… once while on my trip. Better than nothing obviously, but it was only a measly 3.5 miles. UGH. I could have gone farther too, but couldn’t be fussed. In all fairness though, the route was very hilly and I got a good workout. So all is not lost.

My fancy pants gym membership has officially expired, and boy does that ever suck. I had to force myself on the dreadmill yesterday afternoon, and wanted to gouge my eyes out after an hour. I will run the same distance tonight, and then I’m aiming for twelve miles on Saturday.  I’m further behind with mileage now… but obviously. I’m not giving up. I still have a marathon to run in October, and I’m approaching the halfway point of my training. My summer class is currently kicking my ass… so finding a good balance is going to be tricky.

Tempo run tonight… 8:56 pace. This should be manageable, but GOD. I HATE the treadmill. I always have the option of running outdoors obviously, but uh no.

The humidity is so bad that it honestly feels like wrapping yourself in a warm, wet blanket the moment you step outside. Running in this is possible, but absolutely miserable. I’m not that hardcore. Of course, one of my coworkers is. I saw him out running on his lunch break yesterday and sighed. This is the same guy who ran Boston in 3:08, so yeah. Obviously, he is hardcore.

Oh well. I get it done, and that’s what matters. I’m going to keep telling myself that.

11 Miles

I am so fussy.

The four of you who actually read this thing, will know that I ordinarily enjoy running alone. I’m the type of person who craves solitude, and a couple hours of “me time” usually leaves me feeling very refreshed. It’s only when I’m on the trail that I don’t feel guilty for being out on my own. On occasion, I do enjoy running with another person. My last handful of long runs have been shared with Brad, and it has been mostly fine. It can present a bit of a challenge though, because he runs so much faster than I do. He can run a pretty comfortable 7:00 ish pace… and me? Uh, no. My natural race pace is much slower than that, and somewhere between an 8:30 or 9:00 mile. This means that an “easy pace” is absolute torture for him, and we can only go so far before it becomes troublesome. Yesterday I realized that our mileage cap is probably somewhere around ten miles. I think from this point forward, my long runs are going to be solo.

In either case, the first several miles were actually fine. We made a point of getting out of bed at 7:00 am, so we could be out the house by 8:00. Not early enough, unfortunately, as the sun was high in the sky and already heating things up. The first mile was noticeably awful, but after that things got better. We were both uncomfortable, but having each other for company helped pass the first half of the distance pretty quickly. Quality time, at it’s finest! The trail was very busy yesterday morning, and we have noticed that a lot of the high school cross-country kids run at around the same time that we do. A lot of the people out yesterday were friendly… and dare I say… courteous? Even the cyclists were signaling when passing us, and I think we probably were greeted cheerfully by more than a dozen people.

Unfortunately, this didn’t take away from the sun,  or the humidity. When I’m uncomfortable during a run I have a tendency to speed up so I can get it over with. My “easy pace” is supposed to be an impossible 10:30 pace. I just can’t do it. I have tried so hard, but the absolute slowest I can go is around a 10:00 pace. Yesterday? I sped up at the halfway point, and we finished the distance at a 9:30 pace.

Mergh.

I really am making the effort to train properly… and it has been so difficult. I have yet to make time for yoga and weight-lifting, and likely because I am running upwards of eighty miles a month. Throw in a full time job, summer classes, and HAVING A LIFE, and it makes “doing the right things” nearly impossible.

In either case, we finished the distance feeling pretty strong. The sun was beating down and sweat was streaming down my face, shoulders, and back. My muscles were warm, and my left side was asking for rest, but we did it. Eleven more miles in the bank and I’m headed into my sixth week of marathon training.

Let’s see if I can cover some mileage while traveling. Fingers crossed on that one.