It's Supposed to Hurt

Resting Up

Despite my expectations, last night's workout was really good. We couldn't run on the track because the high school was having a lacrosse game, but there's a bike path right nearby that we use for workouts when the track is closed. Last night we did 6x3 minutes at 5k pace, with 2 minutes in between each repeat. I always whine a little bit when we have to be on the trail, but I think I always run faster because I don't know exactly how fast I'm going. I had planned to take it kind of easy since I'm running that 8k tonight, but I wound up running with the guys (the medium-fast guys, not the fast-fast guys) and of course I had to try to keep up. I hung with them for the first 3, and then they pulled away from me a little bit on the next two. Not by much, though, and on the last one I was able to close the gap by the end. They estimated that they were running about 6 min pace, so I was probably running about 6:15 pace. I got in between 7 and 8 miles for the day; 20 minute warm up, the workout, and a 10 minute warm down. I also stationary-biked for 30 minutes before the workout.

I'm taking a mental health day today, so I was actually able to get a full 8 hours of sleep. I feel a million times better than I did earlier in the week; I'm very relieved that the problem just seems to have been exhaustion, rather than anything more serious (my brother was just diagnosed with a very aggressive type of mono, so I have serious illnesses on the brain). I went for a short easy run (25 minutes, a little over 3 miles) this morning just to loosen up. It was hard to turn around because it was gorgeous out and I was feeling good, but I had to remember that the point is to feel good tonight. So I came home and did a bunch of sit ups, and now I'm catching up on email and watching the Food Network.
I'm getting nervous for the race tonight, which is silly; there might be all of 50 people there, and half of them will be my friends. Hopefully the nerves will turn into adrenaline, and I'll have a good race. I don't want to say what my goal is because that will make me more nervous; maybe I'll reveal it after I see if I achieve it.

Slacking off

So I didn't lift again today...I still feel really tired, and I just wanted to come home and veg out in front of CSI reruns. Which is what I am quite contentedly doing right now. I didn't totally slack on the cross training--I still did 40 minutes on the elliptical--but after that I was done. I'm hoping that by tomorrow I'll finally feel recovered from the weekend; I took yesterday and today pretty easy, and I can sleep in tomorrow, so maybe I'll be rested for track. I've been joking about taking a sick day, but maybe I really am coming down with something; that would explain why I'm so tired.

My run this morning was kind of weird. Last night I decided that I'd wait to decide how far I was running this morning until I woke up and saw how I felt. As soon as I got out of bed (which was a laborious process in itself-I was quite unhappy when my alarm went off) I decided that I was only running 6. I felt sluggish and choppy when I started, so I was surprised to see that I hit my first landmark a few seconds faster than I usually do. I ran quickly the entire time--I reached the turnaround almost a minute sooner than normal for an easy run, and ran about a minute negative split. But I never felt smooth or particularly comfortable. I didn't feel like I was laboring, or pushing it, I just kind of felt off. Since I wasn't as slowly as I had thought, I entertained the thought of running farther, but wisely decided that would be stupid. Clearly I need some rest days, especially since I'm planning to do track tomorrow and that 8k on Thursday. Of course I can always cut the workout short tomorrow if I need to, and Thursday is more for fun than for time.

Well, the CSI folks area about to figure out who the bad guy is, so I'm signing off.

Drained

Nothing like starting your week when the week before never ended...having to go to work this morning after working all weekend was pretty painful. I think I feel a sick day coming on... :-)
Not getting enough sleep all last week and this weekend caught up to me today; I got to bed early last night but I was still exhausted when I woke up. Thankfully it was a beautiful sunny morning, so I was able to drag myself out for a run. I just ran 6 easy, all on dirt, which I really needed after running on city streets all weekend. After work I did 40 minutes on the elliptical. I had excellent intentions and was going to lift, because I hadn't since Thursday, but I was tired and I really, really didn't want to. So I didn't. And I don't feel a bit guilty about it. (okay, a bit, but it's a very tiny bit, and I'm trying to get rid of it!)
I haven't decided what I'm running tomorrow; I need to work out my plan for the week. There's an 8k I want to run on Thursday (one of my club's low key races) and I'm thinking about bumping my long run up to 16 on Saturday, but I'm not sure yet. What I really need to do is figure out my marathon schedule so I know exactly where I need to be and when, so that I can plan out the next month. But I just don't have the mental energy for it yet; I think that might be a great activity for a sick day. If, you know, I happen to get sick.

