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November 03, 2005
Family Fun
It's not that I've been so busy that I don't have time to blog--it's that I've been so busy that, by the time I am able to sit down to blog, I'm too tired to actually do it. I'm loving everything that I'm doing--school, internship, running--but it's definitely wiping me out at the end of the day!
But my running has been going well. I felt a little more sluggish after my down week than I expected; I had hoped to feel rested and bouncy (but then, don't we all?). But I still feel that the down week was the right thing. It was pushing too hard too soon that got me into trouble last fall and I'm determined not to repeat those mistakes. Otherwise, I'm really encouraged by my progress this week.
The highlights: Saturday, I ran in the snow with A. on a somewhat bizarre errand. A. works in marketing for a certain quick-service restaurant (read: fast food) and thus often has to do research on other QSRs. So our run had to, at some point, swing by a particular QSR so that we could check out their offerings, prices, and how they present it. Kinda weird, I know. Here I am, a future mental health clinician and running coach with interests in health psychology and behavioral medicine and my husband is part of one of the forces behind our nation's obesity and heart disease epidemics. A. says that it's by being married to me that he's hoping to avoid hell. =) I don't know about that...still, it was fun to try out a new route and I loved the weird looks that we got from customers and workers alike as we came into the restaurant--"what are two runners with no money coming in here for and just looking around?"
Sunday, I ran 8 miles, my longest run yet. Yay! And on Tuesday, I went back to the Brookline Reservoir and repeated the workout that I did on October 15th--3 x 1 lap (1 lap = .921 mi.) It was, of course, a beautiful Indian summer day but HOT. I couldn't believe that I was running in a sports bra and shorts only 2 days after running in snow. But, hey, that's New England weather. It was also incredibly windy--at times I felt like I was hardly moving when running into the headwind. When, out of desperation, I asked the wind permission to pass, it either ignored me or took it as a signal to kick it up a notch. I'm surprised that I wasn't blown right into the reservoir!
Still, it was a good workout. The last time I ran this workout, I ran 6:23, 6:09, and 6:02 with loose recovery times of 3:00-4:00. This time, I managed a 6:03, 5:52, and 5:55 and my recovery times were exactly 3:00 each. I warmed up for 14:00 and cooled down for 16:10 to make it 48:00 total, about 6 miles. So I felt really good about this effort and it confirmed my feeling that I've been doing things right so far. I'm not generally a paranoid or pessimistic person, but I am feeling like I'm looking over my shoulder a little bit for the Injury Monster or something. Things were going well like this last fall (albeit under more mileage and no alternative training and little core strengthening) when my hip and foot formed a conspiracy and decided to rebel together.
I'm really into personifying inanimate objects and concepts tonight, huh?
Today was pretty low-key. I went to the gym and risked getting caught on the elliptical for more than 30 minutes (a gym no-no) and ellipticalled for 45 min. For once, I actually worked hard enough to get my heartrate up a little. I often feel like I'm doing the equivalent of junk miles on the elliptical and that the effort I put into ellipticalling is hardly worth the effort it takes to get myself to the gym. But I think I'm finally getting the hang of it.
And it's on for Thanksgiving Day! It looks like all of my siblings plus my husband and brother-in-law will be running at my high school's Turkey Trot. I'm so excited--this will be a lot of fun. I found out that my brother's fastest time for 2.5 miles this season was a 16:51 and I ran a 16:48 at Fresh Pond...so it is ON! I have very little of Audrey's compunction about her desire to beat her brothers. As far as I'm concerned, the little punk is going down!
OK, I'm just kidding. I do think my brother-in-law is going to kick all our butts, though. He ran a 4:30-something mile in high school and I'm pretty sure that he has enough inborn talent to finish a good two minutes ahead of me. On no training. After smoking a cigarette at the starting line. Jerk. =)
Posted by Megan at November 3, 2005 08:48 PM
Comments
A 4:30??? That's a tough one to tackle! But it is definitely on for you vs. your brother!
I'm not making excuses for my (lack) of speed, but this really does speak to the genetics of running. Your brother's time is around yours-and my brothers' times are close to mine...That's very interesting. We shall have to see how the results play out for our two families :) Good luck! I hope the bloggers are victorious!
Posted by: Audrey at November 3, 2005 10:44 PM