Since my last post a week ago, I've logged 37 miles. Most of that has been in below freezing temps, and I still am quite encouraged at the will power I have had to make myself get out and go run in what seems like insanely cold temps. I swear, while I have not yet skipped a run due to the cold, every single one is a battle that is fought in the warmth of my home. The hardest thing about running in cold weather is simply convincing yourself that you can do it. Each time once I've gotten out there, it is never as bad as my mind had told me that it was going to be. I felt like I needed to log this factoid today as a reminder to myself that it really never is as bad as you think it is going to be. 20 degrees with a wind chill of 0? Today I wore just my regular running socks (only 1 pair), a pair of sweat pants, a base-layer shirt, a long-sleeve tech shirt, my running jacket with a hood, scarf around my neck, 2 pairs of gloves (one pair I took off just over a mile in the run), ear muffs, and a hat. Other than the scarf, which I have never worn before, and the extra pair of gloves (that I do wear from time to time when it is really cold), I didn't have to add anything else out of the ordinary, and I really was not all that cold. Truthfully, I felt more cold when I got out of bed this morning.
OK - to the running part ... last Wednesday I just did a simple 5-mile run with a 9:14 per mile pace. After an incredibly stressful Thursday, I was able to take out anger and frustration over 18 miles on Friday. Friday's run took me 2:58, which is an average of 9:54 per mile. When I say that running is my escape, Friday was a perfect example of what that means to me. For the first 2 hours, I was able to be completely focused on the things that had been frustrating me, and I was able to just cleanse them from my system. I felt great - mentally, emotionally, and physically, for the last hour of the run. I'll be honest, I was glad that it wasn't any longer of a run, but I still felt pretty darn good.
This week I've already run 14 miles - 7 easy miles at a 9:14 pace, and then today I had speed work. My training plan today called for me to do 1 warm up mile, and then do 3x1600m at 8:27 pace, with an 800m jog in between, and then at least another mile for cool down. I did the first 1600 in 8:15, the second in 8:12, and the third in 8:07. Let me just say that I do not like speed work. But I also realize how much it helps make me a stronger runner. Tomorrow my training plan calls for 6 miles nice and easy. After today, I'm almost looking forward to that. For now. Until I hear the forecast for tomorrow morning.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
The Difference a Year Makes
I just completed my second run of the week in 20-something degree weather. I've got to admit I feel a tremendous amount of pride and satisfaction that I have done that, and it's not because I have some weird ego-thing about doing crazy stuff. Last year when I was training for the Disney Marathon, on mornings like this I would have waited until the late afternoon to go for my run, justifying that there was no need to subject myself to freezing temperatures. I rationalized that it would not be that cold in Orlando in January, and so there was no need to make myself miserable on a frozen run. But if you have followed this blog at all, then you know that the Disney Marathon of 2010 went down as one of the coldest ever, with the temps at the start around 26 degrees, and it never got above freezing during the duration of the race. I was so unprepared to run in weather like that, and I think that my lack of preparation for something like that led to it being an even more difficult experience.
This year, I have steeled myself to the possibility that it just might be cold in Myrtle Beach in February. In fact, last year the Myrtle Beach Marathon was cancelled due to snow and ice. I am going to be ready for whatever, and I am going to do my absolute best to run in whatever conditions I find each morning I am scheduled to run. So far, I am actually learning what to wear in weather like this - what is comfortable, what is too cool, what is too hot. It is not "fun" to experiment on mornings like this, but I think in the end it will truly pay off.
Yesterday I ran 7 miles at a nice slow pace. Because some businesses have an automated sprinkler system, several places I had to be careful as I ran on the ice-covered sidewalk. I do plan on notifying the 3 businesses in particular of the hazard they are creating by having those things run on nights/mornings when it is so cold and freezing over the public sidewalk. They can blow me off if they want - then I'll just call the City Manager. He can blow me off too - then I'll just call my attorney - who I happen to call my wife.
Today I ran my intervals again. I am learning to truly hate intervals. But as I heard on one of the lines of a Relient K song today, "When the burden feels too much to bear, just remember the end will justify the pain it took to get us there." For my info, I did 4 full laps hard/slow, 2 half laps hard/slow, and hill sprint.
This year, I have steeled myself to the possibility that it just might be cold in Myrtle Beach in February. In fact, last year the Myrtle Beach Marathon was cancelled due to snow and ice. I am going to be ready for whatever, and I am going to do my absolute best to run in whatever conditions I find each morning I am scheduled to run. So far, I am actually learning what to wear in weather like this - what is comfortable, what is too cool, what is too hot. It is not "fun" to experiment on mornings like this, but I think in the end it will truly pay off.
Yesterday I ran 7 miles at a nice slow pace. Because some businesses have an automated sprinkler system, several places I had to be careful as I ran on the ice-covered sidewalk. I do plan on notifying the 3 businesses in particular of the hazard they are creating by having those things run on nights/mornings when it is so cold and freezing over the public sidewalk. They can blow me off if they want - then I'll just call the City Manager. He can blow me off too - then I'll just call my attorney - who I happen to call my wife.
