"Cause I am barely breathing,
and I can't find the air"
- "Barely Breathing", Duncan Sheik
Weight: 157
This morning I ran a little 5K race. Honestly... I'm not sure why. I mean, America has pretty much already forgotten about Haiti and the earthquake, as there has been something like 4-5 other earthquakes since then (none as devestating, but some closer to home). But I think it was the cause that got me to sign up.
It's not a real smart thing to do right before a Half Marathon. Pushing yourself hard for 3 miles is a good way to pull a muscle or hurt yourself when you haven't been preparing to run that fast or with that intensity. But I've never been able to 'just take it easy', especially when the field is so small and I might be able to claim an age group award.
(Me winning age group awards is not about me and my talent or skill... it's about all the real runners who didn't come out and run that race)
In addition to this being a bad idea normally, I hadn't run all week. My foot was really hurting, so I did nothing but ice it this week. Plus, being the first week off Lent, I made up for lost time with drinks on multiple nights, and extreme consumption of candy. Wednesday night the scale was reading 161... the heaviest I've seen in a while.
But at 7:30 I was slurping down some raspberry energy gel, and at 8 I was out the door. It was colder than I'd hoped, hovering around 40. I don't know how many runners there were, but I'd be surprised if they got to 75 people total.
The gun went off and so did I... man, I was feeling REALLY good... for about a half mile. I knew I had gone out too fast, my lungs were already burning, my legs were beginning to feel fatigued already, and the course was about to go uphill. The person calling splits at the first mile said "5:50"! I knew that was too fast for me... too fast for the first race in a long time, too fast for a 'tune up' race before a Half marathon, and too fast for me to be able to maintain (for now anyway). but at this point, only one person was ahead of me (and he was a good 30 seconds ahead of me).
Maybe 100 steps later, two people passed me. A male and a female. Sure, it's sexist to say how much I hate being 'chicked', but there was a time when that never happened. I long for those days again.
At about the 2 mile mark (split 12:50??? Is it possible I slowed THAT much?) another female passed me. I tried to hang with her... and I'm sure we helped each other a bit. But ultimately I could not keep pace with her.
I did have a little extra for a finishing kick, but just a little. My breathing was horrible the entire time, and even now (5 hours later) I've still got the dry coughs. Finishing time was about 20:23 - not horrible, not great. I'm not unhappy with that time, but not happy with it either.
I think I could have done better... but, pre-race, I had to carry my daughter on my shoulders for about a mile and a half, and this effected my back more than I'd like to admit (she weighs 50 pounds... not the best 'warm up'). Had I paced myself better, I think sub-20 was in my reach.
And in the aftermath, my right foot is in some pain. I've iced it, but it still hurts. I will probably have to take it easy between now and the Half. My left Achilles is slightly aggrevated too. Not hurting, but I'm definiely aware of it.
We leave for Nashville next week... for 9 days. Might be a break in blog posts... but hopefully I cna come back with a story about a PR for 13.1 miles
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Up in the Air
"The slower we move, the faster we die.
Make no mistake, moving is living."
-Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), "Up In The Air"
Weight: 156
The above quote (and movie title) really have absolutely nothing to do with running... not if kept in context. But they sure seem appropriate for where I'm at right now.
I haven't even seen the whole movie. The way movies work in my family/life, is the only movies we seem to see in the theater are kids movies... something we can do as a family. So when it comes to seeing non-kids movies, we wait to see it on DVD.
And when it comes to watching DVDs that my kid will either not be interested in, or I don't want her to see, it means I watch what I can while people are asleep or away. I got halfway through the movie this morning before my daughter woke up. This line caught my attention.
Because in a way, it DOES apply to running (or excercise, or health). The couch potatoes typically are the health risks, and the health nuts typically are not. The runners are in a little better shape than the walkers, and the elite athletes are in remarkable shape. Move... move faster... live longer.
Before I started watching this movie this morning, I went out for my 'long run' (yes, i was up early today). I'm tweaking the training plan a little, and had 11 miles on my schedule for the day...
That didn't happen. And I'm feeling like my upcoming Half, and my perfomance in that race, is a bit 'up in the air'.
I only got 6 miles of a run in. Remarkably slow. Nothing felt right. It wasn't even close to right. It's easily the worst run I've had in a while. My entire lower body felt fatigued and my lower legs were in pain. It only took about a half mile and I knew it was going to be a bad run.
