This blogging thing is hard! I'm good at the training logs and writing details about my training for the most part, but actually sitting down and writing an account of my day-to-day life is challenging. Thankfully I only have two followers so at least I don't have a lot to live up to...
So, no marathon for me. I pretty much had made that decision last weekend, but I went for a 3.5 mile run on Monday and that sealed the deal. I was so exhausted from running a distance that really amounts to a warm-up that I zonked out on the couch at 6:45 and was out. I've continued my runs daily since Monday, but the distance has remained the same and I can't even imagine going 26.2. I'm looking to run Portland in October and hopefully I'll get to run Eugene next May. Last year I had to option down to the half after my hernia surgery recovery took much longer than anticipated and this year I get pneumonia three weeks out. If I strike out next year I'm done marathoning in Eugene! I can't afford $95 technical shirts!
Friday, May 1, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Cold and Cough Hades...
This was a tough week. I started feeling like I was coming down with something at work last Friday, but since I wasn't dying I decided to still run the Winter Predictor. Anyway, it took a couple of days to catch up to me but by Monday I was feeling like death. Not bad enough to miss work, but bad enough to feel really badly at work. Luckily Monday is a built-in day off and I took full advantage. Tuesday I was supposed to go out, but there was just no way. Wednesday I was supposed to go 5 miles of tempo but that wasn't really happening either so I went out for a nice run and then tried to cough my lungs out of my body for the next 15 minutes. Thursday was better but the cough was still trying to hang on. Went out for same distance, but much stronger. Friday, I really pondered whether I should go out, but decided it would be better in the long run to take the day off and give my body a small chance to recuperate before my 16 miles on Saturday. Saturday's 16-miler was a goody, but I didn't take any water or gels with me and started to really struggle at the end. My hamstrings and calves were really tight, kind of on the border of cramping, and I made it through but didn't coast through the end very nicely. Today I'll just go out and stretch my legs.
In other thoughts, Dathan Ritzenhein is a member at the athletic club where I work. Frequently he'll be up in our stretching area, stretching out and doing abs while I lead my Ab Lab. I really almost went up to him and tried to talk to him last Monday, but decided against it with the way I was feeling. I guess I'm a little starstruck and too shy to introduce myself. Maybe someday, but for now I'll just keep running out the miles.
In other thoughts, Dathan Ritzenhein is a member at the athletic club where I work. Frequently he'll be up in our stretching area, stretching out and doing abs while I lead my Ab Lab. I really almost went up to him and tried to talk to him last Monday, but decided against it with the way I was feeling. I guess I'm a little starstruck and too shy to introduce myself. Maybe someday, but for now I'll just keep running out the miles.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Winter Predictor 13k
So this was an interesting run from the standpoint that final results are calculated based on your ability to predict your final time and then go out and actually run said time. Final ranking is not based on finishing time, but by who is closest to their final time. And to add an interesting wrinkle, you are not allowed to use a watch or timing device of any kind on the run.
So I predicted myself at 55:20. I've had some strong long runs lately and a couple of pretty successful, but shorter, tempo runs where I've been able to hold in there at around a 6:47ish pace for up to four miles. So this 13k turns out to be 8.06 miles and I tried to make a semi-educated prediction, but also just kind of had to pull it out of a magic hat. It was chilly this morning, probably mid-30's, and there was a sticky kind of fog that's been hanging around the Willamette Valley lately that just makes everything wet. But all-in-all, it was nice running weather and I was pretty happy to be there.
The run itself went really well. It wasn't a big crowd, so there were a couple of guys who took off pretty quickly right away and went out of sight before mile 2. However, there was one guy who was in line of sight the entire time. Sometimes he's pull a little farther ahead and sometimes I'd reel him in a little, but he was a pretty solid 30 seconds ahead of the me for the entire race. This really felt just like a long tempo run, which is kind of what I expected it to be. Since I'm married to my Garmin, it was really strange to be out there and really have no idea where I was timewise, but I think this was also a good thing. I'm starting to learn what it feels like to run at a particular pace and judging from my final time I was pretty consistently holding in at that tempo pace for the entire time. My final time was 54:59, just 21 seconds off of my prediction and that's over 8 miles! I'm pretty stoked for that and happy that I was able to run so well seeing as how I've finally caught the cold that's been making it's way slowly into our house. In any event, it was a nice run early on in the marathon training and as week 2 comes to a close I only have 14 more weeks to go!
So I predicted myself at 55:20. I've had some strong long runs lately and a couple of pretty successful, but shorter, tempo runs where I've been able to hold in there at around a 6:47ish pace for up to four miles. So this 13k turns out to be 8.06 miles and I tried to make a semi-educated prediction, but also just kind of had to pull it out of a magic hat. It was chilly this morning, probably mid-30's, and there was a sticky kind of fog that's been hanging around the Willamette Valley lately that just makes everything wet. But all-in-all, it was nice running weather and I was pretty happy to be there.
The run itself went really well. It wasn't a big crowd, so there were a couple of guys who took off pretty quickly right away and went out of sight before mile 2. However, there was one guy who was in line of sight the entire time. Sometimes he's pull a little farther ahead and sometimes I'd reel him in a little, but he was a pretty solid 30 seconds ahead of the me for the entire race. This really felt just like a long tempo run, which is kind of what I expected it to be. Since I'm married to my Garmin, it was really strange to be out there and really have no idea where I was timewise, but I think this was also a good thing. I'm starting to learn what it feels like to run at a particular pace and judging from my final time I was pretty consistently holding in at that tempo pace for the entire time. My final time was 54:59, just 21 seconds off of my prediction and that's over 8 miles! I'm pretty stoked for that and happy that I was able to run so well seeing as how I've finally caught the cold that's been making it's way slowly into our house. In any event, it was a nice run early on in the marathon training and as week 2 comes to a close I only have 14 more weeks to go!
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