Fun Run

Well, I've done a better job this week of sticking to my plan and not running extra--I only ran 2 miles over what I had planned. The extra miles were this morning, when I ran 10 instead of 8. I didn't have to be at the meeting until 11 this morning, so I was able to sleep in until a whopping 7:30! I went out the door telling myself that I would be "good" and only run 8, but I knew all along that I'd run a little extra--both yesterday and today I only had time for one workout, so I wanted to make at least one of them a bit longer. And it was so nice to be outside, even on a gray windy day, instead of in a conference room, that I had trouble making myself quit running at all--especially because I knew that I'd just have to go sit in a conference room again.
My run was really fun (sorry, I'm tired--I tried and failed to come up with a non-rhyming synonym). Since I was staying downtown, I was close to a part of the city that I usually don't run in (Capitol Hill and east to RFK stadium) and it was great to see some new terrain. It had probably been a year since I'd run over there, and I'd forgotten what a neat neighborhood it is, full of gorgeous old rowhouses. It was nice to run along imagining that I lived in one of them, thinking about walking up to the corner store with my imaginary dog to buy coffee and the Sunday paper, taking my imaginary kids to play in Lincoln Park (this imagining is a LONG time in the future).
For the last few miles of my run I came back into the downtown area, and it turned out that there was a race going on--a 10k walk/run to benefit a local charity. By the time I got there it was all families and strollers, and I enjoyed running along the other side of the street, watching all the little kids sprint for the finish, and the people who looked like they'd never jogged/walked/limped that far before grin as they finally crossed the line.

Almost There

Well, it�s the last day of April, and I�ve survived the month. Today is one of the worst days, though�I�m sitting in our quarterly bored�oops, I mean board�meeting. These meeting are just excruciating to sit through, but at least having to sit through it means I�m done preparing for it. Putting together all the materials and logistics for board meetings (and baby sitting all our board members) is my absolute least favorite part of my job. But it is excellent management/executive experience, and it is only four times a year, so when weighed against the fact that I can wear flip flops and jeans to work every day of the week, things don�t look so bad!

I�m staying in a hotel downtown near the meeting to make things a little more convenient (when you have to be at a meeting at 7:30 am, every few minutes you can save in the morning counts) which meant I only had to be out the door for my run at 5 am instead of 4:30 (5 is still godawful early, but it is slightly more civilized). Hotel rooms are always kind of cocoon-like�heavy blinds, thick walls�so I didn�t find out that it was pouring rain until I got down to the lobby. I still would have it made it out of bed if I�d known, but it sure would have been a lot harder. I�m glad I didn�t have time to dread the run, because if I had I don�t think I would have had as good a run as I did. I often find that I enjoy running in the rain�I can�t quite figure out the words for it, but it�s a reveling in the elements, kick-ass kind of feeling, and it�s a lot of fun. Even at 5 am.

Sleepy

All I want to do is take a nap�I hate doing my long runs on a weekday, because it�s so hard to spend the rest of the day sitting in an office. Really my run was long-ish, not long (14 miles), but I would still much rather be napping than typing. I had to do it today because my company�s board meeting is this weekend, and tomorrow I have to be there at 7:30 am. I can handle getting up at 5 to run 8 miles (which is my plan), but getting up at 4 to run 14 just wasn�t happening. C. and I often meet on Fridays to run 10 anyway, so it was easy to just start a little earlier and then meet her. I had a good run; I�ve gotten to where 14 doesn�t feel long anymore, which is encouraging, since marathon training kicks off in a month (how the h**l is June only a month away?!).

Yesterday was an easy day�I only ran 4 in the morning, and went to the gym in the evening for 40 minutes on the bike and lifting. I wanted run farther, but I need to be careful of my mileage. I totaled up my miles at the end of last week and discovered I�d run 62 without realizing it. I�d planned to run 52, but a few extra miles here, a few extra there�62 didn�t feel like a lot�in fact I still felt like I was holding back�but it�s where I want to be a few weeks from now to start training. I can�t jump up that quickly, or I won�t ever make it to training. So I exercised self control this morning and turned around after 2 miles.

Track on Wednesday was kind of weird. Our �coach� (a volunteer who picks out the workouts each week) wanted to do something in honor of Penn Relays. He had us partner up, and we ran a fake DMR and 4x4. But then that was it. Every winter we do Christmas Relays, and we wind up running a gazillion quarters, so I thought that this would be an actual workout too. If I�d realized I�d only be getting in 1 � miles of speed (I did the 1200 and the 800 in the DMR, and then 2 400s), I would have just done a workout on my own. I did a few 800s after because I didn�t feel like I�d gotten a workout in at all, but it still didn�t feel like a consistent, solid workout. In some ways it was good, though�since the distances were shorter, I ran faster than I usually do�84 second quarters in the 1200 and 800, and 80 for the 400s. I did my extra 800s in 3:07. And since I was doing my long run a day earlier than normal, it�s just as well that I didn�t kill myself.

