Exciting run!

Today's run was exciting.  Not because I could see mountains and grapevines as my scenery (although I could) or because the weather was pretty good (17C with it looking like it was going to rain, but then not raining), or because I didn't get lost (I thought I might, but I didn't), or even because I managed to keep on schedule even though I was in a different country less than 24 hours ago (because despite their similarities, Austria and Germany are actually different).  No, today was exciting for a whole other reason: my calves didn't hurt during my run!  Not even once!  There may have been a slight, momentary twinge near the start, but all in all they were in no pain!

This is so exciting, I don't even know how to express it.  Maybe lots of exclamation points?

!!!!!!!!

Today is also the day that registration for my half-marathon starts.  What more could I ask for?  Next I will find out that the library I need to use today now lets you make .pdfs directly.  That would make this the greatest day in the history of Man.  Really.  It would.

Last Munich run (for now)

I am traveling today, heading off to Vienna.  Before I go, though, I got in a 3-mile run to start off the week.  I did the loop that I thought was 4 miles, but was actually closer to 3 that I tried out last Friday and guess what?  It is around 3 miles.  So that worked out well.

I have to say that although Germany has much to recommend it, weather forecasts are not its forte.  For instance, every time I checked the weather yesterday, it was going to be rainy this morning.  Possibly downpour.  Sounded nasty.  However, it was also supposed to cool off, which would be just fine with me since yesterday it was in the 80s.  When I woke up this morning, I couldn't help but notice that the sun was shining and that there was no rain.  In fact, rain did not even look likely -- I have learned about that 'Munich sudden rain' thing.  They are not big on weather radars here, so I couldn't verify what was going to happen, but it at no point seemed like it was going to rain during my run.  As you probably already deduced, it also didn't cool off considerably, which was too bad.  I guess I should be happy that I didn't have to run in a downpour, but this is wreaking havoc with my travel clothing plans.

The calves remain tight although I think that it is taking less time for them to loosen during the run.  That is positive and I hope that they will continue to improve.  Time to end this entry, though, because I have some last-minute packing to do, then to Vienna!

Into the Woods (and back again)

Some of you may recall, from earlier in this blog, that I was excited to run in Munich because I was right next to the woods.  That turned out to be somewhat true.  I am right next to some woods, although there is not a whole lot of 'woods' there.  You're through it in around a quarter of a mile.  When I was thinking 'woods,' I was thinking more along the lines of somewhere that had trees for miles and miles.

(I don't want to knock my local woods.  There is a beer garden in there.  A beer garden in the woods within a 5-minute walk of your house is never, under any circumstances, a bad thing).

Today was my first 'long run' in a long time.  I call it a 'long run,' even though it was 5 miles, which is only one mile further than I have been running every week.  But Sunday is long run day and I hadn't actually run 5 miles in...well....I'm not sure, but it's been an awfully long time.  I decided to head for the real woods. It's easy enough: you take the graveyard path, except instead of turning, you stay straight, and eventually boom!  You are at the woods.  The only problem is that the run there is about 2 miles, so anything less than a 5-mile run doesn't really work.

This is what I mean by 'the woods'!  Actual picture of actual forest in which I actually ran this morning. (Image: http://geo.hlipp.de/photos/01/05/010594_f0feb055.jpg)

The woods were totally worth it though.  It was great!  There were trees and paths, just like I imagined it.  And it was quiet, apart from other bikers and runners who enjoy actual woods as well.  Also, the weather today was ideal: in the low 60s with sun, but not too much sun.  I could not have asked for better conditions and I was reminded just how nice it is to run routes like this on days like this.

There was no question in my mind that I was going to finish this run.  In fact, it went more smoothly than plenty of my other recent runs.  My calves were a bit tight to start, but that went away pretty quickly and by the end, I was running pretty well.  Quite well, actually.  It was a great run overall.  Made me feel much more confident about doing this half-marathon.  After all, that's only this run doubled, plus a 5k on top of it <-- okay, I know that this is not the way of thinking about it one bit...you train so that you can run further and better, so today was a good sign!  And it only requires adding a mile a week for a while.  Since more than eight weeks remain before the half-marathon, I will be just fine.

The other victory from today is that I successfully completed another week of training without any major complaints (one minor one, but that happens).  This is encouraging not only because I feel better about the plan overall, but also because the next two weeks are the same distances and mileage as this week.  So I'll have some time to get accustomed to it.  Victory!

Still cool, but much more pleasant

Today it remains cool, but without the rain.  So pretty much perfect!  I ran at 3:00PM.  If you can imagine.  The last time I came even close to running this late was during a 'cold front' in Florida back in November.  And it was still challenging.  Today's run, on the other hand, was just plain pleasant.

