Sunday, August 30, 2009

2 miles? Why not.

So I got up and did 2 miles this morning. I should not have pushed quite as hard, but the legs were feeling good and sometimes its fun just to open up a little bit....18 min 33 secs. I did some crunches and that is pretty much it. I have a bunch of work due tomorrow, so I will not be able to get to the gym to do strength training and it will have to wait until tomorrow. For this next week I am scheduled to do 3,7,4, and 15 respectively. It is a substantial jump from this last week and really starts to get into the higher mileage. I am a little nervous and a little excited to see how it goes. Thanks for reading.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

9 weeks down and 9 to go....

Well I did not get to bed as early as  I would have liked....I still woke up at 6....although it took me until 6:15 to drag myself out of bed. I had 10 miles on tap, and I was looking forward to getting out there and pushing last Saturday out of my mind.

It was quite brisk out.  I can tell that fall really wants to sneak into Laramie early this year. During my few block walk, I noticed my right knee was a little sore. Considering how the IT Band problems started in my left knee, this gave me some cause for concern. Oddly enough though, after I was about a mile and a half in, the soreness went away and never returned.

The first mile felt like it took forever today. I needed to get my blood moving to warm up, and it just felt like an eternity. I was listening to ESPN radio on my arm band and really enjoying it. They have a guy, Erik Kuselias, that used to be on every day in the afternoons, then tried to transition to tv and is now back on the weekends. I really enjoy his thoughts and humor, and actually listened for the first three miles. The reason I am sharing this, is when I listen to sports talk, my pace drops fairly significantly. This is something that would get under my skin a little bit, because I really wanted a 10 min/mile pace for this run.

The first 5 miles were pretty uneventful. I did not see many people out, which is strange for the first weekend back in session. I think there must have been quite a bit a late night enjoyment. When I looked down and saw I was more than 2 minutes slower than my goal pace, I decided to kick it up a notch. I was very surprised with how easily it was to put it in a higher gear (for me, for most legit runners I am still at a jog). By the end of the ten miles, I had not only reached my goal pace, but was in fact 1 minute and 27 seconds ahead. This made me really happy.  My time ended up 1 hr 38 mins and 33 secs.

Overall, the run was really good. The last mile was hard, but it generally is. It was a nice way to finish up the first half of my training schedule. I am debating going out for a light/slow run to loosen up my muscles tomorrow morning. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and thanks for reading.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

I'm late...I'm late....for a very important.....eh forget it.

The lack of sleep monster finally got me....7:30 today...BAH! But anyway, I got up and quickly got dressed and headed out, My legs are tired from yesterday...but not sore...I am gaining more and more confidence in my ability to get through 26.2. The schedule called for 4, and I like to give the schedule what it asks for. It has been getting cooler, so the sun did not bug me at all this morning, which is always nice. At 3.7 I hit the gym and did my strength training, core work-out, and crunches. I am skipping my first class. I have all the lecture notes, so it feels like a waste to go all the time anyway. I am going to relax a tad and get some things done before my 11:00. I am sure my legs are going to enjoy having off tomorrow....but I will still be getting up at 6:00....take that sleep monster!

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

7 from heaven....uh what?

So I got up at 6:00 today is per my goal. Sleep has been eluding me. Tonight I will be sure to leave a big serving of food down for the cat because I am running out of things to try. I have to get on some sort of sleep schedule so I don't feel so groggy in the morning.

This is the first mid week run that has been over 6 miles during this cycle, and I was a little nervous. The 6 last week were very difficult and I was scared of a repeat. I made sure to go slow out of the shoot....no faster than an 11 min mile for the entire first mile. The legs felt a little tired, but not sore, which makes me happy. At the top of the hill I tried to kick it up to around a 10 min mile and I was able to keep that pace more or less, for the remainder of the run. I did two loops, one of 3 miles and one of 4 miles, bother incorporating that dreaded hill that I always use to start my runs. It is amazing to me how quickly it can sap my strength and mile 3-4 was no different today. I had to focus a little to keep my pace steady. After I reached the top the nect 2.7 miles went pretty well. Too many people out on bikes riding on the sidewalks. They give them their own lane in most places around campus, I am not sure why they feel the need to ride on the sidewalks. It really makes it hard to navigate intersections. But if that is my biggest worry during a run, it is a good day.

I stopped off at the gym and again did my crunches. I am hoping to go back tonight if I feel alright and do my strength training and full core workout. But if I don't, I am not going to beat myself up....I just ran 7 miles....

