My first week back to marathon training didn’t exactly kick off on the foot my training plan intended. I completed my speed work and the easy 5+, but totally skipped the 6.5 tempo, my Saturday 14 and the Sunday five. Life, it turns out, goes on.
At least I have good excuses for two of the three. I skipped the tempo out of sheer laziness and weather-wimpitude. The idea of running anything tempo in 90+ degrees just wasn’t happening for me. Naps were more my speed.
But I did get out! I met Monica, Salty, CJ and co. on Saturday morning for ~6.5 miles on the NC trails. While the sun and heat were blazing that day, we were pretty sheltered by trees and even took the big ol’ NC hill that normally wipes me out. Because it was only a 1+ hour run, I didn’t carry water with me, but was grateful for a mid-point water stop. Surprisingly, though, I wasn’t parched despite the weather. Wippee on that!
Sunday was all house, all day. We painted the tragically colored kitchen to something much prettier, and I spent most of the day getting scorched in the sun while pulling out all things living, dead and intrusive in my garden. It was a workout! This weekend is front-yard landscaping. And I intend on actually completing my runs as scheduled.
Just like I intended last week.
The weather shouldn’t provide too many excuses for me now. I headed out right after work yesterday for what should have been speed day. Instead of 800s, I ran seven miles around my neighborhood and up and down Lakeshore at about 10:00/mile. It started as my speed warm-up, but kept extending. Slower and slower and slower.
While it wasn’t too hot or muggy on Tuesday, it was warm enough to slow my already garden-aching legs. I just didn’t have any kick. I was happy to get our and run, nevertheless, and at least get some good miles under my feet. Maybe today will be the day for speed.
So far, last week’s mileage (15.5 miles) has only a slight edge on this week (7 miles). Now, if I can only get over 40 miles… that’s when I’m allowing myself dessert. It’s the new plan.
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Friday, June 6, 2008
Holy Hotness, Batman!
These are the days when I’m more grateful for the Cleveland Half Marathon’s weather than I am for sliced bread. Truly.
I worked most of yesterday from the kitchen table (we don’t have much else in order yet) with the front door open and the sun shining in. The dogs sat at the foot of the door, enjoying their leisurely lifestyles, and expressed visible and audible confusion as the weather tumbled and rumbled from one personality to the next.
The morning started in the wake of the loudest thunderstorm I’ve ever heard. Seriously: one massive bolt I was certain had hit the house. It was that loud. But it was around 5 a.m. (and I had gone to bed around 2 a.m., which I’ve discovered is something I’m not capable of doing anymore) and I was too tired, really, to be concerned about checking.
Nothing caught fire and the morning was pretty fresh and mild. Had I slept enough the night before, I wouldn’t have resisted taking an early morning run.
That mildness, however, flipped between fiery 90s and blazing sun to big breezes and pounding rain from one minute to the next. By the time I was ready for a work break, though, it was muggy hot with all the day’s moisture thick in the air. My schedule called from a 6.5-mile tempo run, and I kept waiting from one hour to the next for “better” conditions. Maybe just a stroke of energy. But that late night did me in. No run, just chilling and food.
Thankfully laziness didn’t do me in the previous night. I ran an easy 5.5 miles along Lakeshore on Wednesday from my block to the Cleveland border, about halfway to the other border and back. It was probably closer to 9 p.m. and getting dark when I ran. But talk about a nice time to run!
Aside from the spring bugs (I probably only swallowed about 60), it was a pleasant evening bustling with dozens of friendly walkers and—get this—courteous drivers who actually stopped for pedestrians. No joke. Not only did I have every driver wait and wave me through before I reached the street, but none of them hit me, none swore at me for being a runner and at least two backed out of the crosswalk when they saw me coming.
Big deal, right? Well, it’s a huge change from the old neighborhood and major upgrade from the pedestrian-haters who used to run me down. OK, it only happened twice and I’m way overgeneralizing. But these early impressions are important and I need to hold onto them for when that one rude driver really ruffles my feathers.
