The Greensboro Gobbler, that is. I'm running my first 5k since January 1 on Thursday. My goal was, ahem, is to run faster than 23:00. That means 22:??, but after today's little 3-miler I'm not so sure that's going to happen.
I am still without a Garmin, but Runner's World sent me this very fashionable watch for renewing my subscription. According to the watch, I ran three miles in just under 24 minutes, which is great except that I was totally exhausted at the end. I would like to blame this fatigue on anything and everything unrelated to my lack of running, but I might as well be honest. I haven't been running. I don't think I ran once last week; I'd pack my running stuff but something would come up. One day I got completely set for my run after school only to find out that I'd forgotten running shoes. They're kind of important, you know. I still did the elliptical, and I've even been working on upper body strength because I've always wanted to do a few pull-ups, but those things aren't running.
So this afternoon I ran three miles on the Greenway and it pretty near killed me. My legs were sore, my breathing wasn't right, and I stopped a few times to catch my breath. I never do that, but today I did. I think my legs were sore from standing so much this weekend, but the breathing and stopping come directly from not running since last Saturday. whoops.
I will run tomorrow and Tuesday. Tomorrow I plan do go easy, and Tuesday I want to run at the track. I will try not to do anything stupid to make my legs even deader than they feel today. I will stretch every morning and evening. And whatever time I get Thursday will be okay, as long as it's under 24:00. I killed my marathon goal by ten minutes, so maybe I'll surprise myself Thursday morning and run a 22-something. I'd say I'm crossing my fingers, but I know it won't help.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Sewanee Fun Run
This weekend we visited Sewanee for Reunion and Homecoming, which included something called an "Alumni Fun Run". Not being an alum, I was nervous about there being room for me in it. Maybe they only have enough numbers for registered graduates?
Ha. Turns out that a fun run is not a race, at least not this fun run. I asked a woman the day before how to register, and she said to show up. I asked when; pre-registration is often an hour or so before the starting time, right? She said to just come "around 8:00, maybe a few minutes before to get a snack." Hmm...
Saturday I showed up around 7:45 at the (beautiful sandstone)* Alumni house. There was an off-leash lab frolicking, several runners in various levels of winter wear, a lovely spread of coffee, water bottles, muffins, and fresh fruit, as well as a man in a tweed jacket with his Great Dane, but no giant clock, packet pick-up, not even a starting line. Around 8:00 a woman told us to follow two running professors to the cross and back, about 3 miles. Then we were off!
My Garmin died about a week ago, and the new one will not arrive for another week, so I was clockless. We started as a group running down the middle of the street. Did they block off the roads for us? Were there cops protecting us from traffic? Not exactly; it's just that easy to run in the road on a Saturday morning. I met some nice ladies and then sped up to catch the quicker people. No watch, no real sense of the distance, no worrying about placing or PRs or anything. It was pretty nice. The run began on the road, switched to trail, and the turnaround was the Sewanee Cross. Simply gorgeous. Then we headed back on the road and ended downhill back to the Alumni house. The campus is stunning, especially in the fall, and the sometimes foggy Sewanee sky was clear blue.
I have absolutely no clue how far or fast I ran and I'm pretty sure I don't care. I'll call it 3 miles and 25:00 in my log, but that's probably too slow and too short. The important thing is how nice it was to run for the sake of running. I could only gauge my effort on how my legs, lungs, and mind felt, and I haven't done that in a long time.
* Thanks Jason!
* Thanks Jason!
Sunday, November 7, 2010
On the art of crashing an alumni run
I didn't attend Sewanee, but my partner did. We're going to Reunion Weekend and there's a 5k "Fun Run for Alumni." I doubt there will be registration, awards, or possibly even an official clock, so the alumni part of the title can't be that serious, right? I was going to run on the mountain anyway, so why not run with other people, even if I didn't go to school with them? If anyone asks, I'll just chant "tigers, tigers, leave 'em in the lurch..." or run away very quickly.
This 5k is 12 days before the Greensboro Gobbler, and I'd love to know what kind of time to expect. I want to run a sub-23:00, but it's a stretch. I have to run at a 7:33 pace to hit 23:30 and 7:23 to squeeze by with 22:59. Can I do that? I don't know, but it's a heck of a lot shorter than a marathon. If I have another race before the Gobbler to prepare for, maybe it'll get me motivated. Or, if the fun run goes badly, maybe that will shame me into training well for the Thanksgiving run.