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

3 mile madness....not really.

So I decided not to go back up to the gym last night. I highly underestimated the walking back and forth and around campus. I want to keep my legs fresh, so I just called it a night. I did not sleep well. At some point I must have rolled over on the cat, because I have these two  deep scratch marks that go about and inch stop for about an inch and then continue for another inch. It looks pretty cool, but does not feel so great.

I did manage to get up 30 minutes earlier than the day before at 6:30. So chalk a point up to will-power. Tomorrow I will try 6:00, I just hope I sleep a bit better.

The run was pretty uneventful for the most part, I will take this moment though to whine about something that has started to grate on my nerves...NON-WAVERS. I am not asking for much from people, just a head nod or a flick of the hand would be nice. I just don't get why people get so standoff-ish. I never try to talk to people or anything, but would it be that hard to just acknowledge another human being?

After 2.7 I stopped off at the gym and did a bunch of crunches....like 300. I am determined to become a hot piece of meat.....or more likely....develop stronger abs to help me keep my form when I am tired. There were people everywhere at the gym...I miss the summer already...

Thanks for reading,



Thanks

Monday, August 24, 2009

No real running...but cross-training

Need to get my clock back on target. Got up at 7 today and hit the gym. Worked really hard and feel good.  I might go back and do some light machine work in the evening....gotta keep the legs fresh though so we will see. It feels good to be back in school. I will get up at 6:30 tomorrow and hope to be back to 5:30 by Friday.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Ok....time to get back on track....with the blog

Alright. No more excuses! I will do this thing after every run regardless of how busy I may be. Last week I did runs of 3,3, and 12. I took the Wednesday run out because of how my legs were feeling and I think it helped. The Saturday run was pretty grueling but I managed all the way through.

This last week was not as good. I did the first 3 on Tuesday well, but when I got to Wednesday, it felt like my legs were just gone. It was the first time I had tried to do 6 on a weekday since the last cycle and I did not anticipate much trouble. I was very very very wrong. The following day I went really easy and things seemed to improve.

I have been trying to find some semblance of a social life and have made some new friends with my neighbors upstairs. I had a little cook-out on Thursday and we went out and had some fun afterward. I didn't get to bed until 1:30....this would be a trend repeated for the next three nights with some bad results on Saturday.

I could not drag myself up out of bed until around 7:30 on Saturday. It took me another 90 minutes to get my head right and get out the door....well it was about 35 degrees warmer than I had been used to and holy cow did it kill me.

I only made through the first 3 miles before I was just absolutely drained. I pushed along for the next couple thoroughly miserable. I decided to alter my route so I could get some water and hopefully feel a better. I ran/waled over to Washington Park and the water fountain. At that point I was just short of 9 miles of run/walking. I knew I could not run 13, but I was damn well sure I could get the distance out if I just mixed things up and continued on. I decided to do four 3/4 mile laps at the park and then make my way home. It was very difficult and at times painful. By the time I got home, I had been out for around 3 hours and the temperature was well over 80.

It seems really weird to say this, but I gained a lot of personal satisfaction from my effort yesterday. Things haven't been going all that well for me lately, and to just push myself to the brink of what I could handle really meant a lot to me. I learned how dependent I am on my routine, and that the early bird really gets the worm...because after 9 the worms are all dried and dead. Thanks for reading!

Friday, August 7, 2009

Where have I been

It has been quite awhile since I updated the ol blog. I do apologize. Have some non-running things that I am dealing with. But that is not a decent excuse. So I will try to give a quick recap.

Last week the schedule had me doing 3 miles, then 5, then 3, and on Saturday 10. I was really nervous about the 10. I had to move my Thursday 3 to Friday so I did not have that extra day o rest the IT Band. I started slow and stayed pretty slow the whole run. I may have stated before, but because I am really on my own if something happens, I try to stay within a mile to a mile and a half of my apartment. I ended up needing to come home to use the bathroom about halfway through, but did well getting back out and going again. By the end of the run the knee was sore, but manageable so I will take it.

The three runs I did this week were pretty uneventful. 3,5 and 3 and nothing big to talk about. I was due a 7 mile long run this weekend, but decided to do a 5K instead. Think it will help keep me motivated and give me one last shot at breaking 25 minutes before the end of the summer. Because I need to be up in 6 hours I am going to end here. Sorry it took so long to get this in. I will try to be better. Thanks for reading!