Lucky for my training schedule, Friday calls for a rest day. Unfortunately that doesn’t mean I’m going to rest tonight. I do, however, get to run yesterday’s tempo without falling behind. Then I can hop back on schedule and find many more places to run in the heat (and get over this weather-related hang-up the way I dealt with rain).
I worked most of yesterday from the kitchen table (we don’t have much else in order yet) with the front door open and the sun shining in. The dogs sat at the foot of the door, enjoying their leisurely lifestyles, and expressed visible and audible confusion as the weather tumbled and rumbled from one personality to the next.
The morning started in the wake of the loudest thunderstorm I’ve ever heard. Seriously: one massive bolt I was certain had hit the house. It was that loud. But it was around 5 a.m. (and I had gone to bed around 2 a.m., which I’ve discovered is something I’m not capable of doing anymore) and I was too tired, really, to be concerned about checking.Nothing caught fire and the morning was pretty fresh and mild. Had I slept enough the night before, I wouldn’t have resisted taking an early morning run.
That mildness, however, flipped between fiery 90s and blazing sun to big breezes and pounding rain from one minute to the next. By the time I was ready for a work break, though, it was muggy hot with all the day’s moisture thick in the air. My schedule called from a 6.5-mile tempo run, and I kept waiting from one hour to the next for “better” conditions. Maybe just a stroke of energy. But that late night did me in. No run, just chilling and food.
Thankfully laziness didn’t do me in the previous night. I ran an easy 5.5 miles along Lakeshore on Wednesday from my block to the Cleveland border, about halfway to the other border and back. It was probably closer to 9 p.m. and getting dark when I ran. But talk about a nice time to run!
Aside from the spring bugs (I probably only swallowed about 60), it was a pleasant evening bustling with dozens of friendly walkers and—get this—courteous drivers who actually stopped for pedestrians. No joke. Not only did I have every driver wait and wave me through before I reached the street, but none of them hit me, none swore at me for being a runner and at least two backed out of the crosswalk when they saw me coming.
Big deal, right? Well, it’s a huge change from the old neighborhood and major upgrade from the pedestrian-haters who used to run me down. OK, it only happened twice and I’m way overgeneralizing. But these early impressions are important and I need to hold onto them for when that one rude driver really ruffles my feathers.
Lucky for my training schedule, Friday calls for a rest day. Unfortunately that doesn’t mean I’m going to rest tonight. I do, however, get to run yesterday’s tempo without falling behind. Then I can hop back on schedule and find many more places to run in the heat (and get over this weather-related hang-up the way I dealt with rain).
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Oh. Yeah.
See? All it takes is a little complaining to get some things done. One poopy-weather post and BAM! A beautiful day. You’re welcome, Northeast Ohio!
I wasn’t going to get caught resting on my laurels with the sun blazing yesterday, so I met Landon at John Carroll again for an afternoon run. While several other training-bloggers have had opportunities to wear shorts in recent weeks, I had my own day in the sun: I went gloveless. That’s right. No gloves on a run. Pretty impressive for mid-March, eh?
Maybe not.
But I was wearing sunglasses and having a swell time. We took off from John Carroll and headed northish on Fairmount Boulevard, running past my favorite CH houses, to Coventry to Mayfield Road. Lovely, lovely, lost-free route.
Hills on this trek weren't visually apparent, but their cardiovascular impact was. At least I imagine it was to Landon because he had to hear me huff-and-puff the whole way (he was just fine).
We ran 7.6 miles in under 1:12:00, which amounts to 9:30/mile pace. I admittedly took us off a little faster than I should during our 20-minute warm-up, but I get so excited when I’m talking about good-job stories, running with friends or getting out on a nice day.
But I paid for it too: not only did I catch a stitch 30 minutes into the run, I had to take a walk break ten minutes from the end of our run for some quick recovery. Have I gone lame-o?
As I mentioned the other day, I've officially begun my Akron Marathon (and Cleveland Half Marathon) training and I'm following the plan outlined in Jeff Galloway's book Marathon: You Can Do It!, which my mom gave me for Christmas. It contains all the nutrition and cross-training information I should have known last year, as well as an interesting recommendation: short walk breaks.