This week I plan to run hills one day and do speedwork one day. Lately my speedwork has not been on the track, so I might try to make the local track workout on Tuesday. I'll probably do 800's or mile repeats at below 5k pace- maybe around 7:00? The hill workout will probably involve this one long hill on the Greenway; it's between .25 and .5 miles. How's that for a hill?
In completely unrelated news (except for references to Thanksgiving), we sent our turkey off to be "processed" today. That's a euphemism for having it killed, plucked, prepared, and frozen for later use. Our male turkey has become very dominant and violent. We've had to chase him with shovels as he attacked us. He even attacked our neighbor- three times in one day! Yes, he has lived long enough and now he'll be a delicious part of our Thanksgiving feast.
So, here's to running and eating turkey, but not at the same time.
This 5k is 12 days before the Greensboro Gobbler, and I'd love to know what kind of time to expect. I want to run a sub-23:00, but it's a stretch. I have to run at a 7:33 pace to hit 23:30 and 7:23 to squeeze by with 22:59. Can I do that? I don't know, but it's a heck of a lot shorter than a marathon. If I have another race before the Gobbler to prepare for, maybe it'll get me motivated. Or, if the fun run goes badly, maybe that will shame me into training well for the Thanksgiving run.
This week I plan to run hills one day and do speedwork one day. Lately my speedwork has not been on the track, so I might try to make the local track workout on Tuesday. I'll probably do 800's or mile repeats at below 5k pace- maybe around 7:00? The hill workout will probably involve this one long hill on the Greenway; it's between .25 and .5 miles. How's that for a hill?
In completely unrelated news (except for references to Thanksgiving), we sent our turkey off to be "processed" today. That's a euphemism for having it killed, plucked, prepared, and frozen for later use. Our male turkey has become very dominant and violent. We've had to chase him with shovels as he attacked us. He even attacked our neighbor- three times in one day! Yes, he has lived long enough and now he'll be a delicious part of our Thanksgiving feast.
So, here's to running and eating turkey, but not at the same time.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Easy Running with Jack
I ran with one of the dogs today. Jack has historically been the fastest, fittest dog, but he's gotten out of shape because of marathon training. I neglected our weekend runs when my weekend runs needed to be long and/or fast. Today reminded me how much he needs to get his exercise in, too. He used to run six miles with me, dart back and forth to mark trees- thank goodness for retractable leashes. Today he huffed and puffed just behind me.
Jack would prefer to run off-leash; he's an aussie/blue heeler cross, so it's in his DNA to pretty much stick to me like glue. Sadly, he got fined at a national park for his freewheeling ways, so it's all-leash all the time these days.
Jack would prefer to run off-leash; he's an aussie/blue heeler cross, so it's in his DNA to pretty much stick to me like glue. Sadly, he got fined at a national park for his freewheeling ways, so it's all-leash all the time these days.
Here's Jack wearing his ticket the day of said event. What a cute little reprobate.
So, Jack and I ran. It was slower and shorter than I would have liked, but it's what he needed. We ran three miles at around 9:45 pace, and I had to cheer him on at the end. We're going to go for another run tomorrow and as often as possible until January when (gasp!) marathon training begins again.
Until then? My goal is to run a sub-22:00 5k by January. I think it's doable. If I can run 23:00 on Thanksgiving at the Gobbler with its hilly course, I know I can take off another minute by New Year's. I'm much better at running long than running quickly, so this will be work. Here are the races I plan to run:
November 7: Battle of the Triad 5k. I'm not sure about this one, but I have lots of friends doing the half-marathon so it'll be a fun crowd even if I'm slow.
November 13: Alumni Fun Run at Sewanee. I'm not an alum, but I'll be there and like to run. Maybe I'll borrow a disguise?
November 25: Greensboro Gobbler 5k
January 1: Resolution Run 5k
Monday, October 25, 2010
When it's good to get rid of a goal
I am still on a marathon high. Other than one purple toenail that does not hurt, I have fully recovered from the race. I've been on a few runs, and they felt good. The next few months will be all about 5ks, and in January I'll (probably) begin training for marathon #2. Everything is good.
Everything is good.
