Today I ran 3 miles in 23:53.
This was a great run. Absolutely nothing special happened, either good or bad. I felt strong and ran a solid time, especially considering I wasn't trying to do anything but cover the distance.
I was also able to discipline myself very well at Thanksgiving 1 (yes, I do have another dinner to go to tomorrow night), eating very little and only having a tiny bit of dessert. Usually, I pig out at these things, so I'm thrilled that I was able to focus myself and not overeat. My problem with overeating is that my metabolism can handle overeating in terms of not gaining weight or much fat, so when I can, I do. But I always feel a little sick the day after, and during something as intense as training for a marathon, that can't happen unless its unavoidable.
So I'm off to another dinner tomorrow where I'll have to discipline myself, and then on Saturday, a huge milestone of 12 miles! I can't wait!
Friday, November 28, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Wednesday, 11/26/08
Today I ran somewhere around 7 miles in 1:13:00.
This was a different run. My dad decided he wanted to run with me, and one thing he needs in order to be motivated to run is variety in his running courses. Personally, I'm just fine with running the same basic measured course all the time. Variety is not necessary for me to get motivated or to be satisfied with my runs. Also, I'm training now, and running an exact number of miles every night is essential for my overall progress.
However, with my dad's busy schedule and my mileage increasing past the point that he can comfortably run, it's rare that we get to run together nowadays. He's the reason I got into running when I was younger, and the reason I got back into running recently and started this whole marathon thing. So I agreed to run with him, knowing that the course would not be exactly six miles (what I was supposed to run) and that he would be going much slower than I usually go.
Indeed, the course felt closer to seven than 6 (it might have even been just a tad over seven) and we ran very slowly, as you can see by my time above. We even walked a couple of times. However, we had fun together, he got a nice workout in, and we got to spend some quality time. Especially now that I'm going to start doing seven and eight mile runs regularly in just a couple of weeks, this might be one of the last times we run together for quite some time. So, not great overall time on the clock, but great experience, and I felt strong the whole way. Good run!
Have a great Thanksgiving tomorrow! I'll be running three miles after the big dinner (ugh) so I likely will be posting pretty late. If you're reading this blog on Thanksgiving Day, well, what can I say. Thanks, but you might want to get back to your family. :)
This was a different run. My dad decided he wanted to run with me, and one thing he needs in order to be motivated to run is variety in his running courses. Personally, I'm just fine with running the same basic measured course all the time. Variety is not necessary for me to get motivated or to be satisfied with my runs. Also, I'm training now, and running an exact number of miles every night is essential for my overall progress.
However, with my dad's busy schedule and my mileage increasing past the point that he can comfortably run, it's rare that we get to run together nowadays. He's the reason I got into running when I was younger, and the reason I got back into running recently and started this whole marathon thing. So I agreed to run with him, knowing that the course would not be exactly six miles (what I was supposed to run) and that he would be going much slower than I usually go.
Indeed, the course felt closer to seven than 6 (it might have even been just a tad over seven) and we ran very slowly, as you can see by my time above. We even walked a couple of times. However, we had fun together, he got a nice workout in, and we got to spend some quality time. Especially now that I'm going to start doing seven and eight mile runs regularly in just a couple of weeks, this might be one of the last times we run together for quite some time. So, not great overall time on the clock, but great experience, and I felt strong the whole way. Good run!
Have a great Thanksgiving tomorrow! I'll be running three miles after the big dinner (ugh) so I likely will be posting pretty late. If you're reading this blog on Thanksgiving Day, well, what can I say. Thanks, but you might want to get back to your family. :)
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Tuesday, 11/25/08
Today I ran 3 miles with a time of 23:06.
This was both a great and aggravating day. When I started my run, I felt terrific and rested and strong. My form was perfect, and the weather was nice. So I decided, somewhat foolishly, to try and run fast. I picked up the pace, and even all out sprinted at the end, trying to hit the 21 minute mark.
However, to my shock, I was well over that, finishing a full two minutes slower. It's frustrating, since I thought I had a chance to get right around 21, but alas, I finished with a decent but not great time. Also, now my right calf is extremely tight. Sigh. Well, it was fun to run all out for the first time in a little while, and I definitely felt good overall. So a successful but frustrating day. Tomorrow I run double what I ran today. Wheee!
This was both a great and aggravating day. When I started my run, I felt terrific and rested and strong. My form was perfect, and the weather was nice. So I decided, somewhat foolishly, to try and run fast. I picked up the pace, and even all out sprinted at the end, trying to hit the 21 minute mark.
However, to my shock, I was well over that, finishing a full two minutes slower. It's frustrating, since I thought I had a chance to get right around 21, but alas, I finished with a decent but not great time. Also, now my right calf is extremely tight. Sigh. Well, it was fun to run all out for the first time in a little while, and I definitely felt good overall. So a successful but frustrating day. Tomorrow I run double what I ran today. Wheee!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Week 6 Recap
This week I ran 18 miles.