The calves are still tight.  I've read a lot of blogs today that tell me basically if you start running a lot, your calves will be tight.  I don't think it's anything more serious.  Shins are not really bugging me (so it's not shin splints) and it's really only when I'm running that I have a problem.  No cramping up or anything.  So we will stay with the schedule for now and hope that this goes away.  I did have something similar happen when I took a break during the winter of 2007, then started running again, so I don't think it's anything to be too concerned with at this point.

It's nice that a 3M run doesn't seem like such a big deal anymore after two weeks of being back in a normal routine.  This is great, since there are plenty of longer runs ahead.  But it is also great because as long as 3M doesn't seem like a big deal, I'll get through this training plan for the half-marathon, I hope!

Rainy, but not too bad

Today's run was somewhat rainy, although not downpour rainy.  This is an important distinction.  For instance, my clothes did not drip a pool of water after the run.  I can deal with 'rainy.'

However, it was also somewhat chilly, which in some respects is great (no overheating!), but made me forget about warming up.  Usually, I don't really warm up, apart from the fact that I run more slowly when I start than when I end.  Now, before you tell me I should stretch to avoid injury, I think that I've been doing okay over the last 5 years of running, so that's not a big issue for me (I do stretch afterward, even though some people, like editor of Runner's World Amby Burfoot, have claimed that this isn't necessary either).  Normally, this is not a problem since your muscles don't really need to warm up when you are running in, say, Florida.  Or on a pleasant, 70F day.  But when it is in the 50s and rainy, maybe you should.

It took until 60% of the way through my 4-mile run to feel like my calves were finally warm.  Crazy.  And not very fun.  And kind of painful.  But at least I got there.  My calves have been one of the muscle groups that is slower in getting back into the routine of running generally, but I really felt like today it was far more about the weather.  The good news is that by the end of the run, everything felt okay -- and I was going more quickly that the slow-crawl pace at which I started.

I did stretch afterward and couldn't help but notice that my calves were t-i-g-h-t.  Far worse than usual.  But since this is an anomaly and since this happened only on a cold, rainy day, I think it will be okay.

It's 2-4-1 Week

Not sure why I didn't post yesterday, but I guess I forgot.  So you get another 2-for-1!

YESTERDAY

Yesterday's run was a 3-mile one.  I had a late night the day before and wasn't entirely sure if I was going to get the motivation to go.  And yet, at 7:30PM, out I went.  Only one problem: I forgot to check the weather.  And it poured.  Poured.  For about 40% of the run.  My clothes actually dripped piles of water later.  It was not particularly enjoyable.

But I did it.  And that's what counts.  As I was reminded during the marathon, sometimes it rains and sometimes you have to run anyway, even though you really, really don't want to.

TODAY

Today I was also not really feeling it, but I have no idea why.  I was very tired for some reason, even though I got a good night's sleep (or at least I thought I did).  But I was lagging the whole day.  However, after I got home -- and after a lot of putting it off -- I did finally get out and run.  Today was another 3 mile; I could have done a 4, but just didn't feel like it, especially since I went pretty late.  By the way, the sun sets quite late here, today was 8:57PM.  This is great!  Makes it much easier to run at night, even when you are lazy.

Things went pretty well and I think it might have been my best time yet (although it helped that I didn't have to stop for any traffic lights on my route).  Also, it cooled down after the storm yesterday, so the weather was quite pleasant, right around 70F.  And without stupid humidity.  Yay not being in Florida.

Two runs in one weekend

The first thing that needs to be said is that I did it!  I ran all five planned runs this week.  It's the first time I've stuck to the schedule probably since December and my marathon training.  I wouldn't classify this as a miracle, because I actually am pretty good about staying on schedule most the time -- the past few months were more of an exception than the rule.  But it certainly felt nice to be back in a routine.

No real pain to report, which is great.  A bit of stress on my shins, but nothing unmanageable.  Next week it's a very similar schedule, except that instead of two 4-mile runs, I do one 4-mile and one 5.  Very doable.  Yay!

SATURDAY'S RUN

Let me just say that I destroyed Saturday's 3-mile run.  If runs had the will to live, I robbed mine of it (if that makes any sense).  I actually ran, for real.  Hard.  Fast (okay, not really fast, although at points, I got fast).  This one wound up being along the Graveyard Path again, sort of by accident -- but at least this time I did not get lost.  It was a bit hotter than I would have liked and a bit sunnier than I would have liked (I went at 5:30PM), but there is no doubt in my mind that this was the best bit of running that I have done in a very long time.  Felt good.  It helped that I needed to be finished within a specific time frame, so that was my motivation.  But it is good to know that somewhere there is still the ability to run.