Tangible Proof

So I knew that all my lifting was paying off, because I've been consistently increasing the amount I lift, and I can see the results in the mirror. But real-life proof is way more fun. My office has a water cooler with those huge blue bottles that sit on top. We go through almost one day (we're mostly young, healthy, athletic people and we all get our 8 glasses) and inevitably sometimes I drain the cooler which means I should switch the bottle. A few months ago I could pick up a new one and get it lifted up high enough to flip it over and get it in the stand, but it was a serious struggle and I spilled a LOT of water. This morning I had to switch the bottle and was expecting to make a mess--but lo and behold, I picked it up and swung it around and didn't spill a drop! It wasn't until I was finished that I realized how easy it had seemed, and thus how much stronger I am. Kind of a dopey thing to be excited about, but I am.

All the core work is paying off, too. I notice it much more when I'm tired, when I feel myself start to tighten up my shoulders and hips. Since I got consistent about abs and core work, I'm much better able to relax and fix my posture, and smooth my stride back out. Which I was very much in need of this morning--I didn't have any trouble keeping it easy today! My calves were feeling much better, thank goodness, and I decided to run a very flat, soft (and boring) out-and-back to not stress them any further. I was running barely under 8-min pace, and I was only running 6, but I was tired on the way home (probably in large part because I cross trained and did lower-body lifting last night). But once I consciously relaxed and fixed my posture I felt a lot stronger, and made it home feeling okay.
After work I skipped the elliptical and only x-trained on the bike to be a little easier on my legs. I'm still kind of sore, but much better than yesterday so I think I'll be fine by tomorrow. I did some abs and back stuff too, but I was really hungry so I cut it a little short and headed home.

The Saga Continues

Part 3: A Decision Abandoned
After all that, I didn�t run the race yesterday. I couldn�t fall asleep Saturday night, and at about 2 am I decided it just wasn�t important enough to me race on three hours of sleep. So I turned off my alarm and turned off the timer on my coffee pot�and of course, as soon as I�d made the decision, I fell right to sleep. I actually woke up on my own at the same time my alarm would have gone off, and I got out of bed and stood in my kitchen staring at my coffeepot, debating whether or not I should turn it on and suck it up and run the race. I actually did turn it on, walk back into my room, and then changed my mind again and ran back into my kitchen to turn it off. Sheesh. Who knew that a coffeepot could be so pregnant with symbolism?
I�m pretty disappointed because I was really looking forward to racing, but I was looking forward to racing well, which I most definitely would not have done. For a while this morning I was also feeling weird and guilty, which was silly�what could there be to feel guilty about? I don�t have anyone to answer to but myself, I didn�t let down anyone but myself, and if I didn�t want to race then I didn�t have to race. At least that�s what I kept telling myself all through my run later that morning. By the time I got home I believed it.
It helped that I had an excellent run. Before I started I thought I�d run about 10, since that was the race distance. By the time I was out the door I�d upped it to 12 to make it a little more of an effort, and then halfway through I changed it to 14, which is what I�d have run if I�d gone to SLR the day before. It had been a while since I�d gone more than 10 by myself, and I�m glad I had the chance to have a long, solitary, focused run. It�s great to have company, but sometimes you need to be alone, for both training and personal reasons. It forces you to concentrate, to keep up the pace without anyone there to help you, which is invaluable for the lonely parts of the race. Plus I�ve been so stressed out lately, and it helped me to clear my head. (Of course that effect dissipated the second I stepped into my office this morning, but oh well.)
Of course I wouldn�t have enjoyed being alone so much if I hadn�t been feeling good. My first and last few miles were on a marked bike path, so I could check my pace. On the way out, I was running 8s exactly. But as I got warmed up I picked it up a lot, and on my way home I was running 7:20s, and they didn�t feel any harder than the 8s had in the beginning (and that�s after very hilly middle miles). I�ve been making a concerted effort lately to start my runs a little slower and finish them faster, and it�s paying off�I�ve run negative splits almost every run over the last few weeks, even on my easy days.

