It was a somewhat busy Thanksgiving week. For instance, I went to a whole other country (okay, it was Canada, which is the country next door, but still). I did, however, get through my entire week of running and it was a big week for this plan: 6 miles on Tuesday, what wound up being 6 miles on Thursday (surprise!), 12 miles on Friday, and speedwork today (Sunday). I had to rearrange things due to travel, but at least everything got done.
The Thursday 6 miles was broken down as follows: 4 miles normal, then 0.5 miles fast, and 1.5 normal to finish. I did the fast quite fast. Plus it wound up being up a hill. A real hill, not a Florida hill (although nowhere on par with a California hill or a Pittsburgh hill or anything).
Other excitement during my week: I bought new shoes on Monday and tried them out on Tuesday. They seemed fine, so I took them to the foreign country. Surprise! They were not. I got back Thursday to find that they had viciously attacked my feet during my run. So I got to buy brand-new (expensive) running shoes in a foreign country. Yay! Ah well, these things happen sometimes. I have to say that these were my first skunky shoes in my running career, so probably I shouldn't complain too much.
The runs all went okay, although none was particularly great. I didn't have enough fueling stuff for the long run because I was out of my sport beans. By the end, I was hungry, which is a sign that you did not have enough en route. But that wasn't such a big deal since I wasn't too concerned about my time.
On to tapering! I am super excited about this since the past week wore me out.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
San Francisco
It's been busy since I got back from San Francisco...which was on Sunday, but feels like 87 days ago. In fact, the SF run was a week ago, but feels like a month. You may be getting the sense that the trip wore me out, which would be accurate!
My run was supposed to be 10 miles, except that my GPS absolutely refused to play ball near my hotel, so I opted to go by time instead. I picked a reasonable speed and decided to run that, considering it to be 'close enough' for 10 miles. I could have gone down to the Embacadero and run there, but I wanted a change of scenery from the last time that I was in SF.
I did manage to get to the Golden Gate Park, which looked like a superb place to run; unfortunately, I got to it right near the turn-around! Next time, it may be a better idea get a bus and start there, otherwise you can run into a lot of traffic lights.
The hills were insane, but I knew that that was going to happen. So I decided to try running them and accept that I would have to walk at times. This seemed to be a good plan that worked: it took about the same amount of time to/from the hotel, so my run/walk times must have balanced pretty well on either side. What was funny was reaching moments where I felt that I had to walk, then looking behind me. I did do some serious hill running, even if I didn't get through everything!
That was the only run I wound up doing in California. Sunday, I was far too tired to try anything. I did finally get back on the ol' treadmill yesterday and should be able to get my 4 runs in this week, so back to the routine.
My run was supposed to be 10 miles, except that my GPS absolutely refused to play ball near my hotel, so I opted to go by time instead. I picked a reasonable speed and decided to run that, considering it to be 'close enough' for 10 miles. I could have gone down to the Embacadero and run there, but I wanted a change of scenery from the last time that I was in SF.
I did manage to get to the Golden Gate Park, which looked like a superb place to run; unfortunately, I got to it right near the turn-around! Next time, it may be a better idea get a bus and start there, otherwise you can run into a lot of traffic lights.
The hills were insane, but I knew that that was going to happen. So I decided to try running them and accept that I would have to walk at times. This seemed to be a good plan that worked: it took about the same amount of time to/from the hotel, so my run/walk times must have balanced pretty well on either side. What was funny was reaching moments where I felt that I had to walk, then looking behind me. I did do some serious hill running, even if I didn't get through everything!
That was the only run I wound up doing in California. Sunday, I was far too tired to try anything. I did finally get back on the ol' treadmill yesterday and should be able to get my 4 runs in this week, so back to the routine.
Diatribe: quote-on-quote performance tees
I've noticed recently that more and more races are giving away what they term as 'performance tees,' the kinds of t-shirts that look super fancy, as opposed to the cotton ones that look like generic t-shirts. Well and good. I got a snazzy one from the Northdale 5k Pumpkin Run and decided to wear it today at the gym for what was supposed to be a teeny tiny run (okay, not teeny tiny, but not massive). I looked snazzy. But I couldn't run because this 'performance t-shirt' did not actually perform, in that it did nothing in aid of removing sweat from my body. Therefore I overheated after having completed only half of the teeny tiny run. So a tee-ti amount.
Grr.
As I was driving home, I was trying to figure out why I had failed to complete what was an easier work-out than the one I completed last night on the exact same treadmill at the exact same gym. Then, I noticed that my t-shirt was in no way sweaty at all, yet I still was. That is not a performance t-shirt, people. That is a fancy-looking shirt that performs as well as--if not poorer than--a cotton shirt. So could you please just give me a cotton shirt instead so that I won't try to use it while actually running?
/rant over.
Incidentally, it got hot and stormy again. I could rant about that, but that's enough ranting for one post.
Grr.
As I was driving home, I was trying to figure out why I had failed to complete what was an easier work-out than the one I completed last night on the exact same treadmill at the exact same gym. Then, I noticed that my t-shirt was in no way sweaty at all, yet I still was. That is not a performance t-shirt, people. That is a fancy-looking shirt that performs as well as--if not poorer than--a cotton shirt. So could you please just give me a cotton shirt instead so that I won't try to use it while actually running?
/rant over.