This week was extremely up and down. I started the week with very high energy that lasted for two days straight and petered out as the week went on. My runs were all over the place, some excellent, some horrible.
Stepback weeks are both great and hard for me. They're great in that my body gets a rest, but hard in that I always want to make progress. Stepback weeks often come right after a week where my body is feeling strong enough to keep progressing, so it's hard to convince myself to, well, not progress. I had a similar problem when I lifted weights, but that was likely a result of just an athletic routine that wasn't suited for me. This situation, though, seems like smart programming that's hard for me mentally at the moment. Rest is critical to a body's success, and having a week where mileage is reduced is wise; my mind knows that, but my body doesn't. :)
Hopefully, this coming week will be better. It's going to be rough, what with Thanksgiving tempting me to eat way more than I should. I have a huge run for me coming up on Saturday: 12 miles. That'll be the most I'll have ever run at once, which will be thrilling. This week is going to test my stamina, but more importantly, my discipline with both sleep and nutrition. Let's do it!
This week was extremely up and down. I started the week with very high energy that lasted for two days straight and petered out as the week went on. My runs were all over the place, some excellent, some horrible.
Stepback weeks are both great and hard for me. They're great in that my body gets a rest, but hard in that I always want to make progress. Stepback weeks often come right after a week where my body is feeling strong enough to keep progressing, so it's hard to convince myself to, well, not progress. I had a similar problem when I lifted weights, but that was likely a result of just an athletic routine that wasn't suited for me. This situation, though, seems like smart programming that's hard for me mentally at the moment. Rest is critical to a body's success, and having a week where mileage is reduced is wise; my mind knows that, but my body doesn't. :)
Hopefully, this coming week will be better. It's going to be rough, what with Thanksgiving tempting me to eat way more than I should. I have a huge run for me coming up on Saturday: 12 miles. That'll be the most I'll have ever run at once, which will be thrilling. This week is going to test my stamina, but more importantly, my discipline with both sleep and nutrition. Let's do it!
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Saturday, 11/22/08
Today I ran 7 miles in 1:03:15.
I would call this run a dark cloud with a small silver lining. In general, this run was terrible for no good reason. I was somewhat rested, I had been feeling fine all day, everything was normal. I began the run feeling great, and even had perfect running weather. But then, about a mile into the run, my calves just tightened up like crazy, and my left foot started hurting. You may remember that I rolled my left foot on some jerk's garden hose two nights ago, and the pain has not completely gone away. Well, it started acting up as soon as my calves got tight, and forced me to stop a mile and a half in and tie my shoes tighter and massage my calves.
Well, the first time I stopped, my foot felt better but my calves were worse. I had to stop again to massage my calves more thoroughly, and at that point, I was sweating heavily (in pretty cold temperature) and the sweat got into my eyes, which was not fun. So for 3 miles of this run, I was absolutely miserable, not to mention aggravated as it seemed like every time I got to an intersection, there was a car doing something strange or crossing just as I was (at the last mile, there was even police activity a street down from where I was running!).
Then, with 4 miles to go, I just decided to grit my teeth and go for it. I gave up caring about the pain and just ran, and to my great surprise, my body let me do just that. I was able to run without stopping the rest of the way, and in fact, I got stronger the longer I ran. However, when I finished and walked inside, I felt extremely out of it, and actually felt a little dizzy during my post-run shower. I feel better now, but it's the most out of it I've felt so far during this marathon training.
I don't know what it is about stepback weeks, but the long runs don't agree with me. This was just weirdly awful, but the last part was great. I have two blessed days off from running now, though, and I'm going to rest and recover and maybe do some light yoga. See y'all next week!
I would call this run a dark cloud with a small silver lining. In general, this run was terrible for no good reason. I was somewhat rested, I had been feeling fine all day, everything was normal. I began the run feeling great, and even had perfect running weather. But then, about a mile into the run, my calves just tightened up like crazy, and my left foot started hurting. You may remember that I rolled my left foot on some jerk's garden hose two nights ago, and the pain has not completely gone away. Well, it started acting up as soon as my calves got tight, and forced me to stop a mile and a half in and tie my shoes tighter and massage my calves.
Well, the first time I stopped, my foot felt better but my calves were worse. I had to stop again to massage my calves more thoroughly, and at that point, I was sweating heavily (in pretty cold temperature) and the sweat got into my eyes, which was not fun. So for 3 miles of this run, I was absolutely miserable, not to mention aggravated as it seemed like every time I got to an intersection, there was a car doing something strange or crossing just as I was (at the last mile, there was even police activity a street down from where I was running!).