Today I ran my intervals again. I am learning to truly hate intervals. But as I heard on one of the lines of a Relient K song today, "When the burden feels too much to bear, just remember the end will justify the pain it took to get us there." For my info, I did 4 full laps hard/slow, 2 half laps hard/slow, and hill sprint.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Re-tired run
Thursday morning I went for my "light" recovery run of 5 miles, and I still could feel the "dead legs." I could blame it on many things, but I truly believe the biggest thing is the lack of rest lately. Just been too busy, and not getting to bed early enough each night, and I'm not giving my body the time it needs to heal. As you probably know, when you sleep, your body heals. More sleep = more recovery. If you have ever had plantar fasciitis, then you have experienced the healing that occurs overnight. The tissue in your arch heals as you sleep, but you sleep with your feet pointed down (pay attention to that), so when you get up in the morning and take that first step out of bed, the tissue in your arch stretches again as you put weight on it, and some of the healing that took place overnight is undone, and you feel the pain in those first few steps. Anyway, long story short, I don't have any injuries (right now), but I still can tell I need more rest.
Speaking of lack of rest, yesterday I had 16 miles on my training plan. I knew that at 9:00 AM, I had to be on base for a friend's retirement ceremony, so I had to get up early so that I could get those 16 miles done, get back, eat, shower, and get on base. I actually felt pretty good on this run - something about running in the early morning with the moon and stars still in the sky is a great start to the day. I don't have a lot to say about this run, but I really did have to hustle for the last few miles to be able to get to the ceremony on time - and yes, I cut it extremely close. 16 miles with a couple of bathroom breaks - 9:44 per mile average.
Speaking of lack of rest, yesterday I had 16 miles on my training plan. I knew that at 9:00 AM, I had to be on base for a friend's retirement ceremony, so I had to get up early so that I could get those 16 miles done, get back, eat, shower, and get on base. I actually felt pretty good on this run - something about running in the early morning with the moon and stars still in the sky is a great start to the day. I don't have a lot to say about this run, but I really did have to hustle for the last few miles to be able to get to the ceremony on time - and yes, I cut it extremely close. 16 miles with a couple of bathroom breaks - 9:44 per mile average.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Dead Legs
After my 7 mile run last Wednesday, I thought it was going to be nice to give my legs a few days of rest from running. How'd that work out for me, as we walked mile after mile at Disney World Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and then sit in the car for hour after hour on Sunday? Not. Too. Good. Ah - It really wasn't that bad, but after a 7 mile run on Monday morning, I could tell my legs felt "heavy." It certainly wasn't from eating too much over Thanksgiving - I think that is impossible to do at Disney - it'd cost an arm and a leg to eat too much! Though my legs did feel heavy, it still really felt great to get out and actually run Monday morning. It really wasn't even all that hard to get myself up and out the door - I guess my legs wanted to be free after all the time that we spent in the car on Sunday.
Yesterday was my interval training day, and so I ran down to the park and did my laps. When I look at my time, I can see that I am progressing, and I think that I can feel that I am progressing. But I was very conscious of the feeling that my legs were just "dead." I can understand why they felt that way, and looking back, maybe I should not have run intervals yesterday. But I was able to justify it because I knew that I would not be running today. So when it was time to hit the hard run part of the intervals, I really hit it. And though I wanted to cut some of those intervals short, I pushed through them. And though I wanted to walk some of the recovery jogs, I pushed through those too. This week I ran the following intervals:
Lap - 3 hard/3 light
1/2 lap - 2 hard/2 light
1/4 lap - 2 hard/2 light
Hill - sprint
I did it all, and my average pace (between the hard and light running) was 8:40 for a total of 5 miles.
As a side note, I also booked my room for the Myrtle Beach Bi-Lo Marathon in February! Starting to feel real! It also was still neat to visit Disney World last weekend. Throughout the parks, I was reminded of the marathon and running through certain parts, and even as we rode the Disney buses from one place to another, I was reminded of some of those painful stretches. Still, it actually made me more excited about the MB Marathon, and it reassured me that I definitely want to run Disney again in the future - just not when it's 26 degrees!
Yesterday was my interval training day, and so I ran down to the park and did my laps. When I look at my time, I can see that I am progressing, and I think that I can feel that I am progressing. But I was very conscious of the feeling that my legs were just "dead." I can understand why they felt that way, and looking back, maybe I should not have run intervals yesterday. But I was able to justify it because I knew that I would not be running today. So when it was time to hit the hard run part of the intervals, I really hit it. And though I wanted to cut some of those intervals short, I pushed through them. And though I wanted to walk some of the recovery jogs, I pushed through those too. This week I ran the following intervals:
Lap - 3 hard/3 light
1/2 lap - 2 hard/2 light
1/4 lap - 2 hard/2 light
Hill - sprint
I did it all, and my average pace (between the hard and light running) was 8:40 for a total of 5 miles.
As a side note, I also booked my room for the Myrtle Beach Bi-Lo Marathon in February! Starting to feel real! It also was still neat to visit Disney World last weekend. Throughout the parks, I was reminded of the marathon and running through certain parts, and even as we rode the Disney buses from one place to another, I was reminded of some of those painful stretches. Still, it actually made me more excited about the MB Marathon, and it reassured me that I definitely want to run Disney again in the future - just not when it's 26 degrees!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