Everything is good except for this pesky little goal I set for myself back in June. I decided that June and July would be 100 mile months, August and September 120 miles, and then October back down to 100. At the time it seemed so logical, but I've run (including Baltimore) about 65 miles and do not plan on running the rest by Sunday. I need to kill the goal, which involves going to Garmin's website and deleting it after convincing myself that it's okay.
I don't think I've always been a neurotic runner. In high school I ran cross-country for exactly one week. It was hard, so I went back to watching Saved by the Bell reruns in the afternoon while eating large quantities of crackers and a few diet cokes. Somehow, I think my inherent laziness and desire to not have a plan engendered this goal-happy stranger inhabiting my body. Deep down, I'd like to be sitting on the couch eating Cheese-Its or pizza and watching a lot of television, but that person doesn't seem very interesting. In order to not be that person, I have created fairly specific goals without much time in between. Finish a race? Great! What's the next one? It's not just with running, either. I keep myself busy not because I want to be busy but because I don't want people to perceive me as lazy. Training for this last race gave me an awareness of why I set goals and the confidence that I can achieve the goals that I set.
That must mean that I can change a goal that is not appropriate. It's silly of me to stick to a goal that doesn't have value or relevance. I will delete this outdated goal tonight, from the computer and from my brain.
Everything is good.
Everything is good except for this pesky little goal I set for myself back in June. I decided that June and July would be 100 mile months, August and September 120 miles, and then October back down to 100. At the time it seemed so logical, but I've run (including Baltimore) about 65 miles and do not plan on running the rest by Sunday. I need to kill the goal, which involves going to Garmin's website and deleting it after convincing myself that it's okay.
I don't think I've always been a neurotic runner. In high school I ran cross-country for exactly one week. It was hard, so I went back to watching Saved by the Bell reruns in the afternoon while eating large quantities of crackers and a few diet cokes. Somehow, I think my inherent laziness and desire to not have a plan engendered this goal-happy stranger inhabiting my body. Deep down, I'd like to be sitting on the couch eating Cheese-Its or pizza and watching a lot of television, but that person doesn't seem very interesting. In order to not be that person, I have created fairly specific goals without much time in between. Finish a race? Great! What's the next one? It's not just with running, either. I keep myself busy not because I want to be busy but because I don't want people to perceive me as lazy. Training for this last race gave me an awareness of why I set goals and the confidence that I can achieve the goals that I set.
That must mean that I can change a goal that is not appropriate. It's silly of me to stick to a goal that doesn't have value or relevance. I will delete this outdated goal tonight, from the computer and from my brain.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Race Recap
I did it! The race went so well. Where to start...
Friday Jenn, James, and I drove up to Alexandria to have dinner and carpool to Baltimore with the parents. Dad made seafood pasta and mom made edamame salad; apparently these are the perfect prerace foods. Then we piled into the CRV and drove to Baltimore. Mom and Dad dropped Jenn and I off at M & T Bank Stadium (home to Baltimore's football team- Baltimore has a football team?). This was the first expo I've ever seen, and it seemed huge to me. We finally found the packet pickup and then went on a second odyssey to find teeshirts. There were a lot of vendors, but also a ton of people so we didn't explore too much.
Saturday morning felt a lot better than most long run mornings because I got to sleep in until 6:00! James spent part of the night in our bed, but he was very well behaved. Such a snuggler. I found coffee, bagel, and cream cheese for breakfast in the hotel cafe. When I asked about whole wheat toast and peanut butter, the waitress said she'd order a lot for next year. Runners can be so predictable.
I got all dressed in my racing attire and walked the quarter mile to the start around 7:00. This means I got to Orioles stadium approximately 4 minutes later, and it was very chilly. I hadn't brought a jacket, gloves, or long pants because I didn't want to check a bag. So what did I do? Go back to the hotel, of course! I joined the family for breakfast, drinking down a very refreshing orange juice. James was practicing pumping his fist in the air while saying "Mama!" Around 7:40 I left again and arrived in a sea of runners all anxiously waiting to start.
A skydiver carrying the American flag landed right before we started. He was shooting red smoke out of his foot, too. I don't know if a gun was supposed to go off, but I didn't hear it. I started conservatively, trying to warm up and get free of the claustrophobic crowd. My legs felt great, but (per usual) I couldn't feel about half of my toes. Oh well. I knew that the first half was going to feel easy and that I had to hold back a little to finish.