Then, with 4 miles to go, I just decided to grit my teeth and go for it. I gave up caring about the pain and just ran, and to my great surprise, my body let me do just that. I was able to run without stopping the rest of the way, and in fact, I got stronger the longer I ran. However, when I finished and walked inside, I felt extremely out of it, and actually felt a little dizzy during my post-run shower. I feel better now, but it's the most out of it I've felt so far during this marathon training.
I don't know what it is about stepback weeks, but the long runs don't agree with me. This was just weirdly awful, but the last part was great. I have two blessed days off from running now, though, and I'm going to rest and recover and maybe do some light yoga. See y'all next week!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Thursday, 11/20/2008
Today I ran 3 miles in 24:40.
Oh man, am I beat. I haven't been getting much sleep this week, and it's been very much affecting how I feel on runs. Tonight I felt exhausted the whole time, even though obviously my time shows that my body was up for the run. I need to figure out how to get more sleep than I do during the work week (thankfully, I don't work on Fridays at the moment, so I get a nice three day weekend).
Also, I had an extremely annoying thing happen tonight. Some jerk left their hose partially sticking out onto the sidewalk, and I got my left foot caught in it and rolled the foot a little bit. I was able to complete my run with no problem, but the foot is definitely hurting right now. I iced it, but thank goodness this is both a stepback week and that I don't have to anything physical tomorrow.
So, I'm not sure what my plans are this weekend. I'll be running on Saturday no question, but whether or not I'm able to post on Saturday night depends on my plans. I may have to update about what happened on Saturday on Sunday. Oh well. See you on Saturday/Sunday!
Oh man, am I beat. I haven't been getting much sleep this week, and it's been very much affecting how I feel on runs. Tonight I felt exhausted the whole time, even though obviously my time shows that my body was up for the run. I need to figure out how to get more sleep than I do during the work week (thankfully, I don't work on Fridays at the moment, so I get a nice three day weekend).
Also, I had an extremely annoying thing happen tonight. Some jerk left their hose partially sticking out onto the sidewalk, and I got my left foot caught in it and rolled the foot a little bit. I was able to complete my run with no problem, but the foot is definitely hurting right now. I iced it, but thank goodness this is both a stepback week and that I don't have to anything physical tomorrow.
So, I'm not sure what my plans are this weekend. I'll be running on Saturday no question, but whether or not I'm able to post on Saturday night depends on my plans. I may have to update about what happened on Saturday on Sunday. Oh well. See you on Saturday/Sunday!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Wednesday, 11/19/2008
Today I ran 5 miles in 43:37. I also walked somewhere around 6 miles beforehand.
Well, this was a strange one. I started today utterly exhausted from not getting much sleep the night before and feeling like it would be detrimental to run. Therefore, I decided to test out a route I had mapped out from my workplace to home. The total distance would have been a little over 7 1/2 miles, which seemed like a semi-decent compromise for not running today. However, about 3 1/2 miles into the route, I came upon a very complicated intersection, made a slightly wrong turn, and got a bit lost. I found my way back to familiar surroundings, but ended up walking a different route and took long enough that I ended up just walking to a restaurant for dinner with my parents. I did learn one thing though: I'm not going to run that route. :)
When I got home, my feet were tired, but I felt pretty OK, and after a two hour break, I actually felt raring to go. So I laced up my shoes (the original way, not the weird way that hurt yesterday) and ended up having a terrific run. I feel tired, but not extremely, and I'm very happy with my time. For some reason, my body has always done very well on "two-a-days" i.e. two workouts in one day. I used to do those a lot when I was weightlifting/powerlifting in college, and I often felt stronger during the second workout. The same seems to apply here.
Overall, a physically draining day, but a satisfying one. Also, I'm glad I was mentally tough enough to git out getting my training in instead of convincing myself that I could compromise. Good day!
Well, this was a strange one. I started today utterly exhausted from not getting much sleep the night before and feeling like it would be detrimental to run. Therefore, I decided to test out a route I had mapped out from my workplace to home. The total distance would have been a little over 7 1/2 miles, which seemed like a semi-decent compromise for not running today. However, about 3 1/2 miles into the route, I came upon a very complicated intersection, made a slightly wrong turn, and got a bit lost. I found my way back to familiar surroundings, but ended up walking a different route and took long enough that I ended up just walking to a restaurant for dinner with my parents. I did learn one thing though: I'm not going to run that route. :)
When I got home, my feet were tired, but I felt pretty OK, and after a two hour break, I actually felt raring to go. So I laced up my shoes (the original way, not the weird way that hurt yesterday) and ended up having a terrific run. I feel tired, but not extremely, and I'm very happy with my time. For some reason, my body has always done very well on "two-a-days" i.e. two workouts in one day. I used to do those a lot when I was weightlifting/powerlifting in college, and I often felt stronger during the second workout. The same seems to apply here.
Overall, a physically draining day, but a satisfying one. Also, I'm glad I was mentally tough enough to git out getting my training in instead of convincing myself that I could compromise. Good day!
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