Thursday, March 25, 2010
Everything On Hold
Been sick since Sunday. No end in sight. This sucks major. Missed all my runs this week, haven't swam in 3 weeks and haven't lifted in 2 weeks. I'm on a ton of meds and pretty much in a fog. Every. Freakin'. Spring.
Friday, March 19, 2010
DST Has Arrived
I was so looking forward to Daylight Savings Time! Running in the daylight and the beginning of the great warm-up when we can run comfortable in shorts again!
But this whole week I've been so tired and out of it. I thought DST would be my reset button, but I think I'm going to need a full re-boot! I've skipped out on lifting and swimming all week. I've continued my running, but it's been somewhat lacking in energy.
I have had a lot going on. Work remains busy and I had to go into the office (or an office) twice this week, which somewhat disrupts my schedule. Then there was the beer mile.
I didn't run in the beer mile. I don't think I have the stomach for it! You drink 4 beers while running a mile. One full 12-oz beer every quarter mile. Why waste beer by guzzling it? I should mention here that I drink dark beers like Guinness and other stouts and not piss water such as bud or miller. So I'm really not the target demographic for a beer mile. I do love organizing theme runs and so I organized this one. Luckily, 30+ people don't share my view on guzzling beer and the event was successful and entertaining. Surprisingly there was very little carnage (puking, passing out, etc.). The weather was awesome as opposed to last year when it monsooned on us at the start, so people stuck around for a long time and actually continued to drink! There's a general feeling these days that we've all emerged from hibernation after a brutal winter and we're out and ready to celebrate Spring. It feels great!
I purchased my flight for San Francisco for the Avenue of the Giants Marathon and the plan is being set into motion. The next 4 weeks of training will be tough as I complete the 2-20 mile runs and the recovery runs in between. I'm looking forward to it with a healthy amount of fear. I also have the Boston 5K coming up and a weekend at the beach in between.
With work, training and trips, no additional progress has been made on the condo. It is upsetting that we're 3 months into the year and no 'For Sale' sign is posted outside. But there's a lot on my plate at the moment and not a lot that I, alone, can do about what's left to get the condo on the market. But there's still 9 months left in the year!
But this whole week I've been so tired and out of it. I thought DST would be my reset button, but I think I'm going to need a full re-boot! I've skipped out on lifting and swimming all week. I've continued my running, but it's been somewhat lacking in energy.
I have had a lot going on. Work remains busy and I had to go into the office (or an office) twice this week, which somewhat disrupts my schedule. Then there was the beer mile.
I didn't run in the beer mile. I don't think I have the stomach for it! You drink 4 beers while running a mile. One full 12-oz beer every quarter mile. Why waste beer by guzzling it? I should mention here that I drink dark beers like Guinness and other stouts and not piss water such as bud or miller. So I'm really not the target demographic for a beer mile. I do love organizing theme runs and so I organized this one. Luckily, 30+ people don't share my view on guzzling beer and the event was successful and entertaining. Surprisingly there was very little carnage (puking, passing out, etc.). The weather was awesome as opposed to last year when it monsooned on us at the start, so people stuck around for a long time and actually continued to drink! There's a general feeling these days that we've all emerged from hibernation after a brutal winter and we're out and ready to celebrate Spring. It feels great!
I purchased my flight for San Francisco for the Avenue of the Giants Marathon and the plan is being set into motion. The next 4 weeks of training will be tough as I complete the 2-20 mile runs and the recovery runs in between. I'm looking forward to it with a healthy amount of fear. I also have the Boston 5K coming up and a weekend at the beach in between.
With work, training and trips, no additional progress has been made on the condo. It is upsetting that we're 3 months into the year and no 'For Sale' sign is posted outside. But there's a lot on my plate at the moment and not a lot that I, alone, can do about what's left to get the condo on the market. But there's still 9 months left in the year!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Training, Work, Life
I've been working so much lately that I haven't wanted to log back in after work to blog or even to check my email. It's not bad, the work is interesting, there's just a lot. Some of my team members want me to start helping with releases. I don't mind helping but some of these releases don't start til 9 or 11pm. I'm in bed by 11pm and my brain is definitely off by 9pm. I've never been a night owl. I've stayed up late, but I was drinking. My brain was not working then. And no, I didn't pull all nighters in college, either. My body just doesn't do evenings. So I'm not sure I can pull this off. I wonder how long I can put it off?