SUNDAY'S RUN

Not nearly as triumphant as Saturday's run, but the key thing was to do it, and I did succeed in that goal.  Also a 3-mile run and I finally figured out the path that I tried to run on Thursday (it's trickier than I thought).  So that is also progress.  And hopefully next time I will not get completely lost.  Today was back to the slower speed, but I think that this was a good idea.  Too much fast will lead to injuries. 

Mostly I am just happy to have actually finished all of my planned runs this week.  Only 14 weeks more!  Okay, that's not quite such an encouraging thought.

I zigged when I should have zagged

Today, I decided to try a new route, one that didn't loop but instead covered four miles.  I was kind of improvising because I had no idea if it would be long enough, but I figured that it was worth a try.  Now that I am back, I mapped my ideal route and it came out to 3.7 miles.  Not bad for guessing.

Except that when I should have zigged at Würmtalstraße, I did no such thing and instead just continued blissfully along, leading me to take a very scenic route that went far, far off of my original plan.  Rather than 3.7 miles, it wound up being 4.8 miles--and a bit more as I tried to figure out where on earth I had put myself by the end of my 4 miles.  However, I did discover some nice running places which are shady and pretty decent.  They are next to the graveyard, but you can't really see that from the road.  Call it the Graveyard Path instead of the garden path.

My time was horrifically awful and I had about a mile's worth of walking afterward to contemplate why.  I'm still not sure.  It's probably not worth dwelling on it.  The good news is that although my time may be slow, this is likely good for avoiding injury (remember, I did have a mile to try and put a positive spin on this).

The other answer, of course, is that no one has ever become a better runner by complaining about pace.  You only become a better runner by working at it, bit by bit, and eventually you will make improvements.  And when I say 'you,' I actually mean 'I.'

More good news: I heard thunder as I was getting back, meaning that I missed any storms.  They were saying all day that it was going to rain and I thought that the weather people had lost their minds or something.  It was totally sunny, all day, until now (it's 8:44pm).  Weather forecasting is just not quite up to par here.

A le recherce du savoir-faire perdu (In Search of Lost Skills)

I can't remember the last time I had a week when I planned to run two days in a row and actually did it.  Progress!  Only three more to go this week (whoo?).

Today's run was 4 miles.  Yes, I can still run 4 miles, and what is more, I can do so without dying.  Big advantage over trying this in Florida at this time of year.  My time was still meh, although I am not thinking too hard about that.  Right now is not about improving the time, right now is about improving the actually going out and running part.

There are a couple of other things that could stand for some improvement.  For instance, I have zero ability to run up hills.  I did manage to find one today, although it was actually an overpass, not an honest-to-goodness hill.  I could feel that there were muscles, somewhere, that used to be able to tackle things like hills.  I could also tell that those muscles have not had much of a workout as of late.  With any luck, I will be able to locate another hill (or reasonable facsimile) so that I can improve.  Then there is always Pittsburgh...

I also think I've lost the ability to zone out for long periods of time while running.  Instead, I check my Garmin obsessively, counting down 10%, 5%, and near the end of the run, even every 1% (I may have also noted 2.5%, but that's pretty easy when you are running 4 miles).  Hopefully I can get back to the zoning out and not noticing how long the run is taking.  It's a good skill to have when you are a slow runner.

The only way to get better, though, is practice.  Here is hoping that I am back on track.

Just call me Curt

Today's run was far better than Saturday's run.  I planned to run 3 miles.  I successfully ran 3 miles.  My time was not hideous (not great, but not hideous).  It didn't rain.  I made it all the way to the next village over and saw a Maypole in the distance.  What more could I ask for?

Maybe one little thing.  When I flew over, I got a slight sore on my foot because I didn't wear socks on the plane.  That is your lesson for today: wear socks on the plane.  It's been an annoying sore because it doesn't seem to want to go away (that and I figured out I was out of bandages on Sunday and pretty much everything is closed on Sundays).  Today, I looked down at around 2.7M of the run and realized that I had blood all over my sock.  Like Curt Schilling in Game 6 of the 2004 ALCS.  Okay, not really, because it didn't hurt at all.  It is a really persistent, yet tiny, cut.

Today, we get bandages.

First run in Munich, not quite as planned

There has been a considerable amount of settling in needed over the past few days, plus I have been extremely tired and sleeping a lot.  But that is okay.  Now things are actually settling and I managed to get out for my first run today.

Interesting: the part of Munich in which I am staying has no hills.  Zero.

Also interesting: they have storms crop up here awfully quickly, as I learned today.

I was planning to do a four-mile run, but it wound up being more like 2 miles because it started to pour.  Big time.  I am soaked right now.  There was a moment where I felt that I should just tough it out (it is only rain, after all), but as I was heading back in defeat, I heard thunder and decided that I had made the right decision.  Note to self: check weather before going out for runs.  Admittedly, it did look a bit sketchy when I started, but not 'full-out storm' sketchy.  Live and learn!