Easy days�I need to be better about those. The last few times I�ve headed out the door for a purposefully easy run I�ve been running harder than I plan to. Which feels great, but won�t feel great if that�s what I continue to do. This morning was supposed to be easy, but I picked a hilly route--which would have been fine if I hadn�t hammered all the hills. Now my calves are extremely tight and sore�this is the sorest I think they�ve ever been. I�ve had severe hamstring pain, but never calves. It�s unlikely that I managed to pull both calves at the same time, so I think it�s just the hills. I�ve been icing and stretching all day, and keeping my fingers crossed that I�m better by track on Wednesday.

A Decision Made

...is a decision made. I know there's some cliche about it being a thing of beauty, but I don't think that registering for a race quite qualifies as beautiful. It does feel good to have gone ahead and registered, though--despite my debating, I knew all along what I wanted to do, and I'm glad to be going ahead and doing it. Of course now I'm starting to get nervous--since I've been feeling so good lately, I actually have some expectations for this race, and I'm worrying about fulfilling them. But worrying won't do me any good, right? Right. So I'm not worrying.

This morning I met C. for a 10 mile run. My legs felt pretty dead for the first few miles--I was right about track catching up to me--but once I got warmed up I felt fine. I have so much fun running with C., so I'm so glad that I've got my mileage up to where we can meet again in the mornings (we live a few miles apart, so by the time we meet up it isn't really worth it unless we're going at least 10).
After work I'm going to the gym for a quick 20 or 30 minutes on the bike and a speed weight lifting session, because I'm supposed to be at my friend's house by around 7 so we can begin our big birthday bash. I can't remember the last time I went out on a Friday!

Decisions, decisions...

10K or 10 miler on Sunday? I'm torn. Actually, I think I've already made up my mind to run the 10 miler, but it would be so unlike me to not worry about a decision, so I'm worrying about this one. The background: two of my friends had birthdays this week, and they wanted to plan a night out to celebrate. One of them is Jewish, so we couldn't go out on Saturday because of Passover. We all agreed that we would go out on a Friday and--horrors!--skip long run on Saturday. So that's why I was looking for a Sunday race. I was 100% set on the 10 miler until my friend reminded me that there was also a good 10k on Sunday, which a few people I know will be running. I've entertained the 10k idea because it would be more fun to run with people I know, but I definitely don't have 10k speed right now. You can get away with running a 10 miler a little slower and calling it a training run, and I really don't think I don't think I feel like paying $30 for only a 6 mile training run. Plus the 10 mile course is beautiful, and fast. So there. I just confirmed that I made up my mind-10 miler it is.

I ran a fairly easy 8 this morning. At least, it was supposed to be easy, but by the end of it I was running pretty hard. I was stiff from track when I first started out, but by the time I was on my way home I was feeling pretty good, and I wound up running more than a minute negative split. Which isn't huge, but I had to climb a pretty nasty hill on the way back, so I'm pleased. I don't know that I'll still be pleased tomorrow, though-I have a feeling that track might catch up to me by then.
After work I went to the gym for 40 minutes on the bike and some lifting. I usually like to split the cardio between the elliptical and the bike, but I wanted to use different muscles so that I won't be too tired tomorrow--the bike doesn't affect my running legs at all. Plus there was a really cute guy on the bike next to me! Nothing came of it, of course--I guess that dripping sweat is not exactly conducive to romance. ;-)

Freaky Friday

Oh, um, I mean Wednesday. Does it count that I really wish it was Friday?
Either way, I'm a little freaked out by how good I'm feeling lately. I'm scared that I'm going to jinx it somehow! I suppose the only way I could really screw it up would be be to do something stupid with my training, like take feeling good as a sign that I should ramp up the mileage or start running doubles again (which is what I really want to do!) Counting back from Chicago (October 9), I need to start training seriously by the beginning of June. I'm sitting tight at about 50 miles/week right now, and I'm going to start bumping it up next week so that I'm comfortable at 60 by June, and ready to really get to work.

After having just said that I shouldn't run doubles yet, I did run twice today. Usually I cross train before track on Wednesdays, but today I wasn't going to be able to get to the gym because I had to leave work early for a haircut appointment (which I love! I got it cut really short for summer, and it feels so good to have it off my neck. Plus my hair is really fine, so it has so much more body when it's short. I had total haircut euphoria driving home--so much so that I rear-ended someone! Fortunately there wasn't any damage to either car, so it was just a rather dramatic reminder to stop admiring my hair in the mirror. But I digress). So I decided to run a few easy miles in the morning, just to get in more of a workout. And the weather is so nice right now--it was great to get outside in the morning.