My left Achilles is getting the first hints of a twinge again. That alone makes me want to 'pull back' a little, but my right foot has been bothering me and keeps feeling worse. It's been a nagging pain on the top of my foot, that is somehow connected to my big toe... and today, the pain was more than I wanted to push through just for a training run.
So, I'm 3 weeks from the Half marathon. Next week I've signed up for a 5K, which I would like to run with an honest effort, but do not want to hurt myself. There isn't really much of a taper before a Half Marathon... but I'm thinking I might need to 'shut it down' between now and then. Nothing (other than the 5K) at more than easy effort, and nothing more than about 5 miles. No more than 3 runs a week.
This is NOT how I want to be going into the race. I really want to PR, and I really want to have a good race. I want to feel good and healthy and happy while running... not endure 2 hours of pure misery.
Speaking of pure misery - root canal scheduled for Monday. At least, I hope it's a root canal scheduled. I know, that doesn't make sense. It's like hoping your girlfriend works as a whore on dollar night. But I know there's a problem with a tooth, and I just want it fixed. I don't want Monday to be an 'initial consultation to schedule a root canal down the road'. I don't have that kind of time.
It's feeling like the wheels are falling off. Or better to say the engine light just went on. I'm hoping that being lighter on the gas and a car wash will either fix the problem, or at least get me to the next paycheck when I can afford to really look into it and fix the problem. Sometimes, that engine light goes on when the gascap isn't screwed in right. Cross your finger for me.
Make no mistake, moving is living."
-Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), "Up In The Air"
Weight: 156
The above quote (and movie title) really have absolutely nothing to do with running... not if kept in context. But they sure seem appropriate for where I'm at right now.
I haven't even seen the whole movie. The way movies work in my family/life, is the only movies we seem to see in the theater are kids movies... something we can do as a family. So when it comes to seeing non-kids movies, we wait to see it on DVD.
And when it comes to watching DVDs that my kid will either not be interested in, or I don't want her to see, it means I watch what I can while people are asleep or away. I got halfway through the movie this morning before my daughter woke up. This line caught my attention.
Because in a way, it DOES apply to running (or excercise, or health). The couch potatoes typically are the health risks, and the health nuts typically are not. The runners are in a little better shape than the walkers, and the elite athletes are in remarkable shape. Move... move faster... live longer.
Before I started watching this movie this morning, I went out for my 'long run' (yes, i was up early today). I'm tweaking the training plan a little, and had 11 miles on my schedule for the day...
That didn't happen. And I'm feeling like my upcoming Half, and my perfomance in that race, is a bit 'up in the air'.
I only got 6 miles of a run in. Remarkably slow. Nothing felt right. It wasn't even close to right. It's easily the worst run I've had in a while. My entire lower body felt fatigued and my lower legs were in pain. It only took about a half mile and I knew it was going to be a bad run.
My left Achilles is getting the first hints of a twinge again. That alone makes me want to 'pull back' a little, but my right foot has been bothering me and keeps feeling worse. It's been a nagging pain on the top of my foot, that is somehow connected to my big toe... and today, the pain was more than I wanted to push through just for a training run.
So, I'm 3 weeks from the Half marathon. Next week I've signed up for a 5K, which I would like to run with an honest effort, but do not want to hurt myself. There isn't really much of a taper before a Half Marathon... but I'm thinking I might need to 'shut it down' between now and then. Nothing (other than the 5K) at more than easy effort, and nothing more than about 5 miles. No more than 3 runs a week.
This is NOT how I want to be going into the race. I really want to PR, and I really want to have a good race. I want to feel good and healthy and happy while running... not endure 2 hours of pure misery.
Speaking of pure misery - root canal scheduled for Monday. At least, I hope it's a root canal scheduled. I know, that doesn't make sense. It's like hoping your girlfriend works as a whore on dollar night. But I know there's a problem with a tooth, and I just want it fixed. I don't want Monday to be an 'initial consultation to schedule a root canal down the road'. I don't have that kind of time.
It's feeling like the wheels are falling off. Or better to say the engine light just went on. I'm hoping that being lighter on the gas and a car wash will either fix the problem, or at least get me to the next paycheck when I can afford to really look into it and fix the problem. Sometimes, that engine light goes on when the gascap isn't screwed in right. Cross your finger for me.
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