Not quite full runs lately, but instead activities that are kind of like full runs.

I did get a couple of runs (or something...) in over the past few days.  Pittsburgh's hills are still my nemesis.  I think that they will require a long and extensive training plan before I can actually tackle them.  On Sunday, I went for a 4-mile 'run,' which wound up being more of a 3.5-mile run, followed by a 0.4-mile walk up ridiculous hills, then 0.1's worth of finishing where it leveled out.  Apart from the insane hills, the run was quite pleasant.  But it was awfully hard to get past the insane hills part.  Someday.  Maybe.  I am reminding myself that even when I was pretty far along in the marathon training, I gave up trying to run Pittsburgh hills.

The one positive that came out of this was a new motivating thought that I had: even though the hills feel awful, every step is bringing improvement.  It sounds much better now that I am writing it down, but the general gist of that was in my head after a while.  Probably right before I started walking.

But hey, I did almost manage to kind of run 4 miles, right?

Today it was HOT.  Stupid HOT.  As in 93F at 6pm.  Words cannot express how much I did not want to run in that.  So I decided to aquajog instead.  Was it running?  Not really.  Was it better than nothing?  Absolutely.  I did 40 minutes and got to hear a long and detailed conversation between two older ladies who knew pretty much everything about our condo association that you have ever needed or wanted to know.  This conversation took up pretty much the entire forty minutes.  And some people think that pretending to run around a pool could be boring.  For shame.

Tomorrow = destination Munich (okay, I won't get there until Thursday, but it's very soon).  I looked at a map today and there are acres and acres of green near me.  Here is hoping that they are not acres and acres of green with Pittsburgh-level hills.  Or maybe that would be a good thing?

I can still run! Just maybe not in the evening

I find it funny that when you are heat adapted, running at night is the best because of the low humidity.  However, as I was reminded today, before you are heat adapted, it is torture because it's, like, 90F.

For today's run, I did 3M around my neighborhood.  In fact, it was a forced 'around my neighborhood' because I forgot to charge the toy last night so I had no idea how far I needed to go--it died 0.5 miles in.  Instead, I ran what I am pretty sure was about a mile three time.  Let's call it a run of around 3M.

This is great news!  After Sunday, I was beginning to wonder if I could run at all for any distance.

It was hot and I did get sweaty, but nowhere near the torture that was Sunday's 4M.  Lesson learned: I'm still at a 'running in the morning' stage.  Maybe if I adapt to running in the morning, I can handle the evening.  Or I could just go to Munich.  Better plan.

Why am I trying to heat adapt?

The high tomorrow is Munich, Germany is 55F

55F.

If you can imagine.

Why is this relevant?  Because in a little over a week, I will be in Munich, Germany.

The temperature right now in Florida, on the other hand, is 86F.  I was waiting for it to fall from 90F (where it was until about 7:20pm) and it didn't for quite a while.  My plan was to go running the minute that the temperature starting dropping, except that now it is getting dark.  Also fun is that we are at the point where the humidity is going up once the sun goes down.  Not quite summer ick.  Not quite.  But still pretty nasty for running.

'Screw this,' I said.  'Why am I trying to heat adapt when I won't be in the heat in a week?'

Also, I will be in Pittsburgh this weekend, where the temperature should be in the 50s.

Forget this.  I'm not even going to bother to heat adapt.  I will try to go running, although I think that some running/walking is in my immediate future.  But if it is 90F, I think I'm going to do something else, like an exercise video.  I worked hard in the fall, going out in temperatures that were vile.  It's time to relax.  Not time to do nothing, but time to maybe lay off of the running in horrid conditions.

No excuses once I get to Munich, though.

Preparing for the new plan

This is my last week of FTL, which is sad because it is such a nice acronym.  That being said, I'm not quite following that plan this week either.  Next week, the training shall be as follows:

Monday: 4
Tuesday: 3
Wednesday: Rest (fly to Germany)
Thursday: Rest (jet lag)
Friday: 3
Saturday: 4
Sunday: 3

This is the warm-up for the actual half-marathon plan that I will be starting in June.  You do a month of reasonable weekly mileage to get prepared.  However, I haven't been up to running these distances, so yesterday I decided that the time had come to bump up training with a 4-mile run.

It was a 4-mile run of agony!

First, I think I got going too quickly considering that it is hot.  Not quite summer conditions, but it was still 90F when I got started (at this was at 7pm).  That is hot.  So next time, I need to slow down.  Evidently, I forgot just how slowly I had to run last summer when I was adapting to the heat.

Second, I need to run more. 

What I am hoping now is that the next time I try 4 miles, it will not be as agonizing.  We will see that as progress.  It's the little victories at this point.