Track tonight was good--probably the most solid workout I've had (this must be the week for "best ever" runs). We did 16x400 at 10k pace with 100 rest. Towards the end that rest starts to seem awfully short, but it's a good, quick workout. The only problem is that we have such a big group, and over the shorter intervals we don't spread out as much, so the people who don't follow track etiquette are really a problem. But trying to fight your way around a pack is great motivation to run faster. I ran most of the intervals with my friend C. We did the first few in 96, then went down to 95, and the next few at 93. C. bailed on me after 11 intervals because she hasn't been running much lately, but I kept up the pace for the last five, and ran three in 92 and the last two in 90. I felt smooth the entire time, and finished feeling like I could do more if I had to. My only bad moment was when a bug flew into my mouth 100 feet out from the finish of my last interval--not exactly the best way to start a kick!

Congratulations!

Congratulations to all the Boston runners! I hope you all had a great race, and are recovering well today. I'm looking forward to reading your race reports.
I also hope the non-Boston folks had the chance to see the broadcast on OLN (and that the runners know someone who taped it)--watching Catherine the Great overtake Elfenesh Alemu on Heartbreak Hill was absolutely incredible.

I Hate Comcast!

I've been without internet at home since Friday--argh! A tech is coming tomorrow to fix whatever the problem is, but for now I'm posting from work. So, editor's note-the entries below for Friday, Saturday and Sunday are technically being posted this morning on company time. But for clarity's sake (and so that it doesn't look like I went a full two weeks without posting!) I've made the authored-on date the respective day.

Another Good Day

Today was my Sunday run-to-the-gym routine. I expected to be kind of tired from yesterday, but I wasn't. I had to force myself to stick to the plan and only run the few miles to the gym and back, and it wasn't easy. I felt great on the way over, and ran there a full minute faster than I usually do--which is quite a lot of time over 2 miles! The fact that it was a gorgeous day definitely helped--it was just so much fun to be outside. Plus, there were tons of people out biking, shopping, rollerblading, etc., and I'm always motivated to run faster when there are other people around (as if they're going to notice, or care, that I'm running 7:30s instead of 8s). At the gym I did 30 mins on the elliptical, 30 on the bike, and lifted. Then I bemoaned the end of the college basketball season with my gym buddy M., and then I gave him a hard time about the Dallas Cowboys potential draft picks (the NFL draft is soon-which means that football is only 4 months away! 3 if you count the preseason!) I felt great for the run home, too. It's uphill on the way back, though, so I *only* ran 45 seconds faster than normal.

Sunday afternoon I went down to the National Gallery of Art for an exhibit I'd been wanting to see. (Toulouse-Lautrec and Montmartre-if you're in the DC area I highly recommend it.) It's so terrible that I can't remember the last time I went to a museum, and I live 2 miles from some of the greatest ones in the world. I'm sure that's true everywhere--who really takes advantage of the tourist attractions when they're at home?--but that doesn't make it less of a shame.
Just walking around on the National Mall is a lot of fun this time of year, too. Everyone is picnicking and flying kites and playing football, reveling in the one nice week of weather we'll have before the DC summer and humidity kicks in...I can already feel it coming.

Best Run Ever

Well, maybe not ever, as in the history of all time...but it was by far the best run I've had in months. The SLR route today was 14 miles, and it was one of the toughest routes we run. The first 6 miles are monstrously hilly, so if you're not careful you won't have anything left to get home (yes, I did learn that one the hard way). I started pretty conservatively, right at 8 min/mile pace, and planned to maintain that until we were done with the hills. I felt very strong, but wasn't sure if that was because I was running more slowly or if it was because I was actually having a good day. But by the time I got to the top of the last hill (which didn't seem nearly big as my memory of it--funny how feeling good changes your perspective) I knew I was having a good day. Once we leveled off, I picked it up, and caught up to a group of guys. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to stay with them, but I wanted to try because the next few miles of the route were pretty boring and I wanted company. Not only did I keep up with them, I think I picked up the pace--and we kept chatting the entire time. About 3 miles from the finish i was in desparate need of a pit stop, so I let them go. But then I could see them in front of me, so I made it my mission to catch them--and I did! I think I was at about 7 min pace for those last few miles, and I didn't really feel labored at all. I'm so, so happy--actually, exhilarated is a better word. I've run the distance a few times since I've been back, but today was the first time that I felt good for the distance, that 14 didn't feel like 24. It gives me hope that a marathon is in fact in my future!