I finally had a good long run on Saturday. Unfortunately I didn't start my watch to see how good of a day it was but I felt pretty strong. This week I'm doing my first 18 miler. yikes!
I've started doing some of the Thursday night runs again. Some of my friends that I know from other things besides running, have started coming to them. I've decided to make these runs my 5 Finger runs. I haven't run much in them since I got them and this seems like the perfect opportunity as Thursdays is a cross-training day and not part of my marathon program. This week we're doing a pre-Irish Beer Mile run practice run. Combining a little beer with my 5 finger run should be interesting. Plus I've never hashed so it will be good to see how that feels. I'm organizing the beer mile so I can't participate. I'm not really all that disappointed.
The weather is warming up and I'm so excited to be able to put away my running tights! It's much better to run in shorts. It's totally mental but most of running is mental.
Speaking of mental, I'm considering running my first ultra. It's a little one as ultras go, it's a 50K. It's in Salem Lake where I ran the 30K in October. The only thing about the 50K is that it's an out and back twice. The course is flat and on trail that is more like a greenway and not technical. I'm dreading the out and back and repeat part. Is it better to stay in your head during that or get out of your head? I wonder if my mp3 player would make the whole race? I mentioned it to Adam and he said, 'you'd be running for a long time. That's well over 4 hours.' He's a really fast runner, so the idea of running FOR 4 hours is foreign to him. I think his longest marathon was 3:40 something. Maybe faster. The race isn't until January. I have plenty of time to decide and then to train. But the idea is out there.
I finally had a good long run on Saturday. Unfortunately I didn't start my watch to see how good of a day it was but I felt pretty strong. This week I'm doing my first 18 miler. yikes!
I've started doing some of the Thursday night runs again. Some of my friends that I know from other things besides running, have started coming to them. I've decided to make these runs my 5 Finger runs. I haven't run much in them since I got them and this seems like the perfect opportunity as Thursdays is a cross-training day and not part of my marathon program. This week we're doing a pre-Irish Beer Mile run practice run. Combining a little beer with my 5 finger run should be interesting. Plus I've never hashed so it will be good to see how that feels. I'm organizing the beer mile so I can't participate. I'm not really all that disappointed.
The weather is warming up and I'm so excited to be able to put away my running tights! It's much better to run in shorts. It's totally mental but most of running is mental.
Speaking of mental, I'm considering running my first ultra. It's a little one as ultras go, it's a 50K. It's in Salem Lake where I ran the 30K in October. The only thing about the 50K is that it's an out and back twice. The course is flat and on trail that is more like a greenway and not technical. I'm dreading the out and back and repeat part. Is it better to stay in your head during that or get out of your head? I wonder if my mp3 player would make the whole race? I mentioned it to Adam and he said, 'you'd be running for a long time. That's well over 4 hours.' He's a really fast runner, so the idea of running FOR 4 hours is foreign to him. I think his longest marathon was 3:40 something. Maybe faster. The race isn't until January. I have plenty of time to decide and then to train. But the idea is out there.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
The Bloom Is Off the Rose
I was sitting with some friends talking about our long runs and complaining about feeling bored during them when one of them said 'I think it's because it's not new anymore.' She hit on it right there. I'm in my 7th year of running, I'm training for my 7th marathon, I have at least a hundred bib numbers from races of all distances and turfs hanging on my refrigerator, dozens of medals and even a few awards. There aren't many, if any, firsts anymore.
When you first start running you seem to hit a PR every time you race. You watch your time for a particular distance break goal after goal and it's exciting! I PR'd by 1 minute, 2 minutes, or by the most minutes by which I've ever PRd! I just ran my first 5K!, my first half! my first full! All of these exciting milestones happen early in your running career. After a while your friends and family stop being excited. You run out of milestones, you have a few bad races, then you stop PRing except maybe once a year if you're lucky.
Then what?
