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Running Update

October 21, 2010.

The good news is that I’ve been running regularly for a couple of weeks now.  Feels so amazing, I can’t even tell you.  Running is my own personal anti-depressant. 

I started again by running 3 miles, and have eased it up in about 2 weeks to 4.5 miles.  I ran that 4.5 mile route this morning, and felt pretty good.  My face turned a bright shade or red, redder than I can remember.  Oh well.

This Saturday my goal is to run 5 miles.  I have about a week until the Marathon Tune Up run, which I mention in my last post is 5 miles. Would like to have a couple of 5 mile runs under my belt (Saturday and Monday) before I run the race.  Tuesday will be intervals again and Thursday I’ll run a light 3 miles.  That’s the plan.  Hope the universe won’t laugh at me about it.

I am really into this cool weather, I must say.  Temperatures in the 50s suits me just fine.

Onward!

Uhhhh… OK

OK, OK, so I said I’d keep writing more but dropped the ball again.  Hot weather, being sick, working a lot - that’ll do it.  Enough of excuses, though.

Yesterday I did go for a run, after not running for a whole week (was sick).  Ugh, I am out of shape.  The 3 miles was hard, but I made it through.  I wore running pants, so maybe that was part of it, but still - I don’t want to feel like this much longer. 

I have plans to run tomorrow morning, 3.5 miles.  Then Tuesday I’ll do some 4x100 hills.  Thursday I’ll attempt 4 miles again. I’m looking forward to my mornings having more light, I tells ya.  Time change is November 7, I think.  Just in time for the marathoners to get an extra hour of sleep!

I have registered for the Poland Spring NYC Marathon tune up on 10/31 (Halloween - people will run in costume, no doubt!), and that’s 5 miles.  Hope to be in shape for that by then.  

Onward!

Wha Happen?

September 1, 2010

So, where have I been?  Feeling ill, getting well. I ran a few times in the past few weeks - and they were good runs - but caught a cold two Mondays ago, then was truly fatigued, so I’ve been taking some time off of running. Stupid 90-degree temps don’t help.  Will resume running on Saturday, when the temps go down.  I’ll be 2 weeks woefully behind but my health is more important right now. 

The rest has been awesome and I think I’ll be stronger in the end. 

Breaks from running?  Such is life.

Faster

August 14, 2010

Distance: 4 miles

Successes - This run was probably the quickest 4 miles I’ve run so far.  

The lower temperatures no doubt helped me run a fast (for me) 4 miles.  Though I’m not absolutely sure of the timing, it is possible that I ran this in 45 minutes.  Felt great to keep up a strong, quick pace.  My guess is that the Tuesday interval runs have been a big help with this.

Next run: Monday, 3 miles.

Onward!

3 Miles Feeling Good

August 12, 2010

Distance: 3 miles

Successes: My speed is faster and more consistent. 3 miles is feeling easier and easier.

It was cooler this morning, which helped a lot.  I skipped my first water stop because I felt hydrated enough, and ran 1.5 miles without stopping, wow!  So awesome.  Soon, I’ll be running 2 miles without stopping.  Step by step. 

I wonder if the overcast skies also helped?

Next run: Saturday, 3.5 miles.

Onward!

Tuesdays Are Brutal

August 10, 2010

Well, I haven’t been keeping up with the blogging here.  Yes, I am stating the obvious. I really the situation weren’t so.  I’ll aim to do better.

I’m currently into week 3 of my 10K training.  It’s been great, but as the title of this post says, Tuesdays truly are brutal, especially in this heat/humidity.  Seems like this Tuesday and last Tuesday were particularly awful, weather-wise.  Still, I did not let it hinder me, and both Tuesdays I made it through the entire training schedule for these days. Awesome.

In this training schedule, Tuesdays are dedicated to track work, essentially running intervals. This week and last it encompasses running 4x800s with light jogging 1x400 in between. Well, I’m not to the point where I can “lightly jog” the 1x400, so I walk it. No worries, it works for me.

In the end, I run close to 5 miles (2 miles [800s] + 1 mile [400s] +~1.6 miles [to and from the track]).  It takes me about an hour to complete.

I’m not fond of the track, but it’s a very useful tool.  I do miss running those hills I did the first week.  That was very cool.

These intervals do help in my other runs during the week, for sure.  Plus, it sort of breaks up any kind of monotony that might develop.

Next run: Thursday, 3 miles.

Onward!

Monday and Tuesday

July 27, 2010

Distance: 2 miles on Monday, approximately 2 miles on Tuesday

Successes: Running the first mile quickly, faster than expected.

Well, I started my 10K training this week.  It’s an 11 week schedule, originally 12 weeks, but due to a scheduling alteration, it’s going to be 11 weeks.  And that’s OK.

Monday’s run was a normal 2 miles through the park.  Tuesday’s run was very different from what I’ve done before in my weekday training runs.  I ran about a mile, then did hills (100m up the hill at a 5K pace, lightly jog down; do this 4 times), then ran home, about a half mile. I loved the hill work!  This should help with strength.

These Tuesday runs will be like this - intervals, hill work, tempo work.  I’m looking forward to moving through it.

Next run: Thursday, 2 miles.

Onward!

A Summary

July 25, 2010

Well, I sure dropped the ball on blogging.  I blame it on these heat waves we’ve been having here in the east.  My penultimate week of training was blown apart because of the crazy heat, then I ran the following week, but it was brutal.  Basically, every training run was rough.  This heat and humidity - high 90s and into the 100s - kicked my ass.

The race itself actually went better than I imagined it would in such heat and humidity.  I was happy with my performance.  Loved all the water stops, an the misting stations were the best.  I ran with my friends, and that was the best. 

I took a week off from running, having had the plan to start training for a 10K the week of August 9, for a 5 mile run on October 31.  I learned this weekend that there is a real honest to goodness 10K happening in Brooklyn in October, 11 weeks from now.  So, I start the 10K training tomorrow.  This training schedule is quite different from the 4 mile schedule, and I’m excited to go through it.  I will continue to blog to the best of my abilities.

Next run: Monday, 2 miles

Onward!

A Cool Morning

June 30, 2010

Distance: 4 miles.

Successes: These four miles seemed like a piece of cake.  The weather helped a lot.

So, yeah, the weather - amazing!  When I left the house it was 62 degrees.  Just fantastic.  It took me about 50 minutes to run this 4 miles and I felt great at the end.  Air temperature really makes a difference.

Next run: Friday, 3 miles.

Onward!

Sweat

June 25, 2010

Distance: 4 miles.

Successes: I am back running 12.5 minute miles, which is a nice ways away from the ~15 minute mile I was running during when I first started doing 4 mile runs. There is room for improvement.

This run went pretty well, and I enjoyed this course, which includes 2 tails - one at the beginning (RDM) and midway (APS).  It eliminates the need to run on the track and even adds a hill at the end, which I still am not able to run up in its entirety. I will someday.  Soon.

I have figured out that it takes me about an hour to totally cool down in this warm weather. I was sweaty for far longer than I wanted to be, and caused me a little aggravation when I went back out into the world.  I guess my body just takes longer to cool off than I thought.  Must learn to fully accept and deal with it. 

Next run: Monday, 3 miles. 

Onward!