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April 21, 2007

Post-Half Running

So I definitely felt the half marathon from last weekend! It stuck in my quad muscles for a few days, but I recovered enough to do a decent workout on Thursday and then come back and drop the hammer today on my tempo run :) I have to admit that all of this makes me sweat bullets of nervousness . . . I am so afraid of this streak coming to a mad halt, but I am going to keep getting out there and throwing down the miles. For years, I have known that I had this running beast inside of me, but I have let life prevent me from unleashing it. My old boss from Universal Sole, where I spent 3 years working on and off, and I have a theory about this: it's 27. We both had major life transformations at the age of 27, and this has definitely been a transformative year for me . . . and a confidence building year.

So on to the weekly review: Monday was a nice and relaxing day off. On Tuesday I worked some of the kinks out of my legs with an easy 3 mile run. I love 3 milers - I am done before I even feel warmed up. I took Wednesday off because I worked from 4:30am - 9pm and I was simply too exhausted to run. I woke up Thursday ready to go: I did an 8 mile workout with a 3 mile tempo tossed in (6:30, 6:30, 6:27) and 5x400. I ran "butters" easy with B. on Friday evening: 7 miles. It was so much fun to run together!

And then this morning I ran a hard a 8 mile tempo sandwiched between a lame warm-up and cool-down (10.8 miles total). I ran the tempo in 50:49 . . . so 6:21 pace. I actually mapped the route when I got home because I didn't think there was anyway in hell that I could run a tempo that fast . . . it certainly didn't feel that fast (don't get me wrong, I was breathing, but I think my legs were feeling a little crappy so I had a hard time gauging my pace). I am super, super psyched about this run! It makes me wonder how much faster I could have run last week if we had better conditions.

Chicago is golden sunny outside right now. It's like a dream :) Spring has finally arrived! I just hope it sticks around for more than 3 days . . .

Speaking of Chicago, I was stunned to learn that the marathon closed registration. That's a record. 45,000 people signed up and ready to go. I am already excited, but I am going to continue to focus on this week, and then next week, and then May . . . I'll start seriously thinking about the marathon in July :)

Posted by bridget at 1:18 PM | Comments (4)

April 17, 2007

Wind, Hills, Mental Fog . . . and Another PR

Before I launch into a recap of the past week, I just want to echo what some other people have said, and express my heartfelt sadness about what has happened at Virginia Tech. Like most people, I was shocked to leave my own college campus last night, turn on NPR, and hear that 32 people had been killed. It's unfathomable to think about the situation - words often fail at times like these. It's just scary - as a graduate student and teacher - to think of how vulnerable our college campuses are . . .

I don't have an appropriate way of transitioning into my running . . . so here goes:

My half mile repeats went surprisingly well, but I did not do all 10 of them; I compromised with myself and did 8 . . . but that meant that the final two had to be all out. So I ran the first two in 3:05, the next 4 in 3:00, and then I cranked out a 2:55 and a 2:49. I was ready to pass out by the end, but I was glad that I made it through the workout! I did this on Thursday. On Friday I ran 7 miles, and on Saturday I ran 4 miles before a giant conference on women's and girls' rights as human rights that I have been involved with for quite a few months. Our conference was a wild success and I am already looking forward to helping out next year (when I have more time, I will dive into the conference in a more detailed fashion).

Since I was not able to run with my usual Saturday group for our workout (the conference was an all-day affair), I decided to jump into a half marathon on Sunday. While I went in with the intention of running it as a workout, I ended up PRing by 47 seconds. H. - my sort of coach - gave me a reasonable game plan: run the first ten around 1:07 and finish the final 5K under 21:00. I did exactly that and ended up crossing the line in 1:27:13. (6:39.5 pace).

