Watt's Running

My old Timex watch died this past weekend. I thought it was water resistant and took it toobing with me down the Guadalupe with Katie, Beth and Matthew yesterday. That was a mistake. It now has died. The screen is blank. So I went on the Internet and bought a “Garmin Forerunner 110 Men’s Black / Red”. This will be my first “geek-o-meter” AKA Garmin.

Today was the longest mid-week long run I have ever done. It was a 12 mile one. Although I had set my alarm for 5:30 AM I goofed and it was set for 5:30 PM so I awoke with a start at 7 AM. Yuck, this meant I was going to be late for work. When I woke it was 74 degrees F (what?!), hot and humid. The streets were wet with rain. I headed down Metric to Research, and then another mile on Research. I carried water and a Clif Shot. On the out segment I was running into the wind. I also seemed to be always running uphill. Ugh. Midway I had finished all my water and downed the mocha Clif Shot at 6 miles. Part way home I stopped at a gas station to refill my water. I finished the run, but it was a struggle. I was soaked with sweat. This is not getting easier, and I’m supposed to get stronger, but I just feel weaker. I was probably doing 10 minutes/mile. Bottom line, it was a crappy mid-week long run. I keep reading about my coach and how he’s just running smoothly and consistently. What is wrong with me? Why is it so hard?

I’ve been running the advanced mileage for the last two weeks. Today it was raining when I woke up. I thought about skipping my run, but the schedule said I need to do 10 miles with strides. By the way this week after class I had a discussion with my coach who asked if I was doing my strides and I said yes. However today I tried, but I was water logged and tired. Although the first few miles went by OK, it was the last few miles that I considered a “death march”. I just tried to get it over with. So I attempted to do my strides, but I don’t think I did them very well in the rain. I could feel that my hat, top, shorts, and shoes weighed tons with all the rain water in them.

Distance     Time       Pace
100m         20.9       -- 
200m         41.9       -- 
400m        1:27.6      -- 
500m        1:54.2      -- 
800m        3:12.3      -- 
1000m       4:11.3      -- 
1500m       6:35.9      -- 
Mile        7:06.4      -- 
2000m       9:00.6      7:15.0 
3000m      14:07.1      7:34.4 
2M         15:09.9      7:34.9 
4000m      19:17.3      7:45.6 
3M         23:44        7:55 
5000m      24:37        7:55
4M         32:12        8:03 
8000m      40:35        8:09 
5M         40:48        8:09 
10K        51:08        8:13 
15K      1:19:15        8:30 
10M      1:25:41        8:34 
20K      1:47:50        8:42 
13.1M    1:53:48        8:42 
15M      2:11:15        8:45 
25K      2:16:59        8:49 
30K      2:46:37        8:57 
20M      3:00:12        9:01 
25M      3:47:09        9:04 
Marathon 4:00:00        9:10

From McMillan Running

I typically run in the morning. I don’t time myself I just run. I don’t eat beforehand either. I do listen to my iPod to keep myself entertained. It helps the miles go by. So after my discussion with my coach yesterday I was curious what my morning pace was. Well I completed 5 miles in 49:23. My miles were approximately: 10:46, 10:42, 9:24, 9:20, and 9:20. So I’m running a 10 minute/mile pace. I’m also warming up over time so my time drops down. Anyways I thought it would be faster. So I was disappointed. Sigh. Should I have been? I just don’t know. Well I’m not going to time myself again until I’m told to do so. I don’t need further downers

I sat online and watched my coach, Geezer [Finish: 3:06:05 Pace: 7:06], and my running friend, Sadie [Finish: 3:38:57 Pace: 8:22] and her husband [Finish: 3:11:50 Pace: 7:19], run the Portland marathon today. Excellent. It’ll be fun to hear all about it on their blogs. Lookin’ forward to it.

“Running is my anchor. It’s not what I do, but it’s what makes everything else I do okay” by Benjamin H. Cheever in the “The Big Hurt”, Runner’s World, August 2009

I’m such a klutz. I had just started out on my typical running route through Wells Branch. On the way I wanted to cross the street so I looked back to check for traffic. As I did I unknowingly stepped off the curb. There was some cars back at the light a few hundred feet back, but I lost my balance. Instead of falling down immediately and doing a total face plant I continued to run. However I was terribly off balance and trying very hard to recover. My torso was leaning over awkwardly. I continued to run and struggled to stay upright for twenty feet or more. Straining my muscles, my feet, my back. Trying so hard to get upright. My balance is not what it used to be. Finally, just finally I got my center of gravity under my feet. Luckily I hadn’t run too far into the road so I corrected and got back to the sidewalk. The traffic from the light passed me. My heart was racing. I was breathing hard. I had just ducked a bullet. A near miss. Whew!

My running class is coming to an end. Typically it would have completed in my running the marathon next weekend. I would be feeling butterflies and stress about it now. However, I’ve decided that the HALF marathon is what I’ll be doing. Feeling this way is weird because I’ve only known that now is the time to run a marathon. Everyone else in my class is ready to go and do it. The class builds to this point yet I’m not going to reach that pinnacle. So I’m kinda feeling incomplete. I even have other runners I know that keep chiding me to run the full. (Thank you Monica, but sorry I won’t) Yet I know running the half is the right decision. Thinking back on this past running season I find that the peak for me was about a month ago. It was during the 20 miler race that I ran my longest race. Yet I hadn’t realized it at the time. Then a few weeks ago a raced the 3M Half Marathon. I pushed my self real hard for that one. And I’m not planning to race the Austin Half Marathon. So by then I was already on the downward slope. But I still was not fully realizing that the season for me was over back then. Nevertheless it was good exercise. I did all that was asked of me during class. And with that I am satisfied. My only wish was to have met more running buddies, but this time it didn’t work out. I just didn’t blend in or they were just too fast or slow. It was my fault too, because I would run out ahead or struggle to catch up. Maybe because I knew I wasn’t going to run the marathon I kept my distance literally and figuratively. Whatever the case I don’t even have a friend to run the half with. And with that I am saddened. Sigh.