Briefly speaking, walk breaks "vary the use of the muscle and reduce intensity of the work. Because you're not using the muscle in the same way continuously, you significantly increase the distance you can cover before fatigue sets in." Which makes sense. What surprised me is that these breaks, especially when you're building or rebuilding your miles, won't hurt my endurance. We'll see.
If you visit the book's Google Book preview and flip to pages 9-11, you can read Galloway's take on walk breaks.
My need for breaks made me realize, however, that I have plenty of rebuilding to do. This run was my longest (and hilliest) since my October-through-January hiatus. My legs felt strong, but my endurance could use some Vitamin Water or something.
Speaking of Vitamin Water, Landon mentioned that his friend will appear in a forthcoming Vitamin Water commercial, and I’m eager to learn whether it’s LeBron James’ latest.
News says LBJ plays a lawyer; I don’t know how Vitamin Water helps his case. But in a recent CNN story, LBJ says that if his career had taken a different path, he might have made a good attorney: “I can be real intimidating when I put my game face on,” he says. “And I never lose.”
Who else can make intimidating look so damn good too? Some people were just meant for stardom.
And if plans hold up, Landon and I will be all-stars this weekend: we’re planning a cross-Cleveland run on Saturday morning.
It just got interesting…
I wasn’t going to get caught resting on my laurels with the sun blazing yesterday, so I met Landon at John Carroll again for an afternoon run. While several other training-bloggers have had opportunities to wear shorts in recent weeks, I had my own day in the sun: I went gloveless. That’s right. No gloves on a run. Pretty impressive for mid-March, eh?
Maybe not.
But I was wearing sunglasses and having a swell time. We took off from John Carroll and headed northish on Fairmount Boulevard, running past my favorite CH houses, to Coventry to Mayfield Road. Lovely, lovely, lost-free route.Hills on this trek weren't visually apparent, but their cardiovascular impact was. At least I imagine it was to Landon because he had to hear me huff-and-puff the whole way (he was just fine).
We ran 7.6 miles in under 1:12:00, which amounts to 9:30/mile pace. I admittedly took us off a little faster than I should during our 20-minute warm-up, but I get so excited when I’m talking about good-job stories, running with friends or getting out on a nice day.
But I paid for it too: not only did I catch a stitch 30 minutes into the run, I had to take a walk break ten minutes from the end of our run for some quick recovery. Have I gone lame-o?
As I mentioned the other day, I've officially begun my Akron Marathon (and Cleveland Half Marathon) training and I'm following the plan outlined in Jeff Galloway's book Marathon: You Can Do It!, which my mom gave me for Christmas. It contains all the nutrition and cross-training information I should have known last year, as well as an interesting recommendation: short walk breaks.
Briefly speaking, walk breaks "vary the use of the muscle and reduce intensity of the work. Because you're not using the muscle in the same way continuously, you significantly increase the distance you can cover before fatigue sets in." Which makes sense. What surprised me is that these breaks, especially when you're building or rebuilding your miles, won't hurt my endurance. We'll see.
If you visit the book's Google Book preview and flip to pages 9-11, you can read Galloway's take on walk breaks.
My need for breaks made me realize, however, that I have plenty of rebuilding to do. This run was my longest (and hilliest) since my October-through-January hiatus. My legs felt strong, but my endurance could use some Vitamin Water or something.
Speaking of Vitamin Water, Landon mentioned that his friend will appear in a forthcoming Vitamin Water commercial, and I’m eager to learn whether it’s LeBron James’ latest.News says LBJ plays a lawyer; I don’t know how Vitamin Water helps his case. But in a recent CNN story, LBJ says that if his career had taken a different path, he might have made a good attorney: “I can be real intimidating when I put my game face on,” he says. “And I never lose.”
Who else can make intimidating look so damn good too? Some people were just meant for stardom.
And if plans hold up, Landon and I will be all-stars this weekend: we’re planning a cross-Cleveland run on Saturday morning.
It just got interesting…
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Running: Lift Us Up Where We Belong
OK, I admit it: I ridicule Northeast Ohioans who complain about the weather.