Incidentally, it got hot and stormy again. I could rant about that, but that's enough ranting for one post.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Northdale 5k Pumpkin Run
I did the Northdale 5k this morning, as did my friend. And as I suspected, she beat me. In fact, she beat my all-time best 5k time by numerous seconds (although not more than a minute! Yes!). I feel okay with that. That time required me to train my freaking bootie right off.
My race was not my best, but I'm quite certain that it was in my top five 5ks. I'm fully okay with this because I hadn't really trained for this particular distance and I actually haven't even run a 5k in months (okay, I participated in a 5k, but did not really run). So that's fine. If I felt like spending this year working on 5k times, I would probably get pretty good. However, I chose to run four half-marathons, so that's plenty to keep me busy.
The weather was quite nice from a temperature standpoint (in the 50s!) but less so from the humidity standpoint (80%+, ugh). Next time, I will not walk for so long in the middle when I get water. In fact, for a 5k, I probably could have passed on water altogether. But that's fine. Live and learn.
This is probably the most chilled out I have ever felt about running a race in my entire life. Is this progress?
My race was not my best, but I'm quite certain that it was in my top five 5ks. I'm fully okay with this because I hadn't really trained for this particular distance and I actually haven't even run a 5k in months (okay, I participated in a 5k, but did not really run). So that's fine. If I felt like spending this year working on 5k times, I would probably get pretty good. However, I chose to run four half-marathons, so that's plenty to keep me busy.
The weather was quite nice from a temperature standpoint (in the 50s!) but less so from the humidity standpoint (80%+, ugh). Next time, I will not walk for so long in the middle when I get water. In fact, for a 5k, I probably could have passed on water altogether. But that's fine. Live and learn.
This is probably the most chilled out I have ever felt about running a race in my entire life. Is this progress?
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Run 1 of the New Plan: yes, I have fast twitch muscles (somewhere)
When you run, you use one of two kinds of muscles in your legs: fast twitch or slow twitch. One helps you go fast, the other helps you go the distance. You can probably guess which one is which.
I've decided to go with the more challenging, intermediate running plan for the next half-marathon. Even though the slacker easy plan apparently worked (and I still have no idea how that was), I think that I'm in to be pushed this time around. Hopefully, weather will cooperate again. My book, The Runner's World Guide to Road Racing, suggests that you are ready for the intermediate level plan when you want to race a half-marathon, not just run it and survive to tell the tale. After the last one, I feel ready to race...I hope!
Incidentally, I have used this book before with pretty good success. In 2009, I did the intermediate 5k plan and I PRed (mind you, it was in Connecticut with amazing weather, but that is still a good sign). The beginner marathon plan was the one that I used last year. I opted to go with the intermediate plan for this half-marathon because I do want to be pushed, so it is time to step things up a bit.
Anyway, tonight's run was intervals at actually paces that are not wholly embarrassing. You get to use your fast twitch muscles. Whoo! Because I was starting to forget that I even had fast twitch muscles after all of the plodding runs that I've done over the past few months. Think about it: I've been essentially running at a slow and steady pace SINCE MAY. That is forever. Not really, but it's starting to feel like it. So tonight, it was fun to do intervals as a change of pace.
Saturday I am running the Northdale YMCA 5k. Why not? It's actually in the running plan to do a race and I felt like this would be a good endeavor. I used to live right next to the Northdale YMCA and this will mark my third time doing this race, a personal record for participating in the same event. My plan is to try and remember that I have fast twitch muscles. With any luck the weather should be great.
I will be joined by a friend; we will be celebrating two years of her running by running the same race as her very first 5k (awwwwwwww). We also ran her very second 5k together and she beat me. I suspect that the same will occur on Saturday. But that's okay because I have fast twitch muscles and I am not afraid to use them.
I've decided to go with the more challenging, intermediate running plan for the next half-marathon. Even though the slacker easy plan apparently worked (and I still have no idea how that was), I think that I'm in to be pushed this time around. Hopefully, weather will cooperate again. My book, The Runner's World Guide to Road Racing, suggests that you are ready for the intermediate level plan when you want to race a half-marathon, not just run it and survive to tell the tale. After the last one, I feel ready to race...I hope!
Incidentally, I have used this book before with pretty good success. In 2009, I did the intermediate 5k plan and I PRed (mind you, it was in Connecticut with amazing weather, but that is still a good sign). The beginner marathon plan was the one that I used last year. I opted to go with the intermediate plan for this half-marathon because I do want to be pushed, so it is time to step things up a bit.
Anyway, tonight's run was intervals at actually paces that are not wholly embarrassing. You get to use your fast twitch muscles. Whoo! Because I was starting to forget that I even had fast twitch muscles after all of the plodding runs that I've done over the past few months. Think about it: I've been essentially running at a slow and steady pace SINCE MAY. That is forever. Not really, but it's starting to feel like it. So tonight, it was fun to do intervals as a change of pace.
Saturday I am running the Northdale YMCA 5k. Why not? It's actually in the running plan to do a race and I felt like this would be a good endeavor. I used to live right next to the Northdale YMCA and this will mark my third time doing this race, a personal record for participating in the same event. My plan is to try and remember that I have fast twitch muscles. With any luck the weather should be great.
I will be joined by a friend; we will be celebrating two years of her running by running the same race as her very first 5k (awwwwwwww). We also ran her very second 5k together and she beat me. I suspect that the same will occur on Saturday. But that's okay because I have fast twitch muscles and I am not afraid to use them.
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