Around mile 4, I made a friend who is the reason I ran such a good race. Dave and I were at around the same pace and both run better talking to someone. We ran really well and much faster than I'd expected. Yes, the course was hilly, and at times we slowed down, but mile after mile we chatted on the easy spots and stuck together through the trickier ones. We managed to not get completely separated through the numerous water and Gatorade stops, too. Big accomplishment, in my opinion.
At mile 8 I saw my family! It was so exciting to see them there; I was practically on top of my mom before she spotted me. I was ahead of schedule and they weren't really expecting me yet.
I saw them again at mile 13 after running past Fort McHenry. James was not impressed, but I'll forgive him. Here he is on the overpass that they used to get between the two sightings.
The second half of the course was much hillier and we slowed down quite a bit. Between miles 16 and 20 we pretty much climbed, but miles 20-22 were around a lake. The clear day and wide open water created quite a pretty view; at every point around the lake I could see a constant stream of runners. Lovely.
Miles 21-23 were, sadly, also uphill. Dave's mantra was "don't stop running" and this helped me a lot. I didn't ever stop, not once. Around mile 23 we started the descent back into the Inner Harbor. Dave and I got separated but I kept chugging. The last three miles were fairly solitary; I picked up the pace but it took a lot of concentration. By the end, as I ran through Orioles Stadium towards the football stadium, I could do nothing but run and think about the next step or two. I've never run like that before, and I loved it.
After crossing the finish line (chip time 3:50:31!) I sat down on the ground. I just couldn't move. My shoulder and arm hurt so bad, and I couldn't remember for a second which arm was the heart attack arm. My right arm hurt, so it was okay. I got a medal, a pretty silver blanket that I wore as a skirt and then as a cape, and then I borrowed a spectator's phone to meet up with the family. I found Jenn, James, Mom, Dad, and Susannah (yay for Baltimore friends!) in the kid's fun zone. We stayed around long enough for me to try to stretch and then walked back to the hotel so I could bathe and eat. It was a very slow walk back to the hotel. I shuffled and my mom insisted I wasn't going that slow. I was tired. Nothing hurt besides my gimpy right arm, but I was exhausted.
The race exceeded all of my expectations. I killed my goal and can see 3:40 as a distinct possibility. Having family there cheering for me was amazing as well; it wouldn't have been as much fun without them. Speaking of family, my fans feel that their first attempt at spectating, while fortuitous, could be improved. They have therefore decided that I will run the National Marathon on March 26 in Washington, DC. They won't tell me what they're planning. I know it involves props and bright colors. I think there might be a vuvuzela. We'll see... I can't commit to another marathon right now. In a few weeks it may sound like a great idea. I know I'll do another one someday, but in the Spring? Really? So soon? Right now I'll focus on speeding up my 5k times. I want to run a sub 22:00 5k, and for me that will take a lot of work.
Here's the route according to Garmin:
Friday Jenn, James, and I drove up to Alexandria to have dinner and carpool to Baltimore with the parents. Dad made seafood pasta and mom made edamame salad; apparently these are the perfect prerace foods. Then we piled into the CRV and drove to Baltimore. Mom and Dad dropped Jenn and I off at M & T Bank Stadium (home to Baltimore's football team- Baltimore has a football team?). This was the first expo I've ever seen, and it seemed huge to me. We finally found the packet pickup and then went on a second odyssey to find teeshirts. There were a lot of vendors, but also a ton of people so we didn't explore too much.
Saturday morning felt a lot better than most long run mornings because I got to sleep in until 6:00! James spent part of the night in our bed, but he was very well behaved. Such a snuggler. I found coffee, bagel, and cream cheese for breakfast in the hotel cafe. When I asked about whole wheat toast and peanut butter, the waitress said she'd order a lot for next year. Runners can be so predictable.
I got all dressed in my racing attire and walked the quarter mile to the start around 7:00. This means I got to Orioles stadium approximately 4 minutes later, and it was very chilly. I hadn't brought a jacket, gloves, or long pants because I didn't want to check a bag. So what did I do? Go back to the hotel, of course! I joined the family for breakfast, drinking down a very refreshing orange juice. James was practicing pumping his fist in the air while saying "Mama!" Around 7:40 I left again and arrived in a sea of runners all anxiously waiting to start.