It’s not just any weather (to an extent, we’re entitled to some quips); it’s mostly snow in March. I can appreciate your need for sun, spring and no more snow, but when in the past twenty years has uninterrupted spring arrived with the vernal equinox?
Being a ridiculer isn’t something I’m proud of. I just don’t think anyone should really be surprised anymore. And among everything else in the world, weather is the one thing we just cannot control.
You can imagine my surprise (and shame) then when on Saturday I was not only queen ridiculer of the NEOhio unfaithful, but I was also a client.
It’s not the snow, the cold, the roads that have gotten to me this year; it’s the limitations for running in any given area. Run in Cleveland Heights: spend two hours walking back in chest-deep snow; run in University Heights: spend 45 minutes running through chest-deep puddles; run in Cleveland: fall into a sink hole and then get splashed by a passing car; run in Hudson or Stow: spend the whole time dodging angry cars who don’t want you running on the street.
None of it’s the end of the world, but I’d like to take a non-track run in which I spend more time focusing on my workout and less on worrying about my life.
Running on the street isn’t bad at all. In quiet neighborhoods. Because of my common schedule (run after work), I’m often running in rush-hour traffic in a younger neighborhood chock full of people willing to drive 50 mph down a 25 mph street.
And I’ve been just waiting to cross paths with the guy who hit me last year to see if he has any vengeance left in his system (and if he ever fixed the palm-dent I left on his hood).
What’s more is this weather makes my blogging kind of bland because each of my runs becomes just another 9:30-10:00/mile run for 30-60 minutes in one of three neighborhoods. Blah blah blah blah blah.
I’ll do another hour run tonight to the tune of mid-30s and sloshy stuff in my shoes. But now I have renewed motivation: on Monday I officially started my six-month training plan for the Akron Marathon on Sept. 27, 2008. Yippee!
How's that for a change of pace?
I’m still having trouble envisioning myself running over 26 miles (in a row), but that realization will come with the six months of training and, well, miles 1-25 at the race, eh? It’s nice to have goals again (which will also include the Cleveland Half and a late-summer Olympic tri) and I’ll post a 2008 race schedule later this week.
It’s not just any weather (to an extent, we’re entitled to some quips); it’s mostly snow in March. I can appreciate your need for sun, spring and no more snow, but when in the past twenty years has uninterrupted spring arrived with the vernal equinox?
Being a ridiculer isn’t something I’m proud of. I just don’t think anyone should really be surprised anymore. And among everything else in the world, weather is the one thing we just cannot control.
You can imagine my surprise (and shame) then when on Saturday I was not only queen ridiculer of the NEOhio unfaithful, but I was also a client.
It’s not the snow, the cold, the roads that have gotten to me this year; it’s the limitations for running in any given area. Run in Cleveland Heights: spend two hours walking back in chest-deep snow; run in University Heights: spend 45 minutes running through chest-deep puddles; run in Cleveland: fall into a sink hole and then get splashed by a passing car; run in Hudson or Stow: spend the whole time dodging angry cars who don’t want you running on the street.
None of it’s the end of the world, but I’d like to take a non-track run in which I spend more time focusing on my workout and less on worrying about my life.
Running on the street isn’t bad at all. In quiet neighborhoods. Because of my common schedule (run after work), I’m often running in rush-hour traffic in a younger neighborhood chock full of people willing to drive 50 mph down a 25 mph street.
And I’ve been just waiting to cross paths with the guy who hit me last year to see if he has any vengeance left in his system (and if he ever fixed the palm-dent I left on his hood).
What’s more is this weather makes my blogging kind of bland because each of my runs becomes just another 9:30-10:00/mile run for 30-60 minutes in one of three neighborhoods. Blah blah blah blah blah.
I’ll do another hour run tonight to the tune of mid-30s and sloshy stuff in my shoes. But now I have renewed motivation: on Monday I officially started my six-month training plan for the Akron Marathon on Sept. 27, 2008. Yippee!
How's that for a change of pace?