And here's the mental fog part: I was absolutely, 100 percent miserable from the smack of the gun! Last week marked the first week that I actually ran 6 days in a row and my mileage hit the mid 40s. This is relatively new terrority for me - the last time my mileage jumped like that was . . . well, a long time ago! My legs were definitely feeling the workout from Thursday and I had to convince myself to hang in there. The weather was fairly nice (nothing like the horrid conditions in Boston): 34 at the start and dry. BUT, we had a mad head wind to contend with for 7 miles AND the course was hilly! I guess I sign up for races in the midwest assuming that they are flat. NOPE. So not only were my legs fatigued, but I had to run up hills the entire time . . . blah.

I saw B. at mile 5 and threatened to drop out. Saw him again at mile 7 and said the same thing. Saw him again at mile 9 and thought the same thing but kept it to myself. Saw him again at mile 12 and I was *finally* getting it together. I was annoyed at my inability to move my legs so I dropped at 6:23 mile at mile 11 and then the final two miles - going uphill - were around 6:30-6:35. I have never finished a race faster than I started so this was a giant improvement. I ran completely alone for the final 11 miles of the race . . . I had a lot of time to think; too much time to think! Overall, I was extremely happy that I hung in there when my legs clearly rebelled against the notion of racing. As much as I wanted to drop out, I found another gear mentally that I have never found before in a race . . . as punishing as the experience was, it was the best racing experience I have had to date. My previous half marathons were run with other people and large crowds.

I have another half coming up in June and I have some ambitious goals!! We'll see . . .

I took yesterday off and today I think I am going to run a nice and easy 4-5 miles.

Posted by bridget at 8:35 AM | Comments (7)

April 11, 2007

TUUUUMMMMBBBBBLLLLLEEEE

In case it's not clear, my title is "tumble." Just when things start to shape up, leave it to me to tumble down a flight of stairs and toss my running to the wayside. I swear I am not a clumsy klutz, but last week I took quite a fall. I decided that skimping on sleep and trying to make up for it in large dosages of caffeine doesn't work. I have been extremely busy with my teaching obligations, thesis, and classes. However, one thing has become glaringly clear to me this year: I am simply too old to pull all-nighters and deny myself sleep. It used to be easy when I was a motivated, unmarried, grade-obsessed, nerdy 19-22 year-old. While I am still a nerd, I am no longer motivated, single, or grade-obsessed (come on, we all know that everyone gets an "A" in graduate school!). I say this now, of course, as I am about to embark on yet another long night of reading, studying, writing, and editing. *Sigh*. At least I know one thing for sure: I will avoid hopping up and down the stairs in my zombie like state!

Which brings me to the fall: last week I was flying down the stairs when I lost my footing and crashed down on the right side of my body. I have some lovely bruises to underscore the brutality of the fall. I was so stunned when I made it to the bottom of the stairs that I was too afraid to move. Initially, I thought that I broke my arm and my ass . . . NOT cool. After a few minutes of contemplating my sudden paralysis, I slowly stood up, limped around for about 5 minutes, and started to cry. Just when my running starts to pick up . . . BUT I quickly gathered myself and said a big "thanks" that I was not broken or injured. I did take the rest of the week off.

So this week I ran a moderate 6 miles on Monday, I took yesterday off, and I am about to sneak in 6 miles before bed tonight. If all goes well, I am going to attempt a hard workout of 10 half mile repeats tomorrow . . . I can already feel the anxiety! My friend, H., gave me some goal times to meet and I am afraid that they are way too ambitious, but I guess I won't know until I at least try. Still, this speedwork stuff really scares the hell out of me. I wish I could say that I look forward to my speed dates, but I loathe them. Don't get me wrong, I seamlessly enter into a robotic flow when I get into them, but I dread the idea of running the first interval. The rest of the week should go something like this: 8 miles Friday, 3 miles Saturday, and 13-15 on Sunday (marathon race pace for some of them).

I suppose I ought to quit procrastinating and get running!

Thank you for all of the lovely comments!

Posted by bridget at 9:14 PM | Comments (6)