There is a certain amount of pleasure in watching other people hit milestones or PR. That is why I do love this sport. It's such an individual effort that you can be happy for someone else because it doesn't mean that you or someone else lost, like it does in a team sport. But that doesn't exactly motivate me to get through a 12 or 20 miler without being bored.
When you first start running you seem to hit a PR every time you race. You watch your time for a particular distance break goal after goal and it's exciting! I PR'd by 1 minute, 2 minutes, or by the most minutes by which I've ever PRd! I just ran my first 5K!, my first half! my first full! All of these exciting milestones happen early in your running career. After a while your friends and family stop being excited. You run out of milestones, you have a few bad races, then you stop PRing except maybe once a year if you're lucky.
Then what?
There is a certain amount of pleasure in watching other people hit milestones or PR. That is why I do love this sport. It's such an individual effort that you can be happy for someone else because it doesn't mean that you or someone else lost, like it does in a team sport. But that doesn't exactly motivate me to get through a 12 or 20 miler without being bored.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Inconsistent
"Why must it always be stop and go?
Where in this life can I find constant flow?
Inconsistency on a larger scale
Impersistence forcing me to bail out
.... What I really need is consistency" - Consistency by Ari Hest
That sums up how I feel about my training. I've determined that if I have a really good speed workout and tempo run then my long run will suck. The reverse is also true. Maybe there's some consistency here after all.
I'm 9 weeks out and have officially decided to run the Avenue of the Giants marathon. I have also possibly talked 2 friends into joining me. We plan to make a nice mini vacation out of it.
Work has been keeping me really, really busy. I'm falling behind on many of my New Year's Resolutions. The biggest being selling the condo. Nope not on the market yet. Why? Mostly it's the weather. For example, it's snowing right now for the 80th time this year! So can't really get all those little projects I have left to do done. I did finish reading a book, bringing my total to 2 towards my goal of 10. I started 2 more so that one is looking good. I have a plan to see the play Wicked which will count towards my 2 plays for the year. Haven't actually bought tickets yet, but I will. Haven't been to the Evening Muse yet this year sadly. I have signed up for my two marathons though so that one is almost locked down.
So with work being incredibly busy and training, there hasn't been a lot of down time. There also hasn't been much play time. The most interesting thing that's happened in the past month is that I won my first beer chugging contest. Yep. At a baby shower. Had to drink beer out of a baby bottle. Fun stuff. I'm not posting pictures.
I do have some great trips planned and I really can't wait to get out of here and enjoy some time in other cities. I'm also still planning to run the B.A.A. 5K and will be signing up for that as soon as it opens tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to running a 5K! It's been too long!
Where in this life can I find constant flow?
Inconsistency on a larger scale
Impersistence forcing me to bail out
.... What I really need is consistency" - Consistency by Ari Hest
That sums up how I feel about my training. I've determined that if I have a really good speed workout and tempo run then my long run will suck. The reverse is also true. Maybe there's some consistency here after all.
I'm 9 weeks out and have officially decided to run the Avenue of the Giants marathon. I have also possibly talked 2 friends into joining me. We plan to make a nice mini vacation out of it.
Work has been keeping me really, really busy. I'm falling behind on many of my New Year's Resolutions. The biggest being selling the condo. Nope not on the market yet. Why? Mostly it's the weather. For example, it's snowing right now for the 80th time this year! So can't really get all those little projects I have left to do done. I did finish reading a book, bringing my total to 2 towards my goal of 10. I started 2 more so that one is looking good. I have a plan to see the play Wicked which will count towards my 2 plays for the year. Haven't actually bought tickets yet, but I will. Haven't been to the Evening Muse yet this year sadly. I have signed up for my two marathons though so that one is almost locked down.
So with work being incredibly busy and training, there hasn't been a lot of down time. There also hasn't been much play time. The most interesting thing that's happened in the past month is that I won my first beer chugging contest. Yep. At a baby shower. Had to drink beer out of a baby bottle. Fun stuff. I'm not posting pictures.
I do have some great trips planned and I really can't wait to get out of here and enjoy some time in other cities. I'm also still planning to run the B.A.A. 5K and will be signing up for that as soon as it opens tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to running a 5K! It's been too long!
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