I’m still having trouble envisioning myself running over 26 miles (in a row), but that realization will come with the six months of training and, well, miles 1-25 at the race, eh? It’s nice to have goals again (which will also include the Cleveland Half and a late-summer Olympic tri) and I’ll post a 2008 race schedule later this week.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Pop Quiz; Plus: Running With Others
Stop your worrying: this isn't another one of those tagging games (to which I'm admittedly not opposed). Just a pop quiz about everyone's favorite person: YOU!If you have a moment, I'd like to get your take on the following questions; you don't have to answer all. Because I'm new to running, I love nothing more than hearing other people's stories. What's yours?
- How long have you been running or tri-training?
- Why did you start running or tri-training?
- What's your most memorable race?
- What's your favorite race to run (distance and/or specific event)?
- What's the best advice you have ever received?
- What's the best advice you never followed (that you should have)?
- Where do you train?
- What are your long-term goals?
- What's your favorite pre-race meal?
- What's your favorite post-race, PR or goal-meeting reward?
As we pushed off from John Carroll, we both not-so-shyly admitted we had no idea what we were doing running with someone else. I still don’t know if I ran too slow or if I talked too much or if Landon wanted to punch me in the face for leading him down every single slush-flooded street (sorry, man!) in University Heights.
But it couldn’t have been too bad: I believe we ran for 45 minutes and walked a cool down for close to ten back to our cars and off to Whole Foods (where I picked up a wheatberry salad mixed with multigrain tabouleh for dinner and a chunk of cornbread the size of my face).For the past year I’ve been apprehensive about running “with” people. Now I’m not. I think we’re going to make this running date a regular thing. And you can’t beat that.
You're already getting a sense that this will become one of those things — like yoga, cupcakes or commuting — that I obsess over and can't write enough about, aren't you?
Next up: Monica!
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
That Settles It: I’d Rather be a Hamster
Thunderstorms were rolling through Kent when I headed to the rec. center this afternoon (I had been staying on the weather up and up all week; that’s why I went swimming yesterday), so I headed inside to run. It was my first time running on a treadmill. As you know, I have only ever gone flying off a treadmill.My goal was to run a 10K around 8:30-9:00/mile, so I stepped on the machine, pressed the large “ON” button and chose the 10K option. Seems straight forward, right? It always does.
I’m running around 6.7 mph for close to a mile when the treadmill suddenly slows to walking pace. It had been my understanding that running machines with large buttons were intuitive and easy to use, so I blamed this gaffe on user error. I must have done something wrong. So, I start over with my 10K, enter my weight and begin running again. And the same thing happens. Then I just restarted the machine and ran on manual around 6-7 mph for 1.5 miles. But not without incident.
When I first started running on the machine, it felt a little strange having the ground moving beneath my feet. I couldn’t quite get comfortable with moving my arms, so I held on for dear life for the first couple of minutes. Then I let go and tried to allow myself to drift back enough for room to move. And then I stumbled. It wasn’t too bad a stumble, but loud enough that Jeff, who happened to be at the weight circuit behind me, jerked around and gave me the good old ‘L’ sign to the forehead. I kept hearing the word “loser” repeated for several minutes, but that may have just been in my head.
Until it happened again.
This time I definitely tripped over the clean air and the next time I stumbled on a stubbed toe. The third time, however, was the charm. I jumped off the treadmill, walked over to Jeff and swore for several minutes when I saw the sun had come out. So, I took my anger outside and ran the remaining 3.1 miles of my 10K in the beautiful weather.
It was really difficult to run at first: running feels different when the ground is just standing there, waiting to be traversed. But I took the run at a healthy pace (8-9 min./mile) and even considered whether I could sing the national anthem while I was running—but I sang “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” instead ;-)
My only regret was that I hadn’t started my run outside, but I was able to get my mind off the fact that I couldn’t manage to complete a task regularly performed by hamsters. Even on my second and third tries.
So, I thought it would be appropriate to share with you what I looked and felt like on the treadmill today. This video actually features the exact treadmill I was using at my rec. center in the exact location I ran this afternoon. I was not, however, wearing a squirrel costume.
Apparently, squirrels aren’t as adept as hamsters either.
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