A skydiver carrying the American flag landed right before we started. He was shooting red smoke out of his foot, too. I don't know if a gun was supposed to go off, but I didn't hear it. I started conservatively, trying to warm up and get free of the claustrophobic crowd. My legs felt great, but (per usual) I couldn't feel about half of my toes. Oh well. I knew that the first half was going to feel easy and that I had to hold back a little to finish.
Around mile 4, I made a friend who is the reason I ran such a good race. Dave and I were at around the same pace and both run better talking to someone. We ran really well and much faster than I'd expected. Yes, the course was hilly, and at times we slowed down, but mile after mile we chatted on the easy spots and stuck together through the trickier ones. We managed to not get completely separated through the numerous water and Gatorade stops, too. Big accomplishment, in my opinion.
At mile 8 I saw my family! It was so exciting to see them there; I was practically on top of my mom before she spotted me. I was ahead of schedule and they weren't really expecting me yet.
I saw them again at mile 13 after running past Fort McHenry. James was not impressed, but I'll forgive him. Here he is on the overpass that they used to get between the two sightings.
The second half of the course was much hillier and we slowed down quite a bit. Between miles 16 and 20 we pretty much climbed, but miles 20-22 were around a lake. The clear day and wide open water created quite a pretty view; at every point around the lake I could see a constant stream of runners. Lovely.
Miles 21-23 were, sadly, also uphill. Dave's mantra was "don't stop running" and this helped me a lot. I didn't ever stop, not once. Around mile 23 we started the descent back into the Inner Harbor. Dave and I got separated but I kept chugging. The last three miles were fairly solitary; I picked up the pace but it took a lot of concentration. By the end, as I ran through Orioles Stadium towards the football stadium, I could do nothing but run and think about the next step or two. I've never run like that before, and I loved it.
After crossing the finish line (chip time 3:50:31!) I sat down on the ground. I just couldn't move. My shoulder and arm hurt so bad, and I couldn't remember for a second which arm was the heart attack arm. My right arm hurt, so it was okay. I got a medal, a pretty silver blanket that I wore as a skirt and then as a cape, and then I borrowed a spectator's phone to meet up with the family. I found Jenn, James, Mom, Dad, and Susannah (yay for Baltimore friends!) in the kid's fun zone. We stayed around long enough for me to try to stretch and then walked back to the hotel so I could bathe and eat. It was a very slow walk back to the hotel. I shuffled and my mom insisted I wasn't going that slow. I was tired. Nothing hurt besides my gimpy right arm, but I was exhausted.
The race exceeded all of my expectations. I killed my goal and can see 3:40 as a distinct possibility. Having family there cheering for me was amazing as well; it wouldn't have been as much fun without them. Speaking of family, my fans feel that their first attempt at spectating, while fortuitous, could be improved. They have therefore decided that I will run the National Marathon on March 26 in Washington, DC. They won't tell me what they're planning. I know it involves props and bright colors. I think there might be a vuvuzela. We'll see... I can't commit to another marathon right now. In a few weeks it may sound like a great idea. I know I'll do another one someday, but in the Spring? Really? So soon? Right now I'll focus on speeding up my 5k times. I want to run a sub 22:00 5k, and for me that will take a lot of work.
Here's the route according to Garmin:
Monday, October 11, 2010
Saturday's Race Day!
Thanks be to Off n' Running for ordering me a new usb antenna to make my watch speak to me computer. Yesterday's run was really good; I did ten miles, alternating fast and slow miles starting at mile 3. It felt great; my fastest mile was sub-8:00!
I might have run too fast for a taper, but I certainly didn't run too long. It felt great to get out there and run quickly. Today I'm taking a rest day, and tomorrow's All-County Orchestra auditions mean that I'll be on the elliptical. I'll try to run easy Wednesday and/or Thursday before making the trip to Maryland Friday afternoon. Other than that, I plan to eat a lot (of mostly good food) and rest up for race day!
I might have run too fast for a taper, but I certainly didn't run too long. It felt great to get out there and run quickly. Today I'm taking a rest day, and tomorrow's All-County Orchestra auditions mean that I'll be on the elliptical. I'll try to run easy Wednesday and/or Thursday before making the trip to Maryland Friday afternoon. Other than that, I plan to eat a lot (of mostly good food) and rest up for race day!
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