Sometimes You Just Can't

Friday, September 28, 2012

Afternoon Run
5 miles
Treadmill

This run was pretty bad.  Set out to do 10; only ended up being able to do 5.  Felt pretty run down and kept having to stop.  Most of the time I'm an advocate for toughing it out.  Today, I just couldn't.

Timely Fortunes

Monday, September 24, 2012

I opened up a Dove chocolate this afternoon and this was on the inside.  

How did they know!?

run, run, REST, run longer

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Afternoon Run
18 miles Long Run
Road

Ran this one over to Watertown.

I wish I could say I took to the streets fired up and ready to run this afternoon.  It was actually quite the opposite.  I had intended to go out in the morning but I woke up feeling super groggy and run down.  I eventually had to drag myself out there after stalling for a couple of hours with my roommates.  It's my own fault really.  Work was a beast this past week and instead of taking Friday evening to rest it up before my big run, I stayed up way too late playing Ticket to Ride (woo hoo!).   Great fun was had by all but, I unfortunately couldn't get going this morning.

In addition to not being fully energized before I set out, my legs were stiff the whole way and started to tense up and hurt around mile 9 (much earlier than usual).  A headache also came on around mile 14, which I carried all the way home.  Tense and tired; there's no other explanation.  I still consider this a good run for having completed 18 miles-- the farthest I've gone to date-- but I am just exhausted.

Rest is one thing about training I haven't really mastered yet.  I want to be able to work really hard and long at work, run often and far during my workouts and still be able to see people whenever the opportunity arises.  Not that there's anything wrong with having a social life while training.  I just haven't been guarding my rest as much as I probably should at this point in the game.  It is important stuff that rejuvenation.

Tomorrow's rest day is going to be sweet.

Shoe Killer! Shoe Killer!

Monday, September 17, 2012

Afternoon Run
4 miles Easy
Treadmill

Definitely ruined another pair of shoes last week.  This time shrunken in the washer.  Fail.
 
RIP, 2nd pair of Kinvara 2's:  72 miles.  Your loss is felt deep in my pockets.

So...if no more mishaps ensue, here are the shoes that I will be wearing to the 2012 running of the Philadephia Marathon.  Just 9 short weeks away!  Not the colors I would have chosen but these were the last Kinvara 2's in all of City Sports Boston and practicality (and the sale price) beat out fashion.

Kinvara 2 Black and Blue.  3rd pair's the charm.

Running Long in a Small City

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Morning Run
15 miles Long Run
Road

This run was basically a repeat of last week's run only shortened at the end.  I know I've probably said this before but trying to run 15 miles in Boston means you see the whole city.  Today, I started through Harvard to Kendall and the river, down to Science park through the North end, around to South Station through Downtown and the Commons over to MIT, and up Mem drive all the way through Harvard again.  As the distances get longer, plotting out a good course gets harder.  I did a repeat of last week's run because I knew I wanted to do about the same distance and because I was being lazy and didn't want to take the time to think up a new route in a new neighborhood.

It all worked out.  It was a beautiful morning-- warm but with a nice, at times strong breeze.  I only took water out today; no Gatorade.  And, because I didn't want to make the mistake I did last week of not eating enough and having the last few miles suffer because of it and because I didn't have time to buy more Shot Bloks earlier, I stuffed two Power Bars and two fruit snacks in my pack.  Calories are calories.  The Power Bars, which I ate at miles 5 and 11, agitated my stomach immediately after I ate them then subsided.  I may give them one more try before I rule them out completely.  The fruit snacks worked out well.  I only had one pack around mile 8.

There were lots of runners out.  I met two at my water stop at the BU boathouse who were out on their first ever 10 mile run.  They are training for a half marathon and super excited about it.  I got to share some of my excitement too...I mean 15 miles, really!?

I'm being blown away daily by this training and what my body can do right now.   8 days into the month and I've already gone 46 miles!  What is that!  Last September I only went 39 miles total.  I am also really excited because with this run I surpassed my 600-mile mileage goal for the year!  PTL!  I basically have 4 months to go before the end of the year. What does that MEAN!?  No clue.  I'm in uncharted territory here (at least for me).  God has designed the body to do some amazing things and I'm super pumped by this experience and to be getting stronger everyday.

An Average 7

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Afternoon Run
7 miles Easy
Treadmill

It was hard to get going on this run.  Legs felt great and I was surprisingly alert after a long day at work but I ultimately had to take it at a snail's pace.  My HR was racing a bit which told me I needed to take it slow.  To make sure I wasn't overdoing it, I pulled DB out mid-run.  I was doing okay at 11 min/mile pace so I decided to tough it out and do the full seven.  I was previously debating whether or not to stop.  It worked out okay, though.  I guess I'm still a little tired from last weekend's epic 17.8 miler.  I still can't believe that!

Shout Out to Week 7

Week 7 was a good lesson in time management and juggling a million obligations.  Between work, packing and moving, I really had to work to fit in my midweek runs last week.  It was hard and I was exhausted most of the week but some times you just have to make time.  I didn't want to go without mentioning the week so here I am posting about it after the fact.

Week 7 Highlights:

- Upped my mid-week mileage:  I'm now running 4, 7, 4.  Takes a little bit of extra planning but not bad.

- Wednesday's run: I decided to run Heartbreak Hill as my last run on the Boston side of the river.  It was pretty intense but doable...probably only because I only went 5 miles total.  Talk to me if I ever try to run Boston and see if I have the same story to tell when I hit the hill at mile 20!

-  Sunday's long run:  16 mile run turned into a 17.8 miler.  My running bud and I ended up taking a wrong turn at the end (around 15.8) of this week's long run.  I was sure I knew where I was on our map but I guess I was wrong!  So, our already ambitious run ended up being epic. By that time I was already losing it pretty bad; low energy and such -- "hitting wall" I guess they call it -- but we made it and we're so pumped about it.  Philly here we come!